Crossroads of Life

I stared at Matt as if he was growing a new head.

“What?” he asked, sounding confused.

“You’re offering to be my bodyguard against my brother’s ex in my hometown where I have a lot of people willing to bend over backwards to protect me, why?”

“Maybe I want to, you are one of my best friends after all.” he replied. I nodded, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed as he described me as one of his best friends.

“Thanks, and I might actually take you up on that,” I replied, rubbing my hand through my hair.

“Hey sexy,” a voice behind us said. I noticed Matt tense up right away.

“Sorry, not interested,” I replied to the guy, turning to face him. My jaw dropped when I made
eye contact with someone I haven’t seen in a long time.

“Jon-Jon!” I exclaimed, jumping up and throwing my arms around his neck. “What are you doing here?”

“On vacation little sis,” he replied, pulling back to look at me. “Work or pleasure?”

“Both right now,” I answered. “I’m here for work, but coming here was for fun. I certainly didn’t expect to see you here.” I heard a cough beside me, and blushed. “Oh, damn, sorry, Matt this is Johnny, he’s kind of my step-brother, Johnny, this is Matt Korklan. He’s a friend of mine and also a co-worker.”

“Nice to meet you,” Johnny replied, shaking Matt’s hand. “Is Brian still being an ass to you?”

“Basically, but he’s getting a little better. He broke up with Michelle finally.”

“Really, that’s shocking.” Johnny muttered.

“Can I ask something, you said he’s kind of your step-brother,” Matt pointed out.

“Oh, he’s Brian and Brent’s half brother from their mom. Dad and Jen, Brian and Brent’s mother, split when they were younger. Jen remarried and with her husband they had Johnny.”

“You called me your kind of step-brother though, I am basically your brother.”

“They told me about the adoption,” I informed him.

“What adoption?” he asked, looking genuinely confused.

“You didn’t know? Brian and Suzy adopted me when I was a baby.” At his shocked expression, I take it that Johnny didn’t know about it. “You really didn’t know?”

“No, they didn’t tell me. Damn, why the hell would they keep that from me?”

“I would say because of how close we are, but I was close with McKenna and Brent too, so that’s not working out.” I replied. “Brian was basically the one who told me, I had a feeling for a while, but when I asked Dad about it, Brian went off on them.”

“Yeah, Brian told our Mom you’re planning on moving to Missouri, why?”

“Why do you think? I can’t take Brian anymore, even if he seems to be trying to get along with me now, it’s too late for it. It’s not just for me either, you know how Jimmy just died, his widow is a wreck in Orange County, in California in general, I need to get her away from there.”

“Why Missouri though?”

“She has a lot of friends there that will be more than willing to help her get on her feet there,” Matt answered for me. “I live in St. Louis, I’m working on finding a two bedroom apartment for the two of them. I can give Leana a job when she gets there. I’ll help them when they need it, and so will a lot of other people around there.”

“People my sister knows, or that you know?”

“Both, my parents will help, I’m sure of that. We have a friend, Randy, he lives there, and I’m sure his family will help as well.”

“As long as she’s not alone there,” Johnny muttered.

“I’ll be there with her every step of the process.” Matt promised him. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched my best friend and my brother interact. If Matt was getting along with Johnny good, there was no doubt he would get along greatly with my other family, though I wasn’t to sure about Brian. I pulled out my phone to check the time, and my eyes grew wide when I saw it was nearly 3 in the morning.

“Sorry to cut this short, but we have to get going John. We have to catch the tour bus at seven and it’s nearly three now, so we need to go get some sleep before we catch the bus.”

“It’s fine sis, I’ll see you when you get home. Matt, it was nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Matt replied. Matt and I left the bar, and after getting into a cab, I yawned.

“Tired?” Matt asked me. I nodded, burying myself into his side.

“You know what, I’m going to start calling you my snuggle buddy,” I informed him as my eyes started drooping. He didn’t reply, and the soft hum of the taxi lulled me to sleep.

