Corey was tired. Really really tired, considering he had done nothing but lay in bed and do nothing all week. He didn't know why he was so damn bored. it was getting so bad that he was finding himself looking forward to Monday, so that he could get to work and be around actual people.
It was a strange feeling, this wanting to be around people.
Of course, by people, he actually meant Enzo, because he was the only 'people' Corey cared to be around. But he could never admit that out loud. Hell, he could hardly admit in in his mind. he'd been trying all week to not admit it, but just because he was in denial didn't mean he was stupid.
The meal Enzo had left him was still siting in his fridge uneaten. He'd tried to eat it, a few times. Putting in the microwave and then getting a fork and then staring at it for a few hours and then putting it back in the fridge. It didn't help that the meal smelled absolutely delicious, but Corey just couldn't bring himself to eat it.
He didn't know what was wrong with him. Was it possible that Enzo was right?
Were they actually... friends?
The idea was a foreign one to Corey. 'Friends' wasn't a thing he was used to. And friends with Amore? Of all people? That couldn't be right.
He didn't really feel like he wanted to be Enzo's friend though.
Friends with benefits? Or fuck buddies, as Carmella had so eloquently put. But no, that didn't feel quite right either.
It was puzzling for sure. He didn't want to be Enzo's friend, he was almost sure of that. But he also didn't want them to not be friends.
Yeah, puzzling was the word.
Corey shook his head, not wanting to think about this anymore. Not wanting to think about Enzo and the fact that this house was way too quiet without him.
Corey got up and made his way to the kitchen, deciding to fucking eat the food in his fridge before it went off. He set it in the microwave, grabbed a fork as he waited for it to warm up, and then sat at the kitchen counter.
And then he just stared at it.
Another ten minutes passed, and Corey finally groaned, throwing the fork down and throwing the food back into the fridge.
Fucking Amore.
::
"Last RAW before SummerSlam," Enzo rubbed his hands together in the locker room, "Are ya'll excited? I'm excited."
Roman blinked with narrowed eyes, "Ecstatic."
"Oh yeah, can't wait." shrugged Dean.
Enzo sighed at them, "Come on guys, perk up a little. I'ts Summerslam!"
"Yeah, we're aware." said Roman, "It's gonna be so much fun watching it happen from a shark cage."
"Well you won't be up there the whole night," shrugged Enzo. The other two just glared at him and he decided to stop talking about SummerSlam. Turns out, he didn't have to. The door to the locker room burst open, and showed the grinning faces of Jimmy and Jey Uso.
"What up Uces?"
Roman frowned, "What? What the hell are you two doing here?"
"Yeah guys, wrong show," said Dean.
Jey laughed as he sat next to Enzo, "Yeah well it's the last RAW till SummerSlam."
"Yeah," nodded Jimmy, "We wanted a front row seat to all the shit that's about to go down."
"How are you so sure shit's about to go down?" asked Enzo.
The Usos laughed, "Aw he's adorable, ain't he?" Jimmy pinched his cheek, "You act like this is your first Pay Per View. Shit always goes down, Amore. It's WWE."
"The show ain't even started yet and I already saw Graves on the punching bag like he's trying to rip it off the hook." snorted Jey, "as if commentating is all that stressful."
"Wait what?" Enzo looked up, "Why the hell would he be in a mood."
Jey shrugged, "Don't know. Don't care either."
"Okay," Enzo nodded, "Me neither."
He sat for a few more seconds, and then got up, "I gotta go do a thing."
He left the room quickly, missing the looks of murder on Dean and Roman's faces.
Jimmy and Jey, however, did not. They glanced at each other, and then at Dean and Roman.
"Uh... are we missing something?" blinked Jimmy.
"No." said Dean through clenched teeth, wrapping up his fists, "You're not missing anything. Why would you think you're missing something?"
"Well," shrugged Jey, "Ya'll just look like you're gonna burn something with your eyes. That's all."
Roman shook his head, "Nothing. It's nothing. We're just in a bad mood."
"Why?" Jey threw his hands up, "It's almost SummerSlam, you should be excited!"
