Down the Road
PG
A/N: And the plot will thicken... slowly. :P:).
And also I'm sorry for the delay. This was done DAYS ago, but I had to put it up later because of some things ff.net put me through.
Chapter 5
*Chris, calm down. Fifty bucks on the way.*
Ever since he got that note, he had been feeling more wrecked than ever. "Man, you have to give me a break. Seriously. Can I just give you the fifty?"
"No, because that'll mean that you're not Jericho anymore."
"Oh God... There she is."
Stephanie was indeed making her way to them, looking very professional as usual. He was getting all nervous again... That was not very good. He babbled whenever that happened. "Hi guys," she said politely, pulling her own chair to sit.
"Missed manners number one," Kurt mumbled loud enough for only Chris to hear. Chris glared in return. "You didn't pull out the chair..."
"So, what's this all about?"
"Chris has got something to tell you," Kurt said quickly.
Stephanie turned to look at him. Chris was suddenly so quiet and so small. No, not now! This was peer pressure. This was not going to happen. "What exactly is so important? I mean, the tone in the letter sounded pretty urgent."
"Um..." He thought for a while. "You know... Time is a little... We've only been... going out for a couple of days, and things are moving... Pretty fast, aren't they?"
Uh huh..." She trailed her words and looked on.
"Steph, I think I've got something to tell you."
"This sounds really bad," she said, sitting closer to the table now. "Is everything okay?"
*Help me Kurt...*
But he did not answer his silent plea. "Everything's alright... Except that I've got a few things to tell you that you might not be able to take in totally." Why was it so hard? All he was supposed to say is the 'L' word. Why was he even referring it to the 'L' word? "Steph, I um... I..."
"He's broke," Kurt jumped in.
"You're broke? But you're a wrestler."
"Wrestlers can be broke too you know, Steph. It's only a matter of money management, and Chris isn't really good at that."
There was no way she was going to buy it. No way. Oh, dumb Mr. Tofu, what ideas he has.
"Oh," she said suddenly. Did she buy it? "Do you want me to tell Eric to raise your pay?"
"Nonononono, um... I don't want anyone to know, so..."
"So he's going to you for help. Steph, I think what you can do is that you can let him stay at your place temporarily. Just for the moment," he continued. Chris' eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.
"...If it helps, okay."
Kurt looked at Chris from the corner of his eye and smiled. Chris frowned a bit, but deep inside he appreciated it. Wow, he was going to stay at her house. It excited him a little.
"So, I guess I'll call you to arrange the time then."
"Yeah," Chris blurted, trying hard not to look at her. "Yeah, I hope to hear from you soon."
"I'm so sorry to hear this from you, Chris. It's silly of you not to tell me this earlier."
"S'ok."
She said her goodbyes then she left.
"She didn't even stay for lunch," Kurt said, his eyebrows raised. "Huh. That's pretty rude."
"She's never rude man."
"Okay, fine. But I saved you okay? In fact, you should be bowing down to me like I was your master. I convinced her to let you have a home in her HOUSE."
"Alright, alright, thanks." Chris smiled eventually. "Oh man. You know what that means?"
"What?"
"I can get a little closer than I intended."
He slapped his friend's arm. "NO! You do that and I'll kill you."
"With what? A stick?"
"No. Look, I'll give you a deal."
"A deal. No way. Not another one."
"Ten bucks that you'll tell her by tomorrow."
"TOMORROW?! That's too fast." But Chris was never the type to give up that easily.
"Treat it like a way to motivate yourself. Ten bucks could buy you a few useful stuff."
"...If you put it that way..."
"For now, five bucks say that you walk up to that guy and start asking him about the French revolution in German."
"But I don't know German."
"Does it really matter?"
"...Fine." And so he earned his ten bucks just like that.
***
"Stephanie!"
"Chris!"
"What're you calling for? You're currently wasting your money on calls. And I'm supposed to be broke."
"Whatever. Anyway, I think you can move in tonight if you want to. I'll provide most of the basic ammenities, but you know, it'd be nice if you were able to provide for yourself something too."
"T-tonight?" he stammered. Oh. That night? Moving along quite much faster than he expected. "Okay. But I think I'll ring on your doorbell just in case, okay? Are you gonna be at home?"
