Summary: You see me dressed as the opposite sex at a party and get confused the next day when you see me not dressed as the opposite sex, but still equally attractive
Inspired by Cinderella. I wanted to put a modern twist on a classic story.
Seth sat at his vanity as he grabbed the curling wand and wrapped a piece of hair around it. A few seconds later, he released the hair and looked at himself in the mirror. "Perfect." Seth said to himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was going to party with his best friend and her boyfriend and he only had about twenty minutes before his friend was suppose to arrive at his apartment.
"Why did I have to feel more like a woman today?" Seth asked himself as he turned off the curling wand and opened up his box of makeup. Seth was gender fluid. He would best describe himself as a dynamic mix of male and female. He doesn't subscribe to typical gender roles and easily flows between being male, female, and other genders on the spectrum. He always feels like a mixture of genders, but some days he feels more female and on others he feels more male. Sometimes, he doesn't know what he feels. Even though he flows between genders and doesn't claim just one, Seth never liked them/they pronouns. He preferred for people to use he/she or use his name when they referred to him. Most just used he but he didn't mind when people used she, especially when his outward appearance was more feminine.
Seth let out a sigh as he started on his makeup, layering concealer and foundation on his clean shaven face. He shaped and arched his eyebrows using a dark brow pen, brow powder, brow gel, angle brush, more concealer, and a brow brush. Since his eye brows naturally sat low, he had the painstaking task of not only arching them, but making his eye brows appear to be higher up on his face.
After he was finished with that, he moved to his eyes. In order to feminize his eyes, he needed to create the illusion of larger, more open-looking eyes. He applied white eyeliner to his bottom lid, a light peachy colored eye shadow on his eyelids before applying a silver eye shadow on his upper brow line. He put the same silver eye shadow near his tear ducts and then blended out any harsh lines. He then lined his eyes with a thin line of black eyeliner and finally put on mascara.
He then began to contour his face, making his forehead appear smaller, narrow, smooth, and vertical. He made his nose seem shorter and narrow and made the bridge of his nose appear more concave when you looked at his profile. He made his cheekbones more prominent, fuller, and rounder then moved to his lips. He softened his jawline and made his chin appear more feminine. Unfortunately Seth had thin lips, so it took him a while to make his lips appear full and pouty, like something out of a Playboy magazine. He then put on red lipstick and looked at the finish product. He looked just like a girl. No one would be able to tell that he was born a man.
"Shit." Seth swore as he looked at the clock. He only had a few minutes to get dressed. "I hope she's late." Seth said to himself as he hopped up from the vanity and went to his closet. He threw the doors open and grabbed a pair of bright red skinny jeans that matched his lipstick, a white off one shoulder top that would fit loosely on his body, and white peep toe sling back heels with spikes on the shoes and bow on top of the heel. He quickly dressed in all of his clothes, careful not to mess up his hair and make up, before grabbing his ID, money, and keys and slipping them into his pocket. He decided not carry a purse because he didn't know how this night would end up.
As he put on his big hoop silver earrings, he heard a knock at his door. "Right on time." Seth huffed as he finished securing his earrings. He grabbed his perfume and sprayed some on himself before picking up his cellphone and walking out of his bedroom and over to the front door. He threw the door opened and smiled at his best friend and her boyfriend.
"Very nice, Rollins." Lana's Russian accent drawled out as she looked at Seth.
"Thanks." Seth said and then let out a small chuckle when he heard his voice. It always surprised him how his voice would naturally move from his hoarse, deep male voice to a softer, slightly higher feminine voice whenever he was dressed in a female way. He never purposely tried to change his voice, it was just something that always happened.
"Now move, I need ice for my cup." Lana said, shaking a red solo cup in front of Seth's eyes before moving pass him into the apartment.
"You're already drinking?" Seth asked.
"Of course!" Lana yelled back as she disappeared into the kitchen. Seth laughed as he stepped aside to let Dolph in the house. Dolph and Lana started dating a year and a half ago and Seth couldn't be more happy for his best friend. Before Dolph, she was in an abusive relationship with a man named Alexander Rusev. Seth helped Lana break free of Rusev and two years later, Dolph walked into Lana's life.
It was also a plus that Dolph was more than okay with Seth being gender fluid. Rusev hated Seth because of that and he later found out he took his hatred for Seth's queer identity out on Lana. Seth felt bad for making Lana go through that pain, but Lana always told him not to worry about it. Lana did however promise that the next boyfriend would have to be okay with Seth being gender fluid or she would not date them, because she wasn't about to give up her best friend for a man.
