A/N: Over 450 reviews! Man, you guys never cease to amaze me. Thank you all so much. I did have to laugh at the last set of reviews though. None of y'all let the handcuffs part slide at all, lol. We'll see if we can further…ahem…'discuss'…that sometime soon in the story.

Still can't get over how crap Raw was. Ugh.

To Alisi824, Ctinaisfashion, Shield316, LuxuriaVanitas, WWEbabe2442, Siren's Call To The Dead, Bharm, DeeMarie426, ItsGbruhh, IRENELOVE83, Tammy, ChelleLew, nikki1335, justkimmy, benova13, AliceJericho, CFierce116, ItReignsJustice-619, ladyjade37, Sasha, Olivia Reigns and princessreigns, y'all are awesome. Thanks also to everyone that's favorited and followed. I'd love to know what you all think about the story too. :)

At last…we get answers. Enjoy!

If I scare you now
Don't run from me
I've been hiding my pain, you see…

They were on the road again, driving for half an hour now, each area they passed looking more and more deserted. Where they were going, Sasha had no clue. She wanted to ask him questions but there was no doubt that he would bite her head off if presented with the chance. So she was forced to sit quietly in the passenger side and reflect on what she'd witnessed in the Anoa'i residence.

She'd never seen Joe so angry, never heard him speak like that to anyone, let alone his parents. It was like observing an unwatched pressure cooker explode. And that was exactly what it was. Unwatched. Because this anger and rage hadn't come from nowhere. Joe was hotheaded, yes. But it was nothing compared to this. Judging from his family's reactions, they hadn't seen it coming either, and Sasha had to wonder; how do you not know the volcano sitting by your house would sooner or later erupt? Or had they all just chosen to close their eyes and cross their fingers and hope it would remain dormant? It was all very unsettling for her.

At last, they pulled up at a driveway, stopping in front of a secluded house that stood about a hundred feet away from the beach. From her vantage point inside the car Sasha could see the beautiful scenery with the sun setting above the waves. She would probably have taken the time to admire all of it if there wasn't a very pressing matter at hand.

"You shouldn't have talked to your mother like that," she said to Joe once he killed the engine, her voice stern. "Or your father."

His jaw twitched. "I was defending you. Remember?"

"I was handling her."

"And you were doing such a great job," he responded coldly, throwing his door open with unwarranted force. He trudged up the boardwalk and into the house, not looking back once. Sasha followed him, keeping her distance. Standing at the front door she glanced around, immediately noting similarities between this house and Joe's in Tampa. Her thoughts were confirmed by how easily Joe moved around, clearly familiar with the surroundings. He stalked into the kitchen area and pulled out a bottle of what looked like alcohol from an overhead cabinet. He unscrewed the top with shaking hands and took a large sloppy gulp. Yanking out something from inside his pocket he slammed it on the granite countertop. He took out some of its contents and tossed it into his mouth, then took another drink.

With narrowed eyes Sasha advanced, and was shocked to see that damn prescription bottle again. Even more shocking was that the last time she'd seen the contents, roughly two days ago, it was about halfway full; now there were barely ten of them left. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "You straight-up pill poppin' now? With alcohol?! Are you kidding me?"

Joe snatched the painkillers and stuffed it back into his pocket. He took another swig from the bottle. Jack Daniels. He wiped his mouth. "Don't worry about it."

There it was again, that robotic, monotonous answer he'd been dishing out for weeks in the hopes of keeping her quiet. Well she would be silent no more. She was sick to death of being lied to. "Do not play dumb with me!" she shot back angrily, "I am done hearing that bullshit! You been poppin' pills like fuckin' M&Ms for weeks! How long has this habit been going on for, huh? When we started dating? Before? Is this what you're really like?" She planted her hands on her hips and squared her shoulders. "Are you a junkie?"

He spun around, looking at her in anger and disbelief. "Really? Is that what you think of me?"