"Yeah well, you have a championship match," said Dean, "What do we got?"
"That's true," shrugged Jimmy, "But come on. Lighten up, the night is still young."
"Oh I love that song," Jey grinned.
"I know right? Nicki's the best."
"Are you serious!" Dean snapped, "We're on the sidelines for SummerSlam and you wanna talk about Nicki Minaj?"
Roman lay a hand on his shoulder, "Well, it is a pretty great song, Dean."
Dean glared at him, "Are you kidding me?"
"Come on Ambrose, lighten up," Jey slapped his shoulder, "Look on the bright side?"
Dean scoffed, "Bright side?"
"Well yeah. There's always a bright side. I mean... well... Jimmy help me out"
"Hey! At least Enzo has a match!"
The glares he received after that almost made him shrink back.
"In what world is that a good thing, Jimmy?"
"Well... I... it's... Jey, help me out here."
"Oh I cant." Jey shrugged, "Enzo's basically committing suicide in there while Roman spews his guts 20 feet above the ring and Dean gets to watch. I... I don't see a bright side."
The glares they received after that made the twins clear their throats.
"Well, we'll just go." nodded Jimmy.
"Later ya'll," Jey waved, and the two backed out of the room quickly, leaving Dean and Roman to sulk some more alone.
"Wish he wouldn't say 'committing suicide' like that," muttered Roman as he threw a towel onto the bench.
"Yeah," sighed Dean, "So... are we still not gonna talk about... you know... the actual suicide."
Roman sighed deeply, "Well we can't say something until he says something."
Dean nodded, "But... do you think he's ever gonna actually say anything?"
Roman shook his head, "I honestly have no idea."
"He probably told Corey." he said the name as if it was poison, "Bet he tells Corey everything."
Roman slammed his locker shut, and glared at Dean, "You're not helping this bad mood, Dean."
Dean shrugged, "Since when am I helpful?"
Roman chuckled dryly, "good point."
:::
Across the arena, Enzo finally got to the gym, and sure enough, there was Corey.
"Whoa, you look pissed," he said immediately.
Corey turned from the punching bag when he saw that he wasn't alone anymore.
"Amore," he said, breathing heavily and holding the bag to keep it from swinging.
"Graves," nodded Enzo, making his way towards him, "You're all shirtless and sweaty and angry."
Corey shrugged, "Yeah well, it's been a bad week"
When Enzo got closer, he held the bag steady and motioned for Corey to carry on. And carry on he did.
For some reason, having Enzo's face loser to the bag kinda drove Corey on a lot.
"Why was your week bad?" asked Enzo.
Corey stopped punching again, flexing his wrists, "It just was."
He really didn't know how to explain that he had been thinking about Enzo the whole week, and the fact that he had been with Dean and Roman instead of him kinda made him mad for some reason.
Corey shook his head and kept punching, "Yours any better?"
"Oh yeah it was great," Enzo's grin was huge, and Corey's punches got stronger, "Went to Roman's place in Pensacola. I think that's my favourite place now. Well, besides Mama's. Damn it's weird having family everywhere, huh."
Well I wouldn't know. Corey snarled in his mind. Outside, he scoffed, "You're calling them family?"
"Well they are."
"They're not your family Enzo."
"Yeah, except they are. Jojo said so."
Corey stopped punching and narrowed his eyes at Enzo, "Jojo said so?"
Enzo nodded, still grinning, "Jojo. Roman's daughter. She put me in her family tree, ain't that great?"
Corey blinked, "Yeah, that's great," he said flatly.
Enzo chuckled, and went over to sit on the bench, "Come on, lighten up Corey. It's almost SummerSlam."
Corey just rolled his eyes, and went back to punching, "You of all people, he huffed, "Should not be excited about SummerSlam."
"Well, I have a better outlook on life, Corey. The big picture, you know? I mean, I got good good health. Good friends. A hot piece of ass, and a family."
"Piece of ass, huh?" Corey said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah. You're my hot as hell piece of ass. Unless you're ready to be my friend too. Last I checked, you're still in denial."
"I'm not your damn friend," Corey snarled.
