They were currently flying at 32,000 feet on their way to Connecticut. The night before, the weather had finally died down until it was a light drizzle. When he had told Stephanie that they were leaving, her face had transformed into one of pure joy at the thought of finally being able to see her family again.
The night when they had left had been hard on him and emotional for his mother. He had never liked leaving his mom or dad, he always missed them and not knowing when he would see them again only made him feel worse. His mother had hugged him fiercely and had surprised Stephanie when she had done the same to her. She had looked at them both with tears in her eyes, knowing she would have to let her son go away yet again. She had then taken Stephanie's hand and told her in no uncertain terms that 'She was always welcome here with her son and that she was a very pleasant person to be around.' He chuckled as he remembered how Stephanie was left speechless. His father had hugged them both before they had gotten into the taxi, that then drove them to the airport.
Now here he sat in the aisle seat of the plane, with Stephanie's head resting on top of his shoulder, while she sat there silently watching the clouds that passed them by through the window. He looked down and smiled as he looked at there clasped hands. It had become second nature for them to reach out and hold the other's hand. Whether it was for no reason at all or if they just wanted to be close to each other, he had no complaints either way and he hoped Stephanie didn't either. She didn't seem to have any which he was glad of.
His life after their first kiss had been bliss for him. The kiss would be one of the moments he would treasure in his mind forever, because in that moment he had gotten everything he had ever dreamed about, and he wouldn't change it for the world.
Chris looked down at her and wondered what she was thinking. He bowed his head slightly and softly pressed his lips on to the top of her head. She smiled as she looked up at him. She moved slightly and brushed her lips against his. Chris moved his arm that she had been resting on and put it across her shoulders, and then pulled her closer to him. Stephanie sighed contently as she rested her head on top of Chris's chest. They sat there a while longer, in comfortable silence, with Chris gently running his fingers through Stephanie's long, silky brown hair.
"Thinking anything interesting Princess?" Chris whispered into the silence.
Stephanie shook her head telling him no against his chest.
"So you haven't wondered if the bathroom up there could hold two people in it then?" He whispered cheekily.
Stephanie laughed a his question.
"I can honestly say that hasn't crossed my mind, until now,"
"So what has been on your mind Steph?" He questioned.
Stephanie sighed and snuggled up to Chris some more.
"I was just thinking if my family will believe me when I tell them, and wondering if Shane is going to be there, will they accept you and will they ever forgive me after everything I have done to them?" Stephanie said and finished with a humorless laugh.
Chris tightened his hold on Stephanie, with both his hand and his arm wanting her to feel secure.
"Of course they'll believe you sweetie, all they have to do is look at you to realize all the pain he has put you through. I don't know if Shane will be there, he could be but we just have to see I guess. How can they not forgive you? It wasn't you who was doing that stuff, Hunter made you do it. I've gotten to know you a lot Steph and I know you wouldn't willingly do the things you did to your family. Whether they accept me or not doesn't really matter because no matter what they say I'm still gonna stay with you until you want me to leave," Chris explained to her.
Stephanie smiled and looked up at him.
"So you'll be around forever then?"
"Only if you'll have me," he told her seriously.
"Is there even any doubt that I wouldn't want you to be around me after all that you've done for me?" She asked Chris intently.
"I was just making sure Princess, I don't wanna be that far away from you anyway," he told her with a smile on his face when he looked down at her.
Stephanie smiled up at him also as she slowly moved up and captured his lips with hers, they were so involved in each other that they didn't notice the stewardess waiting patiently until she deliberately cleared her throat loudly to get their attention. They pulled away slowly and looked up sheepishly at her. The stewardess smiled at their antics.
"The Captain will be landing soon, can you please fasten your seat belts?" She instructed.
"Sure, we'll get right on that," Chris told her.
As she walked away, Stephanie moved from her comfortable spot on Chris and sat up straight and they did as they were told. About ten minutes later the wheels of the plane landed on the ground of the runway, and they had arrived in Stephanie's hometown of Hartford.
Once they got off the plane and collected their luggage, they headed out the doors and hailed a taxi cab and once Stephanie gave the driver the address they were on their way. Each time Chris looked over at Stephanie she appeared more and more nervous as she got closer to her home. He reached out his hand and took hers into his and gave it a gentle squeeze.
About twenty minutes later they pulled up to the gates of her house. Stephanie took in a deep breath to calm her nerves and exited the taxi, closely followed by Chris.
"Is it to late to get back in the taxi and go somewhere else?" Stephanie asked nervously.
Chris was just about to answer when the gates in front of them opened. It just showed that Vince had been watching for them and had seen them when they had pulled up.
