(01)
Have you ever imagined that picture of a crying woman, slumped against his son and holding on to him like her life depended on him? Well, that son who was now awkwardly petting his mother's back would be me, Randy Orton. Completely awkward and uncomfortable. Consolation isn't really my strong point. Not that I don't like to hug her, mind you, but I didn't want to do it in the middle of an airport-if you can call this place that. I mean, there was only one, small plane that could fit only about ten people were here except for my private jet. Mom sniffed and finally freed me from her death grip, stepping back and tucking a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. I gave her a small smile and moved on to dad, embracing him in a brief hug.
"It's good to see you son," he mumbled, patting me on the back and taking one of my bags from my hand. Nodding, I took my shades off, tucking them on the neckline of my t-shirt.
"Where's Nate?" I asked, wondering where my seven year's old little bratty brother was.
"He was still asleep when we left. So we asked John to babysit him while we came to get you," mom said, chuckling softly.
"John?" I echoed. John Cena was my childhood best friend. And it was just that, keyword being childhood. I haven't seen him for twelve years since I left to Ohio for Wrestling School. Yes, an odd job, being a wrestler. But it was what I've always wanted to be and now that I've achieved my goal and made a pretty good name in the industry nothing else mattered to me now.
"Yeah, John. You do remember him, don't you Randal?" mom asked. How could I not? Whenever I called them while touring, all they talked about was John, John, John. He had become their own son after I've left them. It hurt, but I was good at hiding the pain in my famous mask.
"Yeah," I swallowed. "Yeah."
The ride to home was silent, at least on my part. Mom filled the air with her chatter of all the things in the town that I've missed. I tuned her out after sometime and I think she noticed it too, because she stopped talking after a while. I gazed out of the crappy old Chevy truck my father drove. For the past fifteen minutes, we've passed countless green fields. Maybe that's why people called this town Mystic Greenfield, despite the fact that there was nothing 'mystic' in the fields. Everywhere was green, and the air was humid, a comforting atmosphere for anyone else but me. I was nervous and nausea was rolling in my stomach. I swallowed hard again to block bile that was rising up my throat.
Maybe it was the long flight which exhausted me to near death. Or maybe it was because I just didn't want to be here. I didn't want to come home. I really didn't. But coming home was better than spending sixty days in an apartment all by yourself, right?
"We're here," dad announced, cutting the engine and jumping out of his seat. Snapping out of my trance I quickly got out, helping mom to climb out of the truck after me. The house looked the same as I remembered, except that it was painted light blue instead of cream color. Buttercups and white roses were grown along the path that lead to the house, making it look old fashioned. The house itself was made of granite, big and strong, two storeys and a wooden front porch. Slinging the backpack over my shoulder, skipped up the front porch and waited until dad and mom came. I opened the door and was immediately hit by an amazing smell of freshly brewed coffee.
Dropping the bag on the spot, I slowly walked to the kitchen. I placed my hand on the door frame and leaned against it, inspecting the man in the kitchen. As if feeling my presence, he spoke, all the while adjusting the meter on the coffee machine. "Coffee is all ready, Mrs. Orton. Just a few minutes and the pancakes will be ready too." This is John?
"Good, I was starving," I said, breaking the silence on my mom's side, since she was nowhere to be seen. His eyes snapped to me as I replied, his neck creating a soft popping sound at the speed he turned. Wincing slightly he rubbed the back of his neck, wide eyes still focused on me.
"Randy?" he asked, his voice hoarse all of a sudden. Raising my eye brow I gave him an amused smile, stretching my arms.
"Who else would it be?"
He snorted, his sapphire eyes roaming over my body once and then he turned back to his work, cooking breakfast. Boy, has he changed. Before I left, he was this scrawny kid who got bullied everyday in school and had to be saved by me. Now, he was a strong looking man, with a perfectly toned body with an athletic look. Hell, he was even bigger than me. I was pretty slender compared to him. The only thing that hasn't changed were his sapphire eyes, which always sparkled like gem stones. Short brown hair and square jaws, with smiles that displayed adorable dimples were an extra bonus for him.
I sat at the dining table and watched him pour coffee to a cup and put hot pancakes to a plate, pouring maple syrup all over it. When I heard a soft yawn I turned my head towards the door, seeing Nate rubbing his eyes. Did that brat just wake up? Lucky. This was the first time I was seeing him in person, and him seeing me. I've never really talked to him on the phone, just twice over the past years. But I recognized him from the e-mails my mother sometimes sent me attaching photos. He froze when he saw me sitting on the table.
"Randy?" he called out. I was surprised he recognized me. I thought he wouldn't recognize me.
