Things were hectic backstage at Monday Night Raw. Besides the fact that the production crew was rushing around like a bunch of mad men, Aidan found herself very nervous. Dean stood on one side of her stone still, his flat blue eyes staring ahead of him into nothing. On the outside he appeared to be very calm, but she knew him too well. She could sense the fury bubbling just under the surface, a fury that would be dangerous to his opponent in the coming match. His opponent, of course, was CM Punk who stood on her other side. Punk seemed to be very restless and strangely edgy. Both men seemed determined to ignore each other, which she was thankful for. The bad part was they were ignoring her as well.

The NXT team had decided for her that she would escort Dean to the ring and remain in his corner during his match against Punk. Upon hearing this news, Punk had become strangely distant with her. She supposed this behavior had less to do with this decision and more to do with the conversation they'd had earlier that day.

She'd hoped that Punk would forget about Dean's strange behavior, and she almost thought he had. That was until out of the blue he brought up the subject over lunch that day.

"So what's the deal with Dean Ambrose?"

She'd almost choked when he said his name.

"What about him?"

"Don't play dumb, Aidan. I know something is going on."

She swallowed hard. This was the moment she'd been dreading.

"Is he disrespectful towards you?"

"He's disrespectful towards everyone," she said, forcing a laugh.

Punk looked very serious.

"Does he say things that make you uncomfortable?"

"Well—"

"Has he made any passes at you?"

Aidan's eyes widened involuntarily. Punk's scrutinizing gaze seemed to pick up on every little move she made.

"I've been hearing things. People are saying that he's aggressive towards you, physically and verbally. They're also saying he's flirtatious, doing and saying things he shouldn't. Is this true?"

She wanted to lie and say none of it was true, but she knew Punk would be able to tell. There was nothing to do but to tell the truth now.

"Dean has said and done things he shouldn't have, it's true. He can be a real dick, there's no denying that. But somewhere underneath that terrible mess I can see glimmers of a good person. You just have to deal with his more unpleasant qualities before you can see it."

Punk's lips were pressed into a fine line. He was nodding solemnly.

"Did you know Dean's been in jail?"

Aidan stared at him.

"Jail?"

"Domestic abuse. He beat one of his girlfriends within an inch of her life. She was hospitalized for two weeks."

She suddenly felt sick. She knew there were times when Dean had proven to be a violent individual, but she would have never imagined he'd do something like that. She was startled out of her musing when Punk reached over and touched her arm.

"I'm not telling you this to try and scare you. I just wanted you to know what he's capable of. You seem to be taking him too lightly, and I'm not going to stand by and let him hurt you the way he's hurt other people."

Aidan couldn't do or say anything. She simply nodded and the discussion was over, but for the rest of the day, Punk seemed to be in a somber mood. Now that the match was upon them, he seemed to be bursting with energy, but not the good kind. He was like a dog tied by a fraying rope, fighting to break lose and attack whoever his victim might be, and his victim was Dean Ambrose. She feared for both men and prayed that this match would end quickly.

"Alright, let's do this. We're on commercial break so we want Aidan and Dean out there now. Punk, you'll make your entrance when we're back on air."

The harried producer left as quick as he came.

Aidan turned to Punk. She could feel Dean's eyes on her. She stood on her tiptoes and gave Punk a peck on the cheek.

"See you later," she said with a small smile.

Punk nodded coolly.

The crowd had an interesting reaction as they made their way to the ring. They neither cheered nor booed, but instead there was a lot of excited murmuring. Aidan tried her best to hide the fact that she was a complete emotional wreck. Dean didn't seem interested in anything except getting into the ring. He stood in the corner and waited, staring straight ahead at the ramp where Punk was due to come out any minute now.

When the guitar rift kicked in, the audience went wild. Punk appeared at the top of the ramp. He didn't go through his usual routine, but instead he marched straight to the ring, a look of determination in his eyes.

Aidan climbed out of the ring and stood outside gazing anxiously at the two men. They were staring each other down, fury alight in their eyes.

"Let's get this over with," Punk said in a low voice.

A loopy smile was growing on Dean's lips. He pointed to his chin.

"Go ahead. I'll give you the first shot."

Punk wasted no time and punched Dean square in the face. He stumbled backwards, obviously in shock at Punk's lack of hesitance. Punk was in full offense mode not giving Dean a chance to recover. He continued to hit him with a series of punches and kicks that had Dean backed into the corner. The ref began a count, ordering Punk to back off. He broke away just before the ref counted five.

Dean wiped at his mouth as he recovered. His lip had been busted, assumedly from the first punch Punk had landed. He grinned when he saw the blood. Aidan felt a chill run through her body.

