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Chapter 16

Dean entered her room and found her curled up in her bed. Relief flooded him and he slowly made his way over to her, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"You don't have to show me sympathy," she said to him quietly causing him to freeze as he reached a hand towards her.

"If you never want to see me again I will understand," she continued. His relief was replaced with a small surge of anger and Dean grasped her shoulder to turn her so she was looking at him.

"You're an idiot," he said to her bluntly. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her back to him once more, but Dean was faster and he pinned her shoulder down with one hand so she couldn't look away from him.

"An idiot for thinking that all we ever cared about was what you looked like underneath that scarf of yours," he said to her. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him, her eyes a mixture of uncertainty and surprise.

"You don't need to pretend. I'm used to rejection, Dean. I always have been," she said.

"You're used to rejection because you reject everything good that happens to you. It's not life that's rejecting you, Scar. It's you that's rejecting life," he snapped at her.

"You're angry," she said solemnly. Dean got to his feet and began to pace to calm his temper.

"Angry? I'm livid, Scar. Do you have any idea what went through our heads when you decided to run off like that?" He asked her.

"You don't know the city, you don't know the people, what if you ended up with the wrong crowd?"

"Dean."

"I'm livid because you're not giving us a chance to tell you that we don't care about your scars. None of us do. AJ, Paige, Roman, and Seth. We like you because of who you are as a person. Not because of what you look like. Is it that hard to believe?" He asked her. She was now sitting up and looking at him as he paced back and forth, expelling his anger through his words.

"Yes. It is. You don't know the type of person I was Dean. You have no idea," she told him, hugging her knees close to her chest. He stopped in his tracks and looked at her.

"The type of person you were. Do you even know what type of person I was? Before I got here, before I met Roman and Seth. Pray tell because I doubt that you were anything worse than me," he said to her, his voice low and deadly.

"Dean," she began.

"Don't 'Dean' me. I know all those people out there care about you. We want you with us as a friend, Scar. We don't care about what happened in your life, we don't care about your looks, all we care about is having fun and being able to spend time with someone who has treated us like we're normal," he said cutting across her.

"Working with this company, you lose yourself because of your fame. You crave the days when you could walk out on the streets without worrying about being horded by fans. The times where people were kind to you because of who they were, not because you were famous and they had to treat you right. You gave us that, Scar. You treated us like we were regular people and for that we are grateful."

Silence settled over them and only Vitani's soft meows could be heard as she walked around the room to relieve her boredom. Scarlett sat there on her bed staring down at her hands in silence. Dean could see the wheels turning in her head and he was the first one to make a move. The bed dipped as he took a seat next to her and her gaze snapped to meet his.

"What Summer and Renee did was wrong and I'll give them what they deserve, but Scar, you need to realize we're not the same people," he told her, his voice relatively calmer although not entirely void of the hard edge. She watched him before she turned her gaze back down to her hands.

"You keep saying 'we', but what about you?" She asked softly. Dean ran a hand through his hair before his fists clenched in frustration.

"I am a part of that "we"," he replied. Dean knew he cared about her, more than he probably should. But all Dean wanted right now was to make her see that they didn't care about what she looked like. He wanted to see the happiness back in her eyes and in her tone. He didn't know why, he didn't want to know why. She deserved the happiness, she deserved it all.

"Scar. Sometimes…sometimes you have to accept what direction life is pushing you in. You've spent all this time in solitude and now it's time you let us in," he told her, his hand reaching out to take her gloved one. She didn't say anything and Dean tightened his grip on her hand.

"Seth adores you, Roman is protective of you, and AJ is already acting like a mother hen towards you. So why are you pushing us away?" He asked her, his thumb rubbing circles on her wrist. He also got along with her better than a lot of the girls he had met in this business.

"Everybody that I have ever cared for has turned their back on me or has been snatched away from me. You tell me if I'm wrong to be wary of letting people in. I don't think I can survive losing any more than what I have already lost, Dean," she whispered. Dean didn't answer immediately, instead he sighed and stood up. Running a hand through his hair, he headed towards the door.

