The Hartbreak Associates

Help For The Broken

Aiken eventually got used to having Freddy away from him. He found himself babysitting the other little kids. It was lower pay than Bret or Hunter would offer but anything to make money outside of the ring. His run inside the ring was some of the best that he had ever produced since the Associates. However, it was only because of an old friend.

Buddy Austin was one of the biggest one hit wonders in the business during the Attitude Era. He only rarely showed up for matches because of his uncle “Stone Cold” Steve Austin not wanting him to get hurt. However, Buddy was used in a lot of comedy shtick storylines. Buddy and Aiken became a brief tag team and became good friends. In the span of five years, the two became closer, but Aiken didn’t feel as happy as he did then. He decided to go to Buddy for help and knocked on his locker room door.

“Bud?” Aiken called. “It’s Aiken, can I come in?” There was a stumbling noise heard before the door clicked and swung open. It was Buddy holding a beer. Aiken looked at Buddy up and down.

“Are you drunk?” he asked. “Cause I’ll leave if it’s a bad time.”

“No!” Buddy exclaimed. “I was just about to drink some beer, but I’ve got some time. Come in.” Aiken walked into the locker room. He knew Buddy wasn’t lying about the beer because if he was drunk, there would be a pile of beers in the corner of the room. Buddy pulled up some chairs and sat down in one of them. Aiken sat in the other.

“What’s going on, brother?” Buddy asked. Aiken took a deep breath, slouching over to think. He put his head into his hands before rubbing his hands down his face.

“I-” Aiken paused before sighing. “I don’t think I can do this anymore, man.” Buddy looked confused. What was he talking about?

“What- what do you mean you can’t do this anymore?”

“I just- I don’t think I can, man.”

“Wrestle or live?” Aiken looked up when Buddy asked that question.

“What?”

“You heard me, do you not wanna wrestle or do you not wanna live?” The more Aiken would think about the question, the more all of these memories came to mind about the Associates, his mother, Owen. Everything rushed at him at once. He was just a kid, he still was a kid. Why couldn’t he just be normal?

“Buddy,” Aiken finally mumbled. “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be, y’know, normal?” Buddy simply shrugged.

“I always thought normal was us but not on TV.”

“But I don’t mean like that!” Aiken blurted. “I mean normal as in a normal first job, a normal family, that kind of normal.”

“Normal’s kind of boring to me,” Buddy shrugged again. “Working at a fast food joint that doesn’t even serve the real thing? Disgusting, why do that when I have a chance to be creative. I thought you liked that kind of thing.” Aiken slowly scooted to the edge of his seat as Buddy handed him a hard seltzer.

“I do, and it’s not that I don’t like being creative. It’s just everything that happened before with Shawn, Owen, my mom, and all that. It’s coming back to me, and I don’t think I can wrestle with this mindset.” Aiken took a sip of his drink before spitting it out.

“What is this?!” Buddy died laughing as he pointed at the bottle’s label that was made by Buddy himself. Aiken ripped it off and realized that Buddy gave him a hard seltzer. The joke made him laugh for a bit before Buddy got serious.

“Honestly though, if you really feel like you need a break, talk to Vince and maybe even your dad. They’ll understand, at least I know your dad will. Edge is one of the most understanding people ever. Vince may take a little convincing, but I’m sure you’ll get that eventually.”