It was nearing seven o'clock when Seth received a text message, the screen of his phone lighting up and making the most annoying ding sound ever that never ceased to make his yappy little dog, Kevin, bark like someone was trying to invade his home.

Adjusting his position on the couch so that he was sat upright and not curled up in a ball, he grabbed the device from where it lay face up atop the coffee table. He double clicked the home button and entered his passcode, silently cursing Apple for making it so he couldn't just swipe the damn screen to do so.

He had a five unread messages from some of his casual friends he talked to every once in a while, but at the top of the screen was the most recent one from his best friend Roman. Sighing loudly to himself, he clicked on it and immediately regretted it afterwards. The Samoan was once again inviting him out for drinks, showing him pity because he was still hung up on his ex and stayed holed up in his house every Friday night since their breakup two months ago. No, scratch that, he stayed holed up in his house all days of the week, only leaving it for work or to buy groceries since those were kind of a necessity.

How's drinks at 8:30 sound to you?

He had to re-read the message six or more times before he could even form an adequate response in his mind. And then it took three additional minutes for him to break out of his thoughts about Dean, how he broke the poor guy's heart, before he could get his fingers to move across the touchscreen keyboard.

nah i think I'm good just staying home. but thanks for the offer Ro.

It wasn't that he didn't like hanging out with Roman or drinking alcohol, 'cause he loved the guy to death and enjoyed having a beer every once in a while. Especially in the last two months while being cooped up at home and depressed over his life and how crappy it's been treating him. So yeah, he liked to stow alcohol in the cabinets and drink till he forgot his his own name and all the crap he put his ex through at least once a week. The thing is that he didn't want to be a burden and drag Roman down with him. Didn't want to have to deal with what he did to Dean, didn't want his best friend knowing the real reason him and the guy everyone called a lunatic broke up.

Not a minute after he sent the text, his phone began to ring. Making that same loud and obnoxious noise it always made when someone called, and making Kevin bark like a fucking maniac to the point where he had to walk outside to think clearly. He shut the front door behind him, hesitantly answering the phone call as he stepped out onto the sidewalk and into the street.

"Hello?" He whispered, knowing that a couple of his elderly neighbors should be asleep by that time of night.

"Seth, why the hell did you decline my offer for the third time in a row this month?" Roman grit out in that tone he used when he was ready to haul ass over to his house and drag him out by the hair.

"I don't know? Maybe because I don't feel like interacting with the rest of the world?"

"You never do. Well, not since you and that asshole Dean broke up. Uh, let's not talk about him. Right.. Uh, I just really hate seeing you like this, man. You're all depressed and smelly, and don't leave the house unless I either force you to or you have to go to this thing called work-"

Seth cut Roman off in an attempt to correct him and make himself seem less pathetic. "Hey! I also leave to go grocery shopping-"

"And I'm sick of not being able to do something about it. God, I wish you'd just let me fucking beat the guy up like I so desperately want to-"

"Roman, don't you dare even think about it!" Seth warned, hearing a quiet growl on the other end of the line since he'd just cut the guy off. Again..

"Quit cutting me off or I'll beat you up, Rollins!" Roman took a deep breath, quietly counting to ten before continuing. "As I was saying, I wish I could beat him up or dismember him to make you feel better, but that's illegal and won't make you smile. So, I want to take you out for drinks and maybe talk with you a bit. Help you through your funk and get you to smile for the first time in two months."

Seth felt immense guilt at hearing the sincere words coming from the bottom his best friend's heart. He'd lied to him and made Dean out to be the bad guy because he was afraid Roman would hate him if he knew the real reason they broke up. If he knew that it was all his fault.. he'd never speak to him again. And he couldn't just continue lying to his face, which is one of the many reasons why staying home all the time made everything so much easier and less painful. It was much easier to lie and say he was fine through text message or over the phone than it was in person. Even if his voice did waver every time he spoke of his ex, the one he just can't for the life of him get over.

