Chapter Eight

"Seth? Babe? Are you okay?" Alex poked his head around the bedroom door. Seth had been shut away in there for the last three hours, ever since he had opened the guitar case and seen the instrument smashed to pieces inside. "Do you want something to eat? I'm ordering dinner."

"I'm fine." Seth mumbled quietly, curling up into the bed sheets and wrapping the covers around him tighter. His hands were shaking with rage, Paul, and the rest of the band, knew exactly what that guitar meant to him. He flinched slightly as Alex ran a hand gently over his back.

"Don't waste the day locked away in here. Come out to the balcony." He flipped the younger man onto his back, all but pulling the covers away from him. "I'm here if you want to talk you know. Get stuff off your chest."

"I know." The musician shuffled further into the covers, letting himself relax against Alex as the older man soothingly rubbed his back. "You go out, I'll be there in a minute."

Alex nodded slowly, taking care to shut the bedroom door behind him as he headed out on the balcony that overlooked the forest to the rear of their resort. This hotel wasn't one of his father's, he was too careful for that, only using the family name when on mainland America, after all, he was technically hiding a run away. Hearing the sliding door click shut, he turned, almost surprised to see that Seth had actually followed him, still holding on to the guitar case as though his life depended on it.

"My dad gave me this guitar when I was seven years old. He taught me how to play it, came to all my shows back home. This guitar was the only piece of him I had left, and Paul destroyed it, for revenge." Seth set the case down on the floor at his feet, staring blankly at the lid. "I need to destroy him. He took away the last link I had to my dad, and I refuse to let him get away with it."

"I had an idea earlier, but, if you're not up for it don't worry." Alex pulled the chair beside him out for Seth to sit on. "I was thinking, I have some spare money that my father gave me to invest, prove my business sense or whatever. Anyway, I want to invest in a record company, or set up my own, I'm easy. And I want to sign you to the company. I've already got my lawyers looking in to it, and into how we can break your contract with Paul."

Seth just stared at him, almost in awe of how willing Alex was to lay his investment opportunity on the line for him. I... uh... wow! Thank you, for, everything."

"So you're okay with this? You don't mind me doing all this?"

"Of course not. I mean, it's your money, your choice. Are you sure you want to risk it on all me?"

"I wouldn't have started all this if I didn't have faith in you. We'll get through this. Trust me."

Seth merely smiled, taking Alex's hand in his. He could hardly believe that just over two days ago he had thought he would be stuck be Paul Heyman's scapegoat for the next four years of his life. But now? Things were changing, and he hadn't been this happy in a long, long time. And all thanks to Phil and Alex. If Phil hadn't arranged for Seth to meet Alex, he would be locked up in a rehab facility right about now, regretting ever meeting Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.

"Can we order some dinner? I'm starving!" Seth smiled coyly at Alex, reaching for the room service menu in Alex's pocket.

"Go ahead, they already know what I'm having so just add your choice to mine." Alex handed over the menu and the cordless phone, picking up the guitar case as he disappeared into the room. "Charge it to the room babe."

Seth nodded, scanning the menu quickly before ringing down to the kitchen to place his order, quickly dialling through to reception to pay off the charges with his credit card before hanging up and heading inside to find Alex.

The few weeks they spent in Jamaica ticked by slowly, and Seth was more than enjoying the stress free time he had to himself. Paul, Dean and Roman were ringing Alex every day to see if he had heard anything from Seth, and Alex was happily denying any knowledge of the younger man's whereabouts, while Seth sat in the background trying not to laugh out loud.

After the daily phone call, Alex sat his laptop on the coffee table in front of Seth, a few windows open at the same time. "So, the video has been edited, and ready to go up. I've text Randy and he says tomorrow would be a good time, apparently Dean and Roman have an interview with Conan tomorrow night, so if the video is out there by then, they'll probably be asked about it."

"Awesome!" Seth beamed, he already knew the video would interrupt the band's promotion of their new album, but releasing it on the same day as the other two had their first major interview on a big network show, well, that would be too sweet for words.

"Also, I've brought out some small time failing record label from Nashville, Hurricane Records. I'm keeping Shane Helms in to run the company, but I'll be very hands on in dealing with the most important acts, or rather, act." Alex called up some Word documents, sending them to print as he turned to look Seth dead in the eye. "My lawyer found a loophole in your contract with Paul, and you can break the contract, plus there's some other stuff he'll go into when he gets here. But long and short, we can have you signed with Hurricane Records before the plane lands in New York next week."

For a few minutes Seth just sat there, mouth agape, staring at Alex in pure disbelief. The last eighteen months had been Hell working for Paul, and it was taking a while for it to sink in that Alex had actually managed to find a way to get him out of there, away from the man that took delight in ruining lives.

"The question is, how comfortable are you with selling your band down the river..?"

Sighing heavily, Seth sat back in his seat. He had read over every inch of the contract Alex and his lawyer had placed in front of him, determined not to be tricked into anything this time. The lawyer had yet to explain what exactly this loophole was in his contract with Paul, but he did know that once Seth returned to the States, he and the lawyer would have to have a formal meeting with Heyman to discuss where Seth would be going from that point.

"So, are you ready for what's going to happen when we land?" Alex took Seth's hand in his, pulling him along the small sofa until they were sitting side by side. "The press will be waiting, that video has gone viral."

"I know, and I'm ready for this. I promise." Seth slithered closer still, the last few days had literally flipped everything he knew completely upside down. Alex flip flopped between caring friend and future boss, leaving Seth bewildered and lost. "Just promise me one thing, you won't let this come between us?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. I know I've been a bit all over the place lately, but once the contract is finalised, everything will go back to how it was before. We're a team. Nothing will change that."

"We'll be landing in New York soon, and air traffic control has been asked to pass on the message that press are lingering in hopes of someone turning up. Be prepared for a scramble when they spot you both." The flight attendant, Kelly, beamed at the pair of them, collecting up the empty glasses and stashing them in the cupboards, someone would board to clean up later on, for now her priority was getting the couple off the tarmac and into the terminal without hassel.

"Thank you Kelly. You're a star, as always." Alex grinned charmingly at her, draping his arm around Seth possessively. "Can you bring the guitar case through for me?"

"Why did you bring that back with us?" Seth watched the blonde disappear, before frowning up at Alex. "It's smashed, there's no fixing it."

"But it will throw Paul through a loop if you're photographed bringing it back with you, and playing it during your interview with AJ Lee on Entertainment Tonight."

"But it's broken, I can't play it!"

"I found an exact replica online, it's been delivered to my place in the Hamptons. I know it won't be your guitar, but... y'know..."

Without thinking, Seth pressed a kiss to Alex's lips, the most intimate moment that had passed between them since filimg the video. His father's guitar had meant the world to him, and held so many memories, while the replacement would always be just a replacement, it was the fact that Alex had gone to so much trouble to find it. The new guitar would always hold something with him because someone had given it to him as a gesture of caring, just as the old one had been.