Work Text:
Vince McMahon himself strode down the ramp interrupting her match, putting it on hold. He hadn't been seen in person at a show in too long to remember and yet there he was with Shane in tow. It was the last Raw before Wrestlemania and tensions were high enough as is. Stunning the referee as he stepped into the ring, putting the announcers into a silent confusion. He whispered something into her ear in the middle of the ring.
The savage woman whose name the crowd was just screaming, was breaking down crying falling to her knees before Shane could catch her.
Slamming her fists into the mat, the bloodcurdling scream echoing throughout sending a shiver up the spine of each body in earshot. The arena was left in shock as Shane helped her out of the ring and up the ramp all the while she losing it. Balling and sobbing uncontrollably. The ring character she'd spent years building up had shattered in tiny pieces before the eyes that filled the arena.
She always appeared so strong, together, it was as if nothing ever bothered her. There was something about the way the bad seemed to roll off her shoulders. How she didn't seem to give anything a second thought. Some thought she was cold as ice, that she was stone, but she a perfect faker. The audience always saw the perfect smile and the laugh that sounded so real, alas only a small handful of people ever knew the real her.
She wasn't always like that though. Once upon a time, she was bubbly and sociable. She liked to go out with her friends after work and share a few drinks. Liked to let off steam and sing karaoke slightly off-key and a little tipsy. There were trips to the beach on days off. Concerts and movie nights. Big dinners out with all of her work family. Birthday parties and weddings, but things change, people change.
One too many broken hearts. One too many times she'd let the wrong guy into her life. Suckered in by a nice smile and poetic compliments. She believed the best in people, but men found ways to toy with her. To string her along, to take advantage of her kind heart. Failed relationships by assholes who only wanted their fifteen minutes of fame being seen out with her. They just wanted the perks that came with her job, to gain the right connections for themselves. She vowed to never give another man the satisfaction of holding her heart in his hand until HE came along.
Braun was watching her match backstage from his locker room. He'd been cheering her on, had his fingers crossed she'd land her finisher and retain her belt. She hadn't always been a highflyer or one for going over the top, but there was just something about the Lionsault that always screamed to her. She'd practiced it so often he was certain she could land it in her sleep, but it didn't stop him from worrying, then again, he'd lost that right to worry the moment he crushed her heart.
They'd only broken up a month prior. All of it was still raw, still fresh like an open wound. No worse than what he deserved. He thought he was doing the right thing, that she deserved better than him. He didn't think he was good enough for her and there was always someone willing to remind him of that. She was perfection in his eyes and he... he was a monster.
He could never believe that she'd said yes when he asked her out for lunch after a grueling training session on her part. He'd spent weeks working up the courage, psyching himself up. There had been chatter around the roster that she'd turned down everyone else who'd asked her out. Wrestler, commentator, stagehand, musical act, special guest, you name it and she always said no.
Despite knowing his chances were slim, he just had to try. He'd sat down nervously at the weight bench next to hers, but his concentration to lift was null in void. The speech he'd created rambled through his head in a jumbled mess. Braun finally noticed her smirking, biting back a laugh glancing his way.
"Normally you're ignoring the world lifting the weight of a baby elephant by now, what's up?" Her snarky giggle left him shaking his head, pissed he'd been caught staring.
"Gotta lot on my mind, kinda not into a workout mood today I guess."
"Well then, come spot for me." She'd sat up taking a few gulps of water, toweling the sweat off her face and neck. "Could you add another 25 pounds on each side for me?"
Slipping the extra weights on her bar, calculating in his head the weight she was lifting impressed.
"Didn't know you could bench 300?" Glancing down at her, readying his hands near the bar if she needed his help.
"I have my moments of insanity," that laugh of hers floating in his ears. "My Gramps always said a bit of muscle on a woman was a good thing. Most guys hate it though so, ya know whatever."
"Sounds like my kinda guy." He didn't mean to laugh so loudly, it just kinda happened. Deep and hearty, the sound of it made her close her eyes smiling.
"He's my biggest fan." Her reply was strained as she lifted. Sweat trickling down her temple soaking into her hair.
There was silence for the longest time as she lifted weights, Braun spaced out deep in thought. The sounds of others working out in the gym mixed with music in the background. He hadn't noticed she was staring up at him with a curious smile until she poked his stomach.
"Lunch? You wanna get it?" Those words spewed out of his mouth disjointed and not anywhere close to what he'd rehearsed in front of his bathroom mirror hours before.
