Who Do You Love - Dean Ambrose

Coming Clean

An hour later I was sitting in a bath, staring blankly into the soapy water and wondering when things in my life had gone so wrong.

No mother.

No father.

No solid foundations.

It was an almost unfathomable list of disasters and that was before I even gotto Bray Wyatt and the stepmother who had decided that trying to kill me was preferable to welcoming me into her home. My tears mingled miserably with the water from my wet hair and as hard as I tried to scrub the feelings off I still felt icky and unwanted inside.

Dean had removed the handcuffs in the car, using two bobby pins and what I could only assume was a lifetime of having lived on the edge of the law. I didn't ask. I didn't have the words to. In fact I didn't really have any words left and it was a state of silence that had lasted right through checking into our motel room, getting undressed and then beyond.

For obvious reasons the guys had vetoed staying in the hotel that Hunter had picked and instead we had driven to a run-down looking place about an hour outside of where the taping was being held. Evidently it was somewhere they had all used before and while it wasn't the most glamorous of settings I couldn't imagine that my father, Stephanie or Bray Wyatt would look for us there. I was safe, I knew I was, but at the same time – in spite of that – I couldn't make myself feel happy.

The only thing I felt was numb.

As the bathroom door creaked open I looked up and watched Dean step in newly changed out of his ring-gear. He paused for a second to look at my face, then dropped down beside me, folding his arms across the edge of the bath tub and resting his chin against them,

"Hey."

"Hey," I offered back shakily,

"How you doin' in here?"

It was obvious the answer was in the realms of not good but I tried to lie through it anyway,

"Okay."

I didn't really realize I was rubbing at my wrists until he leaned over to take one, brushing his fingers over the bruising and then carefully pressing it up to his lips. The gentleness and love behind the movement was startling – especially after everything I'd been through – and it struck me in a sudden avalanche of emotions and brought in fresh tears to stream down my cheeks,

"I – I thought I'd never see you again,"

Looking up as my voice broke into a million different pieces, Dean used my wrist to pull me closer, running his palm down the back of my head and wrapping me up in a passionate kiss.

"Sssh,"

When we broke apart I felt marginally calmer and I centred myself by staring into his eyes,

"How – how did you get out of jail?"

"Hunter came by and dropped all the charges. He said you made one hell of a speech."

"It – it was Bray. He – he planted your phone by the car and – ,"

"Sssh," Dean repeated, "I figured as much."