A few hours later Mark was ripped out of his peaceful slumber by shrill screams and he shot upright in bed, almost breaking the lamp as he tried to turn it on. Amy was in the throes of a nightmare and was thrashing about next to him, making the most terrified noises he had ever heard outside of a horror film. Just as he was about to wake her up the door burst open and three sets of eyes stared into the room. Vince, Shane and Linda all stood gaping as he gently shook Amy awake and then pulled her quickly into a hug, rocking her and murmuring even as she briefly fought to get out of his embrace. A few seconds later she quieted and lay against him, her breath hitching in her throat from the fading fear of her dream.
"Are you okay sweetie?" Linda asked, sitting on the edge of the bed where she was faced and rubbing her shoulder. Amy nodded, not feeling very capable of talking right then.
"Okay. well, we'll get back to bed, but if you need us just call, okay?" Linda said and smiled when Amy nodded again and snuggled deeper into Mark's arms.
"Night honey," Vince murmured from the door, the sentiment echoed by Shane.
Mark faintly heard Stephanie talking then everything went quiet, and he pulled back from Amy slightly. "Want to talk about it, my baby?"
"It was just a bad dream, that's all," she whispered, trying to get back into his arms.
"Was it about Tony?" Mark asked, his expression grim when she nodded. "If I ever get my hands on him, he'll wish he was dead."
Amy shuddered and he finally drew her back against him, holding her as tight as he dared. "You're okay sweetheart, I'm right here," Mark murmured, squeezing her. "Feel like sleeping again or would you like to get up?"
"What time is it?" she asked, wondering why he'd want to get up in the middle of the night.
"It's nearly four in the morning," he replied, glancing at his watch.
"I guess we should get some more sleep," she said, wondering if she'd be able to drop off again.
"Hmm, I guess so. Want me to make you feel all better before you close those beautiful eyes?"
Amy looked up at him and saw the sparkle in his eyes, the way he looked at her as if she were the tastiest morsel on earth, and she gave a slow smile and nodded.
"Well, gosh, if I really have to..." he said, grinning cheekily before he lowered her to the mattress and proceeded to make good his word.
Amy had no trouble getting back to sleep when he finally found the strain too much to bear.
***********
The next three days were fairly uneventful for Amy, aside from accompanying Mark to the Arena to cheer him on from the sidelines. No more calls came from Tony and she was wondering and hoping if Mark bellowing at him had scared him off. She saw Kevin Nash again whilst she was looking for Tammy and he stopped her. "Hey, how's it going?" he asked, smiling at her.
"Fine thanks, you?" she replied, still a bit shy with him.
"Oh, yeah, everythings going well so far. So tell me, had any more telephone calls from that guy?"
Amy shook her head. "No, thank goodness. Er...I'm sorry I just disappeared on you the other night. I didn't even say goodnight or anything."
"Don't sweat it, I think we all understood." He stared down at her and twisted his lips thoughtfully. "What are you doing right now?"
"I was just looking for a friend of mine, but she seems to have vanished," she said, shrugging.
"So you're at a loose end then? How about you come have some lunch with me? You haven't already eaten have you?" he asked her, raising his eyebrows.
"No, but....er..." she hesitated, wondering if Mark would mind. He had been extremely possessive in front of this man the other night.
"Don't worry about Mark," Kevin said, grinning. "We're very good friends, despite the way he acted at Vince's. He won't mind. Anyway, I can tell you some things about him that'll turn your hair white. How about it?"
Amy found herself curious about what Mark used to be like and she smiled. "Okay."
"Great!" Kevin said, taking her arm and leading her to the restaurant.
In the shadows behind them, a pair of eyes watched them walk away together and narrowed, having heard every word they had said. Sara sneered as she looked the younger woman over from afar. "So you're the one," she whispered to herself, a cold smile tilting her mouth up. "Not for long." She turned and darted down the corridor, heading for the womens locker room and the one person she knew loved a bit of gossip, Dawn Marie.
She found her preening herself in front of the mirror, and her eyes widened when she saw Sara behind her. "Sara? What are you doing here?"
