Warnings: OmegaVerse, Previous Slash (Jeff Hardy/CM Punk), Profanity.


"You're back too early for that to have gone well." Colt's just leaving the apartment building when Phil arrives. "You wanna talk about it?" The single last thing Phil wants to do is talk about what happened with Dean. It's the same thing that's happened a thousand times before, and he's sick of having the same rant. It's always the same rant, and it always ends up with Phil fighting frustrated tears, and cursing his younger self. He's never sure if he's cursing himself for being seduced so young, or if he's cursing himself for not staying with Jeff, and that just makes him more frustrated. Leaving Jeff was the smartest thing he's ever done, but it's done nothing but cause him problems. He should just accept the fact that he's undateable, and be done with this. "C'mon." Colt wraps an arm around his shoulders, and is leading him towards the elevator.

"I don't want to talk about." Phil mutters, but all Colt does is laugh, and push him lightly into the elevator. "It was the same as it always is, and I don't want to talk about it."

"Yeah, yeah." Colt levels him with a calm stare. "You don't wanna talk about it, fine. I've plenty to rant about."

"Oh?" That piques Phil's interest. If Colt's going to have a rant, Phil can shove Dean to the back of his mind, and start getting ready for work this evening. Between the two Phil should be able to forget all about Dean and his being like every other alpha he's ever had to deal with. It would be nice to meet just one who didn't run for the hills as soon as Seth's existence was revealed. It's not like Seth's a bad kid, and he's nearly an adult himself, but that's possibly more of a problem. It'd be one thing if Seth was a baby, but he's nearly fully grown, and that just makes Phil seem even older than he is.

"So, Mr Alpha showed up this morning, and I hate him." The scowl on Colt's face is audible in his tone. "He's as arrogant, and asshole-ish as I was expecting, but the kids seem to really like him. The little traitors."

"Even Noam?" Phil nudges his friend, and Colt turns the full force of his scowl on him.

"Yes! That little traitor was the worst! He ate his breakfast no bother for Mr Cena. Fucking prick that he is. I am officially considering quitting if they don't get rid of this asshole." Colt stomps out of the elevator when it arrives at Phil's floor. "I've literally never met an alpha as infuriating as this one. Not even that prick you were fucking last year was as bad as this one, I fucking swear!"

"A lot apparently." Phil mutters as he opens his front door. "I'll make some coffee."

"He shows up, and he literally just took over! I've been doing this job for years, and this fucking ass just fucks up my entire routine. Yeah, coffee sounds good." Colt flops down on the couch with a huff. "And you wanna know the worst of it? He's a good looking piece of shit. All muscles, and blue eyes. He would have to be a handsome son of a bitch, wouldn't he? It's just my fucking shitty luck that the biggest asshole walking the Earth would be hot."

"It could be worse?" Phil perches on the arm of the couch, offering Colt a smile.

"How? Prey tell how it could be worse, Punkers?" Colt folds himself into a huddled lump on the opposite end of the couch, his scowl still firmly in place.

"At least he's not gonna uninterested because you've got kids." Phil laughs, and Colt throws a cushion at him. "What? You're unattached, maybe he's being a jerk because he wants to fuck you."

"He can go fuck himself." Colt mutters.

"Maybe you should do that, you seem tense there Colt." Phil tosses the cushion back at his friend, and goes to pour out two cups of coffee. "So how come you're not at work anyways?"

"Because Cena is making himself comfortable there, and I'm supposed to be collecting the groceries." Colt's come into the kitchen, and taken a seat at the table.

"So you're hiding out here instead?" Phil sets a cup down in front of him, and sits in the other chair at the table.

"Yes." Colt doesn't bother lying, instead he starts sipping cautiously at the coffee in his cup. "Anything to avoid this prick."

"How exactly has he annoyed you so much in the space of one morning? You were here at like ten. What the hell did this guy do?" Phil rests his chin on his fist, watching his friend blush slightly.

"Probably nothing to be honest. He just rubs me up the wrong way." Colt mumbles, and takes another drink.

"You sure that's not the right way, and you think he won't be interested?" Phil chuckles softly. He knows the look on Colt's face. It's the look Colt wears when he's annoyed with himself for something he probably can't control, like who he's attracted to.

"Does it even matter? C'mon, there's a very good reason I'm single, Punkers." Colt waves a hand at himself, and drinks once more. Phil rolls his eyes, and doesn't bother indulging his friend's self-esteem issues. Colt's as body conscious as Phil himself is, but unlike Phil Colt uses his work to act as an excuse to not actively be on the market.

"Whatever." Phil smirks at him, and stares down at his coffee. "So you wanna look into buying a strap-on?" Colt laughs, and shakes his head.

"C'mon, you'll find someone." Colt downs the last of his coffee, and stands up. "I should get my ass down to the store. You wanna come?"

