A/N: Okay, so on my profile, this was supposed to be just a one-shot but I had too much fun writing it so it has a chapter 2 now but that's it. Enjoy!

There were days when he would feel unstoppable, invincible even. The crowd would cheer at the sight of his face and it would fill him with adrenaline. Walking towards the ring was one of the most exhilarating acts he'd do in this line of work and seeing the excited looks in the audience was incredible. Dean Ambrose came to love this company and the universe that supports it.

But more often than not, he would feel worthless. When he wasn't out in the ring wrestling, he would be in some hotel, lying down on a bed and being surrounded by self-hatred. During these days, he didn't want to talk to anyone, didn't want anyone to see him like this. But he would shamefully dial that number, that damn number, and wait for the person to pick up. Today wasn't different.

Dean sat on a lumpy bed in some shady motel somewhere in Cincinnati, his phone pressed against his ear as his left hand held a beer can in a death grip. It was around 2 in the morning and he knew he was being such a huge pain in the ass for calling at this time but to hell with it. They needed to talk

"Pick up…Please…Please…." He pleaded under his breath and he noted how pathetically desperate he sounded but he couldn't care less. What mattered right now was whether or not he would answer the phone.

After what felt like an eternity, Rollins picked up his phone.

"What do you want?"

Dean swallowed down the lump in his throat. "I wanted to talk."

"Then talk." Seth sounded so cold and it made it difficult for the Lunatic Fringe to think of something to talk about.

He sniffled before replying "Seth, I…..I miss you."

He heard the younger wrestler sigh from the other line, perhaps in frustration. The silence was nerve-wracking and Dean was sure Seth would hang up.

"Is that it?" Seth questioned, sounding bored and uninterested in their conversation.

Dean felt hurt by the question. But he cleared his throat and mustered up enough of his voice to answer. "What do you want me to say?"

Dean hated this: Feeling weak and vulnerable. What's more infuriating was the fact that only Seth Rollins can make him feel like this without even realizing it. It was difficult for Dean to come to work, knowing that he could run into the two-toned man at every turn. When he does run into him, he begins to feel weird. Like, his stomach starts to churn and his chest feels like it's swelling up and he feels light-headed. But even through all those weird feelings, he tries his best to accidentally bump into Rollins in the hallway to maybe get a reaction. But he never gets one. Seth would just give him an annoyed look and continue to walk without saying anything.

"Dean?" Seth's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. "Dean? Are you alright? You went quiet there for a second?"

"Huh?" Dean croaked out, his voice cracked a little but he didn't seem to notice. "Oh yeah. I'm…fine."

"Want me to come over?"

The Lunatic was puzzled by the question. A minute ago, Seth sounded like he didn't care about the blonde at all. Now, here he was, asking if he could come over to hotel. Wait. How did he even know which hotel he was staying at?

"You texted me where you were staying, asshole." Seth answered. Dean didn't even realize that he asked that out loud.

"Do you want me to come over or not?"

Dean denied the request. "Seth?"

"Hm?" The younger man replied, the background sounding windy like he was driving in his car with the windows down.

"I love you."

The words hit Seth with an odd sense of nostalgia. He remembered those nights when he and Dean would lie awake next to each other and the blonde would whisper those words into his ear. Those nights when Dean would be on top of him, making him scream his name or render him speechless.

He noticed how it was quiet on Dean's line and he realized that the Lunatic Fringe had already hung up. He put his phone back in his pocket and focused on the road.

Meanwhile, Dean tossed his phone somewhere on the bed and put his elbows on his knees and covered his face with his hands. Stupid, stupid. Why the hell did he end the conversation the way he did? Ugh, he needed a drink. He knew there was a bar down somewhere in the lobby so he grabbed his jacket, put on his shoes and room key before heading out.

Seth parked his car at the hotel parking lot and he had this weird feeling that Dean was in trouble or was going to get involved in some kind of fight or whatever. Call it a brother's instinct. He walked inside the lobby and was about to ask the woman at the front desk where Dean was staying when he, again, had this feeling that he knew where Dean was.

And, lo and behold, he was right about both of his suspicions: Dean was in the bar, holding a beer while arguing loudly with another guy who was more shit-faced than he was. Before things could go to an all-out brawl, Seth ran over and grabbed Ambrose's right arm to pull him away. Dean kept kicking and shouting profanities and threats at the guy as his former Shield brother dragged him out of the bar.

"Wha' d'you think you're –hic- doing?" Dean grumbled out when Seth plopped him down on the sofa at the lobby. He was so drunk; he could barely keep his eyes open.

He must've fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, he was back in his hotel room, dressed in nothing more than a pair of pajama pants and a black shirt. The side of his face was flat against the pillows. When did the pillows feel so warm and soft? He grumbled and lifted his head up but felt a hand in his hair trying to gently push him back down.

"Try to get some rest." Seth advised, playing with the soft curls in Dean's hair.