"Yeah, except you are." shrugged Enzo.
"You have enough friends. And I don't need any. So no, I'm not."
Enzo sighed again, "Yo, stop pissing on my good mood, please. Why is everyone in a mood today? First Dean and Roman and now you? Ya'll gotta stop. Hey, maybe I should do the cooking thing again! yeah, you could all use a pick me up for sure. Especially those two, they've been pissed since we left Florida. And Roman's pissed 'cause he had to leave his car and take a plane, which, you know, ain't something he likes to do. And neither of them have matches for SummerSlam, so that doesn't help either I guess. Oh and-"
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Enzo was kinda taken aback by the sudden change in tone. Corey was no longer punching, just staring at him with a frown.
"Uh... what?"
"All you ever fucking talk about is Dean and Roman."
Enzo blinked, "Yeah well, you know why."
"Yeah, I do know. And I still don't get it.
"Corey-"
"You know that they don't love you Enzo. You know that they won't. You know that you'll spend all your time watching the people you love, love each other and not you, and you can actually get away from it but you won't! You won't do it, so just tell me, what exactly is wrong with you?"
Enzo blinked up at him from his seat on the bench. He finally looked down, watching his foot tap up and down. He didn't answer.
Corey sighed heavily, and the next thing Enzo knew, Corey was sitting right next to him.
"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be a dick," he said quietly, "I just... I don't get it."
Enzo swallowed hard as he nodded. He finally looked up at Corey and sighed. "Yeah, me neither."
They sat in silence for a while, Enzo no longer in such a good mood, and Corey feeling kinda bad about getting him out of it.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready? You got a math tonight."
"Not until later. Dean has a match though. Against Cesaro. Kinda like pay back for last week."
"I assume they're gonna gang up on him again." said Corey, "That's always fun to watch."
Enzo sighed, "Dude, I get you don't like them, but you could at least not be a dick about them in front of me, alright?"
Corey kissed his teeth, "Fine."
"I mean, I wouldn't be a dick to whoever you love."
"I don't love anyone," Corey said firmly.
"Yet," shrugged Enzo. "It's only a matter of time. And when it does happen, I'll be here to here you on."
Corey scoffed, "I doubt that."
Enzo chuckled, and then threw arm around him, "Let me tell you a little something about love, Graves."
"You gotta be kidding me," he sighed.
Enzo ignored him, "It feels like crap most of the time,"
Corey looked at him with a frown, "I assume there's a 'but' coming."
"Nope." Enzo shook his head, "That's it. It sucks."
Corey let out a snort, "That's inspiring,"
Enzo grinned, "You know it."
:::
Dean's match wasn't going well.
He hadn't really been expecting it to, considering he was fighting Cesaro, but it was kinda sucking. He never used to let himself be distracted by whoever else was at ringside, but this time, most of his focus was on Sheamus, even though he hadn't even interfered yet.
Key word being 'yet'
When Cesaro clocked him in the face while he was too busy watching Sheamus, Dean wondered if maybe he should have let Roman come to ringside with him. Maybe then he'd be able to fucking focus.
It got worse when Cesaro started swinging him. Dean groaned at the dizzyness, but every time he went around, there was Sheamus, looking all smug.
Dean was really trying to shake it off, but it really wasn't working. What the hell was wrong with him today?
The match went back and forth, Dean being mostly on the receiving end of the abuse.
Dean finally decide that this was all Sheamus's fault, so once he had Cesaro down, he slid out of the ring and got in a good clothes-line.
There, now with him down, he'd be able to actually pay attention to his actual opponent.
Sheamus, obviously, was not happy with that, and once he recovered, he rolled into the ring.
"I probably should have thought that through," Dean sighed at himself when they both came for him.
Dean heard the bell ring, and he won by disqualification, but something like a bell ringing was obviously not going to stop these two. Dean tried to fight out of it, even getting a couple of hits in himself, but the numbers always won, and there was two of them and one of him and...
Okay, not anymore. Dean looked up to see what had pulled Sheamus off him, and he saw none other than Seth Rollins.
