Trish and Maria nearly had to run to keep up with Lilian's strides. "You know, Trish, for someone with such short legs she sure moves fast," Maria said breathlessly.

"Tell me about it. She's even faster when she's pissed," Trish replied, running to grab the door of the bar Lilian just entered before it slammed closed.

"Great… could she have picked a trashier bar?" Maria muttered to Trish, walking up to the bar and settling in a seat next to Lilian, trying to avoid the looks of the sleazy looking men occupying the bar.

"What can I get for you, honey?" the bartended asked, flashing a toothless grin to Lilian.

"Get me a Long Island Iced Tea. And don't call me honey or you won't be getting a tip tonight," Lilian snarled. The bartender's grin faded, and he stalked off, grumbling as he made Lilian's drink.

"Damn, Lil, take it easy," Trish said softly, placing a hand on her friend's arm.

"Don't, Trish, okay? Just...let me do this."

Trish looked to Maria for some help, but the dark haired diva shook her head. She said quietly to Trish, "Let her, we need to stay sober though to take care of her."

The blonde looked at Lilian who was sucking down her Tea in long gulps. She turned back to Maria. "I'm going to call D. He needs to come up here and work whatever it is out."

"You don't know?" Maria asked.

"Know what? They're fighting, obviously."

Maria shook her head and bit her lip, making sure Lilian was still distracted with the bartender. "There's a bunch of gossip papers going around saying she's the cause of his divorce."

Trish's eyes widened slightly. "Shit," she muttered, wincing when she heard Lilian ordering another Long Island Iced Tea. "No wonder she's upset."

"Lil, honey, would you slow down?" Maria asked, watching nervously as Lilian snatched her second drink from the bartender. "You haven't eaten anything since this afternoon."

"Does it look like I give a shit?" Lilian growled.

Trish sighed, shaking her head. "Hey, buddy, do you serve food here?" she asked the bartender.

He snorted, giving Trish a once over. "Do we look like a restaurant? This is a bar, sweetie. Of course we don't serve food."

"Hey! Don't get smart with my friends!" Lilian yelled, standing up from the bar stool.

"Okay, Lil, calm down," Maria soothed, pulling on the little blonde's arm to get her to sit back down. "Tell us what's wrong."

Lilian finished off her second glass, waving to the bartender for another.

"He basically called to dump me because of that fucking article! But I did it before he even had the chance," she grounded out.

Trish shook her head sympathetically. "Lil, are you sure that's what he was calling for?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" she shouted.

The bartender brought over another glass, staring at Lilian. "Listen, little lady, are you sure you need to be drinking all this?"

Lilian spun around, her eyes seething. "Yes, I'm sure, and if you don't continue serving me, I'll get you fired."

The bartender grit his teeth before replying, "And if you keep it up, my big friend over there," he pointed to a rather large man with huge muscles standing by the door, "Will kick you and your little friends out. So shut your mouth if you want to stay here."

Lilian opened her mouth to retort, only to have Trish clamp a hand over her open mouth. "Sorry," Trish said sweetly. "Would you mind getting me and my friend two Cokes. Just put it on her tab."

"Gladly." He strode off, muttering something about loudmouthed females.

With a sigh, Trish turned back to Lilian. "Look, sweetie, I'm sure you two are just hitting a rough patch in your relationship."

"Relationship?" Lilian snorted, accepting her third drink. "There is no 'relationship'. ALL HE WANTED WAS SEX!"

"Lil, keep your voice down," Maria hissed, trying to ignore the looks of a man a few seats down who looked somewhat slimy.

"I won't keep my voice down," Lilian retorted. "We slept together, right after we discussed our relationship, and now look at us! He fucking dumped me! I hate men! I'm going to become a nun!"

Maria looked at her friend sideways. "Lil...aren't you overreacting?"

"Overreacting? No! I thought..." The little blonde tilted her head back, willing her tears to stay inside in her head.

Trish squeezed Lilian's hand. "It'll be okay, you have to believe that. I need to go run and make a quick phone call. Ron keeps calling," she lied, and then quickly left.

Lilian scoffed. "Yeah, not all of us can be as lucky as her and marry the guy we dated in fucking 10th grade!"

"Shh, Lil. It'll be okay. I'm sure you and D will be okay. You just need to think positively," Maria told her friend, silently cursing Trish for leaving her with the distraught blonde.

Trish rolled her eyes, trying not to let the blonde's words upset her. Instead, she flipped through her phonebook, finding a number that she had found in Lilian's phone while the blonde had been in the bathroom changing.

