Chapter 36

Dean took his seat on the fourth bleacher from the field on Friday night. Seth told him that he couldn't sit all the way to the top like he usually did because he did not want to waste time looking for him in the crowd.

The stands were packed as Dean was between two girls who looked vaguely familiar so he assumed that they went to school with him. He was wearing Seth's jacket on his back and he held Roman's in his hands.

A crisp spring breeze eased over his face as the lights came on and their marching band came out. He spotted Xavier playing his trombone with great enthusiasm and he chuckled when his friend did a little dance while the rest of the band kept on marching.

The marching band passed, the national anthem was sung and now came the football teams. The visiting team came out first to be greeted with loud boos over powering the cheers from their cheerleaders. Next came the Titans who came out to a thunderous hometown cheer. This was it. The final game between them and the state finals. Dean stood up along with everyone else and vigorously waved Roman's jacket up and down. However it was Seth who noticed him first and he didn't look pleased. Roman however was grinning from ear to ear as he clapped Seth on the back before huddling around the coach with the rest of their team.

The game began and Dean got bored soon after. He just could not muster up any enthusiasm for the game of football in general. He occupied himself with a game on his cellphone for the next ninety minutes, wishing that he had brought his tablet along so that he could have watched some anime.

At half time, the game was tight with a score of sixteen to fifteen in favour of the visitors. Dean wasn't too concerned. He was certain that the Titans could bring home the victory. He noticed Randy making a show of kissing Nikki on the field before exiting. Nikki of course preening with the other cheerleaders afterwards over it.

Dean was surprised when he received a text from Seth. He laughed when he read it. He wanted Dean to switch jackets. To put on Roman's and wave his instead. Dean figured because no one on the field could see Seth's jacket and in Seth's mind that was unacceptable.

As he stood up to switch the jackets, the girl sitting to his right asked him a question. " How come you have both Reigns' and Rollins' jackets?"

Dean shrugged as he pushed his arms into Roman's jacket. " They gave them to me."

" But why?" The girl seemed genuinely confused.

" Because ..." Dean didn't know how to finish the sentence. Should he tell some random girl that he's dating both of them which would of course lead to even more questions that weren't any of her business?

" Because of what?" The girl leaned towards him earnestly.

But Dean pulled away. " Just because." He answered dismissively.

" Weird." She pulled away and rolled her eyes.

Dean made sure to wave Seth's jacket hard when the Titans returned to the field. The smiled that beamed off of Seth's face made him smile as well. A fact that he thought about as he sat back down. He had fallen in love with Seth. It wasn't a thought that he readily accepted but somehow the brat had wormed his way underneath his skin. He had been more open to accepting his love for Roman before Seth had broken them up but now with Seth, he was cautious. The crowd roared around him but Dean's mind was a million miles away. How could he be in love with two persons? All of the love songs that he had ever heard said that there was only one true love, so maybe he was wrong about this whole thing. Maybe he just loved one of them and liked the other a whole lot.

He pondered these thoughts so deeply that he was startled when the girl next to him shook him.

" Why aren't you celebrating?" She asked excitedly. She took in the confused expression on Dean's face. " Your boys are going to the state finals!"

His boys? His boys. The sentence seemed weird yet fitting. Seth and Roman were his boys. He had a claim to them. This made him smile but then his brain finally caught up to the last part of her sentence. State finals? They won?

Dean stood up to see the scoreboard. The Titans had won by ten points. The marching band and the cheerleaders were on the field dancing and celebrating. The team was surrounded by parents and girlfriends. He spotted Seth hugging Roman but he felt weird going down there. He wasn't much for public display of affection. Yet another reason why he held back was because he wanted to go home and just sort everything out in his head. He felt completely overwhelmed by the noise around him and wanted to escape all of the commotion.

He made his way from the bleachers to the carpark. He knew that both Seth and Roman would want to see him afterwards but he just could not face them right now. He dugged his phone out of his pocket and slung Seth's jacket over his right shoulder as he made his way home. He sent the same text message to both of them. He apologized for leaving but he claimed to have a headache from all of the noise and he wanted to get home as soon as possible. He put the phone back into his jeans' pocket as he walked along the quiet street. The overwhelming sensation was quickly dissipating the further he got from the football field.

He had made the right choice. He needed to be alone with his thoughts and feelings. He turned a corner and was finally walking down his street. He had to figure out who he was in love with. Seth or Roman.

" Hi."

Dean grinned when Xavier nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of his voice.

