One

Roman Reigns sighed as the bus moved at a snail's pace. He glanced at his watch. Six. He had to be home by six fifteen so that he could quickly fix dinner for his boyfriend, Dean, before he returned home from college.

Usually the auburn haired man would cook meals but with all the work he had to do for his course, it was up to Roman to take over. Normally the Samoan man wouldn't have minded but he didn't know how to make anything but an omelette.

His pathetic attempt of dinner last night, for example, had been a peanut butter jelly sandwich with sausages he managed to microwave in the oven. Dean hadn't minded at all - even finished it bless him - but it made Roman feel terrible that he couldn't do anything for his boyfriend aside from just giving him money.

Roman wanted to make Dean proud of him the way he was proud of Dean. And he wasn't sure being a gym owner was going to cut it.

His best friends, Seth Rollins and Alexander Rusev, thought he was crazy for thinking that way. After all, Dean was madly in love with the six feet three Samoan man. Anyone could see that.

The bus came to a halt at the traffic light.

He slumped in his seat. This was going to be a long ride. Maybe he should just get takeout. Turning his head to look out the window, his eyes fell upon a banner advertising a boxing match for the featherweight championship.

Once upon a time - three years ago to be precise - that had been him. A professional boxer. A world heavyweight champion. Undefeated at that too. Upon learning his long time boyfriend, Xavier Woods, had a short amount time left after being diagnosed with lung cancer, he threw in the towel and vacated the title.

Spending whatever time he had left with Xavier was far more important. After all, if it wasn't for his late boyfriend, he wouldn't have gotten so far in his career. He was there by Roman's side through it all, being everything from his biggest cheerleader to his worst critic.

When Xavier had died, he fell into depression and if it wasn't for Seth and Rusev, Roman was pretty sure he'd have hurt himself. Opening the Hit Hard gym was his way of moving on, to help people achieve their personal goals… the way Xavier had helped him reach his.

And that was where he had met Dean three years later. Fresh out of prison, he had been recommended by Roman's mother to go to the gym to get a job.

They fell in love over time, recently happily settled down in Ambreigns Mansion - formerly the famous Wyatt Mansion - and were trying to adjust to the routine of their new life.

He was two stops away more from reaching his destination. Trust his car to breakdown; the mechanic had told Roman that he'd have it back in three days so he had to bear with it one more day.

A black man with Afro hair and alighted from the bus. Roman felt his breath caught in his throat. He looked uncannily like Xavier from far. His heart pounded; he hadn't seen anyone who looked remotely like his ex boyfriend before.

Without thinking, he alighted too and saw the man walking ahead.

Xavier.

Roman picked up his pace as he followed behind until he saw the man get into a bar. He mentally chastised himself for chasing someone resembling his late boyfriend. Great. He was now late and poor Dean would have to wait for dinner.

He took out his phone and started scrolling for the Domino's Pizza app. He wondered if Dean was okay with pizza.

Otherwise it was peanut butter sandwich for dinner again.

Dean Ambrose shut the door behind him when he reached home and found the house in darkness.

Roman wasn't home yet.

Not a problem, he decided. He'll make them both grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. He opened the fridge and scanned the contents before taking out some cheese.

While he started to prepare dinner, his eyes fell on the clock. Seven. Where was Roman, he wondered as he started to season the tomatoes he had sliced the night before - while Roman was sound asleep - with sea salt.

He must have been busy at the gym. Dean used to work there full time as Roman's personal assistant before college started; before he became busy with reading and writing. He had underestimated the amount of work needed for the course.

As he placed the turkey bacon into the large cast iron skillet, he made a mental note to ask his boyfriend to buy more raspberry preserves. Dean loved those.

For this semester, he had chosen to concentrate on his core requirements so he had chosen American Literature After 1865, Critical Conversations in Literary Studies, Introduction to Creative Writing, Introduction to Linguistics and Interpretations of Literature.

How exciting.

He licked his thumb as he screwed on the cap of the raspberry preserves jar.

He heard the door being opened and Dean's mood lifted.

Roman was home.

"Hey babe," he greeted when his boyfriend walked into the kitchen. "I'm making us sandwiches with fried egg, brie cheese, turkey bacon and raspberry preserves."

Roman kissed him. "Sounds yummy. Sorry I'm late. I've been feeling out of sorts the whole day."

Dean was worried now. Roman had been putting a lot of pressure on himself since the auburn haired man had gone back to school. "Why don't you go and take a warm shower? Dinner should be ready in ten minutes."

"I feel so bad that you're making it, Dean."

"What? Don't be silly, Roman. We have to share the responsibilities between us. You don't have to shoulder everything just because I have school work." He wound his arms around Roman's neck. "Besides, you forgot that I read most of the books on that reading list before school had started. So don't worry; nothing major that I'll be missing out on."

His boyfriend gave him a quick kiss. "You smell nice."

"You always say that," Dean laughed.

"But it's the truth."

"Hmmm I love it when you use that coconut body wash. Makes me think of some exotic island."

Roman's face finally broke into a smile. There he is, Dean thought fondly. "We're always running on island time, baby. Ah yessir."

"And here I was thinking how weird it was that you didn't let that fly out of your mouth."

"Maybe something else will be flying out of my mouth… something on your Lunatic Fringe."

Dean shook his head lovingly at him. "That's it. Shower for you now. Go!"

Roman pouted before giving him a soft kiss. "I'll be right back."

As he watched the Samoan man leave the kitchen, his worries returned. Roman seemed to have lost his smile recently; Dean missed it. Something was bothering him and he refused to say a word, always insisting he was fine.

He wondered if Rusev or Seth knew what was going on. Maybe Roman had opened up to them about what was on his mind.

