Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.
Rating: R
Spoilers: None
Summary: It was only a mistake, she never intended on growing attached.
Notes: For city reference purposes, I'm sitcking them in Chicago. Thank you for being patient with my altercations. Enjoy the chapter and please review! This is the last update until after the holidays. Happy Holidays to one and all
Thanks to: Space Acer, bkerbunny, Latisha C., Zanna Avons, iaera, LegendThriller521, CenasNakedInMyBedWithMe (with 2) and aussiewrestlingfan for the reviews.
A double hotel room, really was meant to hold 6 people at maximum..and that was if said hotel room had a sleeper couch. Lita's did not, so getting everyone to fit in the room comfortably; had called for some careful planning. As it were, they arrangement ended up with two on one bed, four on the other while anyone who was left..took the floor. Dawn Marie took a spot on the bed nearest to the phone, the brunette Diva allowing Victoria, Stacy and Torrie to share the precious space with her. Tyson leaned against the foot of the bed, while Rey, John and Eddie leaned against the other bed. Lita, meanwhile, had somehow stayed asleep until she had been set on the second bed. It had been a near miracle that she didn't wake up, considering that no one knew where the redhead's keycard was. Torrie had just finished checking the jacket pockets to no avail, when Dawn spotted the tell tale piece of plastic in the redhead's back pants pocket. That had lead to nearly five minutes of hushed arguing, and after a few pointed glares from Dawn..Lita was precariously balanced so Randy could retrieve the keycard. At one point, Dawn was about to ask as to why he was being so modest, but the brunette realized that while most of the people present were privy to what had transpired. A few were not. That, and since Lita had crutches, Dawn didn't want to find herself on the receiving end. At any rate, Lita was now awake and her injured appendenge was propped by a pillow and two jackets, while a plastic baggie full of ice cubes rested atop. The teddy bear sat to her right, while Randy was on the other side of the teddy bear. Per the redhead's request, they didn't order room service, Dawn instead calling a local pizza place. The brunette proceeded to volunteer Rey and Victoria to get the pizzas, but only after the collection fund had been taken.
"Li, you got any Christmas music?" Stacy Keibler queried, leaning over Torrie to address the redhead.
"Umm..more than likely not Stace."
"What about the CD you got yesterday?" Randy suggested then, "That's Christmas-y."
Lita nodded then, "It's in my gym bag..side pocket."
"Hey..John, get me that please?"
Cena raised a brow, looking back over his shoulder before he shrugged. And while he did get the gym bag, that was all he got. "Catch." Was all he said, tossing the bag over his shoulder in the Legend Killer's direction.
Randy rolled his eyes, settling the bag between himself and Lita. "Smooth move jackass, what if that had landed on her?"
Cena rolled his eyes right back, "Then you coulda kissed it, made it all better."
Randy declined to comment, instead turning to the redhead. "Which pocket?"
Dawn snickered from the other bed, "Back."
Lita sent her a questioning look, but shrugged it off to Dawn not being sane. "This one," the redhead stated as she unzipped the pocket, removing the CD from the bag. "Stace? My CD player is in my suitcase."
The long legged Diva nodded, moving from the bed to find the cd player. "So, who's coming back with me?" The blonde looked up, inserting the CD inside. "Like I said..I've got two spare beds, the couch can sleep two. And if no one minds, the floor is always ready."
"We need to switch our flight stuff first," Chris mentioned then, "If that's possible."
"Well, if it's not..then just cancel the flight and drive." Dawn stated matter of factly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll go with you, but only if I can have one of the beds."
"Anyone else?" The blonde looked around, settling back on the bed.
"Are there any other options?" Lita asked then, leaning back slightly against the two pillows cushioning her back.
Stacy frowned in thought, "Not unless we all chip in to pay for a rental house. And thats if there are any free right now."
"What about extended stay hotel rooms?" Dawn put in then, "If we double or triple up, we can manage that..it'll work out to be a little less than paying for a rental house."
