A/N: Hey ya'll. Long time no see, right? Sorry bout that. I'm still on
the lacking side of ideas. Hell, the only reason I get United Paths done
half the time is cause Lindsay kicks my ass to get it done. Lol Um, this
will probably be the last chapter out for about a week. I leave for
Louisville, KY on the 25th and will be gone till November 1st. And how
about my Yankees kicking some Red Sox ass!!! I love my men in the pin
stripes!! GO POSADA AND PETTITTE!!!! I love them. So another year in the
World Series and hopefully we can sweep the Marlins in 4 games. That'll be
spiffy. They'll be World Series champs once again!! It's so hard to be a
Yankee fan in New England, Red Sox, country, ya never know if you're gonna
get jumped by someone. Lol Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but
I'm freezing, my Yankees are playing, etc. I'll see what I can do about
getting another chapter in this week. Oh and HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY TO ME in
one hour and 13 minutes. Lol I'm so pathetic. Anyways, story time!
***************
Sighing I switched the channel from Raw to Road Rules, unable to watch my "friends" doing what they love to do best. I was in another hotel room, this one fancier than any I had been in on the road with the WWE. But it didn't make it any better. You could only work out and swim by yourself so many times before it got old. I looked down at my watch and flopped back on the bed, realizing that Jeff wouldn't be back from his concert for another half hour or so. I felt as if I was destined to be in this hotel room by myself forever. I guess I should be happy that Jeff wasn't forcing me to go to the concerts with him. I had been to all of them, except for the past two. Of course I loved to be there to support him, but some days I just wanted to wallow away in my tears, and today was one of those days. I closed my eyes and thought deeply, about nothing, when I started hearing my cell phone ring. Startled, I jumped up quickly and grabbed it off the nite stand.
"Hello?" I questioned, not thinking to look at the caller ID.
"Casey?" the voice responded. A small smile crossed my face.
"Hi," I said shyly.
"I miss you."
"I miss you too Sugar."
"I'm glad. Well, I'm glad that you miss me cause that means you still care about me."
"Of course I still care about you. I told you that two months ago. I left a message on your cell."
"Yeah, I know, I just figured you'd be off and married to Jeff by now. Ya know, working on children. So you'd be too busy to think about me."
"Shane, not a day goes by when I don't think about you."
"Yeah, same here."
"Why'd you send back my ring then?"
"I love you Casey."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yeah, it does. I let you go by giving it back. They always say that if you truly love someone, let them free, if they come back to you, then you truly know they're yours. Well, that ring was your, well, leash I suppose, and giving it back to you meant I was letting you go."
"Thank you," I smiled.
"Baby, I'm back," Jeff's voice spoke in a whisper as I was gently shaken. My eyes fluttered open and I looked up into his green eyes, a soft tired smile on his face. He bent down and kissed my forehead after moving my hair back off of my face.
"Welcome back," I yawned. "Good show?"
"Not bad," he replied sitting on the bed next to me, to take off his boots. He let out a deep breath and leaned back, resting his head on my lap. "I'm so tired. And kinda sore."
"Go take a hot shower. That'll make you feel better," I said running my hand through his dark purple hair. He nodded at me and I bent down to kiss his soft lips. He lingered there for a bit before finally breaking it and jumping into the shower.
I laid on the bed thinking about the dream I had just had. After having it, I realized that what Shane did, wasn't malicious or anything like that, he was just loving me. I instantly forgave him. How could I not?
"I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind. I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time," I sang. "I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams. And tonight it's only you and me." Jeff walked out of the bathroom, a towel around this waist and towel drying his hair. He sat on the bed and listened to the song. I looked up at him and smiled, unsure why he was giving me the strange look he was giving me. "What?" I finally asked.
"What's that song?" he asked.
"Um, 3 Doors Down, "Here Without You". Why?"
"I think it was November, when you were dating Randy, I had this weird dream about you and I."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, and for some reason that song reminds me of the dream."
"Well, are you going to tell me about the dream or not?" I laughed wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his bare shoulder.
"Do you believe that dreams can tell the future?" he asked seriously. I crawled beside him and grabbed his hand, looking into his eyes.
