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Two days after Jon’s New York sendoff, Seth wakes up with a sore throat. He stumbles to the bathroom and pours himself a glass of water.
The liquid hits his throat and he coughs. Seth slams the glass down and gags into the sink, trying to remember how breathing works. After far too long, air comes back to him. He loudly exhales to steady himself when something catches his eye.
A blue flower petal sits in the sink. Seth blinks, convinced he must be hallucinating. Then he reaches out and nope, the petal is real. He picks it up and stares, confused as all get out.
“What the fuck?”
He continues to cough over the next week. Only a few flower petals come up, always the same dark blue color. Seth shoves them into a little box and tries to forget about them.
Wrestling feels weird without Jon. He and Roman do their best to make things work, but they keep expecting the ginger to pop up. Seth writes a few furious Twitter drafts but doesn’t post them, knowing how it would look.
Roman notices his cough and does his best to help. He slips throat lozenges to Seth when no one is looking, Googles tea recipes, and generally acts like a good human being. Seth doesn’t tell him about the petals, not wanting to put more stress on his plate.
Then he bolts awake one night unable to breathe. Seth rushes to the toilet and vomits. His throat burns, but instead of bile, he finds a puddle of flower petals staring at him.
Okay, this may be a problem.
Something in his gut tells him not to see a doctor. The problem is so ridiculous, who would believe him? One afternoon before Raw, though, Seth has an idea.
Hunter. With Undertaker’s visits becoming rare and Vince being Vince, Hunter has morphed into the locker room mentor. Seth wouldn’t have believed it six years ago, but these are the facts. So he swallows his pride and walks to the cafeteria, where the Game is having a bagel.
“Hunter, can I talk to you?” He gets a friendly nod and sits down. Hunter frowns at the color in Seth’s cheeks.
“Are you doing alright?”
“No. But I figured with your infinite wisdom, you might be able to help.” Hunter lightly rolls his eyes.
“What’s going on?” Seth takes a deep breath.
“I’ve started coughing up flower petals.” Hunter’s eyes widen.
“How long has that been going on for?”
“Three weeks at this point.” He sees a glint in the older man’s eyes. “What is it? What do I have?”
“Hanahaki.” Hunter looks at the table. “It’s very rare.”
“So how do you know about it?”
“I had it back in the day.” Now Seth is the one with wide eyes. Hunter puts his hands on the table and slowly puts a story together. “It got so bad I started fainting. I found this acupuncturist who knew what it was. He said it comes from unrequited love. If your crush never reciprocates, your only other option is surgery that removes your memories.”
“Who did you have a crush on?” Seth winces, but to his surprise, Hunter smiles.
“Stephanie. When we got paired together years ago, I fell for her immediately. She didn’t feel the same way at first.” His cheeks go pink. “But the first time I got to kiss her, I felt something. The petals seemed to calm down a bit. Then she came to me and told me she loved me. The petals went away after that.” Seth nods in understanding.
“So I have to find the person I’m crushing on and kiss them.” Hunter shrugs.
“At least you’ll know. If you can’t figure it out, I’d get the surgery. The alternative is becoming a flower bed of a corpse.”
Seth decides to risk it. He takes a few sick days and flies to Las Vegas, the place Jon said he was moving to. His heart pounds as he follows the GPS.
Since Jon left, he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him. His reasons for leaving were valid, sure, but the whole thing still tore at Seth’s core. He chuckles to himself. How did a bunch of internet writers see it before he did?
He finally reaches Jon’s house. Seth gets out and knocks on the front door with shaking fingers. His chest and throat feel scratchy.
“Seth?” Jon looks mildly startled but not unhappy. “When I gave you and Roman my address, I didn’t expect a visit so soon.”
“It’s just me, I’m afraid.” Jon lets him in. His place is nice, simple yet neat. Seth puts his hands in his pockets and nervously looks around.
“You look like you’re thinking,” Jon comments. “What’s on your mind, Sethie?”
“I…” Shit, he doesn’t know what to say. Seth swallows down the tension in his throat. “I have this thing called hanahaki. It’s a love disease.”
“Shit.” Jon looks concerned. “How much time do you have?”
“Sorry?”
“That’s why you’re here, right? You’re dying and want to tell me in person.” Seth bites his tongue. No wonder Jon doesn’t reciprocate, he can be pretty clueless sometimes.
