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Chapter 31

"Scarlett, what's going on?"

She gulped when he used her full name. In the short while she'd known him, Scarlett had grown accustomed to him calling her "Babygirl" and the sudden switch made her feel like a child who was getting chastised. His eyes were still narrowed and she tried her best to avoid him. But it was next to impossible with those grey eyes staring down at her and making her feel tiny.

"No lies," he added sternly. She couldn't help herself.

Letting out a shaky breath, Scarlett told him everything.

An hour later, she was curled in his lap with tears streaming down her cheeks, her head nestled against his shoulder. She'd told him everything that had happened including her feelings for Dean. At that moment, she forgot he was Dean's best friend and considered him her own. She left nothing out. From the first kiss to the last kiss that had her running away. All the while she talked, he'd stayed silent.

She'd been in the middle of telling him when he'd pulled her along with him to the lounge and taken a seat on the couch. How she'd ended up in his lap, she had no idea but could hardly care less. It was what she needed as she told him and he was perfectly gentle. Speaking not once and just listening.

"I left because I couldn't bear him ignoring me after that kiss," she whispered. Roman didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached for his phone. Scarlett lifted her head and watched him as he dialed someone's number. He put it on speaker and Scarlett looked at him questioningly.

"Did you find her?"

Scarlett froze when she heard Dean's voice and her gaze snapped to Roman. The other man answered with a simple "yes".

"Thank God. Is she okay?"

Even hearing his voice set butterflies fluttering away in her stomach. The concern that laced his voice was too genuine and it almost made her feel guilty for leaving him so suddenly; or more importantly, without telling him.

"She's fine. She's at her B&B. I'm taking her with me to St. Louis tomorrow," Roman replied. A glare silencing her protest easily. Silence fell on the line and she heard him breathing.

"Scar?" Dean asked. Scarlett shut her eyes tightly and turned her face into Roman's shoulder once more.

"She's fallen asleep, Dean. I'll get her to call you up tomorrow with my phone. Her phone's dead," Roman answered in her stead. She heard the disappointed sigh from Dean and bit her lip from telling him that she was okay.

"Keep her safe, Rome," was all Dean said before he ended the call. Roman put away the phone and looked at her. He reached up and tugged the scarf off her face. Scarlett didn't have the energy to fight him even though she felt her defenses building slowly.

"I can't go with you," she said, once she felt the cool air on her face.

"Yes you can and you will," he replied.

"Rome."

"No. He wants you with him, babygirl, and he deserves his happiness just as much as you do," he told her sternly.

"I've seen Dean go through a ton of shit but the way he is with you, it's been a long time since my best friend has actually displayed some sort of emotion besides acting like a dick towards someone besides Seth and I. Knowing what you feel for him, you two need to have a proper talk."

Scarlett remained silent as he spoke, knowing he was right. Dean and her had never had a talk about what was happening between them. Mostly because he kept on turning to ignoring her whenever she thought there was something more.

"Pack your bags," he told her, nudging her off of his lap and helping her stand. She tried to protest once more but the look he sent her was enough to silence her.

"You three have a very bad habit of taking me with you against my wishes," she grumbled.

"I know," was all he said. Her landline began to ring and Scarlett returned to the reception desk to answer it.

"Hey, it's me," Phil's voice said.

"Hi. I thought you were coming over tonight with the fresh groceries," she told him.

"I was going to but I'm staying overtime at work. Boss needs me to make an appea-ah, I mean, he needs me to attend a meeting with him with potential clients," Phil told her. A confused look came over her face as she heard him clearing up his mistake. But she chose to let it go and instead told him it was fine and that she would be leaving tomorrow.

"Again?" The surprise was evident in his voice.

"Yeah. It's important," even though I don't want to go.

"How long will you be gone for?" He asked.

"I don't know," she replied honestly. How long would she be gone for? Roman had never told her exactly how long he was taking her away for.

"Well…okay. Listen, Scarlett," Phil said after a few moments. "I…I don't know when you'll come back…but…the thing is…I…I…"

"What's going on, Phil?" She asked.

"Fuck! Scarlett…I…I want you to know…"

"Know what?"

"I…All those times I flirted with you…Scarlett…damn it…I like you okay?" He said after struggling with finding the words.

"I like you too, Phil," she responded. Her heart had begun to hammer in her chest and Scarlett was hoping, no praying, that it wasn't anything more.

