AN: The author would now like to point out that she almost cried during this chapter, so I expect NO LESS from you lot. Got it?
That is all.
(Jess)
Tuesday morning, we all gathered in the parking garage. The day was appropriate for our somber goodbyes. It was overcast, foggy, and otherwise depressing. Cody was going to hop a plane and then a bus to the Smackdown tapings, so he was going to ride with Mark and Glenn to the airport.
"They're gonna eat me," he grumbled.
"You'll be fine. But really, tell me what they do to you," I said with a grin. He smiled and shook his head.
"I'm gonna miss you," he said, pulling me into a hug.
"Yeah, I guess I'll miss you, too," I said. "Maybe next time I see you, you'll be good at Halo." He drew away.
"Is that a challenge?"
"You betcha." He laughed and turned to everyone else to say goodbye. I looked at Mark, Glenn, and Gunner. "Bye guys. Don't hurt Codeman TOO bad." Mark laughed and gave me a loose hug.
"Take care of yourself, girl."
"You got it." I turned to Glenn, who put an arm around my shoulder.
"So, I guess you're excited to find out what we're doing to Cody tonight, huh?" I nodded.
"Uh, yeah!" He tightened his grip and bent over to whisper in my ear.
"Then take this as a warning. If I ever find that there are laxatives in my brownies EVER again, what happens to Cody tonight will happen to you, only 10 times worse." I paled.
"Uh, you got it, big guy!" I said nervously.
"Good!" he said, much louder and less scary. "Have fun!" Gunner walked over to me looking terrified and laughed a little.
"You get used to him," he said with a laugh.
"Yeah, you never fed him laxatives, and I would like to point out that you started it!" I said, pointing up at him. He still had a grip on my shoulder.
"Oh, really, so would you LIKE this to continue?" he asked.
"Um, no sir, I'm very sorry about the brownies, have fun at Smackdown!" I slipped out from his grasp, and Gunner laughed. He stuck out his hand.
"It was, uh, very nice to meet you," he said with a smile.
"Yeah," I said. "You, too." He held onto my hand for a LITTLE too long, and I didn't know QUITE what to do. Thank goodness for Cody. He came up from behind and practically tackled me.
"Bye, Jess! I'll call you in a few days and we'll start working out those wedding details." The look on Gunner's face was hilarious.
"Yeah, Codes, get your Master Chief suit ready." He hugged me tight.
"Aww, I'm gonna miss you!"
"Yeah, I know. Cody, you're my favorite Legacy Halo partner."
"I'm your ONLY Legacy Halo partner."
"So?" I was almost crying now. "Bye Cody," I sniffed into his shoulder.
"Bye, Jess." After a moment, he let go, and got into the car with Mark, Glenn, and Gunner. Randy came up behind me and put an arm around my shoulder. We waved goodbye to them as the car left the garage.
"Yeah, I'm gonna miss him, too," Randy said. My tears were openly falling now, but I wiped them away quickly. "Aw, c'mere."
"What if I never see him again?" I asked quietly.
(Randy)
Here I was holding a crying teen in a parking garage, and she tells me that she's upset because she might never see Cody again. What do you say to that? We had to send her home in just about a month. I looked up to John, who just cocked an eyebrow at me and shrugged.
"You'll see him at the Pay-per-view."
"Y'think?" she asked.
"Yeah. He wouldn't miss it for anything." She smiled a little.
"I can't wait to see what Glenn and Mark do to him." Ted came over with a grin.
"So what did Glenn tell you just now?" Jess chuckled.
"He said that if he ever found laxatives in his brownies again, what happens to Cody tonight will happen to me, but 10 times worse."
"Laxatives?" John asked.
"Hey, they started it," she grumbled.
"And uh, what was goin' on with you and Gunner?" Ted asked.
"Nothing!" she said, defending herself quickly. "What's going on between you and Cody?"
"Hey now, hey now," Ted said. "I'm not the one crying." She grinned.
"Ted, you suck." I was a little jealous. Ted was so good at breaking through to her. I was still trying to figure all this out. Mental note: Talk to Ted later.
"Well, c'mon, Jess," I said, letting go of her and throwing my stuff in the trunk of my rental. "We're headed to St. Louis." She looked up at me.
"Really?"
"Well, I've been trying to tell you for the past few days, but you've been… otherwise occupied." She laughed.
"Alright. So I guess I'll see you two later," she said to Ted and John.
"Bye, hotshot," Ted said, hugging her quickly.
"See ya, kid," John said. We got in my car and headed to St. Louis, Missouri.
Well, the quality time was not all I had hoped it would be. The first half hour was spent in utter silence. After a while, I texted Ted.
How do you do it? I sent him. A few minutes later, his response came.
Do what?
Talk to her like that? It just seems so natural to you.
That's because you just have to talk to her like you would a normal person. She's a teenager, not an alien. I laughed a little.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Hmm?" I looked over at her. "Oh, nothing. I was just texting."
