CHAPTER 7: THE TRUTH BURNS.. AND SO DOES THE ALCOHOL

A/N & DISCLAIMER: I am SO hoping this makes sense. It's the revelation of why John kept Liz a secret from Beth, blah blah. Long overdue I say. It's abit short but I wanted to throw something out there - this is only the beginning of the drama, I tell you! Give me feedback and if you're alittle confused pm me and I'll try and help. Check the bottom for a few extra notes

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I love you guys. Oh and I'm doing plans for all my stories next chapters soon, so expect them in the next couple of weeks. All I own is Beth!!

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7th July, 2004 : Conneticut

The rain made a soft pitter-patter noise as it hit the window while the wind howled and blew some of the leaves from the trees outside. It was the summer time but judging by the weather in Conneticut, Winter's horrible storms had decided to stay longer than expected.

Beth gazed out of her kitchen window and watched the storm. While most complained that this weather was ugly, weeks confined in a hospital bed had made her value just being out and able to see it first hand. Freedom was beautiful!

After her latest health scare and her refusal to go through with the surgery, Beth had been told that she would have to remain at the hospital on bed rest incase something happened. Though the prospect of being cooped indoors was something Beth hated, she knew that she had to do what was right for her and her baby.

So for a few weeks she had stayed in the Conneticut hospital while doctors and medical professionals took a number of tests and tried to come up with a solution that would fix her heart and allow her to deliver the baby without complications. It had been tough and with a needle phobia as bad as Beth's, the nurses had serious trouble taking blood from her without her screaming, or without her squeezing Randy's handle until it was blue.

Randy... Her heart still fluttered when she thought about him, yet a strange feeling in her gut made her feel like all was not as good as he led her to believe. Though he was still the Randy she knew at home, his deteriorating attitude at work and around others made her wonder if something had happened since she had returned back to the home they now shared.

Doctors had decided to try Beth on a new medication and the success of it had allowed her to leave the hospital. Randy had been fine up until then; Vince had taken him off house shows and allowed him to spend his time with her, and if anything the whole experience had brought them even closer together. But since then, since he had brought her back to their home, it had just been weird. Really weird.

The key in the lock told her that her other half was back. She waddled towards their front entrance and smiled warmly as he entered and closed the door behind him. She moved towards him and hugged him the best she could, becoming instantly alarmed when her nostrils picked up the harsh smell of alcohol on his breath. She wouldn't mind if this was the first time, but lately this seemed to be his routine. He'd come off the road, spend the morning with her and then make up some excuse that he was going to the gym, only to come back around this time stinking of liquor. She knew that he wasn't an alcoholic, but if he didn't stop doing this soon than he would end up one. "You get in a good work out?" She asked suspiciously.

He reached for one of her hands and laced his fingers through hers while leaning forward to press a soft kiss to her lips. He wasn't drunk, but he wasn't sober either. "Not bad. Your work outs are always better, though."

She smirked and led him towards the couch, figuring that if she could get him to sit down then he would soon drop off and she could get him to sleep until the morning. He was too much work when he was like this, and as much as she enjoyed his company she knew that it was in his best interests to sleep off the alcohol he had consumed. She managed to get him on the couch, but only by sitting down beside him. Instead of falling asleep like she planned, Randy reached for the remote and started to channel surf. Beth felt her eyes get heavy from the boredom that the sports on the television screen brought her and soon she was the one who was dozing off. When he noticed this Randy got up, heading straight for the kitchen and the alcohol he had stashed in the back of the cupboard.

As he poured himself another drink, Randy glanced back into the living room and towards his pregnant girlfriend. Though he did feel bad for the way he was acting lately, a part of him believed that Beth had brought it on herself. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a handwritten letter that he'd been carrying with him and had read over and over again for weeks now. What was written on that paper was the reason for his change in attitude and why he was putting himself through the harming routine of getting leglessly drunk. It was a letter from Beth addressed to John; the goodbye letter that she had written to him back at the hospital. He began reading it again, only torturing himself some more as his eyes scanned across the shocking words on the crumpled up paper.

Dear John,

When I moved to Louisville I never expected to meet someone, let alone a guy. I was so jaded from everything that'd happened back home with Gregg and I just felt like it was me against the world. I had no one, J.. I mean, I had Ric, Brooke & Ariel but I always held back with them because I was scared to upset them with the truth. But with you? It was so different. You made me talk about what had happened because you knew I had to let it all out, and you know something, you were right, and I'll always love you for helping me realize that I could still live my life and be happy.