“Well… I’m here because I think the person I’m in love with is you.” Seth waits to get yelled at. Instead, Jon simply raises his eyebrows.
“You ‘think’?”
“Ever since you left, you’ve been on my mind. The flowers started around the same time.”
“Flowers?”
“That’s the main symptom, I’ve started coughing them up.” Jon doesn't say anything. Seth takes a deep breath. “I spoke to someone who survived this. They told me that when they kissed their crush, the pain in their chest calmed down. That’s why I’m here.” Again, he waits to get yelled at. An awkward silence fills the air.
“Look, Seth, I am flattered that you have a thing for me.” Jon is sincere in his very Jon sort of way. “I don’t swing that way, I never really have.” Seth nods in disappointment. “However, if you need to kiss me to find out if I’m the one, feel free.”
“Really?” He gets a calm, sincere nod. Seth slowly crosses the room, trying not to get into Jon’s bubble while still being able to touch him. The former partners stare at each other. “Ready?”
“Shoot.”
Seth immediately realizes something is wrong. For one thing, this kiss with Jon isn’t stirring up anything in him. He doesn't feel aroused, happy, or even disappointed. The kiss feels like nothing, even though Jon is objectively good.
The second clue is his chest immediately flares up. Seth yanks away and starts coughing like a maniac, clutching at his collarbone. Jon’s eyes go wide.
“Shit.” He pours a glass of water with lightning speed and brings it over. Seth downs the whole thing in one gulp, his throat screaming. After another minute of coughing and a few petals, he finally stops. “You okay?”
“Barely.” Seth sits down and tries to catch his breath. Jon squints at the blue petals on the floor.
“Am I correct in assuming it’s not me?”
“Apparently. Why?” He sees Jon pick up a petal.
“Where have you seen this color before?” Seth shrugs.
“The other ones I’ve coughed up?” Jon rolls his eyes.
“I’ll give you a hint, dumbass, we’ve both seen it before today.” Seth stares at the petal for a few seconds, trying to place the color. Eventually, it comes to him.
“That’s the color of Roman’s Titantron video.” Jon nods.
“You’re looking for a hound, Seth, but it’s not me.” Well, shit.
Seth flies back to Florida more confused than ever. He’s been thinking about Jon, so why is his heart set on Roman? The guy’s wonderful, but…
He struggles to finish that sentence. Seth winces as he collects his bags. All this time he’s been moping, and Roman’s been doing his best to help.
He texts Jon to let him know he landed safely. The ginger asks when he’s going to kiss Roman. Seth admits he needs a few days to process it first.
In his stupor, he forgets that Roman is his ride. The Samoan stands by a pillar with a smile on his face as Seth trudges over.
“How was Vegas?”
“Productive.” Roman hears his tone and doesn't press. Seth follows him to the car as his throat begins to itch.
On their next free day, they decide to watch a movie together in Seth’s hotel room. Roman somehow manages to not burn the microwave popcorn and they sit down for a night of relaxation. In reality, both men are so tired that they fall asleep halfway through.
Seth wakes up with his head on Roman’s shoulder. It feels nice and secure. He smiles at his friend’s peaceful slumber.
A new feeling begins to blossom in his chest. It’s a cooling, calming sensation. Seth places a hand on his collarbone and inhales. For the first time in weeks, he feels okay.
This is what Hunter was talking about. Seth drops his hand and looks over at a still-asleep Roman. He examines his friend in the dark, trying to piece together what he loves about him.
When Jon got injured back in 2017, Roman listened to Seth’s angst about it. He reassured him their friend would be okay, and he endured several late-night phone calls on the subject. Before that, Roman himself getting injured bummed Seth out.
He remembers the previous October when Roman announced to the world he had cancer and Jon’s disastrous heel run kicked off. Seth remembers the devastation he felt when Roman first gave him and Jon the news. He remembers crying himself to sleep several nights in a row, praying he’d get to see his friend the next day.
Then there’s the present day. Once again, Roman has been nothing but helpful and decent. He could have easily dismissed Seth’s angst. Actually no, he couldn’t have, because that wasn’t who he was. Maybe sometimes in the ring, sure, but outside of it? Roman Reigns was nothing short of kind.
