Pairing: Roman Reigns x Reader
Warnings: none
Note: This is Part 1 of my Rihanna SongFic Series.
Originally published here: post/173205567750/where-have-you-been-songfic-roman-reigns-x
Rihanna - Where have you been?
The song used for this SongFic was Where have you been? by Rihanna. Since I'm not allowed to post the lyrics here, please look them up accordingly. :-)
It was a Thursday evening and Roman was just getting ready for his match in the backstage area although he didn't really feel like working a match today. He was not exactly feeling well. Not necessarily due to health reasons but there were quite a few personal issues, that have kept him distracted for the majority of the day already. He just hoped that he was able to ban those thoughts for the next 30 minutes, so he could deliver a decent match against Cesaro without botching any moves. "Yo man, you're alright?", he suddenly heard a voice and he didn't even have to look up to know that Seth had a worried look on his face. "Yeah I'm alright, I'm alright. Just mentally preparing for the match", he mumbled. Roman was quite sure that Seth didn't buy the lie but if he was honest, he didn't even care… too many things were keeping his mind busy in that moment. Before Seth could reply anything, one of the backstage workers came to pick Roman up and lead him to one of the many doors leading to the arena, so he could get ready for his entrance through the crowd.
While making his way there, there were already a lot of fans backstage that tried to talk him up and tried to take pictures with him, but he just mumbled that he doesn't have time now as he had to get ready for his entrance. As he was waiting for his music to hit, the backstage worker signaled him that he had 10 more seconds until he would have to make his way down the stairs to the ring. Suddenly his entrance theme started playing and once he stepped into the spotlight he could not only hear the cheers but a lot of booing also. The latter one of course was nothing new and although he was always playing it cool, he had to admit that it hurt nevertheless. Who wants to get booed whenever they're working their butts off? He was glancing into the crowd, building the tension a little bit as he heard Jojo Offerman's voice introducing him with her usual words: "From Pensacola, Florida weighing 265 pounds… Roman Reigns." That was his key sentence to make his way down the stairs while a lot of the fans were reaching out their hands, either in order to fist bump him or to clap his shoulders. Once he reached the hall just meters away from the ring he stopped in front of the barricade in order to look around, protracting the moment before he would jump the barricade and move into the ring like he always did.
You just happened to have your seat next to the stairs, where Roman had been coming down, sitting first row ringside. You were not too keen on being here. Of course, you loved wrestling but you weren't really too fond of so many people surrounding you. However, since you were working for NBC in the marketing department and you were taking one of your business partners to the event as a costumer restraints action, you had no other choice than to be here this evening, although you would have preferred watching the event in the comfort of your own four walls. Your business partner, who was further accompanied by one of your colleagues, seemed to enjoy everything about that evening so far and that was the most important thing. Not only for you, but even more so for your supervisor as well as your business relationship. As your colleague and your mutual business partner were deeply trapped in a conversation before the next match started, you let your eyes wander, realizing once again that you didn't like huge crowds.
You couldn't help but feel as if someone was staring at you and when you looked to your side, your breath automatically hitched as you saw none other than Roman standing next to you, looking you up and down. He had always been one of your faves and you had to admit that the Samoan looked even better in person than on TV. His black hair was wet and falling in long waives over his shoulders, his whole body towered you, making you feel tiny while his almost black eyes captured yours, a warmth in them that you hadn't expected. First you thought you had imagined it but he was indeed winking at you before he started moving again, jumping over the barricade in one swift move before he stepped into the ring, where Cesaro was already waiting. "Wow being that beautiful should be illegal", you mumbled to yourself as Roman was raising his arms in one of the corners of the ring, showing one of his most irresistible smiles.
As Roman was waiting for his match to start, he couldn't help but glance over to you from time to time. He already had wrestled countless shows be it in NXT, FCW or in WWE and he sure as hell had met countless people and had seen countless faces. However, never had he ever had the feeling before of finally meeting someone, that he didn't even know he was searching for. When he saw you in the audience he was immediately drawn to you and he couldn't even tell why as he didn't even know your name. But it nevertheless felt as if he had unknowingly been waiting to meet you someday. He knew how dumb that sounded but that didn't wash away the feeling that he wanted to get to know you and he swore to himself that he would try to chat you up once the match was over, hoping that this was somehow possible.
As soon as the match between Roman and Cesaro started, you had to admit to yourself that the evening suddenly became less horrible for yourself. For the majority of the event the thought of finding a good excuse to be able to head home occupied your mind. Now, however, you actually found yourself enjoying the evening as both men were showing their signature moves in the ring, causing the audience to cheer or boo them and chanting for them. You held back on that, however, as you just weren't extroverted enough, but your colleague as well as your business partner made up for that by yelling alongside the crowd. You really didn't try to stare but you caught yourself focussing mainly on Roman before urging yourself to pay attention to Cesaro as well. As they were throwing each other through the ring, one sending the other one to the mat, the whole fight suddenly changed when they were leaving the ring, wrestling outside of it instead. They vanished on the other side for a bit, causing you to shift your eyes to one of the screens so you wouldn't miss too much of the match. You snapped back suddenly as you heard your co-worker exclaim "Holy shit" as Cesaro and Roman were moving over to your side to continue their fight there, fake slapping and pushing each other although it looked extremely real. Suddenly Cesaro came running towards Roman hitting him with an European Uppercut, sending him into the barricade right in front of you. He was just inches away, so you could have touched him, slamming against the barricade with what looked like full force before crashing to the floor.
