She astounded him. Everything about her was extravagant. The subtle glimmer in her deep brown eyes, the flow of her hair as she walked, the curve of her body. But anyone could see what a beautiful person she was on the outside. So sexy and intriguing. The way she moved was absolutely entrancing, and this was obvious to any man that laid eyes on her. She was gorgeous, with no strings attached. It was strange how someone so perfect could be so blind.

Chris had always had a soft spot for Trish Stratus. Every man that knew her shared that piece of themselves. The only thing any different about Chris was that his infatuation with her never left his own thoughts. Nobody else knew of it, and Chris was worried he made his feelings obvious to the world.

The way he stared at her, everyone around him should have been able to see from the start. God, how his heart rose into his throat the first second of every time his eyes met her gorgeous frame. It wasn't just this fantasy he had of her delicate, voluptuous body in his arms that made him pine for her. That may have been the sole reason for his longing from the start, as any sane man would do, but for Chris... the strongest emotion he knew was the reason for this now. Jealousy.

He watched Trish leave the locker room from a bit further down the hallway. His lower lip curled slightly inward, and his tongue drew across it slowly, moistening his soft lips as he watched her. Call it lust, but the depth of these powerful, overwhelming emotions he felt for her told him otherwise, as much as he denied it to himself.

It seemed that every second he spent staring at her went by in slow motion. Any kind of physical feeling he portrayed toward her seemed like puppy love; a childish boyhood dream or some meaningless longing. His eyes played up and down her body as she walked toward him... or rather, in his direction. She was walking 'toward' the parking lot, to spend time with Jay.

The reality of the situation was half the reason for his being so desirous of her. She was his best friend's girl. As much as he tried to resist it, the woman he'd felt such ardency for, from the second he met her, was his best friend's girl.

He had almost gotten used to it... almost. Four months of breathing through the two of them together, trying to survive every second of watching them kiss, he had almost grown accustomed to it. He wouldn't be bothered by it at all had he not had this impenetrable desire for her. He just... he couldn't help it. It went with him everywhere, and he couldn't escape, no matter how hard he tried, that... that love... he felt for her.

"Hey, Chris," she said cheerfully as she strode past him, a warm but casual smile on her face. That was one of the things he loved about her. He never saw her without a smile. He supposed Jay was the reason for that. That was the reason he couldn't interfere.

Jay was the best friend he had ever known. Chris was thankful for all of the friends he had, and Jay was among the closest of them. There was no one as funny and uplifting as he. And he made Trish happy, he made her smile. Seeing that smile was something amazing to Chris. Why were things so difficult? There was just no reason for this. Chris tried to shake the feeling from himself whenever he saw her, purely for the good of those he loved. He was the type of person who would give up the world and everything beautiful within it for those he loved. Deep inside himself, as much as he would die over and over again to have Trish Stratus as his own, he was so much more sensible a person than that.

He was unable to respond. He just kept his gaze focused on her, focused on that smile, those lips. She was enchanting to him. Chris could barely stand having her in front of him like this. She and Jay together killed him. Seeing the two people he cared most about in the world, together in a way he'd die to destruct, as selfish and horrid as the idea was, killed him. Chris couldn't even smile back at her, but she walked by, without a second thought.

Chris turned his head to watch Trish descend further down the hallway, walking in heels down the few steps of the arena toward the large parking lot, where she would meet Jay. As soon as she disappeared from view, he turned back. It was like this every week. Same routine. And he thought perhaps Trish would notice something odd about him standing outside the locker rooms every time she left the arenas they performed at.

He was only grateful that she couldn't see it. She couldn't see the passion in his eyes that he worked so hard to mask. If it got out to either she or Jay that Chris secretly adored her, he would be ruined. His friendship with Jay would be done, and any hope of having a decent friendship with Trish was terminated. He wanted so badly to be more than just her friend. The conflicting emotions within him were so hard to bear. He had to catch his breath every time his hundred-mile-a-minute thinking caught up with him. He was scared to death that he would ruin the wonderful things he had with this foolish fantasy.

He and Trish were never even close. Chris wondered if she even thought of him as a friend. Jay was the only thing keeping the two of them in contact of each other. The three of them and a few others, namely Amy, Matt, Jeff, and Adam, would spend most of their traveling time together. They were friends through Jay, because they were forced to be. Trish wouldn't pay a second of attention to Chris were it not for Jay.

He had always been so careless and cruel to her in order to keep his adoration for her secret before she and Jay became a couple. It was the most pain Chris ever had to endure, hurting her in order to save her. Chris made this so much harder than it had to be. He was the only one putting himself through all of this, and the scary part was that it was all involuntary. He would have told her right away how he felt about her if there weren't doubts and feelings of hopelessness holding him back. Her reaction frightened him. There were so many things that kept him from being happy.... but he just wanted her to be happy, and now these dreams of his had not even a splinter of chance of coming true. All thanks to Jay.

*Jesus, Chris! Stop thinking like this!* Chris began walking toward the men's locker room, thinking to himself. *It's not Jay's fault, it's not anyone's fault. Trish Stratus is too good for anyone.*

He caught Jay walking briskly down the hall, toward the parking lot. *That lucky sonofabitch.*

"Hey, Chris." Almost out of breath, Jay stopped for a bit to talk to Chris, slipping on his jacket in a hurried manner.

Chris took a few steps to meet him, hands in his pockets. He smiled. "Got somewhere to be?" He questioned, trying to sound oblivious, though he knew full well that every week Jay and Trish did the same thing. "Trish is outside waiting for you."

Jay took a deep breath and nodded, straightening his jacket and shaking out his arms. "Oh shit... for how long?"

Chris laughed. "Relax, she just passed by. You get so uptight for nothing." He patted Jay on the shoulder and slowly proceeded down the hall. "Take her someplace nice... and have fun!"

As he turned around, Jay stopped him. "Oh hey, wait. Trish wanted me to ask you about going somewhere later tonight before we leave."

Chris stopped and struggled a bit in his own mind before answering. "We'll see how things go." He looked toward the floor, his eyes distantly tracing the pattern of the tile. He looked back up as Jay began to leave.

"Alright man, see you later." Jay rushed down the rest of the hall and out the door into the parking lot.

He was powerless against his own conscience, and against his own mind, his own thoughts, his own feelings. It was inevitable that he'd only keep destroying himself and breaking down internally if he kept this up. Trish... felt nothing for him. She didn't even make friendly with him until four months ago, and he'd loved her long before that. Maybe it WAS only lust. He didn't know her well enough to say he really loved her. But this jealousy he had of Jay was driving him mad. Chris couldn't look at Jay without wanting Trish so badly, wanting what they had so badly.

It was unexplainable. He knew just how devoted Trish and Jay were to each other, how much they cared for each other, and how in love they were. It was jealousy this whole time that made Chris so unhappy, so unwilling in his own mind to accept this. He wanted her. He wanted her badly. And his best friend was the one who got her... Chris was just going to have to live it out. Just keep living and breathing through the extreme affection that he felt for her. She would never be his, even if she and Jay failed. Even if years down the road, they knew each other better. Something would keep her from him. It had for five years already.

Chris continued to stare down the long, empty backstage hallway before walking. He wasn't planning on going anywhere that the two of them would be before he checked out. Not tonight. He couldn't... tonight.

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Okayyyy, so... after taking quite a break from writing, I have finished the second chapter of my latest Chris/Trish/Jay fanfic! Please give me some sort of response. I've spent a load of time thinking through this storyline and I have a really good idea now of what I'm going to have happen. Normally I just write as I go, but I got some good ideas for this one. Thank you for the great reviews I've gotten so far. Keep R&Ring!