Disclaimer Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Big Show, and the various other superstars mentioned in this story are the property of the WWE and/or the actors / sports entertainers / superstars that portray them. This story is intended as tribute only and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Original characters are the property of myself, and only children of my own imagination. Any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

The Girl Who Lives
Part Five

As it turned out, Kayla had gone to bed early that night, and left a text message to let him know. He messaged her back wishing her a good morning and letting her know that he loved her. Then he quickly changed into some sweat pants and a sweat shirt. He opened the windows a crack to let in some of the cold night air, because he hated sleeping in a hot room, grabbed a couple bottles of water and went across the hall and knocked.

It was Dean who opened the door and Seth barely made it in the threshold when he was shoving his cell phone into Seth's face to show him the pictures of Neil that Cinnamon had sent him that day. Privately, Seth thought Neil might be the most photographed kid in the world, or second most. Leah might be the most, it was hard to tell. But both of their mothers made sure their children's father's would get the chance to plot their offspring's growth carefully, through the use of pictures. "This is Neil doing his homework. Did I mention he's on the honor role again? High honors!"

This was not news to Seth, it seemed that every day, Dean found a way to tell anyone within earshot that Neil was on the honor role. Yes, it was bragging, but there was a little more to it, too. Dean wasn't stupid by any means, but Dean had never done well with academics. Seth suspected this might be more of a case of no one caring enough to take an interest in Dean's school work as a kid, because he had gotten his GED pretty easily. Still, Dean believed himself to be street smart, but "book dumb," as he sometimes called it. His pride in Neil's easy of studying was not just normal bragging rights, there was a sense of wonderment to it, as if Dean was puzzled but thrilled that his genetics could contribute to producing a child that had talents Dean didn't. Yes, he knew Cinnamon contributed to this, both genetically and environmentally, but that didn't stop Dean from still seeing a bit of a miracle in it. This was probably why neither Roman, Seth, or anyone who really cared about Dean, teased him too much about his bragging. There was something almost sweet about it, even if you did feel sometimes like you heard way too much about Neil's awesome grades. Fortunately too, Neil himself was a modest kid, so when he was around he tried to temper some of the praise with an embarrassed, "Dad, stop it!"

Seth looked at the latest batch of pictures and made the appropriate noises, said the appropriate things, enough to make Dean feel that he was interested, but not enough to encourage him to go on too much. When he walked into the room, Roman was on his phone, saying good bye to Jessica.

"Jess sends her love," Roman called out. Seth nodded and pointed from himself to the phone. Roman nodded and told Jessica that Seth sent his. They exchanged a couple more, "I love yous" and then Roman disconnected. He went over to the mini bar and fixed himself a drink. Dean already had a beer, and Seth had opened one of his bottles of water. Dean was laying on the bed he was using, the pillows behind him to cushion himself on the headboard. Roman flopped on the other bed, arranging the pillows in a similar fashion to Dean. Seth had rolled one of the cushioned chairs that was around the small table, and was sitting on that, propping his feet on Roman's bed. He wasn't wearing shoes, he had left those in his room.

"So, what's on your mind?" Roman asked, taking a sip of whatever he had in his glass. Some type of alcohol mixed with coke it looked like, Seth didn't ask.

"What makes you think something is on my mind?" Seth asked, even thought he knew it was a dumb thing for him to say. Of course they knew something was bothering him. The fact that he even came over here tonight instead of just reading his book and going to sleep had told him that.

Dean and Roman both shot him identical looks that clearly said, "Don't try to shit us, okay?"

Seth offered up a rueful grin. "All right, yeah, there's something on my mind. You know I've befriended Payton, right?" When they both nodded, Seth plunged into the story of the cell phone and the conversation he had with Payton when he gave it to her. They both listened carefully, only interrupting when one or the other needed something clarified, but otherwise, keeping silent until he finished.

"So, that's how we left it," Seth said, winding down the story. "I told her that since the phone was a gift, that who she told or didn't tell about it was her business. We set it up and I gave her my 'code name' email and phone number."

"You feel you can trust her with that?" Dean asked. He wasn't making accusations, he was merely asking for clarification.

Seth nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty confident she won't tell anyone that it's really me. She's young physically, but mentally she's older than her years. She knows she's been trusted with something very important."

"So, what concerns you?" Roman asked. He was holding his glass in his hand, swirling it so the ice cubes clinked on the sides with small, tinkling noises.

