Seth
It had been four days since I’d seen or talked to Haz. We’d never gone this long. When I got the call that she was coming home, a wave of relief washed over me. I’d respected her need for space and just like I’d thought, she was coming back to me. It was just a small hiccup that she’d have to come to terms with but we were back on track. It would be the two of us rising to the top just like it should’ve been all along.
The look on her face when she walked through the door told me a different story though. She didn’t look happy. Not at all.
“Haz.” I whispered, closing the distance to hug her. “God I’ve missed you.”
She returned my hug, nestling her head in the crook of my neck like she always did, breathing me in like I did her. Yet this hug felt different. She pulled away and put her bag on the table as we walked into the kitchen. There was a brief moment of silence while she leaned against the counter, staring at the ground before she lifted her eyes to look at me and spoke.
“I saw the video.” She said, her voice heavy. “I talked to Dean and I talked to Roman. I’ve thought about this over and over and I still can’t wrap my mind around it. How could you Seth?”
Shit. She wasn’t over it yet.
“Babe -”
“Don’t.” She stopped me. “Don’t call me babe. Don’t bullshit me further. Just tell me why.”
I took a deep breath in. “It was time to part ways. I did what was best for me. Best for you.”
“What was best for you was to turn on us? The only people that have had your back this whole time?” She countered.
My face scrunched in confusion and I shook my head furiously. “Haz – I didn’t turn my back on you…”
“Yeah. You did, Seth. You knew how I felt about the Authority. I clarified it when you asked me if I considered a truce with Stephanie – which now it all makes sense now as to. why you’d ask me that – but you knew what it would mean when you took their side.”
“Babe – Hazel. I did this for you and me. We weren’t where we wanted to be in our careers. We’ve been talking about wanting a family … I did this for us to get there sooner.” I defended.
She shook her head, not having any of it. “No. You did this for greed. I had you by my side. I knew that no matter how long our climb to the top took us, we would get there together and have it all. You turned your back on everything I stand for. On everything You, yourself, stood for. For what? Fame? Money? We did this for a hotdog and a handshake and we were the happiest we’d ever been just to get a chance to wrestle for a living. You turned your back on that.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, unclear as to where this was getting us. Didn’t she think this over already? Isn’t that why she was away? This should be the part where we hug, kiss, and go back to the bedroom for some amazing makeup sex.
She crossed her arms over her chest, lowering her eyes to the ground again. “I can’t change your mind about staying with the Authority? Making things right with the guys?”
“No.” I answered firmly.
Her tear glazed eyes lifted and locked on mine. “Then we’re done, Seth.”
My heart sank into my stomach and I felt like all the wind was knocked out of me. Hearing those words come from the person I loved most in this world hurt more than anything I’d ever experienced in my life. I was hit with every emotion a person could feel at once but in the moment, anger seemed like the best to express.
“What do you mean we’re done?” I said, standing up straighter.
Hazel didn’t seem fazed or intimidated, simply picking up her bag from the counter and standing up. “It mean’s we’re done, Seth. Like I said, you turned your back on me. In the middle of a war you jumped ship on me. I can’t trust you anymore Seth. I couldn’t believe my eyes watching you bash your brothers with a chair before letting Randy do the same. I didn’t want to believe that it was you, but it was. I’ve fought to hard to turn my back on everything like you did.”
“So that’s it?” I said, my voice getting louder. “You’re going to throw our relationship away because of this?!”
“I wasn’t the one to throw it away.” She replied, drying her eyes. “I’ll come back to get my stuff later.”
“Hazel.” I tried once more, eyes now welled with tears that mimicked hers. “Please -”
It was too late. The door shut behind her. She was gone.
—
“So.” Hunter said, coming into the locker room. “Seems pretty obvious Hazel wasn’t on board.”
I looked up at him, then back down to tie my shoe. “She left me.”
He placed a heavy hand on my shoulder, taking a seat next to me. “Just goes to show how much she loved you. What kind of woman leaves a man who’s just looking out for them?”
He had a point. I was just doing what was best for us. She should’ve trusted my judgement. Followed me through this. But she didn’t. I go to the gym and come back to find my mom collecting all of her things out of my place. She didn’t even have the decency to do it herself. She just left.
“Tell me, Seth.” Hunter started again. “You’ll go through a lot of tough situations in life. Do you really want to be with a woman who’ll abandon you the second things get hard?”
“No.” I replied, trying to keep my anger at bay.
“I didn’t think so. I know you’re hurting, kid, but don’t you worry I have the ultimate plan for you to get back at her.”
Hazel
The breakup couldn’t have come at a worse time. Instead of focusing on my match, my thoughts had been preoccupied with Seth, with our moms, with moving my things back home and giving his stuff to Holly. It had been hard. Both of our families has become one and the breakup affected everyone.
