A/N - Continuing my recent roll of updates, here's the next one lol. Enjoy guys!

Shane hobbled down the corridor, his leg thumping in agony. He took a deep breath, stopping for a moment before continuing on. Why in the hell had he agreed to that damn match last week? He was a McMahon for God's sake; he didn't have to prove anything to anybody. But despite that, he did it anyway. A slow smile spread across his face however when he remembered the only good thing to come out of it. Trish had been all over him the second he got to the back. He had laid it on thick, making sure that she knew he was in pain and practically guaranteeing she stay and help him. That's exactly what she did, walking him to his hotel room and even coming inside. He seriously thought he struck lucky when she ordered him right to bed. His face fell at the memory. Nothing happened that night. Well, nothing outside of some seriously heavy making out. Their little relationship had finally progressed to the level of physical contact and he liked it. Kissing her had felt so damn good and he swore it was a miracle that he didn't just throw her on the bed and fuck her right there. A frustrated groan escaped from his parted lips. If they didn't sleep together soon he was going to lose it. When she had pulled away from him and pushed him back onto the bed only to yank the covers up around him and kiss him on the forehead, he almost had lost it. He thought she was getting in with him. But no, she was too worried to go any further in case she hurt him so she kissed him good night and went on her way. That was a week ago. They had talked on the phone a few times but hadn't actually seen each other since. Until now of course. His eyes scanned the backstage halls of the arena as he walked through them, nodding and smiling at the various guys he saw along the way. Spotting Andrew Martin off in the corner, he made his way across then came to a stop. "Martin. Have you seen, Trish?"

"Stratus?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes, Trish Stratus. How many other Trish's do we have walking around here, huh?"

"I think she's uhhhh, down in the ring, Shane," Andrew replied, holding back his scoff. Shane could really be a dick when he wanted to be.

Shane didn't even bother giving a reply, instead just brushing past the other man and making his way to the gorilla. Cautiously avoiding his father, he ducked behind a group of techs huddled just in front of the black curtain and then quickly stepped out into the empty arena. A few more techs were working over near the hard camera and two people were in the ring in the middle of some sort of hold. As he walked closer he felt his blood begin to boil. His fists clenched tightly to his sides and he couldn't stop the glare from crossing his face as he watched his God damn brother-in-law flip Trish over his hip and to the mat, dropping down with her and locking her head in a headlock. He seriously wanted to know what the fuck it was with Paul. More and more he was finding that he couldn't stand the guy, not when he seemed to spend every fucking second with Trish. The sound of their laughter interrupted his thoughts and he looked up, watching as Paul got to his feet and extended a hand to his fallen blonde friend on the floor. She gladly accepted and let him pull her up. She beamed at him, truly happy at the fact that he was so willing to help her out before shows and just happy in general to be spending time with him.

"Nice bumping," Paul said with a grin when he caught sight of Shane standing on the outside. His smile grew wider and he motioned for the other man to join them. "Shano! How's it going man? You here to get some ring time too?" he teased knowing full well why he was there.

"I got enough ring time last week thank you very much," Shane said seriously. That was the last time he was doing anything like that for a while, possibly ever.

Paul laughed and took a sip of his water. "I saw your match, man. It wasn't pretty. I don't blame you for having enough," he said genuinely. The match had been tough.

Shane tried not to scowl. What exactly was he getting at? That he couldn't hang because he wasn't one of the boys? Fuck him. He cleared his throat and looked to the reason why he had come down there in the first place. "Hey," he smiled at her and immediately grinned as he saw her expression soften.

"Hey," Trish smiled back at him. They hadn't seen each other in a week and she had to admit, she did get a little flutter in her chest when she saw him just now. He looked good in his dark grey suit.

Paul looked between the pair of them and shook his head, nothing like being the third wheel. "I think I'll go and….do something other than stand here and interrupt you guys," he teased, jumping out of the way of Trish's approaching hand. He stuck out his tongue and gave her a wink as he climbed through the ropes.

