Chapter 16

Jessie got out of the plane at Lambert International Airport and looked around. She didn't see Randy anywhere but she noticed a young boy she guessed to be about 16 or 17 holding up a piece of computer paper with 'CENA' written on it sloppily in black magic marker. She leerily made her way over to him. He noticed her approaching and called out to her.

"Hey are you John's little girl" Jessie scoffed at being called a little girl but nodded her head without any smartass retort. "Cool I'm Nathan, Randy's younger, hotter, nicer brother" Jessie almost laughed when Nathan gave her the same smirk she had seen Randy give thousands of times. 'Apparently the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree' Jessie thought to herself as she and Nathan made their way to the baggage claim so she could get her bags. She noticed that when her bags were collected that Nathan wordlessly picked them up and carried them for her. She took the time to study him. He had dark brown hair and dark eyes. He was quite a bit taller than her, not quite as tall as Randy or John though, and while she agreed that he was hot he wasn't hotter than Randy as he said earlier in her opinion. He would definitely make ladies drool in a few more years though. "So what's it feel like having John as a dad" Nathan said trying to ease the tension as he put Jessie's bags in the trunk and unlocked the doors to the car so they could get in. Jessie waited til she got in and buckled her seatbelt before answering.

"It's pretty cool. I don't really think of him as a dad though more like, well I dunno but definitely not a dad" Jessie didn't know how she felt about her relationship with John at the moment. Nathan nodded and backed the car out of the parking space and made his way out of the parking lot.

"What's it like having Randy for a brother?" Jessie asked deciding that by being quiet she would probably come off as snobbish and she didn't want that to be Nathan's first impression of her.

"Ahhh well I just think of him as my brother. I mean we have the typical brother relationship he thinks of me as the typical loser little brother and I think of him as the typical 'I think I'm a bigshot' big brother. I mean don't get me wrong I don't have any ill feelings toward him I just think he thinks he has better things to do than hang out with his little brother sometimes. Our relationship is pretty good though. I mean we have our moments but not alot. Plus I mean there's the added benefit of getting to go to events and pay per views and meeting Stacy Keibler" Nathan let a smirk cross his lips as he said this. Jessie realized that Nathan was coming off as a Randy clone and wondered to herself how much of it was him and how much of it was a farce because of him thinking that since he was Randy Orton's little brother he should act like him. Oh well it was no concern to her she had bigger things to worry about.

Nathan and Jessie made small talk as they made the trip to Randy's place. She noticed a big difference in Nathan's driving in comparison to Randy's. Nathan was a calm driver and very laid back whereas Randy was always on edge and seemed very stiff when he drove. Nathan turned on the radio and Jessie smiled when she noticed that he had the same taste in music. For the rest of the trip Nathan and Jessie sang along to Korn, Aerosmith, The Bangles, and Bon Jovi. Jessie put her thoughts and problems out of her mind and concentrated on having fun singing along to the music.

After a while they pulled up to a gated community. Nathan punched a code into the keypad outside the gate and Jessie watched as it opened up. He drove through and Jessie watched rows of houses go by. Finally Jessie saw an apartment complex and she guessed, correctly, that it was the one Randy lived in. Nathan parked the car and got Jessie's bags out. Nathan lead the way to Randy's apartment and told Jessie to knock. She did and heard a bark and feet moving toward the door. The door was opened and Jessie got a glimpse of Randy's smiling face before she was knocked down by a dog. She got a face full of doggie kisses before the dog was pulled off of her and Randy's concerned face was hovering over her.

"Oh my God Jessie I am so sorry that's Mollie she gets a bit overly excited sometimes and doesn't realise her own strength. Are you ok sweetface?" Randy helped her sit up and Jessie did a quick assessment of herself and decided that she was ok. She brushed off her pants and stood up. She looked at Randy and noticed something that she hadn't noticed before then, his arm was in a sling.

"Woah are YOU ok is the real question? I didn't realize how bad your injury was" Jessie said looking at Randy worriedly.

"No no sweetiepie I'm fine this is just a precaution. I wear it during the day so I don't move my shoulder much so it can get a chance to heal" Randy said rubbing Jessie's back in a comforting gesture. She smiled and nodded. He smiled back at her and lead her into the apartment.

"Ok go sit down and I'll let Mollie out of the bathroom and you can get reintroduced without the threat of her knocking you on your butt again" Randy stuck his tongue out at Jessie playfully. She rolled her eyes and sat on the couch.

"For the record she only knocked me on my butt because I was caught off guard" Jessie said sticking her tongue out at Randy's retreating back.

"Yeah yeah yeah excuses excuses" he called from the back of the apartment. A few minutes later the small rottweiler came happily trotting through and came over to Jessie for attention. Jessie doted over her and petted her and talked baby talk to her. She had had a dog a few years ago that had been her moms when she was about Jessie's age but it had died from old age. Since then she had always wanted another pet. She thought about a dog but preferred a unique pet. When things between her and John straightened out she would ask him if she could get something.

