#seth is confused coz he over thinks shit up

[softmoxymuffin]

“Learning Experience”

forgot to upload this on tumblr but had uploaded it on ao3 i dont know either not a lot of people read my fics on tumblr or the whole censorship thing is affecting my smut more than it really should have but either way here’s chapter 6

Chapter 1: Check Please

Chapter 2: Airplanes and Automobiles

Chapter 3: Tellin’ the Folks

Chapter 4: Hot Cocoa and Surprise Hugs

Chapter 5: Breakfast Sandwiches

Chapter 6: Learning Experience

Chapter 7: Keeping up Defenses

Chapter 8: Confessions in the Bitter Cold

Breakfast was a success. Though Dean wouldn’t call what he did cooking, the Rollins family and especially Seth were absolutely thankful for it. He had prepared some eggs 3 ways; sunny side up, scrambled, and poached. He fried up some bacon and a couple of breakfast sausages. Dean had separated the bread; some he had left plain, some toasted, and a couple he had drenched and turned to French toast. While Dean had done that, Seth had prepared everything else that didn’t require heating up. He had a fresh batch of coffee going. He filled a pitcher full of orange juice. He got the fruit that Dean had been able to buy and cut them up.

Once they were done they had made a decent spread on the kitchen island. It wasn’t until everyone had loaded their individual plates when Brandon, Seth’s older brother, mentioned this reminded him of the taco station their dad would prepare for them as kids. Everything just laid out for everyone else to come and assemble what they wanted. Apart from breakfast his mom and dad would make for them, Seth could easily admit this was one of the best breakfast’s he’d ever.

“This was wonderful Dean,” Holly had spoken while eating her slices of French toast with honey and berries. “Thank you.”

“Neh, don’t mention it.” The blond had replied before taking a sip of his coffee, Seth suspecting the mug was their to hide the blush forming on his cheeks.

“No, really Dean.” Hector who had stood up to grab another cup of coffee, had stopped to put his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “My family and I really appreciate it. It’s been a while since we’ve had everyone under one roof again. And as fun as taking care of these little monsters can be, it was really thoughtful of you to offer us your help. So, thank you.”

Seth’s stepdad Hector was a kind man. It was easily seen in his demeanor. Ever since Seth’s own father walked out on them, Hector had been the man of the house and had taken him and Brandon in his arms like they were his own kids. Though, the whole ordeal had caused Seth to go through a couple of difficult teen years it wasn’t until after all that when he realized how blessed he was to have his stepdad and his mom stuck by him through it all.

Being surrounded by his family, reminded of everything he’d gone through. Now to have Dean, a member of chosen family, be a part of it all and see not only his stepdad but his whole family welcome him so easily, Seth felt his heart full and happy. Whatever the circumstances were, no matter how bad it could be, Seth was glad Dean had chosen to come to him. Seth was glad his family seems to have chosen Dean as much as Seth already had.

After breakfast, Holly and Dd had insisted to do the cleaning after everything Dean and Seth had already done. Hector had plans to clean up the garage and shovel the driveway. Seth and Dean had volunteered to help, but Hector had insisted that he and Brandon were more than capable of finishing the job, much to Brandon’s dismay. Hector had reminded Seth of how much he had wanted to check up on his wrestling school and should take the chance to do so now.

“They’d really appreciate seeing you again.” Hector had said. “They haven’t seen you since November. Think it’s time for a visit.”

“They’re still there? I mean, hadn’t they gone off for the holiday?” Dean had asked.

“Well, most of them have.” Holly had answered with a sad sigh as she put dishes away. “But some of our kids have difficult home lives. Let’s just say they’d much rather stay than go home.”

Before Seth could ask about that, Dean had made a sad sigh of his own and agreed. “I totally get that.”

Now, Seth rudely reminded how he was still clueless about what was going on with Dean. He was tempted to ask, but knew the timing was not right. Instead, he had turned to his friend and asked.

“You wanna come check the place out?” he asked with an excited smile.

“Me?” Dean sounding more confused than he really should have.

“Yeah you,” he repeated. “The kids’ll love it. I mean it’s a wrestling school. It’s basically like you’re coming in as a guest lecturer.” He lightheartedly joked.

The thought made Dean smile but still felt the need to ask “You sure about that? I had never been any good at school.”

“I’m positive.” Seth insisted. “Those kids will shit themselves when they find out you’re there. Plus, they’d actually learn something valuable.” Seth smiled. Then both wrestlers went to their respective rooms to get ready.

