A/N: Alright, so I didn't plan to post this as quickly as I have. As is often the way with any of my sequels. But after the strength of the reviews that I had for the final chapter of All That Glitters, I figured as a thank you to everyone I'd post this story for you now.

Now, whilst I say it is a sequel to All That Glitters, it isn't in the truest sense. Confused? Read the chapter, and you'll see what I mean.

I try to write each story as a stand-alone and not refer back to much to the previous three stories, so you don't have to have read the first three in order to read this, especially with this one. But if you want a background on what these characters have been through, check out Follow Me Home, Some Kind of Bliss and All That Glitters.

Reviews are welcomed and very much encouraged, like I even need to say it. If you don't like something I write, please be constructive with your comments. I'm always open to feedback both positive and negative. As long as it's respectful, I'm cool.

I disclaim. I don't own any of the names you recognise from this story (other than OCs). If I did, I'd be as rich as Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and would probably on a cruise ship somewhere surrounded by buff scantily clad boys. The title and summary has been inspired by the album of the same name, Impossible Princess by Kylie Minogue.

I'm kinda loathe to give dedications because I value everyone who reads my stories. But I would like to dedicate this story to a friend and part-time mentor of mine, the awesome talent that is Queen of Kaos.

So enough of my nonsense. Here is Chapter One for your reading enjoyment. Please read and review :)


"I am telling you, Mr. Scott is a total fascist dictator. How dare he give me a B+ on my essay. How freaking dare he!"

With a grunt of anger, quite reminiscent of her father, Riley Kendall Orton wrenched open her locker. Her fingers tensed to a pale white, she gripped the door tightly in one hand, as the other slung in the books she had been holding beneath her arm. Reaching into her bag, she took a final look at the offending paper before screwing it into a ball and tossing it inside.

At two weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday, Riley Orton had matured into a vivacious and beautiful young woman. Call it good genetics, but she had the luxury of beauty and intelligence. From her father, she had inherited her stunning good looks, which had been tempered by the soft Grecian features of her mother. Indeed, her warm chocolate brown eyes were a mirror for those of her mother. The two orbs were set against naturally tanned skin, peering inquisitively out from a set of thick lashes.

Riley's body was full and in the first of flush adulthood. Just a little taller than her mother, her body was toned and defined just as her fathers' was, with never-ending curves inherited from her mother. A round but pert behind was equally matched by a pair of full breasts, usually exposed to their fullest in a tight fitting baby-tees.

Riley was clearly the daughter of Randy and Trish Orton. She had the enviable mix of animal magnetism and model looks of her father, softened by her mother's girl-next-door charm and keen intellect. It was no secret that Riley was beautiful, nor that she was lusted after by many of her peers and older again. She was the young woman every girl wanted be, and the potential vixen every young man wanted to be with.

However, as well as her looks, she had a distinct morality to her that couldn't be shaken by over-zealous teenage boys and keg parties. Riley was by no means a 'good girl', but she was sensible. Her parents trusted her to behave herself, and the trust wasn't misplaced. It seemed Riley had a good future set out in front of her. Even the world itself. She simply had to extent her perfect manicured fingers and take whatever she wanted. And what did the girl, daughter of two of the most famous names in the Sports Entertainment, want right now?

To slam her History teacher's face against her locker, and RKO his ass on the floor.

Her full pink lips pouted as she slammed the door shut to her locker. Whipping her head around, her caramel blonde hair danced in a complete arc around her shoulders as she glanced at her best friend.

Melody James was about as opposite to Riley as any person could be. Her stick thin body was never anything other than exposed. Favouring low cut tops and short skirts, she was forever finding herself in the Principal's office for how she was dressed. And that wasn't the least of Melody's questionable behaviour.

She smoked, she drank, and she stayed out all night and had probably seen more of the school's football team in the buff than their locker-room had. A wild child, her features were undeniably beautiful. She had the look of high fashion model. Her face was all angles and sultry stares, buried by a thick mane of dark hair and rich cherry-red lips. Melody despised the sun, and despite living in California, somehow managed to keep a perfect porcelain complexion.

Where Riley was the beautiful girl next door, Melody was a stunning future model.