"Are you kidding me!" he snarled, but he didn't have much time to be mad at the moment. With Sheamus occupied, Dean could get to Cesaro, and without the distraction anymore, he had his fun.
And damn, it was fun.
For a moment, just a moment, Dean kinda forgot that it was Seth in there with him. Seth who he absolutely hated. For a moment it was just them two working together, kicking ass and doing it well. He didn't even realise how much time had gone by, until Sheamus and Cesaro were outside the ring, ad he and Seth were in it.
"Suicide dive!" he heard next to him. And Dean didn't think twice. He and Seth ran to other side of the ring, bounced off the ropes and made for Sheamus and Cesaro, pouncing onto them as if they were one person.
The only thing that could rival Dean's roars was the crowds cheers. Rolling back into the ring, Dean bounced off the ropes, the Adrenalin pumping through him. Once he turned around, he stopped when he noticed him in the middle of the ring, and all of a sudden, Dean remembered who he was in there with.
His breaths started to slow as he stared at Seth, and Seth stared at him. and then, just like last week, Seth held out his fist. And the crowd went wild
And Dean just stared at it.
For a really long time.
When he looked up at Seth, it was with a snarl, but before he could even say anything, music blasted through the Arena, and Kurt Angle came down the ramp.
Seth put down his fist, but didn't look away from Dean, with that stupid, fake hurt look on his face.
Dean's snarl did not subside. He wasn't even listening as Kurt spoke, too busy snarling at that Rollins.
But as it turned out, he probably should have been listening, because deafening cheers came form the crowd, and he finally looked towards the ramp..
"That's right!" Kurt continued, "The Bar verses Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the RAW Tag Team Championships. Oh its True!"
"IT'S DAMN TRUE!"
Dean's eyes widened as Kurt went back up the ramp, "What? What did he just say? What?"
"Hey, listen," Seth said, grabbing his arm. Dean yanked it away with a snarl, and then rolled out of the ring, murder on his mind.
He thundered up the ramp and through the Gorilla, where he didn't even notice Enzo, who was getting ready for his match. Enzo watched wide eyed as Dean stormed after Kurt, with Seth Rollins right behind him.
"What the hell is wrong with you Kurt?!" Dean thundered as soon as he caught up to Kurt backstage. Kurt sighed as he came to a stop. He had been expecting this. He turned around to face a fuming Dean Ambrose. He saw Seth walking much slower behind him.
"Are you kidding me with this?" he seethed as he snarled in Kurt's faec. "I've been wanting a match at SummerSlam and this is what you give me?!"
"I gave you a championship match," Kurt smiled, "Do you not want a championship match?"
"Of course I want a damn championship match!" Dean cried, "But him?" he jerked a thumb behind him, where Seth stood glaring with his arms crossed.
"Dean," said Kurt calmly, "I'm not forcing you to do anything. This is absolutely your choice. SummerSlam is next week, and the Raw Tag Team Championships are on the line. The team of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are the number one contenders. Unless of course, you don't want the shot."
Dean stared at Kurt with murder in his eyes. He had never been so torn in his life.
Kurt just smiled, "I do however, understand your reservations about teaming up with Seth again, so that's why I'm not forcing you. But if you do change your mind, let me know before the end of the night. I won't set up the match unless I have confirmation from you. Now, that seems fair, doesn't it?"
Dean just seethed. Kurt nodded, "Alright then." he nodded, "Gentleman." and walked away. Leaving the two by themselves. Oh, and with Candy the camera girl.
Dean didn't move for another minute. Behind him, Seth sighed
"You're not really considering letting this opportunity go, Ambrose. You can't."
"Watch me." said Dean, starting to walk away. But he was stopped when Seth grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around.
"Alright, I have had it with you!" he finally snapped, "Why are you being such a jerk?"
Dean gaped at him, "I'm being a jerk?!"
"Yeah, Dean, you are. What more do I have to do?"
"There's nothing you can do to change what-"
"I'm not asking to change it! I'm not asking you to forget it, I'm asking you to get past it! I'm not the same guy I was 3 years ago Dean. I did some shit I'm not proud of and I'm trying to forget it but-"
"Oh you're trying to forget it?" Dean scoffed, "Well I hope that works out fine for you, Rollins. I hope you do great with all your healing."
