Dean parked himself at the very top row of the empty arena seats. He had slipped in unnoticed, deciding to put off meeting up with Dolph again in favor of having some alone time. After having people up his ass all morning and knowing it would happen again later, he needed some room to breathe. He propped his feet up on the seat in front of him, his head tilted back and his eyes shut. He hadn't slept all that much better even after getting laid. He had tried. He really had. There was no way he could keep going on like this. At some point, the lack of sleep was going to drive him completely over the edge.

He placed his hands over his face and rubbed gently. About the only option he had left was getting his hands on some sleeping pills. That wasn't the path he wanted to take. It would probably just get him into trouble. But it was quickly becoming the only viable option. Maybe he could just use it for one night. Get one night of sleep and then use the rest to clear all the shit out of his head for good.

"Hey."

Dean opened his eyes and moved his head back up just in time to watch Roman sit down next to him. "Hey." He didn't offer up a smile, but he wasn't about to tell Roman to get lost either. He knew it wouldn't work anyway so there was no point in trying.

"How are you feeling?" Roman leaned in, trying to see if there was any visible damage to Dean's eyes.

"Fine." Dean swatted Roman away, shaking his head at him. "Don't get up in my face man. I'm fucking fine."

"You're lucky you are." Roman took Dean's swatting in stride, not letting it bother him in the least. "You got a chance for revenge though."

"Oh?" Dean took his feet down and straightened up. Roman definitely had his attention now.

Roman nodded. "Me, you and Randy are teaming up to take on Rusev, Stardust and Wyatt."

The good old combining of feuds. Rusev had been gunning for Roman's title and Orton wouldn't just let Bray's win over him stand. Add in Stardust wanting a piece of him and there they were. "We really got to have Orton? We can't just do it on our own?"

Roman grinned. "I was pushing for Dolph, but they decided they wanted to have him face Seth tonight."

Dean stiffened at the mere mention of Seth's name. He immediately tried to play it off, but it was too late. Roman had noticed. Fuck.

"What happened with you two last night?" Roman put a hand up as Dean went to go make a denial. "Don't say nothing did. I fucking know you were alone with him. Something happened."

Roman knowing him so well was definitely a curse. At least right now anyway. "He just...I don't fucking know." Dean rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. "He like, fucking helped me to the bathroom so I could get my eyes rinsed out. I didn't even know it was him at first. Not until..."

"You saw him?"

"He did that neck rub thing I like."

Roman tried his best to keep his expression neutral, but Dean still caught the way his eye twitched. He wasn't happy. "What else?"

Dean shrugged. "I told him to go fuck himself. Asked why he cared anyway. Reminded him that he had done worse."

"What did he say to that?"

"Nothing. What the fuck can he say?" Dean rubbed his hand across his collarbone and shoulder, needing to do something with it to soothe himself. "He told me to go to the trainer's office."

"Which you did."

"Not because he told me to though."

Roman cocked an eyebrow.

"I didn't!"

Roman kept staring at him.

"Oh fuck me." Dean let out a loud groan. "He's in my head again."

"I don't think he ever actually left." Roman studied him closely, clearly trying to choose his next words carefully. "Do you think he's being genuine?"

Dean shrugged. His brain wanted him to say no. By every right he needed to say no. After everything Seth had done to him and Roman, he didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt. But the words wouldn't come out. Something wouldn't allow him to say it. It was stupid. Seth probably only was acting like he cared because he had nothing. He lost his briefcase, his status, his backup - Triple H and Stephanie were hiding in their Greenwich mansion, Kane and Big Show were back to doing their own thing, and Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury had been sent down to NXT to work with talent down there. He had nothing. And he deserved it. That was what Dean kept trying to tell himself. Seth deserved it. Yet something in Dean didn't like to see it. It hurt. It fucking hurt. And god help him, there was a part of him wanted to believe Seth was actually sorry. He really did. Because he missed him. He missed the stupid fuck and he hated himself for it.

"You know you deserve better, right?" Roman spoke again when Dean didn't. He had said this stuff before, but that never stopped him from saying it again. "You don't need him. You've got a good thing going career wise. You got a good guy in Dolph. You don't need to be pining over a guy who completely fucked you over."

