Okay so here is the next chapter of my story, the way things are going I'm hoping to get at least one chapter up a week maybe more.
I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has read and favoured my story or put it on alert. Special thanks to squawswarpath, angelsdee327, Skovko and Lisee for the reviews for chapter one.
Chapter two
The truth will set you free
The bar lighting was dim, and the music quiet though audible, the perfect place to hide yourself from people, in a nice secluded corner, while still sitting at the bar. Dean ordered another beer, and looked over at Seth; Roman had deserted them for the night, opting to hang out with his childhood friend. There was something about the guy, something Dean felt was off, he couldn't put his finger on it, but it almost felt like Stewart didn't want anyone else in Roman's life, didn't want anyone else to be close to him.
Seth raised the bottle to his lips, toasting his friend silently, as he took a sip of the cold liquid. Dean, was in one of his silent taciturn moods,, and Seth was missing Roman's presence in their little group, their friend had a way of lifting the negative mood, and lightening it. Deans mood swings could be hard to deal with, especially when he had been so upbeat, hanging out with Robert earlier, the little boy had, definitely had a positive effect on Dean, He understood, that the old best friend, might want some time with Roman, away from the new best friends. However there was something about the guy though, maybe it was the way he had looked at them, when Roman introduced them as his good friends, like they were up to something. Or the way he had poo-pooed the idea of them all going out for the evening together, saying that Dean and Seth would find it boring, with them talking about friends from school, and all the things they used to do back then, and just generally catching up, talking about things the other two men would not know about. He'd even tried to persuade, Roman, to get a separate room from Dean and Seth, Roman had baulked at that, the only time one of them got their own room, was when they had their girlfriend's with them, or Dean had hooked up with a random, but then he went to her room, and snuck out while she was sleeping.
"What do you think of him?" Seth blinked, wondering if he had heard right, he was sure Dean just asked him a question. "Stewart, what do you make of him, or is it just me?" Okay he had heard right, it wasn't lack of sleep, or the beer.
"Something's off about him, like he didn't want to share Roman or something, I mean, did you buy the bullshit, about us getting bored with them talking about old times." Seth brought the bottle to his, lips drinking deeply from it.
Dean nodded, draining his bottle and placing it back on the bar, signalling to the barman for two more. He was quiet, till the new bottles were in front of them. Seth quickly drained his old one, dropping a couple of bills on the bar to pay for this round.
"Yeah, think you're right." Dean looked around the bar, before focusing on his drink again. "He wants Roman to himself, I wonder how he deals with women, can't get much closer than a girlfriend."
Seth mused on that, while he sipped on his beer, Roman never seemed to have much luck with women, especially once he had taken them home to meet the family. He had an idea Stewart wouldn't want a girlfriend around, any more than he wanted friends around. Was it possible the guy was doing something to sabotage Roman's relationships? Seth mentally laughed at himself, like someone would do something like that. "Well Roman doesn't have much luck with women; that's for sure." There he'd said it; he took another drink, and waited for a reply.
"No he doesn't." Dean mused, as he took another drink, before looking up, as someone called his name, he sighed to see Roman's twin cousins, Jey and Jimmy Uso bearing down on them. "Shit just what we need, hey guys." He waved his bottle in greeting, as the twin sat down, and ordered four bottles, handing one off, to each Dean and Seth.
"Roman out with Stewart?" Jimmy asked, and Dean gave a nod of his head, before the other man went on. "Those two are inseparable, always have been, probably always will be." He smiled. "Nothing's ever going to come between them." He frowned. "Saw you talking to that slut Keslie earlier, you watch out for her, she damn near broke Roman's heart."
Dean and Seth both looked up at that comment, and Dean remembered what had happened earlier, and Keslie saying she used to date Jimmy's cousin, and he broke her heart. Now Jimmy was saying that she was the one who almost broke Roman's. "She and Roman used to date?" Dean asked a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Jey nodded, taking a drink from his beer. "Yeah she was his first real girlfriend, he was head over heels for her, she was a bit of an odd one, well her parents were, sort of religious nuts, she seemed okay though, well maybe a bit quiet and shy, not a joiner if you know what I mean, the little bitch." He took another drink, and Jimmy took over.