Dean tried to walk away again, but Seth stopped him.
"What do you want me to do?" he said, not letting go of Dean's arm this time, "Dean what the hell do you want me to do to show that-"
"I want you to go back and not stab us in the back, how's that? Can you do that?"
"Oh for god's sakes, that was over three years ago!" Seth snapped, "How long are you gonna hold that against me? I was stupid and ambitious and I would have done anything and everything to get to the top, and that included hurting you and Roman and I'm sorry! I'm sorry, alright?" the yell caused Dean to draw back a bit.
Did he really just hear that.
A silence followed, as Seth realized what had come out. He sighed.
"I'm sorry," he said, a lot quieter. The silence between them grew, as Dean stared at Seth, and Seth looked down. Which is why he didn't see the change in Dean's face. Dean took a lunging step forward, his face all up in Seth's.
"How dare you," he hissed, "What the hell makes you think I would believe that? What, you think playing hero for a few nights is gonna make us friends again? You think saying you're sorry once is going to make me even consider teaming up with you?"
"Hey! I saved you. Over and over again."
"I don't need you to!" Dean snapped, "I don't need you Rollins, and I never will. You know who my real friends are, and you ain't it. After all the crap you did you think throwing a few punches and faking an apology is gonna do it?"
"I don't apologize for shit Dean, you now that. I'm not lying when I say-"
"Oh of course, and you're a huge expert on not lying," Dean scoffed, "there's nothing you can do to make this any different Rollins. I won't let you use me to get a Title. Not again."
With that, Dean stormed down the hallway, away from a silent Rollins behind him. Candy the camera girl lowered her camera and sighed.
"That was heated." she whispered.
The glare Seth gave her made her clear her throat and finally walk away.
Seth took a deep breath as he watched her go in the same direction as Dean. He was still glaring. Because he was mad. He was mad at Dean. Mad as hell because... because he was telling the truth.
A simple, 'I'm sorry' wasn't enough to get Dean to work with him, never mind to be back in his and Roman's life. He has to show that he meant it, otherwise he'd never believe it. And really, no one could blame him there.
But it was obvious that Dean was done listening to Seth. And thinking about it, the only way person Dean would even talk to when he was mad like this was Roman.
Yeah, Roman Reigns was the only person who would get through to Dean right now. But Roman would take Dean's side in a split second, which sucked because Roman was the only way Dean could even consider listening to Seth. He was the onl-
Wait... Actually, no.
Roman was not the only person.
With new found inspiration, Seth turned arond, and hightailed it to the Gorilla.
He found Enzo stretching in the hallways.
"Amore," he said stopping in front of him, "I need your help."
Enzo's eyebrows shot up when he saw Seth come up to him, "You... you what?"
Seth sighed, "Look, I've been a dick to you. A lot."
Enzo nodded, "Yeah, I know."
"And you probably won't believe me, not many people are believing me today, but.. you know I was only acting like that because-"
"Because I'm with Dean and Roman and you're not."
Seth blinked
"I.. uh... yeah. Yeah, that's why."
Enzo shrugged as he carried on stretching, "And now you want me to talk to them to get you back in their good graces."
This time Seth didn't say anything, "You know I kinda had a speech planned and you're ruining it."
Enzo shrugged again, "I ruin things, it's what I do." he sighed as he finally stood up straight to look at Rollins, "Are you doing this because you just want a championship again?"
Seth sighed, "No. Look, the idea of being Tag Team champs with Dean is amazing. But... the amazing part isn't the championship part, it's the part where I'm with Dean." he sighed heavily again, "Look, I screwed up. I screwed up big time, and they aren't gonna forgive that easily, but I just want a chance, and you're their closest friend and... and if you put in a good word for me, they'll listen to you."
Enzo stared Seth down as he thought. Now, he didn't pretend to know the first thing about Rollins, but Enzo was pretty sure he knew a person hurting when he saw one. And Rollins was hurting. And he just wanted his friends back.
And if a championship came with that, all the better.