"Why does everyone keep asking that? Have I changed that much?" note the sarcasm in my voice. When Nate stared at me blankly for the followed seconds, I sighed. "Yes, Nate I'm your big bro, Randy." He squealed delightfully and ran to me. I opened my arms just in time for him to jump onto me, snaking his arms around my neck and hang on to it tightly. His childish twinkling laughs filled my ears and I couldn't help but hug him, ruffling his soft hair. Then he froze again, pulling away just enough to look at my face.
"Why didn't you want to come here? Didn't you want to see me or mom? Or dad?" his little eyebrows furrowed at the question while I scrunched up my face in guilt. I knew John had stopped whatever he was doing and was now waiting for my response too. Quickly composing my guilty expression I gave Nate an apologetic smile, bumping my nose against his button nose.
"It's not that, little buddy. I was just busy," I lied smoothly. Though, it was actually a half-lie. "My boss is a big, bad guy who never let his workers go on a vacation. I had to work very hard to get his permission," yeah, like getting busted.
I heard John sigh softly but I didn't dare to look at him. It was as if he knew that I was lying. Nate nodded and squirmed out of my hold, running around the table and wrapping his arms around John. John laughed heartily and patted Nate's head while Nate greeted him enthusiastically. I looked away, jealousy eating me alive. This was what I had missed. And even if I stayed here for the rest of my life, I knew I wasn't going to get the same reaction they acted around John from anyone. I sighed again and ate my meal, savoring the homey taste in my mouth. I finished it quickly and dumped it in the sink. I was never a one to do the dishes.
"John, why don't you help Randy carry his bags to his room?" mom said, entering the kitchen and scooping up Nate in her arms, pecking him on the nose. John nodded and hurried out of the kitchen, gesturing me to follow him. We firstly pulled the bags-I had six of them-out of the back of the truck and placed it on the ground. John decided that he would carry the three suitcases while I was left with the two shoulder bags alone with the backpack I dropped in the middle of the living room. My gawked for a while seeing John carry those heavy suitcases effortlessly, before shaking my head and going into the house again.
He dropped them on my bed, his massive chest rising and falling according to the heavy breaths he took. "What do you have in them? Bricks?"
Glaring at him playfully, I put my hands on my hips. "It's not my fault that you can't carry a bag for life's sake."
Rolling his eyes, he threw his arms in the air. "This is your room."
"Thank you for stating the obvious," I placed hand above my heart and batted my eye lashes at him, smiling sweetly. Again, note my sarcasm.
John laughed, shaking his head. "You haven't changed one bit, Orton. Get some rest today because from tomorrow, you won't be getting any." He gave a mischievous smile and went for the door. What the hell did he mean? "Oh, and Randy," I turned to look at him. "I missed you."
With that he left, leaving me in the middle of the room dumbfounded. His confession was so sincere that it made me feel guilty all over again. I had left him here without a second glance and yet he was being nice to me. If I was in his shoes, I would've kicked myself till my ass is raw. Good thing that I wasn't him.
The day was spent normally. I had to give them every detail about my life in the city-but I did cut out some important parts from them-and by the bed time, my jaws were throbbing and my throat was sore from all the talking. I didn't even stay up for dinner.
XXXXXX
"Get up, lazy head!"
I groaned, throwing a pillow at whoever disturbed my beauty sleep. When it was chucked back in my face, I jolted up, cursing loudly.
"FUCKING HELL!"
"Nu-uh, boy. You can't cuss here. Come on, get up," John gave a bright beam which I found annoying. I scowled and turned my back on him, waving a hand off. "Randy," he warned but I snuggled against the soft pillow, gripping the blankets tightly. Then suddenly, the covers were yanked off me.
Bad move.
Because I slept naked.
"Oh my God!" John exclaimed, slapping his hands over his eyes like they burned. I cursed again, this time tucking the comforter over my head so my whole body was covered including my crimson face.
"You can open your eyes now," I said, my voice muffled because I was biting my bottom lip hard. I was so embarrassed that I wanted a hole to open up in the ground and swallow me to hell right now. Why did John have to come into my room? Why did he have to wake up so early? From the glimpse I've caught, it wasn't even morning yet.
John sighed heavily and then he was silent for a second, before he burst out laughing. I felt more embarrassed and stayed hidden under the covers, not wanting to look at John. I didn't want to see his face again today, or rather forever after this incident. God, my life sucks. I heard John clear his throat, cutting out his laugh. "Wake up and get ready. We have work to do," his voice was held back and I knew he was trying to not to burst out laughing again. Glaring from under the covers I nodded, only to remember that John couldn't see me. I mumbled a 'yes' and waited until I hear the door to my room close, before peeking from my hiding spot. When the coast was clear, I fell threw away the covers and felt a cool breeze brush against my body from the now opened windows. I shivered lightly and got up, grabbing a towel from my backpack and wrapping it around my waist before taking a set of clothes and my tooth brush, heading downstairs.
