CHAPTER TWO

LILY

I woke up in a bed that was not my own feeling confused and groggy. I braced myself for a headache, but it didn't come. Apparently, the water had helped... The water... Which Dean Ambrose had given me...

And suddenly, I remembered. After a great night, I'd ended up in my hotel room with Roman Reigns and he'd forced himself on me. Now that I was sober, I was positive that's what had happened. Yes, I had willingly gotten drunk with him, and yes, I'd been alone in my room with him. I nearly gagged as I realized I had been attracted to the man who'd raped me. I'd flirted with him. I'd enjoyed kissing him. I'd reacted to his touch... I'd reacted to him, to all of it, even though I hadn't wanted to... But the important thing was, I hadn't wanted to. I'd told him to stop. I'd said no, and he'd ignored me. That made it rape, no matter what the other details were.

I looked at Dean, who was sitting in the chair looking like he hadn't slept at all. "Um... Hey," I said lamely. The guy gave up his bed and some of his clothes to a stranger and all he got was a hey? Normally, I could have done better, but what do you say to the guy who let you crash in his room so your rapist couldn't find you?

"Hey," Dean replied casually. "Hungry yet?" He didn't ask me if I was okay, or even how I was feeling. I didn't know the answer to those questions, so I was glad.

"Kind of, I think..." My stomach was seriously empty.

"What do you eat?"

"Food." I forced a smile.

He smiled back, a genuinely amused smile for the first time since we'd met. "Sarcasm? Good. That's my native language."

"Mine, too… I'm not a picky eater."

"Cool." He picked up the phone and ordered two deluxe breakfast combos, which basically came with everything you could imagine, and two coffees.

I got up and went to the bathroom. I saw a brand new toothbrush sitting on the sink. I stuck my head outside and asked, "Did you buy me a toothbrush while I was sleeping?"

"Another awesome belated birthday present," he replied with a smirk. "I had Glenn bring it by. You're welcome."

"Glenn? You mean you sent Kane to buy me a toothbrush?"

"Why not? It's good practice for when they inevitably turn him into Colby's corporate bitch again in a few months when he comes back." He laughed. "I stuck my head out as he was walking by and figured I'd ask if he'd mind. He was headed down to the hotel store to buy beer for him and Mark anyway."

I had a visual of Kane in his demonic ring gear, mask and all, walking into a store with the Undertaker and buying alcohol, coffin nails, and a shovel before asking, Oh, and by the way, do you guys sell toothbrushes? I imagined the cashier would be afraid to tell him no. I started laughing hysterically.

"Um... You alright there, Lily?" Dean asked me.

I was still laughing. "Yeah... Just picturing some really ridiculous things right now. Sorry. I'm weird like that. I go into my own head a lot when I'm stressed. Only child syndrome."

"It's cool. I'm a weirdo, too." He smiled at me. "Glenn got you a brush, too. In case you wanna brush your hair."

"Thank you. Really," I said. I closed the door to finish brushing my teeth. I ran my fingers through my hair. It was a tangled mess. It took a while to brush out, and by the time I did, room service had delivered breakfast. I was suddenly starving.

We ate in silence for a bit before Dean said, "You seem to be doing better today."

"I am," I said. "I try not to let bad things keep me down."

"It... I mean... Last night seemed more than just 'bad,' Lily."

"It was. It's pretty much the worst night I've ever had, but you know what? The sun rose."

"'The sun rose'? That's it?"

"That's all that matters. It's another day. I'm alive. I can make this one better." I laugh. "I sound so lame right now... It's just something my mom always tells me. Totally lame and cliche, but that's my mom."

"My mom's a junkie I don't talk to but feel obligated to financially support," Dean said casually. "Wanna trade?" I had no idea how to respond to that. "Relax. It's just how things are. That's life and I deal with it."

"It must be hard."

"It used to be. I try not to let it get to me anymore. I can't change it anyway, so why stress? Don't even get me started on my asshole of a father. Luckily, he wasn't around much."

"I don't know my dad. My mother refused to tell me who he was. I know she had an affair with a married man, but that's it."

"Great morals, clearly." He laughed. "Probably goes to church every Sunday." He hesitated. "Shit, you're not Catholic, right? I'm not trying to offend you or anything."

I laughed. "I'm not religious, but even if I was, I'm not easily offended."

"That's good, 'cause I'm really offensive sometimes. I'm a total asshole." He said it with pride. I laughed.

We continued talking for a bit. It felt weird, but he was very easy to talk to. It seemed I could trust Dean, even if the same couldn't be said for his former stablemate.

CODY

Dustin and I had finished breakfast and gone our separate ways when I spotted Paul. I ran over to him. "Hey, Boss Man," I greeted him.

"Stardust!" he replied sarcastically.

"Not right this second, no."

"What's up, Cody?"

"I wanted to talk to you about plans for my character."

"Sure, Kid. How about next week sometime?"

"Well, I was sort of thinking right now, lif you have a seco-"

"Great, Kid, great. I'll see you next week." He walked away, completely oblivious to what I'd said. This wasn't entirely abnormal. In fact, it was a pretty frequent routine. I'd been with WWE forever, and Paul still treated me like I was a rookie sometimes. I'd always be Dusty's kid. That was a great thing to be, and I was proud to call myself his son, but I was more than that. The company had never believed my father could be the biggest superstar, the face of the company. They felt the same way about Dustin and I. Most of the time, I didn't mind being a mid-carder, but occasionally, I wanted more. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure I was never going to get it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews so far! I really appreciate them. To the one person who said they're kind of upset Roman's a villain but still like the story, thanks for that and I'm kind of upset, too. I've never written him as a villain before. It's something different, because I usually write Roman as a good guy, a protective hero type. I like exploring other angles, but it's weird for me. I appreciate that you're sticking with me! Anyway, thank you all and I hope you're enjoying the story!