Chapter Eighteen: Stratification: Words of Wisdom From Trish

A/N: This is a very revised version of the other ch. 18 I just posted. I reread both 18 and 19 and just about died, so I removed them and wrote this. A rewritten 19 is on it's way. Me, cold meds, and fan fiction do not mix well, let me tell ya. So, sorry about that. I hope you find this and the next one are better. Thanks and enjoy.

Kali walked slowly out of her room, and down the hall to the elevator. She was on her way to the hotel gym, but her thoughts were far from working out. For the past two weeks, she had been anticipating this day. Dave was coming back from his vacation, and while she couldn't wait to see him again, part of her was dreading it.

She rode the elevator to the bottom floor and met Trish in front of the front desk. "You look like you've got a lot on your mind," Trish commented as they walked to the gym, "is it Dave?"

"Yeah," Kali said with a nod, "he's coming back today."

"That's a good thing, right?" Trish asked.

"I think so, mostly," Kali sighed.

"Okay, what's going on between the two of you?" Trish asked stopping her, "I mean I've heard what Randy has said, but I want to hear it from you."

"I don't know, that's just it. There are definitely feelings, but … it's just really complicated," Kali answered.

"Yeah, well love usually is."

"What did you say?" Kali asked, completely shocked.

"Oh, don't try to tell me that's not what it is. I've seen how you both look at each other," Trish said, rolling her eyes at Kali. "You love him, simple as that. And he loves you, why else do you think he beats the shit out of Randy every time he sees him?" Trish looked knowingly at her friend before walking ahead of her into the gym.

"Thanks for telling me how I feel, Trish," Kali called, following after her.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Trish replied with a smile.

xxxxx

Dave didn't even bother to check into his room upon arriving at the hotel. He gave his bag to Hunter and set off to find the gym. He stopped just outside the double doors that led into the room, and took a breath, gathering his courage. He pushed through into the large, open room that was full of many different kinds of exercise equipment. He found Kali easily, as she and Trish were the only two people in the gym. Kali had her back to him, facing Trish while they did more talking than working out.

He walked to them with quick, but quiet strides. Kali was laughing about something Trish had said, he could hear her. He stopped a few feet away, and watched them until, finally, Trish, who was facing him, noticed he was there.

xxxxx

"Aren't you signing your contract today?" Trish asked as the two girls began their stretching a blue mat in the corner of the room.

"Yeah," Kali answered, "I have a meeting with Vince tonight at the arena."

" Really? And what show will you be signing to?" Trish asked.

"What do you think?" Kali returned, smirking at her friend.

"You know where I want you to go," Trish replied, "I want you on RAW. I haven't spent these past few months training you so just could go to Smackdown and be in lingerie pillow fights." Kali smiled at that.

"Well, thank you," she said.

"And besides, I need some new blood to compete for the title," Trish added.

"Oh, I'm honored you consider me to be in your league Ms. Stratus," Kali said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well if you really want to make me happy, you'll answer my damn question," Trish insisted, "I'm tired of all of this secrecy. Sara knows, right?"

"Yeah," Kali said, nodding, "Sara's known for a while."

"Well, then, damnit, tell me, I'm your friend and your trainer for crying out loud! She's just your sister!" Trish exclaimed, making Kali laugh.

"Alright!" Kali cried. "well, all things considered, I think it's just best for me to-"

"Dave's here," Trish said, interrupting her, and pointing over Kali's shoulder.

"What?" Kali asked, looking confused, and then turning around to see him standing a few feet away.

xxxxx

Dave felt so unbelievably nervous, standing there looking at Kali. Until that moment, he hadn't realized exactly how much he had missed her in those two weeks he had been gone. "Hi," he said simply.

"Hi," she replied quietly. "Could you leave us alone?" she asked Trish, turning to look back at her friend.

"Yeah," Trish replied nodding , "I'm just gonna go, so…we can finish this later." She gathered up her things and made her way to the door, giving Dave a small smile as she walked past.

Kali followed Trish with her eyes until she was gone, before looking back up at Dave. She crossed her arms across her chest and frowned up at him. "Kali, I-" He tried, but she stopped, taking the small distance between them in one large stride, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his face to hers in a passionate kiss. He was taken by surprise at first, but returned the kiss nonetheless. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up in his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to stumble forward. They tripped over an exercise bike and fell back onto the mat where Trish and Kali had been stretching only moments before, Dave landing on top of her.

Dave pushed himself up, and looked down at her laughing face. "I'm sorry," she said, "I think I just really missed you."

"You think so, huh?" he asked, helping her to sit up.

"Yeah," she replied, "so, I'm sorry for what I just did."

"No, don't be," he said, shaking his head. "I've been thinking about doing that during my whole vacation." He saw her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink at what he said.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here, Dave?" she asked as she stood up. "I mean, I know why you're here, this is you're hotel, but why are you here now? With me?"

"I came to find because I just talked to Hunter, and we need to talk, Kali, about a lot of things. Simple as that," he answered, "We've been dancing around this since the night we met, and it's time we actually say what needs to be said." She smiled at his directness.

"Okay. Well, do you want to go for a walk or something?"

A/N: Alright, so there it is, my new ch. 18 I like it a lot more, cause as far as I'm concerned, that other one just seemed to come out of left field. Anyways, I hope you like it. Thanks for all the reviews everyone, I've never ever had so many on any of my other stories. You're the bestest in the whole entire world. And I hope you can all forgive my previous delusional/cold induced weird writing. Thanks!

Tanfalath