"I'd say so Princess," Chris stated.
"Crap," Stephanie muttered as they lifted their bags from the ground and headed up the driveway towards the main entrance. When they finally reached it, the door opened just as Stephanie was reaching for the doorbell. There stood her father.
His face held a smile as he saw his daughter standing there, but once he saw who she was standing with his face clouded with confusion.
"Jericho? What the hell are you doing here?" Vince asked in a shocked voice.
"Me..I...well...you see..." Chris stuttered.
"He came with me Dad,"
"You, but...."
"Can we come in? I'll explain everything I Promise," Stephanie asked as she interrupted him.
"Yes, ok come in, your mother and Shane are already in the main room."
"Oh. Shane's here, I didn't know he was coming," Stephanie told him.
"Neither did your mother and I, he turned up last night and your mother told him that you called, so he decided to stay, so he could see you," Vince explained.
"Right."
Stephanie and Chris followed Vince as he lead them to where the rest of his family was waiting. As they entered the room, the surprise at seeing Chris with Stephanie was clearly seen on Linda and Shane's faces. As Stephanie looked around the room, her eyes settled on her mother, who was looking at her like she wanted to do nothing more than hug her daughter but wasn't sure how that would be received. As she looked at Shane she could see the conflict in his eyes, he loved his baby sister but was she to be trusted?
"Hi," Stephanie said to them meekly.
"Hello," they both replied at the same time.
Silence descended upon the room for a few minutes, until finally Vince asked the question they all wanted to know.
"Why is Chris Jericho with you Stephanie?"
"He...he helped me," Was all she said.
"Helped you do what exactly?" Shane asked curiously.
"I helped her get away from that asshole she calls a husband, that's what I did!" Chris explained to them forcefully.
"Hunter? Why did you need to get away from Hunter, Stephanie?" Linda asked with confusion.
Stephanie looked at them, they were looking at her expectantly, she didn't know if she could tell them, they wouldn't believe her, they would laugh in her face and call her stupid, they would.....
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a hand slip into her own, to give her strength to get through this. She looked towards Chris and smiled her thanks to him. She turned back towards her family and noticed them looking at her hand in Chris's, more confusion on their faces.
"I needed to get away from Hunter because he used me as his personal punching bag. Chris was walking past his dressing-room one night and heard him talking to me on the phone and then when I came back, he took me away from Hunter and we ended up staying with his parents. So Hunter couldn't find me," Stephanie explained to them.
"He did what to?" Vince asked with barely controlled rage. "He hit YOU! My daughter! How dare he?"
Stephanie looked at her father, she could tell he was just managing to control his anger towards what she had just told him. Her mother was looking at her with horror in her eye, her only daughter had been beaten. She noticed her mother get up and walk over to her, and then wrap her arms around her. She felt the tears come to her eyes and then spill over, Linda held her tighter and whispered comforting words into her ear.
Chris stood in the background, happy that Stephanie had the support she really needed. He observed Vince and how angry he was, but once he saw Stephanie crying, Chris noticed that his anger disappeared and he walked over to where his wife was holding her and also wrapped his arms around them, both giving her comfort. Once Stephanie's tears stopped Linda guided her over towards the sofa and sat her down next to her.
"How long has this been going on for Stephanie?" Shane asked.
"It started just after Kurt had that thing for me," Stephanie told him.
Shane's eyes widened, that was almost a year ago.
"That's nearly a YEAR! Why the hell didn't you get away sooner?" Shane asked outraged at the thought of Stephanie being harmed for that long.
"I tried, I really did, but I had no friends, we weren't on speaking terms and I had nowhere to go. I was stuck," Stephanie told him.
Shane looked at her, a sad smile came to his face. He walked over to where Stephanie was sitting and crouched down until he was eye to eye with her, he reached out his hand and placed it on her cheek.
"You know you could have always come to me, I'm your big brother, I'm meant to protect you. If I knew what was happening I would have never let him touch you. He would have been dead before he could even have thought of it again," He told her protectively.
Stephanie smiled at him and leaned forward and hugged him, he hugged her just as tightly, vowing then and there to always protect Stephanie like he should have before.
"We need to contact the police and tell them so they can throw Hunter's ass in jail," Vince told them.
"Daddy no, It's over now, he can't hurt me anymore," Stephanie told him.
"Stephanie," He said, but as he looked at her he knew there was no arguing with her, she would get her way. "Fine, but when I see him again it won't be pretty and he can kiss his title goodbye, he'll never have that again. Ever," Vince told her darkly.
Vince turned and looked at Chris, and noticed that he was looking purely at Stephanie. What was happening there he wondered.