"You still up for that submission session we talked about?" she asked hopefully. While she wanted to spend time with Shane, she didn't want Paul to leave. They had been having a pretty fun time in the ring while he taught her and they practiced moves. She looked between the two men and let out a soft sigh.

"Oh sure," Paul nodded. "If we don't get time at one of the house shows then we'll just book the ring next week before Raw. Sound good?"

She nodded her head and gently gave his arm a little squeeze. "Perfect. See you later!"

Shane felt invisible as he just stood there watching them talk to each other. He absolutely fucking hated the look in her eyes as she interacted with him. He hated it and swore that there was more between them than met the eye, at least on her part anyway. His earlier anger from before bubbled to the surface as Paul walked past him, patting him on the shoulder and smirking before he headed on up the ramp and finally left them alone. He didn't know it but he was glaring after the other man, at least for a few moments until the sound of her voice pulled him back. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said how are you feeling," Trish asked, a curious look on her face. If she wasn't mistaken, Shane had been shooting daggers at Paul just now. But when he turned around and beamed in her direction, she quickly shook it off and smiled back.

"I'm fine! Leg's still a little sore but it's going away. How are you? Getting in some practice before the show, huh?" he asked, almost through gritted teeth. He walked closer and offered her his hand as she stepped through the bottom rope and then hopped to the floor.

She leaned back against the ring apron and couldn't help but smile proudly. "Practice makes perfect. The ring was free so I decided to come down and get some time. Your brother-in-law was free too so I asked him to come help. Don't ever tell him but he's a pretty darn good teacher. I owe a lot of my development in the ring to him." That was the truth. Paul had been one of the guys, along with a few others, who had really helped her out over these past few years. It's how they became friends in the first place, a few years back when he had helped train her, Amy and Stephanie during their little feud.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him," Shane faked a laugh. "We don't need his ego getting any bigger than it already is!" Once again they were talking about Saint Paul. He glanced at the floor for a second, took a deep breath and then looked her in the eye, his expression growing gentle. Time to get that fucker off his mind and move on to more important things. He reached out and took her hand into his, softly stroking her knuckles. "I missed you, you know."

Trish ducked her head in an attempt to hide her blushing cheeks. Shane reached for her chin and raised her head as he leaned down and pressed a light kiss on her supple and waiting lips. When he pulled away her big brown eyes were staring at him in slight shock.

"I'm sorry but I just couldn't help myself. Lately all I want to do is kiss you," he said as sincerely as he could manage. Her gaze grew soft and he instantly knew that he had won her over as she sidled closer to him.

"Shane…." she trailed off, not really knowing what to say. But there was one thing she did know and that was the fact that with every day that passed, with every phone call and with every kiss, they were growing closer. They stood in a comfortable silence and locked in each other's gaze for a few moments before breaking into gentle laughter. Trish looked around her and quickly realized that they were standing just in front of the ring in plain sight of everybody. Suddenly feeling terribly self-conscious, she took a step back and put some distance between them and immediately felt terrible at the confused expression that crossed his face. "I'm sorry. It's just that, well, I was hoping to keep things…discreet between us. I don't want our relationship becoming the new hot topic of discussion in the locker room." She was expecting him to maybe feel a little hurt or to at the very least look serious but his smiling face made her frown in confusion. "What?"

"Relationship? You see us in a relationship now?" he asked and delighted in the little smile that crossed her face.

"Well don't you?"

Shane took her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze and then let go again. "I do now. I just wasn't aware you wanted to be this serious. I'm really glad you are." They once again fell into a comfortable silence before he shook his head slightly and motioned up the ramp. "So, you have some free time? Maybe we could go for some lunch?"

"I'd like that," she smiled and they both made for the ramp, Trish, feeling excited and happy at the fact that they had just become even closer than they were before and Shane absolutely loving the fact that they were now in a relationship. It was only a matter of time.