(A/N): First of all, I'm really, really, really sorry that this has taken so long to be uploaded. My reasoning is a stressful personal life and bad writer's block. That is why this chapter is pretty short compared to the others, but I felt like I needed to get it out to keep you all satisfied. I absolutely love reading your reviews and talking to you. I hope you enjoy this. Although this chapter is short, I feel like it is important. Enjoy!

Chapter Four – Remembering Things Forgotten

"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart." ~ Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Bruise-blossoming kicks. Definitely bruise blossoming.

It hadn't been that their kicks had been stiff; it was mostly Lori's fault for not reacting as well as she was taught. She put that down to tiredness. And even though bruises came with the business, she still made an effort to hide the battle scar on her cheekbone. She didn't usually bother, but seeing as she was meeting Colby...

She was dressed in blue jeans and a white tank top which she had shrugged a cardigan over before lugging her bags out of the locker room towards the parking lot. Her converse squeaked on the floor but she wasn't paying attention to that. All she was thinking was 'ouch, ouch, ouch', 'bed, bed, bed' and 'why does he want to talk to me anyway?'

When she got there, she found him leaning against the wall, waiting. The sky was darkening and he stood almost as a shadow. His silhouette showed that he was wearing a cap and jumper with his hair tied up.

The air was carrying a chill but she swatted it away as a fluttering of nerves warmed her insides up. At the sound of her approach, he looked up and a smile tugged at his lips.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"What?" she frowned, "But you were the one who -"

Then it made sense.

"Kaitlyn."

"What about her?"

"She sent the texts. When we were in the ring, she must have stolen our phones and sent texts so that we would talk to each other."

"Why would she want us to talk to each other?"

Lori ran a nervous hand through her fringe, "Well... I told her it's stupid... but she wants us to get back together."

"Why's that stupid?"

"Well... I mean..." a thousand words staggered through her brain but she couldn't pick out a single one, "It's – it's not that it's stupid; it's just that we – we broke up years ago. We wouldn't – we wouldn't just get back together."

Colby smiled at her loss of words but shook his head, changing the subject, "Sorry about the bruise."

She raised a hand to it absent-mindedly, "It's fine. I'm used to it. Is Jon ok after I kneed him?"

For a split-second, his smile faded but before she could notice it in the dark, it was replaced by a smirk, "He'll live. Not sure if his future children will, but still."

She laughed and his smile brightened again at the sound.

"Hey, Lori," Speak of the devil, "Are you ok?"

Roman Reigns – or rather, Joe Anoa'i – and Jon had just approached us; the latter of whom was looking at the bruise on her cheek, which clearly was not as hidden by makeup as she had wanted, even in the dark. She ducked her head, blushing.

"Fine."

"Sure?"

"Honestly, I'm good."

He nodded, "Do you want a ride to the hotel?"

"Erm..." she looked across the parking lot for Punk's bus and found it waiting for her as usual, "No thanks; already got one."

"Ok. Would'ya mind starting up the car for us, Colby?" there was a jingling sound as Jon threw a set of keys to Colby, which he caught with ease.

Joe nodded, "I'll come too."

There was a flash of defiance in Colby's eyes as he hesitated, not wanting to leave Lori and Jon alone, but knowing that they clearly wanted to be. She obviously believed that he and she were very much finished, and Jon was his friend so denying him a chance with her was wrong. Therefore, with an internal sigh, he left them to whatever they wanted to be left to do.

Lori watched as Colby slowly walked away. For a moment she felt a weight in her stomach, but then she turned to Jon whose blue eyes had returned to their intense, penetrating gaze. Heat crept to her face as he studied the bruise on her cheek. His hand raised and he carefully stroked his thumb against the purple that shone beneath her pathetic attempt at makeup.

"Honestly, Jon, I'm -"

Suddenly, he dropped his hand and a smirk appeared on his mouth, "At least someone got you back for neutering me."

"Yeah... sorry about that," she said with an apologetic smile.

"It's fine," he shook his head, "So, what did you want to talk to Colby about?"

She frowned, "I didn't," when his expression remained the same, she corrected herself, "I mean, not that I didn't want to talk to him, just that I didn't wantto talk to him... no, I mean..."

He chuckled, "I get it," he glanced over to where Colby and Joe were getting into the car. Colby looked back. "I should go. Joe'll cut a promo on me if I keep him waiting. See you whenever."

With the flash of a grin and a wave of his hand, he was jogging away.

"Yeah, bye," Lori said, with a small wave to his back.

