How Far We've Come

Prologue

Disclaimer: I only own Jamie and Camille.

A knock on the front door distracted Stu from his nap on the couch. He never thought that he would feel this way. He was always so tired now. It was because he was depressed with everything that had been going on for the past couple of months. He was well aware of that fact. The emptiness, the seemingly endless hole that had formed in his chest cavity was killing him, slowly, painfully. He used to look forward to having some time off from work. It was such a rarity and so treasured, but now it was the absolute last thing that he wanted to have to deal with anymore.

He missed the days when Jamie would meet him at the airport, when he was coming home after being away for days at atime. Stu would catch her, as she ran into his arms at the luggage carousel. He'd spin her around and kiss her, as if it was the only thing in the world that truly mattered to either of them. And quite frankly, it was all that mattered. It was his favorite thing in the world to be able to hold her in his arms after they had spent so much time apart. He always felt so fulfilled when he saw her, whether it was in the audience during one of his matches, at the airport to pick him up, or even at the dinner table, when they had been lucky enough to spend some time together at home. Stu was complete when the two of them were together. She was his other half, and he knew that he needed her as his wife more than anything in the entire world. Being with Jamie was all that he ever needed, and now it just ate away at him to not have her.

Stu slowly pulled himself off of the black micro fiber couch that she had insisted on buying. At first, he didn't really like it too much, but it grew on him. It ended up looking great in the living room, and it was sure as hell the most comfortable couch that he had ever sat on, much less slept on. He ambled over to the front door and opened it, without bothering to check through the window to see who was there. He didn't really care. If it wasn't Jamie, he didn't want any visitors, and he was sure that it wasn't his estranged wife. She had been avoiding him since their last argument.

The man standing there in khaki pants and a black polo shirt was an unfamiliar face. He raised an eyebrow, hoping that it wasn't some fan who managed to figure out where he was living.

"Yes?" he greeted.

"Are you Stuart Bennett?" the man asked, glancing down at the manila envelope in his hands. He furrowed his brow. "Yes, I am…"

"Sir, you are being served," he said, handing him the envelope. Stu took it, not exactly sure what was going on. As far as he knew, he didn't have any legal problems that had to be sorted out. He didn't owe anyone money.

"Okay…"

"Have a good day."

The man turned around and walked back to his black Honda Civic that was parked in front of the WWE superstar's two-story Tampa house. Stu slowly closed the front door, unsure of what was going on. He walked back over to the couch and sitting down, as he opened the mysterious envelope. He pulled out a stack of papers, anxious to know what exactly was going on.

The black, block letters explained the entire situation to him. DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE. The words stung him deeply. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He had prayed that this wouldn't happen. She had filed for divorce. His head was spinning, and he felt like he was about to be sick to his stomach.

Stu put the papers on the coffee table and bringing his face in his hands, as he rubbed them over it. Blinding pain coursed through each and every part of his body. He felt his entire world crumbling beneath him. This wasn't supposed to happen. Stu loved Jamie. She was absolutely everything to him. They'd had their fair share of hard times. They had been apart before, and he hated not being with her all of the time. When he spoke his vows to her, he meant every single word of them, and he wanted nothing more than to make good on the endless promises he had made to her on that day. He certainly couldn't do that if they were divorced.

Stu stood up and walked out of the room, finding it impossible to be in the room where those papers were, as they silently taunted him with the thoughts of what they meant for him. He went upstairs and made his way into the bedroom that they had shared, slamming the door behind himself so hard that everything shook and a picture fell face down on the night table next to the king-sized bed. He sat on his wife's side, the black comforter wrinkling underneath him. It had been twenty-three whole days since she had left their house. He hadn't been home very much, so he hadn't suffered as much from the effects of her being gone as he was suffering now. And he was really suffering.

A glimmer of silver caught his eye. Stu glanced over in the direction of the shiny object, as his eyes rested on the picture frame that had fallen on the night table next to him. He picked it up and held it in his hands, staring at the picture that resided in it. It was from their wedding day. It was one of the best days of his entire life, if not the best day. The only day that could possibly rival it was the one where the two had been reunited after they had spent so many years apart.

In the photo, Jamie had a genuine smile on her perfectly made up face. Stu's lips were affectionately on her cheek, and he had a smile on his face, as he kissed her. It was a close-up of their faces. Everyone loved this picture. It conveyed the deep love that the two had for each other. None of it seemed staged or posed. The photo had caught the genuine happiness that the two of them had, as a result of their nuptials from earlier that day. He slowly ran the pad of his thumb across her face. He missed her so much that it actually hurt. Hell, hurt didn't even explain it. This was absolutely killing him.

Jamie had been such a breath of fresh air in his world. She made everything okay. But now she was gone. And it killed him to have to be without her. Stu wanted to fix their relationship. He wanted his wife back. He needed her. Stu didn't know what he was going to do…or even what he could do, at this point.

Jamie was sitting on the couch at her friend Camille's house. She had been staying with her since she left Stu. Today was the day that she knew he was receiving the divorce papers. She had filed for it last week. She didn't want spousal support or half of everything. Quite frankly, she didn't want anything from him. She just wanted to be done with all of this. Jamie couldn't handle the fact that he was gone all of the time. They had spent years apart, missing each other, wondering what the other was doing. It had been too much for her to deal with then. But she couldn't handle the fact that now that they were together, they always had to say goodbye and miss each other. It was too hard to never be able to be physically near him. They had done that during the years between their relationships. She couldn't do it again, though. Not anymore.

It hurt her to have to file for divorce from the love of her life. Jamie wanted to have a family, to be the mother of his children and have him be the father to their children. But it seemed that it wasn't in the cards for them, seeing as he was always gone. She felt alone nearly all of the time. Jamie didn't feel like Mrs. Stuart Bennett anymore. She felt single. She was lonely and always hurting. And that wasn't fair to her.

Jamie was still unsure of how she felt about this whole divorce situation. It hurt her because she truly loved Stu. He was always the only one for her. He was her soul mater, the true love of her life. Even now, though they were on the road to divorce, she did not doubt that they belonged together. She knew that if she was supposed to spend her life with anyone, it would be him. They loved each other, but sometimes love wasn't enough to make everything okay. That was what the problem happened to be in this case. She hated always having to be alone. Coming home after a long, tiring day of work, all Jamie wanted to do was put on some sweats and snuggle up with her husband. But that rarely ever happened. In fact, she was lucky if she had managed to see him once or twice a week. She had finally reached her breaking point.

Things had changed drastically, since they had gotten back together. When he was in Florida Championship Wrestling, sure, he wasn't bringing home the huge paycheck that he was receiving as one of the top guys on the WWE's Raw roster. But they were together. That was what mattered most.

All she wanted was her husband. Not the fancy house. Not the luxury care. Not the multitude of designer clothes in her closet. Not the gifts from all over the world. She didn't need any of that stuff. It didn't make her happy. It didn't make her life worth living. In fact, being able to have those things was what was making her life a living hell. All that she wanted…all that she needed…was Stu. But he was the one thing that she couldn't have all to herself. He was always traveling with the rest of the WWE. And he was living out his dream.

Jamie swore that she would never take that away from him. Not in a million years. He loved his job so much, and he worked so hard to get to where he was. He lived and breathed wrestling. It was who he was.

And that was the Stu that she had fallen in love with. It was something she would never mess with. Jamie would never be one of those wives who would make her husband choose between their marriage and his career. So, she made the decision to leave. It was the hardest choice that she had ever had to make, and it hurt her. But she also truly believed that this was all for the best.