"Oh, so the cat didn't get your tongue?" Chuckling softly as she stood up grabbing her water bottle.
"Huh?" Mouth agape, his brows furrowed in confusion. Deep lines etched across his forehead.
"Who woulda thought the 'Monster Among Men' could be that adorable when confused?" Standing beside him, tilting her head looking up with a tiny smile. "Give me twenty minutes to shower and change and I'm all yours big guy."
"Wait, was that a yes?!" Brows scrunching deeper, eyes darting wildly around her face. His deep voice almost bellowing throughout the gym.
"Duh. You're too sweet to say no to." With that, she disappeared into the locker room before he scrambled to shower and change himself.
She looked too gorgeous for words. Her hair still damp from her shower, wet strands laid over her sweatshirt leaving marks. Subtle flowery notes clung to her hair filling his nose. How could something as minor as the smell of shampoo render him mute? Sitting across from her in that little cafe left him struggling for words. She'd only looked at her phone once as she sat down and it was to turn off completely.
"No interruptions," she'd laughed sweetly at his inquisitive stare. "You'll have my full attention."
She smiled sensing his hesitation and nerves, taking the lead. Chatting about life and hometowns, about work and storylines; all the while he couldn't stop himself from staring. The whole aura around her was calming and warm that despite feeling nervous, it felt nice at the same time. Like he was being wrapped in a blanket fresh out of the dryer. The way that she affected him. Every molecule of his being buzzing and swirling just being in her gravity. One little lunch outing turned into a ritual between them.
Lunches after training sessions turned into walks around whatever town they were in for shows. Casual lunches turned into dinners, it didn't matter if they were out on the road or not. She was the constant in a life that found them traveling from town to town and countries all over the world. He'd get a little lump in his throat each time he'd knock on her door to pick her up. She'd never been one to go all out in anything girly, she favored comfort over style, but he couldn't help but notice the little things that changed since that first lunch date.
Comfortable workout clothes and loungewear morphed into casual date outfits. A flowery peasant top with a pair of jeans. Satiny tank tops and cargo shorts, but it was nothing, nothing compared to the first time he'd seen her in a dress. Neither of them at that point quite knew what to make of whatever it was that was going on between them. Nothing had been said, nothing declared. Neither had come right out and asked 'are we dating?' even after weeks of what felt like it, but that first time he picked her up and she came to her hotel door in a dress he scrambled to find the words.
"What? What's wrong?" Y/n asked nervously patting her hands over the satiny fabric. She walked back into her room turning in circles looking for something wrong, a tear, or a stain.
"I-I ... whoa ... pretty ... you ... beautiful ... " Stumbling over his words, his palms instantly sweaty.
"Is there something on my dress?" Frantically looking in the mirror, his words had yet to register with her. "Wait ... " slowly turning her attention on his towering frame.
Tilting her head to the side grinning up at him. Braun's mouth opening and closing without making a sound. Flustered splotches of color flooding his face and poking up from beneath his dress shirt. Tiny spheres of sweat beading together on his forehead. A nervous twitch in the corner of his eyes as they wandered up and down her form. Curves that appeared so different now than they were draped in a dress than on display in her ring gear.
He had no problem taking on the entirety of the men's roster, he'd barrel headfirst into a fight, but this, this was a whole different battle in itself. Muttering and mumbling incoherently peering down at her. His eyes darting towards hers, watching her smiling stepping towards him. Her every move had his attention. Nimble fingers sweeping over the lapels on his jacket, smoothing them down. Enamored as she unfastened the top button on his dress shirt and fixed his collar.
"Now you look a little more comfortable." The little huffed laugh that left her mouth finally gave him a dose of courage.
"Wha- what would you say to a proper date ... with me?"
"Oh," her brows furrowed as she frowned looking at the floor.
"I mean if you don't want to that's cool. We can still go to dinner ... as ya know friends."
They stood quietly, nervous energy filling the tiny hotel room around them. Tension thick and awkward. She shifted from foot to foot, swallowing a mouthful of air. Nibbling on her bottom lip, fidgeting with her hands avoiding looking up at him. He felt terrible, how could he have thought it was anything other than friends?
"I'm sorry if I made this weird. We don't ... maybe I should go." Turning on his heels ready to leave his embarrassment behind him, he felt her tug on his wrist.
"Braun," a meek shy smile trying to form on her mouth. "I kinda thought this was a proper date. I mean, why else did you ask me to go such a snazzy place where sport coats were required?"
