********A/N So so so so sorry it took me so long but I really hope it was worth the wait, I actually cried a little while writing chapter. I am already working on Chapter 8. To all of you who have been with me since the beginning I love you all. To those who are ready this or just recently found this story I love you too. I am really excited for you to read it and if you want to tell me where you see it going, or just want to go aww (I expect more than one of you will after this chapter) I love hearing it.**********
By the time Roman and Seth came over to join them for breakfast Lucy was on the verge of tears. Dean had thrown the alarm clock across the room and once it bounced off the wall it came back and hit her in the head. He mumbled a halfhearted apology as he sat up in bed. Then he yelled at her when she asked if he wanted breakfast and then again when she asked what he wanted. Once Lucy heard Dean turn on the water for the shower she noticed the pills in Roman's hand, "Roman? Do you think he's going to take those today?" Roman and Seth exchanged glances before Seth answered, "Ha! Dean isn't the kind to take medication unless you literally force it down his throat, which by the look on your face is something that Roman and I may do if he doesn't quit being a prick." Lucy smiled, "Actually I was wondering if he ever really paid much attention to what he was eating, I mean, would he notice if we sprinkled it on his food?" Roman and Seth exchanged glances and then shrugged their shoulders, they didn't think so but they didn't know for sure. Lucy grabbed the bottle of pills out of Roman's hand, popped off the top and immediately began crushing them with the spoons that had been brought in when breakfast had been dropped off. Seth started to object, until he heard Dean swear as he got out of the shower, then he and Roman immediately grabbed some spoons to help.
Once they got everyone's breakfast on a plate and they were all seated around the room Lucy was extremely nervous. She had managed to slip a liberal amount of the crushed medicine into Dean's coffee; she just hoped he drank it all before he realized what she did. "Lucy!" She immediately became aware that all the guys were staring at her. "Sorry, I was lost for a second, what did you say?" Dean shook his head and muttered under his breath something that Lucy couldn't quite hear but Seth did because he smacked the back of Dean's head before saying, "Don't talk about her that way, she didn't have to stay here last night but she did, I'm sure you weren't the easiest to get along with. You never are when your head has been smashed in the night before. I'm surprised she didn't need a drink to get through the night!" Dean's mouth twisted into a sardonic smile when he looked at her, "You did though, didn't you Lucy? That's how you ended up against a wall with that prick Ziggler on top of you isn't it?" Roman and Seth immediately looked at her and she quickly tried to redirect the conversation, "It's not a big deal, I mean..." she trailed off when she realized that they weren't listening to her, instead they were looking at Dean who quickly recounted the story to the others. They both nodded when Dean mentioned that he didn't want her to go anywhere without one of them in the meantime. Lucy, was staring wide eyed, the more Dean talked, the more he was seemingly changing in front of their eyes. His gestures were getting wider, his voice louder, and his eyes were starting to droop like they did right before he fell asleep. Lucy kept trying to catch Roman's eye, and when she did she nodded at Dean and tried to convey her concern without letting Dean know.
Dean felt weird, it was almost like he was growing increasingly drunk, but he knew he hadn't had anything to drink that morning. He looked around the room and noticed that everyone was staring at him. "What are you guys looking at? Tell her! Tell her I'm right!" After exchanging glances Lucy asked, "Dean what are you talking about? What are you right about?" Looking from Seth to Roman she knew they knew what Dean was talking about, but it didn't look like they were going to share it with her. "Dean, let it go, this is something that you need to talk about with Lucy when Seth and I aren't here." That didn't seem to appease him so he very loudly began calling her over and patting the bed where he wanted her to sit. After a minute, when it became very clear that he wasn't going to stop until she moved Lucy joined Dean on the couch. The minute she sat down he laid his head down in her lap. Lucy completely taken aback by his actions began to play with his hair for a little bit while she spoke to Roman and Seth about the photo shoot the guys had in an hour. "All that's really going to happen is that we're going to stand around and look tough while we get our pictures taken." Dean chimed in from Lucy's lap, "I'm the toughest, and the handsomest. Isn't that right Lucy? That's why you married me and not them." She shushed Dean and tried to continue the conversation, Dean however, was not about to let that happen, "Tell them Lucy! TELL THEM!" Finally Lucy covered Dean's mouth with her hand and said, "Okay, I'll tell them. Dean says that I married him because he was the toughest and the handsomest out of the three of you. However, truth be told, beyond you buying me my 7th drink and getting into the cab, I really don't remember much after that." That caused Seth and Roman to start laughing, "Wow man! She can't even remember sleeping with you. You must have been a real stud that night!" Dean scowled at the guys before looking at Lucy, "You don't remember anything? We can change that." She immediately began laughing at the failed attempt to give her a sexy pout, but the other two members of the room got up to leave, "Dean, be downstairs in 45 minutes. Lucy, it's been a pleasure, we'll see you when we get back. Have fun you crazy kids."
