Monday, March 25th, 2002

He was restless.

Had he been more honest with himself, he would've realized that he was more nervous than restless. He sighed as he wandered the hallways, not paying attention to anything in particular, save for the occasional glances at one of the clocks that hung on the walls to make sure the time didn't pass him by before he was ready.

He couldn't remember the last time he had had to deal with the gut-wrenching torment his stomach was going through, not when it came to a match anyways. Hell, even his bout at Wrestlemania in the main-event spot hadn't brought up these old feelings of insecurity…

But that was different. He had had Stephanie at his side, and he had been so confident that the match was his before he had even stepped foot in the arena that night… so confident that he was already preparing the celebration afterwards before even leaving his hotel that day.

What a joke.

Plopping down on one of the steel chairs that was lined up in the hallway, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, annoyed at the way his body was betraying him. Tonight was not the night for mistakes, and he knew this. He knew this very well.

He knew that if he didn't get the job done that night, he might as well kiss his chances goodbye at ever becoming champion again.

"Yo Jericho, how's it going man?"

Chris glanced up quickly at the person who interrupted his chain of thought, frowning slightly. Christian laughed and leaned against the wall next to his fellow Canadian, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"It's going good." Chris answered nonchalantly. "Just trying to get focused."

In other words, take a hint and get lost.

"Yeah, I don't blame you. Big rematch tonight huh? Good luck with that."

"I don't need luck." Chris stated confidently, almost arrogantly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning his head back against the wall.

"What's with Stephanie changing the stipulations, dude? Pretty weird if you ask me."

Chris snickered. "Trust me, that woman knows what she's doing…" His voice trailed off, as he remembered the stipulations to the match. He wasn't too keen on Stephanie getting involved with him and Triple H, especially with the types of matches they always had together. She was such a liability out there, and he didn't like it…

"Hey dude, you okay?" Christian asked, furrowing his brow in curiosity as he gazed at the former champion. "You seem a little out of it."

"Like I said, I'm trying to get focused." With that, Chris stood up. He had to keep moving, he had to get ready for his big match.

"Hey I know how that is…" Christian said with a lighthearted laugh. "In any case, hope everything works out for you."

"Why the sudden interest in me winning this title all of a sudden?" Chris demanded, watching Christian curiously. He was hesitant to trust anyone, not sure of what anyone's intentions were. But at the same time, he found himself silently wanting Christian's support, if only so that he could have someone he could turn to for motivation.

Besides Stephanie, of course.

"Hey, someone's gotta represent Canadians."

Chris tried not to laugh, but he couldn't help but smile at the comment. It was comforting that he actually had some people that genuinely wanted him to be champion again. They quickly exchanged their goodbyes, and before long, Chris found himself wandering the halls aimlessly once again.

He was slightly more relaxed after the exchange with Christian. It still wasn't enough though, not for him at least.

Not really knowing what else to do, and it still being too early to hang out at the gorilla position, he made his way back over to his locker room. Everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off because of the draft lottery that was going on that night. Luckily for Chris, he was ineligible to be drafted to any show.

For the time being anyways.

He had barely opened the door to his locker room when Stephanie already had a hold of his arm, practically yanking him inside, catching him completely off guard.

"Where the hell have you been?" She demanded, closing the door behind her.

"Geez, miss me much?" Chris said, rolling his eyes as he went to sit down on the sofa. She scoffed and leaned back against the door as she watched him.

"Have you forgotten about our little match tonight?" She sneered.

"Ha, I wish," He snorted. "I haven't been able to focus on anything else."

"Good, because we need to strategize." She said, rubbing her hands together. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. Intrigued, he leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand as he watched her begin to pace the length of his locker room.

"It's simple Chris, it's really simple. The best way to go about this is to get Hunter out of the ring long enough for you to pin me, and then we're home free."

Chris nodded, trying to convince himself that it would really be that easy, deep down knowing he was fooling himself.

"You just need to make sure that you get him out and get him out for a long enough period of time for us to get a solid three-count, think you can do that?... Are you even listening to me!"

She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was off in his own little world. She sighed, looking up at the ceiling briefly as if for inspiration. If she had ever been placed in an all-or-nothing situation, this was it. She shook her head and made her way over to him.

He didn't even realize she was sitting next to him until he felt her hands on his broad shoulders. He opened his mouth to sarcastically ask what she wanted him to go out and buy this time, when she started gently squeezing his shoulders as she began to massage him. The words died at his lips as he leaned his head back, closing his eyes, a light groan escaping him.

"You're tense." She said, gently pulling his open shirt back to expose more of his skin around his shoulders as she continued her massage. He mumbled an incoherent response, making her smirk. After being with Triple H so long, she knew what the spots were to hit on a man when he felt tense.

