Twenty Two

Roman wiped a table the next day before noticing a new customer sitting down at table one and proceeded to take his order. "Jason?"

His former friend smiled at him. "Hey, Roman."

"What do you want?" He was still upset at him.

"I came here for tea… and to talk to you. I mean you haven't been returning my calls."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"But it was Justin who said those stuff. Not me."

He sighed. "Jason, you know how much Dean means to me. How could you just stand there and let Justin run his mouth-"

Jason nodded. "I know. I shouldn't have. Can you forgive me? I miss you, Roman. I miss hanging out with you."

He considered for a moment. Manu had already gone back and as much as he appreciated Brock doing his duty, he longed for a friend and Jason had been his good friend. "Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So can we hang out sometime this week? Like tomorrow…"

"Tonight would be good too."

"Even better. So do you serve tea here?"

"Sure. We have a limited selection though."

"Hmmm… can you recommend me a flavor?"

"Darjeeling? It's light and delicate."

"You've tasted it before?"

"It's my favorite tea besides Chai Latte."

Jason leaned back. "Since it's your favorite, I'll try it."

"Thank you. Can I get you anything else?"

"And a plate of your breakfast deluxe platter, please."

"Will do. I'll be back with your order." Roman nodded at him and left to give the order slip to the kitchen while he prepared the tea.

Randy stood next to him at the bar area. "You know that guy."

"Yeah. That's Jason."

"Jason? The guy Dean dislikes?"

"Yeah. But he's alright."

Randy raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? He looks like he has his eyes on you."

"Then he's going to be disappointed. I'm in love with Dean. I wouldn't trade what we have for anything." He went back to the table and placed the mug of tea. "There's creamer and sugar in the basket on your left."

"Thank you…" Jason smiled at him. "So how have you been?"

"A lot has happened: my parents both passed away days from one another, Dean's on tour for six months-"

"I'm sorry for both your losses."

"It's okay. I'm slowly getting by."

The nurse was staring at him. "But there's so much sadness in your eyes…"

"Roman!" Randy called out. "Dean's ringing you! Go answer it; I'll serve your order."

His heart soared upon hearing that. Dean must have checked in his hotel room already. "If you'll excuse me-"

"I know what it's like to lose a loved one," Jason said.

Roman remembered that Jason had lost his brother in a gang fight. "I guessed as much."

"Have you been taking care of yourself?"

"Not really-"

"Roman!" Randy didn't sound pleased.

"S-Sorry," he apologised to Jason before running to the cashier counter where his phone was being charged. He had missed Dean's call. Unplugging the charger cable, he went to Randy's office and shut the door behind him.

Tapping on the Facetime icon, he waited patiently for Dean to answer. His boyfriend looked exhausted when his face appeared on screen. "Hey, babe. Sorry to call you so late."

"You look tired," Roman replied. "Did you get enough sleep?"

"Yeah a little."

"Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I had a customer. You'll never guess who-"

"Oh that's okay. I would have waited till your break but I miss you so much…"

"I miss you too. Where's your next stop again?"

"Paris. City of love. After that, Rome."

Roman sighed. "Are you sure I can't come?"

"Yeah I am."

"But why not? It's highly unlikely that you'll be partying the way you used to."

Cesaro's laughter could be heard in the background. Roman raised an eyebrow: what was the Swiss man doing there?

"It's a connecting room," his boyfriend explained before he could ask. "I forgot to lock-"

"He doesn't want you on the tour because you'll ruin his fun," the record label mogul yelled out. "How is he suppose to bang all those gorgeous men-"

"Shut up!" Dean shouted before he was out of Roman's view for a while. He heard the door being slammed. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay."

There was a knock on Randy's door before Apollo Crews opened it. "Hey, Roman. That hunk at table one is asking for you."

What did he want? "Okay. I'll be out soon."

Apollo nodded before shutting the door.

"Who's the hunk?" Dean immediately asked.

Roman shrugged. "Jason."

"Jason Jordan is at Javawocky?!" Dean didn't seem pleased.

"Dean…"

"What the hell, Roman? I fly off and you two are hooking up?"

"We're not hooking up. I told you before that we're friends."

His boyfriend laughed without humor. "You must be joking if you think he only sees you as a friend." He paused. "But I guess that's something you'll have to discover yourself."

Roman frowned. "Don't change the subject; I want to follow you, Dean. I can hop on a plane and meet you in Paris."

His boyfriend shook his head. "No, Roman."

The Samoan man was honest perplexed by Dean's constant refusal. He didn't want Roman hanging out with Jason yet he didn't want the Samoan man following him as he travelled. Maybe he really was going to live it up on tour… "Fine. I have to go anyways. I'll call you later."

"Roman," Dean said softly. "Don't end the call like that."

"How am I supposed to end it?"

"I love you. You know that. The thing is I'm not even sure what it'll be like on this tour. I've never travelled alone…"

"Wouldn't it be easier to have someone by your side?"

The door opened and Apollo waved again. "Roman, he just won't stop asking…"

Roman nodded to his colleague promising to be out soon before turning to Dean. "Duty calls."

"I'll call you later," his boyfriend informed him. "Like in an hour during break."

"It's alright. You should get some rest. Maybe after the concert..."

Dean sighed. "The concert is tomorrow. I'll call you after your shift."

"Talk to you later."

He hung up when Randy shouted out his name again. What did Jason want? Roman was in a bad mood. His boss shook his head at him when he came out of the office. "What's wrong, Roman?"

"I don't understand why Dean's so persistent that I not join him on tour," he answered. "I mean it'd be amazing if he and I spent time together, no matter how little and-"

"Why don't you just fly down and surprise him? Ask Paul to find out where he's staying and go surprise him."

"Are you serious, Randy? What if he doesn't want to see me?"

