About You Now

Old Is New

"So who is she?" asked Dean, walking behind the found family members. He was between Seth and Roman, all three strolling a few meters behind everyone else. The family meeting that had occurred mere moments ago was still on his mind. Roman's words, in particular, had stuck with him, how he'd made his previous stance of making up for his wrongdoings clear, even going as far as to reveal his mysterious prom date wasn't Serenity as most had assumed.

"Her name is Galina," Roman responded, a half smile appearing on his lips as he appeared lost in thoughts, happy thoughts on the mystery date. "She was my best friend in middle school, we reconnected when her family moved in next door, almost screwed my neck when I told her about life here," he added, recalling their friendship had started in preschool and continued throughout junior and middle school. They'd been inseparable once, until they went to different high schools and lost touch.

"You really are an idiot," worded Seth, shaking his head at the obvious. Dean had also noticed. "All this time you've been looking for your special someone while being blind to the fact she's been in front of you the entire time," he added with sincerity, upon the Samoan throwing an offended look in his general direction. "You said Dean and I met our matches here but failed to realize you already had what you were looking for."

"In short, had you told us about that delightful angel before, we would have encouraged you. Our brotherhood wouldn't have been shattered, and you wouldn't expect a kiddo with the Wicked Witch of the West." This was Dean's simplified version, and he suspected that things would have been far better for Roman had he chosen Galina over Serenity sooner and had he realized that he already had everything he wanted.

For a moment, Roman allowed himself to sink into his thoughts. Perhaps they were right; Galina had always been someone he'd been excited to be around as a kid, someone he wanted to spend as much time with as possible. Despite not seeing nor talking to each other much since going to different high schools, he was still just as excited about spending time with her, he smiled when he sent and received texts from her, he felt himself again while around her, like he could do anything if he just focused and put his mind to it.

It wasn't long before Roman questioned if that was how Dean felt around Renee, like his entire world revolved around her. He questioned if Aleister was the same with Cross, like he could only be who he was at heart when Cross was there. He asked if all the couples felt that way: Punk and AJ, Maryse and Miz, Corey and Carmella, even Nikki and Drew. He also thought the same about the unlikely pairing of Finn and Summer. Despite being the opposite, they appeared stronger together and encouraged each other to be the best they could be.

"What's going on between you and Echo?" asked Roman. A sigh escaped him as the blame for their breakup came crashing upon him again. He felt ashamed for what he had done, how he'd played a part in all the drama, breaking Echo's heart and tormenting one he considered a brother. However, despite Roman's thoughts of happiness, he refuses to act on them until he is sure Dean and Seth would find their happy ending. A punishment he'd cast upon himself, even more so after concluding he didn't deserve happiness after heartlessly taking it away from four others. "Are you two back together?"

"They're not, but he's working on something," started Dean in response, "The whole prom thing has been a distraction to keep her attention away from what he's been planning," he elaborated, while also figuring most would have missed what Seth had been planning the entire time or at least they did until the prom rally. The video of Architect Demon's story was all the proof one needed to know where Seth hoped the story would go, proof of his dedication to Echo and his desire for what could be.

For a moment, Roman appeared confused. He quietly questioned what Seth had been up to, if the prom race was all a means to distract his demon and everyone else. His confusion only pulled a light chuckle from Dean's lips, even more so upon concluding Roman had still missed the obvious despite watching them so intently, despite practically stalking them since the drama had begun, and their brother had paid the price for it.