Hey guys! Here's the next chapter for you. Thanks for being so patient with me. :) A mostly dialogue-based chapter where Dean fesses up some privy information and a new character is on the brink of introduction. Can you guess who it'll be? I'm excited to reveal! Enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review~

Crying was exhausting.

Before too long Dean had fallen asleep in Roman's arms on the couch. Even in sleep his face was twisted, eyes swollen, and salty tears dried crisp on his reddened cheeks. Roman held onto him as a mother would cradle her infant. He wasn't one to croon a lullaby, but he would hold Dean for the rest of the day and all night if he had to.

Seth was on the other side of the couch, hands folded, resting on his knees. He'd sat down and hadn't wanted to move since Dean fell asleep, so not to disturb his merited rest. The fire cackled in its place in the corner. It was sweltering hot in the apartment. Roman wanted to strip of his jacket, but he didn't want to move.

"Poor guy," Seth said softly several minutes later. Dean couldn't be disturbed by now. "I can't believe those fuckers did that…that's cold. That was completely over the line."

"Unnecessary," Roman concurred.

Seth drew his glasses off his face to clean the lenses with the end of his sweatshirt. "I was thinking about getting him a new guitar for Christmas, anyway. Not as a replacement—but in addition."

"Hey, I was thinking about getting him a new guitar for Christmas," Roman said.

"Nuh-uh, it was my idea."

"It was my idea!" he playfully argued in a whisper.

"Pool our money so we can get him a better, more expensive one?"

"Deal."

"Great." Seth stretched his arm out for a high-five, and Roman weakly slapped it. "Is there any pizza left?"

"Should be some on the pan. On the stove."

Seth pushed himself off the couch. His work pants were a little too small for him, hugging his waist in sexy tightness. Roman had to stare down at Dean to remind himself where his heart really was. A crush on Seth, a physical attraction was numb and nonexistent compared to what he felt for Ambrose.

"So what were you saying about a mysterious text?" Seth asked, snatching the remaining pieces of pizza and dropping them onto a paper plate.

"Check his phone. Lemme know what you think of it."

"Where is it?"

"Still plugged into the charger, in my room. He hasn't touched it all day."

"Alright, Scoob, let's solve a mystery."

Seth disappeared into Roman's bedroom and returned with Dean's phone a moment later. He reclaimed his seat on the couch, mumbling about how stupid Windows phones were and working one was near impossible. Perhaps he felt less guilty about poking into Dean's phone, because he'd known Dean longer and was fed up with any potential lies Dean could muster.

If he was lying.

Roman still hoped somewhere, somehow Dean was being truthful.

Seth must have accessed the message because he stated, eyes squinting, "Dean said this was his uncle?"

"Yeah. Visiting town for a few days on business."

Seth shook his head. "Didn't think that one through far enough, Dean. Did you notice the number starts with 719?"

719 was the Springs's area code. It was a local number.

"Why would his uncle text him from a Springs phone if he's only 'in town' for a few days?"

Roman couldn't think of any justification. His head was swimming. His heart was melancholy. What did Dean get out of lying to him? To his best friend?

"Something's not right about this, Ro."

"What do we do? Dean's supposed to meet him tonight."

"Well, he's not going to. And I'm going to find out just who this guy is."

"How's that?"

Seth took Dean's phone into his own room, then returned again with his laptop. After nibbling a bite of pizza, he opened up the computer and punched something into a web browser.

Roman's arm ached. The other was falling asleep. He did his best to readjust, sit more comfortably, but where Dean was made it difficult. He could hold on a little bit longer. At least long enough for Seth to complete his investigation. If Dean awoke and wanted to go back to sleep, Roman could carry him to his bed.

"Reverse number lookup," Seth said, tapping some more keys on his laptop. "Creepy as hell, but works wonders if you want answers."

A pause. Seth frowned. "Or not. All this site can tell me—unless I want to pay for a membership, but screw that—is the number's based out of Colorado Springs."

"So much for that, Shaggy."

"Hey, you have longer hair than I do, man. Shaggy's your guy."

Roman chuckled. "Fair enough. Freddy, then?"

"Hot leader who takes charge and gets the girls? Hell yeah."

"Freddy? Hot? Please, he's a staple of the seventies. Totally dorky."

"They're all dorky, Roman. They drive around in a hippie van with a talking dog and solve mysteries for no pay. What kind of life is that?"