He threw himself at Punk this time, lashing out in a flurry of punches. The match was shaping up to be less of a wrestling match and more of an all-out brawl. The referee looked just as baffled as the crowd seemed to be. He struggled to keep the match in order, constantly having to separate the two men.

The match stretched on and on for what seemed like an eternity. Neither man was willing to back down and both were too stubborn to lose. She watched in horror as move after move was executed in the most gruesome fashion possible. Punk landed a kick to Dean's skull that made a sickening crack. Dean fell to the mat and Punk used this opportunity to climb the turnbuckle. He dove through the air and hit an elbow drop.

Before Punk could cover him, Dean was already stirring.

"You might as well give it up. I don't get hurt, I don't get tired. I'm invincible," he said thickly.

"The sad thing is you actually believe all of that," Punk said as he hit Dean with another fierce kick.

Dean started laughing through moans of pain.

"You know it's been a real privilege working with your fiancé over there," he mumbled.

Punk hit him again. Dean's body collapsed to the mat, but he was still laughing.

"Yeah, she's a good girl. I love being around her, you know? She really pushes my buttons, if you know what I mean."

Punk hit him again, even harder this time, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. The referee was starting to grow anxious.

"Back off Punk or I'm going to disqualify you."

Gasping for breath, Dean started to laugh again.

"You're a lucky man, Punk. Listen, I know you two are engaged. I want to leave her alone, but I just can't get over how sweet she tastes."

Those last words barely left his mouth before Punk lost his mind. Even though Dean was already on the ground and defenseless, Punk was beating him to a pulp in the center of the ring. The referee had called for the match to end but Punk kept on wailing away, oblivious to the ringing bell. Despite the fact that he was being beaten on, Dean had burst into sickening laughter. Aidan couldn't watch anymore. She turned her back on the horrible scene.

She wanted to be angry with Dean for antagonizing Punk that way, but she was just as appalled by Punk's loss of control. He had never been easily bothered before and had always shown great restraint in the ring. This was a complete meltdown, one that she hadn't known he was capable of. She looked back to see several security men had pulled Punk away from Dean. A couple of trainers were tending to Dean's crippled body. Punk was being ushered out of the ring and backstage. As she climbed into the ring to see to her rookie, Punk stared her down. The fury in his eyes was unmistakable.

Trying her best to ignore the look of malice she'd just received from her fiancé, Aidan turned her attention to Dean. She was trying to remain calm, but her temper got the best of her.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

Dean was smiling that deranged smile that was so uniquely his.

"Sunshine, what are you doing here? You should be consoling your boyfriend. He did just make a fool out of himself in front of a worldwide audience."

"Yeah, and who's fault was that?"

"Not mine. If he can't handle a little trash talk he shouldn't be a wrestler."

Aidan glared at him.

"Whatever. You and I are going to have a talk later on. You can ride with me tonight."

"Yes ma'am!" he said with a grin.

Aidan rolled her eyes. She made her way out of the ring, up the ramp and through the backstage area. It didn't take her long to find Punk. He was pacing around the locker room area. He stopped when he saw her. She approached him slowly, unsure how she should handle this situation.

"Would you like to explain what that was all about?" she asked softly.

"It seems like you should do the explaining," he snapped.

Aidan was baffled.

"What do you mean?"

"You heard what he said out there! Do you have something you want to tell me?"

"You know he's gifted at running his mouth. You should have known that he was going to try to upset you and he knew exactly what to say. The sad thing is you fell for it."

He gave her a look she hadn't seen before. It was a look of disgust.

"So you're siding with him?"

"You're being ridiculous. I'm not siding with anybody. You both acted like immature assholes and you did it for the whole world to see. Dean won't be ashamed because he doesn't even know what shame is, but you should be."

She started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to pack up and head for the next show. I'm with Smackdown now, remember?"

He closed the distance between them. He stood there a moment just looking at her. She could see regret glistening in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. "You're right. I completely lost it out there. I shouldn't have believed anything that guy said. I don't know what came over me."

"It's ok," she said rubbing his back.

Looking at her with a sheepish grin on his lips, he said, "It's really not, but thanks for saying it."

He kissed her softly on the lips.

"I love you."

With a little effort, she smiled.

"I love you too."

She left him with a regret of her own, knowing that she should be ashamed herself. She should have confessed that night about the kiss she'd shared with Dean and her past with him, but once again she'd been too afraid to do the right thing. Now her relationship with Punk had descended even further into lies and deceit. She wondered if she could ever find her way out of it.