Welcome to a new chapter! Hope those of you reading will enjoy it. Things are picking up steam! If you do enjoy it, please leave me a comment. Not only does it make my day but it truly motivates me to keep this story going.

Flashbacks are in italic.


Seth had just finished his first full match. He'd never had a match from bell to bell before, much less in front of an actual audience. Sure, all of fifteen people had been in attendance, and sure, the match probably stank the joint, but he just had his first real match. And it'd closed out the show. And he was over the moon about it.

It probably helped that it'd been with Dean, too.

He'd wrestled all the other students before, hit moves on them and put together sequences with them. But it always felt disjointed, like nothing glued it all together. Yet somehow, it was different with Dean, always had been, and tonight had been a shining example. The match may have been far from a technical masterpiece but there was something there, something that brought the two of them together. He almost seemed to telegraph Dean's next move before he even performed it, and Dean seemed to do the same, which was bizarre given that they were mere newbies to this whole thing. They didn't need to recite every move and they didn't need to give each other marching orders at every turn. Everything had gelled together a lot better than Seth had expected. Everything had come together with a sort of electricity that Seth felt in his veins, with a connection that felt palpable to the touch. If anything, their overwhelming, overbearing sexual tension that threatened to eat Seth alive during the last several months added fuel to the fire. That tension had escalated to new heights with the match, but for some reason, Seth didn't mind. He didn't mind at all.

That match felt right to Seth, and not just the wrestling aspect of it. No, sharing that ring with Dean felt just as right as the wrestling itself did.

His instincts had been proven correct, because as soon as he walked through the locker room of their warehouse, Big Joe walked up to him and gave him a big clap on his back, stammering what definitely sounded like encouragement. And despite Joe's more than questionable teaching methods, it still felt great to get complimented by his coach.

His eyes locked with Dean's from across the room, noticing they were the only ones with their gear still on. Seth felt that tension he'd sensed in the ring return in a flash. That tension was always there, he realized, the two of them maintaining their eye contact. It was only magnified now. Dean gave him a small smile, and Seth was frozen, not quite sure if he was returning the smile, his body buzzing beyond control. His trance was broken by the sound of Big Joe gathering up the students for a semi-drunken speech on their first show, the one too many beers he'd consumed throughout the night catching up to him. Seth barely got out of his slurred words a few pointers and props, but he couldn't lie and say that he was too fussed about what he was saying. Dean was at the forefront of his thoughts, his eyes drifting to his lone figure every other second, finding blue eyes staring right back. Seth was on the verge of combusting.

The whole team of students went out to take apart the ring, defragmenting it piece by piece, folding back the chairs surrounding it as well. All the while, Seth was trying to focus on the task at hand and failing to do so. Prior to the show, he and Dean had been selected by Joe to close down the warehouse after everyone left. It was dawning on Seth that it was only a matter of time before it'd be just the two of them, nervousness punching him in the stomach.

Eventually, the last of the students had left the building, Big Joe having long gone departed. Seth was nearly trembling as he stood alone in front of the lockers, anxiousness and anticipation driving him insane. His hands were aimlessly rummaging through his bag, searching for nothing, his fresh change of clothes already laid out on the bench. He shut his eyes for a second and picked up his black towel as he heard familiar footsteps approach, trying his best to keep his cool. He looked up when Dean finally entered the room. The blond walked up to him, the bench serving as the only barrier between them. His blue eyes, pristine as Seth had ever seen them, were impossibly zoned in on him.

"Hey." Dean said after a few seconds of blatant gawking.

"Hi." Seth croaked out, his voice almost dropping to a murmur.

"That was good out there."

"It was." Seth nodded in short, quick bobs.

"Like really, really good."

Dean slowly made his way around the bench, holding Seth's gaze all the way, Seth's heartbeat turning erratic. He stopped just in front of Seth, and his eyes were even more vivid up close.

"Yeah... Really, really good." Seth parroted, the words mindlessly coming out of his mouth, his brain having ceased to operate, his gaze suddenly gravitating to Dean's lips. As he looked back up, Dean was staring at him through his lashes, finding the blue of his irises to have darkened. The tension was about to explode.

Dean reached for the towel in Seth's hands and dismissed it on the bench, interlacing their fingers together to pull their bodies closer. Seth was still hypnotized by his eyes as Dean's hands wandered up the sides of his face, vaguely realizing that his own fingers had moved up to the back of Dean's neck.

