A/N: Onward! I feel like sometimes, I am Chelsea. She is supposed to represent a lot of women who had that one guy (or girl!) who just screwed her over…and as much as you want to forget him, you can't. Like the "I hate you" to "Why would he do that to me" in 0.5 seconds. This one's for us!

Roman enveloped his girl, giving her the greatest bear hug he could muster. Dean had told him that Natalie and Summer Rae had verbally attacked her in the hallway, and that was confirmed later on during the Smackdown taping. Though the only member of the Shield to compete tonight was Dean, all three were scheduled promos. There wasn't much time in between, and it put a serious damper on seeing Chelsea. Lame as it seemed, he did miss her.

"You really sold the story," he said to her after they'd pulled apart, grinning at her stupidly. He stroked her cheek gently, mindlessly.

AJ was still at her side, an evil grin on her face. Although he hadn't spoken much to AJ, he respected her greatly.

"That's because it's really not a story. In fact, I hope that Chels can knock a tooth out," AJ stated, her face lighting up.

Chelsea seemed distant. Roman figured that she was thinking about her match. He had to admit, he was surprised that Dean had given the green light to Stephanie to schedule her. At first, he suspected that his partner was acting maliciously so that Summer could get her shining moment.

Roman worried that she wasn't ready. He feared that Chelsea would look like she didn't belong in the ring anymore. But after speaking to Dean and voicing his concerns (perhaps in a threatening manner), Dean assured Roman that he truly believed in Chelsea. He said that even though he didn't like her, he wouldn't embarrass her to that extent. He swore that with a couple heavy training sessions, she'd be back at the top of her game.

Chelsea didn't say anything for a long while, and it was an awkward moment between the three of them. AJ gave him a shooting glare, and he knew he had to say something.

"What's wrong, Chelsea Sweetly? Nervous for life-sized Barbie?" he teased, trying to lighten the heaviness in the air.

"I just don't know if I'm really ready," she admitted, and AJ rolled her eyes.

"As soon as you square up, you are going to have so much adrenaline. The way the fans will cheer for you down to the ring? It'll make you believe you're ready. When it's personal like that, you'll be so busy trying to out-do each other, that win or lose…people are going to watch," AJ stepped in, not allowing Roman to take over any words of encouragement. This was her territory.

"The Divas division, aside from…well, you…is just struggling so much. A lot of fans get up and get refills on their sodas or take a piss or whatever. I worked hard, and I know we all do. I'm afraid that overall, it's not going to get the kind of response it should."

AJ leaned closer to the pair, nodding her head. "I know what you mean, but if you give it a thousand percent, the right people are going to notice. I promise."

That was something that was known to be true. AJ had told her in very large detail the missteps she had taken to get to the WWE. She was literally told that she had no sex appeal. She wasn't pretty enough. But instead, AJ kept proving herself in the ring, rather than worrying about her makeup.

Chelsea thanked her friend, glad that despite all of her own personal troubles, she was willing to keep pushing Chelsea forward.

Earlier, AJ had let management know she planned on taking some time off following Wrestlemania, and they'd nearly blown a gasket. Even though she'd been the champion for as long as she had, she still hadn't fully gained the respect she deserved. The more she worked, the more apparent it was that they held a grudge against her simply because of who she was dating. Sad as it was, Chelsea really didn't want her to leave in the midst of the divas and anti-divas war. But at the same time, she understood. After all, AJ was always missing her fiancé and skating by on matches, which made her the subject of a lot of locker room talk.

AJ quietly excused herself, leaving the two alone to meet with Tamina. She gave a gentle reminder to Chelsea which room the trio would be staying in. Roman's face fell a little. Chelsea realized quickly that he was hoping that she'd stay the night with him.

"It would be easier to stay with me, you know," he told her as they walked out the double-doors to the parking lot, confirming the thought immediately.

"I guess. I just really missed AJ while she was gone."

"Don't stay up too late painting each other's nails and gossiping," he faux-scolded, and Chelsea laughed once.

