Champagne Kisses

The last day of summer.

Seth Rollins stood on the boardwalk in front of the noisy cafe and watched as the moon reflected on the smooth surface of the ocean. He had graduated from college back in May and now he was about to embark on the next chapter of his life. He had found a great job right at home here in Tampa a month after graduation and he had officially moved out of his mom's house and into his own place. It was nice to have his own space and freedom even if his dating life was a bit lackluster these days. But he wasn't looking for anyone right now . Most of his friends had figured out that he was gay and were forever trying to set him up with every gay guy that they met but he normally politely declined unless they were really attractive. Cody had expressed concerned over his lack of a sex life but he had assured him that he got off when he needed it.

Roman looked around proudly at the atmosphere inside of the busy cafe. It was owned by his cousins Jimmy and Jey Uso. It had been a success from the initial launch and Roman hoped that it would continue to do well. They were throwing an end of summer party that night and it seemed as if half of his old high school class was in attendance.

He had grown weary of all of the catching up and wanted to escape for a bit. He glanced outside and saw a young man standing alone on the boardwalk facing the ocean. There was something about him. He could see that most his hair was dark but a third of it was bleached blonde. But when the man turned slightly to a side and Roman saw his facial profile, he nearly gasped out loud. It was Seth. He had barely seen him a handful of times since that fateful night in the back of his dad's car. The night he had acted like such a jerk to only person in his life who probably would've accepted who he was without a fight. He couldn't let this continue. He had to make things right between him and Seth. He grabbed two champagne flutes off a tray from a passing waiter and headed outside.

Seth noticed a hand holding a champagne flute in front of his chest. He figured that it was one of the waitstaff. He took it muttering a thanks. As he took a sip of the cold, bubbly beverage he realized that the person hadn't moved from next to him.

Seth nearly choked on the next mouthful of champagne when he saw who was standing next to him.

" Are you okay?" Roman looked concerned. He stepped forward to touch Seth's back as he coughed down the rest of the champagne that was in his mouth. But Seth took a step back so that he was out of Roman's reach.

" I'm fine." He eyed Roman warily. It was clear that he hadn't forgotten about that night.

Roman was hoping that he could've eased into some small talk first before delving into that topic but clearly that plan was now obsolete.

" You still don't like me, huh?"

Seth rolled his eyes and took another sip of his champagne. His gaze focusing on the dark ocean waves breaking on the sand. " That's the understatement of the century."

Whoa. He hadn't realized that Seth's animosity towards him had ran that deep. Then again he did practically shut down any notion of Seth having any type of relationship with him right after he took the guy's virginity.

" I guess I deserved that." Roman took a sip of his drink, barely wetting his lips. " I was pretty much a jerk back then to you."

" Jerk is putting it mildly." Seth drained his glass and twirled it around in his fingers. It was made of plastic. He wasn't worried about breaking it.

" I'm sorry." He had hurt Seth. The least he could do was at least apologize.

Seth finally looked at him. One eyebrow raised skeptically.

" It's a little too late now for apologies."

Roman sighed and pushed one hand into his front right pocket of his jeans while the other held the champagne. " It's never too late to admit when you're wrong." His eyes flickering over Seth's face. He had only gotten even more handsome in the past four years. His eyes were still big and brown, his eyebrows lush and straight. His pretty little mouth framed by a light beard. The blond side adding a nice edge to him that Roman appreciated. He'd fucked up big time. " I was wrong for treating you the way that I did that night. I just came out here to tell you that."

Seth watched him carefully as he sipped his drink. Feeling the bubbles break over his tongue as he wondered if he should just give up and head back inside. Seth was obviously still harbouring resentment towards him.

Just as Roman was going to turn his heel and head back indoors, Seth spoke up.

" So why did you do it?"

Roman was a bit lost. " Do what?"

" Why did you turn down my offer to be friends?" Seth shuffled on his feet a bit nervously and placed the empty glass on top of the wooden railing. His eyes glancing from Roman to the ocean and back.

" I ..." Roman started and then he looked around at the people who were hanging around close by. He didn't want them to overhear what he had to say. " Can we go for a walk?"

Seth was about to question him when he followed Roman's line of sight and noticed a lot of the patrons had spilled out of the cafe and on to the boardwalk. He shrugged his shoulders. " Okay."

Their walk on the sand was quiet. There was a healthy distance between the two men as the waves crashed on the beach close to Seth. Roman still held the half empty glass of champagne in his hand.

" So are you going to start talking?" Seth inquired looking up at the man who was only slightly taller than him. The years had been kind to Roman. He had lost that baby fat from his face and his features had leaned out considerably. His cheekbones were high and distinct. His nose looked even straighter, almost arrow like. His brown eyes keen. But his lips were still as full and as attractive as ever, framed by a well groomed beard and mustache. Roman's body had leaned out as well and he could tell that their was solid muscle underneath Roman's long sleeved black shirt. He had thought that Roman was handsome in high school but he was practically at god like status now. Still, he was the prick who fucked him in the back of a car and took his virginity and then didn't even have the decency to even want to stay in contact with him afterwards.

