Author's Note: Thanks to Lynn021 and Rainbrowbrite0006 for reviewing, and to everyone who has favorited and followed this story so far. Fair warning, this chapter's a long one.
Roman waited nervously for what felt like 10 minutes, but was probably just about thirty seconds, until the door in front of him opened.
"Oh, hi!" greeted the brown haired girl, with a genuine, if a bit surprised, smile on her face. She was wearing the same clothes from earlier, but had pulled her hair up into a ponytail, which only drew more attention to her face.
Roman's stomach did a somersault.
"Hey! Uh…" Roman stammered. Why didn't he practice opening lines with Dean and Seth? Why can't he think of anything to say? Quick, think of something to ask. How do you normally start conversations? You have spoken to other humans before. This shouldn't be that big of an issue. Get it together, dude. He ran in his fingers through his hair, then crossed his arms in front of him, praying she didn't noticed just how flustered he was.
"Umm…" he finally managed, "how's your evening going?" Roman released a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
She took a few seconds to consider his question, giving Roman a once over and smoothing back a stray hair.
"Well, I met a pretty nice guy approximately half an hour ago and he already bought me a drink, so I'd say pretty well," she said, barely keeping a straight face. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "How about you?"
Roman smiled, feeling his confidence build. She was definitely flirting with him now. Wasn't she? He decided to test the waters just a little bit more.
"Hmmm…" he stroked his chin and furrowed his brow, as if he was in deep thought, "come to think of it, I met someone around that same time. Brown hair, dazzling smile. And she bought me a drink, as well. And then I walked her back to her room. I mean, it was practically a date. So, yeah, I'd say mine isn't too bad, either."
"Oh, is that so?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and full on smiling at this point, "Isn't that just a crazy coincidence? Well, she sounds just lovely."
"Oh, she is," Roman nodded fervently, his smile growing bigger by the second. "Only thing is, in all the romance, I forgot to get her name." He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, playfully ashamed of his own idiocy.
"Lucy," she said, breaking their little game with a softer, but no less genuine smile. "My name is Lucy. And of course, I already know your name. Nice to formally meet you, Superman." She stood upright and uncrossed her arms, offering her hand to Roman.
He took her hand and shook it slowly, playing her name in his head. Lucy. He liked the sound of it. Lucy and Roman. He really liked the sound of that.
"Well, Lucy," he said, relishing the feeling of her name on his tongue, "that's actually why I came over. I figured you might know a lot about me, whereas I don't know anything about you. Now that's just unfair," Roman continued, reluctantly dropping her hand.
"You do have a point there, although, I probably don't know as much as I think about you, the Internet being what it is and all that. And call me crazy, but you seem much sweeter outside of the ring than you do inside of it," Lucy said, her face turning thoughtful, "less likely to punch people in the mouth."
Roman opened his mouth to speak, and then he shut it quickly. He honestly had no idea how to react to that statement; it wasn't every day he met a fan- any person, really- so…level headed. It was strangely jarring, and completely refreshing.
An idea suddenly occurred to him.
"I think I might have a solution to that problem," he began, hoping he wasn't about to do the stupidest thing in the world, "if you're up to hang out for a bit?"
He held his breath and wrung his hands, silently praying for her to agree. And then saying a second prayer she wouldn't think his idea was too weird.
"Sure," Lucy said, nodding her head quickly. She looked down at herself and then back at Roman, pointing to her clothes, "should I change, or…?"
"No, you're perfect!" Roman said, then immediately froze. "Uh -I mean, no. Casual is great. Heck, look at me!" he rambled on, gesturing to his own grey tank top and black gym shorts.
A blush crept into Lucy's cheeks at Roman's initial statement, as her smile turned slightly shy for first time, and she broke eye contact with him momentarily.
And modest, too, Roman mused, could she be any cuter? It somehow made Roman feel a tiny bit better, seeing his words have that effect on her. At least he wasn't the only one getting flustered.
"Okay, well, where are we headed?" Lucy asked, meeting his eyes again and jostling Roman out of his thoughts.
"Oh, not far," he said, digging his phone out of his pocket and shooting Dean a quick text, "are you hungry at all?"
"Yeah, definitely. You got some more quarters, I take it?" she asked him with a wink.
