The Hartbreak Associates

The Scandal

As weeks went by, Aiken kept getting good luck. He finally was getting received well by fans, many people in the locker room had talked to him, and even better, Owen was slowly accepting his new character change! One day, his luck became even better. Edge messaged him about his real mother! He hadn't heard much about her. All he heard was that he was the result of a teen pregnancy. This excited Aiken immensely and he went to Shawn hearing the news.

"Shawn, guess what??" Aiken asked.

Shawn looked up from his paperwork. "Hm?"

"I'm finally going to meet my real mom!" Aiken's eyes lit up.

Shawn smiled. "That's great, Aik!"

"I can't wait to tell you all about it tonight!" Aiken exclaimed.

"Have fun!" Shawn exclaimed. Aiken's relationship with Shawn had improved greatly over their time as associates. Shawn had finally agreed to help Aiken and Freddy with their homework when they needed it. Aiken headed to the local coffee shop where he agreed to meet his mother. When he got there, he saw a woman with similar hair and eyes to his. Upon seeing him, the women's eyes lit up.

"Aiken?" she stood up. "Is that you, my boy?" Aiken smiled widely and embraced his mother. Though, there was something off about her. She smelled like she smoked some sort of weed before she arrived. He shook it off as his senses mistaking him as he sat down across from the woman who claimed to be his mother.

"You've grown up so much!" the woman exclaimed in awe. Aiken laughed.

"I know, right?" Aiken said. "I can't believe it either!"

"So tell me everything," the woman got closer as Aiken began to explain everything that happened in the 15 years after he was adopted. However, she stopped him when he talked about a job.

"You have a job?" she asked. "At this age?"

"Yeah," Aiken replied. "Pretty sweet, if you ask me."

"How much do you get paid?" she asked him. Aiken went pale but told her anyways.

"Thousands of dollars, yeah it's pretty big." The woman looked at him with a strange look.

"Maybe I can have some of that money next time you get paid?" Aiken rubbed it off as a joke.

"Sure, mom, sure." The women's brow furrowed. Aiken looked confused. Was this a joke? He grabbed some of the brownies on the tray. They tasted weird, but they were addicting. Soon, he felt a bit weird, which resulted in a screaming battle with his mom.

"WHY CAN'T I BE APART OF YOUR LIFE?!" she screamed.

"BECAUSE THATS ALL THAT MATTERS TO YOU!" Aiken hollered back. "MONEY, MONEY, DRUGS, AND MORE MONEY! I HATE YOU!" Aiken went to leave but his mom threw an empty bottle at him, which hit and made him bleed.

"I WISH I ABORTED YOU WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!" she screamed as Aiken hightailed it to the car he had gotten a ride in.

"Aiken?" the driver asked, concerned. "Why do you smell like weed?"

"No reason," Aiken acted as sober as he could.

"Ohhkay-" the driver hesitated. "Back to the arena?"

"Yes sir," Aiken responded, eating a few more of the brownies he had stolen. As he drove off, he felt more in euphoria. He couldn't feel the pain he felt from the glass bottle hitting his head. He couldn't feel any physical pain. He felt like he was floating until he heard a voice he couldnt ignore.

"Aiken! What happened to you??" It was Shawn. He must've already been at the arena. Shawn looked really concerned.

"Shawn?-" Aiken felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to tell Shawn what happened so bad, but he noticed the chewed up brownie and sniffed it.

"You were eating edibles??" Shawn yelled in disbelief. That's why Aiken felt so oddly euphoric. At the same time, he was disappointed in himself. He felt Shawn take his hand and bring him inside. Everything looked like it was morphing to Aiken. He saw double of a lot. Shawn sat him down.

"What happened?" Shawn asked sternly. "Tell me everything." Aiken went to speak but ended up breaking down. Despite this, he told Shawn what he remembered, which was a lot. Shawn looked pissed hearing Aiken's side of the story.

"Okay," Shawn mumbled before looking at Aiken. "I'll take care of you while we get this under control."

"And Freddy?-" Aiken asked. Shawn sighed.

"He'll have to stay with Bret until we figure something out. I'll explain everything to him." Shawn decided to go find Freddy and bring him to Bret.

Bret glared at Shawn. "What do you want?"

"Bret, listen, this is for Aiken's and Freddy's safety," Shawn explained. "Aiken's mother is a druggie and she fed him some edibles. He's high as hell right now. I need you to take Freddy for a while until we can get this figured out." Bret didn't look pleased at all.

"I'll listen to you for the kids' safety," Bret said hesitantly.

"Once this is all over, we can fight whevever you please," Shawn negotiated as Bret shook his hand. As Bret went to go get Freddy, Shawn went back to check on Aiken, who was asleep. As relieved as he was, there was something itching at his brain. What if she was here? What if she was looking for Aiken everywhere? Shawn swore to keep a close eye on Aiken, no matter where he went.

NEXT WEEK
Aiken had finally agreed to go out with Shawn and Freddy. He stood closer to Shawn than he ever had before, which gained concern from fans.

"Now, I'm aware that Stone Cold has said some stuff about us that isn't so appropriate for live TV," Shawn had started before handing the microphone to Freddy.

"Stone Cold," Freddy called. "If you want to say all of this stuff, why don't you come and say it to our faces?" The statement prompted cheers from the crowd. Aiken messed with Freddy's hair before getting a text. He opened his phone to see a text from his dad.

"Aiken, your mother is in the crowd. You need to get out of there." the text message read. Aiken looked around to see his mother right across from him in the front row. In that moment, time had stopped. Aiken froze in the sight of his mother. She started to climb the barricade. It was then when Aiken threw himself out of the ring and ran. Shawn looked concerned.

"Um, we'll be right back!" he assured the crowd as he ran after Aiken. By this time, Aiken had locked himself in Shawn's office, hiding under the desk. All he could hear was the shrilly high pitched voice of his mother.

"Aiken!" she called to him. "Open the door for your mother!"

"Never!" Aiken shouted from inside before starting to cry. The knocking got louder for a long time before it ceased. A different knock softly rang.

"Aiken?" It was Shawn. Aiken wanted to let him in, but what if his mom was with him? All he wanted was his mom gone.

"Aiken," Shawn tried again. "It's just me. Your mom's gone now. Can you open the door?" Aiken thought for longer before finally giving in. His body shook as he opened the door. Shawn quickly embraced the boy.

"Hey," Shawn comforted Aiken. "It's okay, she's gone now, kiddo." Aiken wished he could believe Shawn. His mom would never truly be gone. He knew that as well as his own father. Her scent of weed and alcohol could never leave his nose. It was a strong scent. Even if he tried, and he did, he would never be able to get rid of her. Now, all Aiken knew was the smell of drugs and alcohol: the scent of who really birthed him.