Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the WWE or its Superstars. Anything related to real life is purely a coincidence.
Summary: Randy Orton has a job to do, to make it to his high school reunion with his heart in tact. Will he make it to the end of the night? Or will a most unlikely woman step into the scene and take it away?
Authors Notes: Last chapter alert! I figured I would end this at the reunion so look for that to be coming up now. Also to any and all reviewers, I thank you for the reviews and be checking your email box for a reply to your last review so you can get my individual thank you notes. On with the ending of this one shall we?
The arrived at the hotel an hour before the reunion and as they both walked up to check in, Randy remembered something he had forgotten to mention earlier on the flight. With his thoughts full of Trish and the last time they were together, it had totally slipped his mind.
"I screwed up the reservations."
She stopped walking and threw him a look. "What do you mean you screwed up the reservations Randy? We do have a room here tonight don't we?"
Randy laughed lightly and pulled her with him as he started walking through the long walkway to the front desk. "Yes I made them, but I just remembered I got two separate rooms. I booked them when i didn't know who I was taking so I made sure we both had a room."
Trish breathed a sigh of relief as they finally reached the desk. Randy handed over his credit card and stated his name, Trish following suit until he stopped her. "I asked you to do this, so there is no way in hell I am making you pay for your own room."
She proceeded to put the card back in her purse, all the while taking in the man who stood before her. If anyone had asked her over a week ago if she ever thought she would be here in Randy's hometown, going to his high school reunion with him, more dizzy with love then she had ever been in her life, she would have laughed in their face. But as she stood there now, she knew there was no where in this world she would rather be.
"Earth to Trish, we're all checked in, are you ready to head upstairs and get ready?"
She came out of her thoughts and smiled, taking her hand and placing it in his before heading for the elevators down on their left. She still got giddy thinking about the way her palms sweat when holding his hand and how school girl it felt just to be around him. It was almost dizzying.
"I'm sorry about the rooms. I didn't realize I was going to be coming with you, or for that matter that we would have spent the night before the reunion in your bed in Toronto. I just never saw any of this coming."
She patted him on the arm as they got into the elevator. It was nice that he was worried about her being upset, but she had to make sure he knew there was nothing to be upset about. Randy had actually gone ahead and done the right thing, not wanting to be with a woman when all he really needed from her was a date for the reunion. He was going about the entire event as if it was a business venture and she admired him for it. He definitely wasn't the same man she had thought he was two weeks before.
"Don't worry about it, at the very least I can get dressed and primped without you wanting me to get back into the bed like you did this morning. Which by the way, if I had succumbed too, would have made us late. Thank goodness one of us kept their wits about them."
Randy laughed and squeezed her hand. He wanted to tell her right now that he loved her, and that the night they had spent together in Toronto had been the best experience of his life, but he knew that it wasn't the right time. The right time would come, but there was no sense in rushing it along now and making her think she had to return the comment as well.
"You liked me dragging you back to bed, I didn't hear you complaining."
"Thats because you kissed me so I couldn't think straight. Don't try and get out of this one mister."
They got off on their floor, still holding hands, almost too afraid to let go. But as Randy reached his room, and handed Trish her key, for the room right beside his, he knew he had to let go or they would never get to where they needed to be later this evening.
"How long does it take for a princess like you to get primped?" he questioned, rubbing his arms on the small of her neck, smirking as he heard her moan with pleasure at the feeling.
"Longer then you think. You know if I had any smarts at all I would say screw this reunion of yours and we could just take the rest of the night in one of our rooms."
"You would seriously want to do that?" he asked, cutting her off before she had a chance to finish the thought.
"No I wouldn't because it took a lot for you to want to come to this thing. You actually went around interviewing Diva's for a date. So there is no way we are going to miss this, or the looks we will get when we walk in together. Or rather when you walk in with me on your arm."
Randy kissed her lightly on the lips before she scanned the card into the slot and walked through her door. He watched her until she shut the door behind her and he couldn't help the grin that was permanently on his face. He scanned his own card and entered the room, all the while thinking about what he had planned for later tonight at the very reunion he had dreaded coming to.
He walked into the jewelry store with a purpose. He had no idea what he was going to get but he knew that he had to get something that matched her personality and style. He wanted to give her something that would make her always remember this night together, and make her happy that she had said yes.
She does not need a gift to know that you appreciate her. She already knows.
His mind was getting the better of him, but he forged on with the plan. He knew what he had planned might come out of left field for her, but after their night together, and all of the nights together before that and ones they would have as their relationship went on, he knew that what he was doing was the right thing. He knew deep inside that she cared about him and tonight he wanted to show her just how much of an impact she had made on him.
As he made his way over to the rings, his cell phone rang. The heavy rock theme song ringing loud and clear through the entire store. He was going to regret making his theme music with Evolution his ring tone. At the very least he did at this moment.
"Hello?"
"Randy, Vince McMahon here. How is the reunion?"
What the hell was Vince McMahon doing calling him right now? Couldn't any business with the WWE wait until he came back officially tomorrow morning? Surely this couldn't be a social call.
