So, this is my first ever story. I'm quite nervous to be publishing it to be honest, because I have no idea how people are going to like it. I've been reading fanfic for a while now and I've been tempted to write some. So, I gave it a try! I hope you guys like it and please review, even if it's to critique! Any sort of opinion is welcomed. Enjoy reading!

Their journey started as teenagers. Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes met backstage while their fathers were in the ring performing. Their fathers' noticeable absences were a common point from which endless conversation ensued. Their lives' stories were poured out to one another. Over the years, they had kept in touch, sometimes running into each other. But their friendship blossomed in rapid rates when Cody got called up to the main roster.

Randy took Cody under his wing. He warned him from the dangers of this business, passed on his knowledge and never backed down from critiquing his matches to help him grow as a wrestler and entertainer. On the other hand, Cody had become his confidant. He never failed to be there for Randy. Whenever the latter had a problem or something to get off his chest, he wouldn't go to Ted, he wouldn't go to John, he wouldn't even go to his wife – he would go to Cody. They both understood each other. They didn't need words to express that, they just knew it.

Randy wasn't one to show much emotion, if any, and he wouldn't exactly warm up a room with love and joy. In fact, "cold as ice" is how he mostly was described. Cody was very much aware of that. They both were. But Cody never got to confront this side of Randy.

That bond of theirs got tighter during the Legacy days, but fast forward to today in 2012, and they are still as close as ever.

Cody has had best friends over the years. Ted DiBiase is one of them, for example. But for some reason he didn't quite fathom, what he felt for them wasn't what he felt for Randy. It was different. He is there for his friends whenever he can be. But with Randy, he would go to hell and back if it meant being his back bone, his support system. He just didn't get why it was so different. Why Randy was so different.

Why did he care so deeply about him? Why did he sigh whenever he'd excuse himself from the room to talk to his wife on the phone? Why did he feel a pang in his chest whenever he saw Randy laughing away with her at a gathering? Why did he feel like smiling whenever Randy would complain about his issues with her?

That confusion often ate away at Cody. At one point, it was all he can he could think about. For a while there, he almost convinced himself it was because he admired him so much. He thought idolatry had everything to do with this. But Cody definitely isn't one to fool to himself. He knew that wasn't it. So he set aside that theory and came to a much more rational conclusion (after days, weeks and months of thinking about it). The fact that Randy had basically chosen him to be his go-to companion created this sense of protectiveness towards him. He still had his doubts, but, he would settle for that reasoning.

What he didn't know was that this confusion mirrored Randy's…

He didn't know what that kid had over him. He truly didn't. Admittedly, Randy was one tormented by his own thoughts. They take on a life of their own and drag him to this weird place he just couldn't get out of at times. Sometimes, he felt like his Voices gimmick was well and truly a reality. It also didn't help matters that growing up, he didn't trust anyone. His experience in the military only aggravated that. He saw people as just vile, hypocritical robots walking on two legs. The wrestling business was the epitome of that. People would rather spend more time gossiping than training. Nothing and no one was genuine. Randy would rather sit and rot alone in a dark corner than ever socializing with his colleagues. Ted DiBiase and John Cena were sort of exceptions to that rule. He was cool with them, but that was about it.

He tried turning to his wife when help was needed. But all she seemed to do was submerge him into a deeper sea of thoughts. Dark ones, at that. So, he just stopped. He was no masochist and certainly didn't need the headache.

He keeps all of his thoughts bottled up inside. They almost overcome him, threaten to crush him…until Cody shows up. He just has this ability to erase them, make them vanish into thin air. It's as if he was the perfect antidote to these "voices". He just knows the right things to do at the right time. What confused Randy even more was that, sometimes, Cody didn't even need to utter words to make him feel better. Sometimes, it'd take just a touch of his' on his shoulder. Sometimes it was just his presence…

That train of thoughts popped up in his head quite a lot. It takes him to another world. Another world that wasn't so bad. Thinking of Cody wasn't bad.

They consume the other's brain more times than they don't.

Their mutual understanding is one that surpassed one between two friends or two brothers. They knew that much, albeit never saying out loud. They don't comprehend much when it comes to their bond or its nature. But that puzzlement never comes into play when they're in each other's presences, though. They are just so easy-going when they're together. Everything comes so naturally. Conversation is fluid and awkwardness never rears its ugly head. Getting bored of the other is most likely impossible.

They really do just go with the flow, no questions asked. It was like driving a car with no brakes. They didn't know where the road might take them…