"Long story short, she was using Roman to get to Stewart, he was so popular back then, at school there didn't seem to be a woman who didn't want him. He and Roman were attracted to the same kind of women, but you know how it is, you don't go after the woman who used to date your friend, or that you know he likes, or that knocked him back." Dean listened to what Jimmy was saying, the guy was a chick magnet, but he got knocked back when he asked a girl out? An idea was presenting itself to him, and he didn't like it, surely you wouldn't do that to your friend, ask out a girl you knew he liked, so that he didn't. Then there were all the women, who ended things with Roman once he took them home, where they would have met Stewart. "Stewart was shocked about them, he came back after being off school with bronchitis, that had led to pneumonia, he was really ill with it, and off for about a month, and found they were dating, there was this big party, and everyone was going, but then, at the last minute Roman got a heavy cold, and couldn't go." He took another long drink. "The bitch went to the party, well most of us did, Stewart was there, she got him drunk and seduced him, he was gutted when he realised what had happened, he broke down and wept when he saw Roman." He drank again nearly draining the bottle, and signalling for another, as Seth and Dean listened without saying a word. Once the barman had brought over more drinks, and Jimmy paid he carried on. "She nearly destroyed Roman, he was crazy about her, they'd even become lovers, still he and Stewart worked through it, he knew Stewart wasn't to blame, we all knew what she had done though, and cut her out of everything at school. Though Roman's Mom was still friendly with her for some reason. Then one day about three months later she was just gone, good riddance too." He took a drink from his new bottle.
"Roman's not going to be happy if she's around." Jey picked up his fresh bottle, and began to drink from it. "The bitch really hurt him, and tried to ruin his friendship with Stewart, it was just a good job he came clean and told Roman, as soon as he realised what had happened."
Dean looked at Seth, and had to wonder at the radically different stories he was hearing. Keslie had no reason to lie to him, she didn't know he knew Roman, Robert said he watched wrestling with his Da-li, his Mommy just wasn't interested. Keslie had said she slept with Roman, and that he dropped her after, which didn't sound like the Roman he knew. "I'm going to call it a night guys." Dean drained his bottle, and threw a few bills on the bar, before looking pointedly at Seth.
"Yeah me too, see you guys later." Seth threw a few bills down as well, and finished his drink.
"You watch out for her, she's bad news." Jey yelled at them, as they headed out of the door.
"Spill." Seth demanded, as the night air hit them, and he pushed his hands into his jacket pockets.
"That's not the story she told me." Dean hunched into his jacket, seeming to shrink into himself, as he often did, for all his brash ring personality, he could be exceptionally quiet at times. "She didn't mention any names, but she did say she dated Jimmy's cousin, well you know as well as I do, that's a big family, could have been anyone in it, and I didn't want to ask." He paused pulling his beanie out of his pocket, and pulled it on, never breaking his stride as he did. "She said she made the mistake of sleeping with him, and after he dropped her so fast it made her head spin, now that doesn't sound like Roman to me, does it to you?"
Seth shook his head. "No, not the Roman we know, but we don't know what he was like back then." They walked on as they both considered what he had just said. Was it possible that Roman really would have changed that much?
"She said he wouldn't talk to her after, and before she knew it she was ladled as the school slut and whore, now if she slept with Stewart, I could see that happening." Dean was wondering what the truth was, he remembered that she had been crying, either she was a really good actress, she was telling the truth, or she had told the story so many times, she really believed it herself. He wondered if she would have any reason, to keep on telling that story. Why would she, what would be the point? He had believed her to be genuine before Jimmy and Jey said anything, his instinct was to believe her, but why would the twins lie. The answer was they wouldn't, but they were only repeating what they had been told, and then suddenly it hit him, he had seen it, and Chris had seen it. Robert was Roman's son; a son he didn't even know existed. He knew and liked Roman's Mom, she was a good judge of people, she would never have let someone come around, who had broken her youngest son's heart. Someone was lying here, the question was who?
"Robert, oh my god, Chris saw it right off, Robert's Roman's kid." Seth had put it together too.
"But she said his Dad was dead." Dean stopped looking at Seth, that wasn't exactly what she had said, but it was what it sounded like, when she had a go at the nanny.
