Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Any and all original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.
This story is a request from LegitElizabethWWEFan that she asked for literally months and months ago, and I'm so terrible I wasn't able to get it completed and posted until just now. To LegitElizabethWWEFan, you have the patience of an absolute saint. Thank you for being so kind during all the times I messaged you to say I wouldn't be able to get it up yet. You were so nice about it, and I just hope the wait was worth it and that you enjoy this. To anyone else who decides to check this little slice of fiction out, I definitely hope you like it as well! Credit to Ellie Goulding for the song Love Me Like You Do.
Proof.
Cold, hard proof.
Olivia searched every action, every emotion, every touch, and all that resided in between for evidence of what she had with the single most special man in her life. From his side of the equation, Seth Rollins made it crystal clear he believed they had it all. They at least had it together enough that he felt comfortable proposing the idea of living together, and she had accepted straight away for two reasons: desire and fear. Desire, because she loved Seth with every inch of her heart and thought they could have a real success story, and fear, because she had been in this very spot times before.
It had not ended on a single positive note the last time, which was precisely why Olivia was dating Seth and not the hunky boyfriend of old, Brenton Double. Yes, that was actually his given surname, and in hindsight, was the best indicator of what he would come to represent in Olivia's life. When times were good, he doused her in a sea of passion and lust, but when they were bad, they were really bad, and he was nothing but double the trouble. Toward the close of their rocky relationship, Olivia's mother had even referred to him as such―Double Trouble.
Olivia's lips formed a sour pucker, an uncontrollable response to the bad taste filling her mouth from memories best left far in the past. The familiar scratch of tape filled the air as Seth used his teeth to bite down on a piece and rip it off the roll, securing a couple of flaps on a moving box that had come undone. The weekend he and Olivia had been counting down to had finally arrived, and Seth was a kind enough soul to take time off work to help Olivia move into their new home, located in rural Davenport, Iowa. Watching him, especially when he didn't realize he was being observed, comforted her.
Seth loved her more than any man ever had, and probably ever would, so this move had to work. It might. Then again, it might not. It could. It also could not. Olivia pushed the tip of her index finger into the corner of her lips in the spot where they met, taking a tender moment to appreciate the fine specimen sitting just a few feet away from her on the carpet, helping her to pack up a life that had not yet recovered from old traumas. The bed was nearly dipping under the weight of every article of clothing she owned, which had been thrown haphazardly on the mattress to await being tucked away in a suitcase.
Not the best way to move, but what she and Seth lacked in organizational skills, they more than made up for in the love department. And somehow, that had to be enough.
You're the light, you're the night
You're the colour of my blood
You're the cure, you're the pain
You're the only thing I wanna touch
Never knew that it could mean so much, so much
You're the fear, I don't care
'Cause I've never been so high
Follow me to the dark
Let me take you past our satellites
You can see the world you brought to life, to life
So love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do
Touch me like you do, ta-ta-touch me like you do
What are you waiting for?
"Liv."
She sucked in sharply and focused only on his smiling face. That smile set her heavy heart free. "What's up?"
"You okay?" he asked. Housing a pile of her folded clothing in his lap, Seth stopped what he was doing to gift her his full attention. There was no present greater than being made the center of his universe. Once upon a time, she had been the center of Brenton's world, but that was then, and this was now. Seth sighed and shook his head, some of his naturally loose waves falling around his shoulders. "Not sure why I'm asking. I already know you're not."
"I don't know, it's just hard. They always say time is supposed to heal all wounds, but so much time has passed already and there's still, like, this dark cloud hanging over me."
"It's only been a couple of years."
"Exactly. A couple of years," she emphasized. "I should be over it by now."
"Why? Because a bunch of self-help books and online support boards tell you that you should?" Seth quizzed.
He licked his lips and moved the massive pile of blouses from his lap to the floor. Pushing off the heels of his palms, Seth moved swiftly across the room and plopped down on the bed. All it took was the simple circling of his arm around her back before Olivia let down the emotional force field of protection that she used to get through each day. It was akin to a zone she entered, a space of layers built so deep within her that Seth was the only person dedicated enough to bust through.
