Summary: Looking back on his history with Stephanie McMahon, Chris Jericho regrets his actions and vows not to make the same mistake again.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: As much I would love to own Chris Jericho and do with him as I please… I don't and can't. And I don't own Stephanie or any other wrestler that will make and appearance. Nor do I own the song, which is "The Reason" by Hoobastank. Awesome song from an awesome band!

Author's Note: I absolutely love, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE , LOVE this song! It's my favorite as of right now. I'd hear this song and I wondered why no one wrote a story to go with this song, so I decided I'd do it. And now… for some background information. Jericho was never on Smackdown after the brand split, so he never worked for Stephanie when she was general manager and never jumped. So the last time they saw each other was the Raw when the draft was held to decide who went to which show. And Linda has ordered the end of the brand split, so the superstars are all on both shows, and she has hired Stephanie back. Well… I guess you didn't need all of that background information, but oh well. Go read! And then review!

The Reason

::I'm not a perfect person.

There's many things I wish I didn't do,

But I continue learning.

I never meant to do those things to you,

And so I have to say before I go,

That I just want you to know::

"Stephanie has returned," Chris Jericho mumbled to himself while watching one of the backstage monitors. "The bitch is back."

"Good to know you think so highly of me," a voice interrupted his thoughts. Turning around, Jericho was greeted by the sight of a radiant Stephanie McMahon. She was dressed smartly in a black mini skirt with a tight white top under a fitted denim, button-down jacket and a pair of knee-high boots.

Jericho cleared his throat. "Miss McMahon," he replied awkwardly.

Stephanie's brows knitted together before a smirk appeared on her lips. "What, no smart ass remark? No scathing insult? No cute little simile telling me how slutty you think I am? No getting me banished from the single most important thing in my life? What's happened to you, Jericho?"

"I don't want to get into this with you," Jericho responded dryly, not in the mood to deal with Stephanie.

Stephanie let out a sarcastic chortle. "I trusted you in that ring! You promised me before we went out there that you would protect me! That you would do whatever it took to stop me from leaving!"

Jericho sighed and suddenly found his shoes remarkably interesting. "I know," he told her, the night of the draft and the notorious Triple Threat match replaying in his head.

Stephanie shook her head. "No, I don't think you do because you weren't the one who had to stay away from this business for what seems like an eternity. You weren't the one who could only watch the shows and do nothing to be a part of it. It was me. Not you, me," she told him, whispering her last words. "But you know what?" she questioned, her voice rising again. "I'm back. And your life is going to become a living hell for letting Hunter pin me." With that, Stephanie spun on her heel and stalked off to her office.

::I've found a reason for me.

To change who I used to be.

A reason to start over new,

And the reason is you::

Jericho rubbed his temples as he watched Stephanie storm off. He couldn't blame Stephanie for being so upset with him. Before the match he did promise her that he would do all he could to prevent her leaving.

But he hadn't expected her to turn and attack him in the middle of the match.

But he could understand her desperateness in the situation. The thought of having to leave this business was unbearable to him, and he was just a wrestler. Stephanie had lived, breathed, bathed, eaten, drank, and loved the business since she was born. And Jericho had caused her the pain of having to leave it for, as Stephanie put it, what seemed to be an eternity. He broke the promise that he had made to her as a friend. Albeit, theirs was not the traditional friendship. It began only due to convenience. Jericho could use her and her knowledge of Hunter against him, and what better way for Stephanie to get revenge on Hunter than help Jericho take away the single most important object in Hunter's life? But somewhere down the line, his feelings of mere tolerance evolved into ones of genuine love.

When Jericho agreed to the business arrangement, he had no intention of developing any romantic feelings toward the woman he had called a brutal, dirty, disgusting, bottom-feeding, trash bag ho. But the more time he spent with her, the more endearing qualities he saw in her, or perhaps he had always seen her endearing qualities but refused to admit his feelings even to himself. Sure, she had made him run around cities looking for lotion, and this and that, but she was a strong woman, and he admired her for that. When she knew that her marriage with Hunter was falling apart, she did everything she could to keep them together, from declaring her love to attempting to renew their wedding vows, to lying about her pregnancy. Or almost everything. She absolutely refused to change the type of person that she was to make him happy. Stephanie was a strong, independent, knows-how-get-her-way woman. Not to mention that she put up with him in their business agreement even after their notorious history.

And when Jericho thought about it, he had given her a lot of shit. Name calling, accusations of selling her body, boob jokes, putting her in the Walls of Jericho, pies, apes, questioning her faithfulness to Hunter during their marriage, and just about anything else that was immature and childish.

::I'm sorry that I hurt you.

It's something I must live with everyday,

And all the pain I put you through,

I wish that I could take it all away,

And be the one who catches all your tears,

That's why I need you to hear.::

He had planned on telling her everything, or at least enough to get a vague idea of how he felt about her after he or she won the championship the night that, but that obviously never happened since Hunter pinned Stephanie.

