Disclaimer: Iown no one except Nicole...

A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter, here's the next installment, hope you like it. Please Read and Review

Chapter 17: Lightning Crashes

Randy and Nicole were now alone in the locker room. Hunter, Dave, and Ric had opted to leave the room so they would be able to talk in privacy. Nicole was seated on the leather couch, as Randy stood before her.

She had become a little worried, especially after hearing the tone of voice he used. However, just as she had before, she dismissed it, telling herself what Hunter and Dave had tried to convince her of; Randy was having a bad day. That was it; no more, no less.

They were quiet a few more moments before Nicole finally spoke, "So what did you want to talk about?"

Randy looked up from the spot on the floor his eyes had previously been watching and raked a hand through his hair, "Stuff, I've hardly seen you all day."

She smiled, "Ya, I guess we both have been pretty busy today..."

Randy nodded in agreement and let the silence fill the room once more.

Nicole, again, was the one to break the silence, " Randy, I'm really sorry for earlier."

Randy looked on puzzled, wondering why in the world she was apologizing to him. If anything, he should be the one on his hands and knees begging her to forgive him for the way he was treating her, and for what he inevitable had to do by the end of the night.

Nicole, realizing Randy wasn't catching on, continued "When we were in the limo, I shouldn't have pushed you like that to keep talking after you specifically told me you had a headache. I hope I didn't upset you."

Randy shook his head, "Don't worry about it, Nikki"

"You sure, 'cuz you seemed really mad" Nicole was trying to hint to the way he dismissed her "I love you", but she didn't want to outright state it for the fear of upsetting him again.

"Look, I said don't worry about it, okay"

"Okay, right." She bit her bottom lip and sat uncomfortably. There was so much tension in the room, and she didn't know where it had come from. One day they were perfectly fine, couldn't have been happier, and the next it seems like they couldn't even be in the same room together.

Nicole had been lucky that she was so busy today, for she hardly had any time to think about what had happened between them in the morning. What with Dave acting strange and Randy completely dismissing her, it had made for quite a day, and it wasn't even over yet.

"So how was your day today?" he asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Busy. First I had training with Fit and some of the other girls, whom are actually really surprising me with how well they are coming along. You know, I didn't think these Diva Search girls would actually be interested in wrestling, but I was wrong. They are working really hard, and seem like they want to be taken seriously, especially Christy and, what's her name, you know the blonde one..."

"Michelle"

Nicole giggled, "Michelle, ya I always forget her name; I'm such an airhead."

Randy smiled as he watched her. Her laugh and smile were intoxicating. But he knew this wasn't what he should be doing. It would only make it worse to stretch it out; prolong the agony. He had to get it done and he had to do it soon, or else he never would.

"Hey Nikki, you know things have been really great with us lately."

She looked up at him, puzzled. "Yeah, they have been. Randy, if this is about today again, I'm real sorry. I know you've been real stressed lately, and I shouldn't have jumped on..."

"This isn't about today. Well, I guess in a way it is, but not really."

"Okay, then what is this about?" her smile diminished.

"We've been having fun, right? I mean, I know I've been having fun." he smirked.

"Of course I've been having fun with you Randy. I haven't had this much fun with someone in a long time."

"Great, I'm glad you're having fun too." he paused. He didn't; exactly know where he was leading to with this.

"Randy, you okay?" She stood, and walked over to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He walked away from her and sighed. He didn't know how he was supposed to do something so horrible to someone he loved, but there was no way around it. He had made a deal, and he was never one to go back on his word, no matter how bad the consequences would be.

He looked up and met her grey blue eyes with his icy glare, "I'm glad you're having all this fun Nicole, but this just isn't cutting it for me. It was exciting in the beginning, but now, now its just stale."

Nicole's brow furrowed, and then "You know Orton, sometimes your jokes aren't all that funny. But, I'll tell you what; you almost had me there."

"I'm being serious. I think it'd be best if we were to see other people; you know explore our options."

"Randy, what the hell are you talking about." she raised her voice. Anyone that knew Nicole would be able to tell that she beginning to get scared. "Why are you saying all these things Randy. I know you're having a bad day and all, but this is ridiculous now."

"I know, and it's not that I'm having a bad day, and its not the stress; its us. It's not working, and I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, but I don't do relationships."

Nicole looked up with tears in her eyes, "Randy why are you doing this. If your mad at me, I'm sorry I don't know what else to say, but you can't mean any of this."

"I do mean it; its over Nicole, just go." Randy looked down at his feet trying desperately to avert her eyes. He would do anything not to look at her; to not have to see the hurt he inflicted.

"Why don't I believe you. Why is there something telling me this isn't what you really want?"

"Well believe it okay, 'cuz the faster you believe it, the better off we'll both be." He didn't look at her once while he spoke.

Nicole shook her head, "Look me in the eyes Randy. Look me in the eyes, and tell me this is what you want."

Randy had to muster up everything he had in him to force himself to look up into her eyes, "This is what I want Nicole."

It was now that the tears in her eyes began to flow freely. She immediately gathered up all her belongings and hurried out the room, with one last glance at Randy she ran out of the room crying.

In the state Nicole was in, she didn't care, nor was she paying any attention to where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from Randy as possible.

