It was very late by the time she made it back to the hotel room. Her nerves were wound up tight and she was so glad the day was behind her. All she had to do now was come home to Punk and try to forget about the unease of the past few hours.

When she opened the door the room seemed to be dark, but as her eyes adjusted she noticed it was candle lit. Punk had been busy while she was gone. There were some makeshift decorations around, namely the small table which he'd laid a red tablecloth over. A gorgeous bouquet of flowers in a pretty vase sat in the center. The table was fully set with dinner plates, silverware, and glasses for two. Her eyes finally fell on Punk who was sitting on the sofa grinning ear to ear.

"Surprise!"

"I'm speechless," she said in wonder. "What's it for?"

"For you," he said plainly. He'd crossed the room and put his arms around her. "We couldn't go out so I thought I'd bring dinner here."

"Phil, you didn't have to do all this."

"No, I didn't have to. I wanted to. Now please be seated, Madame. Dinner is being served."

He pulled out her chair and she sat down. The food was delicious. It was only after they'd started eating that she realized how hungry she was.

"So how'd the meeting go?"

Aidan hesitated before answering. "It was interesting."

"How so?"

"Well, I spent some quality time with your opponent of two nights ago."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? He's going to be on the show?"

Aidan nodded. "He's going to be my rookie, in fact. The writers think we're polar opposites and that it will be cute to put us together."

"What do you think about that?"

"I think he gives me the creeps," she said with a shudder.

Punk looked at her, concern glinting in his eyes.

"Has he said or done something that bothered you?"

She'd been alone with Dean for a mere ten minutes before the meeting. They were ten minutes that had felt like a lifetime. At first she'd tried to make conversation but it didn't work out so great. For the most part he just stared at her. She eventually pulled out her phone and pretended to be busy. At last, one of the writers showed up with several of the other rookies, breaking the suffocating awkward silence.

"He didn't say or do anything. He's just weird. He makes me nervous."

Punk nodded solemnly.

"I wouldn't feel bad. I've heard that from a lot of people. It's probably just a front to scare people off. He might warm up once you get to know him. Who knows, he may end up being your new best friend."

Aidan burst out laughing. Punk concealed a devious grin by taking a drink out of his glass.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," she said.

"Seriously though, if he gives you any problems, let me know. I'm not going to let him start any shit with my woman."

"My hero," she said, batting her lashes. "I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll only have to deal with him one day out of the week anyway."

As they finished up dinner, they migrated to the balcony. The sky was crystal clear, the stars perfect white dots against a blanket of black. They sat in silence for a while just staring up in wonder. Aidan looked over at Punk. He seemed a little jittery. He was wringing his hands over and over again.

"What's wrong?" she asked, shattering the silence.

He laughed a little. "I'm just nervous."

"About what?"

"I'm nervous you'll say no."

She stared at him, clueless as to what he was talking about. He pulled a small box out of his pocket. Suddenly she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I wanted to do this some place nicer, but I couldn't wait anymore."

Her heart was beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it.

"We've been together for a while now, but each day I'm with you feels like it did when we first met: I'm stupidly happy when you're around and I'm miserable when you're not. Nobody has ever made me feel this way." He paused a moment and cleared his throat. "I'm probably blowing this, so I'm just going to skip to the point. I love you, Aidan. Will you marry me?"

Tears were already welling in her eyes. She tried to catch her breath so that she could speak.

"Yes. Of course, I will."

He pulled the stunning ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight.

"Did I do alright?"

"You were perfect," she said.

The burden having been lifted off his shoulders, he smiled happily, his olive eyes twinkling.

"You ready to go in, Mrs. Punk?"

"Lead the way, Mr. Punk."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They'd managed to keep the news quiet for all of twelve hours before news started getting around that they'd become engaged. The next night they arrived at the house show in Greenville, NC. She had barely entered the diva's locker room before they descended upon her.

"Congratulations, Aidan!" Kaitlyn yelled as she wrapped her in a bear hug.

"Let's see the ring!" said Natalya.

Aidan bashfully held out her hand as the other girls admired the stunning piece of jewelry that Punk had picked out himself.

After she answered every question imaginable about the previous evening, she excused herself. While she was still riding on the thrill of being newly engaged, there was something tugging at her conscience. Thinking back to the conversation in catering the day before, she remembered Daniel saying he'd worked with Dean Ambrose in the past. Daniel was a close friend of hers and somebody she knew she could trust. She was looking for answers and he may be the only person that could give them to her.

She had been happy to find out the previous night that Daniel had also been named a pro for the new season of NXT. When she found him, he was standing around with his rookie, Derrick Bateman.

"Aidan! I just heard the news. Congratulations!" Daniel said excitedly.

Aidan smiled nervously. She greeted Derrick then turned her attention back to Daniel.

"Can I talk to you for a second? In private?"

Daniel looked puzzled. "Uh, sure. I'll see you later, Derrick."

After Derrick walked away, Aidan began walking very fast with Daniel trailing behind her.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We need to find somewhere quiet," she said.

She ducked into a darkened office area. After Daniel followed her inside, she turned on the lights and locked the door behind them.

"Seriously, Aidan, you're freaking me out."

"He's not here is he?"

Daniel still looked completely baffled.

"Who?"

"Dean," she whispered as if worried speaking his name might summon him.

"I don't think so," Daniel answered slowly.

"Good. That's good. I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

"I need to know everything you know about him."

Daniel stared at her dubiously.

"Are you going to tell me what this is all about?" he asked.

Aidan sighed and covered her eyes with her hands.

"I got to the meeting early last night. He was the only other one there and we were alone together for several minutes before anyone else showed up."

"Yeah? What happened?"

She sighed again, breathing in slowly.

"He says he remembers me from some party I was at a couple of years back before I signed my developmental contract here."

Daniel was still looking at her blankly.

"So what are you so worried about?"

"I was a very different person back then. I did a lot of things I'm not proud of."

"What kind of things?" he asked slowly.

"Terrible things. I partied all the time, I drank way too much, I did some drugs here and there… Phil doesn't know anything about this, and I never wanted him to know. I never wanted anybody to know. Now in walks this guy who says he knows me and it's all a little nerve-racking. I'm engaged now and I've got all these secrets. What kind of shitty fiancé am I?"

Daniel put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be alright. I don't think Punk will care—he loves you for who you are now. Who cares about who you were back then? You should just talk to him."

"I should. But I need to talk to this Ambrose guy first. I need to find out what he knows about me. That's why I need to find out what you know about him."

Daniel shrugged.

"He likes to run his mouth a lot. He's good at getting under people's skin. He's had a pretty dark past, or at least that's what he likes to tell everybody."

"Dark past?"

"He goes on a lot about how his mother was a whore and his father was locked up in jail throughout his childhood. He says he ran the streets a lot. The way he tells it he's been through some pretty terrible things in his life. Maybe that's why he's nuts."

Aidan laughed in spite of herself, her eyes shining with tears.

"You know, we were put together because we were supposed to be so different. It's looking like we're more similar than they ever imagined."