All of a sudden, both of them leaned in, completely in sync, just like they were in the ring, just like they'd been all along. Their lips finally met, and it was like Seth had never truly breathed before in his life. The feel of Dean's lips against his own almost felt like a rebirth, like everything finally made sense, like everything led up to this one moment in time, and he couldn't believe he'd held himself back from kissing him for months on end. Their mouths moved intensely together, kissing with the hunger and lust they'd harbored for each other. It almost felt like an out of body experience, every move of Seth's lips and every move of his body dictated by pure feeling and pure desire.

Dean pulled back for a second to smile at him before delving right back to kiss him, that small smile doing things to Seth that Dean surely wasn't aware of. As they made out with utter abandon, Dean smoothly guided Seth back, Seth colliding against a locker, the fire between them growing with every second and every breath, the need for more pounding in Seth's chest. As the sound of shaking lockers, wanton moans and heavy breaths echoed in the empty room, Seth and Dean gave into the moment, gave into the chemistry, gave into the tension they didn't act on for far too long. Clothes were shed and bodies met as ecstasy enveloped them like a warm blanket well into the night.

And the rest was history.


It wasn't the match that hurt. It wasn't the physical anguish he and Dean put each other through. It wasn't the hits. It wasn't the shots. It was the words Dean screamed at him in the ring. He could've pitted it as talking trash, as Dean being in the heat of the moment. But none of it sat right with Seth. Something in his gut told him that those words weren't as platonic as they might have been in the eyes of the world.

You think you're good, huh? You think you're a good person, huh, Seth? You think you've done it all right. You've got 'em all fooled. They don't know you. They don't know you'll let them down, do they? You ain't nothing but a liar, Seth. You ain't worth nothin'. You ain't worth nothin' at all.

Every word stung. It hurt, hurt to the point where it upset Seth, made that ever present anger grow in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't even revel in the fact that he and Dean had torn the house down for a second week in a row by putting on one of the all-time great FCW matches. He couldn't gloat in any feeling of pride whatsoever. Not when Dean kept declining him like he'd wanted nothing to do with Seth, not when he walked around like he wanted to keep things professional, not when every word he'd said during their match was all but shallow. It was personal, too personal, and it hit home.

Seth was done with the mixed signals. He needed answers, desperately, desperately needed them.

So he waited for him after the show when everyone left.

He knew Dean had a habit of being the last one to go. He'd evidently kept that habit for years, dating back to when they were learning how to wrestle. Seth impatiently paced around in the parking lot, refusing to barge in Dean's locker room like he'd done last week, completely unwilling to relive that dejection once more. He rubbed his palms together, looking up at the concrete ceiling, pleading for guidance, for closure, for hope.

It was a few minutes later when Dean emerged, bag slung over his shoulder, hands in his pockets, eyes trained on the floor. They snapped up as he got closer to Seth, noticing his presence there. He said nothing though, didn't stop to wonder what Seth had been doing there, didn't bother to so much give him a courteous nod in acknowledgment. He simply looked at him for a prolonged moment or two before passing right by him, not a glance over his shoulder. The gesture made the blood in Seth's veins come to a boiling point.

"Hey!"

Seth yelled, nearly jogging to catch up to Dean, anger blaring in his voice.

This time, Dean did look over his shoulder. He was seemingly unconcerned by Seth nearing his vicinity, no halt in his step. It spurred Seth on even more.

"What the fuck was that out there?" Seth spat, barely catching up to Dean, who was still walking.

"What are you talking about, Seth."

"You think you're a good person? You've got 'em all fooled? You ain't nothing but a liar?" Dean was still walking. Seth was seeing red.

"Can you just fucking stop walking for one goddamn minute?!"

Dean froze in place, staying still for a second before turning on his heel to face Seth, picking the strap of his duffel bag off his shoulder to hold it in his now stretched hand. His eyes were cold. It was killing Seth.

"It was just part of the character, okay? It was all for show, it meant nothing. It's no big deal, alright?"

Dean didn't even wait for his answer, turning around and picking up right where he left off as he strolled towards his car. Seth was paralysed, his eyes wincing, his hands twitching, the frustration he'd felt for weeks getting the best of him. The calm before the storm had officially come to an end.

"Are you still ridiculously mad at me or do you just not give a shit at all?"

That stopped Dean right in his tracks. Good, Seth thought, because he had just gotten unleashed. The burden was weighing way too heavily on him for him to shut up now.

