PART 14

ABOUT A MONTH LATER

Jay slid the keycard into his hotel room door and made his way in.  Upon entering, he saw Stephanie sitting on the couch, sipping a glass of iced tea while flipping through a magazine.

"Hey," Jay said, grinning as he eyed his girlfriend appreciatively.  Although it was only early June, they were in Florida, and the temperature was around 83.  Stephanie was dressed accordingly, wearing a halter-top and a pair of very short shorts.  Jay was so used to seeing her dressed professionally, in business suits and all, that he took a big liking to her dress, or lack thereof.

"Nice outfit," he commented.  "I don't remember seeing it when you unpacked.  I'm sure I would have noticed such an outfit if I saw it, Ms McMahon."  Leaning in to accept his kiss, she smacked him lightly as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Ew, you perve.  If you must know, it's Britney's," she replied, sticking her tongue out as she settled back against him.

"Well you should definitely send thanks to her for that," he said, sticking his tongue out in reply.  Sometimes Stephanie couldn't believe how Jay, and Adam and Chris too for that matter, acted like 17-year-old boys.  Must be a blonde Canadian thing.

"So, how did your 'bonding' with Adam go?" she asked curiously.

"I think he's finally going to tell her," Jay replied, smile slowly creeping onto his face.

Stephanie's eyes widened as she grinned, "Really?  He said that?"

Jay laughed as he told her, "He said he was.  He told me your brother talked to him about a month ago and told him he'd better do it soon or he'd lose her."

"That's for sure.  I know Britney, and as much as she loves Adam, she just won't wait forever," Stephanie agreed.

"Well, I think he's finally going to do it tonight.  Let's hope he's not too late," Jay said seriously.

"Yeah," Stephanie nodded.  "Jay?  You don't think Adam would ever hurt her, do you?"  Jay shifted in his seat to gaze down at his girlfriend.  He was shocked she would even ask that question.  A cow would fly out of Adam Copeland's ass before he would ever hurt Britney McMahon.

"Are you crazy?!  Steph, trust me, I KNOW Adam.  He loves Britney more than anything…"

"So he says.  Brock said the same thing," the brunette interrupted somewhat bitterly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!  How can you even COMPARE Adam to Brock?  They're complete opposites!  Steph, you know Adam would never in a billion years hurt her, and you know I'd kill him if he did.  Look, I know that all you want is to see her happy.  Well, this is her chance!  Adam will treat her like a queen once he finally tells her how he feels about her."  Stephanie frowned, lowering her head slightly.

"I… I'm sorry Jay.  I know that Adam's probably the best thing to happen to her since, well… ever, but I just can't shake the idea of her getting hurt again," she said sadly.  Jay shook his head, wrapping his arms more tightly around her.

"Adam would never let that happen."

LATER THAT NIGHT

"Brit?" Adam called into the seemingly empty hotel room.

As he walked through the rooms and couldn't find the tiny blonde anywhere, he began to worry.  What if she'd gone somewhere with Amy or Steph?  Earlier in the day, Jeff and Chris mentioned that they would possibly go out and look for a good club.  What if Jeff asked her to go and she agreed?  That would REALLY put a damper on his plans for the evening.  Not that he had a real plan anyway.  He still had no idea how to approach the subject, so he was just going to wing it.  Adam breathed a sigh of relief when he finally located her.  She was out on the private balcony, sitting Indian-style on a chair.  Taking a deep breath, Adam slowly made his way to the sliding glass door.  Before he slid it open, he stopped to take one more deep breath.  This is it.  Don't choke this time, Adam,  he told himself.  He slid the door open and quietly stepped out.

"Hey, he said, surprised when she didn't jump as she normally would.

"Hey," she replied, smiling as she gestured for him to sit in the seat next to her.  He sat down, stretching out his long legs as he gazed at her.  For the first time in weeks, she appeared to be genuinely happy.  Smiling at the thought, the Canadian turned his head to take in the scenery.  The hotel was located right on a beach and their balcony overlooked the ocean, waves slowly cascading up the sandy shore.  The sunset sky was full of oranges, pinks and purples.  The atmosphere was so serene, Adam couldn't help but feel content and at ease.  He supposed that that was why Britney looked to feel that way, too.

"It's beautiful," Britney commented after a brief silence.

"Yeah, it is," Adam agreed.  And so are you.  Watching her gaze contentedly at the ocean view gave Adam an idea.  If was going to go through with this whole thing, why not make the setting as romantic as possible?

"Hey, you wanna go take a walk?" he asked suddenly, pointing out to the beach.

"Why?" she asked, laughing.

"Cause I love the beach at night, and from what I can see, you do too.  I wanna go down there for a walk, and I don't wanna go alone, and since you're my favorite person in the whole world, I was hoping you'd join me," he said with a charming smile.

