Who Do You Love - Dean Ambrose

Too Little Too Late

The next day Hunter visited us.

Just like that.

Bam.

As in literally right out of the blue.

One minute I was in the kitchen making Dean pancakes – a benefit of not being out on the road, the ability to whip up homemade food – and the next I was aware of hushed but angry voices filtering through from the direction of the hall. In reality I probably would have been better to stay cooking, but with curiosity getting the best of me, I wiped my hands and crept in towards them, my mind running silently through all the possibilities and predictably choosing to linger on the worst.

Was it something work related?

Oh god.

What if – what if it was Bray?

Given that Dean wasn't throwing things however or hitting anybody then that seemed to be a no. Maybe it was as simple as Dean's next door neighbour. Had someone seen – or heard – us in the yard last night? Or possibly through the kitchen window, or over by the pool?

Awkward.

By the time I passed the door to the den, I could make out the individual tones and while one of them was definitely Dean, it took a beat before I recognized who the other one was. When I did however, I let out a gasp and skidded round the corner,

"What are you doing here?"

Both Dean and Hunter turned instantly to look at me, both of their faces showing regret. On Dean's part that was because he knew I would get tearful and he had clearly wanted to keep from that. But on Hunter's part it could have been pretty much anything. From abandoning my mother, to forcing me into the limelight, or – what else, oh yeah – his homicidal wife.

"Lauren – ," he started, stepping towards me, but Dean blocked the movement with a growl of warning and kept him pitifully consigned to the shaded porch step, "Thank god you're okay, I've been going out of my mind with worry – ,"

"Why?" I asked, keeping my tone neutral and once again starting to feel myself go numb, "You knew I was with Dean. Did you think he wouldn't look after me?"

Hunter paused briefly,

"No, it wasn't that I just – I just needed to see for myself that you were alright. After everything that happened you must be – ,"

"What?" I interjected sharply and my tone of voice surprised even myself, "Terrified? Broken? Totally crushed? Well don't worry Hunter because I'm all those things as well."

Dean's eyes slid across to me briefly although his didn't change his stance,

"Easy Princess, everythin's alright."

"Lauren, listen, I know you're mad at me but we need to talk about what happened, okay?"

I felt my body vibrate with emotion although whether it was anger, fear or both I didn't know. A furious mist curled in through my system and – oh no, wait – it was anger after all.

"What happened?" I spat in disbelief, "Um, what happened is that the clan you told me you would deal with held me captive for twenty-four hours, then, as if that wasn't bad enough, dragged me on stage in front of millions of people and humiliated me on live television and – ,"