"Jericho," Vince's voiced boomed and caused Chris to jump slightly.
"Yes sir?" Chris asked as he stood up when he saw Vince was walking towards him.
When Vince stopped in front of him he stuck out his hand, Chris looked down at it in confusion and cautiously stuck his hand out there to. Vince then grabbed it and shook his hand.
"Thank you," Vince said sincerely, "For what you did for my daughter, I owe you."
"That's ok sir, you don't owe me anything, I just want Stephanie to be safe and happy," Chris explained.
Vince looked surprised, but kept his mouth closed. Stephanie came over and stood close to Chris, where Chris unconsciously place his hand on the base of Stephanie's back.
"Daddy, it's late and we had a long plane ride, so I'm just going to go to bed, is that ok?" Stephanie asked.
"That's fine sweetheart, I'll get someone to set-up the guest-room for Jericho."
"That's not necessary dad, Chris can share with me," Stephanie told him, when she saw the look on his face, she explained further, "It's I just feel safer when he's with me after all that's happened."
Vince clearly didn't like the situation, but he remained quiet.
"OK, I guess I'll see you in the morning"
"Yeah," Stephanie replied as she hugged her father, "Goodnight everyone."
"Goodnight Steph," was what she heard as her and Chris climbed the stairs that lead to her room.
=
Once they entered her room Chris engulfed Stephanie into a huge hug. He sighed peacefully as he held her in his arms.
"See that wasn't so bad now was it Princess?" Chris asked her.
"No, no it wasn't," Stephanie told him, "Thank you for telling me to call them, I wouldn't have done it otherwise. I finally have my family back, and it's all because of you."
"My pleasure," He replied as he walked with her towards her bed. "You need sleep Princess, you look like death," he told her with a chuckle.
Stephanie gave him a mock-glare.
"Why thank you for your wonderful insight Jericho."
"You know I'm joking," He said as he lifted her off her feet and then lay on the bed with her. "You know I think you look wonderful," he encircled he with his arms and pulled her close. "I always have, always will," He kissed her cheek and lay his on the pillow. "Because I love you." He heard her mumble something and he saw that her eyes were closed. He gave a snort of laughter. He had just told her his feelings and she was sleeping, way to go Jericho, he thought.
He smiled. No worries he told himself, I'll tell her soon, when she's actually awake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So what do you guys think so far any good? Review and tell me what you all think
Jodi :D
The night when they had left had been hard on him and emotional for his mother. He had never liked leaving his mom or dad, he always missed them and not knowing when he would see them again only made him feel worse. His mother had hugged him fiercely and had surprised Stephanie when she had done the same to her. She had looked at them both with tears in her eyes, knowing she would have to let her son go away yet again. She had then taken Stephanie's hand and told her in no uncertain terms that 'She was always welcome here with her son and that she was a very pleasant person to be around.' He chuckled as he remembered how Stephanie was left speechless. His father had hugged them both before they had gotten into the taxi, that then drove them to the airport.
Now here he sat in the aisle seat of the plane, with Stephanie's head resting on top of his shoulder, while she sat there silently watching the clouds that passed them by through the window. He looked down and smiled as he looked at there clasped hands. It had become second nature for them to reach out and hold the other's hand. Whether it was for no reason at all or if they just wanted to be close to each other, he had no complaints either way and he hoped Stephanie didn't either. She didn't seem to have any which he was glad of.
His life after their first kiss had been bliss for him. The kiss would be one of the moments he would treasure in his mind forever, because in that moment he had gotten everything he had ever dreamed about, and he wouldn't change it for the world.
Chris looked down at her and wondered what she was thinking. He bowed his head slightly and softly pressed his lips on to the top of her head. She smiled as she looked up at him. She moved slightly and brushed her lips against his. Chris moved his arm that she had been resting on and put it across her shoulders, and then pulled her closer to him. Stephanie sighed contently as she rested her head on top of Chris's chest. They sat there a while longer, in comfortable silence, with Chris gently running his fingers through Stephanie's long, silky brown hair.
"Thinking anything interesting Princess?" Chris whispered into the silence.
Stephanie shook her head telling him no against his chest.
"So you haven't wondered if the bathroom up there could hold two people in it then?" He whispered cheekily.
Stephanie laughed a his question.
"I can honestly say that hasn't crossed my mind, until now,"
"So what has been on your mind Steph?" He questioned.
Stephanie sighed and snuggled up to Chris some more.
"I was just thinking if my family will believe me when I tell them, and wondering if Shane is going to be there, will they accept you and will they ever forgive me after everything I have done to them?" Stephanie said and finished with a humorless laugh.
