This chapter is completely devoted to John and Randy. Thought I could do one like this, where they spend some time together, get to know each other a little better. It's mostly fluff but seeing as how the rest of this story has been so angsty, I figured they needed it.

The song is by Nappy Roots and I don't own it.

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"Who are you talking to?" Randy asked distractedly, his gaze trained on the television screen as he maneuvered his soldier through the snow.

"Friend from college. We played ball together."

"Ah." He paused and then, "Dammit." John glanced up at the screen. It had gone red and the tiny background voices were urging Randy to take cover.

"I can't take cover if I can't see anything," Randy told the screen with a scowl.

John snorted in amusement.

"Why does the entire screen go red after you get hit once?" Randy asked, frustration leaking into his voice.

"It's supposed to make it more challenging and realistic," John answered, idly answering a text.

"Right."

John had brought his game system over and a few games. Randy was sitting with his back against the armrest of the couch, his long legs stretched across John's lap. John had one hand resting on his ankle.

"Okay, what am I doing wrong?" Randy spoke up again, finally turning his head away from the screen.

"You picked up a gun," John said immediately. He'd been splitting his attention between his phone and the screen.

Randy frowned at him. "Huh?"

"You need a silenced gun to get through this part," John explained. "If you pick up a gun off the ground, it'll replace the one they provided. It won't be silenced so as soon as you shoot…"

"Oh…" Randy grumbled a little but he did restart.

"You really never played video games as a kid?" John asked curiously.

Randy shook his head. "My mom raised me by herself and we never had too much money. My dad died when she was pregnant with me." He paused, a frown forming on his face. "His dad was into wrestling…"

John turned his full attention to Randy, really interested. They hadn't spoken too much about personal things yet. "Was he any good? That's an Olympic sport, isn't it?"

Randy turned an amused smile on John. "Not that kind of wrestling."

"Oh, that kind of wrestling. I watched that when I was younger. WWF, right?" John put on the best body builder pose he could manage sitting down and was rewarded with a chuckle from Randy.

"Yeah. Anyway, my dad had this idea that he wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps. He almost made it too. Had the contract signed and everything. Even performed a few live shows."

"So, what happened?"

"Car crashed on the way home from one of those shows."

"Sorry," John said with a wince.

Randy shrugged. "I never met him. I did get to see him perform though. Mom went to most of the shows and she taped them." He smiled, his gaze wondering a moment. "What about your family?"

"My family…I still keep in touch every now and then. My parents were real traditionalists, though. They weren't real happy when I told them I wouldn't be marrying a nice girl and settle down to have kids."

"Sorry."

John shrugged this time. "It's okay. We're okay now. It took a while but they've mostly come around. After I got injured I stayed with them for a while before coming here. I hadn't spoken to them for a long time before that but I think we've patched things up."

"That's good." Randy turned his gaze back to the screen and groaned when the screen went red again a few moments later. "John, one of the first things I tell you about myself is that I hate war movies so you bring me a war game?"

John rolled his eyes and took the controller. "Quit bitching. I know you were getting into it." He pushed Randy's legs off him and went to turn the system off. "So…you still got those tapes of your dad?"

"Yeah…"

"Think we could watch them?"

Randy's eyes brightened immediately and the smile on his face was, at least in John's view, absolutely beautiful.

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"Did you ever think about getting into this?" John asked, eyes trained on the screen, on Randy's father.

"Naw," Randy answered with a wave of his hand. "I never really thought about it. I was planning on moving to the city with Adam after I graduated-" He cut himself off and his mood darkened considerably as soon as the words left his mouth.

John grimaced. "Sorry."

Randy shrugged but the dark look in his eyes didn't immediately leave. John searched for something to say. As far as he could see, Randy hadn't had the easiest life.

"I've known since I was eleven that I wanted to play football," John revealed, diverting the subject from Randy's past to his own. Randy relaxed considerably.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Sports was always something I liked. I played baseball too, at least up until high school."

Randy smiled. "I always liked basketball myself."

"Basketball, huh?" John surveyed him. "Guess you're tall enough."

Randy grinned and nodded. "I was good at it too."

"I bet you were."

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"Come on, just try it. You might like it," John said from the CD player after putting his in.

Randy watched him dubiously. "I've never been a fan of rap…"

"But this song is so good…It's real upbeat. I love it."

"Fine." Randy waved a hand for him to play it. He tilted his head when the song begun.

"We're gonna have a good day

And all my homies gonna ride today

And all these mommies look fly today

And all we wanna do is get by today

Hey...we're gonna have a good day

And ain't nobody gotta cry today

Cause ain't nobody gonna die today

Save that drama for another day

Hey...we're gonna have a good day."

Okay, so Randy may have smiled a little bit as he listened to the song. John grinned and pulled Randy to his feet by his wrist. Randy couldn't help it. He laughed, and followed John's lead when the man pulled him into a dance. He followed the songs suggestions and pushed all his problems away for the moment.

John led, even going so far as to spin him a couple of times. They were small ones seeing as Randy's living room wasn't exactly large but still…

"What do you think I am? The girl in this?"

John grinned. "Hey, you said it, not me."

A smirk formed on Randy's face. "Believe me, Cena. There is nothing girly about me." He stopped the dance, got into John's personal space.

"Really?"

Randy brought John's hand down, to the hardness in his pants while, at the same time, doing the same for John with his own hand.

"Really," he said before leaning forward to kiss John. He grinned at the sound John made when Randy slipped his hand inside John's pants and wrapped his fingers around him. He unbuttoned John's pants with his other hand, and slid both John's jeans and boxers down his hips until they pooled at his feet.

Randy expertly tugged at John's most sensitive skin as he led the man towards the bedroom.

Xxxxxxxx

"My brothers and I used to get into all sorts of trouble. I've always been a little hyper. Never been able to really sit still for long periods of time. It's why I liked sports so much, I guess."

Randy rested his chin on John's chest and traced circles with one finger on while he listened to John speak with a tiny smile on his face. It was late but he didn't want to sleep. It had been a good day, one of his best in a long time. He needed more days of like this one. Tomorrow he'd have to go back to work, he'd have to deal with all the people again.

At least Justin seemed to be leaving him alone since what had happened with that mugger. But Justin wasn't the only one who looked at him like he was monster and he didn't want to get out of the bed with John to deal with that again. He hadn't even noticed that his smile had turned into a frown until John spoke.

"You thinkin' bad thoughts?"

Randy looked up at him. "No…maybe. I'm just…this is nice. I don't want it to end."

"Yeah. Me either."

"But it will. You'll have to go home tomorrow and I'll have to go to work. Mike's gonna be pissed when he finds out about this."

"He might not be." John sounded hopeful. Randy knew not to be.

"He will be. He hates me." His mood dropped as the words left his mouth.

"Hey." John turned them so that he was hovering over Randy. "How about we worry about that tomorrow? Alright?"

"Yeah…yeah, sorry," Randy said, suddenly feeling guilty for bringing the mood down.

"Don't be sorry." John kissed him then and Randy made an effort not to worry about things he couldn't change.

Xxxxxxxx

The game they were playing was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The mistake with the gun was something I did the first time I played it…it was frustrating as hell…

Also, seeing as John is so into rap, I put that song in. I don't listen to a whole lot of rap but I do like some of it and Good Day is probably one of my favorite rap songs and I kind of thought it fit this chapter.