Flying back to Connecticut that night, I asked Hunter about Smackdown. He
said he'd talked to Monty while I was gone with Crystal.
"He's going over to WCW. They offered him more money." Hunter looked a little upset, but he'd never really gotten along with Monty.
"But he just won the tag team belt tonight."
"Vince hoped it'd make him stay, but I guess not. He's just giving the belt up, and me and Sean will have a match over who gets it."
"Sean's your friend though."
"It's part of my job. Vince said he might have another idea. But we'll have to wait until Summerslam."
"What's the date for that?" I could never remember pay-per-view dates. I knew they happened once a month and the Championship usually changed or at least tried to.
"It's July 31." Hunter answered.
"That's in two weeks and it's Crystal's birthday."
"And four days after my birthday."
"I knew that."
"Well, I'm fighting Test for the Championship, and I'll walk away with it."
"Finally, It's been so long." I tried to hug him, but it was hard in plane seats.
"Yeah, and Crystal's against Tori for Woman's Championship." He smiled. "But I'm not telling you who wins. X-Pac has to fight for the European Belt from Shane. And sometime after Summerslam you'll have the chance to fight Chyna for Intercontinental."
"But she doesn't have it, Jericho does." I said, confused.
"They're fighting for it tomorrow on Smackdown. But Vince doesn't want to pressure you into fighting, mostly against Chyna. I think it'd be great to see you kick her ass." He smiled and put his hand on my knee.
"I'd lose to her." I said.
"It's rigged and fake. You know that." He laughed. "But you'll have to train because I don't want you to get hurt."
"Who else knows about this?"
"Just me, you, and Vince. We were talking before Raw."
At the airport, we found Hunter's dark blue Expedition and paid for having it parked over night. We got back to our apartment an hour later, a little after one in the morning.
The next morning, my alarm went off at ten. We had to be at the arena at six to start taping Smackdown and Sunday Night Heat at seven. The day passed quickly. Crystal and Dwayne came into town around three and she hung out at my house while Dwayne had a photo shoot.
At six, the three of us drove to the arena. The first few matches were people I didn't like. Crystal and me stood by the entrance curtain, watching the taping on a TV. Chyna and Jericho's fight was next and before her music started, they kissed and she walked through the curtains. I looked at Crystal and saw a look of disgust on her face, which was the same way I was feeling. When the match started Hunter came up next to me.
"We should go stand out on the stage." He said. "It'll have everyone wondering what's going on."
I agreed and we walked out onto the stage and watched the match. Chyna won the belt as planned, and as she turned to come up the ramp, she saw Hunter and I. She dropped the belt and charged up the ramp straight at Hunter. He grabbed her and quickly Pedigreed her.
As we walked back behind the curtain, leaving Chyna laying on the stage, I turned to Hunter and said, "Don't ever do that so close to me again!"
"You're going to have to learn to do it." He laughed and put an arm around my shoulders. "It's not as scary as it looks, and it'll hurt you more than them. Mostly if you do it on a metal entrance stage."
"Come on, let's go back to the room and sit down." I said, noticing he was limping slightly. It always seemed like I was more worried about the knee he'd hurt years ago during a fight with The Rock, than he was.
The last fight that night was The Rock against Al Snow. Monty stood outside Vince's office ready for the cameras so he could quit on TV. The cameras turned on and it was displayed on the Titon Tron, which stopped The Rock and Al Snow's fight. Monty knocked on Vince's door. The rest of DX stood close by, including me. Vince opened the door pretending to be shocked at the sight of DX.
"Yes, Mr. Ass?" Vince said.
"I quit." Monty said and walked away, handing Brian his belt.
That was the end of Smackdown, and the taping for Heat started. I left that night still worried about DX breaking up.
Two weeks passed and it was finally the Sunday of Summerslam. Monty was already wrestling for WCW. Crystal had spent two weeks learning how to do the Rock Bottom and People's Elbow. Summerslam was at the Miami Arena in The Rock's hometown.
Hunter, Brian, Sean, and I arrived at the arena in a limo as Sunday Night Heat was ending and switching over to the pay-per-view. As the actually pay-per-view started, the first theme song was The Rock's. He and Crystal started down the ramp as Hunter ran, pulling me with him, toward the entrance curtains. Sean and Brian followed, and I wondered what I hadn't been told about.
Out in the ring, The Rock talked about wanting the tag team belt back, but that wasn't possible since Mr. Ass had quit. Next he said he had an idea and called DX out. The music started, people cheered, and Brian and Sean started out. Hunter and I followed with the stance I'd gotten used to over the last couple of weeks. When the four of us got to the ring, Brian was given a microphone. He held both belts and told The Rock to bring down The Godfather and fight against him and X-Pac for the belts. The Rock said, no, he had other ideas and nobody would fight.
Hunter grabbed the microphone from Brian. "And how do you expect to do that?" He asked The Rock.
"By joining DX." The Rock put out his hand, which Hunter shook, and then they hugged.
Crystal and I smiled at each other. The new six-membered DX went back up the ramp and the pay-per-view went on.
Crystal's match was about an hour later. Dwayne, Hunter and I went down to watch the match from next to the ring. The match was short with Crystal taking the belt by Rock Bottoming and People's Elbowing Tori. Dwayne stood in the ring, raising Crystal's hand above her head while she held her belt in the other.
X-Pac's fight against Shane McMahon for the European belt was next. During the fight, Hunter got ready for his Championship match, which would follow the European match. X-Pac won against Shane and he came back to the DX room to wish Hunter luck.
After a brief break, Test's music started and he went down to the ring. Hunter and I watched from the curtain. I wished him luck and made him promise to be careful with his knee. Finally the Triple H music started instead of the DX theme, which confused and worried me. We walked out and stood. I followed Hunter to the ring and stood next to it as the match started. The match went all over the arena, and since it was a 'falls anywhere match,' Hunter won by Pedigree on the cement floor in the middle of the audience. He came back to the ring and we stood in the middle, the Championship belt held up above us. He was doing the scary Triple H thing, which looked like he was growling, and I was swearing at him for the Pedigree on the cement floor.
At the hotel that night, Hunter and I shared a room. At three in the morning, I woke up to find Hunter sitting in a chair across the room from the bed, holding his belt.
"Are you going to sleep tonight or make sure nobody steals the belt?" I asked.
"This is the fourth time in my life that I've gotten this. The last time was over six years ago." He said, quietly.
"And it won't be the last time." I assured him.
"That's because I'm never going to lose it."
"If you never lose it, then everyone will quit watching and ratings will drop which means you and I won't get paid." I stood up and walked over to him.
He put the belt onto the floor and pulled me down on his lap. "You have a point. The belt doesn't make me happy though."
"And what would?" I asked.
"We've been part of a team for about four years, and we've lived together—"
"As roommates." I interrupted him.
He glared at me with his mean Triple H look, which sometimes scared me and sometimes made me rethink finding him attractive. "We've lived together for two years. In those two years, we've been friends, we've dated, and we've become a lot more than friends a couple of times. I know that you were against that because you didn't want a relationship. But I've been thinking and I want a real relationship, and if that's not possible then I'm going to move out of our apartment."
I stood up. "Hunter, um…" I started, trying to think of something to say.
He stood up next to me, which made me feel weird since he was almost a foot taller than I was. "I'm sorry, I just really like you."
"Give me until tomorrow night to think. I agree with the apartment thing, though."
He hugged me and kissed my forehead. "Okay, tomorrow night."
The next morning I woke up and rolled over to see Hunter still sleeping next to me. The clock next to him said it was a little after eleven. I got up and took a shower. When I got out, Hunter was up. He went into the bathroom, and I called Crystal and Dwayne's room. She answered on the second ring.
"Hey," I said. "What time are you guys going home?" They lived in Orlando and would probably drive back.
"I don't know, probably one, or close to. Dwayne's just getting ready when are you and Hunter leaving?"
"We're staying here until we have to fly out for Raw is War."
"Is Hunter overly excited because of the belt?" She asked.
"That's the first time you've called him Hunter and not Triple H." I laughed. "But he was up pretty late last night thinking."
"About his belt?"
"Not quite. He thinks that we should have a real relationship and if I don't want that then he's moving out of the apartment."
"And what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I have to tell him tonight."
"Raw is War is in Atlanta, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, we'll probably fly in around seven and stay at a hotel overnight."
"What ever happened to your fight against Chyna?" I'd told her about the fight the night after Hunter had told me. As she trained, I did too.
"I think I'll do it tonight. Shane told Hunter that he'll leave a time slot open every Monday night until I decide."
"Are you ready to do it tonight?"
"Yeah, I can actually do the Pedigree, and I've fought Sean to practice. So I think I'll be able to do this."
"Well, I'll be there, so I'll wish you good luck then, but I'm going to say it now, too. Good luck with you match against Chyna."
"Thanks. I have to go, Hunter's out of the shower."
