Did not realize it had been this long since I updated this story!
A/N: Attitude Era Chick, OMG! Melissa! I didn't even think about her! now you have me imaging Steph like that as well lol! So now she can either be Rebel or Melissa! I love when you guys have fun with the stories!
BTW, remember in like chapter 2 or 3 or something, how I mentioned I would purposely misspell words or italicize things whenever Tony or Frank is speaking to put emphasis on their thick accents? yeah, don't forget that lol.
At some point I stopped proofreading…just putting that out there.
"Oh my god! he did what!?"
"I know right!" I said as I smiled
"Does he have any friends? because I need a guy like that" Josie said as she started laughing
"He's just so perfect, and he makes me feel like a complete goddess"
"you're already one"
I smiled. "Thanks"
"So when are you guys going to finally do it? like if you could guess"
"I don't know, like I said earlier he wanted to take things slow and i'm fine with that but if he keeps kissing me the way he did last night…i'm not sure that i'm going to be able to contain myself."
"I don't blame you"
"We're going to the gym together today, maybe i'll be able to get it out of him or something"
"I sure hope so, I need the details when it happens."
I laughed. "Of course you'll be the first person that I tell"
"I better be or we're going to have a serious problem on our hands."
I laughed and stayed on the phone with Josie for at least another hour before we finally hung up. I started getting ready for the gym and had a huge smile on my face the entire drive over. I just couldn't wait to see him again, to touch him, to taste him, god was he an amazing kisser and I could sure go for another round. I pulled up and I saw Paul talking to Karen, for the first time they did not seem to be arguing, they were smiling and he gave her a hug and kissed her on the top of her forehead as she walked off. I have to admit I did not like seeing that at all because a bunch of thoughts started to run through my head. Were they getting back together? what did that kiss mean? have they been communicating more than usual? what did this mean for us? god I did not need to see that today, especially not after what happened last night. Then I couldn't help the thought that was currently running through my mind. Maybe he didn't want to sleep with me because he was sleeping with Karen. No, Stephanie, just no. Stop this, pull yourself together. I thought as I pulled into a parking spot. I just sat there for a moment trying to gather my thoughts when I heard a knock on the window which made me jump, I turned and saw that it was Paul, he had this huge smile on his face and he waved to me from the outside.
"Hey babe" I heard him say from behind the glass
"Hey" I said back as I grabbed my gym bag and opened the door.
He immediately hugged me and captured my lips with a kiss. I moaned the moment we made contact and I wrapped my arms around his waist as he slanted his mouth to deepen the kiss. It was apparent that I was not the only one that wanted more from last night, yeah, I could tell this whole taking things slow was not going to last very long, we just wanted each other too much.
"Mmm" he said as he pulled away "I missed you"
"You saw me last night"
"Doesn't mean I can't miss you" he said as he gave me a quick peck on the lips
I smiled.
"Did you miss me?"
"Yes" I said nodding my head "I did"
He placed one hand over his chest and looked stunned "Oh my god, Stephanie McMahon admitted that she missed me"
"Oh shut up" I said pulling back and breaking the embrace. I reached down and grabbed my gym bag that apparently slipped out of my hands sometime during the kiss.
Paul grabbed the bag from my hand and tossed it up on his shoulder. "Today is going to be a fun day"
I rolled my eyes. "Great, that means hard work, doesn't it?"
He smiled.
"I hate you" I said as I grabbed his hand and walked into the gym.
After I got warmed up Paul and I started to get deep into our workout, there was not much talking to be done, he would only say something when he was telling me how to do something or correcting me if I was wrong. I've learned that he's very serious when it comes to the gym and only speaks when necessary, but I was going to change that, if you're going to have me in here dying then you're going to speak to me.
"So, let me ask you question"
"Don't worry I'm not going to make you do anymore after this, next is-"
"No" Is aid cutting him off "It has nothing to do with the workout" I said as I continued to do my globet squats.
"Then what?" he asked as he titled his head to the side and folded his arms while raising a brow
"Karen"
"What about her?"
