PART FIVE
AT A CLUB
Chris sat at the bar of the club, talking with Adam. Neither of them were big dancers, unless they had a lot of liquor poured in them. Seeing as how they were both on their third beer, they weren't quite drunk enough yet to be planning on dancing.
"So, you think Elisabeth likes being on the road with us?" Adam asked, taking another sip of his drink. He was beginning to wonder if she had grown tired of all of them yet. They weren't always the easiest people to put up with.
"Oh yeah, she loves it here," Chris replied.
"Really?" Adam asked, a hint of surprise in his tone. "You mean she isn't sick of all of us yet?" Laughing quietly, Chris shook his head.
"I guess not. That is kind of surprising though. We usually scare the guests away by now," he said. Adam grinned, nodding in agreement. Then, Chris's expression grew serious.
"Really though, I'm glad she agreed to come on the road with us. She's never really been away from home without her family, and even then she's never went that far. When her dad died, she really needed to get out of there, I could just tell. Jay and I just figured that the best way she could do that – and still be around some familiar faces – was to come on the road with us." Adam nodded solemnly.
"That's really cool of you guys," he commented. "And you're right, it has been really good for her. She's fitting in so well with everyone, especially Trish." He paused, gesturing out to the two women on the dance floor. Over the past few weeks, they had become practically inseparable. Adam couldn't remember the last time he'd seen them apart. "And I know I didn't know her that well when we were younger, but she's come out of her shell so much since she came here."
Chris turned in his seat, searching for Elisabeth on the dance floor. When he found her, he grinned and shook his head. She, Trish, and Amy were out there alright, and the three of them were break dancing in a very white manner. Adam and Chris watched as Jay approached them and called something into Elisabeth's ear, placing his hands on her shoulders as he did so. At first, she looked at him like he was insane, but then her face broke into a huge grin and she nodded. Jay stepped back, pulling Amy and Trish with him. Neither Adam no Chris could hold back their laughter as Elisabeth dropped to the floor, performing her own unique version of Booker T's Spinaroonie.
"Oh yeah," Chris agreed. "She's losing her shyness by the drink." He had been watching over Elisabeth during the course of the night – that whole 'big brother' thing really kicked in when they went out to clubs – and he had noticed that since they all had arrived she had downed five margaritas. It was a pretty safe bet that her antics were a result of the liquor, not her becoming less shy. Adam smiled, shaking his head as he turned back to the bar. A couple minutes later, his vision went black as a pair of hands wrapped around his face and covered his eyes. When he heard a giggle, he pulled the hands away and turned around, meeting Elisabeth's emerald eyes. She grinned widely at him, cracking him as he sent her a look of mock anger. A moment later, Trish stepped out from behind her, placing her hands on the young woman's shoulders.
"She's just a *little* tipsy," she said laughing, explaining her friend's actions.
"A little?" Chris asked. He grinned at Trish, shaking his head. "Trish, are you getting one of my dearest friends drunk for your own cheap amusement?" Trish widened her eyes, making the most innocent face possible.
"Who, me? I would never *think* of such a thing!" she insisted, though her tone wasn't convincing in the least. Chris set his gaze on Elisabeth, frowning as he watched her stumble, nearing falling into Adam's lap. Adam prevented her from doing so, catching her arm and holding her up before she could topple over.
"You know what?" Chris said, his tone becoming serious again. "Maybe I should take her back to the hotel soon. I don't want her to fall on her face or anything." Trish laughed at his statement, but she understood his concern.
"Fine Dad," she replied, pouting playfully. "Just give us like twenty more minutes." Rolling his eyes, Chris sighed.
"Oh, fine… twenty more minutes. But don't give her anything to drink." Trish nodded, grabbing Elisabeth's arm and pulling her away from Adam and back onto the dance floor.
Once they were back out there, the two of them picked up where they left off, dancing all over the floor. At one point, Trish glanced up and noticed that she was by herself. Elisabeth had disappeared. Hiding in the wave of people on the floor, Trish searched frantically for her friend. If Chris found out that she'd let his drunk friend wander away by herself, he would have her head for it.
