Finally back from my hiatus and I have a new chapter for you in tow :)

It's a shorter one and rather moderate. I promise I'll hurry to get the next one done asap!

Now, 'nuff said. Have fun reading this one. I hope you'll like it!

Roman's eyes swept over the gridiron, watching the training going on down there. He wasn't cleared yet to join it again and so he did the only thing he could do, sitting here and watching his teammates. Briefly his gaze flicked over to Seth who was sitting to his left, talking to him about stuff and Roman felt a little guilty that he had no idea what exactly Seth was talking about, since his thoughts weren't here but... with Dean. And they were wandering over the path of the past days.

Almost two weeks had passed since chief goon and his men had caught Roman off guard and time had slowly washed away the colorful evidences of things which should never have happened. The deep blue and black going from freshly painted, grotesque works of arts on both Dean and Roman's bodies over warning shadows to almost invisible reminders that only those people could still see who had seen the artwork in all its glory. Like vivid memories which would remain all too present for a long while.

And then there was the cut on Dean's forehead that had healed yet had left a scar that made Roman all too aware of the rage in him which had never really died down, the one he felt every time he had to think of Dean's stepfather. Of what he had done to Dean.

And maybe it was silly but he needed to leave a kiss on that scar at least once a day... as if kissing it could erase what had happened. It could not, he knew that, still... he had to. Had to. Maybe also as a weird and silent thank you to whatever higher spirit had turned the events at the last second... so that he had been in time before Dean...

It was always the same point he stopped himself from dropping into that current of thoughts that always went a totally wrong way and sometimes Dean seemed to read on his face what was going on in his head and he would come to him and wrap his arms around him while stealing a kiss that wiped all the bad thoughts away.

They were healing, both physically and Dean... the invisible wounds his past had left behind in him healed, too, faster even than Roman would have guessed. It was good. It was how it should be. Yet even if those wounds would be fully healed eventually, the scar they sure left behind would always be present in a way. He was determined though to do what lay in his might to give Dean all he needed and more. Friendship, safety, a home and a family. Love.

If someone had told him not long ago that he would find the love of his life before he even crossed the line of eighteen, he probably would have just snorted and waved it off. It's not something you expected to actually happen at that age, was it?

But it had happened to him. Dean was the one and he would protect him at all costs.

A silly smile danced on his lips as he thought about it. Them living together, working together. The perfect 24/7. Their own house and with a yard and a dog or even a whole pack if Dean wanted that. Them getting old together.

A life goal, wasn't it...?

Looking up to the sky for a moment, he took in the almost cloudless blue and the bright sun and thought that, yes, their future looked bright, too. Very. Even more because ever since the incident with chief goon, Dean and Seth had grown tight, too. Seth had come over to their place every day after school, bringing them homework and spending almost the whole day with them. He'd actually spent so much time at their place that his mom started calling him her part-time son.

Actually... everything was looking ridiculously perfect...

The sudden appearance of fingers being snapped right in front of his nose sucked his thoughts right back into the here and now.

"Reigns!" Snap-snap. "Hey, Reigns!" Snap. "The fuck, man, get your lovesick puppy ass back out of Dean-land while I'm talking to you, bro!"

Blinking, Roman's looked over to his friend who met him with a snort and a shaking of his head. The grin he found there, too, told him that Seth wasn't really miffed about him not listening but rather highly amused.

"M'sorry," he mumbled sheepishly, ducking his head a little.

"Uh-huh, sure, totally sorry," Seth snorted once more, shooting him a raised brow. "As if you'd ever be sorry for thinking of Dean, right? Oh and are you aware that there are pink candy hearts dancing around your head when you're thinking of him?"

"Funny, Rollins," Roman muttered, joining in on the soft little laughter though Seth gave him then. "I'm really sorry, li'l bro. Promise I won't tune out on you again, okay? What were you saying?"

Seth nodded, his expression becoming somewhat serious as he leaned forward, his gaze fixing on the busyness on the field as he braced his forearms on his knees.

"I said that Dean is a fuckable cupcake and you said that I should do that," he explained, pursing his lips in the obvious effort not to laugh again.

"You're kidding me, Rollins."