"Why was she here…and why did you kiss her on the head?"
"You saw that?" he said in a normal tone, as if he didn't care
"Yes"
"It was nothing"
"Really?"
"Yeah" he said nodding his head, "We were talking about Carter, and she told me something funny he did last night that's all."
"Oh"
"Yeah, and then she said she liked the fact that we're communicating better now and I agreed, we said a few more things and hugged and I just gave her a little kiss as I always do when we're on the same page, it meant nothing, not big deal" he said shrugging his shoulders
You always give her kiss? I thought to myself
"Did that make you uncomfortable or something?" he asked when I did not reply
"No." I said setting the weight back on the rack when I finished. "I was just curious, that's all"
"Good" he said as he kissed the top of my head "Because you'll never have anything to worry about when it comes to me"
"Good" I smiling up at him. "Hey look, it's the girls" He turned around and smiled and waved at my newly found friends. "I'm going to go over there and say hello"
"Alright, but don't stay too long, we still have a workout to finish"
"I know" I said rolling my eyes as I walked over and hugged each one of them. "Hey guys, how are you?"
"We're good" Sarah said as she began doing her stretches
"I'm good" Jas answered
"I'm fucking amazing, as always" Chloe said as she sat indian style on the bench
"Please…" Jas said as she held up her hand "get over yourself" Jas said
"Please..." Chloe said mocking her gesture "get over your jealously" Chloe answered back to which I laughed.
"Don't start this again" Sarah said as she shook her head. "The entire car ride over man" she said looking at me
"I'm not surprised" I said with a smile
"Hey Steph" Jas called out
"Yes?"
"Why don't people play poker in the jungle?"
"Oh god" Sarah said face palming herself
I chuckled knowing exactly where this was going. "I don't know Jas, why?"
"Because there's too many cheetahs"
I laughed. "I like that one"
"really?" Jas said smiling "Alright, how many lips do flowers have?"
"How many?"
"tulips"
I laughed again as I watched Sarah shake her head and Chloe roll her eyes.
"See, this is why i'm fucking amazing and they're not" Chloe said
"You're not amazing" Sarah said
"You're right, i'm not." Chloe said pausing for a minute "i'm fucking amazing"
I laughed. "You guys are a trip, I love being around you"
"Aw, we love being around you too, Steph" Sarah said smiling at me
"When you're not ditching us of course" Chloe added in
"Chloe!" Jas said shooting her a mean look
"Whaaat? we still don't know why she left us that night"
"Maybe because she doesn't want us to know" Sarah said
"It's fine" I said as I shifted my stance to the other side. "Long story short, saw an ex I had a terrible terrible relationship with, he was abusive, things ended badly, hadn't seen him in years until then and I just didn't know how to react"
Sarah placed her hand over her mouth before speaking. "Wow Steph, i'm so sorry, we didn't know"
"It's okay, i'm fine now" I said smiling
"My bad" Chloe said softly
"You're fine"
"I know I am" she said standing up and looking at herself in the mirror.
I laughed. "wow"
"That's what all the boys say" she said as she flipped her hair
"I. Literally. Cannot. Stand. This. Bitch." Jas said through clenched teeth
"Then sit the fuck down" Chloe said as she looked at Jas over her shoulder.
Sarah let out a deep sigh. "My fucking god they're worse than children"
"Don't worry babe, everything will be fine, alright? I promise"
"Okay" I said getting myself together. "I guess i'm just nervous, that's all"
"You're so cute when you're worried"
"Shut up" I said as I playfully punched him
"Aye, you seen that chick Paul's been working out with over der?" Tony asked as he and the other boys sat from across the room.
"Chick?" Frank said furrowing his brows "More like a full grown hen"
"you're such a jerk" Donnie said shaking his head
"Well i'm sorry, we all can't be pompous and snooty like you brits"
"We Brits are neither pompous nor snooty thanks" Donnie said proudly
"Just look at da way you fuckin talk" Frank said with his thick Brooklyn accent
"The way I talk? have you heard yourself?"
"Don't start you two" Tony replied
"Tony talks just like me! exactly like me and you say nothin ta him!"