"Yeah, I should get some food in, and look out a cake for Sethie." Phil rubs his eyes, and wonders if he should get something special in for Seth's birthday breakfast.

"Oh! That reminds me." Colt pulls an envelope from his purse, and sets it on the table. "He's at that age where I've no idea what to get him, so this is just money. Kids these days… Who knows what they like."

"Clothes and handsome alphas? Who knows with Seth… He's never mentioned any hot alphas to me… Has he said anything to you?" Phil collects the cups, and sets them in the sink. He genuinely can't think of a single time Seth's mentioned having a crush on any alpha, not even celebrities. He's not sure if he should be concerned. He'd not mind if Seth was a gamma, but there's a part of him that would like to be a grandpa, not that being gamma would stop Seth from being a papa.

"You know what Sethie's like. He keeps things to himself, just like his papa." Colt claps Phil on the shoulder, and laughs softly. "Get ready. I already ordered a cake. It's a present from my little ones."

The rest of the day Phil spends with Colt, both of them avoiding talking about what happened earlier in the day. Seth's birthday cake gets hidden in the back of the fridge, and the envelope is stashed behind some books on the shelf. Colt bitches a little more about Cena, and a little more about alphas in general, and Phil nods along, making jokes where he can, trying to lighten his friend's mood, but in the end he has to go to work, and Colt has to pick up his kids.

The law offices are emptied out apart from Paul, but Phil's beginning to suspect that he's mostly working late to avoid going home. Although his office door closed, and the muffled sound of vigorous arguing.

"You okay?" Phil glances up from the floor at the sound of Brock's voice, and forces the brightest smile he can to his face. It's generally better to greet alphas with a smile, if nothing else it stops them from feeling the need to tell him to smile. Being told to smile is one of the many things Phil hates most, if he's not smiling it's because he doesn't want to smile, and he doesn't think he should have to just to make some random alpha happy.

"I'm good." Brock raises a single eyebrow at him, and trails along after him silently when Phil heads to the cleaning cupboard.

"You don't look good." Brock says calmly, watching him carefully. Phil turns away, busying himself with pulling the supplies out. He can feel the weight of Brock's gaze on his back. It's not as uncomfortable as he was expecting it to be though. It's almost a comforting weight.

"Ah…" There's nothing left for Phil to pull out, and Brock's already taken a hold of a trash bag. "You're not planning on helping me again are you?" Brock's ears turn red, and he nods once.

"I am, and I'm hoping you're gonna tell me what's up." He smiles, and Phil ducks his head slightly. "You don't have to, but I'm a good listener."

"I went out for coffee, it didn't go well." Phil mutters, heading to where he needs to be to start cleaning. Brock sucks air in through his teeth, emptying a trash can into the bag.

"What happened?" He doesn't look up from his work, seemingly fixated on emptying the trash.

"My son. It's what always happens to be honest. No matter how well a date's going as soon as Seth's mentioned they get cold, and the date ends. I knew the risks when I got divorced, but it'd be nice to meet an alpha who doesn't run for the hills for a change." Phil starts cleaning the desks, working around the random items left on them. "It's not like Seth's a kid, well he is, but he's nearly fifteen. -He's almost an adult, and we're self-sufficient. I don't expect some random alpha to be his daddy. We've been fine on our own for the last ten years, and we'll be fine for the next ten. I'd just like…" Phil trails off, and looks over to Brock. The big alpha has stopped working and is looking at him thoughtfully.

"You'd like?" He prompts, and Phil shakes his head. What he'd like isn't really something worth mentioning.

"Doesn't matter really." He starts working once more. This isn't really the conversation to be having with Brock. He barely knows him, and really as nice as Brock seems, he's not Phil's type. Although it is nice to just talk to someone else for a change. Colt's great, but sometimes Phil wishes he had more friends. "I want someone who's interested enough in me to not care that I've got a kid. I love Seth, but ever since he was born everything has been about him, it's had to be, and sometimes I feel kinda selfish." Phil laughs softly. Brock's hand rests on his shoulder for a moment, then is quickly taken away.

"It's not selfish to want someone else to be there for you." He says it so softly that Phil's not entirely sure he was supposed to hear it. "I'm just a guy who punches people in the face for a living as far as most people are concerned, but there's more to me than that you know."

"I know… Seth googled you." Phil chuckles, and looks up at Brock, utterly unsurprised to see his ears have turned crimson.

"Uh…" Brock looks at a loss for words, and Phil smiles at him.

"The dog rescue sounds like a lovely thing to be doing, I'm impressed with it." He lightly touches Brock's shoulder, and gets back to work.

"I like dogs. They're simpler than people. All they want is love and food." Brock comes around the desk Phil's cleaning to lean on its divider. "If I could I'd only ever deal with dogs."