"What's up Seth?" Dolph greeted and hugged Seth. Seth returned the hug before pulling back.
"Hey…" Seth trailed off and then pointed in the direction of the kitchen. "How much has she had to drink?"
"This is the first drink." Dolph answered.
"Really?" Seth questioned in disbelief. "She seems buzzed already."
"Hey!" Lana yelled as she came around the corner. "I hear you two talking about me and I do not appreciate it."
"Whatever, lets go." Seth said and ushered the couple out the door before coming out and locking up behind them.
The trio of friends talked and laugh as they made their way out of Seth's apartment building and down to Dolph's car. They entered the car and Dolph drove them over to the house party. The guy that was hosting the party was one of Dolph's childhood friends. It was the guy's thirtieth birthday and he wanted to have an epic house party to celebrate. Dolph told them there was going to be a bunch of people at the party and there would be free food, cake, and alcohol. Seth perked up when Dolph said free food and cake. Seth liked to describe himself as a foodie, so he always jumped at the chance to eat especially when the food was free.
When Dolph pulled up, the party was already in full swing. They had to park down the block from the house and they could hear the music blasting through the speakers as the walked closer to the house.
"Wow…" Seth said as they walked up to the white bricked mansion. "This is your friend's house?" Seth asked as they walked up the circle driveway to the front door.
"Yep, he bought this place a while ago." Dolph said and then opened the door for Seth and Lana. "After you." Dolph said and allowed Lana and Seth to enter the residence before he entered. Seth stopped in front of the door and looked at the house. He couldn't really examine it because of all the people and decorations, but he could tell the house was beautiful.
"Come on, lets find him!" Dolph yelled over the music and the trio moved through the sea of bodies dancing. As they made it across the room, Dolph laid eyes on his friend. "Roman!" Dolph yelled and Roman turned around to face them.
Seth could feel himself become breathless when he looked at the man Dolph called Roman. The man standing directly in front of him was gorgeous beyond belief. The tall, muscular, brown-skinned man had all of Seth attention as he embraced Dolph and they shared a laugh.
"Thanks for coming, man." Roman said as he pulled back from his embrace with Roman.
"No probably, Happy birthday." Dolph said and then turned to Lana. "You remember Lana?" Dolph asked and Roman nodded.
"Of course, how are you?" Roman asked as he hugged Lana.
"Good, happy birthday." Lana said and smiled at Roman. Roman looked over Lana's shoulder as he pulled back from the hug and saw Seth. Roman couldn't tell at all that Seth was born a man, so he automatically assumed that Seth was one hundred percent female.
Roman licked his lips as he looked at her. He loved the way the red skinny jeans hugged her hips tight and showed off her perky behind. The off the shoulder shirt signaled to Roman that girl might be a tease and that made a smirk form on his face. He always liked a challenge. "Who is this?" Roman asked as he moved passed Lana to stand in front of her. Roman took her hand and kissed it.
Seth couldn't hold back the giggle that came out of his mouth with Roman kissed his hand. He couldn't believe this man was making him act like this. He was normally in total control of his body, but right now Roman was in control.
Lana smirked at the interaction between Roman and Seth before looking up at her boyfriend. "Come on." She said to him and started to pull them away, giving the two some alone time.
"Going to get a drink." Dolph called out as Lana pulled him away.
"Happy Birthday Roman." Seth said as Roman lowered his hand, but didn't let it go. "How does it feel to be thirty?" Seth asked.
"It feels much better now that you're here." Roman said and Seth chuckled.
"Oh Roman…" Seth trailed off as he continued to chuckle at Roman's line and Roman smiled at her. He loved the way she said his name and Roman thought her laugh was cute. He wanted to hear her laugh more so he kept making small talk and telling jokes.
Seth laughed at Roman's pick up lines and decided to drop his own. Soon it became an unspoken contest of who can drop the corniest pick up lines. Roman clearly won as Seth ran out of pick-up lines.
"Do you know how to salsa dance or ballroom?" Roman asked as Michael Buble's version of Sway started to play.
"No, I can barely dance regularly." Seth answered and Roman smiled.
"Come on, I'll teach you." Roman said before taking Seth's hand and leading her to the dance floor. They made their way to the middle of floor before getting in position. Roman continued to hold on to one of Seth's hands while his other hand on Seth's back. "Place your other hand on the back of my shoulder." Roman directed and Seth did just that.
The duo stared at each other in the eyes as Roman started to move. Seth followed his steps and soon they were dancing and twirling on the floor. Their eyes were only on each other, so they hadn't noticed the people on the dance floor moving to form a circle around them so they could watch the couple and give them enough space to dance.
