"What are you talking about?" She asked, sounding shocked.
"You've got this huge bruise on your face." I said, tilting my head to the side. I watched her curiously, not knowing that I actually hadn't gotten a good look at it. "What, walk into a door or something?"
"Yeah, I did." She laughed nervously as she put her sunglasses back on. "People don't see what they're doing!" She smiled at me, but I frowned.
"Let me see." I took a step towards her and she stepped back. "Whoa, what's wrong? I don't bite. I just want to see." I stepped to her as she stood as still as a statue. I reached up and gently cupped her chin in my hand while I examined her face.
"It's nothing, Chris." She said, reassuringly.
"Shh, let me see." I reached to her glasses with both hands, but she flinched before I even touched her. "Hey, relax, I'm not going to do anything. It's okay, I'm just looking." I removed her shades and tilted her head back a little to see better in the light.
"It's nothing.."
"Nothing?" I cried out, feeling my jaw drop. "You got socked pretty good, and you say it's nothing?"
"I told you, I ran into a door." She pulled away from me. I glared at her, knowing full well she was lying to me. She sighed and tossed her hair back, and my eyes went back to that bruise. That was NOT from some door.
"A door, huh?" I said, sarcastically. "That might have worked with your parents while you were in high school, but it doesn't work with me."
"Fine, fine." She put her hands up. "My dog jumped up at me."
"Oh.." I said, nodding. Then something dawned on me. "Hey, wait a minute.."
"Well, would you look at the time! I have a show to help run tomorrow.. listen, Chris, it's been really nice talking to you. Call me, sometime, okay?" She came up to me and kissed me on the cheek. I grabbed her and pulled her to me when she did.
"You hate dogs." I said bluntly.
"Stop Chris, that hurts!" She yelled painfully. I immediately let her go, even though I hadn't been gripping her so hard.
"Who hit you?" I demanded. I began running through the list of people that didn't like Stephanie. Trish, perhaps? The new girl, Gail Kim?
"Fine, Chris.." She said, rubbing her arms. "Sable jumped me before I came over here, and my dad watched while she kicked my ass! Are you happy now?"
"Oh. Sorry." I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "I didn't mean to hurt you, if I did."
"No big deal. Geez, Chris.." I frowned as I looked at the bruise on her face again.
"That doesn't look like a slap. You're going to have a black eye." I stated, knowingly. I knew these things.
"She hit me with a closed fist." Stephanie stated impatiently.
"Ah.. I see." I nodded. "So Sable hit you on your way over, eh?"
"Yes! What difference does it make?" Now she sounded exasperated. 'You're pushing it, Chris.' I thought to myself.
"Sorry, relax, I was just asking a question. So why were you trying to hide it from me?" I asked, as she crossed her arms and looked off to the side.
"I didn't want this 21 questions game to start."
"Hey, hang on a second. You said that you were caught up with Hunter before you came over, and that's why you were late." Her eyes grew wide, before she laughed it off.
"Yeah, I was. Then on my way OVER.. I got caught up with Sable and my dad.. and we started arguing.. and.. she hit me for no good reason! The stupid bitch." She snarled. I just watched her. I could read this woman like a book. I wasn't really buying it. It was a pretty ugly bruise. But who was I to defend her now?
"Well.." I said, kicking at the ground with the toe of my shoe. "I guess you should get going."
"Yeah, I guess." She responded, and I thought I heard a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Well, come here. Give me a hug." I said, opening my arms warmly. She looked at me in doubt, but I gave her a charming smile. She slowly stepped up to me, and wrapped her arms around me. I lowered my arms to hers, and pulled her at arms length from me.
"Hey! What are you doing?" She cried.
"Taking a closer look." I answered, nonchalantly. I grabbed one of her arms and she winced.
"Stop, Chris!"
"Steph, do me a favor, and just shut the hell up." I mumbled. She did as I asked, much to my surprise. I slowly lifted up the sleeve of her sweater. Not surprisingly, her arm was badly bruised.
