I woke up when I heard the knocking. Maybe if I stayed quiet, they'd go away. It was probably some unimportant fan coming to annoy me. The knocking grew louder as I covered my head with my pillow. I hadn't been able to sleep much.

"Chris!!" More knocking.

"GO AWAY!" I shouted. I didn't want to get up. I just wanted to stay in bed. The person kept knocking, over and over, until the sound was about to drive me mad. I groaned and slowly got up out of my bed. Obviously, they wouldn't stop until I got up. I trudged over to the door and opened it.

"Bout time. My knuckles were starting to get irritated." I squinted at the person. It sounded like Angle. "Chris? You okay?" Yeah, that was him all right.

"What time is it?" I rubbed at my eyes, and then looked back at him. This time, I saw him clearly. He looked at his watch.

"9 AM." He answered.

"You assclown, can't you let me sleep in? Damn." I turned away and walked back over to the bedroom. I fell on my bed and sighed. I had woken up with one of the worst headaches known to mankind.

"You never sleep in." Angle said, following me into the room. I ignored him. "Chris?"

"WHAT?!"

"Damn. You're a grouch in the mornings, huh?"

"You're an idiot." I mumbled, but he heard me.

"Actually, you're the idiot. I'm a gold medalist." He said smugly. It took a few seconds for me to register what he said.

"Did you just call me an idiot?" I said, pushing myself up to my elbows as I glared at him.

"Yeah, I did. What's the matter, Chris? The truth has never hurt you before."

"You know what?" I began, not even thinking about what I was saying. I got up and walked over to him.

"How about you put on some pants, and then we'll talk?" He suggested. I looked down at myself. I was in my boxers.

"I have a better idea." I said, looking back up at him. He tilted his head and crossed his arms as he watched me. "How about, you stay the hell out of my business?"

He simply shook his head. "Chris, you need to take a step back and look at yourself. You're arrogant and cocky as hell for the fans, but when the cameras stop rolling, you are one of the bitterest people I know. It's not healthy, man."

"Do you think I care?"

"Yeah." He said, after a while. "Yeah, I think you do care."

"Well, you're wrong. I don't care." I turned away from him and picked up a pair of jeans on the floor.

"What's wrong with you, Chris?" He asked. I stayed quiet as I slipped the jeans on, and picked up a Y2J t-shirt. "You're not the same guy I used to know. It has to do with Stephanie, doesn't it?"

"You could say that." I answered. He sighed loudly as I slipped on the t- shirt and turned back to him. "I'm not going to see your buddy David today." I added.

"Why?" He asked, surprised.

"Because I don't need to see a damn psychiatrist, that's why." I replied, somewhat fiercely. He just shook his head.

"This is what I'm talking about, Chris."

I went to answer, but bit my lip instead. I had almost lost my cool there. I just shrugged and grabbed my shoes off the floor, and began to put them on. He was edging me on and on, and he was very close to pissing me off.

"You're too bitter, you're holding on too tight."

"Oh, so now I'm bitter. Whatever, Angle." I muttered, tying the laces on one of my shoes.

"Talk to Steph, Chris. She cares about you more than you think."

"Talk to Steph, Chris." I mimicked him. He frowned when I did, but I didn't care. "Call Steph, Chris. Talk to David, Chris." I looked up at him and shook my head in disgust as I stood up. He straightened when I did.

"I'm just trying to --"

"Trying to what, Angle?" I said, cutting him off. "Trying to help me? You know how you can help me?!" I shouted, at my wits' end. His eyes flashed as I raised my voice. "You can help me by staying out of my god damn business! You can help me by not coming here to annoy the living HELL out of me! You can help me, Angle.." I said, as I reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. His eyes widened in surprise. I was so worked up that I was shaking.

"You can help me all right.. by staying the hell away from me. You annoy me, you bother me, when all I want is to be left ALONE!"

"You want to be left alone, huh?" He whispered. We were so close now, I heard it clear as day. He frowned and looked down at my hands gripping him by his jacket. "If you don't let go of me right now, I'll make you regret it, Jericho."

"Go ahead and try. Your threats don't mean shit anyways, because you can never back them up." I spat out. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I think I got caught up in the heat of the moment. I just answered like I would to any threat, because that's what he did. He threatened me.

He hit me so fast and so hard that I didn't even realize what was happening. One second I was in Kurt's face, and the next, I was on the floor. I couldn't even tell where he hit me, because my whole face felt numb.

"Like I said, Jericho.. you're an idiot." He said, standing above me. He shook off his fist. "I'm just trying to help you because I consider you to be my friend. But you're so freakin' hard-headed, that you can't even see or appreciate that."

His hit didn't do me any good with the headache I was already feeling. I started to roll over to stand up, when he grabbed me by my shirt and literally pulled me up to my feet.