Lita rolled her eyes, "Like any of us really have the extra cash to afford that right now. Do you know how expensive that is during a peak season? A hotel room like this cost more than usual."
Dawn rolled her eyes right back, "Than what would you suggest, hmm? That we find some camping equipment and camp out in Stacy's backyard?"
Stacy shook her head, "I'll call around and see if there are any houses still open, if there are..I'll get the price quotes. Plus, I can see if my parents are going away for the holidays. If they are, we can all crash there and they've got plenty of space."
Dawn shrugged, "McMahon should have a list of houses just for situations like this. You know? Like corporate housing or something."
Chris and Eddie snorted, "Yeah right mamacita." Eddie rolled his eyes. "McMahon? Paying for something that would benefit his employees?"
Chris smirked, "Our workload would be tripled to make sure the profits are still huge."
"Keep it down!" Stacy hissed, bringing her cellphone to her ear, "Hello? Yes..my name is Stacy Keibler and.." She trailed off then, the blonde Diva figuring that the bathroom would be the best place to continue. Stacy moved from the bed then, shutting the bathroom door shut behind her once she was inside.
x
"Dawn, did you order drinks?" Lita raised a brow at the brunette, "Cuz if not? We're drinkin' water."
Dawn sighed, flopping back against the pillows. "Cough up your quarters..someone needs to hit the vending machines."
"Li, where's the ice bucket?" Chris looked up from his spot on the floor, "I'll go get sodas and stuff."
"Umm..I don't know."
"I put it on the table," Randy mentioned then. "And unless it grew wings and flew away? It should still be there."
"Dawn? Where did you order from?" Lita sent a look to the brunette, "Vikki and Rey shoulda been back by now."
Dawn shrugged, "Considering how much I ordered? I figured it would take this long."
Lita rolled her eyes, "I don't know why you ordered that much, all we needed was pizza."
Dawn rolled her eyes right back, "Well maybe not all of us are interested in pizza."
Lita stuck out her tounge, "Prissy brat."
Dawn reached behind her, tossing a pillow. "Pig."
Lita ducked, Randy sticking the pillow behind his back. "Thanks."
Dawn scowled, "That's not fair. You two have almost all the pillows now."
Lita smirked, "So? You shouldn't have thrown that one."
"You two can share." Dawn lifted a brow, looking between the two.
"Nope, sorry..that's not an option." Lita tossed her hair, settling futher into the pillows.
Dawn opened her mouth to retort, but bit it back when the door was swung open. "Well..food's here."
"Next time you order this much?" Victoria began dryly from behind a tall stack of pizza boxes. "Go get it yourself."
"Where's the rest?"
"Right here," Rey huffed, a tall stack of take out containers in his arms. "And like she said? Get it yourself next time."
"Well soorry." Dawn rolled her eyes at the two, moving from the bed to peruse the food as it was set on the table. "Alright folks, this isn't a resturaunt so come get your food."
By the time Chris returned with everyone's beverages, the pizza boxes had been distributed; while the take out boxes took up residence with Dawn, Victoria and Torrie. Needless to say, Tyson took one pizza; John and Rey splitting an extra large. The third extra large was split between Rey and Chris while the all vegetarian ..minus the green pepersl was settled in front of the teddy bear. And by the time Stacy re-joined the group, she had news on their housing situation.
xxx
To everyone's relief, Stacy held off on letting them know about their options; the group at large eating in relative silence. And save for the television in the background, the hotel room was surprisingly quiet. By the time Stacy, Victoria, Torrie and Dawn finished off their pasta meals; two large pizzas, and the previous three extra large pizzas were gone. Chris had gone on another vending machine run, this time taking Cena with him to tote back all the drinks. The two had just returned when Stacy decided that she should bring up the information.
"Alright," Stacy began, wiping the corners of her mouth. "We've got a few options. So, listen up."
Chris and John tossed the requested sodas to those who had asked for them, and when they had resettled, Stacy continued.
