Remind Me [WWE] [Shawn Michaels] {Book 2}

Chapter Two: You're On

|Shawn|

When Kat left to tend to her daughter, she wished me good luck.

The part that mattered to me was that she meant it.

It was so refreshing just seeing her. If there was ever anyone who could lift my spirits, it was Kat.

I stood by Gorilla, trying to calm myself down. I needed to get Kat out of my mind. She had someone else. She had a kid, a life of her own.

I couldn't mess that up for her. There was no way I would screw up her life again. If I wasn't so awful the first time, maybe it'd be us that had a family.

I shook the thought from my head. There was no use dwelling on the past now. I had to focus.

For a moment, there was a heavy pit in my stomach. Every time I came back from a long hiatus, there was always this deep-seated fear that I would come out to the sound of crickets chirping.

Every wrestler, hell, maybe even every performer of any kind, has felt it. The fear that your fans won't recognize you, or if they do, that they won't care about you anymore.

It was a year and a half since my last on-screen appearance. In the professional wrestling industry, that's a lifetime.

I needed that time to take a hefty step back and work on myself. For me, and for my son. I wanted to be somebody he could look up to, not someone to be ashamed of.

I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder, snapping me from my thoughts. I had to turn my head upwards to see Kev. He looked about as excited as I should have been.

Well, I was excited. Deep down, I was going nuts. On the surface, though, the nerves were messing with me. I'd be fine as soon as I got out there.

"You ready to represent the black and white?" he asked. At no point did I ever think I would be joining the nWo, like most of my friends.

Whenever it came time to think about jumping ship, I could never do it. I couldn't leave the WWF. It had been my home for so long. It was where I met Kat. It was where Paul and I had bonded.

Besides, Vince wouldn't let me leave. He would always convince me otherwise when I would complain about missing my friends. That, and the fact that he had me under contract, kept me at WWF.

It didn't matter now. We won the war. Vince had history of buying out his competition, and now he owned WCW.

So here I was, sporting nWo black and white alongside one of my best friends.

"Let's do it." I threw up a too sweet and he did the same.

As soon as he walked out, the fear crept back in. How awful would it be if they announced the newest member of the nWo and I came out to a bored response? The embarrassment would be astronomical.

I wouldn't be worried about myself, really. I didn't want to let my friends or Vince down.

Kev had been so helpful to me ever since we met. I couldn't be more thankful to him. And I definitely didn't want to let him down.

"You're on," one of the stagehands told me. My music kicked on and I left the emotional baggage behind me.

Go time.

As soon as I walked out on that stage, any fears I had before melted away. I was met with a warm welcome back from the crowd, and I was going to enjoy every second of it.

Being out there made me realize just how much I missed it. There's no other feeling in the world like it.

The adreline shot through my veins quicker than lightning and I couldn't keep the smile from my face. I danced at the top of the ramp for what was probably longer than necessary, but I just wanted to soak it all in.

I caught Kev's eyes from across the way. He was leaning over the ring ropes, watching me have the time of my life. He looked so genuinely happy for me, I had the urge to pinch myself to make sure this was all real.

Did I ever think I would come back? Sure.

Did I ever think I would come back clean, sober, and at peace with God? Not a fat chance in hell.

I couldn't deny I was in the best place of my entire life mentally. Finding faith and hope in my religion gave me the strength I needed to clean my act up.

I could do anything as long as I had God to back me up.

Finally I made my way to the ring. Slipping in between the ropes felt like coming home, finally. Kev and I posed for a while longer before our segment was over. I didn't even have to say a word.

Even though I had basically done nothing at all, I was breathless when we made it back to the back. Professional wrestling and the "sports entertainment" (as Vince liked to call it) business was my first love.

To even be out in the arena with the crowd, just taking it all in, was the best feeling.

I couldn't be happier to be back, in any capacity. My back would probably never be the same, so my in-ring career was over. However, that didn't mean my on-screen career was.

Not everyone was as excited about me being back as I was. Honestly, I didn't blame them. I had expected as much.

I was never the best guy to be around in younger years, and I realized that. I pissed off a lot of the people around me. If they didn't trust me because of that, that was justified.

All I was asking for was a second chance.

I met up with Kev in the hallway, but he was preoccupied with his phone.

"Joli, that's not my decision," he spoke calmly.

I didn't even need to be that close to hear his wife's not-so-happy reply.

"I don't care! He shouldn't be anywhere near the nWo!"

I was well aware that Jolene was not my biggest fan. She was very close with Kat, and once Kat and I broke up, I was as good as dead to Jolene.

She had good reason to be protective. I still couldn't believe I treated Kat that way. Jolene was right, she deserved better.

If there was one person that had already decided I did not deserve another chance, it was Jolene.

She was also protective of her stable, and the thought that I was joining the nWo was, I'm sure, almost as bad as Eric Bischoff joining.

I took that as my sign to go. I left Kev to calm down his fiery wife on his own. If she wanted to talk about me, that was fine. I didn't want to know what would happen if we were in the same room.

If anything, Jolene's distaste for me just reminded me how far I had left to go. Redemption isn't easy; it's a rocky path.

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-A/N-
HERE YA HEATHENS

A visual representation of what happens when I post^^
Hopefully I'll be getting my ass in gear and you won't have to wait so long next time.