Chapter Two

By the time Seth woke up fully, the rest of the bus was fully awake, and the bus had stopped at a service station to refuel and allow the band, Paul and Brock to get breakfast. Over the breakfast table, Paul filled Dean and Roman in on what had happened after the two of them had taken the women to bed the night before.

"Seth has lost it lads. Went nuts last night, attacked me, and lashed out at Brock when he stepped in to stop him. I think he's started taking again." Paul's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he glanced down quickly. "Your cab is here ladies." Flicking through his wallet, the manager passed one of the two women a pile of twenties to cover the taxi ride back into town.

Smiling graciously, the blondes gathered up their things and departed without so much as a backward glance, and the business side of Paul knew that the second they were home, they would be on the phone to the tabloids selling their stories about the night of passion they had shared with Dean and Roman, and no doubt one of them would be smart enough to work in something about Seth's 'breakdown' while they were at it, at least, he hoped they had the brains to remember that part of their deal.

"Where's Phil?" Dean broke the silence that had fallen over the group in the few minutes following the women's departure. "He was on the bus last night when we went to bed."

"Phil's at the hospital getting checked out. He was the one that took the brunt of Seth's attack last night. I had Kevin pick him up in the other bus and take him back into the last town to get sorted." At least, that was all these two needed to know. It only took one sneaky glance at the band members to see that they were buying it, after all, Seth had been moody and sulky ever since they had set out on this press tour, even more so after they had passed through Nashville. "What do you two what to do about Seth, I mean, he's your friend, so you two should really decide."

Dean and Roman looked a each other blankly, they had guessed Seth would have difficulty adjusting to not having his friends in the band any more, but neither of them had predicted that he would have a compete mental breakdown.

"I... uh... I'll talk to him." Dean mumbled. He was the closest to Seth out of them all, after all, he had been one of the original band members before Roman had joined and talked him into ditching the others in order to get a contract. "Where is he?"

"Brock had to lock him in the equipment closet for everyone's safety. He'll still be in there sleeping off his anger." Paul signalled to the waitress for another coffee as Dean stood up.

"I'll go see if he's awake, get this done with before we set out again." Roman opened his mouth to stop him, but Paul shushed the big man, letting Dean go without further discussion.

"Leave this to Dean, he'll make the kid see sense."

Seth sat on the floor of the closet, arms folded across his chest, nursing the cuts and splinters that he had caused across the back of his knuckles in his fight to break down the door. Hearing the door unlock, he scowled childishly, expecting to see Paul or Brock when the door finally opened. Upon seeing Dean, the scowl relaxed a shade, and Seth allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"You took your time! I've been locked in here all night." Seth shoved passed his band mate, moving on into the bedroom. "I'm out of here. Paul kicked Phil off the bus last night, I'm going to find him."

"Paul let Phil of the bus so that he could go to hospital. You beat him up really badly Seth." Dean caught the younger man's arm, pulling him round to face him. "Why did you attack them Seth? Are you on drugs again? You know what happened last time!"

"I didn't attack anyone. Except Paul after he threw Phil off the bus, but I never hit him, Brock threw me in the closet and locked the door before I could." Seth yanked his arm away, throwing his things into his bag. "And no, I'm not on drugs, why would I be?"

"Because I know you were before. When we were in Nashville, and ever since we passed through there on the tour you've been acting strange, like you were before." As fast as Seth was packing the bag, Dean was unpacking it, unwilling to let Seth off the bus in this state. "Don't lie to me kid, I've seen the bruises on Paul, and he showed us photos of Phil. You really messed them up Seth."

"I didn't touch them!" Seth yelled, losing his patience with the man he had always considered to be his friend. "I swear!" He sunk down onto the bed, head dropping into his hands. "I just want to find Phil and go home. Please!"

"Just finish this tour, then you can have a break and go home for a while." Dean perched awkwardly on the bed next to him, gently rubbing his back in what he hoped was a comforting motion. "Does that sound fair?"

Seth nodded, falling back to lie on the bed, eyes closing slowly. "How long till we get to New York?"

"A couple more hours. Get some sleep, I'll pick you up some food for when we get there." Dean backed out of the room slowly, clicking the door shut carefully as he left.

Moving back into the main area of the bus, he found Paul, Brock and Roman waiting expectantly for him. "He wants to go back to Nashville. I've got him to agree to stay for the rest of the tour. But we need to let him go back for a month at least, otherwise this meltdown won't be the last."

