America the Beautiful

Note: The partner's in crime are at it again! Yes, Katy and I are back, doing our random one shots. Well… this isn't random but I think you know what I mean. Anyway, enjoy this one, even if the pairing is slightly different.
Disclaimer: We own nothing, including the title… Wow, that's pretty sad…

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April 1, 2007. The Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. That night's host for WrestleMania 23. The biggest stage of them all. The spectacle of sports entertainment. So why wasn't she excited and eager? It'd be her second time to announce for the Super Bowl of professional wrestling, which she felt was an honor to do.

Lilian Garcia stood in front of the full length mirror inside the women's locker room. She'd checked her outfit over several times, picking at the invisible fuzz balls she found on the pink dress she had on for the evening. It was a plunge front mini dress complete with a cut out design in the front and back. The fabric had a subtle shimmer to it. This was by far her favorite WrestleMania outfit.

The door to the room opened and closed and she heard footsteps behind her. She saw the reflection of the small blonde behind her and couldn't help but smile.

"How are you holding up?" the women's champion asked.

"I'm really nervous, Trish," Lilian picked at one of her nails, "What if I mess up?" She then began to pace back and forth, her face twisted with worry. Trish stepped into Lilian's path to stop her from pacing.

"If you don't stop walking back and forth you'll wear a hole in this floor," She teased the Latina. Lilian glared at her best friend.

"I can't help that I'm nervous!" Lilian exclaimed. She examined herself in the mirror again, fixing her dress again. She fiddled with the front then pulled it down slightly, biting her lip anxiously.

"How can you be nervous?" Trish asked, sitting on one of the wooden benches. "You've sang this song twice at WrestleMania before, what's so different now?"

Lilian spun around. "Everything. I released my CD last summer. Who knows what music labels are watching. If I mess up tonight, my career is over. I'll disappoint everyone."

"No you won't Lil. You're the best singer I know. You're better than Mariah," Trish admitted, getting a small smile from her friend. "You won't mess up, I can promise you that."

"But…" When Trish sent her a stern look she sank onto the bench next to her, "If I mess up I blame you!"

"Okay, blame me, but what are you gonna do about it?" Trish asked playfully. Lilian glanced at Trish out of the corner of her eye. The green-eyed blonde smirked.

"I can take you, Stratus," Lilian challenged. Trish turned towards Lilian with her eyebrows raised.

"Oh really? Would you like to test that theory now?" Trish poked Lilian on the shoulder.

Lilian raised her arms. "Si, you know what, cabrona, maybe I would." A sly smirk crept up to her lips. "Te voy a matar."

"You want some of this!" Trish half yelled, half laughed.

Lilian jerked her hand forward, grabbing Trish. "NOT THE HAIR! NOT THE HAIR! NO!" Trish screamed. Lilian dropped her grip, laughing.

"Sorry," she managed to choke out.

"Damn, chick, that hurt!" Trish yelled, rubbing the place where Lilian had grabbed. Lilian put on a little pout, batting her eyelashes.

"Awww, is the baby huwt? Does she need a bottle?" Lilian teased in a baby voice. Trish narrowed her eyes at Lilian.

"Quit. If you trained you'd be one hell of a wrestler," Trish commented. Lilian's eyes grew wide.

"I… I don't think I could do that," Her thoughts went back to singing, "I mean, if I barely have the nerves to sing in front of all of those people, what makes you think I have the courage to go out and wrestle?"

"Honey, you're going to do fine. How many concerts have you done? Plenty," she answered for Lilian. "This is no different. This is going to give you the career you've always wanted."

Sighing, Lilian took a seat on the bench. "I love my job here in the WWE. I love all you guys. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for Vince and them."

"I didn't say you could just leave!" Trish shouted. "No way, Jose. You aren't going anywhere."

Lilian smiled again. "I know...maybe I should go tell Vince I can't do this. Or Shane or Steph. Somebody. I can't do this, Trish. There's too much riding on it."

"Lil, don't give up," Trish pleaded, "Who else do they have to sing on such short notice? And I don't think Shane or Steph would want you to back out."

"I can't sing tonight. Something bad is going to happen!" Lilian exclaimed in a high pitched voice that was not her own. Trish put a hand on Lilian's shoulder to calm her, but it didn't work. Lilian shrugged her hand off and walked towards the door.

"I have to tell someone before it's too late," Lilian frantically swung open the door and walked out. She walked as fast as she could in her heels towards Vince's office, knocking backstage techs and crew out of the way as she went.

Once she arrived, she knocked on the door. She heard the man's deep voice telling her to come in, so she did. She let the door shut and let out a small gasp as she saw the man behind the desk. "Oh, I'm..I'm sorry, Shane. I didn't...where's Mr. McMahon?"