Pushing send, Trish listened warily as the phone rang over and over before Dwayne's voicemail picked up. After the message was over, she said quickly. "Dwayne. It's Trish. Look, Lilian is really upset. I think you need to talk to her. I'm not trying to butt in, but… she's currently drinking her sorrows away… and that's not like Lil. Look, just give me a call back. Okay? Bye." With that, she ended the phone call, deciding to quickly go to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Lilian was looking at Maria through blurry eyes. "Think positively?" Lilian asked, beckoning the bartender over again. He warily approached. "Can I have a Coors this time?" she asked sweetly.

He nodded and set off to get her drink.

As Trish walked out of the bathroom, she felt her phone vibrate in the pocket of her jeans. She pulled it out, seeing it was Dwayne and quickly put it to her ear. "D!"

"Hey Trish," he said, sounding somewhat worried, "What's going on? Is Lilian okay?"

Trish sank back against a wall. "I don't know, I'm really worried about her. She's shooting back drinks like it's nothing. She hasn't cried or anything, but I can tell she's really sad. Lil's just being her stubborn self and trying to not let everything get to her."

On the other end, Dwayne sighed. "What should I do?"

"Can you come up here or something? I think if you were here to tell her everything was okay, and going to be okay, she'd be a lot better. That is, if she doesn't get shitfaced first."

Dwayne sighed, but said, "Yeah. What bar are you at?"

"It's called 'The Beer Hall'."

"The Beer Hall," he repeated. "That sounds trashy."

"It's not up there in the five stars, that's for sure. If we're not here when you get here, we're staying at the Ramada across the street from the arena."

"Okay," Dwayne replied.

"Thank, D. It means a lot to me, and will mean a lot to Lilian," Trish said sincerely.

"Yeah. Take care. See you in a few."

With that, the two broke their connection.

"Lil, are you sure you should be mixing drinks?" Maria asked worriedly when Lilian put her request in.

"Eh, who fucking cares?" Lilian grunted. "No one seems to care about me."

"Well, obviously Trish and I care," Maria said, relieved when Trish slid back into her seat.

"Well, look. Here's Ms. Perfect Relationship herself," Lilian said, her words beginning to slur slightly as she squinted at Trish.

"What?" Trish asked, confused. Her jaw dropped when she saw the bottle of beer being slid in Lilian's direction.

"There ya are," the bartender said.

Lilian picked the bottle up, taking a swig. Her face squinched up at the disgusting taste.

"Lil...are you sure about this?"

The ring announcer looked up at Trish, firing gleaming in her eyes. "I'm positive! Now, let me drink in peace or you can leave and let me catch a ride back to the hotel from somebody else."

"Well, we're certainly not letting that happen," Trish said with a sigh, trying not to let her friend's words upset her. She knew Lilian was on the fast track to being drunk, and wouldn't remember what she said in the morning.

"You know, Trish, you are so lucky," Lilian said bitterly. When the Canadian didn't respond, she continued. "You have the perfect relationship, with the perfect guy. You have a perfect body, you're fucking… fuckable. And me?" she asked, taking a swig from her beer. "I'm just the lowly… non fuckable ring announcer."

Slamming the bottle down, she rested her head against the bar. "Why the hell did I think Dwayne would care about me?"

"He does care about you, Lil," Maria said, not sure of what exactly to say.

Lilian laughed, looking at her friend through slanted eyes as she kept her head on the bar. "Uh huh. Sure. THAT'S WHY HE FUCKING DUMPED ME!"

"Lil, that isn't true," Maria comforted.

"Bullshit it isn't! Nobody cares about me. Nobody ever has. Nobody notices me down there at ringside, always getting hit by flying chairs and shit."

Trish frowned. "Lilian, you know that isn't true."

Lilian ignored her friend, though. "I just thought it'd be different with D. He always notices me when he comes back for special occasions. Even if he does embarrass the hell out of me," she said, laughing softly and sniffling a little as well. "But...I don't know. I guess I'm just not cut out for that or something."

With a sigh, she slid her bottle back to the edge of the bar, making a face. "God, beer is gross. I think it's only for fat redneck women and ugly ass men!" Lilian said loudly.

"Lilian, would you keep your voice down," Maria hissed, her face reddening when she saw a rather large women a few seats down.

Lilian frowned as she followed Maria's gaze "Hey… tis a free country. Look. There's a fat ugly ass woman drinking beer right there."