Of course you knew that everything was staged but this action nevertheless looked extremely painful to you. The crowd erupted and you were expecting Roman to get back up to his feet any second but he didn't. Roman knew - according to the training - that he had to stay on the ground for up to a minute to increase the effect of Cesaro's attack. So he stayed in the position he was currently in, laying on the floor face down, appearing for the audience to be unconscious. As he waited for the time to pass, so he could get back up, he suddenly heard a voice asking: "I know that this is all just for show but that looked rather painful. Are you alright? If you're not allowed to move at least give me a slight thumbs up." Roman was slightly moving his head into the direction of the voice. When he peaked up lightly he could see your concerned face while you leaned over the barricade to study his silhouette.
He answered quietly so only you could hear him: "Don't worry doll, I'm alright. Just staying down here for the dramatic effect." He gave you a little smile that instantly made your heart flatter before you answered: "Good. It would be a shame if you were hurt for real." With that you smiled at him before plummeting back down to your seat, asking yourself what the hell you just did there. Roman tried to focus back on the match, trying to hide that stupid grin he had on his face since you had talked to him. As enough time had passed he got back up and was immediately back into the match, pushing Cesaro back into the ring where he attacked him with the Samoan Drop before he speared him to the mat, pinning him and winning the match while doing so. Although there was still a lot of booing, the majority of the audience cheered for him and his victory over Cesaro. When Roman turned his attention to the audience, letting his eyes wonder, he noticed that you were clapping for him as well, making him grin on the inside like an idiot. As the match was over for good Cesaro and Roman were jumping out of the ring to make their ways around, taking some selfies with the fans and signing some stuff, that was being held out to them. Since they were the main event with no other match to follow, they took an extra amount of time to pose for pictures in order to make as many fans as possible happy, exchanging a few sentences here and there.
You were already grabbing your jacket in order to leave before the masses would storm to the exits when you reminded yourself that you weren't alone and you basically couldn't leave before respectively without your guest. "Shall we leave?", you asked in the hope that you didn't sound too desperate as you were already slightly panicking as you imagined being trapped within the huge crowd. Your colleague gave you an innocent smile as he answered: "Let's wait for a few more minutes Y/N. They aren't even done with the their round and I certainly don't want to miss out on the possibility of a picture." You tried to calm yourself by shooting a questioning look at your guest, who immediately agreed with your colleague, causing you to take a deep breath before you were sitting back down. You tried to embrace yourself for the task at hand before reassuring yourself that you could wait until the majority was gone - even though that would mean that you had to stay in the hall longer than expected- but at least you could avoid the masses there.
As you were trapped in your thoughts you didn't even realize that Roman had come over to your side, posing for a selfie with your colleague. As he was done, he was turning his attention to you, studying your face as he realized that you were paying no attention to your surroundings. He once again had to admit that you sparked his interest like no-one else had done ever before. Of course talking you up in front of all these people was not the perfect conversation starter but if he didn't want to miss that opportunity, he probably had no other choice. "Would you like to have a picture as well?", he asked, realizing in that moment how dumb and arrogant that must have sounded. As you were raising your head, he gave you a bright smile, trying to somehow safe the situation. When he saw the smile on your face he felt slightly relieved, this feeling vanishing, however, as you said: "Thank you that's really nice, but I think I'm going to pass." Roman cursed himself on the inside. That really didn't go according to plan, but he wasn't willing to give up that easily as he replied: "I guess I would have said no as well after hearing such a lame sentence." He winked at you, causing you to blush slightly before he added: "By the way, thank you for asking whether I was alright before. That happens rarely." You couldn't help but laugh as you answered: "Yeah probably because every other fan knows that it is just an act and doesn't need to be reassured due to a light panic attack." Roman had to laugh as well upon hearing your honest answer.
He held out his hand in order to introduce himself as he was saying: "The name's Joe by the way." He must have noticed your confused look as you were taking his hand in order to shake it, mumbling: "I'm Y/N" He didn't let go of your hand as he chuckled: "Don't give me that confused look, I probably still wouldn't talk to my parents nowadays if they named me Roman Reigns for real. But as a ring name it works just fine." You laughed out loud as you replied: "Yeah I can understand that. That would have been extremely mean of them indeed." Both of you didn't care too much that there were still people around you, that might have noticed by now that he gave extra attention to you. As he let go of your hand, he said: "Listen Y/N, I know this sounds pretty desperate, but you have caught my attention as soon as I stopped right next to you. Would you do me the honor of letting me invite you on a drink? I would really love to talk to you in a less crowded place." Your thoughts were racing. Was Roman Reigns really just asking you out?
You gulped hard as you replied: "To be honest, I don't know whether that's such a good idea." He chuckled lightly, saying: "I'm not asking you to marry me, you know? I'm just asking you to let me show you that I'm a pretty nice guy outside of the ring when I don't have to beat people up for a living." You thought about it for a little bit. You had no idea whether you would regret it at the end but with a bright smile you answered: "Sure. A drink in a less crowded place sounds great." With that Roman told you to wait for him at a certain exit before he gave you another wink as he was high fiving a few kids, that were cheering for him as he made his way out of the hall. You were not even caring that you would have to send your co-worker and your business partner off alone, being way too excited for your date ahead. "That evening didn't seem to be so bad after all", you happily thought to yourself as you were making your way to the exit, waiting for the Samoan to meet you, more than just curious how the man behind the character would turn out to be in real life. You certainly couldn't wait to find out.