The inside of his right cheek was pressed into his top row of teeth when Olivia used his face as a resting place for her temple. He stroked her deeply red hair from the top of her head all the way down to the spot it hit just between her shoulder blades. Physically, Olivia was the polar opposite of Seth's typical choice in a mate. He went for brunettes, petite and with classically pretty faces. Olivia was more plainly cute than pretty, with large green eyes and freckles that dotted the majority of both her cheeks. She was a tiny little thing, a short and skinny girl with a chest way more on the flatter end of the spectrum, but she had pulled Seth's interest with little effort somehow.
He just plain liked what he liked. Being one of the newest call-ups from developmental, Olivia was working herself to the bone, so she certainly had muscle, but she was still, overall, a lean girl. It was as if, the first time Seth saw her, he knew they would connect like two lost-but-reunited puzzle pieces clicking into place. Somehow, he guessed that his fingers would run perfectly through her hair and that his arms were just long enough to wrap all the way around her waist. Her lips were the perfect size to be pressed into his when they kissed, and his palms just large enough to cup her cheeks.
Having been a bit of a player in life, Seth enjoyed the chase. Each time he had passed Olivia at work, she averted her gaze, which he later found out was strictly a result of nerves because she found him "hot." The more she avoided his eyes, the harder he tried to make her see him in all his glory, and when she tripped over a set of production cables while walking past him backstage, he had swooped in to steady her, catching her in a set of arms that had been created all along to hold her. With her toppling form pressed safely against his chest, Seth got her to look at him for the first time, and all the rest was history.
Grasping her hand inside his, Seth lifted their joined hands and used his pointer finger to shove her side bangs out of her eyes. She blinked twice quickly, thankful for the relief from partly compromised vision, and kissed Seth's cheek. He kissed hers back and scanned her heavy eyes for signs of what ailed her. Proof.
Fading in, fading out
On the edge of paradise
Every inch of your skin is a holy grail I've got to find
Only you can set my heart on fire, on fire
Yeah, I'll let you set the pace
'Cause I'm not thinking straight
My head's spinning around I can't see clear no more
What are you waiting for?
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do (like you do)
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do
Touch me like you do, ta-ta-touch me like you do
What are you waiting for?
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do (like you do)
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do (yeah)
Touch me like you do, ta-ta-touch me like you do
What are you waiting for?
Olivia hugged her arms to herself and curled into Seth's neck, each breath she released tickling his Adam's apple. With her shrinking form tucked into his physically stronger body, her fragility was pushed to the forefront of Seth's mind. This task of loving her was meant to be, a test of strength and courage that had been assigned to his soul long before birth. In these instances, more than anything, Olivia needed reassurance, and Seth was just the guy to give it to her. "Whatever happened in the past hasn't broken you. You can always be mended."
"I wish that were true."
"It is, baby."
"I forgave Brenton. I'm always willing to forgive, because I'm not perfect either, but I just can't forget."
"You don't have to forget, but you have to be able to accept what happened and move on. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I'm not saying accept what he did to you as if it were okay, but accept that it happened and you can't change it. It will always be a part of your history, but it's over now, and Liv, you know that I could never do what he did. You know that," Seth emphasized. Olivia stayed hidden in the nook of his neck, and he grasped her hair gently, giving a slight tug. "Hey, look at me. Look at me for just a sec."
As hard as it was to pull away from his warmth, Olivia raised her head and met his eyes. His loving, bright, hopeful eyes that had never let her down, not even once. Seth kissed her nose and kept at it. "I don't care if we argue, or if I'm mad at you, or whatever the case may be. I would never do to you what he did. Not in a million years. My dad taught me how to be a man, and real men don't pull that shit with women, period."
"I feel so stupid," Olivia said shakily. "I should have realized it was happening and gotten out the first time, but it was almost like I kept telling myself it wasn't actual abuse because it wasn't full-on hitting. It was just random stuff. I thought it was normal for boyfriends to do that sometimes when they get frustrated and that as long as he wasn't actually hitting me, it was okay. Not okay, but it was, like, passable."
"Well, you know better now."
"I do."
"If you ever need to vent to me or get this stuff off your chest, you can always do that," Seth said, "but to be honest, I want you to stop letting it put a damper on what we're doing. This is going to be such a good thing for us. We love each other, and we're moving in together, and if it all works and gels the way I think it will, you know what comes next."
