Mix n Match

Plan Two – Operation Owwie!

The opportunity to deploy their second plan came much faster than expected. But it was good. The sooner it was done, the sooner Stephanie and Helms broke up, and the sooner he could be with Stephanie. Oh, and yeah, Lita with Helms.

Sort of fortunately, Lita had indeed injured herself for real. It wasn't bad, just a little sprain of the ankle, but it was enough. Because Lita and Helms were already friends, it was only natural that he would check up on her.

Lita smiled up at him, a picture of innocence. Chris had to force himself to not roll his eyes. 'Oh, Greg. It's so sweet of you to come check up on me.'

Helms smiled down at her. 'Why shouldn't I? We're friends.' He leaned down so that they were face to face. 'Does it hurt much?'

It was obvious the poor girl couldn't speak. She just nodded.

'Um…hi,' a timid voice said from the doorway.

Chris whirled around to face her. Stephanie. Wow. She was looking really good. He had a greeting ready on his lips, but when she turned and graced him with a soft smile, the words stuck to his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Helms stand and walk towards her, greeting her with a kiss.

Damn, why hadn't he thought of that?

Stephanie pulled away with a satisfied sigh, and turned to face Lita. The two were slowly becoming friends. 'Lita, hey. How are you feeling?'

'Oh, not that good.'

Stephanie looked at her sympathetically. Did she have to keep her arms around Helms? Honestly! 'Maybe you need to get that seen to by a doctor or something?'

'Yes, I think so,' Lita agreed readily, her eyes straying to Helms.

Chris didn't blame her. He couldn't keep his eyes off Stephanie.

'Jericho, you guys have a rental, right?' That was Helms.

Chris turned to the other man, fighting the urge to punch him. Did he really have to keep his arms around Stephanie for so long? 'Oh, actually, I caught a cab. Was running late.'

Stephanie turned to Helms. 'Honey, why don't you take her?'

It was working perfectly! Chris and Lita had been watching the two of them a lot lately that they both knew quite most of their routine already. Stephanie always rented a car to transport herself from the hotel to the arena as she often stayed behind late. She and Helms had also taken up to travelling together.

'But how are you going to get back to the hotel?' Helms asked worriedly.

'I'll be fine.'

'Oh, I rented a car,' Lita quickly spoke up. 'We can take that?'

'But-'

'There you go,' Stephanie interrupted her boyfriend with a smile. 'And Chris and I can take our rental to the hotel.'

Helms grinned down at his girlfriend. 'You sure this isn't some conspiracy to get rid of me?' he teased.

Stephanie grinned mischievously at Chris. 'Chris, I think we've been caught out.'

All Chris could do was grin back. Things were going absolutely perfect-

Just then, Jeffery Hardy rushed into the room and grabbed a set of keys lying on the bench beside Lita. 'Hey all,' he greeted them all quickly, just pausing long enough to flash each of them a smile. 'Lita, I'm really sorry, but I need the rental! Grab a ride with someone else, kay? Matthew's gotten his head stuck in bucket somehow, and I need to get him to the ER.'

Before anyone could protest, Jeffery was out the door and out of sight.

'Oo-kay…I guess it would be too late to ask him to wait?' Chris asked weakly, looking with a pained expression at Lita.

'I guess so,' Lita agreed, just as weakly.

'Well, we still have our rental,' Helms spoke up. 'Why don't we all go?'

'It looks like we'll have to,' Stephanie replied. 'We can't let Lita walk on that sprained ankle without getting someone to properly look at it.'

Lita shook her head. 'I don't want to put you guys out too much.'

'Not at all,' Helms said, smiling at her. 'Like I said, what are friends for?'

'Numbskull,' Chris thought. 'She wants to be more than just friends!'

'I'll go get our stuff ready, okay?' Stephanie said. Helms leaned down for a quick kiss.

Chris vowed that next time he got within arm's length of Helms, he was going to punch him in the face. See how much kissing he does with a busted lip!

'We'll meet you outside with the car?' Helms said.

Stephanie nodded, and then finally left.

'Uh, Chris? Why don't you get our stuff ready?' Lita asked, turning to him with a pointed look on her face.

'Sure,' he agreed, trying to keep the growl out of his voice. He threw them a dirty look as Helms came around and wrapped an arm around Lita to help her to her feet.

'This ain't working for me,' Chris muttered to himself as he bent down and started collecting his and Lita's stuff. 'Next plan…next plan…'