"Dean! Dean! Wait up!"
Dean Ambrose froze then slowly turned at the sound of the woman's voice. His brow furrowed slighting, wondering what in the world Bayley wanted with him. Fortunately, the hotel lobby was nearly deserted; but all he wanted was to get to his room, shower, and go to bed.
In typical Bayley fashion, she ran up to him, a huge smile on her face. She thrust a wrapped package at him. "Happy Early Birthday!"
Confused, Dean looked at her then at the package then back to her smiling face.
Bayley wiggled the package, silently encouraging him to take it.
"Why are you giving me a birthday gift?" Dean slowly took the package.
"Because that's what happens on birthdays," Bayley grinned. Before he could stop her, she gave him a big hug. "And since I won't see you on your birthday, you get this gift today."
"Uh…" Dean took a step back. "You've never given me a birthday gift before. Why now?"
"Because you're back!" Bayley grinned.
Dean glanced down at the package, then narrowed his blue eyes. "Who's it really from?" He saw Bayley's smile slowly fade. "Bayley, I asked you a question!" he snapped.
"If you wanna know, then open it."
Dean looked past Bayley to see a scowling Sasha Banks glaring at him.
"Bayley's nice enough to bring it to you, so you can take that attitude and shove it…"
"SASHA!" Bayley put her hand over her friend's mouth. She turned her head and smiled at Dean. "What Sasha's trying to say is that I'm doing a favor for a friend."
"Yeah, well, I'm not interested in anything your 'friend'…"
Sasha pushed Bayley's hand from her mouth. "Ambrose, nobody cares. Okay? Do what you want with the gift. Keep it. Throw it away. Give it to somebody else. That's on you. Bayley did her good deed. What happens next is your decision."
"It's nothing bad, I promise," Bayley quietly assured him. "I helped wrap it." She turned and walked away.
Sasha hesitated then took a step closer to Dean. "You know, considering all that happened to you this year and what's happened over the past month or so, you should be damned grateful that Bayley's 'friend' gives enough of a damn to even send you a present," she hissed.
Dean watched with both amazement and amusement as Sasha spun on her heel and followed Bayley down the hallway. He shook his head and walked towards the elevators.
Inside his hotel room, he sat the wrapped package on the nightstand and sat on the bed. He stared at it for a few moments, then grabbed it and tore off the bright red wrapping paper. He saw a blank white box and opened it. Safely nestled inside was an expensive bottle of whiskey with a folded piece of paper lying on top. Curious despite himself, he opened the paper and recognized Seth Rollins' scrawl.
'We couldn't do this on your last birthday, being in the Middle East and all. But I promised then to make it up to you on your next birthday. So enjoy it. I'm very happy and thankful you made it to this birthday so I could keep my promise. Seth'
"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered. "What head game is he playing?"
Except he knew it wasn't a head game. No matter what happened in the ring…no matter what Dean had done, said, or thrown at him…he knew Seth really was happy and grateful that he'd survived…that he'd returned.
'You should be damned grateful that Bayley's 'friend' gives enough of a damn to even send you a present.'
"Not buying it," Dean angrily muttered. He got up and walked into the bathroom. He unsealed the bottle and poured the whiskey down the drain. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror and scowled. "No more weakness." He started to throw the bottle into the sink then flinched at the loud voice in his head.
'NO!'
Closing his eyes, Dean breathed heavily and rolled his shoulders. His hand tightened on the bottle.
'NO!'
Almost in a daze, he ran his forefinger up the side of the bottle, catching the few drops of whiskey that hadn't gone down the drain. He put his finger into his mouth and sucked, almost sighing in pleasure as the flavor of the whiskey exploded on his tongue.
The next thing he knew, he was putting the closed gift box into his luggage, shoving clothing around it to protect it from damage. "Fucking hell," he muttered as he zipped the suitcase shut. "Not dealing with this tonight."
Resolutely, he threw himself onto the bed and turned off the light, telling himself that he wasn't going to be weak again.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Seth Rollins looked up as the hotel room door opened then gently closed. Seconds later, Bayley walked into the bedroom and put the room key card on the dresser. She smiled at Seth who sat curled up against the headboard with a blanket around him. To her, he looked like a lost child.
Bayley crawled up the bed and sat next to him. "It's done," she assured him.
"He took it?" Seth sounded surprised.
Bayley nodded. "I don't know what he did with it," she admitted. "But he took it…and he figured out it was from you."
"He didn't…he's not mad at you, is he?" Seth asked.
Bayley shrugged. "Well, he was a little irritated. But more at Sasha than at me. We told him I was doing a favor for a friend."
"I promised, you know…last year on his birthday. I couldn't…not keep that promise. Even with everything that's happened." Seth sighed and rested his head against her shoulder. "Thanks, Bayley. For doing that."
"Anytime, friend." Bayley wrapped an arm around his shoulder and drew him closer. She lowered her voice, "I know it hurts, Seth. It hurt when Sasha and I were angry with each other. It hurt so much. But you told me that it wouldn't last. That true friends can argue and fight and even not speak for a long time. But they always come back to each other. Because they are true friends."
"I say a lot of shit sometimes," Seth mumbled.
"True," Bayley cheerfully nodded. "But that wasn't one of those times." She wrapped her other arm around him and gave him a gentle hug. "No matter what happens in the ring…or at TLC…or even after TLC, one day the two of you will nod at each other in the hall or in catering. And then one day one of you will tell the other 'good match'. And it'll get better." She nodded in confidence. "You'll see."
"I hope so," Seth whispered. "But I gotta put that aside for TLC."
"But that's tomorrow," Bayley quietly assured him. "Tomorrow you can be the Architect. Tomorrow you can make all the plans and counter plans and contingency plans you need to make."
"Because tomorrow's another day, Scarlett?" Seth teased.
Bayley grinned. "Because tomorrow's another day," she agreed. "Tonight, it's okay to feel sad."
And because she was Bayley, she hugged him tight until they awoke the next morning.