#they're just not my crowd. ya know? so I get scared and unhappy but they're super nice

[yvningshowers]

Me: hm I wonder where I got my social anxiety from

My mom: *avoiding her own friends that she made me come out to see, on her phone, laughing awkwardly, avoiding eye contact*

Me: yeah no clue. no idea. I am Unique and Neverbefore Seen

[nicolewoo]

I’ve been Dreaming about you

Pairing: Joe Anoa’i X Reader

Warnings: None

Fluff Fluff Fluff

It was a silly radio call in contest.... Win tickets to Smackdown live plus backstage passes. I grabbed my friend, Laura, to go with me.

We were escorted back stage before the show started, and got to see the set up. Our tour guide, Danny,  led us through the arena's backstage area showing us everything from catering to dressing rooms to the gorilla. It was definitely worth going early for the full tour. We learned about how medical set up, how the wardrobe department worked, even a little about the broadcasting. I was eating it all up.

Laura was a little less enthusiastic. In truth, she was only interested in the talent.... particularly Braun Stroman. So when she wasn't paying attention to the tour and noticed an open door, she peeked her head in. I went to pull her back to the tour when my eyes locked with Roman Reign's eyes. He was in the room seated on a table in the back of the room surrounded by other talent. Of course, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were next to him. It was a mere second before the door closed behind us, but it was enough to.... connect? Was that the right word?

Oh please! I was being crazy. Roman can have any girl he wants. I'm sure he was just surprised at seeing a new face backstage or bored of whatever meeting he was in. Either way, I knew that was going to be the best moment of the night. I focused back on the tour guide and enjoyed the rest of our tour.

Then we took our seats ringside. I'd had good seats before, (4th row, 7th row) but I'd never been in the front row before, and we were seated just at the corner of the ramp and the ring. We had the perfect view of everything. Some of the talent even slapped my hand as they made their way down the ramp.

Nia Jax beat Ember Moon in a killer match. Laura nearly squealed when Braun Stroman came out, and I practically had to wipe her mouth as she drooled over his every move. As he slammed Baron Corbin into the mat, I swear I heard her growl in desire. He wasn't my first choice, but if she liked him, that's fine by me.

There was one more match.... The Shield vs Jinder Mahal, Bobby Lashley and Dolf Ziggler. This was going to be one hell of a match, and as the music began and the “heels” started their way to the ring, the crowd got louder. It was infectious. I was getting more excited, as the crowd got hyped.

When The Shield's music hit, the crowd began looking for where they were entering through the crowd. Normally, they were across from the cameras at the top of the first tier of seats. The whole crowd looked there, and then looked around. They were nowhere to be found. As the crowd found them, they turned toward us. I looked behind me to find the Shield headed straight for us. Their normal “security” followed behind with our tour guide, Danny who looked very out of place.

As soon as Roman found me, he locked eyes with me. All three of the Shield members looked upset, but I saw one corner of Roman's mouth quirk up when he saw me. “Is he smiling at you?” Laura asked me. I couldn't answer. I was completely stunned by his eyes. Roman only looked away from me to watch where he was walking. I watched as they jumped the barricade next to us and as Roman stared at me from the ring. “Why are they all looking at you?” Laura asked again.

I tore my eyes away from Roman for a moment to see that she was right, Dean and Seth were looking at me too, although they looked unhappy to see me. “Girl, what the hell is going on?”

I was getting ready to tell her I didn't know when a hand tapped my shoulder, “Y/N,” I turned to find Danny, the tour guide. He handed me a note. I opened it and scanned it quickly.

Please stay after the show. Danny will come get you. I need to talk to you, Roman Reigns.

“What the fuck?” Laura said eyeing the note over my shoulder.

She looked from me to Danny who simply shrugged. “I was just told to give her the note and come get her after the show. He didn't explain it to me, and I've never seen anything like this. Not from Roman” He said. “I'll come back for you after this match.” He said as he walked away.

I looked up to the ring. The Shield was hamming it up.... drinking in the adoration of the crowd, but before taking his corner with his brothers, Roman looked at me again. He mouthed PLEASE to me, and I nodded yes. The corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk again.

The match seemed to go on forever. The fans cheered as the talent put on a great show, and everyone was completely wrapped up in the show.... except me. I was so confused. I was pretty sure Roman looked at me a few more times before he got tagged in. Once he entered the ring though, he was completely focused on what he was doing, which is good. I don't want to see anyone get hurt.  Honestly, I didn't want Roman to get hurt.

I watched as he speared, super man punched and dominated the rest of the match, finally pinning Dolf. As the Shield exited up the ramp, Roman was sure to come to me and hold my hand for a split second before exiting.

