Dean has been avoiding April ever since she decided he was going to be her partner at the Summerslam mixed tag team match she was having.
"Found you!" April yelled as she ran over to him.
"No, I won't do the match." He stared into her eyes, firm on his decision.
"Why? Why are you so cold to the idea?"
"I'm not a team type of guy anymore." He shrugged.
April looked at him sadly and the firmness Dean has wavered for a moment.
"It has to be you. You're the only option." She said.
He looked at her confused, "Why me?"
"You're the best wrestler I know. You wrestle with the same emotions I do, right? You want to live on inside of their hearts. You want no one to forget your name."
She had tears in her eyes as she continued, "You want to reach everyone in the crowd. Wrestling is the reason we're alive. It has to you."
Dean softened at the powerful words she had said to him, "I'll do it. I'll be your partner."
"Don't say it just because you feel bad now." She sniffled.
"No, no. I really want to. I've never been in one. I don't have a match that night either."
She regained her composure and rubbed her chin, "Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention. We have a match together on Raw next week now."
"Next week? Why?"
"We need to not just be partners, but compatible in the ring."
He nodded, "Don't say I didn't warn you, I'm not a guy who relies on others."
"I'll crack through your independence!" She said with confidence, that made even Dean believe her.
+*
Dean hung out with Renee backstage. They had been close friends for a really long time. But Renee started acting weird towards Dean, but he didn't seem to notice.
"What're you up to?" Dean asked sitting next to her.
She blushed slightly, "Oh, I was just reading the people I have to interview today."
He nodded, "An interview with me?"
"Not tonight, hopefully soon."
"Bummer. It's never you interviewing me anymore." He said and looked at her.
She avoided eye contact and fixated her eyes on the floor, "Yeah, it's like they don't want us to be around each other."
"Oh, come on, Don't be too in your head about it. I'm sure it's not deliberate."
She shrugged, "Are you excited for Summerslam coming up?"
"It's over a month away now. I'm kinda nervous for it."
She looked at him for a moment, "You nervous? You're never nervous."
"I know. It's just I'm in a mixed tag team match. It's weird. I've never been in one."
"What's so weird about it?"
Dean had always confided his feelings in Renee, she was more understanding than Seth and Roman.
"I don't do teams anymore. When I wrestle, I don't like to focus on my partner. I like to do my own thing. Wrestle with no worries. If I have a partner, I have to worry for their well-being too."
"Then just pretend it's a one on one match."
Dean looked at her confused.
She expanded on her thought, so he would understand, "When the women are fighting, you're not in the ring. When the men are fighting, the women aren't in the ring. Pretend it's one on one with little breaks in between."
He put his arm around her and squeezed and she turned her head away quickly to hide her blushing face, "I never looked at it like that, you're a genius!"
They sat there and continued to talk for a while longer.