Chris tightened his hold on Stephanie, with both his hand and his arm wanting her to feel secure.
"Of course they'll believe you sweetie, all they have to do is look at you to realize all the pain he has put you through. I don't know if Shane will be there, he could be but we just have to see I guess. How can they not forgive you? It wasn't you who was doing that stuff, Hunter made you do it. I've gotten to know you a lot Steph and I know you wouldn't willingly do the things you did to your family. Whether they accept me or not doesn't really matter because no matter what they say I'm still gonna stay with you until you want me to leave," Chris explained to her.
Stephanie smiled and looked up at him.
"So you'll be around forever then?"
"Only if you'll have me," he told her seriously.
"Is there even any doubt that I wouldn't want you to be around me after all that you've done for me?" She asked Chris intently.
"I was just making sure Princess, I don't wanna be that far away from you anyway," he told her with a smile on his face when he looked down at her.
Stephanie smiled up at him also as she slowly moved up and captured his lips with hers, they were so involved in each other that they didn't notice the stewardess waiting patiently until she deliberately cleared her throat loudly to get their attention. They pulled away slowly and looked up sheepishly at her. The stewardess smiled at their antics.
"The Captain will be landing soon, can you please fasten your seat belts?" She instructed.
"Sure, we'll get right on that," Chris told her.
As she walked away, Stephanie moved from her comfortable spot on Chris and sat up straight and they did as they were told. About ten minutes later the wheels of the plane landed on the ground of the runway, and they had arrived in Stephanie's hometown of Hartford.
Once they got off the plane and collected their luggage, they headed out the doors and hailed a taxi cab and once Stephanie gave the driver the address they were on their way. Each time Chris looked over at Stephanie she appeared more and more nervous as she got closer to her home. He reached out his hand and took hers into his and gave it a gentle squeeze.
About twenty minutes later they pulled up to the gates of her house. Stephanie took in a deep breath to calm her nerves and exited the taxi, closely followed by Chris.
"Is it to late to get back in the taxi and go somewhere else?" Stephanie asked nervously.
Chris was just about to answer when the gates in front of them opened. It just showed that Vince had been watching for them and had seen them when they had pulled up.
"I'd say so Princess," Chris stated.
"Crap," Stephanie muttered as they lifted their bags from the ground and headed up the driveway towards the main entrance. When they finally reached it, the door opened just as Stephanie was reaching for the doorbell. There stood her father.
His face held a smile as he saw his daughter standing there, but once he saw who she was standing with his face clouded with confusion.
"Jericho? What the hell are you doing here?" Vince asked in a shocked voice.
"Me..I...well...you see..." Chris stuttered.
"He came with me Dad,"
"You, but...."
"Can we come in? I'll explain everything I Promise," Stephanie asked as she interrupted him.
"Yes, ok come in, your mother and Shane are already in the main room."
"Oh. Shane's here, I didn't know he was coming," Stephanie told him.
"Neither did your mother and I, he turned up last night and your mother told him that you called, so he decided to stay, so he could see you," Vince explained.
"Right."
Stephanie and Chris followed Vince as he lead them to where the rest of his family was waiting. As they entered the room, the surprise at seeing Chris with Stephanie was clearly seen on Linda and Shane's faces. As Stephanie looked around the room, her eyes settled on her mother, who was looking at her like she wanted to do nothing more than hug her daughter but wasn't sure how that would be received. As she looked at Shane she could see the conflict in his eyes, he loved his baby sister but was she to be trusted?
"Hi," Stephanie said to them meekly.
"Hello," they both replied at the same time.
Silence descended upon the room for a few minutes, until finally Vince asked the question they all wanted to know.
"Why is Chris Jericho with you Stephanie?"
"He...he helped me," Was all she said.
"Helped you do what exactly?" Shane asked curiously.
"I helped her get away from that asshole she calls a husband, that's what I did!" Chris explained to them forcefully.
"Hunter? Why did you need to get away from Hunter, Stephanie?" Linda asked with confusion.
Stephanie looked at them, they were looking at her expectantly, she didn't know if she could tell them, they wouldn't believe her, they would laugh in her face and call her stupid, they would.....
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a hand slip into her own, to give her strength to get through this. She looked towards Chris and smiled her thanks to him. She turned back towards her family and noticed them looking at her hand in Chris's, more confusion on their faces.
"I needed to get away from Hunter because he used me as his personal punching bag. Chris was walking past his dressing-room one night and heard him talking to me on the phone and then when I came back, he took me away from Hunter and we ended up staying with his parents. So Hunter couldn't find me," Stephanie explained to them.
