"Shane, don't. It's too damn early," I said with my eyes shut as I
felt a tongue lick my lips.
"Case, it's not me baby," he replied as I felt him roll over.
"Huh?!" I asked as I slowly opened my eyes. I looked into dark puppy dog brown eyes, but they weren't Shane's. I was licked once again and realized that I had a little beagle puppy sitting on my chest. "OH MY GOD!"
"WHAT?!" Shane exclaimed shooting up into a sitting position.
"Where'd this beagle come from?" I asked excitedly as I wrapped my arms around it.
"Surprise! And happy birthday Casey!" Gil said from my door way. I smiled and looked up at him.
"Is this my surprise?!" I asked as the dog licked my face once again.
"Yep. I've been calling her Luna. I hope that's alright," he said sitting on the corner of my bed. She jumped over to him with her tail wagging. He laughed as she licked his cheek. "Jeff told me that you love beagles and have always wanted one."
"I have! I think they are the cutest in the world," I said.
"Well, I hope you like her?" he questioned.
"I love her! Luna, you said was her name?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I suppose you could change her name," he said.
"No, I love it. Thank you so much!" I said kissing his cheek. "I really love her dad."
"Dad?" he asked as his face glowed.
"Yeah....is that okay?" I asked.
"Of course it is! I just knew that you were calling Mark Callaway Dad immediately," he replied.
"Well, he's still my dad, but so are you," I smiled as Luna laid down with her head resting on my leg.
"That's good to hear sweetheart," he said kissing my forehead before he left.
"Did you know about this?!" I asked Shane as he pulled on his jeans.
"Possibly," he replied.
"You did! Ass!" I said with a laugh.
"I know," he smiled as he leaned on the bed to kiss my lips. "I'm gonna bring your stuff in and head home."
"Do you have to?" I asked tilting my head to the side.
"Yes I do. But I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. I believe my cats would like to see me!" I laughed and he pulled a shirt on.
"Alright. I'm gonna miss you," I said with a pout.
"I'm not gone yet! I'll leave after we, uh, well, ya know," he said wiggling his eyebrows me. I smiled and winked as he walked out the door.
"OW!" someone yelled from the hall. I jumped up and ran to the door. Shane was laying face down on the floor with his legs on the back of Jeff. I covered my mouth as I burst out laughing. Amy rushed out and did the same. Luna thought it was a game and began jumping on the backs of the two guys.
"What the fuck?" Jeff exclaimed.
"JEFFREY!!! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!" Gil yelled from downstairs.
"What the hell are you doing in the hall, Jeff?" Shane said trying to stand but having no luck thanks to Luna. "Casey, Amy, stop laughing and help here!"
"Sorry," I said through laughs. "Come here Luna." She looked up at me and ran to me. I picked her up in my arms and continued to laugh. Shane stood and we all stared at Jeff.
"Jeff, why are you in the hall?" Amy asked trying to compose herself.
"I WAS sleeping!" Jeff exclaimed as he sat up. He stretched and looked at us staring at him. "WHAT?!"
"Most people don't sleep in the middle of hallways!" I exclaimed putting Luna down.
"Yeah, well, it was either here or on the uncomfortable couch!" he said.
"You could have slept in mine and Matt's room with me," Amy said as Jeff stood.
"Sorry, but I don't really feel comfortable sleeping with my brother's girlfriend," he said crossing his arms. "I see you met Luna."
"Yes I did! Thank you for telling Dad that I always wanted a beagle," I said giving him a hug.
"I'll be right back, babe," Shane said running down the stairs.
"It was no problem. You needed a dog anyways. Maybe I can get Liger back now!" he joked.
"No, Liger will always be my dawg!" I said.
"What was that? D-a-w-g? I can't even say it!" Jeff joked.
"Shudd-up!" I said as Amy and Jeff laughed.
"Alright, Angel. That's all of it!" Shane said throwing my stuff on the floor in the hall.
"Thanks!" I said kissing his cheek.
"Jeff, I put your stuff in the living room," he said with his hands on my waist.
"Thanks man," Jeff said kissing Shane's cheek.
"OH MAN!! Don't ever do that again!" Shane freaked out wiping his cheek frantically. I laughed as I put my hand on his face.
"I love you," I said kissing his lips softly.
"I guess I could leave a little later. Will you all excuse us?!" Shane said pushing me back into my room. I pulled away and shook my head.
"No, you have to go. I'll talk to you tonite and see you tomorrow!" I said with a smile.
"Alright. If you say so!" Shane said. "I love you!"
"OH PUH-LEASE!" Jeff and Amy exclaimed in unison.
I laughed and kissed Shane one last time. He left and the three of us walked down to the kitchen to enjoy some burnt pancakes made by Gil. I spent most of the day with Luna and Jeff. We took her for a ride on the four-wheeler to the lake. Her and Liger got along really well. He was like a brother to her in away. He even showed her the right way to chase the ducks! Later that nite, Jeff and I left Luna with Amy and Gil and drove to Raleigh to do some Christmas shopping.
"I really don't know what to get anyone. Well, except for you and Trish. I'm clueless about Matt and Ames and even Shane!" I said as we walked through a clothing store.
"Shane's easy. Give him you!" Jeff joked.
"Hey now!" I laughed. "Seriously though."