"Okay, see you tonight."
We hung up as Hunter came out of the bathroom. His longer blonde hair was wet and pulled back. All he had on was a pair of baggy jeans.
"I want to fight Chyna." I said as he sat on the bed next to me to put his boots on.
"You think you're ready?" He asked.
"As long as I don't get hurt."
"No, you'll win. She's going to try to shoulder flip you and you'll win by Pedigree. It's all safe, and the match will last ten minutes tops. Then DX will have all the belts, except Hardcore, which we don't need." He smiled. "We'll rule the WWF."
"Settle down. If I mess up, she keeps the belt."
"No, you'll be fine. You can do this. Don't worry."
That night, I beat Chyna exactly how Hunter said to. After the match, as Raw was going off the air, all six members of DX stood in the middle of the ring with our belts held up above our heads.
On the way up the ramp, I could hear people cheering and some weren't very happy with DX having so much control in the WWF. As soon as we were behind the entrance curtain, Crystal hugged me, congratulating me as I grabbed Hunter's hand. He stopped and turned to face me. The rest of the group continued on back to the DX room.
When they were all gone, I pulled Hunter down to me and kissed him. He smiled and said, "So, I guess that means I'm not moving out?"
"Actually," I said with a smile. "I think we should get a new apartment…one with only one bedroom."
Two months after I won the belt, I lost it on my 25th Birthday. It was The King of the Ring pay-per-view. A few fights after I lost my belt to Jericho, Sean lost his to D'Lo Brown. The King of the Ring crown was given to Rey Mysterio, Jr. He had switched to WWF from WCW about a year after I joined DX. Crystal and I were in the bracket but lost during our first fights. Hunter and Dwayne had both been King of the Ring in the late 90's.
A week later, Hunter was doing an appearance in New Jersey. We had gotten a new apartment and I had agreed to get the furniture moved in. It was Wednesday and he wouldn't be back until Friday. Normally I would've gone with him, but I wanted to get the apartment ready.
"Turn it a little." I said to Sean as we attempted to get a new black leather couch in the front door. There were two white and one black matching chairs already inside. We'd gotten the chairs in, but the couch was heavy and we were getting tired.
Sean was the only one helping me. Brian was at the old apartment packing boxes. The only thing in the new apartment was the three chairs and half the couch. Sean dropped his half out in the hall. "We could just leave it here." He said, sitting on the end in the hall.
I dropped my end and sat next to Sean. "At least Brian will be about to find the place."
He laughed. "He's going to be there all day packing everything. Why didn't you guys do that? You've had two months."
"Have you ever tried to get Hunter to do anything? He's either too tired or wants to do something else. Or these damn appearances. How many people could possible want him to sign a picture of himself?"
"Sometimes you get to sign action figures. It's not always pictures."
I slapped his arm. "That wasn't my point."
"I know. He's the Champion, he's got to do a lot of signings now."
Before I could say anything, my cell phone in my purse rang. It was on the counter between the kitchen and living room. I got up and answered it. "Hello?" I said after pushing the talk button.
"Hey! Are you having fun?" Hunter's voice came back.
"Actually, we've got the couch halfway in the door."
"Did I interrupt?"
"No, we were actually sitting on it."
He laughed. "Are you just going to leave it there?"
"We were planning on it. Aren't you a little too busy to be calling?"
"I can write my name and talk on the phone."
"You're still signing? It's two."
"I've been here since noon and I'll be here until four. I don't actually have time to talk to these people. And after this I've got a photo shoot, then I'm having dinner with Shane. Tomorrow I've got to do another signing with pictures taken."
"Shane with you?"
"On the other side of the room. Remember, we hate each other."
I laughed. "And that's why every Saturday you're at his house?"
"Anyway, I just wanted to know how the moving is going."
"Better for me than Brian, who's at the old apartment packing boxes."
"And you're sitting on a couch out in the hall."
"No, my half is inside."
"Okay, I'm starting to think you're crazy."
"Starting to think? God damn, you should know by now."
"Yeah, you're right." He laughed. "Okay, I'm going to let you finish getting the couch in the apartment."
"I told you we're leaving it where it is. It's heavy and we're tired."
"That's why you two lost your belts. Can't even move a couch." He said, laughing.
"Okay, fine. We'll move the damn couch and while we're at it we'll go help Brian pack boxes."
"Sounds like fun. You know you don't have to do anything. If you wait until Friday, I'll be there to help."
"No, we can do it. There are three of us. I have to go get the door closed."
"You're there with the door open?" He asked half-confused and half- shocked.
"Hunter." I said slowly. "There's a couch in the door. It's kind of hard to close it."
"Oh, yeah." He suddenly remembered. "Okay, then I'll call you later tonight. Where are you going to be?"
"At the old apartment, but tomorrow I'll probably have the bedroom stuff here and the phone's supposed to be getting hooked up."
"Okay, talk to you later."
I said bye and turned off the phone. In the living room I found Sean standing in the hall waiting to finish shoving the couch into the apartment.
"If you ever move again, just leave this here." He said as I lifted my end.
Fifteen minutes later we had the couch in and the chairs arranged with it in the living room. I was driving back to the old apartment and Sean was going to the moving place to get more boxes and moving tape. I found Brian in my bedroom putting my books in a box.
He looked up when I came in. "Where do you expect to put all of these?"
"Storage?" I shrugged my shoulders. "There's that bookcase in the living room corner."
"You're going to want to put movies, DVD's, stuff like that on those shelves." He pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm not getting rid of them."
He sat on the bed. "Didn't say to get rid of them. You know, this would be easier with Hunter."
"No, we can do this. He trusts us to make the apartment livable and we will." I said, walking out of the room and down the hall to Hunter's bedroom.
I hadn't gone to the taping of Smackdown the night before. Instead I'd packed Hunter's room. Just then I heard Sean come in the front door.
"I've got the moving truck." He yelled.
I went down the hall, meeting him in the living room. "Oh, good. We can take the stuff out of Hunter's room. His dresser and the boxes that are marked 'new' go to the new apartment."
Within an hour we had Hunter's room ready to go. Brian had finished packing my room, except for my clothes. After taking Hunter's stuff to the apartment we decided to finish the rest Friday.
I spent all day Thursday packing everything in the apartment. On Friday, Hunter woke me up at ten in the morning.
"I just drove back." He said after shaking me awake.
I looked at him annoyed. "You woke me up to tell me that? I'm tired. I was up until almost four in the morning packing everything."
"Well, we traded the couch in and there's no sheets on my bed."
"So you want me to move over so you can sleep in my bed?"
"We're keeping your bed and I've never gotten to sleep in it." He smiled, trying to look cute and beg at the same time.
I rolled over. "I'm getting up in two hours. Sometime today we have to take all these boxes to the new apartment."
Five minutes later, I sat up annoyed. "Stop tossing and turning. Just go to sleep."
"What's your problem?" He said turning to face me.
"You're three times bigger than me and every time you move, I move. Thank God this isn't a water bed."
"You never complained about me being bigger than you before." He smiled.
"Please go to sleep." I said, laying down and turning away from him.
Around noon, I got up and crawled over Hunter who was asleep. He got up an hour later and we emptied the old apartment, either taking it to the new apartment or the storage unit we'd rented. Around six, I went back to the old apartment while Hunter finished with the storage unit.
The apartment was completely empty which was kind of eerie. It'd been two years since it'd been empty. Thinking about moving out, I was a little scared. What if Hunter and I rushed the relationship? That wasn't exactly possible since we'd known each other for four years. We'd lived together for half that time.
We'd spent two years together, at work and home. I'd always believed that if you were around somebody all the time you would find something annoying. And sometimes that something didn't really exist. Standing in the empty apartment, I realized that neither Hunter nor me ever talked of loving each other. God, there had to be love there, but I couldn't find it in an empty apartment.
Ten minutes later, I pulled my black Mercedes-Benz into the parking structure of our new apartment building. I unlocked the door and walked in to find Hunter sitting on the living room floor trying to hook up the entertainment center.
He looked up to watch me walk in. "Hey." He stood up and hugged me.
Cool Water filled my nose and made me want to stay in his arms forever, but I stepped away from him.
He looked worried. "What's wrong?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Shauna?" He said quietly.
I opened my eyes, almost sure I was going to cry. "Hunter, we need to talk."
"About what?" He seemed to get more worried.
"Do you love me?" I asked, figuring I might as well start my point early or I wouldn't get to it.
"I…" Hunter started but trailed off. I wrinkled my forehead, waiting. He looked down at the floor and said, "I don't know."
"That's what I thought." I said.
He looked up with a half smile. "But I really like you and I still want to be with you. We obviously want to be together, otherwise we wouldn't be moving in together. Wait, do you love me?"
"I like you a lot. But that's all: like. I'm sure it can change, just not like this." I sat on the couch across the room from him.
He came over and stood in front of me. "What are you saying?"
