Stephanie sat twirling Chris's hair around her finger. This was the first night of the feud between Chris and Shane. Chris was already ramped up and he was bouncing his leg up and down in anticipation. Stephanie, though not as enthused, was also a bit on edge. So she was occupying her time with twirling Chris's hair. Sometimes she missed her own long hair, but she had an image to keep up and maybe someday when they were out of the limelight she could grow it out again.

Chris was going over what he wanted to say in the ring. He had to control himself, that was the only way he could get through this without going ballistic on Shane. He had a barely controlled anger for the man as it was. Being in the ring, standing across from him, it was going to be tough to keep his hands from closing around his neck and squeezing the life right out of him.

"Calm down," she whispered to him. "You can't look inexperienced out there."

"I know what I'm doing," he told her.

This was like an old hat for him. He hadn't been in front of the camera since Stephanie had faked her death, but it wasn't like he didn't know how to go out there and entertain the fans. That was going to be the strangest part about all of this; he was going to be the good guy. Chris knew he wasn't a very good guy, but in his eyes, Shane was exceptionally bad. Chris would never hit a woman, get her drunk and have her pose naked, sure, but he'd never hit one.

There were many rules Chris didn't live by. He was devious and manipulative, but he also had rules he did live by. Even if Stephanie revealed she had been using him this entire time, if she threw his love for her back in his face, he would still never hit her. He guessed that made him a decent person. Even if he gave up many of his scruples, there was still a decency in him. Shane had left that behind a long time ago, lying on the floor next to his sister and he could never retrieve it, not in Chris's eyes.

"So you say, but I'll be damned if I let you go out there and look stupid," Stephanie told him, a hard edge to her voice.

"I'm not going to," he said, emphasizing his words through gritted teeth. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"I'm just making sure, don't snap at me."

"How was that snapping at you?" he asked sarcastically. "I didn't say anything about you. I'm just saying I know what I'm doing. In case you've forgotten, I've been doing this for years."

"Yes, I know, but you are going into this with a vendetta, a real vendetta," she told her husband. "You could slip up, act stupid, do something that could be a detriment to us in the long run. I want to put my brother in jail, remember?"

"Oh, really, is that what we're doing here? I wasn't sure, thanks for reminding me," Chris said sardonically, rolling his eyes at his wife. Sometimes she was so drive and he both loved and hated that about her. She never took her eyes off what she wanted and while it was endearing to a fault, it could just as easily turn annoying as it was right now.

"I just don't want him ending up in a hospital bed instead. Goals, Chris, goals."

"Mary," he started almost mockingly. Yes, they were in a public place right now and he had to call her by her other name, but he also knew how much she hated it so he added a little extra zip to it to get his point across. "I know what I'm doing, like I've told you a million times before."

"Don't do that," she hissed at him.

"What, darling?"

"Just shut up," Stephanie said, leaning back in her chair and sulking. Chris tried to wrap his arm around her, but she shrugged his arm off. He had had enough so he just sat there, arms, folded.

Hunter walked down the hallway. He had regressed a lot since he had thought he saw Stephanie at the bank. He could've sworn it was Stephanie. It looked exactly like her, the hair, the eyes, everything was the same. He just couldn't believe it wasn't her. But he had to be seeing things. Maybe he saw someone who looked remarkably like her and his mind was trying to make that person her. He was projecting her onto someone else. That had to be it, Stephanie was gone, he had seen her, been there, held her hand until the last. He was with her through her final moments.

He couldn't explain it, but it kept gnawing at him. Did he want Stephanie alive that much? Would this tortuous love for her continue forever, until it choked him to death? It felt like every day was a bear to get through without her. She was everything to him and he had been snatched away. He had thought he could move on, try to steal away Chris's wife, but that had been futile. He had started to think crazy things about her, heard crazy things, haunting things.

There she was, sitting there with Chris. She was truly a beauty and he was jealous Chris could have someone in his life and he couldn't. Why did Chris Jericho of all people deserve any kind of happiness? Stephanie had sent that letter, had said…he just couldn't believe she would be with Chris Jericho. It had to be a joke. They were just friends, they were always just friends and nothing more. Sure, they flirted and sometimes they were a little too close for comfort, but to sleep together? She had assured him they hadn't.

Still, Chris was perfectly happy here, starting a new feud and actually coming back to wrestle. He was also the head of creative. It was like he had gotten over everything and Stephanie had to see that from wherever she was. She had to see he had never really cared about him while he still cared, was still trying to get over his grief over her. Maybe he saw her because he was with her. That was a nice thought.

