Okay folks, here we go, the fight is on. I chose J.R. and King for the commentators, I know they might be way too old or not even alive anymore by now, but I just love them together and I so couldn't go without them. Also, the ref for the match is Brian Hebner, I know he's released by a long shot, but I always thought he's kinda cute, and I loved how he always fled from Taker, so deal with it –LoL- .
Chapter 12
Brian Hebner shot one last look at both men before giving the signal to ring the bell. When the sound echoed through the arena Brandon high-fived his sister and met Hunter in the middle of the ring. Neither man attempted to move, they just stood there toe to toe eyeing each other.
" Well, King, that's it, father versus son, No DQ." J.R.said, expectantly watching the two men in the ring.
Jerry Lawler only nodded, his gaze focused on the monitor before him.
The audience watched on the Tron as the words flew between Brandon and Hunter, and backstage Corey would have given his right arm to know what was spoken in the ring. He felt Joelle's hand on his shoulder and turned to offer a weak smile, but the loud cheers of the crowd caught his attention and turning back to the monitor he saw Hunter on the mat with Brandon standing over him, kicking the damaged knees of his father furiously. After doing so for a few minutes Brandon stopped his assault and slid out of the ring. He knelt down and searched under the ring for something to use against his opponent, but he felt himself being pulled to his feet by his hair, and stared into the cold eyes of Hunter. And if looks could kill Brandon would have been six feet under. Hunter released his son and drew his huge fist back, only to punch Brandon square in the face causing the younger man to fall backwards and hit the floor, and now it was Hunters turn to start his assault. Brandon felt his father's fists all over his body, and to his own surprise he felt a strange tingle in his stomach. He had seen Hunter wrestle a thousand times on TV, but being on the receiving end of this right hand was something completely different, and to be honest he had underrated his father, to be honest he scared the crap out of him… wait a minute, I'M NOT SCARED, Brandon thought enraged and used all of his strenght to push Hunter off him. He jumped back to his feet despite the pain in his head and pushed Ruby off her chair to grab the steely seating accomodation, but Hunter had seen it coming, and as Brandon attempted to crash the steel onto his father's skull Hunter gripped the chair, preventing his son to bring it down on him. Brandon struggled to free his weapon from his father's grip but it was no use, and so he let go only to take a few steps back and tackle Hunter to the ground, and the chair went flying out of his hands. Brandon went for the first cover of the match but Hunter kicked out, Brandon barely getting a two count. He jumped to his feet, argueing with Brian, and climbed the announcers table. He grinned evilly down at Hunter and attempted a flying elbow drop off the table, but Hunter rolled out of the way and Brandon landed on his left arm. And Hunter used this mercilessly for his advantage. He took Brandon in a hammer lock, shifting his whole weight on his son's damaged arm, and Brandon cried out in pain, but Hunter showed no signs of letting go too soon, so Brandon bent down to grab Hunter's leg and yank him off his feet. Hunter fell backwards, pulling Brandon with him, and with Brandon landing on top of his father the younger man went for the next cover but Hunter, having released his grip on Brandon, pushed his son off him at one. Brandon slowly got to his feet, clutching his arm, and backed towards the barrier. Hunter followed his son and after hitting him with a few chops he clotheslined Brandon over the barrier, and the former champion landed in the front row. Security immediately ushered the people out of harms way as Brandon gripped a chair for support and sat down on it to catch his breath, but Hunter had other plans and sent Brandon back to the floor with a hard kick to the face. He climbed over the barrier and the men exchanged hard punches in the middle of the audience.
Hunter felt the effort of the match slowly get to him as he found it harder to breath with every passing minute, and for the first time his knees buckled dangerously. Brandon, sensing his father's lack of concentration, threw himself at him and the two men crashed into a compilation of chairs, barely avoiding the fans sitting nearby. Brandon rolled off Hunter and crawled a few feet away on all fours to recover.
