Chris didn't want to admit it, but by the time the day ended, he was starting to wish he didn't have to leave her. The day after tomorrow was the day when Jeff was getting them, and from what he suspected they would be picked up early. After that, it was over. Done. They couldn't possibly be together.
Unless..
He sighed. He couldn't possibly desert his entire team for her, as much as he would love too. He had more of a chance to change her mind on being ECW's owner, because from the very short conversation he had with her dealing with that, she seemed almost remorseful. She wasn't like Paul and Shane, she only was in it with them to get back at her deadbeat father..
Shane and Paul were in it for the power.
Power..it had corrupted at least Shane. Shane was a decent guy until Paul got to him. Now Shane was about as insane as his ol' dad was..like father like son, it seemed. For awhile Chris thought Stephanie was the same, but the past week had shown him the side he had always seemed to miss. Or pretend to miss, at least. Actually, now that he thought about it, he had seen the nice side of her a few times..
And he quickly got her out of it by being horribly nasty and mean to her. He really needed to be a little nicer to people. Still, it had to make him wonder..was he happier now knowing that she was possibly the most amazing person he had ever met, or did he still wish he hadn't gotten stuck in this cabin? He all ready knew the answer to that.
He wouldn't trade the week for all the money in the world.
She had been asleep for a good hour. He glanced down at her, his eyes scanning her body even though it was cloaked in the darkness of the night. It was weird to think of all people she would make him have that 'warm, fuzzy' feeling that people always talked about when they were in..whoa, Chris hadn't realized it gone that far.
He looked at her again. She had shifted herself in her sleep, so her head was cuddled basically into his neck. He could feel her breath against his skin, and it involuntarily made a shiver run down his spine. She wasn't suppose to make him feel the way she did. It was somewhat like bliss, perhaps even better.
He wrapped an arm around her lightly, smiling as she shifted in her sleep to get comfortable against his arm. There was something wrong with this whole thing, his feelings changed from basic hate to utmost--dare he say it, love? He wondered if the hate was ever there in the first place. Maybe he had just pretended to hate her the entire time, maybe he just didn't want to admit that he liked her..
And it all came out in one week. He let himself slide down so he lying down fully, careful not to wake her up. He pulled her closer and let his head rest on the top of her head. She curled up closer to him unconciously, and Chris fell asleep with a small smile on his face.
***
She wasn't blind, wasn't stupid. She knew that the next day would see them seperated again. It wasn't fair, it really wasn't. Stephanie couldn't help but not be so upbeat about it. She would have to go back, she would have to pretend everything was OK. And she would have to go to Hunter..
She flinched at the idea of that.
Hunter could never make her happy after these last few days. For the longest time, she figured he was the best she could ever get. But it was all different now, she suddenly had this person in her life that actually cared about her, not her money, not her status..just her.
"It figures I finally meet someone perfect and it turns out to be someone I can't date." she mumbled to herself. She had been lying on the bed for a few minutes by then, and Nibblers was sitting on it too, watching her. Nibblers, who had obviously reconciled with her after her not so nice attitude the first few days, seemed to try to comfort her. "You understand me, don't you?" The squirrel just looked at her, and she smiled. 'I guess you're not so bad after all."
She affectionantly rubbed his cheek and she giggled when he let out an odd little cooing sound. It looked at her with big doeful eyes. "Don't look at me like that, you don't know how wrong what we're doing is." she whispered, patting it's head. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn the squirrel gave her a stern glare.
"Man, I wish I had a camera.." She looked up to see Jericho leaning against the doorframe, clad in only his swimming trunks. "I knew you'd get along with the Nibs someday."
"The Nibs?" she grinned.
"Yep." he nodded. She shook her head and grinned.
"So, what's with the swimsuit model look?" she questioned.
"I thought you'd appreciate it." he winked at her.
"Right." she snickered. He smirked.
"I could take it off.." he offered innocently.
"No, I think it's fine where it is." she rolled her eyes, standing. "But really, what are you up too?"
"We're going for a swim." he said, moving to her. She grinned lightly.
"And what if I don't want to?" she inquired.
"Well, let's put it this way..you either get dressed into your swimsuit, or you swim with a nice set of clothes like the first time." he informed her.
"But what about the sun?" she asked. "If you need reminding, you can look at my charred front side."
"Sunscreen." he beamed. "Go on, get ready." She groaned, but ultimately did what he told her.
She peeled off her clothing, pulling on her dreaded bikini. She winced. She looked really bad in it. She was beginning to wonder if wearing her clothing was a better idea, but she decided against it and walked out, grabbing a towel as she went. She walked lazily to the outside area, noting he was all ready sitting on one of the cheap lounge chairs. She walked to him.
