Chapter 24:

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not know any of the workers of the WWE personally nor am I affiliated with them in any way. This story is a work of fiction and I make no profit whatsoever from it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Can we back it up a few steps and talk about why you even want to do that?" Chris' voice sounded anxious and even a little bit worried as he spoke.

Punk took a deep breath and ran his hand through his short brown hair. "Look, fuck. I'm better than this. I could be doing so much more than what I'm doing with Justice. Me going solo could be the start of something new."

"Phil, cut the crap. Tell me what's happened." Chris said sharply.

"I just had an epiphany, alright?" Punk snapped through the phone. His heart was racing as he spoke. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Chris worked out the real reason as to why he wanted to go solo but he wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. "Justice wouldn't be anything without me behind it and if I'm gone they can't continue to exist."

The other end of the line was silent for a few moments as Chris processed the words. Finally after what felt like an eternity, the older man spoke again. "This is all because of that kid that Ambrose is fucking, isn't it?"

Punk felt his face flush red with anger as the words reached his ears. "They're not just fucking. They're in love, Jericho."

Chris let out a short, unamused laugh. "And you're seriously gonna break up the band you built from the ground up because of something as childish as that? This has to be a god damn joke."

"My feelings aren't a joke Chris." Punk snapped down the line. He took in a shaky breath before he spoke again. "I can't even fucking stand to look at him. My heart hurts every single fucking time I look at him."

"And it's gonna continue to hurt until you let him go." Chris said calmly. "It's gonna hurt so damn bad for as long as it takes for you to accept what you can't have and you move on with your own life." He paused and waited for Punk to reply but was met with silence. "C'mon man, there must be millions of people who would throw themselves to the ground to be with you and your pining over one dude? There's better out there than Dean Ambrose."

"I don't want anyone else." Punk said quietly.

"Oh grow up Phil. You sound like some lovestruck teenage girl." Chris scolded him.

"Don't try and talk to me about shit you don't know anything about Jericho." Punk shot back.

"You're right. I don't know anything about this sort of heartache because from the first moment I met Jessica I knew she was the one for me." Chris responded honestly. "What about poor Lita in all this? You have put that girl through hell and back."

"She wants more from me. She wants me to just be with her." Punk responded. "But I don't want that from her. Maybe if I wanted a wedding and kids I would but that is not what I want in life."

"Look Phil, I know I was there to hold your hand through this the last time it happened with Ambrose but it's not going to happen this time. It is time for you to stand on your own two feet for once." Chris sighed, sucking in a hard breath before speaking again. "I'm going to give you some advice Phil whether you want it or not. I can tell you right now that going solo is not going to make these weird, unrequited feelings you have for him go away. If anything, it will only make it worse cause what you feel right now for Ambrose is definitely going to affect your writing. I've had friends in the exact same situation and it got to the point where literally every single song was about their unrequited love. It was a little uncomfortable."

Punk didn't say anything. He allowed the words to sink in but he refused to open his mouth. His grip on his phone tightened considerably as he felt his heart rate increase again.

"Look Phil, you are one of my closest friends and if you truly want to go solo, I will help you." Chris spoke quietly. "But I will not help you until you get your head straight and get over Ambrose."

"Man fuck you." Punk said before his brain had even caught up to him.

"Right. Well you can kiss that offer goodbye." Chris snapped down the line. "If you're just gonna be another selfish asshole, it's all gone."

Punk didn't say another word. Everything was slipping away.

"You're on your own now man and don't fucking call me again asking for my help cause it's gonna be a flat no. I don't help jerks who choose to destroy something they worked so hard for for their own personal agendas. Goodbye Phil." Chris snapped before the line went dead.

Punk pulled his phone away from his ear and let it drop onto the bed beside him. "Fuckin' Jericho." He cursed. There was another friendship bridge he was sure he'd just burnt to the ground. He sat up and ran his hand through his short hair, his thoughts running a million miles an hour as he debated what he should do next. He didn't really want to go solo but he didn't know if the band could even survive given the fact that he couldn't even look at the lead guitarist without his stomach swirling.