I am happy, John.. (Well I WAS if you're reading this, heh.) and I thank God for every day he gave me, even the bad ones, not just with Gregg but with the two of us aswell. I know in the beginning we wondered if there was more then a friendship there, but I'm glad that we got over things and moved on as friends. Don't get me wrong, I'll never forget what happened or how we could have ended up with a baby of our own, and if anything this pregnancy has reminded me of the baby we could have had. I still think about it from time to time, you know.. What if we'd gone through with it?? Our child would be walking and talking by now... Ugh, shut up Beth.

When Jim Cornette suggested I move in with you, for the first time in a long while I wasn't scared. I know that sounds crazy, but being around you brought me a sense of safeness and security that I hadn't felt since what had happened with Gregg. I guess I should thank you for that, huh? I know I've never really expressed it before, but you did save me, and for that i'll always owe you everything.

I want you to meet someone, John. I mean how long has it been since you've had a serious relationship!? (unless you've been keeping it a secret that is, haha.) I know you say that you're happy leading the fun, single life - but, you're getting old! You need to find someone who makes you truly happy.

If you're reading this then my physical presence is no longer there with you, but just know that I'm always around you and I'm always there keeping an eye on you. I love you so much, and instead of focusing on my death I want you to focus on the day when we will see each other again.

Be happy for me, John. Live for me! And look after Randy, please??

Beth xo

The note had told him everything that he'd ever wondered. He'd always believed Beth when she told him that her relationship with John was platonic, but there was just a little niggling feeling there that made him believe that there had once been more.

Who would have thought that he'd have ended up being right?

According to the note they'd had something, something that Beth had forgotten to mention to him. That itself angered him, but when he had read that next line he wasn't sure whether he was angry or just numb.

Don't get me wrong, I'll never forget what happened or how we could have ended up with a baby of our own, and if anything this pregnancy has reminded me of the baby we could have had. I still think about it from time to time, you know.. What if we'd gone through with it?? They'd be walking and talking by now... Ugh, shut up Beth.

She'd been pregnant... It had been John's. That whole story about how they were nothing more than friends had been bullshit. When he thought about it more and more it began to make sense; he'd overheard John and Beth speaking about a pregnancy before and he'd confronted her, yet she had told him it was down to the rape..

-

flashback

"So?" Randy started, turning to face her with a face like ice. "You were pregnant before?"

"It's complicated..."

"I'll be the judge of that," He shot back.

"Don't treat me like I've done something wrong, Rand. Because I did what I had to do.."

"You did what you had to do?" He laughed. "Aborting your child is something you just had to fucking do?"

"Yes," She replied quietly, looking down at her lap as a few tears fell from her eyes.

"Oh don't start the water works on me, Beth." He spat, crossing his arms as he took a few steps towards her. "You took away an innocent child's life, and then you planned to do the same again. Tell me something, what was the difference between that baby and the one you're carrying now?"

"I didn't want that baby," She sniffled.

"Well we didn't exactly plan to have this one, did we?" He replied, rolling his eyes.

"It's different.."

"How?"

"I was in a whole different situation.."

"How?" He repeated.

"Things weren't like they are now.."

"HOW?"

"I WAS RAPED!" She screamed out, Randy's face falling as Beth finally looked up to him, tears flowing freely down her broken face. "Is that what you wanted to hear!"

It was as-though he had lost the ability to speak. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, his mouth wide open as Beth wept openly, her head falling in her hands.

"I was raped," She repeated through tears. "I was raped and impregnated by my own fucking step-father..."

end flashback

-

He desperately wanted to believe that she was telling the truth, but as Randy thought about it more he realized that as crazy as all of this seemed to him, it did add up. Around the same time that Beth had moved to Louisville, John had began to distance himself from their group and his girlfriend Liz. It was because of a girl Jim Cornette had him looking after, and coincidently Cornette was the one who Beth had been working for at the time.

How could he have been so stupid not to have realized it before?

Maybe the biggest clue in all of this was the fact that John had told him that a girl had once had an abortion for him. It just never clicked that the girl could have been his Beth. The thought alone made him pour himself another drink and down it in one, the harsh liquor not having much of an effect as he was so used to this routine since he had read the letter those few weeks ago.

Beth waddled into the kitchen and frowned when she saw him downing another drink. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

He tensed up. The old Randy would cuss and yell but with Beth he just couldn't bring himself to do it. She was carrying his child and as badly as he wanted to confront her and find out what the hell was, or is going on - he just couldn't. He couldn't risk it.

