Hello, lovely readers!

Hope you are all well and ready for the next chapter. We are definitely on the home straight for this story now – the end is coming into sight. I'm gonna miss this story once it's done but I have loved every second of writing it.

Debwood-1999 – I agree, Hunter and Steph faced their own issues when they got together so he should definitely understand where his sister is coming from. We address people's issues with Holly and Dean in this chapter and she definitely makes progress with some people

Tantoune – I hate writing fight scenes so I appreciate the kind words. And yes, I'm majorly excited for my Roman story. I also have ideas for another Dean story but they're still in the works at the moment.

Raquel the writer – I'm proud of them too

Calwitch – He's definitely seeing the light here and seeing the positives of the relationship. Now we just need him to fully accept it and give them his blessing.

Dutchangel1979 – It's me, we all know there's going to be one last shot of drama haha!

LeaMarie F Metallium – They did indeed win. And thank you!

Irishblue69 – Thanks for the birthday love. And I wanted the triple powerbomb. It's their signature move and the perfect way to finish Sheamus off.

Labinnacslove – Yay! The boys came through and did it. Sheamus is done…

Ambrollins lover – I've never really thought of doing a Jey Uso story. Dean, Roman, Seth and Randy are my favourite wrestlers so I just tend to write about them instead

DeeMarie426 – Lets hope so…

Ambrose-kohli-girl - I'm glad the match came across well. As for Hunter and Randy, part of it gets addressed in this chapter.

This chapter is named after 'Just Friends' by Jonas Brothers

Holly Helmsley's Point Of View

The celebrations that evening lasted long into the night. How could they not? We had plenty to celebrate after all.

Sheamus was gone, he was officially done! He'd lost his match and now he'd never work for WWE again, he'd never gain his briefcase back and I'd never have to see his sorry face for as long as I lived.

It was euphoric, it was refreshing, like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders, more so than the last time he was fired. And I think it was because this was definite. This was finite. There was literally nothing else he could do now. Security had disposed of him as soon as the match had finished and my brother and I were going to apply for an injunction against him in the morning.

With an injunction, he couldn't go near me lawfully, and if he did, he would be arrested and put away for a very long time. It was an assured safety measure, one that we wanted put in place, and the sooner the better. With it I knew I'd be forever safe from him, and also The League Of Nations.

Steph and Hunter had swiftly terminated the contracts of Barrett, Rusev and Del Rio for conspiring with Sheamus and going against protocol when it came to him. They knew he wasn't allowed near me, they knew he wasn't allowed in WWE, and yet they had allowed it. So Hunter had fired them almost immediately.

I couldn't exactly say I was bothered. I wanted rid of anything that could lead me to Sheamus or lead him to me. My safety was the most important, and if getting rid of those three helped me then I was all for it!

But tonight was not the night for focusing on the negative. The Shield and Randy had won their match after all, so tonight was for celebrating and enjoying ourselves. And that's just what we were doing.

Down the road from the arena was a nice little bar, so I had gathered a large group to go out with me to celebrate the victory. I'd asked Hunter and Steph to join us but they declined due to the work they had to do and the things that needed to be put in place. After all, they had 3 employees to fire and an injunction to prepare.

The Shield boys obviously came as well as Paige and Sasha. A few other superstars came too including Dolph Ziggler, Neville and Cesaro. Normally these guys didn't hang out with The Authority, but tonight was a special exception. They knew right from wrong and they knew what Sheamus had done wasn't the right thing to do. So they happily accepted our invitation. Sasha and Paige were able to bring a few other Divas along too, and after some persuasion, Randy had also accepted the offer.

Randy and I were still not ourselves around each other and I knew our friendship would never return to what it once was, but the hatred I'd previously felt for him had somewhat lessened after what he'd done for me. No one had asked him to fight for me but he'd done it regardless. He knew how I felt and he had still volunteered and drove us to victory.

And this was something I could not forget.

I'd never forget what he did for me tonight and I'd be forever grateful for his help. How could I not ask him to join us at the bar? He was part of our team and he would always be welcome.

He had originally said no, and I knew it was because of Dean's presence. Yes they fought together and yes they shook hands, but they still had a huge history. Thankfully after much convincing, I'd persuaded him to come and join us at the bar.

We were all gathered around a huge table, drinks in hand when my friend piped up.

"I'd like to make a toast!" said Paige aloud, the Brit gathering everyone's attention, all eyes on her. "To Holly! May Sheamus never grace us with his presence again. Let's hope the fucker gets his comeuppance!"

"To Holly!" everyone repeated in unison, laughter in their voices, everyone clinging their glasses together.

Everyone started their own conversations then, some people going to dance around the jukebox, others going to get more drinks. I sipped on my wine, noticing Randy get up to fetch a drink. Knowing I needed to thank him properly for his work tonight, I quickly excused myself from the group to go see him. He deserved my gratitude after what he'd done, and even though we weren't getting on, I knew I had to be the bigger person in this situation and approach him. He'd been brave enough to volunteer to fight for me so I had to be brave enough to thank him.

Dean quickly grabbed my hand as I stood. I looked down at him.

