Chapter 3
A/N: It's been a while, yes. Here we go. –waves to all- Byeee!
He was awaken from a deep sleep by knocking on the door. At first he thought it was apart of a dream of some sort, and kept lying there, willing himself back to sleep. He buried his head into his pillow, pulling the covers over his head. Suddenly the door was knocked on again, and he opened one of his eyes, groaning.
"Get that Chris." He mumbled, closing his one open eye. In reply, Jericho snored loudly. He wasn't getting up any time soon. He sighed, rolling over. He miscalculated his position on the bed because he ended up rolling off. He landed on the hard ground, the covers falling right on him. He found himself tangled, and fought to pull himself out. Stumbling up, he walked toward the door, barely awake. He got there just as it was knocked on again. Yawning, eyes half open, he opened the door, almost falling forward considering he was leaning on the door for support.
"Mmyeah?" he asked, wiping his eyes.
"You're picking up Chris's bad habits." A voice mused. He looked up to find himself staring at Lita, who looked dressed and ready to go out.
"Lita? What are you doing here?"
He rubbed his messed up hair almost unconsciously, and winced instantly. He remembered then, what had happened last night. He rubbed it gingerly then, Lita watching with an amused look. "You okay?"
"Head hurts like a bitch." He sighed with resignation. "…Whatever. What are you doing here so early. It's only…"
"Eleven." She stated matter-of-factly. She managed a glimpse at his head and winced. A fine swelling ring had formed. He noted the looked and instantly his face fell even more.
"…That bad, huh?"
"Well, if you want to get corny and use witty pick up lines, you can say it's a burn from wearing your halo or something…?" she offered, biting her lip. He scowled. "…Then again, I don't think pick up lines would work well with you."
He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Probably think I'm trying to piss her off again and get hit in the head with a plate or something."
"At least that won't stick to your head…"
Benoit sighed, crossing his arms over his bare chest, not really caring about his state of undress. Usually he would be, but considering his foul mood and his mind on other more pressing matters, it barely even occurred to him to be embarrassed. He looked at Lita who kept staring at him in an expecting matter, to the point where he raised a brow toward her. "…Yes?"
"Well, aren't we going?" He just stared at her, perplexed. "…To win over Lilian? Remember?"
"Yes, I do. I remember trying that. See, I have a great reminder. Want to see the swelling? It's how she showed how much she appreciated my attempt." His voice was dripping with heavy sarcasm, enough to make her wince.
"Okay, I get the point. But Benoit, see, that was CHRIS'S advice. Jericho wouldn't know how to woo a girl, much less impress one."
"On the contrary, Red…" Benoit looked behind him to see Jericho had woken up and decided to join the conversation. He walked over, leaning against the wall with a smirk. "I seem to remember almost getting you with the flowers I got you once."
"A kiss on the cheek for a nice gift does NOT mean I was…"
Both men stared at her, and Benoit actually even cracked a smile. She raised a brow at both of them.
"WHAT?"
"You're blushing." Benoit said in his usual serious voice, which made it all the more humorous. She scowled a bit, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And ANYWAY, you just got me at a weak moment. Matt was being an asshole to me."
"Which is why I got you the flowers." He reminded, a smirk growing. She sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Fine. He knows how to slightly woo a girl, but obviously he's a bit rusty considering what happened last night, alright?"
There was no argument there, as Chris just shrugged. She obviously had a point. "…I'm not going to bother her anymore." Benoit spoke, shaking his head. "I appreciate the help but…"
"Nope, Chris, not a good answer. You may be able to kill me but I still have my ways of forcing you to go." Lita beamed. "'Coz, you know, Chris here IS my buddy…"
Benoit eyed Jericho as he gave a wide grin. "…So what, blackmail?"
"Aren't we nice friends?" Jericho nodded.
"You can't have that bad of stuff on me."
"Hey Lita, you know, when he was 10…"
"JERICHO!" he instantly spoke, turning red. Jericho smiled evilly.
"You were saying?" Chris asked innocently.
Benoit looked from Lita to Jericho, who now both held the same smirking grin, and after a second's pause he finally hesitantly nodded.
"…You guys suck." Benoit groaned. "This is the last thing I'm trying though, you got it? No more."
"Good. We're going shopping, then."
"S-shopping? You mean, in a place…with people in it?"
"Usually that's the case. We're going to pick out a necklace."
"But what if someone SEES me?" he inquired, nervously. "I have a reputation to uphold…"
"Say you're buying a necklace for uh…Chris!"