Hunter felt a sharp pain stream through his legs and groaned, closing his eyes. When he opened them he met the eyes of a group of teenagers who were gazing down on him, and he saw something in their faces – concern. He gave them a weak smile and whispered " We're just getting started" and winked at them. Meanwhile Brandon had gotten to his feet and came over to bent over Hunter who lay motionless on the ground with his eyes closed. Brandon studied his father closely before reaching out and grabbing his arm, but Hunter's eyes shot open and he grabbed Brandon by the throat and squeezed tightly. Brandon choked and tried to free himself by stumbling backwards, pulling Hunter up in the process, and Hunter let go only to shove his son who fell back to the floor.
Hunter slowly made his way back and over the barrier and fell to the ground exhausted. Brian appeared by his side, asking him if he could continue and Hunter nodded weakly, grateful for some time to recover, but he sensed another presence in front of him, and before he realized it the unidentified person kicked him hard in the back. Hunter groaned and rolled over, and a look of pure shock appeared on his face when he saw his daughter standing over him.
" Brandon is not the only one involved, this is my fight as well." Jordan said calmly before giving him another hard kick that blurred Hunter's vision.
The booming cheers of the crowd caught his attention, but the ring blocked his view, the only thing Hunter knew is that someone had decided to watch his back out here when Jordan was pushed off him. He felt a hand on his arm, and he knew instantly who that person was without seeing her when the butterflies went crazy in his stomach at the touch.
" Baby…" he whispered, but Jay silenced him with her fingers.
" Sshhh I'm here, I wont let them harm you anymore." She said softly.
" It's Destiny, Destiny's back by her husbands side!" King screamed excited causing another round of cheers.
" Get out of the way!" came a cold voice from behind them, and Jay got up and turned to stand face to chest with her son.
" You have to stop this, please, it's enough." She pleaded, but Brandon shook his head.
" He deserves it, Mom, he hurt you, he broke your heart, and ours." He said, pointing to Jordan who stood back watching the argument.
" That's a long time ago, baby, he has learned his lesson, just let it be." Jay begged but her words fell on deaf ears, and so she started to yell at her children in her helplessness.
And the situation escalated.
Brandon, having enough of his mother's yelling, slapped her. Time seemed to freeze and the whole arena fell silent.
Jordan covered her mouth with her hand, shocked at her brother's actions, and Jay stared at her son with big eyes, holding her cheek.
Brandon stood puzzled, not believing what he had just done, and he regretted it right away when he saw his father back on his feet and stare him down with pure hatred written all over his face. Everyone who knew Hunter, even the fans, were aware of the fact that his wife was holy territory for the Game, and everybody who had dared to lay a hand on her in the past had paid for it dearly, in AND outside the ring. Realizing the danger he had put himself in Brandon started to back away slowly. Hunter followed every step his son took, and Brandon felt the barrier dig in his back. He was trapped. Trapped between the barrier and his father who looked like he was ready to tear him in half. And he was right. Hunter lunged for Brandon and speared him over the barrier, landing in the front row again where he started to pound on his son in blind rage, and it slowly dawned to the audience that this hadn't been an ordinary match from the beginning, this was a personal issue between father and son, ending in a wrestling ring.
Brandon refused to stay down and kicked Hunter off him, and the fight was on once again. Chairs were flying everywhere, and using the second Hunter needed to duck out of the way to avoid being hit Brandon grabbed another chair and crashed it on his father's head. The sickening sound of steel meeting skull echoed around the arena, and all eyes were on Hunter whose knees buckled wildly, but he managed to stay on his feet. Brandon shouted out in frustration and repeated his actions, this time Hunter fell to his kness, the steel tearing his forehead open and the blood was flowing, dripping from his chin to the floor.
Jay screamed in horror and tried to reach the two men but she was held back by Jordan.
" Don't…they've gone insane…both of them…stay with me.." she pleaded, clinging to her mother for dear life. " I'm…I'm sorry… I…I didn't know that…that he wanted….to hurt Dad..intentionally…" she said as a single tear made its way down her cheek.
