"I probably should've seen it coming."

"What do you mean?"

"I should have known that he was sleeping with another woman," she said, taking some of the ice cream from his carton.

"How? How could you have known?"

"Well, he had been distant for the longest time. And he never cared where I would go, probably because he was thinking about how long he would have to get his jollies with that tramp. And we hadn't.........you know, in a couple months give or take."

"You know?"

Stephanie blushed, "You know what I mean Chris, the same thing that we did last week."

Jericho laughed, "Oh THAT, wow, so you hadn't?"

"No. I guess it was because he was getting his elsewhere."

"Well, I'm glad I could end your drought," he said, winking at her, then eating some more of his ice cream. She shook her head.

Stephanie had spent the past week with Jericho. She had to admit that he was very good at keeping her mind off her husband. And she was actually having a blast being around him. He made her so comfortable, and never pushed her to talk or anything she didn't want to do.

"I don't want to go back tomorrow," she said.

"You're gonna have to gorgeous, you can't hide forever."

Stephanie hated to admit it, but she liked when he called her gorgeous, "I know, and I've been gone a whole week, I think that's long enough to cool down."

"With a McMahon, hmm, I'm not sure."

"You're not helping," she giggled.

"Oh, well, excuse me, then yeah, it's more than enough time."

"I'm going to have to face him aren't I?"

"Yeah, you're going to have to. You know, ask for a divorce, tell him he's a cretin, all that good stuff."

"I should wear something really sexy to make him jealous," Stephanie said.

"Well, I wouldn't oppose to that."

"Get your mind out of the gutter," she said smiling at him.

"Aww, why?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "I'm going to go pack."

"Need help?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks again for getting my things."

"Not a problem, glad to do it."

Stephanie went upstairs and started gathering things that she wanted to bring with her to the shows that were coming up. She started to think about the confrontation that was inevitable between her and Hunter. She didn't know if she'd be able to take seeing him without breaking down. She sighed and continued packing.

"What's with the sigh?"

"Are you following me?" she asked, turning around to look at him leaning in the doorway.

"No," he laughed, "I was walking to my bedroom and saw you, now what's up gorgeous?"

"I really don't want to face him Chris," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I know gorgeous, but you have to," he said, coming over to her and wrapping her in a huge hug. She buried her head into his shoulder.

"Pretend to be my boyfriend."

"What?" he asked, not hearing her muffled words.

She pulled away, "Pretend to be my boyfriend."

"Stephanie, that's not a good idea."

"Please Chris, I wouldn't normally ask you, but I can't go in there alone, I just can't. If I have you with me, then I'll be able to face him."

"Then say I'm your friend Steph, that'll work too you know."

"I just want to have the one up on him."

"By saying that you're with me?"

She looked up at him, "Yeah."

"Sorry gorgeous, I'm not going to do it. But I will be by your side if you need me to be there."

"I need you to be there."

He kissed the top of her head, "Then I will."

"Thank you Chris, you're so logical."

"I know."

"How come I never saw any of this before? How come I was so blind to how good a person you really were?"

"I think it had something to do with me calling you a filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding trash bag ho," he said, smiling down at her.

She laughed, "Yeah, I think that was a big part."

"Now we have to go to bed, we have to make an early start tomorrow. And you want to be beautiful don't you?"

"Always."

"Get some rest then," he said, going to his own room.

Stephanie finished packing and got ready for bed. She climbed under the covers and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't know what to do. Part of her just wanted to run away from Hunter, but the other part wanted to talk to him. She didn't know which one to choose, but they were fighting it out inside of her. It was with these plaguing thoughts that she fell asleep.

The next day dawned beautiful and saw Jericho and Stephanie making their way to the next show. Stephanie was hoping the day would go slowly so she wouldn't have to face Hunter, but like anything you don't want to happen, it came all too quickly.

Before she knew it she and Jericho were entering the arena. Though she knew it wasn't true, she felt like everyone's eyes were on her, pitying her, feeling sorry for the poor little rich girl who got cheated on. She could feel herself trembling.

Jericho looked over and saw the look on Stephanie's face. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly in his own. She was a brave woman coming back and facing everyone like she was. He had to admire her greatly for that. She was stronger than any person he had ever known. She was so a McMahon.

They reached Jericho's dressing room and Stephanie took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. Jericho sat her down on the couch, hoping to help ease her tenseness. She took some more deep breaths before turning to Jericho.

"I felt like they all knew."

"They didn't ok, no one knew."

"You sure?"

"Yes, you have to calm down gorgeous."

"Yeah, I need some coffee."

"Ok, do you want me to get you some?" he asked politely.

"No, I think I can get it for myself," she said, nodding her head like she was trying to convince herself that she could go out there alone.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, it's just coffee right," she said, trying to laugh, "I'm a big girl, I can handle getting the coffee right?"

"Yeah, you are," he said encouragingly.

"Ok, I'm off," she said, not getting up.

"Um.........Steph," he said.

"I'm getting up," she said, but again didn't get up.

"Steph, do you--"

"No, I got it," she said, finally standing up, "Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

"If I run into him, do I have permission to run back here and hide?"

"If you feel the inclination to run away, my door is always open."

"Ok, I'm going, bye Chris."

"I'll see you in a few Steph."

Stephanie tentatively left the room and looked both ways after she had closed the door. She turned right and went to where she knew that catering was. She would just get some coffee and go, simple as that. She didn't notice someone watching from their doorway.

She was minding her own business when she was pulled into a room. She yelped as she was pulled in and heard the door lock behind her. She took a second to catch her breath when she looked up to see who had been so rude. Her eyes widened as she saw who it was.

It was Hunter.

A/N: I hope you're ready for a bumpy ride. ;)