"If her parents find out she has the phone, they're going to ask her where she got it, of course." Seth said, then a sip of his water before continuing. "I fully expect her to be honest and tell them she got it from me, if her parents catch her with it. I don't mind that at all. Although, I'll bet the phone will end up in Preston's hands if that happens. No, I'm just worried that it's all going to look kind of creepy. An adult guy gives young girl a Smartphone that she's keeping a secret."

Dean though for a moment, and nodded. "Yeah, I can see that."

"Me too," Roman said. "Don't get me wrong, I know you and I know this is totally on the up and up, but yeah, I could see where this situation has the potential to be seen the wrong way."

"Was I wrong?" Seth asked, getting up from the chair and pacing.

"No," Dean said firmly.

"What were your motives for giving the phone to her?" Roman asked.

Seth paused. "I do want to keep in touch with the kid, she's a sweet girl and I think she could use an adult friend in her life, because to be blunt, I don't think she's getting much guidance from her parents. She used to stay with her grandparents, so she could at least go to school when Preston was at St. Jude's, but there was a falling out and she's now home schooled," he put his hands up, making air quotes at the words. "She says she has notebooks to work in and sometimes her parents look at them."

"Sometimes meaning hardly ever," Dean guessed. "They're too busy with Preston. I told you, Seth, that kid is a brat. I'm sorry that he's sick, but he's a brat."

"I agree," Seth said.

Roman frowned. "He's over-indulged, I'll give you that."

"Over indulged?" Dean shook his head as if he couldn't believe the words coming out of Roman's mouth. "Seriously? The kid slapped Seth on Raw. Just slapped him. And, while I'm not one of the chosen ones, that Preston graces with his presence, I have seen him in action. He thinks the world is his and his alone."

"Yeah, that's true," Roman said slowly, still studying his glass, "But Dean, you weren't there when we met Neil for the first time."

"So?" Dean frowned. "What does that have to do with Preston?"

"Seth and I knocked on the door," Roman said, as if Dean hadn't said anything. "Neil answered the door. When he saw it was us, he was freaking out. We were doing a little freaking out ourselves, but we asked him if his mother was home. He ran to get her, but then he turned around and looked at Seth and said, 'you're a jerk!'" He paused and all three of them laughed.

"I remember that," Seth said, nodding. "And you gave me grief, too."

"Yeah, I did," Roman admitted. "Because that's my job. But Dean, Neil was reacting to Seth as the guy who broke up The Shield. A bad guy. Because at that point he still believed that wrestling is real."

"Yeah, but he didn't hit Seth," Dean pointed out, scowling slightly.

"True, but Neil is older," Roman pointed out. "Again, I'm not saying Preston was right or even that he wasn't bratty, but I am saying that he's six years old, he's going through chemo therapy, and that stuff can mess up your mind too. If you look at it one way, the kid whacked you for no reason. Look at it another way, and he was defending his sister against a bad guy."

"Okay, good point," Dean said, his brow furrowed. "But remember, they wanted Seth and this kid to bond when he first started coming. He's been told Seth isn't really a bad guy."

"Again, he's six," Roman said. "Being told Seth is a good guy is not going to necessarily override what the kid is seeing on TV all the time."

"Neil was probably kidding," Dean muttered darkly.

Roman chuckled. "Dean, I'm not saying your kid is a brat, you know. I love Neil. He's my nephew. I'm just saying that I wouldn't judge Preston solely on the whack. He might have been protecting his sister."

"I'm not just judging him on that," Seth said, even though the question seemed more directed to Dean. "But when I dropped Payton back off to her folks Monday night, her brother told her to take off her Seth Rollins T-shirt. He didn't look freaked, he didn't look worried, he just looked like he didn't want his sister to wear a shirt because it irritated him. And more so, her parents didn't defend her. You saw her, she was back to wearing the Dolph shirt, and she doesn't like Dolph. Today she was wearing Daniel Bryan and she told me her parents said she can't wear any of the T-shirts or the hoodie I gave her unless Preston isn't around."

Roman took a sip of his drink, then went back to swirling the ice cubes in the glass. "Okay, but back to the phone. So, you got it for her just so you and her could keep in touch?"

Seth shook his head. "Not just that." He sat back down in the chair and took another sip of water, giving him some extra time to think. "I want her to have a way to reach out to the world," he finally said. "She mentioned she used to have friends from school she emailed, but they stopped writing because she doesn't have access to email anymore. Well, now she does. If she can rekindle a friendship with them, I'd like to see that. I just feel like the kid is cut off from things. She's got her parents and her sick brother. She doesn't go to school, she just spends all her time with them. If I had some normal 9-5 job in Iowa, Kayla and I could keep in touch with her, do things with her, so on and so forth. But you know this life. The only way I can keep in touch is email and texting. I figured the phone gives her a window to the rest of the world."