Jay was about to respond but a loud bang caught her attention, and looking back at the two men in her life she watched in horror as Brandon started to bring the chair down on Hunter's knees, again and again until Hunter thought he's pass out.
Dr. Fielding came racing down the ramp screaming over and over again " STOP THAT YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" and the crowd gasped in horror, remembering the diagnosis from many years ago.
And backstage, Corey had finally had enough. He turned and flew down the hallway, his friends close behind him.
By now the audience had stopped to cheer completely.
Brandon attempted another chair shot, but Hunter lifted his leg despite the horrible pain, and gave his son a devastating kick to the family jewels. Brandon screamed out loud and fell to the ground, letting go of the chair as he did so.
Hunter tried to get up, but fell back to the floor. He managed to get to his feet with the help of four security guards and slowly walked up the ramp where Corey and his friends had appeared seconds earlier.
" NO!" came the yelling voice of Brandon. " WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" and he followed his father, a steel chair in his hands.
Hunter decided to put an end to it and met his son with a hard kick to the guts, causing him to let go off the chair which hit the ground before him. And as much as Hunter hated to do what he was about to do, he pushed Brandon's head between his legs and hooked his owm arms under the one's of his son. Shooting Jay a helpless look he jumped and drove Brandon into the steel with a thunderous pedigree. He knelt down beside Brandon and hooked his legs for the cover. Brian ran up to them and counted slowly to three. The bell rang, and the nightmare was over.
Breathing a long sigh of relief Jay and Jordan went to join Hunter and check on Brandon, but they stopped in their tracks as Hunter got to his feet. He looked down at his legs, and Jay's worst nightmare came true. Everybody watched in horror as Hunter's knees eventually gave away under him, unable to hold his weight anymore, and the cracking of bones could be heard to the last row as his knees diverged. Corey saw it coming and jumped to catch Hunter as he fell, and hell broke loose. EMT's were running everywhere, Shane appeared on top of the ramp gesticulating wildly, trying to bring the chaos under control, Jay screamed hysterically and pushed everyone out of the way to get through her husband who lay on the floor panting and grimacing in pain in Corey's arms.
The arena was filled with the sound of the horns of the arriving ambulance, and when doctors came rushing through the curtain, Shane made the sign for the show to go off air.
Hunter and Brandon were loaded on stretchers, and arriving at their vehicle a doctor turned to the group that had followed him.
" Any relatives to ride with them?"
Jordan pushed her way to the front. " I'm his sister." The doctor nodded in approval and Jordan climbed in the back of the ambulance Brandon had been loaded in.
" And him?" the man in white said pointing to Hunter.
" I'm his wife, but I have to make some phone calls…" Jay trailed off and glanced at Corey, and she knew she couldn't hide the truth for much longer.
After taking a deep breath she gently pushed Corey towards the ambulance.
" He'll go."
Corey stared at her dumbfounded and shot a questioning look at Joelle.
" Related?" the doctor asked Corey who could do nothing more than stare at him.
" He is." Jay said quietly and added to Corey " I'll be there as soon as possible. Now go." And she turned and disappeared around the next corner.
" Fine then, come on son." The doctor said and Corey entered the vehicle in trance.
He was related to Hunter? Why didn't anybody tell him? What the hell was going on?
The ride to the hospital was spent in silence with Hunter passed out anyway and Corey lost in his thoughts. So that was one of the missing pieces in the puzzle, he was related to Hunter, and thereby also with Jordan and Brandon. But why had everybody kept this away from him? And how did that fit in the whole thing?
Arriving at the hospital the doctors rushed Hunter and Brandon inside, and a nurse ushered Jordan and Corey to the information desk.
" I need some information. In which way are you related to our patients?" she asked.
" They're my father and my brother." Jordan said and the nurse started to fill in some documents.
" And you?" she turned to Corey.
