Meant To Be

The bitter truth

Dean leg's shook under the table as his fingers tapped a rhythm only he knew on the hard wood surface in front of him. Seth placed one of his hands on his leg, silently willing him to calm down. They were both nervous, neither one them really knowing why they were there. They had agreed to meet Brie in some undisclosed location in the middle of the night, she'd insisted on it but she didn't tell them why. When Brie eventually showed up just over an hour later, both men knew instantly that something was wrong.

''Hi'' Brie mumbled as she sat opposite them ''Thanks for meeting me, I'm sorry i took so long, i had to make sure that Roman was asleep before i left''

''What's going on?'' Seth asked

''I don't even know where to start''

''Well take your shades of at least. It is nighttime after all!'' Dean said

Brie did what he said and both men let out a gasp they saw what appeared to be a black eye forming 

''Is that a-''

''Yeah. Roman did it'' Brie admitted

''WHAT!'' Seth replied, shocked

''He's changed, i swear at times i don't even recognize him anymore'' Brie explained ''He's become very friendly with Hunter and a few days ago two men turned up at our house, with Emma''

Dean and Seth were trying their best to stay calm but from the moment their daughters name was mentioned they instantly grew more anxious

''They didn't say a word, just dropped her off and then left'' Brie explained ''Roman told me that we were her parents now and that i was to keep it to myself. He had insisted that it was the right thing to do, that somehow you didn't deserve to have a child. Last night...i was going to bring her back to you but Roman stopped me, we got into a fight and then this happened'' She said, pointing towards her face

''But why would Roman say that, he's always been so supportive of us?'' Seth asked

''Like i said, he's changed'' Brie replied ''And Hunter is behind it somehow. He wants to break you guys up and now he's dragged Roman into it. He knows that Roman and I can't have kids and he's using that to manipulate Roman into doing what he wants''

Dean reached his hand across the table and placed it on-top of Brie's ''I know this must have been hard for you'' he said as she looked up at him, tears wetting her cheek ''And we really appreciate you coming to us''

''I'm so sorry'' Brie replied

''Hey it's not your fault'' Seth assured

Brie nodded, a weak smile on her face ''What are we going to do about Emma?'' she asked ''I can't get her out of the house with Roman there, not after what happened last time''

''Can you look after her for a little while longer?'' Dean asked

''Of course i can, but what about-''

''She needs to stay with you a while, otherwise this will never work" Dean obviously had a plan in mind "Everything needs to stay how it is''

Seth stared at Dean anxiously ''What are you planning?''

''We need to play them at their own game'' Dean explained ''If we do this right, no one will suspect a thing''

Brie nodded ''Ok, but If you're going to do whatever it is you're planning to do then you need to know everything''

''Everything?'' Seth questioned

''There's more'' Brie explained ''One night Roman was talking to me about Hunter. He told me that the reason why he's been so determined to split the two of you up is because of you'' she said looking at Seth

''Me!?'' Seth asked

''Roman told me that Hunter is in love with you''

At that Seth felt Dean take hold of his hand under the table and he turned his head around to look at him, squeezing his hand slightly

''When you began divorce proceedings he thought that he had won'' Brie explained ''But then you got back together again and it made him angry, so he decided to involve Roman in his plans. He knew I would never agree to it so he targeted Roman instead. He manipulated him, played on his biggest weaknesses''

''Thanks for telling us and agreeing to help'' Dean replied ''We really do appreciate it''

''I just want to do the right thing by Emma'' Brie stated ''I'll look after her, while you do whatever you need to do and I'll make sure Roman doesn't go near her"

''Thank you'' both men replied