Seth had to be at the arena early that day to make sure everything was all set for that night. He was in the main event for the title against Roman and Dean. It wasn't the Shield reunion everyone was expecting, but it was one that everyone was excited for. While he was getting himself situation Samantha was back at the hotel working on her name-up. She was trying to cover up the red marks that were still visible. Clothing wise she had a much more casual and comfortable look tonight with a pair of jeans, a Seth Rollins shirt, and sneakers. Once she felt like she was ready enough she found someone to get a ride to the arena with.
"Hey girl! What happened to you last night?" Renee asked once Samantha got there.
"Sorry, I was worn out. I went back to the hotel to go to sleep." Samantha lied.
"Seth was pissed."
"He knew where I was. He was probably just too drunk and forgot. Or didn't listen to me in the first place." Samantha said trying ti play the situation off.
"That sounds about right. Dean doesn't listen to half the things I say." Renee agreed.
"Have you seen him around anywhere? I wanted to wish him luck."
"Last I saw he was back there by the entrance ramp." Renee pointed. "I gotta get going too. I need to get ready for tonight. I'll see you later! And hey, with any luck, maybe one of us will be going home with a champion!" She winked
Samantha made her way to where Renee said she last saw Seth. He was still there, talking with Roman, discussing the match for later.
"Hey Sam." Roman greeted as she walked up to them.
"Hey Roman. How are you?" Samantha said back.
She didn't really see Roman all that much. Not that she had any problems with him. He was just more of a family man spending his free time with his wife and daughter. And unlike Dean's wife, she wasn't on the road with them. She stayed at their home working and taking care of their daughter So she just didn't spend as much time with him as she did with some others.
"I'm doing well. How about yourself?"
"Good. I just wanted to come by and wish this guy some luck tonight. And to remind you all to be careful." She said.
"That was nice of you." Roman smiled.
"I try. How are you feeling?" She asked Seth.
"Surprisingly good. Adrenaline is kicking in and taking care of everything." He answered.
"Good. I'm glad. I don't want to take up too much of your time and get in the way. I know you two are in the middle of something."
"Thanks babe. I'll see you after the show." Seth said as e gave her a big hug.
"Just please remember to be careful. All of you." Samantha said before she left.
"Yes mom." Roman joked.
Samantha left them so they could finished preparing and was going to lay low in Seth's locker room before she was able to go take her seat in the audience. She didn't want to end up being in the way of anyone getting ready for the big show. She was on her way there when she ran into Finn.
"Hey!" He said meeting her. "I'm glad I caught you. I got some good news for you."
"Oh yeah?"
"It looks like your seat is right next to my mom's tonight. So you'll get to meet her after all."
"Awesome! I can't wait! I hope she has a bunch of embarrassing pictures of you." Samantha smiled.
"'m sure she does. I think that's standard when you become a mom."
"Balor! There you are! I've been looking for you." Samantha and Finn both looked up to see Baron Corbin walking over to them. "We need to meet up with Elias and make sure we got our spot set up."
"Yeah sure. I'll be there in a minute." Finn replied.
"Who's this? You finally get a girlfriend?" Baron teased.
"No, no. This is Samantha. She's Seth's girlfriend." Finn corrected.
"Oh. I've heard about you. Nice finally meeting you." Baron said extending out his hand.
"Nice to meet you. And that's always a terrifying statement." She replied shaking his hand.
Baron chuckled. "Don't worry. Nothing bad. "We really do need to go make sure we have everything squared away for later though."
"Of course. Finn you go, I'll talk with you later." Samantha pushed.
"Thanks for understanding." Baron said to her.
She gave him a friendly smile. "Go do what you need to do."
After that, it didn't take them very long to find Elias as he wandered over to them.
"Guys. I can't find my bag!" He said sounding very upset.
"Okay." Baron stated.
"Not okay. He has all my bandannas and scarves and guitar picks and stuff in it."
"Really? That's what you're worried about right now?" Baron questioned.
"Yes. It has everything I need for my outfit tonight!" Elias answered.
"Elias calm down. Where do you last remember having it? Did you bring it to the arena with you, or did you maybe leave it at the hotel?" Finn asked trying to help out.
"I remember bringing it here and putting it in the locker room with the guitar." He answered.
Samantha reached into her back pocket and pulled out the bandanna she had in there. She usually carried around hair accessories for when her hair started to annoy her. It being outdoors, she figured at some point she'd need to get it out of her face. She held it out towards Elias.
"You can use this one if you want." She offered.
She took him by surprise. He was so worked up he hadn't even seen her standing there.
"That way you'll at least have this one. And I'm sure you can find some stuff around here if you ask around and scrape something together."
"Thanks.."He said trailing off.
"Sam." She finished.
"Seth's girlfriend." Baron added.
"Ah. Well thank you Sam." Elias said taking the bandanna.