"Yeah, I mean I have dreams like that all the time. Why? Do you think this one did?"
"Yeah. Matt and Amy had a daughter and we were babysitting her and she was 18 months old. Her name was Nichole."
"Wow, that is kinda weird. Anything else like that happen?"
"No, well, kinda. It seemed that you left the WWE to be with me. But not only that, you and I were also married and going on a weekend honeymoon cause I was going on tour for about 2 months."
"Well, that sucks," I laughed.
"Yeah, like I'm just gonna give you a two day, one nite honeymoon," Jeff laughed. "It was very weird, I guess we got married in a little wedding chapel in Las Vegas."
"Oh as if that'd actually happen," I laughed shooting up from my seat on the bed. I knelt down on the floor between his legs and held his hands in mine.
"What? Getting married? Or getting married in Las Vegas?" he asked looking down at me.
"Vegas," I replied quickly. He smiled at me and pulled me up to him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he stood, only to lay me down on the bed. He whipped his towel off with a laugh and threw it off to the side before lowering himself down on top of me.
************
Cities, states, and many weeks later, we were back home for a short two day break before we'd have to go back on the road to finish the tour. I was lounging out on the couch while Jeff was out with Matt and Shannon. Crystal and Amy had just left me, giving me messages by the ton load from all the guys and divas. It made me smile, but also broke my heart. True, I had gotten used to the restrictions Jeff had me on. And yes, he had gotten rid of some of them. But it didn't mean that I didn't miss everyone.
That nite, Jeff was out in the trailer working on some new tunes. I had decided to turn on RAW, for the first time since I left. The first match was Shane against Jimmy Yang for the Cruiserweight title. Shane walked down with a new girl I had never met before, but I knew she had been on WCW. She had been at OVW for the longest time, and I suppose she got the call up. Shane kissed her softly and my heart sunk. Tears started trickling down my cheeks as the match got underway and Jeff walked into the house.
"I think I have another hit in my hands!" he smiled, bounding into the living room. He dropped his journal and pencil on the end table and ran to my side when he heard my sobs. "What's the matter?"
"I miss them," I cried.
"Miss who?"
"THEM!! All of them! Jeff, don't you ever miss them?" I asked pointing to the tv.
"Of course I do. But I see who I want to truly see. So it doesn't really bother me."
"Well, it bothers me! Jeff, I miss the ring, I miss the fans, I miss wrestling, I miss all my family. Daddy's gonna have his retirement match VERY soon and I'm not going to be able to witness that!"
"I'm sorry Casey! What the hell do you want me to do about it?"
"I want you to let me go back."
"I can't do that Case. You know that," he sighed.
"Why? Do you still not trust me?!"
"NO! I do trust you. I don't trust him!" Jeff yelled shooting a finger at the tv to where Shane was laying on the mat being attended to by his new valet.
***********
"So he won't let you come back because of Shane?!" Amy exclaimed feeding Nichole a bottle.
"Nope. How stupid is that?! I mean, Shane doesn't want me anymore. I know that, you know that, EVERYONE knows that except for Jeff. I'm pretty pissed off!" I cried taking out a can of Coke.
"I can imagine you would be. How'd you get him to let you stay home this week?" Amy asked.
"I didn't. He told me that I could go, or stay home this week and then fly out to Vegas on Sunday morning. So I said I'd stay here."
"Feel free?" she asked.
"Not exactly. He calls the house phone every freakin hour. I just don't get it. He said he trusted me. But if he's calling so much then he obviously doesn't."
"I don't think Jeff truly realizes that us girls need our space. He's kinda crowding you out, huh?"
"Oh yeah. But what can I do about it? I mean, it's a damned if you, damned if you don't situation. If I tell him how claustrophobic he's made me, then I could possibly lose him. If I keep my mouth shut, then I'll be stuck in his little bubble forever," I laughed. "Don't get me wrong. I love Jeff, and I love that he gives me so much attention. But this is TOO much attention. It's overbearing."
"Maybe he'll let up."
"I hope so," I sighed watching her put Nichole in the play pen Jeff and I had set up all the time for when we were babysitting our niece. "So, you going back to wrestling?"
