SEVEN

I woke up tucked into bed with Wes standing over me. "What time is it?" I asked as I tried to clear my head.

"Eleven," Wes told me.

I remembered why I was there. "Is Lauren okay?"

"She's fine."

"Fine? Wes, I know you're good, but-"

"She's all healed up now. Don't worry about her. How are you feeling?"

"Better. I'm starving, though."

"I figured you would be. I made breakfast. Come on out."

He left and I hit the bathroom to make myself slightly more presentable. My clothes were wrinkled, but I used some mouthwash to chase away morning breath and I brushed my hair. I headed out and saw Eddie had joined us. He was whispering to Lauren who looked exhausted but miraculously healed. Wes must have called in a healer because there was no way normal medicine fixed her up that quickly.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She looked at me and for what may have been the first time ever, she let her guard down completely. Her thoughts flooded my mind, too crazed to make any sense. She flung her arms around me.

"Thank you," she said. She was crying. I had never seen Lauren cry before. "If you hadn't come for me, I'd be dead..."

"No big," I said.

"Liar." She sounded more like herself as she pulled herself together. "You nearly burnt yourself out."

"I'm okay. I just needed to sleep it off."

"You risked your life for me."

"That's what I do. I'm okay, Lauren, really."

"I... I trusted that little shit..."

Lauren was herself again. I might have laughed, except I knew how she felt. "I know. We all did. It might not be his fault. They killed Frankie. They left him vulnerable, and I guess he wasn't strong enough to resist on his own."

"When we save his dumb ass- and we will- I'm going to kill him."

"That might defeat the purpose of saving him."

"I'm entitled to my rage."

"I never said you weren't."

We both shut up as food was placed in front of us. I immediately began stuffing my face. To my surprise, so did Lauren. I'd never seen a Beautiful Person shovel food down her throat that fast. Hell, Lauren barely ate at all. I looked at Eddie.

"She's hungry," Eddie supplied helpfully.

"Really? I thought she was just practicing for the Nathan's hotdog eating contest," I said. "She could give the champion a run for his money."

"Shut up, Asshole," Lauren snapped at me. "Last night took a lot out of me, alright?"

"Hey, it's not a criticism. It's nice to see you aren't anorexic."

My phone began to ring and I saw Emily's number. I immediately picked up. "Em, I'm okay," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't call. I overdid it and blacked out. I'm at Wes's place."

"Thank God..." Emily sighed in relief. "Is Lauren okay?"

"Yeah, I got her out... I have bad news, though... Carlos ate the cookies and joined the darkside."

Emily cursed. "He's grieving. He doesn't know what he's doing."

"I know. He's my next project."

"Are you coming home?"

"In a little bit. I'm just getting some food in my system, then I'll have Eddie or Wes drive me home."

"I've got you," Eddie said.

I nodded a thank you at him. "I'll see you soon, Em." I paused, then added, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She hung up.

Lauren raised an eyebrow at me. "Love?" She asked.

"Yeah. So?" I asked.

"Isn't that a little quick?"

"Says the girl who got engaged to a guy a few weeks after they started dating."

"Shut up. That's different. We've known each other for years."

"Right. Don't judge the Pot, Kettle."

"Bite me."

A little while later, I had enough energy to leave the house. Eddie drove me home. "Is she really okay?" I asked in the car.

"She's traumatized," Eddie said. "Lauren really cares about Carlos. She figured even if he had turned, she could reason with him. She never thought he'd try to kill her."

"We'll save him."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right. I'm a Carter." I flashed him my best kayfabe smile.

He rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot," he said with a laugh.

We reached my house and I thanked him for the lift. He left as Emily greeted me at the door. From a dark corner of the living room, the Abigail Creature glared at me. I wondered how I'd offended her this time.

"You're stupid, Michael," she told me bluntly. "You don't do stuff like that alone. Next time, bring back-up."

If I didn't know better, I would have thought she'd been worried about me. "I'll take that advice to heart, oh wise Abigail Creature," I promised her.

She kicked my shin. "That's for being a jerk!"

"Abigail!" Emily cried. "What did I tell you about kicking people?"

"It's Michael. He doesn't count," the Creature insisted.

"Apologize right now."

"It's okay, Em. She's just training to become a wrestler, right Abigail?" I asked.

The creature smiled smugly. "Right," she said sweetly.

"I swear, I give up!" Emily declared.

The rest of the day was spent with Emily insisting on taking care of me. I gave her details about what had happened and we tried to come up with a plan to save Carlos. It wasn't looking great, but we had to try.

At some point, Emily curled up in my arms as we discussed our million and one plans and fell asleep. I held her, letting her rest. I liked how she felt in my arms. I sort of wanted to stay in that moment for eternity. She looked so peaceful while she slept, free from the cares of the world for just a little while.

She woke up a short time later and was shaking. "You okay?" I asked.

"Michael, I have to tell you something," she said urgently.

"Okay, what's up?"

"Abby is very special."

"I know she is."

"More than you know. She's incredibly strong, and the bad guys want her. If they realized where she was, they would do anything to capture her. Promise me something."

"Anything."

"No matter what, keep her away from anyone from WWE who she doesn't already know."

"What are you worried about?"

"Her father."

I was surprised. Emily had never been willing to discuss Abigail's father before. "Who is he?" I asked.

"I can't tell you. He doesn't know about her, and I can't risk him finding out..."

"Did he hurt you, Emily? Is that why you stay away from WWE?"

"No, God no... He's a good guy, Michael. He's just surrounded by bad ones, and they'll hurt her."

"And he's a WWE guy?"

"He's very invested in WWE, yes."

"I won't tell anyone who he is, Em, you know that."

"I know. I just can't risk someone figuring it out. I will never say it out loud."

I knew this was the most I was going to get out of her. I tried not to obsess about who Abigail's father might be. Was he a wrestler? A member of the creative team? A random security guard? She'd said he was very invested in the company. Could it be Triple H? Everyone knew he got around. Hell, I'm pretty sure even Stephanie knew she'd married a manwhore. It was entirely possible...

"Michael... Promise me you'll help me protect her," Emily said.

"I swear I will," I told her. "The truth is, I've grown fond of your creature. I won't let anyone harm her."

Emily nodded, finally calmer. She kissed me goodnight and went back to sleep. I tried not to obsess too much about our conversation. The important thing was keeping Abigail safe. Her father wasn't a factor, seeing as how he didn't even know she existed. I lied to myself and insisted it could stay that way, even as a sense of coming trouble threatened to overwhelm me.