Okay, so we come to the end of this story but hopefully we're going to bow out on a high! Details on the follow up story at the bottom and of course, I couldn't sign this off without saying THANK YOU to all my readers and ESPECIALLY my reviewers who make me smile through both the good times and the bad. Couldn't do this without you guys, I mean that!

xXBalorBabeXx, Hopefully Dean in this chapter will make up for him not being on TV. On the plus side though, Kurt said he's nearly back and Seth said late spring, which could be anytime now. Let's cross our fingers together, more luck that way! Thank you for all your reviews, so much!

Wolfgirl2013, Aww, thank you so much and thank you for once again supporting my work and upping my reviews, which I always think helps to draw other people in. Glad you liked it and hopefully this chapter will finish it off nicely...until next time of course!

Mandy, Oh no! I'm so sorry. Clearly they don't know what they're missing. It may not seem like it now but sometimes the best can come from the worst, even if it takes time. Glad I could help but you help me too, by always being so supportive and leaving such lovely reviews *big hugs*

Minnie1015, Bzzzzz, sorry, the answer is sweet, say it with me now! Oh who am I kidding? I buy ice cream at the movies anyway. Have your salty if it makes you happy! Hunter is a conflicted kinda guy isn't he? Especially in the next story... Now finally, as ever thank you for my reviews!

Labinnacslove, Yeah, Dean could never stay away too long. But is he happy or is he mad? As for Hunter, well, the McMahon Helmsley household had never really known when to quit has it? Playing party games with them must be fun! Super glad to have you back, thanks for the reviews!

Skovko, Nope, Father of the Year 2014 is totally nothing that Hunter is in the running for since he's being a typical hopeless man and not being able to say the words 'I care.' Lucky that our Lauren knows her Dean better. Or at least she thinks she does. As ever my lovely, thanks for reviewing!

LunaticxLass, Haha, well you might be right on the Roman side of things. I always imagine him to be the most sensible. Thank goodness he's there! Hunter is...ugh, he's Hunter always will be! But for now, I want to say thank you so much for reviewing and hopefully I'll see you at the next one?!

For the last time on this go then...

I'm Your Baby Tonight

I feel asleep feeling pretty much like I'd been sucker punched –

Not helped an awful lot by the sheer amount I cried and the fact that the tears were the big, itchy hot ones that tore down my face like a never ending stream and mingled with my nose until my full face was plastered with bodily fluids and deep misery blubs.

Ugh.

How on earth had I fallen so heavily and what had I done to merit having such wild lows? Maybe I had murdered a prostitute in a past life or kicked a puppy or turned a turtle upside down. Either way I had to have done something terrible, because otherwise why was I going through the mill?

First my mother and then my father –

Both of them one way or another had been lost and on each of those occasions I had been forced into grieving and moving on without the paternal love they had held out. My mom especially had been the worst of those two endings and losing her had pretty much ripped me apart, finding my father therefore had been special and had briefly helped to fill a tiny part of that loss. But when I had met him, he had been big and charming and loving and protective like I had wanted and more. His fall from grace and from my life had been brutal, but he hadn't been ripped away.

Instead he had walked.

Dean had too although I hoped it wasn't permanent but still the thoughts tore at me –

Maybe I wasn't good enough?

If one or two people had left after knowing me, then I was pretty much able to chalk it up to bad luck, but the more and more my loved ones washed their hands of me, the more I had to figure that there was something I had done.

Perhaps I didn't deserve to find someone?

Perhaps it was my destiny to be on my own?

I buried my head into the pillow and bawled again but at least on that occasion I seemed to manage to cry it out, since I eventually fell into a baffled exhaustion that dragged me right through to the following dawn. In fact, I didn't wake until a hand palmed my hair back and the bed depressed a little to my left although because I was so gone none of the movements seemed to register and neither did the very gently smiling sounding tones,

"Princess?"

"Wha – ?"

Dean's aftershave seemed stronger but I assumed it was still seeping from his pillow's soft folds and therefore merely twisted myself in deeper and blew a breath out to try and get back to sleep.

"Lauren? Princess, you wanna open those eyes for me?"

"Hmmm, okay."

I made the move in a haze but was rewarded not only with the grey light of morning but also the bright blue blaze of my boyfriend's loving orbs and the feeling of his rough thumbs gently stroking my cheekbones, which was lovely but confusing.

"Is – is this a dream?"

He snorted at me,

"Nope, real life baby."

"You came back?"

I sounded pretty spaced and it made the lips turn until the dimples popped at which point actual butterflies lit up in my soul and something warm and safe tingled through me and cut in softly through the post-exhaustion folds, because surely that meant he was actually there in front of me? In the interests of checking, I poked at one.

