Chapter Ten: No Kissing

John and Roman share a look of mild concern when they see Dean leaning up against the lockers with some girl they're sure they've seen before, but can't place a name on.

"Who's the readhead?" John asks. It isn't as if they've never seen Dean chatting up some girl with less-than-pleasant intentions before, but it's also notable that those instances have become fewer and further between since Seth blew into town.

In fact, where was Seth?

"I haven't heard from either of them all weekend." Roman says, re-directing the conversation but trusting that John will understand the direction in which he's heading. "But didn't they spend, like, the whole weekend together? Where's Seth?"

"What's up?"

As if summoned by their growing curiosity, Seth appears behind them.

"Oh, there you are." Roman says quietly. "Uhh, what's up?"

"Why are you acting weird?" Seth asks, the humor dancing in his brown eyes, telling John and Roman that he has no idea about Dean and the redhead. And although they have yet to obtain any concrete evidence to prove that Seth has feelings for Dean, they still aren't sure how much they want Seth exposed to Dean's "dating rituals". If they could even remotely be considered as such.

"You know how Roman gets when he hasn't eaten." John attempts. "Come on, let's go see what we can find in the cafeteria?"

John places his hand on Seth's shoulder and guides him in that direction. Thankfully, he moves willingly with John's hand. He does, however, stop to ask, "Have either of you seen Dean?"

Roman glances back to where they last saw Dean and the redhead, only to find them gone. He shakes his head, knowing that both are going to be a little more than late to their homeroom class. "Nope, haven't seen him." Roman bites his lip, knowing that he shouldn't ask the question that's been on his mind all morning, but also knowing that the curiosity would kill him. It always did. "You mean you haven't seen him? Don't you guys always ride to school together?"

Seth sighs. "We do. We did, I mean. We did today, just like we always do, but… he was acting kind of weird."

John snorts, unable to help himself. "Dean? Weird?" He chuckles, then mouths a quick "sorry" when Roman shoots him a glare.

"Weird how?" Roman proceeds to ask. By now, they've reached the cafeteria and are seated at a vacated table near the back. If Seth noticed the inconsistency of John's earlier claim of Roman's hunger, he doesn't say anything about it.

Seth sighs again, and the way he slumps his shoulders and throws his backpack onto the table has Roman thinking that Dean and the redhead won't be the only ones late to homeroom.

"I don't know, he was… Too happy. Too chipper. Like he was trying to mock me or be overly sarcastic or something. I haven't ever seen him act that way before." The warning bell sounds a few seconds later, but none of them move. "And then, when we got here, he said something like, "catch you later", and wondered off. But he wouldn't even look at me." Seth puffs out yet another sad gust of air. "He hasn't looked at me all morning, come to think of it."

John and Roan wait a few beats to see if Seth will say anything more. When he doesn't, Roman speaks up. "Do you have any idea why he'd act like that? I mean, Dean acting overly sarcastic is nothing new-" John snorts again, "-but he seems to check his bravado at the door around you. I don't know what could have changed."

Seth stays silent for a moment, but it seems to be more about hesitation than reflection.

"This weekend was perfect." He says finally, and John and Roman can only hope that Seth's random change in topic will come with a reason. "I guess, in the back of my mind, I've always had this little crush on Dean, but in the beginning it felt more like adoration. Like I looked up to him like a big brother or something. But after this weekend… And then I thought he was going to kiss me, but he didn't. And now he's acting weird today." His eyes widen the slightest bit. "Oh god, it's my fault, isn't it? He saw that I wanted to kiss him and now he's disgusted."

"No no no." John says, tugging on Seth's hands that are now covering his face. "That's not true and you know it. We all know it." John throws his arm over Roman's shoulder. "Roman and I have known from the start that there was a chemistry between you two. Something that was definitely different from "brotherly love". And while we know that Dean is an idiot, we've hoped that his feelings for you would eventually win out over his stupidity."

Seth furrows his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

John glances at Roman, then at his watch, then back to Seth. "I have a feeling that school's the last think on anyone's mind…" He gives Seth a slightly sad look. "And the last place we should be having this conversation about Dean."

"What do you m-"

"And we're super late to class anyways. Wanna ditch and go get some ice cream?"

Roman gasps, scooting over until he's in his boyfriend's lap. "Skipping school and suggesting ice cream for breakfast? You must not really be my boyfriend."

"I'd better be your boyfriend, because any other guy that does this-" He places a kiss on Roman's lips. "is going to have to die."

Roman giggles, before looking over at Seth to make sure that his shameless PDA with John hadn't upset him in light of the conversation they had been having. He is, however, relieved to find Seth looking back with a smile and a gleamy look in his eyes.

"Come on, lovebirds. Lets go."

