It had been a month since Dean's heart was broken. Seth had been surprised with the tough and cold facade Dean displayed in front of Roman that day. Although Seth was very proud of Dean for not letting Roman see him as weak, he knew his best friend was feeling exactly that. On the flip side, he was glad Dean wasn't skipping class or not going to work. That showed Seth that Dean was still somewhat holding it together and he was grateful for that. Speaking of class, Seth was sitting on the couch when Dean arrived from class. He threw his books on the coffee table and sat down next to Seth. He immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, how was class?"
"M'Kay, I guess." Dean responded with a sigh. He rested his head on Seth's shoulder.
"So...NFL season starts on Sunday." Seth commented randomly.
"Yeah?"
"The guys are throwing the annual kick-off potluck at the frat house. I told Jimmy and Jey we weren't going."
Dean lifted his head to look at Seth. "Why did you do that?"
Seth looked back at him with raised eyebrows. "You actually wanna go? It's pretty certain that Roman is going to be there."
Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm not made of glass, Seth. I won't break if I see him."
"I know you're not made of glass but what you are is sensitive. I'm not saying you're a child but-"
"But i act like one." Dean huffed and pulled away from his best friend's embrace.
Seth sighed. "I just don't want you to hurt more than you already are. You're my best friend, I'm just looking out for you."
"I'm strong enough to handle this." Dean was not only trying to convince Seth of this; he was also trying to convince himself. "Call Jimmy back and tell him we are going."
When Dean and Seth arrived at the frat house, everyone was already there. There was a large TV screen inside and one outside, each one showing the football games that were already underway. Seth watched as Dean made no real effort to look for Roman. He went straight for the tables covered with food and dessert. Maybe he can handle this. Seth thought to himself. Seth suddenly realized he wasn't giving Dean enough credit.
"I'm surprised you guys came." Jimmy approached Seth. "How is he doing?" He nodded in Dean's direction.
"Honestly, I don't know." Rollins sighed. "He says he'll be fine but his eyes tell otherwise."
"Well that was some good food." Roman wiped his mouth with a napkin. The food at these annual potlucks was always delicious and this year, it was no exception. He was on the kitchen with Finn, eating on top the island.
"Want some dessert? Besides me." Finn winked painfully.
Roman grinned and shook his head. Finn was too much sometimes but he loved it. "There's actually some mint cookies on one of the tables. i'm the only one here who likes them so the tray should be full." Roman's mouth was watering, his full stomach long forgotten.
"Coming right up." Finn kissed Roman's cheek and made his way to the backyard, to the tables where Dean was still standing since he had arrived with Seth minutes ago. "So much food." Finn sighed. "Do you see mint chocolate chip cookies anywhere?"
Dean turned to look at the guy that was speaking to him and realized it was the same guy that Roman had kissed in front of him a month ago. Dean wasn't exactly surprised that Finn was looking for that particular dessert. "There's none." he answered simply.
"Hmm." Finn looked around twice and realized the guy was right. He walked away without saying another word to Dean.
"Sorry babe. There's no mint cookies on either table out there."
Roman frowned. There was always mint cookies at every potluck and bbq they had. "Jey! Did ya'll take away my favorite cookies?"
Jey rolled his eyes and tore them away from the TV screen that was in the living room. "Why do you always act like a child when it comes to food?" Roman didn't answer that. "Go asked Dean if you want those cookies so bad."
"Why would I ask Dean?"
"Because he's the one that makes them and brings them to all the parties and events we do..even though no ones likes those cookies. He still makes and brings them because you like them."
Roman wasn't expecting that answer.
"Do you know that you've been standing by this table every since you got here?"
Dean looked up from his plate full of food to see a guy that's he's never seen before looking at him in amusement. He was pretty cute, Dean had to admit. This was probably the first guy that Dean has noticed ever since he crossed paths with Roman. Now that he stood no chance with him, it became easier to look at other men and really notice them. With Roman, it was as if he was under his spell and the Samoan was the only man on the planet. "You noticed that?" he asked nervously.
"I noticed you the minute you got here. Couldn't take my eyes off of you. Still can't." the man stepped forward, getting closer to Dean.
Dean blushed and looked away shyly. Well this guy was certainly putting himself out there and making Dean know that he liked him. It had been a while since a guy had taken interest in Dean. He blamed it on the fact that he was trying too hard to get Roman to like him. He couldn't believe he had wasted all his time with that.
"What's your name, beautiful?"
Dean was sure his cheeks were a dark pink now. How embarrassing. "Dean. My name is Dean...Ambrose."
"I'm Sami Zayn."
While Dean and Sami were getting acquainted, Roman went looking for Dean inside the house. It wasn't so much about the cookies. Roman knew that Dean was hurting and honestly, he still felt shitty about how everything unfolded a month ago. There was nothing he could do to fix it though so he was mainly looking for him to see if they could be friends. Nothing more could happen between them but Roman still wanted to try and be his friend. It was the least he could do. Once Roman realized that Dean wasn't inside, he mad his way to the backyard. He immediately spotted Dean talking to Sami Zayn, a junior who went to the same school as them. Roman watched as Sami said something and made Dean laugh; even causing him to blush a bit. Dean was infatuated and it was obvious. Maybe it won't be that hard for Dean to move on. Roman thought. He continued to watch their interaction, unable to look away for some odd reason.
"Honestly, i can't remember that last time I laughed this hard." Dean held on to his stomach as he tried to calm his laughter. It's been a while since Dean had a good laugh so this was nice.
Sami smiled. "I'm glad I could make you laugh. Looked like you needed it." They shared an intense stare that made Dean's stomach do back flips. Sami cleared his throat before he said, "i don't mean to be too straight forward but I would like to get your number. Maybe we can go out sometime?"
Dean swallowed hard. "Like...a date?" Sami nodded. Ambrose looked away for just a second and his baby blue eyes landed on Roman's grey ones, of course. Roman was staring and for the life of him, Dean couldn't figure out why. All Dean knew was that he needed to get over him and this was the first step he had to take in order to make that happen. Ambrose tore his eyes away from the Samoan and looked back at Sami who had hopeful eyes. "Okay."
Once Dean and Seth got home, Dean was grateful that Seth was too tired to ask him what was going on with Sami. Seth went straight to bed so the non stop questions were delayed for now. If Roman saw them talking, Seth most likely did as well and had questions for his best friend. His mind went back to Roman though. Why was he staring at him? Why didn't he look away when Dean caught him staring? The dirty blonde sighed and collapsed on the couch. Unlike Seth, he wasn't tired at all so he turned the TV on to Sportscenter. His phone vibrated and smiled when he saw it was a text from Sami.
"Goodnight" it said. Dean was about to reply but then there was a knock on the door. It was around 1 am, who could be visiting at this hour? Dean was in utter shock to find Roman standing on the other side of the door. "Roman? What are you doing here?"
"I was hoping we could talk." There was nothing to talk about but Dean didn't say that. He couldn't say anything, really. His face was blank and he could feel his hands starting to sweat. "Dean?" Roman waved a hand in front if his face and that seemed to do the trick, although he still didn't say anything. Dean just moved to the said and allowed Roman to step inside.
With no idea about what Roman was going to say...Dean nervously closed the door shut.
A/N: Thoughts on Dean and Sami?
What will Roman have to say?