Roman let out a laugh, thinking back to the joke about candy he made to the guys a few minutes earlier. Just then, his phone buzzed and he looked down to see Dean's reply. Perfect.
"Nah, no vending machines this time. Do you need to grab anything?" he asked, holding up his phone as a suggestion.
"Oh! My keycard would probably be good," she laughed "and I guess I'll grab my phone, too. Here, give me just a second." Lucy walked further into her room, letting the door shut behind her. In no time at all, the door re opened to show Lucy had taken her hair back down and pulled on a light grey hooded sweatshirt, the front pocket of which she was tucking her phone and card into.
"Alright, ready when you are!" she said, shutting the door and standing next to Roman in the hall.
"Great," Roman said, smiling and holding out his hand to her, "shall we?"
Her cheeks tinged faintly with pink again as she let out a giggle and took Roman's hand, her smile growing.
Roman turned around and, much to Lucy's surprise, opened up the door to his own hotel room.
About two and a half hours later Roman, Lucy, Dean, and Seth were all buckled over with laughter.
"I swear to God, it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen," Seth said, finally able to catch his breath. "Roman leaped over the top rope and landed right on his ass," he continued, "and the whole arena started chanting, 'you fell over! You fell over!' "
Roman tried his hardest to scowl at Seth, but he couldn't stop himself from laughing, so he settled for shaking his head and flopping onto his back next to Lucy, who was laughing hysterically, on the bed.
"That was a pretty great moment," Dean said, sitting up on the bed he and Seth were sitting on and wiping the tears from his eyes, "but I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be answering Lucy's questions, not mercilessly embarrassing Roman."
"Yeah, yeah. Ok," Seth replied, still shaking with laughter.
"Lucy," Roman said as he opened the door and let her inside his room, "these are, as I'm sure you know, my friends Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins." He swept his arm in front of him, gesturing to his two friends who were seated at the table by the window, both of them wearing the biggest smiles on their faces.
Lucy shot Roman a slightly confused smile, then walked further into the room and waved at the two men.
"Hey! I'm Lucy," she said, meeting both of their heavy stares, "and yes, I know who you guys are. The crazy one and the ninja, yeah?" Lucy pointed at each guy as she mentioned his nickname.
All three men looked at each other briefly and then back at Lucy, chuckling lightly and nodding.
"Yep, that's us," Seth agreed, extending his hand to her as she approached where they were sitting, "Nice to meet you, Lucy."
Lucy took his hand and shook it, then turned and did the same thing with Dean.
"Definitely." Dean said, releasing her hand.
"So," he continued, focusing his attention back on Roman, who was fidgeting slightly, "what's the plan, big man?"
The text Roman had sent to Dean a few minutes earlier had simply asked if it was cool if he and Lucy could come over to chill with Dean and Seth. After Dean had cleared it with Seth, he relayed the message to Roman and got back a message that cryptically said, "Awesome. I have an idea."
Roman pulled out the vacant chair next to Seth for Lucy, gesturing for her have to seat, and settled himself into the chair between her and Dean.
"Okay," he began, addressing the whole table; "we all talked a little tonight about how Lucy might already have an impression of me, while I know nothing about her."
Everyone nodded their heads and waited for him to keep going.
"When I mentioned this to her a few minutes ago, she made a very good point," he continued, shooting Lucy a smile, which she returned immediately, "that what she knows about me is probably not one hundred percent accurate."
Dean and Seth raised their eyebrows slightly in surprise at that, but remained silent and simply nodded their agreement.
"So I figured, why not clear up all the rumors and whatever else is out there first, just to start with a clean slate? Then I thought about it a little more, and I realized that no one can keep me honest like my boys, and that you guys could also probably help fill in the gaps that may come up," Roman finished.
"Sounds good to me," said Lucy, focusing mainly on Seth and Dean, "as long as it's not too weird for you guys to have a random stranger sitting in your hotel room prying into your friend's personal life."
"Are you kidding?" Dean immediately answered, "You have no idea how long we've wanted to spill the truth of the real Roman Reigns to the world. Grab a slice of pizza and settle in, you're in for a long night," he finished with a smirk, handing Lucy a paper plate and opening up the pizza box.
