a/n: this has been in the works since i read dashinginconverse's dean and paige fic 'lost and found' where she had a cute scene with roman and emma together. don't ask me how or why, but i fell for them, and i've been meaning to write this for awhile. anyway, "5 years time" by noah and the whale and a gifset of oliver and felicity from arrow brought me back to this idea and here we are. this is also the 100th fic, i've posted here, which blows my mind, honestly. i never thought my first one would get any reviews, so thank you to everyone who as ever reviewed and/or favorited any of my fics, it means everything.

~*~the world that's waiting for you~*~

the best relationships – the ones that last – are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship

one day you'll look at that person and see something more that you didn't the night before

like a switch has been flicked somewhere

and the person who was just a friend

is suddenly the only person

you can ever imagine yourself with

dana scully, the x-files -

They're an odd pair – they'll be the first to admit it – he is stoic and serious, hardened from steel and she is bubbly and goofy, brought together from the airy foam of her beachy homeland's oceans.

He doesn't understand, honestly, how he even came to cal her a friend.

He doesn't let just anyone in. His list of friends is small, and it's on purpose – keeping his list of friends small – he doesn't trust easy, a product of his childhood. Everyone always grabbing at him and wanting something. The big football star in high school, then in college. Now a former Tag Team Champion, a former member of the most dominate stable in a decade and now he's been cast, supposedly as 'the chose one.' Which makes him wary, but she quickly – somehow – breaks down his walls, drawing him out of himself and bringing to the surface, the side of him, very few are privileged to see.

At first, Emma was just the tag-a-long. Paige was trying to get close to Dean and because she was on the main roster now it was easier to turn her crush from a fantasy into a reality. And as the best friend, she got dragged for the ride, the ravenette unable to leave the blonde behind.

Now... There's a smile at the corners of his lips, thinking of her, which conjures bright aqua eyes – they shine like someone plugged in a fucking Christmas tree – golden wheat waves tumbling down tan shoulders and strawberry lips flashing a smile that could light up the world.

There's a flutter – his normally steady heart, tripping up – in his chest, and he misses when he could walk down the hall of the hotel and know she'd open the door to her room, no questions asked, letting the stoic facade` fall away.

"Leati..." His first instinct is to wince.. taking him back to his childhood, his father's booming voice, ready to doll out punishment. But the Australian lilt couldn't be further from Sika's commanding voice. He likes – won't say so out loud – that she'll call him by his Samoan name. No one else does. It's their little thing, and as he sinks down onto his actual bed inside his house, he doesn't realize how many 'little things' they've come to have over the course of almost two years.

"You're the only one who calls me that, Ems." A low chuckle coming along with the realization.

"You're the only one who calls me Ems." He can see her – curling up, tank falling off one shoulder and crazy colored toe-socks on her feet – and there's that flutter. The one she can only inspire. Tripping up the always consummate steady beat of his heart.

"Emma!" In an instant, JoJo is gone, only a flash of tawny curls across his vision. There's an 'ooomf' and a bright giggle from his baby girl's little body, telling him Emma's fallen down, as if she was speared. "Hook the leg, Joey," An homage to her homeland, referencing Joelle as a baby kangaroo. "Pin me! Pin me!"

His chest shakes with laughter at the exaggerated way Emma is sprawled on the linoleum of the arena's hallway. She looks like a chalk outline of a dead body. Arms akimbo and legs spread as far as the can go. She and JoJo make quiet the picture. The little girl is stretched, mimicking, a starfish almost and has hooked the Aussie's right leg, which leads her to scream, "Count, Roman, count!"

Falling to his knees, the big man slams his fist to the floor – one, two, three – and then raises JoJo's arm announcing her as the winner. "I did it!" Her little voice chirps, cherubic face beaming in his direction as she looks up at him. "I got a pinfall! Did you see, Daddy?"

Scooping her into his arms, he laughs, fingers sifting through the softness of her curls. "I sure did, baby girl."

"Don't think," Emma rises to her feet and of course he's not noticing her toned stomach on display or the way her full breasts sit perfectly in the cups of her sports bra. "You've seen the last of me, Reigns." So serious, aqua eyes narrowed and jaw ticking subtly. "I'll be ready next time."