"Believe me, I'm good on that. I'm sure she is, too."

"Alright, well, let me drive you. Dean has a grueling work-out prepared for you tomorrow, so make sure you rest up."

"Should I stretch beforehand?" she quirked an eyebrow. "Because if so, maybe I should stay with you."

Roman knew she was kidding, but the sexual tension was undeniable. Playing off from it, he turned to her, his chiseled features quirking his own eyebrow.

"That might be interesting. I could help you stretch all night," Roman smiled, his white teeth gleaming under the lamps in the quiet parking lot.

Chelsea smacked him on the shoulder, giggling girlishly. Then, she cursed herself for giggling.

But, even though she felt like a total fool, Chelsea was also comforted as she walked with Roman. So comfortable in fact, that she found herself slipping her hand into Roman's. Roman looked out of the corner or his eye to see if anyone else was headed to the parking lot yet. He only saw Big E, who nodded at him, ignoring the fact that he was holding hands with the darkest diva.

It wasn't that he was ashamed of his relationship. He was ready for it, of course. But he wasn't sure letting the whole locker room know quite yet was the right choice. He was also sure that Chelsea wasn't ready to let the world know either.

Part of him also worried that once Alicia figured out he had finally begun dating someone else, she'd stir up some trouble. Add her into the drama with the Total Divas, and his girlfriend's head would probably explode.

He also didn't want her to be scrutinized when she became successful down the road. Despite whether or not they were dating, she would achieve greatness on her own. Everything she'd already done was on her own without any of his help. Unfortunately, people didn't always see that—they'd see that the Shield turned out to be successful. She'd be accused of riding on their coattails. False, but a probable assumption.

And that's when he saw that rat duck behind Natalie's red car, her bleachy blonde hair catching the sheen of the moon.

Fucking Summer Rae.

He didn't think she saw anything, but what if she had? She had brand new ammunition to fire, and Chelsea wasn't fully prepared for the divas to pick apart their relationship, especially since it was still new. Sure, Naomi might have his back, but could the same be said for Chelsea? Probably not…

Hoping that Summer hadn't seen them leaving together, he opened the door for Chelsea. She thanked him as she slipped inside. She was already searching her purse for her phone, ready to hook up her music to the car. Roman groaned. She didn't have terrible taste in music. He was more a classic rock kind of guy, and she enjoyed screechier versions with keyboard overload.

"It won't be that bad, I promise," she laughed, and she found what she was reaching for. Roman wasn't so sure and was prepared for the worst.

"I had a really good friend when I was staying…in California," she said the last part uncomfortably, and he sensed she was still embarrassed that she'd spent time in rehab. Regardless, he realized that she was trying to open up to him. So, he started the car and turned to her, showing that he truly was interested in what she had to say.

Chelsea bit her lip. She set the phone on the dock, and continued:

"She loved this band. For my birthday last year, she sent one of their CDs to the apartment I'd been staying at while I was still seeing the doctor there. Outpatient, you know..." She was really uncomfortable now. She was nervously talking in circles, and she looked away. Her head was away from him, and her hair was masking her face. Roman looked at the tune she'd chosen. Though he'd never heard of the band or the song, he figured he'd give them a try. Besides, any information he could get about Chelsea, he'd take.

"I always think of Len when I hear this," she reminisced, a pained expression on her face. He wondered how they'd fallen out of contact, but the look on her face told him not to ask. Not yet. Perhaps this Lennon girl was still serving her time in the rehabilitation facility.

Rather than the roar of Chelsea's music, violins began to softly play. Then, a gruff voice sang, off-set by a beautiful woman's voice. He had to admit, this friend of Chelsea's had pretty decent taste. The combination of the two voices he wasn't sure he'd heard before, but the man's voice...he was almost sure he had. He just couldn't quite put his finger on where.

Break their hold;

Because I won't be controlled.

They can't keep their chains on me

When the truth has set me free.

This is how it feels when you take your life back.