"Ya know, I haven't decided yet. I mean I miss it. But I then again, I also travel with Matt at least once a week. So the only thing I'm really missing is going to the ring. But I love spending all this time with Cole. She's my baby," Amy smiled. I nodded at her as she sat next to me on the couch. "I'm almost thinking I won't go back. I wanna watch her grow up. I don't want to miss one minute."
"I can understand that."
"Are you and Jeff going to get married?" she asked.
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed as she caught me off guard with her question.
"I was just wondering if you and Jeff were talking about getting married or anything."
"No, no way. I don't think we're able to do that just yet. It's only been a year. And we've only been together for what? Almost 3 months. I don't want to marry him. Not yet anyways."
"Well, Matt and I are getting a little restless about having nephews and nieces. It's not fair that you and Jeff get to have all the fun!" she laughed nudging my shoulder.
"Oh God. I don't even want to think about having kids yet. That's just frightening," I said.
She growled at me playfully before her eyes opened wide. "I almost forgot!" she cried reaching into the baby bag. She pulled out a little box and handed it to me.
"What's this?" I asked looking at it.
"I was told to tell you to open it when you were alone. So do so," she smiled glancing at her watch. "I should go. Matt's going to call any minute now. I'll see you later sweetie." She bent down to hug me before gathering Nichole's stuff and her daughter.
I watched her leave and shook my head. I opened the box and smiled. Inside there was a little note from the gift giver and a little Tigger figurine.
'Dear Case,
I know I probably shouldn't be doing this, but I couldn't help myself. I realize that I have no more feelings for you and I've moved on to a beautiful woman that I'm madly in love with. But in hopes that I can still count on you in case I need help, I wanted to give you a little gift. It's not much, but I figured you'd like it. I know we can't talk or see each other because of this agreement you have with Jeff, but maybe we can write each other or something. I just don't want to lose you as a friend. You're a great person. What we had together as friends and as a couple was special. I'd like that back eventually, if Jeff can ever get his act together and realize I don't want nor need you anymore. Jeff's a very lucky man, and so am I. If for whatever reason we can't be friends, I'm glad I had you in my life for that amount of time. I'm going to go now, but you're in my heart.
Love, Sugar Shane Helms'
I took the figurine and the note upstairs with me. I hid the note with my Green Lantern t-shirt and put the figurine on the dresser. I made a note to myself to write Shane back and to make up a story to tell Jeff if he should happen ask about the Tigger. I yawned and laid down on the bed, Luna and Liger on either side of me, and fell asleep quickly.
***************
Sighing I switched the channel from Raw to Road Rules, unable to watch my "friends" doing what they love to do best. I was in another hotel room, this one fancier than any I had been in on the road with the WWE. But it didn't make it any better. You could only work out and swim by yourself so many times before it got old. I looked down at my watch and flopped back on the bed, realizing that Jeff wouldn't be back from his concert for another half hour or so. I felt as if I was destined to be in this hotel room by myself forever. I guess I should be happy that Jeff wasn't forcing me to go to the concerts with him. I had been to all of them, except for the past two. Of course I loved to be there to support him, but some days I just wanted to wallow away in my tears, and today was one of those days. I closed my eyes and thought deeply, about nothing, when I started hearing my cell phone ring. Startled, I jumped up quickly and grabbed it off the nite stand.
"Hello?" I questioned, not thinking to look at the caller ID.
"Casey?" the voice responded. A small smile crossed my face.
"Hi," I said shyly.
"I miss you."
"I miss you too Sugar."
"I'm glad. Well, I'm glad that you miss me cause that means you still care about me."
"Of course I still care about you. I told you that two months ago. I left a message on your cell."
"Yeah, I know, I just figured you'd be off and married to Jeff by now. Ya know, working on children. So you'd be too busy to think about me."
"Shane, not a day goes by when I don't think about you."
"Yeah, same here."
"Why'd you send back my ring then?"
"I love you Casey."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yeah, it does. I let you go by giving it back. They always say that if you truly love someone, let them free, if they come back to you, then you truly know they're yours. Well, that ring was your, well, leash I suppose, and giving it back to you meant I was letting you go."
