A/N: This story is based on a lot of personal stuff I've been going through as of recently, so I really really hope y'all enjoy it. Feedback is much appreciated, you know that! Enjoy!
*Come to Me*
Best friend. It was a term which she once longed for, and when she'd finally earned the right of being called so, a term she embraced. After all, it allowed her to remain close to him, and all the while disguised her true feelings for him. No one made the assumption she had feelings beyond friendship, no one - not even her closest friends - speculated the possibility that she did not befriend him simply *for* the friendship.
Yes, it was true that she'd pretty much always had a crush on him. She had never been big on the philosophy of love at first site, but upon her first meeting with him, she was at least captivated. She shrugged it off in the beginning... she wasn't *that* far in, and besides, it didn't take much to attract her to a man in the first place. He was cute, and he was a smooth talker. That was seemingly all she needed, and if that was the case, she could easily find another just like him. She wouldn't allow such an insignificant thing to bother her.
His first girlfriend from the company had been Molly Holly. At the time, the former Women's Champion hadn't even tasted her first title yet, nor was she the brutal, vicious woman she had become today. She was still the bouncy, bubbly blonde who had won over the hearts of many with her charming personality. When the two started dating, she had been blown away. Not so much by the fact that he and Molly had rarely talked before he asked her out, or by the fact that the two weren't exactly the most convincing couple, but by the fact that she was legitimately hurt by the news. So hurt, in fact, that she was nearly brought to tears.
She distinctly remembered the first time she saw them together. They were alone in a hallway, Molly giggling as he leaned down and whispered something into her ear. And then, as he gazed down into her eyes, he covered her lips with his and kissed her. She could practically feel her heart being snapped in two.
She knew that after the devastation she felt in watching them kiss that her feelings were far too strong to be disregarded. The only problem with that was that it seemed to be too late for anything to be done about it. He was most obviously smitten with Molly, and as much as her heart ached at the thought, there was nothing she could do to change his feelings. All she could do was wait... force a few smiles as he told her stories of how wonderful she was, pretend to be happy for him each time he came to see her grinning ear to ear, even though hearing Molly's name was ripping a hole in her. It was to the point where she almost wished for them to have problems... and eventually, they did.
The biggest problem with his relationship with Molly, in her estimation, was that Molly wasn't the girl he'd thought she was. The coy smile, the somewhat shy demeanor, the overall innocence that had appealed him and so many others in the first place, was all a facade, an act she put on to please the men around her. Not that Molly wasn't an awesome person, she just, as most women did, acted differently around men. She simply wasn't the naive little thing he had so fondly envisioned her to be.
Though inside her stomach, heart, and all the other organs were doing flip flops, she remained calm, maintaining her poise and composure each time they talked about the matter. She secretly hoped that after their multiple discussions on the subject, he would take to heart her 'friendly' suggestions that it might be for the best to let their coupling die out.
Then one day, Molly surprised both of them by dumping him, providing no explanation as to why other than saying it just wasn't working out. She still, to this very day, could recall the choked words he'd said to her the following day.
"I should have listened to you before. You're my *best* friend, and I know you'd never steer me in the wrong direction."
Looking back, she could feel a twinge or two of guilt. By influencing him into her way of thinking and ignoring all thoughts of his feelings, she *wasn't* keeping his best interest in mind. She couldn't help it. She had become too absorbed in her own feelings that his became irrelevant.
* * * *
Some time passed, and as the months faded, seemingly, so did her feelings. It wasn't that she no longer cared about him... but she couldn't say she was as infatuated as she had been. She supposed it was because since being dumped by Molly, he had remained single. And as bad as it sounded, she only seemed to want him when he was off limits... when she *couldn't* have him. She'd rather them both be alone than to be forced to watch him being with someone else. For awhile, it seemed that things would work out on their own. He just had to stay single... for the rest of his life.
Of course, that couldn't happen. Not only did he find himself falling for another diva, his new love interest happened to be someone whom she had very little love for. If Molly's personality was fake, she didn't know *what* you could call Stacy Keibler's. The bony woman was your stereotypical dumb blonde, with a few dashes of arrogance mixed in. This time, encouraging him to follow his heart was even harder than before.
Watching his relationship with Stacy blossom was even more painful than his previous one with Molly. As the weeks passed, he fell deeper and deeper, somehow managing to fall in love with the leggy young woman during that short period of time. As he became more and more open about his relationship, she found herself growing more and more angry.
One day, when he'd actually managed to detach himself from her hip to talk to her, she exploded.
"Aw man, it was *so* funny. You gotta meet Stace's brother," he said, still laughing. Narrowing her eyes at him, she tossed her head in the air, scoffing at him.
"No, I don't. I don't want to meet *any* of her family. In case you haven't noticed, I don't like your girlfriend very much."
But he *hadn't* noticed her distain for Stacy, and didn't like the reasons she gave for her feelings. As much as he valued her opinion, he was going to have to go against it. Stacy would never do him the way she warned him about...
Or so he thought.
Before he could even see what was happening before him, Stacy had ended their relationship, and left him. High and dry at that, with not so much as a glimmer of remorse as she walked away from his devastated figure forever. He should have listened to her in the first place. For some reason, she always understood his girlfriends better than he ever could.
"You're right... you know everything."
She almost smirked as she remembered his statement, only a small portion of a very long, humbling apology that he should never have so carelessly tossed her opinion away. All of those events, actions, and conversations let to today.