Dean hoped it was nothing serious.

Roman put some coconut milk body wash cream on his upper body, with music being played in the background.

Good idea from Dean to install a shower radio in the bathroom. The DJ of the station was playing some eighties song - Roman had forgotten the title - and it seemed to be fading out so that the next song could be played.

When he heard the opening music, he felt, as he always did, adrenaline running through his body. After all, it had been one of his workout songs when he was a pro boxer.

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

Oh how Roman wished he was in a boxing ring right now. Gloves on. Staring at his opponent. Body poised. Arms raised. Reflexes on point.

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival

The lead singer was right. It was the thrill of the fight and the Samoan man missed it more than anything in the world.

He had a reputation for bringing intensity to his fights. Xavier used to tell him about what he'd overheard from people commenting how watching him fight was like being at a ballerina performance: beautiful.

Roman had laughed and said that he wasn't looking for beauty but aggression till his late boyfriend had pointed out that the shiner on the poor guy he had knocked out would be a proof of that.

Turning off the shower, he patted himself dry with a towel before wiping off the fog of the bathroom mirror. He stared into it, wondering how long he could keep lying to himself without falling apart at the seams.

Dean watched his boyfriend from the corner of the eye as they ate their meals in the dining room. "So how was work?" he asked.

"Okay." Roman shrugged before he bit into the sandwich. "The usual."

"Babe, I'm going to be honest. I'm worried about you."

His boyfriend looked at him in surprise. "Worried?"

"You've hardly smiled since school started and I was wondering if it's because you're doing more than you can handle."

"Hardly, baby boy."

"Then what is it? Don't shut me out, Roman. I want to help you."

"I just feel so useless, Dean. I mean there's nothing much I can do for you except give you money. I wish I can do more for you like make you a proper meal or help you out with the laundry without messing it up. Remember last week? I turned your American Eagle t-shirt pink!"

Dean laughed. "That was kind of funny. I think I'll wear that tomorrow."

"What?"

"Yeah why not? Roman, relax, babe. You worry too much."

"I just want you to be proud of me," his boyfriend mumbled.

That he did not expect. "Have I done something to make you think otherwise?"

"No."

"Roman, I'm very proud of you. How can I not be? You're the most beautiful person I know. I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't got a good thing to say about you. You've sacrificed a lot for me and honestly, if anyone should be feeling like they're useless, it should be me. Remember what you told me? There's no counting or repayment in love. Everything we're doing is for one another, for us. So don't put yourself down. I miss seeing your smile."

"You noticed?"

"Of course. It's the one thing that I always look forward to at the end of the day. You know what else I missed?"

"What?"

Dean leaned over and kissed him. His boyfriend did not hesitate to reciprocate. Gosh, he missed kissing him like this. Stress was not a good thing; it was a damn mood killer putting a damper on their sex life.

Ten days since they've done it and now he was starting to feel the constraints in his pants.

How he ended up sitting on Roman's lap he didn't know or care. He only knew he wanted them both naked in bed, moaning and writhing. "Wanna go to the bedroom?" he asked.

Roman laughed. "Bed, baby boy? Nah. We're going to do it in your reading room."

"Hey! We agreed that we don't touch my reading room or your exercise room."

"Fine." Roman licked his lips. "Island counter then! Time for The Merchandise to meet The Lunatic Fringe! Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah yessir!"

Dean laughed as his boyfriend carried him bridal style. "Roman!"

Roman needed coffee badly.

Three rounds of sex last night had them both sleeping later than usual. It was a good thing that Dean had a late class today and that Seth was there to overlook things for him. He walked into Lava Java Coffee and waited for his turn to place an order.

What should he have today? Something strong, he decided. No way was he going to fall asleep in the office.

When it was his turn, he asked the barista for a recommendation. He ended up ordering a sea salt caramel mocha.

As he waited for his order at the pick up counter, his eyes caught sight of a familiar figure in a suit who was ordering. Bald in the centre with little hair. Eyes always on the move.

Paul Heyman, his former manager.

"Roman!" he greeted when he stood next to him. "Small world."

"No arguments there," he replied as they hugged. "How are you, Paul?"

"Bored out of my mind. I was hoping that you've changed your mind since the last time we saw one another."

"No, Paul. I haven't."

"Don't you miss boxing, Roman?"

"Of course I do. You are of the few who understands how much it means to me. But I told you why I can't."

"Talk to your boyfriend then. I'm sure he'll understand. Talent like yours doesn't always come along."

Roman's name was called up so he grabbed his cardboard cup.

"You have my number, Roman," Paul continued. "I hope you'll reconsider."

He wished Xavier was here; he'd tell him what to do. He was always good at reading Roman. He had known the Samoan man better than anyone. Well except his mother, of course.

Walking into the gym, Rhyno Gerin, one of the personal trainers, greeted him at the entrance. "Seth had to go out to deposit those checks."

"Right," Roman replied. "I forgot about that. Thanks."

He walked into the office and sat on his chair, switching on the computer.

The framed picture of him kissing Xavier in front of the Colosseum was staring back at him. "Damn it, Xavier. What do I do?"

His phone beeped and he slid his finger over the screen. Dean had sent him a text message reminding him that they had dinner tonight with his best friend, James Ellsworth and a new guy he had been seeing… Dean's college professor of all people tonight at Jack in the Box, a casual restaurant close by.

Roman wondered if that was a conflict of interest but then decided it wasn't his problem. He had other things to worry about.

Like the burning desire in him to put on those gloves again.

A/N Surprise, guys! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Sorry that it's quite a slow burner but I wanted to give you an idea of what's been going on in our boys' lives. Next chapter will be the double date. Also who do you think is Dean's college professor? Let me know your guesses :-)