Olivia cracked a smile at that. "You'll buy me a really big diamond ring and I can finally set a date?"
"Exactly."
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Olivia kissed his chin and combed her fingers gently through his loose hair. "Thanks for talking to me, sweetie. You always make me feel so much better."
"That's what I'm here for," he replied. Seth patted her gingerly on the butt. "What do you say we get these boxes all packed for the movers so we can chill and make some lunch?"
Running the tip of her nose all the way across his jawline, she smirked when his chin hair tickled her nostril. "That sounds like the best plan I've heard all day."
I'll let you set the pace
'Cause I'm not thinking straight
My head's spinning around I can't see clear no more
What are you waiting for?
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do (like you do)
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do (yeah)
Touch me like you do, ta-ta-touch me like you do
What are you waiting for?
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do (like you do)
Love me like you do, la-la-love me like you do (oh)
Touch me like you do, ta-ta-touch me like you do
What are you waiting for?
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
"There. Right there! It's perfect."
Olivia threw her hands up in front of her face like she were checking the angles of the framed picture to make sure it was just right. Moving day had come, at last, and this picture was her present from Seth. It was one of many. He wanted her to feel comfortable with the new space, and he understood that might be a bit of a struggle, considering it was his house she was moving into, so he had told her to pick something that would set her at ease and make her feel as if she had been living in Iowa with him all along.
She subjected him to almost a full hour in a random home goods store until the perfect item caught her eye. It had a farmhouse brown frame, and enclosed behind the glass was a painted on picture of a home with a big, red heart right above. Off to the side, in cursive white text, it read, 'Love is what makes a house a home.' It summed up everything she felt about the move with Seth. That little four-letter word was always the only thing that had gotten them through when times were tough and when it seemed like all odds were against them.
Love was all they ever really had. Problem was, Olivia found it difficult to trust her insides anymore because she had already given the whole of her heart to a man who had crushed it in as many ways as was earthly possible, except literally. Now that she had Seth, all of her greatest instincts told her he could be trusted, and even that he could be "The One", but then again, her instincts had also told her she could trust Brenton, and that had turned out to be a bust. It left her with stomach pangs as she hounded herself with the same nagging question that had followed her all the way from her hometown to Seth's stomping grounds.
Being in Davenport hadn't alleviated the anxiety like she thought it might, so she had to express her feelings, get them out in the open air and hope Seth might understand her. If he didn't, that was probably her first reg flag. She didn't care to uncover anymore of those. Red flags had taken up enough of her life as it was. With Seth standing barefoot on the couch to position her picture, she didn't want him to lose his balance, so she closed the distance between them and watched his back, making sure he stepped down safely, not that she would have been capable of catching him if he were to actually topple over.
He hopped onto the floor and tossed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to his side. He chomped noisily on chewing gum and grinned at her, then the picture, then her again, ending with a sloppy, wet kiss to her temple. "What do you think, babe?"
"It's totally perfect," she replied.
"Good. Does it make you feel better seeing it right here in our living room?"
"Of course."
"That's what I was hoping for, because we're gonna be walking through here a lot, and every time you look at it, I want it to remind you of why we chose this move, to live together like this in the first place."
"That's what I'm most excited for," Olivia said. "We're always separated by our careers except for whenever we're backstage at work or on the road together, but now, at least when we have a day off or two, we can come home and still be together. I love waking up with you. It sounds like nothing, but it's such a special thing to me, being able to open my eyes, look over, and see your face. I love it."
"I love it, too."
"How do you think I'll know?" Olivia blurted out, staring specifically at the heart above the home. Even though her focus was trained there, she felt Seth's eyes blazing against the side of her face. This was the giant moment of truth they had been building up to since the day they first laid eyes on each other.
Seth's brows knitted together. "Know what?"
"That this is right."
"It sure feels right to me."
"But how do you know?" Olivia pressed. She took a step toward him and cupped his hand where it hung near his side. "With your past girlfriends, you had signs that told you they weren't right for you, and that's why you guys aren't together now obviously, but what about the signs that tell you a person is right for you? How can you judge that?"
