Stephanie just sat there, his last words reverberating through her brain.
Why did he hate her? She hadn't gotten a clear answer. He did mention
Hunter. Could Hunter have said something to him? It was very possible
considering how much Hunter despised Chris and didn't make it a secret just
how much he despised him.
She got up slowly, trying to locate her attire strewn about the small room. She tried to put the sex behind her, he had only done it because he hated her. Yet, the passion had been overwhelming. She didn't want to forget it. It was just way too good to forget.
She got dressed slowly, tired for the earlier escapades. Not only that, but she felt the fight drain out of her as well. Without Chris by her side, things just didn't seem as bright. She felt so lonely suddenly. First Shane, now Chris, two times she had been hurt, two times she didn't even do anything wrong.
Just as she was pulling her shirt on, the door opened. She looked up quickly, hopefully, praying that Chris had just been playing a sick joke on her. She could deal with it if it was a joke, she might even laugh if it was. Instead it was Hunter. She hoped he couldn't sense anything that had just happened, and she had pretty much cleaned up the mess so he shouldn't be able to find any "traces" of what had just happened.
"Steph, what's wrong?" Hunter asked.
It was then and only then, that Stephanie realized she had been crying the entire time. She glanced over to a mirror hanging from the wall, and was stunned at the person who looked back at her. That couldn't be her, it just couldn't be her.
She was an absolute mess. Her hair was disheveled from Chris's rough fingers lacing through it. She was still flushed from her and Chris's little indiscretion. But what scared her the most was her eyes. First off, they were red and puffy from crying, but what got her, what really got her was how dead they looked. She was dead, for all she cared.
"Nothing."
"Stephanie you look like you just lost your best friend."
She thought he was being ironic, but didn't catch the glint in his eyes, "I did."
"What? What happened?"
"Chris...I don't know," she sobbed, "He's gone. He hates me."
"Huh?" he said, playing dumb, but inside he was rejoicing.
"He came in here, and accused me of using him, but I never used him!"
"Oh Steph," he said, rushing to her side, "It'll be ok."
"I didn't use him!" she repeated, this time more vehemently.
"Come on, you knew it was only a matter of time until this happened."
She looked up at him, question written all over her face, "What do you mean by that?"
"Come on, you know that you two were too different. You're a great person and he's just a jackass who brought you down to his level."
She looked at him, his words puzzling her. Did he even know her at all? Her and Chris were so much alike it was eerie. They understood each other, or at least that's how they were. She wasn't sure how it was now. But for a while, it was like they shared one brain, they anticipated each other before any words could be spoken.
"Yeah, I guess," she said, not wanting to argue, "He was just my only friend."
"Hey, you have me, you don't need friends."
She sighed and looked at him. Yes, she did have Hunter, at least she still had Hunter. So many times he could've left her. So many times she had done things that would've turned any man's blood cold, but Hunter had stuck by her through it all, and he loved her, and wanted her to move in with him.
"Yeah, I do have you," she told him, leaning over to kiss him gently.
Hunter smiled as she pulled away, "You'll always have me."
That may be true, but there was something she needed to ask him before this little love-fest went any further, "Hunter, did you say something to Chris? I mean, to get him to hate me, did you say something to him?"
Hunter shook his head, "Nope, I haven't spoken to him all day actually. I don't know what could be bugging him."
"Oh," she said, then looked down, "It must've been something else."
"Stephanie, come on, get your mind off of him, he's not worth it. Now you can finally focus on us."
She smiled. She didn't need Chris Jericho, she hadn't needed him before and she didn't need him now. She was Stephanie fucking McMahon, and she could take care of herself. She had been strong for this long by herself, and she didn't need a crutch to lean on. That's all Chris was, a crutch. She cursed under her breath, she didn't need the extra burden of someone else.
She could handle the world alone.
Chris sat with his head in his hands. How could he have been so stupid? He rewound the tape again and watched it. The betrayal was still so raw, and the words, they were on continuous loop right now. He was now alone, not a friend to his name. He had alienated them all when he was friends with Stephanie and they'd never want to be friends again after some of the things he had done.