"Are you nervous?" She asked, slowly moving down his back. She knew exactly where he'd be sore from the overall wear and tear of the ring, and she focused her attention on those areas.

"God, Stephanie," He mumbled, feeling his body ease under her touch. He tried to remember the match and everything that was going to be on the line, but all he could think of was her hands, the expertise she was showing with her massage being second to none…

"You didn't answer my question…"

"What question?" He answered, almost dazed by her massage. She grinned, slowly bringing her hands back up to his shoulders and the sides of his neck.

"Are you nervous?"

"No… why would I be?"

"I don't know." She purred, stopping her massage as she draped her arms over his shoulders, pulling him into a loose hug as she rested her chin on his shoulder. "You tell me?"

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, frowning slightly. "I never get scared, I'm Chris Jericho, I'm the best there is…"

His voice trailed when she started kissing his neck lightly. He bit his lip, refusing to get into this with her, until she turned his head to face her and teased his lips with her own. Tired of being teased, he leaned in fully and took her lips in his, continuing to lean in until he was on top of her on the sofa, kissing her all the way.

"You're scared…" She said breathlessly when he finally broke their kiss to remove his shirt. His eyes darkened as he leaned down, his lips inches from hers while he maintained their eye contact.

"Never…" He mumbled, licking his lips as he trailed the outline of her lips with one finger. He knew all the teasing that night would be just that, teasing… there was no way he would let her exhaust him, not before such an important match.

She knew it too, but he was looking so irresistible hovering above her the way he was at that moment…

"Why don't you just admit it?" She said, tilting her head to one side. She wrapped her arms around him, bringing him closer to her, before trailing her fingers lightly down the muscles of his back. She snickered when she saw him close his eyes and take a deep, shaky breath.

She knew he wanted her badly. She knew it, and she loved it…

"Stephanie…"

"Chris, it's okay to be scared, if you can admit it to anyone, why can't that someone be me?" She asked nonchalantly, letting her hands go to the waistband of his ring tights, which she started to toy with…

His pride screamed at him to ignore the woman underneath him. He was Chris Jericho, damn it, he was better than that! He berated himself mentally for letting a match throw him so off balance. He was supposed to be cool, confident, sure of himself in every possible way…

He opened his eyes to see her knowingly staring up at him. Her eyes told him a comforting truth, so much so that he was lost in her gaze.

And in that moment, he knew that she could read him. She knew he was scared… he didn't know how she knew, or how long she had been able to read him, but now he knew. And it scared the living hell out of him…

"No," He stammered, telling himself mentally to get off her, lest she drive him crazy with temptation. But he was frozen, his eyes locked on hers, his body once again betraying him… "No, I'm not… no Stephanie, it's not that I'm…" He struggled for the words, cursing himself for sounding like such an idiot.

Hell, he wasn't even sure who he was trying to convince anymore.

"Like I said, it's okay. You don't have to admit it, it's okay, Chris…" She leaned up and kissed him lightly. He deepened their kiss, his way of thanking her for not letting him forsake what pride he had left. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, one hand playing with his hair… they stayed that way for a long time, neither one wanting to kiss anywhere else lest they get carried away.

And they both knew that neither of them would stop the other from going farther than just kissing…

They were still making out when there was a knock on the door. Chris barely broke away from her to shout a response.

"Yeah!" He cried out, breathless, yet quick to resume kissing Stephanie. God, she was so intoxicating, he just couldn't get enough of her taste…

"You're on in fifteen, Jericho!" Someone yelled from the other side.

Stephanie reluctantly pulled back from him, looking up into his blue eyes… she could see a million different things swirling in those eyes of his, eyes that she could easily get lost in…

What the hell was wrong with her, she suddenly thought to herself. Reminding herself of their silent "no strings attached" understanding, she sighed and gently but firmly pushed him away from her.

"Chris, it's time, come on."

He sighed heavily and reluctantly got up, before offering her a hand. She smirked at him and took it, even giving him a small twirl. He eyed her and licked his lips, before bringing his hands up to fix his hair while she fixed her own.

"Feel better, my handsome business partner?" She teased. He stretched his arms and jumped up in place a few times, before grinning.

"Lots better, Princess. You sure do have a great touch…" He said in a husky voice as he took a step closer to her, but she raised her hand to stop him.

"Thank you, but you have a match to get ready for, and I told Michael Cole I'd give him a free interview before our big match." She said, cursing that she almost forgot.

"Oh, okay, that's cool I guess."

"Yeah, and then I get to go out there and hopefully not get pinned so I don't have to quit!" She laughed sarcastically, shaking her head as she made her way over to the door. Before she could open it though, she felt one of his arms wrap around her waist and pull her until she was leaning against his chest. She shuddered, his warm breath close to her ear.

"Remember what I said on Thursday… nothing's going to happen to you, I promise."

"I know... we're in this together, huh Chris?"

"Together until the end."