"Just get Matt a shirt. Amy, well, any clothes from Hot Topic would be good. And Shane....well, you'll figure it out. You are his girlfriend," Jeff said holding a shirt out and putting it up against me.
"Okay, what the hell are you doing?!" I exclaimed.
"Well, you and Trish are about the same size. So I figured whatever looks good on you and would fit you would probably fit her," Jeff said putting it back on the rack.
"I hate to inform you, but I'm a wee bit bigger than she is!" I said with a laugh. I ran to a rack of shirts for men and shuffled through it. "OH!! Do you think Matt would like this?"
"Ummmmm......as Matt Hardy Version 1.0, yeah. As Matt Hardy, the Matt Hardy, probably not!" Jeff laughed. I sighed and put it back.
"I think I know what to get Shane," I said as I dragged Jeff out of the store and across the mall to a jewelry store.
"And that would be my dislocated arm?!" Jeff joked as I let him go.
"NO! A new chain. He lost his other one," I said as I looked in the cases.
"Oh, so you mean I get to keep this?" he asked pointing to his arm.
"I suppose. If you really want it!" I laughed. I pointed to a thick gold one and smiled. "What about this one?!"
"If it were me, no....but since it's for Shane, yeah!" Jeff said with a smile. "So, you know what you're getting me, huh? Care to inform me?"
"Nope. You won't find out till Christmas!" I said as I asked for the woman to take out the chain. She handed it to me and I looked at the price tag. "Jeff, look at this price and make sure I'm not seeing things."
"It says 540 bucks. HOLY SHIT!" Jeff exclaimed.
"That's what I thought. I love him, but not that much!" I laughed. The woman put the chain back and we left for another jewelry store.
"I can't believe that was that much!" Jeff said.
"I know. That was ridiculous!" I said as we looked in the cases. The man pulled out a thick gold chain, similar to the 540 dollar one. I looked at the tag and it was for 120. I smiled and showed it to Jeff. He took out of my hands and examined it.
"Can I help you two?" a man in a nice pressed black suit said.
"No, we're just looking," I replied politely. "Plus this guy is already helping us."
"Does that catch your eyes?" he asked.
"Yeah, actually. I do like it," I said.
"So do I," Jeff added.
"I'm sorry but that's not for sale," he said taking it out of Jeff's hands.
"Then why is it on display?" I asked.
"I just is. We're thinking of getting more in. Now, there maybe some other stores that can cater to you," he said.
"What are you saying?" I asked a bit offended.
"Come Case. Let's just leave," Jeff said pulling on my arm.
"No, I want to know what this man means!" I said ripping my arm out of his grip.
"Please, we don't have anything that you'd like," he said.
"Excuse me. We just said we were interested in that," I said pointing to the chain in his hands.
"I know what you said. But we don't have any for sale," he repeated.
"I'll just take that one!" I said reaching for it.
"No you will not! Don't make me call the police!" he threatened.
"Why would you do that? Do you think we were gonna steal it?!" I exclaimed. "Why would you think that?! Because we wear these clothes? Because we dye our hair bizarre colors? Is that why?"
"Well, uh....."
"Well, answer her!" Jeff demanded.
"Yes, alright. Yes!" he exclaimed. "Now please leave!"
"No! This is discrimination. I was gonna buy that for my boyfriend for Christmas. We're wrestlers with the WWE. We don't need to steal anything!" I argued.
"You're superstars?" he questioned.
"Yeah, we are. And we were gonna buy that, but we suddenly changed our minds. Come on Case, we'll go do business else where!" Jeff exclaimed taking my hand. We walked out of the store and sat on a bench.
"I can't believe that just happened. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before!" I exclaimed as Jeff put his arm around me.
"They're just a bunch of assholes. Don't worry about it. We'll get a better chain for Shane someplace else that'll want our business," Jeff said.
"You're right. But I have suddenly lost my will to shop. Can we go home?" I asked. He smiled and nodded as he took my hand and left.
Jeff dropped me off and I walked in the house. Amy was walking into the living room with a cup of hot chocolate and smiled at me. I gave her a half hearted grin and began to walk up the stairs to my room.
"Casey, what's wrong?" Amy called after me. I sighed and sat on the steps. "And why are you bagless?!"
"Amy, Jeff and I just had the worst shopping experience ever in the history of.....us!" I said. She chuckled and sat on a lower step in front of me.
"What's that supposed mean exactly?"
"Jeff and I were shopping for a chain for Shane for Christmas. And well, I was really considering this one chain. But the manager came up to us and pretty much told us that if we didn't leave that he would call the police."
"Oh my God. Why?"
"Because I have black, red, and purple streaked hair and Jeff has black and blue hair. Plus our clothes," I said as I rested my chin on my fists.
"Seriously?!" Amy exclaimed. I nodded as Luna came up and sat next to me. I patted her head and Amy stood. "Asshole. You should have told someone!"
"Who was I gonna tell? Amy, I was already speaking to the manager," I said.
"I don't know. I guess there really wasn't much you could do. But don't let some jerk like that ruin your love for shopping!" Amy laughed.
"Me? Lose that? YEAH RIGHT!" I joked.
"Casey, Shane called a little while ago," Gil announced from the kitchen.
"Thanks! Now to get happy!" I said as I stood. I walked up the stairs with Luna right on my heels. I picked up my electric blue cordless phone and dialed his number.
