To say that his childhood in Ashland, Nebraska had been difficult would have been an understatement. The product of an unhappy marriage (one that likely should not have reproduced at all), Rory Wallace West had not had it easy. Cold and harsh, his parents were far too self-concerned to invest in the emotional well-being of their child, and so Rory was often left to his own devices. There wasn’t much for a kid like Rory to do in Ashland, and so he spent most of his days with comic books and cartoons. These characters were his first friends and probably set some unrealistic expectations as to how life was going to go for such a young, impressionable kid.
At the age of ten, life got turned upside-down for Rory when he walked in on his father having a very private meeting with his secretary. After accidentally revealing the affair to his mother, tensions began to rise in the West household. It all came to a head when Mary West packed her bags and left in the middle of the night, resentment towards both her son and husband for ruining their family's "perfect" image driving her to abandon them.
If life had been tough before, it was impossible now. Deciding that there was nothing left for them in Ashland, Rudy opted to move them back to his family home in Boston where it was easier to pawn his insolant child off on family members. As he reached his teens however, Rory began to act out, seeking attention from his father in whatever ways he could - fighting, stealing, even running away from home. The latter stunt resulted in the police dragging him back home after finding him squatting in an abandoned building in the city with a group of fellow delinquents. Of course, he doubted his dad had even noticed he was gone at all. He had hardly batted an eye when Rory finally turned up again, flanked by two police officers. Rather, it reinforced his view that Rory wasn't going to amount to much in life.
It might have been that very moment that prompted Rory to turn his life around. He wanted to prove Rudy wrong and to show not just his father, but himslf too, that he was smarter and more capable than anyone gave him credit for. Buckling down and setting himself straight, he managed to prove everyone wrong by graduating High School. On Time.
Life post-high school was not any easier though with no idea what he wanted to do, or how to accomplish it, even if he did. For a while, Rory drifted, taking random jobs for money and searching for that one thing that might make him happy, make him whole. Easily distracted and restless though, Rory got bored quickly if he wasn't learning something new, so he never stayed in one job for too long. He was constantly and consistenly running away from anything that might become permanent, anything that required him to make a committment. Years of being told that he was worthless had forced Rory to build walls that were hard to breakdown. He was a nobody, had nothing to offer the world.
Rory tried his hand at many different career options. From a cater waiter gig that ended in disaster when he ruined a wedding, to being a stripper, where he discovered that he didn't quite have the moves to be the next Magic Mike (though that didn't stop him from sticking around and tending bar shirtless). It was a fateful encounter with a too drunk young woman that sent Rory down a path that finally felt right. After an paramedic commented on how well Rory had helped to take care of her while waiting for their arrival, he thought that maybe helping save lives might be something he would enjoy doing. As it turned out, he had a natural aptitude for it, too.
Becoming a paramedic didn't change the things in his past, but it added meaning to his life. No longer was he running away, but running full steam ahead with a clear mission. He was going to make a difference, and maybe, just maybe, he would leave his mark on the world. Of course, he still moonlights as a bartender, but he's hardly complaining about that. It is, after all, a great way to get numbers from pretty girls.
At the age of ten, life got turned upside-down for Rory when he walked in on his father having a very private meeting with his secretary. After accidentally revealing the affair to his mother, tensions began to rise in the West household. It all came to a head when Mary West packed her bags and left in the middle of the night, resentment towards both her son and husband for ruining their family's "perfect" image driving her to abandon them.
If life had been tough before, it was impossible now. Deciding that there was nothing left for them in Ashland, Rudy opted to move them back to his family home in Boston where it was easier to pawn his insolant child off on family members. As he reached his teens however, Rory began to act out, seeking attention from his father in whatever ways he could - fighting, stealing, even running away from home. The latter stunt resulted in the police dragging him back home after finding him squatting in an abandoned building in the city with a group of fellow delinquents. Of course, he doubted his dad had even noticed he was gone at all. He had hardly batted an eye when Rory finally turned up again, flanked by two police officers. Rather, it reinforced his view that Rory wasn't going to amount to much in life.
It might have been that very moment that prompted Rory to turn his life around. He wanted to prove Rudy wrong and to show not just his father, but himslf too, that he was smarter and more capable than anyone gave him credit for. Buckling down and setting himself straight, he managed to prove everyone wrong by graduating High School. On Time.
Life post-high school was not any easier though with no idea what he wanted to do, or how to accomplish it, even if he did. For a while, Rory drifted, taking random jobs for money and searching for that one thing that might make him happy, make him whole. Easily distracted and restless though, Rory got bored quickly if he wasn't learning something new, so he never stayed in one job for too long. He was constantly and consistenly running away from anything that might become permanent, anything that required him to make a committment. Years of being told that he was worthless had forced Rory to build walls that were hard to breakdown. He was a nobody, had nothing to offer the world.
Rory tried his hand at many different career options. From a cater waiter gig that ended in disaster when he ruined a wedding, to being a stripper, where he discovered that he didn't quite have the moves to be the next Magic Mike (though that didn't stop him from sticking around and tending bar shirtless). It was a fateful encounter with a too drunk young woman that sent Rory down a path that finally felt right. After an paramedic commented on how well Rory had helped to take care of her while waiting for their arrival, he thought that maybe helping save lives might be something he would enjoy doing. As it turned out, he had a natural aptitude for it, too.
Becoming a paramedic didn't change the things in his past, but it added meaning to his life. No longer was he running away, but running full steam ahead with a clear mission. He was going to make a difference, and maybe, just maybe, he would leave his mark on the world. Of course, he still moonlights as a bartender, but he's hardly complaining about that. It is, after all, a great way to get numbers from pretty girls.
