Randy stood by the grave. He placed the flowers down and took a deep breath. A hand on his shoulder jerked his head up. It was Phil, Randy's best friend. "She wanted me to tell you she'll be watching you from there" Phil said looking above. Randy looked up and his eyes burned. It was bloodshot red and he immediately shut his eyes. "C'mon" Phil whispered. Randy took one last look at the grave before he started walking back to Phil's car. He shuffled into the passenger seat and looked out the window as Phil pulled out. 5 years ago Randy left his hometown to pursue a career in New York City. Place where dreams were made in. He made no contact with friends or family for the longest time unless it was necessary, but just a few weeks ago his mother passed away. He decided to take time off from work and finally visit the place he was raised.
"So everyone is excited to see you at the party" Phil said while driving. He turned up the radio to a minimum volume and glanced at Randy who watched as buildings and houses passed by.
Randy turned and looked at him. He seemed distracted. "What?"
"Everyone is excited to see you man. Your sister is going to be extremely happy. You didn't tell her right?" Phil asked. Randy nodded. His sister was Eve. She was only 3 years younger than him, but he always treated her like a baby. Nothing hurt more than not even being able to talk to her. He sighed and rested his head back. "I hope you don't have a family behind in New York" Phil joked.
"I'm single" Randy assured him.
"Really?"
"There was this girl, she's brunette-"
"And we all know how much you love blondes" Phil said in a monotone.
Randy shook his head and laughed. "No. This brunette was bitchy, man. Like extremely. Well that was my recent fling." It was true. Randy Orton liked blondes, ever since college.
Phil chuckled and tapped the steering wheel as he waited at the stop sign. He started moving again as he began to speak, "You know, Eve has some extremely gorgeous friends that you could, you know, date" Phil suggested. They pulled up to a house and Randy stared at it. He couldn't recognize whose house it was. Probably someone he knew of course, but they must have moved here. He got out of the car and waited for Phil to do the same. "So what does Eve think this party is for?" Randy asked.
"It's actually Alex's birthday. You know how they're like best friends. Yeah"
"Alex? Oh wow. Alright lets go inside" Randy said rubbing his hands together. He was excited to see his group of friends again. He had the best memories with them and regretted not one.
When Randy and Phil entered the house, no one glanced their way. When Phil finally raised his voice to tell them who's here, they all looked shocked and startled. Eve ran into her brother's arms. "Randy! Where the fuck have you been?" she yelled as her eyes began to well up. She didn't know whether she was dreaming this. She remembered in detail the day her brother told her and her mom that he was leaving to New York. They kept in touch in the beginning but then everything went downhill from there. Now she was wrapped in her brother's arms feeling protected again. She pulled away and Randy wiped her tears.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Cody, Zack, Mike, John, Alex, Layla, Kaitlyn and the Bella twins were all standing around Randy. That was his crew in college. He loved every one of them. There was not one person missing. They all started asking Randy many questions and Randy tried to reply to as many as he could. He felt extremely happy. Being the guy who never talked much in college this felt weird for him.
Everyone eventually settled down. Alex went back to playing beer pong with the guys. Eve continued to laugh with Mike, her boyfriend. Phil and Layla were off to somewhere. And Randy leaned against the wall with a bottle of beer in his hand. He took a sip and looked around the room. He was going to enjoy the next couple of months here.
"Kelly, would you please send these designs to Moira?" her boss asked her. Kelly took the files from her boss and immediately got to work. She's worked hard in college to pursue a career in fashion. This is what she wanted to do all her life. But at the very moment she wanted to be nowhere but Alex's house. It was his birthday and she promised she'd be there. She quickly sent the files in and grabbed her stuff. Kelly said goodbye to the other staff who were also working late at night before she sped out the building.
They were all sitting in a circle, playing spin the bottle as Randy continued to stay firmly in his spot. He wasn't interested in these games. He didn't like the idea of people kissing random people. Especially since everyone was drunk and didn't know what they were getting themselves into. The front door bursted open and Randy immediately glanced up following the rest of the group.
"I'm finally here! You guys wouldn't believe..." Kelly trailed off as her eyes eventually wandered off across the room to Randy Orton. The man Kelly was head over heels for in college, the man who refused to express his likeness back. She swallowed and took a good look at him. He was more attractive than when she last saw him. His muscles were bulging through the white v-neck he was sporting. The few tattoos he had in college increased to sleeve tattoos that stretched to his neck. His scruffy beard made him more manly and hot. Unconsciously Kelly pulled a hand through her long blonde curls.
Randy's eyes were fixed on the petite blonde girl who stared at him in shock. Kelly Blank. She was wearing a short black strapless dress with nude coloured heels. Her long blonde hair cascaded down to her lower back in curls. Eve walked over to Kelly and grabbed her arm leading Kelly towards Randy. Randy took another sip of his beer as his eyes stayed on Kelly.
"You might not know Kelly. She went to the same college as us, but none of us knew her. Most beautiful and loving girl and also my best friend!" Eve said grinning. Kelly stared at Randy blankly. This can't be happening. She knew Randy was Eve's brother but she didn't believe he was going to come back. According to Eve, Randy was long gone.
Randy's lips curved up in a slight smirk. "Hi" he said. Kelly felt her stomach flutter. She remembered the days when she had to build up the courage to come talk to him. Now he easily just started off by saying 'hi' and she didn't know what to say. No matter how hot and sexy Randy looked at the moment, he was still going to be the douche bag that rejected her love.
"Guys, come play spin the bottle!" Mike called out.
"No thanks" the two said in unison. They turned to face each other again and slowly Kelly turned away from him and walked off. Randy watched her go. He remembered the 18-year-old Kelly who came to college. She was the kind of girl who wore clothes and still managed to look sexy. He would watch her from a distance as she stumbled towards classrooms. Her innocence attracted him, but he's never told her that.
