Phil Brooks shoved his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the hotel room. To say it had been a long night would have been a massive understatement. So much had happened and the drama behind the scenes had far surpassed the drama on the live RAW broadcast. For Phil it had started out like any other night on the job. He was enjoying his new role as commentator and the fans were seemingly falling in love with his sarcastic and off the wall humor as well. It was a win win situation, keeping him traveling and being involved in the business he loved while his injured hip healed. More importantly it kept him close to the beautiful young lady who had recently stolen his heart.

Her name was Memphis Kramer and she was unlike any other woman Phil had ever met. She was intelligent, determined, strong willed and funny all at the same time. Initially he had felt sorry for her and all the crap she'd had to endure at the hands of a bunch of immature, jealous, sexist, egotists. That was why he had reached out to her but the more time they spent together, the more he got to know her and the more he started to like her. A real friendship had blossomed and with Memphis, he hadn't felt that kind of connection in a long time. It was nice and when the feelings had unexpectedly developed into something more, he hadn't even tried to fight them.

People couldn't tell by looking at him but he was the relationship kind of guy. He liked being attached. He liked taking care of someone, cuddling, talking and doing all the things that couples did. It was an unspoken arrangement but it was pretty safe to say that Memphis was his girlfriend. That night she had been scheduled to officiate the main event and afterwards they were going to drive to the next city which happened to be San Antonio. It was supposed to be fun and simple but the minute he saw her walk down that ramp, he knew it would be anything but. The mood had definetly changed. Memphis had come to the ring in a trance like state, dried tears staining on her face and an obnoxious brown stain covering her shirt.

It was live television and things like that just weren't supposed to happen. No one knew what to make of it all. There had been no time for a change of clothes and she had slipped right past Production before they had the chance to see her desecrated attire. Nobody knew how to explain it and Phil immediately had been taken out of character and out of his zone. Instantly he knew that whatever happened, had occurred at the cruel hand and direction of one Randy Orton. It killed him to see the woman he cared about so upset. The minute the show had ended, he had ripped off his headset and rushed to the back. Memphis had been standing in a daze and repeated what had happened to him. It had taken everything he had not to kill Orton and DiBiase right then and there. Instead he had ushered Memphis into the rental car and had taken her as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.

Memphis had remained eerily quiet throughout the drive and had finally found a few stolen moments of sleep. Updates poured in via their cell phones. Vince McMahon had not been pleased. The Internet dirt sheets were already running rampant with what had happened and the entire scene was out of control. It hadn't taken long for the brasses to figure out what had happened that night and the extent of what poor Memphis had been going through for months. Vince had pulled Randy Orton behind closed doors immediately and read him the riot act. One more infraction, just one more instance of inappropriate contact with Memphis Kramer would result in his termination, no questions asked. And for his hard work and effort with the latest prank, he had been fined a whopping fifty thousand dollars. The punishment had been swift and severe but that had not been what had bothered Randy the most. He was still reeling with emotion. Guilt continued to consume him.

As soon as they had arrived at the hotel, Phil had ushered Memphis up to their room. She was still quiet and sad and he understood. He had gotten them some late night food but dinner was the last thing on her mind and she had only picked at it. Realizing one of her bags had been left behind in the trunk, he had gone out to the parking lot to retrieve it. On the way back, he had found himself in the hallway face to face with Randy Orton. The two men had never been fans of each other but there had never been established beef either. The Champion's harsh and unneccesary treatment of Memphis had changed all that. Phil had been angry for a long time but the latest events had damned near pushed him over the edge.

"You're a real piece of shit, you know that?" Phil sneered when the two man were just a few feet a part.

Normally Randy would have been quite satisfied with himself, full of pride and ready to retort with a smart comment or if provoked, a fist. But something was different about him. He was quiet and unsure of himself, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I won't argue with you on that one tonight," he mumbled.

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

Randy had no answer.

"I…I don't know. Look, man, things got out of hand. I don't know what happened."

"What do you mean, you don't know what happened. This is all your fault. You did this. Yeah, DiBiase may have been the dirtbag who threw that shit all over her but it has been your mastermind from the beginning that has kept all this going. Messing with her clothes, putting dog shit in her bag, taunting her, humilating her? You just didn't know when to stop, did you? You just couldn't leave well enough alone. You kept pushing and pushing and pushing…and watching us have sex? Seriously, man. What the fuck is wrong with you? You are one sick fuck and I ought to kick your teeth in right now."

Phil was incensed, his eyes darkened with rage, his voice low and angry, his fists balled up and ready for combat. And Randy, big, bad RKO, the evil puppeteer behind the madness, now was a quiet, broken shell of a man.

"Like I said," he looked Phil in the eye. "You won't get an argument out of me, not tonight. I screwed up."

"Yeah, you did and just because Vince got in your ass and you're gonna have to come up off the cash, don't act like that makes everything okay."

Randy knew it didn't. Phil was pissed and he got that, in fact he expected it. But where was Memphis? And was she okay?

"Is Memphis…"

"Don't. I mean it. Don't you dare say her name. You've done enough, Orton. Just leave her alone. She thought she could handle it on her own and I thought you would grow up but this is crazy. You've gone too far and I'm here to tell you, if you ever bother her again, Vince and his threats will be the last thing you have to worry about."