"... I can explain that."
"I thought I told you to shut up." I answered as I lifted up the sleeve of her other arm, as gentle as I could. The bruises were dark purple. Why the hell hadn't I realized this before?
"Chris.." I looked up at her, and we made eye contact. Her eyes pleaded with mine. In that instant, I knew. I took a step back, away from her, disgust creeping through me.
"Did Hunter hit you?" I half-asked, half-demanded. "He did, didn't he?"
"Chris, right now's not really a good time.."
"I asked you a question, and you're going to answer me." I interrupted her. "Did he hit you?"
".. NO! How dare you insinuate that kind of thing about my boyfriend! You have some NERVE, Chris Jericho!" She shrieked. I narrowed my eyes as I just stared at her. She sighed and shook her head. ".. He didn't mean to." She said, giving in.
He hit her.
"Chris, listen to me.."
He actually had the fucking audacity to put his hands on her.
"He was just mad!"
He didn't even hit her.. he punched her. He hit her like he'd hit me.
"It's not a big deal.."
Who the hell did he think he was? I could hate Stephanie with all my soul, but I'd never hit her like that.
"Chris?"
I'd kill him. No one hit Stephanie like that. Not over my dead body.
"CHRIS!" She shouted, snapping me out of it. She shook me by my shirt. "Please, please don't tell anyone." She pleaded, her eyes filling with tears. "Honest, it was the first time, please, Chris.."
I pulled her to me and hugged her, while she cried into my shirt. But I was so pissed off, I could barely think straight. It was all his fault. I knew he was a bastard, but I didn't know he'd sink to this level.
"Shhh.. it's okay." I managed to say, comforting her. "He's never going to touch you again. I promise."
"It was only once.." She said against my chest as she pulled herself together.
"That's one time too many."
"What are you going to do?" She asked, looking up at me. "Chris?"
"Oh.. nothing much. Just have a little man-to-man talk with him."
"Yeah, you can do that tomorrow, at the show."
"Tomorrow?" I asked, forcing a laugh. She thought I meant a literal talk with him. I looked at her, and could already feel my blood boiling from looking at that bruise, that was caused by his fist.
"Uh.. day after tomorrow?"
"No. I think we should have a little talk tonight." I stated flatly. She looked at me with worry, but I was holding my temper in check. I was waiting until I laid eyes on him. Oh, we'd have a "talk", all right..
"What time, tonight?"
"Right now. Get in the car. This is getting taken care of, tonight."
~ - ~
"What room is he in again?"
"16 J." She looked at me and touched my arm gently. "Please, Chris, just, don't.."
"Don't what?" I asked, as I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.
"Don't go crazy on him." I nodded, not looking at her. I had bought her explanation, but the sickening feelings she had always produced inside of me all this time were coming back. I couldn't recover in one night. First thing was first though, and that was to take care of Hunter.
"Okay. Stay here." I got out and closed the door. Burying my hands in my pockets, I looked up at the hotel Hunter was staying at. Nice and flashy, just like The Game liked it. It didn't surprise me.
I walked inside, whistling. Someone suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm. I looked over quickly, and nodded.
"Hey Christian." I greeted.
"Yo, C-Man, what's up? Dude, check this place out. It's a hotel for KINGS!" Christian said, smirking as he draped an arm over my shoulders. I smirked myself and nodded. There was garbage in the building, which Chris Jericho was going to take care of, real quick. "My peeps love me here! It's like I'm really famous!" He continued. It was hard for me to be mad at Christian. He and Kurt were just about my only friends.
"You are." I agreed, in a calm voice. He looked at me curiously. "Chris, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing much. Hey, have you seen Triple H around lately?" I asked casually.
"Yeah dude, he's upstairs in his room."
"Great. I need to talk to him."
"Okay, I gotta go too, I got this KILLER massage girl waiting for me.." He grinned suggestively, letting me go and patting my shoulder. "See you tomorrow, Chris!"
