A/N: Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback on this, you're all fabulous! So, do you think Roman and Seth will meet again now that Roman's back? Hm...
/
Roman watched as Seth staggered backwards, almost tripping over himself before disappearing into the darkness. He didn't bother going after him, he knew it wouldn't make any difference. He lifted the half-smoked cigarette back to his chapped lips and took a long drag, holding the smoke in his mouth for a few moments before letting it spill into the night air.
There were so many questions piling up in his brain, ones he knew he'd get answers to, just not tonight. Roman took the last drag from his smoke before throwing it to the ground and crushing it with the tip of his shoe. The air was cold against his cheeks, stinging when a gust of it past him by. He looked up towards the sky, which was painted in a murky colour; he could see the faint outline of the stars and the sight caused a sudden ache inside his chest.
Too many things around him reminded him of Seth; everywhere he turned there was something that sparked a film to play in his head – a film in which he was playing the lead role. He'd tried so hard not to remember, to keep the memories at bay, but it didn't work. They forced themselves upon him.
The stars, though, held a particular memory that Roman never wanted to let go of.
It had been a warm day in the middle of June and it was one of the rare occasions that they both had some free time on the same day. Roman had suggested they do something together, on their own; no Archie and no Dean. So they got into Roman's old 1978 Ford Fiesta and just drove, the music playing and the windows down. After driving for a while, they came to a small place where they stopped to look around. The place turned out to have a lovely, small Italian restaurant that they both declared to have the best pasta they'd ever eaten.
Dinner was followed by a stroll around and then a walk through the park. It was the first night Roman told Seth he loved him. He hadn't meant to say it, even though it was true. He'd been trying to build up the courage to utter the words, but that night sitting under the sky full of stars, looking at him under the moonlight, it sort of just slipped out.
Seth had turned to him; his face dimly illuminated by the moon, and told him he loved him too.
It had filled him with warmth he'd never experienced before. They'd slept under the stars that night, not returning home until the morning. Dean and Archie had almost been angry, demanding to know why they weren't invited and why the hell they hadn't called to say where they were. They got a bit overly protective sometimes – the four of them were this sort of dysfunctional little family and Seth loved it, really.
Roman slipped through the quiet streets with his head down and his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans. He didn't want anyone to notice him; he'd promised himself not to slip back into the drugs or anything else for that matter. Even after four years of being locked up, dealers still want you to work.
Fortunately, Roman made it back to Dean's apartment without being noticed or recognised. He didn't have a place of his own yet, as he was forced to let go of his old one after being sent to prison.
"There you are Roman, was wondering if you were going to come back at all," Dean said from his position on the sofa, legs sprawled all the way across the furniture.
"Just wandered around for a bit, familiarised myself with the old place again," Roman explained, leaving out the part about going back to the coffee shop later that day and asking Archie where he could find Seth and going to the bar to see him.
"Roman, you've been gone for four years, not ten," Dean sighed, getting up from the sofa and walking into the kitchen. Roman rolled his eyes at Dean before following him and getting a beer from the fridge.
"What did Archie say when you saw her earlier?" Dean asked, nosing around in the cupboards for something to eat.
"Just asked how long I'd been out and that, she was pretty quiet if I'm honest. Not like Archie at all."
His words were followed by a long swig from his beer and a sideward glance at Dean.
"Maybe she was just shocked to see you, and probably sad that she didn't see me."
Roman scoffed.
"Dean, you left without saying goodbye and didn't call, she was probably sad that she couldn't slap you."
"You think she hates me?" Dean asked in a serious tone.
Roman turned to him and gave him a sympathetic smile.
"I don't think she hates you, but she probably wishes you'd told her you'd be gone for a few years and said goodbye."
"Maybe I'll go and see her tomorrow," Dean mumbled to himself, pulling a pack of biscuits from the shelf.
"Did she saying anything about Seth?" he added in a quiet voice, not looking at Roman.
Roman's limbs froze at the mention of his name, and he had to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat.
"She said he'd moved on," he said, his voice cracking on the last words.
"Maybe it's for the best, Roman."
"How can it be?"
"Because first loves never last forever, he's probably changed so much. It's been four years, such an amount of time does a lot to a person," Dean said, bringing out the wise side that Roman hated because he was always right.
"But I still love him, I've still got that feeling inside of me that makes me want to cry, smile and laugh all at the same time. I also promised an old man in prison that I'd never give up on him."
Roman placed his half-drunken beer back into the fridge and turned to Dean, whose eyes were focused on him intently.