"If she's lying about that, she could be lying about everything, and Roman has a son, he has the right to know that." Seth was pulling out his phone ,when Dean put his hand on his arm. Yes Roman did have the right to know, but not like this, not when he was out having a good time with his friend. They needed more information, and there was only two ways to get it. One, they could talk to Roman, who would wonder why they were asking, or two, they could talk to Keslie.
"Wait we need to know more about this." Dean pulled out his phone, and dialled a number they all had, but did not use often. "Hi Boss lady, sorry to bother you so late, I was wondering, do you know how I could contact Keslie, I'd like to arrange to stay in touch with the little man."
"Oh that's so thoughtful of you, that little boy was over the moon with meeting you all, I'm sure he'd love it if you stayed in touch with him." Stephanie reeled off the number without really thinking about it, and Dean repeated it, gesturing for Seth to put it on his phone.
"Thanks Steph, you don't happen to want to tell me where they live do you?" He adopted a hopeful begging tone.
Stephanie laughed, and Dean wondered if she had, had a few drinks herself, as she told him where Keslie was from, before adding. "She's actually staying in the hotel, room 2043, maybe she would like a little company, can't be easy taking care of the little one, when she's not feeling good."
Dean nodded his head, forgetting that Stephanie couldn't see him. "Thanks, we'll go on up and see if she needs a hand with little man." He told her before hanging up. Then he looked at Seth. "Come on, we need to go talk to Roman's baby momma."
The two men headed back to the hotel, and got the elevator up to the twentieth floor. Counting off the numbers, on the doors till they found the right room.
"Are we really sure this is a good idea?" Seth asked as they found her door. "I mean it is late, she might be asleep."
"Lights are still on." Dean pointed to the faint glow coming from under the door, just visible on the carpet. Making Seth remembered that Dean was a veteran of getting into and out of hotel rooms, as the other man rapped on the door, looking impatient when it did not open at once. His hand was raised again, as the door opened a crack, and Keslie peered out at them.
"Dean?" She sounded shocked. "What are you two doing here?"
"We need to talk about little man." Dean wasn't going for subtle here. "We know he's Roman's." He saw from the way her face droped, that he was right.
Keslie looked at Dean and the other man; this was the day she had always secretly dreaded, the day someone worked out who Roberts Daddy was. She stepped back, opening the door fully and letting them in. "You better come in." Her shoulders were slumped, and she turned away letting them walk into the room, and shut her door behind them. "Robert's asleep, please sit down."
"How could you keep it from him?" Seth demanded. "And to use him like that to get to Stewart, how could you hurt him like that?"
"What?" Keslie was genuinely confused. "After I slept with Roman he didn't want to know me, hell he wouldn't even look at me, and then I found out I was pregnant. I was terrified, everyone was snubbing me, calling me a whore and a slut, I had no one to turn to, Roman didn't want to know me, he wouldn't have cared about Robert, my parents kicked me out as soon as they found out, the sin was mine to deal with, if not for Da-li I would have been on the streets, as for Stewart what does that creep have to do with anything, I know he didn't like me because I was with Roman, he made that perfectly clear, even before, Roman started snubbing me, he hated us going on a date or even just hanging out?" Keslie was looking at the two men, wondering what was going on.
"Seth." Dean put his hand out to his friend. "Let's sit down, and see if we can get to the bottom of this. Keslie this is Seth, Seth, Keslie."
The three of them looked at each other, and eventually Seth sat down, followed by Dean, and finally Keslie.
"Why did you sleep with Stewart if you didn't like him?" Dean asked, looking right at Keslie, he had some pretty good bullshit radar, and he was pretty sure you couldn't fake the shock that was on her face at his words, not unless you were a bloody good liar, possibly a serial liar.
"Sleep with Stewart, why the hell would I sleep with him?" Keslie felt like she had stepped into the twilight zone here. "The only person I ever slept with was Roman, and my baby boy was the result of it."