"I like Tony, he's not an idiot" Donnie replied to which Tony chuckled
"Thanks" Tony said with a smirk
"What's going on over here?" Rico said as he walked over to his friends
"Debate about accents and what not" Chaz said before he got up and walked away
"I can only imagine" Rico replied as he sat down
"Okay, and this guy" Frank said pointing to Rico "You say absolutely nothin about da way he talks, yeah?"
"That's because my accent is beautiful" Rico said smiling
"whateva" Frank said waving him off
"It's true, women love the way I talk"
"Back to what I was asking earlier, who is that chick Paul has been around all day? he's barely talked to us" Tony said
"I have no idea" Rico replied, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Chaz talking to her and Paul "We can ask Chaz when he comes back over here"
"If she doesn't eat him first" Frank joked
"Fuck off, for all you know she could be like a model or some-en" Tony said
"What the fuck does she model then? car covers?" Frank said as Rico silently laughed to himself
"Stop being a fuckin' dick will ya?" Tony said as he pushed Frank
"Hey look, they're coming" Donnie pointed out
"Well no fuckin shit sherlock" Frank said rolling his eyes "I hope she eats you first"
"Knock it off Frank" Tony warned
"I'm nervous Paul, what if they don't like me?" I questioned as we got closer
"they'll love you" Chaz chimed in "They're all nice guys, Frank's a bit of a horse's dick, but other than that he's a good guy"
"wow" I said raising my brows
"Don't worry about it" Paul said patting me on the back "You'll love them and they'll love you or i'll kick their ass" he said with a smile "Hey guys" he said once we arrived over there, which to me felt like an eternity, that had to be the longest, shortest walk ever. I guess because I was nervous, after all, meeting a guy's friends is serious business, it's up there with meeting his family. He's introducing you to people who are apart of his everyday life and I view that as a very big deal and taking a very big step in terms of our relationship.
"Aye yo" Frank answered back
"So i'm going to cut to the chase, this here is Stephanie" he said wrapping his arm around my shoulders
"New client? nice ta meet cha" Frank said shaking my hand very quickly before turning back around
"No, Frank, she's my girlfriend"
Donnie raised both of his eyebrows and titled his head, while Tony offered me a warm smile and Rico did the same but it seemed a little forced.
"Well, hello there, how do you do? i'm Donnie" he said offering his hand to which I shook
"And he talks like a fucking idiot" Frank said rolling his eyes "I'm Frank, Franky, Franko whateva you wanna call me, once again, nice ta meet cha"
"I love your accent"
"SEE! I told you women loved da way the Franksta speaks"
I chuckled. "I was talking to Donnie, actually"
"Oooooh, buuuuuurn" Rico teased
"I like yours too" I said looking at Rico
"Burn times two"
"Fuck off" Frank said rolling his eyes
"Hi, I'm Rico" he said shaking my hand
"And i'm Tony," he said getting up to shake my hand "very nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you as well" I said smiling as I shook his hand "are you and Frank from the same place?"
"Sadly" Tony said to which we all chuckled.
"Whateva, anyway, we all come from all parts of the world. Tony and I come from the greatest city eva! The big B, Brooklyn N.Y.C baby" Frank said proudly before looking over at Donnie "shit faced Donnie as you know comes from that hell hole England where they still believe in havin' damn kings and queens and shit."
Donnie rolled his eyes.
"Chaz is from…somewhere"
"I'm Italian" He said looking at me "just like Frank, except I don't sound like i'm apart of the mafia."
Frank rolled his eyes as he ignored Chaz, "And our boy Rico here is from Mexico"
Rico rolled his eyes and signed. "For the last time, i'm from fucking Puerto Rico! my god man, it has my name in it! why is it so hard for you to remember that?"
"So as I was saying, Rico is from Spain and-" We all erupted with laughter, even Rico who couldn't help himself at this point. I stood there quietly and just watched them all talk and interact with one another and with Paul, they were a fun bunch and I could tell I was really going to like these guys and i'm glad I finally got to meet them.