Sara plastered a nice smile on her face and shrugged. "I was staying nearby and I phoned and asked Vince if it would be okay to come and see some people," she lied glibly. "He didn't seem to have a problem with that, so here I am! How are you Dawn?"
Dawn gave a small smile and looked at Sara through several layers of make-up. "I'm okay I guess. What about you? You had the baby?"
"Yeah, a little boy. He's cute," she said, a touch of real warmth in her eyes.
"Where is he?"
"Oh, my parents are watching him for me right now. He's a bit tiny to bring to a place like this yet, but maybe I'll bring him in for you all to see sometime soon?" She smiled happily as she saw Dawn starting to thaw out a bit. "So...er, how's Mark?"
"He's fine, seems really happy. He was like a psycho after you left, but he's good now," Dawn said.
"Is he seeing anyone?"
Dawn frowned. "Why would you want to know that?"
"I was just wondering, that's all," she said, shrugging nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter really. Oh," she said, changing the subject quickly, "I just saw Kevin Nash. Is he back?"
"I haven't seen him yet, but I hear he has a new contract," Dawn said.
"That's nice for him. He looked happy enough and he had a girl with him, must be his girlfriend or something. Do you know who she is?" Sara asked, looking innocent.
"Like I said, I haven't seen him. But I may have seen her around somewhere, what did she look like?"
"She was short, had long red hair, nice figure if you like that sort of thing I suppose. I thought I heard her talk and she sounded....English?" she probed, giving Dawn a confused look.
"English? But...that sounds like.." Dawn broke off and narrowed her eyes at Sara. "What were they doing?"
"Just chatting and they went off in the direction of the restaurant. I only assumed she was his girlfriend because they were holding hands, but maybe he has a sister I don't know about?" she added, hiding the hard glint in her eyes.
"I think he does have a sister, but that isn't her." Dawn said, frowning.
"Who is she then?" Sara asked again.
Dawn looked at her carefully and then shrugged. She didn't quite trust Sara still, and she wasn't going to offer any information. "I'm not sure. Anyway, it was nice seeing you again, but I have to be somewhere. See you around," she said and left the room in a hurry, going in search of Mark.
She found Glenn first. "Where's Mark?" she asked him abruptly.
Glenn didn't have much love for this particular diva and he gave her a none too friendly glare. "I don't know. What do you want with him?"
"I need to ask him about Amy," she said, pleased to see a spark of interest in his eyes.
"What about Amy?"
"Oh, nothing much," she said, smiling smugly. She did love to gossip. "Just that she's been seen getting cosy with Kevin Nash, that's all. I thought Mark should know."
Glenn frowned. "That's bullshit!"
"Oh really? Well, they went in the direction of the restaurant, so why don't you go see for yourself?" she gave him a sweet smile and then walked away.
Glenn walked off in the opposite direction, his frown getting deeper. Amy and Kevin? No way. Amy wouldn't play Mark like that, he was sure of it, she seemed to nice. But then, so had Sara when he first knew her, so what the hell did he know? He decided to find Mark and tell him before someone else did.
He found him near their dressing room, chatting to Kurt Angle. He was laughing at something the smaller man was saying and Glenn almost walked away again, not wanting to break his happy mood. It had been such a long time since he had been that way.
Mark turned and saw him before he could leave. "Hey Glenn, what's up?"
"Er...could we have a talk?" he asked, feeling uncomfortable.
Mark frowned as he saw Glenn fidget. The last time he had been like that was when he spoke to him about Sara and Mark had knocked him through the door. What now? he wondered. He nodded and headed into the dressing room, throwing himself on the couch and waiting. "Well?"
"Look, Mark, I heard a rumour and I thought I should tell you before someone else does, so don't get mad okay?" Glenn said, raising his eyebrows and then instantly frowning again as he thought of how to say this. "It's about Amy."
Mark sat up straight, his chin coming up. "What about her?"
"Remember I'm just the messenger okay?" Glenn said, stalling.
"Fine, what about her?"
"Someone saw her and Kevin getting cosy," Glenn said reluctantly.