It had been a couple of weeks since Seth had gone to “Black and Brave”. He did his best to keep up to date with the place and made sure he had a good grasp on everything going on. But with all the travelling and shows, it can be pretty difficult to run a school so far away from it all. He was grateful he had the chance to do so now. Then to bring Dean along would be such a great opportunity for the kids. Apart from that, he thought maybe the experience would also be a good for Dean. Would be a good distraction from whatever he was going through. It would put him in his element and have other see that too is just a bonus.

By the time Seth was ready, he had gone downstairs. His mom had insisted he take some of the leftovers from breakfast for their lunch with the kids at the school. Seth took the sandwiches and had gone down to warm up his car only to find his friend already there and seemed to have been checking the trunk.

“What you doing?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Dean said innocently the way kid does when he’d done something behind your back.

“Ok,” Seth knew better, but he was willing to see this through.

“What’s that?” Dean asked motioning at the Tupperware he was holding.

“Lunch stuff.” Seth had imitated Dean’s earlier answer but added “Mom wanted us to bring some leftover sandwiches for the kids at the school.”

“Sweet,” Dean had said before he climbed in the passenger seat and took the sandwiches from the other man to place them on his lap.

The drive to the school was made both feel familiar. Seth behind the wheels with Dean shotgun. Dean had asked a couple of questions about the place before getting there, just wanting to orient himself about the school; How many kids they got? Less then 20 maybe even less now during the holidays. How old are they? They ranged from 16 to 23. How far along are they? Some are there for the fun of it, less than a handful seem to be really in for it in the long haul, while most are more or less curious about the whole thing wanting to learn more. Seth couldn’t really think of anything deeply important to tell the other man, and just reassured him that he’ll be great. He honestly thinks the kids will just be thrilled to have another wrestler there to teach them something new.

He had parked right outside the building. The place was a converted warehouse. It had reminded Dean of the FCW headquarters before he and Seth had joined the main roster. Seth hadn’t noticed the resemblance until now, maybe it was comforting to have someplace for other’s start similar to where he started. Both men had gotten out of the car, Dean had handed Seth the Tupperware. Seth was making his way towards the building. Once he had gotten to the door to open it for his friend he had realized rather than follow him Dean had gone behind the car to open the trunk.

“What’s going on?” Seth asked again, fearing the worst.

“Nothing, just head inside and do a little introduction or something.” He had answered without really answering. Seth had looked at him suspiciously but was only shooed away by the other man who was still trying to get the trunk opened.

Whatever Dean was up to, Seth hope to god almighty it wasn’t anything too bad.

He walked into the school and was met with warm welcome. He could see that less than half of the kids were here, but again knowing it was the holidays he was not surprised. He had asked around updates on how everyone was going. Mostly have been keeping up to date on their workouts and practices. They were good kids. Seth wouldn’t have given them a chance if he suspected any different. He had asked how the living quarters were and made sure everything was doing well. Other than a few of them complaining that others were not pulling their weight on the chores, no real problem seemed to have arose in his absence.

He had gotten them to settle down and grab a chair each. He had them sit in semi-circle next to the ring where he had stood to speak to them.

“Ok, first of all; I’m glad to see each and every one of you. I can see a lot of familiar faces, and for whatever reason you may have I’m glad you guys have chosen to stick around. It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but I’m back and I’m glad to say that brought a guest you guys are going to be excited to meet.”

And as if rehearsed cue, the door to the school had been kicked open. There stood a silhouette of a man tall and broad shouldered carrying a heavy load in his arms. He strutted his way in making absolutely no eye contact. When he was a good five feet away from the ring he had bent forward and threw what he had held in his hand hard enough that it rolled to a stop between Seth and the kids, all of whom paled at the sight of the thing.

“Hi kids,” Dean greeted as he now stood in front of him. His smile a mile long and his eyes sparkling with mischief. “My name is Dean Ambrose, and I’m here to teach you the many ways to wrestle using barbed wires.” Then casually pointed to the giant coil of thorny metal in front of them.

Everybody held their breath. The students in question might have just had, as Seth predicted earlier, shat themselves. Seth couldn’t blame them.

“Dean no!” Seth exclaimed with horrified worry.

“What?” Dean asked incredulously. “It’s just the basics.”

Seth looked at the students wanting to give them a reassuring look, but was just as worried as they were. He thought one of them was going to pass out. The another started breathing heavily, as Seth felt the need to ask himself if any one of them had asthma or something.

