There was a knock at the door, and when Zack answered it, Brooke was standing there. She looked both worried and nervous, which could never be a good combination.

"What's wrong?" He instantly asked.

"My parents want to meet you."

He blinked. "That's it?"

"What do you mean that's it?" She asked, incredulously. "Didn't you hear me? My parents want to meet you."

"I heard you," He said. "I thought something horrible happened. But it's just your parents wanting to meet me?"

"You don't understand," Brooke protested. "They embarrass me all the time. I don't want you to meet them, or else I'll never hear the end of it from you."

"Well, they're not embarrassing me, so I don't have a problem with meeting them." Zack smirked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Brooke, I'm sure."

"I'm going to go call them, then," She said. "I'll let you know what's going on when I'm done."

"Okay. I'll be here."

***

"I don't know if I can do this."

"It's going to be fine, Brooke."

"But what if they don't like you?" She asked, frowning.

"They'll just have to deal with it," He replied. "I'm not going anywhere."

"They didn't like Jace," Brooke revealed. "They said he didn't seem like a good guy, or like he was good enough for me, but I didn't listen. Look where that got me."

"I am going to try my hardest to make sure your parents like me, Brooke," Zack said. "I'm not like Jace, and I don't want your parents thinking that I am."

Brooke took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready."

They both got out of the car, walking up the driveway to the front door. Brooke knocked on the door, and Zack's hand found hers. He gave it a soft squeeze, and it helped calm her nerves a little.

Once the door opened, though, all her nervousness melt away when she saw her parents' faces.

"Hi!" She greeted, smiling. She gave them a hug, then backed away to stand next to Zack. "Mom, Dad, this is Zack." She grabbed his hand again. "He's my, uh, boyfriend."

"It's nice to meet you," He said, smiling. He shook their hands. "I'm Zack Ryder."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Her mom said, giving him a small smile. "Come inside, you two! It's freezing out there!"

Zack and Brooke walked inside, and they were lead to the living room. While her dad – Zack learned his name was Mark – went to the kitchen to get drinks, her mom – Laura – quickly brought out the photo albums, and Zack couldn't help but smile.

"Mom, no!" Brooke protested, frowning.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to show him any of the embarrassing ones," She assured her.

"They're all the embarrassing ones!" Brooke sighed, crossing her arms in defeat as her mom began leafing through the pages.

After only making it through two pages, her dad yelled, "Laura, will you come in here for a second?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "He doesn't know where anything in that fridge is. I'll be right back." She handed the album to Zack, then got up and walked away.

When she got to the kitchen, she noticed her husband had gotten nothing, although he had promised to get drinks.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Let's just listen to them for a little while," Mark replied. "If something goes wrong, we can go back in there. But, for now, let's just leave them alone."

"We can do literally anything else, you know," Brooke said, looking over at the picture Zack was looking at. It was her when she was about 8, just sitting on the couch, with her dog next to her.

"No, this is fun," He said, laughing. "You had a dog?"

"Yeah," She said, smiling. "His name was Richard."

Zack looked up from the photo and at her, confused. "Why?"

"My dad thought it was funny to call the dog Dick," She replied, rolling her eyes. "But she didn't want me calling him that, so we named it Richard."

He laughed. "I want a dog."

"Then get a dog."

"But we're always on the road," He reminded her. "Where would I keep the dog?"

"You're the one who wants a dog, Zack," She said. "That's something you've got to figure out on your own."

"Maybe when I retire I could get a dog," He thought out loud.

"I mean, that's a possibility." She nodded.

"We could name him Richard, too," He said. "But instead of calling him Dick, we could call him Richie Rich."

Brooke instantly noticed when he said we, implying that he saw his future with her in it. She smiled.

"We are not calling our dog Richie Rich," She told him, shaking her head. "That's a horrible name."

"But we could get a collar, and put a dollar sign on it," He tried convincing her.

"Why are you trying to make our dog into a pimp?" She laughed. "Do you want him to have a bunch of little doggy hoes, too?"

Zack laughed. "Okay. So we're not naming him Richie Rich."

"Thank you."

Her dad walked in, bringing some water bottles with him. He set them on the coffee table, then took a seat next to Brooke.

"Sorry that took so long," He apologized.

Brooke smiled and shook her head. "It's fine. We've just been talking about Richard."

"Oh, yeah. Dick," He said, and Brooke rolled her eyes. "He was a good dog. Didn't mind that I called him Dick."

"Brooke?" Laura called from the kitchen.

She pat Zack's knee, and stood up. "I'll be back."

As she walked away, Zack suddenly became aware that he was left alone with her dad.

"So, how do you know Brooke?" Her dad asked him.

"We work together," He replied. "We both wrestle."

"You know about Jace?"

"Yeah..."

"You seem like a good guy," He said. "I'd like to think that I can trust you to protect her, to make sure Brooke is okay, and that that creep stays away from her."

"Brooke can usually protect herself," Zack said. "But I'll make sure to protect her from anything she can't."

"You really make her happy," He observed. "So I think I like you. Can I give you a word of advice?"

"Sure."

"Don't name your dog Richie Rich."

Zack chuckled. "We've already decided against that name, so don't worry."

At that moment, Brooke and Laura walked back into the room. They each had two mugs of something hot, and they each handed one off.

"My dad apparently couldn't figure out how to work the coffee machine." Brooke rolled her eyes. "That's why he brought the water. Mom made us coffee, though, so that we don't freeze our butts off."

"So, what were you two talking about?" Laura asked.

"Richie Rich."

Brooke just laughed.

***

The rest of the night went smoothly.

The second time her parents left the room, Brooke realized they were spying on them. She didn't tell Zack, though, in case he started to worry or got nervous.

Her mom offered to make them dinner, but they had to be at the arena for SmackDown, and considering they were in the wrong state, they were already going to be late. She gave them some food to eat on the road, though, to hold them over until after the show (when they planned on eating).

Once they opened the door to leave, though, they quickly noticed it was pouring down rain, so she also gave them a big black umbrella, so they didn't get wet on their way to the car.

Zack opened the umbrella, and they began walking.

Suddenly, Zack stopped. Brooke also had to stop, or else she'd get soaked.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking at him. He didn't say anything, and she frowned. "What's wrong?"

He turned to face her and just stared at her, and she just stared back at him. She raised her eyebrows, inviting him to speak.

"Brooke?"

"Yes, Zack?" She asked, just wanting to him to spit it out.

"I love you."

She didn't even have to think about it; her mouth was already forming the words. "I love you, too."

He smiled, and she smiled, too. She stood on her tip toes, and kissed him.

"Now, come on, let's go. It's pouring down rain and we're running late."

Brooke didn't even have to think about those words. It was obvious in all the little things he did – when he'd literally run ahead of her just to open a door for her; how he didn't mind that the Total Divas cameras followed them around a lot; the way he looked at her; how he put so much thought into every single date, acting like it was their very first one and that he had to impress her; how he dealt with her, whether it was her horrible ex-boyfriend, or answering all of her sudden and random questions ("Why do you like me?" "Do you feel bad for me?"), with nothing but kindness.

She'd unconsciously knew she was in love with him, too, but until he said it first, she'd never actually realized.

She was a complete mess, but, knowing him, he'd probably have it no other way.