The eye of the storm

"Chris, tell me you don't seriously think that I'm going to miss Aaron's party! I'll be there just a little later then expected Shane wants me to wait for him to finish selling his latest scheme to Vince so we can fly in together..." Stephanie sits on a bay window in the upstairs lounge, she looks out the window, trying to hide her own disappointment from her voice, she had wanted to be there early for Aaron as much as Chris wanted her to be, but as usual Shane still had business to attend to... And as he regularly reminded her he was working to provide her with the 'good life' as he called it, what she 'deserved' she knew he meant well. and loved him for it... But she never was one to sit around and be wrapped in cotton wool. So she was safely out of "harms way" at her and Shane's house in Greenwich, Connecticut. Shane was adamant that Steph only attend Wrestling functions... Or functions for wrestlers with him. And Aaron's party was no different.

"Why can't he fly in alone later when he's ready? Aaron's been one of your best friends for years. That whining little rich boy shouldn't expect to be put before him" Steph cut Chris off. he knew she didn't like him insulting Shane so blatantly to her "Shane is not a whining little rich boy. He loves me and I him. And He's really looking forward to getting to know you outside work as well Chris.. So please play nice" Chris was unhappy about it but agreed to give Shane another chance before passing judgment. Steph hung up the phone as Shane walked into the room, he smiled as he saw Steph and walked over to her "hey gorgeous.." he lent down and kissed her neck softly as he sat down next to her, his arms entangling themselves with her body as he sits down "will you marry me?" Steph looks at him in Shock "what?" Shane looks down, as though crushed by what she said "Will you marry me. please. I love you. and I will forever I know it" Steph smiled slightly nodded "of course I'll marry you Shane. I love you too" She lent in and kissed him softly "I vote we skip the party and stay here and play." Shane looked at Steph convincingly, though she simply smirked slightly as she nibbled teasingly on his ear before patting his leg slightly and getting up "not a chance babe. Come on let's go..."

Steph stepped off the plane, breathing in the cool Edmonton air, she grins as she sees Lena waiting for her as they exit the terminal. "I think that blonds starting to get to your brain, you're like 3 hours late. Aaron really thinks your not coming now" Lena smirks slightly as Steph looks slightly offended "It's not my fault Shane's a big important business man. remember his father signs your pay check" She grins as Lena rolls her eyes "so? That doesn't mean that you can be late" Shane steps up behind Steph and smiles to Lena "long time no see Lena. how are things in the wild world of Raw?" Lena nods slightly "yeah you know. it's Raw. still to many sluts walking around for my liking." she glances at Steph "and I still don't have my partner in crime with me. but apart from that it's good" Shane laughed slightly "you know there are some people that would count you as nothing more then a Raw Slut if you gave them the chance to speak before ripping them to shreds"

Steph walked into the house before Lena and Shane, she smiles as she sees Aaron sitting with his back towards her, talking to her brother Chris Benoit and his best friend Chris Irvine, she motions for them to keep quiet as she walks towards Aaron. She places her hands over his eyes, not saying anything, so her voice couldn't give her away. Aaron raised his hands to hers and grinned "baby doll?" He turned his body round in the seat and as Steph bent to hug him, he pulled her over the chair so she was sitting on his knee as he hugged her "I thought you weren't coming, thank you for turning up" Steph laughed slightly and kissed his cheek "like I could miss this."

Steph sat with one arm around Aaron's neck, while Aaron sat with one arm around her back, his hand resting on her waist, the other arm over her legs, the hand resting on her leg. As they talked Aaron began fiddling with the black duster Steph wore. Chris smirked slightly as he noticed what Steph was wearing underneath. "Steph get up." Steph looks at Chris and raises an eyebrow "sorry but I became your slave when?" Chris smirks slightly "When you were born into my family... Get up" him and Chris Irvine get to their feet and pull Steph up. "Steph. take off the duster..." Steph rolled her eyes slightly "Chris. you're my brother... And I love you very much. but you talk to me like you own me again... And I'm going to pedigree your ass so hard you won't stand for a week" Chris Benoit looks to Chris Irvine and smirks "if that's the way you want it Steph..." Chris Irvine takes a hold of Steph's arms and holds them behind her back while Chris B unbuttons the duster he smirks slightly as he looks to Aaron "look dude. she even turned up in her little miss head cheerleader outfit.." Aaron grins and gets to his feet as Steph shrugs off the duster, glaring at Chris B as she did so. "I asked Lena to get you to do it. I thought she'd forgot." Steph shakes her head slightly "she didn't forget... But Aaron you got to tell me. why? I didn't do cheerleading after High School for a reason." Aaron looks unconcerned "a few reasons really, like I don't like Shane all that much. and that'll piss him off. beside you look really cute in it, and it's not like there's any harm in having hot chicks in cheerleading outfits turn up at your parties. or as a best friend" Steph shook her head again, a half smile on her face "you don't want to tell me. fine.. I don't want to know" Aaron grins "that's a wise decision" Steph looks at him seriously for a minute "and as for not liking Shane. get used to it. we're engaged."

Lena walks into the room and scans it to find Steph, she smiles and waves when she sees her before making her way towards her. Steph takes the hint and starts towards Lena, when they meet half way Lena grins "there's some people you've got to meet" Steph nods slightly "ok.." she follows Lena out of the lounge and into the back yard where she sees a group of four men standing together looking towards her and Lena. As they got closer one of the men called out "Princess... You never said you were hiding a goddess up your sleeve" the man turns his deep brown eyes to Steph, he takes her hand and turns it kissing it softly as he does so, the whole time keeping eye contact with her "my names Shannon.. Shannon Moore." Steph smiles slightly "I'm Stephanie Benoit..." Shannon stands bolt upright "Benoit. as in Chris Benoit's wife or something??" Steph giggles slightly in spite of herself "no. I'm not Chris's wife. I'm his sister. I'm engaged to Shane McMahon..." Shannon shakes his head slightly "you're with Shane? You could do so much better then that.. Just don't let Chris intimidate everyone you meet" Lena took Steph's arm and pulled her away from Shannon "sorry Steph. he'll probably leave you alone for a while now. if you knew how much Chris freaks these guys out. you'd think it as hysterical as I do" Steph nodded "yeah probably.. I mean how can Chris scare anyone? He's such a sweetie" Lena raised an eyebrow slightly "ok so not a sweetie. but he's not exactly as wild as they make out he is" Their conversation is cut short as they reach the other three men that had been standing together "Guys I'd like to introduce you to my close personal friend Stephanie Benoit. Steph for short" Lena grinned slightly at the look of shock on the male's faces "Steph this is Jeff Hardy, Adam Copeland and Shane Helms" Steph took in the three faces, and after conversing with them for an hour or so she decided to find Shane.

Steph could feel in her stomach that there was something wrong as she made her way up the stairs. she'd searched everywhere for Shane. but he was no- where. the only place left to look was Aaron's room, She slowly walked to the door. and she knew already what was happening. Shane never was one to keep it down in the bedroom. and obviously the girl he was with wasn't either. She opened the door with slightly trepidation; she stared speechless at Shane and Stacy Kiebler. her heart breaking as she heard Shane telling Stacy the exact things he said to her. tears began to form in her eyes as she leaves the room un-noticed. She stops in the hallway to pick up an empty rubbish bin, which she takes into the bathroom and fills with cold water. Going back to the room Shane and Stacy are in, she kicks the door open before pouring the water over the two on the bed causing Stacy to scream and Shane to yell out in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING YOU PHYCO FUCKING BITCH" Steph glared at Stacy "What do I think I'm doing?" she grabs Stacy by the shoulders and slams her against the wall, "I think I'm dealing to the little.." She punches Stacy in the jaw "fucking.." she hooks her eye "slut." she upper cuts her to the jaw again "that I just caught fucking my FIANCEE" with this she pulls back and punches Stacy in the nose, breaking it instantly. As Stacy falls to the floor a sobbing bloody mess Shane comes up behind Steph, having put his pants back on, he takes a hold of Steph's arms and turns her towards him "Steph. I can explain" Steph glares at Shane through unshed tears "your right Shane. you can explain." She knee's him hard in the nuts "you can explain to the doctors why they need to find your balls.." She pulls the engagement ring off her finger and drops it on Shane before walking from the room, trying not to let Shane see how much she's hurting, she runs down the hallway, pushing past the rest of the party who've come to see what's going on.

