"Goddamn it. Why do I have to deal with the bullshit." Dean annoyingly muttered to himself walking amidst the crowd of chatter. His head was down but didn't mind shoving whoever dared step in his way, "Fuck this shit."
It was lunchtime and so there was quite a lot going on in the halls. Voices faded into other voices. A sea of hungry students made rapid waves, the scent of puberty lingering strongly in the air.
He tried pacing right along with the crowd, their lingo and commotion making it nearly impossible for him to do even that. He hated rush hour in school and would be happily ditching if it weren't for that stupid class he had to take right at lunch.
Calculus tutoring.
It was a joke to him. All of it. The fact that he was being forced to go just because he didn't choose to kiss ass and was straightforward was really just laughable. Not only did this place limit every single soul that was a part of it, but now it punished for being real. That was just the tip of the iceberg, absolutely ridiculous; and he, as always, was the target of it all. Peachy fucking keen.
He was fuming, walking towards his destination presented a task. The one place he already despised more than anything despite never walking into it. He already knew it would be absolutely horrid. All because of Mr. Roman Reigns. Why the man was always up his ass annoying him, he didn't know. Whether his intentions were good or not though didn't matter. All he was getting out of the constant smothering was the opportunity to potentially get his luminous white teeth punched deep into his face, and the intentions were not far. Dean was really just considering getting into it with the man, let him know there was no game to be played. He sensed, however, that would somehow be absolutely useless, that Roman would just laugh it off and insist even more. The man was not someone who gave up easily, making him almost as stubborn as Ambrose, if not his equal.
The young boy took a quick stop to place his backpack into his locker right outside Reigns' class. From the corner of his eye he spotted Barrett walking over to him but tried not to be seen, failing in the attempt.
He absolutely did not need questioning, specially from Wade. No, his dealer could not know he was taking tutoring. That was like the ultimate geek thing to do and Dean Ambrose was anything but a geek. He would take this little secret to the grave if need be. There was a reputation to keep and he knew Wade would damn sure stop selling to someone who complained about school, but gave in and went to tutoring.
The older boy approached him and Ambrose did his best to appear cool and carefree, the usual norm. There had to be no sign of anything going on with him, things had to be drawn perfectly fine. He closed and leaned against the locker door, calling out Barrett who was still a few steps short, "How ya doing Wade?"
"Everything alright mate, the usual." He let go of a chuckle and sarcastically remarked, "I love it here."
Ambrose grinned and scoffed, "You know it."
"So you coming to hang out outside lad? Or is today ditching day."
Dean looked around the place, "Yea, um, actually yes. Yea me and, um, Solomon might leave to get high somewhere. You know, with Luke... the usual." He tried hard to make his tone realistic but the more attempts made, the less it came out how he wanted it to. He only hoped Barrett would somehow buy it, afraid he might be more experienced in dealing with bullshitters than initially thought.
The English boy gave him a pat on the back and chuckled, "Sounds sweet, lad. See you later then alright."
"After school? Yea for sure man, for sure." He nodded relieved, slowly letting out all the air his lungs had contained.
With that reassurance, the English native walked away amongst the crowd of hungry students. Dean had to look over twice making sure he wasn't spotted going into the classroom.
As soon as he set the first step into that space, the atmosphere completely changed. His eyes were to the floor but could sense the presence in the tight, compressed room; he could damn well feel it like the hot sun against his skin mid-July. He looked up and there was Seth Rollins staring right back at him, eyes a mixture of curiosity laced with shock and confusion, the perfect recipe for his distress, exactly what Ambrose was looking for. Just like their usual routine, Seth had failed to disappoint. Oh how easy he was. Dean might even have to start looking for a new, much trickier target.
The rowdy teen smirked to himself lightly before making his way to the seat farthest from the front where he could see every corner, every inch of the place. He sensed Rollins' round eyes still on him even while plopping down, body fully turned towards where he was, "What the fuck you looking at nerd express? Can I help you with something?" His tone was anything but playful, a harsh remark.