And however opposite the two girls may have appeared, they were the best of friends. Their friendship had started almost five years ago, when Riley had moved to California. Riley had been assigned Melody as her partner during a Chemistry lesson on her first day. After an experiment with magnesium ended with their Bunsen burner nearly exploding, the girls had never been separate again. It might have been unlikely, but they had an unbreakable bond, not least because of their aversion to science. Perhaps the fact that they balanced each other's personality was one of the reasons they had remained friends for as long as they had.

And in true friend fashion, Melody screwed up perfect narrow nose at Riley's agitation. "Come on Riley. You did liken Nazi Germany to a typical American High School." Melody sniggered softly as she reapplied a thick layer of lip-gloss over her lips. "He was just towing the party line. I don't think any teacher thinks of themselves as a Totalitarian Autocrat."

Riley grunted again in displeasure as the pair headed away from the locker. "That's so not the issue here. Just because he disagreed with what I wrote, doesn't make me wrong. He's a teacher. He's supposed to encourage individual creativity, not suppress it. The man is just proving my point for me."

"I think somebody needs a beer." Melody chuckled, linking arms with her best friend. Heading along the corridor, the pair were stopped by several students. As two of the most popular girls in school, they were constantly surrounded by hangers-on desperate to appear as cool as they were. Riley always thought of Melody as being the 'cool one' out of the pair. She was always wearing the latest fashion and could name drop celebrities like no-one else Riley knew.

In actual fact, Riley was viewed as the cooler of the two, for the simple fact that she had famous parents. Of course, Melody was the daughter of incredibly wealthy parents, as were the majority of students who came to school there. But no set of parents could hope to be as world-famous like the Orton's were.

But there was no jealous animosity from either girl. They were friends regardless of who they were or where they came from.

If only the same could be said for Savannah Jones-Mackenzie. Described as a rival when it came to the popularity stakes, Savannah was a typical California girl. Barbie-like and utterly false, she wouldn't be caught dead in any outfit if it didn't contain a hint of pink. Describing Paris Hilton as her idol, Savannah wasn't exactly known for her academic achievements. But that did nothing to lessen her draw to the other students. Not to mention her venomous remarks that were often directed towards Riley and Melody.

Riley always assumed that Savannah was jealous of the friendship she shared with Melody. After all, as they said, it was lonely at the top. And that was exactly where you would find Savannah. She was always being voted prom-queen, was Captain of the Cheerleading Squad and had made Student Body President for the third consecutive year. But as popular as she was, she wasn't liked by a single member of her entourage. And it seemed she was destined to take her frustrations out on Riley and Melody.

Glancing up, Riley rolled her eyes as she noted Savannah and her court approaching. "Look out," she murmured to Melody. "My skank-alert is tingling."

Melody chuckled softly to herself as she spotted Savannah approaching. A sneer formed on Savannah's face as she and her entourage stopped in front of the two girls. "Melody, Riley. Fancy seeing you two here."

"That surprises you?" Melody snorted. "We go to the same school Savannah. We see each other everyday."

"Yes well, I just thought I stop and say hey. I like to keep in touch with the little people who made me Student Body President. All good leaders should remember who it was that they had to step on to get to the top." Savannah's smile was acidic, as her party behind her cackled amongst one another.

"Savannah," Riley smiled as genuinely as she could, "we all know how well you kept in touch with basketball team to make it where you are today. We really couldn't take any of the credit. It was all down to your skills as an orator." Savannah's face fell as she clearly didn't understand the meaning of the word, much less in the insinuation.

One of the people behind her had the sense of pity to explain it to her discreetly. Her face flaring red, she was about to fire back a retort when she was interrupted. From their left, Jeremy Williams bounded into vision. Captain of the football team and Riley's boyfriend of two years, he wasted to time in scooping his girlfriend into his arms. Planting his lips against hers, he took his time in enjoying the taste of her mouth. He only broke the kiss as Savannah tugged on the sleeve of his tee-shirt.

