Chapter 51 – No Resemblance To The Man I Met

"Is this the last box?" Izzy turned around as she heard Stephens voice behind her. She looked at the lonely cardboard box in the corner of the room.

"Yeah." She smiled as Cody appeared behind him; Stephen and Stu had been making the young man do most of the heavy lifting.

"Off yeh go then, lad." Stephen nodded at the box, his big arms crossed across his chest, "Yeh said yeh wanted to be of help, consider it part of yeh work out too."

"I'll keep that in mind." Cody rolled his eyes as he picked up the last box, taking it down stairs and out of the apartment.

"Are you okay?" Izzy walked over to Stephen, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"Yeah." He pulled her into his embrace, hugging her tightly, "Ah can't wait to start our new life together."

"Me too," he kissed her forehead gently, "Thank you for everything."

"Yeh don't have to thank me, ah'm gonna look after yeh forever. Until ah can't walk from all these years in the ring."

"Then I'll look after you."

"It's a deal, sweetheart." She grinned, still holding onto him tightly, "Ah'm going to miss this place. Even though ah wasn't here that much."

"Me too." His apartment had become her home, her safe haven from her once homely apartment. But too many bad memories lingered there now. The rest of the morning was spent moving things to the new house, both grateful for the help from their friends. Izzy's things had been brought out of storage; Cas had also been helping her decorate. Stephen had gladly left the girls to it.

Izzy watched Stu and Stephen attempt to move the couch in the new house to the other side of the room, not happy with the lay out. Katie sauntered into the room, an empty cardboard box in her arms. Stu glanced up at his fiancé, immediately dropping the couch to rush to Katie's aid. Stephen groaned as Stu let the heavy couch drop leaving him to cope with it on his own.

"Katie, no." Katie whipped her head up to see Stu hurtling towards her, "No heavy lifting, we already talked about this."

"Stu, I'm fine!" He shook his head as he reached her, forcefully pulling the box out of her hands. He swore as the empty box flew from his grip, ending up on the floor behind him. His hands rested on his hips as Katie grinned at him.

"It's empty." He raised an eyebrow as she pointed out the obvious.

"You could have said that sooner Katie."

"Well I didn't think you would snatch the damn thing from my hands."

"I don't want you hurting yourself or the baby." Katie smiled; she knew he was only looking out for her. A collective 'Aww' came from Cas and Izzy stood watching the scene unfold.

"Stu, little help here mate." Stu turned around, completely forgetting about his Irish friend.

"Ahh.. Sorry Ste." He glanced back at Katie, leaving her but not before a quick peck on the lips first.

"You two are adorable." Izzy piped up standing next to the English woman, her eyes glowed as she watched her soon to be husband with Stephen.

"You think? He can be a pain in the arse some times."

"Tell me about it." All three girls laughed as Cas and Izzy spoke in unison.

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Cas spoke up, watching Cody sit on the just moved couch, his feet planted firmly on the coffee table.

"Yeah, and the fact Stephen is trying to act all calm and collected is making me more nervous."

"Last chance." Izzy nodded at Katie. Last chance indeed, she hoped her parents wouldn't screw it up.

-That Evening-

Izzy wandered through the new bedroom, the house certainly wasn't complete but it was coming along nicely. Stephen appeared from the adjoining bathroom looking as handsome as ever; his large hands fixing the flat cap covering his fiery hair. She could tell by the look on his face he didn't want to go.

"Ste..."

"Iz, don't. We've talked about this before, ah'm going for you and you only." He looked her dead in the eye, she knew to drop it.

"Okay." She watched him pass her, picking up his watch off her dresser table and wrapping it around his left wrist, his deftly fingers quickly doing up the leather strap.

"What?" He caught her staring, her eyes locked on to every movement. She shook her head softly and mouthed the words 'nothing' before turning away from him. His heart tugged and he knew he had upset her. He rushed over to her, turning her around. She already looked defeated.

"Ah'm sorry, Iz. Ah'm just not looking forward to this."

"I know." She tried to wriggle free from her grip, "I just wished you would make an effort."

"Ah'm going aren't I?" She sighed, not knowing what more she could do.

"I need to finish getting ready." He dropped his hands to his side, letting the blonde slip from his grip. He ran a hand over his facial hair; he wanted to make her happy, but at the same time he didn't want to meet her parents again. Their accusation still stuck firm in his mind; he wasn't going to let them get away with what they had done that easily.

He picked up his wallet and phone, shoving them into the pockets of his dress pants. Izzy finished slipping into her black YSL tribute pumps; she smoothed out her black and white geometric Hervé Léger bandage skirt. Her loose cotton grey tank top was tucked into her skirt. She picked up the studded leather Burberry jacket lying across the bed, threading her arms through the sleeves and pulling her hair free.

"Yeh ready now?" She nodded, walking straight past him before picking up her Christian Louboutin Loubi bow satin clutch. He followed her down the two flights of stairs, easily getting there first due to her choice of shoes.

She turned to him before they left the house to catch a cab, heading to The Plaza for a meal with her parents; their destination would call for the most civilised manner, "All I ask is that you try." He didn't have time to reply, she quickly turned around to walk out of the house, almost whipping him with her hair. The trip to 5th avenue was quiet; Izzy hated the tension that had built up

As they exited the cab, Stephen made sure to stop her before she could walk away from him, "I love yeh." He kissed her lips before lacing his fingers with hers; he wanted to send a clear cut message to her parents. He wasn't going anywhere. Izzy held her breath as they were shown to the table, her parents were already seated. Stephen held tightly onto her hand, walking as close to her as possible. His protective side shone bright.

"Elizabeth, we were wondering if you'd had second thoughts." She looked over her shoulder at Stephen, he reluctantly let go of her hand so she could hug her dad.

"Stephen, I'm glad we can start over." Simon held his hand out once he had let go of his daughter. Stephen looked at the outstretched hand before him then back up to Izzy, her big blue eyes pleading him with him. He dragged his tongue over his bottom lip, reaching out and shaking his hand; firmer than necessary.

No words left his lips, his stare still intense; Izzy knew he was having a hard time. She hugged her mom, kissing her on the cheek lightly before they all tool their respective places around the small circle table. She squeezed Stephens thigh lightly under the table, he sent her a small smile. 20 minutes into the dinner Stephen had still said very little, Izzy speaking for the both of them.

"So, we hear you used to be a body guard?" Joanne asked after taking a gulp of gin and tonic.

Stephen nodded, "Yeah." Izzy rolled her eyes at his half assed attempt at trying.

"He used to be Bono's body guard. The guy from U2. Didn't you?" She glanced at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Yeah."

Her mom's mouth formed a perfect 'O'; Izzy was starting to lose the will to live. She sighed a breath of a relief as the food finally arrived. The food was pretty much eaten in silence, Izzys mom and dad making conversation breaking the tension here and there.

The conversation had turned from Izzys work to Stephens work with the WWE, "I bet you get a lot of female attention though don't you." Simons hardy laugh erupted from his chest, a laugh that wasn't quite necessary.

"Ah've got a lot of fans, wouldn't have made it if I didn't." Izzy could tell he was more than annoyed at her parents little quips here and there.

"What I mean is, you have to stay faithful even if you have women throwing themselves at you."

"Dad!" Izzy scolded her dad as Stephen shot up from his chair.

"Ah'll see yeh back at the apartment Iz." He'd had enough; his breaking point had been reached. He needed to get out before he punched his future father-in-law in the face. He set off down 5th Avenue, people blurring past him. His long legs carrying him fast down the sidewalk. He didn't look back, but groaned as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw Izzys name flash up on the screen. He shoved the phone back, not giving a second thought about his fiancé.

Izzy swore as the constant ringing sounded through the speaker of her phone, Stephen was ignoring her calls. She figured he would have come home, but he was nowhere to be seen. She had left her parents at The Plaza, warning them that their second and final chance had been ruined by their constant questioning. She sat down on the edge of their big bed, the huge house feeling ten times bigger than it actually was.

Stephen took a long swig of his fourth beer as his phone vibrated in his pocket again, purposely ignoring the phone call. He sighed, resting his elbows on the worn wooden counter. The lighting was dark, almost depressing. He had rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, his top few shirt buttons undone.

"Hey there." He turned to his left to see a small brunette perched on the stool next to him

"How'ya lass." He greeted her before turning his attention back to the bottle of beer resting in his hands. He almost jumped as he felt her small hand on his bare arm.

"I'm Laura." She removed her hand from his arm and held it out eagerly, her brown eyes sparkling in the dim room.

"Nice to meet yeh Laura." He shook her hand lightly sending her a lop sided smile.

"Are you okay? I don't mean to pry, but you look like something's troubling you."

"Ah'm fine, but thanks."

"How about a drink then?"

"Ah think ah shall be off after this one."

"Stay." She leant closer to him, trailing her fingers up and down his arm. She bit her lip, eyes smoky; trying her hardest to seduce the man next to her.

"Ah have somewhere to be." He took the final swig of his drink, turning on the stool to leave. Her hand on his thigh stopped him; before he could blink her lips were on his. His heart was beating fast, he should have stopped her but he didn't. He didn't know if it was the alcohol in his system, but he plunged his hands into her curly brown locks; kissing her hard. Izzys face flashed through his mind; he pulled back breathing quickly, not looking the girl in the eyes. He shook his head, not believing what he had just done. Her hand curled around his bicep, wanting him to keep her company.

"Find some other poor fella to hit on." He shrugged her hand off him, leaving the bar as quickly as he could; the cold New York air hitting him like a ton of bricks.

A/N – Thank you celticfighter, xFindTheEnigmaWithinx, LA Williams, farrah8644, cenachick1981, DefinitelyProbablyMaybe, wades wife, Noellia, nefertina-shanf, MissShelz, mrsa87, miamitravel, wwemagpie, poisenousprincess, ThatGirl54, alyssaanne and IGotSkittlez for the awesome reviews once again :D! I know you all hate me now though LOL *hides behind Sheamy*! Lou x