"Where you going?" he asked me.

"I need to talk to Randy," I said. "I need to thank him for tonight."

Dean looked over at Randy as he stood by the bar before he looked back at me. "You gonna be okay with him on your own? I can come with you if you want."

I smiled down at him. "I'll be fine."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright," he said, pulling me down to kiss me softly. "I love you."

"I love you too," I said, my heart fluttering. I'd never get bored of him saying those three words to me.

I walked nervously over to Randy, unsure of how to talk to him. It was so strange because this man had once been my best friend and we spoke almost every day. But after a crazy few weeks we had become almost strangers and now I was beyond nervous to even speak to him. There was still a lot of unsaid and unsolved problems between us, but tonight was not a night for arguments or negativity. It was a good night, a positive one, and I wanted to keep everything light and friendly.

He was waiting patiently at the bar to be served when I approached him, his elbows resting on the wooden surface. I took a deep breath and stood beside him, timidly tapping his arm in order to get his attention. He looked down, his eyebrows lifting in surprise to see it was me.

"Holly, hey," he said, his voice sounding a little unsure. "You okay?"

I couldn't blame his unsure tone; we hadn't exactly been on the best of terms before the whole Sheamus situation. Sure, I'd asked him to come out tonight, but I'd had friends with me when I asked him and he knew he could avoid me due to the amount of people who would be coming.

So to see me actually approaching him alone would be quite the surprise.

"I'm good," I said. "Do you have a minute so we can talk?"

"Of course I do," he said. "Do you want a drink or anything first?"

"No thanks," I said, so we both left the bar and found a quiet empty table in the corner of the room. We each took a seat, Randy looking at me expectantly, wondering what this was about.

"So what's up?" he asked.

My hands were clammy in my lap as I clung them together. My heart was pounding fast but I mustered up the courage to speak.

"I've never been this nervous to speak to you before," I said with a little chuckle, trying to break the obvious ice between us.

"Well a lot has happened," he replied. "It's understandable."

I looked at the paper coaster on the table where drinks usually stood, almost afraid to look him in the eye. Part of it was still anger over the problems he caused for Dean and I, but the greater part was anxiety over how he'd react to my thanks and how he still felt over everything.

"Yeah… a lot has happened," I muttered as I lifted my hands from my lap in order to play with the coaster in front of me. I flipped it through my fingers, wishing I had the confidence to look at him. I was never normally this shy, but there was so much history here that it was hard to know how to act.

So Randy took the lead, gently placing his hand on top of mine in order to stop my fidgeting. I looked up at him, a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Relax, Holly," he said softly. "It's only me."

I swallowed, figuring he was right. This was Randy after all. He was one of the easiest people in the world to speak to. So any anger and any nerves I had for this conversation simply needed to be put away so I could speak to him properly.

Thankfully he knew to remove his hand from mine. But his gentle persuasion had allowed me to relax and properly speak to my ex-friend.

"I wanted to say thank you, Randy," I said. "Thank you so much for everything you've done for me tonight. After the last few weeks, you could have left us one man down and we probably wouldn't have won tonight. But you didn't. You volunteered and you came through for me. So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart."

He smiled down at me. "You don't have to thank me, it was the right thing to do."

"But we haven't exactly been on great terms lately for you to want to do the right thing by me," I told him. "It was very brave of you and I'm so grateful for what you have done."

"I was always going to do it," he said. "No matter what has gone on between us, I know right from wrong and I still care about you above anyone else in this world. When it comes to your safety, you know I'm going to strive to make sure you remain protected. Yeah, we've had a rough few weeks, but before that we had an amazing 13 years. I can't easily forget that."

I looked down again, avoiding his eyes, letting his words spin around in my head. Yeah, the last few weeks between us had been shit, but he was right. Before that, our bond had been unbreakable and we'd had some of the best times of my life. And they weren't easily forgettable, they really weren't. If I didn't still care for him, then the last few weeks wouldn't have hurt so much.

Randy had once been my best friend and deep down I knew I still wanted him to be.

"You're right," I said to him.

"Which is why I will always look out for you no matter what," he said. "I hurt you before with the whole Dean situation and I never want to do that again, Holly. It didn't feel good for either of us. I knew helping you tonight would also be the first step in redeeming myself in your eyes. I want us back to how we were, I want you back in my life… I want to be your friend again."

"I want that too," I said sadly. "But can we really get past everything that's happened? Can it be forgotten that easily? Can you honestly say you can accept I've moved on and I'm with Dean now?"

"I think I can," he said "I'm normally quite a selfish person, but I can't do that around you. I did it once, when I told your brother the truth, but it never made me feel any better. In fact it made me feel worse knowing I'd hurt you and destroyed your life just to make myself feel better about the situation with Dean. And then you said three words I never wanted to hear you say. You said you hated me."

I looked down. "I know I did."

"But you were perfectly just in saying that. I hated myself so it was obvious that you would feel the same. Being selfish ruined everything and I can never do that again. I care for you too much to see you hurt and to see you suffer. I just want you to answer one question and I want you to answer honestly."