Dean waved over the back of the couch at Roman and Seth as he stared into Lucy's eyes. "You're too far away. Come lay down next to me. Please?" Lucy couldn't believe how adorable he looked when he pouted. "Dean, you need to be downstairs in a few minutes, and besides I have to be ready for when Brie and Nikki take me out shopping later." Dean's brow furrowed when Lucy said she was going out with Nikki and Brie, "But, you're going to go to the photo shoot with me. We are going to spend today together." Lucy smiled down at him; it was like looking into the eyes of a 5 year old who was trying to get his way. "Dean, I didn't know that you wanted me to go to the photo shoot with you, so I made plans with my friends, I can't just blow them off." Dean began to kick his feet on the couch, "No, you have to come with me or I'm not going! I won't. I'll stay right here, then I'll get in trouble, then it will be all your fault then I'll be suspended. Then I will get fired because I'll punch Vince and then I'll lose my house and I'll have to go on the Indy circuit and I'll die." After he finished with a "humph" and crossed his arms over his chest.
Lucy tried to ignore Dean's temper tantrum but that was easier said than done. Once he finished kicking his feet and begging her to go with she brushed away the hair that had fallen into his eyes and stared into his eyes. "Dean, let's make a deal, if Brie and Nikki are okay with me not going with them, then I will go with you. If they say that they need me to go with them, then I will. Deal?" Once he nodded, Lucy grabbed her phone to text them so they could help her out of the situation they were in. It was like Dean knew what she was going to do however, because he grabbed her phone and threw it over the back of the couch. "LLLUUUCCCYYY!" he whined, "You can't tell them otherwise we won't know if they would mind, we'd just know what you want." He kissed her wrist before letting it go, "I really hope you want to stay with me."
Lucy found herself almost relenting and agreeing to go with him, before she could say anything however, they were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. "Dean? Have you seen Lucy today? She's supposed to go shopping with us, and she didn't tell us her room number and isn't answering her door." She had never seen him move so fast; Dean leapt over the back of the couch and flew to the door before leaning against the door jamb bracing his hand on the top of the frame. "Hey ladies, my beautiful wife was wondering if you'd mind if she stayed with me today? I have a photo shoot and I'd like to show her just kind of what I do, and give her a little bit better idea of what my job is like."
Nikki and Brie were caught off guard by Dean's words; they didn't think Lucy would want to spend any time with him, or after last night that he would want to spend time with her. They watched as Lucy squeezed in front of him, and immediately rested her hands on top of his when he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hey ummm, Dean wanted me to go with him, Seth and Roman to the photo shoot and I said I'd go if you guys didn't mind…" before she could finish her sentence Brie and Nikki had both exchanged little smirks quickly left after telling Lucy to have fun and not worry about it, that they would go shopping later. Dean shut the door and spun Lucy around in his arms, "See, I knew they could be reasonable. Now, go shower and get dressed and we'll head to the shoot."
An hour later Lucy found herself standing behind a whole host of cameramen; all of whom were dedicated to getting the guys to take the right shots, both individually and together. They did the traditional "Shield Pose" with their fists together, they had each of the guys stand and sit in various poses in front of different backdrops. It was really interesting to watch the entire process come together, but it was also incredibly entertaining for her to watch Dean. It seemed that he was dedicated to making her laugh. He would make the most ridiculous faces at her between pictures, and at one point he came over and tickled her because he thought she looked "too serious" causing her to laugh even more.