This is how it feels when you finally fight back.

When life pushes me, I push harder. What doesn't kill me;

Makes me stronger.

The last thing I heard is you whispering goodbye;

And then I heard you flatline.

"I like it," Roman said after the song finished, giving a nod of approval. Some more songs played, and each one was quite decent.

They were getting close to the hotel now, and he noticed Chelsea had gone quiet. He looked at her, and she looked back.

"I'm sorry. I haven't listened to this in awhile."

Taking the queue, Roman cleared his throat. "Why did you play this for me?"

Giving a half-smile, she responded, "Because if I've ever learned anything, it's to believe in myself. Even if I'm the only one believing."

"Your friend has decent taste in music," he responded, and Chelsea smiled wider. "If you knew the band she sang for, you wouldn't think so," she told him, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw she was watching him.

"That rough?"

"Very rough. Think Marilyn Manson, except a girl. One of her biggest songs was called Property of Goatfucker. I promise you, you will hate it," Chelsea gave a weak smile before turning to face her window.

"Manson is creepy. And what the fuck?" he shook his head, thinking he should look up the song when he'd gotten back to the hotel. But Chelsea had warned him it was less than ideal, so he quickly put that idea to rest. It sounded terrible, anyways.

"Why would she like something like this, then?" he wondered out loud.

Chelsea thought for a moment. "Because she was hopeful," she said back, matter-of-fact. "She was consumed by darkness for a really long time. And finally, there was a light. She was so angry and carried that around. But she'd started to change for the better." She looked away and quickly wiped a stray tear from her eye. She composed herself quickly, and Roman opted not to push further. Roman was silent as he turned into the hotel parking lot.

The pair got out of the vehicle, the crisp air instantly cooling Roman. Chelsea walked to the back and slung her bag over her shoulder, even though Roman offered to carry it for her. Together, they'd walked to the sidewalk in front of the lobby doors. They were probably the last of the stars to make it to the hotel for the evening, and Roman felt disappointed again that he wouldn't be able to stay with her.

"Next weekend my brother's coming home," she said quietly, and at first, Roman wasn't sure what she'd said, or if she'd said anything at all. "Toby," she nearly whispered.

"You going to see him?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"I want to see him. I don't want to see anyone else."

"Get ahold of him. I'll go with you," he said back. Her eyes flashed, and she instantly lightened up.

"Really? Because I would really appreciate it," she said, and Roman put his free arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

"For you, Chels, I would travel to the opposite side of the world."

Did she really ask Roman to stay at her lowly studio apartment in Portland? Yes, she did. Compared to Roman's immaculate home, it was laughable. But it was too late. Toby would be staying at their Mom's, so Roman could comfortably stay with her. But it was still scary to let him into the personal part of her life that she didn't like to flaunt. She cringed as she pictured her place: gray walls covered with creepy paintings of trees and blackbirds, her five hundred black t-shirts, and her mound of shoes….yikes. She was going to have to call Toby to check in and make sure she didn't have anything embarrassing laying around before Roman set foot in there.

Roman quietly walked beside her through the empty halls, not bothering to mask the smirk he wore. Chelsea's mind, meanwhile, was going a million miles per minute.

The next thing she knew, they were facing her room. AJ and Tamina were already inside. She could hear the quiet talking already, and AJ was watching…Pokemon? No surprise.

"Just a kiss goodnight?" Roman asked slowly, and Chelsea watched each word tumble from his lips. She found herself suddenly wishing that she had agreed to spend the night with him. But part of her didn't know that she'd be able to stop herself from doing something stupid, and she wasn't sure she was ready for a physical relationship. Sure, the lust was real. But she wanted to make sure the love was, too.

Besides, she liked where they were. Still a very young, teenager-like summer romance. That was where she wanted them to be right now.

"But I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked as a question rather than a statement, knowing that the Shield members had an exclusive interview for WWE's website. Aside from training with Dean, she figured it would be hard to see the other two.

