Author's Note: Reposting a lot of my works from my Tumblr account onto here and AO3, so you'll be seeing a lot of familiar Roman/Seth stories if you follow me on either of those. If not, enjoy :)
Backstage, people are clapping, telling him he did good, congratulating him and it feels like it was all for nothing. He's thankful, of course, but the thought is still there, still bothering him. He had seen his mother's face, looked for it when the music came out, and almost cringed in the middle of the ring before coming back to himself. He was on the grandest stage of them all; he couldn't break character right then. He remembers Seth kicking him out of the ring, knows the younger man did so as gently as he could – everything flew by afterwards, and now— well, it all feels like it was for nothing, even though it wasn't –
It had been for everything, but he wouldn't admit that. He's hugging Hunter, Vince, Stephanie, and he's looking around, looking for Seth. He spots his Mom, briefly, can see the anger on her face before he gets distracted and –
The rest of the night flies by, coworkers, family, friends and cameramen surrounding him and really, he just wants a minute alone, just wants to go find Seth, damn it.
He knows he shouldn't want that though, knows better. They broke up and then he went and did a stupid thing and got married, even though he was head over heels for someone else and –
He shakes out his long hair, shakes his head as Dean comes to stop in front of him and says, 'Better luck next time bro,' slapping his shoulder in condolence. As Dean walks past him, he lets out a smile, because finally, he has what he wants.
"Seth is in a locker room, lights off, near the end of the hallway," He hears and he doesn't even remember to thank Dean before he's off in search of the room, in search of Seth. He's waylaid by his Mom, and he loves her but oh holy, he just wants to see Seth.
Of course though, she's whispering, telling him he'll get it next time and that Seth is nothing and didn't deserve it, and oh man, he wishes he could stop her, wishes he could say it was his idea, but he's nodding his head instead just so he can get away, get to Seth. Eventually, he does just that, and finds himself in front of the door at the end of the hallway.
He opens the door, blackness all around him, but can't help but let out a grin when he sees Seth sitting in a corner, staring at the belt with wide-eyes and awe, but also trepidation and wonderment. Seth's biting through his lower lip and as he makes his way over to the man and kneels in front of him, he can't help but run his fingers through the hair, pulling lightly on the one blond strand left. Seth looks up at him then, mouth open and closing like a fish out of water and he can't help but stare at Seth's mouth, remember what it felt like against his own, remember how much he loved the feeling of it.
He shakes himself out of it though, running his other hand through his hair before sitting down next to the man and grabbing Seth's hand, interlacing their fingers, squeezing it in comfort. He'd gladly sit here next to Seth in silence, but he blinks when he hears Seth's voice.
"Why me?" And that's the question, isn't it, he thinks to himself with a sigh. Why did he tell Vince and Hunter and Stephanie to give the title to Seth, when they asked him who he wanted to lose to with only twenty minutes before he had to go out for said match.
Now he's opening and closing his mouth like a fish before looking over at Seth and saying the first thing that's on his mind, "Because you deserved it, because I would have rather lost to you than to anyone else and because –" He pauses here, chewing on his lower lip in thought, wondering how he could put his next thought into words.
"Because?" Seth asks, trailing slowly, like Seth knew what he wanted to say, but he wanted to hear it first.
"Because I—" He says before breaking off and looking away. Because he loves him, always will, and right now, Seth deserves to be the champion. He won't say any of that out loud, won't admit it to Seth. But then again, he doesn't have to. Seth's always been able to read him so damn well.
"Rome," Seth whispers and he can't help but look over, notice the mouth and the eyes that are pulled together and fuck, why does he want to kiss him so bad. Before he even realizes he's made the choice, his hand is around Seth's neck, and he's pulling in the younger man, fitting their mouths together and they're kissing and fuck, he hasn't felt this good, this happy, this at home in months, and isn't that a scary thought.
"Because, you idiot." He whispers, eventually, after breaking the kiss off slowly while Seth grins, deciding to kiss him lightly every few minutes.
"I don't deserve—"
"You sure as hell deserve it a lot more than I do right now," He growls out, pulling Seth into his lap and groaning at the contact.
Shit, when did this feel so good?
"And you're welcome," He whispers with a smile, remembering when Seth whispered his thanks while pinning him, remembering how he wanted to say it then, wanted to kiss him then. But he was in the middle of the ring, and married, and goodness knows Seth didn't need another scandal.
"God, Rome, I can't ever thank you enough, you know that right?" Seth whispers back, kissing him furiously, pawing at pants, trying to unbuckle them.
"I'm sure you can," He responds, trailing kisses down Seth's torso, licking and biting, grinning with each moan that comes out of Seth's mouth.
"And even if you can't, I'm sure we'll find ways to show your appreciation," He ends up chuckling, going thrusting upwards as he continues to kiss the younger man. After that, his mind is no longer on being married, thank heavens, or his Mom and how she's not too fond of his ex-boyfriend right now.
No, his mind is on said ex-boyfriend, and how to make his favorite noises come out of his mouth.