Chapter Text
2009
If someone were to ask Seth Rollins what his greatest desire in life is, the answer would be simple: wrestling. For as long as he can remember he has dreamed of being in the ring, being the champion, cheered on by thousands of fans. So he wasted no time, when he was a child he watched with delight the TV while it was broadcasting what a few years in the future would be called WWE and later as soon as his mom gave him a trampoline he got down to work to practice his moves, when he was a little older he began to organize small bouts with some friends, when he finally had a formal preparation in wrestling he strived like never before to learn and be the best, until he finally ended up here: Ring of Honor.
He knows there is still a long way to go to become the star he wants to be, but he has full confidence in his talent, so every day he gives his best, waiting for his chance to come. Currently he has just finished his match, so he heads to the locker room, or well, to the area they assigned as locker room, someone is already waiting for him.
"Did you miss me, princess?"
He rolls his eyes.
"Not a bit, you bloody lunatic." He tries to sound irritated, however he smiles fondly at the guy in front of him.
"You're not a good liar, Black."
"Maybe you know me well, Mox."
Seth had met Dean or Jon Moxley, as he calls himself in the ring, a couple of years ago when he went to a match in ROH and Jimmy Jacobs introduced them, because the guy seems to know everyone; despite having different personalities something with them just clicked, they could spend hours together and not get bored, after that day Seth and Dean became inseparable; Dean would visit him occasionally as he was also busy in CZW, but he never missed an opportunity to see his friend.
"Of course I know you well, so well that I know you're about to say: Let's go have a salad! Or one of those awful healthy things you like to eat."
"I wasn't going to…"
"And this is where you do that adorable thing with your face and say."
"Shut up, Ambrose." They both say at the same time.
"So predictable." Dean smiles at him "You should go change, unless you want to go like this." He looks him up and down, still wearing his ring gear. "Maybe we'll get some free food!"
"I'll be back in a few minutes." He says walking down the rest of the corridor.
"Don't be long or I'll leave without you!" Dean yells as he walks away.
Despite his warning, when Seth returns his friend is still where he left him, he knows perfectly well that he wouldn't leave, that makes him smile; when he looks at Dean he seems very busy chewing on something
"Again Razzles?"
"Yeah." He answers chewing noisily just to annoy him, then he takes the packaging out of his jeans pocket and puts a few candies in Seth's outstretched palm. "Let's go."
They walk quietly down the street towards the nearest restaurant still open, Seth is about to put another candy in his mouth when he suddenly remembers something.
"Wait, what about that girl you were dating? Karla? Catherine?"
Dean shrugs
"I don't know, she didn't call me back, I guess she didn't like me, said she didn't think I was her soul mate or some shit like that, excuses."
"Don't be downhearted."
"I'm not…" He almost regrets saying it, he knows that now Seth won't give up on trying to cheer him up.
"I know you're going to find the right person, someone who sees how great you are, with whom you feel you can be yourself."
"My own soul mate?" He teases.
"Yeah! You know, that person you never get bored with and you feel like you just belong together." He says with a dreamy expression.
"I think I know what you're talking about." He stares at him for a moment before changing the subject. "Hurry up, I'm starving!."
Once they are seated at their table waiting for their meal, Seth looks excited before saying.
"There's a rumor in the locker room."
"It would be weird otherwise, there's too much gossip."
"If you don't want to know."
"I never said that, now spill the beans. Who slept with who?" He asks maliciously.
"What? No! Remember Bryan?"
"Danielson?"
"Yeah, they say the WWE is interested in him and someone is coming to see him in two weeks."
"And I suppose you have a plan."
"Of course I do: Show them that Ring of Honor is only for the best."
"I'm going to choose not to be offended by that."
"You know what I mean."
"Go get 'em, I'm right behind you."
Seth smiles, he likes to think of the great things they would do together... What they will do, he has to believe it, they will get there.
He spends the next few days training like crazy, he wants to be as prepared as possible. When he finishes his routine for the day he looks at his phone, there are some unanswered messages from Dean and others from his best friend Marek, who is currently in Iowa; he tries to ignore the discomfort in his neck and back while he writes to his friends, he laughs at Dean's terse and poorly written messages, he has already told him that he should change his phone for a more modern one but he seems very attached to his flip phone.
By midweek he is feeling confident, he is sure that as soon as they see him they are going to offer him a contract too, so he continues his training, he is lifting a dumbbell when suddenly the pain in his neck is unbearable, so much so that he has to stand still for a moment, what happens next in a blur, but he hears with clarity and horror three words: bulging disc and surgery .
The surgery doesn't have the greatest risk and he will be able to continue wrestling afterwards, the bad news is that he won't be able to get in the ring for a few weeks, too late. That's why he is in a bad mood, sinking in his misery in his small rented apartment or at least he tries to until someone knocks on the door, he thinks about keeping whoever it is waiting, but they are too insistent, he gets up to open and he should not be surprised who is on the other side.
"For a moment I thought you weren't going to open the door." Says Dean.
"Me too." He says, stepping aside to let him in. "What's that?" He points to the objects in his friend's hands.
"Just what it looks like." He says, letting the Get well ballon float to the ceiling.
"And this is a card, the old lady who sold it to me said it was magic or bullshit like that, open it."
The card doesn't look extraordinary, it only has a picture of a panda with a thermometer and again the message Get well soon, a panda, it's his fault for showing him pictures of when he was wearing eyeliner; Seth opens the card and doesn't even have time to see what is written because a bunch of shiny dust comes out of the card onto his face, Dean is trying to hold back the laughter
"Is this really your idea of a joke?"
"I didn't know that would happen, I swear." He says, still trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, sure. You know what? I'm not in the mood for your nonsense today, first I lose the chance of a lifetime and now you…"
"You don't know that, Seth." He lets the first thing go.
"Of course I know that! And so do you! It may be years before they look for me, or even never do."
"Well, now you're just being a drama queen."
"Drama queen? Do you have any idea what I'm going through? No, because you've never had a chance like this, not even close."
"And now you're just being a jerk."
"If you just came to insult me…"
"You're right, call me when you stop being such a dramatic bitch." He heads for the door.
"Fuck you, Ambrose!" He yells, though he's sure he can hear him.
The next thing he does is lock himself in the bathroom, he leans against the door and bangs his head against the wooden surface, a bunch of that stupid shiny dust falls from his hair and forehead
"I don't need him, I don't need anyone, I'm going to succeed and I'll do whatever it takes." He says to himself, decreeing. "Seth Rollins, WWE Superstar."