Kind of on a roll with my writing right now! Here's a new story for you. This one I'm thinking will have multiple chapters. It depends on how inspired I am and of course the feedback I get on the story. Let me know if you wanna read more of it with a review! Enjoy reading. :)
Seth was in a corner of the ring, stretching off the ropes, watching as one by one, wrestlers took turns practicing drills. William Regal was in town this week, and he was the one overseeing training for that period of time. Seth was ecstatic about it. He very much looked up to William Regal, having watched him as a kid on the tiny screen TV of his living room. He used to despise his villainous ways, but learned to appreciate them as he further got involved in wrestling, developing a huge respect for the man behind them. He felt privileged to so much share a ring with him.
Seth was always a standout in his class. He was one of the more experienced guys in developmental, having spent a good while scraping his way up from promotion to promotion before getting signed by WWE. The experience factor wasn't enough for Seth, though. He made sure that nobody else outworked him. He made sure to be the first one to arrive to the warehouse and the last one to leave. He was never satisfied with stagnation. He worked exponentially harder to improve his physique, his in-ring work, his stamina, his strength. There was always, always room for improvement. Complacency was out of the question.
There was also the fact that he wanted this so badly. His dream, ever since being a child, was to wrestle for WWE. He wanted to be as big as the people he saw on TV, wanted to be as legendary as his favorites had gone onto be. He wanted to win the WWE Championship and headline WrestleMania. He wanted all the gold, all the fame, all the adulation. This was his dream, a dream that never abandoned him. And from the first second he stepped through those ropes, his dream became his goal, his passion. He instantly sensed that this was where he belonged, that this was what he needed to do to be happy. His first bump made him see stars. But it didn't stop him from gladly getting right back up and taking bump after bump after bump.
He worked so very hard to get to where he was. He spent his last dime coasting from city to city. He lost count of the sleepless nights he'd had for lack of sheltering. Most of all, he had to sacrifice a whole hell of a lot, had to leave behind things he never wanted to let go of. The price to get to FCW was hefty, which gave this job that much more worth. This job was his entire life, his entire world. It was the only thing he had left, really, and he'd be damned if he didn't hold onto it with everything he had.
It was why every word of props he got from his trainers filled him with a sense of validation, why any applause he generated from them boosted him with pride, why a clap on his shoulder from William Regal reminded him that he'd earned the right to be exactly where he was.
Practice went on as usual. Drills were done, bumps were taken, moves were landed while some were performed. It was long and excruciating and rewarding all at once. It left no one standing upright by the end of it, Regal taking the liberty of putting them through the wringer and pushing everyone to their limits. Seth was left gasping for air as he leaned against the turnbuckle, his hair falling over his face, his black shorts and beige shirt drenched with sweat while Regal lined them up for a pep talk.
He'd been attempting to tie his hair in a neater bun his head tipped down, when he heard Norman Smiley's voice nearing ringside.
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to our latest signee. Some of you may know him, some of you may not but of course, I want you to welcome him with open arms. Mister Ambrose here-"
The hairs on the back of Seth's neck stood as quickly as his head snapped up. Seth was sure his brain was playing tricks on him as he laid eyes on him. This couldn't be real. He couldn't be right there, in the flesh. He couldn't.
"-will be joining you as soon as tomorrow for practice, alright? I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow."
The rest of the sentence had nearly gone unheard by Seth, the sheer mention of Dean's name rendering him static. His eyes were wide open in pure and utter shock, unable to believe the sight in front of him. He wasn't prepared to see him again after all this time. It was too much to take in all at once.
He'd heard the news of a new signing, but he never stuck around long enough to know who it actually was. He just assumed he'd meet them when they arrived. He never bothered asking. If it were a friend, they usually called Seth beforehand to break the news. How he wished he would've stuck around this time, how he wished he would've asked who it was that got recruited.
His heart was up at his throat, his chest heaving violently. He was unable to take his eyes off him. He was in a blank white teeshirt, clad in a dark denim jacket with fitted jeans. His hair was slightly messy, but had been cut much shorter than it used to be. His body had grown in muscle weight, his shoulders broader, his arms more prominent. He looked absolutely amazing.
Dean was looking at Norman through the end of his introduction before shaking his hand and talking to him for a brief moment. It was only then that Dean scouted the wrestlers inside the ring, his eyes roaming the area. Eventually, the inevitable happened and Dean's eyes met Seth's. Seth could see him physically freeze. He didn't even blink. In that moment, everything around them had been darkened and blurred. Any surrounding noise had been washed out, Seth's ears blocked by a thrumming flow of blood. In that moment, it was just him and Dean in that room.
But before he knew it, Dean dropped his gaze and anxiously made his way to the agents by the curtain. Seth was still transfixed against the turnbuckle, unable to tear his eyes away from Dean, too hypnotized and too shocked that he was really here.
