Roman woke up with a smile on his face. Eden's scent was still present in the bedroom despite her not being in the bed anymore. He got up, put on a pair of fresh briefs and went to the bathroom. He quickly peed and brushed his teeth before looking for her.

He found her fully dressed in the kitchen with her laptop and a cup of coffee. He looked over her shoulder to see that she was working on her comic. She was so caught up in her work that she hadn't heard him. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She jumped startled and he chuckled.

"Sorry," he said. "Getting an early start, I see. It looks good. You're very talented."
"Thank you. Yeah, I figured it's best to get back to work. I've lost a couple of days with all this mess going on. I still have a deadline," she said.

He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her thigh. She sighed, took his hand and gently moved it away.

"Let's not make a bad habit out of it," she said.
"Out of what?" He asked.
"What happened last night," she said.
"I wasn't aware sex was bad," he smirked. "I can be very bad if you want me to. I still have to punish you, right?"

He was expecting her to blush again but she looked sad. It wasn't what he had hoped to see this morning.

"I'm sorry, Roman. I had no right taking advantage of you like I did. I got caught up in the moment. It's a shitty excuse, but it is what it is," she said.

His heart hurt but he refused to show her. There had been no promise of anything. He was a fool for thinking she had needed anything else but a rebound. He put on his best, fake smile to make her believe he agreed with her.

"You're right," he said. "But just to be fair, it was really good. You can't blame me for trying to get a bit more. I get it though. It would be stupid of us to become friends with benefits. It won't really benefit any of us in the long run anyway."

She sighed in relief and smiled back at him.

"I knew you would understand. We shouldn't fuck up our friendship. God, I was so scared you would kick me out today," she said.
"Never," he said. "You can stay as long as you want."
"Thank you. You're the best friend I could have hoped for," she said.

He kept the smile on his face as he stood up to fix himself some breakfast. As soon as he turned his back on her, his smile faded. He didn't blame her for not wanting to start up a new relationship after just having left Seth. Just because she stopped loving Seth a while back didn't mean she was ready to love someone new. She didn't share his feelings. She didn't even know how he felt about her, and he sure wasn't going to tell her now.

"I'm adding you to the comic," she said.
"Huh?" He asked.

He turned around and looked at her. She turned her laptop and showed him a sketch of a smiling rottweiler with a vest.

"Roman, meet Ronan. The friendly rottweiler who's moving into the neighborhood in the next chapter," she said.
"Ronan?" He laughed.
"Yeah well, I took the name closest to yours. It was either that or Ramon," she said.
"Ronan's great," he held up both thumbs. "So you're immortalizing me through a comic. That's fucking cool actually. Thank you."
"Don't forget to subscribe," she said.
"I subscribed the day I met you," he said.
"You did?" She asked.

She looked genuinely surprised to hear that. He had never told her. He wasn't even sure Seth knew. Dean knew but only because he had caught Roman reading the comic one day. Roman had played it off by saying that he really enjoyed her work. That wasn't a lie though. He had subscribed to support her, but he really did enjoy her work. She was talented and funny. She kept a perfect balance of humor and depth in her storylines.

"I won't keep you. You gotta work," he grabbed his bowl of cereal. "I'm leaving soon anyway. I would like for you to stay here and not go on the road with me. It's not safe with how angry Seth is."
"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on going. I need to go shopping anyway. I need clothes since everything I got is back at Seth's place, and I won't be going back there," she said.
"Good," he smiled. "Now I'll leave you to it."


Roman had been moody and quiet on the car ride. Dean had tried with his usual flow of words, but Roman hadn't answered the way he used to. Something was up. Dean parked the car in the parking lot outside of the hotel and looked at Roman. Roman turned his head to look back, and Dean flashed a toothy smile.

"You fucked her, didn't you?" Dean asked.

Roman knew he should say no but not a word left him. That was the only answer Dean needed. His smile grew even bigger.

"Yeah, I thought this would happen at one point. Not this fast though. Good on you for finally nailing her," Dean said.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Roman asked.
"You and Eden," Dean said. "I always knew this would happen one day. You might be able to hide it from everyone else, including her and Seth, but I always knew. I knew since the day you acted as if I had caught you masturbating when you were reading the comic."
"I like her comic," Roman defended himself.
"I'm sure you do," Dean smirked. "But you like her too. Way more than you like her comic. And not just like her, Roman. You're in love with her. And I get why you never told anyone. There was kinda the small issue of Seth fucking Rollins."

Dean grinned at Roman but Roman only looked angry.

"Seth's not an issue anymore. Well, he is, but not when it comes to Eden. She's all yours, brother," Dean said.
"We agreed that it was a one time thing. It was a mistake that wasn't supposed to happen. It'll never happen again," Roman said.
"You agreed?" Dean raised his eyebrows. "Or she agreed?"
"Shut up!" Roman growled. "You're not telling anyone, you got that?"
"Your secret's safe with me," Dean said.

Dean kept quiet while they checked in. Once they located their room for the night, Roman opened his suitcase and quickly changed to some workout clothes.

"I'm gonna check out the gym," Roman said.
"Have fun," Dean said.

As soon as Roman was out of the door, Dean took out his phone and called Eden.

"Hello?" She asked.
"So who's better in bed? Roman or Seth?" He asked.

She went quiet on her end. That didn't stop him though.

"My money's on Roman, but I'm not sure if you're ready to give that answer. You only fucked him once where you must have fucked Seth about thousand times," he said.
"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked.
"No, why are you doing this to him?" He asked.
"I'm not doing anything. We made a mistake. I didn't think he would tell you about it," she said.
"He didn't. I guessed it from the way he was acting. I know Roman better than anyone. Better than Seth ever did. Hopefully one day you'll know him better than I do, but not if you continue down this path you've chosen," he said.
"What path?" She asked.

He chuckled on his end. She didn't understand anything.

"You're so god damn blind," he said. "Do you even have feelings for him?"
"We're friends," she said.
"But do you have feelings for him?" He asked.
"How is this any of your business?" She asked.
"So yes," he smirked. "Oh, Eden. Sweet, little, naive Eden. I wish Seth had never gotten his filthy paws on you to begin with but I can't change the past. I can only hope for a better future for you. I hope you wake up one day soon. Go take a long, hard look in the mirror and see what I see."
"What do you see?" She asked lowly.
"Fear on the outside," he said. "Push past that fear and find what's on the inside. I'm not gonna tell you how you feel. You need to accept that on your own."

He sighed on his end. He had no right getting involved in anything going on between Roman and Eden, but it was too late to back down now.

"This is not me being hard on you. This is me trying to help you. I want to see you happy, and I want to see Roman happy. You both fucking matter to me. Probably more than I've ever told you. I don't blame you for anything Seth did. I know I lashed out because I was angry but I know you had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry, alright? Don't push Roman away because you're scared of how I might react. I love you both, alright? I love you like a friend. Now wake the fuck up, sunshine, before you lose the one thing you fucking deserve to have in your life," he said.

He hung up and fell back on the bed. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Seth had done a number on her, and she was currently lost. That was clear as daylight. It was also clear that she struggled with her feelings for Roman, and had done so for a very long time. Just as Dean had been able to see how Roman truly felt, he had also been able to see how Eden felt. He knew it long before she knew it. Seth had been in the way and blurred her vision, but whenever she thought no one was watching, Dean had been watching. He had seen how she looked at Roman. He had seen what no one else saw. He could only hope she would come around soon enough and accept that she was in love with Roman.