Roman sat outside by the little café table in what should have been a joyful moment with the sun warming him, a cup of coffee in his hand and the sight of Piper walking through the gate. Exactly that sight was what killed the moment. She wasn't walking through it like a normal person. It felt more like she was creeping through it as if she was trying to hide from someone with the long sleeved hoodie on, covering most of her head which she kept down, looking at her feet instead of straight ahead.
It had been three weeks since she moved out of Chris' home and Chris and Roman hadn't been able to do anything other than accept it. It was her choice and it was not up for debate. And Roman got it. He understood her need to do it her way. What he didn't understand was how she slightly changed. He felt it and it scared him. She constantly kept this weird distance between them as if he was slowly losing her.
She still declined going out, he wasn't allowed to see where she lived and she wouldn't even be in the airport when he returned home from the road. She would make her way to his house on her own, hiding under that hoodie everytime, as if she didn't want anybody to know she was with him. He knew five weeks together wasn't a long time but it was long enough for him to know that he didn't want anyone else but her. His schedule was slowly thinning out which meant he was home on certain weekdays as well but now that he was more home and tried to get closer to her, it seemed like she tried to take a step backwards.
"Hi," she smiled warmly as she reached him.
He watched as she got out of the warm hoodie and her body appeared in front of him in a pair of army patterned shorts and a dark grey top. He never cared what she wore. In his eyes she was always beautiful. He just didn't understand why she always hid under that hoodie when it was way too warm to be wearing something like that.
"Are you trying to give yourself a heat stroke in that thing?" He tried joking it off.
"Just keeping it safe in case some crazy paparazzi is lurking around," she said.
"Would that be so bad?" He reached for her and pulled her down on his lap, his mouth tickling her neck with small kisses. "I don't mind the world knowing you're mine."
"Maybe I mind," she said.
"But I'd like to show the world that you're my girlfriend," he said.
"Wow, let's not put any labels on it," she said and stood up.
He watched her for a few seconds as she sat down on the chair on the other side of the table. Had he just heard her right? He knew he had. He just couldn't believe it.
"What else would you call this?" He asked.
"I don't know. Two people having fun?" She suggested.
"I don't 'have fun' with someone for five weeks. I don't even do one night stands," he said.
"A shame. You should try it. They can be rather fun," she said.
"Piper!" His eyes were serious as he caught her eyes. "I thought we had something here. If I'm not your boyfriend then what am I? Your fuck buddy?"
"I wouldn't call you that either. You're somewhere in between, like a grey zone. I don't know what to call you," she said.
"Well, when you find out, let me know," he said angrily.
He got up and walked inside, not wanting to blow up in front of her. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before walking to the livingroom, dumping down on the couch and turning the tv on. He sat there for a while, trying to calm himself down, and when he looked at the clock on the wall, he realized he had been sitting there for 20 minutes and she still hadn't come inside. He sighed and pushed himself up from the couch again.
He walked outside, knowing he had made a stupid move to leave her there, but he had just been so angry when she apparently didn't share the same feelings for him as he did for her. They needed to talk. Unfortunately she wasn't there anymore. He ran back his final words and reaction in his head. Of course she had left. The way he had said it and then walked away, of course she thought he wanted her to leave. He needed to find her. He walked back inside to get his car keys. She might not want him to see where she lived but he wasn't giving her a choice this time.
She sighed as she opened the door to the apartment and smelled it right away. Marihuana. Silas was smoking again. If only he would take it outside but he smoked in the apartment and it wasn't only in his room. The livingroom and the kitchen as well, wherever he felt like it. She walked straight to her room, hoping he wouldn't notice her. He had a tendency to become violent when he was high, hint to why they didn't have a livingroom table anymore since he broke it the week prior, so she always stayed far away from him when he smoked. So far she hadn't been in the line of fire.
She felt so stupid for moving in with him after only knowing him for two weeks at work. He clearly wasn't the man she thought he was but she didn't feel like she could crawl back to Chris and admit defeat and no way would she ever let Roman know. His protective side would completely take over and she didn't want him to worry about her. After all, she knew she was just a stepping stone for him until he found someone else, someone better, someone worthy of his high style life. After moving in here she only knew way too well that she would never fit into his world. He deserved someone better than her so she distanced herself from him on purpose, too scared to show her feelings for him, but she knew she was lost. She was lost in everything called Roman Reigns.
She heard the knocking on the front door but she didn't get up from the mattress. No one ever came to visit her. It could only be one of those shady friends that Silas had coming over from time to time so she stayed put while she heard his footsteps walk through the hallway to open the door.
"Roman Reigns?" Silas asked surprised. "Roman Reigns at my fucking door? Holy shit, this grass is the real shit when I'm seeing you."
Roman frowned as he saw the man being high and smelled what Piper had just smelled minutes before. He only had one thought in mind, finding Piper and getting her the hell out of there.