"Rome, I'm good just staying home. And I'm fine, also kinda tired, actually. I'll probably end up just cleaning out my freezer since tonight's trash night and the things chock full of old crap that's starting to stink up my kitchen. But you go out, have fun and hook up with someone who, uh, tickles your fancy."

"Seth.." Roman let out an exhausted sigh, the long exhale of air making Seth feel even worse for turning down his friend's offer for company on what was another difficult night of having to deal with being torn up over losing Dean. "Are you sure you're doing alright? 'Cause staying at home, cleaning out your fridge sounds pretty fucking depressing to me."

"Please stop worrying about me, man. I'm fine.. you don't have to worry about and pity me because I can't fucking get over him." He trailed off into a painful whisper, trying not to break down and cry. He cleared his throat, silently hoping and praying his voice was steady before continuing. "Uh, yeah.. So, go have fun and don't worry too much about me."

"Alright, I guess I'll check up on you later, man. Do me a favor and don't eat anything that's two months past the due date."

"I think most of the stuff in my fridge is at least two years past expiration. But thanks, I guess."

"Have a good night, Seth. Love you."

"Yeah, love you too, Rome." He then hung up, the screen turning black as he let out a shaky breath and pressed the cold device against his clothed chest. He held back the tears that threatened to fall from his tired eyes at the mere mention of Dean. He hadn't actually said his name, but he mentioned him, and it hurt like a bitch.

Forcing his feet to move, he headed back inside his house, hoping he hadn't disturbed any of his neighbors who may be sleeping. He was immediately greeted by his small yorkie Kevin, who'd calmed down considerably in the time it took him to go outside and answer Roman's call.

He crouched down in front of his furry little friend, muttering a quiet 'hello' and lightly scratching behind his ear until he began thumping his foot against the floor in pleasure. "Yeah, you like it when I scratch behind your ear, huh?" He mumbled, falling back onto his haunches and pulling Kevin into his lap.

He sat there for what must've been around five to ten minutes, just holding his usually yappy little puppy and talking to him the same way a senile old man would. Mainly about how he really didn't want to clean out the fridge and how he just wanted to cry and fall asleep in a puddle of booze.

After all that, when he was feeling even more depressed and his thoughts were slowly drifting back to Dean, he got off the hardwood floor and dusted off his sweatpants before walking over to the couch and setting Kevin down atop it before heading into the kitchen to begin what would be a torturous night of sifting through ancient foods in his fridge and freezer.

He grabbed the large trashcan from where it was stored beneath the counters in a pull-out drawer cupboard, setting it down in front of the rectangular chrome object that kept things cold before getting to work on pulling out things that looked.. much too blue, green and furry for his liking and tossing them in the bin. For example: a slice of pepperoni pizza he'd stuffed in the lettuce drawer a couple of weeks ago and completely forgotten about. And it was one delicious pizza, too.. He looked down at the floor and mourned the loss of it for a second before moving past it and shrugging, getting back to sniffing things that looked less than edible and dropping them like they were hot when their terrible smell permeated his senses.

After an entire hour, once he'd finished cleaning out the fridge, he dropped down to the floor and kneeled in front of it since the freezer was located beneath the fucking fridge part of it. Some dumbass prick designed the thing, and he wished oh-so badly that he could put them in a blood choke and squeeze with all his might until their eyes rolled into the back of their head and they ceased to- he cut off the dark train of thought, refocusing his attention on getting all the old, freezer burnt crap out of the freezer.

Another half hour passed and found himself opening boxes of food and sniffing them, crying out in disgust when he did so. Those things were tossed right into the trash without a seconds hesitation.

He was holding a box of Belgium waffles when his phone dinged, alerting him that he'd received a text message. He let out a long held sigh, groping at his ass until he finally located the phone and flipped it around till it was upright. Upon clicking the lock button he realized it was just Roman trying to get him to leave the house again, or convince him to let himself come over to his place. Both of which sounded rather unfavorable to Seth.

