AN: OH please forgive me, oh great and wonderful readers! But before you burn me at the stake (Don't give me that look, I know the feeling.), hear me out. My house flooded back in December, and we had to move to Mississippi. Now, no offence to any Mississippi folks, but I'm pretty sure the only thing Mississippi is good for is not making Louisiana the worst state at everything. And I can say that because I'm FROM Louisiana. Anyway, between getting our house rebuilt and getting to college, my plate's been kinda full lately. Besides all that, my life has just been sort of falling apart in general. I do have a lot of the story written though, so this might not even be the last chapter I'm posting tonight. I love all my wonderful readers, so please don't throw me to the cannibals or anything, but keep on reading and reviewing!

(Jessie)

I woke up the next morning to Randy and John mumbling about something.

"Maybe she's actually afraid of storms," John said.

"Or maybe she just wanted attention," Randy growled.

"Look man, I don't know what your problem is, but-" At that moment, Randy elbowed John and gestured back at me. John's whole demeanor changed. "Mornin', Jess!" he said.

"I'm sorry about last night, if that's what y'all were arguing over."

"We're not arguing," John said. "But it IS time for you to get packed. We have to go soon." I nodded and started to get ready.

About 15 minutes later, Randy was packed.
"I'm riding with Ted and Cody," he declared. No sooner were the words out of his mouth, there was a knock on the door. John opened it up to a really excited Cody and an exasperated Ted.

"I brought Jessie's phone, and Cody's got a question," Ted said tiredly.

"Can Jess ride with us PUHLEEEEESE?" he asked.

"Why would I wanna do that?" I asked. He composed himself.

"Well, one, I've got the Xbox hooked up, so we can play Halo all the way to Seattle! B, we're gonna get married in like, a year, so we gotta get to know each other, and tres, you'll get away from Randy for a while. Oh, and there'll be HALO!" I turned to Randy, who had gotten a little red-faced.

"Um, I think Randy was gonna-"

"Oh no," he said. "You're GOING to ride with them. I'll go with Santino."

"He's on a tour in Europe," John pointed out. Randy huffed.

"Fine, looks like I'm stuck with you, John," he grumbled.

"We'll talk more later," John promised. He turned to me. "Are you ready?" I nodded. "Why don't you go with Ted and Cody?" I nodded again.

"Bye, guys."

(Randy)

John and I stood in silence for a moment until we were sure the three of them were a safe distance away.

"Don't give me that look," I said.

"She's not the anti-Christ," he replied.

"Did I SAY she was?" John scoffed.

"You might as well have! You find fault in everything she does!"

"Who's really THAT afraid of thunderstorms?"

"Oh I don't know. Let's think about it. If she's lived around New Orleans her whole life, she would have been 10 during Hurricane Katrina! Don't you think that could be just a LITTLE traumatizing?"

Oh. Duh. I hadn't even thought about that. I guess it WOULD have been pretty bad, especially for a 10 year old.

"Y'know," John said after a moment. "The only reason I even THOUGHT about letting her stay is because I know how she feels. Sometimes my life was so messed up as a kid that I wanted to run away. And besides that, what were we supposed to do, leave her in New York? She's only gonna be with us for the summer. Let's just have some fun with it, alright?"

"Whatever," I said. "I'm driving."

We got on the road and I finally had a few moments to think. John fell asleep as soon as we hit the road, so I had nothing but my thoughts for company. Ok, it was true, I wasn't really being fair to the runaway from New Orleans. Maybe she wasn't just here for the attention, or to say that she got to hang out with some guys on TV. Maybe it was just one of those weird twists of fate.

Fate. Who believes in it? Are things really meant to be?

See, this is what happens when you leave Randy Orton alone for too long. He starts to contemplate the meaning of life.

Without another thought, I cranked up the radio and drowned out my pesky thoughts.

(Jessie)

About an hour into the ride, I got bored and clambered up into the front seat with Ted.

"So, what was wrong with Randy this morning?" Ted asked. I wiggled nervously in my seat.

"I think I was the problem. I woke up to John and Randy arguing over something that happened last night."

"What happened?"

"I got back to the room last night and a storm had brewed. I have kind of a phobia…"

"A phobia?"

"Storms scare me. TERRIFY me. I was in the room alone last night when Randy walked in. I guess he thought I was faking, because him and John were mumbling about something along those lines." We were quiet for a while.

"He doesn't hate you, you know," Ted said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

"He's just a no-nonsense kinda guy. He'll warm up to you. He also hates being wrong. That's probably why he threw a hissy fit this morning. He'll be over it by the time we're at the next show."

"Y'think so?" He nodded. Cody suddenly popped up from the back seat, finally forsaking Halo.

"Guys, I'm bored." Ted and I glanced at each other and started laughing. "What?" Cody asked.

(Randy)

"About this morning…"

"I don't wanna talk about it," I sighed.

"Well, we sort of have to," John said.

"Why John? I'm over it."

"Well, I can't take her home with me this weekend, and I don't want to leave her here, so you have to take her."

"Why can't you?"

"Well, we're thinking about having a little John Junior." My jaw dropped.