Roman nodded. "That's probably a good thing to say if you ever have to defend why you gave it to her."

"You don't think I'm weird, do you?" Seth asked.

Roman shook his head. "No, I don't. But, I also know you. I know how you are with my daughter and I trust you with her. I don't know how other people who didn't know you would take it. But your logic sounds good to me." He thought for a moment, biting his lip. "Maybe I can get Leah to email her. Leah loves making friends and they're close enough in age."

"I think Payton would like that," Seth said. "I think she feels isolated sometimes."

"Maybe I can get Neil to email her too," Dean said. "Samantha is one of his best friends, so he's not one of those kids that hates girls."

Roman nodded. "Yeah, that would be good too, if he's willing."

"Is this wrong?" Seth asked, frowning. "I kind of feel like we're doing all this stuff to make this look 'right.' If we're not doing anything wrong, why do we need to make it look so right?"

Roman shrugged. "It's not just that. You're worried she's feeling isolated? Well, we can't kidnap her and bring her to play with our kids, but we can let them send email and text each other. It'll be good for all of them, probably. And, Wrestlemania is coming, Leah and Jessica are coming to that. So are Neil and Cinnamon, right?" He looked over at Dean who nodded. "So, they'll meet there."

"I hope her parents will let her play with them," Seth said and then, only half kidding, added, "I hope Preston doesn't forbid it."

"Let him try," Dean said, scowling.

Roman laughed. "Dean, he's six, what are you going to do if he does try to stop Payton?"

Dean's scowl quickly turned to a grin. "I'll tell Ziggler to go distract him. Possibly Bryan, too."

Both Roman and Seth laughed at that. "Good plan," Roman admitted. "That will work."

The first communication Seth got from Payton came the next day and was probably the most politely worded e-mail Seth had ever received, probably the most polite one he ever would receive. She wrote "Dear Mr. Rollins" at the top and signed it "Sincerely, Payton Caldwell." In the body, she thanked him for the t-shirts and for the time he spent with her. She thanked him for lending her his Maverick so she could join in on the Nerf fight. But mostly, she thanked him for the phone. Then, she hoped he was having a good day and that she looked forward to hearing from him again.

He finished reading it and smiled at how well it was written, and how formal and polite Payton sounded. Later that day when he was in the car traveling with Roman and Dean he decided to text her instead. He told her to call him by the fake name he used when writing emails, but in person she could call him "Seth."

A few minutes later she responded, saying she was very sorry for the mistake calling him Mr. Rollins and promised she would never make it again and would erase the email she had sent. He ended up assuring her that it was fine, no real harm done and not to worry about it. She never did make that mistake again. She also said that it seemed disrespectful to call him Seth, because he was an adult and her grandparents taught her she should respect adults. He messaged back that when they were face to face, she could either call him Uncle Seth, or Mr. Rollins, whichever she felt more comfortable with.

That was the start of their messaging. Stilted and a little awkward at first, then in a few days it started to feel natural. Just as he saw Roman and Dean doing, he started texting her at night after the shows. Knowing she would be asleep, he would text her "Good morning." She started texting back when she woke up, if she could, "Good morning!" The same two words, back and forth, but there was something sweet about it.

She started sending him a picture every day using the cell phone camera. It was never of her or her family, it was always something random. A flower, a white picket fence, water flowing out of a sink faucet, an ant carrying a leaf. She never offered an explanation of why she was sending these things, she never wrote, I saw this tree and I thought it was interesting." She just sent it along. When he started doing the same thing in return, he realized how good her pictures were for being taking with a simple cell phone camera. The quality was only as good as the cell phone camera, which wasn't bad, but wasn't the best either. The pictures were good because they made you feel things. The simple beauty of the tree, the industrious ant, the cool water flowing from the faucet. He found himself searching harder to find more interesting things to take pictures of. It became their thing, this exchange of photos.

She called him once from a bathroom at St. Jude's. He was on Big Show's bus, not something he did often, but it had worked out for the short trip. Since he wasn't driving, he took the call. She first asked if it was okay to talk to him. When he said it was fine, she said, "Good," and he could hear a tremble in her voice.

"Is everything all right, Pay?" he asked.

She sniffled. "Yeah. W-we're just waiting for the test results to come back. To see if the cancer is going away, staying the same, or getting worse. I hate this time, it's the worst. Preston doesn't understand it 'xactly, but he gets all uptight and cranky, Mom and Dad are really scared and they get angry easily. It makes my tummy hurt, so I have to get away, sometimes."