The day after forever

A few weeks have past and we find Steph sitting on the swing seat at the back of Aaron's garden, she has her knee's pulled up to her chest and her head down resting on her knee's. On the ground in front of her are the stems of 12 roses, their red petal are strewn around the garden, next to her sits a letter, it is covered in tears as though the writer was crying as they wrote it. The letter reads:

My dearest Steph,

I have made the biggest mistake, I have betrayed the woman I love, I have hurt her and I cannot stand to be with myself because of it. I am alone. I can't live without you. I wish I would die. I wish that I could take away your pain. I wish I could take back what happened. I swear to you Steph that that was the first and only time I slept with anyone else.. I love . a thousand times I love you. If I thought there was anyway you could find it in your heart to forgive me I would ask. but I fear I have already broken it into to many pieces for it to be repaired even now. I wake each morning and all I can think of is how lonely and quite the house is without you. how I hate it. how I miss you.. Need you. If ever you feel your heart is well enough to forgive me.. To forget what happened. to go back to living happily and quietly with me. then ring. I will never leave our house for it is all I have of you.. So you shall always be able to find me. With deepest Love and Regret, your devoted Love Shane McMahon

The swing rocks slightly as someone sits down, she feels a silky touch run along the side of her face, pulling her hair behind her ear. She looks up and finds herself staring into the depth of a pair of soulful brown eyes; she takes in the figure standing in front of her, and finds her gaze drawn back to those eyes. "Like I said before. you're so much better then him." Steph's eyes filled with tears as she allowed Shannon to interlock his fingers with hers "if I'm so much better. why am I the one that's hurt and embarrassed not him?" she looks down as Shannon raises his other hand to her face, and gently wipes the tears away "If I'm so much better. why am I the one no-one wants??" she looks at Shannon, tears running down her face as she does. Shannon pulls her into a hug, stroking her hair with one hand, and her back with the other "You don't honestly believe that do you? I can promise you that there are people that want you." Steph looks up, finding herself transfixed again by the deep enchanting gaze and before she was fully aware of what she was doing she had lent in and kissed Shannon softly, passionately. drawing the kiss out. she opens her eyes as she pulls away, and sees Shannon sitting in half disbelief with a smile on his face "I. I'm sorry." She gets to her feet, shaking her head softly before turning and heading into the house.

Steph lay on Aaron's bed with him, her head resting on his chest as he hugs her ".when I'm with him. I can't help myself. I get lost in his eyes, and before I know what I'm doing I've kissed him and run away.." she buries her face into Aaron's chest slightly as he plays with her hair, twisting it around his fingers and such "if that's how you feel then go for it. you deserve to be happy Steph. and if Shannon's going to make you smile again. then I defiantly recommend you two getting together" Aaron smiles a little at Steph as she looks up at him "your probably right. like usual" she half smiles at him "but. I'm going to leave it till morning at least to work something out. right now I'm happy just chilling out with you" Aaron grins "you up for Lord of The Rings?" Steph looks thoughtful "the two towers" Aaron coaxes as Steph smirks slightly "like I'd ever say no to Orlando Bloom!" Aaron laughs slightly as he gets up and puts the movie in, when he comes back he climbs under the covers, still fully clothed and looks to Steph "you getting in or are you happy to freeze?" Steph got under the covers as well resting her head on his chest again as he half sat propped up by his pillows.

Shannon walks into Aaron's room, having heard the movie as the battle of Helms deep began, he stops at the door as he opens it, un-noticed by Aaron who is paying no attention to the movie either, but watching Steph sleep. Shannon coughs slightly and Aaron looks up and grins "hey dude. you wanna watch The Two Towers with me?" Shannon fakes a grin and nods "sure man..." he sits on the bed next to Aaron, Steph wakes from the motion on the bed and looking up to see Shannon she smiles slightly "am I still dreaming?" Shannon laughs slightly "no... But does that mean that you dream about me?" Steph smirks slightly as she looks at him "wouldn't you like to know." she pats his hand slightly before placing her head back on Aaron's chest. As she begins to fall asleep Shannon takes her hand, sitting behind her, his attention half on her and half on the movie.

A scream is heard followed by the sound of feet running down the hall and the loud shouting of Lena "MY SEXY ELVEN GOD IS BACK!!" The door of Aaron's room swings open and Lena looks around frantically, a look of utter depression on her face as she realizes that the two towers is on. Steph sits up, staring sleepily at Lena "Bitch is you on Acid??" Lena lets herself drop onto the bed "no... But these goof offs got my hopes up." she rolls onto her stomach so she's looking at Steph "I thought Orlando was here." Aaron looked from Lena to Steph to Shannon "dude. is Lena having full on delusions??" Shannon smirks slightly "man your out of the loop. Lena and Orlando are together. Officially ever since the Twin Towers Premiere, You saw how they clicked. he asked her out that night" Aaron looks shocked and appalled he looks from Lena to Steph "dirty bitch." Steph laughs slightly "ok so I would say no to Orlando. but Legolas is a different story!" Lena looks at Steph an eyebrow raised "you best be saying no to Orlando. or I'm making you sign a contract and it's going to be me you and a steel cage" she grins evilly at Steph. Shannon wraps his arms around Steph's waist as he sits up and looks at Lena "how about you and Steph Mud wrestle" he does his Sensational Shannon grin, pulling back a few stray hairs from his face and tucking them behind his ear. Aaron smirks "5.. 4... 3... 2... 1" Both Lena and Steph proceed to beat on Shannon, who jumps to his feet and runs to the doorway "hey, hey, hey. it was a complement I swear it!!"

Stepping forward

Steph wakes to the sound of Shannon's voice, a slightly angry tone to his voice ".just tell him to get the hell out of here. She doesn't want to see him and if he wants to be able to walk away from this place then he doesn't want to see anyone else" Steph looks up to see Aaron's housekeeper Andrea leave the room, she looks to Shannon and smiles slightly "hey." Shannon looks down at her and grins "hey yourself." Steph sits up, pulling the sheet up with her and wrapping it around herself slightly "what was that about??" Shannon shrugs slightly trying to avoid Steph's gaze "nothing really. nothing important anyways" he looks at her, flashing her a grin before kissing her lightly "don't worry about it" he goes to kiss her again but Steph moves away "if it wasn't important you would have told me when I asked.." She runs a hand along Shannon's abdomen "so you going to tell me or am I going to have to get it out of you in other ways." before Shannon can answer the door to the room is kicked in and standing in the door well is no other then Shane McMahon, his face drops as he see's Steph and Shannon in bed together, he glares at Steph "didn't take you long to replace me did it you dirty slut" Steph looks at Shane "At least I waited till we broke up Shane. not till the day you proposed.." Shane looks to Shannon "your dead little boy. you work for me remember." As Shannon gets to his feet, Aaron walks into the room and grabs Shane from behind "I knew I could smell shit. LENA I WAS RIGHT YOU DID MISS SOME GARBAGE"

Shannon and Aaron sat together at the kitchen table talking quietly in hurried voices, leaning close to each other. Aaron holds a serious look on his face, while Shannon looks as though he carries the weight of the worlds on his shoulders he sighs slightly as he shuffles through the signed contract sitting in front of him "I just don't know if I could handle watching her in a match." He looks up at Aaron "and you know Shane wants revenge no matter the cost."