"Surprisingly, there were three houses left for rent. I got us a discount on one of them, but here are the details." She cleared her throat, looking down at the notes she had scrawled on a magazine. "There's a three bedroom, that sleeps twelve. A four bedroom that also sleeps twelve, and a four bedroom, plus a sleeper sofa that sleeps fourteen." She looked up from her notes then, informing them all somewhat meekly, "The discount is on the three bedroom."
Dawn raised a brow, "What about your parents?"
"They'll be out of town, but my brother won't be." Stacy shrugged then, "So..here are our options. Take the three bedroom at a cheaper rate, one of the four bedrooms or stay at my place."
"Alright," Dawn sat forward, tucking her legs beneath her. "Let's take a vote..either way people are gonna hafta share sleeping space. It's just a matter of how many bedrooms we have to split."
"The three bedroom has a sleeper sofa in the living room too," Stacy put in then, "So really..they're all four bedrooms."
"Yeah, four bedrooms with potentially three people per room?" Lita lifted a brow, "I'm still not crazy about that."
Stacy could only shrug, "Well what else can we do?"
"We vote, that's what we do." Dawn shot the redheaded Diva a glare. "So, who's up for a four bedroom."
"I think the three bedroom would make the most sense," Torrie started before anyone could respond. "I mean yeah, living quarters might be a little cramped. But, we're all on a tight budget because of the holidays."
"And unless someone can convince McMahon to give us extra money or find us a bigger place?" Chris put in then, "I'd hafta agree with Torrie."
Dawn nodded, "So that's two for the three bedroom. Everyone else? Vote now or hold your peace."
Lita grumbled, she was the final one to have a say in it..and so far; everyone had voted in favor of the three bedroom. "I am not sleeping on the floor, that's all I have to say about this."
"Okay Stace, call that guy back." Dawn beamed to the long legged Diva, who in turn retreated back to the bathroom to finalize the arrangements. "And Li? You all will have plenty of space at least for one night. Remember? We still have Armageddon to do."
The redhead shrugged, "It'll still be cramped."
Dawn rolled her eyes, "It'll be two people per bed. That gives at least eight of us a suitable place to sleep. The other three can sleep on the floor in one of the rooms or we'll rotate."
"That makes me feel so much better," Lita drawled sardonically. "Really Dawn, I'm looking forward to it."
"Oh shut up, you cry baby." Dawn stuck out her tounge. "It's all we have to work with."
Lita snorted, "That doesn't mean I hafta like it."
Rey shook his head at the two, "Ladies please. Li? Dawn has a point. It's all we can do right now. So we'll just hafta make the most of it."
Eddie nodded in turn, wiggling his eyebrows at the two. "And besides..you can just think of it as one big sleepover. We can play strip poker!"
That comment got Eddie a pillow in the face, both Diva's glaring at Latino Heat. Eddie in turn, tossed the pillow back at the redhead; which ultimately started a pillow fight between those on the beds and those on the floor. The only pillow that wasn't used, was the pillow beneath Lita's ankle. And by the time all was said and done, half the pillows were being hoarded behind Chris and John. While the other half was divided between Lita and Dawn. Lita huffed, sweeping her hair from her face; a challenging brow sent to John and Chris. She then exchanged a look with Dawn, the brunette raising the pillow above her head while Lita handed her pillow over to Randy. And while Chris, John, Eddie and Rey expected to be hit by a barrage of pillows; Eddie, Chris and John got half melted ice cubes slipped down their shirts. And after her dirty work was done, the redhead sheilded herself behind the Legend Killer. And just as Stacy was exiting the bathroom, all of the pillows on the floor were now piled in front of Randy. The long legged Diva raised a brow at them all, noting then that Tyson had retreated to a chair to watch the festivities. Stacy only shook her head, settling back on the bed with Torrie, Victoria and Dawn. Stacy could only hope then, that this wasn't a sign of things to come.
Short-ish chapter, but I wanted to get it posted. Also, Booker will be replaced with someone else. I'm sorry if you all were expecting him to stick around. It's just .. another idea popped into mind. Have a safe and happy Holiday!