"We finally, finally make it here together after all this time being apart. We haven't seen each other in two years, two years, and you won't even give me the time of day? You don't wanna exchange more than one fucking word at a time? You wanna treat me like I'm fucking dirt you just wanna dust off?"

Dean still refused to turn to Seth, his body completely immobile except for the slight shake of his shoulders that Seth noticed. Seth marched towards him, hellbent on getting a reaction. This discussion wouldn't go down like this. It simply wouldn't.

"Look at you, Dean. You don't even wanna look at me, you don't even wanna look me in the eyes." Seth's hands rose and fell in despair, his head shaking furiously, the driest of laughs escaping his throat. "Do you even care? Did I even matter to you or did you never care about me at all?"

"Don't you ever, ever dare and say that I never cared about you. Don't you fuckin' dare."

Dean's head peeked over his shoulder, his eyes shooting bullets through Seth. The ice that was once there had melted and morphed to fire in a moment's notice.

"You never cared at all."

That did it for Dean. He slammed his bag on the ground and made a beeline for Seth, stopping an inch away from his face.

"I never cared? I'm the one who never cared? Is that why I stayed while you fucking left me high and dry out of the fucking blue?"

"You never let me explain-"

"Explain what? Explain what?" Dean shouted, his voice blazing, his eyes wide agape. "Why I woke up to find the love of my life leaving me a note saying he had to leave town for good? Why you walked away and fuckin' spat on three years we had together? Why I had to sit in my bed for days and days and days waiting to hear from you, waiting for you to come back and tell me it was all just a big fuckin' nightmare?"

Seth may have been all bravado and courage a minute ago, but he'd gone mute now, too engrossed by Dean's outburst, too overwhelmed by this onslaught of stabs through the chest.

"I had just asked you to move in. I had just asked you to move in with me and you said yes. You said yes, but instead, you were saying yes to moving from town altogether." Dean gritted through his teeth, letting out the sourest, bitterest huff Seth had ever heard.

"All along, I thought I never deserved you, that I was fuckin' scum, a piece of shit who never deserved a guy like you, who never deserved to strike gold like I did with you. And I changed, oh god I fucking changed. I became better, so much better, because I wanted to feel like I earned you, I wanted to feel like I deserved you. And I almost got there, y'know. I almost, almost felt like I deserved you. But then you showed me that I never had you in the first place. You go ahead and you fuckin' destroy me, and you fuckin' wreck me, and you roll all over me and take anything good I've ever had in my life."

Seth had backed himself against a car, as though Dean's words were an actual blow that threw him off his feet. He couldn't look at Dean anymore, his eyes falling to the grey concrete beneath him. But then, Dean pressed himself up against him.

"Look at me."

Seth couldn't acquiesce. Physically couldn't. Mentally couldn't. Emotionally couldn't.

Dean's fingers reached out for his chin, tilting it up. Seth's face was still turned to the side, shaken when the grip on his jaw tightened.

"I said look at me."

Seth took the plunge and looked at him, instantly regretting it, nearly breaking down at the sight of the sheer resentment he was met with.

"You think you can just waltz back into my life and pretend like nothing ever happened? Did you think I'd welcome you with open arms and forget the hell you put me through? Did you think you could just click on a rewind button and take us back to how things used to be?"

Dean's voice lowered to a near whisper, a whisper sharper than any blade Seth could cut himself with.

"There ain't no fucking restart button. There ain't no fairytale. There is no happy ending here. You made sure of that."

Dean closed his eyes, squeezing them shut for a moment as he spoke.

"You told me time and time again that we'd make it together. But we never did. We made it alone. Because you never let us make it together. You never gave us the chance to."

Dean inhaled a deep breath before opening his eyes once more, glaring at Seth with a tumultuous look that he couldn't bear to explain.

"You left me, Seth. You left me all alone."

Seth was too close to tears to notice the tremble in Dean's lips. He just wanted to hide and wallow and never face the daylight. Dean's thumb pressed even harder on his chin, hard enough to be a bit painful. But that shot of pain was simply nowhere near enough to overtake the other kind of hurt that Seth was feeling in that moment.

"You are a liar, Seth. You're a liar. You fooled me. And I can't forgive you for it."

Seth's vision had gone foggy. Dean's touch softened before it vanished. He could see him picking up his fallen bag and leaving. Seth watched as his car drove out of the parking lot. Not a limb in his body was able to move. He was numb. All he could feel is a single tear streaming down his face. Because it was true. It was all true.

He was a liar. He did fool him.

Seth wrecked him. But he wrecked himself, too.