"We spend everyday together. Time alone comes when you have a signing and something comes up and I can't be there. When we're apart my feelings do grow stronger, because I realize I miss you. But when we're together 24/7 for three weeks, no time apart, and sometimes you can get annoying—I'm not saying I can't be annoying, though."
"Oh, God." He dropped down to his knees and pressed his forehead to my knee.
I slid off the couch and hugged him. "I'm sorry, I'll get my stuff out of storage and stay at the old apartment for a while. We just need some time apart."
"Stay here. I'll take clothes and stuff and go stay at Sean's or Brian's."
We sat on the floor hugging each other for five minutes. I was silently crying and I didn't want to know if he was. Finally he got up and left the room, going back to the bedroom. After another minute, I went to the bathroom because I didn't want to watch him leave. I could hear him packing a bag in the bedroom. He knocked lightly on the bathroom door saying he was going to Brian's and would call the next day.
Around nine that night the phone rang. I'd been lying on the bed watching the minutes tick on the clock for almost two hours. I rolled over to Hunter's nightstand, and answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Shauna, two hours ago Hunter came here." Brian said on the other end. He didn't seem happy. "He was actually crying. I've never seen him cry and I've known him for at least ten years. He said you two broke up."
"Kind of. I said we need some time apart." I explained.
"You just got an apartment together."
"I know. We'll get back together."
"When?"
"I don't know." A tear slid down onto Hunter's pillow. "Where is he right now?"
"At Sean's. That's where he's staying while he's in town." He'd been talking like he was angry, but now his voice changed. "You and I broke up for the exact opposite reasoning."
"Yeah." I laughed. "We never saw each other."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure."
"I don't want you to freak out. I was just wondering. But, did you ever love me?"
I thought for a second. "Of course. You're a great person. Granted, we were only together for six months, but it was a real relationship the whole time. Hunter and I never had an actual relationship. We've gone on dates, slept together, but we were seeing other people too."
"I understand. Now you feel that moving in together at the beginning of the relationship—the real relationship—is kind of scary."
"Kind of. We've lived together for two years. But now we can't just go to our separate rooms at night and have alone time. We even share a room now. That's what scared me."
"Losing your alone time?"
"Yeah."
"God, I wish everyone made as much sense as you do."
I laughed. "Well, sometimes I don't even make sense to myself."
"What are you going to do about wrestling?"
"Probably take a break, stop going for a while."
"Raw the week before No Mercy is in Detroit, and guess who's going to be there?" No Mercy was the pay-per-view in October. It was four weeks away.
"I don't know." I didn't feel like guessing.
"Cassy's bringing the kids to the arena." Cassy was his ex-wife. They'd split up almost a year before he and I got together. They had two kids, a 14-year-old girl named Laura and a 16-year-old boy named James. When I'd first met them they were nine and eleven and we'd gotten along great. A year ago, Cassy had re-married and moved to Michigan, close to my hometown, which was close to Detroit.
"I'd love to see them." I told Brian.
"That's why I told you." He laughed. "So, you'll be there? I don't want to tell them and then you don't show up. You know they love you."
"We can get hotel rooms that night. I'll share a room with Laura. Then the next day after you've left for Smackdown, I'll spend the day with them and maybe another night at a hotel. I'll take them home Wednesday."
"Sounds great. They'll love it. I'll have to call Cassy, but she never seemed to have a problem with you."
"Okay, I have to go. I'm tired and half of the apartment is still in boxes."
"Okay, I'll tell you tomorrow if Cassy agrees."
"Wait, before you go, did you love me?"
He laughed. "Of course, and you'll always hold a place in my heart. I'm sure Hunter will realize he feels that way, too."
Before I could say anything, Brian hung up. I put the phone back on the cradle and changed into an old black DX T-shirt of Hunter's and went back to bed. Within ten minutes, I was asleep.
I called Crystal the next morning. She told me I'd done the right thing and not to rush restarting the relationship. She also agreed that taking a break from wrestling was a good idea.
Two weeks later, I flew into Detroit the Sunday before Raw. My mom picked me up at the airport and took me home even though I said I'd stay at a hotel. At the house, she and Ron asked a million questions. Most questions were about my new apartment or losing my belt. The three of us watched Sunday Night Heat, which sparked more questions. Ron's main concern was when Hunter was going to lose his belt.
"How should I know?" I asked.
"Well, you work there. And I thought you were friends with him?" My mom pointed out.
"How long has it been since you saw me out there? And I haven't seen him in three weeks."
I finally got to bed around midnight. The next morning I met Brian at the airport at three and we went to pick up his kids. The kids, Cassy and her husband had ringside tickets for the show. After a movie, we went to the arena.
Brian and I went to the DX locker room, which was empty at the time. Hunter's stuff was there so he was getting his nightly massage. I told Brian I was going to talk to Vince. Going to Vince's office, I passed the massage area. Hunter was lying on a mat on the floor with his eyes closed, half asleep.
I talked to Vince that night and told him I wasn't going to wrestle anymore. He said that if I ever wanted to come back to the ring I could. And I was always allowed behind the curtains.
I went back to the DX room and found everyone there. Hunter smiled when I came in, but the smile fell when I sat next to Crystal. We spent the rest of the night in the locker room. Hunter and I caught the other looking from time to time, but we'd quickly look away.
After Raw, Brian and I took his kids to a nearby hotel where we all quickly fell asleep. Tuesday morning, Brian left for the Smackdown taping. Laura, James, and I spent the day at museums and the mall. Wednesday afternoon I took them home before returning to my mom and Ron's house.
Around eleven at night, Ron and I were watching an old horror movie on cable, when the phone next to him rang. Ron looked slightly confused then answered it before it could ring again and wake my mom up. After a couple seconds he handed me the phone. "It's him." He said.
Before saying anything, I took the phone up to my room, and then answered it. "Hello?"
"Sorry for calling so late." Hunter said on the other end.
"That's okay." I assured him.
"Maybe I should be saying sorry for even calling at all."
"No, I've missed talking to you."
"Really?"
"Of course. What, did you think once you left our apartment I'd forget how much I liked your voice?"
He laughed. "I was scared you would."
"I could never forget anything about you. I miss those things, though."
"Even the annoying things?"
"Mostly the annoying things." I laughed.
"So, when can I come back?"
"I'm still not sure."
"Shauna!" He almost whined.
"Hunter." I mocked his whine. "I don't think I'm completely ready to restart anything."
"I understand. What are you telling Vince?"
"Vince is very understanding, like you. But I quit officially Monday before Raw."
"Are you ever coming back?"
"I don't know, probably not. Vince said I'm welcome back whenever I want to."
"So…I miss you." He said quietly after a moment of silence.
"I know. I miss you, too."
"When are you coming back to Connecticut?"
"Tomorrow around three my plane comes into the airport."
"So, you'll be at the apartment around four?"
"What?" I was beginning to worry.
"Can I just come stay the night—"
"Hunter." I interrupted.
"Let me finish. Just one night, no sex, no pressure to even sleep in the same room, or let me back in the apartment to live."
I thought for a minute. "Just one night?"
"Yeah, I'm flying to St. Louis Friday night to help Brian train for the pay-per-view on Sunday. He's losing the belt. You have to train harder to lose than to win."
"I know that."
He laughed. "Sorry, I forgot."
"Touching Chris Jericho after he touched Chyna is something I'll never forget."
"Hey! That's insulting to me."
"I know, it was a joke."
"Anyway, tomorrow night? I'll cook dinner."
"Yeah, at Sean's house I'd be surprised if he has pots and pans."
"He has one of each. Granted, he used them once and never washed them, but we'll look past that."
"Okay, I've seen the gross cookware. But Thursday night sounds great."
"Does lasagna make a good dinner?"
"Almost the best." I agreed.
"Then I'll let you go and I'll see you tomorrow around four."
We hung up a few minutes later and I took the phone back downstairs.
The next day my mom drove me to the airport. She finally let me leave after I promised to come back for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I promised even though I didn't plan on coming back for a while. Around four, I walked through the doors of my apartment building and started up the stairs to my apartment. Half way up the stairs, I saw Hunter leaning against the wall next to the apartment with his eyes closed.
"Hunter?" I whispered, but he didn't move or open his eyes. I laughed and rubbed his shoulder.
He jumped then laughed when he saw me. "Sorry, I forgot I didn't have a key. We never had one made."
"You'll get one when you move back in." I said as I hugged him.
The rest of the night passed quickly. He cooked lasagna and we had a great dinner.
I woke up Friday morning and rolled over, scared at first at finding Hunter asleep next to me. It was almost eleven. Suddenly I got an idea. I pulled the sheets off of Hunter. He always slept in just boxers and on his stomach. Slowly and carefully so I didn't wake him up, I put a leg on either side of him and sat softly on his lower back. I brushed his hair off of his neck. His hair was almost longer than mine, which didn't say much since I never let mine grow too far past my shoulders. He shivered slightly when my finger brushed his neck. I bent down and lightly kissed his neck just below his ear. He smiled and groaned in his sleep. I kissed below the last spot and continued down his neck until I reached his favorite spot between his shoulder blades, and his head jerked up.