He stood there shifting uncomfortably on his feet and glanced at Jordan who gave him a questioning look, and for the first time ever he saw no hate, no arrogance in her face.
" Young man, I need you to answer my questions, the faster the better." The nurse said impatiently. " In which way are you related to the patients?" she repeated.
" I…I…" Corey stuttered and gained a raised brow from the woman before him. " I…don't know." He finally admitted.
" What do you mean, you don't know? " the nurse stared at him.
" I mean it like I said it, I just found out that I'm related to them at all like a few minutes ago." Corey shouted and stomped off.
He went straight to the restroom and locked himself in. He felt like riding a rollercoaster of emotions, he was angry, grieving and confused all at once, and he didn't even try to stop the tears that threatened to fall. And what confused him the most was the look Jordan had given him. It was not the usual what-are-you-doing-here-you-have-no-right-to-be-here-look, but there was something else, something like – understanding. Corey laughed bitterly at his thoughts. She had avoided him, she had tried to kill him with her looks, why the sudden change of attitude? Why would she suddenly express something like – sympathy?
A soft knock pulled him out of his thoughts, and wiping his eyes Corey opened the door to find himself looking at the concerned face of Jordan Waltman.
" What do you want?" Corey grunted harshly.
" I gave the nurse the information she needed, you don't have to go there again." She said firmly. Then she turned and walked away, but looked over her shoulder before disappearing in the hallway.
" I'm gonna go see them, if you want to come along…"
Corey was taken aback by her words. Did she just ask him to join her? Corey wanted to laugh out loud at the irony, but he just nodded and followed her.
Jordan took a seat in the waiting area and stared into space. Corey settled across from her and caught himself studying her closely for the first time.
She was a beautiful woman, and Corey asked himself why he had never noticed that before. Her long dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a high pony tail showing off the soft features of her face that was the spitting image of her mother. Her big hazel eyes were clouded with worry as she stared at the floor, waiting for a doctor to come out and tell them about the condidtion of her family, and Corey felt kind of bad for her. He could only imagine what he would be going through if it was his mother or Sue laying in the examing room.
" Rough night, huh?" she said suddenly in a very quiet voice, breaking the silence and startling Corey.
" Uh..yeah.." he answered, surprised to no end about Jordan Waltman talking to him, not to mention in a civil tone.
" Congrats on defending your title…." And Corey stared at her mouth open. There was Jordan, JORDAN WALTMAN for chrissake, trying to have a conversation with him!
" Uh..thanks…" was all Corey could say.
They heard footsteps approach and looking up they saw Jay coming towards them, with – Trina. Corey looked at the women surprised. How had Jay managed to bring his mother to Sarasota so fast?
( A.N: I did mention that Armageddon would be held back at Sarasota after the Raw show in San Antonio, right? I think I did…well, whatever.)
" How are they?" Trina asked after sitting beside her son who was still speechless due to Jordan's behavior.
" We don't know anything yet." Jordan answered for him, and Trina almost fell out her chair, Jordan was talking to her, in a NORMAL tone.
" Mom? Why didn't you tell me I was related to Hunter?" Corey asked suddenly, not able to hold back the questions any more, and Trina stared at him shocked.
" You…you know? But…but…who.."
" I told him." Jay spoke up and Trina shot her a helpless look, then looked back at Jordan.
Corey watched the silent exchange between the three women, and to be honest it didn't surprise him one bit. They had kept something from him his whole life, and his assumption was proven right now that his mother was more involved than she had admitted, and Jordan and Jay? Of course they knew, no doubt about that. There was one last piece and the puzzle would be complete.
" Why didn't you tell me? What's the big deal? I mean, you could have told me, really. I felt like an idiot when the nurse asked me all these questions." Corey shook his head.
" What nurse? What questions?" Trina asked.
" Yeah, first Jay tells me I'm related to Hunter..do you have any idea how I felt? I mean..god... and then that nurse asked me how I was related to them and…and I couldn't answer her…because I just don't know…" Corey stuttered, feeling his emotions take him over again.