Seth gets up from his chair, turns off the TV, and crawls into bed. He pulls the covers tight and tries not to swoon over the sleeping Roman two feet away. Hanahaki means his love is still unrequited, and he doesn’t have much of a say in the matter.
The days continue to crawl by. Seth’s cough gets worse, and the concern on Roman’s face grows. The concern hurts more than the cough, he hates seeing his friend this way. That’s the other thing, calling Roman a friend feels weird these days. Seth wishes he could call him something else.
Now that he’s aware of his crush, it has a vice-like grip on his brain. Everywhere Seth goes, from the locker room to the hotel, he finds himself thinking about Roman. Sometimes his brain journeys into filthy territory, but most of the time it remains rooted in wholesome things. What he wouldn’t give to kiss him…
No. He can’t do that to Roman, can’t try to force something that isn’t there. That would be even worse than his current situation.
A week later, the petals start coming up with blood on them. Seth finds himself lacking an appetite, and it shows. His body thins out in an unhealthy fashion, his bones become more prominent in his cheeks. Even speaking starts to become difficult.
One morning, he wakes up with a splitting pain in his throat. Seth runs to the sink and opens his mouth, ready for blood-soaked petals. That’s not what he gets.
A whole blue flower comes up, thorny stem and all. Seth hacks up a lung as the stem clings to his throat. After a good minute and a half of effort, it finally lands in the sink, not that it matters much.
Seth collapses to the floor, out of breath and light-headed. As the room swims around in front of him, he fumbles for his phone and presses Hunter’s number.
“Seth?”
“Who do I…” Even trying to speak drains energy from his body. “Who do I call about the surgery?”
“Where are you?”
“My hotel room.”
“Stay there.” Hunter hangs up, and Seth lets himself fall sideways onto the tile. His jaw feels warm and swollen.
After what feels like an eternity, the door opens. Hunter is there with a couple of EMTs, their bodies blobs in Seth’s eyes. By now he’s beginning to run a fever and the sweat on his forehead threatens to glue his eyelids shut.
They lift him onto the stretcher and he coughs loudly. Barely able to see, Seth gropes for Hunter’s face.
“Please don’t let me die.” His eyes shut before Hunter can answer.
Seth wakes up with a sore throat and an IV in his arm. Hunter sits at the end of his bed, expression unreadable.
“What happened?”
“They had to snip the parts that were trying to block your airways.” Hunter sighs. “The needle in your arm is holding the worst back for now, but…”
“But what?” Seth finally registers the sadness in Hunter’s eyes.
“You need to have the surgery today, Seth. Your body will start rejecting the meds otherwise, and then you won't last the night.”
“How much time do the drugs give me?”
“A couple of hours.” Hunter leans forward and lowers his voice. “If you want to speak with the person causing this, now is the time.” Seth sighs.
“Roman. It’s Roman.” The edge of Hunter’s mouth pops into a smirk.
“Good thing he’s already here, then.” Seth’s heart skips a beat.
Hunter leaves, Roman enters, and Seth’s heart breaks. Roman looks terrified, an expression he does not wear often. The two men stare at each other, unable to speak.
“Hunter told me about the surgery,” Roman finally says. “How are you feeling about it?”
“Scared,” Seth admits. “To be honest, Roman, I’m fucking scared.” He sees Roman’s pupils dilate.
“Did you ever figure out who’s causing all this?”
“Yeah.” Seth swallows. “Honestly, losing my memories is what scares me the most. I don’t want to lose some of the best years of my life.” Roman nods.
He scoots his chair closer to the bed. With a sigh, Roman looks Seth in the eye.
“Well, we can’t have that.” Then, he leans forward and kisses him.
The kiss is tight and yet also chaste. Seth leans in, clutching Roman’s cheeks in his hands as he pushes back. His body begins to tingle.
All of the pain, all of the angst from the last several months, it washes away as they kiss. The burning sensation in Seth’s chest, the one he didn’t even know was there, cools down.
Eventually, Roman has to pull away for air. Still clutching his face, Seth blinks.
“Please tell me you’re not just trying to save my life.” With a chuckle, Roman shakes his head.
“I saw how much pain you were in, and it hurt.” He leans in, not for another kiss, but to rest his forehead against Seth’s. “I realized I love you too much.”
A couple of hours later, Hunter and Jon come by. They find Seth and Roman curled up next to each other, fast asleep with smiles on their faces. Seth looks better than he has in months.