"Amy and Kevin?" Mark asked calmly, his expression unreadable.
"Yeah. Look, man, I don't necessarily believe it, but..."
"..we've been proved wrong in the past," Mark finished for him, his brows lowering. "She wouldn't do that."
"Well, I'm just saying what I heard. Apparently they went to the restaurant," Glenn said, shrugging.
Mark went still and stared at the door, his frown deepening and his jaw hardening as he tried to fight off the suspicion Glenn's words had caused. "She wouldn't do that," he said again, through his teeth this time. All the same, he jumped up and made his way towards the restaurant, haivng to see for himself.
Glenn stood and watched him go, feeling like shit and hoping that Dawn Marie had got it all wrong.
Mark stalked into the restaurant and looked around, scanning the large room until his eyes settled on Amy's back. He walked slowly over towards the table she was sitting at, his eyes taking in the figure of Kevin Nash sitting opposite her, grinning at her as he suddenly took one of her hands in his. Mark felt his temper ignite when he heard Amy laughing and his legs ate up the distance between them.
Kevin and Amy both glanced up as Mark stood next to their table, neither of them looking particularly guilty. Until Mark looked down pointedly at their hands and Amy snatched hers back, her face flushing.
"Hey, buddy," Kevin said, his brow wrinkling in confusion when Mark glared at him for real this time. "What's wrong?"
"What the fuck are you two doing?" Mark asked, his voice quiet and deadly calm, despite his words.
"We're just having lunch," Kevin said slowly, looking at Amy and then at Mark again, sudden understanding hitting him. "You surely didn't think..."
"Think what? That you two were having a cosy little meal together, holding hands?" Mark snapped, his voice still fairly quiet but not so calm anymore.
Amy stared up at him in horror. He actually thought...? "We weren't holding hands..." she began and he glared down at her, his eyes so cold she stopped speaking.
"Don't fucking lie to me. I saw you," he said, his words making the colour drain from her face.
"Yeah, okay, I was holding her hand, but it isn't the way you think," Kevin said, standing up and facing his friend, his movement making Mark tun away from Amy and stand with his back to her. "She made a comment..."
"Save it," Mark said, his temper starting to take control of him. "I don't need to hear your fucking pathetic excuses, my eyes have told me everything I need to know!"
"Then you weren't looking properly, were you?" Kevin snarled at him, losing his own formidable temper. "You fucking listen to me, you bastard!" he snapped when Mark went to cut him off again and he was surprised when Mark actually waited for him to speak. "Amy made a comment, saying I reminded her of a gypsy, only blonde, and I was kidding her that I knew how to read her palm. That's why I was holding her hand, and that's the only reason!"
Mark blinked at Kevin and his temper started to leave him as quickly as it had arrived. "That was what you were doing?"
"Yes. Why would you think it was anything else? You're my friend, although God only knows why!"
"Someone said they saw you two getting cosy," Mark admitted, pissed off that he still had a niggling doubt in the back of his mind.
"Then someone lied," Kevin said, his eyes looking over Mark's shoulder briefly and then right at him again. "And who it was is your problem. So is the fact that your girlfriend just walked off."
Mark swung around and saw that Amy's seat was empty, her food left half eaten, and he swore loudly. "Ah fuck!"
"My sentiments exactly. Why don't you think before you speak next time?"
Mark shook his head. "I'm a world class specialist in putting my foot in it," he murmured, his eyes fixed on the door where Amy had gone. He looked back at Kevin. "I'm sorry, man."
"You should be. I guess you have good reason, but you know me better than that. Go and find Amy, and hope she'll be as forgiving as I am!" Kevin gave a tight smile and walked away, still pissed off that his friend could have thought he'd betray him like that.
Mark watched him go and grimaced. Way to fuck things up, he congratulated himself. "Well, no point putting it off," he said to himself, making the people at the nearby tables look at him strangely before he went in search of Amy.
Sara, sitting in the corner of the restaurant, smiled coldly as she watched him go. The seeds of doubt were being sown and she knew he wouldn't be able to get them out of his mind now.
