Chapter Text
Kevin Nash's POV
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"Are you sure you don't want one of us to go with you, man? We don't care at all to go with your ass to pick that shit up." I look over at Scott as he ties his shoes and then stands up straight. He pops his back with a grunt before waving a hand over at me and Kid dismissively.
"Nah, it's fine. I'm really just wanting some fresh air. Besides, never know who I'll run into." Scott grins as he grabs the keys from the desk. "I might find me a pretty lady to hook up with on the way back."
"Just don't take too long bringing those drinks back, all right? We need our booze." I joke, making all of us laugh.
"Besides, you know Joli will whine if there's not any booze when she gets here. And when Joli whines, we all whine." Kid adds playfully.
"Oh, that's the damn truth." Scott agrees, shaking his head. "I'll try to be back in about forty-five minutes to an hour, okay?" I nod. "So just drinks, snacks, and some of Joli's shitty cigs, right?"
"You got it, brother." I grin at Scott. "Thanks again."
"No problem." Scott chuckles, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'll see you boys later."
"See ya." Kid smiles.
As soon as the door closes behind Scott, Kid lets out a loud groan and slides down on their bed. He lays on his back and folds his arms behind his head, making himself comfortable as he stares up at the ceiling. I get up and grab a bottle of water from one of my bags, and as I open it up to take a drink, Kid starts talking.
"I know we don't really have many deep conversations, big guy, but I just wanted to check in on you and see how you're doing. You know, just to make sure you're doing all right."
There's not a doubt in my mind that Kid knows I'm doing just fine, but I'm smart enough to realize that's probably his way of wanting me to check in on him. But, I also know better than to call him on that, so if he wants to talk about me for a while, that's fine, too.
"Lately, things have been pretty damn good for me, man. I feel like Joli and I are really growing closer and it's the best feeling in the world. I didn't realize that love was such a powerful thing, Kid, but it is. I never thought that settling down and giving my everything to one woman could bring so much joy into my life." I'm being completely honest. My little Joli is my life.
Kid isn't looking over at me, but I can see a big fuckin' grin come onto his lips. "Yeah, I figured as much. You two are pretty damn cute together, you know that?" I automatically laugh.
"Me? Oh, there's not a damn thing that's cute about me." I jokingly scoff as I sit back down on mine and Joli's bed. "But God, Joli can be fuckin' adorable. She's perfect."
"You're really damn lucky to have her." Oh, I completely agree, Kid. I am. "I don't think there's a more beautiful woman in our industry with as good of a personality as Joli. Most chicks around here are either hot or fun, rarely ever both."
"You're right. There's not a guy in the wrestling world that wouldn't fuckin' jump at the opportunity to have Joli as their girl." She's the most wonderful human being I've ever met. "I'm not going to ever fuck things up with her, not if I can help it."
Kid lets out a small little chuckle before saying, "I really am happy for you two, Kev. I want the best for you and Joli."
"Thanks, man." I do appreciate it, Kid. I really do.
Kid turns his head so that he can look over at me, and he gives me a little smile. "Hey, do you think you're close to finally dating her yet?"
"Honestly?" I chuckle and shrug. "I don't know. I'm making progress with her, definitely, but I'm not sure when she'll be ready for it. We've still not even talked about her past marriage, but then again, I don't know if she'll want to talk about that before or after we get together."
"I'm sure it won't be too much longer, man. You two are basically already there. It seems like she's just got to be able to be okay with saying she's in a relationship."
"It's hard for her, and I get that. I respect her wishes though, so the pace is hers to set." I can't help but smile like a fool, just talking about my future with Joli. I know we've got good things ahead of us, no matter how rocky the road to get there may be.
"I'm glad that the two of you have each other. You're good for one another." Kid smiles back at me before a sadder, more serious look comes to his face. I raise a brow at him, and he instantly tries to play it off with a grin.
"Kid?" He hums in response. "How have you been doing, brother? Like you said, we don't usually have deep conversations like this. Tell me about yourself, man."
He's quiet for a moment as his smile once more fades away. Before Kid speaks again, he releases a heavy sigh and sits up. He also runs both of his hands across his face, rubbing and stretching his skin in the process.
"I've been doing pretty okay, Kev. I've been doing pretty okay." That sounds like a nice way of saying you've not been good at all. "I mean, things haven't necessarily been the best, but I think I'm fine."
"You don't sound very sure of yourself over there, Kid." I chuckle softly, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. "You can talk to me, if you want. I'll do whatever I can to help you, but you've got to let me in. I can't do anything at all if I don't know what's going on."
Kid sighs and looks over at me, but his bushy hair is covering most of his face, so it's hard for me to really look him in the eyes. I can tell he's wanting to say so much to me, but it's just escaping him. I don't know what I need to say to him to get him to fully lighten up and let me in on his situation.
"You remember Joli's return, and how bad I was that night?" I mean, that's kind of a hard thing to forget, but I don't say that. I just nod. "Uh... That wasn't necessarily the first night that I'd been really fucked up in a while." He pauses to inhale and then exhale a large breath. "I know I said I'd get clean when I joined WCW, and for the longest time, I was. It's just..."
"Kid, buddy..." I sigh, looking over at my friend with both concern and disappointment. "You've got to get some help. You can't keep going down this road. Not again."
"I know, man, I know..." Kid drops his head. "I'm trying. I mean, I'm not really trying as hard as I should be, but I'm trying nonetheless."
I wish I had noticed that he wasn't in the best state of mind, or rather, that he had become so bad off. I knew he wasn't doing well, but...
"How often are you doing shit? And how bad is what you're doing?" I clear my throat, looking over at Kid with a stern expression. "You're usually rather clear-headed when you're with us, so I'm assuming you do it when we're not around, like when you're alone at your house."
He's uncomfortable talking about this, I can easily tell that by the way he's fidgeting. I want to help him as much as I can, but it's so hard to help someone who doesn't want it. Yet, I know Kid wants to talk to me. He's just struggling to do so.
"It's not... It's not all the time. It's like... I don't know, maybe once a week that I really get fucked?" Kid sighs. "I'm sorry, Kev. I don't always want to do it, but uh..." As soon as it looks like I'm getting somewhere with Kid, he shakes his head and stops himself. "Don't worry about it."
"Get help, Kid." I tell him in as soft of a tone as I can manage. "Okay? I don't want you to get so bad off again. You know that shit isn't good for you. I love you, brother." Kid smiles weakly at me.
"I love you too, man. Thank you."
"All right, I know you're probably done talking about this for now, but I'll leave it at this: If you need someone, please, come fucking get me. Or Paul. Or maybe Joli." Preferably me or Paul. "We'll help you as much as we can. I promise."
I wish I could tell him to go to Scott and Shawn, but I know that's just not the best idea. Not a single one of them has a good record, and the last thing I'd ever want is for them to all get together and do some stupid shit.
There's little I want more than for all of my boys to be happy and healthy. Joli is naturally at the top of my priority list, but right below her are four of the most badass dudes that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. My Kliq brothers are fucking great and I look forward to the day where we're all able to just relax together and not worry that one of us is going to ruin his life in the upcoming days.
Kid, please, listen to me just this once. Get the help you need before it's too late.
"Okay." Kid nods after a moment. "Thank you, man. I'm glad you're always so level-headed, because God knows I never am." He chuckles, pushing his hair out of his face as he does so.
"Never sell yourself short. I mean, you yourself are short, but you've got a damn good heart." I send Kid a joking grin. He playfully pouts and crosses his arms over his chest.
"It's not my fault that you're a fuckin' giant! We can't all be as tall as you." I laugh at that.
"You're right." I smirk. "Someone has to wait for me to reach all the shit on the top shelf."
Kid chucks a pillow at me, but I catch it with ease and just sit it down with the rest of my pillows. "More for me." I smugly shrug before laying down.
"Hey! Not fair!" Kid whines. "Man..."
"Don't throw your pillows at me if you don't want me to keep them." I tease. "What did you expect?"
"Uh... I don't know. Pillow fight?" Kid grins.
"Nah. I'm too tired to whoop your ass this evening." I tell him as I stretch out. "Maybe some other time."
"Are you too tired to, or are you worried you can't?" I give him points for trying here.
"You're not going to sucker me into this. I'm wise to your tricks." I comment as I close my eyes. I can't help but smile when I hear Kid huff.
I've almost nodded off when I hear a knock at the door. I crack an eye open and look over at it, before looking at Kid. Thankfully, he's already up and moving to go let whoever it is in.
"Oh, hey, Joli!" Kid greets happily. I instantly sit up on the bed, blinking so that I can force myself to wake up more. "How was the ride with Dallas and Kim?"
"It would've been fine, if Dally hadn't drunk a whole fuckin' gallon of water right before we left. It felt like we were stopping every fifteen minutes so that he could piss." Her laugh is so intoxicating, far more so than any alcohol I've ever drank. "I tried to sleep, but every time I fell asleep, we'd stop and I'd wake up. Eventually, I just kicked Dallas into the back and rode shotgun while Kim drove."
"Wow." Kid laughs as the two of them walk over to the beds. As Joli sits her bags down, he nudges her and points her in my direction. "Meanwhile, I've been stuck here alone with this asshole. He wouldn't have a pillow fight with me. Can you believe him?"
"In my defense, I didn't want to have to whoop his ass." I lazily tell my babe while shooting her a grin.
"As if!" Kid sticks his tongue out at me.
Joli looks between me and Kid for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly and returning her attention to her bags. "I don't really see your problem, Kid. I mean, I would've thought you'd want to spare yourself the embarrassment of getting knocked into the hotel wall again. Or, did you forget about that big hole you left in that little town a few weeks back?"
I can't help but laugh as I recall the event Joli's talking about. Scott and Kid had tried to take us on in a pillow war, but of course, we'd won. They forfeited once I knocked Kid off their bed with a big pillow to his head, and as he fell, he flung his arms out and punched a hole through one of the walls. We were luckily able to scoot the bed over and hide it from the staff.
"Joli!" Kid whines. "That wasn't fair. He caught me off guard."
"Whatever you say, Kid. Whatever you say." Joli playfully ruffles Kid's floppy hair before scooting her bags aside with her foot and plopping down on the bed beside of me. I don't waste any time; as soon as she's by my side, I've got my arm wrapped around her.
"Awh, now you're playing the couple card." Kid sighs in defeat. "I give up."
Joli and I both watch in amusement as Kid drops face-first onto his and Scott's bed. He lies there for a moment before ultimately rolling onto his back and folding his arms across his chest. With his eyes closed the way they are, he looks like he just got hit with a Tombstone by good ol' Mark Calloway.
God, those fuckin' hurt.
I give Joli a one-armed hug, just to pull her closer to me for a moment. The scent of her cigarettes and her peach perfume always brings a smile to my face when I haven't seen her in a while; in this case, it's only been a day, but it feels like it's been so much longer. I'm glad she got to spend some time with her unofficial siblings, though.
This life that I'm living is absolutely insane, and I'm lucky that I've not been plagued by the same demons that haunt Scott, Kid, and Shawn; I just hope that Kid listens to me, and gets the help he needs.