Once she left, he never mustered the courage to call her and tell her of his feelings. After time, he slowly but surely began to forget about Stephanie McMahon and his love for her. He even began seeing Trish, but we all know how that turned out at Wrestlemania XX. But he thought for sure that he was over Stephanie the first time he had kissed Trish. Jericho realized what a lie that was the moment he saw Stephanie that night. Everything he ever felt rushed back to him, and now he wanted to tell her everything. He finally had his chance. In any other situation, he would have remained the coward he was, but here, in this arena, with thousands of women cheering for him, he finally gathered enough confidence.

::I found a reason for me,

To change who I used to be,

A reason to start over new,

And the reason is you.::

Straightening his back and standing tall, Jericho walked purposefully down the hall in the same direction as Stephanie. He finally found her office and knocked forcefully.

"Come in!" she called out.

Taking a deep breath, Jericho opened the door and marched in.

Looking up, Stephanie's smile immediately vanished. "Let me guess. You found your balls and are here to insult me."

"No."

Stephanie's brows shot up. "No?"

"No. I came here to answer your question."

"What question?" Stephanie asked, not sure where Jericho was heading.

"About what happened to me."

After a slight pause, Stephanie nodded remembering their earlier conversation. "So what happened?" she prodded bemusedly.

"You happened."

::I'm not a perfect person,

I never meant to do those things to you,

And so I have to say before I go,

That I just want you to know.::

"Not following, Jericho."

"Everything that took place between you and me happened."

Stephanie shrugged, signaling that she still didn't understand.

Jericho looked down for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "When you got pinned that night, I regretted everything I ever did to you because I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to say everything that I needed to say, and still need to say." Jericho closed his eyes. "Ok, before I get ahead of myself, I just need to say I'm sorry."

Stephanie's eyes widened a bit at this statement. This was the last thing she expected to hear out of Jericho's mouth. "You're apologizing to me?"

"Yes."

"For what?"

"For… everything. For the time I called you a door knob. For the time I said your body hit the floor naked and with someone on top. For calling you a brutal, dirty, disgusting, bottom-feeding, trash bag ho. For putting in the Walls of Jericho multiple times. For throwing a pie in your face. For not getting the right lotion. For-"

"I get the point," Stephanie interrupted.

"All that stuff that happened before we started working together against Hunter, I'm sorry."

"Ok. Apology accepted."

"But that's not all. I'm sorry for letting you get pinned. I'm sorry for letting you leave. I'm sorry I didn't stop Hunter."

Stephanie blinked and cast her eyes downward. "I guess I can't blame you completely for that. I did know what was at risk going into that match. And I did attack you."

"But I broke my promise. And I'm sorry. Just say you forgive me so I can keep going."

"I forgive you," she said, confused at Jericho's sudden confessional.

"Ok, so now that I've apologized, your question. After what happened with us, I didn't want that to happen again, with anyone. And now that you're back, I don't want it to happen especially with you.

"Why me?" Stephanie managed to inquire.

"This is the part that might take me a while to say." There was a long pause. "When you left, I felt terrible. I knew how much you loved this business. For a while, I almost always thought calling you and apologizing, but I never had the balls. It drove me crazy to know that because of me, you were hurting, and don't try to say it wasn't a big deal or brush it off as some miniscule event. It hurt you. I know it hurt you no matter how strong you tried to be. I saw you fighting security to stay. That was the last time I saw before today, and that image of you just replayed in my head. And I hated myself for it."

Jericho paused again. "Let me rewind a little. I started to have feelings for you. And honestly, I think that I always have, but it just took us working in a closer proximity for me to really realize it. But now I do. And, I love you. And… yeah. That's what was supposed to take me forever to say. I love you. And I couldn't believe that I hurt you the way I did by letting Hunter pin you. I still regret it. And I just need you to know that."

Stephanie stared at Jericho with her mouth open.

Jericho's eyes began darting around the room, unsure if he should leave or wait for her to say something. Not able to take her silence any longer he urged her on, "Your turn, Princess."

Stephanie merely blinked and furrowed her brows together, taking in everything Jericho had just said.

"Ok then… I'll just go now," Jericho said, turning toward the door.

"Wait!" Stephanie stopped him.

Chris stopped in his tracks.

"I can't say that I'm in love with you," Stephanie admitted.

::I've found a reason for me,

To change who I used to be,

A reason to start over new,

And the reason is you.::

Chris sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly wishing he hadn't said anything.

"But I do feel something between us. I always have. Even when you were insulting me when I was with Hunter, something was there," Stephanie told him, tugging on his arm to turn him around.

"So are you going to give our something a chance?"

Stephanie licked her lips. "What do I get out of it?" she smiled.

"Well, since I already have mine, you get your own reason," he replied before closing the gap between their lips.

::I've found a reason to show

A side of me you didn't know,

A reason for all that I do,

And the reason is you.::

Author's Note: Uhhh… yeah. That's it. Hmmm… didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to. I kinda rushed it, but oh well. I hope you liked it, cheesy ending and all. Please review!!! PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP!