"I love you."

Roman's words echoed through Seth's mind but he could barely grasp them. They didn't make sense to him, Roman couldn't mean it, not the way Seth meant it.

"Don't say anything back, I just needed you to know." Roman continued.

Seth's mouth opened and closed but he didn't know what to do, what to say. Every instinct in his body was telling him not to believe Roman and to run as far as he could before Roman hurt him. He pushed those instincts down because they were based off things from the past and his brain and heart knew that Roman wouldn't hurt him or lie to him. He hugged Roman a little tighter and Roman hugged him back.

"We should probably get up now unless we want to go to work with sore backs tomorrow." Roman said sitting up.

Seth sighed and got up. "I guess so."

"You're pouting again." Roman teased. "Do you want to go get in bed and watch a movie?"

Seth grinned at Roman. "That's the best idea you've had."

Roman chuckled and walked to the bedroom.

Seth followed behind, his eyes glued to Roman's ass as he walked. When they got into the bedroom he couldn't resist anymore and he slapped Roman's ass and watched it jiggle. Roman growled and pulled him close, kissing him as he fell back onto the bed dragging Seth down on top of him. Seth broke the kiss laughing and Roman laughed too.

They spent the rest of the day cuddling in bed, watching movies and sneaking kisses. It was the best day of Seth's life.

Roman was already at work Monday morning when Seth arrived and for once they were the first to arrive. Seth pushed Roman into his office and they kissed like they hadn't seen each other in months.

Roman broke the kiss but kept his arms around Seth. "I missed you last night. Did you sleep well?"

Seth had wanted to spend the night at Roman's house but he thought that it would be better if he went to his own apartment for the night. He was a little worried that spending two nights in a row in Roman's bed would make him never want to leave. He had missed Roman but he slept well and didn't have any nightmares so he was happy.

"I missed you too baby." he whispered seductively into Roman's ear. "Especially your mouth."

Roman groaned and kissed him long and hard until it felt like his brain had turned to mush. They only stopped when they heard their co-workers arrive.

"I'll see you at lunch?" Roman asked as they broke apart.

"Yeah." Seth said dreamily, still feeling a little dazed.

Seth and Roman had lunch in the lounge as usual and were joined by Becky and Nikki. They all chatted and caught up with each other.

"So why don't you guys tell us what really happened this weekend?" Nikki said, picking at her salad.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked nervously. "We told you."

"Something happened other than going to the water-park." she continued. "It's pretty obvious."

"What's obvious?" he mumbled, wishing this conversation would end here.

"You two have been grinning like fools at each other all day." Becky chimed in. "And the obvious part is the hickeys that Roman didn't hide as well as he thought he did."

Seth's eyes flew to Roman's neck and sure enough there was a hickey peeking out from under his collar.

Roman laughed. "Busted!"

Seth's face went beet red in embarrassment while Roman, Becky and Nikki laughed.

"Good for ya." Becky said as the laughter died down. "We been waiting for you to get together for months."

"Yeah." Nikki said getting serious. "You guys are really perfect for each other. We could all see it, we were just waiting for you to see it too."

Seth looked over at Roman who had a gentle smile on his face and he relaxed and smiled back. They were right, Roman was perfect for him.

Seth was walking home after work that day when he heard his name being called from a nearby office building. He turned and looked and then froze in shock when he realized who it was, Wade Barrett, one of his bullies from high school. The frightened boy in him wanted to turn and run until he couldn't anymore, but the man he was now couldn't show that he was scared so he walked toward Wade who was jogging up to him.

It felt like time had slowed down as Wade walked towards him. He was even taller than Seth remembered and he had a beard now. He didn't look menacing anymore, just like any regular guy in a suit.

"Seth, I'm so glad I found you again." Wade said with a small smile on his face.

Seth resisted the urge to wrap his arms around himself for comfort or back away. "Wade, long time no see." he said keeping his voice strong.

"Can we talk for a few minutes?" Wade asked hesitantly.

"I guess so." he responded tonelessly.

"Uh how about we have a coffee across the street?" Wade asked.