"You and me both." Phil laughs. "Well, my son too I guess… I do like him for all the trouble he's caused me, he's a good kid."

"I'm sure he is. I'm looking forward to meeting him. So… What happened with this alpha then, because I can't believe that having a kid would be the deal breaker on a date with you." Phil laughs at Brock, an unexpectedly solid laugh that clearly throws Brock for a loop. His ears turn crimson, and an embarrassed look crosses his face. "Seriously?"

"Yup. No alpha I've ever dated has been interested once they find out I've got a kid. Well, that's a lie. There was one, but he was only interested in sex, which was nice for a bit, but it gets boring after a while, you know?" Phil grins at Brock, his entire face is now crimson.

"Umm… I… I'm not really the dating type, so just for sex is kind of all I've ever been involved with to be honest. Like I said dogs are easier than people…" Brock mumbles, and stares down at the floor. "Everyone expects me to be this big dumbass, and sure it's easy to be what they expect but there's more to me than punching."

"I'm beginning to notice that, Brock." Phil smiles as Brock fleetingly meets his gaze. "So there's no other half waiting for you back home?" Brock shakes his head, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly.

"Nah… Most omegas I meet want the… Thrill of sleeping with me, and then they want free reign of my bank account." Brock sounds horribly embarrassed, and Phil thinks he can understand that. It has to be difficult to be someone like Brock. Power and money tend to attract the worst sort of people.

"I don't think I can understand, but I can sympathise." Phil pokes Brock's shoulder. "C'mon garbage man, there's another two floors worth of trash for you to empty." Brock laughs softly, and falls into step with Phil as they head to the elevator. "I missed you yesterday, you know. It was really boring cleaning without someone to talk to… If you don't want to be the garbage man, just hanging out would be nice. I don't have any alpha friends, and-"

"Boss, I like helping out." Brock grins over at him, and nudges Phil lightly with his shoulder.

"You're gonna have to let me pay you for this somehow... I work in a diner during the day, I can bring you, uh… What is it you fighters eat? Chicken right?" Phil steps into the elevator to the sound of Brock chuckling.

"Anything loaded with protein… Though if your diner does a decent apple pie I'd kill for a slice once in a while." Brock grins at him, and Phil nods making a quick mental note to grab a slice of Sami's incredibly delicious pie for Monday night.

"Just my office left I'm assuming." A couple of hours later, Paul's slightly harried voice interrupts the silly game Phil had been playing with Brock. A silly game in which you said one random word and the other person had to think of a song lyric with that word in. Brock had proven to be very good at the game, and had a terrible singing voice that had reduced Phil to tears of laughter.

"Yup. Go on home, Paul E. The boss and I have work to do in there." Brock laughs. Phil can feel his cheeks heating up at that comment. He doesn't mind Brock calling him boss jokingly, but somehow it's slightly embarrassing when in company.

"Hmm." Paul regards Phil thoughtfully. "You said your son's birthday was soon, right?" Paul pulls a little envelope from his pocket, and offers it to Phil. "Nothing fancy, just an iTunes voucher."

"You really didn't have to." Phil reluctantly takes the envelope from Paul, and slips it into his pocket. "Are you-"

"I'm all done for the evening. Good luck for Sunday." Paul heads for the elevators without a backwards glance, leaving Phil and Brock alone.

"I'll get the trash then." Brock makes the first move into the office, then pauses at the door. "Your word is lawyer."

"Lawyer? C'mon Garbage Man there's no songs with lawyer in them… This might take me a while to think." Phil mutters, grabbing the little cleaning supplies box, and carrying it into Paul's office.

"You've got the standard five minutes, Boss." Brock laughs, emptying the trash.

"I give up. I can't think of a single song with lawyer in it." Phil concedes once it feels like five minutes are up, and Brock grins at him.

"Now tonight back in old Pennsylvania, among those beautiful pines, there's one less Philadelphia lawyer in old Philadelphia tonight." Brock sings it spectacularly off-key, with a big grin on his face. "Woody Guthrie. What's my word?" Phil tries, and fails to choke back a laugh at Brock's performance.

"Uh… Bleach?" Phil goes back to work, a sly little smile on his lips. He's had a surprisingly nice time with Brock. He might not be Phil's type, but he's definitely someone Phil wouldn't mind spending more time with. It might be just a ploy on Brock's part, but it really doesn't seem like it. There's no way a rich, comparatively famous guy would go to all this trouble just to sleep with some random single parent.

"Bleach? You're really trying to stump me, huh?" Brock plugs in the vacuum, and levels Phil with a wry smile. "You're a tough opponent, Boss." Phil shakes his head, and gets on with cleaning the shelves lining one of the walls as the vacuum roars into life.

"I believe your five minutes are long up." Phil says once the vacuum's shut off. Brock nods vaguely, coiling the cable back up around the handle.