Sitting at his father's desk, Shane smiled. "I'm not sure, actually. I was just told to man down the fort," he answered, giving a short laugh.

"Oh, well, alright I guess I'll just come back later then." Lilian offered a polite smile before turning to the door.

"Wait, don't go." The words came out so fast, Shane didn't even realize he'd said them. She turned back around and he drank in the sight of her.

"Yes?" She asked, feeling a blush creep into her cheeks, knowing his eyes were on her.

"Erm…" Shane blinked a few times, trying to recover the voice he lost when he saw what she was wearing, "Um… Is everything alright? You look a bit… upset?"

No… no… not upset… umm… confused? Shane asked himself, wanting to kick himself a million times for being so flustered.

"I don't know," Lilian answered, fiddling with a piece of her dress, "I… I think I should wait until your dad.. I mean Mr. McMahon… gets here," She nodded slowly.

"Well is it anything I can help you with?" Shane questioned smoothly. He praised himself for the good question.

"I...well..." She took a step closer, her left hand going to her head where she ran her fingers through it.

"You can tell me," he said, "Lilian." He stood up from the desk and came around to the front, leaning back on it.

Dios Mio, he's so cute, Lilian silently thought.

"Well," she took in a deep breath. "I'm really nervous about tonight. I know I've sung this song before at WrestleMania, but tonight it just seems so different. I don't know what to do. If I mess up, its career suicide and I don't want to let you or your family down. Mr. McMahon gave me the honor to go out there and sing this song for the millions watching and I just can't let him down by messing up. There's so many people watching and, and...and I just can't!" She blurted out in one breath, leaving Shane stunned.

Shane sat for a moment, letting the words come together in his head. Then a smile broke out on his face. He reached for her and took her hand in his, giving it a small squeeze.

"It's understandable that you feel that way, Lilian," Shane smiled wider, "I was extremely nervous the first time I wrestled. Hell, I still get butterflies when I am about to go out in front of that crowd!"

"But… this is going to be my third time doing it, and I feel so nervous I might be sick," Lilian groaned inwardly at the thought of getting sick in front of him.

"Let me ask you a question," Shane said softly, "You've been announcing here for eight years, and you go out there every Monday and sing the National Anthem. The people may not be as hyped up as they are tonight, but it's no different."

"Shane…" Lilian groaned. She ran her hand through her hair again, shaking it slowly. "I'm so afraid I'll mess up something."

Meanwhile, the entire time, Lilian had been swaying so much that she'd ended up closer to him. He smiled again and reached out to rest a hand on her arm. "You'll do fine, I know you will."

Lilian bit her lip and enjoyed the way her skin felt at his touch. "But..."

"No, don't downgrade yourself. You heard Michelle Williams last year. She completely messed up the beginning, and you won't do that. I have faith in you." He dropped his hand back down to his side and studied her face. "You won't make any mistakes."

"Trish said the exact same thing! How do you know I won't mess it up?" Lilian looked down at theirs hands and saw that hers was shaking slightly in his.

"Because you're an amazing singer, and you know this song. If you keep thinking that you're going to mess up, you will. And I know that you don't want to mess up, right?" Shane leaned a bit closer and smiled a dazzling smile. Lilian's green eyes widened at him.

"Ummm…" She tried to get the words to come out of her opened mouth but nothing would.

"Right?" he pressed.

He was so close to her and her breathing got caught in her throat. She swallowed slowly and nodded. "Right," she agreed and then smiled.

"Good," he said suddenly, standing up straight. "Now get ready so you can give everyone the show of their life. Who knows, maybe a record company is out there and will notice you and sign you?"

Lilian stopped dead in her tracks. "No no no I can't. Oh my God, what if they are out there? If I mess up, I'm done. I won't have any hope for my future."

Shane grabbed her shoulders firmly and held her still. He bent over to look into her eyes, his face very serious.

"Lilian, if they are out there and you don't go out there, who are they going to see? Everyone will be waiting to hear you sing and you won't be there. If they are out there, they'll want to sign you," Shane said in a slow, calm voice. He then realized how close they were and let her go.

"I've got to go… I'm no use here," Lilian mumbled. She couldn't believe she was giving up. But she didn't want to mess up. She wouldn't let herself go out there and mess up. Shane watched her walk towards the door with her shoulders slumped when he came up with an idea.

"Oh well. I guess we'll have to get Ashley or Stacy to go out there to sing. It definitely won't be as good, but with yo-" Before he could finish his sentence Lilian had stopped and slammed the door shut.

"What-did-you-say?" Lilian breathed. Shane sat down on the desk again with a small smirk on his face.

"Ashley or Stacy may have to go out there. The record companies will see them, and then they will get signed," Shane said, hoping this would get her to sing.