You sure you're alright staying home all by yourself? I could always just not go out tonight and drop by your place to keep you company.

He ignored the message, setting his phone face down on the floor and returning to the box of waffles sitting atop his lap. They were already opened, one or two of them missing from the package. And from what he could remember, they were pretty damn nasty and probably horribly ancient by this point.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, he unwrapped the plastic that encased them inside the cardboard and took a whiff of them, scrunching up his nose in absolute repulsion. They smelled horrid, like they'd been sitting in the back of the damn freezer for ages! And they probably had.

He couldn't help it when he tossed them across the room and pocketed his phone before rising from the floor and grabbing the waffles to toss them in the garbage can. "Jesus fuck, that's disgusting!" He shuddered, taking the bin full of old food out his side door and emptying it into the garbage can that would be getting dumped out by the truck that came by every week in the morning.

He rolled the black garbage can and the blue recycling bin down to the end of his driveway by the street number painted on the extra parking in front of his house before marching back inside and scrubbing his hands clean, muttering words under his breath all the while.

"That's it! I can't take this shit anymore, I am going out to have drinks with Rome, and I am going to fucking like it no matter how drunk and fucking talkative I get." Once he'd dried off his hands and stomped over to his bathroom to put on some deodorant and cologne, he changed into some clean clothes whilst texting Roman, trying to button up his super tight jeans with one hand while the other typed out a semi-legible response to the message he'd ignored earlier.

To sum it up, he basically said he'd be at the bar in twenty minutes. It didn't surprise him one bit when Roman responded to him within a minute.

I knew you'd change you mind. :)

He rolled his eyes at the Samoan and hastily shoved the phone into his back pocket before grabbing his jacket and heading out into the living room to place Kevin inside of his little cage that had a small, comfy bed as well as a bowl of dry food, water, and his favorite squeaky toy.

"Love you Kevin, don't bark too much and disrupt the neighbors while Daddy's gone!" He called over his shoulder as he made his way towards the front door located a good ten feet away from Kevin's cage.

He made his way outside, locking the door behind him before approaching his red vehicle and using the little clicker to unlock it. Once inside of it he turned the radio on, flipping through a dozen or so stations before finding one he could tolerate on the relatively short drive over to the bar he was meant to meet up with Roman at.

He nervously drummed his fingers against the steering wheel at every red light, enjoying the musical styles of AC/DC. They were a fairly old band, but c'mon, it's not like he was born yesterday or anything.

His anxiety was through the roof by the time he arrived at the bar and parked outside of it. He was contemplating just saying 'fuck it' and going back home to the comfort it provided, even if the small dresser in one corner of his bedroom always managed to distract him and make him sad whenever he acknowledged its existence. It was mostly empty now, seeing as Dean no longer came over, no longer owned all three drawers of the thing. It pained Seth to think of how he'd given one drawer to the auburn haired man each year in their relationship, reaching three before throwing it all away and ruining his own life in the process.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the dark thoughts, he exited the vehicle and headed inside the bar, seriously contemplating turning around and leaving when he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by the sight of Roman at sitting in a barstool, giving him a little half-wave to invite him over.

Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it after every step he took, he made his way over, managing to muster up a small smile for his best friend's sake. He slid onto the barstool beside the Samoan, freezing up for a moment when the big lug leaned in for a hug.

"How are you, Seth? Lemme guess, sitting at home with your yappy little dog on a Friday night and cleaning blue and green furry food out of your fridge was too depressing for you, so you decided to show after all."

"Well, yeah. Since when is being a fucking loser any fun? Besides, I missed not seeing you for such a long time." And he meant it. He'd missed Roman, but knew it was best to distance himself from him as to not drag him down into his mess of a life where he'd no doubt be able to pull more information out of him about his and Dean's horrible breakup.

"What's up with that anyway? You've been blowing me off for weeks. The only time I've seen you in the last week was when I visited your place and had to physically drag you into the shower because you smelled like a damn llama." Roman said as he disentangled their limbs, lightly patting his back for a moment before his hands were once again resting atop the wooden bar top.