The younger teen quickly took his gaze away, turning forward. He could feel Ambrose's eyes still drilling on him despite choosing to leave the boy alone. He was absolutely upset at this turn of events. What he'd expected to be something fun and releasing had just become his own personal hell, all in just a matter of minutes. He would definitely have to speak with Roman, bring this issue up to him, ask him what the hell Dean Ambrose out of all people was doing there. Was it some form of punishment from the teacher towards that disrespectful shame of a being? Most likely. Why, however, did he have to pay for whatever Ambrose had said or done? Why did this existing problem have to become his? Why couldn't things just be different for once? It was all so unfair to him.
All of a sudden the room was no longer soaking in quiet. A mixture of "duns" and other instrument-like noises filled the air, all coming out of Dean's mouth in beat. Seth dared a tiny look back and caught a brief glimpse of Ambrose playing air guitar, foot comfortably on top of the desk as if he was sitting in his living room and a focused, half-dazed look. He seemed to be having the time of his life. Lucky him, thought Seth, because that was something far from his mind at the moment, fun. He knew he should've never accepted tutoring as an option, not only was it too risky, but he would now have to deal with the personification of annoying.
Somewhere in the middle the 80's song extravaganza courtesy of Dean Ambrose, the door opened and Roman walked in. He granted both guys a warm smile before setting a tray of lunch on the desk. He was not accompanied by anyone else which meant it was probably only him and Ambrose that were going to be assisting tutoring. Why out of everyone eligible to be there it had to be Dean, the young boy didn't know, but by heavens he would find out the exact reason behind this mistake. There was no one on that planet he needed to see less than Ambrose. His eyes hurt at the mere sight.
"Sorry I kept you waiting guys." The man spoke all while trying to place his things in an organized manner on top of the wide desk, doing so with the grace and elegance only he brought. His eyes found Seth and continued on, "Lunch lines are horrible."
Despite trying to keep his disappointment evident by staying quiet, Seth interrupted briefly, "I thought teachers got lunch right away."
Reigns scoffed, "Not when you got someone like Big Show cutting in front of you."
"Big Show?"
"Mr. Wight." To their surprise Dean was the one to speak, his air guitar minutes now gone.
"Exactly." Roman nodded briefly, gaze fixed on Dean, pleasantly surprised. He was glad to see no windows were broken and his classroom was physically in-tact. Seth hated the idea of the other boy being there, that he already knew. It wasn't like he'd given Dean tutoring on purpose just to piss him off; on the contrary, he wanted them closer to see if maybe, just maybe, they would start getting along. He wanted Dean to get to know how noble Seth was and, well, the other way around. He saw something in Dean, a potential that no one else was exposed to. A side not even he'd seen yet, but had just gotten a mere glimpse of. And what a sight it was. He wanted Seth to be able to see that too, give the kid a chance to surprise him; although he knew in a deep corner of his own mind, one he didn't listen to very often, he too wanted to witness more of Dean Ambrose himself, see it all. It was not something he was about to admit, however, but what an interesting creature that boy was. He put up a wall of pure steel but there was no denying, Roman was intrigued already and would do anything he could to break it down, "Glad to see you both made it."
All the brunette teen did was raise his eyebrows briefly, expression showing no interest, nothing short of boredom. Seth made no other comments, opting to just grant a forced, half-assed smile, clearly bothered by the fact that there was someone else with them in the room, that one specific someone just happening to be one he did not like. It was pretty damn obvious that had not been what he'd come to expect and was less than thrilled. He kept his chocolate brown eyes glued forward, hands crossed in front of him while the tension oozed out, clinging to the air, filling it up like a hot-air balloon.
Roman made it his duty to relieve all that tension before it became too much. He walked over in front of his desk, cup of fruit in hand which he proceeded to open as he spoke, "Well then, if you guys need any help with something... Seth I know you had a couple questions regarding the quiz." The boy nodded briefly glancing over his paper in front of him, he'd definitely showed up prepared.
Ambrose on his part had brought absolutely nothing, clearly an act to defy Roman, something he quite enjoyed doing at this point, "So, Roman." He quickly corrected himself and cleared his throat, obviously mocking, "Oh, um, excuse me... Mr. Reigns?"
The handsome teacher looked up from Rollins' paper, knowing damn well the kid most likely was not about to talk about calculus, "Yes Dean."
He placed his foot down, shifting his body closer to where his abdomen was touching the edge of the table, tone as casual as could be, "Are we the only ones coming to tutoring, sir?"
"Yes. You are." With that, the teacher went back to helping Seth.