"Really? I thought you didn't want kids?"

"Well, I changed my mind." I sighed.

"Yeah, I'll take her. But you owe me."

"Whatever."

We spent the rest of the ride idly chatting about one thing or another. It was weird, but, just a little, I found myself missing Jessie. She'd been with us non stop for the past few days though, so I guess that was normal.

It took us a while, but we finally made it to Seattle. Ted, Cody, and Jess beat us there, and they were in the room across the hall from ours.

"Hey guys," Ted said as the trio walked over to us. "We're goin to the gym, y'all wanna come?" John got that stupid grin of his.

"You know it! How was the ride, Jess?"

"It was great," she said with a smile. "Cody got bored like halfway here." I chuckled.

"Cody? Cody Runnels got tired of Halo? Well I never."

"I can go plug it in if you want me to…" he grumbled.

"NO!" we all said at once.

(Jess)

"We'll meet you down there," John said.

"You got it," Ted replied. "Me and Jess'll be bench pressing the nerd right out of old Codeman." We waved goodbye to Randy and John and headed to the arena.

Arenas have the best workout facilities, as I soon learned. They had lots of high tech equipment for the basketball teams, and everything was available to the wrestlers before shows. Soon, I found myself on a treadmill running next to Chris Jericho.

"Shouldn't you be like, bench pressing something?" I asked. Chris chuckled.

"Have you SEEN my thighs?" he asked. "Running. It's almost as good as a thigh master." I laughed.

"Yes, unfortunately, I HAVE seen your thighs. Why don't you just wear tights again?" He shrugged.

"Personal preference. Has Randy been any better?"

"Neh, she's growing on me," Randy replied. I didn't realize he was behind us, and he scared the life outta me. I tripped over my own feet and fell backwards. Luckily, Mr. Nosy was RIGHT behind me, and caught me under the arms. I grinned sheepishly up at him.

"Be more careful," he said, trying to suppress a grin. Suddenly, someone slammed open the door to the gym and let out a yell.

"Dave!" I heard John say. "Chill out!" I got to my feet and tuned to watch the exchange.

"You heard them!" Dave Bautista roared. "I've been a loyal employee for how long and I can't even take a few months off to work a movie?"

"They're wrong, Dave, I kn-"

"SHUT UP, John!" Dave said. "They gave you time off for movie deals. You, too!" he said, pointing at Teddy. He turned his attention to Randy. "And I'm sure YOU'LL get the part they promised me! This is f- bull-! I don't know why I've stayed with this f- company for this long."

"Dave!" Randy barked. "There's a kid in the room!" The Animal looked at me and blinked in confusion.

"Why is there a kid in here?" he asked.

"She's my cousin, touring with us for the summer," John explained. Dave looked at me again and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm out of here," he said before turning and leaving. John stared after him before taking a deep breath.

"They denied him time off for a movie deal. He's furious."

"So we noticed," Chris said. "Why didn't they just give him the time?" John shrugged.

"Maybe it's because they've given other people so much time off, or we've got too many out on injury."

"That's messed up," I said.

"That's the business," Randy replied.

"Don't mind Dave," John said, turning his attention to me. "He's not usually like this." I shrugged.

"Whatever. So, what's going on tonight?"

"The usual," Chris replied. "So I guess you're gonna be with me again tonight."

"I guess so," I said.

"Well c'mon then, I'll show you to the women's locker room so you can shower. You REAK." He put an arm around my shoulder to lead me out the door.

"I reek?" I asked, pinching my nose. "Speak for yourself, stinky."

We ran into Natalya halfway there.

"Hey there, Canadian," Chris said.

"Well how are you, Canadian?" she replied.

"I'm fine, but my little non-Canadian friend here needs a shower."

"Well hello, non-Canadian," Natty said, turning her attention to me. "Where'd you come from?"

"This is Jessie, John's cousin," Chris explained. "She's staying with us over the summer. And YOU are taking her to the showers because I'M not going into the women's locker room." He turned around and left me standing there.

"I thought you were supposed to baby sit me!" I called after him.

"Aww, come find me. I'll probably be in catering!" Natalya laughed a little.

"So you're the one who's been hanging out with Legacy," she said. I nodded. "YOU need some female friends. Being exposed to that much testosterone is dangerous." I laughed in agreement.

"Ain't that the truth?" I asked. She gave me a funny look.

"Where are you from?"

"New Orleans." She nodded knowingly.

"That would explain the accent."

"What's wrong with my accent?" I demanded with a pout.

"It's just so… different from mine! Different is good, though." She opened up a door and gestured me in. "There you go, showers."

"Thank you, Ms. Natalya," I said.

"Oh please, call me Natty. I'm not old enough to be a miss." I laughed and went to wash the grime off of me.

AN: Maybe not the longest chapter I've ever posted, but it was already on my computer and I figured I'd give y'all something while I typed. I'm off of school for the next week for Mardi Gras break (Take THAT every other state in the union! Do YOU get a whole week off for Mardi Gras? NOPE! This is why living in the second worst state has its benefits =p) Anyway, look for more! Ciao!

PS: Did you read the Author's Note at the beginning?