"I'm sure you will," he closed in on her, his lips barely grazing hers when they heard someone clapping behind them.

"Holy shit, girl, you tamed the beast?" Seth was all smiles, his hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Both Roman and Chelsea rolled their eyes, and Roman gave her a quick kiss, making his way to Seth and elbowing him between the ribs.

"See ya later, Seth," Chelsea called out. He waved at her as he tried to catch some air. He was still doubled over while walking down the hallway. She opened the door to her own room, her eyes trained on her friends. Tamina was doing some sort of yoga. AJ was sprawled out, sketching a picture of one of the Ninja Turtles.

Shutting the door, Chelsea threw her bag into a corner, saying hello to the two. She pulled out a bag of pita chips from her duffel, cracking them open.

It was silent for quite awhile, and for the first time in her entire life, she watched Pokemon. She found that AJ was sending her drawing to Phil. She noted that next to the turtle, AJ had drawn a heart-shaped pizza.

Aww.

"So tell me about you and Roman," AJ said finally, peering over the top of her thick-rimmed glasses.

"I mean….well, I went to visit his house," she said shyly, her face gaining some red. "It was wonderful. And as much as I didn't want a relationship at this point in my life, it's working out so far…"

AJ gave a Ric Flair "Wooo!" and clapped happily, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed.

"Sometimes I'm afraid I won't be able to balance drama, the past, my career, and a relationship. How do you do it?" she asked the black widow, and she pulled her knees back up to her chest.

"Save the drama for the shows. The past is passed. All that's left is your career and your relationship. Throw in some you-time, and us-time, and it will work out. As long as you want it to, everything plays off from each other and you'll be fine."

Chelsea considered this. When she was screwing around with Jeff, he outweighed everything, and she threw away everything for him. She wasn't good at time management, she supposed. But with Roman being a rising star, maybe it'd work out. He wouldn't be able to hang out whenever like Jeff did…and it would make the time together better.

At least, she hoped so.

Tamina came over, stuffing her hand into the pita chip bag. "So you and Roman Reigns," she smirked, shaking her head. "I always thought it'd be him and Summer," she said with a mouthful of chips.

"What makes you say that?" Chelsea had a painful pang in her stomach.

"Because she's a human leech!" AJ cut in. "It's not like she's got anything going for her. She's the type that would get together with someone just because they were stars. When she started, she flaunted her boobs and legs to a very unimpressed Randy Orton. Little did she know he was as unavailable as could be."

Tamina snickered, nodding. Hell, even Chelsea knew that one of the top stars had his eyes on only his wife and his daughter. She remembered them coming to see him win the heavyweight title, and he was so proud...

"Really though, keep your eye on Roman Reigns," Tamina's voice got strong as she swallowed her chips.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's not my business, but Alicia Fox and I used to be good pals back when I started. They dated for awhile. Not long by any means, but it really left her heartbroken for a bit," Tamina gave her a solemn look, and Chelsea knew immediately she was being honest.

But the fact that it had left Alicia 'heartbroken' worried her. Chelsea didn't like the way that sounded, hiding a gulp. Roman hadn't said anything about heartbreak, just that they were both young. What did he conveniently "forget" to tell her?

She gained the courage and asked, "What happened?"

AJ shot Tamina "the look" and Tamina brushed it off. "She has a right to know," she said back.

"Know what?" Chelsea was growing antsy now. She had a really bad feeling about it, and she was beginning to grow more and more anxious.

"Roman isn't exactly the nice guy he paints himself to be. He ended up cheating on Alicia," Tamina said quickly. "I don't know the whole story, but I know in whatever situation, cheating is not cool."

Chelsea could've sworn she was going to puke. Her stomach felt like it had a ten-ton weight in it, and her palms began to sweat. Her Roman? The sweet, caring guy she'd spent all this time with? The one she'd opened up to and allowed him to get close to her? The one she'd let touch her? Kiss her...?

Was he seriously a cheater?