Aaron sighs slightly and stands up "I know what you mean Shannon. and you're going to hate me for saying this. but I love her just a much as you do. if not more.." he shakes his head slightly "but she wants to be with you not me.. And that's her choice" he picks up the contract "and so is this. and she's made her choice." Shannon having calmed down as Aaron continued talking nodded slightly "your right. and don't worry bro. if you can handle keeping your hands off. I can handle you being hot for my girl"

Steph walks into the room, a worried expression on her face "have you guys seen my contract. Linda's coming to pick it up and I can't find.." She noticed the contract on the table, and her face goes from worried to on the edge of anger "What are you doing with that?" she picks up the contact and begins to flick through it "if either of you have done anything to this I'm getting Chris to help me kick your asses no questions asked" Shannon gets to his feet an innocent look on his face "we didn't do anything to it.." he steps towards her "we were just worried and had to check that there wasn't anything in there you couldn't get out of" Steph tilts her head slightly not looking impressed "Shannon, Aaron, how stupid do you think I am? . I can read. I can understand big long words as you'd call them, and I do have enough brains to work out what's safe to sign and what's not.." she smirks slightly knowing that she's about to piss Aaron and Shannon off to no end "and that's why I signed for a cage match against Stacy with Shane in her corner my first night on the show"

Aaron and Shannon stare at Steph wide open mouths, then as if in sync with each other they both stand and begin to speak "What the hell" "what the hell are you talking about." "You can't be serious." "You can't do that Shane won't hesitate to get involved and you know it." "He's pissed off." "And I know Shane he'll hit a chick" "yeah Aaron's right he will." "Yeah I'm right he will he's done it before" "please baby don't do it." Steph puts up a hand to silence them "What's done is done, what's signed is signed. and the both of you can kiss my ass if you don't think I can handle Shane and Stacy"

Lena walks into the room; taking in the situation slowly. goes towards Steph and takes the contract out of her hands. She looks down at it and a slow grin crosses her face "this isn't what I think it is, is it?" She looks up at Steph who grins back at her "that depends. do you think it's a contract for the WWE for one Stephanie Madison Benoit?" Lena lets out a small scream of delight as she hugs Steph "finally!" the door bell rings and Steph starts slightly "That'll be Linda" Lena grins again "Linda McMahon?? I haven't seen her in so long." she runs to the door, answering it before Steph can get there.

Like a Knife through the Heart As Steph gets to the door, Lena is welcoming Linda warmly. when Linda looks up and see's Steph her grin grows larger even then it was. "Steph." Linda shakes her head slightly as though she doesn't believe that she really sees her. She extends her arms and pulls Steph into a tight hug "how I'm missed you my daughter" Steph smiled slightly as Linda called her what she called her when Steph was with Shane. forcing back painful memories she smiles more prominently "and I've missed you my mother.." she increases the pressure of the hug slightly before pulling away. "Do you want a coffee or anything while you're here?" Steph lead Linda into the dinning room, where she greeted Aaron "no I can't sorry Steph. I have to make this a quick visit." she looks to Aaron "speaking of which. last time I was here. Did I leave my umbrella behind?" A grin spread over Aaron's face as he nodded and laughed lightly "yeah... yeah you did. I'll go get it"

As Steph, Lena and Linda sat together in the dining room talking, with Linda looking through the contract to make sure it was signed in all the right places, Aaron headed towards his room where he had Linda's umbrella stored. He slowed and stopped outside Steph's room that Shannon had been sharing lately, he keeps silent so he can hear what's being said. "Don't worry Shane... I know what I'm doing. That's right man she'll be yours again before you know it. Heads up for next week though. Yeah she's got you and Stacy in a steel cage match. don't worry dude I'll talk her into it. yeah under the ring. real steel not that fake shit. yeah man. Oh yeah dude. you were so right. tapping that DAMN. Shit I gotta go I think I hear someone coming" Aaron jumped away from the door well and called back to the girls "that's right it's in my room.." he went straight into his room and got the umbrella down. trying not to let his anger show.

When Aaron entered the Dining room again, Shannon was sitting with his arm around Steph's waist, he looked towards Aaron and sneered so lightly it was barely visible. "Hey bro. where ya been?" Shannon sat grinning at Aaron, Aaron looked darkly back at Shannon, unable to help himself "I was being a gentleman - something you'll never know about - and retrieving a lady's lost property.." he turned to Linda and offered her the black umbrella he held in his hand.

Steph saw Linda out before closing the door softly. almost intimidating it was so soft. she stalked into the dining room and stared daggers at Aaron "Outside. Now" she managed to say through clenched teeth. As she followed Aaron outside she didn't bother to be gentle with the door, she slammed it shut after her and stood glaring at him "WHAT IN THE BLUE FUCK WAS THAT??? WHAT THE HELL CRAWLED UP YOUR ASS AND CAUSED YOU TO SPEAK TO MY BOYFRIEND LIKE THAT?????" Obviously she was beyond pissed off, Aaron managed to calm her enough to speak "look I'm sorry Steph. but I just heard him on the phone. on the phone to Shane" Steph shook her head "unbelievable... un- fucking-believable" she mock laughs slightly still shaking her head "you know. Shannon told me what you said. and you said you could handle it. so handle it" she turns and begins to walk away but Aaron calls after her "Steph. I promise I'm telling the truth. I super swear pinkie promise" Steph turned on him again "don't try and use the past to your advantage. if you can't accept that I know what your doing. then you can go get fucked." she stalks away, calling after her as an afterthought "I'm moving in with Shannon till we go on the road. don't bother contacting me"

Aaron walked back into the house, hearing the front door slam shut after Shannon and Steph he looks to Lena "What you're not going to leave me too?" Lena looks at him shocked "I wasn't planning on it. but if your gonna start taking your shit out on me. I might just have to tell Orlando not to bother coming here. and go find me a hotel" Aaron sighs slightly and sits across from Lena "...sorry Princess. I just. I know that he's gonna hurt her" Lena got up and hugged Aaron tightly "You need to explain to me Aaron. this morning you and Shannon were getting on like a house on fire.and now." she looks up at Aaron "now you've risked one of your best friends. to tell him that he's an ass-clown basically" she obviously doesn't mean to hurt him, it just sounds slightly mean to him, but he shrugs it off.

Before Aaron can start telling his story, there's a knock at the door and Lena grins "hold that thought. I'll be right back" The sound of the door opening is followed by a loud scream from Lena, Aaron gets to his feet and runs to the hallway, laughing slightly in his relief as he saw Lena immersed in a hug from Orlando.

Orlando looks up at Aaron and grins "hey man, I'm Orlando... you must be Aaron, Lena-bear said that it was sweet with you for me to crash?" He said it as more of a question then a statement, and Aaron smiled, knowing that Lena at least had someone decent. Lena looks back and Aaron and smiles a sympathetic smile "I forget myself. Orlando, Aaron was just in the middle of telling me something." she smiles and kisses Orlando "I'll let you listen if you keep it to yourself" Orlando grins and kisses her back "with you in the room, I don't think I'll hear a word"

The three sit together in the lounge, Lena sitting on Orlando's knee, across from Aaron, who sits in his leather la-Z-boy chair, he sighs slightly as he begins "Well I've had a feeling about Shannon, since they got together. nothing big, just a little niggling worry. I found out why today..." he sighs again "When I went to get Linda's umbrella. I heard Shannon on the phone" he looks down slightly, while Lena looks confused and Orlando looks dreamily at Lena ". To Shane" Lena looks Shocked, and lets out a small gasp "he WHAT" Aaron nods slightly "I know. I didn't understand at first either." he lets out a small half laugh at himself, shaking his head lightly "it seems that Shannon and Shane have a plot together. Shane wants Steph back. and Shannon's gonna do everything in his power to give her to him." Lena shakes her head in slight disbelief, before nodding slightly, showing Aaron she does believe him, she gets up and hugs him again before starting out of the room "where you going?" Aaron asked her "to ring Chris." Lena replied simply.

