One

If you had asked anyone in Carlisle where the best gym in town was if you needed a good workout, most if not all of its residents would say Hit Hard Gym.

And if you went there, look for the owner, Roman Reigns. He was sure to assist you with your training plan if you needed one.

It was impossible for people to miss the six feet three Samoan man. He had an impressive figure with hard muscles on tanned skin and grey eyes that had unspoken stories behind it.

Beautiful was not even suitable to describe him.

He had a friendly disposition though he mostly kept to himself and more often than not, he had a kind word for almost everyone. A former world heavyweight champion boxer, he had chosen to leave behind the limelight after losing his boyfriend since junior high to lung cancer.

He lost interest in everything after that.

It took time but with the help and never ending support of his close friends, Seth Rollins and Alexander Rusev, he slowly moved on and got back on his feet.

The gym had the usual exercise equipments and weights but one thing members loved about it was the boxing ring.

Boxing had been his life so it was only natural that Roman included a ring in the gym for the people who wanted a similar workout.

He never trained people though. He had Seth and two other employees, Curtis Axel and Rhyno Gerin to do that.

Roman devoted himself to the paperwork and day to day operations including dealing with customers.

He had a customer that was quite adamant in getting him to train and that was Bobby Roode.

The businessman was quite persistent, insisting that no one was more fitting than the former champion himself to train.

When Roman politely turned down his request, he asked him out on a date instead.

"Sorry," Roman declined. "I'm not looking for something right now."

"Why not?" Bobby asked. "Do you have someone?"

"No and I'm not planning to."

"Give me a chance and I'll change your mind."

He heard a smirk and found Seth standing by the door of his office. "Forget it, Bobby. It'll take a special person to get Roman back into the dating world."

Roman shook his head. "Seth…"

"Roman, it's been three years."

"And I'm still not ready."

"That's why I said it'd take a special person."

Bobby looked at Seth. "I wonder who the lucky guy is."

At thirty years old, Dean Ambrose was convinced that he had seen it all.

After all, prison had taught him the hard knocks of life. Nothing new he had learnt from the absence of his parents and a coked up brother but a bit more lessons learned nonetheless.

As he alighted the bus and made his way towards the gym, he found himself questioning his decision to come here.

Why?

Oh right. He was here because of his parole officer recommended he go there for a job interview.

Dean didn't even know why he bothered. He knew next to nothing about gyms. Or exercise.

Unless the owner counted running from the police as an exercise.

The gym was bare in appearance on the inside with an industrial feel to it. The smell of sweat greeted him and he found himself being greeted by a two toned hair man. "Hi," the man said. "Welcome to Hit Hard Gym. I'm Seth. Are you interested in having a tour of our gym?"

Dean scratched his beard. "Actually I'm here for an interview."

"Interview?" Seth repeated. "I wasn't aware we were hiring."

"Patricia Ricci asked me to come here. She's my parole officer."

"Parole? You're an ex convict?"

The auburn haired man gritted his teeth. "Yes."

"Seth? Can you show Bobby where the new dumbbells are?"

Dean looked up only to find himself looking at one of the most gorgeous men he had ever seen.

The man's grey eyes met his blue ones and Dean could have sworn time stood still for him.

"Your mother recommended him here for a job interview," Seth informed the man.

This gorgeous human being was Patricia's son?

The raven haired man smiled warmly at him and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you," he greeted. "I'm Roman. Roman Reigns."

"Dean Ambrose," he said, accepting Roman's hand.

"Won't you come into my office?"

Dean followed after him into a light blue wallpapered office with pictures of him wearing boxing gloves, with an old man wearing a blue hoodie and with a young black man.

There were also motivational fitness quotes on the wall.

Roman sat down on his black swivel chair. "My mum told me that she had someone in mind for the position of personal trainer."

Dean bit his lip as he sat opposite him. "Ummm I don't have any experience in that."

"No experience working in a gym?"

"I stole a gym towel once."

"Do you exercise?"

