Chapter 13: The Longest Night
"Are you lost, where you are? Can you find your way when you're so far? Do you fear where you are? A thousand miles from home. So here we are, set into motion. We'll steal a car and crash in the ocean. You and I are caught in a fading light, on the longest night." - Howie Day
For December 19, 2009, Haley had planned on hiding away from the entire world by spending what should have been her wedding day in bed. She had ordered John not to let anyone bother her, no matter how good their intentions were and focused on trying to sleep the day away. And while John had made good on his promise, judging by all the concerned calls and texts she was receiving about being alone today, Haley's original plans weren't going as smoothly.
Her internal alarm clock had woken her at seven a.m and unable to fall back asleep right away, she got up to make herself some coffee and indulge in some poptarts because today of all days she was allowed to eat her feelings. She had parked herself on the couch for the next few hours, trying to get lost in a Law and Order: SVU marathon, but with her phone constantly going off and her own thoughts swirling around in her head it was hard to focus on the storylines.
John had popped in around noon time, checking on her briefly. He hadn't been overly sympathetic as promised and left an open invitation to join him at the main house anytime she wanted today. He hadn't stayed long, knowing she had asked him before to just give her the privacy to brood and once he left, more phone calls from her family and friends poured in.
She ignored all of them.
The afternoon dragged and she tried to pass the time by doing trivial things like taking a shower, doing her hair and makeup, running the dishwasher. But the anxious, stir-crazy feeling just continued to build up in her stomach.
Still wanting to be alone and not coddled by all her loved ones, Haley decided to go out to find dinner on her own. She also entertained the thought of ducking into a movie theater and going to see that new movie Avatar that everyone was raving about. No one could bother her in a dark cinema while she wallowed in the fact that she wasn't at the Turner Hill Estate enjoying the reception following her marriage to whom she thought was the man of her dreams.
God, she wished this day would just end already.
She was looking for her car keys when the soft squeak of the front glass doors to the pool house opening could be heard. "John," She sighed in resignation. "I'm fine, really. I told you, I just want to be alone today. I promise I'm not going to do anything drastic."
"It's already drastic because you're living with Cena in the first place." The deep, sarcastic voice had Haley dropping her purse in surprise and whirling around to confirm her suspicions.
Ken Kennedy sauntered into the kitchen carrying a brown paper bag that from the sweet and spicy aroma that came from it had to be full of Thai food. His hair was darker than it had been when she had last seen him, like he had toned down on the bleach and let his natural color start to grow in.
He lifted his eyebrows as he looked at her and frowned. "Good thing I picked foods high in protein. You've lost some serious muscle Mariano, and since yours has always been lean, you look way too thin."
"Yes," She watched him set the bag on the counter and begin to pull out white cartons of food, still stunned by his presence. "So I've been told."
"Well, I can fix that for you." He continued, making himself at home by locating her plates and utensils. "I was a personal trainer before I finally made my big break. I'll write you up a nutrition chart before I leave, you'll follow it for the next month and you'll be back to your normal weight."
"Oh you will?" The first traces of amusement touched her expression and a warmth filled her chest. "How will you know if I follow it or not?"
"Because I am psychic, Woman." He drawled, going to her refrigerator. "And I always figure that kind of shit out."
"Apparently you're a control freak too as you're making my plate up for me." Haley mused, deciding to enjoy his bossiness and his company. She had missed him more than she realized.
"You'll eat what I give you and like it." He said matter-of-factly, while scooping up portions of the food he brought and arranging them on a plate for her. "Here, khao naio (sticky rice), som tam (papaya salad) and kai yang (grilled chicken). Every last bite." He warned her, passing her a knife and fork as well.
"Since when did you become my Dad?" She asked, touched when he also poured her a glass of white wine.
"Since you reverted into acting like a child who can't feed herself." He replied, beginning to make up his own plate. "I kept tabs on you." He answered her next question before she could ask it.
