Rose & Thorn: Renee/Seth

Chapter 1

Even though he had travelled the world and wrestled on nearly every continent—only Antarctica was ruining his record there—Seth was still a small-town boy at heart and, in his eyes, Jon was the same. He knew Jon had grown up in Cincinnati and the rougher parts at that, but there was a sense of loyalty and low-key comfort to Jon that Seth just didn't find in many city-born wrestlers. Roman was like a brother too, even though The Shield had disbanded long ago—and soon, with Jon's impending departure from WWE, would never be able to reunite again—but hanging out with Jon had always been more Seth's speed.

Living in Las Vegas hadn't seemed like Jon's style until Seth learned it was a tax-free state; he always figured Jon just wanted to be closer to more professional fighting and have easier access to Japan. At least it's not a scorcher today, he thought as he sat down in one of the deck chairs and grabbed a drink from the tray Renee had set on the patio table. "I know I've already asked about fifty times by now," Seth began, "but...."

"No." Jon's tone wasn't curt or annoyed, but it was one-hundred percent Jon. All the traces of Dean Ambrose that had bled into his personality—or vice versa, more likely—were fading away. "I need to do something else. I'm not sure what yet, but I know I need to leave. I need to move."

Renee kicked off her shoes and brought her legs up onto the chair, resting her drink on her knee. "You've tried," she told Seth, "Roman's tried... I should have been making a list."

Tipping his head back against his chair, Jon glanced over at his wife. "You didn't."

"Hell no. I have to live with you, remember?" Renee held up her left hand, her wedding ring glinting in the sunset. "And you know I just want you to be happy. If leaving and doing something else will do that, then...."

Jon's eyebrows twitched. "Could make it hard for you backstage," he pointed out. "People might hassle you. I doubt Creative will run with it because they don't like giving any sort of credit to anyone who isn't on the payroll."

Renee rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine. None of the girls are going to make it an issue, and most of the wrestlers understand why you're leaving anyway."

"So that leaves the brass." Jon set his glass down on the table and leaned back to watch a plane pass overhead. "Who can make your life hell if they want to."

"We'll see. You know when my contract's up. We'll see where I'm at then." Renee rubbed at her eyes and shot Seth an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Seth. We really did invite you just to hang out, since we won't be doing that as much anymore because... well, you know."

"Fine. No more trashing WWE. They do a good enough job of that on their own." Jon grabbed his drink again, swirling it so the melting ice cubes crashed against the glass. "What are you doing when your contract's up?" he asked Seth. "You ever think of wrestling elsewhere? Mexico? Japan? Maybe Europe?"

Seth paused to consider it. WWE had always been his dream but, to be fair, it had been the biggest wrestling promotion around when he was growing up, so that made sense. Before joining WWE, he had primarily wrestled in the United States. Thanks to WWE, he had now performed all over the world—except that pesky Antarctica—and been places he had only ever dreamed of. The amount of opportunities he had received thanks to WWE had been staggering, but he had given a lot to the company in return. "I don't know," he said honestly, leaning back in his chair and stretching out his legs. A fly buzzed behind his head somewhere, but he was too comfortable to swat at it. "I mean, maybe? I'm not sure. I know I've got Black & Brave, but I'm not ready to teach full-time yet. And you've got the whole 'death match' thing you can utilize. A lot of other companies are going to see me as too WWE." He didn't bother listing off the other things that would make him a liability elsewhere—infidelity, nude photo leaks, behaving badly on social media. Anyone who wanted to chart his highs and lows just needed a computer and access to the internet and it was all there.