"Okay, either you are one of the most accomplished liars I have ever met, or something weird is going on." Dean looked from Keslie to Seth, to see what the other man thought, and then back again. "We were told you went to a party without Roman, and while you were there, you seduced Stewart into sleeping with you, that the only reason you were with Roman, was to get close to his friend." Dean was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
"What, who the hell told you that?" Keslie looked at them in shock. "I remember the party, one of the very few I went to. I was supposed to be going with Roman, but he had a really bad cold and didn't feel up to it, or rather his Mom was worried about him going out, when he was so sick. I did go, and stayed for maybe half an hour. I wasn't having a good time, and ended up walking round to Roman's, he was in bed and asleep, so I hung out with his parents. His Mom had hurt her arm the day before; she wanted to make a special treat for him, to cheer him up. She was having trouble because of the injury though, so I helped her make it, it was a red velvet cake; along with some special sushi for him." She looked at the two men, who were watching her intently as she spoke. "I hung out till about eleven, just chatting and getting to know them, his Dad took me home in the car, and once I was in, I stayed there till the next morning. So unless I slept with Stewart in the half an hour I was at the party, where I was in a room with at least twenty other people, or on the walk to Roman's, the party started at six, I left about half past, and got to his at quarter to seven, I was with his parents from then on, till his Dad took me home, and then I was in my room alone after eleven. So you tell me, when could I have slept with his friend?"
Seth and Dean looked at each other, she sounded sincerer, and most of what she had said was easily checkable. They only needed to ask Jey and Jimmy, along with Roman's parents. Keslie was looking at the two men. Did everyone really think that she had slept with Stewart? Was that why they treated her the way they did. Did Roman really think so little of her, for the first time, another emotion rather than hurt surfaced, when she thought of him. She was angry, really, really angry.
Seth was suddenly a little ashamed, that he had ripped into Keslie, without giving her chance to defend herself, or give her side of the story; however he was not happy that she had kept Roman's child from him? "Don't you think Roman has the right to know about his son?" He posed the question to her, but was not expecting her response.
"He's not Roman's son, let's get that straight, Roman has had nothing to do with him, apart from being the sperm donor, and I could have obtained that at a clinic. Robert is my son, your friend might have been there at his conception, but he chose to believe lies about me apparently." She looked at the two men, they had given her a lot to think about, she couldn't believe Roman thought so little of her, that he would accept she would sleep with his friend, he had told her he loved but, yet he obviously didn't know her, as well as she thought he did. At least, after all this time and heartbreak, she had her answer as to what had happened all those years ago. "Robert and I, have been fine without him for the last seven years, we'll keep on being must fine, we don't need, or want him in our lives."
Seth looked at her like he wanted to argue about that, but a look from Dean silenced him, the other man had something in mind, and he'd wait and see what it was, before he pushed the point with her.
"I understand why you feel like that." Dean gave her a sad smile. "It must be a bit of a shock to know you were lied about like that, and I get that Roman really hurt you, but I would love it, if you would let me say in touch with little man." He gave her that hopeful look, and she had to smile, he was trying to play her, but at the same time, all Robert had been talking about on the way back to the room, was the shield, mostly about Roman, like it or not, her son was obsessed with his Father as a wrestler. He had insisted on sleeping in his hounds of justice T-shirt, which Roman had signed for him.
"He'd like that." Keslie smiled at the man. "He had a great time with you Dean."
Not one of the three of them, acknowledged that the little boy had, had such a good time, because of Roman.
"Well we better get going and let you get some rest." Seth said suddenly, he wanted to know what Dean was up to, he knew he was planning something, and his skill at strategising, might just come in useful.
"Thank you for listening to me, perhaps if Roman had done just that seven years ago, things would be different." Keslie got to her feet, and the two men quickly got up as well.
"Here." Dean handed her his phone. "Put your number in for me?" He asked, giving her that look, which she was sure had women melting in big puddles for him. "Then if you call your phone, you'll have my number too."
She did as he asked her, and then handed his phone back to him, before walking the two men to her door. Once they were gone she sank down on the couch, and for the first time in years, she sobbed her heart out, this time for what might have been. The sad fact of the matter was, even as much as he had hurt her, she still loved Roman, probably always would, she just couldn't risk him hurting her or her son ever again.
So now you know what happened all those years ago between Roman and Keslie, why Jimmy was calling her a slut and of course Chris called it right Robert is Roman's son.
Lisee yes you are of course right Stewart was the cause of all the problems between Keslie and Roman, the reason she was ostracised and the reason Roman does not know about his son.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and if I could request that you take the time to leave me a review tell me your thoughts on what is going on or just if you like the story. Till next time thank you guys.