It was time. Danny would be by to take us backstairs soon. The wait was frustrating. We watched as the arena emptied out almost all the way. Laura talked about the show and how great it was, but she could tell I was..... what was I? Confused? Shocked? Scared? She could tell I was off... that my mind was backstage already. She tried to distract me, but it didn't work.

I was just about to give up on Danny when I saw him come down the ramp. “I'm sorry I took so long.” He said as he moved the barricade so we could come through. Distracted or not, I was still fan-girling about walking up the ramp, about being backstage, about the whole day. Instead of walking in to the gorilla, Danny took us to a side entrance. We ended up back in the room where I'd first seen Roman.

We were reviewing the pictures Laura had taken of the show when I heard a voice behind me, “Ladies?” I turned to see Seth and Dean. They didn't look mad anymore, but they didn't look happy either. They looked.... leery. “What are you doing here?” Seth asked.

Was I in the wrong place? “I... uh.... Danny brought us here.” I said meekly.

“No. What are you doing at the show tonight? How did you get a tour backstage?” Dean asked rather rudely.

The tone of voice made Laura bristle, and I saw a protective vibe come over her, “She won tickets from a radio station.” She said it as she took a step in front of me like a mama bear protecting her cub.

I stepped in front of her then, “Mr. Rollins, Mr. Ambrose is everything ok?” I asked as nicely as I could.

“Actually,” Seth started, “I'm Colby Lopez. This is Johnathan Good. Mr. Anao'i, that's Roman's name, will be out soon. He is still showering. What’s your name?” Seth sounded much calmer now. “I'm sorry if we sounded like jerks. We're just looking out for our brother.”

I'm sure my confusion showed on my face. “I’m Y/N. What are you talking about?”

“Doll,” It was Dean/Johnathan this time, “Ya gotta understand. Our brother is special. We want to make sure you're not some sort of gold digger.” I waited for him to start laughing, because this was obviously a joke.

“Gold digger?” Mama Bear Laura said, stepping between me and the two men. “All this woman has done is come take a tour and see a show. She won those tickets fair and square.” Her voice got louder the more she talked.

I placed a hand on her elbow, “Calm down, Laura. Let's find out what's happening before we go on the attack. I looked to the other men as I drew Laura back to stand beside me. “Mr. Lopez, Mr. Good, We aren't hiding anything. We don't have some secret agenda. We won tickets, we came, then Danny brought us back here. That's all.”

“Is it?” Seth said turning a chair and straddling it so he was sitting backwards on it, but facing me. He crossed his arms over the back.

“Back down, Colby!” Roman's voice boomed from the door behind me. “Sorry, they're a little over-protective.” He said calmly to me. I turned to find him freshly showered in slacks and a button down shirt, hair up in a bun. Our eyes locked on each other's again. “Hi,” he reached to shake my hand, “I'm Joe.”

He towered over me, but instead of finding it scary, I felt safe in front of him. “I'm Y/N.”I answered.

Joe's voice got softer as he talked to me. “I don't have a lot of time here. We are headed to Kansas City tonight, but I had to talk to you.” Logically, I figured that Joe was trying to get a booty call, but looking into his eyes, I saw something else. Something I couldn't decipher. “These guys have agreed to wait ½ hour to leave so we can talk.” He gestured to Dean and Seth. “Can we... uh... can we talk alone?” He asked tentatively.

“No.” Laura said. I chuckled at that.

“At ease, soldier.” I laughed to her.

“I'm not leaving you alone with him.” She demanded.

I looked to Joe who grinned slightly. “Laura, can you and the guys go out into the hall? We'll keep the door open, mom.” I teased her.

Dean chuckled with me and Seth gathered he and Laura up. “Come on, I'll buy you a cup of coffee.” Seth offered to Laura.

Once they were all gone, I felt a sense of relief. No more evil looks from The Shield brothers and no more over-protective Laura.

Joe motioned to a chair, “Have a seat.” Part of me was on high alert... wondering what the hell was going on, but when I looked at Joe, I calmed down. Something about him just seemed so comforting.  We both sat down at a little table. “I...... uh....” He stopped talking. He just chuckled to himself as he looked down to the floor. “Sorry.” He looked back up and I saw a blush starting to form on his cheeks. “I.... I don't know how to say this. It sounds crazy, even in my head.” He struggled to find the words. “I've been” he paused “dreaming about you for months.”

I was stunned. Truly stunned. “What?” I asked.

“I don't know how else to say it. I've been dreaming about you for months.... actually.... for over a year.” He said again. He stood up and started pacing for a second, but then sat back down and looked at me. “For a year now, I've dreamed about you..... your hair, your voice. Three or four times a week.”

Surely this was a pick up line. It had probably worked dozens of times on other women, but not with me. And yet, as I looked at him, all I saw was him being vulnerable. “Are you serious?” I asked.