Roman chuckled.

"You know how much gas that big-ass van probably takes?" Seth went on. "How do they pay for it all? And how do they pay for all those Scooby Snacks? You know Shaggy's gotta have some cash on him for how often he hits the bong. What kinda side work is he doing to support his weed habit?"

Roman had to suppress his laughter. His chest shook, and Dean's head shifted. Still he rested soundly.

Seth concentrated on his work at hand. "I tried two other sites and got the same thing. Nobody wants to reveal the owner of this phone without thirty bucks to pay for a dumbass membership."

"They figure if people are willing to be creepers, they'll pay for it."

"That's probably true. Let me try something else."

Seth tore another bite of pizza off, chewed it up and quickly swallowed, then jumped off the couch, his own phone in the other hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Going straight to the top, Shaggy."

"Hey, I might be a nerd, but I'm not a hippie."

Seth smiled wordlessly. He punched a number into his phone, pressed the device to his ear, and waited. He began rocking back and forth, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Was he nervous about whomever would answer the call? If anyone did?

"Yeah, hi, I found this phone at my restaurant when I was cleaning up tonight, and yours was the last message sent to it, so I was wondering if—" A pause. Seth licked his lips. "Well, the contact information says Dean Ambrose, so maybe since you messaged him, you'd—" Another pause. "So there's no way you can—" Seth looked irritated. He was clearly getting frustrated with consistent interruptions. He licked his lips. "Alright. Sorry to bother you, then." He pulled the phone away from his ear. "Dick."

"Survey says?" Roman asked.

"First he started questioning how I got his number, even though I explained to him that it was on the phone I'd 'found.' Then he said he'd never heard of Dean Ambrose in his life. Then he said to leave him alone and forget the conversation ever happened."

"Some uncle."

"Unless he has Dory syndrome, I'm pretty sure he was lying."

Roman frowned. He'd expected that, but it still hurt for someone else to verify the fact.

"Want me to track this guy down? Find out who he is? Kick his ass?" Seth offered.

"I don't think so, Seth. Wouldn't want all of us to end up in the hospital this week."

"Wake Dean up and I'll interrogate him, then."

"Seth, he wasn't even honest with me, and one of the very first things he did to you when you met is lie. Gave you a false name, a backstory. I'm sure he'll be just as faithful to his lie with you as he was with me."

"Well then, what do we do, Roman? We can't let him go to this meeting alone. Who knows what he'll get himself roped into?"

Roman looked down at Dean. In spite of everything he'd ever done wrong, Roman still loved him. It hurt, though, to love him just for the moment. Why would Dean lie to us after everything we've done for him…to protect us? To protect himself? It's obvious he cares about us a great deal, so why stoop so such secrecy?

"Maybe we do," Roman said, thinking out loud.

"Maybe we do what?"

"Maybe we let him go to the meeting. But we tag along. Eavesdrop. We're there the entire time in case things go south."

Seth looked down at the carpet, letting his hair fall in front of his eyes. "Damn, we really are Mystery Machine-ing it up in here, aren't we?"

"It's the only way I can think of to find out what's really going on."

Seth nodded, quiet again. As Dean began to shift, he darted out of the living room, back into Roman's to return Dean's phone to its charger.

Roman watched Dean's eyes flutter open. "Hey, you."

"Hey, yourself."

"How are you feeling?"

A single tear slinked down Dean's cheek. "Ever wanna go to sleep and never wake up?"

"Not frequently."

"Lucky you. It's a shitty feeling." His mouth stretched into a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Little after seven."

"Shit. I didn't mean to sleep that long. I didn't mean to sleep."

"You needed it."

"I'll be up all night now." Dean sat up, stretching his arms up high. Roman poked him in the ribs, and Dean brought his arms down defensively.

"Want some dinner?"

"Sure, that sounds good." He pushed off the couch. "I've got a little bit of time before I meet my uncle, anyway."

Roman bit the inside of his cheek. The words stung like a wasp. What was he hiding…?

Seth emerged from the bedroom. He didn't look too merry.

"Hey, Rockin' Rollins. What's good?" Dean asked.

"Dean, I need to know something," Seth stated.

"You mean you don't know everything already?"

Seth didn't chuckle, or even offer a micro grin, at Dean's quip. "Who is Jeff and what are you hiding from us?"