"You don't think I know that?" Dean couldn't stop himself from snapping. He really couldn't. He had heard that shit from Roman so many times and it was never actually helpful. "You think I want to fucking miss him?" He shook his head. "I fucking hate him for what he did to me. And I fucking hate him for having this kind of effect on me." He stood up, his hands going down to his sides and balling up into fists. "It doesn't stop though. What I want don't mean shit. It never fucking has in anything else in my life, so like, why would it even start now?"

"Dean..."

"It's been him Roman." Dean hated the way his voice cracked at the admission. Fucking Seth. He always made him weak. "It's always been him. From the first fucking time I saw him."

"I know you loved him." Roman spoke quietly, his body bracing in case he pushed too much and got socked in the mouth. "I know it's hard. But as your friend, I don't want to see you get hurt again. I don't think you can trust him."

"I can't trust anyone. Except you."

Roman shook his head. "That's not true."

"Is too."

"What about our friends? What about Dolph?"

"Jesus, would you get off my ass about Dolph?" Dean nearly kicked him in exasperation. "I'm not fucking dating him. It's sex. And I don't have to fucking trust him to bang him."

Roman groaned. "Maybe you could start moving on from Seth if you know, you actually tried to move on."

"You're giving me dating advice? Really? Your last boyfriend lost his god damn mind and just tried to blind me last night. What dating have you done in your moving on process?"

"Maybe I didn't need to do that because I'm not a neurotic headcase who don't know how to let go."

A frigid silence took hold. Dean stood there, fists clenched and eyes narrowed while Roman paled, a completely remorseful look crossing his face.

"Dean -"

"Fuck you." Dean turned on his heel and started to storm off.

Roman let out a loud sigh. "Dean wait."

"Fuck you fuck you fuck you!"

"Dean come here." The plea just sounded apologetic but Dean didn't give a shit.

"No."

Roman still chased after him, grabbing him by the arm and turning him around. Dean immediately took a swing, nailing Roman right in the face. Roman stumbled back and Dean pounced, sending them down to the hard floor right in front of the seats. The tussle wasn't a long one. There wasn't much room to fight, as the chairs around them kept them in place. Finally they just broke apart, Roman's mouth bleeding while Dean's shirt was partly ripped off. Neither made a move to get up off the floor. They stared at each other, Dean glaring and Roman wincing apologetically.

"I'm sorry."

Dean let out a loud huff. "You're a fucking asshole."

Roman hung his head. To his credit, he really did look ashamed of himself. "I know."

But he was an asshole who was probably right, so Dean let himself scoot closer and drop his head on the older man's shoulder. Roman mumbled another apology before going quiet, moving only to wipe the blood off his lips. Dean thought about apologizing for hitting him, but didn't. Instead he just closed his eyes and tried to just push all the crap out of his brain. He was going to get his head back on straight.

Maybe.

Possibly.

In an alternate universe where pigs flew and hell froze over.

Seth paced back and forth across the hallway, his eyes not really focusing on anything as he moved. He had a match against Dolph that would kick off Smackdown and he was doing his best to get himself psyched up for it. He couldn't lose. He fucking couldn't. The downward spiral he was on had to end. He could start getting himself back to where he deserved to be if he won tonight. And pounding in the face of the guy who got to crawl into bed with Dean every night just sounded fun to do.

No. No no no. He had to focus on himself. He couldn't make this about Dean. That was stupid. That was just going to get him into trouble. And what was the point anyway? Dean wouldn't be impressed. Dean hated him. Dean had every right to hate him. The only sensible thing to do was accept that and move on.

But even as he thought that, the ache in his chest told him that wouldn't be possible. He didn't want to move on. He wanted to go back. He wanted to go back and make an entirely different decision. If he could, he would never go through with the betrayal. He wouldn't let himself get suckered in by Hunter's words. He would have stayed with The Shield. Yet he couldn't take it back. He couldn't take a single thing he did back. And he didn't think there was a way to make it right either. No matter what he did, Dean would question it and throw shit back into his face. Forgiveness was not one of his virtues.

Seth stopped moving and let out a long sigh. It was terrible feeling so stuck. No option was a good one. At this point he just had to pick his poison and hope he could live with it.