With that, he stormed off, leaving a stunned and oddly quiet Randy alone in the hallway. Phil slid the key in the door and walked into an empty room. There was light coming from underneath the door in the bathroom. Phil took a few steps and knocked softly on the door.

"Hey," she said, not even bothering to look up.

"Hey. You alright?"

She was sitting in the tub filled with hot water and bubbles, hair up, her back towards him.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"I brought your other bag in."

"Thanks."

Phil took a seat on the edge of the tub and began softly kneading the tender flesh of her shoulders.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really," she murmured. "It has been a crazy night and I just want to forget it. Does that sound crazy?"

He shook his head and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Doesn't sound crazy at all, Dollface. At least it's over now. You don't have to worry about those stupid jerks bothering you ever again."

"I know and I guess that's a relief but…"

"But what?" he asked softly. "Talk to me."

"Maybe it was a mistake, Punk."

"What?"

"All of it. Me being here, the whole WWE thing, giving up everything to make this dream come true. Maybe I should have just stayed in the court room."

"You didn't want to be a lawyer. I'm sure you kicked ass at it but your heart just wasn't in it. You knew what you wanted and you went after it. You had to go through a lot, sacrifice a lot. It wasn't easy but you kept your eye on the prize. You never gave up, never gave in and in the end, you're here. You got your dream, Memphis. You're living the dream and that's more than most people can say. So it wasn't easy and that's okay. If this isn't what you want, then maybe you shouldn't be here and if that is truly how you feel, you know I support you because following your heart is the right thing to do. But if you're second guessing yourself because of some spoiled, immature, demented idiot with too much time on his hands…then running away is not the thing to do. He just gets to keep on winning and he'll know ultimately that he got the best of you."

"He did."

"Maybe so. The guy was relentless and after what you've been through, most people in your position would just say fuck it. But you're not most people. You're strong, you're better than that. The best way to prove yourself in the end is to keep coming back and say, you know what? You bastards gave me your best shot and I took it and guess what? I'm still standing. You hurt me but you didn't break me. I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere unless it's on my terms. Randy Orton made up the rules of the game, now it's your turn to change them."

Memphis closed her eyes and leaned back into Phil's body, softly chuckling.

"When did you become such an advice guru?"

"One of my many hidden talents," he shrugged with a smirk. "Pro wrestler, Straight Edge converter, expert commentator, advice guru and oh yeah, sex machine. Don't forget that one."

"Never."

"You're gonna be okay, kiddo," he playfully ruffled her hair.

"As long as you're here."

"Cause I'm the man."

"I mean it, Punk. I'm serious. I don't have a lot in my life. That's why this dream is so damned important to me because sometimes it seems like it's all I have. And if I lose it, if I let it go, then I have nothing. That's a scary thought. But um…I have you. And you're a great guy. You make everything better. You make me feel safe and I need that. I want that. I love that about you."

She looked up into his eyes and a lump formed in his throat. At that moment the tough girl who could handle anything, who never let anything bother her was coming undone. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable in that moment and it touched him deeply. She seemed to bring out the raw emotion inside of him. More than anything he wanted to protect her but at that second, he just wanted to hold her.

"I'll always be here for you, Memphis," he leaned down and kissed her lips.

"Thank you."

"So what do we do now? Where do we go from here?"

Memphis sighed.

"Tonight I'll probably do a lot of thinking and a lot of crying. And tomorrow…tomorrow is a new day. I'll get up and shake it off and go back."

"Atta girl," he grinned. "You can thank me later."

"For what?"

"The life changing pep talk that kicked your ass in gear and made you realize what you had to do."

Memphis rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I was just letting you have your Oprah moment. I knew what I was gonna do the whole time. I was just having a self pity party."

"Is that right?" he put her in a modified headlock.

"That's exactly right," she reversed it, giggling, pulling him into the soapy water fully clothed.

Phil landed with a thud, covered in bubbles.

"Real men do not take bubble baths. And if you ever tell anyone about this, I'm gonna have to deny it, then kill you."

"It'll be our little secret then," she gave him another lingering kiss.

Phil closed his eyes as he let his tongue trace the softness of her lips.

"Our secret," he repeated, cradling her body close before giving her another kiss and climbing out of the tub.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm gonna ditch these wet clothes and lay on the bed naked preferably with a cigar in my mouth and a diet soda in my hand as I strike a dashingly sexy pose," he winked. "I'll be waiting for you."

"I am naked, wet, vulnerable and all of a sudden very horny. I can't believe you're just gonna leave me here. Why don't you want to take a romantic bath with me?"

He had already walked over to the sink in the room and began brushing his teeth after peeling off his shirt.

"Because you bathe in some hot ass water," he said with a mouth full of toothpaste.

"Punk," she pouted.

"What? I'm serious. That water is scalding. My balls are very upset with you right now."

She couldn't help but laugh as she sank back in the water. It had been a hell of a night but she had survived and as much as she dreaded facing everyone all over again, she knew in the morning that's exactly what she would do. She would move on and keep on and when times got rough, she could lean on Phil. Because so many people had disappointed her in her life, she found it a pointless weakeness to depend on others but there was something different about this guy. He seemed to genuinely care and that was what she needed in her life. When she was lost, Memphis knew that Phil would always be there to find her.