I've noticed I often start with apologizing that it took me so long to upload. I don't like when people write it, so I'm not going to write it either. But I want you to know that I was away; it's not like I stopped writing the story (like the others). Hopefully, I'll upload next chapter in a day or two.
! The set of this chapter is after this week's Main Event. If you haven't seen it (Watch it. It was amazing.), you might get confused. Basically, after the match Dean Ambrose had problems with the promo. He seemed to be injured. It might have been a work, because he did the Smackdown taping, but I believe he wasn't totally all right. Why would he say to Roman and Seth "I can't do the promo, you do it."? Either way, I respect him for his performance during and after the match.
Enjoy!
Dean seemed not to hurry. Cassie set him free long ago, but he was still single. He hasn't talked to Renee, and in her opinion she shouldn't be the one to start the discussion. In reality, he knew what he was supposed to do and he wanted to do it, too, but he thought it was necessary to plan every single detail first so that it would be perfect. The problem was there was always something that could have been improved, or at least he believed so. It didn't really need to be perfect, it just needed to happen. Dean, though, seemed to appreciate every distraction and any excuse to postpone the talk. There were important matches he had to prepare for and then there was WrestleMania and post-WrestleMania Raw. He wouldn't admit it, but he was terrified. These were the kind of situations he wasn't comfortable with. It felt serious and difficult. It was taking his freedom away from him. He wanted it to happen but at the same time his brain was telling him life would be easier without getting into relationship with his colleague and friend. It was as if he forgot about everything Cassie told him. He was hesitant again and all those explanations she gave him faded away.
"Dean?" he heard a soft female voice calling his name. He turned to see Renee with a caring, understanding look on her face, and he knew she meant no harm and that she came there as a friend, but he couldn't be in her presence. He preferred being alone. It was easy to imagine what she wanted to say. She was worried, of course. She had been right there next to him, interviewing The Shield, when he failed to hide the pain that the injury from the match was causing him. Everything went smooth until the match was over. But he didn't want to think about it anymore. That shameful memory had to get out of his head once and for all. That was why he couldn't face Renee. That was why he simply walked past her without a single glance. He didn't care to close the door or see what was going on her mind when it seemed like he was ignoring her, when, in fact, he was ignoring what happened after their match with The Wyatt Family.
It didn't take long for him to realize how wrong and cowardly that behavior was of him. He was ashamed of himself. The whole day seemed like a disaster, in his eyes. When he woke up in the morning, he wouldn't even think that something could go wrong. Yet, there were too many things that did. And he tried to forget, but although he could pretend the not-well-handled promo did not happen or it was a work, he certainly couldn't hope Renee would forget how he ignored her afterwards, while she did nothing wrong. And the worst part was it ruined his plans to go and see what happens with Renee. First, he waited too long, and second, he must have unintentionally convinced her that he was not a guy she wanted to be with.
His heart was beating fast. His brain was occupied with trying to find a way that would help him save what could be saved. It wasn't over yet. He had to be able to work out a way to ask Renee out or something. He knew he wanted to. But it was late. Nothing simple would work. Because he waited for so long, and acted the way he did, he felt a grandiose gesture was necessary. If only he could think of something. He was never good at this. He tried to remember how he got together with Cassie, hoping that memory would help him analyze what it was that made her interested in him. How come that such a nice girl started dating him in the first place? If he could understand how the transition from one-night stand to relationship was made, then he should also be able to make the transition from friendship to romantic relationship. He still wasn't quite sure what he expected from crossing the friendship line with Renee but he was curious to find out. Unfortunately, he had only one chance, so he better be careful not to screw up. It was way too easy for him to do so; that was why people often advised him to think things through and avoid being too spontaneous.
That was the usual advice. But Cassie told him the opposite. That made him wonder. Should he listen to her or to people who have known him for much longer? To be honest, he never liked the process of planning or deciding. He would prefer to skip that part and jump into the scary but exciting talk with Renee. Actually, that's not what Cassie said. He was great at talking, there was no doubt about it, but it probably wasn't necessary. Carrie advised him to take action, and that sounded like a good idea.
The issue was that Renee was probably mad at him. He didn't mean to hurt her; he only wanted to protect himself from the annoying discussion and questions like "Are you okay?". He was all right now. There was no need for pity. He got hurt, that happens. But he didn't need to get reminded of that. This explanation made sense to him; he wasn't sure Renee would understand, too. More importantly, he didn't want to explain it to her. There were things he wanted to talk to her about; this was not one of them.
In the end, he took Cassie's advice. When he was walking down the hallway, though, he lost control over his brain and an idea popped in his mind if she wasn't selfish and didn't give him that advice just because she thought it would end badly for him. He stopped and wondered. Could that be the case? Was she playing vicious games with him? But then again, what would be the point? She was the one to break up with him. She told him to go after Renee. She let him go. If she wanted to keep him as her boyfriend, this didn't seem like the best way to go. And since they hadn't been together for long and never had any real arguments, revenge couldn't be a legitimate reason behind her advice. The only explanation that made perfect sense was that she, indeed, was a nice girl who didn't mean to harm him and chose to step away in order to let him reach for his true happiness. Dean smiled when he remembered her and what she had done for him. If it wasn't for her, he probably wouldn't be able to face his emotions and feelings for Renee that certainly existed, in one form or another. He wouldn't even be ready for a relationship. Just a couple of months ago, he was scared of having a real girlfriend. He refused to become "we". Now he was about to find out if he could imagine Renee as a part of his life. One thing was sure; if he could imagine that, he was ready to take a next step and make it happen. And maybe it would change his life forever.
With that in mind, with confidence and excitement, he knocked on her door. He looked down at his black shoes and noticed how steady his feet were. He adjusted the vest, and although it might have seemed strange, he didn't regret his decision to wear his ring gear. Then he put the hoodie on and smiled, ready to face the reality and see what happens. He chose to go with spontaneity. And with that attitude, it all made sense. Even the mask. He might have come there looking like a "hound of Justice", but he left the gimmick behind, and there was real him underneath the camouflage.
She opened the door and couldn't hide the surprise. She had plenty of questions on her mind. Yet, she didn't say a word. Dean didn't mind. Talking didn't come as something spontaneous to him anyway. He smiled, but she couldn't see. All that was unveiled to her were his eyes and his muscular arms. Finally, he took the mask off and threw it away. The same hand that was holding the mask before moved on Renee's neck. Then he kissed her.