This is for a friend of mine on Tumblr. Hope you all enjoy:3
Seth's not one to drink. The only time he does is out with friends and even then it was one or two drinks. Tonight though, he's making an exception and possibly extending that limit a little. Work has been hell lately. His boss is giving him more than what he can handle and expecting all these things done with short deadlines. His friend Randy suggested taking a break and getting loaded. Not sure about the loaded part, but Seth agreed. A few drinks can't hurt. He sat at the bar and ordered some beer. He chugged it as soon as the bartender set the bottle down in front of him.
"Slow down there." the bartender, Cody according to the nametag, laughed. "It's not going anywhere."
Seth blushed in embarrassment, setting the bottle on the counter. "I'm sorry. Guess I was more excited than I thought."
"Rough week?"
"More like rough few months." Seth laughed. "Work's been hell."
"I hear yeah." Cody chuckled. "Just be careful."
"I will. When I get to three or four beers stop me. I don't usually have more than two and I have work in the morning."
Cody nodded, smiling, "Of course." He then noticed another customer and tended to them.
Seth sat there for a bit, still on his first beer when he noticed someone sitting next to him. He looked like he went through a tough ordeal. His dirty blonde hair was disheveled, his face looked pale and void of sleep, indicated by the blackness under his eyes.
"What can I get you?"
"Got any whiskey?"
Even his voiced sounded terrible. Shaky and hoarse almost, like he had been crying before coming here.
Cody nodded and fulfilled the request, handing the man a tall cup.
"Thank you." the man replied, taking a sip.
Cody was about to ask if the man was okay, but another customer came up to the bar, requiring Cody to leave and tend to them.
Seth turned to look at the man, "Hey, you alright?"
"Y-Yeah." he stuttered, taking another sip.
"Rough day?"
"…Guess you could say that."
Seth studied him a little more, everything starting to click. "Bad break up?"
The man looked over at him, shock in his features. Seth's eyes went to those blue orbs, those beautiful hurt blue eyes.
"H-How do you-?"
"Was like that after one of mine." Seth shrugged, taking another sip of the beer.
"W-What happened?"
"It was years ago, around the time I first moved here. I met a woman at my workplace, Paige. Man she was attractive. Long black hair, dark eyes, pale skin. She had this bold attitude you know? Wouldn't take anything laying down, didn't care about people's opinions of her. She was truly one of a kind."
"H-How long did you date?"
"About a year I believe. We were getting serious and soon started living together. I was going to propose to her on her birthday, had this party planned and would pop the question in front of her friends and family. But one morning I woke up to an empty bed and all her stuff gone. She just up and left with no goodbye, no explanation, no nothing." He took a swing of his beer, a tear sliding down his cheek.
"I'm so sorry." the man apologized. "I-I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry, it's okay." Seth smiled. "But yeah, never heard from her after that. I heard from a mutual friend she moved to another state. Hope she's alright, wherever she is."
"You wish that after what she did?"
"Even though we ended rocky, I still kind of miss her. First loves are hard to truly get over. They're the first ones you let in, the first to capture your heart and could be the first to destroy everything. Yeah I'm mad about how we ended, but she'll always have a place."
"That's deep dude."
Seth shrugs, "Just how I see it. I mean yeah, I resent her for what she did. She could have just told me and we could have talked it out. But the past is the past. And truthfully? I'm still not over her."
"Was she your first love?"
"Yeah. Although I've had other relationships before her, she was the first serious one I had. After her, I had a hard time opening up to anyone else."
"Like you said, first loves are hard to get over."
Seth chuckled, "But still, things will get better. May not seem like it now, but over time, things will pick up. You're going to be okay."
The man smiled, "Thanks dude." He took a sip of his drink, "How long did it take for you to get back on your feet?"
"God, maybe a month? I'm not to sure, time seemed to flow quickly. I was still waiting to hear her car in the driveway, her bursting through the door with that bright smile on her face. But days past and nothing. I had my friends to help pick the pieces and my work to distract me. Lesson, never push people away. Makes the emotions even worse."
"What do you mean?"
"I kept resenting my friends' help the first few days. I never wanted to hang out, or even speak to them. My best friend Randy got pissed and came over one day and talked some sense into me. Was the turning point really."
The man nodded, "Will keep that in mind. Have a big project at the house so that helps take my mind off things."
"What kind of project?"
"I'm working on my deck. When my ex and I bought the house, it wasn't in any condition to even stand on. Had to completely destroy it and build a new one."
"Wow. Sounds like a lot."
"Yeah. But soon, it'll be done and I can host parties."
"Are you doing it alone?"
"Naw, my neighbor and some friends are helping. My then boyfriend helped too but…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.
Seth sensed the uneasiness and quickly tried easing him, "How far along are you guys?"
"It's about three-fourths done. You wouldn't believe how strong these helpers are."
Seth chuckled, "How strong we talking?"
"Three of them can carry pretty much anything!" the man exaggerated. "I mean, holy shit! I'm looking at them like, 'Are you even human?'"