Then all eyes were on Jay as she sat in her chair crying silently. " Please…somebody tell him…I want that nightmare to end…" she sobbed, hiding her face behind her hands, and Corey could only watch when Jordan joined her mother in her emotional state.
Trina's heart bled at the sight before her, and she stood up from her seat to sit beside Jordan. The former best friends shared a long look at each others eyes before Trina broke down and started to cry hysterically. Corey's eyes wandered over the crying group of women, and he thought the world had gone crazy.
" You're his son." Came the hysterical sob of Jordan before she broke down completely, joined by Jay and Trina.
Corey felt his heart miss several beats as the words entered his mind. Did she just say I'm his son? Hunter is my DAD?
Corey's heart raced and his mind went blank. Hunter was his father? But how…why..?
And suddenly it all made sense. He saw the pieces come together and the events take place like a film before his very eyes. His mother was the friend that slept with Hunter, and he was the result. There was no unfaithful boyfriend, they had told him to keep the truth away from him.
Corey felt hot tears stream down his cheeks as reality hit him full force. His father was not dead, his father had been by his side all along the way, he just hadn't known it. And that was what Hunter had meant at the beach, he couldn't tell him, he would loose him.
They all had lied to him, and Corey realized something : his whole life had been a lie!
Suddenly Corey felt sick to his stomach and he jumped up, leaving the three hysterical women in their misery, and he ran. He ran down the hallway, out of the hospital and down the road. He didn't care where his legs were bringing him to, he just felt like running. Running from the truth, a truth he had wanted to find out, but now that he had he wished he would have never started asking.
After a few minutes Corey found himself at the beach, and he let himself drop in the sand where he started to sob violently.
He didn't know how long he layed on the ground drowning in self pity, but a shadow fell on him, and he looked up to meet the deep blue orbs of Joelle.
" Thought I'd find you here." She said softly with watery eyes.
Joelle knelt down and opened her arms, and Corey threw himself at his girlfriend as a fresh wave of tears started to fall. She held him tight and stroked his hair as she cried with him. When Corey started to calm down he released Joelle and looked at her tear streamed face.
" You..how…what…"
" I followed you to the hospital. The nurse wouldn't tell me where you all were, so I went to find you on my own, but when I found Jay she told me you had just run off. She told me what happened…" Joelle whispered. " Does it make sense now…?."
Corey nodded weakly and sighed. " Who could have thought that…that…" but he couldn't bring himself to speak out the words.
" I guessed…" Joelle admitted and Corey stared at her with big eyes.
" You…but…but why…why didn't you tell me?"
" I wanted you to find out on your own….but sometimes one is too blind to see the obvious.."
Corey thought about Joelle's words and felt like an idiot. She was right, it had been before his very eyes the whole time, but he had been too blind to see it, for whatever reason. And it didn't matter anymore, he knew the truth, and it had turned his whole world upside down. But despite the confusion and the desperation he felt something else, a little spot in his heart was – happy. Happy that he had found the one person he had missed his whole life, and happy that it was someone he loved, someone like Hunter, in fact it was Hunter, and not a total stranger.
Corey shivered. He had always loved Hunter, but how should he face him now that the truth had been revealed? Could he face him at all? And could he love him like he had loved him before? And how would Hunter react?
And then he remembered something Hunter had begged him to remember. Their conversation at the beach where Hunter had told him he loved him, no matter what happened, as if he had felt the time had come to reveal the truth.
No matter what happened, Corey repeated the words in his mind. He loves me, but then why did he lie to me? You wouldn't lie to someone you love, Corey thought bitterly. And his mother, she had played with his emotions, she had told him the worst lie there was to tell, that being that his father had died when he was a little kid. And all these years Corey had bought her story, he had never doubted his mother's words, he had believed her without asking questions. How hard it had been growing up without a father, how sad he had been seeing all these kids around him playing football with their Dads, and he had just felt left out. His mother had never married again, she wouldn't even go out with someone, and Corey had asked himself if they had been a real family at all without someone he could look up to.