She met his gaze evenly. "What do you want me to think? You're clearly abusing your prescription medicine. The label says four a day but you're obviously taking more. Forget my well fuckin' documented hatred for drugs, how about you think about what you're doing to yourself! And when did you start mixing it with fuckin' alcohol? What are you thinking?"

Joe didn't say a word, merely leveling her with a near-murderous glare. Sasha looked on in astonishment as he snorted derisively and turned his back on her, taking the whiskey with him as he walked to the other end of the kitchen island. Was he really not going to say anything? She trailed his every step. "Fine. If you're not going to tell me about the pills, then at least tell me what that was all about back at the house. That wasn't just about me and Patricia and you know it. Joe, what is going on with you? We're not just dating, we're friends. We're supposed to confide in each other."

He drank again. "Look, just leave me alone, alright? I want to be alone."

He spoke with such contempt that her surprised countenance transformed into one of absolute fury. Seizing his bottle of whiskey, she flung it blindly to the side, hearing it smash somewhere. Joe jumped back in alarm, then stared at her in shock. "What the fuck, Sasha?"

"Damn it, Joseph, you tell me what the fuck is going on or so help me God I'll leave!" she threatened. "I'll walk outta here right now! If I have to walk all the way back to fuckin' Tampa I will!"

"Nothing's stopping you."

Just the tone of his voice alone as he dismissed her made the mother of two feel as though she'd been slapped. But she refused to retreat or surrender. "Oh I see how it is. I know what this is. If your dumb ass think you gonna get rid of me that easily, you out of your goddamn mind. I'm gonna get answers tonight if I have to fuckin' Superman punch you in the face."

Again, petulant, maddening silence. Incensed, she shoved him. "Motherfucker I'm talking to you-"

"Get off my fuckin' back, Sasha!" Joe roared, his eyes blazing mercury as he rounded on her. "Just stop!"

Sasha flinched, violently, staring at her boyfriend with wide eyes as he towered terrifyingly over her with his fists clenched. Through the haze of rage that surrounded him, Joe caught her cowering stance, the fear in her eyes, as though she thought he was about to strike her. Never had she acted or looked at him that way and it was enough to make his heart wrench painfully. "Sasha...I'm sorry." His strong features crumpled in misery. "Just...I can't. Please don't. I'm sorry. I just can't..."

The words trailed off, and he staggered backwards and turned back to the granite countertop of the kitchen island, hunched over and breathing hard as he gripped the edges, seemingly trying to draw strength from it. His knuckles were quickly whitening, his body so tense that Sasha was sure if she touched him he would break.

And just like that, all the anger drained from her body. Now she was sure she couldn't leave him. Whatever this was had been eating him up inside while he suffered in silence and it had all boiled over tonight. She wasn't going anywhere. Not until they got to the bottom of this.

"You're hurting, Joe," she said quietly. "You've been hurting for years. There's been a haunted look in your eyes from the day we first met. When you didn't want to talk about it back then I said fine, that's cool, you don't have to tell me. But now you do. I need to know what happened between you and Andrea. What did she do that has all of you so devastated?"

He turned his head slowly, painfully towards her, and she was taken aback by the anguish in his eyes. "Tell me what happened," she begged softly. "Please, baby. I've never seen you like this before and it's breaking my heart into a million pieces. I want to understand. Talk to me. Get this off your chest once and for all. "

Swallowing hard, Joe looked into the inquiring eyes of the beautiful woman next to him, still willing to stand by him even after the way he treated her. That was all it took for his tongue to loosen, reopening a wound that had been trying to heal for the past three years.

"I met Andrea at Georgia Tech. She was a year below me. We met up at some party, hung out, hooked up a couple of days later. I wasn't drawn to her instantly but she grew on me and we soon clicked. She wanted to be a chiropractor or something. I remember Colby not liking her very much when he first met her, which should have set off alarm bells because Colb gets along with everybody." His laugh was dry and humorless. "The first couple of years together was fine. I left College midway and moved to Tampa to join FCW. Andrea came with me to Tampa but when Developmental transferred to Orlando, the trouble started. She complained that I was always leaving her, that I was never home and never had time for her. I was out there in Orlando, trying to live up to my family's name and hell-bent on proving myself so yeah, I'll admit I didn't allow myself much time for her. She was always questioning what I was doing when I was gone, who I was shacking up with behind her back. It was just ridiculous to me. We kept fighting and fighting until I reached a point where I just couldn't do it anymore, and I told her so.