"No, I am not. After talking to you for minutes without getting anything back but hums and grunts, I threw the fuckable cupcake comment at you to get you to actually listening to me or to see if your brain has melted and I'm talking to a living vegetable." Leaning a bit away from Roman, Seth gave him a scrutinizing look over. "And when I look at you, I guess it's the latter."

The smile that showed up on Seth's face then was sunny and honest and anyone else would probably have noticed nothing about it... but Roman did. He could read Seth and even it was written in the finest of lines, he saw the traces of sadness in the pretty features and he couldn't help it as that conversation he'd over a few days ago when Seth and Dean had been sitting in the yard, waiting for Roman to come back out to them with snacks their mother had made...

"Hey, uhm... you okay?"

Dean's voice. Very quiet. Worried actually and it stopped Roman dead in his tracks as he was about to join his friends in the yard again. He was standing at the French window yet hidden behind the big curtain that was covering one half of the big glass front... but close to the opened. And he should walk away now and give them some more time to talk about whatever or at least give them a warning that he was back and coming out but instead he just remained there like a deer caught in the headlight.

"Dunno what you mean," Seth replied. The note in his voice though was much too neutral, as if he wanted to just brush the question off. "We should continue with math and..." he added, a soft rustling accompanying his words as he seemed to dig in his backpack but both suddenly stopped as Dean spoke again.

"Yeah sure, man. C'mon, you know I'm your friend," Dean murmured. Quietness for a moment. Then: "Roman?"

"Dean..." The neutral note in Seth's voice was replaced by... defeat. "Just... can we please not talk about it?"

"You can't tell me that your crush on him is gone and forgotten," Dean continued, simply ignoring Seth plea.

"You can't let it be, huh? Look, I'm never gonna get close to him again like that, okay? Can we now drop that topic please?"

"No, we can't. And I didn't ask that because I'm concerned about you trying to hit on him but because I'm really worried about you."

Holding his breath, Roman told himself to walk away now. He really should... go. And leave them alone. He should.

He couldn't.

Again quietness. Longer this time. Maybe Seth wanted to play for time, hoping that Roman would come back any second and thus get him out of the truth-time. So... maybe he should walk out there, now.

Again he couldn't.

"Seth..."

"Shit." Hissed, weakly though. "Yeah okay, I still feel something for him. Happy now?"

Roman's chest tightened. This attraction between him and Seth, he hadn't felt it again and he'd hoped that Seth had left it behind, too. But to hear that it wasn't just some sort of weird attraction Seth had for him but a crush and that he still wasn't over it...

Fuck...

"No. Because it mean's that you're still hurting, don't you," Dean said softly. "You haven't told him about it, have you?"

Seth's no was spoken so very quietly that Roman almost missed it.

"It's okay, Dean. It's getting better, really, and I'm happy for you guys. You belong together," he heard Seth murmur, a lighter note now mingling into it. "I'm okay and I'll get over it." A soft snort followed. "Since when are you such a softy anyway, Ambrose?"

"Ever since you've become my bro," Dean replied gently, genuinely and it bestowed Roman a certain warmth in his chest that unchlenched again. "If it makes it easier for you, I'll make sure Ro and I take a step back with..."

"No! No, I don't want that. But Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

A smack to the head stopped his train of thoughts.

"Wow, Reigns. Impressive how you're totally not tuning out on me again here," Seth grumbled, shooting him a half-hearted glare that faded to a confused expression as Roman just gazed at him in silence. "What?"

I'm sorry that you're still hurting.

It was what he wanted to say but then Seth would know that he'd been eavesdropping on them, wouldn't he? Instead he reluctantly lifted a hand to the bicolored hair, smoothing down the somehow ever present halo and letting his hand rest in the back of his friend's neck, he tilted his head a little, his eyes roaming the pretty features.

"You okay, li'l bro?" he asked softly, watching the confusion on the other man's face deepen.

"I... what?" Seth muttered, blinking slowly. "I uhm... yeah. I'm fine. Why are you asking?"

