Chapter 1

"Daddy can we put some money in the Red Kettle?"

Hunter smiled and looked down at his daughter, whose eyes were gleaming in the dim sunlight. Her breath floated out of her mouth from exhaustion in white clouds like that of smoke.

"Sure honey," He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few dollar bills. "Here. Take your sisters with you and be careful."

"Okay, Daddy."

As Aurora quickly walked over to her sisters, laughing, they slowly managed to approach a man in a Santa suit ringing a small bell and looking around at the people passing by him. Hunter shook his head and watched as the girls took turns putting money into the red kettle and thanking the man, who thanked them back and continued to shout and ring the bell, his head turning this way and that.

Hunter slowly approached his children and said, "All right, girls, we better get home. Your Mom's going to worry about us if we don't get back in time for dinner."

"Why does the man wear Santa's clothes when Santa lives at the North Pole?" Aurora asked.

"I don't know, honey. Maybe he borrowed them."

The girls laughed and quickly grabbed hands, walking side by side together so they wouldn't get lost in the crowds. Hunter smiled and thought about how, as a young boy, he used to think about Santa's Reindeer and how they were any different from regular Deer. They had antlers, yes, but most Deer couldn't fly. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts when the ringing of the bell became loud in his ears as they passed.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Does Santa collect the money that people give to the Red Kettles?"

"No," Hunter shook his head. "He lets the nice people give the money to needy kids and families all over the world."

"Why?"

"Because most families need it, otherwise they could go hungry and stuff."

Aurora nodded her head and quickly gripped one of her sister's hands as they came across a big group of people passing them by, some of them looking at magazines and there phones. Hunter looked down at his girls and a smile draped across his face as he quickly grabbed the remains of some money in his pockets and dropped it in the Red Kettle just as the people were clear.

"Merry Christmas." Hunter said.

The Man in the Santa suit smiled and quickly said, "Merry Christmas."

A few minutes later, Hunter and the girls quickly made it to their car and opened the car door. Hunter made sure the girls were safely in the car and quickly turned the keys, the ignition starting immediately. He wiped the few bits of snow off the windows and drove onto the street.

Hunter kept an eye on the road and watched the other cars as they passed lanes and slowing down from the sleet in the roads. He listened carefully to his surroundings, but couldn't help but hear the girls whispering in the backseat. He smiled and continued driving, hoping to catch a few words of their conversation.

Just as he was about to slow down and hit the turn signal, he noticed something in the distance. Something he couldn't believe was still around.

He quickly came to a stop and made sure the other cars behind him did the same thing. He sighed and looked over towards that something. He took a deep breath when he recognized the bright bed light gleaming outside the fog covered windows and the front door still in tact with an Open sign hanging from a needle and rope. Big clouds of smoke could be seen in the distance, even when rain or snow clouds hung overhead. It was almost as if he could smell the food and wine again, coming back to him with a taste on his tongue. And the sign. The sign was still the same, the red and green words still there. It read, Mango's.

"Daddy, the light's green." Aurora said.

"Oh."

Hunter slowly brought his foot down on the gas peddle and looked forward, driving the rest of the way back home. He couldn't help but think about that place. That one place where he used to spend nights with his friends and get to know some of the people there.

Other times, he sat alone pondering about his career. Where he needed some time to think.


2002. Christmas Eve.

Hunter sipped a little of hot coffee and cleared his throat, looking around at the people sitting at tables and laughing or talking to one another. Some of them were in groups, others were alone, but couples were sitting there talking to each other. He watched as one elderly man kissed an older woman's hand, lifting his head up to smile and looked in the woman's eyes, which looked happy as she smiled and placed the man's hand on her cheek. Hunter smiled and slowly looked away, hoping not to draw attention to the couple.

"Congratulations are in order, my friend." Road Dogg Jessie James said as he sat down across the table, smiling.

"What for?" Hunter said, gripping the coffee cup.

"Well, it's a new year and a new bride for you."

"Bride?"

"You want to get married, don't you?"

Hunter sighed. He had been seeing this girl awhile now and didn't know how to please her. All she did was whine about her day, talk all night to her friends on the phone, and sleep in another room because she didn't want to commit too fast. The best thing about her was the way she looked at him and kissed him before he went out to his matches.

"I don't know," Hunter said slowly. "I'm not into marriage right now. Why? Are you getting married?"

"Heaven's no, man, I-I don't know if I want to get married. I'll just stay in relationships the rest of my life."

"Seems fair to me."

Hunter sipped his coffee again and tried to think of other things besides marraige, matches, or just life in general. Just sitting at Mango's eating a few steaks and drinking some coffee was soothing enough.

"Billy and I were thinking about teaming up again."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, we got some things to talk over with Vince first," Jessie stopped talking when he saw a waitress bring over a plate of steak and set it down in front of him. "Thank you. Anyway, I was hoping you'd reconsider your decision to win the Royal Rumble."

"Why?"

"I think maybe Vince wants you to win so he can show his Daughter how good a man you are." Hunter took a deep breath. "Sure."

"I think it would do you some good since you've been working nonstop the past few weeks."

"Thanks, but it's already been settled. I want to win the Royal Rumble and take a shot at the Championship at WrestleMania."

"Why the Championship?"

