Sheamus gritted his teeth when he saw Dolph talk to Papaya after the PPV. He had to take a deep breath to get his emotions under control. They were just talking. It didn't have to mean anything. He walked over to them and forced a smile.
"Ready to go?" Sheamus asked.
"Yes," Papaya smiled. "Bye, Dolph. It was nice meeting you."
"You too," Dolph said.
Sheamus turned to walk out of the building.
"I'll call you soon and we can arrange something," Dolph said.
"Sounds good," Papaya said.
It took everything in Sheamus not to turn back around and plant his fist in Dolph's nose. No matter how much it angered him to hear they were planning to meet up, Dolph didn't deserve his anger. Dolph had no idea how Sheamus felt about Papaya. She didn't even know.
"Let's go, rooster," Papaya said.
She took Sheamus' hand. He kept his face forward and walked out of the arena without looking at her or anyone else. Of course she caught on right away that something was wrong. She voiced it as soon as they were inside his car.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing," he answered.
"Don't give me that crap. I know you better than anyone. Something is wrong. Did you hurt yourself during your match? Do I need to run back in and get a doctor?" She asked.
"Nothing is wrong!" He said a bit angrily. "I'm just tired and in a crappy mood tonight. Forget about it. I need to sleep."
He started the engine and turned up the volume of the music so they couldn't speak on the short car ride to the hotel. She stared at him the entire ride. He felt her eyes on him constantly but he kept his eyes on the road. None of them spoke until they finally closed the door to the hotel room behind them.
"Okay, enough of that," she crossed her arms. "Talk to me."
"I wanna sleep," he said.
"At least look at me if you're gonna lie to me. Make me believe you somehow," she said.
He moved his eyes to hers. He wanted to lie again but he couldn't. Everything inside him was about to break. As long as she had been dating people he didn't know the faces or names of, he could pretend they didn't exist. It was getting too close now. Drew was right. One day he was going to lose her to someone else.
"Don't go out with Dolph," he pleaded. "Please. I'm begging you. Don't go out with him."
"Shit, is he an asshole?" She asked.
"No, it's not that," he said.
"Then why not?" She asked.
He sat down on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked up at her and could see she was trying to keep her smile down by the sight of his ruffled hair. Even in this moment where he felt like dying inside, she found amusement in his hair. She always had a thing for his hair and he never could understand why.
"If I go back to the rooster look, will you go out with me?" He asked.
"What?" She asked.
"I love you, Papaya. I'm fucking in love with you," he said.
Her face dropped and he felt his heart tighten in his chest. He was sure she was about to let him down. She walked over to him and gently grabbed his face. She leaned down so they were in eye level.
"Don't ever change your appearance for me. I don't give a fuck how you look as long as I have you in my life. I was joking about the rooster thing. And I do watch you on tv, Sheamus. Every week. I lie because I don't want you to see how I truly feel. Because it will fucking kill me inside if you don't love me the way I love you, but you just said that you do," she said. "Why the fuck do you think I chose to move across the ocean too? Even if I couldn't have you, I still wanted to be near you. I love you."
She pressed her lips against his. It took a second before he realized what was actually happening. He deepened the kiss, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to straddle him. She broke the kiss and giggled nervously.
"So..." She started.
"No dating Dolph!" He grinned. "Just putting that rule out there right away."
She let out a heartfelt laughter that made him laugh too.
"Deal," she said.
He kissed her again and moved his lips down her chin and down to her throat.
"I've been in love with you for so long," he said.
"Me too," she said.
"I remember the day I realized that my feelings had changed. You were standing under this big tree in a park back in Ireland. All the green leaves dancing in the wind around you. I watched you jump up to try and reach a branch to see if you could somehow climb the tree. You ended up facing defeat and I had to help you up in the tree," he said.
"I remember that day too," she leaned out and smiled at him. "I sat on that branch looking down at you, and you gave me this big, beautiful smile. I remember thinking that if only I could make you smile like that everyday, my life would be the way I wanted it. I think that was the day I realized it too. That my feelings run so much deeper than friendship."
He placed his hands on her cheeks, stroked them with his thumbs and smiled at her.
"We wasted so much time," he said.
"No, we had to wait for the right time," she said. "Tonight is apparently that."
"So what happens next?" He smirked.
"What do you think, rooster?" She laughed.
"Right!" He laughed too. "Double spanking."
"Oh fuck!" She said.
"That too," he said.
He grabbed her hips, swung her around and dropped her on her back on the bed. He was fast between her legs, grinding his crotch against hers. He kissed her again and let his hands roam her body in a new, experimenting way.
"I love you, precious," he whispered between kisses. "I have always bloody loved you."
"I love you too," she whispered back.
"Now with that out of the way," he raised his head and grinned. "I'm gonna give it to you so hard that you can't walk straight tomorrow."