Seven

Dean fired bullets from his Glock 17 firearm at the shooting range at the paper target on Monday morning. He hit several close to the middle of the target until the second last shot. Satisfied with his practice, he took off his protection ear muffs just as John came in singing.

"Sometimes I am frightened but I'm ready to learn," his partner warbled, "of the power of loooovvvveee."

"John, I'm trying to preserve my hearing, thank you very much," Dean remarked.

"You're just jealous because I sing better than you."

"Yeah okay, John. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

John grinned. "Dwayne and I always sleep fine. As I'm sure you and Roman do too."

"Must you bring up his name all the time? You weren't like this when Seth and I were together."

"Yeesh aren't you Mr Grouch? And for your information, no one liked Seth. I don't know if you heard about it but even Chief Calaway was surprised that you were together."

Dean was surprised. "What?"

"Yeah. When Seth used to stop by all the time and you left together for lunch, Chief Calaway used to ask me what you saw in him. All I could tell him was how good Seth was in bed."

"John, fucking hell. Are you serious? How could you?"

"Well, that must have been it. What other reasons did you have to be with him?"

He scowled. "He was charming and he…" Actually he couldn't even remember why he dated Seth. "Okay fine. Maybe he was good in bed."

"See? I was right."

"But it wasn't enough for me to stay after catching his cheating ass."

Dean walked out of the range and took the stairs all the way up to the first level. He was just about to sit at his desk when Officer Dolph called him. "Ambrose," he said. "There's a gentleman waiting for you outside."

He frowned. "Who?"

"Not sure but damn he's gorgeous."

Gorgeous? Who…

Dean walked out of the office to the front of the station where he found Roman seated in the first row of chairs with a brown bag. He was reading the Neil Gaiman book he had bought while waiting.

"Roman?" he called out.

His boyfriend looked up with a warm smile and it melted the heart of steel he usually reserved for work. "Hi," he greeted Dean, his cheeks slightly flushed. "I thought I'd bring this for you before I go for my interview."

Dean opened up the packet and found three cream cheese buns inside. "You bought this?"

"No, I made it. I saw that you had the ingredients at home so I figured since you loved these a lot…"

Dean smiled. "I do," he agreed. "Thank you so much. Where's your interview at?"

"The Wellington Hotel. They're a big hotel chain and they have one close by so let's see how it goes."

"I'd kiss you right now and wish you good luck but I'm at work so…"

"I understand. I'd take a rain check on that kiss though."

"No problems on that. I'd give you that and more."

Roman beamed. "I'll see you at… uh-"

"Home, Roman," Dean reminded him. "Home."

"Right. Home."

He watched Roman leave the station with a smile on his face. Snap out of it, Dean, he reprimanded himself. You're at work. As he walked in, Dolph was looking at him eagerly. "Well, who is he? He's freaking beautiful. If you don't want him, give me his number and-"

"Don't want him?" Dean said absent mindedly. "He's my boyfriend; of course I want him."

The blonde curly haired man pursed his lips. "Dude, you're dating that fine specimen? You do realise he can do better."

"He's mine so go and bark up another tree, Dolph." He sat down at his desk and bit into the bread, savoring how the cream cheese melted in his mouth.

"Keep eating like that and you'll end up fat," John laughed as he sat down beside Dean.

Dean smirked. "You're just jealous."

"Only you can meet a hot guy and make him yours in a week."

"What can I say? It's a gift."

Officer Tom who sat at the front desk of the station headed towards them. "Dean, a man who says he's your father is here to see you."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "My father?"

John shook his head at him as he grabbed a bun from Dean's bag. "To what do you owe the pleasure of your father's company?"

"Probably came here to dissuade me about Roman again."

"What?"

Dean walked out again to the front of the station where his father looked sorely out of place in his Hugo Boss suit. He smiled widely at the sight of Dean. "Son!"

The blond was not fooled. "What do you want, Dad?"

"I was hoping we can talk in private."

"I can't be away from my desk for too long." Dean led his father to the interrogation room and shut the door. "Talk."

"Look, Dean," Hunter started. "Your mother and I have been talking. We owe you a huge apology."

"Dad. Who do you think you're fooling? We both know you don't apologise. So whatever you have planned better be dropped or I'm cutting ties with everyone in the family."

His father's eyes were bulging. "What? Dean, you can't be serious. Are you so blinded by your lust for this man?"

"I don't lust after him. I love him."

"No, son. You think you do but you don't. You're in love with the moment; you're not in love with him. You're projecting ideas of your ideal man on him and thinking you love him. Seth cares about you, Dean. He's even expressed his remorse at how he's hurt you."

"Oh please. He did not hurt me. He just made me really mad that he made a fool out of me but trust me, Dad, there was no damage done. As you can see, I'm doing very well now."

"Till that man you hold on a pedestal breaks your heart, Dean. He's going to swindle you out of your money and then-"

He could not bear to listen to another word. How dare he put Roman down that way. "You know what? Dad, we're done. Get out."

His father looked at him in disbelief. "Dean… come on. I care about you."

"No. You care about Seth. You don't care about me or my new found happiness. You never even gave Roman a chance."