He smiled when he noticed her. "Sit down." he moved up the chair so she would fit on it too. She looked at him curiously. "All right, you've slept next to me the last what..2 days? And you still don't trust me?"
"Do you blame me?" she giggled. He shrugged. "Fine." She sat carefully on the long chair.
"No, back facing me." he commanded lightly. She looked at him a moment, then sighed and did as she was asked to do.
"Chris what are you--" she didn't need to continue, he answered her question. She felt his hands touch her shoulders, and felt the coolness of the lotion he had said she would put on so she wouldn't get burned any more. "Chris I don't kn..woah!" She definitely didn't want to try to stop him when he made it clear what he was doing besides covering her up.
He was making it into one hell of a message.
"You like?" he asked, his breath easily flowing onto the back of her neck, making her involuntarily shudder.
"O-oh, it's quite nice." she managed to mumble, "Right there.." He laughed and added an extra little squeeze to the area she stopped him at. "So those arms do have a use."
"That's right, I built them up just because I knew one day I'd be sitting here doing this." he laughed. She smiled.
"I don't care why you built your arms up," she said bluntly. "Just don't lose them until you're done with this."
"Whatever the lady wants." he winked at her.
She let out a small sigh as he managed to work the lotion in. She didn't know what he was doing but *damn* did it feel good. It didn't even hurt her sunburn! She had nothing against it the minute he started. When he was done, she knew it too, and hated to see it end. She knew that that was the last she would probably ever have.
"Ready to swim?" he whispered in her ear. She smiled, nodding. "Good."
"I might sink though." she giggled. "My muscles are a little too relaxed."
"I wouldn't let you." he promised, watching as she got up. She turned and grinned at him.
"Are you going to do one of those slow motion Baywatch-like sequences then if it happens?" she joked.
"Well, you know I do have a good figure for it.." he winked. "Tell me, do my boobs bounce when I run?" Stephanie was quickly almost downed by a fit of laughter.
"What? It's an honest question." he replied innocently. She rolled her eyes, pulling him toward the pool.
"Come on, Pamela." she sniggered.
"..But my hair will get wet!" he protested with a fake pout. She grinned evilly, suddenly pushing him in.
She shielded herself as he splashed into the water, and she giggled, trying to look innocent when he surfaced, looking at her with an evil glare. "..Sorry, my hand slipped."
"Oh you're going to get it." he said, easily grasping her ankles. She yelped, losing her balance, falling forward.
Right onto him.
She surfaced, then looked down, realizing that he was under her. She was wondering why the floor was moving under her feet. She took her weight off of him and he quickly surfaced, gasping for air. She blinked, she must have not moved too far because he surfaced inches away from herself.
"Erm..my bad?" she coughed, looking up at him with real innocence for once. She let out a surprised cry when her head was dunked under water. When she surfaced, he was floating on his back, looking comfortable. Floating was the one thing that she never learned to do.
She swam to him, and he grinned at her. "You have no clue how to do this, do you?"
"How did you know?" she questioned.
"You had that look." He let himself go back to a vertical position. "I'll teach you."
"I don't know.." she winced, getting the memory of her brother trying to teach her.
"Come on, it's easy." he beamed. She sighed.
"Fine." she mumbled. He took her arm lightly and led her to the shallower parts.
"It's very simple." he nodded. "Just relax and I'll get you into it.."
She nodded, and he slowly bent down, letting his hand push her legs lightly so they stopped touching the ground. He guided her back down as her legs went up, so she was floating on the surface. She tensed a little at his touch.
"Relax." he smiled. She tried her best, her body relaxing enough in his arms. "Perfect. OK, just close your eyes..don't think about floating at all. Think something happy, and keep your body stiff, and you should float."
She let out a sigh, closing her eyes and thinking back to the past week. A small smile came to her face, and she let out a small sigh of content. "OK, I think I'm ready."
"But you're floating all ready." she opened an eye to see Chris had let her go. She let out a laugh, but still concentrated on staying the way she was. "I bet you knew how to do it, you just wanted to be near me." he joked.
"Oh yeah, that's it." she smiled, finally letting herself stop floating. She grinned slightly, approaching him. "But why would I do that if I could do this?" She pulled him into a kiss. It was the most affection she had probably ever shown.
"I wish this didn't have to end." he whispered when the kiss had ended. He was holding her close. She felt so safe in his arms.
"Me either." she agreed, looking down. "Because I think I love you."