"Hello?" a woman answered.
"I'm sorry. I must have dialed the wrong number."
"That's quite alright dear," the woman said as we hung up. I shook my head and tried again.
"Hello?" a woman answered again.
"Hi. It's me again. I was wondering if you could tell me if this is Shane Helms' residence?" I said politely.
"I'm sorry. No," she said as I heard a click.
"Okay. What the hell is goin on here?!" I exclaimed as I tried once again.
"Hello?!" a very aggravated woman said.
"Okay, I know you must be getting mad. But, I'm Casey Piniarski and Shane is my boyfriend who I love dearly. Now, I have no clue who you are, but I know this is his number and I would like to talk to him," I said as nicely as possible.
"Casey? Oh my! I'm a fool! Please forgive me. This is Shane's mother," she said with a laugh.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. I must have sounded like a total pain!" I replied.
"No, not at all dear. I'm Christine," she said.
"Nice to meet you. Well, sort of!" I laughed.
"I have to tell you. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon. You have my son quite flustered! In a good way. He's deeply in love with you. I'm just anxious to meet the girl in the pictures that I've seen. I must say that I've only seen some older pictures of you and you seem right for my son," she explained.
"Oh, I've changed quite a bit since we first meet," I laughed.
"So I've heard. Not just using a couple blue streaks! My son says that you're coming out of your shell and that he loves you more than ever. I'm hoping we can get together soon," she said.
"MOM!" I heard Shane yell in the background.
"That would be my cue to leave," she laughed. "It was good talking to you Casey."
"You too!" I laughed.
"Sorry about that Case," Shane said. "What did she say to you?"
"Nothing that would hurt your rep!" I laughed. "Your mom seems like a great woman. I can't wait to meet her."
"She can't either. She says fro me to pick you up tomorrow and the four of us can have dinner."
"You don't sound too happy about that."
"I'm just nervous."
"Don't you think they'll like me?"
"Of course I do! It's just that I've only had one other girl meet them and it didn't go too well. Plus they don't really like Jeff's style and the two of you are a lot alike."
"Shane, your mother and I seemed to get along fairly well on the phone. Why would meeting face to face be any different?"
"It probably won't."
"Then stop worrying. Everything will be fine!"
"Can you make brownies?"
"Excuse me?"
"I told my mom all about the wonderful skittle brownies you made Jeff."
"Okay, I'll do that tonite. You want skittles in them?"
"Do you think I'm Jeff?! Could you put M&Ms in them?"
"I suppose I can do that."
"Thank you so much. I love you so much!"
"Yeah, so I'm told!" I laughed.
"Dress casually. We'll go to the Outback."
"Okay. So my big baggy cut up jeans and cut up black wife beater!"
"NO!!"
"I'm just kidding! Don't worry. My Mystic Angel side will stay here."
"I love that side of you. But I think it might scare off my parents!"
"Don't worry. I'll dress like the Casey you originally met!"
"Thank you baby! I love you Angel."
"Love you too, Sugar. Now, I better go if you're gonna get those brownies!"
"Alright, I'll be there at 3:00 so we can meet my parents in Raleigh at 5:00."
"Can I drive?"
"Yes, you can drive!" Shane laughed. I squealed with excitement and said goodbye.
I put the phone in its cradle and ran into the kitchen. I searched through the cabinets and came up without any brownie mix.
"Ames!" I yelled as I sat on the floor. "AMES!"
"What?!" she exclaimed walking into the mess I made. "What the hell happened?!"
"I'm meeting Shane's parents tomorrow and he wants me to make my brownies. But how can I do that if there's no mix?!" I spazed as I rocked back and forth.
"Then let's go get the stuff you need." Amy smiled as she took my hand and pulled me to my feet.
"Dad! Amy and I are goin to the store! Need anything?!" I yelled up the stairs.
"Milk and eggs!" he yelled back.
"Way ahead of ya!" I yelled as we walked out the door. Luna followed and jumped in Amy's car. "Luna, no. You stay here."
"Case, just let her come. It's okay," Amy said as we got in. I sighed and we drove off.
"M&Ms? I thought they were skittle brownies," Amy said as I threw a bag of M&Ms in a basket.
"Shane wants M&Ms. Skittles are Jeff's thing," I replied.
"You're nervous."
"About what?"
"About meeting his parents," Amy said with a smile.
"No, I'm not nervous. I'm never nervous!"
"Case, girl, you're nervous!" Amy laughed.
"Aight, Ames, I'm scared out of my mind. It's way past nerves!"
"Why? His parents are really nice. You'll really like em."
"I'm not worried about not liking THEM. I'm worried about them not liking ME!"
"They'll love you. Everyone does."
"But they're HIS parents! They don't have to like me for the simple fact that I'm with they're wonderful son!"
"They're not like that. Trust me. If he loves you, they'll love you. And he loves you without a doubt! Girl, you have his heart totally!"
"But that doesn't mean they'll truly like me."
"Casey, it doesn't really matter if they like you or not! All that matters is that he loves you. And he does love you!"
"I guess you're right. But you have to help me get dressed. I don't think I can do it without you!" I joked.
"Probably not!" she said as we got into her car.
"Case, what are you doin up?" Jeff asked walking in the back door.
"I'm makin M&M brownies for Shane and his parents."