Paul nodded, tapping something into his phone and jotting down Dean's suggestion in his diary. "Okay, month off, I can work with that. Maybe we can send a camera crew with him, make a Youtube series documenting his homecoming, interview his friends, have him play a show at that little bar you all started in."

"No Paul, he needs a complete break. No cameras, no shows, no Youtube. Just him, sleeping, relaxing, away from this!" Dean sighed heavily, slumping down in the nearest empty seat as their manager snatched up his phone as it buzzed insistently, practically running to shut himself up front with the driver. "I hate it when he ignores me."

"Great, just perfect!" Paul stormed back into the room, making a beeline for the door to the sleeping quarters. "I'm going to kill him!"

"Seth's trying to get some sleep! Leave him to it!" Dean stepped out into the corridor, blocking Paul's passage. "What's wrong?"

"One of those bimbos you two hooked up with last night, heard Seth's outburst, and has gone to TMZ, told them he's mentally unstable. And possibly on something!" Paul made to shove Dean aside, but found himself faced with Roman as well. "They're running the story, it's ready to post once they've gotten a statement from you lot. As a band."

Roman turned sharply, barging into the bedroom and hauling Seth up and out of his bunk. "Get up! We've got damage control to do thanks to you!" Hoisting him up and practically frog marching him out to the seated area, Roman held him hand out expectantly for Paul's laptop. "Dean, find the kid a clean t-shirt, one of the merch shirts if there's one around. Paul, can you set up a Skype interview with whoever is running this story? Within the next hour?"

Paul nodded and disappeared on his cell, and Dean went off in search of a shirt for Seth, who simply sat at the table, trapped in by Roman, confused as to what was going on. TMZ? Skype interviews? He felt more than a little out of the loop, and not for the first time since this tour had started.

"What's going on? Did something happen?" Seth murmured softly, his hair falling to cover his eyes.

"TMZ is running a story about your drug fuelled rampage last night. One of the girls heard you screaming and yelling like a madman, and has sold you out to TMZ." Roman snarked at the smaller man, roughly dragging Seth's hair back from his face and tying it up. "And now it's up to the rest of us to clean up your messes, again."

"I haven't taken anything. I'll do a drug test to prove it." Seth frowned, why was everyone convinced he was on something? "As soon as we get to New York, get me to a hospital, or a lab, and I'll do a test. To prove to all of you that I'm clean."

"The girl has pictures of Paul and Phil, the damage you did to them! How are we supposed to explain that away huh?" Roman snapped sharply at his band mate, barely paying attention to Dean throwing a clean shirt down on the table in front of them.

"This is all I could find, get changed." Dean shoved himself onto the edge of Roman's chair, making sure he would be in the view of the web cam when they did the interview. Both of the older men turned their attention away from Seth as he changed his shirt, instead focusing their attentions on Paul as he returned to the room.

"You've got a fifteen minute interview, the reporter will call you in ten minutes. Roman, I suggest you do most of the talking. Find some way to dig Seth out of the shit hole he's created." Paul sat himself opposite the band, making notes on a sheet of paper. "Make sure Seth apologises for what happened, and reassure the reporter that he's checking into an unnamed rehab facility as soon as the tour is done."

"I'm not going to rehab!" Seth blurted out, cutting Paul off unexpectedly. "I haven't taken anything, I never attacked you, or Phil. Ask Phil, he'll vouch for me."

"That's the problem though Seth, you are going to rehab, and you did attack me. Brock saw you, and the bus has CCTV, imagine if the footage got out!" Paul smiled menacingly for a second, before turning his attention back to Roman. "Phil has made a statement from his hospital bed. Saying that he isn't pressing charges against Seth, but that he wants to distance himself from the band for a while."

Roman nodded, he knew what would be best to include and leave out, as long as Seth apologises for scaring the girl, and tells the reporter he's going to rehab, anything else will just be filler in the article.

Paul is halfway through a few other points to include when the computer pings, indicating an incoming call. Roman hits answer, and finds himself face to face with Stephanie McMahon, lead reporter for TMZ.

"Ms McMahon. Thank you for giving Seth the chance to apologise and explain his actions."

"My pleasure Roman, although I have to say, I was surprised when I took the call on this one. Seth Rollins seems like the last person in the music business to have a drugs problem."