"Oh."

Yep –

Real.

Dean batted my hand down but caught my fingers and then wrapped them in his, lifting them up then very gently kissing them until the butterflies took flight and dragged my heart into my throat. Bursts of elation fired through my system and I struggled against the bedclothes to roll onto my back, needing to get a better view of him fiercely and not ready for a second to let him out of my beady sight.

"Yeah, I came back – was never gonna leave my best girl."

"But you were so mad."

I whispered the sentence out, partly because I assumed it was still early morning and I was worried that my bellowing might wake the neighbors up and partly because my head was still spinning and feeling pretty tender not to mention sleep-fogged.

Dean sucked a breath in,

"You got me pretty amped up, had to get outta there and cool myself off."

"Did you get drunk?"

He rolled his eyes at that line but kept his lips quirked upwards to show he wasn't annoyed, then leaned in closer and kissed at my nose tip while blowing out a breath that carried mild alcohol vibes. He shrugged at me idly,

"Maybe one or two beers, tops, but I'm not drunk Princess, I know what I'm doin' here, alright?"

In response to his answer I nodded back mutely and then unclenched the nervous fists balled against my sides, because somehow he had known exactly what I was thinking and had moved to quell my fears before I even got them out.

He wasn't forgiving me because of the alcohol.

He was sober and still loved me.

Wow.

Thank god.

In the moment the revelation was such a relief to me that I actually blew out a happy little laugh and then proceeded to frighten us both wildly by suddenly and without warning breaking down into hot tears. Dean blinked at me,

"Whoa, Princess what's happenin'?"

I reached forward sobbing brokenly and grabbed a hold of his shirt, using it to pull myself up shaking badly and then throwing myself forwards and into his chest, hauling in a shuddering breath of his manliness and the mixture of sweat and spicy cologne. His arms wrapped in around me and held me to him gently and he rubbed my back as well, although he still seemed alarmed,

"Easy baby, m' back, m' here now."

"I – I'm so sorry f-for doing what I – I did."

Dean snorted roughly,

"Yeah, well that's a two way street here, that wasn't all on you baby, I kinda freaked out."

"But you h-had every right to."

I was soaking his vest top shirt front and probably painting it with snot trails as well and nor was the breakdown doing me any favors considering all the blubbing had made the headache re-emerge. Frankly I wondered if the thumping would ever leave me, or whether my life would be forever migraine filled, like those people who sneezed for years without stopping or ended up having hiccups for decades in a row?

Dean carded my hair,

"You shoulda talked to me about it, but then again maybe I should have tried talkin' to you."

"About w-what?"

"'Bout what you wanted Princess, 'stead I just kinda decided that shit for you and accordin' to Roman that makes me a jackass an' a couple other words I'd just as soon not repeat, well, not in front of your little small town girl ears anyway, told you before baby, I don't wanna fuck you up."

For a moment or two I simply nestled against his collarbone, barely even noticing as he rocked us back and forth, mostly because I was breathing his scent in and revelling in his touch, but mainly thanks to the sobs. Gradually they were clearing but I was still sort of snuffling and so it took me a little longer to filter through what he had said, at which point I blinked and then cleared my stuffy throat out to clarify something,

"Roman found you?"

"Sure did, read me the fuckin' riot act an' everythin', talkin' about you bein' a grown ass woman and bein' able to decide what you wanted to do – ,"

I shook my head,

"But – but I should have told you."

"An' I shoulda made you feel like you could."

I frowned in response, but the narrowing of my eyebrows was decidedly playful instead of desolate, proven by me brushing the rest of my tears off and giggling at him a little even though I was still bunged up.

"Is this – is this you apologizing to me? Because I'm pretty sure you told me that you don't really do that and I know you said you weren't drunk or anything but I think maybe you have to be since – ,"

He leaned closer,

"Princess? Shush."

His lips then fell over me and pushed me over backwards and I collapsed down under them into the bedclothes soft folds, humming out my usual note of contentment and then wrapping my fingers tight around his warm neck and running my nails through the stubble above his collar like I was trying to memorize every inch of his form.

Maybe I was?

I had been hours without him and every last second had been a moment too long, having him back felt powerful and desperate and it was frankly touch and go if I would ever loosen my grip again. Dean however seemed every bit as covetous and if his lips were an indication, then he was keen to make things up, sucking my own until they throbbed beneath the power and then sliding in his tongue like he was trying to create a mould. His lips were moist and slick and beautiful and more than any other sense, they sort of felt like home. I forced another tear back and it made me bite him lightly to which he grunted in surprise at and then simply carried on,

"Fuck I missed you Princess."