After hesitating for a moment, causing Adam's heart to skip a beat, she grinned and replied, "Sure, lets go.  After all, I wouldn't want you to have to go alone, you big baby."  Grinning widely, he stood and opened the door for her, leading her in so she could grab a pair of shoes and they could head out.

ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER Brock sat on his hotel room balcony, staring at the now starlit sky. "Hey man," a rough voice called, and Brock turned to see an immense shadow in the door. "Hey," Brock said, turning his gaze back to the ocean. "Hey Brock," another voice called. "Hey Paul," Brock said without looking back.  It wasn't hard to mistake Paul Heyman's voice for anyone else.  Brock and Paul watched the other man pull of pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and light one up.  After watching him take one long drag, Brock yanked the cigarette out of his hand, tossing it over the ledge. "Not healthy," he scolded.  Those things really were disgusting.  "You'd think a guy with such wrestling talent would know better than to pick that shit up." "Hey kid, healthy or not, I'll do as I damn well please.  If Vinny Mac has a problem with that, he can come see me," the man answered gruffly, though he put the pack and lighter away.  Out of nowhere, a radio began to play. "What the hell is that?" Heyman asked looking around. Brock sighed, standing up.  "Shit… it's my alarm, I think I set it for 9:00 P.M. instead of A.M.  Hold up, I'll be right back."  As Brock went inside, Paul and the third man caught a glimpse of something. "Well look what we have here," Paul mumbled. "Yo Brock!" the other man called.  "Come here!  It looks like a pretty blonde Canadian and a diva are headed for the beach." "It's probably Jay and Stephanie.  Lord knows that slut will take her clothes off virtually anywhere," Brock called from the inside. "Don't I know it," the man mumbled under his breath before continuing.  "I don't think so.  The chick's a blonde." "Well, maybe it's Jericho. His wife's here with him isn't she?" Brock called again. The huge man on the balcony laughed, "Too tall to be Jerky.  Don't get too upset, pal, but I think it's your pal Copeland." As Brock emerged in the door, he answered, "Oh big fucking deal.  So Adam Copeland's finally got a chick, how wonderful for… hey, that's Britney!"  Lesnar glared angrily at the two people walking up the wooden boardwalk that led to the beach.  "What the fuck does he think he's doing?" Brock cried as he watched Adam casually wrap his arm around Britney's shoulder. "I'd say he's going off to score on the beach," Heyman piped up from the background. "Shut up Paul!" Brock yelled, suddenly glad they were too high up for Adam and Britney to hear him in the silent night.  "I thought you said they were having problems!" Lesnar exclaimed, lowering his voice slightly. Paul put his hands up in protest, "They were, but with all due respect Brock, that was over a month ago.  Things between them could have changed."  Brock rubbed his eyes, sighing with frustration. "You," he said, pointing at the muscular man.  "Follow them or something.  Figure out what's going on between them and tell me tomorrow morning. This is what I'm paying you for… go!" he demanded, and the man got up, showing himself out.  "Damn it!" Brock cursed as he turned once more to see Adam Copeland's figure disappearing with HIS woman.  "I'll get him, Paul," he said as he watched the two figures disappear in the darkness. ON THE BEACH

Adam breathed deeply, taking in the crisp night air as he watched Britney, who was a pace or two ahead of him.  He was surprised that, even with his legs being at least six inches longer than hers, she managed to stay ahead of him as they casually strolled down the sandy beach.  They remained silent for the most part, but this wasn't one of those weird silences they'd been having recently.  This silence was a comfortable one, one shared by people who were really connected, causing their own silent communication.  After a few moments, Britney stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Can we sit down for awhile?" she asked.

Nodding, the Canadian replied, "Sure."

Britney watched as he sat in the sand, patting the sand next to him, gesturing for her to sit down.   Slowly leaning down, placing the sandals she was carrying with her on the ground, she sat between his legs, pressing her back up against his chest.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, suddenly wondering why she had asked to stop.

"Yeah… I am," she breathed, smiling serenely as she gazed out into the ocean.  They sat for a while, enjoying the feeling of being so close.  "It's really beautiful, isn't it?" the tiny blond commented as she felt Adam's hand lazily run through her hair.  Adam sighed, pulling her closer and resting his chin atop her head.

"Yeah, it really is.  It's so… peaceful," he said.  Though the scenery was incredibly calming, Adam could feel his heart starting to pound a mile a minute.  Do it, do it, do it, do it- the voices in his head chanted.

"Brit, I have to tell you something," he started slowly.  "I-I've kind of been waiting for awhile to tell you, and I just can't hide it anymore."  Pushing his arm off of her, Britney sat back and turned around.

"Oh… okay.  What is it?" she asked, not sure where he was going with this.