"Yeah. Maybe a little early too."
Chris smiled. Alright! Kurt was like his savior. Not only did he get a chance to be close to Steph, he was practically living with her. But he did have to pretend to be broke too. Which was quite hard because he really wasn't. That meant he had to take whatever he really needed most and give up that television, that sound system, that... almost everything. But it was all for Steph wasn't it? Grr. That cow. He fell for a cow.
"Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"I only have one room."
Holy crap. One room and the both of them are going to sleep in it. *Calm down Chrissy-boy, it's only sleeping in the same room. Nothing else.*
"It's either that we share the bed, or you take the couch."
It'd be so wrong to take the bed. So very wrong. So the couch had to spoil everything. And he had to give up sleeping in the same bed together. Not that he wanted to sleep in the same bed, just that it seemed to be more... Comfortable?
"Couch. Couch. I will NEVER EEEVER sleep in the same bed with a scary moo-moo like you. The Chris will never do that."
"I would take that as a good thing, then. So I'll see you later then?"
"Yep."
"Bye."
"Bye."
As soon as he put the phone down, he plopped back on his own couch. He was going to live with Stephanie McMahon.
How cool is that?
But he couldn't look forward to it too much. Not everything would usually go his way after all. Damn, he needed to get her something. At least to prove that he could be nice. What did she like? Would she take it? How would she react?
On the other hand... Kurt just lived a block or two away from her. Yes! He could pop by anytime. And the bets would be fulfilled right in front of his eyes.
This was going to be fun.
***
Chris arrived at her door. He prepared himself quite well, he thought. He rang the doorbell, and when she opened it, he felt great. It was like entering the gingerbread house with an angel inside. Did he just think 'angel'? He meant witch. But whatever she was, he felt like he was stepping in a whole new world.
"Hey Chris," she said, walking into an embrace.
"There you go with the sweet thing again. You can never change, can you? Oh man, and I have to carry everything in myself too, I suppose."
"I'm sorry," she replied, trying to take a bag from him.
"Hey, I was only kidding."
"But it's a polite thing to do, so yeah."
She took one from him anyway, and set it somewhere on the side of the floor. The house wasn't as big as he expected, but his expectations wasn't quite realistic anyway. No extremely large pool though.
"There's alot here anyway. Fridge, TV, rooms, toilets, couch, blah blah blah," she continued, roughly pointing to random spots of the house. *Guess I have to explore for myself,* he thought, sitting back down on the couch. "And um, feel free to use anything you want. Just don't touch my drawers."
Now, she shouldn't have said that. It was what drove people to open her drawers now. Curiousity came about that way.
"Okay."
So he might have been lying. Maybe that was a promise, but it wouldn't stop him from being curious about the drawer thing. He just would have to find out then. "Alright, so, yeah, I'm going to get myself ready for bed."
The way that sounded gave Chris funny feelings inside. But still, he was taking the couch. The couch was those big L-shaped ones that actually had a little bounce to it, and what's more, it was pretty velvety. He STILL felt sad about not sharing the bed situation. Oh well, he didn't want to appear like some old... lecher. Or something like that. Right now, there was no Kurt to play bets on anymore, most of the day. So would Stephanie be a good partner? Did he say partner?
Chris had to sort out all those thoughts right. They all seemed to go the wrong way, in every other way. He sat in the room silent, even until Stephanie was out. He didn't know what to do. Watch TV? Take a walk? Explore the place? He had no idea.
"Are you gonna sit there all day?"
"I guess not." He sighed. "Tell me what to do, please."
"You can start off by unpacking." I've got another room---"
"You have another room? WHY didn't you just tell me that?"
"Because you never asked." She looked at the things on the counter. "Or you can help me clear up here," she said, nodding towards it.
"You know what?" he said, immediately cringing deep inside at the mention of housework, "I think I'll go have a walk instead."
"Aha, now I know one of the many excuses you will use to avoid house chores."
"I'm your guest and you're supposed to treat me nicely."
"That's not the point!"
"That IS the point! Stephanie! I'm going out for a walk."
Or rather, a little chat with Kurtie again.