"It hasn't started yet but I am looking forward to it. What can I do for you Vince?"
Vince was quiet then, so quiet that Randy started to wonder just what the hell was going on. He knew something was up when Vince had identified himself, but now with the silence, it made it ten times worse.
"I have been talking with Paul Randy, and after a lengthy talk about some of your recent actions, we feel that we need to have a meeting tomorrow morning before the show tomorrow night."
So Paul was behind this call. Randy could only imagine what Paul had spread to him and how it was going to affect his career in the WWE, let alone what short time he had left with Evolution. Just what was Paul trying to pull here and what did he hope to gain?
"Fine Vince, I can be there on the first flight out tomorrow morning. Look if you don't mind I need to get going to the reunion now. We'll talk tomorrow."
Before he could hang up the phone he heard Vince talking in the background to someone. He put the phone back to his ear and listened until Vince hung up.
"Don't worry Paul. When he comes in tomorrow, we'll fire him."
Randy flipped the phone closed and ran his hands through what little hair he had. What was he going to do now?
She waited in her room, pacing back and forth and wondering if her hair was still in place. She stared at her watch again, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming and that they were indeed late to the reunion. Just what the hell had happened to Randy?
She had been hoping that she could shock him with her dress choice when he came by the room to pick her up, but now that the time was now half past the hour and they were late, she knew she would have to go looking for him. She grabbed her purse, one to match her black, strapless dress, and she grabbed her shawl. Closing the door behind her she headed for his room, hearing the music even before she stepped foot outside her door.
She took her fist to the door and banged as hard as she could. When no one answered, she yelled, hoping that Randy was indeed in the room still and hadn't just left the stereo running. He had insisted that when he got ready for any sort of match, or event he always needed his music. So she had supplied the mini stereo that now blasted through the walls. Not her brightest moment.
The door opened then and a look of shock came over her face. Standing before her, shirt off, his dress pants not even completely done up was Randy, and he looked like he had been run over by a mack truck.
"Randy, what the hell are you doing? We're late."Trish said, pushing her way past him and into the room. She wanted to know what was going on and she wanted to know now. As she passed by him she swore she smelled the faintest scent of whiskey on his breath.
"Have you been drinking?" she questioned immediately.
"Yes, I'm kind of having a bad night. Do you have a problem with that?"
She looked at him then, and put her hands to his face. With one quick motion she slapped him, causing an immediate red mark to break out on his cheek, but she was sure he would be fine. She needed to get through to him and at this point, the asshole in him was breaking through, the slap was to keep it away.
"You don't want to know how much of a problem I am going to have with that if you do not start getting dressed right now. What the heck is going on?"
Randy stared at her, her eyes turning Grey as they had the night that she had walked out on him at the restaurant. The way her eyes turned color made him think of the way he felt inside right now and that if his eyes could do it, they would certainly show how much pain he was in. He wanted to tell her what had happened when he had been out, but if he admitted why he had gone out then the whole surprise would be shattered. Not that there was much of one left to spring on her now anyway. He was pretty much fired.
"Randy please, tell me why you are drinking and why you aren't dressed. We need to get to your reunion."
He looked at her again and took her hand into his, just needing to feel it in his again. To remember the feeling that she sparked in him because right now he felt so low he was afraid he had forgotten what she felt like.
"I wanted to surprise you tonight with a present, so I went out earlier, and well Vince called me while I was out."
Trish nodded for him to continue and tightened her own grip around his hand. She knew that whatever was bothering him was serious enough for him to want to miss showing himself and her off at the reunion, something he had been giddy about all day. Not to mention he was drinking, something he had told her he only did when he was either pissed off or really hurt by something. She had learned all of this from talking to him in the wee hours of the morning after their love making and she was glad he could be so open with her. She only hoped he could do the same thing now.
"Paul got to him, and told him something, Lord only knows what and now Vince wants a meeting with me tomorrow morning. That wasn't the part that upset me so much. When he thought I had hung up I heard him talking to someone in the background. Someone I assume was Paul since this was all done by him anyway. He fired me Trish. He told Paul that I was as good as fired tomorrow morning."
She broke free of Randy's grasp and walked them over to the bed where she pushed him down and then proceeded to sit down in his lap to wrap her arms around him. "Baby, this is horrible. I can only imagine what you feel like right now, this business meaning so much to you. But maybe if this is the way Paul wants to run things then you might be better off."
Randy looked at her, questions running through his mind and showing through his eyes. He knew that she was only trying to say the right things but did she have any idea what she had just said at all? How could not being with the WWE be the right thing for him?
"There you go again, not letting me finish before you read me wrong. Look, if Paul wants a game, then why don't we give him one? If he thinks he can run over you and get you fired then lets see what Vince thinks when I show up with you tomorrow and I quit and take my title with me."
Randy was shocked at what she said and let her know so. "You would actually do something like that?"
"Don't you get it yet Randy, I would do anything for you."
He kissed her then, knowing that she wasn't going to like the taste of the liquor on his breath, but knowing that in that one little statement, she had let him know in so many words that she loved him. He hadn't heard the exact words, but for Randy, he didn't need too. Because her willing to sacrifice her title and her hopes of being at the top of the WWE for him, well that meant everything.
