After Smackdown had ended, Seth really needed to go somewhere, where it wouldn't be so crowded. Where he could breathe. He decided to head backstage, showing security his VIP pass.
He kept his hood up, and his sunglasses on, not wanting anyone who he knew to recognize him. Especially them. His former teammates.
The hallways were empty, everyone must have been in locker rooms. Seth was about to round a corner, until he heard voices from the other side. He took a few steps back, leaning up against the wall.
"I...I can't believe Jericho did that to him...it...it was so horrrible..." That voice. It belonged to Xavier Woods. He was talking to his teammates, Big E, and Kofi Kingston. Seth listened to what was being said, since it was about Dean.
"I'm sure he's fine, Xavier." It was Kofi speaking this time. "Ambrose is a tough guy. He'll get back at Chris."
"No, you guys don't understand...Dean, he...he's told me things about himself that he doesn't tell anybody. Besides me, only Roman and that two-tone weasel know-"
'Gee, thanks Xavier.' Seth rolled his at the nickname. It made him wonder what sorts of names Dean had come with up for him.
"-Jericho took it too far. He should have never done that to Dean."
Seth had to hold back a chuckle. Since when were Dean and Xavier friends? Is this what he has been missing since his knee injury? He wondered how anybody could be friends with those three. Though, he had to agree with Xavier on one thing. Chris had definitely taken it too far tonight. How could the company have even allowed that to happen.
Dean had a horrible past, and had suffered from abuse when he was very young. He had confessed this to Seth back in their Shield days. His father would beat him, and because he was just a child, he couldn't defend himself. Told him how he used to hurt himself as a coping mechanism.
Everyone thought that Dean Ambrose was crazy. Maybe he was. They all believed that he really was at an asylum. Seth knew though, that it was only a metaphor to his past.
Seth walked down the hallways, needing to go some place where he could truly be alone. He stopped in front of a door, turning the handle. He knew where he was going, to the lower parts of the arena. He shut the door behind him, heading downstairs. There wasn't really much light in here, and he had to be careful not to fall.
Once he reached the bottom, he breathed out a sigh of relief. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a lighter, and a pack of cigarettes. If you had asked Seth what he thought of the habit he would say 'it is disgusting, I don't know how anyone could pollute themselves with those cancer sticks'. But now, he had picked this nasty habit, due to his misery and the stress in his life.
He lit up the cigarette, taking a drag off of it, inhaling the bitter taste, then exhaled it. Inhale. Exhale.
He needed to get out of here. Get tonights events off of his mind. Dean Ambrose? He would be okay. He was hurt physically, and mentally tonight, but he was not weak. He would get his revenge on Jericho, Seth knew that for sure.
He was about to leave, but then he heard something from behind him. It was glass shattering. A couple of sobs, and sniffling came after. He wasn't alone after all. Someone else was here with him.
He decided to go and investigate. He got closer to where the sounds were coming from. It reeked of cheap alcohol over here. He heard another sniffle nearby. He looked around, spotting a dark form near the stairwell. Their knees curled up to their chest, trembling. Whoever this person was they must have had a bad night, for them to be crying down here, and drinking their sorrows away. He noticed that they were also wearing a jacket, with the hood up.
"E-excuse me...are you alright?" He didn't know why he asked. It wasn't in his nature to comfort strangers. Except...
The person looked up, and he froze. Hair disheveled, blue eyes red, and filled with tears. Dean Ambrose. In the flesh. They were face to face. Seth didn't know if he wanted to flee, or if he wanted to stay. He was done for now. Dean was going to get up, and rearrange his face. He was going to beat the shit out of him.
"W-who are you?" He croaked out.
Good. This was good. Dean didn't recognize him. Seth had to make up a lie now. As much as he wanted to tell the truth, there was too much at risk.
He cleared his voice, trying to make it sound deeper, and raspy. "I-I am a janitor that works at this arena. I was putting my stuff, and getting ready to leave. Then I heard the glass breaking, and then some crying. Just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"E-everything is fine. I'm fine." Dean replied, playing with a loose string on his jacket.
'Clearly, you're not.' "So, what are you doing down here then?"
"Needed to be alone."
"Well, you better be going. The place is closing up soon, and I don't think you want to be stuck in here for the night. Do you have a ride back to wherever you're staying at?"
The auburn haired man looked away from him. "I...I'm walking back."
'You idiot.' Was Dean really this crazy? Did he really plan on walking back to the hotel in this state? He would get himself killed. Seth couldn't let that happen. "Well, since you don't have a ride, I might as well take you to where you're staying."
Dean looked up at him confused. "No, no...you don't have to-"
"Look, I know what you are, who you are. You're Dean Ambrose. Famous WWE superstar. Vince McMahon would flip if you were found dead in the streets tonight." At this Dean snorted. "My car is not far from here. I'm being nice, and I don't usually do nice. So, do you want my help, or not?"
There was silence between the both of them for a moment. Seth thought Dean was going to reject his offer. After a few minutes, he stood up from where he was sitting, and walked closer to him. "Hotels near the airport. Hope you know your way."
"I live in Des Moines, of course I know the way there. Now, follow me."
They headed down the dark hallway, going to the nearest exit where the parking lot was near.
