A/N: This update was long overdue but I had many things keeping me busy and stressed. I apologize. Hope you enjoy.

AnetteBP: Thank you, love.

Jessicaramsey78: Thanks!

Guest-07: Thank you. Hope you like the developments!

TriggerWarnings: none.

Randy couldn't exactly say why but he wanted to keep that secret hideaway secret for a little while longer.

Hours ticked by, nothing but mindless dancing and short conversations on the dance floor to keep him busy. He couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to the smaller teen he'd just met. There was something about him that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Perhaps the biggest reason he kept thinking about him was the way he not only knew what song Randy was singing but he liked it.

"Uhhhhggh! Who let fruitbasket pick a song?!"

Dean's voice brought him out of his daze, looking over to the man and seeing most of the people chuckling. He rolled his eyes, just now noticing that 'All I Want' was playing out. He sighed and went to unclick his playlist before everyone resumed their dancing to wordless songs. Randy's friends never really understood or liked his music and usually that wasn't too big of a deal but tonight it just made him feel lonely even though he had Taryn pressed against him and bodies swaying in every direction. After the tech song ended he pulled away from Taryn, "I'm gonna go get some water."

Taryn nodded but this time followed the man out to the porch once Randy had a water bottle with him. "The song wasn't that bad."

"Mm.." he laughed it off, "Tell that to the rest of them." Randy shrugged and finished off the water before looking at Taryn. He knew the woman was being polite and that was enough for him right now. "Thanks though."

She nibbled her lip as she nodded and looked out to the water. "Uh huh.." Taryn sighed and ran a finger through her annoyingly curled hair before giving up and tying it up in a ponytail. She smiled as the waves crashed against the damp sand.

Randy followed her gaze and nudged her shoulder, "Wanna sit by the beach?"

Taryn looked up at him, eyes wary because every time she'd been asked to do that with a guy it ended with her having to shove him off her and slapping them across the face.

He saw the hesitation and immediately his face fell "…we don't have to. I just like getting out there to clear my head.. and forget all this.." he gestured behind them where the music was still thumping loudly, windows shaking.

Taryn wrapped an arm around Randy and frowned, "Sorry. I just.. didn't want to go unless you really wanted to."

"Well I do."

She squeezed him softly, not daring to do more before nodding "Let's go?" Taryn followed Randy off the porch before walking next to him in the direction of the beach. The walk was blissfully silent and the music from the house was getting quieter and quieter.

Randy hadn't realized he was walking in the opposite direction of the little alcove until he stopped right next to the lifeguard hut and looked at her "this okay?"

She smiled, nodding and giggling quietly as she crawled between the support boards then sat under the hut. Taryn looked over at Randy, smiling softly when she saw the amusement in his eyes "….I like it bein' isolated."

He chuckled and got in too, having a bit more trouble than her but taking a seat next to the blonde in the cool sand. He brought his knees up, looking at the water and smiling as he just enjoyed the quiet moment.

"This what it's like bein' in your life?"

"More or less."

She hummed, "..it's chaotic. I.. I'm a city girl too but never been to anything like this. My group of friends.. they're not anything like yours." Taryn gave a small laugh, "Micks is always telling me I need to get out more and make more friends. I like it just the way it is back home though. Sure I don't have the money to own a beach house but.. it's okay."

"Money's overrated. I like the quieter life too." He shrugged before quickly adding, "I'm grateful I have more than enough to get by and enough to get into college even if the scholarships fall through.."

She nodded. "So why don't you just not come to all the parties?"

He stopped then, staring at the waves and frowning softly as he voiced part of it "…'cause high schoolers don't say no to parties if they get invited." Randy chuckled, quickly putting the mask back on and nudging her "Besides.. I always meet people this way."

Taryn nodded, frowning softly. She might've been wrong about Randy being different than the others. The blonde drew patterns on the sand, keeping to herself "You meet a lot of girls at these parties?"

"Yeah."

She flinched, nodding silently and drawing swirls in the sand. Minutes passed, nothing but the crash of the waves sounding around them.

"…They're nothing like you though."

Taryn just hummed, letting the man keep talking.

"They're more into making a name for themselves than bein' themselves."

She smiled, looking up at Randy "And me?"

He locked eyes with her, "you're… quiet but you know have a good time.." he shrugged, "..but that's not all you care about so.. it's a good change."

When Taryn smiled at him, Randy smiled back. It was a weird smile that didn't quite reach his eyes but Taryn figured that was just how the teen was. She leaned in cautiously, eyes flicking up to search his for a moment before the football player closed the distance between them and their lips met. It was slow and lazy, nothing like she'd expected but it was nice.

Randy pulled away after a few seconds, smiling at her before looking out to the beach. There was something sweet about that kiss. Like if both of them were too scared or guarded to do anything else. He smirked at the thought and reached over for the blonde's hand, placing his on top of hers on the cool sand as they spent the rest of the night there by the waves and in comfortable silence.

.~.~.~.

Monday couldn't roll back around fast enough. Randy was just about to scramble out of the house when his little brother stumbled down stairs.

"…can I get a ride to school?"

"Why didn't you go with mom?"

"…Becky needed to go pick some stuff up so they left earlier."

He sighed and nodded, scruffing Nate's hair "Go get your bag."

Nate smiled and sprinted up the steps, stumbling on the last one and falling on his face.

Randy laughed and shook his head as he opened the front door "Don't forget to lock up! Two minutes before your ass is walkin'!"

Nate pouted but stood up and grabbed his bag and his soccer cleats as well. He smiled brightly when he slid into the car "Let's go!"