Seth took a deep breath. "Sure, I guess."

They crossed the street to the little cafe and sat down at a table on the patio and ordered their coffees. He waited for Wade to start talking.

"Do you live here now?" Wade asked, looking down at his coffee.

"Yeah, I moved here a few months ago." he said calmly. "Are you still in Iowa?"

Wade nodded. "I'm only in town on business, I'll be flying home tonight."

"I see." he said, not really having anything to say.

Wade looked nervous. "Look the reason that I wanted to talk to you is because of how we treated you in the past. We all wanted to talk to you at our high school reunion but you didn't come and we didn't know how to find you."

Seth was surprised, he had assumed that they had forgotten all about him after graduation and found a new target for their bullying. "What did you want to talk about?"

"We've all thought about you through the years and now that we've grown up, we feel terrible for the way we treated you while we were in school." Wade looked at him in the eyes. "We all wanted to apologize."

Seth sat there staring at Wade in shock.

"We wanted to tell you that it was never your fault, you didn't do anything wrong, we all had problems in our lives and took it out on you." Wade looked at him. "We're so ashamed."

"What problems did you guys have?" he asked curiously.

Wade sighed. "Rusev's father was beating him, Alberto's parents were going through a really messy divorce and Sheamus and I were both struggling with our sexuality. It's not an excuse for our behavior but it is an explanation, I wish that we had been able to cope without hurting people."

"How are you all doing now?" Seth asked, not sure why he cared.

"We're all good and we keep in touch." Wade said with a smile. "Rusev's a professional wrestler with the WWE, Alberto went back to Mexico and is running the family business, Sheamus opened an Irish pub and I'm a lawyer."

"Sounds like you guys are all doing great." he said. "Anyone have a family yet?"

"Yeah, Rusev has a fiancee and Sheamus and I are getting married next summer."

"Wow, you and Sheamus, I never would have thought that." he said as he remembered how Wade would always cheer Sheamus on when he was beating him. Maybe he should have seen it.

"How's your life going." Wade asked.

"It hasn't been easy for me but not only because of you guys but things are looking up now." Seth confessed. "I'm a Doctor and I love my work, I have good friends and there's a guy I like that likes me back."

Wade nodded. "I'm glad things are better now. So many times over the years I've wondered what happened to you and I hoped that you were happy."

"I think that the best thing for all of us would be if we moved on and got over the past." he smiled slightly. "I don't know if I can forgive you but I accept your apology and I can tell you that it really means a lot to me that you guys even thought to apologize."

"Thank you for accepting the apology." Wade said, playing with his coffee. "We don't deserve your forgiveness and we will regret hurting you for the rest of our lives."

Seth grabbed his coffee and stood up. "I should get going now, but I'm glad we talked this through."

Wade stood up also and pulled out his wallet. "If you ever need a favor or anything you can call me and ask." he said pulling out his business card. "We know that we can't undo what happened or make up for it but we would be happy to help you out if you ever need it."

Seth took the card and nodded gratefully. "Thanks." he took a deep breath and asked a question he needed to know the answer to. "Hey, um was Dean Ambrose at the reunion? I've been wondering what he's up to."

Wade looked at him in confusion. "Don't you know? Dean's in prison."

"Really?" Seth asked, shocked. "What for?"

"He killed a few people." Wade said shuffling his feet. "He got life in prison with no possibility of parole."

"Oh. Thanks for telling me." he said quietly. "I should be going now. Good luck with the wedding."

"Thanks, Seth." Wade said with a smile. "I'm glad I saw you again."

Seth nodded and walked away, his mind reeling with everything he had just learned. Dean was in jail and he would never get out, he was safe and wouldn't have to worry about running into him somewhere. Also the guys that had made his life miserable had felt sorry enough to apologize. It couldn't make up for what happened but it did help that they acknowledged that they were wrong and were sorry about it.

He breathed a sigh of relief and he felt lighter than he had in a while. He was going to take his own advice and move on, but to do that he had to have a long conversation with Roman. He could only hope that what he said to Roman wouldn't change his opinion and he would still want him.