"Yeah, he's not all gorgeous hair and charming smiles," Seth jokingly agreed, grabbing his own plate, "But seriously, it's cool of you to even consider we might be different people than the internet or television says we are. You have no idea just how rarely that happens."
"And hey, it doesn't all have to be about me," Roman said, pulling off his own slice of pizza after Lucy and the boys each grabbed theirs, "I'm sure you've heard a thing or two about these two as well. But I don't want to overwhelm you, are you sure this sounds ok? I know it's a little weird considering we haven't even hung out one on one yet."
"Not at all," replied Lucy, placing a reassuring hand briefly on Roman's forearm before taking a bite of her pizza, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Dean or Seth. She swallowed and spoke up again, "How should we get started?"
"Well, I thought that basically you could ask questions and we could answer them. And you could tell us whatever gossip you've heard and we can expand on it or crush it completely. Or it doesn't have to be anything like that. You can ask about whatever you want. Nothing's off limits, fire away," Roman answered.
"Yeah, start with the dirty stuff!" Dean said with a cheeky grin, "I bet there's a lot of that all over that Twitter thing."
"You read my mind!" Lucy answered, fixing Dean with a smile of her own.
"I like her already," he shot at Roman, making him rolling his eyes and send a pleading look towards Seth.
What was he about to get himself into?
"So," Lucy started, thinking about her next question, "I think I get now why you don't do as much flying, over the top rope stuff as these two."
Dean and Seth laughed a little again, while Roman sat up, smiled at her, and nodded, signaling that she should go on.
"And we've covered your family, your days in FCW and NXT, your grey contacts, and the whole 'golden boy' rumor floating around," she finished, "What am I leaving out?"
Roman sat there for a minute, considering what else about himself to share with her. It wasn't that there was anything he wanted to hide, but it was difficult to think about anything interesting to tell. Roman thought of himself as just a regular guy like anybody else, who just happened to have a really awesome job.
"The hair," Seth said, pointing to Roman's head, "everybody always want to know about the hair."
"My hair?" Roman asked with a smirk, raising an eyebrow and picking at a few strands that fell over his shoulder.
"Oh, you're right," Lucy said, crisscrossing her legs and scooting closer to Roman, "I did read online once that some people think you wear extensions in the ring."
Roman's mouth fell open and he shot Lucy an indignant look, pointing a finger at his own head.
"Excuse me? This hair is one hundred percent naturally Samoan grown," he said, leaning over a bit and tilting his head towards her, "feel for yourself."
Smiling eagerly, Lucy reached out her right hand and ran her fingers through Roman's hair, starting at the base of his head and sliding all the way through to the ends of his dark, silken hair. Roman closed his eyes at the feeling and leaned into her touch. Lucy brought her hand back up and lightly scratched Roman's scalp with her nails, drawing a small hum of approval from Roman.
Roman slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Lucy, whose face was now just inches above his own. He looked into her eyes for a few seconds, and then glanced quickly to her lips and back, asking her silently for permission. She bit her lip and her smile grew as she stared back at him, answering his question without a word. Not caring about the prying eyes sitting across from him, Roman reached up his right hand and slid it behind Lucy's neck, pulling her down to him. He captured her lips in a gentle kiss, loving the feeling of her soft mouth against his. Lucy kissed him back fervently, her fingers pulling ever so slightly on the hair still tangled in her fingers. After a few seconds they pulled apart, staring silently into one another's eyes, both of them wearing huge smiles.
"So," Dean asked, breaking the silence that had come over the room, "what's the verdict? Real or made in China?"
Roman and Lucy, snapping out of the spell they had just fallen under, looked back at Dean and Seth, both of who could not have been wearing bigger smiles.
Roman smiled sheepishly at his brothers, and then snuck a glance back at Lucy, who he noticed had a slightly pinker color in her cheeks. Man, she's incredible, he thought, his stomach swirling with excitement.
"Definitely real," she replied, before turning to her gaze back to Roman "and ridiculously soft, might I add. What kind of conditioner do you use? I need to run to the store tomorrow and stock up."
"Hmmm, I don't know if I feel comfortable revealing my beauty secrets just yet," he said with a grin, dramatically flipping his hair over his shoulder, "I've got to maintain some sort of mystery, or you might just kick me to the curb by tomorrow."