"No, Scarlett. I like you…a lot," he elaborated. Her breathing stopped and Scarlett grabbed onto the desk to keep herself from losing balance at the sudden light headedness.

"Phil…you don't even know me," she croaked. And he didn't. Besides the friendly flirting (guess it wasn't friendly at all) and the grocery shopping, there had never really been anything else said between them. She barely knew what he did for a living and he didn't even know what she looked like.

"I know you enough to know that I feel something for you," he told her. Nauseous. That's what she was feeling right now. She had enough problems already and she didn't need more. What Phil was saying was only complicating things.

"Please…please tell me this is a joke," she said.

"No jokes. Just me putting my heart out on my sleeve for you," he responded. Scarlett shut her eyes and shook her head.

"You're…you're a good friend, Phil. I just…" she didn't know how to justify herself in a way that wouldn't hurt him.

"Come on. Don't reject me without giving us a shot," he pleaded. Scarlett dropped her head into her hands and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

"You're a good friend," she repeated. She heard him let out a growl on the other side and Scarlett opened her eyes.

"I don't want to be your friend! I want to be something more, Scar!"

"Don't! Don't. Call. Me. Scar," she snapped. It didn't sound right coming from him. There was only one person that called her that and he was so far away. Nobody else could call her that the way he did. Her nickname sounded perfect coming past his lips in his seductive rasp. No one else could ever come close to him. No one.

"Please don't come here again, Phil. Not until you realize I don't feel the same," she said slowly before ending the call without waiting for his response.

"Babygirl?"

Roman's voice was a welcome change and she looked up as he came strolling towards the reception. She steeled herself and stood up.

"I'll finish getting dinner ready and then we can eat," she said, her voice monotonous as she brushed past him. If he noticed something was bothering her, he didn't say anything and Scarlett was grateful for that. Dinner was a quiet affair after which she showed Roman to his room and then retired to her own.

The night passed with her laying on her back staring up at the ceiling as Vitani slept at the foot of her bed. She got up at the break of dawn and got ready. Grabbing a fresh set of clothes on her way out the shower with her towel wrapped around herself, Scarlett dressed quickly. She repacked to kill time and wrapped her scarf around her face before heading out the door to get some cleaning done.

The clock struck eight when Roman came down the stairs and she was in the middle of sweeping the rug in the lounge. He wished her a good morning and inquired whether she was ready to go.

"You don't want breakfast?" She asked, in surprise.

"We'll grab some on the way," he responded. "And I don't want to give you an excuse to stall further."

He grinned at her when she averted her gaze guiltily. Yes she was hesitant to leave once more. Her bank account was already bearing the brunt of her absence and no doubt Dean had deposited the cheque she'd left for him, so that was another reason she was worried about the amount of money she had saved up.

"I want you to meet Stephanie once we get to St. Louis," Roman said as he helped her with her bags to the car. Vitani had hissed when she'd once again been put into the cat carrier and Scarlett had promised to let her out in the car.

"I've already met her," she told him.

"I want you to meet her again," he said to her, holding the door open for her so she could climb into the passenger seat. She waited for him to get into the driver's seat before she asked him why.

"Trust me," was all he responded with.

~oOo~

"You want to cut your vacation short and come back to work?" Stephanie asked, surprised.

"That hard to grasp?" Dean asked, his ire tickling. He'd called up Stephanie the moment he'd woken up in the morning and told her he wanted to come back. She was surprised and Dean hoped she agreed to let him return otherwise he'd just have to show up and make her agree.

"No. No. It's fine…I guess you can come back if you think you're ready," the confusion was so very hard to miss but Dean didn't care. He thanked her and ended the call. Throwing his clothes in a suitcase, he shut it and trudged downstairs where Seth was putting his stuff in the taxi. Unlike Dean, Seth had been called in to work by Hunter.

"Where are you going?" Seth asked.

"I'm coming back to work," he replied gruffly. Seth didn't question him but he did heave a sigh.

Once they reached the airport, Dean grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to Roman asking him where he was. The answer came moments later and he sucked in a breath when he saw the picture of Scarlett asleep in the car.

"Cute," Seth said, looking at the picture over Dean's shoulder. Dean turned his phone off and sent a glare towards Seth.

"Can we go in already?" He snapped. Seth shrugged but the smirk he sent Dean's way riled him up.