"Oh, my God!" He said.
"What?" I laughed and kissed between his shoulder blades again.
"Stop!" He squirmed.
"Why?" I laughed again.
"You know I hate that."
"Actually I know that you love that."
I bent over to kiss him again but he grabbed my legs and flipped me onto my back. Then he sat up next to me.
"New wrestling move?" I asked, sitting up to face him.
"Yeah, it's called the 'Stop-Kissing-My-Back!'" He smiled.
"Okay, fine." I kissed his lips this time, which he returned as I pulled him down on top of me.
He pulled away a minute later and stood next to the bed. "We can't do this. I love waking up to you, mostly that back thing, but I'm leaving in a couple of hours. Leaving town, not just the apartment. And you don't want to rush restarting anything, and neither do I."
I sat up. "I agree."
"When I know I love you and you feel the same, then…" He trailed off.
"Then you'll move back in?" I offered.
"Yeah, but I haven't exactly moved out, remember? I just left for a little while. That little while has gotten longer then I thought, but it's for the best, right?"
I slid off the bed and stood in front of him. "Right, you're completely right."
He wrapped his arms around me in a wonderful hug. "Thank you so much for saying that. I didn't want to be wrong."
He went to St. Louis that night and Sunday I watched Brian and Dwayne lose their tag team belts. Crystal called me after the match saying Dwayne was leaving DX in two weeks. I told her I had no reason to be upset. Hunter called and said in two weeks DX would be down to three members.
Two weeks later, Dwayne left DX, challenging Hunter to a title shot at Royal Rumble, the December pay-per-view. Crystal had Chyna asking the next week for a fight for Crystal's belt at Survivor Series, the November pay-per-view.
Crystal called me the night before Survivor Series. She was in a hotel in Tampa.
"How have you been?" She asked.
"What exactly are you asking?" Her question seemed to mean more than being a simple greeting.
"You're living alone in Connecticut, not close to family, not where you grew up."
"No, but I've been here for years. I'm scared sometimes. Scared that it'll be a long time before Hunter can find out if he loves me."
"He'll know soon, believe me."
"Is there something you know and you're not telling me?"
She was silent for a minute. "I beat Chyna tomorrow."
"Okay, I didn't know that."
"All right, then."
"Oh, there better be more."
"All I'm saying is he's almost got his feelings straight. But what about yours?"
"I'm almost there. I miss him beyond belief."
"Does he know?"
"I think so. We talk every Thursday or Friday."
"Okay, I have to go. Watch me tomorrow. I'll call you after the fight."
We said bye and hung up. The next night, Crystal didn't call after her fight. Chyna was supposed to hit her with a chair and Crystal would block it, but Crystal didn't. Instead she lost the belt and didn't even know. I finally got a hold of her Monday morning. She was very upset and complaining about a bump and bruise on her head.
A week later, on Wednesday, I came home around four to do laundry for the rest of the night. But instead I found a broken washer. Not knowing what to do, I called Hunter.
"You'll have to go to the laundry mat." He said. "I'll call somebody tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is Thanksgiving." I reminded him.
"Monday, I'll call Monday. You're going to the laundry mat until then though. Sorry."
"I have to go today."
"Then go." He laughed.
"Are you going with me?" I didn't want to go to a laundry mat alone, mostly in a weird small town.
"You can go alone." Hunter said.
"You've lived here longer. And you're big."
"You'll be fine."
"Who did I move to this freaky little town for?"
"Brian." He said, which was the truth.
"Not funny. Who cares about me? Who'll be upset if something happens to me?"
"Brian."
"Hunter!" I was starting to get annoyed.
He laughed. "Well, he would be."
"Are you going to help? It's cold and icy."
"Fine, I'll be there in ten minutes. Be ready, and you'll owe me."
"No, I was willing to owe you a month ago. I used to play the 'I owe you' game. If you want a real relationship, we can't play that game yet."
"Once we get the relationship back, you can repay me."
"You're a sick, sick person."
He laughed. "Then you remember the game."
"Oh, no, not the whole 'Game' thing again." Years ago he was out for the Championship and a few of the Superstars had started calling him The Game.
"You used to enjoy playing The Game."
"I'm hanging up now." I laughed.
"Okay, see you in ten minutes."
I hung up and twenty minutes later Hunter and I walked into the laundry mat. We were dressed so nobody would see him as Triple H. He had his hair pulled back with a black DX baseball hat backward over it, and baggy jeans, a white T-shirt, and a longer black leather coat. I was dressed normal in jeans, a white long sleeved T-shirt, a blue Columbia coat and blue Nikes.
Only two washers were free and we had six loads so we'd be there for at least three hours. There were chairs next to our washers and we sat across from each other. He watched the cars go by through a window close to us, while I watched an older couple. I leaned back in my chair with my feet on Hunter's knee, watching the man and woman. They were in their mid- forties, which was ten years away for Hunter and twenty years away for me.
The couple sat in chairs next to each other. Her head rested on his shoulder as they watched their clothes spin in the dryer. They looked very much in love and happy. Suddenly I became very jealous. So jealous I had to turn away. I wanted what they had. I watched Hunter watch the cars. He looked like he was in deep thought, probably planning out his fight with The Rock in three weeks.
All of a sudden he turned to look at me. "Why are you staring at me?"
I smiled. " You looked so peaceful watching the cars."
"I wasn't even really watching the cars." He smiled back at me. "I was actually thinking about you."
"I'm glad I make you so peaceful."
He stood up and moved his chair next to mine. When he sat back down he picked up one of my hands. "You do put me at peace. It's weird. I think of you all the time, well except when I'm out in the ring."
Before he could say more, I hugged him. "I love you so much." I whispered, not able to stop myself.
"I love you, too." He whispered back.
I didn't think either of us would let the other go, but the washers stopped and we had to change loads.
We got home a little after seven-thirty. He went back to Sean's while I went back to our apartment. We agreed to go to Brian's for Thanksgiving and Hunter would move back in with me the next week.
From there everything was quick. Hunter was back and it was great. The night before Royal Rumble we were in a gym in Seattle when he sprung a new idea on me.
"I want to get married." He said as I helped him unwrap his knee.
I let the wrap drop out of my hands in shock. "What do you mean?"
"Hold on." He stood up and went over to his bag. He came back with a velvet box, which he opened and handed to me. "Will you marry me?"
I stood up next to him, staring down at the sapphire in white gold ring in the box. "Um, I don't know if I can."
The look on his face showed how hurt he was. "Why?"
"You travel most days out of the week. I don't want a life on the road." I explained handing the box back to him. "Maybe in a few months, or a year, my answer will change."
He took the box. "I'm not going to wrestle for much longer. Sean, Brian and I are going to open a gym in Connecticut. There isn't one around where we live. They're going to keep wrestling, but I'm going to quit soon."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "If it makes you happy. Plus, I hate traveling all the time. And my knee's getting worse."
"That's what happens when your finishing move involves you slamming down on it all the time." I smiled. "But, give me a month, then ask again."
He put the velvet box back in his bag.
The next night, The Rock broke Hunter's knee, messing it up enough to win the title and put Hunter out of wrestling for at least a couple months.
On the plane back home that night, Hunter surprised me again. "I'm quitting at the next pay-per-view."
The next pay-per-view was Unforgiven. It was three weeks after Christmas, which we celebrated together to start our own new family tradition.
At the beginning of Unforgiven, Hunter and I went to the ring for the last time. Brian and Sean came with us as the DX song filled the arena. In the ring, Hunter called Vince out and explained he was quitting because he lost to the better man. Vince accepted Hunter quitting, and then left the ring. I expected to hear the DX song again, but the arena stayed silent. Worried, I looked at Hunter, who smiled, still holding the microphone.
"I'd get down on one knee, but you know I can't do that right now." He said. "So, instead…" He picked me up and sat me up on the turnbuckle, where I was actually eye-to-eye with him.
I smiled and noticed my hands were shaking as he took my left one.
"Shauna, Baby." Hunter went on. "I love you more than anything. I think I always have, just never knew. But I can't be happy just loving you and knowing you love me. I want to know that you'll be by my side for the rest of my life—"
A ringing interrupted him and we looked down at my cell phone clipped on my jean pocket. I unclipped it and saw my mom's number on the ID window. I turned the ringer off and smiled. "My mom obviously is watching at home."
Brian laughed behind Hunter. "Don't answer it. God knows she hates him."
Hunter slapped Brian's shoulder, then turned back to me. "Anyway, will you please marry me?"
I nodded, laughed, and cried all at the same time as he slipped the ring on my finger.
Triple H's theme song started for the last time as we walked up the ramp that night. Behind the curtain I was met by Crystal, who was crying and ready to hug me.
