A/N: This is a weird story... I was listening to some old Aaliyah songs and I heard this particular one, "The One I Gave My Heart To". And all of a sudden, my Jericho/Steph muse just popped up and demanded that I write this story. I had no choice but to comply. Don't hate me, guys, but I had to do this...
Disclaimer: No one in this story belongs to me, as usual. The song "The One I Gave My Heart To" belongs to Aaliyah (R.I.P. Baby Girl, your legacy lives on).
THE ONE I GAVE MY HEART TO
Chris Jericho sat in his rental car in the parking garage of Stephanie McMahon's apartment building. He took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes, asking God for strength, strength that he knew he would need to make it through the night. Steeling his nerves, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Stephanie's number with a shaking hand.
Stephanie picked up on the second ring. "Hey, baby," she answered. "I've been waiting for you to call... Where are you?"
"I'm actually in the parking garage of your building," Chris replied in a flat tone.
"WHAT? Oh my God, are you serious?" she asked. She was bubbly with excitement.
Too bad he was going to have to burst that bubble tonight.
"Yeah, I'm serious," he said, biting his lip. "Look, we have to talk."
"Come on up," she said. "I can't wait to see you, babe. It's been a week since I last saw you..."
"Yeah, I know. I'll be up in a few," he said numbly.
"Um, ok," she said. "I love you."
"I'll see you."
He hung up his phone and asked himself if he was doing the right thing. "Of course this isn't the right thing!" he said aloud. But he had to do it, and it was so frustrating because he hadn't wanted it to come to this, not in a million years. But what could he do? He started to open the door, but got unbelievably nervous and decided to wait for another ten minutes, just to mentally prepare himself for this necessary evil that he was about to perform...
How could the one I gave my heart to
Break my heart so bad
How could the one who made me happy
Make me feel so sad
Won't somebody tell me
So I can understand
If you love me
How could you hurt me like that
"So, Chris, you wanted to talk? What's up?" Stephanie asked. It was about twenty minutes after he had called. They were sitting in the living room of her apartment on the couch. As she observed him, she couldn't help but think something was wrong. He was quiet, too quiet, and he hadn't smiled once. He hadn't even given her his usual kiss when she had opened the door for him. Yes, something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.
"Stephanie, I have to tell you something important," Chris said, not looking at her. Instead, he looked around her apartment, knowing that this would be the last time he would ever be in it. That was a painful thought, but he had to do this. It was for the best.
"What is it? You look so...serious," she said, scooting over closer to him. She touched his hand and was a little more than surprised when he gently pulled it away. "What's wrong?"
"I think..." He paused and almost chickened out. But then he remembered why he had to do this, and that gave him the strength to go on. "I think we should break up."
She looked at him, shocked, as tears immediately filled her eyes.
How could the one I gave my world to
Throw my world away
How could the one who said I love you
Say the things you say
How could the one I was so true to
Just tell me lies
How could the one I gave my heart to
Break this heart of mine
Tell me
"Chris? Why?" she asked as the tears started streaming down her face.
"I don't really think there's an explanation for it," he said. "I just think we should break up."
"I thought... But we're so good together!"
"That's what you think," he said, still looking away. "You think we're good together. But the truth, the truth is that we've never been good together."
"What are you talking about? Just yesterday you were telling me how in love with me you were," she protested. "Love doesn't just get erased overnight."
"It was all lies, Stephanie. I never, eeeeever loved you," he told her, slipping into his onscreen persona. It was so much easier that way.
How could you be so cold to me
When I gave you everything
All my love
All I had inside
How could you just walk out the door
How could you not love me anymore
I thought we had forever
I can't understand
"What do you mean you never loved me?" she asked. Maybe she'd heard him wrong or something, because there was no way that was what he'd really said to her.
But that was exactly what he'd said to her. He confirmed that by repeating the statement. "I never loved you."
"That's not true," she said. "Tell me you don't mean this, any of this."
"I've gotta be honest here. It was all just a game for me," he said, looking over at her. "And oh, it's been so fun, getting Daddy's Little Girl to fall for me, but I'm tired of this game. This game can't go on forever, you know, and it's already been two long years. I want to move on to bigger and better things."
"I'm..." She was at a loss for words as she stared into his eyes. "...But you seemed so sincere. I can't believe...it was all a game for you."
"I must be a really great actor, huh?" he said, forcing himself to grin at her. "I mean, did you really think I could love a trashbag ho like you?"
How could the one I shared my dreams with
Take my dreams from me
How could the love that brought such pleasure
Bring such misery
Won't somebody tell me
Somebody tell me please
If you love me
How could you do that to me
Tell me
"I don't understand. We were just talking about our dreams, about marriage and kids..." Her voice trailed off as memories of recent conversations they'd had filled her mind. "You don't have kids with someone who you don't love..."
"There's nothing to understand," he said shortly. "I don't want to be with you anymore, and I'm trying to make that obvious to you."
"This isn't you talking, Chris," she said, shaking her head as the tears kept falling. "You've never been this cold to me, never."
"Don't you get it? I'm a cold, heartless bastard! We've been together for two years now and you still don't know me!" he exclaimed. "You don't know anything about me!"
She just looked at him. This wasn't the Chris that she knew. This wasn't him at all. This man sitting next to her... She didn't even recognize him. All she knew was that this wasn't the Chris who she had been loving for so long, because that Chris wouldn't be hurting her like this...
How could you just walk out the door
How could you not love me anymore
I thought we had forever
Can't understand
"Is that why you're doing this? Because you think I don't know you?" she asked.