"Does running from the cops count? It's a form of physical activity."

Roman looked like he was biting back his laugh. "Okay. So no experience whatsoever."

Dean knew he was not qualified and he did not stand a chance against other men who had the qualified credentials. He guessed he could get a job at 7 Eleven.

Standing up, he offered his hand to a puzzled looking Roman. "I'm sorry. Thank you for taking the time to see me."

"Wait settle down," Roman replied. "Maybe you're not qualified for the personal trainer position but I could use a personal assistant."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I've got lots of paperwork to do and I'm considering opening a second gym in Roselake. I need a personal assistant to help me."

"Mr Reigns-"

"Roman."

"Roman," he amended. "I'm not qualified for that either. I don't know how to use a computer."

The gym owner tapped a pencil on his desk. "I can teach you how. It's actually quite easy."

"You're too generous. But you see I've never held any position except a cashier. I can't accept the offer. Ummm do you have a janitorial position?"

"I actually outsource the cleaning of the gym to a cleaning company. Dean, I promise you it's okay. It's nothing too hard that I can't teach you myself. I promise."

Dean sighed. Roman seemed like a decent guy and he did not wish to impose on him. "What did your mother tell you exactly? I mean not that I knew she was your mother before."

Roman nodded. "Nothing much except that she met a nice guy whom she thought deserved a fresh start. She asked if I was hiring and I told her I was."

"But you weren't looking for a personal assistant actively?"

"...No."

"I guessed as much. I appreciate what your mother and you are doing for me but really I can try and apply for a job at Walmart or Whole Foods."

"Dean," Roman said. "You just got released today."

"Yes."

"And you also have nowhere to stay."

"Yes, I do. I have my old apartment." No he didn't but he knew what this was leading to and he could not accept it. "I'll be fine."

"Then please take the job at least. There's no hidden agenda here. I promise. In fact it can be just between you and me if you want."

Dean felt torn between accepting Roman's kind offer or going back to doing what he did best: being a free bird who lived life on the edge. The only kind of life he had ever known.

But something about the man in front of him made him reconsider. It wouldn't hurt to learn a new skill. "Okay," he agreed. "But if I mess up, I'm leaving. I don't wish to ruin your good reputation."

"I have a good reputation?" Roman said in a teasing tone. "I need to spice up my company."

"I think you're doing fine. Spicing up your company is not necessary." He couldn't imagine a human being like Roman being corrupted.

"I'm joking," Roman replied. "So help me fill up these forms and I'll be right back."

He looked at the forms in front of him - one being a health declaration and the other an application one - before he started to fill them in. It took him over a good twenty minutes to finish it. By that time, Roman had returned to the office with an isotonic drink for him.

The Polynesian man glanced at the forms before nodding. "Looks good."

Did he even read it? Dean wondered.

"Why don't you have a look around the gym?" Roman suggested. "I'll drive you back home after this."

"That's not-"

"I insist."

Dean groaned inwardly. This was going to be harder than he thought.

Roman hadn't realised he was smiling after Dean left the office until Rhyno who had walked in pointed it out. "Look at you," he said. "I've got to call the press. You're actually smiling after a guy?"

He looked at his colleague in surprise. "I guess I am."

As if he had heard about this new development through sound waves, Seth popped in. "You smiled?"

Rhyno nodded. "Uh huh he did. And it was because of the new guy."

"You're hiring him?" Seth didn't look too thrilled. "Roman, are you sure?"

Roman placed Dean's forms aside. "Yeah I am. I think he'll do well here." He said it in a tone that left Seth no room for disagreement. He knew his friend was being protective of him but there was something about Dean Ambrose that just felt right to him.

He wasn't sure why.

"Well, I hope you know what you're doing," his friend said. "But honestly, you haven't smiled after a guy in well… you know."

Roman did know.

He hadn't smiled in over three years since Xavier's passing.