"Let's not be hasty, Dean."

"I think I've heard enough. Goodbye, Dad."

Roman was waiting in anticipation at the executive chef's office of the Wellington Hotel Haydon. Chef Mark Henry bit into his cream cheese bread and salted caramel mocha bun before sipping his French Onion Soup.

Chef Mark was a pot bellied African American chef who had lots of awards for his culinary skills, participating in competitions across the globe. His desk had pictures of his children, two boys, who Roman guessed were about ten and twelve years old.

When the human resources called Chef Mark down, he sent his executive sous chef - Chef Kevin Owens - to see him first. This surprised Roman as Kevin and him used to attend culinary school together; Kevin was two years ahead of him.

Upon seeing Roman, he immediately called Chef Mark.

"Delicious!" Chef Mark complimented. "I love it. So… I think a man of your skills should be attached to the hot section but damn it love this cream cheese."

Roman smiled. "That's my boyfriend's favorite too."

"He's got good taste. And I don't just mean the food."

Roman was pretty sure his face had turned red. "T-thank you."

"So." Chef Mark clapped his hands. "I'll start you off in pastry before moving you to the hot section. Now I know you applied for a Cook 1 position but you'd be better off as a Chef de Partie."

Roman could hardly believe his luck. "Okay… wow thank you. Thank you for the opportunity."

"No problem. And welcome on board!"

Kevin was practically grinning. "His voice is so loud and I couldn't help but overhear… congratulations, Roman."

"Thank you, Kevin. Honestly… I'm humbled."

"Don't be silly, Roman. I've always admired you. Back in school during those bake sales you organised for The Beaten Ones charity, I loved your lemon tarts. I bought two boxes if you remembered."

Roman laughed. "I remembered."

"So I hope that you'll be able to knock them out of the park here too. My boyfriend is the pastry chef. He's wild and all but he's a nice guy."

"Why did the previous guy leave?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "He wanted to open his own business. It's called De Buns. What kind of a name is that?"

Dean was not in a good mood even as he bit into the last bun Roman had made.

His father had no business sticking his nose in his private life and to make matters worse, Seth had turned up again at the station during lunch. What was this? Irritate Dean Day? "Your father cares about you, Dean. I do too."

"No you don't, Seth so fuck off," Dean replied. "Don't ever come near me again."

"Look, baby I made a mistake."

"Don't call me baby, Seth. I'm not your "baby". And why are you so interested in me again out of the blue? You sure as hell weren't before Roman was in my life."

Seth scowled. "You mean your mail order boyfriend?"

Dean took a threatening step towards him. "Say that again, Seth and I'll knock your teeth out."

"Please, Dean. What's so good about this guy? Who falls in love in a matter of four days?"

"Roman and I did. So fuck off."

"I'd like to fuck you actually." He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "There's only so much Hawaiian boy can do for you."

"It's Samoan actually and trust me he can do more than you could, that's for sure." He shook his head. "Enough of this. I have to go!"

Seth blocked his way. "Please… just hear me out," he implored, his brown eyes pleading. "Please!"

Dean sighed. "You've got one minute and not a second more."

"I told you in the study den that I was feeling alone while you were working and it's true. You were always so busy, Dean. You never had time for us. I felt that you didn't even want to be with me that way because all we did was sleep together. And now you expect me to believe that you see this guy and decided he's the one for you? What do you really know about him, Dean? What are his hobbies? What was his life like before you met him? How many lovers has he had? His plans for the future? Does he have money? A criminal record? What?" Seth held his hands in his. "Please, Dean. It was a stupid mistake that I regret every single day. This guy is scamming you and you can't even see that."

Dean was mad at Seth. He was starting to feel a pounding headache coming on. "Seth, just go."

"Dean-"

"Go. I don't ever want to see you here again."

When Roman got home, he was excited to find Dean there. His boyfriend was sitting on the couch with an unreadable expression. "You're home early!"

"Yeah," came Dean's sombre reply.

Roman sat down beside him and rubbed his back. "What's wrong?"

"I went to the doctor. I was having a headache."

"Well, you relax. I'll get you some oatmeal, fruit and toast."

His boyfriend smiled faintly at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I used to eat those to make myself feel better. Then you can take those medications the doctor prescribed you.."

"If you insist, Dr Reigns," Dean teased. "How was your interview?"

"I got the job."

His boyfriend's eyes twinkled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah I did. On the way home here, the HR officer called me; I start on Wednesday."

Dean kissed him. "I'm so proud of you, babe."

"Thank you."

"There's nothing to thank. I want to take care of you, Roman. I want to love you and protect you."

"I want to do the same, Dean."

"Then we'll both do it but fuck it if anyone is telling me that I'm making a mistake."

Roman was puzzled now. "What?"

"My father dropped by after you left and Seth decided to do the same during lunch," he explained. "No prizes for guessing what they wanted to talk about."

Now he felt bad. He was starting to think it was his fault that this was all happening to the blond. "Dean, I didn't mean to cause a strain for your family and you-"

"You haven't, Roman. And don't you dare think that way. My father is just being a stubborn man. The very least he could do was give you a chance but he hasn't even considered that." He rubbed the temple of his head. "Fuck."

"Babe, why don't you take a shower, okay? I'll run down to the store and get the yogurt."

He watched Dean reach for his wallet. Roman put his hand to stop him. "No. It's on me, Dean. Please."

"Roman, you're my boyfriend and I'm not sure how your previous relationships were but I take care of the people I love."

"I get that but everyone thinks that I'm making use of you when I'm not so I'd rather-"

"No offence, babe but I don't care what people think of me. My life was never revolved on what people thought about me. You're mine and I'm taking care of you all the way. Got it?"

Roman gulped at Dean's assertiveness. The man was a cop though so that explained this personality. "Got it."

"Sorry if it came off aggressive, Roman. But I'm tired of people undermining what we have."

"But you're right. We don't owe anyone an explanation."

"Yeah. We don't. We only answer to one another. So don't let anyone make you feel otherwise, okay?"

"Okay."

Roman paid for two tubs of yogurt, some apples, a carton of eggs and multigrain bread at the local store a block away from Dean's apartment. As he was waiting for the traffic light to turn green, he found Hunter standing at the opposite of the road.

When he finally crossed over, he greeted the man. "Hi… Sir."

Hunter was frowning. "What is this effect you have on my son? He refuses to listen to a word I'm saying."

"Dean and I love each other. I don't know what else you want me to say."

"Say you'll break up with him."

"No."

"Stubborn now are we?" Hunter said. "I'll pay for you to leave him. How much?"

"What makes you think that I'll take money from you? I turned you down last Sunday and I'll turn you down now."

"You don't fool me, Reigns. I'm not scared of your kind."

"My kind?" Roman repeated. "What are you trying to insinuate?"

"It means what it means. Your kind. You-"

Suddenly a man on a bicycle knocked him over and he fell to the curb. Roman dropped his bags and rushed to his side, helping Hunter to sit up. "Sir… are you alright?"

"My ankle… it hurts," Hunter said, gritting his teeth.

Roman moved to check his ankle. He touched it gently; Hunter winced in response. "I'm going to bring you to the accident and emergency, okay?" he said as he helped Hunter to stand. Hunter slung his arm around Roman's shoulder. "Okay, now I need you to lean on me."

"Okay," the blonde agreed, his voice gruff.

Roman used his other arm and hailed for a taxi. To his luck, one stopped in front of him and he helped Hunter to get in first. "Where are you heading to?" the driver asked when he got in and shut the door. "Haydon Heights General Hospital, please. Accident and Emergency."

"You've got it." The driver started to steer the wheel.

Hunter was surprisingly quiet throughout the journey. Roman wondered what was going through his mind. He couldn't have been happy that it was Roman who was sitting beside him. When the driver reached their destination, the chef immediately paid him despite Hunter's protests. He got out of the car and grabbed a wheelchair before opening Hunter's side of the door.

"Aarrrgh," Hunter groaned as he tried to move.

Roman didn't waste time in helping him sit down on the wheelchair and pushed him into the area. "What's wrong with him?" a nurse approached them.

"He was knocked by a bicycle," Roman explained. "I think his ankle's broken."

"Okay. Follow me." She started to walk towards the registration counter. "What is your relationship?"

"He's my boyfriend's dad."

She passed a clipboard to Roman. "Fill this up and I'll be back."

They had been waiting for about an hour and a half when his cellular phone rang. It was Dean. Roman chided himself silently. He had forgot to call his boyfriend to inform of what had happened. "Hey babe," he answered.

"Where are you, Roman? It's been two hours." Dean sounded worried.

"I'm at the A&E."

"What?" Dean shrieked. "I'm coming down right now!"

The call ended right then.

"Dean?" Hunter guessed as Roman pocketed his phone.

Roman nodded. Dr McMahon, the doctor who handled Hunter's injury, approached them both at the waiting room. "Well, Mr Ambrose," he said. "Looks like everything is okay. The x ray showed just a minor fracture therefore you'll only need a cast; your ankle should heal by its own within six weeks or so. I'll also be prescribing you some painkillers. Do not put any weight on the broken ankle for at least the first three weeks. You will also need to use crutches to support yourself. Now I've scheduled you to attend a follow up appointment here within four weeks, okay?"

Hunter grimaced. "Okay."

Mr McMahon wrote something down and passed it to Roman. "This is for his medication. You may deposit this at the pharmacy counter." He passed him a another slip. "This is his medical leave certificate and his follow up appointment card."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Roman wheeled Hunter to the pharmacy and waited for their names to be called by any of the four counters. "Thank you," Hunter said quietly. "I was mean to you but you went out of your way to help me."

"It's what anyone would have done."

"Not really. Not after the things I've said or done to you."

Their names were called. Roman excused himself to collect Hunter's medication and paid for it before he walked over to the man. He passed it to him and wheeled him out of the department where Dean was rushing towards them.

He stopped in his tracks at the sight in front of him. "You helped him?" he asked Roman.

"He did," Hunter affirmed before Roman could say a word. "You were right, son. He's a good man."

Dean's eyes never left Roman's. "He is."

A/N I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you for the favorites/follows/reviews. I appreciate it. :-)