"Let's get your beautiful ass to the reunion." he said then, proceeding to get ready. As she watched him, she knew that whatever happened tomorrow morning was of little consequence. She knew that as sure as she was Trish Stratus, she was going to be with Randy, and the two of them would survive together. Either in the WWE or without it.
A few hours later, after being shown off and handed off to just about every one of his old classmates, Randy had finally caught up with his date. She was standing alone by the makeshift punch bowl, and before he proceeded to make his way over to her, he took her in.
She was a vision in black, her dress going all the way down her body to the floor. Only being held up by the shoes on her feet. Her makeup was done perfectly so that it almost looked like she wore none at all, and after all of the dancing they had all done together and with various dance partners, she didn't look the least bit tired.
As he watched her then, he let his mind jump the gun and picture what it would be like to spend the rest of his days waking up next to this woman, having her look the way she did this morning when they had awoken together and cuddled before getting ready for their flight. He wondered if she would look this beautiful as she bore his children, if she would look this good in a white wedding dress, standing in front of friends and family in his hometown as she prepared to become his bride. All of these visions of her flashed through his mind, making him lose all sense of time and space.
All he knew in that instant was that what he had planned for tonight was going to go on, despite the bad news of earlier, and he was damn sure that at the end of the night, she was going to be with him for good, in every way imaginable. He knew he was deeply in love with her, and knew that no other woman could ever make him feel the way that she did now, just standing alone by a punch bowl, unaware of what was going on around her.
She lit up the entire room just by being there, and he knew that he had made the right choice when he had asked her to be there with him tonight. He had made a life changing choice.
He reached her then, and kissed her hand before wrapping his arms around her. "Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked her, his voice husky and low, but manageable over the music.
"I do not think I have stopped moving all night until now. Did you have any idea it was going to be like this? All of the men fawning over me and all of the women throwing me dagger looks for dancing with their husbands?" she laughed.
"I sort of figured it yeah. You didn't?"
"No actually, I pretty much thought I would never leave your side and just have the occasional girl be jealous that she wasn't the one with you and I was. Boy was I wrong!"
He nuzzled his lips on the back of her neck and just breathed in her scent. She filled his senses entirely and she knew it. As she lived and breathed now she knew that she took his breath away, along with every other man in the room.
"Look I need to get up and talk to the band for a minute, you promise to save me a dance and be here when i get back?"
She laughed and kissed him gently. "I do not plan on moving from this spot until you move me yourself Mr Orton."
He let go of her hand and headed up to where the band was now finishing up the last song of the set they were doing. It was all of the music that had been popular when he had been in school and he found that he missed hearing a lot of it, despite his interest in the new music of today.
When he had talked to all of the men, he took the microphone from the singer and made his way down to the middle of the dance floor in the gym, where a spotlight lit up to greet him. It was show time.
"As I am sure all of you know by now, My name is Randy Orton and I went to school with a lot of your husbands and wives. I was destined to follow in the footsteps of my father and grandfather before me and become a professional wrestler with what is now known as the WWE. As I am sure a lot of you know, I did indeed do just that, but that is not why I want to talk to you all tonight. I want to tell you all the reason I even bothered to come tonight, and she is standing right over there by the punch bowl, trying to make out like I don't mean her when I do. So Trish, would you come over here to the spotlight please?"
The light then followed to where Trish was standing, and as she made her way forward, was scanned along with her until she reached the middle of the room where Randy was standing, microphone in hand.
"Now you know I can't go anywhere without shooting my mouth off with a microphone, but Trish, this tonight is all about you. This is all for you. I wanted the right woman to bring to my reunion with me. I had a feeling deep inside that the woman was going to be you when you first talked to me the night I asked you about the other Divas, but what I didn't know was that I would come to love you so damn much that every time i see you, you take my breath away." he broke then to take a breath and then spoke again.
"From the first dinner we spent together at your home, I knew I was falling in love with you, and up until tonight I just chalked it up to being lonely and you being the first woman to really open up to me and give me a chance in years. But what I came to find out, when you put your life on the line for me earlier tonight was that it is more then just a crush, it is more then just me liking you. I love you with every fiber of my being and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just what kind of affect you have had on me." He finished and got down on his knee, all the while not breaking away from her gaze for one second.
"Trish Stratus, would you do me the honor of being my wife?"
She let the tears fall then, slowly making their way one by one down her cheeks. Never had she had something of this magnitude happen to her in such a short amount of time. While she knew this could be dangerous as they had just gotten to really know one another, she knew deep in her heart that there was no other man for her and that Randy was her one and only. Through whatever bullshit that would come their way, she knew they could do it together.
"I love you with all of my heart Randy Keith Orton, and Yes, I will marry you."
As they embraced, the entire auditorium went crazy, clapping and gathering around them to look at the ring that Randy had just slipped on her finger and to give their vote of congratulations.
This truly was a night to remember for Randy, and for Trish as well. No matter what came the next morning, the only thought the two of them had was of each other in that moment and their long life together.