"Then this is your chance to choose whether you want to lose us or not," he said reaching for the door handle.

"Dean?" Her small voice stopped him and he glanced back to see her standing next to her bed.

"What if I'm destined to lose you?" She asked quietly. Dean swallowed tightly and observed her from where he stood. Her eyes were dull and held no emotion whatsoever, her usually chocolate brown eyes resembled obsidian and Dean could feel the sorrow radiating from her from where he stood.

"Then we'll just have to work extra hard to keep you," he replied to her, before he turned on his heel and strode out of her room, the door clicking shut behind him. One thing he was sure of right now was that no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn't let her go. He wouldn't let her go.

~oOo~

The moment she heard the door click shut, Scarlett slowly sank back onto the bed. He hadn't let her in. She had been vulnerable and was left entirely open to him, but he; he was guarded as ever tonight. Not once had he talked about whether if her staying mattered to him or not, he kept talking about them collectively. But why did it matter to her whether she was important to him? Why was her heart questioning him on his own? Why was it so important for her to know what he wanted?

Her heart was hammering in her chest and it felt as if someone had opened up Pandora's Box within her for her emotions were streaming through her veins, clashing with one another hurriedly. There was gratitude and there was fondness, but there was also frustration and exasperation. As these emotions clashed, they left her with numbness for it was much too difficult to pinpoint one feeling that defined her state.

Where was life taking her? And why did she want Dean to be there with her?

Well he sure gave her his piece of mind. And lookie lookie, feelings are awakening!

Can I just take a moment to say how much I love you all? I do, really. Reading your thoughts and seeing how much everyone is connecting with the characters just makes me overjoyed. Oh and once again, I do not hate Summer and Renee (or any of the women in the business) whatsoever. Renee is my fellow Canadian and Summer is a sweetheart (she is really). All these characters are being written PURELY for the sake of the story. :)

Ciao!

- K.

To Moxley Gal1 - Sigh. Deano has whacked them with the truth numerous times but it appears that they are not very keen on listening. As for the Bella Twins, we'll just have to see where they go. Thanks for your review and congrats for being the first one to review the chapter! :P xx

To Seth Rollins Babe - Hopefully this lived up to your expectations! Ahh, thank you. I will be needing all the luck for these exams *cries in a corner*. Nope, not bad at all. I wrote the convo and I was getting all sad because of the way he was consoling her :(. You're making total sense and girl, *gasp* what on earth are you doing up at 6AM?! Glad you enjoyed the chapter but please, don't waste your sleep over this story. Not worth it. Ah, I like Scarbrose. Reminds me of Toronto, lol. Take care! xx

To Dawnie-7 - I know right? He's the only one that thinks with a cool head but let's give Deano's instincts some credit for leading him to the park they went to even though he missed her by a few minutes, lol. But yeah, Roman, I felt, was the one that she needed in that moment to calmly explain to her. Because Dean has his own style of explaining (which seemed to have worked, heehee). The hate isn't towards him, it's towards the writing and Vince. I love the guy to pieces but I really do want to see him as a heel since he's simply GOLD as a heel. But, let's keep this place void of negativity and focus on the story! :D Don't worry, Summer and Renee will get what's coming to them. Hugs! xx

To Marina - Lol, Roman is indeed getting a lot of love since the last update, haha. I love it, lol. I originally had Seth find her but then changed it up when I read it over again and realized that it sounded more Roman-like than Seth. Calm, cool, collected. Once again, hope Dean lived up to your expectations. He was brutally honest but kept both of them safe at the same time. Different approach altogether. Thanks for the wishes, will be needing all the luck I can get *sobsob*. Toodles! xoxo

To Hollarious969 - Welcome aboard the ho..err...the Inferno Express! No wait, does that sound too evil? Gah, I mean, welcome aboard! Glad you're enjoying the story so far! Thanks for letting me know your thoughts, means the world to me! x