***
"Damn! I never expected it to be so simple."
"Just because she's a McMahon doesn't mean she's got to stay in a palace," Kurt said.
"But she IS the princess."
"Which is why she can decide where she'll live."
Chris blinked. He never thought of it that way. "Actually, that's a good point."
Kurt paused to think about it for a while. "Anyway, today's Thursday already."
"You KNOW I'm never gonna make it. You KNOW that I'll never get the chance to, man, you ninny!" He pointed a finger at Kurt.
"What? You have to remember that she's got to react too."
"..No I don't! You just added that in to make it harder for me!"
"You do. You just can't remember."
"You're lying. I know it. That's what you did the last time we did something major."
"Fine, I'll increase the stakes to a hundred bucks."
"A hundred? Are you kidding? That'll be like..." Chris started to count fingers. "Alot of pizzas."
"Still up to it? I really can't wait for the day for that to happen."
"...What's the point of this, really?" Chris frowned, like he always did everytime he came to Kurt. "I don't see how this kiss plan is going to be effective."
"Oh, you don't even KNOW what it does."
"What, you tried it?" Chris thought for a while. "Wait, I don't want to know."
Kurt frowned with him. "That was a long time ago."
"Well, I don't want that to come up. Seriously, I'm never going to kiss her in the duration of my entire life."
"What makes you think so?"
He fell silent. "Gut instinct."
"But you've got no guts!" Kurt chuckled.
Chris punched him in the arm. His friend went on, even if it hurt. "I DO, tofu!"
"...Not much of it then."
Looking back at everything, he figured that Kurt was right. He didn't even dare tell Stephanie anything. Wouldn't it have been obvious by now? Boy, was she blind. But somehow, he HAD to try. He needed to, for the sake of the both of them.
***
A/N: It's chapter 5 and it's moving rather slowly. I've got to have a move on. Very soon. Trying my best yo update when I'm free, and well, I'm glad you people love the tofu man. And the Chris. And also, I'd like to say that Kurt would remain of what he is today... Bald. Nothing to be unproud of! Oh well. Tata, and lots of teevee ~ Pearlyn :P:)
PG
A/N: And the plot will thicken... slowly. :P:).
And also I'm sorry for the delay. This was done DAYS ago, but I had to put it up later because of some things ff.net put me through.
Chapter 5
*Chris, calm down. Fifty bucks on the way.*
Ever since he got that note, he had been feeling more wrecked than ever. "Man, you have to give me a break. Seriously. Can I just give you the fifty?"
"No, because that'll mean that you're not Jericho anymore."
"Oh God... There she is."
Stephanie was indeed making her way to them, looking very professional as usual. He was getting all nervous again... That was not very good. He babbled whenever that happened. "Hi guys," she said politely, pulling her own chair to sit.
"Missed manners number one," Kurt mumbled loud enough for only Chris to hear. Chris glared in return. "You didn't pull out the chair..."
"So, what's this all about?"
"Chris has got something to tell you," Kurt said quickly.
Stephanie turned to look at him. Chris was suddenly so quiet and so small. No, not now! This was peer pressure. This was not going to happen. "What exactly is so important? I mean, the tone in the letter sounded pretty urgent."
"Um..." He thought for a while. "You know... Time is a little... We've only been... going out for a couple of days, and things are moving... Pretty fast, aren't they?"
Uh huh..." She trailed her words and looked on.
"Steph, I think I've got something to tell you."
"This sounds really bad," she said, sitting closer to the table now. "Is everything okay?"
*Help me Kurt...*
But he did not answer his silent plea. "Everything's alright... Except that I've got a few things to tell you that you might not be able to take in totally." Why was it so hard? All he was supposed to say is the 'L' word. Why was he even referring it to the 'L' word? "Steph, I um... I..."
"He's broke," Kurt jumped in.
"You're broke? But you're a wrestler."
"Wrestlers can be broke too you know, Steph. It's only a matter of money management, and Chris isn't really good at that."
There was no way she was going to buy it. No way. Oh, dumb Mr. Tofu, what ideas he has.
"Oh," she said suddenly. Did she buy it? "Do you want me to tell Eric to raise your pay?"
"Nonononono, um... I don't want anyone to know, so..."
