Twenty Four
Dean woke up with a smile on his face, pressing his body against Roman's closer. His boyfriend was still sleeping so he chose to admire the Samoan man's sleeping profile.
He lightly traced the Samoan man's nose and lips.
"You're up early," Roman said, his eyes still closed.
"Guess I am," he replied. "Although it's one right now. Roman?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too." The Samoan chef yawned. "What do you want to do today?"
Dean sat up. "I'm going to bring you out for shopping and lunch."
"Okay," Roman agreed happily.
Town was surprisingly busy this time of the day, Dean noticed when they walked about hand in hand. He chose a mall where there was a huge bookstore for Roman to browse. Dean got a glimpse of a brunette who bore a strong resemblance to Zack walking outside. "Babe, you stay here for a while. I'm going to the gents," he lied.
"Okay. I'll be around this section," Roman said.
He nodded briskly before he exited the store.
Roman was browsing the latest Harry Potter book when his eye caught a mystery genre book that had his interest piqued. He reached for it just as another man was too.
"Oh I'm sorry," the man replied. "You take that first. I'll take the bottom."
"No, I can take the bottom." Then he caught himself. "I meant the book."
The man laughed. "I know what you mean. And it's fine. I can go either way."
Roman took the first copy. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," the man replied. "I've been searching for this book. The bookstores in my town don't have it."
"Where do you live?"
"Haydon Heights. I'm a doctor there. I used to work as a military doctor before that."
"I live in Haydon Heights too."
"You do?"
"Yeah. I work at the Wellington Hotel as a pastry chef."
"Small world," the man said. "I'm Alistair Overeem."
Roman shook his hand. "Roman Reigns. Shouldn't it be Doctor Alistair Overeem though?"
The man laughed. "Not at all. When I'm on vacation, I'm just Alistair."
"I can dig that. So this book must have lots of good reviews, huh?"
"Oh yeah. Apparently it draws you in like a magnet. Absolutely captivating."
"You know what? I'm going to take a page from out of your book," Roman grinned, "Pun intended and buy this."
The man laughed. "That's a good one."
Dean was dismayed to find out that brunette turned out to be some random guy when he followed him to the gents.
When he returned to the bookstore, he found a handsome black man chatting up Roman.
Ordinarily he would feel weird about it but Dean reminded himself that the outcome with Dwayne and Zack was a grey area.
If by some miracle Roman and this guy became good friends, who knew what the future would hold for them. He had to make sure that everything had been set up for the Samoan man.
When the man laughed and headed towards the counter to pay, Dean entered the store. "Hey," he said.
"Hey," Roman replied. "I was recommended this book."
"Great. Let's buy it then. Anything else you want?"
"You?"
Dean had to grin. "Besides that."
"Nothing really."
They had lunch at a French cafe where Roman impressed him by ordering in French. "You weren't kidding when you said you could speak French."
"Mmm… je t'aime mon chéri."
"I love you too."
Roman smiled at him tenderly. "So you do know."
"Yeah just a little. I'm bad with the pronunciation though."
There was a couple next to their table arguing. Dean noticed Roman staring discreetly. "I'm glad we don't argue so much anymore," his boyfriend said.
They went back to the hotel where Roman tossed his book aside and climbed on top of the auburn haired cop and slowly started to undress them both. "I can get used to this," he said as he nudged Dean's thighs. "Lots of sex all day."
"Me too," Dean agreed.
Roman was saying French words which Dean assumed were romantic ones. It sent a thrill down his spine.
They made love tenderly with lots of kissing and gentle touches.
"I love you," Dean murmured as Roman's neck dropped near the crook of his neck and shoulder after he rode out his wave of ecstasy. "If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing."
His boyfriend's eyes were now wide open. "Dean? This trip better not be your way of saying goodbye and preparing me in case…"
Dean averted his gaze.
"Dean!"
"It's the only way I know how-"
Roman got out of bed, his face strained. "So this whole trip was a lie."
"It's not… this showdown with Zack and Dwayne, it's going to be dangerous. I'm only bracing myself-"
"You're taking on both of them? Are you crazy?!"
"Well… yeah."
"Don't do it alone. I'll follow you-"
"No. No, Roman. I don't want to see you anywhere near me when it happens."
"You've lost your mind if you think I'm letting you go alone."
Dean shook his head stubbornly. "I don't want you hurt."
"And what makes you think that I want to see you hurt?"
"Obviously you don't but-"
"Then this conversation is moot. Fuck, Dean," his boyfriend snapped as he went into the bathroom and slammed the door.
It was the first time Roman had used an expletive towards him and he knew he deserved it. But Dean didn't want to see Roman hurt even if he was gung-ho on saving the auburn haired cop. He'd rather be hurt.
Roman was all things good about this world. He was also not trained to deal with men like Zack or Dwayne.
With shaky hands, he reached for his clothes and started to dress.
"Dean." Roman had come out from the bathroom as Dean was walking out from the bedroom. "Where are you going?"
"I'm giving you space."
Roman sat glumly at the same French cafe, his heart aching that his boyfriend wanted to head into battle alone.
It was a suicide mission.
He stirred his rose tea, pondering how he could follow Dean without him even noticing.
"We meet again."
Roman smiled up at Alistair who was holding the book. "Hi," he greeted.
"I was wondering if I could join you. All the tables are occupied."
"Not a problem. Please."
The doctor sat down. "Thank you. This cafe is always full. Their food must be good."
"It is."
"Hmm… Right. Are you hungry? I'm kind of." He didn't wait for Roman's reply and placed an order of a pot of rose tea and some strawberry macaroons and scones. "I hope you eat strawberries. That was not thoughtful of me."
"Strawberries are fine."
"So why the glum face?" Alistair asked. "You were all smiley in the bookstore."
"Oh. I had an argument with my boyfriend."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Relationships are always like that. You'll be making up in no time."
Roman hoped so. He didn't like them not speaking. They were supposed to be having a romantic time here, not being far away from one another. His mind started to wander to how they met to the random moments in between.
He clenched his fists underneath the table; there was no way he was losing Dean to his unfaithful power hungry ex boyfriend.
"If it's okay with you, I'm heading back to the hotel first."
"Not a problem at all." Alistair reached into his pocket and took a name card. "In case you need help or anything."
Roman grinned. "On call, Doctor?"
"You'll never know."
When he returned back to the room, he found Dean sleeping on the couch in his leather jacket and jeans. He bent down and carried Dean in his arms, bridal style to the bedroom where he laid him down and covered him with the comforter.
Dean must be uncomfortable sleeping in those clothes though. Roman tried to remove his jacket but Dean smacked his hands. Did he even know who it was? Then he decided to remove his jeans. He tried to remove the belt and Dean smacked him again. "Get your hands off me," he mumbled sleepily. "I have a boyfriend."
Roman couldn't help but smile when he heard that. He bent nearer wanting to give him a kiss when the stench of alcohol stung his nose. Well that explained why he was out of it.
Dean started snoring lightly.
"I love you, Dean," he whispered in his ear. "I won't let you be taken away from me and that's a promise."
Dean woke up to the sound of a television from the living room of the suite.
Roman was back.
He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed, going to the bathroom to wash his face. A pair of arms encircled his waist after he finished wiping it with a face towel. "You feeling okay? I just placed a room service order."
"No thanks," Dean declined. "I'm heading out for a walk."
Roman refused to let him go, pinning him against the sink. "Dean, I want you around. I mean we can still do couple stuff. We are a couple, you know."
"For now."
Roman's lips were inches from his. "Wrong answer," he replied as he covered Dean's mouth. The blue eyed cop clung onto him tight kissing him back for all his worth. He jumped and wrapped his legs around his boyfriend who walked slowly back to the bedroom and laid down on the bed with him without breaking any romantic form.
Hot kisses were placed on his neck by the gentle Samoan as Dean helped him to strip out of both their clothes. "I want you, Roman," he whispered when Roman stroked his length.
"Right answer."
Their lovemaking was uncontrolled and wild this time. Dean flung his arm around his boyfriend, panting. "You're good, Roman."
"I know," Roman agreed, kissing Dean on his forehead. They enjoyed the companionable silence between them before Roman said softly, "I don't want to lose you, Dean. Please don't do this alone."
"Roman, you're not trained to fight men like Zack or Dwayne."
"But John's trained, right?"
"Yes."
"Then will you please bring John with you? I'm sure he'll want revenge on Dwayne. I want revenge on him as well."
"Roman, you're not the sort who-"
"After what I've been through, I want it, Dean. I'm sick of being walked all over."
He didn't want their vacation to be ruined. Dean decided to bring Roman out for some drinks after eating their room service.
He didn't changed but Roman did to a white shirt with three quarter sleeves over a pair of jeans.
The auburn haired man chose a nice little restaurant not too far from the hotel, where people could drink wine with the accompaniment of a jazz band. They ordered moscato and talked about their high school experiences.
"I can't believe you didn't go to your prom night," Dean said, "just so you could escort some clown to his family dinner. Makes me wished I had punched Rosey during the arrest."
"It's okay," Roman replied. "Proms are overrated."
"But they're special in a weird way."
Hold me close and hold me fast
That magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
An idea formed in Dean's head. "Roman?"
"Yeah, Dean?" his boyfriend replied, smiling.
"Can I have this dance?"
Roman's grey eyes darkened. "Here?"
"Yeah."
"But there's no one on the dance floor."
"That's okay."
His boyfriend allowed him to be pulled up as Dean walked with him to a corner and wrapped his arms around him and they slowly danced to the music, eyes not leaving one another's.
Everyday words seem to turn into love song
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be la vie en rose
Dean hoped Roman liked it; he hoped it made up for him missing out on a lot of good things.
Roman's love for Dean made his heart bloom as they danced to the jazz music behind.
He had no idea that his boyfriend would do such a thing for him but he was proud to call Dean his. This made up for everything he had missed during his high school but it was worth it.
Not when the man in his arms was gazing at him like he was the most precious thing in the world. "I love you, Dean," he whispered in his boyfriend's ear.
They went back to their table after the song ended and finished their drink. While walking along the streets, Dean saw a party shop and asked Roman to wait for him while he went inside to check something out. He came out five minutes later with a gold colored cardboard crown.
Roman laughed. "Dean…"
"I name you Prom King, Roman Reigns," his boyfriend said as he placed it on top of his head. "So do you have a speech for us peasants?"
"Not really… I didn't even know I was nominated," he giggled.
"Oh come on! A looker like you…"
"I think that the votes were rigged, that's what I think. I think they were all cast in favor for me by my boyfriend."
Dean chortled. "I'm not denying anything." He grinned mischievously. "You know what happens after prom?"
"Banging in the the hotel room?"
"Oh yeah. Let's go!"
And they ran all the way back to their hotel like giggly teenagers.
A/N I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows :-)