"Fuck." He started moving again, this time going towards the gorilla position. Focus. He had to focus. He could beat Dolph. Sure he had generally done it with help of some kind, but at the end of the day he knew he really didn't need it. He was better than Ziggler. He fucking knew he was. He just needed to remind everyone of that.

Seth became so absorbed in his own silent pep talk that he almost didn't see Dolph and Dean just ahead of him. He froze, his eyes fixating on the two of them. They were engaged in a conversation, their voices too low for him to pick up on what they were saying. Dean's shoulders were extra twitchy and his hand was incessantly rubbing at his collarbone. He was agitated. He needed to be calmed down or else he would hurt either himself or someone else. Dolph was either oblivious or not realizing that whatever he was saying wasn't working. Seth was almost tempted to say something. To cut in and show Ziggler how it was done. But before he could make the move Ziggler leaned in and gave Dean a kiss. A flare of jealousy rose up so fast inside of Seth that it nearly made him sick. The fucker. The god damn fucker. He had exactly what Seth wanted. And it was his own damn fault. He had let this happen. But knowing that didn't stop the jealousy. It didn't stop him from wanting to pound Dolph's face in.

The kiss broke and Dolph went to go closer to the curtain. Dean started to head the opposite direction, stopping when he saw Seth standing there. "I hope he beats your ass."

Seth rolled his eyes. What a lovely greeting. He hadn't expected anything else from though. "Hope all you want. I'm winning out there."

Dean snorted. "You can't win shit anymore Rollins." He smirked at the look on Seth's face. "What? I'm just stating the truth."

Seth shook his head. He was not gonna let this turn into a fight. That was the last thing he needed. "How are your eyes?"

Dean gave him a suspicious look. "The fuck do you even care?"

"I -"

"No really. I want an honest fucking answer." Dean stepped closer, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "The fuck do you even think you're playing at?"

"I -"

"The fuck right do you have to start acting like you give a shit again?"

"I miss you." Seth blurted out the words without really thinking them through.

Dean blinked, something flickering in his eyes before they settled back into disgusted mistrust. "You miss me? Really?" He shook his head. "Fuck off with that shit. You're a fucking liar."

Seth swallowed hard. "I'm not lying."

Dean snorted and started to storm off. He didn't believe him. And Seth couldn't let that stand. He just couldn't. Without thinking he reached out and grabbed Dean's wrist. Dean immediately turned and started swinging with the other arm. Seth knew it was coming and grabbed that wrist as well. Dean growled and tried to yank himself free. Seth held tight, pushing them back until he had Dean up against the wall. There was no way this was a good idea. It would get him killed if either Roman found out about it or Dean got his wits back around him. But Seth couldn't make himself stop. Instead he held Dean tight, pressing his body against his to contain his struggles. Dean froze, his eyes growing wide as Seth stared at him.

"I miss you." Seth spoke each word slowly and deliberately, not breaking eye contact for a single second. He needed Dean to believe him. It was probably a stupid thing sure, but he fucking needed it right at that moment.

Dean just stared at him. His face was a whole mix of expressions. He didn't want to trust those words. That much was obvious. And why would he? There was no real reason to. Yet he wasn't arguing anymore. He just stared at Seth, his breathing heavy as the fury wavered just a bit. He knew Seth better than anyone. Even with how they grew apart there was nobody that knew him like Dean. Dean knew when he was lying. He knew that wasn't now. Not with this.

"Get off me," Dean finally managed to say.

"I'm so -"

"Don't fucking apologize." Dean finally got his wits back and slipped his wrists out of Seth's grasp so he could shove him away. "The fuck does that change? Huh? Nothing. It changes nothing."

"I know." Seth swallowed hard and backed off, wanting to stay out of hitting range. "I just wanted to say it."

Dean glared at him, his fists balled up at his sides. For a moment Seth thought he was going to lunge and attack. But then Dean just shook his head and took off, knocking over anything he could get his hands on as he went. Seth watched him go, letting out a long, shaky sigh as Dean disappeared from sight. He turned and headed towards the curtain. His music was already playing, meaning he was getting glared at for not being in position. Not that he cared. His mind was entirely too occupied with what just happened. "Smooth Rollins," he muttered under his breath. "Real fucking smooth."