" Jesus! Dean. You're here. At my house." Xavier seemed bewildered as he looked around in the darkness.

" Yeah the shoe's on the other foot for a change." He was sitting on the top step of Xavier's porch as his friend sat next to him.

" So what brings you by?" Xavier placed his trombone case on his lap. " I thought that you would be out celebrating with Seth."

" Yeah about that …" Dean trailed off. He had received responses from both Roman and Seth. Roman had asked if he needed anything while he could feel Seth pouting through the screen because he was being deprived of victory sex.

" Did something else happen between you two?" Xavier prodded.

Dean sighed heavily. " Um kinda. Jeez this is going to sound really weird but do you remember when I was going out with Roman?"

" Yeah." Xavier said slowly.

" Well we're still seeing each other." Dean carefully observed his friend to guage his response but he just looked confused.

" So you're no longer seeing Seth?"

" Actually I am."

Xavier's face was completely scrunched up trying to understand. " So you're cheating on Seth with Roman? Are you and Seth actually a thing?"

" They know about each other." Dean continued slowly. " We're kinda doing this thing where all three of us are together."

" Wait … what? Can you do that?" Xavier slowly began to wrap his head around the concept.

" Well we're doing it." Dean confirmed.

" And all three of you agreed to this?"

Dean nodded.

" Okay. So what exactly is the problem?"

" Well for starters no one at school knows that Roman likes guys well besides Seth, me and you. I mean everyone accepted Randy dating Seth because Randy is a known slut and a hole is a hole to him but …" Dean had spoken about Randy so nonchalantly that Xavier started laughing.

" A known slut." Xavier repeated as he laughed so hard that his hand hit the trombone case. " I mean it's true but still." He laughed some more. " You have a way with words my friend."

" Anyways, I don't really care what people say about me but I don't want to mess things up for him you know."

Xavier sobered up quickly. " Reigns is a good dude but I think people maybe on to you guys."

Dean furrowed his brow. " How?"

" Well you were waving his jacket when the team came out and normally only girlfriends do that."

Dean groaned. " I didn't think about that."

" Plus Big E, Kofi, Daniel and Owens had already figured out that Reigns liked you."

" What?" It was Dean's turn to be surprised. " How did they know? Especially Daniel and Owens."

" Well," Xavier started listing on his fingers. " Reigns starts to spend every lunch time with you. Seth gets upset. Everyone knows that Seth had a thing for Reigns well except Reigns because he's oblivious to that kind of stuff. Seth starts treating Randy like trash. Then of course Seth gets you suspended. Roman stops speaking to Seth." Xavier exhaled loudly as if he was exhausted. " As Kevin said, it was a damn soap opera."

Dean's mind was completely blown. They certainly weren't as discreet as he thought they were.

" Fuck."

Xavier grinned. " Honestly if it makes you feel any better, the hard part isn't you being with Roman, it's you being with Seth. I mean he got you suspended. Even after the picture came out, people still don't get it. Was it like sexual frustration between you two or something?" Xavier raised his hand and shook his head. " Scratch that. I don't want to know."

He noticed that Dean was still pensive. " Hey. Look on the bright side, high school is over in a couple of months. You don't have to care for much longer anyway."

" That's true."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. " There's something else bothering you isn't it?"

Dean cracked his knuckles to calm his nerves. " I was thinking that people say that you can't truly be in love with two persons so it's like am I fooling myself here? Like is it really Roman that I want or is it Seth or is it that I just like having both of them around ."

" I think," Xavier stood up and picked up his case, " that people say a lot of things because it's true for them. It doesn't mean that it has to be true for you." He yawned. " Dean buddy, I'm gonna call it a night. You're more than welcomed to stay out here if you like."

" Nah it's fine." Dean stood up clutching Seth's jacket tightly. " It's about time I get home as well. Thanks man. Appreciate the talk."

" Any time."

Xavier went into his house as Dean made his way next door to his house.

He unlocked the front door and made his way up to his bedroom. He dropped Seth's jacket on the bed and then he took Roman's off and placed it next to it. Side by side. Roman and Seth. He couldn't choose between them. Maybe Xavier was right. He didn't have to choose. He could love both of them.

As he got ready for bed, he wondered if Seth and Roman felt the same way about him or if he had fallen just a little bit too quickly.

A/N: Drag me, I deserve it. Go on, I know y'all want to. I have no good excuse for leaving this story so long. I mean I could come up with some but really I won't play you guys like that. So I'm sorry for taking so long but I promise that this story will be completed.