A/N: Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy the chapter and if you want to review, that'd be cool, thanks. :)
"Sunglasses indoors, that's quite the look going around Europe, is it?"
"No, not really."
"It can't be comfortable wearing sunglasses," Chris said as Stephanie started to quicken her pace. Chris had to start jogging lightly in order to keep up with her. "I mean, is…is everything okay because you're starting to act like you're training for a triathlon or something."
"It's nothing," Stephanie said as she continued walking, speeding up her pace yet again. Chris caught up to her again and grabbed her arm lightly, stopping her in her tracks and nearly making her trip over. "Chris, let go of me, I have work to do and you're keeping me from that."
"Uh uh, we're friends, remember," he told her. "You don't just blow off your friends and if something is wrong with you, then as your friend, I want to be there to help you."
His intentions were a little more impure than that. He wanted to establish himself as the man in her life. Sure, she still had Tim, but he could start to worm Tim out, be there for her when Tim wouldn't or couldn't. He didn't know when she was going to break up with him or if she was going to break up with him. He didn't know what Stephanie did anymore and it bothered him so he just had to start insinuating himself into her life as much as she would let him.
"Chris, thank you," she said, "but really, can you just leave me alone."
"No," he insisted, "if I leave you alone knowing there's something so obviously bothering you then I'll be distracted for the rest of the night and then I'll probably injure myself during my match and then where would that leave me, I'm still new here, I've got to continue trying to make an impression."
"I doubt any of that would happen."
"Stephanie," he said, lowly, "I know you, Steph, I know how you work and something is bothering you and I just want to know how I can help."
"You can mostly help by letting me just go to my office and getting my work done," she said and he hated that he had to look into her dark sunglasses. She was hiding something and he wanted to know what was bothering her.
"Are you sick?" he asked.
"No, I'm not sick," she told him, then tried to pull away, but Chris wasn't letting her go anywhere. She didn't seem to really mind, though, because she could really just pull away quickly and he would relinquish the hold, but she wasn't. She was just staring at his hand on her arm.
"Come here," he backed them into the locker room that happened to be situated right behind him. The room was empty, thankfully and Chris pulled her inside. "Really, I want to know what's wrong and how I can help, can I take off your sunglasses?"
"Chris…" Her voice was whiny, but in the kind of way that he knew he was breaking her defenses. She wasn't so different from her 17 year old self and in a lot of ways, he still knew every nuance of her voice and body. It was reassuring now because he knew that he could help her with whatever because he could simply read her mood and her eyes, if she would just let him see them.
He reached out gently and placed his fingertips on the sides of her sunglasses, letting them linger there for a moment in case she wanted to reprimand him or pull away. She did neither and so he gently pulled the sunglasses away from her eyes. Her face looked annoyed, but it was more at herself than it was at him. He could tell by the way she huffed out her breath. He pulled the glasses completely off her face and then looked at her as she looked at him. He sighed and just looked at her.
Her eyes were red and puffy and he could tell she'd been crying a lot. He only now noticed how there was a rosy glow around her nose, probably from blowing it constantly and her eyes themselves were bloodshot. She looked like a mess despite her perfectly coiffed hair and smart outfit. She laughed mirthlessly and Chris took her into his arms and she banded her arms around his neck. To her credit, she didn't start sobbing, but Chris could feel her tense as if she was going to cry.
"What happened?" he asked her softly.
"I broke up with him," she whispered back. "On Saturday and I've spent the past day and a half just crying."
"So it was bad, huh?"
"It was bad," Stephanie nodded and Chris led her over to the couch and sat the both of them down. "I mean, he wasn't mean or anything, but it was just this long, hard discussion and so many things were brought up and he was so…just upset, with me, with the situation, with everything and…he'd bought me a ring."
"Oh, Steph," Chris said and even if he had wanted them to break up, he wasn't without pity and he knew Stephanie had loved this guy. His heart panged, though, at the thought that she could have been engaged to this guy.
"He still proposed. We were in the middle of this break-up and he still proposed, promised me that we could work this out, that he could find some kind of place in the company if that's what it took, but we're just…we're not on the same page and what kind of person would I be if I just took him out of his environment."
"I'm sure you had the best intentions going into it."
"I did," she nodded. "I didn't want it to be so bad, but I broke his heart. He had all these plans for us and he loved me, Chris, he really loved me and I crushed him and I've never done that to anyone and you should have seen the look on his face when I left. It was…like I shattered his dreams."