"Hey Jeremy," Savannah cooed, flattering her eyelashes incessantly. It was no secret that Savannah wanted Jeremy. As the Captain of the football team, she saw him as an integral part of her image in the school. Most girls in the year crushed out on Jeremy, but Savannah being the girl she was, was the only one to ever be as blatant about her desire to be with him. Even when that meant throwing herself at the boy right in front of Riley's face.

"You got something in your eye there Savannah?" Jeremy smirked, his arms still firmly around Riley's waist.

Savannah's face fell for a second, before breaking into a high-pitched screech of a laugh. All at once, her lackeys joined in causing Melody to turn towards Riley and make vomiting noises. "Oh Jeremy you're so funny." Savannah purred, blatantly running her fingers down Jeremy's arm. "I thought you'd like to know that I'll be there at your party tonight. I've bought a new dress just for you to see."

"Good for you." Jeremy flashed her a stunning smile, one which her quite literally made the group of girls weak at the knees. Riley could only roll her eyes, burying her face against Jeremy's chest as she tried not to laugh outright.

"Oh yes." Savannah smiled, practically leering at him. "I wouldn't miss your party for the world." With a wink, Savannah waved with her fingers. "See you tonight."

And as quickly as she had come, Savannah was gone, her platinum blonde hair swinging behind her. Unable to hold it anymore, Riley burst into a fit of giggles as Melody shook her head in disbelief.

"Oh god," Jeremy groaned, dropping his head to rest on Riley's shoulder. "Who the hell invited her? I made a point of not inviting anyone in her little group so she wouldn't know about tonight. There go my plans for a great night." Jeremy sighed, pouting his bottom lip. He could already see the night spent with him trying to fend off the advances of an inebriated Savannah.

Falling into step beside her boyfriend, Riley took his hand in her own as she smiled. "Come on Jay, you know Queen Barbie would find out. She's totally got you on Satellite Surveillance. Ten dollars says her boobs fall out of whatever the hell she'll be poured into tonight. Right in front of you, before eleven too. It'll be a total 'accident' of course."

"With her chest?" Melody grinned. "Please girl, you'd have to break out a microscope to see those mosquito bites."

Riley and Melody exchanged devious smiles as Jeremy laughed at the comment. The trio headed out through the main doors to the front of the school. Students were pouring out into the sunshine like ants being smoked out of an ant hill. They were heading for buses and waiting cars or other such transportation to head home. It was Friday, and not a single person could leave fast enough. Saying her goodbyes to Melody, with a promise to head over to her house later to get ready, Riley smirked as her best friend climbed into the waiting car sent by her father. The driver politely waved in Riley's direction, before speeding away into the distance.

Taking the few stone steps downwards towards the front of the school, Jeremy stopped. Resting his hands on Riley's hips, he smiled down at her. "Guess what?" He grinned.

"What?" Riley shrugged her shoulders.

"My parents aren't going to be back until Tuesday night. We've got the whole house to ourselves for the next four nights." With a suggestive smirk, he began running his hands down over Riley's back to cup her buttocks. "Including tonight."

"Jeremy." Riley warned, poking his chest with her fore finger to create distance. "I am not sleeping with you at some lame, beer-filled High School party. That doesn't even rank in the cliché stakes it's so bad. So any thoughts you had of us doing it in your absent parent's room better be kicked to the curb right now."

"Riley," he pouted. Resting his hands on her shoulders, his face became serious. "You know that's not what I meant." Seeing the unconvinced look on her face, he sighed. "Look, I'm not going to say I don't want to sleep with you because I do. I really, really do. You know that."

Looking more unconvinced that ever, Riley responded with a role of her eyes. "What? Is it so wrong that I find my girlfriend sexy? You know I told you I would wait for as long as it takes for you to feel ready. I promise you Riley, this isn't about me pressuring you. This isn't about sex for me, okay? I'm totally in love you Riley. I freely admit I'm utterly whipped. And that means I'm gonna wait till you're sure you want to be with me that way."

"Nice save." Riley smiled, silently touched at her boyfriends' depth of feeling. Riley knew she had it good. Most guys her age would have run a mile when they found out their girlfriend wasn't prepared to put out. And even if they did stick around, they were usually getting their kicks on the side.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him into a lingering kiss. Jeremy leant his head closer, his hands exploring Riley's back. Regardless of where they were, the kiss deepened, with Riley allowing Jeremy's tongue past her lips.