The two men laughed and joked for hours until someone else entered the bar. Seth turned and suddenly felt uneasy.
The man that walked towards them had short, blonde hair, and dark eyes. But what worried Seth was his build. His chest and arms were all muscle. He didn't want to be in a fight with him.
"Anything I can get you sir?" Cody asked, not frightened at all with the man's appearance.
"Yes. Do you have a medium height male with blue eyes and dirty blonde hair? Wears a leather jacket and can be a pain in the ass?"
"Hey!" the dirty blonde chided, playfully shoving the bigger man and laughed. "I'm not a pain in the ass Brock! You dick!"
"Sure you're not Dean." Brock chuckled, ruffling Dean's hair. "Come on, we have more work tomorrow."
Dean nodded and stood. "Thanks for the talk…" he paused, waiting for Seth to fill in the blank.
"Seth."
"Seth. Thanks for tonight man. Hope to see you around soon."
Seth waved bye as Brock ushered Dean out of the bar.
Dean…
Two weeks, two fucking weeks after meeting Dean at the bar and Seth cannot for the life of him get the man out of his mind. Why? Why couldn't he stop thinking about him?
Seth sat at work, just staring at the computer screen. He had an excel sheet up and needed to fill out numbers, but Dean popped up and prevented him from getting things done.
Dean is a fairly attractive man, but he just came off a bad breakup, so bad that he seemed to want to break into tears at the mere mention or thought about the ex. Would he be taking advantage of him by trying to get with him? What was he thinking? Of course he would. The breakup is recent; he would be using the vulnerability. But still, he enjoyed those hours with Dean at the bar. Joking around and talking about random topics. He wanted to see the smile on his face, those blue eyes shine with happiness.
"You over there in La La Land Rollins?"
Seth was pulled from his own little world when he heard the laughing voice. He looked to see his friend Nikki Bella smirking at him, leaning against a wall of his cubical.
"L-Little bit."
"You've been doing that lately. Everything okay?"
"Y-Yeah. All good."
"Is it that guy you told me about? Dean?"
"I just...I can't stop thinking about him. I mean, I know he just got off a bad breakup, but I…"
"Seth, just because he's recently out of a relationship doesn't mean he's permanently off the market. Give him some more time."
"Of course." Seth smiled.
"Why don't you call him or something? Check in on him."
Seth's face fell, "…We…didn't exchange numbers."
Nikki raised an eyebrow, "So you spent hours talking to him and didn't bother to exchange numbers?"
"I guess we lost track of time. And his friend quickly got him out; I didn't think to quickly ask for the number."
She pondered for a moment before speaking again. "Why not try Craigslist?"
"Craigslist? Thought it was a product buying site like Ebay."
"It's also a dating site. It has a missing connections section where you can post about someone you've seen and see who responds."
"And people have found others with this?"
She shrugs, "Don't know, haven't tried it myself. Only heard about it from a friend who loves the site."
Seth shakes his head and chuckles, "So you want me to try something you've never tries yourself?"
"I'm not saying you have to, it's something you can do if you choose too. Your call." She smirked and walked away, saying she needed to get back to her own duties.
Seth returned to his own work, his thoughts on Dean continuing on.
Once he got home, he got changed into more comfortable clothes and started on dinner. He thought about Nikki's suggestion. It could help him find Dean again, but what if someone answered pretending to be him? Or what if no one replies? He honestly didn't trust this site to begin with, preferring Amazon over it and Ebay for that matter. But at the same time, this is eating him up. The fact he can't contact the man that won't leave his mind.
Once dinner was ready, he sat in the living room and turned the television on, scrolling through the channels for something to watch as he ate. He thought more about what Nikki said. He could at least try right? Can't hurt. After cleaning up dinner, he took his computer and went to the site. He went to the missing connections section, but paused when his phone buzzed. He looked away from the screen to answer the call.
"Hey Ran." he greeted.
"Hey dude. Listen, Nat's hosting a party over the weekend. Thought I'd help send the invites out so she isn't overwhelmed."
"What a kind friend you are." Seth laughed.
"Shut up, she's a good friend. Thought I'd help. So are you coming?"
"Of course, but what's the occasion?"
"She didn't say, only that her and Tyson have an announcement and they thought it would be great to get everyone together."
"Alright, yeah, I'll go."
"Awesome."
"Does she want me to bring anything?"
"That you have to ask her. I only volunteered to help spread the word. Anything else it out of my reach."
Seth laughed, "I'll call her tomorrow and ask."
They talked for hours until the both of them were yawning and ended the call. Seth looked at the clock and saw how late it was.
"I'll check the site later."
The day of the party arrived and Seth was heading over to Nattie's house. He never did go through with Nikki's idea. In the end, he never trusted the site to begin with so why use it now? Besides, he'll take the chance to see Dean again at that bar.
He pulled in the driveway, parking the car and heading for the front door. He ran the bell and was immediately greeted by Nattie herself.
"Seth!" she cried, hugging him tightly. "Glad you could come."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." he laughed.