He got up and went to change into his ring attire for his match. As he undressed, he thought about what had just transpired. God, the sex was good with Stephanie. Better than he could've ever imagined. And sure, he had imagined it, he was a guy and she was a beautiful woman, it was bound to cross his mind once and while. But never had he figured it would be that magnetic. But he shook his head from that thought. He had just been using her like she used him. The bitch deserved a little payback for what she had done.
He dressed and got ready before heading to the gorilla. Edge and Dawn Marie were standing there, talking in low whispers, Dawn giggling at something Edge said. Chris walked over, feeling awkward. He might as well try to bridge some gaps now, but he didn't exactly know how to go about it.
"Hey, you guys," Chris called out tentatively.
"Yeah?" Dawn said, turning in Edge's arms.
"Look I'm sorry for what I've been trying to do as of late. It wasn't very cool of me," he said honestly.
They both looked surprised. He was already trying to get back into the fold with them. This was what they wanted, this was what they all wanted. The old Chris was coming back, thank God. Everyone had liked that Chris, and missed him when he disappeared under Stephanie's influence. Now he was back, and hopefully for good.
"Look, you were misguided," Edge said, "No hard feelings."
"You guys should hate me," Chris said.
"Nah," Edge told him, "We know that it was mostly Stephanie."
Chris winced slightly at her name, "Yeah, but let's not talk about her right now. Dawn, I can probably get you out of this storyline, maybe have you turn on me so you can get with Edge."
"You'd do that?" Dawn asked, smiling.
"Sure, it would probably work out better," he smiled.
"Wow, I don't know what to say," Dawn said, hugging Edge happily.
"It's the least I can do," Chris told them.
They went out for their match and Chris fought, though he was distracted by the earlier events. Stephanie was distracted too. She watched Chris on the screen, and tried to stave off the advances of Hunter, who kept trying to reach his hand under her shirt. She pushed him away.
"Hunter, not right now," she said impatiently.
"Why not?"
"I'm trying to watch the show."
Hunter looked up at the television to see Chris fighting on it. He frowned as he looked at the television to Stephanie. Why was she still so fucking involved in watching him? She just needed the time to get over this little thing they had going. He reached under her shirt again, in an attempt to get her going, but she swatted his hand away again. This time though, she put a little zing into her slap.
"What is wrong with you?" he snapped.
"Look," she said, getting more irritated by the second, "Chris is mad at me, more than mad at me, he said he hates me. I want to know why the fuck he's mad at me!"
"Stephanie, get over it," Hunter groaned, "It's not even worth thinking about."
"But I want to know," she shot at him.
"Let's leave it alone, obviously he doesn't want to be around you and that's a good thing."
"Is it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, because we have each other ok, and I was getting pretty sick and tired of you two always hanging off each other. Do you think I didn't know the rumors floating around here? Did you think that I didn't have people laughing at me because they thought you guys were playing me for a fool?"
"Look Hunter, I NEVER slept with Chris, I never did anything with Chris," she said hastily, then was bombarded by what they had done here today. Well, for the most part that statement was true. Might as well stick with that one, considering that Hunter would kill Chris if he found out, and then he would kill her.
"I know! But what about other people, they didn't know and I hated it!"
"So hate it you bastard," Stephanie said, getting up, "You know what, I'm sick and tired of all of you. You all bug me. If it's not you, it's Chris, if it's not him, it's Shane, I hate you all!"
She made a run for the door, but Hunter got up quickly and with his much longer stride, managed to get in front of the door just as she reached it. Nevertheless, she went for the door and he blocked her way. She looked up at him, fire in her eyes, but he didn't back down. She tried to shove him, but it was no use, she was stuck here with him.
"Look Steph, I'm sorry ok, I'm just tired of it all," he said exasperated.
"So am I!" she screamed, "I hate this, I hate how I feel. I hate Chris Jericho!"
