Aidan stood outside the arena. Adding to her mixed state of anxiety and fearfulness, she was now cold and slightly annoyed. When last she spoke to him, she'd agreed to meet Dean after the house show in Waco, Texas. From there, she would drive him to the next show in College Station. She'd given the idea a lot of consideration before going with it. It was a risky situation to be locked in the car for two hours with this lunatic, but it was a short drive and she figured if she could survive this, she could survive anything.

She'd talked to Punk for nearly two hours after the bizarre conversation with Dean and he'd helped calm her down and convince her to carry on. Of course, she couldn't tell him the real reason Dean bothered her so much. She wasn't sure what was keeping her from telling him the truth about her past. She wanted to take Daniel's advice and trust that Punk wouldn't look at her any differently, but she was so ashamed. It was the reason why she'd vowed to herself to start fresh and move on when she'd signed the developmental contract with the WWE. She'd cut ties with everyone from her past in an attempt to forget about the terrible life she'd live up to that point. She'd done such a good job at assuming her new identity that she hadn't even though about her old self until Dean Ambrose showed up.

Ever since he'd revealed to her that he'd met her before she'd tried desperately to remember where or when it happened. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with anything. It wasn't a big surprise. From her early teens up until the day she signed her contract she was almost constantly drunk or under the influence of something. It was a miracle that she'd made it so far. She hadn't deserved it, that was for sure. By some great stroke of luck she'd impressed the right people and earned her spot. The WWE had quite literally saved her life. She traced her fingers over her forearm where her skin bore the proof, faded little reminders of the life that almost never was.

The wind picked up, piercing through her jacket and rocking her body with chills.

Screw this.

Not willing to suffer through the cold any longer, she made her way to the car. She considered herself a patient person but there was only so long a time she was willing to wait for a person she didn't even like. If he didn't show up by the time she warmed up the car, she was leaving without him.

As she approached the car she realized that wouldn't be an issue. Dean was leaning casually against the driver side door, a lit cigarette in his mouth. He took one more draw before throwing the butt on the ground.

"Sunshine. So glad to see you. I thought you'd abandoned me."

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to meet me by the door."

A smirk grew on his lips.

"You want to get to know me? Here's the thing. I don't always do what I'm told."

Frowning, she threw her suitcase in the trunk.

"Well, something you should know about me is that I don't enjoy being an icicle, so if you're going to pull this cavalier bullshit, warn me next time so I don't end up waiting in the freezing cold for twenty minutes."

He picked up his bag and threw it in the trunk beside hers. He lingered there standing uncomfortably close, and once again she felt very small.

"Woah, Sunshine. No need to get testy. I'm with you a hundred percent. Although, I have to say, you're pretty sexy when you're angry."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She recognized that he was trying to get under her skin, something that he was very skilled at doing. Even though she wanted to go off on him, she put a smile on her face.

"Ready to go?" she asked in a voice sopping with cheer.

His expression changed sharply. He considered her a moment before he stepped back.

"After you."

She climbed into the driver's seat with Dean watching her every move. It was only after she closed the door that he went to get into the car.

It was silent for the first few minutes of the trip. She felt his eyes on her and she tried to ignore the feeling of dread bubbling in her stomach. Distractedly, she flipped through the channels on the radio. She'd cycled through five times before she switched it off. She glanced over at Dean. He was still staring at her, a twisted smirk on his lips. She knew he could sense her nervousness like a shark smells blood in the water.

"So where are you from?" she asked, feeling foolish.

He seemed to consider his answer.

"Cincinatti," he said plainly.

"Cincinatti? I haven't seen much of it."

"There's not much to see. At least not the part I grew up in." He gazed at her for a moment. "You're a Southern girl, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah. How did you know?"

"You've got an accent. Why do you try to hide it?"

She stumbled over her words, put off by how easily he was reading her.

"Well…I guess you could say I don't have any Southern pride."

"You're ashamed of where you come from?"

"I'm not ashamed. I just don't have anything positive to say about my upbringing in the South. I just wanted to leave it all behind."

"So you're ashamed of your family."

She took her eyes off the road momentarily to fix him with an incredulous stare.

"Ooh, I've touched a nerve," he said, grinning. She was silent so he continued. "Don't stop now. We're getting somewhere. Let me guess. You're mad because your parents gave you a boy's name."

She tried to stay angry but she couldn't help but laugh.

"You could say that. My father wanted a boy. When he got a daughter, he didn't let that change his mind."

"Did you get along with him?"

