Stephanie kept looking up at Chris as she tried to do her work.
"You need to leave!" Stephanie told him, imploring him to leave so she could actually get some work done.
"I'm not doing anything," he held his hands up defensively. And he really wasn't doing anything. He was simply sitting in the chair across from her watching her work. Their meeting with her father had gone well enough, there really wasn't much Chris could do since he wasn't part of the creative team, but he tried to put his input where necessary, but felt a little out of place.
"You're bothering me," she said with exasperation, blowing an errant lock of hair out of her face. "Sorry you had to be in that meeting, by the way, it must have been so boring for you."
"I got to be with you, that's the important part," he shrugged, and Stephanie could tell he actually meant that and wasn't trying to garner any points from her. She smiled slightly, not looking up at him, but he caught it anyways. It wasn't that he thought he had to make up for lost time, but he wanted to make up for it. He was going to look at her for the rest of his life, and somehow that still didn't seem like enough time, not nearly enough time.
"You might have to get used to that, you know, since you're going to be part of this family tomorrow," Stephanie looked up at him then, smiling with her entire face. "Not to say that I want to push you into management, but dinners with my family always devolve into work."
He laughed, "I'm okay with that, and maybe someday, I will want to be part of management, I don't know yet, right now, I'm just about the wrestling part of the business, we can worry about everything else later."
"Yeah, of course, I'm not pushing you," she told him with a shrug, going back to her work.
He thought about that concept for a moment as the quiet descended over her office, the only sound being her pen scratching across a piece of paper. He was going to be part of the McMahon family. He didn't know quite what that entailed, but he knew that it was going to be different from his own family situation. He was familiar with all the McMahons, considered Shane one of his best friends, but being friends with a family was not being in that family.
He didn't think they would mind him marrying Stephanie, well, not too much, but the circumstances might not be their ideal situation, just marrying her like he was. He didn't want to change their plans, he liked them, but he knew that there were going to be some unhappy people when it came to their actual wedding.
"Do you think it would be weird if we filmed our wedding?" Chris asked out of the blue.
Stephanie turned her head up, raising both her eyebrows, "That was random."
"I was just thinking about how our parents, especially our moms, let's face it, our dads will probably not care too much, but don't you think our moms might actually care a little that they didn't get to see us get actual married?"
Stephanie contemplated that for a moment. "You know, you're right, they probably would be a little put out that they weren't there, yeah, sure, I'm sure we can get someone to film it or set up a camera, I have one at my place, and I'm sure someone could do it."
"I could ask Tina, Lance's wife."
"Oh yeah, that's a good idea," Stephanie smiled at him, "See, we're already working as a team, when do Lance and Tina come in anyways?"
"You just want to get me out of here, don't you?" he joked, but he knew that he was really bothering her. She had a lot of work to do, and she wanted to get it done before the weekend because well, they were getting married, and she didn't want any of that playing in the back of her brain.
"Pretty much, yes, I have things to do, and you are staring at me like I'm going to disappear, and I'm not, Chris, I'm not leaving your life again, no more random cards, no more not seeing each other, no more mistiming, Just you and me, forever."
"I like that, and I just want to be around you."
"I know, but it's bordering on creepy now," she tilted her head, but gave him a look that said she truly didn't mind. He couldn't believe the love he had for this woman. It was never gone, never, not for one second. It was dormant for a while, yes, he would say it was dormant for a while, but never gone. She never faded from his conscious like other women, but instead flickered and burned all the time, until no woman could ever be her, her fire was everything that kept him warm.
"They're coming in at 6:30."
"Oh okay, and oh yeah, tell Tina that I'd love for her to come out with Lisa and I tonight. We're just going to dinner, and you know, girl stuff, and I'd love it if she could join in," Stephanie said. "It'd be too bad for her if she was stuck with you and Lance all night."
"Okay, I'm sure she'll appreciate that, thanks."
"Hey, we're getting married, we need to incorporate our lives," she told him. "Now, can you get the hell out of here?"
"I'm going, I'm going," he said, standing and walking around her desk to give her a goodbye kiss. She swung her chair around to face him and he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was rather chaste since she was at work, but enough to let her know that he loved her. "I'll see you later."
"Forever," she teased as he left.
Later that evening, Chris and Lance found themselves at a local bar Chris had found while staying with Stephanie. It was attached to a restaurant, so it was rather nice, and they sat there, nursing their beers, and occasionally looking up at the hockey game playing, but since neither one was a Bruins fan, it didn't hold much weight in their consciousness.
