Reason to Breathe
Disclaimer: I own absolutely no one.
Summary: After a horrible incident with a cheating, abusive ex-boyfriend that nearly left her for dead, she was instead left weak, broken, and slightly paranoid. Her friends are there for her and they try to help her get her life back to normal. Will one of her friends step it up and also make her feel what it is like to be loved again? Will she ever feel safe? Or will her past come back to haunt her?
Characters: Trish Stratus, Maria Kanellis, Torrie Wilson, Amy Dumas, John Cena, Phil Brooks (CM Punk), AJ Styles, Chris Masters, others for cameo appearances…
Pairing: Chris/Trish/John, Torrie/AJ, Maria/Phil
Drama/Romance/Humor
A/N: A new story! Yes, yes, yes, I know I still have my other two that I haven't updated, but to be honest, I'm starting to lose interest. I'm not positively sure if I want to delete them or not, still thinking. And hopefully this new story helps me get my groove back into some story writing mode. So yes, read, hope you enjoy, and tell me what you think.
Chapter 1: Birthday Turned Disaster
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It was a Sunday night and Trish Stratus was having one of the best days of her entire life. There was about 5 minutes left until it hits midnight and it would officially be her birthday. She was hanging out with her childhood best friends and roommates, Maria Kanellis, Torrie Wilson, and Amy Dumas, at a nightclub where she works at called Club Rain, celebrating her 25th birthday. Along with them were Trish's boyfriend of 8 months, Chris Masters, Torrie's boyfriend of a two years, AJ Styles, and her good friend John Cena. They were out celebrating, just having a good time drinking and dancing. "So Trish, how does it finally feel to be 25 with us?" Torrie grinned at the petite blonde as they were all sitting at a table. Trish didn't answer right away as she was too busy giggling and giving her boyfriend pecks of kisses. "Hey!" Torrie yelled, trying to get her attention until AJ finally threw a crumpled up napkin at their friend.
"Jeez guys… gross," AJ playfully glared in disgust.
"What?" she finally responded, prying herself away from Chris. "You two do it too!" she countered with the group sharing a small laugh.
In reality, everyone at the table was never too fond of Trish's boyfriend. They hated how Chris would treat her at times, the constant arguing between the two, calling her inappropriate names, bossing her around, and being a sexist pig, even flirting with other girls in front of her. There are times he could be nice, but that was only to get a certain favor from the blonde or just to get some credit from people; behind closed doors, he was an ass to her. But for some reason, they didn't know why Trish would take that kind of behavior from him. Other than that, if their best friend was "happy", then they'll just have to accept it for what it was.
"Anyways, how about we all do a round of shots in honor of Trish?" Amy yelled out.
"Tabs on who?" they all eyed the redhead.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine! The tabs are on me… just for this one round! The rest you're on your own!"
They all laughed while Amy bought a round of Jack Daniels. The seven all held up their shot glasses to the middle of the circle. "To Trish!" Maria yelled out. "Happy birthday!"
"Happy birthday Trish!" they all then yelled out and quickly downed their shots. Right then, Pussycat Dolls' "Buttons" with Snoop Dogg blasted through the speakers, getting the girls excited.
"Come on honey, there is no way I'm gonna sit out to this song," Torrie grinned at AJ, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the dance floor.
Trish turned to Chris. "Oh no," he immediately responded, shaking his head.
"Aw come on!" Trish pleaded, pouting her lips.
He continued shaking his head. "I don't dance, not even to this kind of lame stupid music."
Trish angrily glared at him. "Then why are you even here?"
"You know why I'm here," he gave her a blunt look, "to be with you on your birthday!"
"Whatever, you're here more for the drinks," she rolled her eyes. And it was always like that between the two. One minute things were fine between them, the next second, they were disputing about something.
Maria shook her head at Chris. "Come on Trish," the brunette said, trying to lighten her mood, "let's go dance." She grabbed her hand and led her out of the table. "You too, John," she looked at the only other male at the table.
John slowly put his bottle of beer down. "Me?"
"John!" Trish scrunched her nose up. "But John doesn't dance at all!" Trish playfully argued, narrowing her eyes at him.
"What! How would you know?" he argued back.
"Uh, 'cause I've seen you," she laughed.