"Maybe," he conceded. "But there are a million and one reasons why I don't want to be in this relationship with you anymore."
"Chris... I could get to know you more. I want to get to know you more," she said, wiping her tears away. "This is no reason to break up."
"Haven't you been fucking listening to me at all tonight?" he asked her angrily. "Or, wait. That's one of your many flaws. You never listen to me. You talk all the time but you never listen."
"What are you talking about?" she asked. She was getting more and more confused by each passing second, and it wasn't exactly a good feeling.
"Look, I don't have all night to discuss this with you. I have... I..." He cleared his throat and couldn't believe he was about to say this.
"You have what?" she asked curiously.
"I have a date," he lied finally. He stood up and quickly walked over to the front door. "I need to get out of here."
"A date?" Her voice trembled, and she felt her world just crumble around her as she stood up.
"Yeah. Real hot chick I met a while back," he said as he reached the door. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about her since the day I met her."
She looked at him, mouth agape. He was going on a date? And it wasn't with her? This whole situation seemed surreal. They weren't even officially over, in her opinion, and he was already about to go on a date!
"Try not to cry over me too much," he said, opening the door slowly.
"Chris..." She hurried over to him and put her hand on his arm. "Don't go."
"Look at you. You're pathetic," he said, a look of disgust appearing on his face as she clung to his arm. "Didn't your parents teach you that it's not polite to throw yourself at men who don't want you anymore?"
"They never taught me that," she said in a low voice, looking at him. "But that's not the point. The point is-"
"The point is, I have to go. My date? She's waiting for me downstairs," he lied. He saw the look on her face and felt his own heart shatter in his chest. "So... I'm going to be going now."
"Can I...at least have a goodbye kiss?" she asked pitifully. Her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly.
"Fine. It's the least I can do," he said huskily. He leaned down and kissed her. He had intended for it to be short but it was anything but short. It got heated before he knew what was happening, and she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He wanted to cry, really. This was not in the plan at all, this goodbye kiss. He quickly broke the kiss and walked out of the apartment.
"Bye Chris," she said softly.
"Bye, Stephanie." And he closed the door.
How could the one I gave my heart to
Break my heart so bad
How could the one who made me happy
Make me feel so sad
Won't somebody tell me
So I can understand
If you love me
How could you hurt me like that
Stephanie leaned against the door and slid down to a sitting position. Her constant tears blurred the room around her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. What the hell had just happened?
Outside the apartment, Chris tried hard to catch his breath. After shutting the door, it had felt like he had stopped breathing or something. Like he was suffocating. He couldn't believe what he had just done to the woman that he loved... But it had been a necessary evil.
Sighing, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed an all too familiar number...
How could the one I gave my world to
Throw my world away
How could the one who said I love you
Say the things you say
How could the one I was so true to
Just tell me lies
"Did you do it?" Vince McMahon asked anxiously over the phone. There was no hello from him, just that burning question.
"I did it, Vince. I fucking did it," Chris said, closing his eyes and leaning against the door of Stephanie's closed apartment.
"Wonderful," Vince drawled over the phone. "And here I was, thinking that you weren't going to have the balls to do it... How'd she take it, by the way?"
"How do you think she took it? She was devastated," Chris answered, trying to get the image of Stephanie's tear-stained face out of his mind.
"Devastated? Just the way I want her to be," Vince said, obviously pleased with Chris's word choice.
"Are you satisfied now, you old bastard?" Chris asked angrily. "Huh, Vince? You satisfied?"
"What are you so pissed for, anyway?" Vince asked. "It's not like you really loved her."
"Of course I love her. Every man is not like Hunter when it comes to your daughter," Chris said numbly. "I didn't want her because she was your daughter. I wanted her...for her."
"Denial, denial. It's a funny thing," Vince said, laughing.
"This isn't fucking funny! She gave me her heart, she trusted me with it... And I broke it," Chris said, his voice breaking. And I broke mine, too, he added mentally.
"Into a thousand tiny pieces, I hope," Vince replied. "You just made my night, Jericho. I think I'm going to go have a drink." And then he hung the phone up without even saying goodbye.
How could the one I gave my heart to
How could the one I gave my heart to
How could the one I gave my heart to
Break this heart of mine
Tell me
Chris shoved his cell phone into his pocket and closed his eyes. He didn't want the tears to come from his eyes, but they came anyway. He loved Stephanie more than he'd ever loved any woman in his life, and yet he had just been forced into breaking her heart by her very own father. Her own father! To say that he felt lower than dirt would be an understatement. He knew that she was hurting, and he was hurting, too. He wanted to knock on her door and tell her that everything he'd said was a lie, that her father had made him say it, but he knew he couldn't.
He leaned against the door, feeling like the biggest assclown ever. He ran his hands over the door and let the tears escape. She had given him her heart, she had trusted him, and what had he done? He had broken it, he had done irreparable damage...
"I'm so sorry, Stephy. I wish you knew that I really do love you," he whispered. "I wish you knew..."
Inside her apartment, Stephanie finally stood up. She felt like she was in a state of shock over everything that had just happened. She wanted to just go back in time somehow and find out what she had done to make Chris hurt her like this, but she knew that was impossible. She leaned against the door for support as the tears kept coming.
"Chrissy... I don't know where we went wrong, but I still love you," she whispered, and she wasn't surprised to find that it was true. Sure, he had broken her heart, murdered her dreams, and shattered her confidence, but love... Love didn't die overnight...
Chris took one last look at the door, wiped his eyes, then turned and walked away.
A/N: Weak ending, I know. I have an idea in my mind for a sequel of sorts for this but I'm not sure yet...