Seth was lying down in the middle of the ring, trying to catch his breath. Beside him, Ambrose was celebrating his win. He could see the look on his face. His former Shield brother couldn't believe that he was finally WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Seth just beat Roman. He did it. He finally proved to the world that he was better and he even became a two-time champion with this win. Seth's heart sting a little bit as he rolled himself out of the ring. He knew Dean was going to win, but still, he felt like he'd been ripped off of something amazing. When he held the belt for that short amount of time, everything felt so great.
Roman was already gone. He was the first to go backstage after his loss. Once Seth beat him, he had no more business around that ring. The crowd was loud, cheering for their new champ. Seth couldn't help but smile a little bit when he heard one of his fans shouted that he was still the real champ. His head hurt so much and so did his body. He really gave his all out there against Roman and he was happy to know that people still loved him no matter what the outcome was.
When he passed the curtain, Stephanie McMahon was the first one to congratulate him for the match, saying that it was incredible. He frowned his brows in pain as she briefly hugged him. That powerbomb he took from Roman got his pretty good. A couple of his co-workers approached him to either shake his hand or hug him. Seth smiled back to them. Tonight's result was bittersweet but he was happy to finally be back where he belonged. Roman was the last one in his congratulations waiting line.
"We did it." he said with a smile.
"Yeah we did." Seth answered as he shook his hand.
They didn't hate each other for real. All that was scripted. But they weren't as good friends as they were when they were Tag Team Champion. His relationship with him and Dean changed since then. In the Shield days, they were best friends, they were brothers, but they grew apart after the break-up. Dean and Roman stayed pretty close, but Seth went his own. After all, breaking up the Shield was his idea in the first place. Not that he didn't like being with them, but he felt at that time that it was his chance to shine, alone. Just like Dean was shining alone in the middle of the ring, holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship above his head.
All that Seth wanted was to get back to the hotel and be alone, but he had to wait for Dean. He had to stay there until he passed the curtain. He didn't want to, but he had no other choice. He had to show the respect that he deserved. Even though they weren't as close as they once were, he owed him that. Dean was there when he won the title at Wrestlemania, he had to be there for him tonight.
Dean finally passed the curtain. As usual, Steph was the first one to hug him. Roman was gently fighting his way through to his brother. There was no doubt that the big Samoan was happy for him. Seth's gaze finally caught Dean's and the earth stood still for a moment. His big blue eyes were filled with tears of joy. Roman was messing up his best friend's hair with his hand while Sami Zayn was shaking his shoulder, but Dean couldn't keep his eyes off of Seth and Seth couldn't keep his eyes off him either.
"Thank you." he whispered so low that Seth had to read on his lips.
Why was Dean thanking him? He had no idea, but he knew that he couldn't stay there. It could've been his moment. It should've been his moment. Without saying a word, Seth left, heavyhearted.
Seth walked out of the elevator with his luggage. He shook Cesaro and Jericho's hands and headed to his room. It was still pretty early in Las Vegas, but all he cared about was going to bed. He wasn't feeling this whole party thing some of his friends planned. He was exhausted and his whole body was hurting like a bitch. The worse was his head. Ambrose caught him pretty well with that briefcase. After he had unlocked his room door, Seth made his way inside, finally happy to get some alone time. He rolled his luggage near the bed and immediately fell on it, groaning his pain. He missed being on the road during his recovery, but he sure didn't miss the pain that came with the matches. He thought of getting up to take some painkillers, but his tiredness got the best of him and he fell asleep instantly.
Knocks on his door woke him up a little more than two hours later. Who the hell was there? He strictly asked his friends to leave him alone tonight. He thought of staying in the bed but the knocking wouldn't stop. His body hurt when he stood up and he groaned in pain as he walked to the door. Dean Ambrose was standing in front of him with a smile on his face. His blue eyes were filled with the exact same joy he had when he held the championship in the ring, a couple of hours ago.
"What are you doing here?" Seth asked with a sleepy voice.
"Oh sorry, did I wake you up?"
"Nah."
He had no idea why he lied. Dean silently asked him if he could come inside. Seth stepped to the side to let him in and closed the door behind him.
"I looked everywhere for you back at the Arena, you left early." Dean said as he looked around the room.
He made some shitty comment about how his room looked awful compared to his, but Seth didn't want to answer that.
"Yeah... I was exhausted."
"Oh here, take this."
He threw a bag to his former brother and Seth catch it before he looked back at him, confused.
"I brought you ice for your face." Dean explained. "I know I got you pretty hard."
He wasn't supposed to touch him at all with that briefcase but Seth knew damn well how accidents quickly happens in the ring. Hell he did break Cena's nose after all. He couldn't blame Dean for that.
"Thanks." Seth said as he sat on his bed ant put the ice on his face.
"I'm sorry… I kinda got carried away out there."
"No problem."
Dean was standing in front of him and he was looking at Seth without saying a word. Seth couldn't hold his stare so he looked at the floor instead.
"Where's your championship belt?" he asked, to fill the awkward silence that was making him uncomfortable. "Aren't' you suppose to have it on you all the time?"
"Nah, I left it back in my room. I'm going out to celebrate with the guys and I didn't want to lose it or anything…"
"You couldn't lose that."
"You know me, brother, when I drink, I tend to forget things…" Dean said laughing.
Hearing him say the word brother made his heart skip a beat. He stopped being a brother years ago. Another silence filled the room and Seth sighed.
"What are you doing here Dean?" he asked as he put the ice on the floor next to his bed.