Both men looked at her with a disgusted look.
"Chris?" Benoit made a face.
"I'm kidding." Lita laughed. "Seriously, Chris, you need to buy yourself a sense of humor."
"I killed that side when I was a child." He said dully.
"Bullshit. This dumbass is actually one of the funniest guys I met. He's just shy." Jericho teased. Benoit just glared at him and huffed.
"Either way…get ready…because I know a great place to find stuff…"
Benoit looked at the two and knew he yet again had absolutely no way out of it.
~~
"Come ON."
He refused to make it easy on her. He just acted like a 5 year old on the brink of having a tantrum. She knew what he was trying to pull, and wasn't phased by it at all. She got him inside, more or less dragging him by the sleeve. Inside it was actually busy already, mostly because they were standing in a local mall. Even in the early hours people were shopping and no one gave them a second glance. Benoit looked around with disdain – the last time he had gone shopping with a female he ended up being stuck in there for hours. However, really, the longest time he was ever shopping ended up being with Chris.
Such a fact scared him to no end. Either way, she motioned him to follow and he did, dutifully. He just figured that perhaps if he just went along acting all happy and chipper that he was being forced to possibly piss Lilian off again and lower his chances even more to get her to like him. He fell in step with her, shoving his hands into his pocket to show at least a little bad temper. Lita noted this and instead of taking it as an insult because he wasn't very excited to be shopping with him, she actually smiled and shook her head.
"You're funny, you know." She mused. The Crippler looked toward her, raising a brow slowly.
"What do you mean?" he inquired.
"Just how you act sometimes." She explained, glancing about, obviously looking for something. "Always trying to keep your tough front up. You know, honestly…I never understood why Jericho started hanging out with you in the beginning. But I think I see why now."
"Oh really?" he asked, dodging a person who almost smashed a load of bags into him.
"Yeah." She nodded, looking thoughtful. "You're a good guy. That's why I'm helping you with this. That's why Jericho is, as stupid as he may be."
"Mm." Was all he replied, looking down. She glanced over to him. Instantly a smile formed on her face.
"Are you blushing?" she asked, incredulous.
"No!" he answered sharply. Lita couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay, okay, I'll leave you alone." She conceded. "…Ah, here we go."
Benoit glanced up. The sign outside the store stated it to be 'The Jewelry Outlet'. It was a small shop compared to the others in the mall, but just outside Benoit could see the gleam of gems and precious stones that were inside. They walked in, a light ring from a bell on the door sounding. Lita pulled him to the nearest container, peering it like a little kid looking at candy. He would never understand why girls seemed to like the stuff so much. While he was watching her peer at the stuff like an expert, he didn't even notice the worker there stepping to them.
"Can I help you?" he asked. Lita leaned up and looked at him with a smile.
"We're looking for a necklace." She explained. "A nice one."
"Hm. I see. Well, I assure you, miss, our gems are of the best quality!" He glanced toward Chris. "I suppose you are this lovely lady's boyfriend?"
"N—"
"Of –course- he is." She smiled brightly. "We're getting married."
Benoit's mouth dropped in shock.
"AREN'T we honey?"
Benoit blinked. "Y-yes?"
"I realize that this offer you've been giving this week is for rings, but our…religion…uses necklaces instead of rings. You see our problem, of course."
The man raised a brow. "Oh really?"
"Yes." She nodded in confirmation. "It's a new religion, see. The necklace is supposed to bind the soul to it, and then we trade to give our souls to each other."
Benoit just stood there, trying to nod in agreement even though inwardly he was groaning.
"I'm sorry miss but…"
"Excuse me, SIR, but if you're going to say what I THINK you're going to say, you're in for a rude awakening. That's religious persecution, and that's against the law!" she pointed out. "It said in your ad that you get discounts for the rings, and the necklace –is- our ring."
"Excuse ME, miss. But unless you have proof you're getting married I suggest you leave or I'll call security." The man was by then extremely agitated, for obvious reasons.
"Why don't we go, sweetie." Benoit forced, motioning to the door.
"No! No! How dare he deny us our freedoms! How---mfggh." She was cut off when Chris quickly threw his hand over her mouth and started dragging her out.
"I'm sorry for the disturbance sir, my fiancée here has a couple problems." He called to the man as he pushed the door to open. When they were at a safe distance, Benoit released her. She turned, putting her hands on her hips.
"I almost HAD him!"
"Since when did today's plan include fraud?" Benoit questioned loudly. "What the hell were you doing?"