"Is Donnie gay?" I asked bluntly as I continued doing my lat pull downs
"What?" Paul replied as he gave me a stunned "Why…why would you think that?"
"He's just…different, that's all"
"What do you mean different?"
"Has he always been that flamboyant?"
"I wouldn't call it flamboyant, he's just very metrosexual, cares about the way he looks and speaks, but i've met his entire family and all the men with the exception of like three are that way, they just carry themselves in a very dignified manner. But I tell ya what, he always pulled the hottest chicks"
"Oh, it was just something I wondered I said as I finished my workout "Is that all for today?"
"Yep" he said nodding "Tomorrow will be a tad more intense but we're going to finish it up with some cardio"
"Great" I said sarcastically as I walked towards the vending machine to get a bottle of water
"I bet you feel like shit huh Frank? talking all that crap about Steph the other day only to find out that she's a nice gurl" Tony said as he watched Stephanie walk over to the vending machine
"Aye, Aye, I didn't know he was with ha, iight? but yeah, she's cool people, I like ha"
"That's why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover" Donnie said as he picked at his fingernails
"Exactly" Rico agreed
"Shut uuuup" Frank said getting annoyed
"Well, you were wrong, Steph is awesome." Chaz said as he placed the weight back on the rack
"Look" Frank said turning around to face the boys "She's a wonderful gal, beautiful and intelligent, and I regret what I said, now leave it"
"What was said?" Paul said as he emerged from out of nowhere. Everyone looked at Paul and then at Frank
"Just…look, it's not important iight? all dats important is dat your happy, yeah? and she's a nice gurl and I like ha. My apologies"
Paul stared his friend up and down and he wanted to say something but decided against it, he rather not know what Frank said and just keep the peace than have to beat the shit out of one of his best friends. "Fair enough" he said when he finally spoke.
"Where ya going?" Frank asked as he watched Paul turn around
"Over to my girlfriend" Paul said with a little bass and malice in his voice, it was clear that he was upset to find out his friend had been talking about his girlfriend, and knowing Frank, Paul knew he probably said some things that were the lowest of the low and it was just best that he walked away.
"Damn, I wanted to see Frank get his ass kicked" Chaz joked
"I second that" Donnie said raising his hand
"Alright, you ready for cardio?"
Fuck no. I thought to myself "Yes, just let me refill my water bottle" I said as I hurried over to the water fountain, my water bottle was full, I was just avoiding doing cardio for as long as possible.
"Hello, Stephanie" I heard a familiar voice say
"Hey" I said as I turned around with a smile "How are you?"
"I'm great" Donnie said as he leaned against the vending machine "If you're trying to avoid Paul, don't let him see you pretending to fill your water bottle" he said chuckling. That's when I noticed that he was purposely leaning up against the machine to hide Paul's view of me incase he glanced over her.
"Oh my god" I said covering my mouth "thank you so much"
Donnie laughed. "We do it all the time for people"
"God I love your accent" I said as I took a few sips from my water bottle
He chuckled and then looked at me with a large grin on his face. "Do you love it as much as you love thinking i'm gay?"
At this I had to turn my head to stop myself from spitting water all over Donnie. What the hell? how did he know that I thought that…did, did Paul tell him that? oh no, I hope he's not offended.
Donnie covered his mouth with his hand as his shoulders shook uncontrollably as he laughed. "Are you alright?" he asked
"Yes, i'm fine…I…Donnie…i'm so sorry…I"
He put his hand up to stop me. "You're fine, you're not the first" he said folding his arms as he leaned up against the machine again "And it's okay, I understand why, I'm not the most 'manly'" he said making air quotes "of my group, so I get it"
"Donnie if i've offended you-"
"You haven't" he said smiling "I just care more than others about certain things. I rather be well groomed than have a bush on my face and yes, I enjoy the occasional mani/pedi, but I cannot help that I like to look nice" he said chuckling "I raised to care"
"Did Paul.."
"No" he said shaking his head "I overheard you ask him yesterday"
My god this is embarrassing.