"One more wont hurt," He shrugged, pouring himself what was left in the bottle.

He didn't look at her because he couldn't handle seeing the hurt in her eyes, or for her to recognize the same in his. He began to wonder about all those times that he'd let her go stay with John and he felt himself get angry. They'd done it before, what could have stopped them from doing it while he and Beth were together? He jolted when he felt a hand on his arm and turned to stare at his concerned looking girlfriend.

"Um... John's going to be here soon." She said in a quiet voice, almost as if that was a plea for him to stop.

Randy slammed the glass down a little too hard and clenched his jaw as he counted to ten in his head. He was determined not to bring up what he had read in that note, but comments like that made it harder for him to stay quiet. After a few seconds he bent his head and kissed her quickly before heading towards the stairs. "I'm going for a shower."

She watched him disappear while running her fingers across the spot he had just kissed. How could a man be so loving, yet so disconnected from her at the same time? She didn't get a chance to think of the answer to her own question because the doorbell rang and she was waddling her way towards it to open it. As predicted John stood the other side with a can of paint in each hand and held them up for her to see. "Your nursery decorating machine is here!"

"Isn't it 'the champ is here'?" She joked, accepting the hug he offered her.

He playfully rolled his eyes and walked inside, looking around the house for any sign of Randy. When he didn't find it downstairs he turned to face his best friend. "Where's the father-to-be at?"

"He's taking a shower," She said with the best smile she could muster. "He'll be down soon."

John noticed the look on her face and frowned, placing the tins of paint down as he walked back over to her. "Is he still drinking?" He asked calmly, hiding his secret urge to go up there and beat his ass.

"He's OK, John." Beth defended, knowing in her heart that it was not true. "He's just stressed out. It'll be different when the babies here."

John decided to bite his tongue and stay quiet, instead directing their conversation into a more positive direction. "So I got the blue you wanted for the nursery, though I still don't get why they have ten million different shades for one freaking color." He frowned and shook his head at the thought. "Sale blue? Ocean blue? What happened to just light blue and dark blue!? Life would be so much simpler.."

She laughed and smacked his arm. "You're such a nerd."

"Yeah, but you love me for it." He grinned, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. "It's good to see you, Theresa."

"You too, Felix." She smiled.

At that second Randy appeared at the top of the stairs with a face like thunder as he stared down at the display of affection between the two of them. Beth looked up and smiled at him while John just nodded in his direction. "Sup man?"

Randy didn't say a word as he made his way down the stairs and instead grabbed his leather jacket and car keys. "I need to run out to the store, I'll be back in a bit."

"You've been drinking, you're not driving." Beth said in a hushed whisper, her hand on his arm.

He shoved his keys into the pocket of his jacket and shrugged. "I'll walk then."

"It's pouring it down outside! Just stay here." She sighed. "Please?"

He thought for a second and looked over at John before placing a gentle kiss on his girlfriends lips. "I'll be right back, babe."

Beth looked at John for help as Randy opened the front door and stepped outside. Seeing the look of distress on his best friends face, he quickly followed him outside and made sure to close the door so she couldn't see. He followed him down the path to his black Hummer H2, stopping him before he could climb into the drivers seat. "Yo! I thought you told Beth you wasn't gonna' drive?"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," He answered sourly.

"Get in the other side, I'm driving." John ordered, snatching the car keys from his hands.

"Get in the car with you?" He scoffed. "I think I'll pass."

"What's your problem?" He snapped, growing tired of his new attitude. "I thought we agreed to try and get along for Beth's sake?"

"Yeah well that was before." He said shortly.

"Before what?" He growled, furrowing his brows in frustration. "What the hell are you on about?"

"Before I found out about the two of you," He finally said, locking eyes with the older man for the first time. "I mean, you did almost have a baby with Beth before me, didn't you?"

All the colour seemed to drain from John's face in a matter of seconds. His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he struggled to answer him. "You're talking crazy." He swallowed. "I suggest you lay off the alcohol, man. It's making you talk complete and utter bullsh-"

"Don't patronize me, John!" Randy snapped, slamming his fist down onto the hood of his prized car. "I know, OK? The secrets out. I fucking know!"

He looked back at the house and made sure Beth wasn't there before running a hand over his face. "Listen man, I'll explain everything - but not here. Let's go somewhere and talk about it, alright?"