"So he's going to you for help. Steph, I think what you can do is that you can let him stay at your place temporarily. Just for the moment," he continued. Chris' eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.
"...If it helps, okay."
Kurt looked at Chris from the corner of his eye and smiled. Chris frowned a bit, but deep inside he appreciated it. Wow, he was going to stay at her house. It excited him a little.
"So, I guess I'll call you to arrange the time then."
"Yeah," Chris blurted, trying hard not to look at her. "Yeah, I hope to hear from you soon."
"I'm so sorry to hear this from you, Chris. It's silly of you not to tell me this earlier."
"S'ok."
She said her goodbyes then she left.
"She didn't even stay for lunch," Kurt said, his eyebrows raised. "Huh. That's pretty rude."
"She's never rude man."
"Okay, fine. But I saved you okay? In fact, you should be bowing down to me like I was your master. I convinced her to let you have a home in her HOUSE."
"Alright, alright, thanks." Chris smiled eventually. "Oh man. You know what that means?"
"What?"
"I can get a little closer than I intended."
He slapped his friend's arm. "NO! You do that and I'll kill you."
"With what? A stick?"
"No. Look, I'll give you a deal."
"A deal. No way. Not another one."
"Ten bucks that you'll tell her by tomorrow."
"TOMORROW?! That's too fast." But Chris was never the type to give up that easily.
"Treat it like a way to motivate yourself. Ten bucks could buy you a few useful stuff."
"...If you put it that way..."
"For now, five bucks say that you walk up to that guy and start asking him about the French revolution in German."
"But I don't know German."
"Does it really matter?"
"...Fine." And so he earned his ten bucks just like that.
***
"Stephanie!"
"Chris!"
"What're you calling for? You're currently wasting your money on calls. And I'm supposed to be broke."
"Whatever. Anyway, I think you can move in tonight if you want to. I'll provide most of the basic ammenities, but you know, it'd be nice if you were able to provide for yourself something too."
"T-tonight?" he stammered. Oh. That night? Moving along quite much faster than he expected. "Okay. But I think I'll ring on your doorbell just in case, okay? Are you gonna be at home?"
"Yeah. Maybe a little early too."
Chris smiled. Alright! Kurt was like his savior. Not only did he get a chance to be close to Steph, he was practically living with her. But he did have to pretend to be broke too. Which was quite hard because he really wasn't. That meant he had to take whatever he really needed most and give up that television, that sound system, that... almost everything. But it was all for Steph wasn't it? Grr. That cow. He fell for a cow.
"Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"I only have one room."
Holy crap. One room and the both of them are going to sleep in it. *Calm down Chrissy-boy, it's only sleeping in the same room. Nothing else.*
"It's either that we share the bed, or you take the couch."
It'd be so wrong to take the bed. So very wrong. So the couch had to spoil everything. And he had to give up sleeping in the same bed together. Not that he wanted to sleep in the same bed, just that it seemed to be more... Comfortable?
"Couch. Couch. I will NEVER EEEVER sleep in the same bed with a scary moo-moo like you. The Chris will never do that."
"I would take that as a good thing, then. So I'll see you later then?"
"Yep."
"Bye."
"Bye."
As soon as he put the phone down, he plopped back on his own couch. He was going to live with Stephanie McMahon.
How cool is that?
But he couldn't look forward to it too much. Not everything would usually go his way after all. Damn, he needed to get her something. At least to prove that he could be nice. What did she like? Would she take it? How would she react?
On the other hand... Kurt just lived a block or two away from her. Yes! He could pop by anytime. And the bets would be fulfilled right in front of his eyes.
This was going to be fun.
***
Chris arrived at her door. He prepared himself quite well, he thought. He rang the doorbell, and when she opened it, he felt great. It was like entering the gingerbread house with an angel inside. Did he just think 'angel'? He meant witch. But whatever she was, he felt like he was stepping in a whole new world.
"Hey Chris," she said, walking into an embrace.
"There you go with the sweet thing again. You can never change, can you? Oh man, and I have to carry everything in myself too, I suppose."
"I'm sorry," she replied, trying to take a bag from him.
"Hey, I was only kidding."