Dean was panting and as he came up for breath I did choke a sob out, before hauling him back by the front of his vest top and meshing us both together in a wet and messy hold.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I wasn't even sure who I was saving my thanks for and whether I owed it all to our big dog of a brother, or whether the wider universe hadn't played their hand, or maybe thrown in some intervention from my mother.

Mom –

Hunter.

I suddenly tensed, although my boyfriend took the parting of our lips as a stop gap and pulled away breathless but beautifully bright eyed. In the moment his grin chased away my vague worry at the knowledge that I was going to have to tell him about the call and I frowned at his excitement which made my own smile widen as he pecked me on the forehead and then scrambled off,

"I – uh – I bought 'cha somethin' baby."

"You did?"

"Uh huh, that's kinda why m' back so late, I had to wait for the fuckin' stores to open, wanna see it?"

I nodded in confusion,

"Um, sure."

Before I could pause or reconsider my options, he had stumbled to his feet and was speeding across the room, heading for the chair over which he'd draped his jacket and moving with a sudden urgency that I couldn't quite place.

I sucked in a breath.

Go on Lauren, get it over with.

"Hunter called."

Dean froze on the spot and then spun around in slow motion towards me, with the hazy blue eyes tapered into something sharp and it made me shiver because god how I had missed it and the way he almost instantly filled with alpha maleness and alarm.

"He called here?"

"Um, no, he – he rang me."

"Did he upset you?"

"Kind of,"

His gaze was burning across the room and filling me whole with love and protection and it made me huff a breath which he mistook for concern or perhaps some form of latent aggravation since he tightened his jaw and then growled.

"What did he say?"

"Not a lot really – ,"

"Princess, I can handle it so just give it to me straight."

I looked down to my hands which were pooled in the covers and then shrugged in off handedness, not too sure what to say and feeling horrible for having brought the mood back down again thanks to my hugely crappy family getting in the way.

"Um, the same old hokum really, like how he was trying to protect me and all that bit, then he asked how my head was feeling and said that he was actually really concerned – ," I broke off to snort in total derision and then waved my hand around like it would fill in the gaps and Dean shook his head in response and bit a snarl down which was his general reaction at the mere mention of my old man, "He kinda told me that I could still join them, he – um – he said you weren't coming home."

I tangled my fingers and then flinched at the rejoinder,

"God damn fuckin' asshole."

Well –

He wasn't wrong.

Instead of continuing to rampage however or even tearing off to pace around the room while trying to punch at cushions or soft furnishings, my boyfriend surprised me by coming in close and then falling down onto the mattress beside me while pulling me into a tight and loving hug. I went with it happily and leaned in against him, wrapping my arms around his small but firm waist.

"I'm so glad you're back."

"I would never have left 'ya, I mean, I was all pissed sure, but I still love you more 'n life."

"I know."

"An' that's why I got so fuckin' heated earlier, because I just wanna keep you away from their crap. Don't deserve any of what you get right, you know that? You're too fuckin' sweet to take this shit all the time. First Bray, then Steph, then Hunter now fuckin' Rollins? I can't lose you baby."

I shook my head against his chest,

"You won't I promise, commentary is my safe place."

He snorted,

"Yeah right."

"No seriously it is, I mean earlier during the match, Rowan came in towards me then just stopped."

Dean blew out a breath and then cupped my face to gently pull it away from him so that he could look at me for the first time and the closeness of his scent and every bit of him made me hum again happily because I loved him being near.

"My girl is the first full-time female announcer, huh?"

I grinned in confirmation and then giggled,

"So I'm told."

"You know if I wasn't still kinda pissed about it, I might even be fuckin' glowin' with pride right?"

In replied by dropping my head back against him and nuzzling my weary head deep against his abs, fashioning myself a sort of pillow against his shirt folds and then letting my shoulders slump as the tiredness took control. In the grey light of morning the world seemed simpler, like the dark gloom of night had made everything seem worse and the tell-tale heat of another day of summer was beginning to creep in through the gaps in the drapes.

Life just seemed like it was safe again –

Bearable.

Darkness washed over me and I succumbed to its hold but only for a second as Dean suddenly bumped me gently and brought my head up with a startled and slightly groggy sounding huh. His rough tones were all awkward,

"I haven't shown you what I bought you."

I blinked and then rubbed at my eyes,

"Oh, no."

He fumbled around for a moment in his pocket and then seemed to get whatever it was caught up inside, which produced an angry and not unlikely string of cuss words that made me giggle and earnt me some side eye.

Dean raised a brow,

"You think this is funny?"

"Kind of."

"In that case I don't think you deserve it after all."

