Her Head v. Her Heart

A/N: Just a quick note about this chapter - I really wanted to bring Dave's daughters into this story, but I don't know their names. So I'm only referring to them with pronouns. I hope that doesn't throw anyone off, but I'm not into making up names for people that really exist. Even if I don't own them. (That was my sneaky disclaimer, for anyone who might have missed it.) Also, I've gotten a couple more votes for Batista, and a couple more for Cena since the last chapter. Keep lettin' me know - I really am torn on how this thing is going to end. You have five more chapters to let me know what you think!

"So," Lita asked as she entered the Divas locker room before the taping. Stacy was applying eyeliner and Trish was stretching her arms over her head. "What's new with you guys?" she asked innocently, dropping her bag on the floor beside her locker. Neither of her friends answered her. "Stace?"

Turning in her seat, the statuesque blonde rolled her eyes and put her mascara tube down. "Nothing happened with Dave, Lita," she stated evenly. She let her eyes flit to Trish, but tried not to focus on the death glares her friend would be shooting. Regardless of what she had professed at the bar, Stacy knew that the Canadian would not be cool with her hooking up with the Animal himself. "He drove me back to the hotel, we talked for a few hours, and then he went back to his room," she added.

"Have you seen Randy since?" Trish asked, sounding completely disinterested.

With a huff, the Babe of the Year stood and moved to her own duffle bag, rifling for something. "He left me a couple of messages, but I'm not interested," she shook her head to prove her point, but then noticed the raised eyebrows of both her friends. "Alright, fine. I'm trying to play hard to get. Dave said that Randy is only interested in what he can't have, so I have to pretend like I'm not interested in order to get him to be interested," she explained.

Lita shook her head and blinked her eyes twice. "What the hell?" she asked, her mouth falling open. "Are you drunk?" she asked, trying to wrap her head around the run-on sentence Stacy had just spewed.

With a shake of her blonde hair, Stacy shrugged and sank back to her seat, looking at her friends. "I don't know what to do, you guys. I mean, part of me just wants to let it all go and realize that it's never going to be what I want it to be." A look of indignation clouded her face. "But where am I ever going to meet anyone else? No one in the locker room will date me now – I mean, Dave said they all take that 'bros before ho's' bull really seriously," she pouted.

"That shit really burns me up," Lita huffed. "It's like sayin' that we have no right to be with whoever we want to be with. That's like them saying that they get to control who we date for the rest of our lives. But God forbid, if you told Orton to stay away from one of us," she sank her fist into a locker.

Trish, who had been off in her own world, jumped at the sound of her friend's punch. "Settle the fuck down," she snapped without thinking.

"What's up your ass?" Stacy asked, now ready to head out to the ring.

She zipped her gym bag and kicked it against the wall. "I'm tired," she lied. "And I'd really rather not be here tonight," she added, truthfully this time.

"Seriously?" Lita asked. She had known Trish for a long time now, and she had never known her friend to not want to work a crowd. She had never known her heart not to be in the ring, even when her personal life was in upheaval.

With a shrug, Trish moved toward the door. "Just in a funk," she answered, moving past both of them and into the hall. It wasn't that anything was wrong – she was just having a hard time feeling like anything was right. It was just that overwhelming feeling that something bad was about to happen, or something not good, at the very least.

"TRISH!" The high-pitched voice hit her ears and she knew that immediately that this was the reason for her feeling. "HEY, STRATUS!"

Turning on her heel, Trish plastered on a smile as Dave's youngest daughter came barreling toward her, launching her petite, twelve-year-old body into her father's ex-girlfriend's arms. "Hey, Sweetie," she smiled in spite of herself as she looked over the young girl's head for any sign of salvation.

"We were here, like, forever ago!" the little girl's eyes were wide with exasperation. "Dad said not to bother you," she put her hands on her hips and shook her head as though her dad was the lamest person in the world.

Trish looked her over, grinning at the Stratusfaction shirt she was sporting. "I didn't know you guys were comin' this weekend," she said, trying to regain her footing as the young girl's father and older sister rounded the corner.

"Sorry," Dave laughed, reaching his large hand out to reign his youngest in. "I told you to leave Trish alone until later," he reminded.

Her huge brown eyes took on a defiant look that made Trish smile and bite her lip. "Dad, she was coming out of the locker room. I wasn't interrupting. Was I interrupting you, Trish?"

All she could do was shake her head and bite her fingernail, but the laugh bubbled out before she had a chance to stop it. "It's fine, Dave," she assured him. He looked exhausted, and she had no doubt that he was. Every time he was on "dad" duty, it wore him out.

Dave watched his ex-girlfriend as his daughters swarmed her and began asking her a hundred questions about how she had been and what she had been up to. He knew that they would have to learn the truth on this visit – the truth he had hidden for the last two months. They still thought she was his girlfriend, that she was going to marry their dad someday and be their new step-mom. Sometimes, he still thought it. Telling them the truth meant accepting it for himself, and he just wasn't ready to do that yet.

"So, when we go back to the hotel, can we do facials like last time?" his older daughter asked.

Trish flinched slightly, but never looked to Dave for an explanation. He hadn't told them yet. And until he did, she would have to play along with the charade – it was not her job to tell his kids that their relationship was over. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears and put an arm around each girls' shoulders, leading them away from their father, down the hall. "We'll do facials, eat junk food, and watch movies that your dad hates. How's that sound?"

Dave felt like he was going to vomit as he watched them walk away, planning their evening happily. But before he could turn to find the nearest bathroom, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Dude, I know you want her back, but isn't pulling the "kid card" kinda low?"

Turning, Dave's shoulders slumped when he saw Randy standing behind him. "I wasn't trying to get her back. Angie had some stuff to do, so she called me last week and asked if the girls could fly out for their summer visit a little early. I just haven't had time to tell them that I'm not dating Trish anymore," he answered guiltily.

"I bet he'll be happy to tell them," Randy nodded to where Trish was introducing the girls to John. He seemed confused, but smiled and flirted and charmed them with the same charisma he gave everyone else. "So, enough about you," the younger man clapped his hands together and crossed his arms.

"Stacy's sick of your bull shit. And I'm startin' to agree," Dave growled angrily.

Telling John it was okay for him to date Trish was one thing. But now the guy had his kids thinkin' he was the shit, too. He wasn't sure that any friendship was strong enough to support the kick his ego was taking at the moment.

He turned on his heel and stalked back toward the locker room, leaving Randy to pout alone. He hadn't planned it, but he sure as hell wasn't going to fight it if his girls could succeed in doing the one thing he couldn't – bringing his love back to him.