"I-I… I," Adam mumbled, trying his damn hardest to form a sentence, though it wasn't really working too well.  Come on Adam, just say it.  You've gotten yourself this far, you can't wus out now.  Swallowing and clearing his throat, he tried again, "I… what I'm trying to say is… shit.  Let's try this one more time.  Well, over the past few years, you and I have really gotten to know each other.  Like I always tell you, you're one of my best friends and I'm so grateful to have you.  But lately, I haven't exactly seen you as a friend… well, JUST a friend anyway.  What I mean is that… maybe I see you as, well… maybe I see you as MORE than a friend."

Britney's eyes widened at him.  There was no way in hell he could be serious.  "W-what do you mean?" she asked, her heart rate kicking up a notch as well.

"What I mean is, at first, I thought I wanted to room with you because I wanted to protect a very good friend.  But now I realize that I wanted to room with you because I wanted to BE with you.  I haven't been able to seriously see myself with someone for the longest time, but then you came along.  Now, I… I honestly can't see myself with anyone else but you," he confessed truthfully.

After his statement he heaved a huge sigh… a HUGE weight had been lifted from his shoulders.  Britney, on the other hand, felt as though the weight had been dropped right her chest.  She knew she should have been happy.  Hell, she should have been doing cartwheels in the sand, but she wasn't.  All she could think of was how a relationship between the two of them was bound to fail, probably miserably.  If she were to tell him she felt the same way and they got together, eventually she'd have to reveal everything about her, including her not-so-attractive past.  When he found out all the things she did and everything that happened to her, he'd change his mind about his feelings for sure.  She was just too much work to be involved with for him, and he didn't deserve it.  As her mind worked in overdrive, Adam desperately tried to make out an expression on her face.  What was she thinking?  He didn't like that she was remaining so silent.

"Please say SOMETHING," he pleaded nervously.

Britney cast her blue eyes down to the sand before answering, "I--- I can't Adam.  I'm flattered you feel that way, but you and I would never work.  There's so much about me that you don't know."

"You'd be surprised how much I know," he said honestly.  He knew deep down inside she wanted to be with him, too.  As Shane told him, which he believed with all his heart, she was just so scared of him finding out and abandoning her.  He had to prove to her that, regardless of her past, he didn't plan on going anywhere anytime soon.  "Britney, I know more than you realize.  I know you aren't proud of your past, but your past doesn't change how I feel!  Believe me, I know, and I still…"

"You do NOT know, Adam!  As much as you can sit there and pretend, you just don't know!" she yelled.  Boy, she wasn't giving up without a fight.

Adam shook his head, "Britney…"

"NO! Can't you see I'm doing this for your own good!  I don't want you to get too involved with me, because eventually you'll want to leave, and I honestly couldn't handle losing you," she said, tears beginning to fill her eyes.  Fuck, this definitely wasn't how I'd planned for this to go, he thought silently.

Gently touching her arm, he said, "But I already know everything…"

"FUCK YOU!  You do not know ANYTHING!" she screamed, jumping up and booking.  Once what was happening registered in Adam's brain, he jumped up after her.

"Shit. Brit, wait!"  He chased after her, catching up quickly.  He grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around to face him.

"Let go… get away from me," she demanded, clenching her teeth.  Adam refused, and when she struggled, he tightened his grip.  "Let me go damn it!" she screamed, balling her free hand into a fist and punching him in the chest.  Adam couldn't help but yell in pain for a moment… she really was a tough little bitch when she wanted to be.  Even still, she was no match for him physically, and he quickly re-tightened the grip he had on her arm.

"NO!  You listen to ME for once, okay?" Adam yelled, causing her eyes to widen.  He didn't really want to yell at her, but at this point it seemed to be the only way to gain her full attention.  "I know EVERYTHING," he said slowly.  "I know about your mom's overdose.  I know your dad got shot.  I know you drank and I know you did drugs.  I also know that Brock helped you stop, before he forced you to have sex with him and led you into a relationship that has obviously scarred you for life."

Britney's eyes were the size of golf balls by now.  He knew.  She'd be damned if she knew how he found out, but he knew.  Sucker-punched was not a strong enough term to describe how she felt.  She was absolutely floored.

"H-how do you know all that?" she asked nervously.

"Don't get mad, but, uh… Shane, he told me," Adam said softly, not wanting to upset her, though he knew she'd most likely be pissed to find out that her cousin was the source of his information.  Of course, Britney thought.  Leave it to Shane to fuck everything up.  Adam probably knows every detail of my wonderful adolescence.

"What?  Why the fuck did he do that?  That, that bastard!" she muttered almost angrily.

"Brit, don't get mad.  I… I asked him to tell me.  I just wanted to know more about you, that's all.  He knew how I felt about you, and he was just trying to help," the tall man assured her.

