A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy the story. :)

"I'm not going to live in fear because of him."

Stephanie sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "That's not what I'm saying, Chris. I'm not saying that he's going to necessarily murder you or something. He wouldn't murder you though, I mean, he probably wouldn't. He definitely wouldn't…I don't think."

Chris had to laugh at her, "Stephanie, do you honestly think he's going to risk jail to get at me? The man is in love with his job, there's no way he's going to commit a serious crime and face jail or the death penalty. I'm not worried."

"I know I shouldn't worry, but I am."

"Don't," he said, taking her hands. "Look, we're going to have some battles ahead of us, the both of us, but we're going to make it through them together."

"You're so sure," she said, stating rather than asking. She liked his resolve and conviction, but she wished she could find her own. For the first time in a long time, she felt like her eyes were being opened to something she hadn't previously seen. Paul had never exactly been the ideal husband, but he'd been a decent guy. She knew about his tempers and still, she stayed with him. She never really understood the talk and chatter that were constantly surrounding him, the sidelong glances and the snickers. She never got it.

But seeing the way he reacted today, seeing how he'd behaved yesterday, sure, he had some (a lot?) of justification for his anger, but the way he'd acted, it all reinforced what people had been trying to tell her for years and it was like she was finally seeing Paul for what he was and it wasn't necessarily that she hated him or suddenly thought he was the worst man in the universe, but it had revealed some truths she'd needed to see. Nobody was perfect, but perhaps her eyes had been too blind to Paul's faults.

"Because I'm not afraid of the man. He's just a guy, Stephanie. And Jessica, well, things between Jessica and I have been strained already. I think we both know it's time to cut loose, at least I hope I do. We can make this work, I want to make this work. I may have accidentally hit a button broadcasting our business to the world, but it might end up being one of my best decisions."

"Don't be sweet," she told him, shaking her head. "Just don't be so sweet."

"Why not?" he asked with a laugh. "You've got me now so I can be sweet to you and you can appreciate it all you want."

"That's right," Stephanie said. "Are you going to be okay going down to Florida without me? Do you want me to come with you? I can certainly come with you and be with you when you talk to Jessica and I'd love to formally meet your kids."

"I have to meet yours too, formally," Chris said, "whenever you're ready for that of course."

"Of course," Stephanie said with a nod. "I'm going home tomorrow, um, maybe you can wait to tell Jessica and I can fly down with my girls and we can meet up and we could talk to Jessica."

"I don't think it's going to be a good idea having you there, Steph," Chris said, "I appreciate the sentiment and everything, but I'm not sure bringing the woman I'm leaving my wife for is the best idea. It's just a thought."

She laughed, "God, what am I doing? Of course that's probably not how to go about things, didn't stop me from doing it that way though. Look at me, Chris, I'm doing everything wrong and I'm not used to that. I'm used to do everything right and just living on the straight and narrow and suddenly I've found myself completely unaware of what I'm doing."

"You know what you're doing, Steph," he said, hugging her and cradling her into his body. "I know that everything is so strange right now, but we've got to give things time to settle down. Last night was crazy; we weren't ourselves last night, it was like we were these two teenagers who were coming down from the high of our first time, but today we've become adults again and we know we have a lot of stuff to face. But you do know what you're doing and you are in control."

"I feel like I'm careening," she admitted. "I'm not doubting myself, I'm just seeing all these things I have to do ahead of me. I have to find somewhere to live, I have to get my things and the girls' things and then we have to get used to one another and then our kids will have to try and mesh well, which is probably the least of my worries because my girls can get along with anything."

"Hey, so can mine, we have something in common," he told her.

"Don't make me feel better," she said, mumbling into his shirt as she buried her face against his chest. "I'm supposed to be scared out of my wits here."

"Hey, Chris!" Adam said, walking into the locker room, "Oops, didn't mean to interrupt, next time turn the camera on so that we can all know what you're doing in here."

"Very funny," Chris said, "what do you want?"

"We have a match later, wanted to discuss it, but I'll come back," he said with a smirk, "don't want to interrupt the two lovebirds."

Before either one of them could even refute the claim, Adam was out the door, leaving them alone again. "Jerk," Chris muttered good-naturedly. "I have a feeling that people are going to joke about us for a while."

"Which only stands to make Paul even angrier."