Hunter had waited far too long to hear those words, but now that they were here, it felt even better than imagined. He won the war. So much for Chris trying to take his girlfriend. In the end, like always, Hunter had won, and Stephanie was all his now, and he needn't worry about pissant, little blonde bitch.
"Good," he said, "Now we can move on."
"What?" she asked.
She had gotten so caught up in the moment that she hadn't known what she uttered until the words "I hate Chris Jericho," came out of her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that, she didn't really feel that way, but she just needed to let something out. She was pissed as all get out at the moment, and unlike Chris, she didn't want to fuck someone to keep from going over the edge.
"We can move on. You hate Chris, that's a good thing Steph."
"Yeah, I guess," she said, not even convincing herself, but Hunter seemed satisfied with her response.
"Look Steph, you were too good for him anyways. Stop worrying about it ok."
Truer words were never spoken and heard by her ears. She did need to stop thinking about it. She would just go along with Hunter. Hunter was here, Chris wasn't. Hunter had always stuck by her, and loved her, even when she didn't deserve his love. She did love him, and she could be happy with him. She just needed to let herself be taken care of by him.
"I love you Hunter," she said, hugging him tightly.
"I love you too," he told her, rubbing her back as a sneaky grin spread across his face.
"We'll be happy," she told him, "I promise you that."
"I don't doubt that, but there's something that would make me happier."
"What?" she asked.
He pulled away and pulled a box out of his back pocket. He was down on his knee in a flash, and Stephanie almost had a heart attack as she stood there. This couldn't be happening. She wasn't even ready to move in with this man and she knew what question was going to be asked in a few moments. She covered her mouth with her hand, anticipating the next moment.
"Steph, marry me. Make me happy, let me make you happy."
What did she have to lose? This would make her father happy, and Hunter happy, and yes, even herself, it would make happy. She knew if she were still friends with Chris that he would tell her that she was nuts for even considering saying yes to this proposal. But Chris was out of her life. She was starting a new life, the one post-Chris, where her decisions were hers alone and none of his fucking business. And what better way to start that off then to......
"Yes Hunter, I'll marry you."
She got up slowly, trying to locate her attire strewn about the small room. She tried to put the sex behind her, he had only done it because he hated her. Yet, the passion had been overwhelming. She didn't want to forget it. It was just way too good to forget.
She got dressed slowly, tired for the earlier escapades. Not only that, but she felt the fight drain out of her as well. Without Chris by her side, things just didn't seem as bright. She felt so lonely suddenly. First Shane, now Chris, two times she had been hurt, two times she didn't even do anything wrong.
Just as she was pulling her shirt on, the door opened. She looked up quickly, hopefully, praying that Chris had just been playing a sick joke on her. She could deal with it if it was a joke, she might even laugh if it was. Instead it was Hunter. She hoped he couldn't sense anything that had just happened, and she had pretty much cleaned up the mess so he shouldn't be able to find any "traces" of what had just happened.
"Steph, what's wrong?" Hunter asked.
It was then and only then, that Stephanie realized she had been crying the entire time. She glanced over to a mirror hanging from the wall, and was stunned at the person who looked back at her. That couldn't be her, it just couldn't be her.
She was an absolute mess. Her hair was disheveled from Chris's rough fingers lacing through it. She was still flushed from her and Chris's little indiscretion. But what scared her the most was her eyes. First off, they were red and puffy from crying, but what got her, what really got her was how dead they looked. She was dead, for all she cared.
"Nothing."
"Stephanie you look like you just lost your best friend."
She thought he was being ironic, but didn't catch the glint in his eyes, "I did."
"What? What happened?"
"Chris...I don't know," she sobbed, "He's gone. He hates me."
"Huh?" he said, playing dumb, but inside he was rejoicing.
"He came in here, and accused me of using him, but I never used him!"
"Oh Steph," he said, rushing to her side, "It'll be ok."
"I didn't use him!" she repeated, this time more vehemently.