The airport at St. Louis, Missouri wasn't too jam packed but that only meant more people recognized him and wanted pictures. By the time he reached the hotel they were staying at, Dean's mood was sour. He went to the reception and asked for his room key.

"Roman Reigns here yet?" He asked the receptionist. She typed something in her computer then looked up at him shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ambrose. He hasn't checked in yet," she told him.

"Relax. The drive's about four and a half hours. They'll be here soon," Seth said to him, patting his shoulder in an effort to calm him down. The knowledge only made his mood darken further and Dean handed Seth his bags and his room key.

"I'll be in the bar," he grunted and stormed off to find the liquor.

~oOo~

"Wake up, sleepyhead. We're at the hotel," Roman's gentle voice pulled her from her sleep and Scarlett inhaled deeply before looking around herself. Well they definitely weren't in Chicago anymore. She opened the door and got out, grabbing Vitani's cat carrier on her way out.

She didn't get a lot of time to look around for soon enough she found herself wrapped in strong arms, a surprised gasp escaping her.

"Never. And I mean never pull something like that ever again! You hear me?" Seth asked pulling back to look down at her. Scarlett avoided looking at him and chose to stare at the pavement.

"Scarlett. Don't do that. Please, you have no idea how worried both of us were," Seth said, holding her shoulders. She nodded and looked at him slowly. He looked like a cross between relieved and annoyed but he didn't seem annoyed.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Where's Ambrose at?" Roman asked.

"Bar," was all Seth responded with and the two men exchanged a look that didn't go missed by Scarlett.

"How long?" Scarlett asked. She had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer to that question.

"He's been there for well over an hour now," Seth responded. Yeah, she definitely didn't like that answer.

"We'll get your things to your room. You go get Ambrose before he picks a fight with someone," Roman said and socked Seth in the shoulder.

"Yeah! You do that!" Seth said hurriedly as he quickly made his way to the boot of the car. Scarlett entered the hotel and looked around the lobby. A lady strolled up to her and smiled at her kindly.

"Welcome! Do you need some help?" She asked.

"I'm looking for the bar," Scarlett answered. The lady pointed towards the direction she was to go in and Scarlett thanked her before heading on. She entered the bar and her eyes scanned the crowd. It wasn't hard to find him. He stuck out to her. Sitting at the bar, knocking back shots, the dim lighting of the bar hitting his light brown hair. Scarlett took a deep breath and tried to ignore how her heart beat began to increase as she stepped towards him.

"One more," he growled at the bartender. The man on the other side filled his glass and pushed it towards Dean. Before he could knock it back, Scarlett reached forward and plucked it out of his hands.

"The fuck do yo-."

"That's enough," she said gently, cutting across him. His face was set in a snarl but a mystified expression came over him when he looked at her.

"Scar?" The slur in his voice made Scarlett frown and she put the shot glass down, out of his reach, before reaching for him.

"Come on," she said, wrapping her hand around his wrist. She almost expected him to put up a fight but he got to his feet and allowed her to lead him out the bar, all the while his eyes remained fixed on her.

"Aw come on, Dean! It's not even three PM!" Seth groaned wrinkling his nose as Scarlett and Dean approached him and Roman where they were waiting for the elevator. Dean remained silent, his focus solely on her. Scarlett tried not to look at him. It had been three days since she saw him and she hated the fact she had been counting.

Taking the elevator up to the tenth floor, Scarlett helped Dean out the elevator and led him to the room Seth informed her was Dean's. Unlocking it, she pushed it open and tugged him inside.

"Sleep it off. You don't want your boss to see you like this," she said before turning around to head out the room. His grip on her hand tightened and he tugged her back, earning a gasp from her as she crashed against his chest. Even in his drunken state, he didn't lose his balance.

"You left me," he whispered. The accusation in his voice made her annoyance with him evaporate as guilt slowly settled in. She looked down at her hands which were placed against his chest. One of his hands was holding her hand against himself while the other was wrapped around her waist.

"Do you even know what I went through when you pushed me away?" He asked. Scarlett quickly pulled away from him, refusing to hear more.

"Yeah, just like that," Dean said nodding.