Stephanie saw Hunter staring at her and she looked skyward. It was getting a little unnerving actually. She leaned over to Chris, "Look who's staring at me."

Chris looked around and saw Hunter brooding over in the hallway, staring at the two of them. Chris groaned, "What the hell does he want?"

"I don't know, he's so in love with me, I guess he just wants to stare," Stephanie said haughtily. She studied him a little more. "It looks like he hasn't showered in days. That's disgusting, no wonder Stephanie was willing to die to get away from him."

"That is true," he said, then called out, "what the hell are you looking at, Trips?"

"Nothing," Hunter said, his voice hoarse.

"Then stop staring at my wife, bastard," Chris told him angrily.

"I wasn't staring at her," he said, taking a few steps forward.

"Oh, that's right, because you're still so devoted to Stephanie, right?" Chris scoffed. "Get over it man, learn to live a little instead of constantly having one foot in the grave with her."

"Shut up," Hunter snapped.

Chris was having a grand time taunting him. It was actually very calming and he was now not worrying at all about his feud with Shane. Maybe he should actually thank Hunter for being such an asshole, "I don't have to, I'm your boss."

"You don't know anything about my grief."

"I think I do," Chris said and Stephanie recognized the tone in his voice. He was thinking of something to do to Hunter and she knew she would love whatever it was. She reached down and squeezed his leg gently, running her fingers lightly up the cotton of his pants. The fabric tickled his leg a little and as she reached the crotch of his pants, he was already getting hard, just from her ministrations. He discreetly swatted her hand away. The last thing he needed when he went out to the ring was a hard-on.

"You have no idea," Hunter said, his eyes fiery and his gaze strong. It was like he was daring Chris to challenge him. Even with him as he was now, he still wanted to fight.

"Yeah, I do."

"No, you don't," he said, his voice getting tighter and tighter.

"I really do."

"Shut up, Jericho, you have no idea what I've been through."

"You see her," he said, his voice quiet, but strong, so strong.

Stephanie tried to hold in her smirk. She knew now what Chris was going to do and she absolutely approved of what he was going to do. She tried to get her hand on his crotch again, but he pushed it away again. He looked at her pointedly, telling her to stop. She shook her head slightly and he glared at her.

Hunter gulped.

"What?" he asked.

"You see her, everywhere, I bet. I did too. I would think I saw her everywhere I went, the store, the park, even the bank," Chris said, glancing up at Hunter. Hunter's eyes widened, but he tried to hide it. "You feel her presence, like she's sitting right next to you, like if you just look over, she'll be there, looking back at you, that smile on her face, you know the one. Yeah, I know."

Stephanie was trying to hold in her laughter. Chris knew exactly where to hit Hunter. The look on his face was so sad-looking. If she cared one bit about Hunter, she might feel something like sympathy for him, but Stephanie had no sympathy for him so she just sat there smugly. Chris was being so subtle, hinting so much that she was Stephanie, but this idiot wasn't picking up on it.

"I can attest to that," Stephanie drawled. "It took him so long to get over her, but he had me right by his side to help him through."

"Yeah, she's the best," Chris said, looking at her with adoration only meant to rile up Hunter. It was so fun rubbing his nose in it. Someday, maybe he'd even get to say he took the rug right out from under him and married the woman he loved before he even had a chance to marry her. Not only that, but she loved him, honestly loved him and wasn't with him because she had nothing better to do.

"Thank you, sweetheart, you are just the most darling man ever," Stephanie said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," he told her, kissing her deeply. Then he pulled away and licked his lips a little. Stephanie had slipped her tongue in his mouth, adding a bit of insult to injury. She loved the idea of kissing right in front of the man she was supposed to marry. It definitely got her hot.

"So you see, I know exactly what it feels like."

Hunter fumed. He couldn't believe the audacity of this man. To just up and do that in front of him was rude and unnecessary. "You have no idea what I've been through so don't even try to pretend like you know."

"Except I do."

"No, trust me, you don't."

Chris sat there for a second, like he was thinking. He looked over at Stephanie and he really couldn't relate to Hunter. He had actually gotten the girl and at first, he didn't really even want her in the first place, but damn if he didn't love her now. Hunter didn't have Stephanie and he did so in essence, he had won and he didn't know what Hunter was going through. He winked at Stephanie and she smirked at him.

"No, I guess I don't."