He was an amazing kisser, and never failed to make Riley feel weak with the way he kissed her. It was like time stood still for her, and the entire world just fell away all around them. All that was left was her stud of a boyfriend and the gentle caress of his lips. Even when his hands eased their way into the waist of her low-rising jeans, she made no effort to dislodge them. Riley was far too concerned with taking his breath away with her kiss. It seemed however not everyone shared her wild abandon.

"Oh that is so totally gross. Mom. Make them stop before I blow chunks all over the backseat."

Riley's body immediately tensed in Jeremy's arms, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by him either. He opened his eyes to see Riley staring into his in a blind panic. Her lips frozen into their kiss, they detached from Jeremy's. Fearfully, she turned over her shoulder to be confronted with a near-nightmare.

Resting against the hood of her car, arms folded across her chest, was the bemused face of Trish Orton. Her eyebrow arched on her forehead, it was clear she was less than impressed with what she saw.

Despite her age, Trish easily passed for a woman ten years younger than she actually was. Her combination of Greek heritage and healthy living made her look as youthful as she ever had been during her time with World Wrestling Entertainment. Her eyes were as bright as they had ever been, even with the beginnings of wrinkles stretching out from the corners. Her figure was trim and toned, her breasts firm and full. The waves of her dark blonde hair was pulled back to reveal her near-perfect skin.

Dressed in a simple white shirt and black dress pants, there were few who could match her for raw sex appeal. Indeed, it seemed she improved with age, and was definite 'older woman' fantasy for a lot of teenage boys. A fact that was not lost on Jeremy, as he blushed at being confronted with his girlfriends' smoking hot mother.

Riley was clearly mortified. In the back seat, leering out of the window was the owner of the grossed out voice that had interrupted them to begin with.

Parker Addison Orton, son of Trish and Randy, and younger brother of Riley leered out of the backseat. He was like a younger version of his father. At sixteen years old, his features were already developing into the handsome man he was clearly going to become. With crystal blue eyes to rival those of his father, and his dark brown hair that hung down to his cheek bones, he already had a name for himself as a 'lady-killer'. Indeed, Riley could count the amount of times her younger brother had hit on her friends, much to her own embarrassment.

Resting comfortably through the open window, he smirked at Riley, knowing full well what his mother was thinking.

Riley swallowed in a gulp, waiting for her mother to go off the deep end with her. She stayed silent for a moment longer, before shifting position on her feet. "Jeremy. Be a good boy and get your hands out of my daughter's pants please."

Flushing an intense red, Jeremy did as he was told, standing an arms length away from Riley in the process. "Of course Mrs. Orton." Riley rolled her eyes, re-adjusting the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "Hey Parker. How are you man?"

Parker continued to smirk from the backseat at Jeremy. "What exactly are your intentions towards my sister Jeremy?" Riley glared at her younger brother, who paid no attention whatsoever. "Because if you're just trying to get the rest of you into her pants…" Parker grimaced slightly, "well you do know who my Dad is right? If he found out you were trying to tap his only daughter's ass. Well, he would probably…"

"Shut up Parker." Riley growled, glaring as her brother collapsed into the backseat, practically vibrating with laughter. "What are you doing here Mom?"

"Picking you up." Trish replied, opening the door to the driver's seat of her jeep. "Now shift your butt and get in."

"But I was going to ride home with Jeremy." Riley barely stamped her foot against the ground, but it didn't go unnoticed by Trish. Levelling her daughter with a simple look, she motioned to the empty passenger's seat with a slight incline of her head. Clearly, that was the end of that discussion.

"I'll see you later." Riley pouted, briefly kissing Jeremy on the lips. Stomping towards the car, she tossed her bag through the back window, hitting her brother square in the chest. Marching around the front of the car, Riley slipped into the seat next to her mother.

"Bye Mrs. Orton." Shuffling his feet nervously, Jeremy waved nervously at Riley's mother. Sliding her sunglasses on her face, Trish gave the boy one last look before hitting the accelerator.