"Thank you," I smiled.
"Baby, I'm back," Jeff's voice spoke in a whisper as I was gently shaken. My eyes fluttered open and I looked up into his green eyes, a soft tired smile on his face. He bent down and kissed my forehead after moving my hair back off of my face.
"Welcome back," I yawned. "Good show?"
"Not bad," he replied sitting on the bed next to me, to take off his boots. He let out a deep breath and leaned back, resting his head on my lap. "I'm so tired. And kinda sore."
"Go take a hot shower. That'll make you feel better," I said running my hand through his dark purple hair. He nodded at me and I bent down to kiss his soft lips. He lingered there for a bit before finally breaking it and jumping into the shower.
I laid on the bed thinking about the dream I had just had. After having it, I realized that what Shane did, wasn't malicious or anything like that, he was just loving me. I instantly forgave him. How could I not?
"I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind. I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time," I sang. "I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams. And tonight it's only you and me." Jeff walked out of the bathroom, a towel around this waist and towel drying his hair. He sat on the bed and listened to the song. I looked up at him and smiled, unsure why he was giving me the strange look he was giving me. "What?" I finally asked.
"What's that song?" he asked.
"Um, 3 Doors Down, "Here Without You". Why?"
"I think it was November, when you were dating Randy, I had this weird dream about you and I."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, and for some reason that song reminds me of the dream."
"Well, are you going to tell me about the dream or not?" I laughed wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his bare shoulder.
"Do you believe that dreams can tell the future?" he asked seriously. I crawled beside him and grabbed his hand, looking into his eyes.
"Yeah, I mean I have dreams like that all the time. Why? Do you think this one did?"
"Yeah. Matt and Amy had a daughter and we were babysitting her and she was 18 months old. Her name was Nichole."
"Wow, that is kinda weird. Anything else like that happen?"
"No, well, kinda. It seemed that you left the WWE to be with me. But not only that, you and I were also married and going on a weekend honeymoon cause I was going on tour for about 2 months."
"Well, that sucks," I laughed.
"Yeah, like I'm just gonna give you a two day, one nite honeymoon," Jeff laughed. "It was very weird, I guess we got married in a little wedding chapel in Las Vegas."
"Oh as if that'd actually happen," I laughed shooting up from my seat on the bed. I knelt down on the floor between his legs and held his hands in mine.
"What? Getting married? Or getting married in Las Vegas?" he asked looking down at me.
"Vegas," I replied quickly. He smiled at me and pulled me up to him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he stood, only to lay me down on the bed. He whipped his towel off with a laugh and threw it off to the side before lowering himself down on top of me.
************
Cities, states, and many weeks later, we were back home for a short two day break before we'd have to go back on the road to finish the tour. I was lounging out on the couch while Jeff was out with Matt and Shannon. Crystal and Amy had just left me, giving me messages by the ton load from all the guys and divas. It made me smile, but also broke my heart. True, I had gotten used to the restrictions Jeff had me on. And yes, he had gotten rid of some of them. But it didn't mean that I didn't miss everyone.
That nite, Jeff was out in the trailer working on some new tunes. I had decided to turn on RAW, for the first time since I left. The first match was Shane against Jimmy Yang for the Cruiserweight title. Shane walked down with a new girl I had never met before, but I knew she had been on WCW. She had been at OVW for the longest time, and I suppose she got the call up. Shane kissed her softly and my heart sunk. Tears started trickling down my cheeks as the match got underway and Jeff walked into the house.
"I think I have another hit in my hands!" he smiled, bounding into the living room. He dropped his journal and pencil on the end table and ran to my side when he heard my sobs. "What's the matter?"
"I miss them," I cried.
"Miss who?"
"THEM!! All of them! Jeff, don't you ever miss them?" I asked pointing to the tv.
"Of course I do. But I see who I want to truly see. So it doesn't really bother me."
"Well, it bothers me! Jeff, I miss the ring, I miss the fans, I miss wrestling, I miss all my family. Daddy's gonna have his retirement match VERY soon and I'm not going to be able to witness that!"
"I'm sorry Casey! What the hell do you want me to do about it?"
