Chapter 45

It was good to be home.

With broken ribs, no less.

Lilianna wanted to sleep in her own bed, where she felt most comfortable and forget about everything that happened this week. Being speared by Roman, Seth returning and becoming his business partner on-screen…and kissing him, and then finding her best friend was engaged to a man she didn't fully trust. She shook her head, still not believing she'd done that and unlocked her front door, breathing in the scent of home. Tossing her keys in the nearby bowl by the door, Lilianna bolted the door shut and kicked her shoes off, popping some Ibuprofen 800's to help with her pain. It wasn't a strong painkiller, but would at least take the edge off of her suffering. Grabbing her bag of fast food, Lilianna gingerly sat down on the couch and pulled her cell out to text Seth, letting him know she made it home safely.

Rest, relax and I'll see you soon. Seth responded a few minutes later and Lilianna smiled, returning a smile emoticon before turning her phone on silent.

What Lilianna didn't realize was she'd be seeing Seth a lot sooner than she thought. Currently, he was on the flight waiting to fly to New York, where she lived, instead of back home to Davenport, Iowa. No, he wasn't going home; he'd seen enough of that place to last him a lifetime and a half. No matter how hard he tried, Seth could not get the feeling of Lilianna's lips off his or the kiss in general off his mind. He had to talk to her and her days off were the perfect place to start. This would not be easy. He wasn't expecting it to be, not after she'd been burned twice by two men they worked with. Seth was prepared for the fight of his life when it came to Lilianna. After all this time, after the countless failed relationships they both endured, nothing else was standing in their way.

Around 2 PM eastern time, a knock sounded at Lilianna's front door and her eyes slowly opened, a hiss coming out between her teeth. Who the hell was bothering her? If it was the mailman, she would rip him a verbal asshole and send him on his merry way for waking her up. Lilianna hadn't slept much since being on the road because she wasn't comfortable in the hotels. With broken ribs, she needed all the rest she could get.

"Hold the fuck on!" She growled out, slowly pushing herself up from the couch and had to grip it when a zing flew through her side, pulsating with fresh pain.

Great. She glanced at the clock, seeing she still had another hour before she could take another 800. If this was Roman, she would sock him in his nose and kick him so hard in his balls, he would never be able to procreate again. Scowling, Lilianna prepared herself, even with a half-asleep hazy brain, and unbolted the door to whip it open.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

It was Seth.

"Surprise!" Seth chuckled, raising his hands up wiggling his fingers with a grin, plastic bags dangling from his wrists. "You should really let me in because these are heavy as fuck and I'm afraid they might cause my wrists permanent damage."

Rolling her eyes, Lilianna stepped away from the door to let him in fully and shut it behind him, watching him set the bags on the counter in the kitchen. "What is all of this?" She asked, a little bewildered and tried to make her brain catch up with the fact Seth had come to her place on their days off. "Shouldn't you be in Iowa right about now?"

"Nope. I'm right where I need to be." Seth began unpacking the bags and stopped her when she tried to help him. "Nope. Sit your beautiful ass down and let me take care of this. I wasn't coming here emptyhanded." They were groceries of various sorts, some junk food and some healthy. "And if we need more, I'll run out at some point while we're here."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'we'?" Lilianna felt her stomach tighten slightly, fully awake now and reluctantly sat down at the nearby table.

The fight was beginning already. "We as in you and me. I don't see any other people here, unless you got someone stashed away in the bedroom. In that case, I'm gonna have to kick their asses out. Damn woman, you barely have any food here!"

"There is no 'we', Seth…" Lilianna didn't mind him being here as a friend and to help her out, but he was talking about them as if they were together as MORE than friends. "Look, I know I…"

"Why did you kiss me then?" Seth beat her to the punch, raising a thick black brow and continued putting groceries away. "That wasn't scripted, but you kissed me anyway. You were supposed to just hug my side, but instead of you planted your lips against mine. And I wanna know why."

Sighing heavily, Lilianna had expected him to confront her about this when they were at work, not on their days off. She was out of her league here and rubbed her hands together in front of her. Honestly, she didn't know why she kissed Seth; it just seemed like a good idea at the time, but there was no way she'd tell him that.

"I wanted to stick it to Roman." Flat lie. Lilianna watched the smirk curve his lips and knew he did NOT believe her for a second. "What?"

