Rhett and Link One Shots

The Forbidden Basement

Link dropped the last of the heavy boxes on the wooden floor of his new home. He was renting a house for a few months until he and his fiancé, Christy would get married and buy one for themselves next May. Running his fingers through his hair, Link sighed deeply and plopped down on the couch the landlord had provided. The house was perfect. Small enough for one person, but also roomy. It had a decent sized kitchen and a couple bedrooms with attached bathrooms. Link couldn't be happier with the house, or the rent. And the landlord seemed down to earth and totally normal. Except one thing. The words rang clearly through Link's head. "Just one rule, son, stay out of the basement. The rest of the house is yours, but that basement is mine."

At the time, Link had been so excited about the house that the landlord's strange request hadn't even really sunk in. Link had happily replied that he would before accepting the keys and paying for the first month's rent. Now that he had time to let everything sink in, the request was bothering him. Why couldn't he go down there?

"Probably just keeps a lot of junk down there that he doesn't want me going through, I guess." Link said to himself. A firm knock at the door drew Link out of his thoughts and he got up to answer it.

Standing before him was a six foot, seven inch man, but Link smiled as he recognized him instantaneously. "Rhett! Hey, man! Did you come to help me unpack?" Link chuckled and stepped to the side, letting Rhett in.

"You know I did, don't act all surprised. You're the one that begged me to," Rhett smirked. "But, I'm happy to help you out. Cause I know that you'll be helping me out when I move into my own place."

"Correct you are. I'll owe ya."

The two worked together and within a couple of hours, they had gotten Link's things put away neatly and set up the house. It was still pretty bare, but it was good enough for Link to live in for a just a few months.

"Thank you so much, Rhett. You're a lifesaver!" Link said as he sat down on the couch and took a bite of the pizza he had ordered. Rhett sat down as well.

"It's no problem at all. Didn't take that long and it gave me something to do instead of sit around, bored." Both men were silent as they ate, until Rhett broke it again. "This is a really nice place, brother. I'm really liking it. I've seen almost all the rooms, but, we haven't gone in the basement. After we eat, would you mind letting me check it out? Last room I haven't been in."

Link paused for a moment before answering. "You know, Rhett, I would, but the landlord doesn't want me in there. I figure he's got stuff down there and so it's just not part of what I'm renting out. No big deal, just, can't let you go explorin' down there if I'm not even allowed."

"Yeah, alright. Pretty weird though, huh? You're probably right, but, it still seems awfully strange."

"No, not really. He just isn't renting that part to me, that's all," Link answered quickly, to which Rhett raised both hands in surrender, eyebrows raised as well.

"Alright, no need to get upset here, man, I was just sayin." Link sighed and nodded.

"I know, I'm sorry I snapped. It's just, it made me wonder what's down there too, but, it's not my business. I would rather you not keep talking about it cause the more you do, the more I wanna go down there."

"Gotcha, I won't."

And that was the end of that conversation.

"Hey, Rhett? I'd like to give you my spare key. I lose my keys all the time and I'd like you to have the spare in case something happens or I lose mine, I'll at least know you have one for me." Link fished his hand into his pocket and pulled out the key. Rhett laid his palm out flat and Link placed the key in it.