Disclaimer: I own no one except Elisabeth, Jonathan, and Katherine, and any other original characters that pop up. Unfortunately, I don't own any of the WWE Superstars in this fic.
Main Characters: Jericho, Christian, Shawn Michaels, HHH, Edge, Lita, the Hardys, possibly more later on in the story.
PART ONE
MARCH 10, 2002
Chris Irvine pulled his car up to the front of a large house, turning it off and pulling the key out of the ignition. He sighed, turning to face the other man in the car, his friend, Jay Reso. The two Canadians looked at each other for a moment, both of them in a rather somber mood.
"You think she's okay?" Chris asked, gesturing to the house they had stopped in front of. Jay glanced over at the house before turning back to Chris and shrugging.
"I don't know man… she *did* just lose her father," he noted sadly. Nodding silently, Chris turned his gaze back to the house. Of all the times he'd been at this house, this was probably the first time he was nervous.
"Alright… let's go inside," he said, opening his door. Jay nodded, getting out of the passenger side and following Chris up the driveway to the house that they had spent so many days at.
* * * * *
The young woman in the house sat upstairs in her old bedroom, eyeing the room sadly. She fought the tears pressing at her emerald eyes. Elisabeth Rushton was at her mother's house, the home she had grown up in and had so many wonderful memories. Now, all she could think of was how sad she was. Her father had died, leaving her mother Katherine to care for her eight year old brother Jonathan all by herself. Elisabeth, who was herself 27, lived on her own, but she was now seriously considering moving back home so she could help her mother take care of her brother. Not that she didn't think she could do it, but her father had always been the one to hold their family together. Now that he was gone, she didn't know what they were going to do.
"Hey kid," a man's voice called from the door, causing Elisabeth to jump. She turned, gasping in surprise as she saw the two men standing in the doorway.
"Oh my God… what are you guys doing here?" she asked, completely in shock. Jay and Chris nodded and stepped into the room, sitting down on her bed.
"Your mom called me," Chris said quietly. "She, uh… she told me what happened. I'm really sorry hun."
"Oh… thanks," Elisabeth said, her eyes drifting to the floor she was sitting on. Then, bringing her gaze back up to them, she spoke again. "You guys didn't have to come all the way up here on your days off." Elisabeth knew that Chris and Jay would be off for the next two days, and they would have had to fly all the way from Florida back to Canada in order to see her.
"Yes we did," Jay said quietly. "You've got to be hurting Lis, and we couldn't just leave you hanging like this, not after all you've done for us." A small smile crept to Elisabeth's face as she looked up at the two men from the floor.
"Thanks guys… it really means a lot to me that you're here," she said graciously, hopping up off the floor and coming to sit in between them on the bed. "You know," she said, reminiscing, "I was sitting up here awhile ago, and I was thinking about how much my dad hated you guys when we first started hanging out. He swore that every time I had one of you up here we were having sex."
"I wonder what he thought when *both* of us were up here," Jay commented, causing the other two to laugh. Jay laughed as well, but he frowned when he looked down at his friend. She was smiling, but he could tell it was an empty smile. He felt a pang of sympathy in his heart for her… it had to be an awful thing to be going through.
"We're here for you if you need us, you know that right?" he said, putting his arm around her shoulder. Elisabeth sent him a watery smile, feeling the tears fill her eyes again.
"Yeah…"
"Hey, what are you going to do about John and your mom?" Chris asked suddenly, trying to draw the conversation away from where it was going, which was no doubt going to be sad.
"Oh… I… I think I might have to move back in here. I mean, my mom might need my help," she explained, looking down at her feet. As much as she felt that she needed to be with her mom to help, she knew she would be very uncomfortable living there again after her father died, especially sleeping in the same room where he tucked her in and helped her off to sleep. Chris sighed, looking intently at her face. She didn't seem happy about the idea of living with her mom at all.
"You don't sound like you really want to do that," Chris noted, and Jay nodded in agreement. Elisabeth shrugged, gazing back and forth between them.
"I… I guess I'm not. I mean, I'll be 27 and living with my mother, not to mention the fact that I said I was getting out of this country by the time I was 25 and I've obviously not done that. I don't think I really have anywhere else to go," she said disappointedly. The three of them sat in silence, no one really knowing what to say. Suddenly, Chris got what he considered to be a genius idea.
"Wait a minute, I've got it… Lis, why don't you just come on the road with us?" he suggested hopefully. Jay's ears perked up as well, turning to face her. Elisabeth looked at Chris uneasily, shaking her head.
"…I don't know Chris… I know if I should leave my…"
"You're mother can handle herself, and Jonathan too. Come on, you've got to come with us," he pleaded, pouting at her. Elisabeth couldn't help but smile at the look he was giving her.
"Yeah," Jay added. "Please?"
"Well, I… I just don't know guys. I don't know if I would fit in," she said nervously. To tell the truth, she would love to go on the road with the guys… she just feared that her paralyzing shyness would keep her from enjoying her time with them.
"You'll fit in fine… you'll be with us remember?" Chris said, laughing.
"Yeah, we're totally popular," Jay added confidently. Elisabeth laughed, shaking her head. Maybe going on the road with Chris and Jay would be a good idea after all. Maybe it would be a way of helping her break out of her shell. It would no doubt be one of her only shots at getting out of this place. Smiling, she stood and faced her two friends, nodding at them.
"Okay, I'll do it."
TWO WEEKS LATER"Well, we're here," Jay said, steering the car into the hotel parking lot. Chris turned in the passenger seat, looking back at Elisabeth, who was sitting in the backseat, staring out the window.
"Hey… you okay?" he asked, concern filling his ice blue eyes. Turning to face him, Elisabeth nodded slowly.
"Yeah… just a little nervous is all," she admitted, fumbling her hands nervously. Chris shook his head as Jay put the car in drive. Sometimes Elisabeth just got so damn shy when she knew she was going to be around unfamiliar people in an unfamiliar situation.
"Well, don't be. All the guys will love you, and the girls will too," Jay insisted, opening his door. The two men stepped out, and Chris moved his seat forward so that Elisabeth could step out. They went to the trunk, the two blonde men opening the trunk and taking their bags out.
"I can carry my own bag," Elisabeth commented.
"I know you can… you want a cookie? Why don't you just take advantage of the fact that I'm such a gentleman for once?" Chris asked, shaking his head.
"You mean, why don't I take advantage of the fact that for *once* you're being a gentleman?" she corrected, causing the three of them to break out in laughter.
"Whatever… shut up," Chris said jokingly, pushing her out into the parking lot. The three Canadians headed out into the hotel. As they stepped inside, Elisabeth couldn't help but gasp at how plush it was. Not that she lived in poverty back in Canada or anything, but she certainly wasn't used to hotel rooms this nice. It would be a nice way of spending her time with the guys.
Walking through the hotel and seeing so many wrestlers made Elisabeth realize how much her dream of being one herself had never really gone away. She had wanted it more than anything since she was in high school, but she knew that her shyness would prevent her from doing so. Still, it felt nice to dream, and she certainly could dream with all these Superstars around. She had to hide the fact that she was secretly giddy to be meeting all of them… she didn't want them, or Jay and Chris for that matter, to think she was crazy. As they finally reached their room and she stepped inside, Elisabeth smiled. This trip was going to be pretty damn good after all. Maybe she would learn a thing or two, and who knows… maybe that dream would come true after all.
Hey peeps! I'm starting another story! LOL, I'm on a roll… like I said at the top, this is a challenge response and I hope you all like it! Make sure you review so I know what you think!