Tears were welling up in her eyes again and threatening to tumble over into a waterfall. She valiantly held them in, but there was only so much of that she could do and before she could even try to control it, the tears broke free from their temporary home and ran down her face. Chris tenderly reached out and wiped them away with his thumb as they eked their way down her face.
"Steph, you did the right thing. If you weren't happy then it's better to do it now. What if he had proposed or what if you had gotten married and stayed unhappy, that's not fair. You did the right thing for you and in time, he'll see that you're doing the right thing for him as well."
"I feel so horrible for doing that to him, I've never had to dump anyone before, not like that, I mean, you were the only other serious relationship I've ever been in and we parted on good terms and you didn't look at me like he did and…I broke his heart and I do love him, but our lives are just…he said he was willing to travel though so maybe I should have just accepted that and then we both could have been together on the road and I wouldn't have…I'm a horrible, horrible person."
"No, God no, Steph, of course you aren't," he told her, hugging her again. "Steph, you're one of the most wonderful people I know."
"I haven't felt like this since we broke up," she admitted. "I cried for days after you left."
"You did?"
"Yes, I did, my parents thought I was just getting over my crush, but you left and I hated leaving you and it was terrible and I feel like I did then, so helpless and alone and…I'm sorry, look at me, acting like you're my personal problem-solver or something," she pulled away and wiped at her eyes with her hands. "Thank God I didn't wear makeup or I'd look like a raccoon."
"I can't believe you cried for days after we broke up."
"Great, now I look even more pathetic," she said, giving a short, dry laugh.
"No, I just, I don't know," he shook his head. He didn't want to admit that it made him feel good to know he made that kind of impact on her life. He knew she loved him and that should have been enough, but knowing that it was very hard for her to get over him gave him a sliver of satisfaction. He didn't want to act cocky or anything.
"Maybe I should call him, just to see how he's doing and-"
"Probably not the best idea, Steph," he told her.
"You're probably right," she said, "thank you for listening to me. I should have known it would be so hard. I should have known, I really tried to make it gentle, but God, I probably came off like a spaz and he probably hates me now."
"I don't think anyone could hate you after loving you."
"And he truly loved me! Chris, you should have seen the ring," she was nearly in hysterics again and he had to calm her down. He brushed his hand over her head over and over again. Stephanie looked up at him and then looked away, comforted by the gesture it seemed. He was glad he could give her that comfort.
"You're going to be fine and he's going to be fine too."
"I know, I just feel guilty right now and like I stole someone's future."
"You didn't. He'll realize that when he finds someone new and you'll find someone," he didn't add the new part, "and then you'll realize how good things are and how you were right to do what you did."
"You're the best, Chris, you really are," she told him, throwing her arms around him. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're back. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here again. You have no idea how much I missed you and your friendship and just…if I didn't have you here, I'd be thinking about him and how I ruined him and then…no, I can't think about that."
She whispered the last part to herself and she started to pull away from Chris. He gave her a supportive smile and she tried to smile back before leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek in thanks. She ended up getting the corner of his mouth and when she pulled away, she stared at him for a second in awkward silence before she leaned forward again and pressed a kiss to his lips. It wasn't necessarily passionate, but it was a kiss nonetheless and it shocked him. He stared at her for a moment before it was his turn to lean forward and kiss her.
It felt familiar and warm and just…nice. It was nice and comfortable and like sitting next to a warm fire after a day out in the snow. Stephanie's hands were pressing against the sides of his jaw and suddenly she was straddling him and breathing him in like she wanted every breath of his body to flow into her lungs. He held her by the waist as she rose up on his lap and he let his fingers trail under the sides of her shirt. When that familiar feeling faded, it was left with a new feeling, like this was where they had been, but there was a maturity to her movements. Gone was the timid 17 year old who felt like she couldn't measure up to his experience. She was confident and in charge and it was nice to connect the familiar with the unfamiliar.
All too soon it was over and Stephanie's eyes widened and she scrambled off Chris's lap, "I shouldn't have done that."
"Stephanie," Chris called for her and reached for her.
"No, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, Chris, I just…I don't…I'm sorry, I don't feel like that for you and I just took advantage of you," she quickly left the room. Chris let her words sink in. She didn't feel that for him any longer, she didn't what? Want him? Love him? Didn't want to be with him? She looked terrified and guilty and she didn't want him? She didn't have feeling for him anymore, they'd faded and there was nothing there left but friendship? Well that only made him think one thing.
Stephanie was a liar.