I woke up the next morning in a bed, with an arm slung around my waist. I didn’t panic since I was wearing the outfit I fell asleep in, but it still frightened me on who was with me. When my brain finally cleared up, the memory of last night came back to me. Seeing my brother at the bar, falling asleep in the cab with Matt.

Looking down at the arm still sling around my, I knew it was Matt’s right away. He carried me into his room for the night. I stayed as still as I could, letting the feeling of warmth and security override me for a few minutes longer.

Sighing, I gently eased myself up, trying not to wake Matt up. With surprise, I noticed my luggage was in the room, so I grabbed my clothes and did my normal morning ritual of taking a shower and brushing my teeth. By the time I got out, Matt was sitting up in bed, looking around with a confused look on his face.

“Oh, there you are,” he said when I walked into the room. “Sleep well?”

“So well I didn’t know where I was this morning. You’re lucky I didn’t scream or try to kick your ass or anything.”

“Sorry, it’s just you were out cold and I didn’t have a way to get you registered without waking you,” Matt replied.

“It’s fine, I know, just don’t let it happen after I’ve been drinking again, and watch your arm while you’re sleeping, that’s what freaked me out in the first place.”

“Yeah I get that,” he said with a laugh. “I’m sorry, I’ll be sure to keep my hands to myself from now on.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” I pointed to him. “So, if my hung over brain will let me remember right, did you offer to go to California with me when I go back?”

“Yes I did, you’re brother’s ex girlfriend threatened you, you admitted to being terrified of going back, so I offered to go with you.”

“Oh, you can still come, but I can take that bitch on,” I said, getting into a boxers pose and throwing a punch, nearly colliding with Matt’s nose.

“Okay Muhammad Ali, settle down and finish getting your stuff together.” he said, grabbing my hands. I saluted him and, keeping up the boxing pose, began grabbing my things and throwing them back in my luggage. He laughed harder and went into the bathroom after grabbing himself a change of clothing.

“So, what’s in the script for this show?” he asked walking back into the room a few minutes later.

“Uhm, I think we have something behind the scenes with the Hart Dynasty and Ron,” I replied. “I think they’re leading up to us becoming a stable or something.”

“That would be pretty sweet though, we haven’t worked together since we were in GCW.”

“Yeah I know.” I replied.

“I can’t believe you went from Ohio Valley to Gateway. Ohio Valley is a great place for beginners.” Matt said suddenly.

“I know, but I just wanted a change. OV was great, but it was too much like home. Gateway was a great change in pace.”

“I get the feeling that if you had it your way, you’d be living on a farm right about now, watching chickens and pigs and cows.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that,” I said, jumping onto the bed and sitting on it pretzel style. I watched as Matt packed up the rest of his things and together we got everything on the tour bus.

“So, I decided that I know way to many Matts and I’m going to start calling you Matty.” I informed Matt as we sat on the bus, beside each other as usual.

“Oh really, and do I have a say in that?” He asked, looking over at me with a smirk on his lips. I shook my head, smiling at him.

“Nope,”

“Okay then, I’ll just have to think of a nickname for you then.” I just laughed and shook my head, grabbing out my iPod and turning to a song. Matty ended up taking one of my ear buds out of my ear and placing it in his own. He winced when he heard My Chemical Romance playing.”

“How can you listen to that crap?” he asked as Helena finished playing.

“The music speaks to me,” I replied with a shrug. Distrubed started playing after that, and that was more his style. The bus started filling up more with people, and Nikki Garcia walked on with her twin sister Brie. Nikki looked over at me and scowled.

“I really think you made an enemy out of Nikki,” Matt muttered to me with a smirk. “You don’t really care do you?”

“Not in the slightest.” I replied, letting my head rest on his shoulder. His head went onto mine, and I could of swore I felt him leave a feather of a kiss on my head.