Hunter shrugged as he watched his friend eat a piece of steak off a fork and drink a few sips of soda. The one thing he really wanted was for everyone to leave him alone, but it seemed impossible when everyone around him would talk about his chances of winning and going on to WrestleMania. Not to mention his past being brought up almost every week.

"I think it'd be nice to win something than to prove something."

Jessie nodded his head and, with a mouth full of steak, said, "Good advice."

Hunter looked at his lap for a few minutes, thinking about what happened on New Year's Day with his girlfriend. All she wanted was to talk and spend time with her friends. Laughing about things that didn't seem worth mentioning. He thought it was funny how, a few years ago, all he wanted to do every day was hang out with his friends despite having more important things to do.

"Oh, boy." Jessie's voice seemed uneasy.

"What?"

"Look who's here."

Jessie pointed a few seconds over Hunter's shoulder, his face stern as he continued chewing on his steak. Hunter looked over and saw the same old people sitting at tables and talking, as well as the waitress's giving out orders and smoothing down their short skirts.

Then, he noticed a few people walking into the restaurant, their faces happy, but as soon as the crowd dispersed, Hunter suddenly realized he was staring at someone who he thought could never show his face again. With his long hair and neatly pressed clothes, Shawn didn't seem all that happy as he sat down at a table far away from the man staring back at him.

Hunter turned around slowly, his blood boiling beneath his trembling skin.

"I see you've noticed." Jessie said, picking up a glass of soda.

"You didn't have to bother telling me."

"What happened between you two, anyway?"

Hunter clenched his fists. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Hunter, you should at least say something to him."

"No, thanks."

"Don't you two have some things to catch up on?"

Hunter looked at Jessie, staring him down, and watched as his friend put his hands in front of him briefly and lowered his head. Hunter sighed and quickly looked over his shoulder, staring at Shawn, wanting to see what he could do to embarrass himself. He watched Shawn stare down at the floor, his arms resting on the table, looking like something happened to make him seem depressed. Hunter smiled at that, but quickly turned around when he saw Shawn's head snap up.

"So...what you getting your girl for Christmas?"

"I got her a pair of earrings she had her eye on." Hunter sighed, then smiled. "You got to see Shawn. He's losing it."

Jessie cleared his throat and looked at Shawn, seeing his body relaxed and his eyes staring back at the two men. Shawn looked like he wanted to say something, but kept swallowing and soon looked back down at the floor.

"Yeah, he's losing it alright," Jessie said, looking back at Hunter. "He's losing a friend he thought he could trust."

"He didn't care about our friendship. He wanted the fame, he got the fame, and pretty soon it all became too much to handle for him. That's all."

Jessie watched Hunter's eyes. How angry they looked when he talked about Shawn.

"Seems like he didn't know how to handle the fame and friends at the same time, but he always wanted something to do with you."

Hunter shook his head, smiling. "You don't get it. He blamed me for everything, even when I tried to help him. What kind of friend is that?"

"He couldn't help himself. Once that stuff gets to you, everything seems like your fault. So...you try to fix it the only way you know how."

Hunter sipped some coffee and set the cup down. "And you know what that's like?"

"Yes."

Hunter paused and slowly sighed, trying to make sense of Jessie's conversation. He wanted to try to help Shawn, but Shawn never wanted help. Only one time Shawn ever asked him for help, and that ended up a disaster. Now, all he wanted was to keep his new friends safe and let the old one's come crawling back. He would never accept Shawn's apology. Ever.

"He looks like he's on something." Jessie said, chewing slowly, darting his eyes towards Shawn.

"That's what it does to you."

Jessie sighed and slowly said, "Come on, man. It's almost Christmas. At least say something to him so-"

"So he can blame me for something again, huh?"

"No," Jessie said. "So you two can put it all your problems in the past."

Hunter stood up slowly and threw a napkin on the table. He looked at Jessie, who seemed uneasy, and clenched his fists.

"Shawn is my past."

Then, Hunter slowly walked away from the table, past the oncoming people, and past Shawn, who stared at the floor with just catching Hunter's shadow moving across the floor.


Hours later, Hunter began to smirk slightly as he lifted another bottle to his lips, feeling the cold liquid pour down his throat. He wiped remaining drops off his chin and looked around, seeing just a few people were left in the restaurant. He tried to check his watch, but his arm didn't move up so he decided to look at the bartender.

"H-How much time is it?"

The bartender looked at the man and said, "We close in about an hour."

Hunter nodded his head and laughed. "Did you see the look on that man's face?"

"What man?" The bartender wiped a cloth on a wet plate.

"The man at the t-table over there."

Hunter found the strength to lift up his hand and point over towards a set of tables, one of which still sat a lonely Shawn.

"I'd leave that beer alone for awhile."

The bartender stretched out his hand and tried to take the bottle away from Hunter, but Hunter snatched the bottle away from his grasp and drunk some more out of it. After two gulps, the bottle slowly felt light and the bartender shook his head.

Hunter placed the bottle on the counter and said, "Give me another."

"You've had enough. Now get out before I call security."

Hunter growled under his breath and slowly stood up, taking in the words, stumbling and reaching out to grab on to an object. He managed to grab on to a stool and slowly walked upright towards the exit. All sorts of colors passed him as he noticed the exit sign in the far corner, walking past empty tables and seeing a few people talking nearby.

He almost felt like he was a few steps close to the exit when he heard a sound.

"Hey, Hunter."