Love Rivals

Wounded pride

It took a while for Roman to track Seth down but once he finally did he took the opportunity to make sure Seth couldn't make a hasty exit. He had to practically push his way into Seth's hotel room and he stood in front of the door, blocking the exit. 

"You better have a damn good reason to be barging into my hotel room" Seth voiced 

"I do actually" Roman folded his arms across his chest "I wanna know why you suddenly started hating me and I want the truth Seth"

Seth laughed and the nasal tone agitated Roman's ears "I don't have to explain myself to you" 

"If this just concerned me then you'd be right" Roman pointed out "but this concerns Esme and Dean too"

"Why does it even matter?" Seth asked "Didn't your momma ever tell you that not everyone has to to like you?"

"Cut the crap Seth. That's low even for you" Roman could tell Seth was being defensive "I know you, and I can tell that deep down you see me as a brother....so what makes that change? Where does this attitude come from?"

Seth let out a long breath as his whole body sagged "You're right you are my brother but just like blood brothers,  sometimes there's some hate there"

"Why?" Roman asked

"It's a long story" Seth replied

Roman tilted his chin up defiantly "I'm listening"

"It all began not long after we met" Seth admitted "You arrived at NXT and suddenly you were all anyone talked about 'the great son of sika', 'the the next big thing' Seth stood up and started to pace "Do you have any idea how it feels to hear something like that after working your ass off on the indie circuit for years?"

Roman didn't know how it felt, he'd come straight into WWE from a failed NFL career "No"

"No because wrestling wasn't your dream. It was your plan b. You just had it easier than everyone else because of who your family are" Seth voiced

Roman was hurt by Seth's words "Why do you think I didn't take my fathers ring name? I wanted to make it to the main roster off my own merit"

"They still pushed you more than anyone else though didn't they?" Seth argued "Why do you think I bleached one half of my hair? I was desperate to stand out and be noticed and what did they do....they created The Shield"

"You got what you wanted though, The Shield got us onto the main roster" Roman reasoned 

"But the talk didn't stop!" Seth ranted "Dean and I put years into our careers before we were teamed up but yet all I heard was 'Roman is the stand out, 'Roman is the power', 'he doesn't need the other two to be a star"

"So that's why you broke up The Shield" Roman asked "Because you were jealous?''

"I broke up the shield to make a point" Seth corrected "The betrayal was your gig, they were going to pitch it for you but I changed there mind. I convinced them that I could do a better job"

"Was it all worth it?" Roman asked "Did you finally feel validated?"

"For a while" Seth admitted "Then Esme came into our life's and I could tell straight away that she was smitten over you. You were all she cared about and it brought those old feelings back"

"If you didn't have feelings for her why did her liking me bother you so much?" Roman asked

"I felt inferior" Seth answered "I felt second best again"

Roman shook his head "So you pretended to like Esme, got me suspended and broke her heart all because your pride was wounded?"

Seth just starred at him blankly

"Jesus Seth you need help" Roman continued "You can't just play with people's life's like that, just to suit your own"

"I know that-"

"Do you!?" Roman was getting angry "So why are you still doing it? All the texts, all the visits to Esme just to spout more lies? If you truly cared about her you'd let her be happy"

"I do care about her" Seth mumbled

Roman turned around and opened the door "You've got a funny way of showing it" Roman slammed the door behind him as he left.