"I did not smell that bad!"

"Seth, stop trying to change the subject and just listen to me for a minute. I know breakups are hard, especially when you love the person, but.. you're taking this especially hard. I don't think I've ever seen you this.. depressed and- and just not yourself. It's even worse than when you broke up with that guy in college, when you drank yourself into shitty grades and I had to be the one to pull you out of your funk and make sure you didn't choke on your vomit and die when you went to sleep after taking one too many shots of whatever the hell it is you'd put in your body. You may not be drinking heavily all the time, but I see what this is doing to you. I see how easy it'd be for you to fall off the wagon and- and just give in and drink till you forget about everything for just a little while. I mean, its fine to go out and have a couple of drinks with a brother that can supervise you every once in a while, but doing it alone at home is just plain sad and overall a bad idea."

"Didn't know this gonna be an intervention." Seth mumbled, glancing up from the bar top to order a glass of something strong.

"It's not a-" Roman cut himself off to let out a long sigh. "It's not an intervention. I just invited you here so we could have a talk, interact face-to-face like normal human beings instead of through a phone where you can lie to me all you want, tell me you're doing fine and that cleaning out your damn fridge is how you like to spend your free time."

Seth did feel bad for making Roman worry so much, but he couldn't just tell the guy why he'd became a loner recently. Why he holes himself up in his house with his only friend he's allowed to tell his problems to, Kevin, who he also doesn't go a night without cuddling up close to. It's true that dogs can sense when their owners are sad, it's probably the reason Kevin is always within reach of him. The yorkie was pretty annoying half the time, when he barked at literally nothing, but he was also the only thing keeping him sane, strange as it is.

"I never said that I liked cleaning it out, just that it needed to be done." He muttered in reply, still ignoring the main issue at hand.

"Stop it, Seth." Roman said in his warning voice. "Just talk to me, say anything that's been on your mind the last two months. I don't care what it is as long as its not an excuse to not have to talk to me about your problems."

Thinking up the least harmful truth he could, he thought back to all the sweet things Kevin, who was practically his baby, has done for him. "Well, turns out Kevin's a really great therapist. Until he pees on the floor, then I hate him. But only for about ten minutes."

"That's good, you're finally opening up. And just know Kev's a good.. person to tell all your problems too without worrying about him divulging all your secrets. I know that's one reason I go over to your place so often. But it's healthier to talk to real people, ones that don't have little wet, black button noses."

"But it's a hell of a lot easier to look into dreamy little brown eyes and tell them you're not okay than it is to look into your best friend's eyes and.. and tell him you're not. I'm just really not, alright?" A tear slipped from his left eye and his breathing was shaky. He reached out for his drink, wanting to take another sip when he felt a strong hand gripping his own, interlocking with his the same way it always did when he was on the verge of breaking down.

"I-I know my eyes aren't exactly brown and dreamy, but would you settle for cold and grey?"

Seth let out a quiet laugh, appreciating his friend's sense of humor during hard times. He wiped the tear from his eye and looked into Roman's grey-blue orbs, ready to confront him and at least tell him some of the truth, the parts that wouldn't ruin their friendship.

"I'm not okay, I don't like dragging you into my mess of a life, and I hate cleaning out the fridge. It's fucking awful man. I took a whiff of some ancient Belgium waffles and wanted to off myself on the spot." Seth got out in a rush, slowly feeling a weight being lifted off his shoulders. "And, uh, that's kinda why I came here. Well, not the only reason.. but it certainly was the last straw."

"Good to know you wanted to be here so badly," Roman chuckled lowly to try and alleviate the slightly awkward tension that'd settled over them. He felt the Samoan give his hand a firm squeeze, trying to comfort him. "But in all seriousness, I'm glad you came and that you're finally beginning to open up to me."