He jumped off the bed and went straight to his suitcase on the floor. He unceremoniously yanked his satin boxer shorts off of his body and instead pulled on a pair of red briefs. He dug further around in the suitcase for a pair of gym shorts and a singlet. He pulled on the dark blue shorts that sat around mid-thigh in length before he shrugged his t-shirt off only to replace it with a black singlet. He sat down on the floor next to his suitcase that had his clothing and other personal items scattered everywhere on the cream coloured carpet around him.

He dug through the discarded items for a pair of ankle length socks and his white joggers. He pulled on his socks and shoes before he pushed himself up off the floor. He grabbed his phone and his headphones that were sitting on the bedside table that separated his and Wade's beds. He chucked his items into the pocket of his shorts before he made his way towards the door.

He hesitated on the door for a moment. He sucked in a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. He didn't think that walking out and facing his band mates would be so hard to do and yet here he was almost shaking in fear. He decided to just bite the bullet and he twisted the door knob and pulled it towards him, opening the door to the rest of the apartment. The small area was quiet but it definitely still held the tension he was expected to be greeted with.

He slowly made his way through the apartment, hoping to make his way out of the apartment so he could go for a quick 5km run without any interruptions. He walked down the hallway, his feet barely making a sound on the thick carpet. Once he reached the end of the hallway he glanced to the left out on the balcony. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Sami out there smoking again except this time he wasn't alone. To the youngest member's left was Dean who had a cigarette in his right hand while his left hand was resting no doubt on Seth's hip, the photographer's body sitting on Dean's lap with a huge grin on his face as he interacted with the two guitarists.

It made his stomach swirl with jealousy while he watched just how easily Seth sat on Dean's lap and just how happy they appeared to look. He almost felt bad for his little temper tantrum before. Sami was right; Dean was happy with Seth and despite how much he fought it internally, Seth had definitely changed Dean for the better in the short time that he had known him. He knew he should let them be together, let them have their moment and yet he still fought it. He knew he was being selfish but hell, someone had to think about his feelings for once.

He pulled his eyes away and made his way towards the door, his head poking into the lounge room, a small smile growing across his face as he looked in and saw Wade sleeping peacefully on the comfortable couch. His long body was stretched out across the lounge while his arms were folded across his bare, broad chest. He felt a sigh of relief that he made it through the small area with no contact with any of the other band members. He turned around to open the apartment door and only stopped when he felt a hand clamp down on his wrist. His eyes bulged when he saw the caramel coloured hand. "Take it off or I'll break it off."

Roman laughed but didn't remove his hand. "You're actually going to threaten me? I could break you in half if I wanted to."

"Fuck. Leave me alone man. I just want to go for a run." Punk whined. He finally looked up and was met with Roman's grey eyes.

Roman's lips curled into a smirk. "Oh what a coincidence. I was just about to go for one myself."

"I don't want you to run with me." Punk said.

"I'm not asking." Roman quipped. "Now, c'mon. You're dressed, I'm dressed. Let's fuckin' go already."

Punk groaned but didn't resist. He finally smacked Roman's hand away from his wrist and pulled open the door. He strolled out into the hallway not bothering to wait for the Samoan bassist as he made his way towards the elevator. He had just pressed the down button when he heard Roman approaching him. They waited in silence until the lift dinged and both men stepped inside of the small, confined area.

Roman watched Punk as the doors closed. He snapped the black elastic off of his wrist and pulled his hair back into a low ponytail that sat right at the base of his skull. "Can I give you some advice?"

"It doesn't matter what I say, you're still gonna say your piece, aren't you Reigns? You can never just leave something alone, can you?" Punk snapped. He lifted his gaze to glare at the younger man.