Lena picked up the phone and dialed Chris's number "Hello Chris Benoit speaking" Lena smiled as she heard his voice "Hey Chris its Lena. I'm ringing about Steph" she heard Chris grunt understandingly "you already heard?" she asked slightly taken-aback "what about Aaron calling my sister a dirty slut that anyone can get? Yeah I heard." Lena was confused "what?? Aaron did no such thing. he wouldn't and you know it" she can almost feel the hatred Chris now holds for Aaron as he continues "don't be pulled in by the two faced pathetic little boy. I thought I knew him too." he practically spits the words out. hating to think of Aaron, wanting to do nothing more then kill him "No-one speaks of my sister like that NO-ONE. you tell Aaron from me. that his time will come" Lena is at a loss for words.. Wanting to defend Aaron, but not wanting to lose either Steph or Chris. "Are you angry with me too?" Lena asked, half not wanting to hear the answer "you? No of course not. I am worried about you. being in that house. with that psychotic son of a bitch. but I love you sis. remember that" Lena half smiled "I love you too big brother" she hangs up and enters the lounge again, trying not to make eye contact with Aaron "Shannon's already talked to him.." she looks up "and got him pissed off with you.

Aaron jumps to his feet "What?? What did he say?" Aaron had always held Chris above other guys; he was like an older brother not only to Lena, but to Aaron too. Lena looked on the verge of tears. she knew this would be like losing his family to Aaron "Shannon told him. told him you said Steph is. is a dirty little slut that anyone can get." she sighed and looked down, not wanting to see the crushed look on Aaron's face. not wanting to see his heart breaking as he realized he'd lost two of the most important people in his life "but. I wouldn't. I didn't. I never." Aaron shakes his head, at a loss for words "I'm going to bed..." Aaron got up and headed to his room; he climbs into his bed and covers his head with the duvet, where he stayed for the next three days.

You are my everything

Steph awoke to see the sun shining on to Shannon's sleeping face; she smiled as she looked at him, thinking how angelic he looked. She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake him and heads down the hall towards the lounge. She picks up her mink blanket and turns on the T.V before sitting on the couch wrapped in the blue and black cover. She jumps slightly as the phone rings; picking it up as she looks at the caller I.D she smiles slightly before answering "what do you want?" she giggles slightly as a shocked Adam Copeland mumbles something incomprehensible "any one would think you were scared of me Copeland" she giggles again, unable to help herself as Adam goes on the defensive "No.. No I'm not. I just. I just thought that you were your brother that's all" Steph stops giggling and is silent for a moment "You think I sound like Chris?" Adam starts to reply before stopping "umm. no." "Then why would you say that?" Steph smiles to herself; she was after all only fucking with him "don't twist my words like that. You're such a typical ska. I. ah mean chick. you know what your problem is?? You only hear what you want to. you're just like Stacy" Steph gasps slightly at this before hanging up the phone. He would learn not to go that far. He would.

When the phone rung again Steph picked it up "Apologize now or I'm not going to talk to you" The voice that replied wasn't Adam. and was extremely confused "Huh?" It was Lena "what the hell are you talking about Bitch. I ain't apologizing for shit I ain't done nothing wrong!" She laughed before explaining herself "Adam just rung. and he compared me to the Kiebler Slut. and said I sound like Chris. and very nearly called me a skank! So. I hung up on him" It was Lena's turn to laugh "good call. good call" She paused slightly, before deciding to get to the point "hey I was wondering what you were up to today. me and Aaron are taking the girls out to lunch, and we'd all love it if you came" Steph sighed slightly "Lena. I just. I don't want to face Aaron. there's so much I want to say to him. but I just can't face him yet. I loved him. I loved him with all my heart. just like I love Chris. he was my brother. and all he thinks of me. is that I'm a dirty slut that anyone can get" she sighs again, more prominently this time. "I don't know what I would have done without Shannon ya know. He's the greatest. he's like my pillar of strength" Lena sighs barely audibly. "O.K Steph, I'm going to let you go. I have to get ready to face the world and pick these girls up from their Moms" Steph shuddered slightly "good luck. tell the girls I say Hi. and the big bad bitch of the west. I guess" Lena laughed slightly "will do."

When Shannon entered the lounge, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes, there was a plate of pancakes waiting for him, he grinned as he saw it "thanks baby" he kisses Steph lightly on the forehead "are you gonna have some?" Steph shook her head "nah. I already had mine. you sleep like a corpse you know that?" Shannon laughs slightly "You're oh so morbid aren't you?" Steph smirked slightly "not morbid. just slightly enticed by death?" Shannon grinned and pulled Steph down to him, pulling her body onto his, and kissing her hard on the mouth "Babe. you could be the goddess of Death herself and I'd still worship you" Steph grinned and kissed him back, with long lingering kisses.

When there is a knock at the door, both Steph and Shannon look to each other "ignore it?" Shannon asks hopefully, but Steph shakes her head "it might be important. besides we have all the time in the world to do that" Shannon sighs slightly, not to him they didn't, he couldn't double cross Shane and he knew it "I know that baby. you think I'm ever going to lose you" he forces a fake laugh as she heads to the door "no way."

Shannon hides a groan as he hears the voice of Chris Benoit at the door, and Steph inviting him in "hey man" Shannon grins to Chris as soon as he enters the room "long time to see." Chris simply growls towards him "sit down and shut up till I tell you to talk" Steph looked sternly at Chris, but didn't say anything "Lena rung me last night. said she doesn't believe what you told me Aaron said. said Aaron knows nothing about it. I'm going to go round there and find out what's what next week" he looks hard at Shannon "and you boy. if I find out that your lying to me. you'll wish your momma never squeezed you out of her fat ass. So you got anything to tell me boy?" Shannon shook his head nervously "no. No sir. I do not" Chris nodded and stood up "you better hope that's the truth Boy" Chris looks to Steph and smiles, all the anger leaving his face "take care of yourself Steph. I'll find out what's going on" he hugs her before walking out the door, pulling it shut and locked after him.

Shannon turns to glare at Steph "Bitch. dirty fucking bitch. after all I do for you. you can't even stand up to your brother for me" Steph looked slightly shocked, but for some reason stayed rooted to the stop as Shannon took two steps towards her and smashed her onto the ground, hitting her across the ribs, he proceeds to kick her a few times in the stomach while she's down before picking up his plate of pancakes and throwing them over her, before picking up the maple syrup and drenching her in that "go clean yourself and this fucking great mess up bitch. then get your ass out here and make me some fucking pancakes." he glares down at her and as she doesn't move he kicks her again "get going bitch. NOW"

After that first time, the beating became a regular thing, with threats of worse and more if she ever tried to leave. he was adamant that he'd hunt her down, and teach her what real love is. Obedience and he'd kill who-ever she ran to. Slowly she lost contact with Adam, and other friends. even Lena and Chris her closest family. She now lived in fear. in fear of what she thought she knew.

Union Revolt

Lena looked longingly at the photo of her, Aaron and Steph, the first day of summer senior year. she smiled as she remembered that day. being covered in ice-cream by Chris Benoit and Chris Irvine (Jericho), Having her all time worst enemy from school David Comoro offer to lick it off for her. watching Aaron beat the shit out of David for even looking at her, watching as Aaron and Chris threw Steph into the water. before realizing she was next. She looked up at Orlando entered the room "hey Princess. what's the trouble?" Lena shook her head slightly "I just miss her ya know. I wonder if she ever thinks of me." Orlando looked sympathetic "I know she does, she probably missed you as much as you miss her. and she can't wait to start in the WWE so she can catch up with you" Lena smiled "I'd forgotten that." she looks thoughtful "my .injury. Should be .healed. In two weeks. then I can get down to business." Orlando grinned and lay down next to her "you can do that now too if you want"

Chris knocked on the door to Lena's room at Aarons, after a few dozen loud knocks he heard Lena's bleary first thing in the morning voice from within and opened the door. He grimaced slightly when he noticed Orlando sprawled gracefully next to Lena on the bed, in a deep slumber. He turned his attention back to Lena and nodded slightly "You wanted me to listen to what you had to say..." Lena grinned despite being on the verge of getting up and kicking Chris's ass for disturbing her at this hour of the afternoon "yeah I did." she crawls up the bed slightly, pulling her duvet up with her, she motions for Chris to sit down at the end of the bed, he does so and looks at her seriously. "Well. are you gonna get talking or what?" Lena smirked slightly "your such a tender and long-suffering guy aren't you Chris" Chris looks at her sarcastically "laugh it up Blondie. I got stories that could make your life HELL if I told them" he smirks as Lena looks shocked, knowing full well that he did.