But as interested as she was in what was occurring in front of her even with as much fun as she was having, she couldn't help but feel like she shouldn't be because it was incredibly disloyal to Jake. It's not like they were dating but he made his intentions clear, he was going to marry her as soon as he could. She was quickly pulled back to the shoot when she heard yelling. "NO! I DON'T WANT TO TAKE ANYMORE PICTURES! I'M DONE!" Lucy saw Dean being pushed back into place by Roman and Seth but it looked as if he was sticking to his word. Dean was done with the photo shoot. "Excuse me, how much do you have left to shoot?" Lucy asked one of the assistants beside her hoping she would say they could be done and there would be none or very little repercussions for Dean refusing to complete this part of his job. Her heart sunk a little bit when she was told they had between 45 minutes and an hour left. Lucy quickly walked over to Roman to find out what she could do to help. "Roman, what's going on? Why is he acting like this?" Roman quickly explained that it was Dean essentially off his meds and that if they didn't quickly redirect his attention he was going to get them all in trouble because they'd be unable to finish the shoot. Lucy nodded and quickly stepped in the vacant spot that Roman had occupied. "Dean, come on, you're almost done. Surely you can't finish this so we can leave and you don't get in trouble." He didn't appear to hear a word she said, instead he get a new idea in his head. "Lucy! We never got our pictures taken when we got engaged! I can't believe I didn't remember that! We'll take care of that today as soon as I'm done!"
Horrified didn't even seem to cover the way that she felt. Everyone seemed to think this was a wonderful idea. No one seemed to listen to her when she said there was no need for engagement pictures because they weren't engaged. It was only once she saw that Dean calming down that she quit protesting; in fact it seemed that the most agitated that she got the most upset he got. She forced herself to calm down knowing she wasn't going to go through with those dumb pictures.
An hour later she was once again arguing against having to go through with the pictures, this time on the grounds that she didn't even have a ring for engagement pictures. That was when Dean surprised her, he turned to Seth who tossed him a box and then he hit one knee. "Lucy, it's been so much fun getting to know you all these weeks. And I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know you. I love everything I know about you, and I can't wait to fall in love with the rest of you." Lucy was stared in stunned silence at him, she didn't think there was any way she could be even more surprised, but then he opened the box. She was sure her jaw had hit the floor. She loved opals and the ring was exactly she would have picked this for herself. Set on a white gold band surrounded in tiny diamonds was the most beautiful ring Lucy had ever seen.
"Hey, if you could say something, I'd like to get up off this floor sometime today", Dean grew increasingly nervous as she just stared, frozen, at the box in his hand. When she slowly regained speech she quietly whispered, "You can get up whenever you want." Once he did she hugged him, and asked, "How did you know that opals are my favorite?" He leaned forward and whispered, "I called your parents." He didn't know what came over her, immediately after he said that Lucy grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him. Dean pulled her body even closer to his and settled his hands on her hips, the box, with the ring inside, dangling from his fingertips. He could have gone on kissing her forever, but unfortunately the camerawoman was eager to start taking their picture so she could finish up for the day.
Throughout the shoot, and during the car ride back to the hotel she peppered him with questions about how and when he talked to her mom, and when he had time to go ring shopping. Finally in an effort to get her to stop asking questions Seth spilled the beans. "Lucy, I'll tell you, just please, stop talking for a minute." She blushed, she had been talking since they got in the car, but it's not every day a girl got such an amazing present. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm all ears." Seth told how Roman stole her phone, and how Dean called her mom so he could find out what she liked. "But, I knew it wasn't going to be diamonds", chimed Dean from the back seat. Shushing him, Lucy urged Seth to continue. "So, when you were in the shower or deeply engrossed in work, Dean would call your mom and they'd talk, I think even one time he spoke to your dad. But anyways, so he's dragging us all over to jewelry stores all over the country when finally he finds it. I'll let him tell you the rest." Lucy looked at Dean, "I can't believe you went to all that trouble." In return Dean kissed the tip of her nose, "It was completely worth it."