"He did what to?" Vince asked with barely controlled rage. "He hit YOU! My daughter! How dare he?"
Stephanie looked at her father, she could tell he was just managing to control his anger towards what she had just told him. Her mother was looking at her with horror in her eye, her only daughter had been beaten. She noticed her mother get up and walk over to her, and then wrap her arms around her. She felt the tears come to her eyes and then spill over, Linda held her tighter and whispered comforting words into her ear.
Chris stood in the background, happy that Stephanie had the support she really needed. He observed Vince and how angry he was, but once he saw Stephanie crying, Chris noticed that his anger disappeared and he walked over to where his wife was holding her and also wrapped his arms around them, both giving her comfort. Once Stephanie's tears stopped Linda guided her over towards the sofa and sat her down next to her.
"How long has this been going on for Stephanie?" Shane asked.
"It started just after Kurt had that thing for me," Stephanie told him.
Shane's eyes widened, that was almost a year ago.
"That's nearly a YEAR! Why the hell didn't you get away sooner?" Shane asked outraged at the thought of Stephanie being harmed for that long.
"I tried, I really did, but I had no friends, we weren't on speaking terms and I had nowhere to go. I was stuck," Stephanie told him.
Shane looked at her, a sad smile came to his face. He walked over to where Stephanie was sitting and crouched down until he was eye to eye with her, he reached out his hand and placed it on her cheek.
"You know you could have always come to me, I'm your big brother, I'm meant to protect you. If I knew what was happening I would have never let him touch you. He would have been dead before he could even have thought of it again," He told her protectively.
Stephanie smiled at him and leaned forward and hugged him, he hugged her just as tightly, vowing then and there to always protect Stephanie like he should have before.
"We need to contact the police and tell them so they can throw Hunter's ass in jail," Vince told them.
"Daddy no, It's over now, he can't hurt me anymore," Stephanie told him.
"Stephanie," He said, but as he looked at her he knew there was no arguing with her, she would get her way. "Fine, but when I see him again it won't be pretty and he can kiss his title goodbye, he'll never have that again. Ever," Vince told her darkly.
Vince turned and looked at Chris, and noticed that he was looking purely at Stephanie. What was happening there he wondered.
"Jericho," Vince's voiced boomed and caused Chris to jump slightly.
"Yes sir?" Chris asked as he stood up when he saw Vince was walking towards him.
When Vince stopped in front of him he stuck out his hand, Chris looked down at it in confusion and cautiously stuck his hand out there to. Vince then grabbed it and shook his hand.
"Thank you," Vince said sincerely, "For what you did for my daughter, I owe you."
"That's ok sir, you don't owe me anything, I just want Stephanie to be safe and happy," Chris explained.
Vince looked surprised, but kept his mouth closed. Stephanie came over and stood close to Chris, where Chris unconsciously place his hand on the base of Stephanie's back.
"Daddy, it's late and we had a long plane ride, so I'm just going to go to bed, is that ok?" Stephanie asked.
"That's fine sweetheart, I'll get someone to set-up the guest-room for Jericho."
"That's not necessary dad, Chris can share with me," Stephanie told him, when she saw the look on his face, she explained further, "It's I just feel safer when he's with me after all that's happened."
Vince clearly didn't like the situation, but he remained quiet.
"OK, I guess I'll see you in the morning"
"Yeah," Stephanie replied as she hugged her father, "Goodnight everyone."
"Goodnight Steph," was what she heard as her and Chris climbed the stairs that lead to her room.
=
Once they entered her room Chris engulfed Stephanie into a huge hug. He sighed peacefully as he held her in his arms.
"See that wasn't so bad now was it Princess?" Chris asked her.
"No, no it wasn't," Stephanie told him, "Thank you for telling me to call them, I wouldn't have done it otherwise. I finally have my family back, and it's all because of you."
"My pleasure," He replied as he walked with her towards her bed. "You need sleep Princess, you look like death," he told her with a chuckle.
Stephanie gave him a mock-glare.
"Why thank you for your wonderful insight Jericho."
"You know I'm joking," He said as he lifted her off her feet and then lay on the bed with her. "You know I think you look wonderful," he encircled he with his arms and pulled her close. "I always have, always will," He kissed her cheek and lay his on the pillow. "Because I love you." He heard her mumble something and he saw that her eyes were closed. He gave a snort of laughter. He had just told her his feelings and she was sleeping, way to go Jericho, he thought.
He smiled. No worries he told himself, I'll tell her soon, when she's actually awake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So what do you guys think so far any good? Review and tell me what you all think
Jodi :D