After a very tense silence in the gym, it had finally broke with a chuckle. A little laugh that slowly transformed into a deep and uncontrolled cackle. Dean was laughing so hard he had to grab a hold of the ring to keep himself from falling.

In that moment, Seth wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch him or kick him. He should have known Dean was just joking. He really shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was.

“Hahahaha Ambrose very funny!” Seth had said sarcastically.

“You should have seen your faces.” Dean had tried to reply between laughs, as he wiped the tears in his eyes. “You turned paler than Sheamus’ ass.”

Once it was abundantly clear that Dean was in fact joking, you could see the collective sigh of relief that fell over the rest of the students. A couple even found the humor in it enough to laugh at their sorry state, but all were just relieved barbed wire was not going anywhere near them in any sort of way.

To seemingly prove this, Dean had bent down and grabbed the coil to heft it back into his arms exactly like he had done when he came in and began to carry it out of the way to against a far side wall.

“Anyway, sorry about the lil scare I gave you. Was just joking, but Seth did invite me of help.” With a giant clap and a big smile he asked the group of 8-9 teens “So, who’s ready to wrestle.?”

For the next couple of hours Dean and Seth had ran the student through basic warm up and passes. Made sure each and every one of them were ready to give show them their best. Seth had called them to pair up and plan a little showcase of what they had been working on since he last saw them. He thought the best way for Dean to be able to help the kids was to first get to see them work and build from there. It was such a welcome not only to have a fresh pair of eyes on his students, but one’s he has such respect for.

Dean had always been an incredible wrestler and performer. It was rare to really have both, and crucial for success in the industry they were in. If you were just a fighter then you should go ahead and move to boxing of MMA. If you were just a performer than go for being an actor or Rockstar. But Dean was both, what was great about him was that Seth believed that wrestling really was what Dean loved. This wasn’t some stupid stepping stone towards something grander like a career being a movie star or pop icon. Dean was really into it for being into it, being a genuine fan and wanting to be apart of something he had always admired growing up. It was something he had always admired about Dean. It was one of the things they had shared.

After the rounds between the students, and a few helpful tips given to each of them. The two were then egged on to put a show of their own. Though it was only for 9 teens in a warehouse, Dean and Seth were more than enthusiastic about showing them how they were. He was sure many of his students have seen them fight before; all on tv and many during house shows in Davenport. But to fight in a gym like this, to fight just for the sake of fighting he had felt like showing them something they hadn’t seen before.

“What you say baby?” he teased the blond.

“I say bring it pretty boy.” Dean replied with a giant smile on his face.

They both charged at the same time. Arms in and out of grappling. Heads tucked and body rolls avoiding each other’s hits. The occasional bounce off the ropes for distance. This was a fight for fun. No pressure for an audience or upper management. Not having to have a script in mind. It was just pure and that’s how Dean and Seth wrestled best.

Though he had met him years prior through mutual friends and being in the same companies, but at different times, their first real match really didn’t happen until they both reached FCW down in Tampa around 2011. He can still remember that day when Joey Mercury unknowingly re-introduced him to Dean Ambrose.

*flashback*

“So what you got planned now you’re here?” Seth asked after their short small talk.

“Oh that’s easy,” he answered. “I’m gonna challenge you for that championship you have.”

Taken aback by how brazen the newcomer was Seth couldn’t help but ask “You sure about that?”

Dean had only shrugged and gave the other man his killer smile and answered. “A far as I can see, you’re the only one worth fighting around here.” He answered then walked away towards his locker.

Seth was instantly intrigued by him, and a little more than annoyed. No matter what was going to happen, he was sure it was going to be interesting when it involved Dean Ambrose.

But what he had thought would just be a gimmick to make a big splash into the developmental pool, was quickly proven wrong once Dean actually approached him before their match to talk strategy. Though he had been bold enough to challenge him outright, he was not the type to just pull crap off in the middle of the ring, at least not if he can help it. He wanted to see if Seth had any ideas on how to make their match a little more exciting. They had quickly traded ideas here and there about what to do and when.

“You a flyer right?” Dean asked.

“Yeah,” Seth answered side-eying the other man.

“Got any tricks I gotta be prepared for?” he asked.

“No, I don’t do that stuff as much here.” He explained.

“Why the fuck not?” the blond asked.

“Have had a couple of accidents already. The space between the ring and the barriers is barely five feet, makes jumping out the ring risk the audience. Plus couple of the other guys have dropped me before. Mercury has advised against it unless we’d worked on it before.” He answered as he did his pre-match stretches.

