AN: Back to the past, folks. Don't get lost.
(Jessie)
We went to some restaurant with the whole crew after everything at the arena was wrapped up. Me, Randy, John, Ted, Cody, Vince, Steph, Paul, and Shawn's wife, Rebecca. It was fun, and seemed as normal as a family gathering. We talked and joked around, and I really enjoyed myself.
"So, when's your birthday, Jess?" John had asked. We had gotten on the subject somehow, and I had remained quiet the whole time.
"I don't have a birthday," I said with a grin. "I'm going to remain perpetually 16 for the rest of my life." Stephanie laughed from across the table.
"You've gotta have a birthday. C'mon, when is it?" I shook my head.
"Nope! No birthday, sorry people." A humorous groan sprang up from around the table.
"C'mon, Jess!" Cody said. "I'll tell you MY birthday!"
"Dude, I can just look up yours on like Wikipedia."
"Who says it's true?" he sneered.
"Because you probably wrote your whole Wikipedia page," I sneered back. Everyone laughed.
"It's funny 'cause it's true, Codes," Ted said.
"Shut up, Teddy."
"So really, Jess," John said, turning the attention back to me. "I wanna know." Ted pulled out his phone and winked at me.
"I got you," he said.
"What do you mean?" I asked with a laugh. "I know I'm fantastic, but I do NOT have my own page on Wikipedia." After a few moments of tapping away on his phone, he held it up triumphantly.
"Facebook, baby!"
"NO!" I said.
"Jessie Long, born July 25 nineteen ninety three!"
"Jokes on you, Ted!" I said quickly. "That's not my real birthday." Randy turned to me.
"Look me in the eye and say that." I looked him dead in the eyes.
"That isn't my real…" I stopped with a sigh. "Alright, alright. You got me."
"You're an awful liar," he said with a smirk.
"Ted!" Cody said suddenly. "That's in like, a MONTH! Think of how much time that gives us to plan a happy fun Legacy all night BIRTHDAY party bash!"
"You all suck, you know that?"
We went back to the hotel and I got situated on my couch. I had ended the arguments with John about who would get to sleep on the couch weeks ago, and so it was the official sleeping arrangement. Everything was fine until about 12, when a freak storm popped up.
It was a loud one. The lighting was bright, and the thunder was deafening. I found myself… not as scared as usual. Didn't change the fact that I couldn't sleep through it, but hey, I was making progress. Twenty minutes into the storm, Randy got up and shook my shoulder gently.
"You alright?" he asked quietly.
"Fine. A little shaky, but I'm fine."
"Alright. If you need anything, we're right here."
"I know. Night, Randy."
"Night."
(Randy)
I tossed and turned for a while. I was sure that Jess must have drifted off by then, so I rolled over and voiced my thoughts.
"Hey John?"
"Hmm?" I laughed a little. Apparently he was having trouble sleeping, too.
"You wanna hear something… weird?"
"Randy, my whole life is weird. But lay it on me."
"Today, when I found out that Shawn was the guy who stepped in between her and Dave… I felt…" I paused.
"What?"
"Guilty," I finally said.
"Why?"
"I… don't know. It's like the same kind of guilt I feel for not being there for Sam and Alanna when I'm away on tour. It should have been me standing there. It should have been me protecting her."
"Y'know, every time we have these conversations I tell you. You're the one with a kid. Not me."
"Yeah, I know. But what do you think?"
"You wanna know what I think?" he asked, propping himself up on one elbow like he always does when he's about to have a stroke of genius. "I think that in the couple of weeks you've known her, you really truly think of her as your daughter. There. Sleep on it." He promptly rolled over again.
(Jessie)
Well, as it turns out, I HADN'T fallen asleep yet. I sat listening to the two converse, and when John said it… I almost fell of my couch. I knew I felt that way, but I wasn't sure if Randy did. He was quiet for a few moments, and then he spoke again.
"John, I think you're right." My heart nearly stopped. Maybe, just maybe, I would find what I lost here.
The next day, we left for the arena and got there that night. I was on top of the world, all things considered. So when I gallivanted into the locker room, the somber faces all around didn't faze me one bit.
"Dude! My Legacy bros! Why the long faces?" Ted and Cody looked up at me.
"Why don't you go hang out with Zack Ryder?" Cody snapped.
"What's wrong, Codes?" I asked.
"Yeah," Randy asked. We had been joking back and forth all day. They were ruining the mood.
"The draft's next week," Ted said simply. My jaw dropped.
"Well, so? They can't SEPARATE y'all! You're Legacy!"
"I said the same thing," Cody muttered. "'Parently Legacy doesn't count anymore." He rubbed his face. "I'm getting moved to Smackdown."
"But… But… Cody! Legacy will ALWAYS count!" I exclaimed. Everyone was silent. "Cody…" I sat down between him and Ted. "What're we gonna do?" He shrugged.
"The draft has both brands. So we'll all be on Raw Monday, and on Tuesday I'll head out with the Smackdown crew."
"Dude," John said. "It's not that bad. That gives us like, six days to have happy super-duper Baby Oil boys club meetings or whatever you call 'em." Cody and I both glared up at John.
"Happy fun Legacy all night party bashes," we both said fiercely. He threw his hands up.
"Alright, whatever. Those. You can have six days of those." I glanced at my bros.
"Are we allowed to have those while they're here?" Cody looked over and cracked the first smile I'd seen from him all night.
"Just means we'll have to pretend they don't exist for the next few days."
"Cody, you can't LEAVE me!" I said. "How're we gonna get married if you're on another show?"
"We've gotta wait two years anyway. I think we'll make it until I get back on Raw." I laughed and hugged him. A few seconds later, I turned on Ted.
"You're not leaving me too, are you?" He laughed a little.
"No, but they gave me this awful storyline about the million dollar championship. Does this not seem redundant to anyone else?" We all nodded in agreement. Cody groaned.
"I should have seen this coming! There's no way they'd keep us all on the same show after Legacy broke up!"
We did the house show that night, and then went back to the hotel. I forsook Randy and John and went with Cody and Ted instead. But instead of a happy fun Legacy all night party bash, we just sort of moped while Ted tried to convince us to do something fun.
"Halo!" he said, waving controllers in front of our faces. "You LOVE Halo!"
"This is a TRAJEDY Ted!" I moaned. Cody nodded in agreement. Ted sighed and nodded slowly.
"You force me to do something I didn't want to do." With a deep sigh, he went to the refrigerator. "Now, I got these because I figured that this would happen. I never thought it would be this bad, though." Cody and I looked up, our curiosity getting the best of us. From within the fridge, Ted pulled forth…
Three crisp, cold Rockstars.
Cody and I looked at each other and grinned.
Oh yeah, the party had just officially started.