Enzo sighed, "You must be really desperate if you're asking for my help."
Seth shrugged, "I don't know you that well. But I don't actually... dislike you. Except for the part where you replaced me."
Enzo just snorted at that, and then sighed, "look, I got a match now. I can't-"
"Come on Enzo please," Seth all but whined, "I'm... I'm basically begging you here. Do you know how much it hurts me to beg? I never beg. And I never apologize. And I'm doing that a lot today, so you must know this is serious."
"Yeah, I saw that on the screen. It was intense."
"Come on man, please."
Just looking at him, Enzo knew that this was serious.
"Amore you're up!" Enzo waved at the voice behind him, and sighed at Seth.
"Look, I can't help you."
Seth all but deflated, "But-"
"Not that I don't want to, but I can't. Look, the only way to get to Dean is through Roman, and the only way to get to Roman is through Dean. You know how close those two are."
Seth shook his head, "Yeah but, you're just as close to them."
"No not really."
Seth rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, you're all joined at the hip!"
"Amore!" yelled Bianca the backstage girl as Enzo's music started.
Enzo started walking back and shaking his head, "I'm telling ya, the only way to get to one is through the other. They don't really care about anyone else's opinion."
Seth rolled his eyes, "Come on, you gotta know they care about you as much as they care about each other. I mean, have you seen you three?"
Enzo just scoffed, "I'm telling ya Rollins, you gotta talk to them."
That's all he could get out before a mic was shoved in his hand and he was pushed out through the curtain.
Seth just sighed. He turned around, and stopped dead when he saw who was behind him. He blinked.
This was Enzo's opponent? Well... well that was not good. The Club's music started and Seth watched them go through the gorilla and down the ramp. On the screen, Seth saw Enzo in the ring, looking completely unphased, which wasn't smart considering he was going to be fighting Karl Anderson. A man who was part of a team that was known notoriously for cheating. That wouldn't have been a problem before, but Enzo wasn't in a team anymore. A fact that Seth was sure the Club would take great advantage of.
As the Club approached the ring, Enzo motioned them in faster. Literally asking for the fight. And Seth knew for a fact that he wasn't the only person waiting for this to go badly.
As Gallows and Anderson approached the ring, they both used the ropes to have them up onto the apron, facing Enzo.
"Well well well Karl," Gallows spoke into his mic, "What do have over here?"
"Well Luke," answered Anderson, "It's looks like we got big mouth Amore, all by his lonesome."
The two grinned at each other as they stepped over the second ropes into the ring. Enzo backed up as they did, his mic still in hand, "Now hold up Mr and Mrs. Potato head," he stopped them, "If you're gonna try and steal my catch phrases at least do it right, you hear me?"
Luke and Karl didn't seem happy about their new nicknames, and Seth wondered why the hell Enzo insisted on provoking these guys when they very clearly had the advantage.
"Now I know what you're thinking boys," continued Enzo, "Now that there ain't nothing standing in your way, you want a piece of this, yeah?" he nodded at the angry looking team, "I mean, I know, I've said some choice things about yous two in the past, right? I mean, I've called you ugly. Many, many times. I mean, I can't even count how many times I've called yous two ugly. I mean, it's a lot. I always like to make it a point for everyone to notice how ugly you are."
Seth gaped at the screen. Was this guy fucking suicidal.
"And that makes you mad," Enzo said quickly when it looked like they were gonna pounce, "You got every right to be mad, I get it. And now, you wanna teach me a lesson, right? Right, I get it," he shrugged, "But you see boys, the thing is, I'm Enzo Amore. And I always got backup."
At that, the crowd popped, and Enzo grinned at the little frowns on Gallows and Anderson's faces.
"And since I know that once I get in this ring with one of you, the other one is gonna get involved and all that, I mean, this is WWE and yous two are world class cheaters, I mean, I get that. I respect that. So why don't we skip all of that and get right down to business, and straight up make this a tag team match?"
The crowds cheers were deafening as Enzo grinned at the now quite confused looks on Gallows and Anderson's faces. And quite frankly, they weren't the only ones confused. Enzo had a partner? Seth looked around at the gorilla. He was the only one here. Surely Enzo's secret partner should be here.