Joelle studied her boyfriend closely, trying to read his thoughts, but she was startled when Corey suddenly jumped up, and his face turned hard. No sorrow, no sadness, just pure anger.
" They want to play? I'll show them!" he said bitterly and stomped his way back to the hospital with Joelle on his heel.
'Time to play' Corey thought bitterly as he stomped right through the main entrance and passed the information desk, gaining a raised brow by the nurse, but he ignored her.
Not even waiting for the elevator he raced up the stairs and repeated the words he was about to say in his mind. If they thought they would get away with it just like that they were dead wrong.
Joelle tried to catch up with her boyfriend, she wanted to be by his side when he faced his so called family, she wanted him to know he wasn't alone.
Jay, Trina and Jordan saw them coming and stood up to greet him back, but upon seeing the look on his face they remained silent.
Corey came to a halt in front of the three women, and after taking a deep breath he started.
" Who the hell do you think you are!" he said, trying to keep his cool. When he got no answer he continued.
" WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TELL ME I HAVE NO FATHER!" he yelled, and he didn't care anymore.
" WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW I FEEL? HOW I FELT THE WHOLE TIME? I GREW UP WITHOUT A FATHER! AND THEN YOU COME AND TELL ME HE IS NOT DEAD, HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU TO MAKE MY WHOLE LIFE ONE SINGLE BIG LIE!"
Trina stood there, her head lowered, and she knew she deserved every word her son said. It was her fault after all.
" WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU!" Corey shouted, hot tears of anger streaming down his cheeks.
Trina flinched at his words, but remained silent. Jordan was about to say something but Corey got in her face.
" DON'T YOU DARE SAY SOMETHING! THIS DOESN'T INVOLVE YOU! YOU TREATED ME LIKE A PIECE OF CRAP FOR SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT, IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE MY DAMN FAULT, SO YOU BETTER SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"
Jordan felt her temper rise at being yelled at, and she pushed Corey away from her.
" THIS DOES INVOLVE ME! FOR GODS SAKE, HE'S MY DAD AS WELL!"
" DID YOU TREAT HIM THAT WAY?" Corey yelled, and Jordan fell silent. She hated to admit it, but he was right. She had avoided her own father for the last 20 years, she had even kept her children away from him, two innocent little girls who had never understood why they weren't allowed to see her grandfather more often than maybe three times a year.
" You know why…." She said quietly, and Corey laughed bitterly.
" Yeah, because of some stupid mistake he made 20 years ago. Have you ever talked to him? No. I did. I know how he felt, and how he still feels! Do you know how it looks inside him? No, you don't, because you don't even want to TRY to understand. You have no idea! Isn't that a horrible feeling to realize that you don't know your own father at all?", and adding in his head he thought I know.
" Why do you yell at us, but defend him?" Jay spoke up for the first time.
" I don't defend him, he's as guilty as you are, but I try to understand his motives, I try to retrace where he's coming from. And I have more understanding for him than for you. What was there to loose for you?" Corey asked demandingly.
" A LOT!" Jordan shouted.
" Really? Tell me." Corey challenged, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer.
" I could have lost your respect, I lost my best friends, and my family. That was enough." Trina whispered.
" You did loose my respect, as for the rest, not my problem, your own fault." Corey said firmly causing Trina to break into tears. He turned to Jay.
" You wouldn't have lost a thing either. Do you have any idea how much he loves you? Do you have any idea how the guilt is eating him up even after all this time? He wouldn't leave you if his life depended on it." Then he turned to Jordan.
" And you? Same there. He loves you. You and your children. Do you know how hard it is for him? You'll always stay his little girl, despite what happened, he always loved you and he always will."
When the three women made no attempts to talk he continued.
