AN: Not proof read. Sorry for the long wait. Busy busy. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

At the house show, Katrina did her job as usual. She had to admit, since she'd made her mind up to get Randy back, she'd been a bit more settled within herself.

She hadn't expected Jeff to turn her down, but what the hey, they were only clothes, right? She could work it out. It was a good thing she hadn't launched into an explanation of her whole plan, because he would have completely blown up.

She was walking towards Catering where Jeff had said he'd wait for her when she saw Adam coming up the hallway. He had a Diva on each arm, whispering something to them as they giggled like idiots. What was it with these Divas and giggling? Was that what guys looked for in a girl? She had to have some sort of ability to giggle at will at whatever stupid things they said?

Would she need to learn to giggle?

The very thought of it made her shiver in revulsion. There was only so much she was willing to do.

As the trio came closer she smiled up at Adam but the man didn't even notice her. They walked past her without even acknowledging her presence and she frowned as she watched them enter a dressing room just behind her.

Was she invisible again?

She'd had to wear her normal work gear – black jeans, black WWE t-shirt and her usual woollen hat – and so far, no one had even talked to her. It just proved her point, really. Unless she was all beautiful and dressed up, these superficial, materialistic people wouldn't look twice at her.

But if Adam hadn't even looked twice at her just then, what hope did she have of fitting him in her plans? Maybe John would play the role better. He and Randy spent more time together, anyway, as they were on the same show, so John would probably be her best bet.

And she was having second thoughts about the plan, anyway. How would she pretend to like anyone long enough to actually play 'girlfriend'? And her plan included a lot of touching and kissing. Besides Randy, she hadn't ever willing let anyone do that to her. Would she be able to pull it off? It was vital that she did. The moment Randy saw holes in her new 'relationship' he'd see straight away what game she was playing, he wasn't stupid. Then he wouldn't become jealous. When his friend called him or met up with him and told him what a wonderful girlfriend she was, he'd just laugh in his face. Then she'd probably lose him for good and look like a dick in the process.

"Hey, Kitty. You ready?"

She looked up to see Jeff leaning against the door frame of the room where they'd set Catering up.

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

She didn't even bother putting a fake smile on her face. Jeff always read her well; it would have been a wasted effort.

"You don't want to know," she muttered. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Jeff just sighed and put his arm around her shoulders as they started walking out of the arena.

"Matt and Shane are meeting us at the bar. I told them you wouldn't mind."

She had to use all her will power to stop herself from saying something nasty. She'd just wanted to let her hair down for one night with the only person she considered her friend. With Shane and Matt coming along, she'd have her back up all night.

Unless they went somewhere with a lot of loud music, where meaningful conversation was out of the question.

"Of course I don't mind," she said instead. "But I kinda feel like clubbing instead. The bar at our hotel looked lame; I don't think I'd enjoy it there."

"Clubbing it is, then," Jeff said as they got to her rental car. "Want me to drive?"

"Sure."

The hotel was only a few blocks away so before long, she was walking with him towards the elevators. A few people walked out, including that pretty man who'd asked her out before, the Latina and Dolph.

She smiled, her mood lifted for a moment as the bleach blonde met her gaze.

"Hi," she smiled as him. "Going somewhere nice?"

Dolph looked away but his friends didn't notice his irritation.

"We're just heading to a club in town. Wanna come with?" the Latina asked. "You did promise."

"Yeah. It'll be good fun," the pretty man added.

"Tell you what. We'll meet you where ever you're going if you promise to come out with me tomorrow night. I made plans with other people and I'm supposed to bring a few friends," she said, thinking on her feet.

"Deal," the woman said. "Jeff, you have my number, right? Call us when you're ready and we'll tell you where we are."

"Cool," Jeff said.

"See you later, Dolph," she sang, as they entered the elevator.

"Wow," Jeff said once the doors were closed.

"What?"

"You just had a real conversation with real people," he chuckled.

"Because Dolph was there," she laughed.

"For a moment there I thought you'd say it was because you're a changed person."

"I am," she said as the doors opened on their floor.

Jeff grunted his disbelief and she scowled at him.

"Listen," she said. "You're the one who's always on me to make friends with your friends. Now I'm making an effort, you're knocking me for it?"

"Because I know the reason you're doing it, and it's completely wrong."

"Are we really going to do this again?" she sighed as Jeff opened the door to their room.

"Kitty Kat... I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well, I'm hurting right now," she hissed, turning away from him because she'd already revealed too much. "How are you going to make that stop, Jeff? How are you going to stop what goes through my head at the thought of never being with Randy again?"

He came up behind her and put his arms around her, gently drawing her into the secure warmth of his body.