"Whatever Stratus, what if I got a secret weapon huh?" he retaliated.
Trish laughed some more and rolled her eyes. "Please, just standing there is NOT a secret weapon!"
"Oh, you're gonna be like that huh?" he grinned while she nodded. "Fine, let's go," he stood up.
Trish looked at him, both of her eyebrows raised. She then glared over at Chris. "At least somebody is willing to dance," she mumbled at him.
Chris bitterly shook his head. "Better not get too touchy out there," he warned, eyeing the other male. Trish rolled her eyes at him again, shaking her head.
"Are you coming Ames?" Maria asked.
"Nah, I think I'll sit this one out for a while," the redhead replied. She nodded her head as the three then headed to the dance floor where Torrie and AJ were at. Once they were gone, Amy shot a glare at Chris. "What the hell is your problem? You can't even sacrifice yourself for a single dance with her on her birthday?"
Chris just ignored her. "I'll be back. If Trish comes back before I do, just… tell her I'll be back."
"Where the hell are you going?" Amy questioned, her glare becoming more intense.
"Don't worry about it," he replied and quickly left. Amy eyed him suspiciously, wondering why he was being secretive leaving the table.
"It'll be even better if you don't come back at all," she muttered, taking a drink of her beer. She then looked over at the trio over at the floor and laughed when she saw John being sandwiched in between the girls with Trish being in the front and Maria in the back.
"So how am I doing Trish?" John yelled out over the music.
Trish turned around to face him. "Eh, mediocre," she simply replied. "And that's me being nice," she smiled.
"Pfft, you're just jealous," he said. "You just don't want to admit that I can be a competition to you on the floor," he joked as he did the robot, causing Trish to laugh.
"Oh yeah, definitely jealous," she sarcastically said.
He smirked and shrugged one of his shoulders. "I know," he laughed along with the blonde. After a couple of more songs, the five decided to head back to the table.
Trish looked around. "Where did he go?"
Amy uncaringly shrugged. "He said he'll be back," she repeated what he told her.
"How long has he been gone?"
"Since you left to the dance floor," she simply responded.
Trish looked around again. "I'll be back, I'm gonna go look for him." She then left the table, a distraught look taken over her happy face. The group noticed, but decided to not stand in her way at the moment. Since she worked there, she knew her way around of the building. She walked by the bar, in hopes he would be there, but wasn't. She then passed by every sides and corners of the building, but had no luck. She then decided to try outside. She walked up to one of the bouncers she knew. "Hey Joe," she looked up at the huge man.
"Hey Trish, what can I do for ya, girl?"
"Um, did you happen to see Chris around by any chance?" she asked.
The huge man tried to remember. "You know, I think I did. I think I saw him heading towards the parking lot."
Trish nodded her head. "Okay, thanks," she smiled and then headed that way. As soon as she turned a corner, she abruptly stopped in her tracks. From a distant, she could see the back of Chris where his car was. Slowly continuing her way as she eyed the figure, she then stopped again when she saw a small pair of arms appear, seductively wrapping around the large bulky body. She shook her head in disbelief. Letting her rage get to her, she stomped her way up to the couple. "What the hell is going on here?"
Chris turned around, quickly pulling himself away from the other girl. "Tri-"
"Hi, I'm Trish," she smiled at the blonde, extending her hand out to her.
"Kelly," she smiled, oblivious to what was going on.
"So, what were you guys doing?" Trish curiously asked, folding her arms.
"Trish, I can-"
"Uh, I was talking to Kelly," she interrupted him.
"Oh, nothing really. We were just… getting to know each other," she winked at him, giving him a flirtatious smile.
"Getting to know each other, huh," Trish smirked. "So is that what it's called nowadays?"
"Uh, Kelly, you better get going," he mumbled to her.
The blonde nodded her head. "Alright, call me okay?" she said, kissing him on the cheek while handing him a piece of paper before walking away.
Trish stood there, watching everything that just happened right in front of her. "You're such a fuckin' bastard," she shook her head in disgust, "Cheating on me right on my birthday!"
"Trish, we were just talking!"
"Talking my ass!" Trish yelled out. "We've been together for 8 months and you're still flirting with other girls! You know I hate it and yet you still do it!"
"Trish, what do you want me to do? I tried pushing them away, but they just keep coming back," he said. "I can't help it!"