"Speaking of, it is tomorrow," Dean said, noticing the clock on the nightstand between the two beds said it was just after midnight, "we should probably get some sort of sleep here soon. We've got that morning talk show at seven."
"Damn, you're right," said Seth, letting out a yawn, "We didn't even get to tell Lucy about Roman's karaoke night in Japan yet."
"And, on that note," Roman interjected quickly, shooting Seth a playful glare, then turning back to face Lucy, "How about I walk you home?"
Lucy nodded her head and stood up from the bed, smoothing her shorts and shirt, and grabbed her discarded hoodie off of the bed.
"I had such a great time hanging out with you guys tonight," she said, walking over to the other bed and stuck her hand out again towards Dean and Seth.
Instead of shaking her hand, Dean stood up and grabbed her in a big bear hug.
"No more of that formal stuff, little lady. You're a part of the pack now," he said, releasing Lucy and giving her a genuine smile.
"You've got that right," Seth agreed, grabbing Lucy in a gentler hug of his own, "I wouldn't tell just anybody about my eyeliner days. That stays in the family."
Roman smiled and looked on fondly at the bonding between Lucy, Seth and Dean. It had only been one evening, and yet Roman felt like he had known her for a long time already. He could tell Lucy felt at ease around all three of them as well, which made his heart swell a little. After she finished her goodbyes, he reached his hand out to her and she took it.
"Be back in a few, guys," Roman said, as he led Lucy out of the room.
"You two behave, now" said Dean with a wink, just before Roman let the door fall shut behind them.
Roman and Lucy took the few quick steps to her door, and just stood there holding hands for a few moments, neither one willing to let go just yet. Finally, Roman spoke up.
"Well, I hope you had a fun time tonight," he said, absently wiggling her fingers with his own, "I know it was a bit unconventional for a first date."
"It was amazing, Roman," Lucy answered, staring up at him with big green eyes, "no one has ever put themself out there from the very beginning, like you just did with me. Now I just have to return the favor."
"So, you'd like to see me again?" Roman asked, he voice full of hope.
"Of course," she answered immediately, "how long are you in town for?"
"We're here for the week, and then we have the next week off before we go on the European tour," Roman said. "Would you like to go out for lunch or something tomorrow? We've got that interview in the morning and Raw in the evening, but I'd love to take you out in between."
"Sure, I'd love that," Lucy said, bouncing on her toes a little.
"Great, then I'll pick you up here around, say, eleven thirty?" Roman asked. When she nodded her agreement, Roman smiled and reluctantly released her hand.
"I guess I'd better say goodnight," he said, his smile dropping a little, "I had a really wonderful night with you, Lucy."
"Me too, Roman," she said as she took a step forward, effectively closing the gap between them. Lucy slowly reached up and wrapped both her arms around Roman's neck, pulling his face down towards hers and placing a kiss on his lips.
Roman immediately wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her flush up against him, deepening the kiss. His slid his tongue up against the seam of her lips, requesting access, which she instantly allowed him. He explored her tongue with his own, and ran his free hand through her hair. They remained that way, making out like teenagers, not caring who walked by, for several minutes, until they finally had to come up for air.
"I better not keep you too much longer, Dean and Seth might come looking for you," Lucy said, releasing her hold on Roman.
While Roman could not have cared less if anyone was wondering where he was at this moment, he grudgingly removed his hands from Lucy's waist and hair, nodding.
"Yeah, you're probably right," he conceded.
Lucy looked on the ground and saw her sweatshirt, which she must have dropped without realizing it moments earlier. She bent down and picked it up, digging around in the front pocket until she found her room key. She slid into the door and it popped open, and Lucy held it from shutting with one hand and turned back to Roman.
"Have goodnight and sweet dreams," she said, giggling up at him.
"You too, beautiful" Roman said, leaning down and placing a chaste kiss on her cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow- well, later today."
Lucy gave Roman one last smile and a small wave, then walked into her room and let the door close behind her.
Roman turned and walked back into his room, which was now pitch dark and silent, save for the snores coming from Dean. Roman climbed into the empty bed, and dozed off moments later, with a small smile on his face.