Road to Ruin [AEW Oneshots]

highs and lows

As he stood out on the porch of the cottage that they had rented for the weekend, Matt couldn't keep a smile off his face. With the cool breeze blowing across his cheeks and the moon shining high in the sky, reflecting beautifully off the ocean, everything at that one particular moment just felt absolutely perfect.

Matt took a couple steps forward and placed his hands on the banisters, leaning forward and taking a deep breath of the fresh, salty air. He exhaled the breath slowly, allowing his shoulders to relax as the air left his lungs.

It was nice for him to be able to relax like this, and God knew that he certainly deserved a break. For nearly a year now it seemed as if Matt had encountered the highest of highs and the lows of lows both professionally and personally.

All Out 2022 weekend had started off on a high note, with Matt finally proposing to Cassandra four years into their relationship, but the night of the show itself had been one of the worst in Matt's life.

He tried his best to push forward, to move past all the pain and anger and confusion that had come from that night. There wasn't any use in putting time and energy into it anymore, was there? AEW had moved on, Matt himself had moved on, and things were going to be better now.

Besides, there were so many more important things to think about, weren't there? Like his incredibly sexy and crazy talented fiance, the woman he had loved for so many years now.

Matt couldn't have made it through any of it without her.

Upon hearing the door open behind him, Matt turned to glance over his shoulder to see who it was. While part of him had hoped for it to be Cassandra, she had been laying down for bed when he had walked outside so he knew it wouldn't be her.

"Hanger!" Matt greeted him with a grin. "How's it going, buddy?"

"Hey man," Hangman returned the expression as he walked to stand beside Matt. "It's good, you know? This place is nice."

"It is," Matt agreed, nodding his head. "Plenty of room, comfy beds, a beautiful view..."

"A guest house for Kenny," Hangman added. Though his voice had a bit of a playful undertone, he was completely serious about that being one of the positives about their rental.

"That was one of the requirements when we were picking out where we were all going to stay, actually. Sandy refused to let him stay in the house with the rest of us for Max's sake, mainly, but for yours, too. She was just really excited to have Max here and one of the last things she wants is for her to be uncomfortable."

Of course, for Matt and Cassandra's wedding, Kenny was as much of a necessity on the guest list as Hangman and Maxine were. For all his faults, Kenny was one of Matt and Cassandra's best friends and they loved him dearly.

They just didn't want Kenny to cause too much trouble for Hangman and Maxine, as he was known to do. It had been five years since Kenny and Maxine's breakup but he still took each and every opportunity to try and win her back.

"I can't tell you how much we appreciate that," Hangman said sincerely. "Max is fucking excited to be here, too. She said it's been too long since all of us got together and I've got to say, she's right. Today's been fun."

As memories of years passed flowed through Matt's mind, a warmth spread through his chest. In a simpler time before they were all so deeply woven into All Elite Wrestling, back before the original All In, their group as a whole had been damn near inseparable.

Of course, a lot had happened over the years that had created a divide between them. Certain members of their friend group had come and gone, but the core Elite of Matt, Nick, Kenny, Hangman, Cassandra, and Maxine had remained the same.