Lena gets into her story, explaining to Chris the true facts as she understood them, from what she'd heard from Aaron, and what she'd read in a letter Shane had sent to Shannon before he knew they moved out. Chris sat, marinating in his own rage he looked to Lena "Where's Aaron?" Lena sighed slightly "he's been in bed for THREE days. and I can't get him to get up" Chris shakes his head slightly "damn punk kid" Lena smiled lightly; this was after all Chris's nickname for Aaron. Chris got up and went into Aaron's room; he grabbed the covers and smirks down on Aaron, who hides his head under his pillow. Chris saunters into the en-suit bathroom and fills- up a bucket with cold water. He returns to Aaron's room, giving Aaron fair warning before throwing the water over him and shocking him awake. "Get up kid we need to talk" Aaron stared at Chris. in too much shock to move "Kid. you gonna get up or do I need to get you up?" Aaron forced himself to his feet and followed Chris down the hall to Lena's room, where Aaron confirmed all that Lena had said.

Chris finally nodded his belief to Lena and Aaron; he looked to Aaron and smiled slightly "I'm truly sorry I didn't believe you Aaron. I truly honestly am" Aaron smiled and hugged Chris "It's all forgiven Old Man." Aaron smirked slightly, and dodged away from Chris "You're about due for grandkids aren't you." he smirks and looks to Lena and Orlando who were snickering slightly "Hey I bet Allie would go for a convict for her birthday." he grins until he's hit with a flying bottle courtesy of Chris Benoit "you know not to talk about my babies like that they don't like boys and they never will"

All three, Lena, Aaron and Orlando try to stifle their laughter to no avail "sorry Chris. we really don't mean to offend you. or laugh at you" Lena bites her bottom lip slightly "it's just. well umm. your girls are going to be 18 in a week or so. they like boys Chris. they have for a while" Chris looks absolutely shattered "So now your telling me. that not only have I nearly lost my sister to a loser. I might now loose my little girls to dumb- assed little ass-clown losers?" Lena nodded slowly "exactly that Chris. exactly that"

As Chris sat brooding on the fact that his daughters did in-fact like the male sex, Aaron looked towards Lena, an utterly depressed look on his face again "what are we going to do Lena?" Lena shook her head slightly "I don't know Aaron, I haven't heard from her in days which is so no like her" Aaron nodded slightly "you're right..." He looks up as though hit by a thought "Allie and Rissa. she'd come see you and them. and you know it." Lena looked slightly thoughtful for a minute before grinning "Ya know what Aaron. you might have a point there. me and the girls will talk her round" she throws her Stereo remote at Chris to get his attention, and explains her plan to him, which causes him to grin "I knew I could count on you Lena."

It's the only thing that's true to me

Lena rings Steph, deliberately putting a smile into her voice as Steph answers the phone "Steph, I've got three bottles of tequila, two newly 18 year olds, a private show from Good Charlotte and the place to ourselves. you in?" Steph grins "That's a trick question right? How could I turn THAT down?" Lena's attention is called away from the phone momentarily, and someone in the background begins talking to her, Lena agree's before turning her attention back to Steph "Allie and Rissa are going to come pick you up. and Steph whatever you do. don't make a big deal over the speeding. it's just not worth it" Steph grimaces slightly at the thought, but forces a smile "thanks for the warning Hun, now while I wait for the inevitable, I need to go find some alcohol to steady my nerves before these girls arrive" Lena laughs lightly "alright Hun, I'll see you in a few"

Steph walks into Aaron's house, her breath catching slightly as she sees a photo of her and Aaron sitting on the counter, she smiles slightly as she picks up the familiar still of happiness, her eyes though showed nothing but hurt "you know... I miss him so much, but the sight of him. just hurts so bad" Lena forced a smile as she hugged Steph "I know Hun, but come on. no silly boys tonight. we're celebrating for the girls" Steph nods and smiles as she downs a tequila shot "too right"

Steph woke in the morning, with a pounding headache, she groaned slightly as she sat up on the couch she had crashed out on the night before, she looks around the room before getting to her feet, she looks down as she sees her baby-tee and her jeans sitting on the floor next to the couch, she smirks slightly as she sees that she's wearing Orlando's black "I heart NZ" T-Shirt, and her playboy bunny boxers, she heads to the counter, looking through Aaron's medical supply drawer till she found some iboprophen, the best thing for a killer hangover.. Painkillers!

As her headache begins to subside, Steph pulls her jeans on and heads down the hall to try find some life in this place, she opened the door to Rissa's room quietly, and drew in a short shocked breath as she saw not only Rissa in her bed, but Benji too, she shakes her head slightly and pulls the door shut without a sound, before doing the same at Allie's room, the same shocked look on her face as she saw that Allie lay with one arm over Joel's naked chest and he lying awake, with one arm holding her hand and using the other to gently stroke her hair. As Steph pulls the door shut she hears a noise from Joel inside, and starts quickly down the hall to Lena's room. She knocks on the door and hears Orlando's voice from inside "come in"

Steph walks into the room, to see Lena half asleep half awake, protesting at Orlando getting out of bed, he looks up at Steph and grins "I'm still REALLY sorry about spilling my beer on your top aye..." Steph smirked slightly "I was wondering why I was wearing your clothes." She glances at Lena "I wasn't sure if I'd done something I regretted or not" Orlando laughed slightly and puts his arms out "like you regret doing me" he grins as he looks from Steph to Lena who were both in fits of laughter "of course not Orli. I'd do you any day of the week?" Steph shudders slightly as she finishes the sentence before looking to Lena "did you know about Benji and Joel?" Lena looks slightly confused "What about them?" Steph gets a smart look on her face as she grins "go see for yourself, Allie and Rissa's rooms.

Lena reluctantly gets out of bed and heads down the hall; she lets out a piercing scream as she opens the door to Allie's room, and shuts it almost instantly behind her.

As Olrando handed Steph and Lena a cup of coffee each, Allie walked out of her room, her face beetroot red, and Joel following reluctantly behind her. "Um. Aunty Lena..." Allie looks to Lena with a pleading look on her face "please don't tell dad." Lena looked at Allie with a blank look on her face "tell your dad what?" Allie's face flushes red again "about... about what you saw, when you came in" Lena now looks tormented "QUIET. never EVER speak of that again." she regains herself slightly "I mean. if you never mention it again, I won't. if you do. I'm going straight to Chris" she nods decisively.

Rissa walks out of her room, around 5 minutes after Benji did, she yawns and stretches her arms above her head as she stumbles into the kitchen and looks to Lena "Thanks for the wake up call" Lena smirks slightly "That's fine Rissa. it was getting late. and I didn't know you'd had such a hard night" Rissa looks from Lena to Steph to Allie then back to Lena "What do you mean by that??" "Now Rissa, if you can't work that out, how in the hell did you pass your finals?"

Steph and Orlando pulled up outside Steph and Shannon's place, Steph smiles to Orlando, before looking towards the house and seeing the determinedly evil figure of Shannon standing in an upstairs room, looking down at them in the car, she sighs slightly "Tell Lena I'll see her on Monday night" Orlando looks slightly worried "hey what's wrong?" He looks at the house, not seeing Shannon's figure he looks back to Steph "you look like you've seen a monster or something" Steph shakes her head slightly and forces a smile "nah. I'm just being stupid." she climbs out of the car and looks back at Orlando "remember to tell Lena, I don't want her getting shitty with me for not ringing before then" She heads into the house as Orlando pulls away.