I met no one on my way to the bathroom and luckily, the bathroom was vacant. I could have it all to myself. I quickly brushed my teeth and stepped under the shower, turning the knob on the wall. Ice cold water poured down from the shower head and I jumped back, yelping in surprise. The damn bathroom had no hot water shower. Of course, this wasn't a fancy hotel room that I mostly stayed. This was my home. Scoffing, I stepped under the shower and hissed when my body froze at the temperature of the water but it soon adjusted to it. Like always, I let my mind wander about things that I would do today and what my friends back in the city might be doing right now.
After about an hour of wasting the water I got out, drying myself and wearing the clothes I brought. I sprayed the deo all over and a little bit extra than usual before wearing my t-shirt. Who knows what I'd be doing today? Jogging to the kitchen I saw mom reading the newspaper while drinking a glass of milk. I kissed her temple and sat down beside her, peeping in the newspaper. "Whatcha looking?"
"Just local news, baby. Oh," she looked up at me from her newspaper and frowned. "John said he would be at the stables. He wanted you to be there."
"What about my breakfast?" I asked my stomach rumbling from the lack of food.
"It's too early to eat, kiddo. I will make something for you when you get back," she said, fixing her attention on the newspaper again. Damn. So I wasn't going to get breakfast until I do whatever it is with John? Thanks, mom. Way to treat your son after he came home after twelve years. I slid up from my seat and walked out of the kitchen and out of the house. I made my way to the back of the house, where the stables were. The hot smell of horse's sweat reached my nose and I wrinkled it, not used to the smell. The stables seemed to be empty. My eyes wandered around, trying to find John as I walked slowly to the back of the stables. When I felt something sticky on the side of my neck I jerked back, my hand immediately going to my neck and feeling a thick liquid.
"Eww," I said, wiping the sticky thing on my jeans and looking at the source it had oozed from. A particular horse was looking at me, its teeth on full display like it was grinning at me. I shifted my gaze to the diamond shaped white spot on its forehead to the unruly black hair of the black horse which covered one of its chocolate brown eyes. I gasped. "Bess?"
My horse. It neighed loudly and bobbed its head vigorously like it was confirming my question.
"I guess you found him," I spin around to face John, red coloring my cheeks again as I remembered our last encounter.
"Found him?"
"Yup. He's been missing for two days. Don't worry though," he added at the look on my face. "Unlike other horses we let him roam free. He always comes back so there was no need to tie him up."
I nodded, turning my attention to the raven haired horse again. I lifted my hand slowly, resting it on his forehead, rubbing circles on his skin. He pressed his head against my hand. "You remember me. You were a little one when I left," suddenly I remembered something. "Where's Alora?" I glanced at John saw his smile dim a bit.
"She, uh, died," John said in a low voice. Alora was Bess' mother, a pure white horse with white hair. Before Bess was borne she had been the one I adored. I felt a tug at my chest, which meant that I still cared about her and I had missed the chance to see her one last time. "Wolf attack."
I nodded, tearing my eyes away from Bess. His eyes reminded me of Alora. We rarely ever got wolf attacks, but when it did, it always left a damage that we couldn't fix. Like that time when one grey wolf bit Grandpa's leg which resulted him losing his left leg for the rest of his life. But he never blamed the animal for that.
"You might want to change into boots if you're going to work," John cleared his throat, breaking the silence. I looked at my sneakers. "You might not want to ruin them. Yesterday rained and the roads are muddy."
"What are we going to do?" I asked, taking the pair of boots John handed to me.
"We're going to take the horses for a walk," he said, dumping a few apples on a leather bag and fastening it on his shoulder. He took a bucket as well, which had a brush and soap inside it. "We're taking them to the meadows today."
I nodded, taking the basket from him and turning to Bess, gesturing him to follow me. To my utter surprise, he followed the order spitting on my shoulder while strutting towards me.
"You really need to stop spitting on me," I grumbled, smacking its head and it whined like it hurt him. I heard John laugh loudly and shout "he just missed you too". Cracking a smile I shook my head, patting Bess' long neck.
Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts about this, if I should continue. I don't own anything but the plot, and some scenes were inspired by some movies I've watched, but not in this chapter. I don't know if there's a town called Mystic Greenfield because the story is strictly fictional. Nothing happened in real life like in this story and I'm not making any money from this. This is for utter personal enjoyment so you can discard the idea of suing me. Thank you.