Once in the parking, Seth lead the way to his car. When Dean saw it, he made a comment on it. "That's a very expensive car you have there, janitor."
"Um, I get paid lots of money to do this job. Been doing this for years." 'I shouldn't have brought the black lambo Hunter gave me.'
"You must get paid quite a bit of money."
Seth ignored him, unlocking the vehicle. He opened the door, going inside. Dean doing the same. "Well, lets get you back to the hotel, shall we?"
He started up the engine. The radio turned on, and the music of Motley Crue blared in the car. Seth turned it down a little, apologizing. "Sorry, tend to listen to music a bit loud."
"Its fine. Motley Crue fan?"
"Yeah. You listen to them too?"
"Yeah, just not this song." The song that was currently playing was Without You. Seth knew how much this song meant to him.
"I can change it to something else if you want."
"Got any AC/DC?"
"Sure. Soon as we get to a red light I'll put in one of their albums." He looked over at Dean for a moment, and noticed that he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. "You idiot!"
"What?"
"You don't have your seatbelt on!" Seth reached over, strapping him in. "Are you actually trying to get yourself killed?"
"S-sorry...I just...forgot..."
"There. Much better. You need to learn not to be so forgetful."
Dean didn't say anything, just looked over at Seth as he continued driving again. "I need a smoke. Do you have one?"
"In the glovebox." Seth said.
Dean reached over, checking inside the glovebox for the cigarettes.
"Did you find them?" Seth asked.
"No...but I found something else..."
Seth looked over, grimacing when he saw what it was. His shirt.
"Redesign. Rebuild. Reclaim." Dean looked over at him, with a raised eyebrow. "You're a Seth Rollins fan?"
'Time to lie again. Don't screw this up, Seth.' "Y-yes. I am. But, not just a fan of him. Of the whole Shield actually."
"Well, I can understand liking both me and Roman, but Seth? How can anyone still like him? Especially after what he did."
Okay, now that hurt. Nice to know to that Dean still hated him. Did he really think things were going to change? "He makes a good heel."
"He works for the enemy. The authority. He sold out."
"I need to ask you something. What if he had other reasons for doing it?"
"I already know why. He wanted a bigger paycheck. Get the push that he wanted. Fame, power. Me and Roman were just business partners to him."
"So, you actually believed that? Even after all you guys have through?"
"Well, what other reasons could he have for doing it?"
"He could have forced to do it. Maybe he had no other choice. Maybe he did it to keep both you and Roman out of harms way."
"Yeah. Right."
"Maybe he did it so he could destroy the authority from the inside out. There could be many reasons as to why he did it."
"What does it matter anyway? Its done. Its over with."
"Look, what I'm trying to say is that things are not always black and white. You didn't go to him, and ask him why he did it. You need to take the things he said with a grain of salt."
He waited for Dean to speak, but he did not say anything.
"I am very skeptical of what he said in that interview, when he gave his reasons as to why he did it. I've watched you three from day one, and have learned very much about yous. The Seth that was in the Shield, before the betrayal, would never have turned on his brothers. Especially if he had no other choice."
"Well, that Seth is gone. And I doubt it he was forced. You act as if you know him."
'If only you knew.' "Um, Dean...what do you think of Seth now? I mean, do you still hate him? Or have you forgiven him?"
Dean sighed. "Honestly...I can't even bring myself to hate him anymore. I don't even want to hurt him anymore. I just...I don't want nothing to do with him anymore. I don't feel anything for him. He is nothing to me."
This hurt. It hurt a whole lot. Seth's heart broke at Dean's words. But he had to act as if they never affected him. "You know, you seem very troubled...is it because of what happened tonight?"
"Yes, and no."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, its just things have been different lately between me and Roman. We...we just don't talk anymore...only fight."
"Fight?"
"Yeah. Screaming at each other. Arguing. And tonight...he just wasn't there..."
This was not good. Seth knew that there was something going on that was not right. "So, he abandoned you?"
"Yeah, thats right. Ever since becoming the champion he has forgotten about me."
They were outside of the hotel now. Dean would be getting out soon.
"You know, I actually wouldn't mind if I died right now." Dean said. "Since no one really cares about me anyway."
"There are people that care. I'm sure Roman still does...he's...he's just got a lot on his shoulders right now, is all. It'll get better."
"That's what everyone says. I better go. I'm sure you want to get home." He opened the door, getting out of the car. "Thanks for ride."
"You're welcome. And my names Colby. Colby Lopez."
"I'll let you know when we're in town again, Colby. See you later."
"Yeah, see you later." Seth waved goodbye to him. He watched as the other man walked through the doors.
He heard a car beeping behind him. He gritted his teeth, glaring at the vehicle behind him. They beeped again.
"Alright! Alright, I'm going! Enough of the beeping, asshole." He moved out of the way for the other person, getting out of the parking lot.
As he drove down the busy streets so many things raced through his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about what Dean had said. He knew he had to find a way to fix this. It all had to do with the title that Roman was holding. That belt, its power was eating away at him, turning him into someone who he wasn't. Seth had to get off of him, so he could his normal self again. For his, and for Dean's sake.
'I've made mistakes in life, have fucked up the best thing I had. I can't fix what I had done, but I will fix this.'