A minute or two later, he watched as Dean slid through the curtain and suddenly, his survival instincts kicked into gear. Seth's senses were on high alert. This was the opportunity he'd been awaiting for a very, very long time. He rushed out of the ring and through the ropes, minding nothing and no one at all. He tried and failed to steady his breath as he sped through the backstage area in an attempt to catch up to Dean. Fortunately, he hadn't retrieved too far, noticing Dean's figure down the hallway.
"Dean!"
Seth called out for him, but Dean kept on walking ahead and Seth wasn't sure whether he truly hadn't heard him or ignored him on purpose. But he wasn't about to give Dean the freedom of choice. He jogged the diminishing distance that separated them, hellbent on chasing him down.
"Dean." He wheezed out, out of sorts and a bit out of breath as he stopped in front of him, blocking his passage. "Hey."
Dean silently stared at Seth, the look in his eyes soft around the edges yet completely indiscernible to Seth. It made him want to squirm and nearly made him squirm. "Hey."
Seth quickly licked and bit his lips, a nervous habit he'd harbored for years. The air was so heavy between them, almost choking Seth. "I, uh... I didn't know you got signed. I mean, I had no idea at all."
Dean's eyes remained cold as ice, barely batting a lash. "Don't blame you. I mean, the signing and everything...it all happened very quickly."
"Congratulations and uh, welcome to FCW. I mean, you deserve it. You really deserve it." Seth replied, smoothing back his unkempt locks in nervousness.
"Thank you, Seth. I appreciate it."
Dean wasn't giving him much leeway, and Seth feared he would end their talk prematurely. But Seth didn't want him to, didn't want the conversation to fade away this quickly. He wanted to cling onto it, cling onto Dean and keep him there with him for hours. God knows how long he'd wanted to do just that.
"So, how are you? How've you been?"
"I'm doing good. Been busting my ass all over the country, paying my dues, doing my thing. Glad it all worked out, y'know." Dean answered, shrugging his right shoulder.
"Clearly, man. It shows. You look good."
Dean tucked his lips in a small smirk, one Seth could tell wasn't all that genuine, one that didn't come from the heart whatsoever. "Thanks. You too."
Seth reciprocated the same smirk, nodding in short, distressed movements.
"You look really good." Seth blurted out of his control, at a loss of what else to say, still blown away by the man he was talking to, blown away that he was talking to him and he didn't know how to deal with that avalanche of unexpected feelings.
Dean's smirk vanished, his poker face still on show, tearing at something inside Seth. "Thanks."
They wordlessly looked at each other, each second spent in agony for Seth, overcome by the awkwardness that entangled itself with the chemistry and fire they'd had and cherished together, scared by what came next.
"I'm gonna have to go," Dean broke the silence, pointing somewhere over Seth's shoulder. "Gotta talk to some agents, finalize the deal, sign some paperwork. You know how it is."
Whatever was tearing at Seth was now shattering him to bits. He didn't want Dean to go, but couldn't hold him back in any way. "Yeah," Seth responded, frantically nodding again, "of course."
"Okay. Guess I'll see you around." Dean saluted, throwing two fingers up, raising his eyebrows in evident discomfort. He passed by Seth but barely a couple of steps later, Seth couldn't help but stop him.
"Dean, wait." Seth promptly walked up to him, standing face to face once more. "Do you wanna have coffee sometime? You know, catch up on old times?"
For the first time that day, emotion came alive in Dean's eyes, emotion that Seth couldn't pin down and decipher. Dean looked up to the ceiling and back at Seth, his hands fidgeting the slightest bit. "I don't think that's a good idea, Seth."
Seth could feel his lips tremble, his heart palpitating, his nerves throbbing. He was being torn to shreds. "Wh-why?"
Dean closed his eyes, subtly shaking his head from side to side. "I came here for a fresh start, Seth. A new start, a new page. I don't wanna dwell on the past. I ain't about that anymore. I wanna do this right." Dean answers, gesticulating around him, referring to this building, to FCW. "I gotta do this right."
Seth was past the point of desperation. He just wanted Dean's company again. "We don't-we don't have to talk about old times, alright? We can just talk about FCW, and WWE, and the future-"
"And what, Seth?" Dean interrupts, his voice low and cold and dangerous, anger bordering his words. He looked over Seth's shoulder, approaching his ear with a single step. "You want me to talk to you and be reminded of how you left me overnight for your future? How you left town and abandoned me without a heads up so you can make all your dreams come true?"
Seth was positively quivering, unable to do anything but shake his head. "I- I...I don't..."
"I can't do that. It's too much. I can't do it again, Seth." Dean returned his eyes to Seth's. It scared Seth how emotionless and blank they were. "I'm done with that. Sorry."
Seth wrenched his eyes shut, dropping his head down, feeling his irises tingling behind his lids. There was absolutely nothing he could reply with, nothing to reply to. He'd been radically rejected by the one person he'd wanted contact with the most in the last two years.
"I'll see you around."
Seth couldn't pick his face up from the ground, only bobbing his head on autopilot, long after Dean's footsteps were out of earshot.
There was no erasing the past.