"Serious?! I gotta be dead or dreaming to get this lucky."
"You're still adorable when you're nervous," She grinned up at him setting him at ease. "Of course you and me. I sure as hell haven't been spending this much time with anyone else now have I?"
Weeks turned into months. All that time spent together had been the greatest in his life. It'd been too long since he'd been around a woman that honestly cared. She gave him her all, everything she had from time to love and devotion to praise and encouragement. Getting up early in the morning to work out together in the gym. Helping him with meal planning and adding excitement wherever she could to prevent mealtime burnouts over eating the same thing over and over again.
There were miny vacations between shows to meet his family and friends back home. There were days out on a boat fishing and drinking in the sun. Target shooting at the range that turned competitive once he learned she could handle a rifle. He found himself falling deeper in love with her than he thought possible.
Hanging out with old friends from his Strongman days. Laughing at all the stories they told about him and snitched on his crazy days as a young man. None of it seemed to bother her, if anything it gave her better incite to who he really was and where he came from. She saw all his potential and wanted nothing more than to see him achieve his dreams without receiving anything in return.
Holding his hand in public, dear lord almighty she could never get enough of being close to him where ever they walked. From holding his hand to hiding her face in his chest holding him in a fierce hug. It was never 50-50 with them but a complete hundred percent giving on each of their parts. She never yelled, never made him feel as others had in the past. He discovered he'd never loved as deep, as passionate as he did with her.
She didn't put up a fuss and give ultimatums when he went out with the boys, instead, she'd kiss him playfully and tell him to have fun and if he needed a lift home not to hesitate to call. He could tell that she worried, that maybe he'd slip into old ways and drink himself into a blackout state like he had years before but those moments never came. A few beers with the boys and them telling him he was the luckiest bastard in the world.
She always answered the phone when he called, smiling to himself hearing the sleepiness in her voice knowing she'd stayed up waiting for his call instead of going to sleep. Singing old rock songs in the car on the way back home, seeing her laughing out of the corner of his eye. He'd was buzzed and feeling good, but not drunk. Braun would start to list off all the things he loved about her. Telling her all the sweet things the boys had to say about her. The heat rising to her face over the compliments.
He loved it, loved all of it but after a while, he began noticing the stares they were getting while they were out in public and it broke him. Old insecurities clawing at him struggling to get free. The odd worried glances from strangers, the hushed whispers as they walked past. Always stares that spoke the same.
'Why is she with someone like him?'
He hated it, hated those glares. The knowing glances strangers gave. Even fans on her social media questioned her sanity each time she posted a picture of the two of them. Comments all telling her she was too pretty to be with someone like him. Pleading that she get the 'ugly fat guy' out of her life. How she needed a 'hottie' instead of a charity case. Fans asking her if it was out of pity that she loved him or maybe it was because she lost a bet. Jokes were made telling her to blink twice in the TikTok videos she made with Lana if she was trapped by Braun and needed help to escape.
It wasn't just the fans, but people close to her that had made their displeasure known. Her family constantly reminded him that she was out of his league. That she was meant for something better, that she 'needed' someone with a future. A man who could provide for her and give her the whole damned world. He spent days contemplating their words, examining the truth of it all.
It killed him when he ended it but he did what he thought was best for her. The decision wasn't something that he came to lightly. It started to feel like his world was closing in on him like he was choking. He felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like the whole thing wasn't real, couldn't be real. He let doubt and anxiety get the better of him. He let depression sink in and gnaw at his very being welcoming themselves back as old friends filling his head with all the ways he wasn't enough for her.
He let the harsh words of others affect him in ways he thought he was strong enough to ignore. Started to doubt everything. Doubted how he made her feel. Doubted their relationship and the future of it. Doubts and fear sinking in, absorbing into him to the point it was all he breathed.
Obsessed with not being good enough, not being man enough, not rich enough, not smart enough, just ... not enough for the likes of her. It tore him apart, the decision to end it.
The way she looked up at him with heartbroken eyes. Telling her that he thought they weren't 'a good fit', that she deserved better. He watched the life drain from those eyes, the color slipped away. Tears welling up and seeping out. Giant splashes of salty water hitting her shirt. A waterfall cascading down her cheeks. Her jaw shook and her mouth trembled.
Towering over her wasn't what he intended but that's what it looked like to anyone watching them backstage after the nights' show. All the confidence in her stance disappeared. Her shoulders shrunk in on themselves, her knees wobbled and her legs struggled to keep her upright. From the outside perspective, it appeared like he was bullying her, making her cry, maybe to a degree he was by breaking her heart.