Roman continued to twirl and dip the girl in his arms as they dance. Roman would pull her close and look into those sexy eyes with the same amount of ferocity that she showed him. He couldn't get enough of this girl.
As the song came to an end, Roman picked the girl up and spun her around before slowly putting her dance. The two finally looked away from one another when they heard the party goers clap and yell for them. Seth blushed as he realized people had been watching them.
"You're really good. Are you sure you can't dance?" Roman jokingly asked and Seth nodded.
"I'm sure. You're just a great teacher." Seth flirted and it was Roman's turn to blush.
"Come on." Roman said and took Seth's hand and pulled him through the crowd. The duo soon found themselves in the empty kitchen. Roman made them a drink while Seth sat down at the island and started to eat some of the food from the large aluminum pans.
Roman brought the drinks over the duo started to talk and learn more about one another. Seth learned that Roman owned the Roman Empire Incorporated. It was a diversified company but mostly dealt in telecommunications and energy production. He was fresh out of college when he started the company on a loan he took out at his local bank, now the company was global. Seth also learned that Roman was single and looking for someone to spend his time with.
Seth revealed to Roman that he was his own boss as well. He owned a small café and bakery in town. Business was really good and he planned to open another one as soon as he found a good location. Seth also mentioned he was single.
"Who would have thought I would have met a girl like you?" Roman said with a smile and Seth bit his lip.
"Well-." Seth started to tell Roman about his gender fluidity when the door to the kitchen burst open and Lana came walking in.
"There you are." Lana said. "Let's go. Dolph has to meet with a client in the morning and he's already stayed out pass his bed time."
"Go?" Seth questioned. "It's not late." Seth explained and Lana chuckled.
"It's two in the morning." Lana answered.
"What?" Seth questioned as he grabbed Roman's hand to look at the watch on Roman's wrist. Seth looked at it and saw that it was a few minutes after two in the morning.
"Time flies when you're having fun." Roman joked and Seth chuckled as he stood up.
"Well, great party…I'll see you around." Seth said and Roman nodded with a stupid smile on his face as Seth left the kitchen. Roman sat there and took a sip of his drink as he thought about calling her tomorrow when he realized he was missing two very important pieces of information.
"Shit, I don't know her name." Roman jumped up. "Or her number." He said to himself as he ran out of the kitchen. He made his way through the crowd of people, trying to find her, but she was gone. "Damn it!" Roman cursed himself. He was so taken by her that he didn't even ask for a name or number. Roman got an idea, he remembered her saying she owned a café bakery. There couldn't be that many café bakeries in the area. He would go to all of them and find her. He would get her number and everything would be fine and move forward. Roman smiled to himself, everything would be just fine.
Seth went to bed that night feeling like a princess and dreaming of Roman. When he woke up, he felt like a prince but he was still thinking of Roman. Seth turned off his alarm and then made his way to the bathroom. As he stripped himself of his clothes and hopped in the shower, he couldn't help but think back to last night. He had such an amazing time with Roman and wanted to see him again, but he left in such a hurry with Lana that he forgot to get his number and he never got the chance to explain his gender identity. Seth tried to stop himself from judging a book by its cover, but Roman didn't seem like the type to date gender queer people. Roman seemed like a cis-male that was only into cis-females. Seth shook his head as he finished up his shower. He should just let this go, there was no was Roman would be into him if he knew the truth.
Seth finished his shower before brushing his teeth and quickly dressing in a loose pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers. He pulled his hair back into a loose ponytail and put his favorite snapback on his head before grabbing his keys and heading out the door. He couldn't spend his time thinking about Roman and dreaming of a relationship that wouldn't happen. He had a café to run.
Roman was very wrong in his assumption. There were a ton of cafés and bakeries in the area. It was going to take him all day to search all of the shops. He hoped he'd get lucky and find the girl in the first few shops, but he had no such luck. After he realized this was going to be harder and more time consuming than he originally thought, he called into the office and told his secretary that he wouldn't be into the office today. He also had his secretary send the rest of the café and bakery addresses to his phone. After he received the addresses, he continued on his mission. He was going to find this girl today. Roman was steadfast in his mission but after going into shop and coming out empty handed, he couldn't help but feel a blow to his confidence. He started to think he'd never find the beautiful girl he shared a dance with on his birthday.
"No, no negative thoughts." Roman said to hype himself up. There were still a few more cafés and bakeries on the list. He was determined to go to them all and find her. The sun began to set as Roman drove all around all night trying to find her. At a few minutes before 10PM, he pulled up in front of the last café bakery on the list. "Rollins Café and Bakery." Roman said and let out a huff. If she wasn't here, then he didn't know where she would be. Roman quickly got out of the car and started toward the door, praying she would be inside.