The car journey started in silence. Arms folded across her chest in a vice, Riley had been staring out the window before she turned to scowl at her mother. "You realise you totally embarrassed me back there in front of Jeremy, right?"

"Did I?" Trish replied without looking. A faint smile of amusement curving her mouth.

"Yes. You did." Gritting her teeth, Riley went back to staring out of the window.

"I think it was lucky that I showed up when I did. Another five minutes and god knows what you and Jeremy would have been doing." Trish tutted softly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riley shot back almost immediately.

"That I just caught you and your boyfriend quite publicly making out on the steps of your school." Trish's tone remained even, never a good sign. Trish Orton wasn't one to get angry. Rather she would become unnaturally calm, which could become more unnerving than if she had started screaming.

"We were not making out!" Riley cried. "What were you even doing there anyway? I always ride home after school with Jeremy."

"Oh I bet you ride something." Parker chuckled quietly at his own joke. Turning in her seat, Riley stared at him with venom in her eyes.

Glancing into the rear-view mirror, Trish shook her head at her son's suggestion. "Parker!"

With Parker still poking his tongue out at Riley, she span around in her seat to face the front. Arms resuming their tight grip around her chest, she continued to glare with menace out of the window. "You could have told me you were going to be there."

"And miss the chance to see my daughter getting corrupted in a public forum? Never." Trish chuckled in good humour, but Riley didn't respond. It was obvious her mother wasn't going to give her a hard time, but she was still fuming at her being there in the first place. "God forbid I could actually pick up my own daughter from school."

"God didn't forbid it," Riley spat, "I did. Pulling up right in front of the school, where everyone could see you? Mom, are you trying to sabotage my life in some way?"

"Don't be so dramatic Riley." Trish chuckled, twisting the steering wheel in her hands. "I was just coming to surprise you, that's all."

"Great surprise Mom." Slumping back into her seat, Riley suddenly became fascinated with the buckle on her belt. It was a weak attempt to give her mother the silent treatment. But whether the teenage Orton wanted it or not, her mother was intent on having a conversation.

"So how was school today sweetheart? Did you get your essay back in History?" Trish smiled brightly, even as a car on her left cut in front of her, causing her to perform some quite experimental braking manoeuvres.

"It sucked. I got a B+." Studying her nails, Riley didn't bother to look in her mother's direction.

"You got a what? How is that possible?" Trish diverted her attention to her daughter for a moment, before focusing on the road again. "I read that essay. It was a great piece of work. What did your teacher say were your weak points?"

"That I was stretching in my comparisons." Riley mumbled.

"Please." Trish responded shaking her head. "Just because your teacher doesn't like being called out as being an autocrat is hardly a reason for marking you down. You want me to call the school baby?" Trish's offer was genuine, but got a simple grunt in response. "Riley honey, is something the matter?"

For the first time since she had gotten in the car, Riley turned to look at her mother. "Have I mentioned that I really don't like you?" Riley cringed inwardly at her own words. She obviously didn't mean that. But it was just that she found her mother so frustrating. Riley often found herself wondering if her mother actually deliberately made her life difficult just because she could. Today's little escapade was just the latest in a long line of problems the Orton women had.

Luckily for Riley, Trish didn't even look phased. "On a daily basis sweetheart."

"Good."

Smiling, Trish pulled in to park. Switching the engine off, she smiled brightly at her daughter. "We're here. Now, fight your deep urge to be arduous and play nice, okay?" Winking at Riley before she could reply, Trish unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. "Parker honey. Can you grab my bag out of the back? Thank you."

Glancing out of the window, Riley arched an eyebrow incredulously. They had stopped outside a cheap looking burger restaurant. It was the kind that tried to emulate the kind of restaurants you'd find back in the fifties. In Riley's opinion, it failed miserably. If anything, it looked cheap and tacky. Unbuckling her own belt, she got out of the car, making sure she slammed the door behind her. "Mom, you know I've got Jeremy's party tonight. Why are we coming to this flea pit?"

"I'd like to sit down and have a meal with my kids, if that's okay with you duchess." Slinging arms around both Parker and Riley, Trish steered them into the restaurant.