Gently curling his fingers around the neck under his palm, Roman gnawed on his bottom lip for second or two before he quietly said: "I just... I mean, you and me and..." He hesitated briefly and while he did, he could tell the exact moment Seth understood. The kissable lips tightened a little bit. There was the faintest of twitches around them. "We haven't talked about it ever since," Roman added then, his thumb tenderly brushing back and forth on the soft skin.

Seth puffed a chuckle, a not very amused one though, as his eyes found the field, nodding ever so slightly and when he looked back at Roman only a few seconds later, he smiled. But Roman didn't buy it.

"I'm okay, really," Seth assured.

No, you're not.

"Seth..."

"Rome... what do you want me to say? That I'm still having those feelings for you?" he cut Roman off, the fake smile dropping to a sad and real one. "Okay. Yeah, I do."

"I'm sorry." Pulling Seth in, he brought their foreheads together. "I'm sorry, Seth."

He felt Seth's hand settle in the back of his own neck, mirroring Roman's hold. Even the love he felt for Seth wasn't the same he was feeling for Dean... he loved Seth with all his heart. Li'l bro... calm anchor... soul mate... Seth was all this to him and right now, feeling him like this, it was giving him this soothing breeze of deepest, warmest friendship that he needed to feel every once in a while.

"No need to be sorry, big bro," Seth mumbled. "You're with Dean and that's exactly how it should be. I'm happy for you guys. It's okay. Really."

"Okay," Roman sighed, giving Seth's neck an affectionate squeeze. "But promise that you'll talk to me if you want us to step back a bit or if you don't feel good, yeah? I love you, li'l bro."

"And I love you, big bro." When they pulled apart, Roman ruffled Seth's hair a little, receiving a grumble for it and a weak punch on his shoulder. "Where's your sweetheart by the way?" Seth asked while he tugged the hair tie out.

The two-toned hair fell freely, framing the pretty face and not for the first time Roman thought that Seth really should wear his hair like that more often. Again he brought a hand up to it, smoothing a few frizzy strands down.

"Leave it open," he said, tilting his head a little to the side as he tucked a strand of hair behind Seth's ear. "Makes you even prettier."

Was there a faint blush spreading over Seth's face? Cute... And he should keep his damn mouth shut and also he should stop touching Seth like this. It wasn't fair. Pulling his hand back, he shifted around on his seat, gazing back down to his teammates as he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and from the corner of his eye he noticed Seth looking at him a moment longer before following suit.

"He and mom had an appointment at the principal's office this morning. He should be here any minute now," he answered his friend's question.

"By the way, have you talked to your dad about the house again?" Seth wanted to know, a tender little smile curling his lips when Roman nodded, he noticed as he glanced over to him.

"Yeah, I have. Told him that the house would be perfect and he talked to the owners," he explains, folding his hands. The house would really be perfect for them. Not too big, not too small and a nice little yard in the back. Perfect for a dog, too, and also his parents would be just around the corner. "For a house it's not all too expensive," he continued, frowning lightly as he remembered how much it would cost. "Still it's a bunch of money they want for it."

"So you don't wanna buy it then?"

Funny, there was a note of disappointment lying in Seth's voice as he said it.

"Don't want? Rather I don't have the money," he sighed, tapping his thumbs against each other. "But dad said that they would buy it for me and that I can pay it back bit by bit. It would be pretty stupid not to do it, wouldn't it?"

Just saying yes and moving in there together with Dean in less than half a year... how could he not say yes to his parents' offer, because really, if he didn't, then it would take years until they had saved enough money to buy a house. Still the idea of his parents investing so much money somehow made him feel bad, although bad probably wasn't really the right word for it.

But that house would be a big step. It would be the beginning of their own life together.

"Yes it would," Seth agreed. "Does Dean know about it?"

"No, it's supposed to be a surprise for his birthday." A light giddy feeling sparked in Roman's belly every time he imagined how it would be to give Dean the key as his birthday present. If Dean would kick his ass for it because it was too much money or of he would kiss him senseless? He couldn't stop the smirk that stretched his lips as his mind jumped to the uncountable nice things that them being alone in their own house would bring along. Like running around in only underwear or... maybe even stark naked? The smirk grew. Late, long and naked Sunday breakfasts... "I need that house," Roman murmured, more to himself than to Seth actually.

