A/N: So bear with me, guys. Getting this started and introducing characters. Any feedback would be amazing. Thank you.
TriggerWarnings: none.
Randy grinned and got off his friend, helping him up and heading out to get ready for the remainder of their night.
Shower 'slip-ups' and pranks aside, the wait for the party at Mickie's beach house was boring and uneventful. They got there first since they had to help her set up and by the time 11pm rolled around Randy was about ready to bail to the ocean just for something to do. He sat on the porch of the mostly empty house with a beer and looked out into the crashing waves, mind entertaining the thought of him getting lost out there if only for a night.
"Sup, Keith.. you okay?"
"..don't call me that. It's Randy. Hell Randall would be better." He said without hesitation, knowing Cody would have that hurt puppy look on his face but not even looking at him. He sighed and opened the beer, taking a long drink.
"'s that a no?"
Randy chuckled his usual chuckle and nudged Cody playfully "No man. It's a yeah. I just hate that name. Reminds me of the old lady and.. yeah, sorry man." He gave Cody his charming smile and relaxed when the other teen nodded and jumped up to his feet happily.
"I think that's Ted." Cody watched as Randy's smirk grew and blushed, rolling his eyes and punching Randy on the arm before jumping out of arm's reach and turning "Not a damn word." He giggled then and sprinted down the beach to where Ted had parked.
Randy smiled to himself and took that as his cue to stop moping. He stood up, turning and jumping a little when he saw Mickie with a rather cute blonde with the kind of eyes that just spoke for her. He breathed out, staring at the stranger for a second before looking back at Mickie and flashing his smile at them "..Sup, Micks.. who's your friend?"
Mickie gave a pleased smile at Randy's reaction and shoved her friend forward a little "This is Taryn. She lives up in San Francisco but her family's visiting for the long weekend."
Randy's eyebrows lifted a bit at that, turning to face the blond again and opening his arms for a hug "Nice to meet you, Taryn. I'm Randy.. or Orton." He shrugged, embracing the girl softly before dropping his hand back to her side. He flicked his gaze to Mickie, glad to see the girl could take a hint when she put her hands up and left.
"I'll be inside with John."
He made a fake gagging noise earning him a glare from the short teen before he was left on the porch with this new girl. "So, Taryn.. any chance you know how to bleach my mind from all the gross forms of PDA I've seen when it comes to my best friend and your friend?"
Taryn laughed, hazel eyes crinkling up at the corners as she moved to set on the porch rail "They can't be that bad.."
"Oh, they can be. Especially when you know your best friend's body too well and the 'imagining' part gets outta hand."
She grinned "Then that's not their fault, is it? More like you can't keep your thoughts away from your best friend that way."
Randy hummed, considering her comment because it was true. He couldn't stop his thoughts from straying but that's because he and John were an item Sophomore year when they both admitted that they were bi and went out for about 5 months. Things ended when they got more involved in football and John fell in love with Mickie so there was really no room for Randy to be bitter, not when he had been doubting their relationship for a while.
To say things ended well between them was an understatement. John and Randy were closer than ever and John's family welcomed him and his siblings to any event so that always made Randy trust his best friend that much more.
"Randy?"
He blinked, head cocking to the side as he looked at the blonde "Sorry, mind gets away from me sometimes." Randy chuckled, grinning a bit before adding "..so I guess you can't blame my 'obsessive' thoughts about my best friend, huh? My mind spends too much time wandering."
She chuckled "I guess not. But that's a good thing."
"Why's that?"
Taryn looked away and shrugged, foot softly tapping against the railing "..because mine does too. And it's good to know that I'm not the only weirdo."
Randy scoffed at that, playfully nudging the girl "I don't know what you're talkin' about. I'm not weird."
It was her turn to scoff, eyes cutting to the teen before she shoved herself off the railing and grabbed Randy's forearm that was too damn muscular to belong to a high school kid. "Right, And you're not handsome either."
He grinned, following the blonde into the beach house "You know what.. I take that back, I'll be weird if it means you think I'm handsome."
Taryn chuckled and dragged Randy inside, smiling when Mickie opened the front door and let in a hoard of teens then John hit the music just at the right time. "Jeeze. They always throw parties like this?"
Randy looked around, everything was perfect and there were more than enough drinks there for every guest to at lest get drunk. He snorted, grinning at the blonde and waving at John to get his attention. He signaled for the boy to dim the lights and John smirked back at him, pressing a few buttons and cutting the main house lights in favor of the black lights and the DJ lights. "…No. They always throw parties like this" he smirked at Taryn and slowly started bouncing to the beat of the music.
Taryn chuckled, looking around the house and seeing just what she expected of her socialite friend. She shrugged and started swaying slowly to the music "I feel like they're over-selling it."
Randy huffed and shrugged, glancing over at John before taking a long drink of the beer that was still in his hand "Nah. This is nothing. You should see when we're celebrating a special event."
She laughed, already imagining it got pretty rowdy at the beach when it came to their celebrations. Taryn shrugged it off though and closed her eyes, focusing on the beat of the music as they moved together for some time. Every now and again they'd switch tempo and either start jumping like maniacs or sway like drunks but this was liberating in a way and Taryn was more than happy to play along with the rich life for a night.
