Shielded

Believe in The Shield.

Adalia's POV

Everything for Roman and Seth spiralled downhill in their match against The Wyatts after Dean took off. The numbers were not on their side and the Wyatts took great advantage with that. Roman suffered a dislocated knee which will keep him out of the ring for about a month, hopefully less. Seth's a bit beat up but he's medically clear. I have never seen them so defeated, so let down.

I watched Roman across the table. His face is full of pain. I've never seen him so devastated before. Seth's got his head in his hands and he hasn't even touched his macaroni and cheese I got from catering for him. I haven't told them anything about what happened with Dean earlier. I don't want to make their night any worse. A painful silence filled the air.

I stared down at my belt and traced my fingers over the gems. The name plate still says AJ Lee but soon it'll be saying Adalia Black and that's the name that it will say for the rest of my career. I could see my reflection in the gold, even I look depressed. All of that hype and energy from earlier has left my body. 

"So you talked to Dean?" Seth spoke into his hands. Roman's eyes lifted from the table and focused on mine. "Yeah." I nodded. I don't know what to tell them, should I tell them everything or just the little details?

"Oh come on Adalia, what happened?" Roman said clearly noticing my inner struggle. Seth's head bolted up and he stared at me. My eyes dropped to the table and I felt my pulse quicken. I don't even know where to start.

"Dalia." Seth spoke softly bringing me back to reality. His face his covered in worry. "He told me that he's in love with me... He said that we all need to stay away from him." I sighed. Seth stared at me confused. "You're so damn easy to read, what else?" Roman's voice shot across the table in a frustrated tone. How the hell can I be so easy to read?

I brought my hand up to my forehead rubbing it aggressively. "He kissed me." I said quietly feeling kind of ashamed. "What?!" Seth's grip on my hand tightened. "He was being like really sketchy and he was really close to me, speaking all this nonsense. I tried to push him away but I couldn't and then, yeah, he kissed me. I was able to push him off of me and then I guess the switch in his brain clicked and he was, you know, him again. Then he told me that he's in love with me." I said fidgetting with Seth's fingers. 

"I'm going to kill him." Seth said angrily as he got up from the table. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards us, "No. He's gone." I spoke gently. Seth's eyes shot to mine and he pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm sorry." He whispered into my hair. "Don't be." I pulled away and stared into his eyes. They're hurt. 

We got back to the hotel, all Dean's stuff is gone so he's been here. Roman collapsed onto the couch with a grunt, letting his crutches fall to the ground. Seth stood in the window staring out.

It's definitely an awkward environment. I feel like if I never got involved in all of this, if I had been a little bit stronger with all the AJ bullshit then maybe these guys wouldn't be struggling so hard right now. If I weren't in this picture then everything would be totally fine. The Shield would still be in tact, they'd be on top of their game, and I wouldn't be so dependant of them. This is like, all my fault. 

"I'm sorry." I sighed, leaning against the wall. Roman and Seth's attention shot to me. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't been a little bitch about everything with AJ everything would be so different. You guys would be fine, The Shield would still be strong and dominant. I've ruined everything for you guys." I felt my voice become weak as the emotions began to flow through my body. Immediately Seth's arms found their way around me as they pulled me into his chest.

"Adalia, sweetheart, none of this is your fault. We helped you because we wanted to. You've been strong through all of this. Truth is if you had tried to push me away earlier, I wouldn't have left you because I didn't want to. Everything happening now is natural and would have happened one way or another so don't blame yourself." He spoke confidently as his hand rubbed against my back.

"The only thing about all of this that matters is that I have you, and you're okay." Seth whispered into my ear. I felt a smile form on my face as one formed on his as well. I pulled his face down to mine and planted a kiss on his lips. 

"We are still the dominant and strong Shield that we've always been. Sure, we've lost a member but that's just going to make us fight harder." Roman spoke from across the room with a weak smile on his face.

He pulled himself up to his feet and wobbled over to Seth and I, throwing his fist out. Seth balled his fist up and put it next to Roman's and they both stared at me. I put my fist next to theirs. "Believe in The Shield." Roman spoke strongly with a smile.