"About two months into our split, she calls me up and tells me she's pregnant. I'm not gonna lie; I was overjoyed. I love children. I've always wanted a family. I saw how happy my brother was with his, and my sisters too, and I wanted that. I decided to do what was right and got back together with her. I wanted to be there for her and the baby.

"I'd recently gotten the house in Tampa, so I moved her in with me, and I started making more time to spend with her. I drove home from Orlando every week and I always made sure I got home to see her. I knew I had to give up a degree of freedom because of my new responsibilities and I did. Yet we were still fighting. One time she was pissed that I'd stayed up all night with the boys. Colby and his girlfriend at the time had broken up and we went out drinking to take his mind off things. Andrea said something about neglecting my priorities which pissed me off. I told her that if my friends needed me I'd be there for them. I may soon be a father but I'm still a man and a friend. I told her point blank that my baby came first above everything and everyone, including her, and if the baby was fine, that was my first concern. I still tried to do what was right by her. I'd drive with her to checkups and stuff. Time went on and the arguing stopped and things seemed to be better between us. It was getting fun, the whole father-to-be thing, and I couldn't wait till my baby was born. Next thing I know her old roommate calls me out of the blue and tells me Andrea was having a miscarriage."

Sasha's eyes widened.

"I don't remember the drive to the hospital. I just remember seeing Andrea curled up in the hospital bed crying and apologizing to me. I remember crying too; for my unborn child, for the plans I had made for my baby. All of it, gone. Things became distant between us again. Tense. I remember her not wanting me to go in with her when I took her back to get checked out by the Doctor. I figured she wanted some privacy with her body and I was okay with that. But basically we left the hospital knowing what we already knew. We lost the baby. It was horrible, Sasha. I just wanted it to be over so Andrea and I could move on with our lives. I didn't think things could get worse after that but boy was I wrong."

Dread filled the pit of Sasha's stomach. What could possibly be worse than losing a child?

"It was two weeks later when I was driving home and a call came in on my cell. Andrea was in the emergency room. Again, I barely remember the drive. I got to the ER. Had to sit and wait. It was nearly an hour when the Doctor came in and told me what was going on." Joe swallowed back the tears climbing up his throat. He would remember the Doctor's words for the rest of his life…

"It was a close call, Sir. Miss Brewer experienced severe hemorrhaging, but she got here just in time otherwise she wouldn't be alive right now. We just underwent surgery to take out the excessive tissue from the procedure. Belated hemorrhaging is a common occurrence among patients who choose medical abortion and sadly it tends to be fatal, so we're very lucky she got here when she did..."

Sasha felt her heart plummet all the way down to her toes. There was no way she had heard right. But the tears streaming silently down Joe's chiseled cheeks told her otherwise.

Oh my God.

It wasn't a miscarriage. Andrea had an abortion.

Joe was silent for a moment, then when he spoke again, his voice was a little more than a hoarse whisper. "I couldn't believe it. I had to find out the truth. Find out for myself. I know the Doctor only told me about it because he thought I knew. I remember playing it off with him, acting like I knew, while deep down I was fuckin' raging. I've never been so angry in my life. I went to Andrea's hospital room and asked her what happened without giving anything away. Yet again she lied that it was complications from the miscarriage. I swear to God I coulda killed her. Killed her like she did our baby. I told her enough with the lies and tell me the truth. And do you know the reason she gave? She thought getting pregnant would finally make her first in my life. Basically the baby showed up and stole her thunder so she got rid of it. She planned it all, Sasha. She planned it from the jump. First she switched her birth control pills so she could get pregnant, then she bought the abortion pills a few weeks after she realized I was 'paying more attention to the baby's wellbeing than hers'," he made the quote signs.