"He's going over to WCW. They offered him more money." Hunter looked a little upset, but he'd never really gotten along with Monty.
"But he just won the tag team belt tonight."
"Vince hoped it'd make him stay, but I guess not. He's just giving the belt up, and me and Sean will have a match over who gets it."
"Sean's your friend though."
"It's part of my job. Vince said he might have another idea. But we'll have to wait until Summerslam."
"What's the date for that?" I could never remember pay-per-view dates. I knew they happened once a month and the Championship usually changed or at least tried to.
"It's July 31." Hunter answered.
"That's in two weeks and it's Crystal's birthday."
"And four days after my birthday."
"I knew that."
"Well, I'm fighting Test for the Championship, and I'll walk away with it."
"Finally, It's been so long." I tried to hug him, but it was hard in plane seats.
"Yeah, and Crystal's against Tori for Woman's Championship." He smiled. "But I'm not telling you who wins. X-Pac has to fight for the European Belt from Shane. And sometime after Summerslam you'll have the chance to fight Chyna for Intercontinental."
"But she doesn't have it, Jericho does." I said, confused.
"They're fighting for it tomorrow on Smackdown. But Vince doesn't want to pressure you into fighting, mostly against Chyna. I think it'd be great to see you kick her ass." He smiled and put his hand on my knee.
"I'd lose to her." I said.
"It's rigged and fake. You know that." He laughed. "But you'll have to train because I don't want you to get hurt."
"Who else knows about this?"
"Just me, you, and Vince. We were talking before Raw."
At the airport, we found Hunter's dark blue Expedition and paid for having it parked over night. We got back to our apartment an hour later, a little after one in the morning.
The next morning, my alarm went off at ten. We had to be at the arena at six to start taping Smackdown and Sunday Night Heat at seven. The day passed quickly. Crystal and Dwayne came into town around three and she hung out at my house while Dwayne had a photo shoot.
At six, the three of us drove to the arena. The first few matches were people I didn't like. Crystal and me stood by the entrance curtain, watching the taping on a TV. Chyna and Jericho's fight was next and before her music started, they kissed and she walked through the curtains. I looked at Crystal and saw a look of disgust on her face, which was the same way I was feeling. When the match started Hunter came up next to me.
"We should go stand out on the stage." He said. "It'll have everyone wondering what's going on."
I agreed and we walked out onto the stage and watched the match. Chyna won the belt as planned, and as she turned to come up the ramp, she saw Hunter and I. She dropped the belt and charged up the ramp straight at Hunter. He grabbed her and quickly Pedigreed her.
As we walked back behind the curtain, leaving Chyna laying on the stage, I turned to Hunter and said, "Don't ever do that so close to me again!"
"You're going to have to learn to do it." He laughed and put an arm around my shoulders. "It's not as scary as it looks, and it'll hurt you more than them. Mostly if you do it on a metal entrance stage."
"Come on, let's go back to the room and sit down." I said, noticing he was limping slightly. It always seemed like I was more worried about the knee he'd hurt years ago during a fight with The Rock, than he was.
The last fight that night was The Rock against Al Snow. Monty stood outside Vince's office ready for the cameras so he could quit on TV. The cameras turned on and it was displayed on the Titon Tron, which stopped The Rock and Al Snow's fight. Monty knocked on Vince's door. The rest of DX stood close by, including me. Vince opened the door pretending to be shocked at the sight of DX.
"Yes, Mr. Ass?" Vince said.
"I quit." Monty said and walked away, handing Brian his belt.
That was the end of Smackdown, and the taping for Heat started. I left that night still worried about DX breaking up.
Two weeks passed and it was finally the Sunday of Summerslam. Monty was already wrestling for WCW. Crystal had spent two weeks learning how to do the Rock Bottom and People's Elbow. Summerslam was at the Miami Arena in The Rock's hometown.
Hunter, Brian, Sean, and I arrived at the arena in a limo as Sunday Night Heat was ending and switching over to the pay-per-view. As the actually pay-per-view started, the first theme song was The Rock's. He and Crystal started down the ramp as Hunter ran, pulling me with him, toward the entrance curtains. Sean and Brian followed, and I wondered what I hadn't been told about.
Out in the ring, The Rock talked about wanting the tag team belt back, but that wasn't possible since Mr. Ass had quit. Next he said he had an idea and called DX out. The music started, people cheered, and Brian and Sean started out. Hunter and I followed with the stance I'd gotten used to over the last couple of weeks. When the four of us got to the ring, Brian was given a microphone. He held both belts and told The Rock to bring down The Godfather and fight against him and X-Pac for the belts. The Rock said, no, he had other ideas and nobody would fight.
Hunter grabbed the microphone from Brian. "And how do you expect to do that?" He asked The Rock.
"By joining DX." The Rock put out his hand, which Hunter shook, and then they hugged.
Crystal and I smiled at each other. The new six-membered DX went back up the ramp and the pay-per-view went on.
Crystal's match was about an hour later. Dwayne, Hunter and I went down to watch the match from next to the ring. The match was short with Crystal taking the belt by Rock Bottoming and People's Elbowing Tori. Dwayne stood in the ring, raising Crystal's hand above her head while she held her belt in the other.
X-Pac's fight against Shane McMahon for the European belt was next. During the fight, Hunter got ready for his Championship match, which would follow the European match. X-Pac won against Shane and he came back to the DX room to wish Hunter luck.
After a brief break, Test's music started and he went down to the ring. Hunter and I watched from the curtain. I wished him luck and made him promise to be careful with his knee. Finally the Triple H music started instead of the DX theme, which confused and worried me. We walked out and stood. I followed Hunter to the ring and stood next to it as the match started. The match went all over the arena, and since it was a 'falls anywhere match,' Hunter won by Pedigree on the cement floor in the middle of the audience. He came back to the ring and we stood in the middle, the Championship belt held up above us. He was doing the scary Triple H thing, which looked like he was growling, and I was swearing at him for the Pedigree on the cement floor.
At the hotel that night, Hunter and I shared a room. At three in the morning, I woke up to find Hunter sitting in a chair across the room from the bed, holding his belt.
"Are you going to sleep tonight or make sure nobody steals the belt?" I asked.
"This is the fourth time in my life that I've gotten this. The last time was over six years ago." He said, quietly.
"And it won't be the last time." I assured him.
"That's because I'm never going to lose it."
"If you never lose it, then everyone will quit watching and ratings will drop which means you and I won't get paid." I stood up and walked over to him.
He put the belt onto the floor and pulled me down on his lap. "You have a point. The belt doesn't make me happy though."
"And what would?" I asked.
"We've been part of a team for about four years, and we've lived together—"
"As roommates." I interrupted him.
He glared at me with his mean Triple H look, which sometimes scared me and sometimes made me rethink finding him attractive. "We've lived together for two years. In those two years, we've been friends, we've dated, and we've become a lot more than friends a couple of times. I know that you were against that because you didn't want a relationship. But I've been thinking and I want a real relationship, and if that's not possible then I'm going to move out of our apartment."
I stood up. "Hunter, um…" I started, trying to think of something to say.
He stood up next to me, which made me feel weird since he was almost a foot taller than I was. "I'm sorry, I just really like you."
"Give me until tomorrow night to think. I agree with the apartment thing, though."
He hugged me and kissed my forehead. "Okay, tomorrow night."
The next morning I woke up and rolled over to see Hunter still sleeping next to me. The clock next to him said it was a little after eleven. I got up and took a shower. When I got out, Hunter was up. He went into the bathroom, and I called Crystal and Dwayne's room. She answered on the second ring.
"Hey," I said. "What time are you guys going home?" They lived in Orlando and would probably drive back.
"I don't know, probably one, or close to. Dwayne's just getting ready when are you and Hunter leaving?"
"We're staying here until we have to fly out for Raw is War."
"Is Hunter overly excited because of the belt?" She asked.
"That's the first time you've called him Hunter and not Triple H." I laughed. "But he was up pretty late last night thinking."
"About his belt?"
"Not quite. He thinks that we should have a real relationship and if I don't want that then he's moving out of the apartment."
"And what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I have to tell him tonight."
"Raw is War is in Atlanta, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, we'll probably fly in around seven and stay at a hotel overnight."
"What ever happened to your fight against Chyna?" I'd told her about the fight the night after Hunter had told me. As she trained, I did too.
"I think I'll do it tonight. Shane told Hunter that he'll leave a time slot open every Monday night until I decide."
"Are you ready to do it tonight?"
"Yeah, I can actually do the Pedigree, and I've fought Sean to practice. So I think I'll be able to do this."
"Well, I'll be there, so I'll wish you good luck then, but I'm going to say it now, too. Good luck with you match against Chyna."
"Thanks. I have to go, Hunter's out of the shower."
"Okay, see you tonight."