Her words were met with another kiss. This one, though, seemed full of more sorrow then happiness. It was more like a kiss goodbye, because that was what they were going to be doing once the next morning came.
Saying goodbye.
Unless..
He sighed. He couldn't possibly desert his entire team for her, as much as he would love too. He had more of a chance to change her mind on being ECW's owner, because from the very short conversation he had with her dealing with that, she seemed almost remorseful. She wasn't like Paul and Shane, she only was in it with them to get back at her deadbeat father..
Shane and Paul were in it for the power.
Power..it had corrupted at least Shane. Shane was a decent guy until Paul got to him. Now Shane was about as insane as his ol' dad was..like father like son, it seemed. For awhile Chris thought Stephanie was the same, but the past week had shown him the side he had always seemed to miss. Or pretend to miss, at least. Actually, now that he thought about it, he had seen the nice side of her a few times..
And he quickly got her out of it by being horribly nasty and mean to her. He really needed to be a little nicer to people. Still, it had to make him wonder..was he happier now knowing that she was possibly the most amazing person he had ever met, or did he still wish he hadn't gotten stuck in this cabin? He all ready knew the answer to that.
He wouldn't trade the week for all the money in the world.
She had been asleep for a good hour. He glanced down at her, his eyes scanning her body even though it was cloaked in the darkness of the night. It was weird to think of all people she would make him have that 'warm, fuzzy' feeling that people always talked about when they were in..whoa, Chris hadn't realized it gone that far.
He looked at her again. She had shifted herself in her sleep, so her head was cuddled basically into his neck. He could feel her breath against his skin, and it involuntarily made a shiver run down his spine. She wasn't suppose to make him feel the way she did. It was somewhat like bliss, perhaps even better.
He wrapped an arm around her lightly, smiling as she shifted in her sleep to get comfortable against his arm. There was something wrong with this whole thing, his feelings changed from basic hate to utmost--dare he say it, love? He wondered if the hate was ever there in the first place. Maybe he had just pretended to hate her the entire time, maybe he just didn't want to admit that he liked her..
And it all came out in one week. He let himself slide down so he lying down fully, careful not to wake her up. He pulled her closer and let his head rest on the top of her head. She curled up closer to him unconciously, and Chris fell asleep with a small smile on his face.
***
She wasn't blind, wasn't stupid. She knew that the next day would see them seperated again. It wasn't fair, it really wasn't. Stephanie couldn't help but not be so upbeat about it. She would have to go back, she would have to pretend everything was OK. And she would have to go to Hunter..
She flinched at the idea of that.
Hunter could never make her happy after these last few days. For the longest time, she figured he was the best she could ever get. But it was all different now, she suddenly had this person in her life that actually cared about her, not her money, not her status..just her.
"It figures I finally meet someone perfect and it turns out to be someone I can't date." she mumbled to herself. She had been lying on the bed for a few minutes by then, and Nibblers was sitting on it too, watching her. Nibblers, who had obviously reconciled with her after her not so nice attitude the first few days, seemed to try to comfort her. "You understand me, don't you?" The squirrel just looked at her, and she smiled. 'I guess you're not so bad after all."
She affectionantly rubbed his cheek and she giggled when he let out an odd little cooing sound. It looked at her with big doeful eyes. "Don't look at me like that, you don't know how wrong what we're doing is." she whispered, patting it's head. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn the squirrel gave her a stern glare.
"Man, I wish I had a camera.." She looked up to see Jericho leaning against the doorframe, clad in only his swimming trunks. "I knew you'd get along with the Nibs someday."
"The Nibs?" she grinned.
"Yep." he nodded. She shook her head and grinned.
"So, what's with the swimsuit model look?" she questioned.
"I thought you'd appreciate it." he winked at her.
"Right." she snickered. He smirked.
"I could take it off.." he offered innocently.
"No, I think it's fine where it is." she rolled her eyes, standing. "But really, what are you up too?"
"We're going for a swim." he said, moving to her. She grinned lightly.
"And what if I don't want to?" she inquired.
"Well, let's put it this way..you either get dressed into your swimsuit, or you swim with a nice set of clothes like the first time." he informed her.
"But what about the sun?" she asked. "If you need reminding, you can look at my charred front side."
"Sunscreen." he beamed. "Go on, get ready." She groaned, but ultimately did what he told her.
She peeled off her clothing, pulling on her dreaded bikini. She winced. She looked really bad in it. She was beginning to wonder if wearing her clothing was a better idea, but she decided against it and walked out, grabbing a towel as she went. She walked lazily to the outside area, noting he was all ready sitting on one of the cheap lounge chairs. She walked to him.