Seth stayed silent, nodding along to his friend's words before reaching out to grab the drink that'd been sitting in front of him for a while, and downing the remainder of it all in one go. Roman silently ordered a second round, the bartender slowly walking over and filling up their glasses.

Once Seth had a couple of drinks in him, he was ready to continue speaking. It'd probably be another two to three drinks before he was ready to tell him the truth about what went down between him and Dean. About how the auburn haired man had broached the subject of moving in one night, possibly getting married one day, maybe even raising a family together, while laying in bed after a night of fun and Seth got scared and brushed him off, telling him it's a conversation for another day, when he wasn't exhausted and totally not ready to talk about it. How it all escalated into a huge fight about a week later and Seth told his boyfriend who only meant well that he didn't see himself ever marrying him, didn't want to live with him, and would never want kids. All because he was scared of commitment. Terrified because his parents had gotten divorced when he was in sixth grade, the whole thing being one big, nasty process. His parents had fought over who got custody of him, and in the end, they got joint custody. And it was so, so awful, switching from home-to-home on a regular basis. Every week, actually.

And that was what got him to drop the one he loves like he was a hot potato. What got him to break Dean's poor, fragile heart that was already cracked around the edges from his crappy childhood he'd spent switching from foster home to foster home until he'd grown out of the system and got himself a job. And not to mention all the horrible relationships Dean had been in in all his twenty-something years of being alive. He'd been burned many a times, been cheated on and lied to. And Seth.. Seth was the biggest heartbreaker of them all. The one who'd ripped his heart out and stomped all over it like he never even cared about him. Never even loved him.

Suddenly, his eyes were a little watery and his throat was locked up tight. He took a shuddering breath and knew that he was, well, not ready to tell the truth, but knew that it was the right thing to do.

"Rome, I messed up big time, man." Seth mumbled, silently praying his friend wouldn't hear him. He reallydidn't want to have to face the music and own up to his mistakes.

Roman turned to face him on the barstool and gave him a knowing look before ordering a basket of fries for them to munch on together. Seth waited until the bartender had left to go fetch them to continue.

"I fucked up big time. Made the biggest, hugest mistake of my entire life and I regret it. I have to live with it every single day of my life."

Roman's mouth opened and closed for a moment until a solemn expression settle upon his face. "I'm here to listen and will try my hardest not to judge you."

Thankful for his friend's words of encouragement, Seth pushed onward, having to force the words to leave his mouth. "I lied to you."

There was a pause, Roman tensing up the slightest bit before he seemed to get over whatever sort of.. betrayal or sadness or anger he was feeling.

"About?"

"About my.. my breakup with- with-" Seth fell silent as he choked up and tears fell from his eyes, burning his skin as they rolled down and stopped once they got to his stubble where they then got absorbed by the dark hair he really needed to groom. He cleared his throat and steered clear of his friend's eyes as he spoke his next words. "With Dean."

"You told me that that son of a bitch cheated on you, Seth. What could you have lied to me about? Did you- did you cheat on him?"

The accusatory tone of Roman's voice made him flinch, made him want to run right out the door and.. and do God knows what.
God, if he tells him.. he might just end up losing his best friend.

"I'm sorry, man. I-I didn't mean to.." Roman trailed off, looking guilty as the bartender set down a basket of fries between the two of them and walked off without a word. "I'm sorry."

"You know about how my parents got divorced when we were in sixth grade, right?" His friend nodded, stuffing a fry into his mouth and probably wondering why the hell he was bringing this up now. "Well, the whole process was nasty and caused.. It scarred me up pretty bad, well, emotionally. They'd gotten married young, had a kid, loved each other more than anything else in the world for years. Then, they all of a sudden started fighting all the time, almost causing a car accident a couple of times because of how much they fucking hated each other and couldn't get along for ten fucking minutes for their son's sake." He wiped at his eyes, pushing away the hand Roman was most likely going to set atop his shoulder.

