Chapter 4.
"You are such a bastard!"
"And you're a bitch"
"Don't you dare call me that ever again, do you understand me?"
"You know what? Fuck you. I don't need this shit right now."
Tonight was another night of slamming doors and breaking glass. Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon had been fighting forever it seemed. Neither of them really knew why, maybe it was due to Paul's traveling. Stephanie was at home mostly taking care of their children, Aurora and Murphy. Just a year ago, just six months ago, Paul and Stephanie were the definition of what a perfect marriage looked like. But now that seems like a mere memory, and the picture of a marriage in shambles took it's place. Stephanie just stood there, and watched Paul leave. This couldn't be happening, her marriage couldn't be unraveling, not at this time. She sat on the couch, and picked up a picture on the in table. It was from their wedding. It looked like a lifetime ago that picture was taken. It was the happiest day of her life at that moment.
She smiled at the memory; she remembered it like it was yesterday. Both of their faces were lit up in bright smiles. Stephanie put the picture back down and sighed. If only things could have remained that way. She and Paul were fighting more than ever now. Does she love Paul? Without a doubt. Stephanie loves her husband with every fiber of her being. He is her husband, her soul mate, her best friend. There wasn't anything she wouldn't give for him. Paul is her everything. She went upstairs to check on her daughters. Thank god they were sound asleep.
Stephanie knelt down on Aurora's bed. She stroked her daughter's hair. It was a golden blonde, just like Paul's. In fact, there was so much of Paul in Aurora. Her stubbornness was definitely a trait she inherited from her father. Stephanie kissed Aurora on the forehead and walked over to Murphy's bed and kissed her too. Stephanie then entered the bedroom that she and Paul share. Out of nowhere, the tears came. Slowly at first then more and more. Her marriage had to survive, it just had to. Paul meant too much to her. Stephanie curled herself up in the covers and cried herself to sleep.
Paul Levesque couldn't believe what just happened. Did he really storm out of the house that he shared with Stephanie? The moment just seemed so surreal to him, like it wasn't his life. But it was, Paul realized sadly. It just seemed like all Paul did with Stephanie was fight. Paul really had no idea when it all started but it had and now it seems like a normal everything to do like washing hands and combing hair. Paul hated it. He didn't want to fight with his wife, but it just seemed like that was the only thing they really knew what to do anymore. He had to get away, for a while. Paul climbed into his black Chrysler Escalade and drove off. It felt like he was admitting defeat. Like he was giving up on his marriage. That wasn't the case at all. There was only so much Paul could do. Stephanie had to meet him halfway and she wasn't doing that at the moment. But then again neither was he. They were concentrating so much on one upping the other while arguing that they were not thinking about the most important aspect: Their marriage and their daughters. Paul knew that it must be tearing those precious little girls of his apart to see their mommy and daddy fighting.
Paul dug into his wallet and pulled out the picture of Murphy. Her dark hair cascading over her rosy cheeks, she looked just like Stephanie at that age. He pressed his thumb against the picture. Paul loved his daughters more than anything, more than his own life. Stephanie and his daughters were his life, his entire world. He had to make this work, it was more than worth it, and Stephanie was worth it. Driving made him feel so much better. Paul was just able to get away from his troubles and just be alone. It calmed him. Paul drove his car to Squaw Peak, the tallest mountain and just soaked in the ambience. He took his fair colored hair out of the high ponytail and let it tumble to his shoulders. A gentle breeze blew him.
Paul hopped on the hood of his Escalade and just looked out at the city bustling below him. It was like tiny diamonds stretched out across black sea. Paul thought of Stephanie and how he had hurt her. He remembered the pained expression across Stephanie's face. He felt like shit. Like complete and total shit. He was a screw up. A bad husband and a bad father. Paul hated himself for what he said to Steph, his Steph. He had to do everything in his power to make it right, to make Stephanie love him again, to be a hero in Aurora and Murphy's eyes. This fighting had to stop. Hunter got back into the car, and he saw that he had a voice message.
Paul, its Steph. Look, I know that we're not talking right now. But I thought that maybe this would be easier, to talk to you on the phone rather than in person. But I love you. From the bottom of my heart. And even though we may not see eye to eye right now, I hope and pray that we will. You and me. Always only you.
Hunter's eyes closed. "Always only you". It was their phrase. Paul first coined it when he proposed almost a decade ago. He could hear every word and it pained him to hear her say them. He could envision Stephanie, his beautiful Stephanie on the verge of tears, pouring her heart out to him. It was enough to make him cry. This was it, Paul knew what he had to do, he had to get Stephanie back, he had to get his family back.