"Texting while you're driving is dangerous, silly goose."
Five more minutes passed without any words.
IT'S NOT WORKING! I sent over to him.
I can't help you! Ask her about herself, Idk!
"So, tell me about yourself." She looked up at me with a grin.
"Well, m'name's Jessica Long, I live in Bush, Louisiana, I play the trumpet, and my favorite pastime is watching professional wrestling." FINALLY, I thought of something to talk about.
"Why is that your favorite pastime?" She shrugged.
"I dunno." She suddenly grinned. "You wanna know something funny? I used to HATE wrestling. I was always like 'why would I want to watch guys in their underwear wrestle?'"
"So, what changed your mind?" She chuckled again.
"My best friend is Jeff Hardy's BIGGEST fan. Not kidding. When she was in the hospital, there was a life-sized Jeff Hardy cutout that stared at us all the time. Anyway, so a couple years ago, she makes me sit in her room and watch Jeff Hardy's movie. I don't even remember what it was called. But I listened to him and Matt's story, how they came from nothing and made it all the way to the big times. And I just kinda fell in love with it all. I started keeping up with it, and it's been a passion ever since."
"Why was your friend in the hospital?" I asked.
"Katelyn? She had two brain tumors. They operated to get them out."
"Did they work? Is she ok?" Jess sighed.
"Kinda. There was a complication in the second surgery and she lost her sight."
"Her sight? She went blind?"
"Yeah. They told us 6 months, a year tops, but…"
"But what?"
"It's been nearly two years, and… she never got it back."
"Aw man… I'm… I'm sorry." I was feeling awful now. I brought it up.
"Oh, no," she said suddenly. "We adapted. She's really the closest friend I've got, and nothing can change that. Not even blindness. You wanna hear a funny story?"
"Sure."
"Her family brought me to my first show. It was Extreme Rules 2009. You had a steel cage match with Dave, and I was pullin' for you the whole time. I caught heck for that because you were a bad guy, but man, I was so excited. I swear, you went to climb that cage for the win, and I really though you looked at me. I was screaming for you to come down, that you didn't need to prove anything." She chuckled. "But you got back in, and you ended up losing. I think Dave had torn something that night."
"His bicep," I said.
"Yeah, that. Anyway, he went in the back, and you stayed in the ring to watch the video that came on the Tron. Well, I was ALL the way in the back, on the floor. You came around the back and walked right past me. And I yelled 'Randy! You'll get him next time!'" A huge grin had spread across her face at this point. "And you turned around, and you gave me this HUGE glare. If looks could kill," she said with a chuckle. "Anyway, that was the best thing that had happened to me all night. I still brag about that, and Katelyn's little brother was right there next to me. Me and him used to brag to everyone we could that THE Randy Orton glared at US." She sighed happily. "That night, I was supposed to be giving play-by-play to Kate, but I got SO excited during your match that I just stood up and started yelling." She looked at me with the biggest smile. "You're my favorite."
"Oh really?" I asked. "Not Shawn Michaels?"
"Now, I must say," she admitted. "I cried when he left. I cried a little when I found out he had lost at Wrestlemania." I laughed.
"Yeah, we all did. He's a great guy. You never told me why it's your favorite pastime." She shrugged again.
"I don't know! I just love it. I always have. How hard y'all have to work to get here, everything! Being in that ring with you and Chris was one of the greatest moments of my life. It was always my dream to be able to say that I stood in that ring." She was quiet for a moment. "Can I tell you something I really… never told anyone else?"
"Knock yourself out."
"I always wish I had more time with my parents, but, we never really had anything in common. I got back from Extreme Rules, and mom just told me, 'So how was it? Oh wait, let me get ready to pretend to care about something I really don't.' And dad, dad brought me to a show, and spent the whole time drinking. I actually spoke more to the family next to me than I did to my own dad. Sucks, huh? I was never really that… close to them."
"I'm sorry," I murmured.
"No, no, it's nothing to be sorry about, it just makes me wonder sometimes. Was it MY fault we weren't close? Was I a bad kid, or-"
"No!" I said, cutting her off. "Something like that isn't your fault. Just because you didn't have much in common with your parents doesn't make you a bad kid!"
"Yeah, I know, but-"
"No buts! C'mon, cheer up. Let's talk about something happier, alright?" She looked up at me with that big grin again.
"Yeah. Thanks, Randy."
Talking to each other became 10,000 times easier after that. It was about another hours drive to my place in St. Louis. We stopped for lunch, really spent some quality time together. But soon enough, we were at my house, and I parked in the driveway. I got out but she never opened her door. I opened it up and looked down at her.
"You ready?"
"Do you think they'll like me?" she asked, looking up at me nervously. I laughed.
"Who DOESN'T like you, Jess?" I said. She opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her. "Dave does NOT count, you brat." I held my hand out to her, and she took it. "Come on, let's go inside."
AN: Come on, you heartless readers, wasn't that heartbreaking? Next, we get to meet SAM AND ALANNA!