"And- and all that shit I had to deal with, all the shit they put me through- I had to watch a marriage crumble before my eyes! But not just any marriage. It was my parents, Rome. I know you remember, but I went back and fourth between homes for years.. until I was old enough to tell them enough was enough and that I was leaving them. Went off to college and made something of myself. But that's not important to this story, what's important.. is that the whole.. experience left me scarred, broken, and afraid of commitment. Afraid because I don't want to end up like my mom and dad. I don't want to hate Dean." The last word came out as a pained whisper, barely audible to the Samoan's ear.

"Seth.."

"No, Rome. Let me finish or I never will." He replied, not paying any attention to the basket of fries whatsoever. He was far too nervous and scared to even think about food. "You know how Dean and I were.. We were together for three years. And each of those years I gave him a drawer in one of my dressers until the whole thing became his. I already felt like that was.. was a lot to give to someone. He practically lived at my house and Kevin was practically ours. And in that type of situation the only logical thing to do, the next step, would be to have him officially move in with me, right? I wish I'd seen it that way, but I'm terrified of letting people in. Terrified of letting him break down all my walls and.. and seeing how scarred and hurt I am.

"Anyway, we were laying in bed one night, after work, and he'd brought up the possibility of him maybe moving in with me one day. Maybe even getting married and possibly having kids in the distant future. And I freaked. I fucking freaked, Rome. Him wanting me to make that kind of commitment scared the absolute shit out of me. I closed in on myself and basically just told him to go to sleep and we'd talk about it another day. I never wanted to go back to that conversation, just wanted us to stay the way we were, but he broached the subject once more about a week later when we were watching TV with Kevin sitting between the two of us. He looked at the dog like he was.. like he was our son. He loves that dog so much, man. Uh, as I was saying, he brought up our living situation, made a couple of really good points. Mentioned that he slept at my place more nights than he did his own, and that practically half his closet was already mixed in with my stuff anyway, and that Kevin was kinda his, too, so it'd be convenient to move in with me and obviously help pay rent. Mentioned that we'd been together for well over three years and he felt we were ready but wouldn't pressure me to say yes if I wasn't. God I'm so stupid.. I could've just opened up to him and told him more about my parents, told him why I never talked about them or contacted them. I should've fucking communicated with my boyfriend and allowed him to help me through my problems with commitment and family. I just.. I never wanted to have a kid with him and make them watch our family fall apart before their eyes like I had to.

"I should've.. I should've just known that things with Dean would be much different than what my parents had. I loved him, still do, obviously. And.. and what comes next in this story will make you hate me."

Roman, who'd been silent throughout Seth's entire story up until now, decided to speak up. "I could never hate you, Seth. You're.. you're my brother and I love you. Whatever it is that you did, I'm sure it can be fixed."

"That's just it, Roman! It can't be fixed! Dean hates me and it's all my fucking fault. He never cheated on me, never talked down to me, never treated me bad in any way shape or form. He showed me nothing but love and I.. I broke his heart. Fucking ripped it out and stomped on it."

Without a word, Roman leaned across the space between them and pulled Seth into a fatherly hug. Neither spoke a word, didn't need to. All that could be heard was some barley audible chatter from a group of guys across the bar sitting at a large booth, and Seth sniffling as he cried into his best friend's shoulder.

It must've been a whole five minutes before he could peel himself off of Roman and pull himself together. "He was waiting for my answer, waiting to see if I'd say yes to him moving in with me or if I was gonna need to take a few days to think it over before making a decision. I made a dick move and turned the volume up on the stupid TV. God, I must've been watching wrestling or some shit.. Whatever it was, it wasn't worth doing that to upset him. He politely asked me to turn it down or maybe even off and just face him, have a real conversation with him. I continued to ignore him, knowing that I was on the verge of exploding. Something I almost never do. But him bringing up the whole living situation reminded me of my parents and the whole divorce thing, and when he grabbed the remote from my lap and turned the TV off, turned to face me on the couch.. I lost it.