"Bring it on." JoJo counters making both Roman and Emma laugh. Her laughter, he realizes – it's, like, literal bells – makes sunny warmth streak through his veins.

"Roman..." He jolts awake after answering his phone. He recognizes the Australian accent, but she doesn't sound like her. Like the Ems he's come to know and trust. She sounds faraway and small. Like JoJo after a nightmare. "It's never going to happen for me, is it? There will always be a Sasha or Charlotte... Even a..." He can hear her shaky inhale and exhale. "Paige, won't there? I'll be there working my bum off every night, but it won't matter, will it? Eva fucking Marie," He's stunned by the curse leaving strawberry lips. "Is getting a bigger push. Yet I can wrestler circles around her."

"Don't talk like that." Demanding and he feels his jaw tick with anger. "You're gonna get your push..."

"No, I'm not and deep down, you know that as much as I do. I'm not Bayley who overcame being bullied and pushed around, but is still the nicest person in the world. I'm not 'The Boss' – cocky and arrogant, strutting around – like Sasha. Paige is edgy. Charlotte is a legacy. Nikki and Brie are The Bella Twins. What am I?"

"Who are you?" Not angry but concerned. "And where'd my Ems go? She don't talk like this. She's the ultimate optimist. The glass is always half full, never half empty. What do I gotta do to make you see you're fine just the way you are?"

"Except I'm not..." Pitiful and distant as if she's in a tunnel somewhere. His heart lurches forward and he misses the flutter that's usually there every time he hears her voice. He likes that better.

"You're a damn good wrestler, and nobody can take that away from you." Usually she's building him up; making him laugh by snap chatting him inspirational quotes. Or, when she was still on the main roster, leaving him little post-its on a slice of cheesecake she'd always sneak him before or after a match. Recently – given that she was down in Tampa – it was texts and voice mails. Full of emojis and snapshots of her making outrageous faces.

Now, it's his turn to build her up. He won't snap chat her inspirational quotes. He can't leave little post-its behind, mostly because her pre-match and post-match snack is Vegemite and he can't stand the smell of the stuff. Ugh. And he definitely won't... He stops the train of thought and holds his phone away from his ear, turning on the camera and making an exaggerated duck-face like he's seen Naomi do with JoJo and Jimmy's daughter, he snaps the pic and then hits send.

"Oh my God!" Peels of bell like laughter leaving those strawberry lips float to his ear moments later.

"Thought you could use a pick me up, Ems." Thoughtful and there's a timbre to his baritone, one that makes her feel a shiver roll, sweetly, through her body. Her heart lifts in her chest and there's a familiar trail of goosebumps going up and down her arms.

She swallows thickly, pushing those feelings down and burying them, deep in her chest. He'll never feel the same way. He's Roman Reigns; international heartthrob and 'The Chosen One,' the one on the roster who was for sure on the fast track to being the next John Cena, this generation's standard barer of WWE, and who was she? A nobody whose career could barely get off the ground. Two false starts and the ink was, basically, barely just dry on her contract.

What could he possibly see in her?

"You're gonna be great." The timbre – soft and rumbling, gentle like a sea breeze from Sydney washing over her – brings her back. "The higher ups ain't exactly known for their brains, y'know." Teasing and she giggles, easily seeing him – crystal clear – in her mind's eye, stretched across his bed – one arm tucked behind his head, hair falling around like a midnight halo. Shirtless. Basketball shorts slung low. Her knees quake. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip.

"Yeah?" She can barely hear herself over the pounding of her heart, her imagination getting away from her, and she wonders how he heard her when he answers, "Fuck yeah, Ems. You got everything it takes to be great. These false starts don't mean shit in the end. Look at me. When I came back after getting hurt, I was booed outta Philly. Now, I'm getting a pop, maybe it's because Dean and I are teaming together again, I don't know, but nobody thought I was ever gonna crawl out of that hole after the Rumble, but I did. You'll get over. You got too much talent not to."

"And Roman Reigns is never wrong?" Teasing slips off her tongue, sweet and easy, like all the times before and it's like she wasn't down on herself.

"Damn straight, Ems."

Ems. Ems. Ems. Ems. Over and over until his honeyed baritone saying his nickname for her, draws her into a warm slumber.