"That's not very asshole like of you." Haley took her first bite of the som tam and hummed appreciatively. "Where did you get this? It's so good!"
"There's actually a decent little restaurant not too far from here. Called Lemon Grass, so Cena doesn't live in an area that completely sucks." Ken helped himself to a beer and plopped down on the breakfast stool beside her. "Can I ask why you're living with Cena of all people?"
"He offered and it would keep me from imposing on Hunter and Stephanie's marital bliss." Haley felt herself smiling. "Can I ask why you're here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."
"I'd booked this day off months ago." He said simply. "I reserved it for you, so I'm going to spend it with you. Don't give a shit if you want to be alone or not."
It was such a blunt, almost insulting statement, without any sympathy or concern and it meant more to Haley than any of the niceties she'd heard in awhile. "I miss you, Ken."
"Say this to anyone and I'll deny it to my grave, but I miss you too. I think you're the only female wrestler who gets on my nerves only sixty percent of the time, the others are all like ninety-nine percent." He forked up a mouthful of khao naio and chewed thoughtfully. "You know, I actually considered coming back to the WWE."
Haley nearly choked on her sip of wine. "What? But you're in the line for the TNA World Championship? Every time I talk to you on the phone you sound so happy there."
"I am. No Orton around to piss me off. Kurt Angle yes, but I'll take him over Orton." He took a swig of beer. "I considered it, because if I kick the shit out of Dave now its outside the ring and he can press assault charges. I do it in the ring, I have no problems."
"You would have had to get in line, Hunter and Dwayne are still waiting for their chance." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, for coming out here to be with me. I didn't want someone overbearing, over sympathetic, I didn't want the pity. You possess none of those qualities and you're just what I needed."
"I'm going to risk sounding like a pussy right now," He grumbled. "But Haley, I care about you. You're my friend, who occasionally irritates me with your chipper attitude and your nagging about me being a better person, but overall I like you. I hate what that idiotic behemoth did to you. If I could, I'd knock all his teeth out."
"Well this is going to sound really mushy and make you extremely uncomfortable, but I love you, Ken." She chuckled as she said it. "Candi is my best friend, nothing can change that. But you, you stepped up to the plate when I needed a man's perspective that wasn't clouded by lust or love, like Dave and Randy, or familial bond like Hunter and Dwayne. Can you be brash and obnoxious sometimes, yes, but you also tell me the truth, and you're there for me, even on night's like tonight when I didn't know I needed you."
"The only woman I ever said I love you to, is my mother," Ken warned her. "And it's going to stay that way until I actually fall in love with. Which no offense, you're hot and all, but you're not her. But, just because I don't say it, doesn't mean I don't feel it. I wouldn't be sitting here in Cena's pool house, eating Thai food with your pathetically non-existent ass if I didn't."
"Ugh, shut up about my ass." She laughed. "Write up your nutritional chart and I'll follow it."
"Of course you will." He scoffed as if that were never in question. "You're also going to finish your wine, then switch to the herbal tea I brought you, which will help you sleep tonight, and we'll watch a movie whatever you want, but if it has subtitles you'll pay for that next hang out session, and I'll crash on your couch tonight."
"Cause you love me." Haley grinned. "Only someone who really loved me would risk me picking the movie."
"Yeah, yeah." He gently pushed her shoulder. "I mean it, no subtitles."
"Since this is the only chance I'll have to get you to sit through a chick flick, I'm going for it." She said in a sing-song voice.
He groaned. "Kill me now."
While Haley had her first almost fun, carefree night since the engagement broke off, Randy Orton sat in his bedroom, idly flipping through channels on his flat-screen television. He had tried to immerse himself in a Law and Order SVU marathon earlier and when that didn't work, he tried other TV shows. He went to the gym, grilled himself some dinner, logged into his computer to surf the web. He even folded all of his laundry and put it away.
But none of those things had kept Haley from creeping into his thoughts.