His heart was racing, he was sick to his stomach. The urge to throw up growing stronger the harder she cried. He wanted to take it all back, say that he was sorry. Tell her that he was freaked out and didn't think he was worthy of her, but he couldn't. This was for her own good, she needed a man that was nothing like him.
Shoving his chest, pushing him back. She was pleading in high-pitched wails wanting answers. It was the first time he'd ever heard her yell outside of the ring. The contempt and furious sound of it shook him deep inside, gutted him like a knife. The truth was all she wanted but all he could do was stare with his mouth open unable to speak anymore. She hated him, that much he could see but she was destined for something more than he could ever give her.
There was already a curious crowd outside her locker room. Nosy people clamoring for information in the guise of friendship. Security guards trying their best to get the crowd to disperse. Taking one look at him and they knew they stood no chance. Pushing his way through the crowd, his large hand shaking over the handle.
Panic set in, he'd be the last person she'd want to see but he had to make sure she was alright. He'd only seen her that distraught when he broke her heart, so whatever Vince had told her had to be terrible. It had to be life-altering to stop a match altogether.
Stepping into her locker room being met with the confused stares of Vince and Shane. He could taste the sourness in the back of his throat. He had no right being there at all, but he couldn't leave; something behind him was making him step closing towards her. Y/n didn't even look up. Curled on her side in a tight little ball on the couch in her locker room.
Her wailing cries killing him inside. It felt like hot stones were being dropped in his stomach. Bubbling and gurgling, making him want to gag. How could she look so small, so tiny? Not even twenty minutes ago she was a ferocious beast parading around the ring ready to go in for the pin. Now she was as fragile as could be and he was like a bull in china shop, afraid to move at all in fear of making anything worse.
Kneeling beside her feeling as helpless as she looked. What if his presence made it worse? What if she screamed and raged until he left? The thought had crossed his mind that she might even slap him, it was no less than what he deserved though. Would she land a sucker punch or more importantly would he even move to escape the hit if she did?
"Baby girl?" Brushing her hair from her eyes, wiping the tears from her face.
Y/n sat up at the sound of his gruff voice. Red rimmed eyes peering up at him and a tear-stained face. Her bottom lip quivered, her body lurched forward lunging at him. He'd closed his eyes expecting a slap that never came. Tensing waiting for the pain only to feel her soft warmth colliding into him. Her arms and legs wrapping around him almost knocking him on his ass. Tucking her head under his chin sobbing.
"They're gone," she cried. Clutching onto him like she was drowning in violent seas and he was the only lifeline for miles.
It clicked all too fast for him, the only thing that would cause a reaction of this magnitude. Her grandparents were supposed to fly out and see her title match at Wrestlemania. They were the only family she had left, raised her since she was a child. Her pillars of support, the people that stood behind her with each turn of her life. They became her biggest fans when she decided to become a professional wrestler.
"Sweetheart." Stroking her back. Her tears wetting his shirt as he settled on the floor with her in his lap. "I'm so sorry."
Y/n refused to let anyone else touch her, screamed when anyone else got near. She was numb and overwhelmed. She cried and wept until there was nothing left. Exhausted and dehydrated, but not a single medic could get within a five-foot radius of her. Y/n's things were gathered from her locker room, packed up, and placed in the trunk of his rental car. Shane assured him that Y/n could take all the time she needed and all he asked of Braun was to keep her safe.
Braun carried her backstage through the hallways, curious eyes following them at each turn. She was wrapped tight around him like a little monkey. Legs locked around his waist, her arms tucked under his and clasped tightly around his back. Y/n's weary face hidden in the crook of his neck, scruffy strands of his beard tickling her exposed skin that was still clad in her ring gear.
Things were about to get complicated that he knew, but he needed to serve some sort of penance for his actions. He'd stick by her side throughout all that was headed her way in the weeks to come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting at the gravesite long after the others had left, Braun held her hand in silence. He'd been by her side through it all. He helped make the arrangements when she couldn't stop crying long enough to talk. Held her close during the reading of the wills with the lawyers. Picking out flowers for the funeral and rubbed her back to keep her calm while meeting with a realtor about the house. He held her close through it all though but he still knew he had no right to be there. He'd broken her heart and yet she didn't want to let him go, always holding his hand at every turn.