"But it's a polite thing to do, so yeah."
She took one from him anyway, and set it somewhere on the side of the floor. The house wasn't as big as he expected, but his expectations wasn't quite realistic anyway. No extremely large pool though.
"There's alot here anyway. Fridge, TV, rooms, toilets, couch, blah blah blah," she continued, roughly pointing to random spots of the house. *Guess I have to explore for myself,* he thought, sitting back down on the couch. "And um, feel free to use anything you want. Just don't touch my drawers."
Now, she shouldn't have said that. It was what drove people to open her drawers now. Curiousity came about that way.
"Okay."
So he might have been lying. Maybe that was a promise, but it wouldn't stop him from being curious about the drawer thing. He just would have to find out then. "Alright, so, yeah, I'm going to get myself ready for bed."
The way that sounded gave Chris funny feelings inside. But still, he was taking the couch. The couch was those big L-shaped ones that actually had a little bounce to it, and what's more, it was pretty velvety. He STILL felt sad about not sharing the bed situation. Oh well, he didn't want to appear like some old... lecher. Or something like that. Right now, there was no Kurt to play bets on anymore, most of the day. So would Stephanie be a good partner? Did he say partner?
Chris had to sort out all those thoughts right. They all seemed to go the wrong way, in every other way. He sat in the room silent, even until Stephanie was out. He didn't know what to do. Watch TV? Take a walk? Explore the place? He had no idea.
"Are you gonna sit there all day?"
"I guess not." He sighed. "Tell me what to do, please."
"You can start off by unpacking." I've got another room---"
"You have another room? WHY didn't you just tell me that?"
"Because you never asked." She looked at the things on the counter. "Or you can help me clear up here," she said, nodding towards it.
"You know what?" he said, immediately cringing deep inside at the mention of housework, "I think I'll go have a walk instead."
"Aha, now I know one of the many excuses you will use to avoid house chores."
"I'm your guest and you're supposed to treat me nicely."
"That's not the point!"
"That IS the point! Stephanie! I'm going out for a walk."
Or rather, a little chat with Kurtie again.
***
"Damn! I never expected it to be so simple."
"Just because she's a McMahon doesn't mean she's got to stay in a palace," Kurt said.
"But she IS the princess."
"Which is why she can decide where she'll live."
Chris blinked. He never thought of it that way. "Actually, that's a good point."
Kurt paused to think about it for a while. "Anyway, today's Thursday already."
"You KNOW I'm never gonna make it. You KNOW that I'll never get the chance to, man, you ninny!" He pointed a finger at Kurt.
"What? You have to remember that she's got to react too."
"..No I don't! You just added that in to make it harder for me!"
"You do. You just can't remember."
"You're lying. I know it. That's what you did the last time we did something major."
"Fine, I'll increase the stakes to a hundred bucks."
"A hundred? Are you kidding? That'll be like..." Chris started to count fingers. "Alot of pizzas."
"Still up to it? I really can't wait for the day for that to happen."
"...What's the point of this, really?" Chris frowned, like he always did everytime he came to Kurt. "I don't see how this kiss plan is going to be effective."
"Oh, you don't even KNOW what it does."
"What, you tried it?" Chris thought for a while. "Wait, I don't want to know."
Kurt frowned with him. "That was a long time ago."
"Well, I don't want that to come up. Seriously, I'm never going to kiss her in the duration of my entire life."
"What makes you think so?"
He fell silent. "Gut instinct."
"But you've got no guts!" Kurt chuckled.
Chris punched him in the arm. His friend went on, even if it hurt. "I DO, tofu!"
"...Not much of it then."
Looking back at everything, he figured that Kurt was right. He didn't even dare tell Stephanie anything. Wouldn't it have been obvious by now? Boy, was she blind. But somehow, he HAD to try. He needed to, for the sake of the both of them.
***
A/N: It's chapter 5 and it's moving rather slowly. I've got to have a move on. Very soon. Trying my best yo update when I'm free, and well, I'm glad you people love the tofu man. And the Chris. And also, I'd like to say that Kurt would remain of what he is today... Bald. Nothing to be unproud of! Oh well. Tata, and lots of teevee ~ Pearlyn :P:)