Dean didn't object, didn't squirm away from the younger man. Instead, he brought his hand closer to Seth's left one, which was resting on the bed. He held it, smiling when he felt Seth intertwined their fingers. The Lunatic Fringe felt relaxed as he laid there on Seth's lap, a hand ruffling through his hair and holding the two-toned man's hand.

"Did I do anything stupid?" He asked, lifting his head up so his chin rested on Seth's knee. Seth let out a small laugh as he replied, "No, unless you count almost pissing on my leg as anything stupid."

"Oh, god," Dean murmured, rubbing his hand on his face. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine."

Everything was silent again. It wasn't even the comfortable silence they once shared. It was just….awkward silence. So he said the stupidest thing to break the silence.

"Do you, like, still love me?"

As soon as the words came out, he regretted it. He sounded lonely and desperate and clingy and he hated that in a person. Huh, so maybe that's the reason why he can't stand himself lately.

Seth was taken by surprise. Though, he had been expecting that question, even though he thought that the blonde didn't care. He opened his mouth to answer but couldn't find the right words to answer with. And besides, Dean probably doesn't know what he's saying, being plastered drunk and all.

"Hey, I asked you a question."

"Get some sleep." Seth insisted, leaning back against the headboard.

"Not until you answer my question."

Dean didn't know why it was important to know all of a sudden. But he needed to know, he just didn't know why. He looks up at Seth, who was chewing on his bottom lip as he still played with Dean's blonde curls. Seth looked cornered, like Dean had trapped him with his question somehow. For some reason, Dean wanted that to happen, like he could force an answer out of the two-toned man.

"Answer me, Seth."

"You already know the answer. I don't have to say it."

"How do you fucking expect me to know the answer?! You've been avoiding me like the fucking plague for the past few months," Dean slid off of Seth's lap to stand in front of Rollins at the foot of the bed, all traces of his hangover gone.

"You didn't talk to me. You refused to look at me. How the hell do you expect me to know something like that?! For all I fucking know, you'd wish me dead!"

Seth looked up at him, the anger on Ambrose's face almost making him squirm. But there was an odd expression in Dean's eyes. He looked absolutely heart-broken. But Seth shouldn't be surprised: Dean loved him even before they came to the WWE and the blonde man loved Seth with every piece of his body. And Seth just ripped his heart out, walked away and left Dean gasping for air.

"It's not like that!" He answered back, though he had a hard time believing the words that came out of his mouth.

"Than what was it exactly? You just wanted my dick and when you finally got it, you ran away?!"

"Dean, I never-"

"Yeah, that's it. You wanna know how I know? Because you never loved me! You never cared and that's why it was so easy for you to tell me to move on. Because you never felt the way I did for you! Because you never loved me!"

Seth got up from the bed and punched Dean square in the jaw, maybe feeling it crack under his fist. He didn't even realize what he did until he looked down at his former Shield brother on the floor, cupping his left hand over his mouth. The two-toned man felt tears stinging at the edges of his eyes as he clenched his hands into fists.

"You think I wanted that?!" He asked angrily, keeping his gaze on Dean who was staring at him with shock.

"You think I wanted THIS?! Do you honestly think that I wanted to be away from the people I care about, to hurt the man I love?! You have no right to tell me that, Ambrose! You think you're the only one who can't sleep at night? Do you wanna hear me say it? I love you! I love you so much that I acted like everything was okay when it wasn't! I love you too much so I went away because Hunter wanted to take you away from me! I sacrificed my happiness just so you would be okay! I am tired of hurting you, of seeing them make you look nothing more than a rabid dog!"

Seth dropped to his knees in front of his ex-lover, covering his face with his hands as he started to cry. "You have no idea how miserable I am with the choices I made! I thought a blade to my wrists would make everything better but it didn't! I'm still the same fucking asshole that messed everything up! I'm still the same corporate douchebag that everybody despises! I'm still the same fuck-up that wishes that I could just die because I can't take any of this anymore!"

Dean didn't know what to say. He thought for sure that Seth left on his own accord and now he feels like an ass for thinking so. Hunter wanted Dean to join the Authority? He didn't have time to think about it because Seth was on his knees, crying in front of him. He reluctantly gathered the crying man in his arms and patting his back.

Seth muffled his sobs into the crook of Dean's neck, his tears dripping onto Dean's shirt. The Lunatic Fringe smelled nice despite being in a bar for probably a few hours, Dean's musky cologne and natural scent comforting him.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Dean," he muttered under his breath just loud enough for the older man to hear. "You didn't do anything wrong and I'm sorry if I made you think that you did. I just- I…I'm-"

"Stop it," Dean said simply, not a command. He just said so. "Stop making me feel like an ass already." Dean looked down at Seth with a smile on his face and Seth returned the smile.

"I'm sorry. I know that you won't forgive me so easily so I'll try to go back to the start. Oh god, I'm so sappy."

"Yeah, you always are. But it'll take you a lifetime if you start all the way back to the beginning. Why don't you just pick up from where you left off?"

Dean placed a hand on the back of Seth's head and kissed the younger man's forehead.

"Now, if I remember correctly, you were telling me to sleep?"