"Don't let Dean not wanting you affect your reason for possibly wanting to quit the band cause you think you're better than all of us apparently." Roman started. He ignored Punk's comment for the moment. "Remember that this isn't just your dream to be touring around the world like this. It is all of our dreams and if you truly cared about Dean the way that you claim to, then you wouldn't kill his dream."

"Roman. This isn't fuckin' about you. Alright?" Punk snapped. His eyes were narrowed almost into slits as he glared at the large man beside him.

Roman sighed. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get through to the singer unless he divulged some information of his own. "Look Punk, I'm gonna level with you. I know what it feels like to want somebody who will never want you back." He started. "And it makes you feel all sorts of things when you see them with someone else. You get angry and jealous over stupid little things they do but at the end of the day, they will never feel that way about you. But the sooner you move on man, the happier you are going to be."

Punk's facial expression softened a little bit as he watched Roman carefully. "Who fucked around with your feelings? You and Kaitlyn have been together forever."

"It doesn't matter who it was. The important thing is I moved on with my life and focused on who and what was important." Roman responded with a casual shrug. He glanced over at Punk who still looked a little wary. He sighed as the lift dinged to indicate they had arrived on the bottom floor. Both men exited the small space in silence and carefully made their way through the quiet lobby.

Roman waited until they had walked through the front glass doors before he spoke again. His grey eyes watched Punk carefully as the other man lifted the small black ear buds up to his ears. He reached out and grabbed a hold of Punk's tattooed wrist, causing a look of concern to grow across the singer's face. "Look man, I have to get this off my chest before we even start running." He paused for a moment but didn't remove his hand. "I can't stop you from making this decision but I hope you don't just jump right into anything without properly thinking about it."

"What makes you think I'm even gonna leave?" Punk glared.

"We overheard your little conversation with Jericho." Roman answered simply. He smirked as he saw the panicked look in Punk's eyes. "And I want you to remember that it's not only Dean's feelings you're hurting by dragging up memories from the past. He's trying to start a new life for himself with Seth and you're certainly not helping."

"Seth's just a kid." Punk snapped. He finally yanked his hand away from Roman's tight grip.

"Dean was the same age when you met him." Roman pointed out. "Just don't be that guy."

"Fuckin' whatever man." Punk shrugged. He took this opportunity to pop his headphones into his ears. "Last one back has to have a freezing cold shower." He stuck his tongue out and took off. He pushed play on his phone and drowned out the sounds of the large Samoan man hot on his heels as he ran through the foreign city.

Sami rolled over and looked at the bright lights of the alarm clock next to his bed. 2.53am. He let out a low groan and rolled onto his back, his dark blue eyes open wide as he stared at the dark ceiling. For the past few nights he'd been having a lot of trouble sleeping and he knew exactly why that was. His brow furrowed as he thought about the very intense conversation he'd had with the singer barely a week ago on the balcony of their Paris apartment. He'd just been so angry and frustrated with the whole thing that finally the emotions that were building up inside him boiled over.

He'd been beyond pissed when Wade had told them all that he heard Punk talking to Jericho about going solo. He'd been so damn cranky that he refused to speak or even look at the front man, instead focusing on playing stupid little games with his phone or talking to anyone but the man who had threatened to kill his dream. He had tried to be reasonable and compassionate with the older man about how he felt for Dean but as hard as he tried, he couldn't quite do that.

He had never admitted aloud that Punk really did his head in sometimes with all the stupid, selfish and immature things he always seemed to be doing but as the years went by he found it increasingly hard to just sit by and do nothing. But that night that Dean had returned to their apartment with Seth in tow had been the final straw for Sami. Dean had spoken to Sami for a few days before they even got to Paris to plan the perfect day for him and the young photographer. He hadn't been stupid and he knew that Dean felt more for Seth than he was willing to admit at that point of his life.