Roman glanced at him and Seth felt a nervous shiver run through him. There it was still after all of these years. All Roman had to do was fix his gaze directly on him and his insides turned to that of a nervous highschooler with a crush. Seth looked away and fixed his own eyes on the waves that were crashing gently on the beach. Watching as the white foam tips rolled across the sand before they dissipated. He didn't want Roman to see the effect that he had on him.

" Well as you know back then I wasn't that secure in my sexuality." Roman began. Seth noticed that his voice sounded closer and he looked around and saw that Roman was now walking right next to him. A couple more inches and their arms would brush. " And then the thing with you happened..."

" The thing with me?" Seth cut him off and looked at him as if he were insulted. " You make me sound like if I was a mistake. Was I a mistake Roman?"

" No!" Roman quickly assured him. " It's just that ..." he sighed hard. Everything was just coming out wrong. " Like do you even remember the conversation? You were naked sitting on my lap. No I just couldn't be friends with you."

" So what does me being naked have to do with anything?"

Roman was getting a little frustrated by now and attempted to run his fingers through his hair, forgetting that held the glass of the champagne in his hand. Nearly half of the contents spilled onto the sand before he caught himself. " Oh fuck!"

Seth couldn't help but to smile to himself. At least Roman wasn't a picture of collected coolness next to him. He seemed to have had some effect on the handsome man as well.

Roman drank the rest of the now warm liquid before continuing hoping that it would give him some form of encouragement.

" Well the fact that you were naked meant that I couldn't think about anything else other than fucking you at the time."

Damn it. Roman's confession shouldn't have made his cock jump but it did. Seth inhaled a deep breath of salted sea breeze. His nerves calmed down a bit and he tuned back to Roman.

" And since I wanted to fuck you, I didn't see how we could possibly be friends." Roman was looking at him once more but this time Seth managed to hold his gaze and not look away. " I mean like, suppose I invited you over to hang out or something. I knew that I would've made a move on you and then everything would have gone to shit if my parents ever caught us."

" But I could've stopped you. It wouldn't have gotten that far." Seth countered.

Roman clearly didn't believe him. " Seth are you honestly saying that you could have gone to being just platonic friends after having sex together? That you wouldn't think of us fucking at all if we had hung out together?" Roman raised his eyebrow.

" Well..." Seth paused. Truthfully, Roman did have a point. He wouldn't have been above stealing a kiss if he thought the coast was clear. " I guess I would have."

" Exactly." Roman twirled the glass in his hand. " Especially if you wore those ridiculously tight jeans that you used to wear."

" Still do." Seth grinned sheepishly.

Roman looked him over. Seth tried not to notice Roman's eyes lingering on his ass for a few seconds longer than necessary. " So I see."

Roman cleared his throat and focused his eyes on the rocks that they were approaching signalling the end of the beach.

" So you're saying that you turned down being friends with me because you couldn't fuck me?"

" In a nutshell, yes."

" So I was right. I was just a fuck to you." The sound of disappointment was clear from Seth.

Roman genuinely felt bad about it. Even though he was trying his best to explain his behaviour to Seth, he realized that it did come across rather heartless and shallow.

" You weren't just a fuck Seth."

" It sure feels like it." Seth sounded miffed as he wrapped his arms around himself to fend off the biting wind coming off the ocean.

" I liked you okay? But supposed we became friends and then something happened and my parents found out. What then?"

Roman pulled at his hair, causing a few locks to escape the neatly done bun.

" You were really terrified of your parents finding out huh?"

They had reached the rocks. Roman leaned back on one and crossed his arms. " Back then? Yeah."

" So do they know now?" Seth inquired stepping closer to him.

" Yeah. I told them at the beginning of summer." He didn't say anything else and became preoccupied with pushing his sneaker clad foot through the sand.

Seth sensed that it had probably hadn't gone too well.

" Can I ask what happened?"

" Well," Roman made a circle in the sand with his right foot. " I was called every name in the book and my parents are no longer speaking to me."

" What? That's crazy." Seth was instantly upset on Roman's behalf. " But you're their son. It shouldn't matter who you like."

" They don't see it your way Seth. My dad said that I've disgraced the family." Roman gave a half laugh and shook his head. " I'm a disgrace Seth." Roman rolled up the long sleeve on his right arm and revealed a perfectly tattooed sleeve that appeared to be tribal in origin. " I got this the month before I told them. It took me seventeen hours to complete."

Seth carefully took the arm between his hands and turned it over carefully examining the pattern. It was truly a work of art. " It's pretty awesome."