"I didn't know you'd fallen in love with him," he whispered. "I wish I'd tried harder to stop it."

"Don't," she whispered back. "Don't tell me he's not good for me. I wish I didn't feel this way, believe me. But I can't help it, Jeff."

She'd probably revealed more to him that day than she had the whole time she'd known him. But Orton had made her this way; all needy and shit. She needed to snap out of it and get her shit together. Her plan wouldn't work if she kept falling apart when anybody mentioned his name.

Jeff kissed the top of her head and squeezed her.

"Enough of this bullshit. Are you going to help me pick an outfit out or what?" she asked.

Tonight would be a trial run. She had to see if she could actually do 'bubbly, perky and fun' all night without the aid of alcohol, seeing as she needed a clear head throughout to make sure her plan worked. It was a given she could be all friendly once she was drunk, she'd proved it enough times over the past few weeks. But now she had to learn to be like that while she was sober.

Before long, she had showered and was dressed in dark blue skinny jeans that hung too low on her hips for her liking and light blue, very revealing little tie-back top. She hoped Steph hadn't spent too much money on the top because there was hardly anything to it. But she'd looked at the label and known it probably cost more than she'd ever spent on anything in her life. When she wore little tops like that she usually threw a hoody on top. She had no idea why other women chose to expose their bodies like this, she felt completely naked. But she reminded herself it was all for a good cause.

Strappy, very high heels completed the outfit. She was glad she'd learnt to walk in those things in her previous life, otherwise she'd have been falling on her face all night.

"What do you think?" she asked, standing in front of the floor to ceiling mirrors of the built-in wardrobe.

"You look gorgeous," Jeff said.

She frowned as she met his eyes in the mirror.

"You don't sound too happy about that," she said.

Jeff sighed and came to stand behind her, putting his arms around her stomach and pulling her back against him.

"Promise me one thing," he said, his eyes still locked on hers in the mirror.

"What?"

"That you'll always be real with me," Jeff said. "I won't be able to stand it if you pretend to be someone else when you're with me."

She smiled at him.

"That's an easy one. I'm always myself with you, Jeff. You make it easy."

"Good. Coz everything's easier for me when I'm with you, too," he smiled back, kissing the top of her head.

He held her a while longer before stating, "I love this outfit. The colour brings out your beautiful eyes."

She wasn't so sure. Her eyes looked as dead as they always were. But Jeff was an artist; he saw things other people didn't, so she was going to take his word for it.

"They look more silver than gray tonight. So fascinating..."

She chuckled.

"I think we better get going before you pull your sketch pad and paints out," she laughed, leaving his arms to grab a little designer handbag that Jeff had said went with her outfit.

A handbag! She preferred back packs, or just stuffing her wallet in her pockets, but things had to change now. Maria would probably never be seen dead without a stylish handbag.

"Come on, gorgeous. I need a drink," she said, pulling him out of the door.

They walked down to the lobby, her arm linked through his and met Matt and Shane by the doors.

"You look beautiful, Katrina," Matt said.

Oh God! Did she have to answer him? She was afraid if she opened her mouth, terrible things would come out.

She chose to smile instead as she was led to a waiting taxi.

"You promised," Jeff whispered as he sat down next to her. "Please. Just be yourself."

Trust Jeff to notice something like that.

"You're saying you'd rather I insult your brother?"

"I'd rather you two be friends, but not this way, not when you're pretending. You said you wouldn't do that when I'm with you."

She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'll stop pretending."

For tonight, anyway.

And it wasn't as if Randy was going to be there to see her, anyway. As long as she showed her face and at least made a good enough impression on Melina – Jeff had told her the woman's name – and her friends for them to go out with her the following night, it didn't really matter what she said to Jeff's brother and his friend.

As for Adam or John, she'd had to pretend to like men who'd been less than pleasing to the eye for most of her childhood. She was sure that when the time came, she'd be able the muster up the strength to pretend to like their touch, too.


She really hadn't intended to drink so much. But all these weird people had kept coming up to her, making it harder and harder for her to play nice.

Like when some idiot man with a lisp had come up to her and introduced himself as the 'Two time, two time, All American American'. She'd looked at Jeff to silently ask if the man was for real before bursting into a fit of laughter and declaring she needed a strong drink.

"Jack Swagger," the man had insisted, smiling at her as he'd extended his hand.

"Thwagger?" she'd chuckled.

"I get that a lot. Can I buy you that drink, then?" he'd asked.

"Sorry. I don't think I can pretend to like you," she'd replied, earning a chuckle from Jeff as he'd placed a glass of whiskey on the rocks in front of her.