"Don't be embarrassed" he said, as if he read my mind. "You're not the first to assume that and you certainly will not be the last, but no, I am not gay. I am happily married with a beautiful wife and three children"
"My god you're on a roll" I said "Paul never told me that part"
He laughed. "Because Paul, like the others, can be a dumbass"
"Normally I would defend my man, but since he plans on killing me today, call him whatever you like"
Donnie let out a small chuckle and offered me a warm smile. "I like you Stephanie, we all do"
It was my turn to smile like the cheshire cat, "Thank you, I like you guys too"
"Hey" Paul said as he walked over "are you guys still trying to hide people from me? I thought I told you guys to stop that" Paul said placing his hands on his hips.
"My apologies" Donnie said as he placed his hand over his mouth and snickered to himself
"And you" he said stepping in front of me "you know we're supposed to be out on hat trail today"
I couldn't hold back my laughter as I watch Donnie mock Paul from behind, he had his mannerisms and gestures down to a T.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he turned around and almost caught Donnie mid act.
"Oh nothing" he said as he patted me on the shoulder "good luck Steph"
"Thanks" I said as we watched him walk away "I love your friends"
"Good, one of us has to" he said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we headed out the door.
"Come on Steph, you got it, it won't take us much longer to reach the top"
"I can't" I said panting
"No, you got to Steph, the moment you start to give up is the moment when you'll start to fail. You got to keep going, no one has ever gotten where they are by sitting on their ass."
"I was perfectly fine with sitting on mine" I said out of breath as I bent over and held onto my knees
"and now look at you" he said
I looked up, I was little shocked that he said it so bluntly, I didnt realize it but I was almost on the verge of tears falling down my face.
"Nope. There will be none of that, suck it up now" he said to me "You wanted me to treat you like I treat the others I train and this is how I am. I'm not going to go soft on you because you're my girlfriend, the exact opposite actually, i'm going to be way tougher because I know your potential. But I can't convince you of that unless you start to see it first"
I sighed and nodded my head, he was right, no one was going to do this for me but me, if I wanted change it could only start with me. "Alright" I said standing up straight. "Lets go"
Paul smiled. "That's what I want to hear"
As we got higher and higher up on the trail, I was feeling a littler more motivated each time, I mean I was going at a relatively low speed, but I was going nonetheless, and what made me even happier as that I saw a bench near by and Paul promised we could stop the next one….but he also promised that at the other three benches we passed.
"Almost there babe, after we pass that sign we'll only have a little bit more to go to get to the top"
"I just want to make it to the bench" I said, not taking my eyes off of it
He chuckled. "You and these benches"
As we got closer, I felt even more motivated knowing I was going to get to sit down soon, I actually caught myself sprinting a little bit to get to the bench.
"Woah, watch out now, look at her go" Paul teased from behind me
"Fuck off" I said as continued at my more quickened pace, just as I was feeling better about myself, a group of girls ran by me, and of all the girls in the world, it had to be the group of girls I met went I first started coming to the gym with Paul. The girl's that Sarah used to hang out with, they all glanced over at me as they passed me and started laughing and shaking their heads, they said nothing but their laughter spoke for them as I watched them speed up even more. All of my motivation, everything that i've been working so hard for just up and gone in the few small seconds that I saw them. They brought it all back, every mean thing that they said about me that day came rushing into my head, I just couldn't go on anymore, I stopped dead in my tracks and just stood there until Paul jogged up next to me.
"Hey we got….Steph" he said as he walked in front of me "Baby what's wrong?"
"I…I…can't do this shit Paul, I just can't, okay! look at me! fucking looking at me! this isn't for me, I want to go home"
"Hey didn't I say-"
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU SAID!" I screamed "I WANT TO GO HOME NOW!"
I could tell I stunned him, as he backed away a step or two, but he didn't have a look of judgment or anger on his face, it was very relaxed, understanding, and sympathetic. He turned around as he heard the other girls laugh again, clearly they didn't keep going, they got a little ahead of me and just turned around to watch their handiwork. Paul said nothing as he turned around and walked up the hill towards them, I couldn't hear or make out anything that he said from where I was standing.