There was a pause between them as they made their respective preparations for their match. It wasn’t until they had less than five minutes left for their entrance when Dean had added.

“You should do it. Fly out the ring, it would be awesome.” He said, which made the younger man chuckle but clearly not agree with him. “I’d catch you.”

Seth looked at Dean in the eye. He had seemed pretty sure of himself, but he’s pretty sure that’s just his default mode. Seth was still unsure.

“Listen, I know we haven’t ever been the ring together before but I can promise you I ain’t like one of the numbskulls.” Dean looked at Seth sternly, sounding more serious than he ever has. “I’m not gonna drop you.”

Those were his last words before he had gone and made his entrance in the FCW ring, leaving Seth to make a split second decision before he made his own entrance. Dean was right, he and Seth have never been in the ring together. He had figured that was the main reason why they had given Dean the ok to jump right into the championship pool so quickly. Indie fans were excited to see Jon Moxley and Tyler Black finally face off. It was that reminder that Dean basically came from where Seth had come from himself. Dean was right, he wasn’t like the numbskulls NFL rejects who’s botched matches before. Dean more than capable of doing exactly what he said he’d do. With a deep breath, Seth finally made a decision and made his own entrance.

It was at the end of their first fight in FCW when Seth knew for certain Dean was exactly who he said he was, and then some. He was good. There was no question about it. Seth hadn’t really even doubted it knowing where he’d come from. What really stood out for him was though they had never fought each other before, their first FCW fight was the smoothest match Seth had fought in a long time. It just flowed so easily. Where Seth would move one way, Dean was right there to counter, which Seth would do so in return. It felt like they’d been fighting for forever. At one point when Dean was outside the ring, Seth had taken the plunge and flew between the ropes on towards the other man. Just like Dean had said he would, he grabbed him in mid-air then safely got both of them on the ground. It was awesome. He and Dean just seemed to click.

After years of being on the road together, fighting together, fighting each other, that chemistry just seemed to grow between them. Which made their current fighting in Black and Brave just be a constant move and response between the two men. Smiles on their faces and aches in their bodies, it was clear to anyone and everyone who were watching them that they were having more than fun. Neither had even realized they had been fighting for a good 30 minutes already, and it had only ended when Dean had an exhausted Seth on his back and reminded the other man it was probably lunch time.

They had all regrouped around the snack table by the side of the gym. The kids had gone to their common kitchen and grabbed water for everyone. They sat and ate their sandwiches while in companionable chatter.

“Seth,” Alex, one of the teens spoke. “Tell Mrs. Rollins thanks for the sandwiches. They’re really good.”

“Actually,” Seth had slung his arm around Dean’s shoulder. “Dean had actually prepared them.”

The surprised looks on their faces seemed funny to Seth but a little insulting to Dean “Don’t worry, it’s not like I put razor blades in them.” Which had gotten more than one of them suspiciously looking between the bread they were holding.

“Don’t worry… I was there when he made them.” Seth joked. “They’re safe.”

They had continued to eat their sandwiches. Everyone in the group making small talk and goofing around. When it came time to clean up, one of the students had spoken up.

“Can I ask a question?” he asked.

“Sure, Jesse what’s on your mind?” Seth asked the younger man with dark curls.

“How do you, like, make up your character?” he asked, his eyes shyly darting more towards Dean.

“Well, that’s a little advance for this stage Jes,” Seth tried to change the topic.

“No, I know.” He had nodded. “I’m just curious…” he clearly wanted to say something but was having a hard time doing so. “I’ve been a fan of yours since Moxley.” He finally admitted.

“Have you?” Dean asked a little more than surprised. “How old are you kid?”

“19,” he admitted again.

“You must have been 10 the last time I was Moxley,” Dean pointed out. “You were not old enough to have seen any of my old stuff.”

“My brother showed them to me, when I was a kid.” He explained. “He did it to scare me at first, which I kinda did, but looking at them now. You were… insane.”

That had made the two superstars chuckle. Seth remembered the first time he had met Dean all those years ago. They had met at a party of a common friend of theirs. Someone they had both worked with at different times and at different companies. It was just by chance they were performing in a town nearby.