"Hey bro" Randy said looking over at Nathan "do you think you could like...scram for the night I gotta talk with Jessie. You can go home and come back tomorrow some time I'll be ok". Nathan nodded and left without a word. Jessie thought it was kinda rude but shrugged it off.

"Ok darlin'" Randy said in a goofy fake southern drawl making Jessie laugh "what seems ta be the problem at the ok corral".

"Are you high" Jessie asked Randy seriously he giggled and nodded making a shhhh sign with his finger to his lips. She laughed and nodded. "Well see ok Daddy told me about how he and mom got together. Apparently he was at his uncles bachelor party and mom was the...stripper" Jessie choked on the word and Randy rubbed her back to calm her down "and well they got to talking and as daddy says it they had feelings for each other so they slept together" Jessie rolled her eyes "and the next morning she left him a letter saying it was a mistake and shouldn't have happened". Jessie took a deep breath and Randy chose his words carefully.

"Sweetie...your dad for as long as I have known him...he has always been very respectful of ladies. And I'm not just saying that either I really truly honestly mean it. He doesn't just have sex with a girl to have sex there has to be some feelings there for it to happen. Uh..he loves you. I know he does. He would never ever just throw you away or take you in because he felt he had to. Jessica he has something back that he lost for a while. I wasn't supposed to tell you this but he knew your mom had died he read her obituary in the newspaper. He was so messed up from it. He broke down hard and cried for hours. I even caught him with a knife in his hand staring at the blade. He was a zombie I REALLY am not supposed to tell you this but that day you came he and I had been having a talk about suicide and he told me he often thought about it".

"What?" Jessie said "not my daddy" she got tears in her eyes then. Despite what had happened the thought of losing her dad brought her more pain than anything she had been through recently. Randy reached over and pulled her on his lap, which with one hand wasn't that easy but he accomplished it.

"Honey he's ok now. That was the point I was trying to make. He's ok and its because of you that he is. Honey he loves you and he wants to take care of you" Randy told her. "When he came back home after he found out you were raped I was outside waiting on him and when I tried to stop him from going inside so I could explain he said these exact words to me 'Orton if you don't let go of my arm and let me go to my babygirl you will be laid out on the ground', Jessie I have never heard him speak like that to anybody let alone the closest friend he has. But I mean I don't fault him for it what I want for you to take from that is that he would beat the crap of his best friend for you there's no telling what else he'd do".

Jessie's mind was reeling. She had only been here a few hours and yet all she wanted to do was go home and be with her dad again. She looked up at Randy and before she even began to speak he held up a hand.

"Tomorrow I'll get you a flight home tonight though I want you to get a good nights rest. I know flying takes a lot out of a person and I know you gotta be tired. Now there's two options 1) you can share my bed with me. 2) Sleep in the spare room and I can send Nathan to sleep at home." Jessie thought about it for a minute and decided that she didn't really want to sleep alone.

"I'll be your bed buddy, I don't feel like sleeping alone" Randy nodded and pulled Jessie gently to his room. Jessie almost collapsed in laughter when she saw Randy's room. He had mirrors all over his ceiling, a big mirror on the side of his room, a mirror on his dresser, and a small handheld mirror sitting on top of the dresser. He also had hair products upon hair products sitting on the dresser. Jessie looked at him and raised her eyebrow.

"I like to look good ok" Randy said a bit embarassedly. She could have sworn there was a red shade to his face.

"Alright Delma" she said to him referring to the God of Vanity from Greek Mythology. He got a confused look on his face and she laughed lightly at him. She pulled his head down to her so she could kiss his cheek. She pulled off her jeans, her shirt was long enough to keep her modesty, and climbed into bed.

Randy shook his head at her and followed suit by climbing into bed once he had stripped down to his boxers and taking off his sling. He pulled Jessie to him and she snuggled into his chest as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning Jessie woke up and noticed she was alone in bed. She moved and noticed a piece of paper laying on her chest. She picked it up and read it 'Honeybunnybear (yea I took my meds again) I had Nathan take me to the gym for a workout. I left some food for breakfast for you (don't worry its not in the oven this time). I should be back in a few hours until then feel free to call your dad and have him book a flight for you back home. By the way you won't have a lot of time to spend with him seeing as its Wednesday and we have house shows Saturday. See you later, Love Randy'.

Jessie put her pants back on and made her way downstairs to get the food Randy left her and call her dad. She was whistling a mindless happy tune, she had a feeling today would be a good day.

She saw the plate of food sitting on the counter and smiled at the sight of the biscuits covered with gravy, sausage, bacon and eggs. Her mouth watered. She greeted Mollie who let Jessie pet her then went back to lay down 'must not be a morning dog' Jessie thought to herself and laughed.

She went over to the refrigerator for a drink. She opened it and reached down for the apple juice at the bottom when a sharp pain ripped through her. She dropped to the floor, the juice spilling all over, as the darkness engulfed her.