"Come on, you knew it was only a matter of time until this happened."
She looked up at him, question written all over her face, "What do you mean by that?"
"Come on, you know that you two were too different. You're a great person and he's just a jackass who brought you down to his level."
She looked at him, his words puzzling her. Did he even know her at all? Her and Chris were so much alike it was eerie. They understood each other, or at least that's how they were. She wasn't sure how it was now. But for a while, it was like they shared one brain, they anticipated each other before any words could be spoken.
"Yeah, I guess," she said, not wanting to argue, "He was just my only friend."
"Hey, you have me, you don't need friends."
She sighed and looked at him. Yes, she did have Hunter, at least she still had Hunter. So many times he could've left her. So many times she had done things that would've turned any man's blood cold, but Hunter had stuck by her through it all, and he loved her, and wanted her to move in with him.
"Yeah, I do have you," she told him, leaning over to kiss him gently.
Hunter smiled as she pulled away, "You'll always have me."
That may be true, but there was something she needed to ask him before this little love-fest went any further, "Hunter, did you say something to Chris? I mean, to get him to hate me, did you say something to him?"
Hunter shook his head, "Nope, I haven't spoken to him all day actually. I don't know what could be bugging him."
"Oh," she said, then looked down, "It must've been something else."
"Stephanie, come on, get your mind off of him, he's not worth it. Now you can finally focus on us."
She smiled. She didn't need Chris Jericho, she hadn't needed him before and she didn't need him now. She was Stephanie fucking McMahon, and she could take care of herself. She had been strong for this long by herself, and she didn't need a crutch to lean on. That's all Chris was, a crutch. She cursed under her breath, she didn't need the extra burden of someone else.
She could handle the world alone.
Chris sat with his head in his hands. How could he have been so stupid? He rewound the tape again and watched it. The betrayal was still so raw, and the words, they were on continuous loop right now. He was now alone, not a friend to his name. He had alienated them all when he was friends with Stephanie and they'd never want to be friends again after some of the things he had done.
He got up and went to change into his ring attire for his match. As he undressed, he thought about what had just transpired. God, the sex was good with Stephanie. Better than he could've ever imagined. And sure, he had imagined it, he was a guy and she was a beautiful woman, it was bound to cross his mind once and while. But never had he figured it would be that magnetic. But he shook his head from that thought. He had just been using her like she used him. The bitch deserved a little payback for what she had done.
He dressed and got ready before heading to the gorilla. Edge and Dawn Marie were standing there, talking in low whispers, Dawn giggling at something Edge said. Chris walked over, feeling awkward. He might as well try to bridge some gaps now, but he didn't exactly know how to go about it.
"Hey, you guys," Chris called out tentatively.
"Yeah?" Dawn said, turning in Edge's arms.
"Look I'm sorry for what I've been trying to do as of late. It wasn't very cool of me," he said honestly.
They both looked surprised. He was already trying to get back into the fold with them. This was what they wanted, this was what they all wanted. The old Chris was coming back, thank God. Everyone had liked that Chris, and missed him when he disappeared under Stephanie's influence. Now he was back, and hopefully for good.
"Look, you were misguided," Edge said, "No hard feelings."
"You guys should hate me," Chris said.
"Nah," Edge told him, "We know that it was mostly Stephanie."
Chris winced slightly at her name, "Yeah, but let's not talk about her right now. Dawn, I can probably get you out of this storyline, maybe have you turn on me so you can get with Edge."
"You'd do that?" Dawn asked, smiling.
"Sure, it would probably work out better," he smiled.
"Wow, I don't know what to say," Dawn said, hugging Edge happily.
"It's the least I can do," Chris told them.
They went out for their match and Chris fought, though he was distracted by the earlier events. Stephanie was distracted too. She watched Chris on the screen, and tried to stave off the advances of Hunter, who kept trying to reach his hand under her shirt. She pushed him away.
"Hunter, not right now," she said impatiently.
"Why not?"
"I'm trying to watch the show."
