Thanks For The Memories
Chapter 35
"You don't have to come with me. Everyone knows how you feel about him."
John sighed, straightened his tie and looked at Danny. "I'm going. You need support. Hell, I don't even understand why you're going in the first place."
"The McMahons were very nice to me when I worked for them, especially Stephanie. Besides, Shawn needs a lot of support from his friends, and I'm going to do just that."
John shook his head. "Danny… I'm sure Shawn wouldn't care if you were there or not. You just got out of the hospital."
Danny glared at John. "I've known him longer than you."
"That doesn't mean anything and you know it!"
"You don't understand how Shawn's head works, man…"
"Can you two stop arguing, please?" Trish asked.
The brothers looked over at Trish and sighed.
"Come on, Trish. You know Danny should be resting."
"As much as I want to agree with you, you and I both know that Danny is going to do what he wants either way. And he made a valid point… Shawn needs his friends right now."
"Actually, Shawn would appreciate it if you stopped talking about him like he wasn't in a fifteen foot radius of your conversation."
Trish, John and Danny turned around to see Shawn and Paul standing behind them.
"Sorry you heard that." Danny offered.
"Whatever. Let's just go so we can get this over with." Shawn grumbled and stormed out of the room.
"Don't mind Shawn. His head isn't a nice place to be right now… Let's get going…"
The ceremony seemed to last forever, and the only thing running through Shawn's head was how wrong everything seemed. Shane McMahon was the guy who used to run around with loaded water guns and soak people, then run for his life when said person(s) chased after him with buckets of ice-cold water. It was highly amusing to see, especially if someone was able to catch him and hold him while somebody else got revenge on him. He was the guy people used to praise for being loyal to his friends, and God help you if he was angry with you for something.
How the hell was Shane actually dead? And how the hell did they still manage to get a memorial in a Catholic Church? Then again, Vince has a lot of money, and money sure as hell talks.
Just like Shane's entrance music said.
"Don't do it." Paul warned.
"Don't do what?" Shawn asked, raising a confused but seemingly emotionless eyebrow.
"Don't go and ask Vince about what you told me Shane said."
"I have to get some answers, Paul."
"It nearly killed you to tell me what he said. How the hell do you think you're going to react to telling Vince? Keep in mind that I've been your best friend for nearly twenty years. I understand you a hell of a lot better than Vince does."
Shawn looked Paul in the eyes. "He should know what was said."
"That's not the point, Shawn. His son committed suicide a few days ago. Let him remember his kid for how he was… Let us deal with the crazy bastard he died as."
Shawn ran a hand through his hair. "That's not fair to Shane, Paul. He hated his old man. Somehow he was able to mask that every single time he was near him. Vince should know. He should understand what his drunken words did to his son."
"Don't you dare, Shawn. Don't you fucking dare. You're going to regret it if you do!"
"He should know!"
"Who should know what?"
John and Danny were sitting off to the side, being careful not to make eye contact with too many people. John knew Danny wanted to interact with some of the employees that remembered him but just lacked the energy to do so. He watched his younger brother as he scanned the room, only to recognize a face and look away immediately.
Several of the guys who he recognized, like Glenn Jacobs, Jerry Lawler and Randy Orton, walked over to him to say hello, but Danny didn't keep the conversation going for that long.
"So… What's the future look like for us, then?"
Danny looked up and saw Trish standing in front of him. "Pardon?"
"You heard me, Danny."
Danny sighed and rubbed his face. "I did… I just don't think we should talk about that right now."
Trish sat down next to Danny and grabbed a hold of his hands. "Then when is a good time to talk about it? Tomorrow? Next week? Three months from now? When?"
Danny shook his head in amusement. "You're not going to let go of this, are you?"
"No."
"Fine. What do you want to do?"
"I want to move in with you, get married and start a family."
"That was… Detailed and… Quick." Danny replied, raising an amused eyebrow.
"I've had time to plan it, Danny. I worried about you when you went missing. I kept thinking about how much I loved you and how obvious it was to everyone and that I don't tell you I love you because I was afraid for Oliver."
"There's no reason to be afraid for him." Danny replied.
"I know. That's why I think it's okay to be a family now. A proper family. With a gorgeous house, a big back yard, a couple of kids and a dog."
"If that's what you really want, you know I'm fine with it."
"I understand that it's too soon, but… Wait, what?"
Danny chuckled. "I said I'm fine with it. I've loved you for a really long time now, Trish. I thought that much was obvious."
Trish smiled and nodded her head. "It is now."
"Good, then. It's settled… I have to ask, though. Why so sudden with this?"
"Shane said I should be happy… Wherever that leads me. I just so happen to think it leads me straight to your arms."
Danny stared at her. "When did he say that?"
"Before he died." Trish mumbled.
Danny sighed and nodded his head. "So I have Shane to thank for this?"
Trish smiled sadly at Danny and nodded her head, accidentally allowing a tear to slip out of her eye. She watched as Danny wriggled a hand free from her grip and wiped it from her face.
When Trish noticed Danny was going to say something, she put a finger against his lips to hush him. "Just stop talking."
Nobody was more surprised than Danny when she leaned forward and kissed him.
Shawn and Paul whirled around to see none other than Vince McMahon standing behind them.
"Nothing, dad." Paul replied.
Vince looked back and forth between the men standing in front of him. "Why does something tell me you're lying? I mean… It seemed important before I said something."
Paul and Shawn turned to look at one another.
"I don't think it's important right now." Paul stated.
"So, it's important?" Vince asked.
