Seth couldn't believe his eyes. After all these years she was here, standing in front of him again and it felt as if he were right back in the moment. It was as if those eleven long years hadn't actually happened. It the span of a moment a myriad of emotions pinged through him. Happiness, then anger, sadness and grief overloaded his system.
The need to touch her, to hold her in his arms again, swamped him and it was everything he could do to hold his composure.
"Dude," Roman's voice permeated the curtain of emotions clouding Seth's brain. "How do you know her?"
Without pulling his gaze from hers he replied. "She's my ex."
Dean pointed to her. "This is the Ali you're always telling us about?"
Seth nodded, then giving in to his desires, he reached out and took her hand in his. "You look amazing."
She gave him a small smile, one filled with trepidation and his heart cracked just a little. Why was she nervous? Couldn't she tell he was happy to see her? "So do you," she replied.
He returned her smile with one of his own. "I-I can't quite believe you're actually here." Not giving her the opportunity to protest, he took her other hand in his and pulled her into an embrace. At first she stiffened, but as he slid his hands around her, slowly she melted against him and eventually wrapped her arms around his neck, and burying her face against his chest.
With one hand on her lower back and the other tangled in her long, dark hair, he buried his face in her tresses and inhaled. Her scent, the lovely smell of sunflowers filled him, pulling flashes of memory to the surface and with it the residual pain. "God I missed you," he whispered.
Her body shook and he knew she was crying. Hadn't this been exactly the scene when she'd walked away all those years ago. "Shhh," he stroked a hand through her hair. "Please don't cry."
Dean's face appeared in front of Seth, a crease in his brow revealing his confusion. Instead of acknowledging Dean, Seth simply closed his eyes and held her. For several long minutes they stayed locked in the embrace, before Aliana slowly began to pull back. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she raked a knuckle beneath her eye, wiping away the tears. "I didn't think I'd be so emotional."
Not wanting to break contact, he smiled again and kept her hand in his. "Why wouldn't you be emotional? It was emotional for both of us when you left, so it only makes sense it would be that way now."
She smirked at his statement. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Seth glanced over to Amy. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, she's going to be staying with us."
Amy looked between Seth and Aliana, then gave a small nod as she motioned to Jarred and his son. "If you both with follow me, we'll see if we can track down Daniel Bryan."
Once Amy and the others were out of sight, Seth turned back to Aliana. For a moment he simply stared at her, still trying to make his mind believe she was really there.
"What?" she finally asked, breaking the spell.
"Nothing," he grinned. "I'm just in shock is all." He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss along her knuckles. "We have so much catching up to do."
"Not until you introduce her to your friends," Dean added. "Or has all the blood running to your dick made you forget about your best buds?"
Seth winced at Dean's crass suggestion. "Yo, dickhead. Do you think you could be a gentleman for ten fucking minutes?"
"Nope," Dean replied on a grin. "Now are you going to introduce us or do we have to do it ourselves?"
On a sigh, Seth turned her to face his brethren. "Ali this is Roman and that uncouth turd is Dean."
Dean sneered before he took Aliana's hand out of Seth's and kissed her knuckles. "Hello, beautiful. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Ali visibly shivered and a wave of jealousy slammed into Seth, hard and fast, leaving him ready to pound his friend. Just what the fuck did Dean think he was doing? "Go work your sleazy charm on some willing ring rat," he spat as he snatched her hand back from Dean.
His outburst earned a raised eyebrow from his brother, but Dean otherwise remained silent.
"So," Roman began, breaking the tension between the men. "You're Seth's ex?"
Aliana nodded. "Colb-, I mean Seth and I grew up together and eventually we ended up as high school sweethearts."
"The way I hear it, you dumped him for some dancing career," Dean added as he folded his arms across his chest.
Almost instantly, a pink hue colored Ali's cheeks and she lowered her gaze before nodding. "Something like that," she murmured.
"Knock it off, Dean," Seth warned as he put a protective arm around Ali and pulled her against his chest. "That was a long time ago and I don't want to ruin this moment dredging up the past." He turned his gaze down to look at her. "You'll have to excuse Dean. There's no off switch for the filter between his mouth and brain."
"Dick," Dean murmured, then turned and walked away.
Roman rolled his eyes. "I'll handle Dean. Just be ready to head back to the hotel in thirty, okay?"
Seth nodded. "I'll be there." Of course at that very moment there was only one place he wanted to be and it wasn't sharing a hotel room with Dean and Roman. "How long can you stay?"
She gave him another small smile. "I live down outside of Philly now, so I was planning on driving back tonight if this didn't work out as I'd hoped.
"And now that it has?" Seth asked.
"My plans have changed." She lifted a hand and cupped his bearded chin. "What did you have in mind?"
A half hour later, with Ali on his arm, Seth met Roman and Dean. "A slight change of plans," he announced, hoping Dean wouldn't give him grief about altering their routine. Coming from a bad childhood and virtually no parental guidance and no stability in his life. As an adult, Dean thrived on routine and had a tendency to wig out when something altered the status quo.
"What kind of change?" Dean narrowed his gaze.
"Since we're not leaving for Albany until morning, Ali is going to come back to the hotel with us, so we can catch up."
Dean smirked. "Is that what you're calling it now?"
"Don't start again," Seth warned.
"What?" Dean held out his hands in defense.
"You're being a dick again," Seth stated.
"I never stopped," Dean corrected. "Though, if you're going to give me shit because I'm the only one ballsy enough to state the obvious, then you can just find somewhere to screw her because I'm not going to give up the extra room to you."
Most of the time, Dean's brazen attitude didn't bother Seth, but in this situation he could all but feel the heat crawling up his neck. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about wanting to have her naked in bed, but it was simply too soon for such an act. Gathering his courage, he turned to face Aliana. "I'm really sorry about him. If you don't want to stay-"
"No," she cut him off. "I want to. I didn't go through all this trouble and expense trying to reach you, only to leave without spending any time with you."
Joy warmed through Seth and he smiled. "Okay. Then how about I ride with you back to the hotel and we'll meet Roman and Dean there."
She returned his smile. "Sounds good to me."
With a quick smile at Dean and Roman, Seth picked up his bag, turned on his heel and headed for the exit. "We'll see you back at the hotel," he called over his shoulder.
Now he could only hope the boys would get stuck in traffic and he could have a little 'alone time' with Ali before they arrived.