"Ahh, meetin the rents for the first time?"
"Yeah. What are you doin here anyways? Isn't it past your bedtime?" I asked as I mixed up the batter.
"I was out for a walk with Liger."
"And Liger would be....?"
"At home," he said shyly. I chuckled and licked the spoon.
"And the makes sense, how?"
"I don't know. I figured I'd walk around at 3 in the morning and saw the light on here in the kitchen. Thought I'd stop in."
"I see."
"Nervous?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Yeah it is," he said sticking his finger in the batter. I slapped it and smiled.
"I've worked too hard on these for your nasty paws to be all through it!"
"I think I'm offended."
"You think? And your head didn't explode? HOLY SHIT!" I joked. He picked up an egg and cracked it on my head. "You ass!"
"Yeah, well," he said.
"And to think, I went to all the trouble to make you these," I said putting a plate of skittle brownies under his nose. He reached for one and I pulled the plate away.
"Okay, that was cruel," he said. I smiled sweetly and shrugged.
"That's what you get for being an ass," I said putting the plate down.
"PLEASE?!" he pleaded with a pout.
"Jeffrey, don't you do that face with me. Shannon's the only one that pulls that face off with me," I said crossing my arms as yolk fell down my cheek and on the floor. "You do know that you will be helping me clean all this up, right?"
"Please?" he said getting in my face.
"UGH! Alright! Take em!" I said. He jumped up and down as I moved the plate down the counter for him to take one. He smiled as he took a big bite and half of it fell on the floor. "I can not believe you just did that."
"Did what? This?" he said taking another brownie off of the plate and dropping it on the floor. His jaw dropped and he placed his hands over his mouth. "Did I do that?!"
"You will die!" I exclaimed as I flung batter off the spoon and it hit the side of his face. His eyes grew wide in amazement as I stood there with my arms crossed, tapping the spoon on my shoulder.
His lips curled into an evil devilish smile. He was thinking, thinking bad thoughts. He nodded slightly and picked up the measuring cup full of milk. He wiggled his eyebrows and threw the milk on me. It dripped off me and made a puddle on the floor. I picked up and egg, with the help of my softball skills, I nailed the middle of his forehead. Yolk dripped down his face as he opened a bag of brownie mix. He took a hand full and blew it onto me. Caked in mix, I picked up a hand full of batter I had just mixed and slammed my palm on his cheek. It slowly fell down to the floor. That was it, the end of the world. With a primal cry, he lunged at me with the jug of milk in one hand and an egg in the other. I screamed slightly and grabbed the bowl of brownie mix. It was an all out food fight. The kitchen was covered, as were we. He sat on my chest threatening to crack another egg on my face when Gil walked into the kitchen.
"JEFFREY NERO HARDY! CASEY LEE PINIARSKI!!!" he yelled. Jeff immediately slid off me and sat next to me as we looked at Gil with fear in our eyes. "CLEAN THIS GOD DAMN MESS UP NOW!!!! THEN GO TO BED!!!"
"Yes Dad," we said in unison. Gil threw a mop, bucket, and a couple sponges at us before retreating back to bed.
"How is it that he scares me more than Mark?" I asked as I filled a bucket with water and soap.
"I'm 25 and I'm still scared of him!" Jeff laughed.
I shrugged and grabbed a sponge. I started scrubbing the counter while Jeff mopped the floor. When we finished the big jobs, we worked on the small crevices on the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeff reach into the bucket. I kept working and sudden felt hot soapy water run down my face. I looked at Jeff and saw that he was kneeling with his hands over my head. He smiled and quickly went back to work innocently. I scooped up some water and threw it at him. I looked at the ceiling, as if to say, where the hell did that water come from. He soaked up water with the sponge and threw it at me. I gasped and pushed the bucket over onto him. He went to stand and slid back down to the floor. He laid on his back and I straddled his stomach. I took the bucket and with the water that was left in it, dumped it on his face. I smiled as we looked into each other's eyes deeply. I moved my face closer to his. I could feel his hot breath on my face. I gasped slightly and wiped his cheek with my hand as I pulled back. He looked up at me with confusion in his eyes.
"Umm....stray strand of hair," I said trying to smile. He nodded as I slid off him. I got up and began to clean up the mess we made once again. He stood and helped me. We glanced at each other and smiled.
"I guess we're done," Jeff said leaning on the mop. I sat on the counter and blew a piece of hair out of my face. I nodded as I looked around.
"Guess I should be getting to bed. I'll have to break it to Shane that we played with his brownies," I joked.
"Yeah, guess so," Jeff muttered.
"Jeff," I said. He looked at me and sighed.
"I...I...I gotta go. Goodnite, Casey," he said as he walked out the door he came in.
I put my head down and shook it as a tear rolled down my cheek. I pushed the others back as I jumped off the counter and threw the cleaning stuff in a closet. I walked up the stairs and Luna was asleep on the foot of my bed.
"Hey girl," I said patting her head. Her tail wagged slightly as I sat down. I picked up a picture of Shane and me off my nitestand. I examined it and sighed as I pulled it close to my chest. "Luna, is it possible to love two men at the same time?" She tilted her head to the side as if she was in a thought process. "Your right. I'm just goin crazy. I don't love both of them. I definitely only love one of them." I smiled and placed the picture down. I crawled under the covers and drifted off into a content sleep as Luna curled up beside my head.