"Yes." Shawn replied.
"But it doesn't need mentioning right now, Shawn." Paul growled between gritted teeth.
Vince cleared his throat. "I take it this has something to do with Shane."
"Yes." Shawn replied, at the same exact time Paul replied with a resounding "No."
Vince once again looked back and forth between the two. "Can I assume the one who follows Christianity closely is the one who speaks the truth?"
"Well, yeah, but I also speak the truth when I say it doesn't need to be mentioned right now."
Vince looked over at Shawn. "Is that true?"
"I don't know, Vin Man… I just don't know."
Vince looked back and forth between the two. "I'd like to know what you have to say."
"Don't you dare." Paul growled.
"Shawn."
"Sorry, Paul..," Shawn turned to give Paul a sympathetic look, making Paul roll his eyes in annoyance. "Shane was pretty fucked up the night he died."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Vince roared.
"He told me something…. Well… Actually… He told me, Trish and John something… We want to prove he was lying."
Vince crossed his arms over his chest. "And why would he lie?"
"He did a lot of that before he died, dad…"
Vince glared at Paul. "What?"
"We'll explain later, Vin Man. Right now I need to ask you a simple question… Please be honest with your answer. Is it true you raped Linda?"
Paul winced at the look on Vince's face, and, before he could say anything, watched as Vince slapped Shawn with enough force to send him stumbling backwards into Paul.
"Who the fuck told you that?!" Vince shouted.
He went to go after Shawn again, but Paul shoved the man behind him and held up his hand, effectively stopping Vince from swinging again.
"Stop it, dad! Calm down! Anything Shawn says to you now is what he heard from Shane."
"Yeah? And where would Shane have gotten an idea like that?"
Shawn and Paul exchanged a quick glance.
"You." Shawn replied.
Vince scoffed. "And how is that possible?"
"He said you got drunk one night and cornered him. Then you described it in detail and gave him a date…"
"April 1969," Vince cut in, rubbing a hand over his face. "Oh God."
"What's wrong, dad?" Paul asked.
"I can't believe I told him that… Why the hell would I say that to him?"
"I was hoping you could tell me." Shawn stated.
Vince sighed. "I really do say terrible things when I'm drunk…"
"So that was a lie, then?"
Vince's silence made Shawn and Paul look at him funny.
"Are you freakin' kidding me, Vince?" Shawn asked.
"Look… You have to understand something…"
"What the hell is there to understand about this?!" Shawn shouted.
"That it's not the full truth! Alright? I didn't rape my own wife… It's a complicated story, but I didn't do it."
"Someone else did it?"
"Yes… Around the time Linda found out she was expecting…"
"You must've said it backwards when you told him." Paul stated.
"It's very possible… I feel like such an ass now… Knowing he… You know… With that on his mind."
"Yeah…"
Paul clapped his hands together. "Well, now that that's over, we can move on and forget this conversation ever happened."
Vince looked over at Shawn, who was staring off into the distance. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"I… Um… I held his hand as he died."
Vince stared at Shawn. "What?"
"I tried to stop him, Vince. He made some really stupid decisions, but now it all makes sense. He went crazy. He broke down. I heard him talk. I saw what he did. I was there when he shot himself. I held his hand as he died."
Vince looked over at Paul, who appeared to be extremely uncomfortable with what Shawn just said, then looked back at Shawn, who was staring at the floor with unshed tears in his eyes.
"You mean to tell me you were there when he died?"
"Yes."
Vince sighed. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Because I'm an asshole."
Vince put his hands on Shawn's shoulders. "You're not an asshole, Shawn. You haven't been fond of Shane for a long time, yet you still comforted him when the time came…"
Shawn looked up at Vince. "How did..?"
"I'm not blind, Shawn. Nor was Shane mute."
"He told you we were having problems?"
"He told me how much he regretted instigating you and Paul."
"You two spoke about that?" Paul asked.
"Well, Shane had mentioned he said something he shouldn't have, so I asked him what was wrong and he told me he started in with the two of you. But he didn't start dating Macey because he knew who she was to you, Shawn."
"I know." Shawn replied, forcing a sad smile.
Vince pulled Shawn into a hug. "I'm sorry you had to see whatever it is you saw, Shawn."
"Yeah… Me too."
Paul raised a confused eyebrow when he heard the odd tone in Shawn's voice and saw he wasn't hugging Vince back.
"We'll catch you later, dad," Paul stated, waved goodbye to his father-in-law and dragged Shawn out of the room. "Are you okay?"
Shawn put his hands on his head and started pacing around. "I don't know."
Paul grabbed Shawn and pulled him into a hug. "Talk to me, Shawn. You know I'm here to help."
If Paul noticed his shoulder growing wet from tears, he was nice enough not to mention it.
A/N: Hello all!
This is most likely going to be the last chapter of Thanks For The Memories. I know, it's sad to see this come to an end, but I'll still be around. I have a few WIPs going and a rewrite of one of my old fics… So you'll be hearing from me. Remember, I'm also always taking story requests, so send them over if you want me to write anything for you.
I can't think of anything else I need to touch on, except maybe a one-year later chapter or something, so… Yeah… Might as well end it here. Unless you guys want to see something happen. Drop me a review and let me know.
Anyway… If this is the end, I want to thank each and every person who read this fic, left a review, favorited it, followed it and maybe even decided to favorite and follow me as an author. You guys made the updates happen, so give yourself a hug!
I'd also like to thank JVottoGurl for sending this request my way. It was a challenge writing Shane differently. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it.