He smiled when he noticed her. "Sit down." he moved up the chair so she would fit on it too. She looked at him curiously. "All right, you've slept next to me the last what..2 days? And you still don't trust me?"
"Do you blame me?" she giggled. He shrugged. "Fine." She sat carefully on the long chair.
"No, back facing me." he commanded lightly. She looked at him a moment, then sighed and did as she was asked to do.
"Chris what are you--" she didn't need to continue, he answered her question. She felt his hands touch her shoulders, and felt the coolness of the lotion he had said she would put on so she wouldn't get burned any more. "Chris I don't kn..woah!" She definitely didn't want to try to stop him when he made it clear what he was doing besides covering her up.
He was making it into one hell of a message.
"You like?" he asked, his breath easily flowing onto the back of her neck, making her involuntarily shudder.
"O-oh, it's quite nice." she managed to mumble, "Right there.." He laughed and added an extra little squeeze to the area she stopped him at. "So those arms do have a use."
"That's right, I built them up just because I knew one day I'd be sitting here doing this." he laughed. She smiled.
"I don't care why you built your arms up," she said bluntly. "Just don't lose them until you're done with this."
"Whatever the lady wants." he winked at her.
She let out a small sigh as he managed to work the lotion in. She didn't know what he was doing but *damn* did it feel good. It didn't even hurt her sunburn! She had nothing against it the minute he started. When he was done, she knew it too, and hated to see it end. She knew that that was the last she would probably ever have.
"Ready to swim?" he whispered in her ear. She smiled, nodding. "Good."
"I might sink though." she giggled. "My muscles are a little too relaxed."
"I wouldn't let you." he promised, watching as she got up. She turned and grinned at him.
"Are you going to do one of those slow motion Baywatch-like sequences then if it happens?" she joked.
"Well, you know I do have a good figure for it.." he winked. "Tell me, do my boobs bounce when I run?" Stephanie was quickly almost downed by a fit of laughter.
"What? It's an honest question." he replied innocently. She rolled her eyes, pulling him toward the pool.
"Come on, Pamela." she sniggered.
"..But my hair will get wet!" he protested with a fake pout. She grinned evilly, suddenly pushing him in.
She shielded herself as he splashed into the water, and she giggled, trying to look innocent when he surfaced, looking at her with an evil glare. "..Sorry, my hand slipped."
"Oh you're going to get it." he said, easily grasping her ankles. She yelped, losing her balance, falling forward.
Right onto him.
She surfaced, then looked down, realizing that he was under her. She was wondering why the floor was moving under her feet. She took her weight off of him and he quickly surfaced, gasping for air. She blinked, she must have not moved too far because he surfaced inches away from herself.
"Erm..my bad?" she coughed, looking up at him with real innocence for once. She let out a surprised cry when her head was dunked under water. When she surfaced, he was floating on his back, looking comfortable. Floating was the one thing that she never learned to do.
She swam to him, and he grinned at her. "You have no clue how to do this, do you?"
"How did you know?" she questioned.
"You had that look." He let himself go back to a vertical position. "I'll teach you."
"I don't know.." she winced, getting the memory of her brother trying to teach her.
"Come on, it's easy." he beamed. She sighed.
"Fine." she mumbled. He took her arm lightly and led her to the shallower parts.
"It's very simple." he nodded. "Just relax and I'll get you into it.."
She nodded, and he slowly bent down, letting his hand push her legs lightly so they stopped touching the ground. He guided her back down as her legs went up, so she was floating on the surface. She tensed a little at his touch.
"Relax." he smiled. She tried her best, her body relaxing enough in his arms. "Perfect. OK, just close your eyes..don't think about floating at all. Think something happy, and keep your body stiff, and you should float."
She let out a sigh, closing her eyes and thinking back to the past week. A small smile came to her face, and she let out a small sigh of content. "OK, I think I'm ready."
"But you're floating all ready." she opened an eye to see Chris had let her go. She let out a laugh, but still concentrated on staying the way she was. "I bet you knew how to do it, you just wanted to be near me." he joked.
"Oh yeah, that's it." she smiled, finally letting herself stop floating. She grinned slightly, approaching him. "But why would I do that if I could do this?" She pulled him into a kiss. It was the most affection she had probably ever shown.
"I wish this didn't have to end." he whispered when the kiss had ended. He was holding her close. She felt so safe in his arms.
"Me either." she agreed, looking down. "Because I think I love you."
Her words were met with another kiss. This one, though, seemed full of more sorrow then happiness. It was more like a kiss goodbye, because that was what they were going to be doing once the next morning came.
Saying goodbye.