Phone Call
-by Beth C
Summary: Hunter calls up Shawn after he reads the letter. Part of an ongoing series I am working on. Hunter's POV.
Feedback: Sure, if you want me to write more.
Disclaimer: Not mine, sure wish they were though. Don't sue. This is all in fun.
Rating: G - Nothing bad at all.
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Hunter smiled as he pushed his free flowing golden locks away from his face. He had read and re-read Shawn's letter many times since it had been handed to him two days ago. There was that one comment at the end of the letter that had caught his attention.
"Now pick up the phone and give me a call, Hunter. Let's get this reunion off the ground."
His small smile grew wider. This was better than he had hoped for. When he had originally written his first letter, he had been expected to be rebuffed, for he had treated his former best friend in the worst way possible. He had not expected to get any reply at all but when Shawn had handed him the letter on his way out of the arena, it actually had given Hunter something to hope for.
A reunion. Man that would blow the rooftops off the stadiums and launch the both of them to the front of the superstar lineup. Not that they were that far down as it stood, but it would definitely cement a top billing status. The time was ripe to bring back DX.
But it was more than that to Hunter. Even if Shawn didn't want to do the DX thing anymore, it would be enough if they could just be friends again. Hunter was lonely now, and needed someone to confide in. Especially with a new baby on the way. Shawn had always been that person that you could turn to and not expect anything from but a sympathetic ear and a shoulder if needed.
The kind of friend that you do not turn your back on and walk away from. Hunter had done that once. He was not going to do that again.
He stood up and carried the letter over to the cordless phone on the wall of the house that he and Stephanie shared in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. She was out for the day, having doctor's appointments and other Smackdown business to take care of, so he was alone. He picked up the phone and glanced at the clock. 11am in the morning. That would make it about 10am in San Antonio, Texas. Shawn should be up.
He dialed the number after digging it out of his rusty memory. He hoped Shawn hadn't changed it. Not that he didn't have a way of getting the new number, for he always had his sources at Corporate Headquarters.
The phone rang. And rang. And continued to ring.
Hunter frowned at the letter. Maybe Shawn wasn't home. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. He didn't want to bother Shawn's wife, Rebecca if he didn't have to. Two more rings. He was about to hang up when a sleepy sounding voice finally picked up.
"Hello?" The voice croaked more than spoke the word.
"Shawn?" Hunter asked, not sure if that was indeed his friend. It sounded like Shawn, but a very hoarse and sleepy Shawn to say the least.
"Speaking," came the reply partially muffled by a yawn.
"Hey, it's Hunter. Look, did I catch you at a bad time?" He was beginning to rethink this phone call. He should have waited until later in the day.
Another muffled yawn and the voice answered, "Well, I got home last night around 3am my time and didn't get to bed until around 5am…" the reply trailed off as another yawn was bitten back.
Hunter carried the cordless phone and the letter back to the couch. He dropped the papers onto the coffee table and stretched his legs out and crossed them, placing them next to the discarded sheets as he sat. "Late flight, huh? I didn't mean to wake you. Would it be better if I called back another time? It's no bother really."
Hunter heard the squeak of a person rising from a bed and then a pain filled yelp followed by a thump and a muffled curse that was bitten off in mid swear. "Shawn?" he asked, wondering what was going on.
"No, it's okay. I'm up now; we can talk for a bit." The reply was a bit harsh and had a tinge of pain in the voice. Hunter heard the phone being covered and something being said to someone in the background that he couldn't make out. When Shawn's voice came back on it was clearer and more awake sounding. "Until the kids get up that is."
"You okay? If it's really a bad time, I can call back. I know how hard it is to get sleep after a long night." The last thing Hunter wanted right now was to intrude on his former best friend's family or sleep time.
Shawn chuckled a bit. "No, it's really okay, Hunter. You know those little green army men that little boys love to play with?" He didn't bother to wait for a reply, but just continued as if he knew that Hunter would know the kind he was talking about. "Well, Cameron decided he was going to leave like 50 of them by the edge of my bed last night. I have no idea why they aren't in his room, but as I got up out of bed, I stepped on one, which jabbed the underside of my foot, causing me to trip and stub my toe on the bedpost." He sighed. "You would think that by now that kid would know enough to pick up his own toys."
Hunter had to laugh lightly as he imagined a sleepy Shawn, his long hair all disheveled, trying to get out of bed and getting attacked by an army of green plastic men. "Oh man, I feel for you."
"No you don't," Shawn retorted playfully. "But don't you worry, your time is coming. Soon enough you will have a houseful of toys to trip over of your own. Then you'll know what it's like to go to the kitchen to get a glass of milk and find a robot in the fridge aiming a ray gun at you."
Hunter laughed again. "Did that really happen?"
