Chapter 10

Stacy moaned and shuffled slightly in her sleep, startling Randy with her sudden movement. The young man let out a sigh through his parted lips as his mind overflowed with the thoughts that engulfed the once-present emptiness. All the thinking eventually began to blur his vision as his eyes began to droop.

"Randy?" Stacy whispered as Randy snapped back to reality.

"Hey, sweetie. Hope I didn't wake you."

"Oh, no, no. Did you get some sleep?"

"Yeah, I did need a bit of rest. You were right, of course," Randy admitted with a charming chuckle.

A period of comfortable silence filled the room for several moments. Only the whirring hums from the machines surrounding the bed could be heard, until Stacy's soft and slightly sleepy voice shattered the peace.

"You know," she began, her eyes focused on her hands, "I never properly thanked you for what you did for me."

"It's no big deal, really," replied Randy, meaning every word he said. Even after such a short time, he felt as if he'd do anything for this girl.

"No, Randy, it is. You have no idea what hell I've had to live through," Stacy protested. As the tears pricked at her chocolate brown eyes, she slowly and carefully picked the right words to explain her previous statement. "I was treated like a piece of his property, someone Scott could boss around and use for his amusement as he pleased. Lita's really the only one who knows all the details, because she's the only one it seems I can trust. Do you know how impossibly difficult it is to try to live your life on your own with no help and no friends? To live without someone who truly loves you and cares for you… Even my own parents wouldn't agree to help!" Stacy cried as her true emotions revealed themselves. There was a mixture of anger, hatred, and sorrow that had been bottled up inside her for too long. It'd been destroying her on the inside and it wasn't something she could keep bottled up any longer without going insane.

Randy immediately rose up from his chair, walking to Stacy's bed. He sat down beside her, taking her petite hand in his own, wiping away her stray tears with the other.

"And I even feel guilty," she managed to utter between the sobs that constantly got caught in her throat, "that you have to go through this for me. I'm not worth all the trouble, Randy. I mean, Scott… Scott could kill you just to get back what is 'rightfully his.'"

Randy gazed at Stacy, his eyes full of shock and outrage. Stacy's tremendously low self-esteem left him completely speechless, his mind blank. Someone had to talk some sense into her, and apparently it would be him.

"Stacy, don't you see what Scott's done? Look at you, talking about yourself as if you're completely insignificant. Honey, don't you understand how he's made you think?" Randy inquired as Stacy turned her head in an ashamed manner. "Stacy, look at me. You can't go on like this, you really can't. And even though you won't be able to see it for a while, this will change. Look at you, I mean, the expression on your face alone is pitiful. Baby, you need to forget anything that jerk has said about you. You're going to need to take a good look at yourself in the mirror and decide what you see, not what he's told you you're supposed to see."

Stacy sighed with surrender and answered honestly to Randy's accusation.

"Actually, I realized that a while ago, and I didn't do anything about it. I know it was the wrong choice to make, but it's kind of hard when you're constantly reminded of your imperfections. The littlest thing doesn't look exactly right, and suddenly I start criticizing myself," she replied as she tried to abstain herself from permitting the tears to spill once again.

At this point, Randy was really beginning to worry about exactly how much Scott had gotten to her. He already managed to have her insulting herself!

"Stacy, you're gorgeous and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Our imperfections are what make us human, what make us unique, and we don't have any choice but to accept that. Embrace your flaws and view them as elements that are meant to be admired, not despised."

Randy's insightful comments really caused Stacy to think about the message he was attempting to portray. 'I should love myself for who I am, for who I'm meant to be, shouldn't I? How could I have let this happen? But…' she thought to herself.

"But Randy, what about when I have to go back to Scott for the show?" as Stacy spoke those words, worry and fear masked her beautiful face.

"Are you crazy? You're not going back to Scott. Only over my cold, dead body. You can ride with me, and I'll talk to Linda McMahon about making some changes in the script," Randy responded in a cold, firm tone.

"Randy, I don't want to be an inconvenience and interfere," Stacy argued, only to be cut off.

"You're not any trouble at all, and I'd be more than happy to have you with me, honestly," the young wrestler assured her as Stacy began to fidget with her hands yet again. "It's really up to you, but I only want what's best for you, Stace. And what's best for you is staying as far away from Scott as possible."

"Um, to be completely honest," Stacy confessed and looked in Randy's eyes as she continued, "I'm relieved. Right now, I feel lost and cold, like I don't even know who I am. I really don't want to live that way anymore, I want my life back. I want it to be under my control, not his. Either way, though, that's going to take a lot of work and it won't be easy for me or for you if you really decide to take me along with you. I wouldn't want to be a burden, Randy."

The look in Randy's eyes really motivated the Diva to do as she'd said. Randy was now there for her, and things would be different. He'd make everything okay again. He'd be the one to remind her of what true happiness feels like.

What concerned Stacy at this point is that Scott started out this way too.

Author's Note: Hey everyone, and once again, I'm sorry for not updating for so long! Part of the reason I hadn't was because I was working on a song-fic, using the song "Let Me Go" by 3 Doors Down, that I posted end of Feb/beginning of March time frame. It's a Trish/Jericho fic (No, I'm no fan of Trish Stratus, but I figured hers and Chris's "relationship" could work for this thing lol), so if you get bored and want to read it, let me know what you think of it. I'm definitely not experienced w/ song-fics so if you like it, you know the drill, criticism, comments, questions and everything else are always welcome. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please review!