Hunter looked up at the television to see Chris fighting on it. He frowned as he looked at the television to Stephanie. Why was she still so fucking involved in watching him? She just needed the time to get over this little thing they had going. He reached under her shirt again, in an attempt to get her going, but she swatted his hand away again. This time though, she put a little zing into her slap.
"What is wrong with you?" he snapped.
"Look," she said, getting more irritated by the second, "Chris is mad at me, more than mad at me, he said he hates me. I want to know why the fuck he's mad at me!"
"Stephanie, get over it," Hunter groaned, "It's not even worth thinking about."
"But I want to know," she shot at him.
"Let's leave it alone, obviously he doesn't want to be around you and that's a good thing."
"Is it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, because we have each other ok, and I was getting pretty sick and tired of you two always hanging off each other. Do you think I didn't know the rumors floating around here? Did you think that I didn't have people laughing at me because they thought you guys were playing me for a fool?"
"Look Hunter, I NEVER slept with Chris, I never did anything with Chris," she said hastily, then was bombarded by what they had done here today. Well, for the most part that statement was true. Might as well stick with that one, considering that Hunter would kill Chris if he found out, and then he would kill her.
"I know! But what about other people, they didn't know and I hated it!"
"So hate it you bastard," Stephanie said, getting up, "You know what, I'm sick and tired of all of you. You all bug me. If it's not you, it's Chris, if it's not him, it's Shane, I hate you all!"
She made a run for the door, but Hunter got up quickly and with his much longer stride, managed to get in front of the door just as she reached it. Nevertheless, she went for the door and he blocked her way. She looked up at him, fire in her eyes, but he didn't back down. She tried to shove him, but it was no use, she was stuck here with him.
"Look Steph, I'm sorry ok, I'm just tired of it all," he said exasperated.
"So am I!" she screamed, "I hate this, I hate how I feel. I hate Chris Jericho!"
Hunter had waited far too long to hear those words, but now that they were here, it felt even better than imagined. He won the war. So much for Chris trying to take his girlfriend. In the end, like always, Hunter had won, and Stephanie was all his now, and he needn't worry about pissant, little blonde bitch.
"Good," he said, "Now we can move on."
"What?" she asked.
She had gotten so caught up in the moment that she hadn't known what she uttered until the words "I hate Chris Jericho," came out of her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that, she didn't really feel that way, but she just needed to let something out. She was pissed as all get out at the moment, and unlike Chris, she didn't want to fuck someone to keep from going over the edge.
"We can move on. You hate Chris, that's a good thing Steph."
"Yeah, I guess," she said, not even convincing herself, but Hunter seemed satisfied with her response.
"Look Steph, you were too good for him anyways. Stop worrying about it ok."
Truer words were never spoken and heard by her ears. She did need to stop thinking about it. She would just go along with Hunter. Hunter was here, Chris wasn't. Hunter had always stuck by her, and loved her, even when she didn't deserve his love. She did love him, and she could be happy with him. She just needed to let herself be taken care of by him.
"I love you Hunter," she said, hugging him tightly.
"I love you too," he told her, rubbing her back as a sneaky grin spread across his face.
"We'll be happy," she told him, "I promise you that."
"I don't doubt that, but there's something that would make me happier."
"What?" she asked.
He pulled away and pulled a box out of his back pocket. He was down on his knee in a flash, and Stephanie almost had a heart attack as she stood there. This couldn't be happening. She wasn't even ready to move in with this man and she knew what question was going to be asked in a few moments. She covered her mouth with her hand, anticipating the next moment.
"Steph, marry me. Make me happy, let me make you happy."
What did she have to lose? This would make her father happy, and Hunter happy, and yes, even herself, it would make happy. She knew if she were still friends with Chris that he would tell her that she was nuts for even considering saying yes to this proposal. But Chris was out of her life. She was starting a new life, the one post-Chris, where her decisions were hers alone and none of his fucking business. And what better way to start that off then to......
"Yes Hunter, I'll marry you."