Each time throughout his stay that he tried to take his hand away she'd only pull it back and grip tighter. Every time he tried to give her the space he thought she'd needed, she'd curl up in his lap and hold him close. It was the silence that killing him. He'd never known her to be so quiet for so long before. Days without uttering a word, hardly a sound.
"She didn't like you." Y/n voice cracked softly as she spoke for the first time in days.
"I know,' he chuckled softly. "Your Grandma made that very clear each time she saw me." He didn't know why he laughed, maybe it was the anxiety coursing through him.
"The last conversation I had with her was a fight over you," Y/n sniffled next to him. Her weight shifting on the metal chair making it creak. "I never told them we broke up. I didn't want to hear the 'I told you so's' from her. She never could understand why I love you."
Y/n's grip on his hand tightened as she glanced up at him, offering the first gentle smile he'd seen her give in months.
"Every time she caught me on my own when during their visits she'd tell me that I wasn't good enough, that her 'Lil polebean' should be with a doctor."
"I'm sorry," was all she could say leaning her temple on his arm.
"Don't be," he pulled his arm from underneath her, instead wrapping the large muscular limb around her shoulder pulling her into his side. Leaning down kissing the top of her head. "She was right. I could never be the man you should have been with."
"How can you say that?" Y/n peered up at him confused pushing herself away from him. His words hurting just as bad as the pain of burying her only family.
"Cuz it's true. I'm just a good old boy who went to community college, couldn't make it in pro football. I'm a misfit who doesn't fit in anywhere and you ... you're too good to waste your time with someone like me. Look baby girl, this isn't really the time or the place for this."
"Fine, whatever." Y/n stood making her way across the graveyard lawn back to their rental car. Slamming the passenger side door with a strength and fury that made him wince.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night air was cool, a light breeze dancing through the massive ancient treelined backyard that had the leaves shaking in their branches. Her grandparents had lived out in the country away from the noise of big city life. Once upon a time, it had been a working farm, but declining health and Y/n barely a teenager, her grandparents begrudging sold the equipment and the animals. It was more responsibility than they thought fair to put on her shoulders at such a young age.
She'd worked so hard at such a young age in school with the idea planted in her head to graduate high school early and go to work. There was a drive to make as much money as possible to ensure her Grandparents lived the best way possible. That they would never want for anything. It was the only way she could think of to thank them for their sacrifice of having to raise her after the loss of her parents.
He'd heard all the stories before, of Y/n as a small child on that farm. Running through the fields at night collecting lightning bugs in jars. Catching frogs in the nearby ponds. Riding horses and rangling the cattle in from their pasture with her Grandfather. She'd learned to drive a tractor long before she was legal to drive a car.
She'd only brought him out to this place a handful of times over the year trying so desperately to get her grandparents to see what she saw in Braun. It was no use though, her grandmother was deadset on her dislike of him. He was too big, too loud. Always afraid he'd knock her precious family heirlooms off the shelves throughout the house. That woman said he was 'as useless as tits on a bull'.
The visits would always end up in an argument that turned into a shouting match. Y/n accusing her Grandmother of being too stubborn and set in her ways. Told her she was blind to anything that didn't fit perfectly into vintage mentality. She pleaded with her grandfather to say something, anything, to stick up for her but he'd shake his head in silence knowing taking sides never ended well.
Both of the women would storm off in opposite directions. Y/n favoring to head outside and sit on a little hill at the edge of her grandfather's herb garden. She'd sit in silence until Braun's presence was known. His arms surrounding her, pulling her up in his chest. Holding her close in silence unsure what he could say to make any of it better. Her grandmother's dislike of him was the main reason he chose to end their relationship.
He didn't want her to lose the only family she had left because of him. Didn't want her fighting with people she loved with all her heart. In his mind, he thought the fighting between them would stop if he was no longer in the picture, but Y/n little admission at the cemetery left him at a loss. Why hadn't she ever told them about their breakup? How could she keep all that raging emotion locked up inside her like that and for him of all people?
Braun watched her from the kitchen window as she sat outside in the chilly night air. She hadn't spoken since the cemetery, didn't even glance in his direction during dinner. She pushed her fork around her plate without eating a bite. As soon as the stars made their appearance in the sky, Y/n bolted outside into the yard and plopped down on that same little hill.
She was one of the strongest women he'd ever met in his life. It wasn't just about physical strength though, it was the unnerving mental and emotional strength with her. How even though the entire world was crumbling around her she managed to hold herself together. She wanted to cry, to scream, wanted to tear the world apart, and yet there she was shivering in her stubbornness because she didn't look at him.