The question caught her off guard. Her hesitation answered for her. He nodded knowingly and thankfully shifted the conversation back to himself.

"I didn't know my father much. He was in and out of jail for most of my life. My mother was too strung out on drugs to give much of a shit about what I was doing. I pretty much raised myself."

She stared straight ahead, her eyes fixed on the black horizon.

"I'm not looking for any sympathy though," he said. "I grew up fighting my whole life and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I'm telling you these things because there's something in you locked away. You've got that mark of somebody who's seen hell."

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.

"You've done a good job at hiding it though. Nobody else suspects a thing. They see a pretty girl who laughs and smiles all the time, she makes friends with everyone. But they don't know what I know. They don't know you're running from something big and I don't mean the party girl shit because when it comes down to it, nobody really cares about that. I mean there's something at the core of who you are that eats you alive and you've tried to run away , but it's always there…biting at your heels...tearing you apart…feeding on—"

"Enough!"

She'd screamed the word without even realizing it. He studied her a moment before sinking back into the seat.

"It's fine. You don't trust me and you probably shouldn't. Why should you talk to someone you don't even know? But I want you to trust me. I've gotta be honest with you, Aidan. There's something I've been hiding from you that you need to know."

She glanced over at him. There was nothing but sincerity glinting in his blue eyes, a quality she'd never seen in him before.

"What is it?"

"You don't remember anything about that party?"

"No, Dean. I don't even remember meeting you."

"Well, you did more than meet me. We had sex that night."

She nearly ran the car off the road.

"What?" is all she could come up with.

"You were drunk, you were coming on to me, and I took advantage of you."

She was shaking her head in disbelief.

"You better not be lying to me, you son of a bitch."

"I'm not lying. I just thought you'd want to know."

She was trying to keep from crying. This was far worse than she could have ever imagined.

"Nobody finds out about this, and if you're thinking about trying something with me, you better think again."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I only fuck drunk sluts, and I wouldn't dream of telling your precious fiancé that I nailed you first."

For the second time, she nearly ran off the road as she swatted at him blindly. She connected with his shoulder and the side of his head and he was laughing. He was actually laughing. She pulled the over on the side of the road. The car had barely stopped before she slammed the gear into park and jumped out. They were in the middle of nowhere, but she didn't care. She stomped off into a dark field, not knowing where she was going, only knowing she wanted to get far, far away from Dean. Soon she realized, no matter how far she went, she couldn't get away from this. She sank down to the ground and started to cry.

She was alone for a few minutes before she heard his footsteps closing in.

"Go away," she said without looking at him.

"C'mon, Aidan. Get back in the car."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, you sick bastard."

"Where are you going to go? Are you going to live with the cows out in this pasture?"

"I'd rather stay with the cows than go anywhere with you."

He sighed. She could tell without looking at him that he was running his hand through his already disheveled hair.

"I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have been such an asshole," he said with an irritated tone.

"You sound so sincere. Do me a favor and fuck off."

He stood there a moment in silence.

"Look, I don't know how to take orders, especially not from some headstrong woman like you. It pisses me off. I'm disrespectful, I'm an asshole…whatever. The point is, I'm trying to apologize which is not a luxury I give anyone. Can you at least give me that?"

She went on ignoring him. After a while, he stooped down beside her. He was surprisingly gentle when he spoke.

"If I drive the rest of the way and promise not to talk to you for the rest of the night, will you get back in the car?"

She considered his offer. She didn't want to go anywhere near that car, but he was persistent and she was beginning to get very cold. She stood up and began trudging back toward the car.

"Fine. But don't think I've forgiven you."

Soon the car was in motion with Dean behind the wheel. He kept his word and was silent the rest of the way. When they got to the hotel, he got immediately out of the car and went to the trunk to grab his bag. She climbed out of the passenger seat and watched him from afar. As he closed the trunk, his eyes met hers briefly before he headed towards his room.

"Dean," she said softly.

He stopped and turned to face her.

"I'll see you Tuesday night."

His expression was unreadable.

"Sure," he said in a low voice.

He walked away, disappearing around the corner of the building and out of her sight.

Aidan sighed and picked up her bag. She plodded to the hotel room she was sharing with Kaitlyn. She knocked and Kaitlyn promptly opened the door. She must have looked as troubled as she felt; Kaitlyn's face fell in an instant.

"What happened?"

Aidan fell heavily on the bed. She lay staring at the ceiling.

"My rookie. I think by the time NXT is over, one of us will have killed the other."