Beat Me Break Me Remake Me

Steph walked into the Arena in Anaheim and smiles slightly as she looks around, finally feeling at home with Shannon by her side, he wraps an arm around her waist and kisses her cheek softly "so you got your wish. you and Shane and Stacy tonight" Steph grins "yeah I did." she looks at Shannon and a questioning look comes over her face "What have you done?" Shannon smirks slightly "I'm in the match." Steph looks heartbroken "I couldn't let you do that Steph. you would have got the beating of your life" Steph looks at Shannon pissed off "after everything you've given me. I could handle Shane and the kiebler slut" Shannon glares at her, and grabs her arm pulling her into their locker room, where he proceeds to punch her in the stomach and ribs, and as she refuses to scream out for him to stop, he continues till she is on the floor, holding herself as her only defense left, he kicks her as he walks away, and pulling a white mini skirt and a white bikini from her bag he throws them at her "get up and put them on NOW. and don't you EVER speak to me like that." Steph glares up at him "You want me to look like your dirty skank tonight? Get fu(ked I'm not wearing that." she gets to her feet and pulls off her black t-shirt revealing huge dark bruises over her ribs and navel she shakes her head slightly "I couldn't wear that if I wanted to" she glares at him again "Thanks to you"

"And coming to the ring at a combined weight of 303 lbs, Firstly from Cameron North Carolina, Shannon Moore..." The crowd erupts in cheers as Shannon steps onto the ramp and stops and looks back as if waiting for someone "and his partner, hailing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada, making her debut on Monday night Raw MADDY BENOIT" The crowd gets to their feet as they hear her last name, and Maddy steps onto the ramp, in a pair of blue shimmer pants, with a blue halter neck and a huge smile on her face, she looks to Shannon, then the crowd before looking to the steel cage in the ring, with Shane and Stacy standing inside and she runs down the ramp, sliding through the door of the cage she stands, looking Shane straight in the eye as she waited for Shannon to come to the ring.

As Shannon steps into the cage the door it padlocked shut and as Maddy's glare is still locked on Shane, and he seems to be apologizing frantically to her Stacy takes the opportunity to cheap shot Maddy from behind, Maddy turns to face Stacy, nothing but hatred on her face as Shane and Shannon lock up beside them. Maddy whips Stacy into the ropes before getting the perfect clothesline, she then grabs Stacy and hits her with three Aztec suplex's in a row, Stacy lays reeling on the mat as Shane manages to throw Shannon into the steel cage, before hitting him with a neckbreaker powerbomb and turning to face Maddy who again glares at him, before he can react she hits him with a drop kick, sending him into the cage, she grabs his arm trying to whip him into the cage again but his strength prevails and he stops it, pulling her towards him, just as Shannon swings wildly with a steel chair, and as Shane tries to hold her, to simply stop her from fighting him, she's hit square in the head from Shannon's fierce swing.

Shane glares angrily at Shannon, grabbing him by the shoulder he forces him back against the cage, as he winds back to hit him, Shannon squirms away slightly so Shane hits nothing but the steel of the cage, Shannon stands on the rope before sending himself flying into Shane, hitting him with a missile drop kick, and forcing him hard down onto the unconscious Maddy. The crowd erupts into cheers as Shannon waves his arms in the air, signaling his greatness, but he is cut short as from the top of the cage flies the queen of extreme Lena D. hitting Shannon with the Last Offence, and after her comes Aaron Benson, getting a perfect diving moonsault on Shane, the ref sounds for the bell as Lena and Aaron awaken Maddy and help her to climb the steel cage.

Maddy feels the cool soothing sensation of ice on the throbbing lump on the back of her head; she opens her eyes to see the worried face of Aaron, his hair framing his face giving him the look of an angel. "What the hell was that?" Steph turns her head to see Lena standing in front of Shannon, extremely pissed off, poking him in the chest with her finger "get out of here Shannon, she doesn't want to see you. and if she does she needs a good wake up call." Lena begins shaking her head and pushing Shannon out of the medics room "you're a pathetic piece of shit Shannon. you know that right??" As she slams the door shut after him, Aaron coughs slightly to get her attention "Lena. she's awake" Lena looks at Steph, all anger draining from her face to be replaced with relief "dude. you know how worried you had me?" Steph sat up, leaning against Aaron as he sat on the bed next to her, and smirked slightly shrugging painfully "why. I could have handled it." Aaron looks slightly shocked "yeah you could have handled it, just like you could handle Chris and Lena having kids" Both Steph and Lena looked disgusted, Lena reaching out and slapping Aaron upside the head "don't push it pretty boy" Aaron lets out a melodious laugh and grins "but Lena, you know it's what you've always wanted" Lena's onslaught of rage was cut short by a knock at the door, she turns and glares at the door "Who the hell is it?" instead of a reply, the person begins to kick at the door, finally succeeding in breaking the lock and booting the door open.

Chris Benoit stands in the frame of the door, a toothless grin on his face as he looks at Lena "don't you take that tone with me Miss D. you know where it will get ya" Lena looks slightly shocked before a small smile takes over her face "you know what Chris. Aaron was just making some snide remarks about you." Chris looks at Aaron and shrugs slightly "So what. Aaron's a top guy all round. and he's shouting me a few dozen tonight anyways" Aaron looks slightly confused "I am?" he looks to Chris and begins to nod "I . I mean yeah I am"

Chris turns his attention to Steph, a slight frown on his face "you all right?" Steph nods "fine. but I wish Shannon would come." Lena gets a slightly ashamed look on her face as she glances to Aaron whose face is set, his jaw almost locked as he tries to hide the anger "why would you want him? Don't you know what he did to you?" Steph looks to Aaron, an expression of anger mixed with pain and confusion, she shakes her head slightly "anything to make him look bad right Aaron? Accidents happen. that was an accident" Aaron takes hold of her shoulders, forcing her to look to him "Mads listen to me. he doesn't love you. that's not love. and that sure as hell wasn't an accident" Steph glares at Aaron, brushing his hands off her shoulders and stepping back from him slightly "What would you know about love Aaron? The last time you loved someone was in senior year. and you couldn't even tell her, not that she didn't know anyways." she shakes her head again "your pathetic. just because you can't love, doesn't mean I can't. and doesn't mean Shannon can't." As she walks through the door Aaron calls after her "But Maddy. I love you" She spins and looks at him, her face completely unfeeling "don't pull that shit. I don't love you. you don't love me. and any friendship we ever had. is long gone" with this she turns, and not looking back walks out of the camera's view.

Illusive Deception

Steph walked into her and Shannon's locker room without looking up, her mind concentrating entirely on the thoughts running through her head, tears formed in her eye's as she thought of Aaron, tears of anger she murmurs slightly to herself "don't know what he's talking about. doesn't know love." she looks up with a start as though she had felt Shane's presence in the room, she steps back, shaking her head slightly "Wha. What are you doing here?" she stammers as she speaks, unable to get her head together, when she fell into a fathomless rage as she glimpsed Shannon lying on the floor, blood running freely from a would on his head, and a metal pipe lying on the floor a few feet away from Shannon.

Steph runs to Shannon's side, and glares at Shane "get out. get the fuck out you sick son of a bitch" Shane shakes his head, his hands up defensively in front of him, his expression the perfect picture of misery "please Steph listen. Shannon." "NO SHANE I don't WANT to listen. I'm SICK of listening. now get the fuck out of my locker room before I MAKE you get the fuck out" Shane shakes his head softly, tears forming in his eye's which show nothing but heartache "I'm sorry" he whispers before turning and leaving the room. Shaking her head again Steph turns back to Shannon "Wake up. for the love of god Shannon wake up." She runs a hand softly along his cheek "Shannon please." "Have I ever told you your hands feel like silk?" Shannon opened his eyes and smiled slightly as he looked up at her "he didn't kill me right. your still my mortal angel aren't you?" Steph smiles slightly, and hugs him tightly "your not dead. but you are hurt"

As Shannon leaves the medics office he walks past Aaron, he smirks slightly having been told the whole story by Steph "hey Aaron, I guess the better man won aye" Aaron glares at Shannon "You know Shannon, it would bring me undeniable pleasure to beat you within a point of your life right now. but I'm the better man so I won't." he walks down the hall a bit before turning "and she's not some kind of trophy. she won't be you know that right?" Shannon grins at Aaron "oh but she is. I mind fucked Shane. and I'll mind fuck you as well. if that's what it takes" he looks thought full for a minute "but you do a great job of getting yourself out of the picture without my help" with this he laughs and walks away, leaving Aaron seething as he heads towards his locker room.