No use in denying it, he was worried about her, to the point of being obsessive over it. He had picked up his phone at least half a dozen times to call her, but had chickened out before pressing the send button. She had no reason to want to talk to him any day of the week, especially not today, when she should have been marrying Dave Batista and starting her own happily ever after, instead of mourning the loss of that relationship.
Guilt flashed when he thought about how happy that information made him. While he hated that Haley was hurting so badly over it, he was glad that she hadn't married Dave. Though Randy had once been friends with the Animal during their Evolution days, he had grown to despise him over time. First, for excelling in Evolution where he had failed. Then, for rising to the top of the company with quicker success than he had. And finally, for winning Haley over when Randy had been too selfish and stubborn to figure out how to give her what she needed.
It had been their engagement that had snapped something inside him, causing his IED to flare up in a maniacal way. He completely lost his focus, his control, his love for Haley and in doing so had basically lost his humanity.
But he was different now. Therapy and medication had his IED back under control. And part of that was worrying over how heart broken she must be feeling tonight of all nights. He knew Haley had thrown her heart and soul into making that wedding her dream come true, only to have it come crashing down around her. And while he was sure all manner of people were rushing to comfort her today, Hunter, Dwayne, Candice, Michelle, Kelly ect; it didn't stop him from wanting to be there for her too.
With a sigh, he picked up his phone for the umpteenth time that evening and scrolled through his contacts until he found her name.
I'm probably the last person you want to hear from tonight, He punched out on his keypad. But I know today is a hard day for you. I hope you're not wallowing too much and found something to distract yourself from all the could have beens. I just wanted to you to know that I was thinking of you. And if you want, I will gladly punt Dave in the skull. Again.
"Keep it simple, Orton." He reminded himself, leaving it at that and hitting the send button. "That's all you can do right now. Keep it simple."
The whooshing sound that had been set as her notification tone for incoming text messages cut over the muted sounds coming from the television and had Haley blinking her eyes open from where she had dozed off on the couch.
A soft snore from her left assured her that she wasn't the only one who had dozed off. Ken had his arms folded and his chin dropped down on his own chest as he slept through the NCIS rerun that had come on following the movie they had watched.
She sat up from where she had been leaning against his side, using his shoulder as a pillow and reached for her phone, intending to shut the thing off before she noticed the name of the text message sender.
Randy.
She couldn't remember the last time she had sent or received a text message from him. It had to have been at least a year ago, if not longer. And despite the fact that he had comforted her the previous week and they were being semi civil, they were still on very uneven footing. They weren't really back on speaking terms.
So why was he texting her tonight of all nights?
And why did she feel compelled to read this text over all the others she had gotten today?
"Why are you staring at your phone like it just gave you the true meaning of life or some shit?" Ken's voice grumbled from beside her. "You look overly broody, even for you?"
"It's nothing," And letting out a quiet sigh, Haley opened the message and slowly read through it, twice.
"Jesus did you win the lottery or something? You're being weird Mariano? What's so life altering on that phone?" Ken asked almost demandingly so.
He was thinking of her. And he put in such a Randy manner, the old Randy that she had cared for very much, that it took her a long moment before she closed it and put her phone down. In an alternate universe it could have been him sitting here with her instead of Ken.
"It's nothing, Ken." She turned back and forced a smile for him. "Just another pity message, though more eloquently put as is Michelle's style."
"Ah McCool," Ken snorted. "Always was trying to prove she was smart as well as hot. She marry Taker yet?"
"No." Haley clicked off the TV. "We should get some sleep. I'll buy you breakfast in the morning."
"Woman, I'm buying you breakfast." He grunted. "That way I can order you the lumberjack special and make sure you eat every damn bite."
"You keep shoving food down my throat, I will eventually get sick and throw it all back up on you." She warned him.
"Puking is for quitters, Mariano and you are not a quitter. Now go get some shut eye." Ken ordered. "I'll see you in the morning."
She got up from the couch and laughed. "See you in the morning."