"I'm looking for Piper," he said through gritted teeth as he tried his best to keep his cool.
"She's in her room," Silas said and pointed towards it.
Roman walked past Silas and straight to her room. He didn't even knock. He just opened the door, stepped inside and closed it behind them. He took a look around at how she lived. He couldn't believe it. No wonder she didn't want him to come here and see that. She had to be ashamed.
"Roman?" She asked confused.
"You live here?" He asked. "How can you live like this?"
"I don't need 150 rooms to make a home," she spat.
He sighed and dropped his shoulders. There was no point in disgussing their living situations. That wasn't why he had come.
"Can we talk? No shouting or walking away. Just talk?" He asked.
"Okay," she said and got up. "But not here. You never know what Silas might do when he's high."
"He's hurting you?" He felt the anger rise again.
"Not me. The furniture though," she said as she walked towards the door.
She opened it and looked straight into Silas' phone that he held up to record.
"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled and snapped the phone from his hand.
"You're fucking Roman Reigns. There's money to be made," Silas said.
"You fucking asshole!" She growled as she deleted the video.
Luckily he had only gotten her on footage but she still deleted it. Roman walked up next to her and she could feel the anger ooze from his body as he tensed up. She placed a hand on his arm and stopped him from whatever he might be thinking to do.
"No, Roman, just walk out. I'll be right behind you," she said.
She watched as he walked to the front door and not before he was out of sight did she hand Silas' phone back to him. She had a whole speech lined up in her head about how he was an asshole that couldn't be trusted but one look at his eyes rolling around in his high just made her shake her head and walk out of the apartment without another word. Maybe if she was lucky he wouldn't remember anything in the morning. That had happened before.
Roman was waiting for her out on the street, leaning up against his car, clearly still upset about what had went down inside the apartment.
"Piper," he started as she came walking out.
"No, we're not talking about that. Whatever you came here to talk about, that's what we'll talk about. But first drive us somewhere," she said as she opened the car door.
"Where to?" He asked.
"I don't know. Somewhere public but private," she answered.
He could only think of one place. The beach where he, Seth and Dean had taken her the first day. He remembered how happy she seemed for a short while when they had goofed around with her. He parked and took her hand as they walked out on the jetty together to watch the waves.
"I shouldn't have walked away from you earlier today. I was wrong in doing that but you gotta understand that you hurt me," he started.
"That was never my intention. I actually thought we saw eye to eye in this whole thing," she said.
"Thing? Is that what you call it?" He asked.
She shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to say.
"Are you embarrassed of me?" He asked.
"What?" She blurted out.
"You never wanna be seen with me so it's the only thing I can think of," he said.
"No. If anything, it's the other way around," she said.
"I'm not embarrassed of you," he said.
"I'm embarrassed of myself," she said.
He turned to look at her. The wind blew her hair backwards and in his eyes she was picture perfect to look at. He reached his hand forward and placed it on her cheek. She turned her head and looked at him.
"Why?" He asked.
"You got everything. Money and fame. I'm just a nobody," she said.
"Don't ever say that about yourself!" He said firmly.
"People will say I'm only in it for your money," she said.
"People will spew lies no matter what," he said.
"It doesn't matter," she shrugged again and looked away from him. "I'm only in your life till you find the right one."
For a couple of seconds he just stared at her wide eyed. Had she really just said that? Didn't she understand that he saw her as the right one?
"Baby girl..." He said softly.
He reached for her to take her in his arms but she sidestepped him.
"You should be happy about me understanding how it goes. You can fool around with whoever you like when you're away and I won't be mad. And when the right one comes along, just tell me. You won't break my heart," she lied.
"That's not gonna happen. I don't want someone else. Don't you see what you do to me? My head is spinning whenever you're around and my heart is hurting whenever you're not. I can't focus and my mind is always set on you," he said.
"You're sweet when you try to lie to me like that," she said.
"I'm not lying! What will it take for me to prove that to you?" He sounded desperate.
"It doesn't matter if it's true or false. I don't feel for you that way," she said.
"Now who's lying?" He asked.
She couldn't answer that. She knew she was lying. She was in love with him and had been for a long time. Instead she just turned around and started walking away. She didn't take many steps before he grabbed her wrist, spun her around and pulled her in for a kiss. His arms held her tight and she found herself wrapping her arms just as tight around him, almost clawing at his back to make him stay this close, while she got lost in the kiss. After a little while he broke the kiss but didn't pull his head back much, just enough to catch her eyes and talk to her.
"If you don't feel anything for me, then how come you're kissing me like that instead of continuing to walk away?" He asked.
A small teasing smile crept up on his face and she felt herself tremble just a little. He had her where he wanted, they both knew it in that moment, but she couldn't allow him to feel anything for her. He deserved better. It took all her willpower to place her hands on his chest and push herself out of his arms. She had to swallow hard as she turned around and walked away.