PART 38

THREE WEEKS LATER

Stephanie was walking down the hallway of the hotel everyone was staying at.  The halls were silent, as it was very late.  She had a sudden craving for some kind of chips, so she quietly crept out of her room and headed to the vending machine down the hall.  She came across the machine, stopping in front of it.  She reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out the two quarters she'd grabbed, jumping when she heard a noise.  She turned to check, but on one seemed to be there.  Shrugging, she put her money into the coin slot and made her selection.  As she leaned down to pick up her snack, she heard the noise again.  She stood up slowly, freezing as she became suddenly aware that someone was behind her. 

"Hey Steph."


She dropped her bag of chips at the sound of the voice, as she knew exactly who it belonged to. 

"Paul," she said nervously, turning to see him behind her. 

Without saying another word, Levesque grabbed her by the throat, kissing her roughly on the mouth.  She somehow managed to break away, fleeing down the hall.  She somehow managed to break away, fleeing down the hall. "HELP!" she screamed, trying to wake people up and bring them out to the hallway.  She made it all the way to the elevator, rushing inside and shutting the door.  Breathing heavily, she sighed with relief… she lost him.

"Boo."

She shrieked, turning to see that she *hadn't* gotten away.  Paul was in the elevator with her!  Now there was no way she could escape him.  He pushed her to the ground, sitting on top of her as tears filled the brunette's eyes.  Not again.  Oh God, not again.  She realized that her fears were coming true… he was going to rape her again. 

"No!" she screamed as Paul began to work on her pajamas.  "No, stop… please.   Stop, stop, stop…"

"Steph!"  Another man's voice cut in, causing her to open her eyes.  She looked up, noticing that she was back in bed, and the man she had heard was Jay.  "Honey, wake up!  You're okay, nothing's wrong… you just had a nightmare," he said pulling her up towards him.

"Oh God, Jay!" she cried, throwing herself into his awaiting arms.  He gently rocked her back and forth, murmuring softly to her.  Whatever the dream was about must have been pretty bad, as she seemed to be shaking a little bit.  He thought that maybe this dream would be some kind of explanation as to why she was acting so funny lately.  He waited a few minutes to let her calm down, then he questioned her.

"What was the dream about?" he asked curiously.  Stephanie sighed in his arms.  What Jay didn't know was that she had that same dream every night since her rape.  On the other occasions, she had awoken in a cold sweat, trembling in fear.  Jay was such a heavy sleeper that he hadn't even heard her whimpers and movements on the other nights.  Tonight must have been the first time she screamed.  Stephanie decided that since Jay was expecting an explanation for the dream, she would also have to tell him about Paul… she just wasn't sure if he could handle it.      

"It was horrible!  H-he chased me down the hallway, a-and he trapped me in the elevator.  I-I told him to stop but he…" she trailed off, looking down. 

"He what?  And who is he?" Jay asked, nudging her as encouragement to continue. 

Stephanie hesitated, but she answered, "I-It… it was Paul.  He wanted… to rape me."

As Jay absorbed her words, he suddenly became confused.  Women usually didn't have dreams about that kind of stuff unless they saw a movie about it or unless…  Oh my God.  Suddenly, it all hit him.  Why she was acting so differently, so tense and jumpy… it all made sense.  In a horrible, twisted way, the Canadian realized that everything made sense.

"Oh my God, Steph… Paul raped you," he mouthed.  He looked at her, watching the tears fill her big brown eyes.  The look she was sending him all but confirmed his thoughts. 

"Holy shit," he said, feeling everything sink in painfully.  His girlfriend had been raped, and not only did he not protect her and prevent it… he hadn't even known it had happened.  "Steph, I… why didn't you tell me?" he asked, obviously hurt. 

Stephanie shrugged, "I wasn't sure how you would react," she admitted.  To be honest, she was still unsure of that matter.  He wasn't showing much emotion, except maybe that he was crushed.  He looked so empty, like he was a little kid who got his candy stolen.  He looked completely floored, sucker punched right in the gut.  "I wanted to tell you Jay, believe me.  But it was just so hard… you have to understand that.  I just… please, don't be mad," she pleaded.  That was the last thing she needed was to have him angry with her.

"I'm… I'm not mad… not at you anyway.  I just… how could anyone… I don't understand… how could anyone want to hurt you?" he asked, totally perplexed.  How could anyone want to hurt his poor, innocent Stephanie?  She hadn't done anything to deserve this. 

Stephanie eyed her boyfriend with concern.  She certainly hadn't expected him to react this way.  In all honesty, she expected him to go ballistic.  She wouldn't have been surprised if he got right up out of bed and marched right to Paul's room to set him straight.  She expected him to scream, not grow unusually quiet and sit there, not taking any kind of action.  It almost scared Stephanie, as Jay appeared to be paralyzed, frozen by all the information he was getting.  Then Stephanie noticed his deep brown eyes, which were filling with tears.  I knew he couldn't handle this… I knew it would be too much.  I should have denied it. 