…

20 minutes later, the three find themselves in a frozen yogurt shop. Roman's earlier jab about John suggesting ice cream for breakfast knocked at his guilty conscience, leaving Roman with the task of convincing him that frozen yogurt would be much less of a crime against his wrestling body.

"I can't help but be a little disappointed in how easy it was to duck out of school." John comments. "It puts even more doubt into my faith in humanity, you know? What good is our future if they're not even fighting to keep kids in school?"

Roman rolls his eyes. "Is there no pleasing you? And wasn't this your idea?"

John pouts into his cup of pineapple flavored fro-yo, and offers no argument.

"Speaking of this being John's idea, are you gunna continue whatever it was you were telling me earlier? You know, about Dean?" Seth inquires. He's been spooning around his blueberry frozen yogurt, but can't seem to get it into his mouth. His stomach is in knots in anticipation over whatever it is John needs to tell him about Dean.

"Right," John nods. "uhh…" He starts bouncing his knee under the table, and his sudden nervousness worries Seth even more. "Seth… there's something we've been kind of keeping from you. Something about Dean."

The silence that follows doesn't sit well with Seth. Not when it's about Dean. Not when it seems to be about him and Dean. Both his problems with Dean and his attraction to him did start this whole conversation in a frozen yogurt shop, didn't it?

"Okay, what is it?" He asks to fill the silence more than anything.

"Dean… he doesn't do relationships, you know? He never has, and probably…"

"Probably never will." Roman fills in the gap for John. He knows how hard it is for him to have to tell Seth this. He knows how much he wants to be able to protect Seth, the way he feels like he failed in protecting Daniel. "For as long as he's known how to use his dick, he's slept around with anything with a pulse. But he's never had an actual relationship. He doesn't even sleep with the same person twice unless he grants them the famous, "extention". We like to think that that's why he gives John so much shit." Roman motions towards John. "Because he was able to get me into the type of relationship that Dean seems to hate so much."

Seth pushes his melting yogurt away from him, knowing that he's just never going to get to it. "So you guys are saying that I was right. He saw that I wanted to kiss him, and now he's freaked and wants nothing to do with me."

Roman shakes his head. "No, not exactly. See, while Dean's slept with nearly everyone under the sun, he's never kissed anyone."

Seth furrows his eyebrows, not really understanding the significance of the information, but interested nonetheless.

"Never?"

"Never. He's got this really weird thing about kissing."

"Sex is like Dean's own personal game, but he's only got one rule: No Kissing." John offers.

"And the really weird thing about it is that he's told my why he hates the whole relationship thing. He tells me all the time, but he's never told me why kissing is such a big, horrible thing for him."

A deep blush spreads across Seth's cheeks. "So you're really telling me that he hates me now."

Roman can't help but chuckle. "No. What we're trying to say is that Dean never even puts himself into a position where kissing would be a factor. Well, aside from sex, but everyone knows the No Kissing rule, so no one ever tries."

"And that's what's crazy too." John says. "He hasn't tried to sleep with you, even though Roman and I both know that he's attracted to you. Has been since the day you came to our school."

"Really?" Seth asks, a fleeting feeling of hope coursing through him. Overpowered only by his growing confusion. "So wait, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the fact that you guys weren't having sex, but you still felt like he was going to kiss you, means something."

Seth can't help but bounce a little in his seat at this point. "What does it mean?"

"It means that you mean something to Dean. Something that he's not used to. Something that scares the shit out of him."

…

The bed is squeaking, the girl underneath him is screaming, but somehow, Dean doesn't hear any of it.

He can't very well explain the feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when Roman had texted him, telling him that he didn't have to worry about driving Seth home because he was with him and John. He doesn't want to admit to himself that he wanted to see Seth after school, even though he had been doing his very best to avoid him.

How on earth did that make sense?

It's for the best, is what Dean had to keep telling himself. He was about to kiss Seth last night. For goodness sake, he was about to kiss someone! He's never felt that before, nothing even close. He's never once felt that strong pull, as if someone was literally pushing at the back of his head in Seth's direction. He's never felt that ache in his chest that felt like only the touch of Seth's lips would ease. He's never felt that burn. That burn in his heart that felt like, dammit, he needed Seth Rollins.

But he couldn't feel like that. No, it was better this way. Seth was better off with Roman and John somewhere, and Dean pounding into some random girl. Because that way, Dean wouldn't slip up. If he could just keep a healthy distance from Seth, maybe he could get these stupid feelings to go away.

Only… why did that very thought make Dean feel like he was driving a knife right through his own heart?

A/N: Wow! It's been suuuuper long, again. I suck at this, don't I? I promise to do better.

Title is not from a song this time. I figured this chapter deserved a title of a little more importance.