"Stand up." He said, shaking me a little. He let me go and I sat down on the edge of my bed. I could feel throbbing on my face. I was going to have a nice bruise. I looked up at him and my first instinct was to hit him back, but I was tired. In my state of mind, he'd kick my ass easily. He already proved he could. I glared at him as I rubbed the side of my face.

"Your problem, Chris Jericho, is you don't like to face the big issues. You had your problems with Stephanie, sure."

"Look Angle.." I started, sighing.

"Shut up, Jericho, I'm not finished!" He shouted. I blinked and shut up. It had been a while since he had talked to me like that.

"But you don't want to talk to her about it. You'd rather sit here and make your life miserable because of it. And I try to help you... but noooo. Mr. Bad Ass Chris Jericho can't accept help. It's beneath him. So what do you do?"

"Beat Hunter's ass?" I offered. He frowned at me. "Sorry." I mumbled.

"You insult, you ignore, and you take people for granted. You do it to everyone. Even me!" He shook his head.

"I'm sorry." I said numbly. "Just.."

"Sorry isn't good enough."

"What the hell, man? I said I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?" I was exasperated. Since when was sorry not good enough? Wait a second.. that's what I had said to Stephanie. Okay then, he was right. It wasn't good enough.

"What do I want you to do? Talk to Stephanie." He shrugged, as if it were no big deal. I stared at him and shook my head. "That's what I want you to do."

"I'll THINK about it, okay?" I said, sighing. He shook his head.

"Nope. You're not thinking about anything. I already told her to come over later."

"You WHAT?!" I felt my jaw drop. I stood up and started pacing the room. "How can you do that? How can you ask her of all people to come by later? What the hell is the matter with you?"

"You just listen to her while she does the talking. Then you won't have to do it again.. ever."

I ran my hands through my hair. This was too much, too soon. I wasn't READY to sit down and talk to her. I hadn't done so in the longest time.. I couldn't even REMEMBER the last time I talked to her!

"Chris.. relax, buddy."

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RELAX?!" I shouted, as I paced faster. I couldn't talk to her anymore. She'd want to talk about the past, and damn it, that was what I was trying to get away from! What the hell was he thinking? I suddenly came up with a solution, and snapped my fingers. "I got it!" I cried out.

"Uh.. got what?" Kurt asked, looking confused.

"Let's just leave! That way when she gets here, I won't be here!"

"Chris.."

"Come on, help me find my keys." I said, already starting to look around the area.

"CHRIS!" He yelled out, startling me.

"WHAT?" I yelled back. I grabbed my keys and turned to look at him. He gave me a look. "Oh.. I get it." I said after a while. "You can stay here so there will be SOMEONE here for her to talk to! You're the best, Angle." I practically ran past him but he reached out and grabbed me before I could leave.

"Oh no, you're staying right here. You're not going anywhere."

"Kurt.. please man." I said, practically pleading with him. "Don't do this to me. You said we're friends, and damn it, friends don't do this to other friends!"

He crossed his arms.

"I said, you're not going anywhere. Stop running from her, Chris."

"You don't understand.." I sighed and sat back down on my bed. He wasn't going to let me leave. I almost felt betrayed by what he was doing. "You just don't understand."

"I would, if you'd let me."

"I can't talk to her, Kurt. The things she did to me.. the things she said to me.. I can't deal with it. I can't forget it. I NEED to forget it so I can move on to bigger and better things.. but I can't.." I shook my head and looked away, feeling so frustrated with the whole situation, that I almost felt like crying. But I would be damned to break down in front of Kurt Angle, friend or no friend.

"She did this to you, Chris. She's the only one who can help you." I shrugged, and rubbed the side of my face. "Sorry about hitting you. You're just such a jerk sometimes that it's very hard to resist."

"Gee.. thanks." I said, sarcastically.

"Want a hug?"

"No." I answered, giving him a look of disgust.

"How bout some milk?"

"NO!" I shouted, and he laughed.

"Fine, fine. So you'll listen to her, right?" He said seriously.

"I guess."

"Good, good. I'll get going then.. you stay here, buster, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your Olympic diapers in a wad. I'll stay here." I said, before groaning very loudly, my way of complaining.

"Okay then. See you around. Good luck." He said, already on his way out, and ignoring my voice of complaint.

"Yeah, bye." I said, and waited until I heard the door click shut behind him. The first thing I thought of was that I could still leave. But what would be the point? Stephanie would tell him that I wasn't there, and then Angle would probably tie me down to try again. I didn't put it past him.

I'd stay. I knew I was crazy for doing this, but maybe Kurt was right. Maybe I could go back to the way I used to be. Then again, maybe I couldn't. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. I reached back and opened a drawer, pulling out some beer. I popped open the top off one, and took a long swig. The alcohol was refreshing to my senses. I was in for a long night, after all.