"That's the thing with drugs, anyone can fall prey to them in a moment of weakness." Roman slid a sheet of paper across to Seth as he spoke, showing the younger man a written out statement and indicating that he was to read only what was written down in front of him "I'll pass you over to Seth now, he has rather a lot to say, and I feel like this would be better coming from him."

"Absolutely Roman. And well done on being so supportive of your friend." Stephanie grinned, graciously turning her attention to Seth, who was more than a little nervous about the fact that he was being forced to confess to a problem that he didn't have any more. "Seth, it's a shame we have to speak under these circumstances. I had always hoped to be the one to interview you about a Grammy win."

Seth laughed uneasily, biting nervously on his fingernails. "I know. And I also know I need to apologise for what happened last night. The last thing I wanted was to scare anyone. I didn't even realise that the others could hear me."

"Why don't we start with why you took the drugs?"

"I was nervous, before the show. I'm always nervous, nothing was helping calm me down, and drugs had worked in the past. I took enough to get me through the show, but I didn't realise the beer would prolong the effects." As he spoke, Seth felt his cheeks flush with shame, his parents would see this, they would hate him for this, no matter how much he tried to explain.

"You've taken drugs in the past?"

He nodded, curling his hands into tight fists as he spoke again. "When I was just starting out, with my first band. It was just for fun, the drugs, the music, everything. We were just kids having fun. Then the contract happened, the others left, I didn't really know how else to cope."

"So the drug use has been an on going problem for you?"

"On and off. There are times when I can cope, and other times where I'm so dependent that I can barely get out of bed with out needing something."

"Your manager, Paul, has told me you're going into rehab as soon as the tour is done. Is this something you want, or are the band forcing you in there?"

"I want this, I need this. Being clean is something that I've wanted for a long time, but not enough to do anything about it. I always made excuses, I was too busy working on the album, too busy touring, too busy doing press. But after... after what I did last night, getting clean is the only concern I have now."

"But why after the tour? Surely your priority should be making sure you don't hurt anyone else? Not promoting your album and Brock Lesnar's next fight?"

Seth grimaced slightly at the mention of the fight, he had tried to forget about having to go to that when they got to New York. "Paul and the guys wanted me to go in sooner, but we only have New York left on the schedule, and that's only for Brock's fight and a talk show. I mean, I've delayed this for over two years now, what harm is twenty four more hours going to do?"

"So what you're telling is that, after Brock's fight tonight, and The Shield's appearance on Good Morning USA tomorrow morning, you are driving straight to rehab?"

"That's right. The second we leave the studio tomorrow, Paul and I are getting on a plane and heading directly to the rehab facility. The band has promised to continue with their leg of the press tour while I'm recovering."

"And when you're done with your treatment?"

"I'll be taking some personal time. A few months away from the spotlight until I'm completely sure that I can handle the pressure."

"Thank you Seth." Stephanie smiled warmly at him, turning her attention back to Roman and Dean. "Boys, you must be proud of Seth for taking the decision to straighten himself out before he becomes any more of a danger to you all."

"We are. Immensely proud of him. We just wish he had come to us sooner about his problem. Seth's like a brother to us, we only want what's best for him." Dean simpered at the camera, while Roman draped a supportive arm around Seth's shoulder.

"Exactly. Without Seth this band would be nothing. The sooner he gets himself to rehab the better. We need our bassist alive and well." Roman smiled at Stephanie.

"Thank you guys, I think I have everything I need. If I come across anything I've missed before the story goes up I'll give Paul a ring." Before anyone could say anything in reply, the screen went dark.

"Glad to see you can do something right at least." Roman snapped at Seth moving his arm quickly, as though even touching Seth would infect him with something. Dean had already gone from the table, busy sorting through his things ready to get off and into a hotel in New York.

Hardly able to bare Seth's presence for much longer, Roman slid away from the younger man, barely blinking as Seth darted for the bedroom again. "Should someone go with him? In case he tries to take something?" Roman dead panned. He knew as well as Paul and Brock did that Seth wasn't on anything. But he also knew Dean didn't know that, and that it was vital to keep Dean on their side in all of this.

"He'll be fine. He was trying to sleep before you hauled him out to do that interview." Dean barely looked up as he spoke, too lost in stuffing all his sheet music and notebooks into his bag.