"Good, let him be angrier, I hope that he sees how much more people like me than him. In fact, I think we should start a new regime around here," he declared, pulling away from her so that he could look in her face.

"New regime?" she asked uncertainly. "What kind of new regime?"

"One where nobody thinks that just because I'm with you that I'm going to get special treatment," he told her, watching with a grin as the corners of her lips turned up in a small smile, "one where people are not afraid to come up and talk to you for fear that Paul will think that they're trying to get more power than he has."

"You want to be the anti-Paul is what you're saying?" she told him.

"I prefer to think of him as the anti-Christ, so I'll be the savior…hey, that works perfectly since I said that I was going to be the savior of the WWE. It took a little while, but looks like that prediction is coming true."

"Was he really that bad?" she asked.

"Did I ever tell you the story right after I came into the company and how I thought he was a good guy and how he very abruptly changed that opinion?"

"I don't think I've heard the story, no," she said, wondering if she really was blind to everything. She knew Paul liked his power, but how far did he go behind her back? What kind of things did he really do? Now that he was going to be just another wrestler, what would he do? How would he react?

"Well, when I first came in, he told me that I could talk to him about anything, making the transition and all that, he even gave me his phone number and I thought, well, the stories I've heard about him must have been wrong. I'd heard about him since he was in the Kliq and some of those guys were over in WCW, so I heard the stories, but I thought, okay, they must have been overblown. So then one day I can't find the arena and so I think to myself, hey, you have Paul's number, why don't I call him up and ask him for directions. So I call him, he makes fun of me, hangs up. That was the last time I ever asked Paul for anything, let me tell you."

Stephanie shook his head, "I never knew that. I'm sorry he did that."

"It wasn't your fault and it was before you two were even together."

"He must have been worse when he started dating me and then married me."

"Well, yeah," Chris admitted, "but I didn't want to say anything, hell, nobody wanted to say anything because they were afraid that if you did anything against him, he would, in turn, demote you or have you de-pushed. I mean, he had to complain to you sometimes about guys randomly, right?"

"I guess, I just thought he was looking out for the company."

"Steph, I like you a lot, but you really need to see him for what he is and that's not a good guy."

"I'm obviously seeing that now, aren't I?" she said, turning away. "I feel like I've been duped. I always, always gave him the benefit of the doubt. I just thought everything had to be overblown because maybe they were all jealous. I mean, the jealousy in this business is already high. I guess I just thought…"

"It's okay, you were in love with the guy and I'm sure part of you still loves him and that's okay, it's hard to change," he told her, understanding where she was coming from. A few days ago, she was probably sure that she loved Paul. A few days ago, she was probably sure of her world and the role she played in it. This whole thing, this thing they were doing, it was different and probably a little scary and he had to be there for her.

He didn't expect anything in return. For so long he'd felt something for Stephanie that he'd tried to suppress so that now, now when he had a chance with her, he would take what he could get and be there for her and that was enough for now. That didn't mean that she didn't surprise him every now and then, "God, look at me here complaining when your wife doesn't even know what's going on and you have to face all that by yourself."

He should have known she would be on top of things, "I'll be fine."

"You had to be so sure that things…I don't even know what I'm saying now," she told him, shaking her head. "If you need any help with Jessica and lawyers, I'm here for you."

"See, we're working already!" he told her.

Stephanie was about to respond when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She felt it against her thigh and she dug into her pocket to get it. "It's Shane, he's texting me. I hope that it's not something making fun of us, I think I'm tired of all the teasing."

"It's only going to get worse," he pointed out.

"Are you sure you don't want to be like Paul and tell everyone to mind their own business and leave us the hell alone or else they're fired?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm still going to pass," Chris said, "I'm really not the kind of guy who would use a woman or a last name like that. I like doing things that I earn, you get more satisfaction out of things that way." Stephanie smiled and looked down at her phone and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"My brother says that we have a problem, but he won't tell me what it is, but to call him," Stephanie said, dialing her brother's number. Chris leaned in so he could hear what was going on too and they waited for Shane to answer.

"Steph?"

"Shane, what's going on, what's the problem?"

"We have a problem with Paul," Shane said.

Stephanie groaned and rolled her eyes, "What is he trying to do now? I mean, I know he's angry with me and Chris and he's angrier about the divorce, but what has he gotten himself into now?"

"Stephanie…"

"Shane, just spit it out!"

"He's threatening to quit and go to TNA."