Lena looked up as she heard the door open, and instantly got to her feet as she saw the look of utter pain on Aaron's face, she pulled him into an embrace, and as she gently rubs his back, Tears begin to flow even though Aaron is trying to stop it with all of his strength "he's right. he's so right. I did it to myself. but she doesn't know she doesn't get it." he pulls away, forcing Lena to look him in the eyes "Lena I promise you. everything I've said is true. I don't just hate him because she's with him. I hate him because he doesn't love her." Lena tilts her head understandingly "Aaron you don't need to convince me. I know it's the truth because you said it. and because you love her." Aaron smiles slightly and hugs her again "I don't know what I'd do without you Lena." he smirks slightly "don't tell Orlando I said that though. he might beat me up" Lena laughs "yeah defiantly. he'll kick your ass into next year"

Lena knocked lightly on the door to Steph and Shannon's hotel room, she'd watched as Steph left the building, having had Allison ring her with a 'total emergency' Shannon opens the door, shirtless, and in a pair of grey sweat pants, looking ready to go train at the gym "Hey Lena. what brings you here?" Shannon moves aside to let Lena come into the room, Lena sits down, and smiles to Shannon "I just wanted to know how everything's been going" "Everything's been going great. Steph loves it here. she's having a great time" Lena nods slowly "so nothings happened to upset her?" Shannon shakes his head "nope. nothing at all. not that I know of anyway" He grins again, trying to hide everything he knows behind his dazzling smile, he sits next to Lena, brushing her leg softly as he offers her a drink, Lena looks at him, unsure if he meant to touch her or not, but nodding for the drink, Shannon gets up and pulls out a bottle of champagne from the fridge, pouring two glasses he sits next to Lena on the couch again "it's great to see you Lena, we haven't hung out in a long time" as Lena takes the cup, Shannon runs his hand along the length of her hand, before letting it come to rest on her upper thigh, he begins to gently rub her leg as he leans close to her "so tell me, why are you really here" he doesn't give her a chance to answer, instead he kisses her hard and passionately, letting his hands travel under her top, and fumble to un-clasp her bra "do you want me as much as I want you." he forces her down onto the couch, and begins kissing her neck, as Lena struggles to get free. He holds her arms with one arm, as with the other he unbuttons her pants, and tries to pull them off as Lena continues to battle against him; after finally managing to force Shannon of to the side slightly, Lena manages to roll out from under him, and getting to her feet quickly she looks down on him, backing towards the door as she buttons her pants "What the hell was that??" She stands in the open doorway an appalled look on her face. Shannon gets to his feet, looking defensive "Whoa whoa whoa whoa. you gotta be kidding me. You look like I tried to rape you or something. You wanted that. you wanted it and you know it. I won't tell Steph. I promise. and she'll be gone for ages. Allie rang her" Lena cuts him off "I know Allie rung. I told her to; I wanted to let you know. I know what's going on. I know what you're doing with Shane. with Steph. and you won't get away with it" She shakes her head "I'll make her see the truth. you sick son of a bitch" with this Lena slams the door and as she heads down the hall, she feels nothing but utterly revolted and disgusted with what had just happened, and as she makes her way to her room she begins to forces herself to not cry, keeping her head down she makes it to her room un-noticed.

As the door shuts behind her, Lena locks the door before heading into the bathroom and turning on the shower what have I done... mon dieu, ma mère immortelle, m'épargner, me prendre, me guérir blaming herself, and unable to think straight she climbs into the shower fully dressed, stripping off her clothes only when she feels the renewing and soothing feel of the water on her skin, she lets herself sink to the floor of the shower, and finally allows herself to cry, the shower hitting her and in part washing away her pain. le maudire, l'hanter, le tuer

Orlando unlocks the door to his and Lena's room, thinking it unusual that she's not there, but shrugging it off, he pulls off his black tank top as he enters the room, and stretches slightly, yawning as he stands before Lena in nothing but his boxers and a pair of faded blue jeans, he opens his eyes and his face falls, instinctively he knows there's something wrong, he drops to the floor to sit next to Lena, a worried expression on his face "Lena what's wrong" he wraps an arm around her "come on Le. tell me what's wrong. what's happened" Lena looks up at him, knowing he doesn't understand her French, she sighs slightly "rien n'est arrivé, je suis seulement dégoûtant et salit, seulement me partir seul" Orlando shakes his head "come on Lena, you know I don't speak French" Lena turns away from him, and he reaches out putting a hand on her shoulder "Lena you can trust me. I love you." Lena turns to look at him, her face showing no comprehension of what he just said, he leans in and kisses her softly, but Lena gets to her feet and runs into the bathroom "Just leave me alone Orlando. just go." Orlando shakes his head, and tries to get her to talk to him, finally deciding it won't work he picks up her phone and goes through the numbers till he finds Chris Benoit, he scribbles the number on his hand and leaves the room, heading to reception to use their phone so Lena doesn't hear the conversation.

"Hey Chris it's Orlando... when you get this message you need to go see Lena... she needs you... and she won't speak to me she keeps going to French and I don't speak it... she keeps saying mon dieu what the hell is mon dieu?? she cried when I kissed her... Chris there's something seriously wrong here... and I can't work it out she needs you... like she never has before hurry please...

When Chris arrives at the hotel he finds Orlando going out of his mind with worry, unable to understand anything Lena was saying as she'd resorted to speaking only in French. Chris knocks on the door of the bathroom where Lena has locked herself "Lena mon chéri it's me Chris. come on out here and talk to me" Lena opens the door of the bathroom, her tear streaked face looks up at Chris as he pulls her out of the room and into a hug "Lena. what is it? What's wrong?" Lena shakes her head "nothing. where's Steph?" she looks up at Chris, a worried expression on her face, having just realized that she'd left Steph to go back to Shannon, with no warning what so ever. her expression turns to horror as she considers that Steph already knew. from personal experience "Chris you gotta get Steph to come down here. I won't talk to anyone till you know where Steph is.

Steph shook her head as she walked into the hotel, having styled Allie's hair, chosen a dress and shoes for her, and done her makeup, all so Allie could go to Joel's house to watch music video's, she has a small smile on her face, having given Rissa quite a shock with what she chose for Allie to wear; she walks past the gym and hears her name being called, she goes in and rolls her eyes slightly as she sees Aaron sitting on a weight bench looking at her. "Steph I know you're mad. all I need is ten minutes of your time, ten minutes and I'll expose the little sleaze ball as what he is, and hopefully have regained my best friend. What will it take for me to get ten minutes?" Steph shows no emotion as Aaron makes his heartfelt speech, she taps her foot impatiently as she waits for him to finish "ten minutes. to get ten minutes you'd have to do nothing short of a three on one handicap match, you against Randy Orton, Batista and HHH." she looks thoughtful "but then I'd have to remove the minute of my time you've just wasted here as well" she flicks her hair back as she turns, and swift walks away. Aaron drops his head slightly nine minutes. nine minutes will do. I'll do it. he gets to his feet, looking determined as he follows Steph's lead and heads away from the gym and down the hall.