"Jay, please.  Don't… don't get too upset…"

"Don't get too upset?!  That bastard took advantage of you and he's getting away with it!  I'm sorry for getting worked up, but I want to skin that man alive!  Who the fuck does he think he is?" the blonde man cried, fighting to keep his emotions in check. 

"The Game," Stephanie answered quietly.

"Well that game's beat.  I, uh… I take it your dad and Shane don't know."

"Yeah," she said sheepishly.  "Only Britney and Adam… and, well, now Chris knows.  I-I wanted to tell them… but I wanted you to know first, so you…"

"Don't worry Steph… I'll go with you to talk to your Dad and your brother," he answered, reading her mind.  She smiled.

"Thank you… and thank you for not getting mad at me for not telling you sooner," she said gratefully.  Jay's gaze softened as he wrapped his arms around her. 

"I'd never be mad at you for something like this.  I won't let him get away with this Steph.  And I won't let him near you ever again, I promise," he said kissing her on top of her forehead.  Stephanie couldn't help but smile softly.  It felt nice to be loved and protected by somebody that she felt so strongly about.  The brunette knew that now that Jay was aware of what happened, she most likely wouldn't be having anymore nightmares. 

"I love you Jay Reso," she said sweetly.  He grinned, leaning down to kiss her once more.

"I love you too, Stephanie McMahon."

THE SAME NIGHT

Britney quietly walked into her and Adam's room, shutting the door behind her.  After locking it, she headed for the bedroom, a huge grin on her face.  Even with all the drama and problems that had ensued four weeks ago, she was ecstatic.  She couldn't wait to tell Adam what she'd found out today.  She pushed the bedroom door open, hoping that he hadn't already fallen asleep.  Luckily, he was still wide-awake, laying on the bed and flipping through the channels on the TV with the remote.

"Hi," she said, grin still wide on her face.

"Hey," he said, looking up to see her.  "Did you have fun with Amy and Chris?"  She walked over to him, leaning down and planting a big kiss on his cheek. 

"Let me go get ready for bed, and then I'll tell you all about it," she replied. 

As she headed to the bathroom, she smirked at herself.  She had told Adam that she, Amy, and Chris were going on a girls/Chris night out thing… to "bond with Chris and help him get in touch with his feminine side."  She laughed as she recalled what Adam had said in response.  "Ha, like he needs any help with that."  While it was true that she went out with Amy and Chris, they hadn't gone to a diner for late dinner as they'd explained.  She didn't want Adam to know where they really were.  If he found out where she was before she went, it would have certainly raised concern.  Britney sighed happily… she couldn't believe this.  She was so excited and eager to tell him that she skipped washing her face, rushing back to the bedroom after brushing her teeth.  She took a deep breath and stepped back into the bedroom.  She tried her hardest to keep composure, but that grin worked its way back onto her face.  She rushed to the bed, sitting next to him on the edge and wrapping her arms around his neck. 

"I guess you had a good time," he said, grinning as well.  Instead of responding with words, she kissed him, feeling his arms come out to encircle her waist.  He was a little taken aback by her actions… not that he didn't enjoy kissing her, it was just usually him that started up that type of thing.  Nevertheless, he was pleasantly surprised and wasn't planning on protesting any time soon.  After a minute or so, Britney broke the kiss, staring into his deep eyes.

"I love you Adam," she said, grinning again as she cupped his face in her hands, kissing the tip of his nose. 

"I love you too… but what's all this about?" he said, unable to contain the small laugh accompanying his question. 

"I have to tell you something… something amazing," she replied.  Adam's curiosity was growing by the second. 

"Well, what is it?" he asked eagerly.  Whatever it was, it had to be something big, judging by the huge grin on her face.

"Well, Chris, Amy, and I didn't exactly go to a diner," she explained.  "We went… somewhere else."  Adam raised an eyebrow, this wasn't helping.

"Come on babe, the suspense is about to kill me," he said, suddenly finding himself feeling as excited as she looked.  He anxiously wondered what it could be, but he didn't care.  That is, whatever it was, any good news was a warm welcome in their lives.  Britney's gaze softened as she looked at him.

"Let's just say I hope that the world is ready for a joint production," she said.  Adam's heart skipped a beat.  What did she just say? 

"What do you mean?" he asked, hoping to God that they were on the same page.  She looked into his eyes again, smiling softly as she replied.

"Baby, I'm pregnant."

Told you it would be happy!!  LOL, The next part's pretty happy too… I guess I'm just in a good mood!  So, what did yah think??  Were you surprised??  LOL, like I said, there's another happy chapter after this… just don't get used to it.  My mind is too evil for that… LOL.  Anyway, hope you liked this chapter.  It's getting near the end… not too near, but we're well into the last half of the story.  Hope you guys are enjoying it so far!!  33yahs!!