It hadn't stopped there. The men had come at her from all directions, in all shapes and sizes and the more she'd drunk, the funnier it seemed.

"I can't believe the nerve of those men. Can't they see I'm with Dolph," she laughed as she put her arm around the man and pulled him closer.

"Maybe they can tell I'm only sitting here under duress," Dolph said as he extracted himself and moved to sit next to Melina instead.

"Oh, don't be like that, Dolph. I thought we were friends," she laughed again.

"Don't worry, babe. You still have me," Jeff said as he pulled her back to sit next to him in the booth. "I'd never treat you the way Dolph is doing."

"You'd think I'd done something really mean to him or something, yet everyone who knows me would tell you what a ray of fucking sunshine I am," she said, after which both her and Jeff burst out laughing.

"You two really look good together," Melina commented.

"Thank you Melina," she said with a straight face. "I've tried to tell the man the same thing but he just says weird things like 'oh, I got a girlfriend and I love her very much.' I have to give up now. Maybe I'll move on to Shane."

"I've already said I'm more awesome than the Hardys put together," Shane laughed.

"Well, get me another drink and we'll talk."

So the drinks had kept on coming and she'd found herself enjoying herself more and more. She even let herself into being talked into a dance by the pretty boy, John.


Jeff watched his friend whine around Morrison and smiled.

"Is she still pretending?" Matt asked.

"No. She's halfway drunk," he chuckled.

"She's real funny," Shane said. "I still don't see why you said she's a cold one."

"Did you hear the way she blew MVP off?" Matt laughed.

They all laughed as they thought back. Yes, she'd been really cold to start off with, though Jeff thought she'd still been milder than normal, still trying to pretend. But the alcohol had kicked in now, he knew the last thing on her mind was keeping an emotional distance with everyone.

"Melina's right though," Shane said. "You two do look good together. I don't know what it is, but I can tell she's completely at ease with you; and you... you seem... happier, maybe? I don't know if that's the word coz I know you're happy, anyway."

"Well, keep thoughts like that to yourself. The last thing I want is for Angie to get something like that in her head," he grumbled as he drowned his drink.

"You really do have a girlfriend?" Melina questioned.

"Yeah, she was just pulling your leg before. We're just good friends," Jeff explained. "She's like my little sister, I've never even thought about her like that."

"Why is she like that with me, though?" Dolph asked.

"She likes you. Really," Jeff smiled.

And he knew that was true, to some fashion. Dolph had been the only one he'd seen so far who she'd intentionally touched and smiled at without being drunk, even if her intentions weren't very nice.

Dolph grunted his disbelief and ordered another drink.

"Jeff," Matt said in hushed tones, nudging him. "Look who's just walked in."

His eyes followed his brother's to see Randy walking in with his new fiancé and his friends, Adam and John. His eyes narrowed. He really wanted a chance to get his hands on the dick, but he knew now wasn't the time.

"You think we should get her out of here?" he asked his brother.

"Look at her. She looks happy. She looks like she's over him. I think it'll do her a bit of good, staying a while longer," Matt said. "Maybe this plan of hers isn't so bad. She looks amazing and most of the men in here are staring at her. She could have a new boyfriend by the end of the night if she wanted, and Randy can only watch. Just think what will be going through his head when he sees her."

"Yeah, but what will she do when she sees him? What if she throws herself at him? Or what if she breaks down, right there in the middle of the dancefloor? I can't let her do that to herself."

Finishing his drink, he got up and walked towards the happy couple.

"May I cut in?" he asked Morrison.

"Sure. I don't think my poor heart can handle any more of her lethal moves tonight," John teased as he dropped a kiss on Kat's cheek and backed away.

"Hey, dude," Kat smiled.

"Hey, dude," he replied just as a slow song started playing.

"Were you getting jealous?" she teased as she moved into his arms without even a second thought.

"Yes. Seems I got here in time, too," he laughed as he held her as close as she'd get and started moving to the music.

He knew she hadn't noticed Randy yet; he just hoped that once she did, she'd follow his lead and pretend not to give a fuck. If she couldn't, at least he'd be able to get her off the dancefloor and out the door without making a scene, as Morrison would surely have done if she'd just frozen in his arms or something.

"This is nice," she said. "I'm glad I came out tonight. I'm glad you're here. I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, Kitty Kat." He smiled down at her before dropping a kiss on her head.


"I'm not suggesting he's cheating on Angie, but have you ever seen him like this with anyone?" Shane asked.

Matt sipped his drink as he watched his brother and Katrina moving slowly on the dancefloor. He still couldn't put his finger on what changed in Jeff when he was around Kat, but there was no denying that he did change.