Seth gently bumped their shoulders, shooting him a grin.

"Someone's got a non PG mental cinema running, huh?"

All Roman did was grinning back, a dirty little grin that said it all. On the field the team was clustering around the trainer. The training was over.

"Let's go down," he said, grabbing his backpack and standing. "There's something I need to do."

As Seth stood up, too, he began to walk down the stairs of the bleachers and towards the parting bunch of people, looking out for a certain person. There was a thank you he still had to deliver to the one guys who had made sure that chief goon wouldn't think of doing any kind of stupid things again. Although it all had happened two weeks ago already, there hadn't been a good moment to talk to him but it was about time now. His eyes caught a guy coming their direction instead of heading for the locker room.

"Parking your lazy ass in the bleachers doesn't count as training, Reigns."

"Funny, Orton," he shot back, bumping fists with the guy. Both Seth and Dean knew Randy by sight and his name but had never exchanged a word with him, so he decided to introduce them. "Uhm, this is Seth," he said, nodding over to Seth who was standing there in scrutinizing quietness, the brown eyes roaming the big man in front of him. "Seth, this is Randy."

Seth couldn't actually be called small... but compared to Randy he looked rather... cute. Randy was tall, all muscles and with his gear on he looked even broader. The military kind of hair cut and his sharp grey eyes which seldom looked at people friendly did theirs to the picture. Randy was a quiet guy and it all combined to a rather intimidating image. Only though if you didn't know him. Right now as he held a hand out towards Seth, there was nothing intimidating about him. The smile on his face was friendly and became a little brighter as Seth shook his hand.

"Hey, uhm... I still owe you a thank you, Orton," Roman said, drawing the other man's attention back on him. "Thanks for your help, man."

"No big deal," Randy replied, tucking his helmet under his arm. "They staying away from you guys?"

"Yeah, they do. Most of the time they don't even dare looking at us," Roman chuckled, thinking of how much of a dog which was tucking its tails in chief goon looked like when they crossed paths. "I don't know what exactly it was that you did but it definitely did the job."

Randy just smirked briefly. It was an sharp little twist in the other man's expression that was gone as fast as it had appeared but it had been cold enough to send a chill down Roman's spine and a part of him wanted to ask what Randy had done that chief goon was close to shitting his pants when he saw Roman, but a nudge in the ribs made him look over to Seth.

"Dean," Seth only said, looking past him to a spot somewhere behind him.

Following his friend's gaze, Roman turned around... and for a second everything around him faded into the background as his eyes caught Dean. Yeah, he was spending practically the whole day with him and yes, he knew almost every inch of the other man's body by now but still... Dean was wearing a blue jeans that was sitting low on his hips, hugging him tight in all the right places and a black wife beater. And no lumberjack shirt. For the first time ever since he'd met him, Dean wasn't covering himself with a longarmed shirt. The now healed skin was shining pale and smooth in the golden sunlight. A gust of warm sommerly air swept over the yard, ruffling Dean's hair lightly.

A smile lit the handsome face up as their gazes locked, bringing a smile of his own to Roman's lips. God, how he loved him. Dean was looking too damn beautiful and so carefree. And fuck, he could have watched him walk all day with that too damn sexy hip swing that was finally visible, now that no long shirts were hiding it away from the sight.

And what a sight it was... it made his belly tingle and his heart jump.

When he stepped up to them, Roman noticed a light frown appearing on Randy's face as the other man gave Dean a look over and he guessed that it was because of the scars on Dean's arms and shoulder and the one on his forehead. Dean hadn't noticed anything and the moment he was done giving Seth a quick hug, Randy had the frown wiped off his face.

There was a certain hesitation when Dean turned to Roman as he obviously stopped himself from leaning in to kiss him and tilting his head to the side, he made it a hug instead. They had never really talked about showing that they were together openly or not. At home or in the shop or wherever, they just didn't care but school was different, wasn't it? School had its own rules. As he felt Dean draw back, he was tempted to hold on to him and the way the baby blues looked at him told him that he wasn't alone.