Steph unlocks her and Shannon's room and walks in, a smile crossing her face as her breath catches when she looks around the room, "oh my god Shannon." Shannon walks up to her offering her and single red rose, the drops of dew on it reflecting the light from the candles that are lit over the room, Steph looks around again taking in the rose petals enveloping everything, the candles lining the room, the sweet smell of vanilla that's overflowing from the randomly placed incense sticks, the tuxedo that Shannon wears. Tears begin to form in her eyes as she hugs him "what's this for?" Shannon kisses her softly, pulling her further into the room, helping her down onto the couch and then sits next to her "because I love you. and you deserve it" Steph smiles and kisses him first softly, but as she lays back on the couch and pulls him with her, her kiss grows firmer.

Shannon strokes Steph's face softly as Steph's phone begins to ring "leave it. please?" Steph shakes her head, laughing slightly "you know I can't. well you know I won't at least." she climbs out from under Shannon and picks up her phone, buttoning her shirt as she steps onto the balcony "You've interrupted something VERY important. this had better be good" "Steph it's Chris. get serious, there's something up with Lena. and I have a feeling Shannon's involved. get the hell away from him, and over here. we're in Lena's room Hurry the hell up" Steph stares at her phone, checking that it didn't turn off or cut out. making sure that Chris did just hang up on her. she walks into the room and stares at Shannon, a slightly quizzical look on her face "He just hung up on me" Shannon shakes his head "that's not on. what'd he say?" Steph sits down, placing her phone next to her, pulling away from Shannon as he moves close to her "What did you do to Lena?" Shannon shakes his head "not this shit again! I didn't do anything to her. she came in here hitting on me. and I turned her down." he looks at Steph, holding her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes "she said she was going to make me pay. she said I didn't know what I was doing. I told her that I love you and that she can't come between us, Steph don't let her plan work... she's just like Aaron... that's all she's trying to do, finish what Aaron started" Steph looks away, her eyes filming with tears. not knowing what to do, what Shannon was saying. is so. unlike Lena. but then Shannon wouldn't hurt Lena. and Chris would have said so if he did. Steph gets to her feet "I gotta go clear my head Shannon. I gotta work this out. I'll see you tomorrow night. I'll see everyone tomorrow night. if anyone rings for me. just tell them there was something I had to do"

Steph ran into the arena checking her watch as she gets to bumps into Shane in the hall "Steph, I need to confess something to you. and pass something on" He looks troubled, un-Shane-like troubled so Steph opens the door to her private locker room (provided on her request) and lets him in "What the hell are you talking about Shane. I know you fucked Stacy. and if you cheated on me more then that I don't want to know cause I just don't give a shit" Shane snorts slightly as he scratches his eye brow, shaking his head slightly all the while "to be honest with you. I wish it were that simple, but Stacy was a mistake and she was the only mistake" Steph rolled her eyes and opened the door "If you're here to apologize you can fuck off now as well. I don't care Shane what part of that don't you get? We are over for good. deal with it" Shane puts up a hand signaling for her to stop "shut up and listen, and shut the damn door" Steph shuts the door and opens her mouth to protest about his tone but he cuts her off "Shannon was working for me the whole time. I offered him five thousand dollars to get you to come back to me. so he tried everything and told me all about it, I'll admit he did tell me a few things I already knew" he smirks slightly "like how you do that thing with you back." Steph gets a stony glare on her face "you want to keep your face pretty. get the fuck on with the story" although she does manage to refrain from hitting him, she does pick up a bottle of moisturizer and throw it at his head "all right alright, just a little proof. just I know everything alright. everything" he nods slightly, shielding his head from any blows he might receive as he does so "but then yesterday. I got a call from Aaron. seems he worked everything out and when he found out that Shannon raped her. and that you took off. he rung me. told me that and I fired him on the spot" Steph turns pale, grasping at the table to steady herself "he what?" Shane nods and hands her a video tape "Aaron wanted me to give you this. and to show you to Lena's locker room" Steph nods "yeah. take me to Lena"

Steph knocks lightly on the door to Lena's locker room, before opening it and seeing Lena she begins to cry. She enters Lena's embrace as Lena sobs loudly "I was so worried" Steph shakes her head, and kisses Lena's cheek, hugging her tightly again "god that's silly. you're the one to worry about. hanging around dodgy guys like that" Lena laughs slightly, tears still streaming down her face "hey you know me. can't help but love the losers" Steph smiles "we've got this back to front. and it's not love just attraction" Lena shakes her head, then noticing the video she stops "have you watched that yet?" Steph shakes her head, imitating Lena slightly "no, not yet" Lena takes the tape and pushes it into the player connected to her monitor, she presses play before Steph has time to register what's happening onscreen.

The screen lights up, showing a sunny hotel room, very much like the one Steph and Shannon had shared, Aaron comes into the picture in a pair of black and white board shorts and a black Metallica tank top, he sits on a navy blue couch and looks seriously at the screen "by the time you watch this, I will be earning my ten minutes. so please don't press stop. I know you don't think I've been the greatest friend but I saw you were in trouble and I couldn't think of any other way to try and save you. instead I just fucked up everywhere along the way. Well not I've got something to say and I just hope you listen this time. I'm not going to say I told you so but I should. what that bastard you call a boyfriend did to Lena. and where were you?? Off fucking him right?" he shakes his head, not sounding harsh with the tone he used, the accusation gone. only sadness in his eyes "Orlando can't touch her because of that pencil dick ass clown, and you think you love him" he drops his head, rubbing his eyes with his palms for a minute, as though trying to stop himself from crying "you think I don't know what love is, but I do. and I love you. I always have. maybe now you'll believe me. and somehow love me back" he looks down again, at something in his hand, he holds it up, a picture of Steph "I won't give up till I've got you back" The video goes to static for a few seconds then turns black, Lena presses stop and a match appears on the screen with one man a bloody mess in the middle of the ring, but refusing to stay down or tap out.

Tryst

Aaron left Shane with the video and made his way to the ring, waiting in the wings as TNT begins to play, stepping onto the ramp as his pyro's go off and the crowd erupts into cheers at the sight of him, in a pair of black and red wrestling trunks and a pair of black wrestling boots, he forces a grin as he makes his way to the ring, ignoring the niggling deep seated fear in the back of his mind he climbs into the ring and picks up a microphone, he smiles as a random scream of "marry me Aaron" floats above the sound of the rest of the crowd, he lifts the mic again, this time turning towards the titan-tron as he does so "I have to make it clear... I'm out here tonight to earn ten minutes of the time of the girl I love... and I swear on all you guys out there... I won't quit till I know she's willing to talk" with this he throws the microphone out of the ring and placing his hands on his knees looks towards the entrance way awaiting his opponents for the night.

As Evolution makes their way to the ring, the crowd gets to their feet, pelting HHH, Batista, Ric Flair and Randy Orton with abuse, which they shrugged off without a care. Ric Flair climbs out of the ring and the bell sounds, with HHH and Aaron starting it off, HHH getting the earlier upper hand as Ric distracted the ref and Batista and Orton jump into the ring, triple teaming Aaron to get him down.

Ten minutes into the match, Maddy runs down the ramp way to the applause of the audience, a bloody, battered and barely conscious Aaron looks up at the sound of the applause, trying to make out the figure heading towards him, as the person climbs into the ring he can't help but shield himself slightly, unsure if it was friend or foe. Hearing the sound of metal connecting to bone, Aaron climbs to his knee's, clawing at the canvas to pull himself to the ropes, which he uses to pull himself to his feet, he turns, ready to defend himself with all he has left, but instead he feels smooth hands wrapping around his body, helping to hold him up. He smells the familiar scent of Vanilla Berry Body Dew and a smile comes to his face "you actually came." Maddy grins, as tears fall softly down her face "of course I did." she pulls a cloth from her pocket, and tenderly wipes his face, allowing him to open his eyes and look around, he grins as he sees all of Evolution lying out cold, only he and Maddy still standing in the ring. Maddy takes his head in both her hands, forcing him to look at her "Aaron. I'm sorry. I love you. and I promise I'm never going to leave you again" Aaron grins again, pulling her to him and kissing her, actually kissing her like he'd never done before, as he pulls away amid the uproarious cheer of the crowd he whispers "You've no idea how long I've been waiting to do that"