"Of course," I said.

"Do you love him?" he asked.

"With all my heart," I replied in earnest. "With all my soul and all my being."

"Then be with him," he replied. "I can't stand in the way of something like that. I care about you too much to be so selfish. He makes you happy, and your happiness makes me happy. So be with him."

I looked at him. "Randy…"

"I can't be selfish and want you to be with me when I know that isn't where your heart lies. I need you in my life, and if that's only as a friend then so be it. Having you as a friend is better than not having you at all… Though the second he hurts you I'll be right there to RKO the shit out of him," he chuckled, the sentence causing me to chuckle in return.

I couldn't believe it. After all that had happened, after all the shit we'd put each other through, we had finally found our happy medium. I knew it was never going to be perfect; Randy would still always have feelings for me and there would always be resentment between him and Dean because of that. But we had sorted out our issues, and could start to begin afresh.

This was the beginnings of having my best friend back and that was all I could ever ask for.

I stood from my seat, rushed around to his side and embraced him in such a tight hug I was afraid he couldn't breathe. I smiled widely as I felt him hug me back, squeezing me and holding me to him.

I'd never ever wanted things to go the way they had with Randy. We had such an intense and vast history that he was almost a part of me. He was like my brother, a family member, someone who would always be there. I'd never ever imagined that we would turn against each other in the way we had, and it was one of the most heartbreaking things that had ever happened to me.

All I'd ever wanted was his friendship, and now we had gotten over this bump in the road, I knew we were on the way to getting back to normal.

"Thank you," I whispered to him.

"Anytime," he replied, rubbing my back before I let him go. His smile was genuine, as was mine, and I couldn't help the happiness that filled my body as he went to fetch his drink from the bar.

This was what I wanted – things to finally get back to normal. I knew this would not happen until I could get Hunter on board with Dean too, but this was a major hurdle I'd jumped tonight, and I couldn't be happier.

I looked over to Dean, ready to tell him the good news, but he was deep in conversation with his brother's so I figured I'd leave him to it for now. Spotting Paige go outside, I decided to chase after her to tell her about my chat with Randy. I'd always kept her and Sasha up to date on everything that was happening so I knew she'd want to know and I was eager to share the happy news.

There was a massive crowd outside the bar, some people here to smoke, some to chat and some to get some fresh air. Sadly it meant that I easily lost sight of Paige. I pushed through the crowd, looking over peoples heads, trying to find a gap to see her but came up empty. The crowd was so vast it was hard to push through them all and I was exhausted once I'd escaped the group. I rested against the brick wall of the building, away from the crowd in order to catch my breath. It was much quieter and cooler where I was, and I didn't have to deal with the smelly smoke everyone blew out.

I smiled to myself, happy with the progress I'd made tonight, but I knew there was one more person to convince of this whole situation and that was my brother.

He was still hesitant of Dean, and even though nothing had been mentioned since my return due to the Sheamus situation, I knew it was something that had to be addressed.

Hunter had locked me up because of my relationship with Dean. He had shouted, he had yelled, and we had both said some highly hurtful things to each other. And through it all, his opinion had not changed. He did not like Dean, he did not want him to be my boyfriend and I was terrified he never would.

Hunter could essentially do very little about it. I was a grown woman, I made my own decisions, and even though he'd tried to take action by sending me to Connecticut, it clearly hadn't worked. I just didn't want it to affect work and I didn't want it to affect our relationship as siblings. I loved my brother so much, he was my family, but I feared this whole situation would tare us apart.

Dean had helped me tonight. He had saved my life and put me first above anything else. Surely Hunter had to see this, surely he had to accept Dean was a good man who loved me and cared for me.

Because if he didn't… I wasn't sure what would happen.

I sighed and wiped away a single tear that tumbled down my cheek.

I refused to be sad tonight, I refused to think of anything negative tonight. Yes, the Hunter issue needed sorting but it could be sorted tomorrow. Tonight was about celebration, happiness and having fun. Besides, after finally making some headway with Randy, I would not let thoughts of my brother destroy my gleeful feelings. The crowd of smokers had gone inside the bar so I knew the coast was clear to return inside. So I straightened myself out, took a deep breath and turned to go back to the bar…

Only I found my path blocked by a very tall and broad man… one that shouldn't be here and I thought I'd never see again. He looked a little worse for wear but still had an intimidating stance that terrified me beyond words. I slowly backed away, my breathing heavy, my hands trembling at my sides as he glared down at me.

This time I had no back up. This time I had no one to defend me. And neither did he.

Now it was just him and I.

No words were needed between us. His presence here said enough.

It was Sheamus…

Dun dun duuuun! We are finally reaching our big crescendo, guys! But it's me, I need one last shot of drama first!

Again, a huge thanks to Debwood-1999, Tantoune, Raquel the writer, calwitch, dutchangel1979, LeaMarie F Metallium, irishblue69, labinnacslove, Ambrollins lover, DeeMarie426 and Ambrose-kohli-girl for their reviews.

Also my newest story is now live. It's called Fraternize and I'd appreciate it so much if my lovely readers could go on over and show it some love.