"Yeah, about two weeks ago. Middle of the night. Scared the heck right out of me, as I was half-asleep. Definitely wasn't expecting it. It was one of those motion-detecting things they have out for kids nowadays. When I opened the door, it raised the gun and shot at me with those annoying loud bleeps. Made me drop the glass I was holding and screech." Shawn laughed. "That kid is trying to make me get back into swearing, and he's teaching his younger sister well."
Hunter laughed openly as he pictured the situation that Shawn had found himself in. "Oh man, I can't wait."
"How much longer do you have?" Shawn asked and Hunter could hear a door opening and closing in the background as his friend moved from the bedroom.
"A few more months. Steph's at the doctor's office now getting a checkup." He smiled as he remembered telling her to call him once the visit was over. "I told her not to find out the sex of the baby as we want to be surprised."
"Oh you will be. What do you want it to be?"
Hunter had to think. This was the first real time that anyone other than Steph had asked him this question. 'Well, I'll take either one, but I really want a boy."
"In that case, you will get a girl." Shawn teased. "A really girly, girl too."
Hunter had to admit he had missed talking to someone like this, friend to friend. Even if Shawn was thousands of miles away it felt like he was in the next room. "No, I want a boy that I can do father-son things with. A boy that can torture me the way yours does."
Shawn laughed. Hunter heard the sound of the fridge door being opened and something being poured. "Then a boy you shall have." The door closed and a pause was heard as Shawn took a drink of whatever he had poured. "So, Hunter, I'm sure you didn't call just to talk about my kids and their playtime habits. What can I do you for?"
Hunter sighed and glanced back to the letter. "Yeah, that's true, although I have to admit, I like hearing stories. Gives me some idea what to expect of my own offspring." He took a breath and then stated the reason for his call. "I read your letter, Shawn."
"Well, that's why I wrote it," Shawn quipped. "I was hoping you wouldn't use it to line a birdcage or something."
"Ha, ha, Shawn."
"Ha, ha, back at you, Hunter. I'm guessing that you are ready to set some sort of reunion plans up?"
Hunter heard the unmistakable sounds of the glass being put in the sink and water running at it was rinsed out. "I'm Game if you are," he snickered.
Shawn groaned audibly. "I asked for that."
"Left yourself wide open," he admitted. "So how are we going to do this?"
Silence drifted over the line for a moment then he heard rustling papers. "Well, I gotta fly outta here again in four days for the next Raw taping."
"Yeah, same here. I can't seem to stay here long enough." He looked around the room and realized that out of a month, he barely spent 12 days in it. "How about we meet up before the show and go somewhere for lunch and to talk?"
"Sounds great to me," Shawn stated.
An awkward silence fell over the line in which neither man said anything. Hunter sighed. "Shawn, this means a lot to me, that you are willing to start over like this."
"Isn't that what friendship is really about? Letting by-gones be by-gones? Forgiving and moving on?"
Hunter uncrossed his legs and sat up. The comfortable familiarity was gone from his voice now. He always had a hard time expressing himself verbally in words and this time was no exception. "I never thought you could forgive me. I did some terrible things and said some really horrible stuff to you."
He heard a sigh and a creak of a chair. "I was just as bad." There was another instance of awkwardness then Shawn's voice stated calmly. "We went over all this in the letters, so I'm not going to rehash any of it." A small pause then he continued. "Let's wipe the slate clean and let the past stay in the past."
"Agreed, but just for the record, Shawn, I really am sorry." Hunter apologized with sincerity. He had done so once in person, when handing Shawn the letter, but he felt the need to state it once again.
"I'm sorry too, Hunter."
Both men let the apologies stand for a moment, and Hunter felt a great weight lift off his shoulders. It was something he had carried with him since breaking ties with Shawn. A burden that he had been unable to let go in any other way.
The sound of a baby crying loudly came over the line and Hunter knew it had to be Shawn's little girl. Shawn's next words confirmed it. "Hey Hunter, can I call you back later? Cheyenne just woke up, and I need to check on her."
"Sure, pal. Anytime. Go tend to your kids. Call me when you can and we will set the final plans up." He smiled, "You take care now."
"Sure, buddy. You do the same. Tell Steph I said hi. Catch you later," Shawn said as he hung up the phone.
Hunter pressed the button on the phone to disconnect the call. It was so funny how they had just clicked back into place. As if all those years of feuding hadn't happened. Hunter realized that the old adage of 'you never knew how good you had it until it's gone' was very true.
He had missed Shawn and his banter terribly. He hadn't known it until now. He picked up the letter and carried it to his desk where it put it away. He was a lucky man to get a chance to make up with his best friend.
He wasn't going to ruin it this time. True friendships were too rare.
-End