"Case, it's not me baby," he replied as I felt him roll over.
"Huh?!" I asked as I slowly opened my eyes. I looked into dark puppy dog brown eyes, but they weren't Shane's. I was licked once again and realized that I had a little beagle puppy sitting on my chest. "OH MY GOD!"
"WHAT?!" Shane exclaimed shooting up into a sitting position.
"Where'd this beagle come from?" I asked excitedly as I wrapped my arms around it.
"Surprise! And happy birthday Casey!" Gil said from my door way. I smiled and looked up at him.
"Is this my surprise?!" I asked as the dog licked my face once again.
"Yep. I've been calling her Luna. I hope that's alright," he said sitting on the corner of my bed. She jumped over to him with her tail wagging. He laughed as she licked his cheek. "Jeff told me that you love beagles and have always wanted one."
"I have! I think they are the cutest in the world," I said.
"Well, I hope you like her?" he questioned.
"I love her! Luna, you said was her name?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I suppose you could change her name," he said.
"No, I love it. Thank you so much!" I said kissing his cheek. "I really love her dad."
"Dad?" he asked as his face glowed.
"Yeah....is that okay?" I asked.
"Of course it is! I just knew that you were calling Mark Callaway Dad immediately," he replied.
"Well, he's still my dad, but so are you," I smiled as Luna laid down with her head resting on my leg.
"That's good to hear sweetheart," he said kissing my forehead before he left.
"Did you know about this?!" I asked Shane as he pulled on his jeans.
"Possibly," he replied.
"You did! Ass!" I said with a laugh.
"I know," he smiled as he leaned on the bed to kiss my lips. "I'm gonna bring your stuff in and head home."
"Do you have to?" I asked tilting my head to the side.
"Yes I do. But I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. I believe my cats would like to see me!" I laughed and he pulled a shirt on.
"Alright. I'm gonna miss you," I said with a pout.
"I'm not gone yet! I'll leave after we, uh, well, ya know," he said wiggling his eyebrows me. I smiled and winked as he walked out the door.
"OW!" someone yelled from the hall. I jumped up and ran to the door. Shane was laying face down on the floor with his legs on the back of Jeff. I covered my mouth as I burst out laughing. Amy rushed out and did the same. Luna thought it was a game and began jumping on the backs of the two guys.
"What the fuck?" Jeff exclaimed.
"JEFFREY!!! WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!" Gil yelled from downstairs.
"What the hell are you doing in the hall, Jeff?" Shane said trying to stand but having no luck thanks to Luna. "Casey, Amy, stop laughing and help here!"
"Sorry," I said through laughs. "Come here Luna." She looked up at me and ran to me. I picked her up in my arms and continued to laugh. Shane stood and we all stared at Jeff.
"Jeff, why are you in the hall?" Amy asked trying to compose herself.
"I WAS sleeping!" Jeff exclaimed as he sat up. He stretched and looked at us staring at him. "WHAT?!"
"Most people don't sleep in the middle of hallways!" I exclaimed putting Luna down.
"Yeah, well, it was either here or on the uncomfortable couch!" he said.
"You could have slept in mine and Matt's room with me," Amy said as Jeff stood.
"Sorry, but I don't really feel comfortable sleeping with my brother's girlfriend," he said crossing his arms. "I see you met Luna."
"Yes I did! Thank you for telling Dad that I always wanted a beagle," I said giving him a hug.
"I'll be right back, babe," Shane said running down the stairs.
"It was no problem. You needed a dog anyways. Maybe I can get Liger back now!" he joked.
"No, Liger will always be my dawg!" I said.
"What was that? D-a-w-g? I can't even say it!" Jeff joked.
"Shudd-up!" I said as Amy and Jeff laughed.
"Alright, Angel. That's all of it!" Shane said throwing my stuff on the floor in the hall.
"Thanks!" I said kissing his cheek.
"Jeff, I put your stuff in the living room," he said with his hands on my waist.
"Thanks man," Jeff said kissing Shane's cheek.
"OH MAN!! Don't ever do that again!" Shane freaked out wiping his cheek frantically. I laughed as I put my hand on his face.
"I love you," I said kissing his lips softly.
"I guess I could leave a little later. Will you all excuse us?!" Shane said pushing me back into my room. I pulled away and shook my head.
"No, you have to go. I'll talk to you tonite and see you tomorrow!" I said with a smile.
"Alright. If you say so!" Shane said. "I love you!"
"OH PUH-LEASE!" Jeff and Amy exclaimed in unison.
I laughed and kissed Shane one last time. He left and the three of us walked down to the kitchen to enjoy some burnt pancakes made by Gil. I spent most of the day with Luna and Jeff. We took her for a ride on the four-wheeler to the lake. Her and Liger got along really well. He was like a brother to her in away. He even showed her the right way to chase the ducks! Later that nite, Jeff and I left Luna with Amy and Gil and drove to Raleigh to do some Christmas shopping.
"I really don't know what to get anyone. Well, except for you and Trish. I'm clueless about Matt and Ames and even Shane!" I said as we walked through a clothing store.
"Shane's easy. Give him you!" Jeff joked.
"Hey now!" I laughed. "Seriously though."