"Yeah. See ya." We high-fived, like we usually did. I watched him leave, before walking off.
My smirk left my face as I walked over to the elevator. I kept my gaze low as I got in and rode up to his floor. The bell rang softly and I stepped out. I walked over until I was in front of his door, before raising my fist and knocking. It was show time.
Nothing happened, so I knocked again. I pulled out a piece of gum from my pocket, and popped it into my mouth, chewing for a few moments. Then I pulled it out of my mouth, and stuck it over the peek-hole. I wiped my lips and knocked again.
"Who is it?" I heard his gruff voice ask. He had probably been sleeping.
"Room service." I answered, in an accent.
"I didn't order anything. Go away."
It wasn't going to be that easily. I knocked again.
"I SAID GO AWAY, GET LOST, YOU MORON!"
I shook my head and knocked again.
"Room service, sir." I repeated.
"You idiot," I heard him mumble, before hearing chains before moved around on the door. A second later, he opened the door, wearing a white robe. He looked at me and groaned loudly.
"Damn it, Jericho -"
That's as far as he got before I kicked the door back in his face. He fell back in pain and held his face as I stepped inside, slamming the door behind me. I turned and locked it. No one was going to interrupt me. I had waited way too long for this.
"Hey, Hunter, nice to see you. How you doing?" I asked, before kicking him hard in the ribs.
"What the hell are you doing?" He gasped, before I reached down and grasped him by the robe, yanking him up.
"Sending regards, from Stephanie McMahon." I hit him as hard as I could, knocking him down. He rolled onto his stomach and starting crawling away.
"What's the matter, Hunter? Can't fight back? Is it because I'm not a woman?" I kicked him again, before shoving him onto his back. I went to mount him when he hit me hard in the face. I resorted to a cheap shot and drove my knee down, low-blowing him. I could taste blood on my lip, but I couldn't feel it.
That's when I lost it. All I could see was Stephanie crying. All I could feel was the hurt that I had gone through for the past few years. And for what? Because of this dumbass? He was the reason I was miserable? Not on this night.
I hit him so many times, I was surprised he was still conscious. I could feel blood on my knuckles, but I didn't know if it was his, or mine. Finally, when I could barely breathe anymore, I got off of him. I stood up on shaky feet, and had to hold onto the dresser to steady myself. I looked over at him, realizing for the first time that I had really done a number on him. He was a bloody mess.
He was starting to get up. I had to hand it to him. He could take an ass kicking. I went over and shoved him back down with my foot. Vince was going to have my ass for this, but I didn't care.
"Come on, Hunter, get up and fight back. Don't tell me that's all you've got." I taunted, before shoving him back down. I leaned down and glared at him angrily, so pissed off that I was out of breath. "You son of a bitch! Don't you EVER touch Stephanie again, you hear me?" I straightened and stumbled towards the door, rubbing my head. I stopped and leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath. I watched him as he slowly got up to his knees.
"You stupid bastard!" He shouted in pain, while I laughed. I looked to my side, and picked up the vase of flowers that was perched on another dresser. I felt the weight between my hands. Nice and heavy.
"Hey Hunter!" I called. He was looking at his hand, which had blood on it. It was his own. He turned back to me, barely standing, but standing none the less. As soon as he was facing me again, I smashed the vase in his face. He fell down, out cold. I smirked and backed up, looking at the mess I had made. There was glass shattered everywhere.
"Heads up, jackass." I mumbled, before walking over to the door. I unlocked it and stepped out, closing it behind me. I leaned back against it, taking a deep breath. That was the best therapy I had had in months. It was refreshing, and most importantly, satisfying. I got off the door and walked back over to the elevator. It was funny how I went from hating Stephanie to standing up for her in one night.
All in all, it didn't matter to me. I walked out of the elevator and walked over to the exit, avoiding all the looks people gave me. I couldn't stop the cheesy grin from appearing on my face. I had gotten just a little revenge, and it tasted almost as sweet as Stephanie's kiss. Tonight, I was truly the king of the world.