"You don't look happy to see me," Dropping her bags with a hollow thud as Emma shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, having burst through the door to Roman's locker room.

Paige had invited her, confiding that she thought Dean was going to propose and freaking out about what to keep stashed in her bags, just in case he did, since he was so unpredictable. And also telling Emma she thought it would be good for Roman – who wasn't quite himself with the match against the Wyatts at Night of Champions looming – if he saw her.

What Emma didn't know is that hiding in Roman's cubby – where he hung his gear – was a stuffed kangaroo. Was being the operative word. He came to change and found the plush toy, destroyed, stuffing everywhere and a note was left behind.

My reach goes far beyond the confines of the main roster. I see everything, nothing escapes me. And I have seen you with her. How enamored you are. Maybe you don't know, but I know, Roman, I know. And don't you know? Bubbles are so fragile. They float – shiny and shimmering, so beautiful – but the higher they float, the sooner they'll pop and disappear.

"Paige thought... Well, it doesn't matter what she thought," A sad shrug of slim shoulders. "I'm just going to go..."

"Emma..." Never Emma, always, Ems and her heart sinks just as her nose wrinkles. "You always call me Ems." Pitiful, like, a little girl facing the impending sadness of her best friend moving away.

"Tell me you won't wander around to go find Neville or Summer, that you'll stay by Paige's side tonight." There's something in the familiar rumble of his baritone that she doesn't recognize. He's pleading, but why he's pleading, she doesn't know. "I need you to say you won't."

"Why?" Tumbling off of shaking lips. He's there – barely an inch of space between them – in two long strides. A gloved hand molding to the plane of her cheek. His scent – fresh, just from the shower but deep and woodsy, something spicy underneath – invades her nose and she can't help but breathe it in, deeply. He's never been this close before and her pulse thrums like a train gaining speed on tracks. Hear heart's thundering in her ears, and how can he not hear?

"Found somethin' in my locker before you came in." He's bending or she's on her toes, she doesn't know, but their foreheads are touching. "Little present from that fucking bastard Wyatt. A plush kangaroo." Gloved fingers stroking her cheek. "Stuffing was everywhere. A creepy note came with it. Some shit about bubbles popping and disappearing. Present was about you. That's why you gotta stay with Paige. If you wander off and he or Harper or, fuck," A deadly growl, and it should be wrong, but wanton lust curls at the base of her spine. "Strowman get their dirty hands on you, I won't be responsible for what I do."

"Leati..."

There it is... Her saying his name and it's like – with those bright aqua eyes staring at him – everything's stripped away. He's laid bare before her, and it should fucking scare him cause this – what she's doing to him – didn't even happen with Jessica, JoJo's mother.

He doesn't know when it happened, when he saw her as more, when this heat of want began to simmer inside of his veins from the thought of tasting those strawberry lips, of having the weight of full breasts in the heft of his hands. How he could get to see that tan flush peach from his lips and his dick. How she'd feel – perfect – underneath him, legs spread and aqua eyes dark like sapphires but as open and honest as ever.

But it's there and it's real, so real he can taste it, as if he's experienced her arousal coating his tongue.

"Ems..." Right there against, husked, against the softness of her lips; her breathing warming his face.

"I never thought..." Aqua eyes glistening, a tiny hiccup. "Me?" Baffled but hopeful, and he realizes he's holding her heart in his hands. Because in those aqua eyes there is her heart, literally, and his own heart trips in his chest, a feeling she can only inspire.

"You." Confirmation and in one word, he's giving her his heart to hold in those slender hands, and he wonders if her heart is tripping.

"But you're..." She's backed away, arms flailing, in every direction. "You." Disjointed and confused, brows burrowing down and frown crossing her pretty features. She's adorable. Like a kitten tangled in yarn. "And I'm..." Now her arms are motioning up and down her toned frame. "Me." She plucks strands of her hair and goes cross-eyed, which makes his chest shake with laughter.

"Such a goof," Under his breath, but he's sure there hasn't been a wider smile on his face that hasn't had to do with JoJo. "An adorable goof," And no, he does not miss the shiver rolling through those wonderful curves, made more obvious by the body-con dress hugging every inch. "A..." Low and rumbling, pulling her back into his arms, which wind easily around her petite body. "Pretty goof, too."