Nothing could have prepared him for his late boyfriend's passing despite the grieve news from the doctor on his time left. Roman had dropped everything to spend the last few months with him. They lay in bed playing crossword puzzles and Call of Duty, their favorite video game.

Xavier refused to follow his doctor's orders and ate all the ice cream he could stomach.

As they lay in bed one night with fingers laced through each other's, his boyfriend had started talking about the future. "Promise me that you'll move on," Xavier had said. "I don't want to go knowing that you'll be stuck in the past, thinking about me."

"You're not my past," Roman had argued.

"I will be. I am glad to be have been part of your life. I want you to know that it's okay to love again. I would not have it any other way, Roman. You have a lot of love to give."

"Baby…"

"You'll know it when it happens. That's the way love usually is."

Roman had watched him take his last breath a couple of days later. He helped organize the wake and funeral with Xavier's family and then spent a good few months just letting himself go. Depressed and lost, he would have probably hurt himself if Seth and Rusev hadn't intervened.

Roman owed a lot to them.

Over the past year, Seth had tried to set him up on dates but he declined all of them. Some of them were people casually introduced to him in person but he hadn't felt anything.

Until he saw Dean Ambrose.

Trust his mother to know.

Dean looked like he could use a good friend. And he most probably did.

Roman's mother was an excellent judge of character and she had told him that Dean had ran with the wrong company and used to be an alcoholic who on one night was too drunk and went into a grocery store and punched the son of a supreme court judge after a racist threat he had made against the store's Asian clerk.

According to Roman's mother, he was remorseful that he hadn't beaten the man up to a pulp.

"You must really like this guy if you're staring off into space," Seth remarked.

Roman shook his head. "What?"

"I rest my case."

"He seems decent."

"He's an ex convict."

"Seth, we don't judge people here."

"Look, Roman, I'm not about to let you be conned by a former criminal."

"I'm just hiring him to do my paperwork. That's all." He gave Seth a look. "Not a word more."

"Fine."

He sighed. He knew Seth was just being his usual worry wart self. "Seth, I'll be okay."

"If he tries to take advantage of you-"

"He won't. Besides, he looks like the sort of guy who refuses to let people help him… quite self reliant."

"If you insist." His friend crossed his arm. "I hope you don't fall for this one, Roman. There are better options out there."

"That'll never happen, Seth, so relax."

Dean leaned back in Roman's car reluctantly after being told to do so a few times.

As he gave Roman the address - an old apartment he used to live in - he glanced out the window, admiring the view as they started to move. Dean had lived in Carlisle all his life but it never ceased to amaze him how fast the city was developing.

"You know, Dean," Roman said. "I'm really happy you accepted the job. It'd be interesting to hear your views on how businesses are ran."

"I have no knowledge in these kind of things."

"That's exactly what I'm hoping you'd say. I want to know how it will look like to an average person. Not that you're average or anything."

Dean looked back out the window again.

When they reached the apartment, Dean turned to face Roman. "Thank you, Roman. You didn't have to give me the lift but you did. I don't know how to repay you."

"Tomorrow, nine in the morning, my office," the gym owner said. "That's all you have to do."

Dean nodded before he stepped out of the car. He walked slowly into the building, turning every now and then to wave to Roman, hoping he'd go so that he could find a spot in the park to sleep for the night.

When he saw that the car had driven off, he turned around and started heading for the nearest park.

There was a bridge near the lake. Dean guessed this was a good spot as any and if anything, he could gaze at the stars at night.

Using a bit of his money, he bought hot chocolate from a nearby drink stand and proceeded to the bridge to sit down. He had a job and with it, he could save the money until he could afford to rent a small room or live in a motel.

For now, this would have to do.

He heard some footsteps and turned around, his heart beating fast at the person standing in front of him now. "Roman?"

"Dean?" his new boss said. "What are you doing here?"

A/N So this is a new story that's been on my mind for some time. I hope you liked the chapter. Roman's not too much of a softie here as he is in Outlaw Torn but hey I love to experiment. :-)