"Once a cheater, always a cheater," Lennon's voice was echoing in her head now. She felt like she was dreaming, her head spinning.

A sudden feeling of disappointment took control. Chelsea almost couldn't believe it. She didn't really want to believe it. Obviously, Roman had a past, and that was fine. She was certainly not a saint. But he had omitted the fact that he'd been with another woman in during his last relationship—and to her, that was just like a straight lie.

Between seeing Lennon disintegrate after getting cheated on and having been the woman on the side, Chelsea thought Roman would have a lot more respect. She'd told him about the things she'd done wrong, yet he'd never bothered to tell her his darkest secrets. That was simply not how relationships worked. Though she was no relationship expert, she knew that much

It was despicable, really, and Chelsea was angry more than anything.

Once you started playing with another person's heart means you've got nothing left in yours.

But Chelsea couldn't cry. Part of her felt like this was all to ruffle her feathers, but she wasn't so sure. Her friends were watching her back and didn't want to tell her about Roman's past to hurt her. Tamina wasn't trying to upset her, but just sure she knew what she was getting into.

AJ had very clearly tried to get Tamina to hold back on this information for awhile, perhaps because Chelsea's relationship with Roman was still too new, but also because she was still very fragile.

She wanted a drink. She wanted a lot of them. She wanted to scream, to curse, to fuck Jeff Hardy until she didn't have these stupid emotions anymore. She wanted to run away from this hotel, run away from Roman, and never look back. But none of those were options, so she did the last thing she could do.

Chelsea marched right over to her duffle bag, pulled out her swimsuit, and left.

She could hear Tamina and AJ scuffling about how it wasn't their place to say anything. AJ muttered that it was Roman's business and that he should have been the one to bring it up.

Sighing as she walked away from the closed door Chelsea just angrily chuckled. Of course Roman wouldn't bring up such a scalding hot piece of his past! He'd just sit there and listen to hers, pretending he was perfect.

Fuck that.

Changing into her suit in a tiny women's locker room, she was happy to see the pool was vacant. She didn't want to attempt to swim laps with kids around. She hadn't actually taken a real swim since she'd left California, and before that; back in high school. She was on the varsity team her senior year and was actually pretty good. She'd been offered tons of scholarships. Nothing interested her. The chlorine didn't do it for her anymore. The truth was, she'd just grown bored of competing. That, and the way her teammates used to make fun of this one girl who tried her damnedest but couldn't quite get the hang of competitive swimming.

Her name was Molly, and she was perhaps the nerdiest they came, even outdoing AJ. Of course, once Chelsea quit the team and screwed over their chances of going to state, they turned their focus towards her. The bullying from her former teammates had distraught her. Chelsea had realized that everything she thought that was making her happy back then wasn't making her happy at all. Everything she'd worked for meant nothing anymore.

This change in attitude eventually led her to dye her pretty chestnut brown hair black. Then, she dumped her high school sweetheart. Following that, she made good friends with her eyeliner pencil... all to her mother's dismay.

She'd graduated school, decided not to go on to college and pursued modeling shortly after. But eventually, she'd grown bored of that, too. She'd found her place when she'd started wrestling, and truly fell in love with the art.

She was lucky to still be doing what she loved.

All the while these thoughts were running through her head, she was swimming back and forth across the pool. She swam until muscles she didn't even know she had were sore. She swam the breaststroke, freestyle, the butterfly. She swam until her fingers and toes got pruny and the chlorine was starting to interfere with her breathing.

Pulling herself out of the water, she grabbed her towel and began to dry off. She decided that after her time training with Dean tomorrow, she was going to leave for awhile. She didn't really want to go to Oregon until Toby was home. It would force her to stop by her mom without him as a buffer. So, that was out of the question. She wasn't particularly homesick for her apartment. Besides, she didn't want Roman to follow her because she needed the time away from him to just think, Portland would be the first place he'd expect her to go.

No, she decided. She was going on her own mini-vacation. She had a lot of thinking to do.