"I can't believe you're actually getting married tomorrow," Lance took a sip of his beer as he shook his head. "I mean, I'm not saying you're not the type to get married, but this is all so quick, you know."
"But is it really?" Chris asked.
Lance stared at him for a long beat before caving, "No, I guess not, not with her. Anyone else, yes, but her, I guess not. I just want you to be happy, I know that's what everyone always says in situations like this, but I do, and I know you were happy with her before."
"I was, and I know we were young, and we were different people, but I've been spending a lot of time with her since I debuted again, and it's been good, it's been really good, and the Stephanie she is right now is amazing. She's the best, and I still love her. I love her even more now because she's amazing."
"Do you regret leaving her?"
"Yes, and no," Chris admitted.
It was a sticky thing, thinking back to what he might have done if he hadn't left. He wanted to believe that they would have made it, that they would have defied those odds, but the rational part of his brain told him that it probably wouldn't have lasted. Back then, the age difference was a lot more daunting than it was now. She was still in high school, and if their relationship had come out, they would be in a lot of trouble with her parents. It could have jeopardized both their futures.
But on the other hand, all that time wasted trying to find something he had already had was a little bit regretful. He could have had years with her, and who knew where they might be if their relationship had not ended. They could have already been married, they could have had kids, but it also could have been a disaster. There was no way of knowing, and so he couldn't definitively say one thing one way or another.
"I just, if I'd stayed, I don't think I'd be the wrestler I am now, and I don't think she'd be who she is. I know that she's always been driven, but she might have been pregnant or something by now or…who knows, but then, we lost a lot of time, but maybe that's okay, maybe we needed the time apart, you know?"
"Yeah, I mean, you've done a lot of great things since you've been gone, and you came back better, and that's going to help you with your career. That has to be worth something, if not her, something."
"Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't trade her if it came to that, I would choose her, I know that now, I know that I probably would choose her now over anything, but then, we were both immature in ways."
"So you guys have talked about all this?"
"Yeah, we've had some real heart-to-hearts about everything that happened. She even gave me her diary to read. She wrote about me in there, kept up with my career."
"So you read it?"
"No, I saw a couple things, she said I could read the entire thing if I wanted, but I didn't want to. Those are her personal thoughts and everything, and I didn't want to invade on those, even though she said parts were about me. Sure, I'm curious, but not curious enough to want to actually read the thing," he gave a short, careless shrug. "I love her, that's enough for me. If she ever wants to tell me what she wrote, fine, but if not, that's cool."
Lance nodded, "Sounds like you guys are in an actual better place than I thought you were."
"I told you, we've talked about this, we've been getting closer, and while the timing is fast considering it's only been a short time since I came back into her life, we're there. And it'll work out with our families. I'm sure they'll be disappointed at first, maybe even mad, but we can handle that, and we'll have our wedding, and it'll be ridiculously big because I can't imagin her family wanting anything less."
"You'll just go along with it then?"
"Probably," he chuckled as he spotted Stephanie over Lance's shoulder, "Here they are."
Stephanie came over and kissed Chris's cheek, "Did you two have fun at dinner?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Yes, but now I'm ready for some real drinks," she said, beckoning the bartender over. She and Tina ordered their drinks and Stephanie turned to Lance, pressing her back against Chris. "It's really nice to see you again, sorry I kind of stole your wife as soon as you walked in the door."
"It's been a while," Lance said as Chris snuck his arm around Stephanie's waist and leaned his chin on her shoulder.
"Years actually," Stephanie corrected him, "and I probably look a little different than I did back then, plus, you don't have to pretend like Chris and I aren't in a relationship, not to mention you don't have to have that look of disapproval, unless you don't want us to get married."
"He's good with it," Chris told her.
"Okay, then we have no problem," Stephanie laughed.
"I wouldn't let him have a problem," Tina said, "Chris, I like her."
"And I didn't have to pay her to say that."
"It was just the cost of one dinner," Tina joked.
"And money well spent," Stephanie said.
Lance watched Chris and Stephanie as her drink came and she took a sip of it, letting Chris take a sip too then saying something to him. He laughed and kissed her temple, and Lance's fears were allayed. They acted like no time passed between them, like the past was simply the past and they were instead looking to the future. He knew his friend, knew what he went through, and if all that led him back to Stephanie, it was time to start being happy for his friend.
Because his friend was indeed happy.