Slowly beginning to walk away again, she responded, "Well, what a help he's been.  I can't believe he'd just tell you everything!  I mean, he knew it would drive a wedge between us, didn't he?  He knows how much I like you, and honestly, you don't look like the kind of guy who goes for a girl with a past like mine.  I just don't think I could handle falling in love with someone and getting abandoned again."

Adam stopped her once more, staring at her in disbelief.  "Are you crazy?  Don't you see what's going on?  I KNOW everything, all you've been through, and it doesn't change how I feel about you!  I still want to be with you, and I can't picture myself with anyone else," he said, in an almost begging tone.

"I… I just don't understand how you could want to be with me.  I'm not the girl you fall for.  I'm the one who you can room with, watch Sports Center and have a few heart to hearts with.  I'm just one of the guys… you couldn't fall for me.  It's… it's what I am," she said sadly, ducking her head.  Adam reached up and cupped her chin in his hand, tilting it up so he could look into her soft, teary blue eyes.

"What you ARE is the most beautiful woman I've ever met.  You're also, regardless of what you may think, one of the strongest people I've ever known.  As far as I'm concerned, the dark period of your life is officially over.  I understand that you're scared, but I also know that you feel somewhat the same towards me.  I love you, and if you just give me a chance, I…"

"What?" she cut in.  She could have sworn that she had heard THE words just come out of his mouth.  Soft smile forming on his face, he pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her.

"I… I love you, Britney," he said slowly.  Boy, did that ever feel good.  He felt even better when he saw a small grin playing on her lips.  His heart dropped as the smile turned into a tiny but noticeable frown.

"Oh.  I… I'm sorry.  You're right, I do feel the same, but… I just can't say it.  I want you to understand that I really do care about you, and I do, but… I just can't say that.  I've easily given those three words away before and, well, look what happened.  I… I want to make something of this Adam, I really do.  I need you accept that one day I WILL say it, and one day I will give myself to you completely, but I just can't right now.  I-I hope you still want to-"  Her words were cut off when he put a finger on her lips, silencing her.

This is it, Copeland.  You've been waiting so long to do this, lets hope you haven't forgotten how.  DON'T mess up… for Christ's sake, don't mess up.  Oh God, please don't let the past year of only being with like one girl totally screw up my kissing ability.  Shaking his head slightly, he shook all the thoughts out of his head.  If he thought about for too long, he'd never actually do it.  He slowly lowered his face to hers, capturing her lips with his.  When she didn't protest, he gently slid his tongue over her lower lip, and she opened her mouth in response.  The lost and dream-like sigh she elicited sounded an awful lot like he felt at the moment.  They had finally had their first kiss, and it was everything he'd ever hoped it would be.  Their kiss ended all too soon, but the huge grin Britney was sending him made stopping totally worthwhile.  Suddenly, Britney sat, taking Adam by surprise as she pulled him down with her.  Sitting up in his lap, she wrapped her arms around him, snuggling against his shoulder.  Now THIS was something he could get used to.

"Thank you… for everything," she said quietly, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his collar.

Smiling, Adam replied, "I feel like I should be thanking you, but you're welcome."

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the waves crash up along the shore.  As a slight breeze blew around them, Adam wrapped his arms more tightly around her, shielding her from the wind.

"You know," he started, "the ocean kinda reminds me of you."

Not moving her head from where it was currently resting, she questioned, "How do you figure?"

Laughing slightly, he replied, "You're going to think I'm the biggest dork in the world."

"Oh, but I already do… so tell me anyway," she said giggling.

Running his hand under the back bottom hem of her shirt, the tall blonde answered, "Oh, alright.  See, there are a few occasions where the ocean gets a little rough… and you know you've had your rough times.  But in the end, it always seems to calm down and become really peaceful, and… I know I've said this a million times, but… it becomes so beautiful… like you.  I, oh, man… I'm such a nerd."  Laughing, she lifted her head up to look into his emerald green eyes.

"Yeah, but you're a cute nerd.  And you're my nerd," she said, bringing her lips to his and stealing a kiss.

"I think I can live with being a nerd if I get to be your nerd forever," he said chuckling.  She rested her head back on his shoulder, and Adam sighed contentedly at how wonderful things had turned out after all.

"Adam?" Britney asked.  "Does this mean I can call Steph and tell her that she can't make fun of me for not having a boyfriend cause I have one now?"  Seeing as how Jay probably already TOLD her, I wouldn't be surprised if Steph was the one who called YOU.

Grinning widely, he answered, "Oh, I'd definitely have to say yes."

TBC

***I was gonna wait a little while before I made Adam and Britney get together, but I was sick of the sad endings to the chapters!  Besides, I think everyone else wanted to see it to.  So, what do you think?


Also, thanks again to the people who have sent reviews.  I get all excited when I get them, so please keep sendin them!!!