"All I'm saying is, maybe he's happy with this new person. There must have been a reason why he stopped visiting you," he said softly, giving Roman a squeeze on the shoulder before heading off to his room.
Roman sighed and rubbed at his tired eyes with the heels of his hands and shrugged off his jumper, throwing it over the arm of the chair. Dean had only got one bedroom, about which he'd apologised profusely for, but Roman didn't care where he slept as long as it wasn't on the streets. A lumpy sofa was better than nothing.
xXx
"Come on Willow, get up, time for our Sunday morning run."
The four-year-old dog huffed before getting up and following Seth out of his apartment. Seth attached the lead to Willow's collar and walked her down the stairs to the front of the building, because apparently dogs weren't allowed in lifts.
The morning air was warm against Seth's skin, perfect weather for running. Seth started in a slow jog, picking up his speed more when he reached the park and the path became wider. Willow ran obediently beside him, pace matching Seth's.
Running on a Sunday morning became a thing for the both of them about four months ago, Seth found that running cleared his head and relaxed him. Willow only came along because she didn't like being left alone in the apartment.
People often looked at them fondly, appreciating the bond between a young man and his dog. Though getting a dog hadn't been his idea, it had been Roman's. He'd always loved dogs, there was no doubt about that, he just hadn't ever thought about getting one. But after Roman got a knife to the gut, he wanted to make sure that Seth was safe when he wasn't around.
So they'd gone down to the animal shelter together to get a dog, they'd been to nearly all of the dogs still not having found the perfect one when they stumbled upon Willow. She was just a puppy back then, but she had some pretty big problems. She had heart worm and a heart murmur, meaning that if she hadn't been treated, she would most likely not have survived.
Seth and Roman fell in love with her instantly, and Roman used months and months of saved drugs money to pay for all of her treatment.
Steadily, slowly and expensively they got Willow back to full health. No matter how much Roman spent on her, he would always say it was worth it. Because he got piece of mind that when he wasn't there, Seth wasn't alone, and that they had a new addition to their little family. Archie had a large, St Bernard called Benby, and they became firm friends.
Seth gently slowed his speed, allowing his body to readjust before stopping completely and flopping down on a nearby bench. Willow sat down by his feet, tongue hanging out of her mouth panting loudly. They sat cooling down for a few minutes before spotting an ice cream can across the road.
Seth purchased two bottles of water, one for him and one for Willow. He poured the water straight into the panting digs mouth, smiling fondly as passersby laughed at how quickly Willow was gulping down the cool liquid.
The two walked back to the apartment slowly, enjoying the rareness of warm weather. When they got back into the apartment, Willow went straight to her water bowl, lapping at it quickly like she hadn't just drank a whole bottle of water. Seth laughed quietly to himself before checking his mobile, noticing two missed calls from his sister and a text from Archie.
Archie
Movie night at mine tonight? :) bring willow! xx
Seth smiled and text back, telling his best friend he'd be over around seven after going to his father's for lunch. He then turned his attention to calling Ivory back, his sister rarely called him, so it must be something important.
"Hey, Seth!" Ivory said in a cheerful voice after picking up immediately.
"Hey Ivory, you never call, what's wrong?" Seth said, a little worried by his sisters behaviour.
"Guess who I saw today!" she said, completely ignoring the question.
"Who?" Seth sighed, knowing exactly what name was going to fall from his sister's lips, but pretending for Ivory's sake.
"Roman!" she squealed.
Ivory had had a crush on Roman ever since Seth introduced them. It was a little weird to say the least, having your sister crushing on your boyfriend. It was the reason why he never took Roman to see his family, that and the fact that his dad practically loathed Roman. They were equally balanced really.
"Ivory, didn't you listen to what dad said? Neither of us are to go anywhere near him. And earth to Ivory, you are part of that us," Seth said with an authoritative tone in his voice. If Seth was being honest, he didn't care what his dad said, he just didn't want his sister to get involved with Roman.
"I know, but what he doesn't know doesn't hurt him right?"
"Ivory, are you forgetting that he's my ex boyfriend?"
"Seth, you have Randy. You can't have both."
There was a hint of annoyance in Ivory's voice that nibbled at Seth's heart strings.
"Just stay away from him, okay, Ivory? It's best we all moved on from him."
"Fine, fine. I'll see ya later, bro."
Ivory didn't wait for Seth to answer before she ended the call. Seth let out a frustrated sigh and slammed his mobile phone down onto the work top, causing Willow to look up.