"You've got this huge bruise on your face." I said, tilting my head to the side. I watched her curiously, not knowing that I actually hadn't gotten a good look at it. "What, walk into a door or something?"
"Yeah, I did." She laughed nervously as she put her sunglasses back on. "People don't see what they're doing!" She smiled at me, but I frowned.
"Let me see." I took a step towards her and she stepped back. "Whoa, what's wrong? I don't bite. I just want to see." I stepped to her as she stood as still as a statue. I reached up and gently cupped her chin in my hand while I examined her face.
"It's nothing, Chris." She said, reassuringly.
"Shh, let me see." I reached to her glasses with both hands, but she flinched before I even touched her. "Hey, relax, I'm not going to do anything. It's okay, I'm just looking." I removed her shades and tilted her head back a little to see better in the light.
"It's nothing.."
"Nothing?" I cried out, feeling my jaw drop. "You got socked pretty good, and you say it's nothing?"
"I told you, I ran into a door." She pulled away from me. I glared at her, knowing full well she was lying to me. She sighed and tossed her hair back, and my eyes went back to that bruise. That was NOT from some door.
"A door, huh?" I said, sarcastically. "That might have worked with your parents while you were in high school, but it doesn't work with me."
"Fine, fine." She put her hands up. "My dog jumped up at me."
"Oh.." I said, nodding. Then something dawned on me. "Hey, wait a minute.."
"Well, would you look at the time! I have a show to help run tomorrow.. listen, Chris, it's been really nice talking to you. Call me, sometime, okay?" She came up to me and kissed me on the cheek. I grabbed her and pulled her to me when she did.
"You hate dogs." I said bluntly.
"Stop Chris, that hurts!" She yelled painfully. I immediately let her go, even though I hadn't been gripping her so hard.
"Who hit you?" I demanded. I began running through the list of people that didn't like Stephanie. Trish, perhaps? The new girl, Gail Kim?
"Fine, Chris.." She said, rubbing her arms. "Sable jumped me before I came over here, and my dad watched while she kicked my ass! Are you happy now?"
"Oh. Sorry." I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "I didn't mean to hurt you, if I did."
"No big deal. Geez, Chris.." I frowned as I looked at the bruise on her face again.
"That doesn't look like a slap. You're going to have a black eye." I stated, knowingly. I knew these things.
"She hit me with a closed fist." Stephanie stated impatiently.
"Ah.. I see." I nodded. "So Sable hit you on your way over, eh?"
"Yes! What difference does it make?" Now she sounded exasperated. 'You're pushing it, Chris.' I thought to myself.
"Sorry, relax, I was just asking a question. So why were you trying to hide it from me?" I asked, as she crossed her arms and looked off to the side.
"I didn't want this 21 questions game to start."
"Hey, hang on a second. You said that you were caught up with Hunter before you came over, and that's why you were late." Her eyes grew wide, before she laughed it off.
"Yeah, I was. Then on my way OVER.. I got caught up with Sable and my dad.. and we started arguing.. and.. she hit me for no good reason! The stupid bitch." She snarled. I just watched her. I could read this woman like a book. I wasn't really buying it. It was a pretty ugly bruise. But who was I to defend her now?
"Well.." I said, kicking at the ground with the toe of my shoe. "I guess you should get going."
"Yeah, I guess." She responded, and I thought I heard a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Well, come here. Give me a hug." I said, opening my arms warmly. She looked at me in doubt, but I gave her a charming smile. She slowly stepped up to me, and wrapped her arms around me. I lowered my arms to hers, and pulled her at arms length from me.
"Hey! What are you doing?" She cried.
"Taking a closer look." I answered, nonchalantly. I grabbed one of her arms and she winced.
"Stop, Chris!"
"Steph, do me a favor, and just shut the hell up." I mumbled. She did as I asked, much to my surprise. I slowly lifted up the sleeve of her sweater. Not surprisingly, her arm was badly bruised.
"... I can explain that."