" Yeah I think so too. I'm proud of my Samoan heritage Seth." Seth's fingers glided up to Roman's bicep. " But my dad told me that I disgraced it by being myself."

" I'm sorry." Seth couldn't believe that he was actually saying those words to Roman. But he was beginning to see clearly now why Roman had pushed him away all of those years ago. " I guess I get it now."

Seth closed the space between them and gave Roman a hug. Immediately Roman's arms embraced him and he found his head resting on Roman's shoulder. His arms moving from Roman's waist and sliding up his shoulders to clasp together behind Roman's neck. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long hug.

" So what are you going to do?" Seth asked after a moment of silence.

" Well I'm currently crashing at Jimmy's but I bought a one way ticket to New York."

Seth's head shot up. He definitely wasn't expecting to hear that. " New York? You're leaving?"

A bit of sadness played on Roman's features. It was clear to see even in the faint starlight.

" Yeah. There's really nothing keeping me here. I just have a part time job at the cafe." Roman brought his left arm up and lightly carded his fingers through the blond side of Seth's hair. " It's one of the reasons that I had to make sure that I apologized to you tonight. I don't know if I would ever get another chance."

Seth felt a lump rising in his throat. He suddenly felt silly about how he had been acting. He had been lucky that his family had accepted his sexuality without much wayward comments. Roman unfortunately, hadn't been so lucky. " It's okay. We were just kids anyway."

Roman smirked. " Really? So you've forgiven me?"

" Yeah." Seth shrugged his shoulders while keeping his arms locked around Roman's neck. " I mean it did suck royally but you had your own shit to deal with and I guess in a way, you protected me from that."

Roman tousled his hair in a friendly manner. " Thanks Rollins."

The way how Roman said his name shouldn't have warmed him on the inside but it did. " So why all the way to New York? Why not just move towns or something?"

" I just feel like if I just have to get away you know? Somewhere brand new, where no one knows me." Roman smiled and shook his head. " I guess to find myself in a way. As corny as that sounds."

The side of Seth's thumb was twitching back and forth against the back of Roman's neck. " I guess we could never be friends huh?" Seth bit his bottom lip as he thought about what he was going to say next. " Something always comes up."

Roman's hand cupped the side of his face. His thumb stroking a diagonal line between Seth's ear and lips. Seth's eyes closed under his gentle touch. Even after all these years, Roman's touch still had an effect on him. Instead of the nervous butterflies of his teenage years, it was slow, warm, sweet burn that relaxed his muscles and willed his body over to Roman without any hesitation.

" I could never just be friends with you." Roman's voice low and in a tone that awakened the fire in Seth's loins.

Seth opened his eyes, aware of the heady tension that was thick between them. The chemistry between them was undeniable. " I don't think I could just be friends with you either."

He moved his head slightly to the left so that Roman's thumb slid over his lips instead of stopping at the corner of his lips. His own hand pressing firmly at the back of Roman's neck. The seabreeze tossing the long wavy tendrils of hair that framed the handsome face. Two pairs of brown eyes locked together. Roman's hand firmly on the small of his back pressing him even harder against Roman's body. Roman dipped his head slightly. Shit. This was happening again. After over the years of swearing to himself that he would never give this man the time of day again. His eyes closing at the same time that Roman's lips gently pressed against his. Here he was, parting his lips slightly to kiss him back.

Seth felt himself almost stumbling as their lips and tongues became reacquainted. If Roman wasn't holding him so tightly, his knees would've given out. There was just so much wanting and need in that kiss that he would surely blow a circuit in his brain if he actually tried to think about it. So he didn't. His fingers gripped the hair at the back of Roman's head, right underneath his bun. His lips eagerly sucked and kissed on Roman's lips, stroking his tongue with his own. He had other partners over the years but no one kissed him and made him feel quite like Roman did.

Roman's hand was in his hair as well. Fisting it tightly. He was taking control of the kiss now. His mouth easily claiming Seth's. Everytime Seth made a gasp for breath he swallowed it down without breaking the kiss. He had wasted so much time. If things were different and he was staying in Florida, he would've persued something with Seth. It felt as if would've had something special but it was too late as usual. He allowed Seth to pull away after placing a closed mouth kiss on his swollen lips.

So many emotions were swirling through Seth as he stood there in Roman's arms in the aftermath of that kiss. That kiss had been everything and more. Damn. " I ..." He caught himself in time. He nearly blurted out that he wished that Roman wasn't leaving. It would be just like him to get caught back up in this man over one kiss. However, Roman was looking at him expectantly. Waiting for him to finish his sentence. He inhaled a sharp sea salt scented breath. He twirled some fine hairs of Roman's bun around his index finger as he looked at those deep brown eyes that looked extra dark by starlight. " I just got my own place. You wanna come over and check it out?"

A/N: Hmmm, a part two you guys deserve? Yes?

Song: Champagne Kisses – Jessie Ware