A/N: Well hello, everyone! Quite a few of you asked me in the last chapter of What I Like About You if I'd be writing a new story soon... and the answer is yes. This is basically a little something for myself and my sister from another mister, but I would still love for you guys to have a read and let me know what you think!
Here comes the first chapter. I hope you all enjoy. Mwah.
Chapter 1 – The Other Runnels'
The two young brunettes walked down the freshly painted corridors of their hometown arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, the pair of them separated by the large man that stood in between them, who just so happened to be their father.
Abigail turned to look at Virgil, better known as Dusty Rhodes, and smiled nervously as she noticed the look of pride placed on his features. She had always been close to her father, perhaps because she had always been interested in becoming a wrestler, but she had never loved him as much as she did now. Because of him and his link to Vince, he had managed to get not only her brothers, but now herself, a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.
Her sister, on the other hand, was feeling quite the opposite.
"Daddy, why do I have to be here?" Harley, the youngest and also shortest of the siblings whined, pouting childishly towards her father, "Please let me come home with you."
"How many times have I got to tell you that you're not coming home, Har," He sighed, shaking his head back and forth, "There is nothing for you there. Here, you can support your sister, and hopefully get a taste for the business as well."
"Please," She rolled her eyes. Unlike her sister, Harley had never been interested in the wrestling world. She didn't see the fascination behind a bunch of sweaty men tackling each other and faking punches, even if it was in her blood, "You know I don't want this."
"Well what do you expect us to do?" Her father asked, wrapping an arm around his eldest daughter's shoulder as he turned to the other with a frown, "Your mother and I have supported you for two years now, waiting for you to follow this actress dream, but you've done nothing to pursue it, Harley. You refuse to get any other job, but I can't leave you sitting around at home wasting yourself."
"Come on, sis, it's not going to be that bad," Abigail smirked, leaning around her father to take in her sister. The two siblings were very much alike. In fact, all four of the brothers and sisters were close in the looks department. "Just think about all the guys that are going to be around. I know you won't say no to that..."
"No, but I will," A new, much deeper voice interrupted, and the girls turned to see none other than their brother, Cody, walking towards them, his face set in a frown.
"Like I'd want to date any of these idiots anyway," The short haired girl snuffed as they stopped in their tracks and she watched The Miz and Evan Bourne walk past.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Cody rose an eyebrow, "But I know what you're like, both of you," He turned to Abigail, narrowing his eyes, "No guys, no relationships, nada."
"Excuse me? Who died and made you Dad?" The taller girl asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually..."
"Now now, children," Their father interrupted, chuckling ever so lightly at the usual bickering that was already occurring between his kids, "Let's not get carried away. You're all going to be around each other a lot more than usual now, so please, can we try to get along?" He asked, to which all three reluctantly nodded, "Cody, would you mind introducing the girls to some of the others?"
"Why me?" He groaned, "Can't you do it, Dad? You know..."
"What happened to getting along?" Dusty interrupted again, "And to answer that, no, I've gotta go see your brother. Do you know where he is?"
Dustin, better known as Goldust, was the half brother of the three Runnel's siblings, but he was as much a part of their family as the rest of them.
"Last time I saw him he was at the gym," Cody shrugged with a childish tone, "I can't believe you're leaving me with these two."
"Oh shut up," Abigail rolled her eyes, "If you don't want to show us around, I'm sure Harley and I will manage."
"Yeah right, do you really think I'm going to let you introduce yourself to all the guys?" He bickered back.
"You're such an ass, Runnels," She glared back, before turning and giving her father a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you soon, Dad. Thank you again, for everything." She smiled, before she began to walk away, her brother hot on her heels.
The older man turned to the side, his arms folded across his chest, a sigh escaping his lips as he looked down at his younger daughter, her eyes all puppy dog like as she stared back his way.
"You should go with them, Har. You don't want to get lost."