Hours flashed by, Randy drank at least 7 beers by now and was getting a bit tipsy. He tried to keep up with Taryn's movements, feeling the girl press against his chest and trying to move with her but eventually he stopped and laughed as Taryn tried to get him to drink water. Randy grinned and shook his head "—n. Jus' ..need som a-air" he promised, letting the blonde walk away and find Mickie so they could dance together.
He headed to the porch again, looking out to the dark ocean and feeling his vision blur for a bit before the slightly cooler ocean breeze caressed his face and Randy sobered up enough to stand up straight. He inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering closed as he felt himself relax –truly relax– for the first time that night. Truth was he liked coming down here because it made him feel free of expectations and of cares; it was a nice feeling.
Before he even knew what he was doing, Randy half stumbled and half walked down to the beach, tight jeans hugging his thick thighs as his snug, long-sleeve shirt clung to his slightly sweaty skin as the breeze cooled him down a bit. He began humming to himself, alcohol haze making him blissfully unaware of his own actions. Randy was half way through 'Have Faith in Me' and walking a few feet from the high tide as he watched the lazy waves roll in and crash against some of the rocks at the edge of the sand when he heard a slightly higher-pitched voice start singing the lyrics to the song he'd been humming.
The singing wasn't perfectly-pitched but it still sent shivers up his arms; Randy could hear the emotion in the person's voice as they sang along. He finished off the humming, getting a little louder and sobering up a bit more as he listened to the guy's flawless quoting of the song. As he hummed out the last few notes and looked around for the source of the voice, Randy approached a small dip in the beach that created a perfect hideaway for the younger teen sitting there. The kid was leaner than Randy and slightly shorter but his most unique feature was probably the half blond and half black hair he had going on.
He didn't notice he was staring until the teen turned to face him and their eyes connected, barely visible in the dim lighting from the beach houses not too far away. Randy smiled softly at the kid and slowly approached the small bench-like rock that overlooked the ocean the stranger was sitting on "Sup, man?"
Seth bit his lip nervously and shrugged, looking out to the ocean again. He hadn't expected the person that'd been singing to come find him much less to look like that. His dark eyes lingered on the star-filled sky for a few moments "Same as you. Hiding out from the bullshit of life?"
Randy stopped, leaving a few feet of space between them. What the kid said was too close to the truth and Randy panicked a little. No one was supposed to know Randy Orton had trouble with too large of crowds or that sometimes he just needed to escape into his own mind to cope. He swallowed "What are you hiding from?"
The question was innocent enough. Seth didn't think this stranger that looked like he walked out of some damn fashion show (while Seth was just sitting here in basketball shorts and a MaydayParade t-shirt) really cared about the list of things Seth would have to run from so he answered with the simplest one "..I moved here today. Live a street up. And I needed a break from.. the house."
He felt like there was more to be said and that this stranger might be suffering through some of the same things he was but Randy was too scared to open up that whole side of his problems so he looked at the teen "What school do you go to?"
Seth snorted at that, "I think it's called Santa Barbara Senior High or some shit like that.. heard from my cousin that it's a bunch of stuck up snobs and Barbies that think they're better than the world."
Randy nodded, looking over to the teen for a moment and scanning his profile before flicking his gaze back to the ocean "..yeah, most people think we're like that. I can't say I disagree."
Seth blinked, looking at the stranger again and flushing deeply "I.. shit.. no.. I didn't m-.. I'm sorry, man." He was babbling incoherently, cheeks burning and anxiety creeping up as the thought about the fact that he probably just ruined the only friend he could've made before starting at a new school with the economically privileged.
Randy chuckled "Nah. Don't worry about it.. It ain't a private school but 85% of us act like we are royalty.. just gotta find people that aren't all that bad and stick with 'em." He smirked and took a step towards the kid, reaching for the thinner teen until he heard loud giggling from the direction of Mickie's parent's house and heard Taryn calling his name. He dropped his hand back to his side and looked over at Seth apologetically "I gotta go.. we're havin' a party." He stopped, "..you're welcome to join if you want?"
Seth considered it but quickly shot it down because he'd been to parties before and most of the time they'd end in someone embarrassing him as part of a dare to get in with the cool kids. His stomach churned at the thought. He bit his lip again "N-no thanks. I'll just stay here."
Randy frowned and nodded, moving away from the private little alcove because he didn't want anyone to find it just in case he was planning on hiding out here more often "Okay.. yeah. It was nice meeting you—" he stopped awkwardly, hearing the voices get closer and looking at the stranger again.
"Seth. Seth Rollins."
Randy nodded, smiling at him"Randy Orton. Nice meeting you. I'll see ya around?"
He inhaled, the teen's smile lit up his entire face and transformed Randy's features from cold and calculating to warm and … comforting so easily. Seth shook himself and flushed a bit, nodding at the teen "See ya."
He smiled and turned, walking up the slight incline to get to the beach again and smiling when he saw a stumbling Taryn and Mickie walking in the general direction of the beach. Randy glanced back towards the alcove one more time before taking a deep breath and putting his game face back on as he walked towards the girls "you guys need to be careful out here. Someone might kidnap two gorgeous women like yourselves." That earned a slight giggle from both girls, Randy smirking a bit as he grabbed Mickie's shoulders and started leading them back to the beach house but more importantly away from the new kid he'd just met.
Randy couldn't exactly say why but he wanted to keep that secret hideaway secret for a little while longer.
A/N: Review?