"Oh." That one word triggered a certain amount of attention from both guys. Attention neither wanted to give Dean right now for different reasons. Seth did not want to even think about the disrespectful boy. Roman on his end, did not want any unnecessary comments. Comments just like the one that came next, "So do you have like a crush on us or something? I mean, do you like us?" The little shit then smirked just as Roman stared right at him, no amusement shown, "I mean, why else would it be just the 2 of us right-"
"Dean, shut up." That was the first time he'd taken a more hard approach with any of his students and it only elicited a satisfactory smile from Ambrose's face, nothing short of pure victory at ticking off the man.
"I'm just saying-"
"Dean. I said shut it."
"But-"
"Just shut up for once, please. Quit being a douchebag for just a few minutes while we're here. Is that too much to ask?" At this point Roman was clearly more than a little annoyed at the boy, going as far as to wanting to kick him out but refraining hard. He could not and would not give him yet another little satisfaction; letting him affect his reaction had already been more than enough.
Seth's eyes widened at the sudden change in things but he wasn't surprised. Dean was on another level when it came to getting under people's skin, picking and picking at the sensitive flesh. Although he'd thought if anyone would finally be immune to it, it would be Roman he was probably wrong. Even someone as composed and mature as Reigns could fall for it. The man quickly regained his cool though, so that was a change; seemed Dean wouldn't win as easy, but victory was inevitable, it was only a matter of time.
With those last direct words, Roman and Seth got working on the teen's quiz and the questions he had. Ambrose started doodling on his arm, the usual all while shutting everyone out. It was just something he couldn't help. Anything involving drawing or wrestling made him care even less about the world. There was just something so relaxing about picking at his skin, making it into any one design he wanted, black ink to pale, soft surface.
He was in the middle of drawing himself in Bret Hart gear when he heard chuckles a few rows ahead. It would've been an absolute lie if he so shamelessly mentioned he'd not come to expect this one sight. Seth was now over at Roman's desk. He'd dragged a chair over and was a bit too close to Reigns. The teacher had finished his lunch and was apparently telling a pretty funny tale seeing Rollins couldn't contain his giggles. Both were going about as carefree as could be, a clear drive away from the usual demeanor. More than that initial lie, however, would be saying he didn't see it. Of course. How could he be so blind? The way Seth eyed Roman, the same exquisite look he got in return. That damn connection floating between them like a damn cloud. Apparent even to the most oblivious of beings. He didn't want to stare but could not keep his stupefied self away. Could not look away from this Rollins, a side he'd known absolutely nothing about.
Who knew the kid could laugh?
"You 2 seem to be pretty damn close." The sudden vulnerability felt was rapidly replaced by the usual, shit-eating grin and chuckle, "Didn't think you could get closer to anyone other than your parents Seth but... I guess I was wrong. This damn well takes the whole cake."
Roman immediately spoke, not taking anymore of it, "Dean I told you-"
"You know what Reigns you don't like it you can very well kick me out because this is all me, alright. I told you I don't want to be here but you're the one wanting me here so-"
The man's tone was little by little losing all its cool, "Yes, and with damn good reason."
"I got the same exact grade Mr. Goody Bar over here got!" Dean was also not having any of it, his temper fully released. He was still more than bothered by the privileges he was not being granted, the same privileges Roman gave Seth without question. He could not let that shit go, it was more than a grudge at this point, "What makes me any less huh? Because I don't fucking giggle at your pathetic joke attempts? Or is it because I am not rich, far from it actually, and my daddy doesn't own half the fucking town?! Which is it?! If you think I lose sleep over a damn 'C' like HE does then you have no idea how wrong you are." He'd tried to be reasonable, get out of it the right way, the calm way. It had not worked out and he was quite frankly getting sick of that damn place. He was already done with Roman.
Reigns' voice was taken up a small notch, frightening Seth at how much deeper it was, "Well then you might want to worry about it because it's not good enough-"
"And what IS good enough then, eh? Making it to Harvard like this kid?" He pointed at Rollins, "Because if you think I want that then I don't know what to tell you. Not everyone strives to be something they are not just because pops tells them to." He paused a little, Roman fuming by that point, "Why do you care so much then, huh? Why do you always have to worry so fucking much about me anyway, it's obvious I don't give a shit."