Seth looked at his watched and saw that it was only three minutes until ten, three minutes until he closed up the café and bakery. Seth continued to wipe down the back counter as he waited for the minutes to tick down. The shop had been very busy today so he never really got the opportunity to think about Roman anymore. Besides, he didn't want to think about him. He didn't want to think about a missed opportunity at a relationship and happiness. He just didn't want to think about it.
Seth turned around to clean off his espresso machine when he heard the bell above the door chime, letting him know a last minute customer had arrived. He heard heavy footsteps walking toward the counter and then they came to a stop. Seth put his towel down before turning to greet his customer.
"Welcome! How may I help…you…" Seth trailed off as he turned around and came face to face with Roman. He couldn't believe he was actually seeing him again. He wondered if Roman even recognized him without the heavy makeup, feminine attire, and soft voice.
Roman watched as the man turned around and was shocked at the sight. That was the girl from the party…but it was a man standing in front of him. He didn't know if he was more shocked that the girl from the party was a guy or the fact that he was still very attracted to her…him. He always considered himself a straight male, he'd only ever been attracted to women but it was something about him that made Roman want to dive right in. He still wanted her…him. "It's you…the girl from the party…" Roman breathed out and Seth sighed.
"We should talk…let me finish locking up." Seth said quickly and Roman nodded before walking over to a table and sitting down. He watched as Seth went over to the door and locked it, flipping the sign over to the 'closed' side. He then watched as Seth returned to his position behind the counter to finish cleaning and make some coffee for the both of them. He found that he couldn't take his eyes off Seth. It was like he was in a trance.
Seth grabbed the coffee cups and walked over to the table. He sat one cup in front of Roman before Seth sat down across from him. He took a sip of his coffee and watched as Roman tried to find the words to ask Seth a question.
"I'm gender fluid." Seth blurted out, not allowing Roman to ask his question.
"Gender fluid?" Roman asked.
"You know how gender falls on a scale…a spectrum?" Seth questioned and Roman nodded. "Well, I kind of just float all over that spectrum. On some days, I fall on the more feminine side of the spectrum. On other days, I fall on the more masculine side and on some days, I don't know where I fall. I just…fall."
Roman nodded as he started to better understand the situation. "How long have you felt like this?"
"Since forever." Seth answered. "I never felt one hundred percent like a boy. I thought I might be transgender, but I didn't feel one hundred percent like a girl either. I mean I know I'm not a girl but I don't really feel like a boy, but I was born male. I really never identified with any gender. Like I said before, I just fall somewhere on the spectrum."
"So…what should I call you?" Roman asked. "I mean what pronouns do I use when I tell people about you?"
"I prefer he or she pronouns. I never liked them/they pronouns." Seth answered. "It also depends on how I look and feel that day but I prefer she or h- wait." Seth stopped himself mid-sentence when the realized what Roman just said. "Tell your friends about me?" Seth asked.
"Yeah…" Roman started and smiled. "If you think I'm keeping you a secret, then you're crazy. I have to show off my lover." Roman winked at Seth and Seth could feel his cheeks heat up.
"You don't care that I'm gender fluid?" Seth asked.
"Surprisingly, no." Roman started and reached out to take Seth's hand. "I just want to be with you…I don't care what your gender is. I will tell you though, I've only ever been with women. I'm totally ignorant to all of the other genders on the spectrum but if you'll tolerate my ignorance, I know I can make you happy." Roman finished and Seth smiled before leaning over the table to place a kiss on Seth's lips. Roman returned the kiss but before it could get heated, Roman started to laugh into the kiss.
"What?" Seth mumbled against Roman's lips. "What's so funny?"
"I just realized…" Roman started and pulled back to cup Seth's cheek and look into his eyes. "I don't know your name."
Seth chuckled before answering. "It's Seth…Seth Rollins."
"Seth Rollins." Roman repeated with a smile on his face. "You want to get out of here?"
Seth nodded. "Lets." Seth said and the couple stood up and walked out of Seth's shop knowing this was the start of a beautiful relationship.
A/N: For anyone who's interested, below I have the links to Seth's party outfit. Remove the spaces and the parentheses around the / when you copy and paste into your search box
Seth's outfit: www . pinterest . com (/) pin / 340232946820433189 /
Seth's Shoes: www . redsolepumps . com (/) bottom-shoes-lady-clou-spiked-slingbacks-white-p-381 . html
Thanks 4 Reading
YoominC16