"You're welcome. I'll let you guys talk. It was nice meeting you."
She found her seat out in the crowd and spent most of the night talking with Finn's mom. She was actually having a really nice time. She was telling his mom about all the late night calls her son would be a part of when he and Seth traveled together. She told him how nice Finn always was. He had a playful charm about him. She sort of looked him as like a big brother type of friend.
They both cheered him on during his match that night. At one point the referee was checking on Finn and Elias slid into the ring smashing his guitar over Baron's head causing pieces to fly everywhere. That caused Finn to pick up the win and take his career off into a new direction. They both jumped to their feet screaming for him.
For Seth's match Samantha was on the edge of her seat. She couldn't help but worry. Sure they were all professionals and wouldn't purposely put anyone in danger, but with the excitement of everything things happen. They all wanted to put on the best show possible. This was Seth's life. He worked for it since a very young ge. He put a lot of pressure on himself and she knew he would do anything to give the audience the best show he could, even if it meant sacrificing himself. It felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. Pretty soon it was so loud it started drowning out all of the fans screaming around her until that was the only thing she could hear. Finally, the referee had counted to three, the bell had rung, and it was over. She wasn't sure how long she had been holding her breath. She wasn't even aware she was until she finally exhaled.
"The winner, and NEW WWE champion, Seth Rollins!"
The crowd roared as fireworks shot off into the sky. He stood up on the ropes holding the belt into the air. Roman was still knocked down in the middle of the ring and Dean was on the outside pounding his first into the floor. Once again Seth was on top of the WWE.
A short while later she found herself mixed in with the excitement of the backstage area. Everyone was celebrating, proud of the show they had all put on. She found Seth surrounded by his co-workers congratulating him. He looked over and saw her standing silently in the crowd around him and motioned for her to come over to him. She walked over and he grabbed her pulling her into a tight hug
"I'm so proud of you." She said looking up at him. "I know how hard you've worked for this."
He kissed her on the top of the head. Thanks babe. I have this, I have you, I have everything I need."
He held the belt up with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist pulling her into a passionate kiss. That was a picture that was taken and put up on social media in a matter of seconds.
"What do you say when I'm done here we go back to the hotel and celebrate?" Seth whispered to her.
"Whatever you want champ." She replied with a smile.
Seth left to go have some promotional pictures taken and to get some after match interviews done. After that he showered real quick and got changed. Samantha waited for him in his locker room. While she sat there alone, she couldn't help but to think back on the day they met.
"It's nice to be able to talk to someone." Seth said as he sat across from Samantha at a diner.
"I would think you do a lot of talking with all the people you meet." Samantha said as she ate a french fry.
He thought for a moment. "I do, I guess. But I don't always get to converse. It's always 'I'm such a big fan' or 'what's your favorite match' or 'tell us about your work out routine'. It's all part of the job, I get it. I don't mind it. It just gets lonely sometimes." He explained. "It's nice to come across someone who's down to earth and just wants to talk. Especially a female."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Most times when I meet a woman, its either a mom who brought her son and doesn't want to be there to begin with, or women flaunting themselves saying vulgar things to me."
"Usually men wouldn't be too upset about that." Samantha laughed.
"Don't get me wrong, it's flattering. And every once in a while if I meet a nice attractive girl out on the road we might hook up, when I'm single of course. But it's just the older I get, and the more I see it happening, the more I think, why don't you have more respect for yourself rather than throwing yourself at a complete stranger? Ya know?"
"Wow. You are not who I thought you would be Seth Rollins." Samantha stated.
"See! That's exactly my point! You know my face, you know my name, but you don't know me. Why would you just trust yourself with a complete stranger like that! That make horror movies about that!" Samantha couldn't help but laugh at his response. "Hopefully it's not a bad thing that I'm not what you thought." He added.
"It's not. I'm not going to lie, the fangirl in me almost stopped breathing when you asked me if I wanted to meet you for dinner. But the actual person in me was worried that you were only looking for someone to sleep with and I'm just not that kind of person." She explained.
He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. "Well you are a very beautiful woman, but that wasn't my intention here today. I'm really enjoying our time together and I'd hate to see it end. Actually, I would like to call you sometime, if that's okay."
"I would like that." Samantha smiled.
She felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart fluttered. The realistic person in her again was saying, 'this is the last you're going to hear from him', but she had hope that that was wrong. She never imagined what it would have actually turned in to.
"You ready to go Babe?" Seth asked, snapping her out of her thoughts as he entered the room.
"Yeah." She replied as she stood up.
"What were you thinking about?" He asked as she joined his side.
"Just about the day we met."
"That was one hell of a life changing autograph signing." Seth stated as they walked through the arena.
"I'll say." Samantha added. "Are you still glad I ended up going to the mall that day?"
"Absolutely." He answered as he put his arm around her as they walked.