It wasn't until Punk had drunkenly confronted Dean that Sami really realized just how selfish the singer really was. Punk had known for days that Dean was planning on spending their day off in the French capital with Seth and still turned it around to be something about him. He had never felt more disappointed than he had with anything else in his entire life. He always knew Punk was selfish but not that selfish. Especially when he knew about all of the emotional hell that both AJ and his own mother had put him through and how they'd forced him to believe that maybe he wasn't good enough to love.

He still hadn't said a single word to the singer and that incident was six days ago.

He could hear Roman's soft snores in the small room while he tried to fall back asleep. He gave up after a few minutes and hoped that maybe having a drink of water would calm him down enough to fall back asleep. He did still feel quite parched after their latest concert had finished in the Austrian capital only a few hours before. He shoved the heavy covers back on the expensive, comfortable bed before he swung his sturdy legs out and let them land on the floor with a soft thud.

He heard Roman make a soft mewling sort of noise before the bed shifted and the large Samoan man was facing away from the door. Sami slowly made his way towards the white door just on the other side of the bassist's bed. He didn't bother pulling on a shirt, figuring that the rest of his band mates would be in their own bedrooms sleeping. He quietly pulled the door open and stepped out into the dimly lit corridor.

His brow furrowed slightly as he heard the soft sound of the television coming from the lounge room. He pulled the door closed and slowly made his way towards the sound of the source. His feet crept along the carpeted floor as he edged closer and closer to the small room. He was curious as to who was still awake and silently hoped that it wasn't Punk although he knew he could just turn around and walk straight out of the room if it was.

He only had to walk a few more steps and he was right outside of the lounge room. He peered around the corner of the door and felt his eyes bulge right out of his skull. Right there on the couch was Dean and Seth completely naked. Seth was sitting on Dean's lap but was facing the television, the soft light from the television illuminating certain parts of the young photographer's body. The little whines and moans that were leaving the young man's throat made it abundantly clear that Seth wasn't just sitting on Dean's lap.

He wanted to move away from the door and get his glass of water and return to bed but he found he couldn't move. He tugged his bottom lip into his mouth and forced his teeth to bite down on it to stifle any sort of noise that was threatening to leave from him as he watched the way that Dean's hands tightened on Seth's hips, his hands pushing and pulling Seth up and down at a hard, rushed pace that was doing all sorts of unnatural things to Sami's body.

He watched as Seth's back arched and he pushed back harder into Dean's strong body, those long legs of the young photographer's squeezing Dean's as he began to move by himself. It was almost hypnotic as Seth moved his body up and down, much to the joy of Dean who let out a low grunt every time Seth pushed back down. The soft sound of their skin colliding time and time again was enough to drown out the sound from the television, not that either man was paying much attention to whatever program was on.

Seth let his head fall back against Dean's shoulder and turned his head to allow their lips to connect. Seth's brown eyes fluttered shut and his lips parted instantly for Dean, the older man's tongue sliding inside of Seth's mouth as their kiss grew hotter and more intense. Sami couldn't turn away even if he wanted to. The mere sight of the two of them kissing was enough to know it would be on his mind for months to come. He knew it was wrong to stand and watch his best friend and boyfriend fuck right there on the couch but it was still hotter than any porn he'd watched in forever.

He watched keenly as one of Dean's hands moved up from Seth's hip to wrap around the young photographer's cock, his fingers squeezing tightly enough to force Seth to break away from the kiss to let out a moan of the guitarists name. He could see from the way that Seth was moving up and down and the way his moans grew in volume that the young man had to have been close to orgasm. He felt his own cock start to grow inside of his boxers the more intently he watched the two going at it but he refused to move his hand down and touch himself. That was just too far over the line that he knew he couldn't go back from.

"I want you to cum inside me. Please. I need it." Seth begged. His brown eyes were locked onto Dean's but he could see the lust in them from him spot to the side.

His eyebrow quirked up at Seth's request. As long as Dean had been sexually active he knew the older man always used protection whether he was with a male or a female. He felt that proud smile grow across his lips as realized just how special Seth was to his friend. It warmed his heart to know that there was finally someone that Dean had to be his everything and be the thing that Dean had always wanted.