She marched over to where he was leaned up against the desk. "No, hell no¿Qué piensa usted¿Por qué ellos¿Está usted loco?" She shouted in Spanish, her face growing pink with anger. "¡Ellos son cabronas estúpidas! Ellos no toman mi lugar."

Shane stared at her, confused and trying to understand what she was saying. Noticing the tint in her cheeks, he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

Still laughing he said, "Nothing, I was just trying to get to you so that you'd sing tonight. Lilian," he started, "if you do this for no one else, would you do it for me? I know I may not mean that much to you, but it would mean a lot to me if you would sing tonight."

Lilian blinked a few times, trying to clear her head of all the fuzziness. What did he just ask me to do? She asked herself. She adverted her eyes away from his, not wanting to give into him.

"I don't know… I'll mess up!"

"Lilian," He spoke softly, "You won't mess up." He said in a promising voice. Shane took her face in one of his hands and made her look at him.

"You'll do fine, and when it's all done, you'll feel great," He smiled brightly, "Plus, everyone's going to be too busy staring at you in this beautiful dress to notice if you mess up- which you won't," He winked.

Lilian blushed and looked down, covering her face with her hand. "I hope I don't," she said slowly, looking up at him. "Why do you believe in me so much?"

Shane gave her a kind smile. "Because I know you'll do a fantastic job. You do great no matter what you're doing. I know you don't realize that, but you do. I'm glad we got to sign you when we had the chance," he said, chuckling softly. "I'm glad nobody else got the opportunity to snatch you up."

"Thank you." Aww, he's so sweet! She thought, smiling brightly. She went to push a stray piece of hair behind her ear, but his hand got their first. She felt herself shiver at the slight contact his finger made with her cheek.

"So will you do it?" Shane asked hopefully. Lilian bit down on her lip and took in a deep breath. "For me?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Umm…" Why is it so hard to think coherently around him! She screamed inside of her head. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them he was leaned towards her.

"Please," He breathed. Lilian blushed furiously.

Speak! Don't just stand here with your mouth open! A voice inside of her head said. Lilian nodded her head once since no words could come out.

"Thanks, it really does mean a lot to me." He leaned forward, brushing his lips over her cheek causing her to practically melt into him. "Are you alright?"

She nodded again, still not able to find the words. Just calm down man, Shane chided himself. She's just a girl, it's not like you haven't seen or touched one before.

Lilian tried to straighten herself, but her legs felt like jello. She let herself lean against him for a minute, regaining her strength. She stood up, blushing yet again.

Her blush is so cute, Shane commented to himself. He smiled at her, his eyes slowly moving down her body. She's so beautiful, and she looks amazing in that dress.

"Shane?" Lilian asked, her eyes wide. She stared at him curiously. "Um… yeah…. Hi, my face is right here," She suppressed a giggle at the look on his face.

His vibrant, hazel eyes wandered up to her face. He studied the curve of her full lips, her nose and her bright eyes. Lilian cocked her head to the side trying to figure out what he was doing.

You can do this, Shane thought silently.

Using his finger, he placed it under her chin, bringing her face closer. She smiled out of confusion and looked at him with questioning eyes. "What...?" Her words trailed off as he pressed his lips to hers.

When she felt his lips on hers fireworks flew. She wrapped her arm around his neck, kissing him back. Shane pulled her closer, her body pressed against his. Lilian ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck slowly. She pulled back slowly, her lips hovering over his.

"Wow…" She whispered. Shane grinned and twirled a strand of her hair around his finger.

"Now, are you going to be alright?" he asked slowly.

She felt herself tremble again; feeling the vibrations of air his mouth was producing. "No, not quite," she said, finally able to get her voice back.

"What?" he asked confused. Oh no, I messed up, he silently though. What have I done?

A slow smile came across her lips and she kissed him again. "I'll be alright."

"Mmm… now will you be alright?" He asked teasingly. He moved in to kiss her again but realized she had stepped back.

"I shouldn't be kissing you," Lilian pointed out. Shane furrowed his eyebrows.

"What? Why?" He questioned, his voice filled with confusion.

"Because it may ruin my voice, and I have to sing in an hour," She smiled as she said this.

"An hour, huh?" Shane asked, winking at her. He leaned forward, taking her hands into his. "Actually, I've heard kissing is the best way to warm up your vocal chords."

Lilian arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I've never heard that one before, but...I'd be willing to give it a try."

"Now that's like music to my ears." He grinned and pulled her into the gap between his legs. Cupping her face in his hands, he brought her lips to his.

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Note: And there it is people. A load of fluffcakes. LOL. I hope you all enjoyed it! Reviews are appreciated!

Katy y Rachel