"Well, since you left early I-"
"I'm sorry, I know I should've stayed up until the end but I was tired. You know how painful it can be to get in the ring with Roman. Don't blame me for wanting to get to bed as quickly as possible."
Seth stood up and search his luggage for his meds. He couldn't take it anymore, the pain had to stop. He went to the bathroom to get himself a glass of water.
"You know that it's bittersweet for me too, right?" Dean asked as Seth was coming back.
They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Dean thought that Seth left because he couldn't handle seeing him with the title. Was that the reason why?
"I know what the title means to you." Dean said.
"I said I was tired…"
"I know you Seth. And I know what it means to you. And I'm here to thank you."
Seth could still see his former best friend's lips as he whispered those words to him earlier today. Why the hell was Dean thanking him?
"You could've said no." Dean explained. "When they told you that you were going to lose the title to me you could've said no and they wouldn't have given me the Championship. If you had told them that you wanted it back, I would have been taking out of the equation."
"That's not-"
"Why? Why didn't you say no?"
"You deserve to be champion…" he let out, without thinking.
Dean suddenly wrapped his arms around Seth's shoulder. The younger man's heart was pounding in his chest but he slowly relaxed in his former brothers' embrace. He hadn't realized up until now how much he missed this. How he missed having Dean in his life.
"That's why it's bittersweet." Dean murmured. "'Cause I know damn well what this title means to you."
Tears rolled down Seth's cheek as he buried his face in Dean's neck. His familiar warmth was bringing back all the moments they shared together and as much as he hated to admit it, he would kill to have it all back.
"That's why I'm thanking you." Dean continued, as he pulled Seth closer to his chest. "'Cause after all this time, you still believe in me."
"I never stop believing in you, jackass." Seth let out with a bit of anger in his voice.
It pained him so much that Dean would think he stopped caring about him. He never could even if he wanted too. Dean let out a laugh as a single tear dropped down on his friend's shoulder. This moment was worth way more than a championship to him. To stand there, with Seth in his arm, was worth more than anything else in the world.
"I miss this." he simply said, making Seth cry even more.
He was exhausted. He was hurt. But as much as he wanted to blame all these reasons for his sudden wave of emotions, he couldn't. He couldn't deny the fact that he was crying because of Dean. Because he had been waiting for so long to finally get things back to normal with him. He regretted what he did when he broke up the Shield. He wanted to shine alone but the fact is that inside his heart, he was nothing without Dean and he was only realizing it now. Dean slowly moved away from him and cupped his face, wiping a few of his tears with his thumbs.
"You're gonna get the title back soon Seth. You know my reign won't be long."
"I don't care about the championship you stupid idiot." Seth said as he looked down.
Dean forced him to look back at his eyes.
"You're spending way too much time with Jericho." he said, making the younger man laugh. "I think you should spend more time with me. I need your help. I don't know how to be a champion and I need the best champ of all time to teach me."
Seth shook his head, laughing more. His head was still hurting like hell but he couldn't help but smile. There was a hole in his heart and Dean was filling it again.
"You want to go out with us tonight? I need to know how to act like a champ in public."
"Nah… I need to rest. I really am exhausted."
"Fine. Then I'll stay with you then."
Dean walked to the bed and lied down on it, with his hand behind his head.
"Are you serious?"
"Dead serious. I need to learn how the sleep like a champ too." he said with a big smile on his face.
Seth shook his head and lied down next to him. This was surreal. He was dreaming for sure. Dean wasn't really in his bed was he? The silence filled the room once again but it wasn't awkward anymore. It was just good. It just felt right.
"I'm sorry I ruined your moment." Seth let out, looking at the ceiling.
"You didn't ruin anything. You were there when I came through the curtain. You would've ruined it if you had left. You stayed."
"I couldn't just leave like that…"
"You could've. I'm glad you didn't." Dean said as he turned his body to face Seth. "Now, I need another lesson on how to be a good champ."
Seth turned on his side and rested his head on his hand, looking at Dean.
"What do you want to know?"
"I need to learn how to kiss like a champ." Dean said with a smirk. "You think you could teach me that?"
Seth looked at him for a moment without saying a word, trying to figure out if he was joking. Dean still had his famous wicked smile. The one that used to drive him crazy. The one that still did.
"Oh God… you're serious." Seth said, out of breath.
His palms were getting sweaty and his heart started beating faster. He had not been intimate with another man since… since a couple of years ago, right before he broke up the Shield. Things happened between Dean and him. A couple of times. Multiple times. Every time they could without bringing any suspicion. Nobody knew about it, not even Roman. Dean was getting closer and closer and the anticipation was killing Seth. He quickly closed the distance between them as he crashed his lips onto his. The older man grabbed his waist and pulled him closer to him, pressing his chest against his. He could feel Seth's heartbeat pounding as he ran his hand in his log wavy brown hair. Seth let out a moan when Dean pulled away from their kiss. He wanted more, he needed more. He waited so long for this moment. He never realized how badly he needed this. Now that he had it, he wasn't ready to let it go.
"I'll become the best champ ever with you by my side." Dean said, jokingly.
"Shut up." Seth said, laughing at Dean's joke. "Kiss me more."
"Jeez, I almost forgot how much of an impatient bitch you could be."
Seth wanted to whine, but Dean grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer to meet his lips, shutting him up at the same time. He didn't mind. All he wanted was Dean's lips all over him. Just like before. Just like nothing ever happened. It was just the two of them, celebrating Dean's bittersweet victory in a way no one could ever do. Seth may not have won the championship tonight, but Dean was a way better prize.