Wrinkles of surprise shaped on Roman's forehead as his eyebrows peaked. He couldn't believe Seth was being so abruptly forward.

"What do you mean?" Dean was just as thunderstruck at Seth's brusqueness as Roman was.

"You haven't been honest with me. I've let it slide in the past. I knew everything you'd said that wasn't true was just you trying to do the right thing. I got that. I still get it. Maybe your heart's in the right place this time, but it's hard to believe when I don't have answers. So prove me wrong. Let me know it's okay to keep trusting you, that you haven't gone off the frickin' deep end and gotten yourself into even more trouble."

"Okay…?" Dean glanced from Roman to Seth again. Roman stayed seated on the couch. He wasn't involved in this quite yet. "What do you think I'm lying about?"

"Who is Jeff?" Seth asked, emphasizing each word tautly.

"He's my uncle," Dean rejoined with the same accentuation.

Seth's chin tilted towards his chest, a glare materializing in his dark eyes. Roman had never seen him so sullen. "Quit lying to me, Ambrose."

"What are you last-naming me for?" Dean queried, sounding offended. "I'm telling you the truth."

Seth uplifted two palms to surrender. "Fine. You know what? Fine." His hands fell again, arms slapping against his sides. "You know, I've done everything for you, Dean. Everything one person could possibly do for another, I've done. I took you in when you needed someone to protect you. I all but completely saved you from those damn Wyatts. I called you my brother, my family. You always have been, and you still are, but…" Seth licked his lips, shaking his head like a disappointed father. "When you pull shit like this, it makes me feel like you don't even care about everything I've done for you. Like it was all for nothing. Like if I had never taken you in…it wouldn't have made a difference."

Dean's jaw was unhinged. The silence that followed Seth's oration was stifling, even to Roman. Seth offered no further words. He twisted his body and dispersed to his bedroom, closing the door with force behind him.

"What the hell was that?" Dean asked.

Roman sat back against the couch. His back ached from leaning forward for so long as he'd listened to Seth. He'd never been so conflicted in his life. So torn between was was right, and his heart pressing him not to screw up the best thing that ever happened to him by calling Dean out on his obvious untruth.

"I…I can't blame him, Dean," Roman said at last. Take it back, his feelings warned, but he sided with logic for this case.

"What are you guys talking about?" Dean asked, almost wailing.

A bit of anger whisked in Roman's stomach. Dean knew. He had to know. Seth had mentioned it twice. Why was he so stubborn? "Seth called up the number you got a text from earlier. Jeff? The meeting? We wanted to find out if you were telling us the truth."

Dean cocked his head. He'd lost the right to be upset over the intrusion, if that's what he was feeling. "And?"

He really wants me to spell it out for him? What does he think we found out? "Seth said the guy answered and claimed he had no idea who you are. So whoever answered the phone is not who you said he was."

Dean drew in an unstable breath. He placed a hand over his throat.

"Dean, I fell in love with you against all odds. You wanted me to stay away, to not get involved in your business, but I did. That's the way it worked out. And I'm willing to keep protecting you, even if it kills me. My heart is one thing. But Seth? You can't be yanking him around on a chain forever. He's your best friend. He was around long before I was, and he'll always mean something to you that I can't replace. You mean everything to him. I knew it from the moment I met him and saw you guys together. He'd die for you. He'd take a bullet—" Roman halted the sentence, his wound somehow feeling assaulted by his own words. He allowed himself to finish the sentence. "For you." Dean still didn't know that Roman had, in fact, taken a bullet for him. "But if you keep pushing him away like this, he could snap again. I doubt he'd want to leave, but you don't know a man's limits unless you're desperate enough to keep pressing his buttons just to see what he does about it. If you're going to lie to me, I will be affected by it, I will hurt, and I'll cope with it somehow. But I'm not going anywhere. It's not me you need to worry about. Seth is a great guy. Look at all he's done for you. Are you really going to keep taking advantage of his friendship by deceiving him like this?"

Dean shifted weight unremittingly from one foot to the other. His arms were folded, tight against his chest. He seemed to find it more comfortable to stare at the carpet, the wall, even the foot of the couch. Anywhere but directly into Roman's eyes.

Roman waited for an explanation. He'd get one now. He'd struck a nerve.