Randy agreed and the two headed to an apartment that John was renting near the WWE headquarters. As soon as they got inside, John turned to be hit with a strong right hand off of Randy. He fell to the floor and cursed loudly, checking his nose for blood as he blinked a couple of times. "Was that fucking necessary!?" He asked as he pulled himself up, moving back a couple paces as Randy raised his fist to hit him again. "Yo, chill out! I'm not going to be able to tell you anything if you fucking cave my face in, am I?"

"Yeah but it'll make me feel better," He retorted, eyes narrowed in anger. "So c'mon then, Cena. Why'd you do it? Are you still fucking her now, huh? ARE YOU!?"

"Hell no!" He yelled equally as loud. "Of course we're not, she loves you."

"Loves me?" He scoffed. "Then why didn't she tell me about the two of you?"

"Because there's not much to tell," He shrugged, letting out a sigh. "Everyone makes mistakes, Orton. And that's what happened with Beth and I. It was a one time thing, she was vulnerable and I wasn't thinking straight - It just happened."

"When was this?" He demanded.

"Back when we were at OVW.." He admitted, swallowing hard. "Cornette moved Beth in with me, and you know.. We got along great. It was totally platonic, man. But the one night, it just happened. We both regretted it because we know there's nothing more then friendship there, but then when Beth found out she was pregnant..." He trailed off. "It just complicated things."

"Beth was underage," Randy pointed out after a few seconds. "And you were still seeing Liz. That's why you've never told them about each other, huh!? Because you wanted to have your cake and eat it too."

"It wasn't like that," He argued. "And Liz does know about Beth. They saw each other a couple of months ago and she kind of clocked on that Beth was the girl who I cheated with-"

"And the one you knocked up." He added. "So what happened, huh Cena? You made her get an abortion so your precious girlfriend didn't find out? Or so that Flair didn't find out and beat your ass for impregnating his underage niece!?"

"She wanted to," He snapped. "I said I'd support her whatever she decided, but she said she couldn't go through with it so she had an abortion."

"Worked out well for you then," He accused, crossing his arms. "Man, I can't believe I didn't figure this out before - You knocked up a chick around the same time you met Beth, and then Liz dumped you because you cheated with a girl that Cornette had you looking after.. It all makes sense now."

There was silence for about a minute before John spoke up. "How did you find out?"

Randy was hesitant to tell him. He knew how bad it would look if he admitted that he read Beth's goodbye letters, but he knew that he had to say. "I collected Beth's things when she left the hospital and there was some letters in there. One was to you, and I got curious."

"You read her goodbye letters?" He asked in disbelief. "Dude, what were you thinking invading her privacy like that!?"

"Don't try and turn this around on me so I look like the bad guy," He growled. "It doesn't change the fact that Beth told me her pregnancy was down to that son of a bitch who raped her when really it was from a night of passion with her so called best friend." He shook his head in disbelief. "So how are you keeping Beth a secret from Liz? You're down here pretty much all the time so she must think something's going on.."

"We're in Conneticut, she just thinks I'm doing extra work for Vince." He replied. "I take it that you haven't said anything to Beth?"

"No, and I'm not going to." Randy sighed. "She's carrying my Son, not to mention her heart is like a ticking time bomb. Whatever confrontation we need to have about this can wait until the babies born and she's healthy again."

Whatever John thought of Randy, he was glad that he was smart enough to realize that now was not the time to confront her about this. "She knows somethings up though, man. You can't keep drinking yourself into oblivion every night. You're hurting her."

"What else can I do when all that I can think about is you and her..." He trailed off, the thought making his brain almost bleed.

"Well you need to think of something else, Orton - because Beth doesn't need you bringing all that back up. It's the past and we buried that shit a long time ago."

Randy felt his anger rising. "Well it may be old news to you, but it's new to me, so if one day I decide I want to ask Beth why she fucked her so called best friend, then I will." He stepped closer to John, their faces inches apart as they stared at each other with intense, hateful look.

"Well let me tell you something, Orton." John began, matching his stance. "If you hurt Beth, then I swear to God it will be the last thing you do." He warned, meaning every word.

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A/N: Re-read Chapter 23-24 of the first instalment if you want to remind yourself of the pregnancy thing. Did Beth lie when she said it was the rape that got her pregnant when it was really John's child? It looks that way. And now Randy knows... But he can't say anything to Beth yet because of her health. And Beth doesn't know about Liz, but Liz knows Beth as the girl John cheated on her with! No wonder John is making out that he has nothing to do with her. Wonder what Beth would say if she found out John was in a relationship back then, and is now!

The truth always comes out in the end, eh. Hope you got this I know I left it a long time.

Please review n let me know what ya think!!