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"I need advice."
Roman sighed and shut his eyes, swinging his legs over the side of the lounge chair and standing up. He was glad Seth had matured enough to the point where he would at least ask for advice; now the trick was getting him to actually use it. Roman had been out of action for just over three months now, receiving treatment and focussing on his health, but it still felt like he was backstage, worrying about his Shield brothers. Dean wasn't happy with the direction the company wanted him to go, so Roman mostly listened to him vent and they would talk about his options. Seth, though, was another story completely. He had definitely grown since the days of his social media scandals, but he felt strangely adrift. Roman had Galina and Dean had Renee, but Roman knew a relationship wasn't a quick fix for anything. In Seth's case, it often seemed to make his problems worse.
"No, you don't," Roman said patiently. "It's Royal Rumble weekend. All you need to think about right now is winning the damn thing and getting the WrestleMania main event you deserve. That's it." He walked past his wife, mouthed Seth, and walked away from the pool, where his kids were playing.
"But I want to do something and... well, it might be stupid, but—"
"What you want is to win the Royal Rumble and be in the main event at WrestleMania, right?" Roman pressed, shuffling his bare feet through the grass. The Royal Rumble was one of his favourite events and he hated to miss it, but he wanted to be sure he was safe to return to action. Still, it felt strange to watching his Shield brothers on TV and not from backstage.
Seth's voice tightened a bit. "Yes, but—"
"Then go and win and beat Brock. That's my advice." Roman stood under a tree and let the shade creep over him for a moment. "Whatever you called for—can it wait? Does it need to be today? Because you need to focus, bro, but more than that, you need to enjoy this. Most people only get one Rumble win. Scratch that—most wrestlers don't have any. Getting one is a milestone, so the fact that you're in line for one is huge."
"I know." Seth sighed. "And I know it's all up in the air until the night of. You don't have to remind me."
"Apparently I do. Enjoy this, Seth. Enjoy it all. You never know when it could slip away." Roman didn't want to turn the conversation around to himself—or to play the 'cancer card' as some wrestling journalists had crudely accused him of doing—but he wanted to make sure his Shield brothers made the most of their moments. Having grown up with so many family members in the business, Roman knew better than most how fleeting and fickle popularity and momentum could be, and that you had to utilize them when you had them.
"I will. I promise."
"You're going to be amazing," Roman said firmly. "Now go get some rest, okay? Relax."
Seth's chuckle filled the line. "Rest? Old man, it's not even six o'clock here!"
"Well, just remember that when you call me to celebrate your victory, okay? Love you." As Roman disconnected, he felt a vague pang of guilt for cutting Seth off, but he knew that Seth was usually his own worst enemy. If he wasn't overthinking something, he was being too impulsive; there was very little middle ground with his youngest Shield brother. Sometimes he needed someone to just snap him out of it, and Roman hoped that was the case today.
He completely forgot about the call until he was watching the Royal Rumble with his kids, his daughter still doing victory laps because Becky Lynch had won the women's Royal Rumble despite not strictly being an entrant. Since Joelle was hollering at the top of her lungs, he almost didn't hear his phone ring. "Hey, Seth. Sorry about the noise. Gimme a minute. Got a very happy Man fan in the house." Roman got out of his recliner and stepped into the hallway.
"Remember how I said I needed advice?"
Roman winced. That wasn't an ideal way to start a phone call, especially on Royal Rumble night when Seth hadn't wrestled yet. "Yeah?"
"Never mind. I already did the stupid thing."
The stupid thing? Roman tried to remember if Seth had given any specifics, but he really hadn't given his Shield brother a chance to say much of anything. "What stupid thing?" he asked warily. "Do I even want to know?" He ducked back into the den, grabbed his tablet off the table, and did a quick search for Seth Rollins, but nothing horrible came up.
"I kissed Rebecca."
"What?" It took Roman a moment to place the name. Becky was one of the few in WWE who used a version of her real first name for her ring name, but he tended to call her Becky regardless of where they were. "Like… Becky?"
"Yeah." Judging from the pitch of his voice, Seth was practically vibrating with excitement. "Well, we kissed each other. I can't remember who started it. It doesn't matter. No—no, wait, it was probably me. Whatever. We kissed."
"Why?" Roman felt like he was ten again, wondering why some of his older cousins were so suddenly obsessed with girls. "You guys have been friends for years…."
"I know, but…." Roman could practically hear Seth blushing. "We've been hanging out a lot lately and it's… it's been really nice and—"
Roman glanced back into the den, where Joelle had swept up one of her brothers into her victory dance. "But Becky…?" If Seth ended up breaking her heart, Roman was fairly certain Joelle would challenge him to a cage match. Becky's fucking beloved backstage, Roman thought. If he messes this up, he'll never hear the end of it.
"I know, I know, but… I really like her, Roman. It's so easy being around her. I don't have to think. I can just be myself…." The softness in Seth's voice reminded Roman of the hazy happiness of just waking up, still half-caught in a dream.
Stop. Think. It was advice he often gave his daughter—and his Shield brothers—and Roman knew it was simple but effective. The kiss itself might have been a stupid decision, but Seth seemed radiantly happy, so that meant it probably went well. "And it's mutual? Becky seems to like you?"
"Yeah. I mean, she kissed me back and said—"
"No details," Roman said quickly. "Save that for later. You have a Rumble to win, remember?" In the background, he could hear the familiar clatter of backstage chaos.
"Huh?" Roman could practically picture Seth's eyes going wide. "Right, right. I'll call you later. I just wanted to let you know, because…."
Roman smiled to himself. Well, if it works out, Joelle will be over the moon to have Becky as an auntie. He leaned against the door frame and sighed. "I know. Good luck tonight." He thought about elaborating for a moment, but didn't. If Seth wanted things to work out with Becky, he'd need some luck there too. "Love you, bro."
After disconnecting, Roman lingered in the doorway for a moment, watching his daughter explain parts of the match to her younger brothers. When noticed him staring, she asked, "Everything okay, Dad? Who was on the phone?"
"Just Uncle Seth," he replied, coming back into the room and giving her a hug before he sat down. "And everything's good. I think he's going to have a really good night tonight."