"Paul, so good to see y-" one was about to say when she was cut off
"Shut the fuck up you ignorant bitch." All their mouths dropped open as they were shocked to hear what Paul just said, he was always so nice and soft spoken in the gym. "Now listen here and you listen good, that woman down there, who happens to be my girlfriend, that you're making fun of is working her fucking ass off to make a better life for herself and you three ignorant fucks are sitting up here making fun of her. What is this shit? high school? grow the fuck up. She thinks that looking like you would make her a better person, but she's wrong, she doesn't look like any of you and she's already a better person than the three of you combined. She has more heart and soul in one strand of hair than either of you idiots do in your entire body. You think you're so damn good looking because you're smaller, but guess what? you're not, none of you. You are actually average at most, and that's why I never paid any attention to you, and why the fuck would I want someone who depends on their damn daddy's for everything that they need? I've heard all of you speak, you can barely put a sentence together and you have the balls to try and put someone else down. Being rich and having a cute face with an average body does not make you the creme of the crop, so get over yourselves, and stop wearing so much damn make up, you all look like fucking clowns." Paul said as he turned around "Oh, and one more thing" he said as he glanced over his shoulder "Don't ever step another fucking foot back into my gym again" he said as walked away, leaving them stunned.
When Paul returned I was still standing in my same spot, I hadn't moved an inch, what would be the point anyway? I just wanted to go home and lay down in my bed. "Come here" Paul said as he grabbed my hand and walked me over to the bench "hey look at me" Paul said gripping my shoulders as we sat down on the bench "just let me be honest with you, you see them?" he said pointing to them as I watched them walk away, one looked as if she was crying. "Body wise, you'll never be be them alright? never. Not because you can't do it, but because that's not you period. You're not one of them Stephanie, not in here" he said pointing to my heart "and you've never wanted to be. You told me from day one you were not trying to be skinny, that you just wanted to get in good shape, I believe you on that. I don't think for one second you want to look like then, you could never be someone you've always despised"
"But that was just me putting on a front Paul"
"No it wasn't, yes, deep down you've always wanted the physical aspect, but you don't want to be like them."
"How would you know?" I said rolling my eyes
"because I know you"
"no you don't" I said getting up
"I know you enough to say that if you didn't want this, you wouldn't be out here"
"okay" I said shrugging "I do want this, but I also want to be them, I want their body, I just always pretended that I didn't. I want to be them, I want to be Karen, I want to be Sarah and Chloe and Jas, and Josie and every other person with an amazing body. I want to be the skinny bitches on tv, alright? I do, I fucking do and I just pretended that I didn't because it made me feel better."
Paul said nothing as he stood up and walked over and embraced me, at this point I just let the tears flow freely, I didn't care anymore, I had lost all hope at this point. "If that's what you want, I'll get you there" Paul said when he finally spoke "but you won't get there standing here"
"You're right" I said nodding my head "So let's finish this fucking thing" I said looking up at him
He smiled and took his thumbs and wiped away my tears, he kissed the top of my head and then he kissed my lips. "That's my girl" he said as he grabbed my hand "We'll finish this last part together"
I smiled. "Together" I repeated as he we headed up the steep hill together
"And as a treat for getting this far, once we reach the top I won't make us walk by down, we can take the gondola lift back down"
I looked up at him and the biggest smile spread across my face. "Oh hell yeah!" I said as I took off running
"Hey wait! I thought we were doing this together!"
"Fuck that! If i'm getting a free ride i'm about to put on my best Usain Bolt impression to get up this hill" I called back as I continued running
Paul chuckled as took off after me, and the more I ran, the faster I became and in that small moment, I realized that one day all of this was going to pay off and with Paul's help, that one day would come sooner than later and that left a huge smile on my face.
"Wait for meeeee!" I heard Paul call out, but I didn't stop, I couldn't stop, I've come to far, not only on this hill, but in my life to stop now.
3 updates in the same week, i'm on a roll! Leave reviews :)))