"Getting a five percent discount!" she smiled proudly.
He stared at her. "FIVE PERCENT?! ALL THAT FOR…" He stopped himself, taking a breath, silently counting back from ten to calm himself.
"You men don't understand the importance of percents." She said matter-of-factly.
"Well I also understand that stuff like that gets us thrown in jail." He replied with an even tone. She shrugged.
"Details. Hey, there's another store a little farther down. Let's go!"
Before he could squeak out a protest, she was off jogging. He stared after her for a moment, then sighed loudly and followed. If she was going to keep at it, he would have to watch her so he wasn't blamed for getting her arrested somehow.
~~
"She's in there." Jeff pointed mildly. "Er…what are you guys doing anyway?"
Benoit fumbled with the box that was securely in his spring jacket. "None of your business, Hardy." He mumbled. Jeff raised a brow, pushing a couple stray locks of green hair from his eyes.
"Touché." He smirked. "Well, I'm off the hook. Later."
With a wave, the man slinked away, pulling his hat that was hanging off his jeans as he went. By the time he was out of sight, his hat ended up securely fashioned to his head. He turned his attention to the door. He took a deep breath, then three more. It was pathetic his heart already had jumped to a pounding pulse. Stepping to the door, he knocked once.
Remember; smile.
Lita's advice rang in his ears.
….Just give it to her straight out, say it's for an apology or something.
He pulled it out as the door opened, and he closed his eyes, refusing to look at her.
"This is for you."
A pause. No answer. Did he do something wrong? Was she staring at him in horror? Finally, a voice came out.
And it wasn't Lilian's. "…Uh…wow, that's nice of you…Benoit…"
His eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at Spike Dudley who looked –really- perplexed at the moment. If Benoit had a gun at that moment, he would have killed himself right then.
"Hey, you're not Lilian." He blurted out, gaining another look.
"Uh…that's right. I'm not." Spike responded, scratching his head. "…She's down the hall."
"Spike, who is it?" a voice inside called. He knew it was Molly, who else would it be?
"…Oh, it's just Benoit. He thought I was Lilian."
Her head popped into view as she looked at Benoit with a bright smile. "Hi, Chris!"
Benoit tried not to stop turning as red as he felt he was becoming. He was going to either kill himself or kill the Hardy brother by the time the night was through, especially if it kept going the way it was going.
"Hello Molly." He said glumly. Molly tilted her head, looking at the box.
"Ooo. Is that for Lilian?" She asked, giggling.
"Uh, no…?"
"You don't have to be shy, Chris! Let me see." Before he could say anything, she swiped it and opened it up, peering at the piece of jewelry. "Wow! Look at this, Spike!"
Spike went over, looking at it too. Chris just kept reminding himself they didn't mean to embarrass him as much as they were.
"She's gonna love this, Chris." Molly gushed. "I can't believe you like her. That's so cute!"
"Oh yeah. Cute." He mumbled. "Anyway, can I have it back so I can give it to her or something…?"
"Oh, sure!" She walked over, placing it in his hand. "Don't get nervous now. Golly, I know I'd be!"
"All he has to do is be himself." Spike reminded. "Because, well, er…that's how it goes, right?"
"Yep." She agreed. "G'luck, Chris!"
He made a little wave before quickly walking off, trying to pretend that didn't happen. "Be myself?" he muttered to himself. "Heh, I have more of a chance getting advice from others if you ask me."
Down the hall. He went that way, and actually stopped short because as he saw she was leaving the room. He felt his feet freeze to the ground, a lump forming in his throat. Apparently his nerves only stayed with him for so long and somewhere between the beginning of talking to Spike to that moment, they left him. But he refused to let himself remain that way as he literally forced himself forward. She noticed him first and her eyes instantly narrowed.
"What do YOU want?" she demanded, her voice edged with anger.
"L-Lilian...I just wanted to…apologize." He blurted out. "See? I got this for you."
She eyed him suspiciously, but took it. "What's this?" She opened it, peering at the trinket.
"I thought you might…"
"What are you trying to do, BUY me off?" she fumed. He looked startled. "I don't know why you keep bothering me, Chris, but it's really not funny anymore."
"But wait…Lilian…"
She shoved the box into his hands and stomped off, leaving Benoit with his mouth hanging open. After a moment, he finally recovered from the shock and lowered his head, shaking it sadly.
Yet again he had just unintentionally pissed her off. Maybe now he could just give up with the charade.