"Come join in the fun!" she cheered, dragging him into the house, which is already filled with a decent amount of people. Seth found Tyson and started a conversation with him. About halfway through, Seth went outside for a beer when his eyes landed on Cesaro talking to someone. His eyes went wide. Could it be?!
Same dirty blonde hair, same blue eyes, same dimpled smile, same leather jacket he wore that night.
He slowly made his way over, waiting for the right moment to speak.
"…Dean?"
Dean turned and his own eyes went wide.
"Seth?! Oh my God!"
Dean set his beer bottle on the nearby table and wrapped Seth tightly in his arms.
Seth was stunned with Dean's actions, but didn't hesitate to wrap his own arms around the dirty blonde.
Cesaro gave a knowing smile before leaving the two alone outside.
"I didn't know you knew Nat and Tyson." Dean said, pulling away.
"Yeah, been friends with her since I met Paige." Seth laughed. "Tyson was added when he and Nat started dating. Didn't know you knew them either."
"Met them through Cesaro. Knew him way back and he introduced me to the two later on. Him and Tyson are helping with the deck. Odd, when I told them the story about meeting you, neither one of them said they knew you."
"They did the same for me. When I told Nat the story, she pretended the same thing."
"Maybe this party was a ploy for us to see each other again." Dean laughed.
Seth joined it, "There has to be a major reason, but wouldn't be surprised if this was part of the plan."
Dean motioned for the nearby chairs and plopped down, "So how have you been?"
"Been good. Work's going smoothly. How about you? How are things on your end?"
"Getting there. Deck's almost done. Can't wait."
Seth smiled, "Great to hear. Already planning the party?"
"You know it!" he clapped his hands, bouncing slightly in excitement.
Seth laughed at the enthusiasm.
Dean seemed to slowly deflate; his enthusiasm slowly vanished and replaced with anguish. "It's…it's still hard not waking up to Roman next to me, or not feeling that arm around my waist."
"Roman?" Question flew faster than his brain processed the name. Roman must be the ex.
"My ex. I mean, I just don't get what I did to upset him."
"He just kind of blew up on you?"
"Yeah. We dated for about three years. He was amazing; he looked like someone from Greek mythology. Well-built, tall, flowing black hair. He had this incredible arm tattoo too. But yeah, about two months ago, we decided to live together. Everything was how it's always been, but it changed within four weeks of us living there. Brock's our next door neighbor and he came by the first day, welcoming us to the neighborhood. He asked to help repair our deck, everything was fine. But after a few days, Roman seemed to be getting angrier every time I spoke to Brock. Even a simple 'hello' sets him off."
"Why would he get mad like that?"
"All I could guess is that he didn't want me to talk to anyone else. Even if I spoke to our neighbors across from us, Summer and Dolph, he would get mad."
"He became possessive?"
"In a bad way. One night, we came home from dinner and saw Brock and his friend Ronda sitting on his porch drinking beer. They said hello, I greeted back and entered the house. I remember Brock yelling at me to get some sleep, that there's more work to the deck and I need energy." He chuckled before continuing. "Anyway, once in, I went to the kitchen to clean the dishes that I forgot to clean before we left. Roman storms after me and starts screaming, accusing me of starting something with Brock. I told him I didn't and asked why he would suspect that. We argued for what felt like hours until suddenly, he punched me, screamed that he was done and left the house." He cast his gaze to the grass, trying to hide tears that wanted to flow out. He hated remembering the events that ended a wonderful relationship, as well as the coldness of waking up alone.
Seth felt a ping in his chest. He couldn't begin to imagine the pain Dean felt during the argument, and seeing the love of his life storm out of the house, out of his life.
He placed a comforting hand on Dean's knee, smiling softly. "I know it's painful, but over time things will start to look up."
Dean nodded, "I-It's starting to, but it's still hard to wake up to an empty, cold bed; to be completely alone in that house; replaying all those memories."
That's when he broke, the tears poured from his eyes, sobs escaping his mouth. Seth was quick to get up and sit next to Dean, wrapping the man in his arms. "It'll be okay." he whispered.
"I'm sorry." Dean whimpered, looking up at the two-toned man.
"No need to be." Seth smiled. "The wounds are still fresh. I didn't mean to pry."
"Don't worry; you told me your bad breakup, it's only fair."
"Still…"
"It's okay man." Dean smiled back, wiping his eyes.
Seth surprised him and himself by helping wipe the tears away. Dean's breath hitched when Seth's fingers touch his face. Both just stared at each other, confusion mixed with other emotions in their eyes.
"Yo!"
Both turned to see Cesaro grinning at them. "Nat wants to make an announcement. Get your asses in here!"
"Coming!" Seth called, getting up from the chair. He extended a hand to Dean, who smiled at him, taking his hand.
"Hey, maybe we can hang out sometime? Maybe when the deck's all done?"
Dean blushed, turning his head slightly, "…I'd like that."
Seth chuckled, tugging Dean along. They both headed in the house, making a mental note to exchange numbers before the party ends.