"Because you should want better! You should reach for better and not conform to everything that is thrown at you, building up a damn wall whenever you don't want to deal with it. Blocking people like Seth out, being rude to them just because you think the moment you change your ways in front of them you are made to look weak. Which is fucking bullshit being I can see right through you!"
Seth just closed his eyes. At this point he honestly did not know what would come out of their mouths, something plain hurtful being on the brink of possibility. He dared a look over at the brunette, who'd yet to give his side of the on-going argument.
Ambrose simply did not speak. The room went absolutely quiet, making it one of the first few occasions he'd been left this way. Keeping quiet in the past was either done to refrain himself, which was a pretty fucking hard thing to do, or he became bored with the topic of argument. This time... he just didn't know what to say.
Roman sighed, realizing what he'd just said, attempting to ineffectively cool things off, "You deserve better Dean. Both of you do." He looked over to Seth who was still on his spot, glued to his chair. Reigns looked at him desperately, scanning for any trace of approval. He wanted a reason, something to justify what had just come out of his mouth, "And you can do better, I know you can. Which is why I push you, which is why I ca-"
In that moment the sharp, dry sound of the bell interrupted their little banter. Roman looked down to his desk, not once glancing up as heavy footsteps made their way out of his classroom. When he lifted his gaze the desk was quiet. Quiet and positively empty.
Seth, however, remained by his side, hopeful smile adorning the teen's already good-looking features. The teacher sighed, now exhausted, "Guess I took it a little too far, huh?"
To his surprise, the boy chuckled quietly, "Not really. If anyone needs to hear those things, it's him."
He shook his head, "I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't and I did and- it's just..." There was a heavy sigh as his hands rubbed his bearded face, "sometimes- sometimes I can't control what comes out of my mouth and it pisses me the hell off." He struck a fist against the desk quite loudly, startling Seth who tried as much as possible to maintain his hard-earned calm. Understatement of the year would be to say he'd been expecting that for their first day. Seeing Roman that way... was shocking, but Dean had to have seen that coming, "I'm sorry Seth. I am really sorry you had to see that."
In midst of all his guilt, Roman looked over to him, their eyes locking strongly for what felt like a lifetime. The young boy had just witnessed so many distinct emotions course through the man. He'd seen him try to regain his cool and failing altogether. Control followed annoyance and annoyance was replaced with anger, all those rapidly shut down by guilt. Pure, raw guilt; something told him Roman did not let things go with ease, if ever.
"Roman..." Awaken in him was an action he'd not expected yet to come out. The obligation to protect this perfectly tormented human being not mattering what it took, suddenly rose. He didn't know Roman Reigns' story, but he'd spotted a pretty honest idea swimming in the gray, conflicted ocean that were his eyes. As honestly gentle as he could, the boy placed one hand on his teacher's cheek, mimicking what the man had done before, this time just a little more gentle, much too bold. A whisper took form, soothing everything in its path, "don't worry about it. Don't worry about me. I will never think you are wrong, no matter what you do okay." There was a pause, that same connection lingering in the air, hovering over them just enough to be noticed again, "And Roman... as my teacher... or a friend..." He was having a really hard time letting out what he truly wanted to say, trembling lightly, fully tempted to play it safe as he'd done so many times before, his whole life. He encouraged only by the large hand placed on top of his, motioning with the gentle touch for him to go forward, that it was okay, sending tiny shock waves through his veins, "You can always, always count on me. I will always be here. I mean it. That's something that you can be sure of."
Their eyes not once losing each other. The intention as clear as ever. Roman felt it and didn't know what to do or feel. The vibe Seth was emitting being something so foreign coming from the young boy. It was weird but expected. He retracted a bit and Rollins immediately took the signal, there was no need making this simple action something it was not. That was a big step best kept avoided.
"So, uh, guess I will see you tomorrow then." With that and a cheeky smile, he stood up, walking over to arrange his things. Roman on his part, was not able to emit much movement, this little tutoring session bringing that out in everybody.
"Seth?" Just as the boy was a step away from being out of the room, he called out, shallow, ocean-deep gray eyes fixated once again on him, "Thank you."
The words were brief, simple, yet they held so much power over Seth. After a quick nod, he had to walk out before going back to shamelessly smooch the guilt out of Roman.
Oh boy, what are we gonna do with Roman and Dean and their arguing? Hopefully you all enjoyed!