Randy laughed. "This is Dean, Roman. Since when does Dean not ever want to see you?"

"When he was in rehab."

"But he was angry so that doesn't count. Go call Paul and get the details."

In his hotel room, Dean stared at the phone sadly before putting it aside. Jason was back in the picture. This time Dean wouldn't be there to intervene or observe. Maybe Brock could help...

Someone rang his doorbell so he went to open it only to find a tall Polynesian man with long black hair with two tattooed arm sleeves standing in front of him. "Hi, I'm Koa. Are you Dean?"

"Yeah. Can I help you?"

"I was told that you needed company."

The rock star's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Some guy named Shane picked me up at the bar downstairs-"

Of all the insane things that Cesaro had ever done… "I'm sorry about that."

"Wait a minute. Aren't you that rock star?"

"Yeah." He scratched his head. "Listen, I'm sorry. I really am. My label has a weird sense of humor."

"More's the pity, I guess."

After sending Koa away, Dean banged his fists on Cesaro's jaw. "Open the door now! What the hell were you thinking asking Shane to find-"

His ex boyfriend had a smirk on his face. "Oh come on. He's hot."

"Look, Cesaro. I made it clear to you that I didn't want any groupie."

"You'll be bored and it'll be a matter of time before loneliness catches up with you."

"I'll be fine."

"No, you won't." Cesaro crossed his arms. "What happens on tour, stays on tour."

"Just stay out of my personal affairs."

Roman was surprised that Paul had showed up at Javawocky for lunch. "I'm not sure it's a good idea to surprise him," his boyfriend's manager said. "When Dean is adamant about something, it's usually because he has a good reason."

"So surprising him is out of the question?"

"Yep. I'm afraid so."

"I just don't understand why."

"Why don't you concentrate on gym and here first?"

"I guess..." Roman looked at the clock. "Excuse me; I'm expecting his call soon."

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you again."

Dean was irritated by Cesaro's nonchalant attitude. "No," his ex boyfriend replied. "I'm concerned."

"Oh, sure you are," he replied. "Were you concerned dumping me for money? I don't remember your concern."

"Why don't you want Roman on tour with you?"

"Mind your own business."

"Don't you miss having sex with hunks? It's not as if he'll get mad at you for doing it."

"Fuck, Cesaro. Why are you so persistent on this?"

"Because I want a wild rock star on stage. Not a mellow folk singer."

There was no doubt in Dean's mind that Cesaro had been thinking about this for a while. "You're nuts."

"No, I'm not. I want you out there partying and living your life to its fullest."

"I'll do no such thing."

"You have an image to uphold. That Dean Ambrose I dated… that's the guy I want."

"Roman will not appreciate this."

"Roman's opinions are not my concern. They're not the label's concerns either. You work in the entertainment industry. There are no morals in it."

Dean was clearly unhappy during the phone conversation.

He kept rubbing the back of his neck with a few uh-huhs and ohs at the appropriate moment. Then he drank a shot of an alcoholic drink in front of him.

To say he was surprised was an understatement. "Babe, are you okay?"

"Terrific," Dean answered.

"It's just that you seem to be distracted. Do you want to come down there-"

"Jeez, Roman," the blue eyed lead singer snapped. "Is every conversation going to be about you joining me on tour?"

That caught Roman off guard and his heart sank. Dean hardly raised his voice at him. "I'm sorry."

The auburn haired man didn't say anything, staring to his left instead at who knew what.

Roman tried a different topic. "I saw this leather jacket and I was thinking of-"

"Damn it, Bobby! You're here?!"

Bobby? Who was Bobby? Dean disappeared from view then. Roman could hear the door being slammed. He hoped that his boyfriend hadn't left the room. He found himself having waited for five minutes and still Dean hadn't returned.

In fact he had probably forgotten about him.

Literally.

It was either that or he was upset about Roman constantly asking him about the tour. He gave up and almost closed the Facetime application before Cesaro's face came into view. "Oh, hey Roman!"

"Hey, Cesaro," he greeted. "Is Dean somewhere in the suite?"

"Nah. He left with Bobby for some fun."

He felt his heart racing. "Who's Bobby?"

"Some guy he chatted up while in the queue for check in. They flirted a bit… you know how these things go."

No… it was barely even a week. Against his better judgement, he asked, "What's he like?"

"Well, he's Dean's type… the bad boy."

"Oh."

"Something wrong?" Cesaro asked. "I mean he told me you gave him the liberty to sleep about."

"Yeah, I did…"

"What a kind boyfriend you are. I mean you're staying at home while you allow your boyfriend to live his life with no restrictions. Good on you, man. But between you and me, I think Dean really likes him."

Was that why Dean was behaving oddly during their conversation? Maybe he was nervous and wanted to impress this Bobby guy.

Cesaro excused himself and went to his room.

Roman exited the application before feeling heartbroken. Dean didn't even waste time. Even worse, he seemed to be upset with him.

His boyfriend called him again just then. He swiped to answer and Dean was back on screen. "Sorry about that."

"No, it's okay," Roman replied softly. "Who's Bobby?"

"Oh. Bobby Roode. You remember him, don't you?"

"Yeah. He was in rehab with you."

"I spotted him in the queue and we started to talk-"

Roman couldn't bear to hear anymore. "I'm happy for you," he croaked.

Dean made a face. "Happy for me?"

"I have to go, Dean. I'll talk to you some other day."

"What? How about tonight?"

"I'll be out with Jason."

This time his boyfriend looked upset. "Really?"

"Yeah. Talk to you soon."

He exited the application and stared at the wallpaper of Dean and him at the beach. Sometimes too much of a good thing was a bad thing.

And he had learnt it the hard way.

A/N Thank you for the kind reviews, favorites and follows. I appreciate it :-)