"Dean, this conversation needs to happen when you're sober. Not now," Scarlett said firmly. The fact her voice didn't crack from the sudden nervousness surprised her. She nudged him softly towards the bed and he let out a groan before twisting and flopping down onto it on his stomach. It was almost comical but the tension was too thick and slowly Scarlett backed out of his room.

"Don't leave me again," he mumbled, loud enough for her to hear even as she was about to close the door. She paused and peeked inside, a deep sigh alerting her that he'd fallen asleep.

"Dean sleeping?" Roman asked coming up next to her. She nodded in response.

"Great. Stephanie's waiting for you in the café downstairs," Roman informed her. Scarlett swallowed but heeded his silent command to get downstairs.

She spotted Stephanie sitting next to the window with her laptop on the table in front of her and her husband next to her. They were conversing while referencing something on the screen before them.

"Scarlett, isn't it?" Stephanie asked when she noticed her approaching.

"Yes, Ma'am," Scarlett said nodding. Stephanie motioned to the free chair in front of her and sent her a warm smile.

"I see you've become quite a regular in the boys' life," she said after a while. Hunter was smiling crookedly at her, amusement flickering in his eyes.

"I'm sorry?" Scarlett asked in confusion.

"It's okay. So, let's talk business shall we?" Stephanie asked clapping her hands together, causing Scarlett to jump in surprise.

"Business?"

"Seth told me you're an excellent chef," Stephanie said, looking down at the tablet in her hand.

"I'm no-."

"It's good he did because our head chef that handles the food for catering handed his resignation in this morning and we're looking for a replacement," Stephanie continued. Scarlett stared at Stephanie, shock and confusion mixing in her brown eyes.

"Even Roman agreed that your food is the best he's ever tasted and if Roman agrees then I have no doubt you are talented," she said.

"I do what I need to do to run a simple Bed and Breakfast just outside of Chicago," Scarlett said quickly. What the hell was going on?

"Ah yes. Well, working with us would require you to be with us on tour as well and producing large quantities of food. Granted you'll have a team but we just need you to make sure everything is in order and the food is good. So you'll have to close down your B&B," Stephanie responded nodding.

Close down my B&B?

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. But I can't just shut down my business to work for you," Scarlett said, feeling slightly offended at the thought of shutting down the one thing that helped keeping Vitani and her fed.

"And just how much do you make in a month?" Hunter asked, speaking up for the first time since she'd sat down.

"I make just about $1200," she answered in a small voice. Her face felt hot and she looked away from the two as they watched her.

"So under $15,000 annually. And you find you can get everything you need with that much money?" Hunter inquired. Scarlett didn't know whether he was asking to mock her or generally inquiring about her income.

"It is enough to get by," she said to him. He nodded and looked at Stephanie who placed her tablet on the table and leaned forward so her elbows rested on the table.

"We'll pay you $3,500 per month," Stephanie said. Scarlett felt her eyes bug out of her head as she stared at Stephanie and Hunter with shocked clearly reflecting in her eyes.

"$42,000 annually," Hunter added, doing the math for her.

"Not including any bonuses you might receive," Stephanie added.

Scarlett couldn't find the words to say anything. The amount of money they were offering her with a contract would put an end to all her financial troubles. But could she really shut down the one thing that she'd started as a tribute to her mother? Kathryn's B&B had been a part of her for five years and was her safe haven. How could she just put a lock on it?

"But my B&B…" she whispered softly. Stephanie glanced at Hunter then reached forward and placed a soothing hand over Scarlett's on the table. The touch shocked her, her hand still not used to feeling another's touch now that she'd stopped wearing a glove on her right hand thanks to Paige's fishnet glove on her left.

"I understand it's difficult to leave some things behind, but think about the future Scarlett. You're building a more secure future for yourself. In order to move forward, you have to leave some things behind," Stephanie said.

Never had those words resonated better with her than they did in that moment.

Oh dear. What's Scarlett going to do now? Also, a question for you all: do you like Phil? Specially after that little confession on the phone?

Review please! :)

- K.

P.S.

Turns out, SmackDown's in Ottawa so that means there are three events I'll be attending in November: NXT TakeOver: Toronto, Survivor Series, and SmackDown. I am dying from excitement. Teehee.

To Marina: The separation was meant to be short. So I do apologize if you were expecting a longer separation, lol. I know some people were, haha. I'm glad you're enjoying it! i am having super fun writing this so yay! My hard work is paying off. Keep reading for more! xoxo