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Note: This was written for the Wrestling Kink Meme on Dreamwidth. Also the title and inspiration come from the song 'Let Him Go' by Katie Armigar, you can see it on YouTube.
Kane sighed as he got out of his car and saw Seth and J&J climbing out of their rental car. He'd enjoyed being Director of Operations until Seth had won the Championship, then he'd turned into a brat. The only reason Kane hadn't put the little shit in the hospital was because he was quite fond of his job and didn't want to lose it.
Today, Seth seemed to be in a good mood. "Hey, Kane," he called cheerfully, walking towards the arena with a spring in his step.
Kane nodded, if Seth was in a good mood, he didn't want to spoil it. They walked into the building and were alerted by the unusual amount of noise coming from the locker room.
As they entered the locker room, they were all surprised to see the Divas surrounding Renee, screaming with delight and congratulating her, while the boys were shaking Ambrose's hand and teasing him.
"What's going on?" Kane asked Jojo, who was standing at the back of the room near the door.
"I guess Dean proposed to Renee last night," Jojo said, a happy smile on her face.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kane saw Seth's face freeze into what looked like a painful smile as he looked at the happy couple.
"That-That's great," Seth said, but there was a note of something that caught Kane's attention.
Roman was hugging Renee, "Can't wait to have you as my official sister-in-law."
Seth's painful smile turned into a frown, "What're you talking about?"
"Dean was adopted into the Anoa'i family over Christmas this last year," The Rock said, and Kane remembered that Rock was doing an appearance since RAW was in Miami that night.
To Kane's surprise, Seth stepped forward and offered his hand to Ambrose.
"Congrats, Dean," Seth said, sincerely.
Ambrose looked at him for a long moment before shaking his hand, "Thanks, Seth."
Kane noticed Roman watching Seth very hard, as if expecting him to pull something. Seth kissed Renee on the cheek and then turned to leave. He waved off J&J and stalked off down the hall.
****Later That Evening****
Kane was looking for Seth to tell him about his match when Jamie told him that Seth hadn't come back since he'd found out about Dean and Renee's engagement. Wandering outside, he found Seth sitting near the loading area, staring the championship belt.
"Penny for your thought," Kane said. He wasn't sure why he cared so much, except for the look on Seth's face when the engagement was announced.
Seth laughed hollowly, "You ever have something you want to say to someone and then find out it's too late?"
Kane nodded, having a feeling what this was about, "Several times." Then he was quiet for a moment. "I didn't know you had feelings for Renee."
Seth looked at him for a long moment, then he laughed, "It wasn't Renee I had a thing for."
Kane's eyebrows hit his hairline, "Oh." He'd heard the rumors about The Shield and had seen that they'd been extremely close, but he hadn't thought much of it.
Seth laughed again, "Yeah." He stared at the belt, "I knew that taking the offer would probably kill anything between us, but I thought Dean would come around eventually. He likes to pretend that he never forgives, but he's the most forgiving person I know. You've seen his old promos, all the shit he said about his mom, right?" At Kane's nod, he continued, "Well, I can tell you that he visits his mother's grave every time we're near Cincy. That's the kind of person Dean is deep down. I really thought that if I gave him time to cool off, we could work something out. Now it's too late." He wiped at the tears streaming down his face.
"You must think I'm so stupid to be crying over this, especially after what happened last year."
Kane shook his head, "Even if it was just a dream, knowing that someone will never be yours hurts. Believe me, I've been there."
Seth looked at him, "Bryan?"
Kane nodded, "You still have a chance, though. You can still go to Dean and plead your case."
Seth shook his head, "No, I can't do that. Dean deserves to be happy and Renee makes him happy, I won't ruin it. Besides, Roman would kill me before I got the words out of my mouth."
Kane was surprised, "I didn't think Reigns was homophobic."
Seth smiled, "He's not. However, he is very protective of Dean, and since Dean's his official brother, that will make him even more protective."
Kane looked at the younger man like he'd never seen him before. "So, what are you going to do?"
Seth sighed and shrugged, "The only thing I can do, let him go and accept that he's happy with Renee." He hopped off the pallets he'd been sitting on and turned to Kane, "Thanks for the shoulder."
Kane shrugged, "You're welcome." He watched Seth walk away, head up, shoulders back, looking and acting every inch a champion, not the man who'd been crying because his pursuit of one dream had cost him another, but Kane knew the truth and it made it hard to hang on to his anger and resentment.
Seth was willing to let go of a dream so that his former best friend could be happy, Kane couldn't help but respect him for it.
The End
Prompt: I am a big fan of those tropes where two people who don't like each other have to work together, get trapped together or one of them is in need of help.
I would like to see something like that with Seth and Kane. Since they already work together and that doesn't help :), They could get trapped together. Elevator, car, have to share a hotel room. Or Seth or Kane is in need of help for something. Illness, personal problem, whatever and the other helps them. And they reach some kind of an understanding.