Riley immediately poked out her tongue at what she saw. A large counter area was quite densely populated with trucker-types. Averting her eyes in horror, Riley clearly did not want to see anymore hairy butt-cleavage like that in front of her for the rest of her life.

There were seats along the length of the window. Booths of between four to six seats. Dressed in hideous red vinyl, they were topped off with red chequered table clothes, matching the aprons worn by the waitresses. All around, noise seemed to engulf the room. From the ringing of bells to the sound of frying grease. Fighting back a wave of nausea, Riley barely heard her mother tell her and Parker to head to the booth in the back.

Muttering obscenities under her breath, Riley trudged forward. Desperate not to make eye contact, she kept herself focused on the floor. Parker trailed behind, clearly not bothered by their surrounding as Riley was. Arriving at the booth in the back, Riley realised it was already occupied. Someone was already sat there, busily reading a large plastic menu that obscured their features. Turning over her shoulder, Riley found her mother following behind at a distance as she fumbled in her bag for something. "Mom!" Riley yelled at incredible volume. "There's already someone sat there."

"That's okay miss. There's plenty of room for everyone."

Riley's body tensed, recognising the voice that spoke. Turning back around in a lightning fast arc, she could barely contain the scream of excitement. Lowering the menu, the grinning voice of Randy Orton looked up at his daughter. His crystal blue eyes sparkled in amusement. The broad smile he wore on his lips made the expression lines on his face a little more pronounced.

Randy was as handsome as ever. Age clearly improved his looks, and he was still as swooned over as he had been before Riley had been born. Perhaps his physique wasn't quite as tight and toned as it had once been. But his body was something to be proud of. The only real signs of age on his appearance were the few streaks of grey starting to appear at his temples.

Riley continued to cream with excitement. "Daddy!" Rushing forward at an alarming rate, Riley flung herself at her father, diving over the table top to wrap her arms around her father's neck. Randy easily caught his daughter, catching her in a strangling embrace. Holding her close, he felt his heart swell as he whispered softly into her ear at how happy he was to see her.

Rocking her gently, Randy found himself at the bottom of a human pile as Parker in turn threw himself at his father. Randy caught his son just as easily, squeezing his son tightly to him as he had done his daughter. As Trish got closer to the table, she felt tears pool in her eyes at the sight of her children tightly embracing their father.

Taking a seat on the opposite side of the booth, she smiled softly as she watched Parker and Riley talk over one another. Both were clearly thrilled to see their father. As a stockholder of World Wrestling Entertainment, and its current Champion, Randy was away from home more than he liked. With the added responsibility of the corporate side as well as being a Champion, his schedule was punishing at kept him from his family for extended periods of time. In fact, the last time he had been with them was four months ago.

Of course he talked to them daily on the telephone, but it couldn't compare to seeing them in the flesh, holding them close and listening to their excited chatter. As it was, Randy had to brush a few rogue tears discreetly from his eyes as he sat in between Riley and Parker.

"I can't believe you're here." Riley gushed, clinging onto Randy's arm for dear life. "How come you are here, anyway?"

"Well I was in the area, and I thought I'd come see you guys while I could." Randy smiled at Riley who beamed back at her.

All at once, her face fell as if she were putting two and two together. "Wait. Does this mean you're not going to make it to my birthday party?" Riley knew this story far too well. If their father made a surprise visit, it usually meant that it was to make up for a planned visit he was going to cancel. Unfortunately for both Riley and Parker, they had gotten used to it. They knew what an unexpected visit from Randy meant.

"Of course not princess." Randy smiled, planting a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "I told you I'm going to be there for your party. Nothing is going to keep me away. I promise."

"Good." Riley beamed, slowly sliding herself out of her seat. "I need to go to the bathroom." Turning over her shoulder to head across the restaurant, Riley stopped short to look back at her father. "Don't go anywhere." With a smile, she hurried off out of sight.

Parker continued to grin both at his father and mother until Trish spoke. "Parker sweetie, do me a favour and go grab me a desert menu from the counter."

Parker nodded, clambering over his father and trotted off on his errand. That left Trish and Randy alone. Both Orton's looked nervously at one another, smiling and laughing a little. "You're looking well, Trish."