"Joe...I'm so sorry." Never in a million years did she expect something like this to come out of his mouth.

"I ended it then and there," Joe soldiered on. "I gave her three days to get her stuff out of my house and get the fuck out of my life. I didn't care where she went. I just wanted her lying ass gone. I remember going all the way to Vegas to stay with Jon because I couldn't bear to be at my place. Too many memories. I didn't tell Management what was going on. Made up some excuse. No one knew what really happened other than my immediate family and the group."

Sasha nodded in understanding. By now she knew who 'The Group' was: Colby, Jon, Trinity, the twins and Lauren, Colby's girlfriend. His inner circle. His most trusted friends that had no doubt rallied around him during that terrible time.

"Trinity and Lauren actually drove down to my house to make sure Andrea took all her stuff out. They got rid of everything that belonged to her. And I mean everything. By the time I returned it was as though she never existed. She was erased, according to Trin and Lauren." Joe laughed but again, the sound had an acrimonious texture to it, devoid of humor. "I haven't seen her since and I never want to see her again. What she did to me is worse than betrayal. She murdered my unborn baby in cold blood, Sasha. If the abortion pills hadn't fucked up I probably would have never known what she did and she was gonna keep lying to my face, laughing at me behind my back. What kills me the most is that she got me involved. She said she was going for a checkup when what she was really doing was finishing off the process. She made me part of it when I drove her to the fuckin' hospital to finish it off. I never even got to know the sex of our child." His voice shook. "I've never hated anyone in my life but I hate her. I hate Andrea Brewer and I probably always will. She sacrificed my baby, all for what? To get my attention? She didn't even care about her own body and what the repercussions of having an abortion could do to her in the future. She was just mad that she wasn't getting her way."

The bright fluorescent lighting above them bounced off Joe's tear-stained features. His arms continued to tremble. "It's been well over three years. I thought I would recover eventually, but I guess I was wrong. My mother supported her while we were together and she'd betrayed her too by denying her another grandchild. That's why she's so angry. It hurt me. It hurt us all." His clenched fist met his forehead as memories assaulted him, the disappointment when he learned he would never get to hold his baby in his arms, that he would never see his child grow up, take its first steps or utter its first words. A lifetime of dreams and illusions snatched away from him. The wound was still deep, still very, very painful.

"It's getting late. It's been a long day and you need to rest." She didn't know what else to say. He looked so drained from the effort of unloading this story. She could see and feel every ounce and every inch of his pain, and all she wanted to do was take them away for him.

Joe gaped at her for a moment, then chuckled wryly. "Still taking care of me even after how I acted. I don't deserve you."

Her eyes stung. Ignoring his statement, she asked, "Where's the bedroom? Come on." She took his hand and led him in the direction he pointed. She found the room and pushed him towards the bed and he climbed in, shoes and all. She followed him in and allowed him to curl his big body around hers and rest his head on her shoulder. Sasha put her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair as he held her tightly, as though afraid she would disappear if he didn't.

"I was glad when you first told me you had kids," Joe whispered through the silence of the room, his voice sleepy as the effects of the alcohol took over. "You already had children; you would never stoop to such lows." He yawned. "You would never…kill my baby."

She didn't hear another word from him after that. His hold on her loosened a little and his breathing became less labored and more even. Sasha lay there on the bed holding the broken man in her arms. Closing her eyes, she began to sob.

At last, we know what happened with Andrea. Do things make a bit of sense now or are they even more complicated? Should Sasha run while she still can? Will she?

There are some questions Joe is yet to answer but we'll get to all of it soon.

For those looking to rip Andrea's head off, Google Jordana Brewster.

On a side note, can I just mention how jealous I am of Joe's real-life girl? That chick is smokin' hot. Lawd!

Kindly review, pweety pwease!

Song lyrics from 'Decadence' by Disturbed