"Just get Matt a shirt. Amy, well, any clothes from Hot Topic would be good. And Shane....well, you'll figure it out. You are his girlfriend," Jeff said holding a shirt out and putting it up against me.
"Okay, what the hell are you doing?!" I exclaimed.
"Well, you and Trish are about the same size. So I figured whatever looks good on you and would fit you would probably fit her," Jeff said putting it back on the rack.
"I hate to inform you, but I'm a wee bit bigger than she is!" I said with a laugh. I ran to a rack of shirts for men and shuffled through it. "OH!! Do you think Matt would like this?"
"Ummmmm......as Matt Hardy Version 1.0, yeah. As Matt Hardy, the Matt Hardy, probably not!" Jeff laughed. I sighed and put it back.
"I think I know what to get Shane," I said as I dragged Jeff out of the store and across the mall to a jewelry store.
"And that would be my dislocated arm?!" Jeff joked as I let him go.
"NO! A new chain. He lost his other one," I said as I looked in the cases.
"Oh, so you mean I get to keep this?" he asked pointing to his arm.
"I suppose. If you really want it!" I laughed. I pointed to a thick gold one and smiled. "What about this one?!"
"If it were me, no....but since it's for Shane, yeah!" Jeff said with a smile. "So, you know what you're getting me, huh? Care to inform me?"
"Nope. You won't find out till Christmas!" I said as I asked for the woman to take out the chain. She handed it to me and I looked at the price tag. "Jeff, look at this price and make sure I'm not seeing things."
"It says 540 bucks. HOLY SHIT!" Jeff exclaimed.
"That's what I thought. I love him, but not that much!" I laughed. The woman put the chain back and we left for another jewelry store.
"I can't believe that was that much!" Jeff said.
"I know. That was ridiculous!" I said as we looked in the cases. The man pulled out a thick gold chain, similar to the 540 dollar one. I looked at the tag and it was for 120. I smiled and showed it to Jeff. He took out of my hands and examined it.
"Can I help you two?" a man in a nice pressed black suit said.
"No, we're just looking," I replied politely. "Plus this guy is already helping us."
"Does that catch your eyes?" he asked.
"Yeah, actually. I do like it," I said.
"So do I," Jeff added.
"I'm sorry but that's not for sale," he said taking it out of Jeff's hands.
"Then why is it on display?" I asked.
"I just is. We're thinking of getting more in. Now, there maybe some other stores that can cater to you," he said.
"What are you saying?" I asked a bit offended.
"Come Case. Let's just leave," Jeff said pulling on my arm.
"No, I want to know what this man means!" I said ripping my arm out of his grip.
"Please, we don't have anything that you'd like," he said.
"Excuse me. We just said we were interested in that," I said pointing to the chain in his hands.
"I know what you said. But we don't have any for sale," he repeated.
"I'll just take that one!" I said reaching for it.
"No you will not! Don't make me call the police!" he threatened.
"Why would you do that? Do you think we were gonna steal it?!" I exclaimed. "Why would you think that?! Because we wear these clothes? Because we dye our hair bizarre colors? Is that why?"
"Well, uh....."
"Well, answer her!" Jeff demanded.
"Yes, alright. Yes!" he exclaimed. "Now please leave!"
"No! This is discrimination. I was gonna buy that for my boyfriend for Christmas. We're wrestlers with the WWE. We don't need to steal anything!" I argued.
"You're superstars?" he questioned.
"Yeah, we are. And we were gonna buy that, but we suddenly changed our minds. Come on Case, we'll go do business else where!" Jeff exclaimed taking my hand. We walked out of the store and sat on a bench.
"I can't believe that just happened. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before!" I exclaimed as Jeff put his arm around me.
"They're just a bunch of assholes. Don't worry about it. We'll get a better chain for Shane someplace else that'll want our business," Jeff said.
"You're right. But I have suddenly lost my will to shop. Can we go home?" I asked. He smiled and nodded as he took my hand and left.
Jeff dropped me off and I walked in the house. Amy was walking into the living room with a cup of hot chocolate and smiled at me. I gave her a half hearted grin and began to walk up the stairs to my room.
"Casey, what's wrong?" Amy called after me. I sighed and sat on the steps. "And why are you bagless?!"
"Amy, Jeff and I just had the worst shopping experience ever in the history of.....us!" I said. She chuckled and sat on a lower step in front of me.
"What's that supposed mean exactly?"
"Jeff and I were shopping for a chain for Shane for Christmas. And well, I was really considering this one chain. But the manager came up to us and pretty much told us that if we didn't leave that he would call the police."
"Oh my God. Why?"
"Because I have black, red, and purple streaked hair and Jeff has black and blue hair. Plus our clothes," I said as I rested my chin on my fists.
"Seriously?!" Amy exclaimed. I nodded as Luna came up and sat next to me. I patted her head and Amy stood. "Asshole. You should have told someone!"
"Who was I gonna tell? Amy, I was already speaking to the manager," I said.
"I don't know. I guess there really wasn't much you could do. But don't let some jerk like that ruin your love for shopping!" Amy laughed.
"Me? Lose that? YEAH RIGHT!" I joked.
"Casey, Shane called a little while ago," Gil announced from the kitchen.
"Thanks! Now to get happy!" I said as I stood. I walked up the stairs with Luna right on my heels. I picked up my electric blue cordless phone and dialed his number.
"Hello?" a woman answered.