Seth had walked in with his buddies and got introduced to Dean and his coworkers. They didn’t really hang out that night, preferring to stick to their own circle of friends. It was only when one of Dean’s coworkers had brought out a camera and told Dean to bring out Moxley for them. An impromptu promo in the middle of a party where the guy was already more than a couple of drinks in. Seth couldn’t help but want to watch the trainwreck he assumed it was going to be. Seth thought there was no way this was going to end well. The man in question had just stood behind the kitchen counter gave himself a slight slap on the face and motioned for the camera guy to go.

Seth was so wrong. Yes, Dean was more than a little drunk. Yes, he had looked ridiculous with douchy shaded on indoors in the middle of the night. Yes, this seemed like a dumb idea. But Dean made it all seem to work. Right in front of his eyes, he saw the man transform from Dean to Jon Moxley. He had heard about him; people threw around words like crazy, and unhinged, and unpredictable. It wasn’t until you saw it up close when you realized what they were talking about. They were right. Dean as Jon Moxley was that and more.

“Thanks kid,” Dean had only smiled and took another sip of his water.

“I mean, I don’t mean to pry. I know you’re a pretty private guy…” he spoke more today than Seth has heard him all year. “But like, how’d you get to sound like that? Like any of the stuff you said like true?”

All eyes were now turned towards Dean. The students seemed to have been on this weird combination of excitement and also a bit of fear, not really knowing how the older man would respond.

“I mean, yeah.” Dean answered and put down his bottle of water. “Some of it was true. I mean if you’re asking how it started that way, that’s basically it. You start by telling the truth.” His answer only seemed to have made the students more confused. “It all comes from a certain truth you believe. I mean you don’t have to divulge each and every little thing about you. But what you do go out there and share better be something you believe in, coz when you don’t they’ll see right through you.”

“The first character I had was like a varsity blues football player with some other guy I don’t remember. It really didn’t mean anything to me, coz it wasn’t me. I was trying to act like a big dog knowing shit I didn’t know and claiming accomplishments that weren’t mine and you know what happened?” he asked. “They chewed me up and spat me out.”

“It wasn’t until I guess about your age when I started to kinda see something a little closer to home. Like the varsity blue guy was popular, athletic, top tiered… everything I didn’t really feel like I was.” He spoke slowly and carefully like Seth could see him pick his memories out from his past. To be honest, he hadn’t heard Dean open up like this in a while.

“The truth was, or at least what I had grown up to be the truth was more or less the opposite. I wasn’t the popular kid, I was the pariah. I wasn’t really athletic, other than wrestling, I didn’t really give a shit about my body other than taking care of it so I could wrestle. I wasn’t top tiered, I wasn’t even on the damn cake. I below that. I was a gutter rat. Just white trash street urchin bum. No one really thought more of me. Being successful in anything, much less professional wrestling, was the furthest thing anyone would have ever thought of me to do.”

Though the man spoke straight and clearly, Seth was trying to spot any sort of clue to how he was really feeling about telling these kids about all of this. Like Jesse had mentioned, Dean was very private. He really wanted to make sure his friend wasn’t feeling pressured to speak like this.

“There was a point I wanted to bury all that, and maybe the varsity blue guy would have been able to do that, but it didn’t. Instead of trying to become something I just really was not, I started to curve towards being exactly who everyone thought I should be and go beyond that. Like if they were gonna think I was just some white trash piece of shit, then let them.”

Seth heart ached. He knew Dean’s earlier character was based a little bit on the reality that was Dean’s childhood, but even he was never sure what was true and what was not. He had never really tried to ask. Hearing his friend open up so casually about something so heartbreaking was troubling. He was tempted to stop but seeing the kids almost just as affected as he was, and seeing that Dean was not stopping himself. Seth had decided to let the other man speak till he was ready to stop.

“Like, did I grow up poor? Was my mom a whore? Did I sell drugs to survive living on the streets? Whether or not anyone knew the true answers to any of these questions was irrelevant. The point was those were stuff that was expected of me the way I was and how I had come to be… People basically fucking looked down on me like I was something they had stepped on…” his voice wavering on sad at the end but he composed himself before he added “And that was ok.”

“How is any of that ok?” Jesse asked in disbelief.

Dean had sat up straight, looking up at the boy who sat across from him, then gave him a big and genuine smile before answering “Coz I was gonna prove them all wrong.”

Seth was right. Bringing Dean here was a good idea, and his kids were learning something valuable. But apart from that, Seth was learning something valuable too. Seth always thought he was lucky to have Dean the way their friendship was. He realized luck had nothing to do with it. Dean fought to get here, to get this far. Seth was realizing how blessed he was with Dean, and he refuses to ever forget that.