RAW had just finished. CM Punk's WWE championship celebration had gone mostly as storyline dictated, but Paul Heyman was feeling disgruntled.

"I'm still angry about the balloons. They said they'd have them, didn't they? They promised they'd be strewn up on the ring posts, but we came and they weren't there! What is it with these people?"

Punk shrugged. "Maybe Ryback ate them?"

Paul chuckled, calming down immediately. "Maybe. Look, Punk, I gotta go. Great as always, champ." The two shook hands before Paul walked out to his car and drove away.

Punk had to admit he was slightly tired, and was about to do the same, but a vibration from his pocket stopped him. He took out his iPhone, and was happy, confused and a little bit angry, when he saw the text's words, and who sent them.

Seth

Come outside, I've got a surprise 4 u xoxo

Punk smirked, putting his phone away and doing as his lover had told him to do.

What he saw as he reached his destination was nothing short of a surprise.

There, struggling to hold down every one of the 365 missing balloons with a massive grin on his face was the NXT Champion, and Punk's loving secret boyfriend of 6 months, Seth Rollins.

"Sethie, sweetie..." Punk asked, walking over to him. "Why do you have those balloons? You did know they were meant to be used for my celebration, right?"

"What can I say? I was feeling...mischievous. Plus, I sorta wanted to give you my own brand of celebration."

"I should've guessed." Punk said wryly, making them both laugh. "So, anyway now that I've seen your little stunt, what are you planning to do with all of these balloons?

Seth said nothing, before turning and running off, still with the objects clasped in his hand.

"Seth, what the hell are you doing? Get back here, goddammit!"

He sighed. Guess I'll have to follow him.

And so, that was exactly what he did. He didn't bother keeping track of the time, and his only indicator as to how close he was, was how every so often, he'd catch sight of Seth's electric two-tone hair. He'd lunge, wanting to grab him, but the younger man would always be just inches out of his reach.

Undeterred, Punk kept running. His legs felt like jelly, but the worst thing he could do right now was to let his boyfriend go out of his view, and possibly into trouble.

He'd never properly been keeping track of the time, but, trying as hard as he could to multitask, he estimated it to have been around ten minutes before he saw the figure in front of him slow to an eventual stop, the coloured shapes bobbing leisurely in the air.

"Right, Seth " Punk asked, bending down and taking in as much air as he could, "where the hell did you lead me to?"

"Well, if you even bothered to look around-"

"Alright, I get the message!" Punk cut in, not amused by how Seth was using sarcasm, one of the WWE Champion's trademarks, against him. He tilted his head upwards, not expecting to see much, but instead gaining sight of a seemingly endless field, with several trees dotted around it, blanketed from above by an orange coloured sky.

"It's actually sorta beautiful." the Chicago native admitted, rotating his body so he could take more of the panorama in.

The steps Seth took behind him were barely audible on the grass below their feet, but a gentle breath on his neck caused him to whirl around, meeting the younger man's eyes.

"I agree with you." he stated simply, gazing up as Punk had done for a second or so, before looking down again, straight into his lover's eyes. "In fact, it sorta reminds me of somebody I know."

Punk smiled, trying desperately to hide the extremely out-of-character blush that was threatening to cover his cheeks.

"Punk, I wanna tell you why I really stole these balloons."

Punk's eyebrows rose. "But, Seth, you already told me-"

"I told you that because we were still in the arena." he cut in. "Anybody could've walked in on us. Now, we're out here, alone, and none of that's a problem any more."

Punk crossed his arms, and Seth continued to speak.

"Each one of these balloons represents 365 days in your life. A whole year of so many things- respect, rebellion, near immortality...but, somewhere in among all those days, are 6 months."

The Straight Edge Superstar's arms slowly began to unfold, and Seth intertwined his free hand with Punk's, which was still wearing the red-cross adorned wrist tape he was known for.

"6 months, 180 days, of the NXT and WWE champion, together. 180 days, of never backing down from what we believe in. 180 days of quite possibly the greatest love story in the history of professional wrestling, and above all, 180 days of us. Those balloons shouldn't be confined to the ring, Punk. They should be free, just like you and me."

At this point, Punk would have berated Seth for being so sappy and ridiculous with his choice of words, but in truth, he was lost for those himself.

The younger man reached out, running his fingers slowly through Punk's hair, which had become slightly unstuck from its previously gelled state, before placing them back into Punk's hand as they had been before.

In response, Punk moved his other free hand around the one with which Seth was holding the balloons, and bent his head forward slightly so the two came even closer.

"Here's to another year, my champion."

They pushed themselves forward into a kiss that was hungry, passionate, but all the while had undertones of sweetness. Their hands broke apart, finding their way onto each other's faces and down their torsos, forcing the balloons upwards into the dusk.

The kiss broke for a few seconds, as the two looked up at the balloons, all 365 of them, floating away.

"Let's hope those balloons last to 2013 and beyond," Punk asked, before turning his eyes downwards, "right Sethie?"

Seth nodded, not hesitating to go back into the kiss, feeling as if he and his boyfriend were flying away with them, headlong into whatever the next year would bring.