"I want you to let me go back."
"I can't do that Case. You know that," he sighed.
"Why? Do you still not trust me?!"
"NO! I do trust you. I don't trust him!" Jeff yelled shooting a finger at the tv to where Shane was laying on the mat being attended to by his new valet.
***********
"So he won't let you come back because of Shane?!" Amy exclaimed feeding Nichole a bottle.
"Nope. How stupid is that?! I mean, Shane doesn't want me anymore. I know that, you know that, EVERYONE knows that except for Jeff. I'm pretty pissed off!" I cried taking out a can of Coke.
"I can imagine you would be. How'd you get him to let you stay home this week?" Amy asked.
"I didn't. He told me that I could go, or stay home this week and then fly out to Vegas on Sunday morning. So I said I'd stay here."
"Feel free?" she asked.
"Not exactly. He calls the house phone every freakin hour. I just don't get it. He said he trusted me. But if he's calling so much then he obviously doesn't."
"I don't think Jeff truly realizes that us girls need our space. He's kinda crowding you out, huh?"
"Oh yeah. But what can I do about it? I mean, it's a damned if you, damned if you don't situation. If I tell him how claustrophobic he's made me, then I could possibly lose him. If I keep my mouth shut, then I'll be stuck in his little bubble forever," I laughed. "Don't get me wrong. I love Jeff, and I love that he gives me so much attention. But this is TOO much attention. It's overbearing."
"Maybe he'll let up."
"I hope so," I sighed watching her put Nichole in the play pen Jeff and I had set up all the time for when we were babysitting our niece. "So, you going back to wrestling?"
"Ya know, I haven't decided yet. I mean I miss it. But I then again, I also travel with Matt at least once a week. So the only thing I'm really missing is going to the ring. But I love spending all this time with Cole. She's my baby," Amy smiled. I nodded at her as she sat next to me on the couch. "I'm almost thinking I won't go back. I wanna watch her grow up. I don't want to miss one minute."
"I can understand that."
"Are you and Jeff going to get married?" she asked.
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed as she caught me off guard with her question.
"I was just wondering if you and Jeff were talking about getting married or anything."
"No, no way. I don't think we're able to do that just yet. It's only been a year. And we've only been together for what? Almost 3 months. I don't want to marry him. Not yet anyways."
"Well, Matt and I are getting a little restless about having nephews and nieces. It's not fair that you and Jeff get to have all the fun!" she laughed nudging my shoulder.
"Oh God. I don't even want to think about having kids yet. That's just frightening," I said.
She growled at me playfully before her eyes opened wide. "I almost forgot!" she cried reaching into the baby bag. She pulled out a little box and handed it to me.
"What's this?" I asked looking at it.
"I was told to tell you to open it when you were alone. So do so," she smiled glancing at her watch. "I should go. Matt's going to call any minute now. I'll see you later sweetie." She bent down to hug me before gathering Nichole's stuff and her daughter.
I watched her leave and shook my head. I opened the box and smiled. Inside there was a little note from the gift giver and a little Tigger figurine.
'Dear Case,
I know I probably shouldn't be doing this, but I couldn't help myself. I realize that I have no more feelings for you and I've moved on to a beautiful woman that I'm madly in love with. But in hopes that I can still count on you in case I need help, I wanted to give you a little gift. It's not much, but I figured you'd like it. I know we can't talk or see each other because of this agreement you have with Jeff, but maybe we can write each other or something. I just don't want to lose you as a friend. You're a great person. What we had together as friends and as a couple was special. I'd like that back eventually, if Jeff can ever get his act together and realize I don't want nor need you anymore. Jeff's a very lucky man, and so am I. If for whatever reason we can't be friends, I'm glad I had you in my life for that amount of time. I'm going to go now, but you're in my heart.
Love, Sugar Shane Helms'
I took the figurine and the note upstairs with me. I hid the note with my Green Lantern t-shirt and put the figurine on the dresser. I made a note to myself to write Shane back and to make up a story to tell Jeff if he should happen ask about the Tigger. I yawned and laid down on the bed, Luna and Liger on either side of me, and fell asleep quickly.