Furthering case he pulled his hand out empty and then pretended to descend into a teenager style huff except I knew he was teasing and so launched across the bedsheets, digging my fingers in his pocket and protesting lustily,

"Dean, come on, let me see."

He sat still and held his hands up, letting me rummage around inside and my fingers found a velvet box and quickly closed around it, laughing at his craziness as I wrestled it loose. Possibly because he put them on so often and then got flung around the ring in them, the lining of his pants was torn, holding the little pouch firm in its thread strands, which I had to unwind before I could finally wrench it out. It looked like a jewellery case in the daylight and I frowned at it a little as my heart pounded.

Huh?

Dean stayed silent but I could see he was watching and that a sort of anxiety had taken a fierce hold. He didn't move to stop me, so I therefore flipped it open and then gaped in astonishment –

I was looking at a ring.

It was a very simple band in silver that was twisted and then studded at intervals by tiny little stones. I swallowed down a lump and then slowly glanced up at him, since surely it couldn't be what I was beginning to think it was.

Right?

Dean sucked a breath in and then blew it out shakily, reaching forward to take my hand in his, he plucked away the box and then took the ring out carefully before shrugging his shoulders,

"Uh, look, I know what I said back when we talked about this, an' I told you I would do this shit properly and stuff, but it turns out, I don't actually know how to do this an' Roman's always sayin' how it will feel right an' – I dunno – last night, when I had cooled off an' everythin' I got around to thinkin' 'bout why I was so mad, an' I kinda figured out it's because I'm stuck on you an' there's no fuckin' way I could ever let you go – ,"

I sniffed again and murmured his name reverently, not in a question but as an exhalation of love,

"Dean,"

He carried on regardless,

"So I guess what it comes down to, is you drive me fuckin' crazy and I worry about you every single freakin' day, I worry when you're makin' your toast in the mornin' that you're gonna accidentally burn down the house, I worry when you come down the stairs that you'll miss one and I worry like fuckin' crazy when you're anywhere near the ring. But when it comes down to it, that shit's because I love ya, so I guess what m' gettin' at is – y' know – you wanna be my wife?"

In real terms he was more than likely looking for an answer, but I couldn't form the word he needed to hear said, because my heart was pounding and I was crying with happiness, although I nodded at least and then surged closer to him,

"Yes."

He seemed surprised,

"Really, y' mean that?"

I laughed in elation and wrapped my arms around his neck, squeezing him and squealing and shaking him roughly like some sort of ragdoll with pristine rock hard abs. Pulling myself back, I pressed my palms to his cheekbone and then started to pepper kisses over his face, repeating my answer every time I resurfaced and buzzing with so much energy I genuinely felt drunk,

"Yes, yes, yes, yes."

I only stopped the contact when he suddenly dropped me back, taking us both down onto the pillows and then kissing me properly in a full lip-to-lip. Reaching across, he slid the ring onto my finger and in some divine miracle it slotted on like a glove, which I blinked at in confusion until my boyfriend – my fiancée and wow I liked the sound of that – noted my look and shrugged back idly, like the whole thing was no big deal.

"Worked out your ring size months ago."

"Months?"

He smiled,

"Don't write me off Princess, I can be a pretty sneaky little bastard at times."

Looking across I held my hand upright and then wiggled my fingers until it sparkled in the light, taking the early morning beams and reflecting them into tiny little rainbows that lit up in my eyes.

"Ugh, it's so beautiful."

"M' just pleased you fuckin' like it, took me – like – forever to pick, Roman fell asleep."

"Roman was with you?"

I grunted in surprise because were my boys ever sly and also totally fantastically wonderful and in particular the man hanging over my face and gazing down at me with such care and devotion that he made me want to cry all over again.

How in the world had I gotten so lucky?

I thumbed his cheek gently,

"You're sure about this?"

He leaned in closer and kissed me sweetly before folding down on top of me and covering me whole, tucking my head into the crook of his neckline and then gently brushing back my long brown hair. His breathing tickled my skin and I giggled, then reached down to tangle our fingers as one. Dean's gruff tones were deep and grumbly,

"I fuckin' love you Princess, so yeah m' sure, okay?"

My voice was on the edge of a whisper, because honestly there was no way I wouldn't cry again at that, but on a much deeper level too life just seemed golden and that was down to one person.

My fiancée.

"Love you back and then some."

Like I would have ended on a bad note! Nope. Looks like our kids are finally engaged! Thank you everyone for following this pairing through with me, more to come yet and on that note…

The next story for these two is possibly my favourite. It's going to be called Dearly Beloved. I'm going to post a quick follow up to my Squeaker story first (if anyone read that) but then I'll move straight back to Dean and Lauren in the first few weeks of June so anyone who's interested, keep your eyes peeled for the next crazy!