"Oh, God," Trish said, her heart rate quickening when the woman heard Lilian, her face hardening into a glare to the smaller blonde. "Lil. Shut up. We're leaving." She grabbed Lilian's arm, her intent being to pull the little blonde out of earshot before she started a barroom brawl.

"No! I just started drinking!" Lilian whined, shrugging off Trish's hand. "I just wish that ugly bitch would stop glaring at me!" she said loudly, looking at the woman in leather garb.

The woman in question rose from her seat, popping her knuckles as she went.

Lilian polished off her beer, her taste buds slowly getting acquainted with it. "What?" she sneered.

"You got a problem?" the large woman asked.

"What if I do?" Lilian challenged.

Maria and Trish stared at each other. "Lil, c'mon, let's go!"

"No!" Lilian stood up, getting up next to the biker woman. "Why're you staring at me like you want to eat me? Have you not eaten tonight?"

The woman gritted her teeth, balling her hands into fists. "You know, Blondie, I could knock you out with one shot. So unless that's the road you want to go down, I suggest you shut your trap."

Despite the fact that Lilian gave up about one hundred pounds and a good foot of height, she still shoved the woman in the chest as hard as she could. The woman barely moved, instead chuckling mirthlessly as Lilian yelled, "You want to fight? Huh!"

Before Lilian knew what happened, the woman's fist collided with her left cheekbone, sending the stunned blonde to the ground.

Trish and Maria looked down at Lilian, who had an almost comical look of shock on her face. Lilian struggled to stand and lunged at the woman again, only to have Trish and Maria grab her by the arms and pull her back.

"Look, lady, I'm sorry," Trish apologized. "She's having a rough couple of weeks."

"Unless you want me to finish what I started, I suggest you get her out of here," the woman sneered.

"Yes, ma'am," Maria replied pulling a one hundred dollar bill from her wallet and throwing it down on the bar, trying to keep Lilian from breaking free of the grip she had on her friend. "I hope that covers our bill," Maria said apologetically, dragging Lilian out of the bar with Trish.

----------

"Did you put the trash can by her bed?" Trish asked an hour later.

Maria nodded in the lamp-lit room. "Yeah, how sick do you think she's going to get?"

"I don't know, she was drinking pretty hard."

The two were quiet for a moment until Maria asked, "When's D going to be here?"

"I texted him the hotel information, so hopefully soon."

"Do you think Lil's gonna flip when he gets here?"

With a sigh, Trish nodded. "Without a doubt. But they need to talk," she pointed out.

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Lilian wasn't sure what woke her the next morning… the pounding in her forehead, the throbbing under her left eye, or the nauseous feeling in her stomach. With a moan, she rolled over, planting her face in the pillow, only to yell in pain when her face stung incessantly.

"What the fuck?" she asked aloud, rolling out of the bed and struggling to stand. "Ugh," she muttered, silently willing her upset stomach to go away.

With another moan, she struggled to make her way to the bathroom, not noticing that there was a figure on the couch watching her every move. Lilian looked in the mirror, cursing when she saw her face.

She then gasped as she saw the tall, dark figure behind her. She spun around, her hand to her chest.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

Dwayne stepped into the bathroom, raising his fingers to lightly graze over the large purple bruise that had formed under her eye. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she spat.

"Lil..."

She brushed past him, going to sit on the bed. "I don't get it," she said softer this time. "Why are you here? Why can't you just leave me alone and let me hurt? You didn't stay away when I had my surgery, you aren't staying away now - I just don't understand!"

Dwayne sighed, sitting down next to her on the bed. "Lily…" he started, only to wince under her glare. "That looks like it hurts," he finally said, reaching up to touch her cheek.

She winced, pulling back and swatting at his hand at the same time. "Damn it, that hurts!" she yelped.

Dwayne shook his head, standing up. "I'm going to get some ice for you," he said. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Whatever," Lilian said with a sigh, waving him off. Watching him leave, she stood up, locking the deadbolt after he left. With a smirk, she turned and walked to the bathroom, shutting the door and turning on the hot water.

When she emerged half an hour later, wrapped in a fluffy white towel, she was dismayed to see him sitting on the couch, a slight smile on his face. "How the hell did you get back in here?" she asked, self-consciously wrapping the towel a little tighter around herself.

"The deadbolt wasn't on all the way, Lil," Dwayne answered, sounding somewhat amused. "Though that was a good plan to get rid of me. One problem, though."

"What's that?"

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

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End Chapter 8