Of Love and Hate:
Chapter Four: Talk
"Us? What us?" Nicole asked, confused.
Chris just smiled. "Look, I know you liked that kiss. If you didn't, you wouldn't have kissed back like you did."
Nicole just rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Jerky. Look, I'm going for a walk, try to get over yourself while I'm gone."
"Nuh uh," Chris said, grabbing her arm. "You're not going anywhere until we talk."
"Yes, I am. I'm going for a walk. I wanna go outside, it's nice out tonight."
"Well then I'm coming too."
"Whatever." Nicole said, walking away. She walked outside and stopped. Feeling Chris come up behind her, she turned around. "Why do you care if I enjoyed the kiss?" She asked suddenly.
Chris looked down at her and smiled. "Because I know you liked it."
"But why do you care if I did? Why does it matter? It's not like we're together or anything, we just have an on screen relationship. The kiss was scripted, we had to do it. It wasn't my choice."
"Ok, well where in the 'script' did it say you had to slip me the tongue?" Chris asked slyly.
Nicole smacked him and turned away. "I didn't do it, you did."
"Fine, fine, I did. But you let me."
Nicole kept quiet, knowing he was right. "So why exactly are you following me?"
Chris shrugged. "Well, I want you to admit that you liked the kiss and I still want you to answer the question I asked you the other night."
Nicole raised her eyebrows. "What question? And for the last time, I didn't enjoy the kiss!"
"Right, keep telling yourself that. Now, my question was, why aren't we friends?"
Nicole shrugged. "Maybe because you're a self-centered, cocky jerk?"
"What have I done?!" Chris shot back, being louder than he expected.
Nicole jumped, not expecting him to yell. Her eyes met his and could almost swear she saw hurt. But why would Chris Jericho care if she was his friend? He never cared before, at least, she didn't think. "You… you always acted all high and mighty around me."
"And you acted like a spoiled little…" He stopped himself and turned around, walking away.
Against her better judgment, Nicole knew she couldn't just let Chris walk away like he was. "Chris… wait." She said, pleading.
Chris stopped, but didn't turn around.
"I… I'm sorry." Nicole said quietly. Chris turned around, not sure if he had heard her right.
"You're sorry?" He questioned.
Nicole nodded. "I… I realize I've been a bitch lately, and I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me…"
Walking back to her, Chris raised his hands to stop her. "No, you shouldn't be apologizing. You don't have to like kissing me. I was being a jerk trying to get under your skin."
"Well, it worked." Nicole replied, laughing.
"Look, about the other night, when I asked why you don't want to be friend with me… I was just being dumb. I just really wanted to know."
"Do you still want to know?" Nicole asked quietly.
"No, because I don't want to hear you call me a jerk or anything anymore." Chris answered.
Nicole shook her head. "I wasn't…"
"Nicole, stop. You don't like me, I get it. I'll survive. You don't…"
"It's because I was afraid!" Nicole blurted out.
Chris looked at her, a confused expression on his face. "Afraid? Of what?"
Nicole sighed and walked over to the grass, sitting down. Chris took a seat beside her and watched her intently. "I… I was afraid that you were right." She explained quietly.
"Right about what?" Chris asked, still confused.
"The other night, you told me that I didn't wanna become your friend because I was afraid I would become one of those girls who fell for you and couldn't have you…"
"I was kidding." Chris interrupted.
"But you were right." Nicole said, glancing up to meet his eyes. "When I first met you, I knew that you were special, and that scared me. I didn't want to get close to you because if I did, sooner or later I would admit my feelings to myself. And, I was afraid that if I admitted my feelings to you, you wouldn't reciprocate them."
Chris smiled, looking into Nicole's blue eyes, which were now filling with tears. "What exactly are you saying?" Chris asked tentatively.
"What do you think I'm saying?" Nicole responded, smiling slightly.
"Well, I hope you're trying to say that you have feelings for me."
Nicole nodded. "That's what I was trying to say. I didn't say it very well, huh?"
Chris just laughed. "You said it fine. You said it just fine." He smiled and leaned closer to her, pressing his lips to hers.
"Good." Nicole whispered against his lips. She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "Thank you." She said quietly.
"For what?" Chris asked curiously.
"For being a jerk, it helped me realize how much I really cared about you, no matter what."
Chris stood up and offered his hand to Nicole. She raised an eyebrow at him, but took his hand anyways. He pulled her up off the ground and pulled her close to him. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Follow me, I have to show you something."
"What is it?" Nicole asked curiously.
"You'll see." Chris responded, leading her back in the arena and down to his locker room. He opened the door and moved out of the way, letting Nicole enter the room.
She walked in the room and gasped. "Oh my God…"
A/N: Hehe surprises! I'm almost done with this fic, the next chapter is the last. Hope you enjoyed it!!! :)Nicole***