"I mean, I can't..." Seth paused, pursing his mouth. Clearly, Olivia was really throwing him for a loop. He scratched his head with his other hand and shoved it into his pants pocket while he shrugged, frowning at the wall as if he was deep in thought. "I guess, um, you just kinda know somehow. It's not really a thing that can be taught. When it's right, you'll know. Same way you knew with Brenton that it wasn't a healthy relationship and that you couldn't continue on like that."
"But that's the thing, I didn't know. I thought he was the man I would marry. I romanticized out relationship to the point of it being ridiculous. I literally acted like the sun rose and set with him, and it wasn't until I was away from him that I realized just how much I had been tiptoeing around not to make him mad at me. I don't know, it's just hard. I look back and don't know what I was thinking to stay with him, but at the time, it felt like a perfect connection that wasn't ever going to fizzle out."
"So you're wondering if your feelings are lying to you again about me, basically?" Seth asked. He leaned in close enough to bump his nose into hers a couple of times, for no reason other than to get a laugh out of her. Between her knitted brows and the way she was nibbling on the corner of her bottom lip, she was way too anxious. Slowly, Olivia nodded, a faint hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Well, I can't tell you what our future will be, but I can tell you for sure I wouldn't disrespect you the way Brenton did. Guy's an asshole."
"He was."
"But I'm not!" Seth added, thrusting his finger in the air. "I'm badass."
"True again," Olivia laughed. She collected air in her cheeks and blew it all out in a huge whoosh. "Ahh, it's so maddening! I just don't want things to change between us now that we're living together. You know, like, when you're apart, it's super easy to be nice to someone, but then sometimes when you're under the same roof together—"
Seth cut in, "One, or both, of you starts rearing your ugly head, or heads, and that's when it all falls apart. But the thing is, I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not changing out of nowhere. Let me tell ya, what you see with me is exactly what you get, Liv. I don't pretend to be something I'm not, and I sure as hell don't hurt women. I don't hurt people, period, but especially not women. I could never let you down like that. All I can do is love you and be loved by you."
"You're right," she shrugged, grabbing his hands and swinging them through the air with hers. "I guess I keep looking for something to prove to me that this is real and things won't change for the worse now that we're living together."
"I can't give you that right now. Not because what we have isn't real, but because I can't serve that shit up on a silver platter. You kinda just gotta roll with me and see for yourself. That's all I can say."
"Well, I guess we can start by unpacking all these boxes," Olivia said, holding her arms out at her sides as she twirled in a wide circle. The living room was so full of taped up cardboard they barely had room to walk, and the only stuff that had been moved in was from Olivia's former apartment. It spoke to just how many belongings she had, but Seth was more than happy to help her sort through it all and find designated places for each item.
"Hey, what's that over there?" Seth exclaimed.
"Where?" Olivia asked. She yelped as Seth locked his arms around her waist and hoisted her through the air, landing in a heap on the couch with her on top. It was no easy feat, as he had had to dodge the odd box or two in the process. Laughter filled the air as Seth rolled on top of her and molded his mouth to hers. His dark waves fell over her forehead and mingled with her fiery, straight locks, making red and black a better match than ever before. They pulled apart, and he dotted her nose with a final kiss. "You tricked me."
"Oh well," he smirked. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. I wanted a kiss."
"Did you now?"
"Yeah," he said, pausing in thought. "I also wanted you to stop stressing."
"I don't know if that can ever be stopped," she teased. Seth laughed and kissed her cheek, taking special care to look directly into her eyes.
"We'll make this work no matter what, okay?"
She nodded. "Okay."
"I love you, Livy."
"And I love you."
Seth cast a glance over his shoulder at the picture she had selected. "So, love makes a house a home, does it? I've had this house for damn near five years, and I think you just helped me officially make it a home, so thanks for that."
"No thanks needed."
Seth crowded her cheek and chuckled against her skin, and it was then, as she felt the heat of his breath and the tickle of his beard, that she had all the evidence she needed of what was yet to come. At last, she had unearthed her treasure, the single desire she had sought out all along. It was in his touch, his kiss, his promises, and in the air all around them.
Proof.
And no matter what was to become of them, never again would Olivia be loved the way Seth loved her at that exact point in time. That was good enough for her.
In fact, it always had been.