"I didn't lie," Dean muttered. He raised his eyes to Roman at last. His pupils swam beneath a film of moisture. "I just…didn't tell the whole truth."

"Same thing," Roman pointed out.

"No, it's not, Ro. It's really not. Hear me out."

"Sorry."

Dean sat on the couch. He was quiet for a long time. Roman was impressed by his own forbearance. I'd rather wait for the truth than get another lie in a millisecond.

"Jeff…is my uncle," he said. "Even if the two of you don't buy it, he really is. But his name isn't Jeff. That's his cover. It's a way to protect his identity and his profession. Of course he's not going to answer to a complete stranger on the phone and admit he knows me, let alone that he's family. That's for my sake as well as his own."

Roman supposed that made a bit of sense. He wasn't ready to take Dean's words one way or the other until he heard the entire clarification.

Dean meshed his hands together in his lap. His knee bounced violently. "If you absolutely need to know his real name, Ro, it's Mark William Calaway. He's my father's stepbrother, so he might not be blood, but he's still family. I've contacted him because I know that he can help me with the Wyatts."

The name didn't sound quite so made up. "So, he's from California, or from here?"

"I take it you're asking 'cause of the area code on his number. Whenever he travels, he buys a prepaid, no-contract phone from Walgreens or something. He doesn't want to be tracked, again, to protect his identity and profession."

Dean stopped talking long enough for Roman to ask another question. Dean must have guessed Roman had several, and he was correct.

"What's his profession?"

"That, I actually can't legally tell you. That's not on me; that's on him."

"Okay." Roman supposed it didn't matter what the profession was, at least not right now. "And you don't want us to meet him because…of the identity thing?"

"No. Well, yes and no, I guess. If you guys met him, he might be a little closed-off. I'm family, he trusts me, I trust him. He's not so open with strangers. So seeing his face, meeting him isn't an issue. It would be getting anything out of him. He's not even the type to tell you his favorite color, or order something that's not his favorite food at a restaurant, just so you wouldn't know that about him, either."

"Very reserved. I can see where you get it from."

Dean half-smiled. "The reason I didn't want you to meet him is because I want you and Seth out of this now. I'm done letting you guys suffer on my behalf. The Wyatts aren't going to be your issue anymore, and after Uncle Und—" Dean swallowed back whatever he was about to reveal, superseding it with, "Uncle Mark, they sure as hell won't be my issue, either."

"'Und—'?" Roman questioned, since it was honesty hour.

"I was about to call him by his nickname," Dean disclosed. "Nobody who works with him or knows what he does calls him Mark. But his nickname is part of that secret identity I keep talking about. Don't think he'd want me to let anyone in on that one, not even my best friend or my boyfriend."

In spite of the ice that chilled and blued Roman's heart the moment he realized Dean was keeping secrets from him, he felt a warmness, a thawing, when Dean directly referred to him as his boyfriend.

"I guess I can understand that. If he wants his privacy protected."

"He does. Very much so. Roman, I mean it when I say you and Seth are my heart and soul."

"Which one gets to be the heart, and which one's the soul?"

Dean drummed his fingers on his knee. "Well, you have my heart and I have yours…but then again, I feel like you're my soulmate, so it's hard to—you know what, both of you. Equally. Heart and soul, Roman and Seth."

The ice had completely melted away. Roman was glowing on the inside and it showed outwardly as a silly grin unfurled over his face.

"Anyway," Dean said, chuckling, rubbing his nose. "You've both gone to the ends of the earth for me. To hell and back. So much so that heaven can't accept you, sorry about that. And I figure, the best way to repay everything the two of you have done for me is to keep you as far away from this Wyatt bullshit as I possibly can. And I really, really feel like this is the last step I have to take to get them to fuck the fuck off, forever."

Roman couldn't believe it until it actually happened. Not that he didn't trust Dean—not anymore, anyway—but he'd been amazed at Dean's efforts to throw the Wyatts off his trail, and completely baffled when they kept returning to hound him.

He'd just have to wait and see the results of Uncle Mark's "work" with them.

"So don't worry, alright? Never have to worry about those swamp apes again."

"Okay."

"And I'm sorry if you felt I was being dishonest. I really wasn't. I could see how you'd think that, but now you know. It wasn't to be a heartless, unappreciative bastard. It was to protect you. And Seth. And my uncle."

"Okay, Dean."