Inside the ring, the silence had gone on a bit too long, and Enzo sighed. He looked at the ramp as he spoke, "You see, right about now is when somebody runs down that ramp all heroic and looking for a fight."
Seth blinked at the screen for a few seconds before he got it.
"Oh he means me!" he gasped.
"Duh!" cried Bianca.
It's then that the drum roll of a song sounded around the arena, and the screams of the crowd were deafening.
Enzo grinned as he finally dropped his mic and strode to the corner of the ring. Seth met him there moments later, and Enzo regarded him with a smug grin, "You're welcome."
Seth nodded, "You think it'll work?"
"If we win it might," he shrugged, "Just don't steal my thunder, alright? This is still my match."
:::
When Enzo called for a partner, Dean immediately started running.
He had been storming around in a cloud of fury, thinking about that damn Seth Rollins and how he had the fucking nerve to think he could just apologize and that would be it.
And now Dean was going to be missing out on a Tag Team Championship because of fucking Rollins, and now he was going to be looking like a fucking idiot refusing to fight with him because of a grudge.
This was a whole lot more than a fucking grudge and Kurt knew it.
This is all Dean could think about as he stormed through the arena, but then he passed a screen and heard Enzo call for a Tag Team partner, so he fucking turned tail and ran.
He didn't remember Enzo telling him that he'd be needing a partner, but then again he had had a lot on his mind, and Enzo couldn't have been meaning anyone else. Roman had a match later, so the only person Dean would want to team up with was Dean, and he was late so he ran like the fucking wind.
"You see, right about now is when somebody runs down that ramp all heroic and looking for a fight." he heard Enzo say.
Dean ran faster, and he was just by the gorilla, about to scream for someone to play his music, and that's when he heard the drum roll. His run screeched to a stop just before Dean could get to the ramp.
He blinked and walked slowly backwards as he stared at the screen in he gorilla and saw Seth fucking Rollins come out as... as Enzo Amore's tag team partner. Dean looked around to see if everyone else was seeing this.
The looks on their faces showed that they were just as confused as he was.
He stared some more as Seth joined Enzo in the ring, and... and Enzo was fucking smiling. At Seth.
"What the fuck?" Dean was surprised that the words weren't coming from him, but rather from behind him. He turned around to see Roman staring at the screen, looking just as confused as he was.
"What... what's going on?" Dean asked Roman.
Roman shook his head, "I... I was about to ask you that."
They both stared up at the screen, both breathing heavily from running here.
"What is he up to?" Dean glared, "What is Seth... what is he up to? Why would he help Enzo? Why would he... why is he..." he shook his head, "I'm going out there."
He made to walk away, but Roman held onto his arm, "Wait," he said slowly.
Dean gaped at him, "What do you mean, wait?" he hissed, "This ain't a coincidence, Ro. Seth Rollins doesn't just help people. He doesn't even like Enzo."
"Yeah but... you basically told him to to prove he's sorry. And now he's helping Enzo..." he shrugged, "Maybe just... maybe he's proving he's sorry. So just... just wait."
Dean glared, "Roman... don't tell me you're actually trusting Seth to be out there with Enzo."
"I'm not saying I trust him," shrugged Roman, "But I trust Enzo. So let's... let's just wait."
And so they did. They waited in the gorilla as they watched the match, just waiting for something to go wrong, just waiting for Seth to do something while Enzo had his back turned.
But everytime Enzo's back was turned, Seth would just... watch it. He'd watch Enzo's back as if he was actually, actually helping him. For real.
Helping the one person he must have known could change Dean and Roman's mind about him.
Dean didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to think. He looked up at Roman, and he didn't seem to have any answers himself.
He looked at the screen again, and Seth was in the ring with Karl Anderson. Enzo was on the apron jumping up and down and wanting in on the match, his arm extended out to Seth, who seemed kinda preoccupied as he tried to get out of a hold.
When he finally slipped out, he bounced against the ropes and managed to get Karl down with a clothesline. He went down as Karl did, clearly exhausted, while Luke and Enzo begged to be in the match.