Seth looked at the time and noticed that he didn't have time before he had to go to his dad's for Sunday lunch. He headed to the shower to wash away the sweat from this morning's run and the thoughts of a certain dark haired man running through his head.
"So, are you doing anything nice this week, Seth?" Seth's dad asked as they cleared away from dinner.
"I'm at uni for most of the week, working at the bar in the evenings. But I am going to Archie's tonight for a movie night."
"You be careful working at that bar, you know I don't like it; full of rowdy drunk men," his dad muttered, filling up the dishwasher.
"I'm fine, dad, you know Paul looks after me."
His dad shook his head, disagreeing with him but not saying anything else.
After clearing away and saying goodbye to his dad and sister, Seth nipped back to his apartment to pick up a bottle of wine and of course, Willow. Movie nights were just as much Willow-and-Benby nights as they were Seth-and-Archie nights.
The temperature had dropped considerably since that morning, so he pulled on the biggest jumper he had (it was one that Roman left behind) and pulled his jacket over it too, wrapping his scarf around his neck. Seth put Willow's leash on before checking that all the windows were locked.
The sky was just turning from a light blue to an indigo, Seth's favourite time of night. The stars were shining bright and Seth pushed the memories that were threatening to take over him to the back of his head and concentrated on getting to Archie's before he froze to death.
He pressed the buzzer to Archie's apartment and waited for her to buzz him up, dogs weren't usually allowed in the building, but it did help that Archie's dad worked for the company that owned the building.
Archie's flat was on the first floor and it didn't take Seth and Willow long to reach the front door. From outside Seth could not only hear Archie's voice, but he could hear male voices and it filled him with fear. Seth knocked on the door loudly, hurting his knuckles slightly.
The door opened shortly after, revealing Archie who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Seth!"
Within seconds, Seth was engulfed in a bone crushing hug. But it wasn't from Archie, but Dean. Dean as in Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns' best friend.
Seth froze for a second, catching a glimpse of Roman himself over Dean' shoulder.
"It's so good to see you again, Seth!" Dean said with a bright smile on his face.
Seth smiled weakly.
"Yeah, you too, Dean, been a while. Archie can I talk to you for a second?"
Seth took hold of his friends wrist and dragged her out into the corridor along with Willow a little too forcefully.
"What the hell Archie?" Seth hissed, his anger increasing.
"What Seth? Dean came and saw me at work today and I've missed him so much, I've missed them both so much, Seth! Remember how we used to be? Our little family, I want that back, whether you and Roman are emotionally involved or not. I know it's hard to see him, even to simply be around him, but you have to get used to it. He's out of prison and you have a boyfriend; if you can't learn to be around each other then how you are going to be around me and Dean? Because I certainly know I'm not losing Dean because you and Roman broke up. Love might not last forever, but friendship sure does, okay? So breathe, say hi and act like you are actually happy to see them both, got it?"
Seth knew Archie was right, but there was an aching pain in his chest that told him that the more time he spent around Roman, the more his old feelings would come back.
"Okay, I'll try," Seth sighed, following Archie back inside. After closing the door behind him, he undid Willow's lead and watched as she bound towards Roman, jumping up and licking him immediately.
"Hey, girl, look at how big you are now."
The way Roman looked at Willow made Seth's heart swell, but he remembered the words he said to him the night before – "I'm back." – and that feeling slowly faded and he suddenly wished he wasn't there.
Roman looked up slowly, his hands still curled into Willow's fur. He smiled at Seth before letting Willow bound off towards Benby.
"So, what film are we going to watch?" Archie asked, smiling as she sat down on the sofa next to Dean. Seth sat beside them and Roman took the armchair, the two dogs curling up in front of him.
"I brought Cassadaga?" Dean said, holding up the DVD case.
"No!" Roman and Seth shouted at the same time, looking at each other straight after.
"What? Why not?" Dean frowned, looking between the pair and their pale faces.
"Because it's disgusting," Seth supplied, shuddering a little.
"The man makes women into dolls and he cuts their vagina's out, I've seen it once and I promised myself never again," Roman said, folding his arms across his chest.
He then smiled a little before looking at Seth.
"You barely slept for a week, you kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking someone was trying to get in." Roman laughed.
Seth buried his face in his hands, "Don't remind me."
"Okay, not Cassadaga, how about Scott Pilgrim vs The World?"
After they had all agreed on a light-hearted film, they settled down to watch, occasionally talking in between .Every so often, Roman looked over at Seth. Letting his chest fill with that warmth every time. He knew it would be difficult, but he was going to get him back even if it killed him.