We hung up as Hunter came out of the bathroom. His longer blonde hair was wet and pulled back. All he had on was a pair of baggy jeans.
"I want to fight Chyna." I said as he sat on the bed next to me to put his boots on.
"You think you're ready?" He asked.
"As long as I don't get hurt."
"No, you'll win. She's going to try to shoulder flip you and you'll win by Pedigree. It's all safe, and the match will last ten minutes tops. Then DX will have all the belts, except Hardcore, which we don't need." He smiled. "We'll rule the WWF."
"Settle down. If I mess up, she keeps the belt."
"No, you'll be fine. You can do this. Don't worry."
That night, I beat Chyna exactly how Hunter said to. After the match, as Raw was going off the air, all six members of DX stood in the middle of the ring with our belts held up above our heads.
On the way up the ramp, I could hear people cheering and some weren't very happy with DX having so much control in the WWF. As soon as we were behind the entrance curtain, Crystal hugged me, congratulating me as I grabbed Hunter's hand. He stopped and turned to face me. The rest of the group continued on back to the DX room.
When they were all gone, I pulled Hunter down to me and kissed him. He smiled and said, "So, I guess that means I'm not moving out?"
"Actually," I said with a smile. "I think we should get a new apartment…one with only one bedroom."
Two months after I won the belt, I lost it on my 25th Birthday. It was The King of the Ring pay-per-view. A few fights after I lost my belt to Jericho, Sean lost his to D'Lo Brown. The King of the Ring crown was given to Rey Mysterio, Jr. He had switched to WWF from WCW about a year after I joined DX. Crystal and I were in the bracket but lost during our first fights. Hunter and Dwayne had both been King of the Ring in the late 90's.
A week later, Hunter was doing an appearance in New Jersey. We had gotten a new apartment and I had agreed to get the furniture moved in. It was Wednesday and he wouldn't be back until Friday. Normally I would've gone with him, but I wanted to get the apartment ready.
"Turn it a little." I said to Sean as we attempted to get a new black leather couch in the front door. There were two white and one black matching chairs already inside. We'd gotten the chairs in, but the couch was heavy and we were getting tired.
Sean was the only one helping me. Brian was at the old apartment packing boxes. The only thing in the new apartment was the three chairs and half the couch. Sean dropped his half out in the hall. "We could just leave it here." He said, sitting on the end in the hall.
I dropped my end and sat next to Sean. "At least Brian will be about to find the place."
He laughed. "He's going to be there all day packing everything. Why didn't you guys do that? You've had two months."
"Have you ever tried to get Hunter to do anything? He's either too tired or wants to do something else. Or these damn appearances. How many people could possible want him to sign a picture of himself?"
"Sometimes you get to sign action figures. It's not always pictures."
I slapped his arm. "That wasn't my point."
"I know. He's the Champion, he's got to do a lot of signings now."
Before I could say anything, my cell phone in my purse rang. It was on the counter between the kitchen and living room. I got up and answered it. "Hello?" I said after pushing the talk button.
"Hey! Are you having fun?" Hunter's voice came back.
"Actually, we've got the couch halfway in the door."
"Did I interrupt?"
"No, we were actually sitting on it."
He laughed. "Are you just going to leave it there?"
"We were planning on it. Aren't you a little too busy to be calling?"
"I can write my name and talk on the phone."
"You're still signing? It's two."
"I've been here since noon and I'll be here until four. I don't actually have time to talk to these people. And after this I've got a photo shoot, then I'm having dinner with Shane. Tomorrow I've got to do another signing with pictures taken."
"Shane with you?"
"On the other side of the room. Remember, we hate each other."
I laughed. "And that's why every Saturday you're at his house?"
"Anyway, I just wanted to know how the moving is going."
"Better for me than Brian, who's at the old apartment packing boxes."
"And you're sitting on a couch out in the hall."
"No, my half is inside."
"Okay, I'm starting to think you're crazy."
"Starting to think? God damn, you should know by now."
"Yeah, you're right." He laughed. "Okay, I'm going to let you finish getting the couch in the apartment."
"I told you we're leaving it where it is. It's heavy and we're tired."
"That's why you two lost your belts. Can't even move a couch." He said, laughing.
"Okay, fine. We'll move the damn couch and while we're at it we'll go help Brian pack boxes."
"Sounds like fun. You know you don't have to do anything. If you wait until Friday, I'll be there to help."
"No, we can do it. There are three of us. I have to go get the door closed."
"You're there with the door open?" He asked half-confused and half- shocked.
"Hunter." I said slowly. "There's a couch in the door. It's kind of hard to close it."
"Oh, yeah." He suddenly remembered. "Okay, then I'll call you later tonight. Where are you going to be?"
"At the old apartment, but tomorrow I'll probably have the bedroom stuff here and the phone's supposed to be getting hooked up."
"Okay, talk to you later."
I said bye and turned off the phone. In the living room I found Sean standing in the hall waiting to finish shoving the couch into the apartment.
"If you ever move again, just leave this here." He said as I lifted my end.
Fifteen minutes later we had the couch in and the chairs arranged with it in the living room. I was driving back to the old apartment and Sean was going to the moving place to get more boxes and moving tape. I found Brian in my bedroom putting my books in a box.
He looked up when I came in. "Where do you expect to put all of these?"
"Storage?" I shrugged my shoulders. "There's that bookcase in the living room corner."
"You're going to want to put movies, DVD's, stuff like that on those shelves." He pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm not getting rid of them."
He sat on the bed. "Didn't say to get rid of them. You know, this would be easier with Hunter."
"No, we can do this. He trusts us to make the apartment livable and we will." I said, walking out of the room and down the hall to Hunter's bedroom.
I hadn't gone to the taping of Smackdown the night before. Instead I'd packed Hunter's room. Just then I heard Sean come in the front door.
"I've got the moving truck." He yelled.
I went down the hall, meeting him in the living room. "Oh, good. We can take the stuff out of Hunter's room. His dresser and the boxes that are marked 'new' go to the new apartment."
Within an hour we had Hunter's room ready to go. Brian had finished packing my room, except for my clothes. After taking Hunter's stuff to the apartment we decided to finish the rest Friday.
I spent all day Thursday packing everything in the apartment. On Friday, Hunter woke me up at ten in the morning.
"I just drove back." He said after shaking me awake.
I looked at him annoyed. "You woke me up to tell me that? I'm tired. I was up until almost four in the morning packing everything."
"Well, we traded the couch in and there's no sheets on my bed."
"So you want me to move over so you can sleep in my bed?"
"We're keeping your bed and I've never gotten to sleep in it." He smiled, trying to look cute and beg at the same time.
I rolled over. "I'm getting up in two hours. Sometime today we have to take all these boxes to the new apartment."
Five minutes later, I sat up annoyed. "Stop tossing and turning. Just go to sleep."
"What's your problem?" He said turning to face me.
"You're three times bigger than me and every time you move, I move. Thank God this isn't a water bed."
"You never complained about me being bigger than you before." He smiled.
"Please go to sleep." I said, laying down and turning away from him.
Around noon, I got up and crawled over Hunter who was asleep. He got up an hour later and we emptied the old apartment, either taking it to the new apartment or the storage unit we'd rented. Around six, I went back to the old apartment while Hunter finished with the storage unit.
The apartment was completely empty which was kind of eerie. It'd been two years since it'd been empty. Thinking about moving out, I was a little scared. What if Hunter and I rushed the relationship? That wasn't exactly possible since we'd known each other for four years. We'd lived together for half that time.
We'd spent two years together, at work and home. I'd always believed that if you were around somebody all the time you would find something annoying. And sometimes that something didn't really exist. Standing in the empty apartment, I realized that neither Hunter nor me ever talked of loving each other. God, there had to be love there, but I couldn't find it in an empty apartment.
Ten minutes later, I pulled my black Mercedes-Benz into the parking structure of our new apartment building. I unlocked the door and walked in to find Hunter sitting on the living room floor trying to hook up the entertainment center.
He looked up to watch me walk in. "Hey." He stood up and hugged me.
Cool Water filled my nose and made me want to stay in his arms forever, but I stepped away from him.
He looked worried. "What's wrong?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Shauna?" He said quietly.
I opened my eyes, almost sure I was going to cry. "Hunter, we need to talk."
"About what?" He seemed to get more worried.
"Do you love me?" I asked, figuring I might as well start my point early or I wouldn't get to it.
"I…" Hunter started but trailed off. I wrinkled my forehead, waiting. He looked down at the floor and said, "I don't know."
"That's what I thought." I said.
He looked up with a half smile. "But I really like you and I still want to be with you. We obviously want to be together, otherwise we wouldn't be moving in together. Wait, do you love me?"
"I like you a lot. But that's all: like. I'm sure it can change, just not like this." I sat on the couch across the room from him.
He came over and stood in front of me. "What are you saying?"