Karl got to Luke before Seth got to Enzo, but instead of going for Rollins, Luke ran straight for Enzo, making to knock him off the apron. But as his leg went up for Enzo's face, a different one came into view instead, and Seth went down instead.
Dean blinked. A few times, before he looked at Roman to see that the look on his face matched his.
"Did... did you see that?"
Roman blinked at Dean, "The part where Seth just took a kick to the head? Yeah. Yeah, I saw that."
The two went back to staring st the screen, "Why would he do that?"
There was a huge sigh and Dean and Roman turned to see Bianca the backstage girl stare at them exasperated, "Because he'd trying to prove that he's changed!" she snapped, "What are you, slow?"
Neither man answered her. They just kept staring up at the screen, where Seth was still on the floor holding his head, and Enzo was in the ring with Karl Anderson.
The match went on, back and forth and back and forth. The match was finally tipping in favour of Seth and Enzo. The match was just about over, and Seth had Luke Gallows in position for a pedigree.
"And Rollins with the pedigree!" Booker T yelled, This match is just about over!"
Gallows was flat on the floor, not looking like he was about to get up any time soon. All Seth had to do was make the pin and he'd be done. He made to move towards Gallows, and then paused. For a few moments.
And then he got up, ran to his corner and tagged in Enzo. Even Enzo was a bit surprised at that.
"Wha... what..." blinked Dean.
"I... I don't know." blinked Roman.
"Oh my god," Bianca shook her head, "You really are just dumb jocks, aren't you."
Their heads snapped to her and she sighed, "He gave away the win. To Enzo. That's what happened, he gave away his win."
Their heads snapped back up to the screen, where Enzo was on the top rope, and then he launched himself down onto the already down Gallows.
He went for the pin, and the match was won.
Back in the ring, Enzo looked to the corner, where Seth stood breathing heavily.
"Well?" he shrugged, "You think that will work?"
Enzo tilted his head at him, and then laughed, "I think it just might.
Back in the Gorilla, the two weren't surprised to see Dean and Roman standing there, waiting. They were all quite aware that they had quite an audience, with the entire backstage crew staring at them. A long silence followed, until Enzo nudged Seth so hard he almost fell forward.
He cleared his throat, "I... I'm sorry." he said softly, looking up from Dean to Roman. He didn't know what else to say, so he just sighed again, "I'm sorry."
The silence that followed was long. And awkward. And it didn't look like it was about to end, until Roman nudged Dean so hard that he almost fell forward.
Dean cleared his throat, "I uh... I was on my way to Kurt's office. I don't know if... if you wanna come."
Seth's eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth several times. When nothing came out, he opted for vicourous nodding.
Dean nodded once and then turned around. Seth followed after him, leaving behind a smiling Roman, and a grinning Enzo.
"I can't believe that actually worked," He said, as he and Roman followed slowly after them.
Roman smiled, looking at him, "Are you okay? That was a pretty tough match."
"Are you kidding? I'm great." Enzo grinned
Roman still hadn't stopped smiling at him. It was a wonder he hadnt bumped into a wall.
"You have no idea what you just did, do you?"
Enzo blinked up at him, "What do you mean?"
Roman stopped walking, causing Enzo to stop with him. He raised his eyebrows at the look on Roman's face.
"What?"
Roman's smile grew, and he didn't say anything, just grabbed Enzo by the shoulders and pulled him close.
"I..."
"Enzo," he said into his hair, "you have no idea what you just did, do you?" he said again.
Something told Enzo that Roman wasn't going to tell him either way, he didn't mind much. Becasue Roman had his arms wrapped around him, and he was smiling into his hair.
Enzo closed his eyes against Roman's shoulder, and let his own arms wrap around Roman. As he smiled into his chest, he thought about his conversation with Corey earlier.
Why would he torture himself like this? For people who would never want him?
Becasue of this right here.
Just this. A simple hug in the hallway while Roman smiled into his hair and held him this tightly.
Enzo knew that Roman wouldn't ever actually hug him the way he really wanted him to, but this... this right now... it was gonna have to be enough.