"I thought I told you to shut up." I answered as I lifted up the sleeve of her other arm, as gentle as I could. The bruises were dark purple. Why the hell hadn't I realized this before?
"Chris.." I looked up at her, and we made eye contact. Her eyes pleaded with mine. In that instant, I knew. I took a step back, away from her, disgust creeping through me.
"Did Hunter hit you?" I half-asked, half-demanded. "He did, didn't he?"
"Chris, right now's not really a good time.."
"I asked you a question, and you're going to answer me." I interrupted her. "Did he hit you?"
".. NO! How dare you insinuate that kind of thing about my boyfriend! You have some NERVE, Chris Jericho!" She shrieked. I narrowed my eyes as I just stared at her. She sighed and shook her head. ".. He didn't mean to." She said, giving in.
He hit her.
"Chris, listen to me.."
He actually had the fucking audacity to put his hands on her.
"He was just mad!"
He didn't even hit her.. he punched her. He hit her like he'd hit me.
"It's not a big deal.."
Who the hell did he think he was? I could hate Stephanie with all my soul, but I'd never hit her like that.
"Chris?"
I'd kill him. No one hit Stephanie like that. Not over my dead body.
"CHRIS!" She shouted, snapping me out of it. She shook me by my shirt. "Please, please don't tell anyone." She pleaded, her eyes filling with tears. "Honest, it was the first time, please, Chris.."
I pulled her to me and hugged her, while she cried into my shirt. But I was so pissed off, I could barely think straight. It was all his fault. I knew he was a bastard, but I didn't know he'd sink to this level.
"Shhh.. it's okay." I managed to say, comforting her. "He's never going to touch you again. I promise."
"It was only once.." She said against my chest as she pulled herself together.
"That's one time too many."
"What are you going to do?" She asked, looking up at me. "Chris?"
"Oh.. nothing much. Just have a little man-to-man talk with him."
"Yeah, you can do that tomorrow, at the show."
"Tomorrow?" I asked, forcing a laugh. She thought I meant a literal talk with him. I looked at her, and could already feel my blood boiling from looking at that bruise, that was caused by his fist.
"Uh.. day after tomorrow?"
"No. I think we should have a little talk tonight." I stated flatly. She looked at me with worry, but I was holding my temper in check. I was waiting until I laid eyes on him. Oh, we'd have a "talk", all right..
"What time, tonight?"
"Right now. Get in the car. This is getting taken care of, tonight."
~ - ~
"What room is he in again?"
"16 J." She looked at me and touched my arm gently. "Please, Chris, just, don't.."
"Don't what?" I asked, as I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.
"Don't go crazy on him." I nodded, not looking at her. I had bought her explanation, but the sickening feelings she had always produced inside of me all this time were coming back. I couldn't recover in one night. First thing was first though, and that was to take care of Hunter.
"Okay. Stay here." I got out and closed the door. Burying my hands in my pockets, I looked up at the hotel Hunter was staying at. Nice and flashy, just like The Game liked it. It didn't surprise me.
I walked inside, whistling. Someone suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm. I looked over quickly, and nodded.
"Hey Christian." I greeted.
"Yo, C-Man, what's up? Dude, check this place out. It's a hotel for KINGS!" Christian said, smirking as he draped an arm over my shoulders. I smirked myself and nodded. There was garbage in the building, which Chris Jericho was going to take care of, real quick. "My peeps love me here! It's like I'm really famous!" He continued. It was hard for me to be mad at Christian. He and Kurt were just about my only friends.
"You are." I agreed, in a calm voice. He looked at me curiously. "Chris, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing much. Hey, have you seen Triple H around lately?" I asked casually.
"Yeah dude, he's upstairs in his room."
"Great. I need to talk to him."
"Okay, I gotta go too, I got this KILLER massage girl waiting for me.." He grinned suggestively, letting me go and patting my shoulder. "See you tomorrow, Chris!"
"Yeah. See ya." We high-fived, like we usually did. I watched him leave, before walking off.