"We spend everyday together. Time alone comes when you have a signing and something comes up and I can't be there. When we're apart my feelings do grow stronger, because I realize I miss you. But when we're together 24/7 for three weeks, no time apart, and sometimes you can get annoying—I'm not saying I can't be annoying, though."
"Oh, God." He dropped down to his knees and pressed his forehead to my knee.
I slid off the couch and hugged him. "I'm sorry, I'll get my stuff out of storage and stay at the old apartment for a while. We just need some time apart."
"Stay here. I'll take clothes and stuff and go stay at Sean's or Brian's."
We sat on the floor hugging each other for five minutes. I was silently crying and I didn't want to know if he was. Finally he got up and left the room, going back to the bedroom. After another minute, I went to the bathroom because I didn't want to watch him leave. I could hear him packing a bag in the bedroom. He knocked lightly on the bathroom door saying he was going to Brian's and would call the next day.
Around nine that night the phone rang. I'd been lying on the bed watching the minutes tick on the clock for almost two hours. I rolled over to Hunter's nightstand, and answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Shauna, two hours ago Hunter came here." Brian said on the other end. He didn't seem happy. "He was actually crying. I've never seen him cry and I've known him for at least ten years. He said you two broke up."
"Kind of. I said we need some time apart." I explained.
"You just got an apartment together."
"I know. We'll get back together."
"When?"
"I don't know." A tear slid down onto Hunter's pillow. "Where is he right now?"
"At Sean's. That's where he's staying while he's in town." He'd been talking like he was angry, but now his voice changed. "You and I broke up for the exact opposite reasoning."
"Yeah." I laughed. "We never saw each other."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure."
"I don't want you to freak out. I was just wondering. But, did you ever love me?"
I thought for a second. "Of course. You're a great person. Granted, we were only together for six months, but it was a real relationship the whole time. Hunter and I never had an actual relationship. We've gone on dates, slept together, but we were seeing other people too."
"I understand. Now you feel that moving in together at the beginning of the relationship—the real relationship—is kind of scary."
"Kind of. We've lived together for two years. But now we can't just go to our separate rooms at night and have alone time. We even share a room now. That's what scared me."
"Losing your alone time?"
"Yeah."
"God, I wish everyone made as much sense as you do."
I laughed. "Well, sometimes I don't even make sense to myself."
"What are you going to do about wrestling?"
"Probably take a break, stop going for a while."
"Raw the week before No Mercy is in Detroit, and guess who's going to be there?" No Mercy was the pay-per-view in October. It was four weeks away.
"I don't know." I didn't feel like guessing.
"Cassy's bringing the kids to the arena." Cassy was his ex-wife. They'd split up almost a year before he and I got together. They had two kids, a 14-year-old girl named Laura and a 16-year-old boy named James. When I'd first met them they were nine and eleven and we'd gotten along great. A year ago, Cassy had re-married and moved to Michigan, close to my hometown, which was close to Detroit.
"I'd love to see them." I told Brian.
"That's why I told you." He laughed. "So, you'll be there? I don't want to tell them and then you don't show up. You know they love you."
"We can get hotel rooms that night. I'll share a room with Laura. Then the next day after you've left for Smackdown, I'll spend the day with them and maybe another night at a hotel. I'll take them home Wednesday."
"Sounds great. They'll love it. I'll have to call Cassy, but she never seemed to have a problem with you."
"Okay, I have to go. I'm tired and half of the apartment is still in boxes."
"Okay, I'll tell you tomorrow if Cassy agrees."
"Wait, before you go, did you love me?"
He laughed. "Of course, and you'll always hold a place in my heart. I'm sure Hunter will realize he feels that way, too."
Before I could say anything, Brian hung up. I put the phone back on the cradle and changed into an old black DX T-shirt of Hunter's and went back to bed. Within ten minutes, I was asleep.
I called Crystal the next morning. She told me I'd done the right thing and not to rush restarting the relationship. She also agreed that taking a break from wrestling was a good idea.
Two weeks later, I flew into Detroit the Sunday before Raw. My mom picked me up at the airport and took me home even though I said I'd stay at a hotel. At the house, she and Ron asked a million questions. Most questions were about my new apartment or losing my belt. The three of us watched Sunday Night Heat, which sparked more questions. Ron's main concern was when Hunter was going to lose his belt.
"How should I know?" I asked.
"Well, you work there. And I thought you were friends with him?" My mom pointed out.
"How long has it been since you saw me out there? And I haven't seen him in three weeks."
I finally got to bed around midnight. The next morning I met Brian at the airport at three and we went to pick up his kids. The kids, Cassy and her husband had ringside tickets for the show. After a movie, we went to the arena.
Brian and I went to the DX locker room, which was empty at the time. Hunter's stuff was there so he was getting his nightly massage. I told Brian I was going to talk to Vince. Going to Vince's office, I passed the massage area. Hunter was lying on a mat on the floor with his eyes closed, half asleep.
I talked to Vince that night and told him I wasn't going to wrestle anymore. He said that if I ever wanted to come back to the ring I could. And I was always allowed behind the curtains.
I went back to the DX room and found everyone there. Hunter smiled when I came in, but the smile fell when I sat next to Crystal. We spent the rest of the night in the locker room. Hunter and I caught the other looking from time to time, but we'd quickly look away.
After Raw, Brian and I took his kids to a nearby hotel where we all quickly fell asleep. Tuesday morning, Brian left for the Smackdown taping. Laura, James, and I spent the day at museums and the mall. Wednesday afternoon I took them home before returning to my mom and Ron's house.
Around eleven at night, Ron and I were watching an old horror movie on cable, when the phone next to him rang. Ron looked slightly confused then answered it before it could ring again and wake my mom up. After a couple seconds he handed me the phone. "It's him." He said.
Before saying anything, I took the phone up to my room, and then answered it. "Hello?"
"Sorry for calling so late." Hunter said on the other end.
"That's okay." I assured him.
"Maybe I should be saying sorry for even calling at all."
"No, I've missed talking to you."
"Really?"
"Of course. What, did you think once you left our apartment I'd forget how much I liked your voice?"
He laughed. "I was scared you would."
"I could never forget anything about you. I miss those things, though."
"Even the annoying things?"
"Mostly the annoying things." I laughed.
"So, when can I come back?"
"I'm still not sure."
"Shauna!" He almost whined.
"Hunter." I mocked his whine. "I don't think I'm completely ready to restart anything."
"I understand. What are you telling Vince?"
"Vince is very understanding, like you. But I quit officially Monday before Raw."
"Are you ever coming back?"
"I don't know, probably not. Vince said I'm welcome back whenever I want to."
"So…I miss you." He said quietly after a moment of silence.
"I know. I miss you, too."
"When are you coming back to Connecticut?"
"Tomorrow around three my plane comes into the airport."
"So, you'll be at the apartment around four?"
"What?" I was beginning to worry.
"Can I just come stay the night—"
"Hunter." I interrupted.
"Let me finish. Just one night, no sex, no pressure to even sleep in the same room, or let me back in the apartment to live."
I thought for a minute. "Just one night?"
"Yeah, I'm flying to St. Louis Friday night to help Brian train for the pay-per-view on Sunday. He's losing the belt. You have to train harder to lose than to win."
"I know that."
He laughed. "Sorry, I forgot."
"Touching Chris Jericho after he touched Chyna is something I'll never forget."
"Hey! That's insulting to me."
"I know, it was a joke."
"Anyway, tomorrow night? I'll cook dinner."
"Yeah, at Sean's house I'd be surprised if he has pots and pans."
"He has one of each. Granted, he used them once and never washed them, but we'll look past that."
"Okay, I've seen the gross cookware. But Thursday night sounds great."
"Does lasagna make a good dinner?"
"Almost the best." I agreed.
"Then I'll let you go and I'll see you tomorrow around four."
We hung up a few minutes later and I took the phone back downstairs.
The next day my mom drove me to the airport. She finally let me leave after I promised to come back for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I promised even though I didn't plan on coming back for a while. Around four, I walked through the doors of my apartment building and started up the stairs to my apartment. Half way up the stairs, I saw Hunter leaning against the wall next to the apartment with his eyes closed.
"Hunter?" I whispered, but he didn't move or open his eyes. I laughed and rubbed his shoulder.
He jumped then laughed when he saw me. "Sorry, I forgot I didn't have a key. We never had one made."
"You'll get one when you move back in." I said as I hugged him.
The rest of the night passed quickly. He cooked lasagna and we had a great dinner.
I woke up Friday morning and rolled over, scared at first at finding Hunter asleep next to me. It was almost eleven. Suddenly I got an idea. I pulled the sheets off of Hunter. He always slept in just boxers and on his stomach. Slowly and carefully so I didn't wake him up, I put a leg on either side of him and sat softly on his lower back. I brushed his hair off of his neck. His hair was almost longer than mine, which didn't say much since I never let mine grow too far past my shoulders. He shivered slightly when my finger brushed his neck. I bent down and lightly kissed his neck just below his ear. He smiled and groaned in his sleep. I kissed below the last spot and continued down his neck until I reached his favorite spot between his shoulder blades, and his head jerked up.