Now, her beloved best friend was single again, only this time, things were different. This time, he wasn't searching as aggressively for a new woman as he had after his breakup with Molly, deciding that he would lay back and chill for awhile. Moreover, this time, despite the way she felt after he and Molly had broken up, her feelings did not go away. In fact, as they began to bond more and spend more time alone with each other, her feelings increased rapidly. She was falling faster, harder, and deeper as the days passed by.
All of this was making her feel like she had somehow been sent back to the sixth grade. Each time they made contact - whether it be the way his hand brushed up against hers as they walked side by side down the halls, or the way their knees just barely touched when they sat next to one another - a chill ran down her spine. Each time he placed his hand on her arm, or looked into her eyes while speaking to her, a jolt of energy raced through her body. Their casual, innocent flirting was becoming too much for her to handle.
Then, the mixed signals began. There were times where she *swore* the girl he wanted to snap him out of his dry spell was her, and then he'd go and make a stupid, macho comment on how his 'game' could score him anyone he wanted. He'd talk about his need for a relationship, then jump to how he needed to get laid; he'd make cheesy sexual innuendos towards her, then turn around and claim that the prospect of the two of them having sex would be like incest. It was all becoming far too mind boggling.
It wasn't the first time in recent weeks she felt her head was about to explode, but it was the first time the pressure actually brought tears to her eyes. She pushed her way out of the hotel, following her sudden urge to walk to the convenience store a few blocks down and buy the largest tub of ice cream she could find. It was late at night, so the idea of being stopped by fans didn't really phase her. Neither did the rain, which was steadily falling from the dark night sky.
"Hey, wait up!"
The familiar voice calling from behind her caused her to stop and this time, she could barely force a smile upon seeing him. She blinked back what tears had been left hanging in her eyes, hoping they'd go unnoticed.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked, eyeing him curiously.
"I could ask you the same thing," he replied. "Where are you headed to?"
A nauseas feeling rose in her stomach as he smiled warmly at her, and suddenly a tub of Ben and Jerry's didn't so sound good anymore.
"Oh, I don't know... just for a little walk, I guess," she offered with a shrug.
He arched an eyebrow at her, staring her down questioningly. What woman in her right mind would go out for a walk in cold, rainy weather, and not wear a jacket? She's always been an odd one...
"I hope you don't mine, but I'm joining you... and," he said, pausing as he slipped his arms out of the blue hooded zip up jacket he wore, "you're wearing this. I can't have you getting all cold and wet."
She smiled at his thoughtful gesture, graciously wrapping herself inside the warmth of his jacket. Inhaling softly, she picked up traces of his scent in the fabric, relishing them as she wrapped the material more tightly around her. Okay, he loves me.
The two walked on, and the rain picked up a bit as they got further from the hotel. He'd asked her multiple times if she wanted to find a place to dry off and get something to eat, but she insisted they continue on.
"Oh, Trish, what am I gonna do about this girls?" he asked, sighing defeatedly. "I think I might just give up for awhile, let them come to me for once. Yeah, that's it... I'll wait for one of them to come to me."
Trish's heart dropped at his comment. There were obviously women he was interested in, and he simply felt he could no longer pursue them. Okay, he doesn't love me.
"I don't know," was her short response.
And so they continued on down the cold, rainy road, their conversation drifting from his love life and onto other things, thought Trish's mind did anything but stray from the issue. She found herself becoming increasingly fed up with this best friend nonsense. She didn't *want* to be his best friend, she wanted to be his girlfriend. After all she had done for him, all the times she'd been there for him and asked for nothing in return, didn't he at least owe her a chance?
She couldn't keep it inside any longer. Bottling up her true feelings was getting her nowhere fast, and she couldn't take it anymore. Stopping abruptly, she grabbed his arm and looked up at him, raindrops splashing down her face.
"Wait," she said, taking a deep breath. "I... I love you."
He chuckled a bit, lightly tossing his arm over her shoulder. He turned his head, a drop of rain sliding off the tip of his nose.
"You better love me," he replied with a wink. "We've been friends for too long for you not to."
Trish groaned, letting go of his arm to smack herself in the forehead. He never took her seriously when she tried to be, unless she was giving him advice on his own life.
"Damnit, I'm trying to be serious!" she cried, taking a step away from him. "I mean it... I don't know how you're going to take this, but I... I think I've managed to fall in love with you," she admitted.
His jaw hung open slightly as he eyed her in disbelief, suddenly finding himself speechless. Trish could just feel her cheeks flushing with color, her embarassment becoming very clear in her rosy skin. She couldn't make out the expression on his face, and she was almost sure she didn't want to.
"Wow..."
At the sound of his near inaudible response, she squeezed her eyes shut. Expecting the worst, she braced herself for the ultimate rejection. She expected to feel a lot of things...
But a pair of lips on hers was not one of them.
Her eyes still close, the man swooped his head down to hers, kissing her smoothly. The sudden sensation of his lips against hers caused her eyes to shoot open. She placed her hands on either side of his face, still unsure of whether or not to believe it was really him kissing her.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, the rain pouring down over top of them as their passionate kiss deepened. A few moments later, she pulled back, gazing up at him with a happy, but tentative gaze.
"Christian?" she asked, brushing a few drops away from his eyes. He smiled, pulling her closer to him and locking her in a tight embrace.
"I knew the right woman would come to me on her own."