"I gotta get you off first." Dean growled.

He watched the way that Dean's hand sped up on Seth's cock. His large, calloused hand moving so fast it was almost a blur. But his eyes moved up to watch Seth's face as he was worked closer to orgasm. The young man's eyes were squeezed shut, his lips parted as moan after moan of Dean's name left him. His breathing was growing a little ragged too, his chest rising and falling quickly while he pushed his body back hard against Dean's.

Dean only had to move his hand up and down Seth's cock a few more times before the photographer was cumming hard. He watched the way that Seth's abdominal braced, his back arching almost painfully as he let out a loud moan of Dean's name. Sami checked behind him and down the hall to make sure no one was there or that they were coming to investigate the sound. He flashed his eyes back to the erotic scene in front of him to watch as Seth came down from cloud nine, his eyes fluttering open and leaning back to kiss Dean hard on the lips.

Dean pulled back from the kiss first and wrapped a hand through Seth's long, two-toned hair. "You better be fuckin' ready for it."

"You know I'm always ready for it." Seth grinned back.

Sami watched as Seth continued moving his body up and down, letting out soft whimpers from the over stimulation of his sensitive area. He watched as Dean's other hand let go of Seth's cock and moved to grab at Seth's slender hips, the cum that was on the inside of his palm smearing across the golden brown skin. He bit harder on his lip as he watched Dean's hands pull Seth's body up and down on his cock harder and faster. He could see the way that Dean's muscles in his biceps were twitching hard as he pulled Seth down harder against his body.

He hadn't even touched his own cock inside of his cotton briefs but he could feel the thick organ pulsing inside of the cotton prison desperately. He never imagined that he would get so turned on by two guys fucking and yet here he was watching intently the way that the two men moved together. Maybe he wasn't as straight as he thought he was.

His attention was drawn to Dean as he heard the soft groans and heavy breathing of the slightly older man as he continued working his cock in and out of Seth. He watched as Dean's eyes went wide, his whole body starting to shudder as he grew close. He leaned forward and pressed his lips back against Seth's in a kiss that barely stayed inside of either man's mouth but mostly involved tongues curling and wrapping around each other on the outside of each others mouths. He let out a groan of his own at the exact same time that Dean grunted and shuddered through his own orgasm. But the thing that really made Sami question his own heterosexuality was the look of absolute bliss on Seth's face while he felt Dean's cum shoot inside of him. The photographer looked so good like that.

He had to take a few breaths to calm himself down and he deliberately turned away from the loved up pair. He couldn't resist ribbing the two even though he'd just watched one of the hottest things he'd ever seen. He coughed and the two both glanced over into his direction. "Uh, you both know you have your own bedroom to do this in, right?"

Dean laughed. "You look a little hot and bothered over there Sami. It looks like you didn't mind this at all."

"Fuck off." Sami shot back. "You know I like tits and pussy."

"Your dick says otherwise." Dean pointed out. Even though it was mostly dark, the thick erection was visible against the thin cotton. "I don't blame you. Seth is pretty fuckin' hot, right Callihan?" He grinned. He deliberately ran his hands along Seth's long legs and slender hips as he looked over at his friend.

"I don't need this man." Sami rolled his eyes and walked away from the lounge room. He walked into the kitchen and finally got the damn glass of water he'd dragged himself out of bed for. He sculled the glass in barely a few seconds before he made his way back towards his bedroom.

He climbed back into the bed and tried to regulate his breathing. "Fuckin' Ambrose." He mumbled before he rolled over and closed his eyes, trying to fall back asleep.

TBC

A/N: I can't believe that Punk has quit WWE. I wrote that last chapter and posted it and then I found out he had left. Weirdddd. Anyway, hope you guys liked this. Thanks for reading and reviewing! GatesVengeance x