My smirk left my face as I walked over to the elevator. I kept my gaze low as I got in and rode up to his floor. The bell rang softly and I stepped out. I walked over until I was in front of his door, before raising my fist and knocking. It was show time.
Nothing happened, so I knocked again. I pulled out a piece of gum from my pocket, and popped it into my mouth, chewing for a few moments. Then I pulled it out of my mouth, and stuck it over the peek-hole. I wiped my lips and knocked again.
"Who is it?" I heard his gruff voice ask. He had probably been sleeping.
"Room service." I answered, in an accent.
"I didn't order anything. Go away."
It wasn't going to be that easily. I knocked again.
"I SAID GO AWAY, GET LOST, YOU MORON!"
I shook my head and knocked again.
"Room service, sir." I repeated.
"You idiot," I heard him mumble, before hearing chains before moved around on the door. A second later, he opened the door, wearing a white robe. He looked at me and groaned loudly.
"Damn it, Jericho -"
That's as far as he got before I kicked the door back in his face. He fell back in pain and held his face as I stepped inside, slamming the door behind me. I turned and locked it. No one was going to interrupt me. I had waited way too long for this.
"Hey, Hunter, nice to see you. How you doing?" I asked, before kicking him hard in the ribs.
"What the hell are you doing?" He gasped, before I reached down and grasped him by the robe, yanking him up.
"Sending regards, from Stephanie McMahon." I hit him as hard as I could, knocking him down. He rolled onto his stomach and starting crawling away.
"What's the matter, Hunter? Can't fight back? Is it because I'm not a woman?" I kicked him again, before shoving him onto his back. I went to mount him when he hit me hard in the face. I resorted to a cheap shot and drove my knee down, low-blowing him. I could taste blood on my lip, but I couldn't feel it.
That's when I lost it. All I could see was Stephanie crying. All I could feel was the hurt that I had gone through for the past few years. And for what? Because of this dumbass? He was the reason I was miserable? Not on this night.
I hit him so many times, I was surprised he was still conscious. I could feel blood on my knuckles, but I didn't know if it was his, or mine. Finally, when I could barely breathe anymore, I got off of him. I stood up on shaky feet, and had to hold onto the dresser to steady myself. I looked over at him, realizing for the first time that I had really done a number on him. He was a bloody mess.
He was starting to get up. I had to hand it to him. He could take an ass kicking. I went over and shoved him back down with my foot. Vince was going to have my ass for this, but I didn't care.
"Come on, Hunter, get up and fight back. Don't tell me that's all you've got." I taunted, before shoving him back down. I leaned down and glared at him angrily, so pissed off that I was out of breath. "You son of a bitch! Don't you EVER touch Stephanie again, you hear me?" I straightened and stumbled towards the door, rubbing my head. I stopped and leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath. I watched him as he slowly got up to his knees.
"You stupid bastard!" He shouted in pain, while I laughed. I looked to my side, and picked up the vase of flowers that was perched on another dresser. I felt the weight between my hands. Nice and heavy.
"Hey Hunter!" I called. He was looking at his hand, which had blood on it. It was his own. He turned back to me, barely standing, but standing none the less. As soon as he was facing me again, I smashed the vase in his face. He fell down, out cold. I smirked and backed up, looking at the mess I had made. There was glass shattered everywhere.
"Heads up, jackass." I mumbled, before walking over to the door. I unlocked it and stepped out, closing it behind me. I leaned back against it, taking a deep breath. That was the best therapy I had had in months. It was refreshing, and most importantly, satisfying. I got off the door and walked back over to the elevator. It was funny how I went from hating Stephanie to standing up for her in one night.
All in all, it didn't matter to me. I walked out of the elevator and walked over to the exit, avoiding all the looks people gave me. I couldn't stop the cheesy grin from appearing on my face. I had gotten just a little revenge, and it tasted almost as sweet as Stephanie's kiss. Tonight, I was truly the king of the world.