"I'm sorry. I must have dialed the wrong number."
"That's quite alright dear," the woman said as we hung up. I shook my head and tried again.
"Hello?" a woman answered again.
"Hi. It's me again. I was wondering if you could tell me if this is Shane Helms' residence?" I said politely.
"I'm sorry. No," she said as I heard a click.
"Okay. What the hell is goin on here?!" I exclaimed as I tried once again.
"Hello?!" a very aggravated woman said.
"Okay, I know you must be getting mad. But, I'm Casey Piniarski and Shane is my boyfriend who I love dearly. Now, I have no clue who you are, but I know this is his number and I would like to talk to him," I said as nicely as possible.
"Casey? Oh my! I'm a fool! Please forgive me. This is Shane's mother," she said with a laugh.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. I must have sounded like a total pain!" I replied.
"No, not at all dear. I'm Christine," she said.
"Nice to meet you. Well, sort of!" I laughed.
"I have to tell you. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon. You have my son quite flustered! In a good way. He's deeply in love with you. I'm just anxious to meet the girl in the pictures that I've seen. I must say that I've only seen some older pictures of you and you seem right for my son," she explained.
"Oh, I've changed quite a bit since we first meet," I laughed.
"So I've heard. Not just using a couple blue streaks! My son says that you're coming out of your shell and that he loves you more than ever. I'm hoping we can get together soon," she said.
"MOM!" I heard Shane yell in the background.
"That would be my cue to leave," she laughed. "It was good talking to you Casey."
"You too!" I laughed.
"Sorry about that Case," Shane said. "What did she say to you?"
"Nothing that would hurt your rep!" I laughed. "Your mom seems like a great woman. I can't wait to meet her."
"She can't either. She says fro me to pick you up tomorrow and the four of us can have dinner."
"You don't sound too happy about that."
"I'm just nervous."
"Don't you think they'll like me?"
"Of course I do! It's just that I've only had one other girl meet them and it didn't go too well. Plus they don't really like Jeff's style and the two of you are a lot alike."
"Shane, your mother and I seemed to get along fairly well on the phone. Why would meeting face to face be any different?"
"It probably won't."
"Then stop worrying. Everything will be fine!"
"Can you make brownies?"
"Excuse me?"
"I told my mom all about the wonderful skittle brownies you made Jeff."
"Okay, I'll do that tonite. You want skittles in them?"
"Do you think I'm Jeff?! Could you put M&Ms in them?"
"I suppose I can do that."
"Thank you so much. I love you so much!"
"Yeah, so I'm told!" I laughed.
"Dress casually. We'll go to the Outback."
"Okay. So my big baggy cut up jeans and cut up black wife beater!"
"NO!!"
"I'm just kidding! Don't worry. My Mystic Angel side will stay here."
"I love that side of you. But I think it might scare off my parents!"
"Don't worry. I'll dress like the Casey you originally met!"
"Thank you baby! I love you Angel."
"Love you too, Sugar. Now, I better go if you're gonna get those brownies!"
"Alright, I'll be there at 3:00 so we can meet my parents in Raleigh at 5:00."
"Can I drive?"
"Yes, you can drive!" Shane laughed. I squealed with excitement and said goodbye.
I put the phone in its cradle and ran into the kitchen. I searched through the cabinets and came up without any brownie mix.
"Ames!" I yelled as I sat on the floor. "AMES!"
"What?!" she exclaimed walking into the mess I made. "What the hell happened?!"
"I'm meeting Shane's parents tomorrow and he wants me to make my brownies. But how can I do that if there's no mix?!" I spazed as I rocked back and forth.
"Then let's go get the stuff you need." Amy smiled as she took my hand and pulled me to my feet.
"Dad! Amy and I are goin to the store! Need anything?!" I yelled up the stairs.
"Milk and eggs!" he yelled back.
"Way ahead of ya!" I yelled as we walked out the door. Luna followed and jumped in Amy's car. "Luna, no. You stay here."
"Case, just let her come. It's okay," Amy said as we got in. I sighed and we drove off.
"M&Ms? I thought they were skittle brownies," Amy said as I threw a bag of M&Ms in a basket.
"Shane wants M&Ms. Skittles are Jeff's thing," I replied.
"You're nervous."
"About what?"
"About meeting his parents," Amy said with a smile.
"No, I'm not nervous. I'm never nervous!"
"Case, girl, you're nervous!" Amy laughed.
"Aight, Ames, I'm scared out of my mind. It's way past nerves!"
"Why? His parents are really nice. You'll really like em."
"I'm not worried about not liking THEM. I'm worried about them not liking ME!"
"They'll love you. Everyone does."
"But they're HIS parents! They don't have to like me for the simple fact that I'm with they're wonderful son!"
"They're not like that. Trust me. If he loves you, they'll love you. And he loves you without a doubt! Girl, you have his heart totally!"
"But that doesn't mean they'll truly like me."
"Casey, it doesn't really matter if they like you or not! All that matters is that he loves you. And he does love you!"
"I guess you're right. But you have to help me get dressed. I don't think I can do it without you!" I joked.
"Probably not!" she said as we got into her car.
"Case, what are you doin up?" Jeff asked walking in the back door.
"I'm makin M&M brownies for Shane and his parents."
"Ahh, meetin the rents for the first time?"