That didn’t help me tonight. I wasn’t cleared yet. All the doctors advised against me going into the ring but I had no choice. My title was on the line and Stephanie had backed me into a corner with this. Injury or no injury, the match would go on.
“You sure you’re alright for the match? It’s been a hell of a week.” Renee asked, standing against the locker room door.
I looked up at her, adjusting the tape around my wrist and talking a deep breath. “I’ll be fine.”
“If the doctor’s said you shouldn’t go through with it…”
“I have to.” I cut her off.
“Two minutes, Hazel.” A production assistant popped in to inform me as Charlotte’s entrance music played.
I looked at Renee and she smiled unsurely before giving me a hug. “Go kick some ass. You deserve it.”
“Thanks babe.” I smiled, as I walked out of the room towards the entrance curtains.
I waited for my cue before walking out to the thousands of screaming fans. As painful as it was, I raised both arms above my head to wave. Showing any sort of weakness wasn’t an option. Charlotte was going to be after my shoulder the whole match, letting her know just how painful it was would be bad.
Throwing my hat out at the crowd, I jumped into the ring, hopping up on the ropes to wave around once more before meeting Charlotte and the referee in the center.
The bell rang and Charlotte immediately went for my hair. I dodged her attempt and countered with a kick to her face, temporarily stunning her enough to hit her with another kick to her stomach before jumping against the ropes into a backflip where I grabbed her hair and slammed her head into the ground.
Announcer: Uh-oh. Looks like that hurt Hazel just as much as it hurt Charlotte. This may be her toughest challenge to date.
I grunted in pain as I landed but I threw myself on her for a count which she kicked out of at one, throwing me off. I stood as fast as I could, climbing into the third rope to come down on her with a corkscrew heel kick. I had to keep her down. The whole match would have to be fought with my legs, I knew that for a fact.
Announcer 2: Oh! And there she goes using the ropes again! Charlotte’s going to have to keep her grounded if she wants any chance at beating her. We know how dangerous she can be in the air.
Announcer: There’s a reason she’s the longest reigning women’s champion in WWE history, holding the title for an unheard of 460 days. Charlotte might be the daughter of a legend but Hazel has solidified her own legacy.
Charlotte kicked out of the count once more and I stood, climbing up the ropes again. I looked behind me to make sure the ref was out of the way before jumping off the top rope into a triple backflip to land on Charlotte on my back.
Except Charlotte wasn’t there.
Nobody was there.
Announcer: Oh my god, Seth Rollins betraying his own girlfriend by coming to the aid of Charlotte!
Announcer 2: Nobody thought he could top last week but this is a whole new low, John.
I hit the mat hard and intense pain shot through my body. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. My eyes instantly welled with tears and I reached for my shoulder, screaming out in pain and agony.
“Hazel, are you alright?” The ref asked, kneeling beside me. “Hazel, you have to give me an answer.”
Announcer: Uh-oh. Neither of the women are getting up. Hazel clutching her shoulder, she’s looking seriously injured.
I looked around unable to catch enough air for a full breath. Charlotte was still down but she was pulled towards the side. Then he caught my eye. Seth stood outside the ring, malicious smirk on his face. Had he done this? He had.
He waved at me and the distraction was just enough to miss Charlotte’s boot coming down hard on my shoulder. I screamed out with everything in me. Something was broken. I could feel it. I looked at Seth, our eyes locking and I could see nothing but pure hate behind them. Again, I missed Charlotte jumping from the top rope onto me. I screamed again holding my shoulder tightly while trying to kick out but I couldn’t. The ref counted to three and it was over.
I had lost.
Announcer: And it’s over John! The longest title reign in history has come to an end. All at the hands of Seth Rollins.
The man who said he loved me had cost me my title.
He jumped into the ring, standing above me to hold Charlotte’s hand up in victory as she held the belt up above her head.
“That’s what happens when you go against the man!” He yelled at me. “You did this to yourself!”
Then suddenly the both of them hurried off the ring and the sound of footsteps surrounded me as Dean and Roman jumped in. Roman immediately ran to me, his hands cupping my face as I cried from the pain.
“Tell me what hurts, babygirl. You don’t look so good.” He said trying to keep me from watching Seth gloat.
Dean screamed curses at Seth through the ropes before yelling at the medics to hurry their asses over to me. Two men rushed to the ring, asking me questions about where the pain was and if I could stand on my own.
“My shoulder. Something’s broken. I can feel it. Something’s wrong.” I looked between Roman and Dean trying to see them through the tears. “How could he do this to me?”
“Haz,” He knelt down next to me beside Roman. “You’re going to be okay. I swear I’m going to make that asshole pay for this.”