"No, I'm coming with you," She pouted, fluffing out her short hair angrily, "I'm not staying here with these people, Daddy. I love Abi, I really do, but everyone else... you know me, and you know that I won't last five minutes without causing a problem."
"I do know you, and I know that you're capable of a lot more than you realise," He shook his head, pulling her in for a quick hug, "Please, just try it out, for me. You'll be surprised how you take to this place after a few weeks."
"Yeah, whatever," She rolled her eyes, finally realising she wasn't going to get through to him, "I'll remember this, you know."
"And one day you'll thank me," He chuckled, watching as she span around and stormed off after her siblings, "Love you, Har. Tell your sister that too. I'll speak to you both soon."
She answered with a quick waft of her hand over her shoulder, causing her father to laugh lightly for a second time. He shook his head back and forth, waiting for her to turn the corner, before he made his own way down the corridor to try and find his eldest son.
Of course, he was worried for both of his girls, especially Abigail. He knew that Harley would be able to handle herself, but as for his older daughter, he wasn't so sure. She wasn't like her sister; she didn't have the fiery personality. She had done so well so far with her training, but now she was a part of the big leagues, and he knew what type of pressure got put on your shoulders the minute you walked out into that ring. He just hoped that she would be able to find her place and not crack under that pressure. At least she would have her sister and brothers to help her through it.
"I can't believe Dad is making Harley travel with you. Taking care of one sister is bad enough, but her..." Cody shook his head as he and Abigail walked into the catering area which was bustling with activity.
The long haired brunette gulped at the site in front of her, nerves brewing in her stomach. Of course, she had been backstage a time or two before with her brothers, but she had never really been around any of the guys. She'd never been debuting for herself.
"You don't need to take care of me, Cody," She finally answered, shaking her head, "I may be three years younger than you, but I'm the mature one, remember?" She smiled lightly, "And don't worry about Har, she'll be fine once she gets used to it."
"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about," He mumbled under his breath, before he stopped and turned to look at his sister, "You okay, Abi?"
The young woman rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. Despite the tiffs that her and her brother constantly had, they still cared about each other. He had always been the typical protective big brother, but she felt the exact same about him too. She may argue with him nearly every time they spoke, but she'd take a bullet for him if she had to.
"I feel like I could upchuck any minute, but other than that, I'm fine," She chuckled, wrapping one arm around her brother for a hug.
"As long as you don't do it anywhere near me," He jokingly pushed her away, causing her to punch him on the arm playfully, "Come on then, if this is what you really want, I'll introduce you to some of the guys."
"Okay," Abigail nodded, linking arms with him as he began to lead her across the room to an empty table to begin with, "Yummy ones first?"
"Please," He rolled his eyes as he leant against the table, "I'm the only yummy guy around here."
"Umm, eww," She scrunched up her nose, before a small chuckle broke from her lips, "That's disgusting. You're my brother."
He crossed his arms across his chest and shrugged, still towering over her five foot five frame as he perched on the edge of the table. The pair stood in silence for a few moments as the young woman looked around the room, a little embarrassed to see that a few of the wrestlers were already looking her way.
"What's up, man?" A voice called, and she turned to the opposite side to see a light brown haired young man walking over to them. Once he finally stopped, he slapped hands with Cody, before turning his attention to her and nodding his head, "You must be Abigail?"
"Yeah, but its Abi," She smiled timidly; taking the hand he was holding out and shaking, "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," He smirked, "I'm Ted."
"I think she knows who you are, idiot," Cody rolled his eyes, chuckling at his friend, "She's my sister, she's been brought up with wrestling, remember?"
Abigail chuckled as she watched her brother and Ted bickering, and couldn't help feeling slightly more at ease as she saw how family like they were. She knew that they had known each other for little over a year, yet they already acted like her and her siblings did. She just hoped she could find that kind of relationship here, too.
"Oh my god, I can't believe I'm stuck here with a bunch of oversized monkeys..."