"Lis!" she called out, her eyes still scanning the club for her. She almost began to panic, but she calmed down measurably when she spotted her, standing near the wall by the entrance. She was talking and laughing, and for her sake, Trish hoped she wasn't so drunk that she was talking to herself. As she approached her, she sighed with relief, noticing that Shawn Michaels was standing with her.
"Hey Lis, you want to not walk away from me like that again? I had no idea where you were," she said, stepping up to her. Elisabeth rolled her eyes.
"Sorry Mommy," she said, grinning. "You sound exactly like Chris." It was Trish's turn to roll her eyes. She shook her head, turning and acknowledging the man next to her.
"Hey Shawn!" she said cheerily. "How are you?"
"I'm good Trish, how bout you?" he replied, smiling down at her.
"Great," Trish nodded, glancing over at Elisabeth, who was staring wide eyed at Shawn. Trish sighed, hoping that she didn't do anything that she would regret later. "I'm going to head back out there and see if I can find Jay," she said. "Talk to you guys later. Remember Lis, we're leaving soon." When the Canadian diva walked away, Shawn frowned.
"Aw, you're leaving soon? We just got here," he said disappointedly. Elisabeth nodded.
"Yes, unfortunately my father over there," she said, pausing and pointing to Chris over at the bar, "thinks that it's about near my bedtime." Shawn laughed as he turned and glanced over at Chris.
"Oh, I see. He's really protective over you, isn't he?" he asked, turning back to her.
"Oh yeah, him and Jay both. It's cute sometimes, but sometimes they're…" Elisabeth replied, trailing off as a second man approached them. Shawn turned to see what she was looking at, and he was met with the hazel eyes of Paul Levesque.
"Hey Paul," Shawn called to his friend, who had just returned from making a trip to the bathroom.
"Hey Shawn. Steph and I are going to head to the bar to grab something to drink, you want to come?" he asked, pointing over at his fiancé who was standing by the bar.
"Actually, I think I'm going to stay here and talk to Elisabeth for a little while," Shawn replied, gesturing to the young woman standing next to him. Ignoring the wave Elisabeth sent him, Paul spoke again.
"Well, do you want anything?" he offered. Shawn shrugged, and then shook his head, deciding that he wasn't all that thirsty. Paul shrugged and walked away, once again ignoring Elisabeth completely as he walked off to go meet up with Stephanie.
"Oh no, I don't want a drink Paul, thanks for offering," Elisabeth shot bitterly.
"Woah, someone's a little feisty tonight," Shawn commented, grinning at her. She didn't have that fire in her tone the last time the two of them had spoken. Elisabeth shook her head, snapping out of her angry daze.
"I'm sorry about that… I just don't like being ignored," she said truthfully.
"I understand. Paul can be oblivious to other people sometimes, I know that," Shawn replied. The two of them stood around and talked for a little while. After a few minutes a slow song played through out the club. Elisabeth glanced around as couples across the dance floor grabbed their partner and pulled together. She turned back to Shawn, who placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, you wanna dance?" he asked, grinning at her hopefully.
"Sure, why not?" Elisabeth agreed, taking his hand and leading him to the floor.
Once they reached the floor, Shawn wrapped his arms around her slender waist, pulling her to him. As the song played on, Elisabeth looked up at him. She couldn't believe that she was actually dancing with Shawn Michaels, a man who's entrance music she used to run around her house singing at the top of her lungs when no one was home. He grinned down at her, causing her – even her overconfident, drunken state – to blush. God, he was beautiful. She wondered why he had asked her to dance. Was there any possibility that he felt the same way she did? Her guess was no… after all, he was probably just being friendly. Trish had told her that he was a very friendly guy. Still, as they locked eyes, she felt as though she were connected to him. Everything clicked, and there was nowhere in the world she would rather have been at the moment. The overconfidence consuming her yet again, she leaned up and did something that she never in a million years thought she would ever do…
She kissed him.
*Gasp* A kiss? LOL, let me know what you thought of that!!