"It is, but I think I've got one." He mutters, and stands up straighter. "Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach as I want you to be."

"Nirvana? Damn it, I was sure I was gonna get you with that one. You're too good at this game, Garbage Man." Phil laughs, heading back to where the cleaning supplies are stored.

"I play it at the rescue with the staff. Sasha and Bayley are masters, so I had to get good quick if I wanted to survive against them." Brock slides the vacuum back into its spot, and lets Phil close and lock the door. "So you ready to go, Boss?"

"Uh-huh, I think so at least." Phil casts a quick appraising look around the offices, and nods. "Looks good. Let's go. Thanks for helping me… You know you really don't have to."

"I know, but it's nice to have someone to talk to who has absolutely no expectations of me." Brock smiles awkwardly, and presses the elevator call button. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm planning on giving you lift home."

"Again you don't have to." Phil had in all honesty been expecting that offer, had almost been relying on it, because he wants to get home quickly, and the night bus isn't for another fifteen minutes.

"Don't have to, but I want to." Brock ushers him into the elevator, and pushes the button for the parking garage.

The ride to Phil's apartment building is filled with them continuing to play the silly game they had been whilst cleaning, and sees Brock continuing to beat Phil with annoying ease. Silently Phil resolves to actually try listening to music again rather than letting it fill the silences when he's not in the mood for a podcast.

"So I'll see you Sunday, right?" Brock says once they arrive, glancing over at Phil then back ahead out of the windshield. He looks incredibly nervous, and there's a part of Phil that's slightly confused by that. It seems very out of place that a man who punches people in the face for a living should be so nervous around him of all people.

"Yup. What time's good?" The smile that comes over Phil's face is surprisingly easy. He'd expected to still be in a miserably dejected mood when he got back home after the disaster that was his date, but Brock's cheered him up immensely.

"Uh, well we open at six, but around nine will be better. I should be in by then. The six crowd is usually the meatheads, not really the type to not try and hit on you… Unless you'd like to be hit on, but they'd probably be like the alpha who was only in it for sex." Brock's ears turn red once more, and Phil laughs softly. He's surprised that Brock even remembered him saying that hours ago. Most alphas don't really pay all that much attention to what he actually says.

"I'm not sure I'd mind being hit on, but you're probably right about their intentions." Phil chuckles to himself as he gets out of the car. "Thanks for the lift, Garbage Man. See you Sunday at nine."

"Sunday it is, Boss." Brock pulls away when Phil's opened the door to his building. Automatically Phil heads to his mailbox, opening it and pulling out his mail. There's the usual bills, flyers for fast food places, and one envelope addressed to him with handwriting he's not seen in years. The postmark is North Carolina, and he's sorely tempted to throw it straight in the trash. He's no idea what Jeff could want, and really isn't inclined to find out. It might be a birthday card for Seth, but if it is, it's the first in ten years.

"So, who's the alpha with the flashy car that gave you a ride home?" Dean's voice jolts Phil form his contemplations on what the hell Jeff could want. "I'm glad to see me being an ass didn't stop you from getting back on the horse." Dean sounds oddly rough, possessive almost, but Phil ignores him, and pushes the call button. The envelope is clutched in his hand tightly. He's no idea how Jeff found him, or what could be in this letter, but he probably should find out. "So who is he?" Phil pushes the call button again hearing Dean coming closer to him, his heart speeding up a little at the edge in his tone. "Hey! I'm talking to you." Dean's hand lands on his shoulder and spins him around.

"And I'm ignoring you." Phil speaks quietly, staring up at Dean, his eyes wide. He can feel his heart pounding in his chest, irrationally terrified of Dean in that moment. It's hard to imagine the man in front of him as the same one who he'd had coffee with earlier in the day, but it's very easy to imagine him as Jeff in the midst of a drug binge. A few seconds pass before Dean quickly snatches his hand back, looking horrified with himself. He stumbles a step back, his eyes wide, his mouth flapping like a fish out of water a few times.

"I'm sorry." He breaths the words, his face ashen, his eyes downcast, and scurries away up the stairs leaving Phil alone.

"It's okay. You're okay. Get in the elevator, go home, and forget about this." Phil mumbles to himself, telling his heart to slow down. Nothing happened, and nothing is going to happen, not again. He swore that to himself the day he left that trailer in North Carolina. Never again will he be afraid of an alpha, never again will any of them have that power over him. It seems like he had a lucky escape when it came to Dean though. That glorious smile seems to have been hiding something darker, probably at least, because for all Phil's heart is pounding Dean's scent is lingering in his nostrils. Dean's scent which is as glorious as his smile.


Many thanks to Rebellecherry, alizabethianrose, ambroserollinsgirl, Fantoome and caylender.

If you'd like to see your handle in italics please do review, and you can!

Next update - 2016/09/01

If you've any questions feel free to send me a message and ask.