"Yeah. What are you doin here anyways? Isn't it past your bedtime?" I asked as I mixed up the batter.
"I was out for a walk with Liger."
"And Liger would be....?"
"At home," he said shyly. I chuckled and licked the spoon.
"And the makes sense, how?"
"I don't know. I figured I'd walk around at 3 in the morning and saw the light on here in the kitchen. Thought I'd stop in."
"I see."
"Nervous?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Yeah it is," he said sticking his finger in the batter. I slapped it and smiled.
"I've worked too hard on these for your nasty paws to be all through it!"
"I think I'm offended."
"You think? And your head didn't explode? HOLY SHIT!" I joked. He picked up an egg and cracked it on my head. "You ass!"
"Yeah, well," he said.
"And to think, I went to all the trouble to make you these," I said putting a plate of skittle brownies under his nose. He reached for one and I pulled the plate away.
"Okay, that was cruel," he said. I smiled sweetly and shrugged.
"That's what you get for being an ass," I said putting the plate down.
"PLEASE?!" he pleaded with a pout.
"Jeffrey, don't you do that face with me. Shannon's the only one that pulls that face off with me," I said crossing my arms as yolk fell down my cheek and on the floor. "You do know that you will be helping me clean all this up, right?"
"Please?" he said getting in my face.
"UGH! Alright! Take em!" I said. He jumped up and down as I moved the plate down the counter for him to take one. He smiled as he took a big bite and half of it fell on the floor. "I can not believe you just did that."
"Did what? This?" he said taking another brownie off of the plate and dropping it on the floor. His jaw dropped and he placed his hands over his mouth. "Did I do that?!"
"You will die!" I exclaimed as I flung batter off the spoon and it hit the side of his face. His eyes grew wide in amazement as I stood there with my arms crossed, tapping the spoon on my shoulder.
His lips curled into an evil devilish smile. He was thinking, thinking bad thoughts. He nodded slightly and picked up the measuring cup full of milk. He wiggled his eyebrows and threw the milk on me. It dripped off me and made a puddle on the floor. I picked up and egg, with the help of my softball skills, I nailed the middle of his forehead. Yolk dripped down his face as he opened a bag of brownie mix. He took a hand full and blew it onto me. Caked in mix, I picked up a hand full of batter I had just mixed and slammed my palm on his cheek. It slowly fell down to the floor. That was it, the end of the world. With a primal cry, he lunged at me with the jug of milk in one hand and an egg in the other. I screamed slightly and grabbed the bowl of brownie mix. It was an all out food fight. The kitchen was covered, as were we. He sat on my chest threatening to crack another egg on my face when Gil walked into the kitchen.
"JEFFREY NERO HARDY! CASEY LEE PINIARSKI!!!" he yelled. Jeff immediately slid off me and sat next to me as we looked at Gil with fear in our eyes. "CLEAN THIS GOD DAMN MESS UP NOW!!!! THEN GO TO BED!!!"
"Yes Dad," we said in unison. Gil threw a mop, bucket, and a couple sponges at us before retreating back to bed.
"How is it that he scares me more than Mark?" I asked as I filled a bucket with water and soap.
"I'm 25 and I'm still scared of him!" Jeff laughed.
I shrugged and grabbed a sponge. I started scrubbing the counter while Jeff mopped the floor. When we finished the big jobs, we worked on the small crevices on the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeff reach into the bucket. I kept working and sudden felt hot soapy water run down my face. I looked at Jeff and saw that he was kneeling with his hands over my head. He smiled and quickly went back to work innocently. I scooped up some water and threw it at him. I looked at the ceiling, as if to say, where the hell did that water come from. He soaked up water with the sponge and threw it at me. I gasped and pushed the bucket over onto him. He went to stand and slid back down to the floor. He laid on his back and I straddled his stomach. I took the bucket and with the water that was left in it, dumped it on his face. I smiled as we looked into each other's eyes deeply. I moved my face closer to his. I could feel his hot breath on my face. I gasped slightly and wiped his cheek with my hand as I pulled back. He looked up at me with confusion in his eyes.
"Umm....stray strand of hair," I said trying to smile. He nodded as I slid off him. I got up and began to clean up the mess we made once again. He stood and helped me. We glanced at each other and smiled.
"I guess we're done," Jeff said leaning on the mop. I sat on the counter and blew a piece of hair out of my face. I nodded as I looked around.
"Guess I should be getting to bed. I'll have to break it to Shane that we played with his brownies," I joked.
"Yeah, guess so," Jeff muttered.
"Jeff," I said. He looked at me and sighed.
"I...I...I gotta go. Goodnite, Casey," he said as he walked out the door he came in.
I put my head down and shook it as a tear rolled down my cheek. I pushed the others back as I jumped off the counter and threw the cleaning stuff in a closet. I walked up the stairs and Luna was asleep on the foot of my bed.
"Hey girl," I said patting her head. Her tail wagged slightly as I sat down. I picked up a picture of Shane and me off my nitestand. I examined it and sighed as I pulled it close to my chest. "Luna, is it possible to love two men at the same time?" She tilted her head to the side as if she was in a thought process. "Your right. I'm just goin crazy. I don't love both of them. I definitely only love one of them." I smiled and placed the picture down. I crawled under the covers and drifted off into a content sleep as Luna curled up beside my head.