"Take your gross shoes off the dash. I just cleaned it." He smirked when Nate huffed, loving to tease the little kid because at the end of the day Nate knew he could come to him no matter what.

"You comin' to my game on Wednesday?"

The question was asked nervously and he couldn't help but feel a little bad for his brother thinking that his extracurriculars were burdensome on the rest of the family members. Randy swatted Nate's thigh "Yeah. It's the pre-season scrimmages.. just to see what league you'll be placed in for the juniors. Don't be too nervous about it. I'll be there."

He smiled brightly and relaxed a little "Awesome."

Randy chuckled. The rest of the car ride was short and by the time Nate was dropped off Randy had to start speeding to make it to his school on time. He locked up his car just as the first bell rang and smirked a bit as he made sure he had his bag and sprinted to class.

Seth cursed as he slammed his locker shut and picked up the right book. He'd almost stepped into first period by the time he realized it. This was not how he needed to start his first day.

Randy panted a bit and slowed down as he approached the class, seeing some kid walk into his first period and making it in just after him as the bell rang. It wasn't until he sat down in his usual seat that he bothered to see who it was. He was surprised to say the least when he caught the kid staring and realized it was Seth. Randy gave him a small smile and received a cautious one before the kid turned abruptly and faced front.

Shit. He was not prepared for this. He'd been thinking about Randy since the other teen smiled at him on Friday. It was hard to get him out of his head. He'd always been more into guys than girls but he was sure Randy could've coaxed any teen out of the closet with that damn smile. 'Rollins?!' he jumped a bit and looked up at the teacher, smiling shyly when the class started laughing at his expense. "Yeah?" '…you say here not yeah.' More snickers filled the room and Seth sighed a bit as he nodded "Here." 'Might as well introduce yourself' He felt the familiar flutter go through his gut and spoke from his seat "Uh.. I'm Seth. Moved here from Iowa. And.. uh.. I'm overwhelmed by the number of sports I can join here." The class thankfully didn't snicker but his heart was still beating fast as he stopped talking and waited for the teacher to start talking again. 'Great. Just don't join the football team. There's a reported loss of neurons for high school football players.' The class burst out into laughter again, all 35 or so kids shaking their heads at the teacher.

"I think you meant to say in most cases." Randy rolled his eyes; joking, of course because being in all AP classes meant that most of his peers thought the same of the football team and they teased him a lot for it but he knew it was all just for fun. 'Ah. Mr. Orton.. you are an anomaly. And now that you took the heat off Mr. Rollins.. how about you come up to the board and work out number 13 on yesterday's homework? The class seemed to have trouble with it.' He groaned but got out of his seat, flicking his gaze to Seth quickly and not missing the look of gratefulness on his face. Randy didn't think much of it though because most people didn't like coming up to the board especially not in math.

Of course he's a football player. That confidence doesn't just materialize out of thin air. Yeah, Seth was possibly crushing on the guy he had the least probability of dating. There was no way a football star would pay him any mind.. besides, he was sure Randy didn't even remember who he was before he was called on. He sighed and watched the other teen walk up to the board in his place; Seth couldn't help but be impressed when Randy easily worked out the complicated equation, only stopping once when he forgot to bring a number over and the calculations weren't working out.

"Very well. This is going to be on the test. You may thank Mr. Orton for not only solving it for you but doing it step by step. Go ahead and snap pictures or write it down before I get started with my lecture."

Randy smirked a bit as he sat down again and quickly shuffled back to yesterday's homework and highlighted the problem. The rest of the lecture was rather uneventful and mostly them reviewing things Randy already started working on himself so he didn't pay much attention.

Seth scribbled the notes down and barely managed to keep up with the lecture all the way until the bell rang. He sighed in relief and collected his things before heading out to P.E. When he walked in to the locker room he almost wanted to have the ground swallow him whole because he froze right in front of a gorgeous-looking guy with long hair and hazel eyes. It was unfair that someone in high school looked like the kids in this school. He swept his gaze over the man's broad chest, noticing that the stranger was a little heavy but he had muscles developing and soon he'd be nothing but muscle. '…you're blocking the exit, man.' That fucking voice. Seth blushed and avoided the teen's gaze as he quickly moved out of the way "Sorry." Thankfully he missed the chuckle that left the stranger's lips because he'd ran inside the locker room and quickly found the locker he'd been assigned before changing into basketball shorts and a tank. When he walked into the gym, he was relieved to find average looking people with some above average looking ones. Maybe Randy and the guy he just passed weren't the average around here. That relaxed him a little before the coach informed them they'd be in the weight room for the hour. This was going to be a long first day.

…

He hadn't seen the new kid after AP Calc but he'd sure as hell heard about him after classes. It seemed like Cody had P.E. with him and Mickie had Lit with him. They were pretty entertained speculating about him.

"Sup, fruitbasket?"

He rolled his eyes and punched Dean in the arm "Keep that shit up and you'll have to find a new partner for Chem."

"Ah.. you wouldn't do that, man."

"And why the hell not?"

"You guys need me for the playoffs." He smirked victoriously when Randy sighed in defeat and shook his head.

"Orton if you jeopardize the top kicker's grades I will make your life hell."

He snorted "Shut up, remember you're CO-captain." He winked at John and shook his head as he followed his friends into the locker room to get ready for practice.

A/N: Again, sorry for the delay and hope you guys liked it. If you guys would like to see any other wrestlers in here please tell me because I have a few characters already outlined but I need a face for them. Review?