"I told him 'not now,' and he told me not to speak to him in such an angry tone. I then went on to tell him I can speak to him however I want to, and he told me to listen to myself, asked if I could hear the words coming out of my own mouth. I remember grinding my teeth and setting Kevin on the floor, watching him curl in on himself and slowly walk over to Dean's side of the couch. He pulled him into his lap and held him close to his chest, petting him as I continued being an asshole to him. I told him I didn't want to live with him, that he was too clingy and needy. He set Kevin down and rose to his feet at the same time as I did. He asked how the hell he was being 'needy' by asking me if I felt that we were ready to move in together, giving me a choice, and I raised my voice. I don't remember half of the insults we threw at each other. Just know that we both said some pretty hurtful things in the heat of the moment. The argument just kept escalating.. ending with me telling him I could never live with a lunatic such as himself, and could never see myself marrying him and raising a family with him. We just kept shouting at each other, making Kevin bark and whimper.. heh, kinda reminds me of myself. Back when I lived with my parents. I guess we did let our 'child' get caught in the crossfire.

"Dean was pissed, hurt, and his heart was slowly breaking before my eyes. I let our relationship crumble. The moment I told him to pack up and leave.. God, I knew it was all over. I threw everything away all because I'm a piece of shit who can't let himself be happy for once. He began crying and ripped open.. our bedroom door, grabbing a luggage and a duffle bag out of the closet and emptying nearly all his stuff out of his dresser before grabbing the rest of his stuff that was scattered around the room and shoving all that in his bags. I should've apologized immediately, stopped him from leaving and just explain myself. But no, I let the best thing I had going.. go. Watched him walk right out the door with tears streaming down his face. I told him to wait, he stopped in his tracks long enough for me to tell him to never contact me again. And that was the last time I saw him. It's been two months and every day gets more and more difficult. I always find myself rolling onto my side in bed, prepared to pull him into my arms before I remember what I did and end up crying myself to sleep, usually waking up with Kevin laying on my chest."

"You should talk to him." Roman said, looking over his shoulder at the table of... guys talking and laughing kind of loudly.

"You don't mean.." Seth turned around on his barstool, looking at the table of men and immediately recognizing the auburn haired one sitting in the corner of the booth in the shadows, nursing a drink. He turned back to Roman and stuttered out an excuse to not have to go up and talk to his ex he'd literally broken the fucking heart of. Then, ended up repeating himself as he stood from his chair and began heading toward the exit. "I-I can't- I.. I gotta go, Rome. I can't be here. I can't face him. I can't go up to him and- and- I gotta go."

Roman rose from his seat, grabbing onto Seth's wrist, his grip tight and unforgiving. "Seth, you just poured your heart out to me. I am not letting you leave until you at least walk up to him and say hello. You owe him that much."

Seth untensed his muscles and took a moment to just breathe. Something he ought to do more often. "I can't, okay? I hurt him, man. There's no turning back. I can't just- He probably doesn't even want to see me anyway. Now let go of me."

"Why? So you can continue to mope around and hate yourself for something that can be easily fixed? Seth, I care about you and Dean both. If you don't walk up to him and say hello, so help me God, I will end you."

"Please, Rome- I-I c-"

"Seth," The Samoan warned him, receiving puppy dog eyes in return. They looked strikingly similar to Kevin's, almost like the yorkie really was the brunet's son. Seth then began getting dragged towards the table, his boots only doing so much to delay the inevitable.

They stopped in front of the table, Roman now standing behind Seth with his hands on his shoulders to keep him in place. A couple of the guys at the table that were conversing, laughing together, glanced up, smiles falling from their faces. Now that he got a closer look at them, Seth thought they looked vaguely familiar and that they recognized him.

The blond one stared at him for a good minute, looking a little conflicted before calling out Dean's name to catch his attention. His auburn haired ex tore his gaze away from his lap and glanced up, downing the rest of his drink once he'd caught sight of Seth.

"Fuck," he heard Dean mutter, setting his glass down with a loud clang.