" But him, he could have lost the love of his life, he lost his only daughter, he lost his self respect, and he was scared he would loose me. Do you honestly think he hurt you intentionally? "
Joelle stood back and watched intently what was going on. Corey had taken Hunter's side, but that was about to change soon, she knew that. Corey wouldn't forget about his role in the story.
" I WAS THERE WHEN HE NEEDED SOMEONE TO TALK, I WAS THERE TO CATCH HIM, LITERARILLY, WHERE WERE YOU? AND I WILL BE THE ONE THERE WHEN HE WAKES UP!" Corey yelled as a doctor exited the examing room.
" Sir, I have to ask you to quiet down immediately or I will have you removed from the building. This is a hospital, our patients need rest."
Corey exhaled and nodded.
" Your husband is awake, Ma'am."
Jay breathed a sigh of relief and moved to enter the room but Corey jumped and blocked her way. " I'll go!" he said firmly.
" Only relatives." The doctor said holding his arm.
" He's my father, is that good enough?" Corey shot back, and the doctor nodded and released him, and Corey closed the door behind him.
Hunter layd in his bed looking like hell, his knees bandaged thickly.
" How are you feeling?" Corey asked harsher than he had wanted to.
" Uh…like I was hit with a chair like a hundred times." Hunter said weakly. " What was that all about with the yelling?"
Corey laughed bitterly. " You should know….Dad!"
Hunter's eyes shot open immediately and he stared at Corey disbelievingly.
" What…what did you just say?"
" What are you deaf? I think you heard me very well." Corey answered, his lips a thin line.
Hunter closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. The time had come, Corey knew, and there was no getting out of it.
" I'm sorry…" he whispered.
" I know, you're all oh so sorry, but you know what? I AM sorry, for believing you, for believing that you loved me, that you care about me!" Corey said bitterly.
" I do…I always have…" came the quiet reply.
" Hah! Then why did you lie? Do you lie to people you love? "
" Corey…what do you expect me to say…you wont even listen to me…"
" I want you to tell me why you hid the truth from me. Dou know how it felt to grow up without a father? Why did you choose to stay away? Am I that bad? Or are you ashamed of me?" Corey asked, tears forming in his eyes at the very thought of it.
" I'm not and never say that again." Hunter said taking Corey by surprise at the harsh tone in his voice.
" And I did not stay away, I came to visit as often as possible, and you know it, you saw the pictures. But… when you grew older.. your Mom said it wasn't good… for you to know who I really am… and as much as it hurt I had to accept it.."
" But why?"
" Corey… I couldn't go against your Mom's will…but… I missed you terribly through all these years..you have no idea how it felt to see you again…and I felt so guilty…I missed your first steps, your first word….nobody cared about what I wanted…" Hunter fell silent thinking about the pain he had gone through in loosing his youngest child. " I just didn't want to loose you again…now…and they wouldn't let me be your father…so…I had to find another way to stay close to you…and with the whole mentor thing… I mean…that was better than nothing..and I never made a difference between you and…Brandon…or Jordan…I love all three of you…and the fact that your mother isn't my wife doesn't matter in the slightest…"
Corey let the tears fall. Hunter had affirmed over and over again that he had loved him the whole time, that he had never forgotten him, that he just wasn't allowed to be what he had wanted to be. That didn't make him guiltless, and Corey knew he would need a long time to forgive, but he wouldn't have wanted to loose Hunter as a friend. Despite everything that had happened during the last hours he still was too important for him.
Corey wiped the tears away and stood up to leave, but before he turned he looked back at Hunter. " I need time…" and he exited the room and stepped in the hallway.
Trina went to hug him but he shook his head.
" Don't touch me." Was all he said before taking Joelle by the hand and dragging her with him.
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I'm so sorry folks, thanks to loony ninja I noticed I posted the wrong chapter, the one I posted was the original version, and this is the version I actually wanted to post, the rewrite. Chapter 13 is already in progress, establishing the events from this chappy, and should be up later today or tomorrow.
Thanks again to loony!