"No. I haven't," he answered. "But maybe that's because Katrina's different. Once you spend a bit more time with her, you'll probably figure it out yourself. She's been through some stuff in her life that makes her push everyone else away, but every now and then, like tonight, you catch glimpses of the real her. And it makes you want to just figure out what the hell happened to her."

"Are we still talking about Jeff here, or are we talking about you?"

"Me, I guess," he admitted. "I really don't get that girl and it irritates the hell out of me."

"Do you want to get with her?" Shane asked.

"What?! No," he answered. "Like Jeff said earlier, she's starting to become like an irritating little sister to me, too. I guess I just want to... protect her."

As he said this, his eyes wandered to Orton's table, and saw that the Viper's cold eyes were fixed on the couple on the dancefloor. The man wasn't even hiding it from Maria, or the other occupants of the table. But he looked closer and realised that the other occupants were openly staring at Jeff and Kat, too. Maria looked disgusted. Adam and John just looked like every other man who'd been coming up to Kat all night to ask for a dance – very interested.

"Did he hurt her that bad?" Shane asked, following his gaze to look at Orton.

"If you'd heard what I heard, and seen the way she broke down, you'd want to keep her away from that bastard, too."


Katrina smiled as she lay her head on Jeff's chest and continued to move to the music. She felt safe here, in his arms. She always felt safe with Jeff. But she had a feeling that once she put her plan in motion Jeff wouldn't really like her very much.

But she didn't want to think about Randy, not now. There was going to be time enough for that later, when she lay in bed. That was when thoughts of him usually overwhelmed her.

She was about to tell Jeff she wanted to sit down for a while when she met cold eyes across the room. Even in the dim light of the club, she could tell how thoroughly pissed off Randy was.

"Are you alright?"

By the way Jeff forced her to keep moving, she knew he'd known when Randy had come into the club.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, feeling as though she was about to just crumble at his feet.

"Because you looked really happy and I wanted him to see you like that," Jeff admitted. "I want him to see that he can't hurt you."

"But he can," she whispered, though she knew Jeff had done the right thing.

She'd wanted Randy to see her all dressed up enjoying herself with other people, and she knew, had she known he was in the same room, she probably would've have walked out before he'd even seen her.

"No. He can't," Jeff said, tipping her chin so she looked up at him. "I won't let you dwell on him anymore, you're so much better than him. You'll find someone worthy of you, soon, someone who won't hurt you, someone who won't keep you their little secret."

She didn't realise they'd stopped moving, and that to anyone looking at them they looked like a couple madly in love and lost in each other's eyes.

"I don't want to be his dirty secret. That's why I'm doing this, so he knows it's all or nothing," she whispered.

"You're still going to go through with your plan?" he sighed.

"I have to."

"Then I really want no part of that," he said.

"Jeff..."

"I mean it, Kitty Kat. I can't watch him hurt you again."

She looked away from his eyes and put her head on his chest again, even though they weren't moving.

"Are you abandoning me?"

Her chin was tipped up again.

"I'll always, always be here for you. For anything else. Just don't come to me about Orton."

"I need you," she whispered.

It was Jeff's turn to look away, then he put her head back on his chest and kissed her hair again.

"I can't," he said.

They slowly started to move again, and her eyes found Orton's. He looked ready to kill her.

She found that funny, after the nasty things he'd said to her. She hoped his anger meant he still felt like he had about her, and that he would come back to her soon. She really couldn't do without him for much longer.

Why did he always get so angry when she was with Jeff when he knew Jeff was only her friend? She'd explained over and over again that nothing romantic would ever happen with Jeff, yet Randy had got it in his head that they were simply too close for it not to happen. Maybe he was right. She didn't see any other platonic friends as close as she and Jeff were. Maybe he'd been right to feel jealous, as her 'boyfriend'.

But he had no right now, not with Maria sitting near enough on his lap. He had no right whatsoever. And if he wanted her, he would have to choose.

"Will you let me sketch you when we get back?"

She looked up and smiled at her friend.

"I've been waiting for you to ask all night," she laughed.

"Am I that transparent?"

"Yes," she chuckled, snuggling up to him again.

She notice Randy get up from his seat then storm out of the club amid protests and questions from the people he was sitting with. A smile played on her lips as she hoped she was the reason he was gone. She probably was. Randy had never liked Jeff and had done anything he could to stop her from spending time with him.

And just like that, she had the most brilliant idea.

She looked up at Jeff and beamed brightly at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Let's get out of here."

Thank you for your reviews and for those who put this story on their alerts and favs. Thank you for reading. Hope you've enjoyed this one. I'll update sooner next time.