Abigail, Cody and Ted all turned to the squeaky voice behind them, and the two siblings rolled their eyes as they spotted their younger sister storming over, her face scrunched in anger as she threw her bag down next to Cody, making him jump from the table in seconds.
"Hey bitch, watch where you're throwing that thing," He shot back, but soon closed his mouth when he saw the death glare his sister was giving him, "What's wrong with you?" He sighed, throwing his hands up, before resting them on his hips.
"What's wrong with me?" She screeched, throwing herself down on the seat and flinging open her bag, "What's wrong is that instead of allowing me to do what I want, Daddy is making me travel everywhere with Abi and you hoping that I get a taste for the business. I've been here five minutes already and I hate it, there is no way I'm gonna start liking it, there's no way..."
Abigail and Cody slowly let their sister's voice zone out as they turned to each other and rolled their eyes. They were used to this by now, Harley was constantly bitching about something when they were at home with her, or even on the odd time the whole family came on the road. Ted, on the other hand, was not.
"Umm, guys... care to explain?" He cringed as she continued to rant.
"Believe me, you don't want to delve into the world of our sister," Abigail chuckled.
"Ain't that the truth," Cody sighed.
"Hmm, okay then..." Ted still looked slightly worried as he eyed the younger girl, who had now closed her mouth but was rummaging through her bag angrily, "Anyway, I'm gonna go talk to a few guys about our match later on. Don't be long, Runnels, we need to go through everything before we go out there."
"Alright man, I'm just gonna show the girls around and I'll be there," He nodded, slapping hands with the older man for a second time, before he walked off.
"So, you're finally going to show us around now, huh?" Abigail smirked.
"Show you around, don't you mean," Harley sneered, her sunglasses now in place as she began to skim through the latest Vogue magazine, "There's no way I'm going anywhere near any of them," She wafted her hand around the room.
"Whatever," Cody sighed, before he turned his attention back to his older sister, "And I would, but we might as well wait till they come to us."
"Huh?" Abigail frowned, "Why would we do that?"
"Because," He grabbed a hold of her shoulder and span her around, "I think you've caught some people's attention already."
The dark haired girl's breath caught in her throat as she watched perhaps the two most beautiful men ever walk towards her. She could feel her cheeks growing red by the minute, and she hated the fact that she was turning into her same old shy self. She needed to get over this if she was going to succeed in the business.
"Alright, Cody," The taller of the two smirked beautifully as they reached the siblings, his tattooed arm coming out to slap him on the shoulder, "And who are these two beautiful ladies you've been keeping from us?"
"Randy," Cody nodded, "These are my sisters, you know, I was telling you the other day that Abigail here was debuting this week."
"Ah yeah, I remember," He nodded, but his eyes had drifted off to something else entirely. He was no longer interested in Cody or Abigail, his gaze was locked on their younger sister, Harley, as she sat with her head shoved in her magazine.
"This is your sister too, huh?"
"Yeah, that's Harley. She's off limits," Cody folded his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow.
"Whatever you say, Runnels," Randy smirked, although his eyes never left the young woman.
Although Abigail was still stood beside her brother, she had barely heard a word he or Randy Orton had said. Like she had said, he was one of the best looking guys she'd ever seen, but compared to the man next to him, there was no comparison...
She felt stupid as her cheeks grew even redder as she tried not to stare at him in all of his glory. She had always had a secret thing for him before, when she had been visiting her brothers or when she was watching him on the television... but now that she was up close, he was even more perfect than she had first imagined.
"So, you're Abigail?" He walked forward finally, blocking out the other two guys who were talking as he smirked down at her, showing off the cutest dimples ever.
"Umm, Abi," She looked up, smiling ever so l lightly. Although she felt like the biggest ass in the world right now, she still tried her best to look remotely normal as she took the hand he was holding out for her to shake.
"Well, it's nice to see another Runnels around, Abi," He smirked again, his hand still gripping hers, "I'm John Cena, by the way."