It was rather unlikely that Randy had caught a hint, so he could just leave it like that, let him believe that they all were just friends. Not that Roman had ever made it a secret that he was gay, yet except the kiss with Seth on the school yard, when no one had been around anyway, there had never been a situation that would have given away that he was into guys.

"This is Randy. The guy who took care of our issue," he introduced. Meeting Randy's gaze, he said: "Randy, this is Dean."

"The one those assholes beat up first, huh?" Holding a hand out to Dean, Randy went on: "Nice job you did on punching that asshole's teeth in."

"He can call himself lucky that Seth pulled me off of him," Dean growled lowly, crossing his arms over his chest.

And a part of Roman wished Seth would have let Dean have his way with chief goon to get his payback for the beating back then and also for the beating Roman had taken. Dean would've deserved some more satisfaction.

"Listen, Randy..." Roman began slowly, his gaze dropping to the ground momentarily before looking at his teammate again, straightening up to his full height. Randy deserved the truth after taking care of their problem, didn't he? They were friends and friends didn't lie to each other. "There's something I gotta tell you before I can join the training again..."

"You're gay," Randy stated before Roman could continue, crossing his arms over his chest.

Caught by surprise, staring was all Roman could do for a moment, his own words dying in his throat. Now, he wasn't scared, really not, but he wouldn't have expected that. From the corner of his eye he noticed Seth's eyes widen, heard Dean shift... both moving forward and Dean was even stepping between him and Randy, who held his hands up pacifying.

Warmth spread in Roman's chest as he understood that they were trying to protect him.

"Whoa, guys, chill," Randy quickly added, taking a step back. "I didn't say that I have a problem with it, did I?"

Laying a hand on Dean's shoulder, Roman gently tried to turn him around but he only squared his shoulders.

"Dean, c'mon," Roman said softly, again urging him to turn around. "It's okay," he soothed. "It's okay, really."

With obvious reluctance Dean eventually gave in, allowing the hand on his shoulder to turn him around. It was the emotion that shone on the beloved face that caused Roman's heart to clench and jump at the same time because there was the determination to fight Randy off if necessary and there was... love. And he was so fucking proud that he could call Dean his own. Giving him a soft smile, he urged him to stand at his side again.

"How comes you knew that already?" Roman addressed Randy who lowered his hands again carefully, the grey eyes jumping from him to Seth and then to Dean, remaining there for a brief moment, before finding back to Roman.

"Your personal bully," the other man explained. "When we had our little conversation, he tried to talk himself out of the situation by telling me that. You know like, that he had to kick your ass because you're a fag."

Roman's lips tightened at that one word and Dean shifting beside him again made him hold out his arm to stop Dean from stepping forward again. The pressure against it only a blink later told him that it had been a good idea to do so.

"And did he lose a word about what makes him think that I could be gay?"

Pursing his lips, Randy nodded. And then his eyes flicked over to Seth.

"He said that he's seen you kissing Seth." There was a gasp from Seth and a sharply exhaled breath from Dean. So the yard hadn't been as empty as it had seemed back then. Well... "I meant it, Reigns. I don't have a problem with you being gay," Randy sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "Look... it's not that I've made it a notice at the bulletin board but... I'm bi. The other's of the team know it and it's okay for them and you being gay also won't be a problem."

Who'd a thunk it...

The pressure against his arm vanished and he let it drop to his side again, cocking his head a bit as he took in the big man in front of him. Randy wasn't lying, no. Honesty was written all over the sharp lined features.

"It wouldn't have been a problem anyway 'cause I'd have left the team then. I'd never put a football team over who I am or the one I love," Roman said.

His voice softened at the last words, the wish to put a name in there instead of just saying the one getting stronger in him, yet it wasn't his decision. It wouldn't have been fair to out Dean when they hadn't yet talked about outing themselves at school.

"So... you and Seth, huh?"

He was about to say that it wasn't Seth as he realized that he would give Randy the right hint if he did that. But before he could come up with a good answer, Dean cleared his throat and took his hand.

"Ro's mine," he heard him say lowly, softly, but the possessiveness was loud in those few words.

Well now, got some candy for me, my lovelies?
(... any chance that we pass the 600? ;)