Halo Over the Devil's Head

Chapter 4

"Wh-What?" Stephanie stuttered. Her mouth hung open, but she didn't close it. Her entire body was shaking, her body suddenly cold. "Y-You..." she took a step back, unable to speak anymore. It had been a stupid idea to come here. And what had she expected? She needed time to think.

And time to cry.

"Stephanie, I'm sorry, but—" Chris spoke calmly, as if he was talking to a child. She took another step back, her eyes wide and blinking furiously to quell the tears forming in her eyes.

"No, don't be sorry," she told him, her voice higher and louder than it needed to be. "You shouldn't be... Congratulations," she whispered, on the verge of tears once more, her voice cracking.

Chris walked forward, putting his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Listen to me. You came back to start something out of nothing." Stephanie sniffled and jerked away, but his grip was strong. "We had a physical relationship, and that's all it was. You wanted revenge on Hunter; I wasn't going to say no to sex." Even although she had told herself nearly those same words, they cut her deeply. "I'm not going to lie and say that once or twice I felt something, but once you got fired in that match, anything between us—physical and emotional—ended."

Stephanie jerked backwards, and this time felt his hands leave her shoulders. She couldn't be here anymore; staring into those now-uncaring eyes and listening to the words she never wanted to hear spew from his mouth. Chris just continued to stare at her, saying nothing. Stephanie turned on her heel, jerking the door open and running from his locker room into the hallway. As the door slammed behind her, she tried desperately to calm herself. If someone saw how distressed she was, the rumors would start flying...and that was one thing she definitely couldn't afford.

She inhaled deeply, focusing her mind away from the words that Chris said. It was a stupid idea to try, but she did anyway, walking quickly. Her car seemed miles away now. Stephanie continued walking, somewhere in the back of her mind cursing her outfit, her movement hampered by the heels strapped to her feet.

"Oh my God! Stephanie!" Stephanie looked up at the voice, and saw the one person she did not want to see again in her life: Trish Stratus. She forced her mouth to stay in a straight line, and tried not to break down. Trish rushed forward, hugging Stephanie, who didn't return the hug. The blonde was nice enough now, and under any other condition, Stephanie probably would've hugged her back. Still, engagement aside, Stephanie had never trusted Trish and never would. "Are you okay? I saw what happened to you out there!" Trish exclaimed. "But Chris saved you!" she added, barely giving Stephanie time to respond, "Isn't he great?" she gushed, "We're getting enga—hey, are you okay?" she stopped mid-sentence, seeing the look that crossed Stephanie's face.

"I'm not feeling so well," Stephanie whispered. "Call me and we can catch up later," she turned and walked off quickly. The fact that Trish didn't have her phone number was all the better for her. The brunette let her feet carry her down the hallways quickly, away from Chris, and away from Trish.

Her speed increased as she entered the parking lot. Stephanie dashed across the lanes as best she could. She felt the air pull her tears from her eyes and down her face as she opened the door to her car, sliding in quickly. With a shaking hand, she closed the door.

Surrounded by the comforting familiarity of the car, she let her head fall into her hands, and finally released the tears. There was no denying it any longer. She was in love with Chris Jericho, and he was as far out of love with her as it could get.

Trish Stratus had the one thing that Stephanie wanted in the world.

And it didn't look like she was giving him up anytime soon.

Author's Note: Okay, so a kind of lame, cheap chapter, but there's going to be a better one next, I promise! Well...I hope. There is upcoming evilness in the next chapter, or the one after that! Don't say I didn't warn you! Anyway, thanks to Y2J Chris Jericho, Tempestia, StephanieIrvine04, huntersgirl, kandiland, and DCFanatic04. Well, can't think of anything else to say, so I'm out! Please review!

-Liz

Eeee! Sorry I forgot, here's thanks to everyone else who reviewed the first and second chapter:

Erin

Twistd Heartz

stratusskittles316

lucyzigg

And all the others that I already mentioned! Thank you all so much!