"Roman..." Shaky and still unsure, insecurity spoken loud and clear with every soft syllable.

"Emma..." Falling off his lips before he seals them against her own, drawing hers into a kiss.

Their noses and foreheads bump, it's not the most perfectly executed kiss, not quite the moment he imagined when the first simmer of want flowed through his veins at the thought of kissing her. But there's a giggle on her lips, and she has to pull back, peels of laughter now spilling forward and there's a flush coloring her cheeks and he laughs, too, because hers is contagious.

He can't remember laughing like this around anyone but her. He feels the invisible weight of the impending clash at Night of Champions, being lifted away. For the first time in too long he isn't thinking of Wyatt and his twisted family.

"Looks like English was right. You," One of his arms reaches out, pulling her all the way in again. Her crown of golden rod hair tucked perfectly under his chin. "Being around is good for me. My head's clearer than it's been in a long damn while. But you still gotta promise me you won't be wanderin' off on your own."

"Swamp monsters don't scare me." Defiant but looking for all the world, face scrunched into an unrecognizable scowl, like a puffed up kitten hissing and spitting after being dunked in a tub.

"Don't think Dean and I won't lock you and English up somewhere..." A menacing growl rumbling from deep inside his chest.

"Kiss me again," Murmured with heat as she rises to her tip toes, breath ghosting across his face. "And I'll promise."

This kiss is more like the kisses he imagined exchanging with her; warm with tongues dancing lazily and hands roaming everywhere, finally being able to map those curves and getting to feel her fingers clutching at his hair, gripping tight to keep his lips against hers.

The kiss is only broken due to air-starved lungs, but it's a pleasant burning, and as she breathes in and out, trying to catch the breath he stole, he tells her, "I kept up my end of the bargain, Ems."

Huffing and there's this adorable little pout crossing strawberry lips. A roll of aqua eyes comes next. "Fine," Put out like JoJo when she doesn't get ice cream or get to stay up late.

"I just got you. I don't wanna worry about losing you already."

"I can take care of myself, you know."

"Believe me," Husky and drowning in want. "I know you can take care of yourself, Ems. It's not like I've never seen you in the ring. But Wyatt and his Big Black Sheep and Harper ain't Peyton Royce or Carmella."

"You watch me?" Pure adoration, so much, it almost breaks his heart. "Of course I do. I've watched you since the first Takeover Paperview before Paige got called up. That was a hell of a match you two put on. I haven't stopped watching since. I told you, Ems, you're a damn good wrestler. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. You're time's gonna come, and when it does, you'll blow everybody away. Believe..." A smooth smirk blooming over lush lips and he isn't surprised when she punches his shoulder. "That." He finishes, anyway, and there's another roll of aqua eyes.

"Ha-ha-ha. And I thought I was supposed to be the corny one."

"I think I got a lot of work to do before I take the corny title off you." He raises his hand, blocking her in-coming punch, and laces their fingers together. "Tonight's gonna be tough. I'm glad Paige got you to come down here. Tomorrow's gonna be even tougher. With you two in our corner, we'll come out guns blazing, ready to tear that twisted-ass family down."

"You and Dean will be fine." Assuring as she squeezes his hand. "You've got this. When your backs are against the wall, that's when you two are at your best. Whoever your partner is for tomorrow, I bet they have that same mentality. The Wyatts won't know what hit them. And I'll be right there cheering you on."

"Not goin' back down to Tampa then?"

"Not after what just happened between us. I need to spend at least one night with you before I have to go back. Speaking of cheering you on..." Cheeky and a streak of naughty through those aqua eyes. "Don't get ready to lash out when you feel someone grabbing that bum of yours as your stomping down," An exaggerated version of the scowl he wears to the ring, and it takes everything for Roman not to burst into laughter. "The stairs with Dean. Just giving you," Cheeky once more as she waves jauntily. "A head's up, that it's me!"

"Next NXT taping you best be walking down the steps, too, so I can return the favor, Ems."

"Oooooh..." Slipping from strawberry lips just as he leans down, capturing another kiss, before leaving to face the Wyatts.