"You too." Trish replied, feeling colour flushing to her cheeks. She felt stupid at not being able to maintain eye contact with Randy, but it could be helped. In her head, she had rehearsed this conversation over and over for the past four days since Randy had called to say he would be passing through.

Grabbing her bag, she carefully extracted a thick document containing several pages. Without looking at him, she slid it across the table to Randy. "Randy, I need you to sign that."

Accepting it from Trish, Randy took one look at the front page and stared at Trish, his blue eyes awash with shock. "Divorce papers? You want to divorce me?"

"I've been with my lawyer and they've drawn these up." Trish did her best to ignore the hurt on Randy's face. The only way she could was focus on small details. "It's a fair agreement. You keep the house in St. Louis, and I'll keep the house here in California. If you want the property in Hawaii it's yours. If not, we can put it up for sale." Randy shook his head more in disbelief than anything. "We'll divide the assets up equally between us. You'll get a percentage of my earnings from my company, and I'll get the same from the stock in WWE."

Licking her lips, Trish was now coming to the part which made the prospect even worse. "I've put in for joint custody of the kids, with the understanding that they will live with me, and stay with you in a periodicity to be decided depending on your schedule."

As though he hadn't heard any of what Trish said, Randy stared intently into her eyes. "You want to divorce me?"

"Come on Randy. Please don't make this any harder that it has to be." Trish could here the desperation in her own voice. "It'll be easier for us and the kids if we go through this amicably."

"I don't understand." Randy admitted, like the idea of a divorce was coming out of the blue. Evidently, it wasn't.

"We've been separated for four years Randy." Trish explained.

"Three years, ten months and fourteen days, actually." Randy replied, feeling his jaw line tense at his own words. But he knew he was right. He'd kept a definite tack of the amount of time since he and his wife had become estranged.

Obviously agitated at the situation and the fact that Randy was actually hurting as much as she was, Trish was desperate to get Randy to agree. "Randy, please just sign the papers. I'll do the rest of the work. I just need you to let me move on with my life."

"I'm not going to sign it Trish. You can forget it." Randy shoved the papers back across the table at Trish.

Feeling her temper rising, Trish offered the papers back to her husband. "Being stubborn about this isn't going to change the facts Randy. Just sign it and then we can both get on with our lives. It's for the best."

"No. It is not." Randy replied. "I am not going to sign it Trish. And I am prepared to fight you every damn step of the way if I have to."

"Why?" Trish whimpered, fighting to keep back the tears from spilling down her cheeks. "What can you possibly gain by making this a battle?"

Randy shook his head. "It's not about what I'm going to gain by fighting you. It's about what I'm going to lose if I agree to it." Reaching across the table, Randy caught Trish's hand in his own. "I love you Trish. For that reason alone I won't give up."

Trish felt her heart sink lower than her stomach. This was exactly what she had feared would happen. In hindsight, perhaps it had been naïve of her to expect Randy to readily agree to this. He was Randy Orton after all. There was no way he would back down over anything.

Trish could feel her resolve crumbling all at once. All those nights she had told herself that she was strong and she was prepared for this. Everything was dashed in an instant of hearing Randy's voice and the look in his eyes. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe this wasn't the right way to do this. Her heart told her it wasn't at. Trish's lips trembled as she moved to tell him that she loved him too, that she didn't really want this, and that she thought she was doing the right thing.

Riley's time was impeccable as ever, as she strode back towards her parents. Randy immediately grabbed the divorce documents in panic and sat on them. Trish brushed back the tears as Riley dropped into a seat next to her father, just as Parker reappeared with a menu. "Are you two okay?" he enquired, handing the plastic to his mother.

"Of course baby." Trish smiled. Trish had learned over the years that she was capable of hiding her emotions from her children, with great effect. Especially when it came to the pain of being separated from their father. Her breath calming, her practical mind reasserted itself, telling her to be stronger the next time this conversation came up between her and Randy.

Next time, she would be prepared. Next time. She wouldn't take no for an answer.

"So," Randy cut in, hoping to divert the attention of his children away from his calming wife. "Who's hungry?"


A/N: In case I lost anyone along the way? This story is set roughly eighteen years after All That Glitters. Just for reference ;)