Author Note: Thanks goes to DeeMarie426 for becoming a follower to this story. Thanks also goes to Leasha Orton and JohnsAngel22 for the reviews. I'll admit I was slightly disappointed with the outcome of the previous chapter. I felt it was overly out of character for some of them; but maybe I'm just being a little too harsh on myself. Anyways here is the new chapter and I hope everyone enjoys it.

"So many times I wished that I could be loved

But it always hurts when someone dives deep in my heart

It's invasive, I feel naked

I can't hide myself this time

You read my soul

I can feel it's true"

'All Yours' by Hydria

Chapter 12:

Mia and Dean during Rydia's Training Session

After Seth shut the door behind him, Dean turned to look at a tear stricken woman frozen in her place mid-step. Never in a million years did he think that she'd be this emotional in front of him. The chaos caused by Nick Grayson's appearance escalated the emotions further within her. She didn't have to speak any words for Dean to know how she was feeling at that moment. It was obvious that she felt guilty for not giving Rydia the credit she deserved.

"Am I a bad sister?" She cried stumbling back onto the edge of the bed.

"God no! You are an amazing sister to her. You've been there for her the entire time. You were bound to feel overprotective of her and try to shelter her from pain." Dean explained sitting down next to her.

"Seth is right though. I don't give her enough credit. I'm the younger sister; she's supposed to be protecting me not the other way around."

The tears continued to roll down her cheeks like a slow trickling waterfall. He knew that there wasn't much he could say that would make her stop feeling the way she felt. There was only one person that could that and that was Rydia herself. All he could do was pull her into his arms and hold her for however long she needed him. "Why are you so sweet to me after all the rejection I put you through. I said some pretty awful things to you in the past." She asked pulling away from him.

"Mia, that was before you got to know me. I don't hold any of that against you. I never have."

"I've got a bad feeling..."

"Then we will go down there and check on her if you think you'll feel better."

Mia looked up from her lap to stare directly into his soft blue eyes. He leaned in for a short chaste kiss before helping her to her feet. Despite knowing that every moment he shared with her was a dangerous one, he couldn't help but feel even more drawn to her each and every time she was there with him. She was a drug that just coursed through his veins and one he didn't want to stop being addicted to.

"Thank you..." She whispered against his lips as they separated.

"You're welcome, princess."

They quickly gathered what they needed and head for the gym that was housing Rydia's training for the day. Mia sat in the passenger seat biting at the skin around her nails nervously. The feeling that something was wrong just wouldn't go away no matter how many things she tried to think about. Dean held her hand gently as he drove through the large amounts of traffic for the time of day.

"Not to bring up another sore subject for you; but have you been getting along with Randy, since he is the one training Ry?" Dean asked trying to break the silence.

"It's a civil as it's going to get, I guess."

The Gym

Rydia turned to face Roman. The red mark on her cheek was clearly visible. She noticed a small split at the corner of his right eye. Roman hated seeing yet another mark on her face. He had failed to stop it once again. The guilt was eating away at him and he didn't understand why she put herself in position to be struck again. "Are you alright?" He asked trying to make his voice sound as calm as could be.

"Roman...I..." Rydia started to say taking a step closer to him.

"Don't apologize, if that's what were trying to do."

"I am sorry. This mess is because of me. How many times must people get hurt because of me?"

Roman could see the glassy look in her eyes starting to form. He knew that she was close to crying. In those moments of confrontation, she had exposed herself to everyone around her. Standing up to Nick, only confirmed to him that she indeed had growing feelings for Roman. She wanted to explore them; but at the same time, she didn't want to endanger him by doing so.

"I told you before that he wasn't going to scare me away. I will protect you, believe that."

Rydia wanted to believe him. She really did; but the risk of endangering him further set a heavy burden upon her conscious. She didn't want to see him get hurt while protecting her from someone from her past; but she also didn't want to let him go either. Her mind screamed for her to keep him at a distance to protect him; but her heart screamed for her to embrace her feelings for him.

She took a few more steps closer to him. He stayed firm in his place, waiting to see what she was going to do. Roman knew exactly what he wanted to do; but he wasn't going to push her or try something that would or could easily scare her off. He watched her wipe her eyes away from the tears that broke free from her lashes and before he could react, she was running into his arms.

Her head rammed into his chest with a thud that made him take a step backward. His arms swiftly wrapped themselves around her small frame. The feel of her body in his arms sent a wave of extreme happiness throughout his entire being. Roman dipped his head into the nape of her neck, breathing in her scent.

"Rydia!" Mia's voice echoed scaring Rydia.

Mia witnessed her sister jump out of Roman's arms. The evidence of another hand print was on her cheek, solidifying that she had been correct to worry the whole time. Roman straightened up, pretending like nothing happened. Rydia shifted to see her concerned sister and Dean Ambrose behind her. "What are you doing here?" She asked the irritation on her voice.

"I was worried about you and from the looks of it, I was right to worry. He showed up here didn't he?"

"I can handle myself just fine as I proved today."

Mia looked from her sister to Roman. She saw the dried blood at the corner of his eye and judging from the tear in his t-shirt, there had to have been more than one guy there. "I'm sorry that I doubted your capability to handle this." She apologized taking Rydia's hands and held them.

"It's alright; but you have to trust me more, okay?"

For the first time since their argument started, Mia smiled genuinely. There was something different about Rydia that made her curious. Seeing the looks exchanged between Roman and her older sister only confirmed Seth's words. There was a bond and it grew deeper and deeper with each passing day. "Are you ready to go? We've got quite a bit of ground to cover before tonight's tapping." Mia asked.

"Yeah, I think so..." She replied hesitantly.

Rydia felt at odds with herself. There was a part of her that wanted to go through with what she wanted to do in the first place; but there was fear that if she did Roman would pay for it in the end. She refused to do anything that would endanger him. "Rydia..." He called out to her.

The sound of his voice accelerated her heart beat. Out of reflex, she clenched her hands into fists at her side trying to fight the urge to run back and kiss him. Everything about him was comforting and she knew that if for one moment she let her guard down, Nick would take advantage of it. She turned to face him. Her eyes glassy with tears. They were for him and for everything she had been through over the last forty-eight hours.

Roman could see her inner turmoil in her blue irises. She wanted to know if what Nick said was true and he wanted to tell her the truth; but there was always some kind of interruption or no privacy. He mentally vowed to talk to her at the arena that night and let everything he felt come out into the open.

He watched her turn back towards her sister and walk out of the gym without another glance in his direction. Dean came to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. He knew all too well how his friend was feeling. Mia had pushed him away countless times before finally giving in to what she felt deep in her heart.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep hiding this." Roman stated shaking his head.

"You like her, that much is obvious man." Dean replied with a smile.

"She's gone through so much and I don't want to chase her away, because I'm impatient."

In the car, Rydia was silent for most of the trip. Mia occasionally would glance over to make sure she was alright; but the silence was starting to scare her. She wanted to know exactly what was going on inside her mind. "Talk to me. What's bothering you?" Mia asked trying to get to the bottom of her sister's silent behavior.

"Why do I feel at war with myself?"

"Is this about Roman or Nick?"

Rydia looked away from the window and grabbed the bottle of water next to her in the cup holder console. She stared into the water, watching it swish around the barrier of the bottle as Mia drove. She could still feel the sting of Nick's backhand. The thought brought a feeling into her heart that she never knew that could feel. Hatred.

"Roman..." Rydia whispered loud enough for Mia to hear.

"I can probably relate to feeling at war with yourself. Now that Dean and I have grown together, I feel like a part of me wants to push him away to protect him. I don't think I could live with myself if something happened to him."

That was the first time she had heard of her feelings for Dean out of her own mouth. She never bothered to tell her that they were together and knowing that stung a little; but she did know where her feelings were coming from. No matter how many times she tried to deny or fight her growing attraction to Roman, the same result happened.

"I want to tell him everything; but I don't want him to get hurt because I'm selfish."

"You are not selfish. You want to be happy and there is nothing wrong with that at all."