"Oh, my God!" He said.
"What?" I laughed and kissed between his shoulder blades again.
"Stop!" He squirmed.
"Why?" I laughed again.
"You know I hate that."
"Actually I know that you love that."
I bent over to kiss him again but he grabbed my legs and flipped me onto my back. Then he sat up next to me.
"New wrestling move?" I asked, sitting up to face him.
"Yeah, it's called the 'Stop-Kissing-My-Back!'" He smiled.
"Okay, fine." I kissed his lips this time, which he returned as I pulled him down on top of me.
He pulled away a minute later and stood next to the bed. "We can't do this. I love waking up to you, mostly that back thing, but I'm leaving in a couple of hours. Leaving town, not just the apartment. And you don't want to rush restarting anything, and neither do I."
I sat up. "I agree."
"When I know I love you and you feel the same, then…" He trailed off.
"Then you'll move back in?" I offered.
"Yeah, but I haven't exactly moved out, remember? I just left for a little while. That little while has gotten longer then I thought, but it's for the best, right?"
I slid off the bed and stood in front of him. "Right, you're completely right."
He wrapped his arms around me in a wonderful hug. "Thank you so much for saying that. I didn't want to be wrong."
He went to St. Louis that night and Sunday I watched Brian and Dwayne lose their tag team belts. Crystal called me after the match saying Dwayne was leaving DX in two weeks. I told her I had no reason to be upset. Hunter called and said in two weeks DX would be down to three members.
Two weeks later, Dwayne left DX, challenging Hunter to a title shot at Royal Rumble, the December pay-per-view. Crystal had Chyna asking the next week for a fight for Crystal's belt at Survivor Series, the November pay-per-view.
Crystal called me the night before Survivor Series. She was in a hotel in Tampa.
"How have you been?" She asked.
"What exactly are you asking?" Her question seemed to mean more than being a simple greeting.
"You're living alone in Connecticut, not close to family, not where you grew up."
"No, but I've been here for years. I'm scared sometimes. Scared that it'll be a long time before Hunter can find out if he loves me."
"He'll know soon, believe me."
"Is there something you know and you're not telling me?"
She was silent for a minute. "I beat Chyna tomorrow."
"Okay, I didn't know that."
"All right, then."
"Oh, there better be more."
"All I'm saying is he's almost got his feelings straight. But what about yours?"
"I'm almost there. I miss him beyond belief."
"Does he know?"
"I think so. We talk every Thursday or Friday."
"Okay, I have to go. Watch me tomorrow. I'll call you after the fight."
We said bye and hung up. The next night, Crystal didn't call after her fight. Chyna was supposed to hit her with a chair and Crystal would block it, but Crystal didn't. Instead she lost the belt and didn't even know. I finally got a hold of her Monday morning. She was very upset and complaining about a bump and bruise on her head.
A week later, on Wednesday, I came home around four to do laundry for the rest of the night. But instead I found a broken washer. Not knowing what to do, I called Hunter.
"You'll have to go to the laundry mat." He said. "I'll call somebody tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is Thanksgiving." I reminded him.
"Monday, I'll call Monday. You're going to the laundry mat until then though. Sorry."
"I have to go today."
"Then go." He laughed.
"Are you going with me?" I didn't want to go to a laundry mat alone, mostly in a weird small town.
"You can go alone." Hunter said.
"You've lived here longer. And you're big."
"You'll be fine."
"Who did I move to this freaky little town for?"
"Brian." He said, which was the truth.
"Not funny. Who cares about me? Who'll be upset if something happens to me?"
"Brian."
"Hunter!" I was starting to get annoyed.
He laughed. "Well, he would be."
"Are you going to help? It's cold and icy."
"Fine, I'll be there in ten minutes. Be ready, and you'll owe me."
"No, I was willing to owe you a month ago. I used to play the 'I owe you' game. If you want a real relationship, we can't play that game yet."
"Once we get the relationship back, you can repay me."
"You're a sick, sick person."
He laughed. "Then you remember the game."
"Oh, no, not the whole 'Game' thing again." Years ago he was out for the Championship and a few of the Superstars had started calling him The Game.
"You used to enjoy playing The Game."
"I'm hanging up now." I laughed.
"Okay, see you in ten minutes."
I hung up and twenty minutes later Hunter and I walked into the laundry mat. We were dressed so nobody would see him as Triple H. He had his hair pulled back with a black DX baseball hat backward over it, and baggy jeans, a white T-shirt, and a longer black leather coat. I was dressed normal in jeans, a white long sleeved T-shirt, a blue Columbia coat and blue Nikes.
Only two washers were free and we had six loads so we'd be there for at least three hours. There were chairs next to our washers and we sat across from each other. He watched the cars go by through a window close to us, while I watched an older couple. I leaned back in my chair with my feet on Hunter's knee, watching the man and woman. They were in their mid- forties, which was ten years away for Hunter and twenty years away for me.
The couple sat in chairs next to each other. Her head rested on his shoulder as they watched their clothes spin in the dryer. They looked very much in love and happy. Suddenly I became very jealous. So jealous I had to turn away. I wanted what they had. I watched Hunter watch the cars. He looked like he was in deep thought, probably planning out his fight with The Rock in three weeks.
All of a sudden he turned to look at me. "Why are you staring at me?"
I smiled. " You looked so peaceful watching the cars."
"I wasn't even really watching the cars." He smiled back at me. "I was actually thinking about you."
"I'm glad I make you so peaceful."
He stood up and moved his chair next to mine. When he sat back down he picked up one of my hands. "You do put me at peace. It's weird. I think of you all the time, well except when I'm out in the ring."
Before he could say more, I hugged him. "I love you so much." I whispered, not able to stop myself.
"I love you, too." He whispered back.
I didn't think either of us would let the other go, but the washers stopped and we had to change loads.
We got home a little after seven-thirty. He went back to Sean's while I went back to our apartment. We agreed to go to Brian's for Thanksgiving and Hunter would move back in with me the next week.
From there everything was quick. Hunter was back and it was great. The night before Royal Rumble we were in a gym in Seattle when he sprung a new idea on me.
"I want to get married." He said as I helped him unwrap his knee.
I let the wrap drop out of my hands in shock. "What do you mean?"
"Hold on." He stood up and went over to his bag. He came back with a velvet box, which he opened and handed to me. "Will you marry me?"
I stood up next to him, staring down at the sapphire in white gold ring in the box. "Um, I don't know if I can."
The look on his face showed how hurt he was. "Why?"
"You travel most days out of the week. I don't want a life on the road." I explained handing the box back to him. "Maybe in a few months, or a year, my answer will change."
He took the box. "I'm not going to wrestle for much longer. Sean, Brian and I are going to open a gym in Connecticut. There isn't one around where we live. They're going to keep wrestling, but I'm going to quit soon."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "If it makes you happy. Plus, I hate traveling all the time. And my knee's getting worse."
"That's what happens when your finishing move involves you slamming down on it all the time." I smiled. "But, give me a month, then ask again."
He put the velvet box back in his bag.
The next night, The Rock broke Hunter's knee, messing it up enough to win the title and put Hunter out of wrestling for at least a couple months.
On the plane back home that night, Hunter surprised me again. "I'm quitting at the next pay-per-view."
The next pay-per-view was Unforgiven. It was three weeks after Christmas, which we celebrated together to start our own new family tradition.
At the beginning of Unforgiven, Hunter and I went to the ring for the last time. Brian and Sean came with us as the DX song filled the arena. In the ring, Hunter called Vince out and explained he was quitting because he lost to the better man. Vince accepted Hunter quitting, and then left the ring. I expected to hear the DX song again, but the arena stayed silent. Worried, I looked at Hunter, who smiled, still holding the microphone.
"I'd get down on one knee, but you know I can't do that right now." He said. "So, instead…" He picked me up and sat me up on the turnbuckle, where I was actually eye-to-eye with him.
I smiled and noticed my hands were shaking as he took my left one.
"Shauna, Baby." Hunter went on. "I love you more than anything. I think I always have, just never knew. But I can't be happy just loving you and knowing you love me. I want to know that you'll be by my side for the rest of my life—"
A ringing interrupted him and we looked down at my cell phone clipped on my jean pocket. I unclipped it and saw my mom's number on the ID window. I turned the ringer off and smiled. "My mom obviously is watching at home."
Brian laughed behind Hunter. "Don't answer it. God knows she hates him."
Hunter slapped Brian's shoulder, then turned back to me. "Anyway, will you please marry me?"
I nodded, laughed, and cried all at the same time as he slipped the ring on my finger.
Triple H's theme song started for the last time as we walked up the ramp that night. Behind the curtain I was met by Crystal, who was crying and ready to hug me.