Dean drew in a deep breath and pushed it out of his lungs with great force. "I tire myself out from how much I talk sometimes." He craned his head towards Seth's closed bedroom door. "Take it he won't wanna talk to me for the rest of the night."

"I'll go make sure he's alright."

"I wouldn't, Ro. It's nothing on you, but Seth shuts down when he gets pissy like this. It's best to let him cool off alone."

"I think he'll be alright talking to me."

"Okay, but don't take it personally when he refuses to talk to you."

"I won't." Roman was known to take things personally sometimes, but he still wanted to check on Seth. If anything else, provide Dean's explanation, reveal all Dean had divulged, and see where Seth stood after that.

"I'll rummage through the pantry. See what sounds good for dinner."

"You feel like cooking?"

"I make the best damn ramen in the world. Ask anybody. And by anybody, I mean Seth. He'd know better than anyone else."

Dean strode into the kitchen. At least he wasn't crying about Annie anymore. Roman wasn't ready to touch on that subject ever again. He'd feel much better at Christmas when he received his present from Roman and Seth. Assuming Seth wasn't so furious that he'd back out of getting Dean a gift at all.

Roman knocked on Seth's door.

"Piss off, Dean."

Roman cracked the door, poking his head inside. It was still surreal, seeing Seth's possessions, furniture, belongings in the place of Randy's. Seth in the place of Randy himself. "It's me."

"Oh. Hey."

No "piss off, Roman." A good sign. Roman slipped into the bedroom and pressed the door closed. Seth was on his bed, lying on his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows, aggressively pressing buttons on a singing, whirring 3DS that Roman didn't even know he owned.

"What game is that?" Roman queried.

"Pokemon Y. I like it better than X."

"I didn't know you liked Pokemon." Roman was proud of him.

"It's not my favorite, but it's a good game. I like demolishing and enslaving small creatures for pleasure when I'm frustrated."

"Hey, that's the first sign of a serial killer, you better watch out."

"Then we have an assload of future serial killers from my childhood and in this generation." Seth cracked a smile. Another good sign. Roman sat on the bed beside him, and Seth paused his game. "What's up?"

"Dean told me the truth."

"Yeah? What's that?" Seth challenged. He sat up, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"This Jeff guy is his uncle, but that's not his real name. It's Mark."

"Of course it's not. Sure. I believe it."

"Apparently Mark has some sort of secret profession that Dean didn't want to leak?"

"Of course he didn't…"

Roman built up a wall of patience. Seth had the right to be angry. "But it's going to apparently help Dean take care of the Wyatts."

"'Cause every plan like that of his has worked so well in the past. You don't actually buy it, do you, Roman?"

"Well…kind of. He sounded genuinely honest." He didn't tell Seth that Dean had admitted to withholding more of the truth, but claimed he'd never lied. Seth wouldn't believe that and Roman knew it. "I did. I believed it."

Seth scoffed. "Alright."

"You still don't trust him?"

"It's hard to, Ro. It really is. Why would he admit all this shit to you, but not to me? I thought he and I were closer than that."

"He responded better to a calm approach, not yelling."

"I wasn't yelling," Seth defended.

"No, but you were angry. And whatever he'd said to you in that time when you were fuming, you probably wouldn't have believed anyway, right? Just like you don't believe everything he's told me that I'm telling you right now?"

Seth sighed. "Guess you're right. But I'm still having a difficult time taking it all in. Wondering what's real or not."

"I understand."

"He still meeting with his uncle tonight?"

"I believe so, yeah."

Seth looked into Roman's eyes. "I still want to tag alone. Eavesdrop. Find out what we can."

"Think Dean would be okay with that?"

"He doesn't have to know. Just like we apparently don't have to know what his 'uncle's' 'profession' is." He wrapped both words in air quotes.

"Okay. Sure, we can give it our best shot, Freddy. But if we get caught, he might not be too happy."

"Then we'll be even," Seth muttered.

"Guess so." Roman stood up, and Seth stretched his arms out. Roman was confused by the action until he realized Seth wanted a hug.

"Thanks for being so awesome, Roman. I can see what Dean sees in you. Sometimes I hate him for finding you first." Seth chuckled.

Roman chuckled, blushing as he took Seth in a comforting hold. "Well, for better or worse, we're altogether now. I don't plan on letting that change."

"Me neither. For better or worse."