Boston Massachusetts, Smackdown Tapping

Bray Wyatt snuck around his car, crouching low waiting for the arrival of his target. A black SUV pulled into the parking lot a little faster than necessary and right behind it was a silver Mitsubishi Eclipse. Bray kept watch on both vehicles, knowing who the occupants were inside. The driver side door of the SUV opened and Roman Reigns stepped out, followed by Dean Ambrose from the passenger side, and Seth Rollins from the backseat.

He could see Mia wave them off from waiting around until they were ready to exit the car. It was his perfect moment to spy on the sisters and listen in to what they would talk about. Mia turned to the side and watched Rydia closely before speaking.

"You know if you don't tell him, then your upcoming script is going to be pretty hard on you." Mia stated.

Rydia looked at her wondering what she was talking about. She hadn't heard about any script changes or anything that would make things more difficult mentally since finding out about Nick making sure that she couldn't have a life. "What's this?" She asked taking a hold of the papers.

"Stephanie thinks you'll do well as The Shield's manager instead of mine." Mia replied turning away.

"But I'm not fully trained!"

"You're almost done with the basics. After that is complete, you will be going to NXT to start developing a character and your own signature move set; but you still remain as the manager of The Shield until you are fully ready."

Everything was starting to become clear to her. Being the manager of The Shield meant spending more time with them, especially Roman. It was getting hard to hold everything she felt in as it was let alone spending more time with him onscreen and backstage.

Bray read enough lips to know what was going on. He also knew that Nick would be furious to learn about Rydia's new change within the company. He also knew of her confession of having feelings for Roman. All the information he had gathered in those few minutes would cost him an earful of yelling from Nick.

"Then I know what I have to do..." Rydia whispered before opening the passenger door.

"Ry, don't do that? I know you well enough to know what you have going on inside that head." Mia pleaded opening her door.

"What choice do I have? Nick will do anything to make my life miserable. Why should I drag him down with me?"

Rydia walked away from her sister, leaving Mia alone in the parking lot. She couldn't think of anything else to stop her sister from doing what she had her mind set on; because the thought had come across her own mind more times than she cared to count. Hesitantly, she followed her into the building hoping that she hadn't said anything to Roman yet.

Bray walked out from behind his car with a sly smile. He decided not to relay information to Nick just yet. He was going to wait to see if Rydia would go through with, what he thought, walking away from her feelings for Roman. He could see that Nick had gotten inside her head earlier that day and maybe it was enough for things to end without anyone getting physically hurt.

"Mia!" Dean called turning into the same hallway as her.

"Hey..."

"Is everything okay? Rydia wouldn't speak to any of us. She just went into the locker-room and slammed the door shut."

Her behavior confirmed her suspicions and she didn't want to see Rydia making a mistake she would forever regret. Seth and Roman stood behind Dean hoping to hear something that made any sense; but Mia couldn't bring herself to tell them what she knew. It was something Rydia had to do herself.

"She's having a hard time with Nick's appearances and threats..."

Though it was true, it wasn't the entire truth and all three men looked at her waiting for a better explanation. Mia turned to open the door to the woman's locker-room. Dean reached out to gently grab her hand. "Let me talk to her; but let me say that maybe Roman should just tell her himself." She whispered before walking into the room.

"What the hell was that about?" Seth asked.

Dean's temper was beginning to flare within him. He was angry about how Nick kept showing up right when Rydia was beginning to live her life and ready to move on with someone who could make her happy. He replayed the events one by one through his mind until he realized that Nick couldn't have known where they were each and every time without a spy of some kind.

"That bastard has inside information..." He whispered harshly slamming his hand on stage equipment cases.

Roman could understand his anger. His feelings for Rydia caused him to be protective; but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't seem to rid her fear of letting him get close. Hearing Dean say Nick had inside information, made him think of one group of people. In rage, he kicked a large case that held spare stage equipment. It rolled several feet down the hall before he stormed off in the opposite direction with an intent to fight.

"Roman!" Dean shouted.

"Where are you going?" Seth asked.

"I'm going to end this once and for all!" He yelled back without even looking at them.

Seth and Dean looked at each other for a split second before following after their friend. Roman wasn't known for taking action personally; but now that Rydia had entered his life, they have noticed more things that set him off and they were going to let him do whatever he had in mind alone.