"Are you worried about Preston?" he asked.

"Yeah," she admitted, then paused for a moment as if collecting her thoughts and then blurted out, "Can we talk about something besides Preston an' cancer? I know I brought it up, an' if you really want to, I'll talk about it, but I hate this so much an' I want to not think about it, just for a little bit. Can we do that?" He could hear the tears in her voice.

She sounded so wound up, Seth wished he was there in person so he could give her a hug, rub her back, something, anything to comfort her. He felt stupid only having his voice. "Of course we can, sweetie," he said, making his voice as soft and soothing as he could.

"Thank you." She hiccuped.

A period of silence followed, Seth not sure if he should say something or let her talk first. While he waited, Big Show came out from having a nap in the bedroom, and sat down. Seeing Seth on the phone, he said nothing, merely waved a hello. When a full minute passed, Seth finally said, "So, is it a nice bathroom you're hiding in?"

She giggled, but it was a strained giggle. "It's very clean. And they have both soap and hand sanitizer."

"What color is this bathroom? Is it, white?"

"No, it's kind of a cream," she said. "They do have white bathrooms here, but I like this one, 'cause it isn't white. It's not even on the same floor as Preston, it's near the lobby."

"What does the soap smell like?" he asked, having no clue what else to say, but sensing this was a safe topic.

"Kinda like flowers and trees," she said. "But fake flowers and trees. But at least it doesn't smell like the stuff Mom uses to clean the toilets with at home. I hate that stuff. The hospital near home has that stuff."

"I like Irish springs myself," he commented. "But you probably like flowers, being a girl and all," he said the last with a bit of a teasing tone.

She giggled again, but this time it sounded a little more relaxed. "We use Ivory at home. It's weird talking about soap with you."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" he asked. "We can talk about anything you want."

"How are Mr. Ambrose and Mr. Reigns?"

"They're doing fine."

They talked for about twenty minutes, about silly, trivial things, then she said she had to get back. He told her to call or text him if she needed to talk again.

When he disconnected, Big Show was staring at him. "You were talking to someone who was hiding in a bathroom?" he asked, looking incredulous.

"Sure," Seth said, looking as innocent as he could. "Doesn't everyone hide in a bathroom once in awhile?"

Big Show shook his head. "Only you, Rollins, only you."

Seth didn't know if that was an insult or not. He didn't really care, either. He was hoping Payton would be all right.

Seth's next contact with Payton was just before he had to change for the house show, and it was a message:

Thank you for talking to me. Preston's cancer has gotten a little less, but not as much less as they hoped it would. My parents are upset.

Are you okay? he texted back.

Yes, no, I'm both.

He could picture her saying it as if she were standing in front of him, looking confused and bewildered, not knowing if she should be glad or sad, hoping the adults nearby would give her clues as to how she should feel. He bit his lip, but texted back, Honey, I have to change for work, will you be okay? I've got to get ready for a show, but as soon as I can, I'll text you back, okay?

Her reply came quickly, It's okay. Sorry I bugged you. I'll be fine. Do good on the show, okay?

He replied back. Okay, I will. But I will check my messages as soon as I can, I promise. I love you, Pay.

He realized when he was getting changed that he told the little girl he loved her. He hadn't had to think about it, he just wrote it, simply because it was the truth. Somehow, this little girl had worked her way into his heart. He just wished he could get her family to see what he saw in her. Yes, Preston was sick, yes, he needed a lot of care and attention, but they shouldn't neglect Payton either.

If something doesn't give soon, he thought, I'm going to have to confront her parents and let them know I don't approve of how they are neglecting Payton. And I have the feeling it will not go well.

End of Part Six

Special Thanks To:

Emilee: Thank you, you are way too kind and it means a lot to me that you think I'm above average. And I agree, Payton is telling Seth that not only should he think about becoming a father, but that he'll make a good one. And I agree with the phone, it's the window to the world the girl needs.

I hope you continue to enjoy the story. But thank you so much for your support, I appreciate it.

Kina: Thank you. I'm not letting guest get me down, and I hope you liked this update.

Holly: Yeah, my sympathies lie with Payton too, and I think Seth is just what she needs in her life, since her folks aren't being very attentive. Thank you so much for letting me know how you felt.

Authors Notes: 83 reviews, 30 favs 49 follows. I am so overwhelmed that people are enjoying this story. I wasn't sure when I started it what people would think, but it's so nice that people are enjoying it. Thank you so much!