His mental state couldn't handle seeing her that way anymore, so broken and fragile. She was a husk, a shell of what she used to be and it was all because of him. Heading outside with a blanket tossed over his shoulder he crept silently behind her. There were too many things that needed to be said whether it was the right time or not. Braun was barely five feet behind her when he heard her voice.
"I'd almost forgotten how bright the stars were out here."
"Easy to forget when we're always in big cities that drown them out." Finally behind her draping the blanket over her shoulders. He was surprised to feel her arm wrap around his calf or the thump of her head resting above his knee as he stood beside her.
"I'm sorry for all the things she said to you, the way she treated you. I don't ... I can't understand why? Maybe she got too wrapped up in storylines and believed them."
The sigh that left her lips, the weight of the world on her shoulders. Stress and fear and anger laced in those words she spoke. She always saw the good in people, was too kind-hearted for her own good and that's why for so long she kept herself from getting heartbroken again. Seeing her like this was the first time he'd ever regretted asking her to lunch that day in the gym. He blamed himself for all of this thinking it was a punishment for Y/n choosing him.
That's the way depression works though. Self-hatred and doubt, all that fear and anxiety seeping into every square inch making him believe all the lies it made him think. It made him doubt himself, made him believe he wasn't enough. Braun had hidden away after the breakup, wallowing in pity. Drinking himself into oblivion, he'd turned to self-destructive ways again. His mental health in a steep decline, but he believed he deserved it all at the time.
"I need you to know the truth, baby girl." It was now or never laying it all on the line. He stepped away from her hold on him, stopping in front of her. His features barely made out in the darkness. "I love you, deep down to my soul. I love everything about you, but I was never what you needed. You didn't need someone like me in your life."
He could see his words rattling around in her brain. Her face contorting from numbness to angry to regret. The heaviness of the sigh that fled her mouth competing with the wind rustling through the trees. Braun was gutted, he was kicking himself. The promise to never hurt her again and there was laying truth bombs breaking her heart again.
"You're right." Y/n slowly stood, the blanket dropping to the grassy hilltop. Stepping close enough for him to make out the tears shining in her eyes. "You never were the man I needed."
A sharp stabbing pain hit him in the chest. It was like a dull throbbing that was on an endless repetitive loop. Over and over he felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest as he watched those tears falling on her face.
"I never needed anyone, Braun." She stepped closer, pushing her chest into him as she glared upward biting her lip to keep from crying and failing miserably as the sob stuck in her throat. "I never needed you, but I wanted you and that's the difference she could never understand. I chose you. I allowed myself to open up and willingly set myself up to get broken again because YOU made me feel what I hadn't in ages, and for some stupid reason," she poked her finger hard into his chest above his heart. "I still want you."
"I hurt you sweetheart. I took something I never deserved and crushed it because I believed..."
"Don't you dare stand there and tell me what you don't deserve! If anyone never deserved anyone it was me. You have no idea how incredible you are, how special you are. You of all people deserve all the passion and love that someone could give. I was broken, I still AM broken and I couldn't give you what you deserved! You needed someone better than me!" She was so enraged, practically growling through the tears.
Every word she said, all the emotion and conviction behind them socking him the gut. How could he never have noticed her battle with her own demons? The same war that raged inside him. Braun crumbled to his knees in front of her. Griping her tight and holding her close. The pained groan rumbled in his throat as his forehead slumped against her chest. Brought to his knees fighting back waterworks of his own feeling her arms tighten their hold around his neck.
"I want you, baby girl. I want all of you broken or not." The Monster Among Men pleaded on his knees as she shivered and wept with him. Kissing the top of his head as he'd done to her too many times to count. "Forgive me, please tell me you forgive me?"
"I love you, you big idiot." The whispered words barely heard above the singing of the breeze in the treetops.
Shivering from the cold, her body trembling in his arms as he sat them down on the ground, pulling her into his lap. The blanket was lazily thrown over the both of them. Sitting under the light of trillions of blinking stars above. His scruffy bearded face in her hands, foreheads pressed together. Braun couldn't hold her tight enough, close enough.
All that misery, all that hurt, and pain, the anger, and self-doubt. All those depressive thoughts that cluttered their minds slowly disappearing, sent running in the tender way he kissed her. Promises made to fight for the other whenever the darkness returned. To show the other just how loved they were. It was never going to be easy and they learned that that night. The best loves were never easy, they needed constant attention and work, but love was always there even in the darkest of moments.