“I am.” He looked down and shook his head in disbelief. “I've been dreaming about you for over a year. I never thought you were a real person, until I saw you tonight. I don't know what to do now that I found you, but I do know I want to get to know you.”

Ok. I resigned myself to the fact that he was trying to hook up. This had to be an act.  I opened my mouth to talk, but couldn't figure out what to say.

“Like I said, the guys have given me a half hour to figure this out. So, first, can I have your phone number?” He smiled up as he handed me his phone. Still stunned, I grabbed his phone and typed in my number. “Say something, please.” Joe pleaded.

“I... I don't know what to say.” I admitted which made him smile warmly and something about the smile made me melt a bit inside. “Is this..... are you trying to hook up with me?” I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but there it was.

Joe laughed harder. “No.... Listen, I'm not kidding. I've honestly been dreaming about you. Now that I found you, I don't know what to do, but I know that I can't let you go until we figure this out. I'm not looking for a hook up.”

His smile was infectious. “Good.” I smiled back at him.

He reached out and took my hand between his, “I know this sounds insane. Trust me, I feel insane saying it out loud. Seth and Dean are really concerned about me. They've been hearing me talk about you... well... the dreams about you, and then I just see you. It's.... I don't know. It's something.”

“It's something alright.” I had to admit, I loved the feel of his big hands holding mine.

He chuckled again. “Lets start with this. Do you live here in St. Louis?” he asked.

“Actually, I live across the river in Illinois. It's about a 20 minute drive here.”

He looked surprised and pleased. “Can I come visit you on Tuesday?” he asked suddenly.

I was stunned yet again, “What?”

“I have Tuesday and Wednesday off. Can I come see you? I'd like to take you out on a date. Maybe take you out to dinner?” he rubbed a thumb over my knuckles. “I'll stay at a hotel. I'll be happy to get you a room if you don't want to drive back and forth or not. It's up to you.”

“Are you serious?” I asked. “We just met.”

“He's serious,” I heard Seth say. “We've been hearing about you forever.” I looked to find Seth, Laura and Dean coming back in the room. “He's got it bad for you.”

The comment made Joe blush again and he looked down at the floor before taking a breath. “He's right. I don't know how or why, but I know.......I don't know..... I just need to get to know you.” He smiled so warmly at me with a look of slight embarrassment. It made me melt a little more.

“They've been telling me all about his dreams.” Laura said as she handed me a bottle of water. “He's telling the truth.” She reassured me.

I thought for a second before I tried to answer, “Well,” I looked into his eyes “Yes. Yes we can go out to dinner on Tuesday.”

That made Joe smile even more. “All right! Ok, we've got a bit more time. Tell me everything about yourself.”

I laughed a bit, “My whole life in what... 15 minutes?”

He laughed with me. “How about just some things...... What do you do for work? What do you do for fun? Are you  wrestling fan?”

“Oh yeah she is,” Dean interrupted, “I saw her following the match closely. She even winced when you took the kick to the chest from Dolf and landed wrong. She knows wrestling.” He was incapable of standing still... instead he paced back and forth. “She knows.”

I smiled and nodded at Joe. “Yes. I follow wrestling. I have for a few years.” I answered. I work for a marketing firm, and I love to paint.”

“Painting... like art?” Joe asked. I nodded yes.

“What do you do for a living?” I joked.

Joe just laughed. He looked up to Seth, “How does Finn say it?” He looked back to me, “I wrestle grown men in my underwear.”

We all laughed at that, which seemed to calm our friends who were now hovering over us. I felt  like we had chaperones. Laura and Seth took a seat at a table on the other side of the room, and Dean paced between the two tables anxiously.

Joe and I settled into a conversation. We talked about our lives and our beliefs, and time flew by.

“Joe.” Seth called from across the room. “5 minutes.” He warned, which shocked both of us.

“Ok, Like I said, these guys want to get to Kansas City.” He stood up, taking my hand in his again and leading me to stand. He turned so he was between our friends and us, and his broad frame almost completely blocked them out. “I can't believe you're real.”

“I'm real. I promise.”

“Can I text you later tonight?” He asked shyly.

“Yes.” I shook my head at him. He stared into my eyes for a second before bending down to give me a chaste kiss on the lips which brought a big smile to my face.

“Thank you,” He said. “We'll make plans for Tuesday over the phone, ok?” I nodded in agreement.

“Come on, loverboy!” Seth's words broke us up. “You can talk to her on the phone.”

Joe pressed a sweet kiss to my forehead and said goodbye.

Laura and I were left in the room..... both confused a bit.... me a little weak in the knees.

“What the fuck?” She asked.

“I don't know.” I answered her.

We started walking out to our car, “Do you believe this whole dreaming of you thing?” She asked.

I thought for a minute before I answered. “I think I do.” I answered.