"You've always been a horrible liar, Lila. Glad to see that hasn't changed about you." Seth finished the last bag of groceries and Lilianna had left the kitchen to sit on the couch in the living room. "I want the truth."

"That is the truth."

"No it's not."

Lilianna scoffed, not in the mood to deal with this and turned the television on. It shut off since she hadn't been watching it while dead to the world. "What makes you think that?"

"Because you're lying. Maybe part of you DID want to stick it to Roman, and I don't blame you for that, but…a BIGGER part of you did it because you WANTED to." Seth settled on the couch, keeping his distance for the moment and stared at her intensely with those dark eyes. "Come on, we've known each other long enough that I know when you're lying…"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Lilianna shut the television off and went to stand up, but Seth was in front of her in a heartbeat. "Get out of my face, Rollins."

The fire in her eyes would've made anyone back up, due to her previous anger issues, but not him. Seth shook his head, remaining steadfast and lowered himself to be eyelevel with her, planting his hands on her thighs. She had on black cotton shorts and a red tank top, which looked both comfortable and sexy as hell. This woman was sexy, period, and it was a damn shame none of those other assholes could see it.

"You can't run from me, Lila. You can run from a lot of people and hide how you truly feel from them, but you CAN'T do that with me. I know you inside and out. Now I want to know why you kissed me on Raw. I want to know what made you decide to come up to me, the way you did, and plant your lips against mine." Seth made it clear the subject would not be dropped until they had this discussion and frowned at the tears swelling in her eyes.

"I – I…I don't know, okay?! I don't know why I kissed you!" Lilianna snapped, immediately regretting it because a zip of pain shot through her side and she had to take several deep breaths until it passed. "I really fucking hate Roman…"

Seth frowned, wondering if he should stop fighting and immediately dismissed that thought. No, they were going to have this out because she was slightly incapacitated and wouldn't be able to kick his backside all over the condo right now. If she didn't have broken ribs, Seth would've probably already ate carpet by now. Lilianna did not screw around when it came to kicking someone's backside and Seth did NOT doubt for a second she could drop him in a second, if she wanted to.

"We're not talking about Roman right now. Let's focus on this kiss you gave me and go from there."

"Seth…" Lilianna groaned out, shutting her eyes and could feel the emotions boiling up inside of her, trying her best not to start crying. "Please stop…"

"No."

Her red-rimmed golden eyes opened to look back at him, a few tears slipping down her cheeks she immediately swiped away. "Why are you pressing this issue? It was just a peck, no big deal…" A peck that felt amazing and made her entire body tingle from head to toe.

"Because I need to know why you kissed me. I need to know the truth and then I'll tell you the reason why." Seth compromised, reaching up to wipe a few tears away from her cheeks. "Do you want another 800 first?"

Lilianna nodded, sniffling and stayed put while Seth went to retrieve her pills, handing her one with a glass of water. "Thanks." Downing it in one large gulp, she handed the water back to him and suddenly, her eyes were lowered to her lap.

"Come on, Lila, level with me here."

"It doesn't matter why I kissed you because nothing can come of it. Don't you get that?" Now her eyes were back on him, fresh tears forming. "I can't go through this again. I don't know what you felt you were going to accomplish by coming here, but you should leave. I didn't mean to kiss you, it just happened…"

Seth wasn't giving up, squaring his shoulders. "Tell me why."

"Please don't do this to me…please don't…" Lilianna pleaded, her voice cracking from the intense emotion flowing through her. "IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"YES IT DOES!"

"WHY?!

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"

That confession silenced Lilianna and all she could do was stare wide-eyed at Seth, not believing the words that just came out of his mouth. He LOVED her?! Since when?! Her breathing had become erratic from both shouting and hearing those words, the tears falling harder and faster now. Seth hadn't meant to scream that at her, but…this woman had his dander up with her stubbornness and he had to find someway to calm her down or at least stop her from screaming.

"I love you, Lila. And when you kissed me, I felt the sparks between us." His voice had lowered, returning to normal and calm. "And judging by that expression on your face, I know you feel the same way about me."