She stared at him in wonder. "Do you know how stupid you sound right now? This is like the 100th time I caught you flirting with another girl since we've been together! What, you can't even tell them that you have a girlfriend or just plain ignore them?"
"Trish," he sighed.
She shook her head. "No, I don't even want to hear it anymore 'cause you come up with the same stupid excuses! Despite all the fights we had, I still stuck by you. But cheating on me, especially right in front of my face, is one thing that I'm not gonna stick around for. Oh my God, I can't believe I ever loved you! It's over between us you cheating bastard," she spat at him and walked away, teary eyed from all the anger she was feeling at the moment.
He immediately followed her back to the club. "Come on Trish, you don't mean that," he said. Trish continued shaking her head, not wanting to hear his excuses. They stepped back inside the club with Trish heading back to the table and Chris right at her heels. "Trish, let's just talk this out."
"No." She was still shaking her head, trying to get away from him as possible and trying not to cause a scene.
Getting frustrated by the moment, he finally grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. "Listen, we're gonna fuckin' talk about this right now!" he angrily yelled into her face.
Little did they know, they were a couple of feet away from where the group was and they clearly heard Chris yelling over the music. They all turned their heads and saw the two were having another one of their arguments. Trish was avoiding eye contact with him while Chris was furiously yelling at her. "I wonder what it's about now," Amy said, disgusted at the sight of how the way he was treating her.
"Chris, I don't want to hear what you have to say," Trish tried to brush him off, but he still had his grip on her arm.
"No we're gonna talk about this right now! It's NOT over between us and we're gonna work this out! You hear me!" he angrily yelled with veins clearly popping out of his neck. "What you saw back there… she came onto me okay! So quit acting like a bitch and accusing that I'm cheating on you and saying that it's over when you don't even know the real story!"
Trish was slightly taken back. He had called her names before, but it was never in public. So she was shocked that she was being disrespected right in front of strangers and friends at a place that she works at instead at their own private time. "How am I being a bitch?" she asked, trying to sound calm as possible as they were already getting stares from all around, "Because I don't want to talk about it? Because I actually caught you in action with another girl?" she questioned. "I don't need to know the real story or even care about hearing it. A proof is a proof and that kiss and this number," she grabbed Kelly's number from his pocket, "are one of the many evident to tell me that you're a cheating asshole!"
Chris let out a loud frustrating sigh. "I am not fuckin' cheating on you! And I never have!"
"Oh okay, so she just tripped and her lips fell onto yours when I caught you," she retorted, folding her arms.
He then tightened his grip on her arm and harshly pulled her closer to him. More tears were building up in her eyes from the pain on her arm. "Trish quit being fuckin' stupid," he glared down at her. "Now we're gonna work this out so we're gonna tell those stupid friends of yours that we're leaving. So you better wipe those fuckin' tears out of your eyes by the time we get to the table," he gritted his teeth.
Trish stared at him in disbelief and slapped him hard in the face, but it did no justice for him to let go of her arm. "I'm not going anywhere with you! Let go!" she tried to struggle out of his grip.
He rubbed his cheek where she had slapped him and angrily looked back at her. "That's it." With that, he pulled her along with him, making his way to the exit while she struggled even more. The group stared in shock and immediately reacted by chasing after them. Both John and AJ quickly caught up to the two and stood in front of Chris's way with John standing eye-to-eye with him. "Get the fuck out of my way. This doesn't involve any of you guys," Chris glared at him.
"I'll get the fuck out of your way when you let her go," John glared back. Chris haughtily smirked. He stepped aside, only to have John step aside as well.
He annoyingly sighed. "Me and Trish are just gonna talk alright? So move," he frustratingly let out. John kept his stance, not budging one bit for him. Chris let out another annoyed sigh. "Fine," he spat out at him, forcing himself to let go of Trish, slightly pushing her down to the floor. She was immediately attended by the girls. Both John and Chris were still at eye-to-eye with one another for a while until Chris finally walked around him and left.
As soon as he was clearly out of sight, they both walked up to Trish. "You okay?" John asked. Trish was a bit shaken up by the incident with mix emotions running through her. One thing her friends could only hope for that this was the end of her relationship with Chris.
A/N: Continue? Yay? Nay?
R&R Please…