She shook her head slightly. That was strange. All of her interactions with the Shield members seemed to be strange. As they revved their car engine, she heaved up her bags and began to cross the street-lamp lit parking lot to Punk's bus.

"What was that about?" he asked as she closed the door behind her.

"I was just talking to them," she shrugged as if she hadn't been fretting over what she would say and how she looked before setting out to meet Colby. Punk knew about her previous relationship with him, of course, but he had always been a little... iffy when it came to her and men.

She dumped her bags on the little table where Punk was sitting and crashed on the sofa beside Kofi Kingston who was playing some kind of zombie-killing game on the Xbox. Punk put down his Pepsi can and frowned at her.

"Lori, be careful around those guys, ok? You know Dean has a reputation with women, and it's not good."

"Dean?" She blinked, "I was just talking to him, I swear. There's nothing going on with us."

He raised a sceptical eyebrow, "I saw you two on the plane. You went red when he spoke to you – don't think you can try to fool me, Lori, because I probably know you better than even you do, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Phil, I'm a fucking grown woman!" she snapped, frustration pulling her back to her feet, "I know when I'm going to get hurt, and I'm not stupid enough to let it carry on."

"Oh yeah? So you've changed a lot since we first met, have you?"

Anger burst from her stomach. With a shriek that held a million curse words, she turned on her heel and marched away to the tiny bus bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Kofi looked from the door to his friend, confused.

Punk shook his head, "She'll get over it."

"She has a point though, Phil. Maybe she doesn't need you judging her decisions all the time."

"Maybe," he sighed, looking away, "I just don't want to risk it. You didn't see how she was when she first came to America, man."

Lori and Punk were still not talking when they reached the next hotel. As they took their bags, refusing to even glance at each other, Kofi attempted to lighten the atmosphere.

"Hey, Lori, you looking forward to Smackdown? You've got a match, right?"

"Who the hell knows?" she muttered, "The only way we hear things around here is through stupid rumours and 'reputations'."

Punk slammed his bag onto the floor with unnecessary force.

Kofi cleared his throat, "Well, erm – I heard you're gonna be facing Alicia. That's cool, right?"

With a grunted response, she heaved her bag onto her shoulder and began walking towards the hotel. That was until Punk stopped her.

"Hey!" he bellowed, storming up to her, "Don't talk to Kofi like that! Have some respect! By all means be mad at me for whatever the fuck I've done, but don't take it out on him. He's done nothing to you!"

"Who the hell do you think you are, Phil?!" Lori dropped her bags with a crash, "Just because you helped me once does not mean that you have the right to control the rest of my life. You don't know me! You don't know anything about me beyond what you've seen! You don't even know the name of my brother, so how the hell do you have any idea what's better for me than I do?"

He yelled, "Because I do, Lori!"

Before she could do anything, a new voice interrupted.

"Am I interrupting something?" the deep voice of Joe Anoa'i asked.

As Lori answered "no", she glared across at Phil who simultaneously answered "yes".

"No, we're done here," Lori clarified, picking up he bags and turning to walk away from the seething Punk. Joe had to take long strides to match her quick pace.

For a while, neither said anything but just before they reached the hotel doors, she broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Is there something you wanted?"

"I just thought you looked like you needed some help."

She faltered, "Oh. Well, I didn't... but thanks, I guess."

He nodded and again, there was a moment of silence.

"Actually there was something." In the lobby, she looked at him, waiting. She was not in the mood for more drama. She just wanted to go to sleep. "I was just wondering what's going on between you and Jon."

She frowned, "Why don't you ask him?"

"I did. He said 'nothing'."

"So why don't you believe him?"

He grinned, "Because he's a lying bastard?"

It was almost impossible to keep from chuckling at that, despite her exhaustion and frustration. Of all people, Roman Reigns was the last person she thought she would hear that from.

Once she had her room key, she hoped that he would leave it at that but Fate didn't seem to like her that night.

"So what's going on?"

"I..." she hesitated, considering whether she should just lie and head to bed happy. But she knew that she wouldn't be going to bed happy no matter what she said. She played with the strap of her bag awkwardly, "I don't really know. I mean... we're just friends, obviously. At the most. We work together, we're colleagues; it'd be wrong to be anything else."

She hoped he would somehow believe her but by the look on his face, that was not the case. Despite that, he nodded.

"Well, goodnight, Loriana," he said, heading back to the hotel room that he was sharing with his stable mates.

(A/N): Don't forget to favourite/follow/review. I calmly await your lovely feedback.

Love from Beth :-) xx