Seth took a deep breath as he stood on top of the ramp. Down by the ring stood Roman and Juliette. Her dark brown, bordering to black, hair reached him from afar and he dreamed about looking into those moss green eyes again.
He had hurt her way worse than anyone ever deserved. He had hurt the person he loved and was supposed to keep safe. He had been on painkillers for his knee, but even though his knee healed, he hadn't stopped taking those pills. He increased the amount instead. He had become addicted, and along with that addiction came the monster.
She had stayed with the monster for way too long. She had cried and begged for him to go to rehab. In the beginning he had promised to stop, but as he learned she wasn't going anywhere, his promises had stopped. The monster had taken over, consumed every fiber of his body. She was scared, and rightfully so. He saw the bruises he left on her, but the pills made him deny it ever being his fault. She just triggered him with all her nagging. And she wasn't leaving. Not until the day the monster went too far.
As always he had crashed hard on the couch after releasing the monster. He was dead to the world because of the pills. He never heard her pack her belongings. He never heard Roman enter the house. He woke up to his face though. She had called Roman, but not for him to take her away. For him to be there for Seth. Even in his darkest hour that caused her to leave, she still thought about him and wanted to keep him safe. He should have kept her safe too.
He knew that was the end, and he accepted it. He didn't try and reach out to her at all. He cried his heart out to Roman before handing over the pills. Roman flushed them, and together they found a place for him to rehab. Roman had driven him there that same afternoon. Her leaving had been the wake up call he needed. He just wished he could have seen it earlier, before he had driven her away.
Now he was back. She knew he would back today. Roman had told her. Roman had been a pillar for them both to lean up against. Seth knew all along that Roman was there for Juliette too. Without a doubt she knew that Roman was there for him too. They had suffered in silence with Roman as their middle man.
He took another deep breath and started walking down the ramp. Tonight on RAW he would make his comeback. Only a handful of people knew the real reason he had been gone for months. The fans had been told it was his knee again.
"Hi," he said nervously.
She turned around with a fearful look in her eyes. Those moss green eyes still sucked him in. He had never stopped loving her. How could he? She had always been the one for him, and he had messed it up. She grabbed Roman's hand, and Seth felt jealousy race through him.
"Welcome back, Seth," Roman smiled.
"How are you?" Seth looked at Juliette.
"Fine," she mumbled. "I'm needed elsewhere."
She took off fast, and Seth watched her run up the ramp. He was to blame for that.
"Let's go somewhere to talk," Roman said.
That sounded like a great idea. Seth felt the need to talk after what he had just witnessed. As soon as they reached an empty spot in the arena, he gave Roman a hard stare.
"Something you wanna tell me?" He sneered.
"Like what?" Roman asked.
"Are you with Juliette?" Seth asked.
"No, I'm not," Roman answered.
"You held her hand in there," Seth said.
"She took my hand because she's still scared of you, Seth," Roman said. "And can you honestly blame her for that?"
Seth looked down, feeling so ashamed. No, he couldn't blame her. Not one bit. The monster inside him had hurt her too much.
"Seth?" Roman asked.
Seth looked up at Roman with tears in his eyes.
"I can't erase what I've done," he said lowly.
"I know," Roman said.
"I still love her, Roman," Seth cried.
"I know that too," Roman said.
"Does she still love me?" Seth asked.
"I can't answer that. I never asked. I think a part of her still does, maybe even all of her. You need to ask her that," Roman answered.
"It's just so hard," Seth said.
"You don't get to play the victim. She told me, Seth. I know I got a watered down version of what you did to her, but the things I know is enough to make me very angry with you," Roman said. "But I also know that wasn't the real you. That was who the pills made you become."
Seth wiped his eyes and nodded. He knew Roman was right. He had no right in playing the victim. Sure, he had lost her but it was his own fault.
"I gotta go see Baron to go over some spots for our match tonight. Will you be alright?" Roman asked.
"I'll be fine," Seth answered.
Seth went straight to catering in search for a cup of coffee. He needed something to calm his nerves and coffee always did the trick. He didn't know Juliette would be in there too. She sat in the corner. When she spotted him, she looked nervously around. He hated that he still scared her. The monster was long gone, yet that was all she saw. He fixed himself a cup of coffee, giving her plenty of time to escape. She still sat there when he turned back around, so he chose to walk down to her.
"Hi," he sat down. "Is it alright that I'm here?"
"I don't know," she said honestly.
"Swap places with me," he said.
"Why?" She asked.
"I can see you feel cornered, and I don't wanna scare you more than I already have. Let me have the corner seat so you can run away if you feel the need to," he said.
She nodded and they quickly swapped seats. She didn't look more comfortable but at least he knew he had given her an easy escape if she felt the need to get out.
"I don't know where to start," he sighed. "I can't find the right words to tell you how sorry I am."
"I know," she looked down.
"But you don't know," he said. "I'm so fucking sorry. I wish I could take it all back. I failed to protect you, and instead I hurt you."
She was still looking down, but he could see she was listening.
"I still love you," he reached over and took her hand.
"No!" She snapped her hand back fast and looked at him. "Don't touch me!"
"I'm sorry," he fought the tears that threatened to come out. "Please, forgive me. Let me prove to you that the monster is gone."
"He'll always be with me," she stood up. "I gotta go."
He let her go. He was gonna prove to her that he was his own self again one way or another, starting with that RAW. He was opening the show and got a huge pop from the crowd. He took to the ring with a microphone in his hand. At least the company still had faith in him cutting his own promos without giving him a script. That gave him enough room to get his message across to her.
"Did you miss me?" He looked around. "Some people may doubt me, but I'll have you know, I haven't missed a beat while being gone. I will rebuild myself and I will take back what is mine!"
He dropped the microphone and walked out of the ring. Once he was backstage, he could hear Juliette and Roman's voices. He followed the voices until he found them.
"How dare he? How fucking dare he?" She yelled.
"Relax," Roman said. "It's Seth. He's still cocky as fuck."
Seth smirked. Roman was right. He was back to being his old self, cockiness and all. She looked over and caught his smirk. Probably not the best way to get back in her good graces but it was too late to change it. She spun around on her heel and walked away without a word.