Shaking her head, Lilianna had to get out of here and felt a panic attack coming on, gripping her hair in her hands. "No…no…no…NO!" She screamed that last word out and stood up from the couch, ignoring her protesting body, demanding space. "No…I'm not…I'm not doing this again! I can't! No! Just get out! Get out of here!" She cried harder, burying her face in her hands and trembled from head to toe.

Seth hated how much his confession tore her up, but he also expected it after what happened with Randy and Roman. "I'm not going anywhere." Unlike those dicks, he never once abandoned or left Lilianna, always there for her as much as she was for him. "I'm never going to leave you again, Lila."

"I'M NOT FALLING FOR ANOTHER WRESTLER! I'M NOT GIVING MY HEART TO ANOTHER ONE OF YOU MOTHER FUCKERS! DON'T YOU GET IT?! I CAN'T DO THIS TO MYSELF A THIRD TIME!" Lilianna screamed, not caring who heard her at this point and began hitting him with her closed fists when his arms wrapped around her tightly to hold her against him. "NO!"

"STOP!"

Seth did not want her to hurt herself further and prolong her recovery, gripping her upper arms tightly in his hands to force her eyes up to meet his. The intensity between them, the sparks, was unlike anything he'd felt before in his life. Not with Liliya. Not with Michelle. Not with any other girl he tried dating and being with. This woman had a hold on his heart he could never break, no matter how hard he tried.

"Just listen to me for a minute, all right? Please. Just listen and stop freaking out because you're not gonna scare me off. I'm not leaving. I'm here, do you understand that? I'm not Randy Orton. I'm not Roman Reigns. I'm Seth freakin' Rollins! And I love you. Lila, I've loved you for a long time." Now his forehead was pressed against hers, the hold on her upper arms ceasing to drop his hands down to her waist, keeping her steady. "I've been there for you when NOBODY else was and I can promise you I'd never hurt you the way those assholes did. I'm not them, Lilianna. You know me. You know me better than anyone else. And you fucking have my heart and I can't break your hold on it. I tried with Liliya and it didn't work. I tried with Michelle and that fell flat. I couldn't tell you at the time because you were with Orton and then Reigns and they both fucked up. They both gave up the best thing that ever happened to them. I won't do that. I'm not dumb enough to fuck this up. I know I'm a wrestler, I get it, but this is all I've ever known my whole life and I can't just stop doing what I love. You and wrestling are my loves, and I want you both. I'm a greedy son of a bitch, what can I say?"

Lilianna cracked the barest hint of a smile, trying hard to hold onto the last vestiges of her resolve. "I can't be hurt again, Seth. And what about the draft coming up? What if we're split up because of it?" Much like Jecina, now she was fearing being separated from who had always been the love of her life. "What if we get together and then have the rug pulled out from under us? No, I can't…"

"You're my on-screen business partner." Seth pointed out, wondering if she'd forgotten that fact and slid his finger down her cheek, catching a few more tears. "You're not gonna lose me, no matter what. I don't give a damn what I have to do. I'll fly back and forth as many times as it takes to be with you. Anything you need, Lila, I'm there and you know it. I really don't think the company is gonna split us up so soon after putting us together."

"There's always the possibility and what happens if shit fizzles out because I do something you don't like or…" Lilianna was grasping at straws now and could see the smile curving his handsome face, pressing her forehead harder against his. "Damn it, stop smiling!"

"Say it."

That made her recoil. "Say what?"

"The reason why you kissed me. Say it." Seth pulled her closer, their bodies molding together and he was dying to taste her lips against his again. His mouth hovered over hers, but didn't press together. Not yet. "Tell me."

More tears fell down her cheeks as Lilianna felt the rest of her resolve drain away, her heart beginning to mend the broken pieces both Randy and Roman created. "Damn it…" She whispered, sliding her hands up his strong muscular arms and had no more fight inside of her. Seth had broken through every barrier in her arsenal and all that was left was the truth. "I love you and I missed you so much and I was happy to be out there with you instead of the Club. That's why I kissed you." It was all said in a whispered rush of words because Lilianna did not trust her voice at the moment.

Seth shut his eyes, feeling a wave of relief crash over him. She felt the same way he did and now he knew it instead of speculating or thinking it was a possibility. It was fact. "Just what I was hoping to hear."

Then, his mouth covered hers as Seth gave her a proper first kiss in the middle of her living room.