In her rush she didn't notice some electrical wiring on the floor, and tripped sending all her stuff flying. She crouched to the floor, and began gathering her belongings which were scattered all over the hallway.

As she wiped away some of her tears and reached out for a lipstick, she felt a hand grasp hers. Thinking it was Randy coming to apologize she looked up with a smile, yet she came face to face with John Cena instead.

"You okay?"

She nodded her head 'yes', afraid to speak, but he knew she was lying. Obviously she wasn't okay, after all she was crying.

"Why don't you let me get the rest of this stuff for you,"

He quickly began gathering all her things and placed them back into her bags. As he did this, Nicole remained seated on the floor, unable to move. When he was done, he turned back to her and sat down beside her.

"Do you want me to go and find Randy, so he can take care of you."

At the mention of Orton's name, Nicole's eyes welled up with tears threatening to overflow. John immediately knew he had said something wrong, and tried to steer clear from the subject. They sat in silence a few moments as Nicole tried to regain her calm.

"He broke up with me"

John nodded. He couldn't help but feel his hatred for the young Evolutionary grow even stronger. He had warned Randy about hurting her, and he had done just that. John didn't understand why he just hadn't listened to his conscience before, but he sure as hell was going to listen to it now.

He stood up, "You wait right here until I get back." John was determined to make Randy pay. He had told him that if he had ever hurt Nicole, there would be consequences, and the time had finally come.

Nicole, sensing what John was about to do, grabbed his hand and stood up, "Don't do anything John, please."

"What the hell Nicole, he deserves everything he has coming to him"

She held on to his hand tighter, "John, please, please don't do anything."

"Fine, I won't do anything...for now."

She pulled him close, and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He held her tight, taking in her scent, all the while cursing Orton for hurting her.

"Why don't I bring you to see Trish and Chris, I'm sure they'll be much better suited for this than me."

Nicole wondered whether her friends would be willing to be there for her in her time of need. She soon agreed, hoping that Trish would realize how badly she needed her right now.

Meanwhile, Randy Orton cursed as he placed his bloody hand under the cold water.

After Nicole had left, he seemed to have lost all control over himself. He had felt like a part of him was being torn in half when he had broke up with her. Not only that, but the way she had reacted had furthered his pain. The look in her eyes when he had told her it was true, had sent him over the edge.

As soon as the door had slammed, he snapped. He didn't know what had come over him, but the next thing he knew, he had punched both the lockers, and the wall; leaving an indent in both. In turn, his hand had been badly messed up and had been cut.

He closed the water, and wrapped a clean towel around his hand, placing some pressure on it, in an attempt to stop the blood. He walked out of the bathroom, and sat down on the couch.

Just as he did so, Dave walked back into the room. He had left catering, for he had gotten this weird feeling that something wrong was happening. He walked in and saw Randy with his head in his hands. He noticed that his right hand was bandaged with a towel. He scanned the room, searching for what could have caused the injury and spotted the hole in the wall and indent in the locker.

Suddenly, Dave realized that Nicole wasn't in the room like she had been when he had left. "What the hell happened here Orton."

"Nothing man, don't worry about it." Randy stood and walked over to his locker and began rummaging through his bag.

"Sure, nothing happened. I just come back to find you sitting here with your hand all damn messed up. There's a hole in the wall and the locker looks like someone took a sledgehammer to it. Not to mention, that Nicole isn't in here, and with the way we left you, I'm a little worried about it."

"Look Dave, it's nothing for you to worry about. Now can you just drop it"

Dave chose to dismiss what Randy had just said, "So where's Nikki?"

"I dunno man, why would I know."

"Oh I don't know, maybe just because of the little fact that she's your GIRLFRIEND."

"..And that's where your wrong; she was my girlfriend. Past tense there buddy."

Dave's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed; he didn't fully understand what Randy was saying. Surely he didn't mean he had broken up with her, he knew Randy loved her too much to hurt her, or at least he had thought he did.

"What the hell are you saying Orton?"

"I'm just saying she's not my girlfriend anymore, don't get so defensive."

Dave couldn't believe the words that had just come out of Randy's mouth. If they hadn't come from Randy himself, he was sure he would have never believed it: Randy had broken up with Nicole. Just a few days ago, the two had seemed inseparable. Randy had even tried to help her out with her problem with Chris and Trish. And now, now they were over. He knew there had been some tension lately, but he never expected it to lead to this.

"So you're telling me, you broke up with her. Just like that?"

"Well it wasn't just like that Dave, it was a work in progress; something that was inevitable."

Dave was taken aback, he couldn't fathom what had gotten into Randy. All he knew was that this was not the way he had been acting of late. In fact, it was a complete 360 from the Randy he has grown accustomed to.

He didn't know what to say, and decided it was best to give Randy some time to cool off. He turned on his heels and left the room once more, in search of Hunter and Ric; hoping one of them would have the answers to his questions.

"I just can't believe he would do this! How the hell could I have been so stupid?" Nicole was now sitting in Chris Jericho's locker room. Chris stood before her, as she explained to him, as well as Trish, what had transpired between her and Randy.

"This isn't your fault, honey. Don't do this to yourself, okay" Trish rubbed Nikki's back in an attempt to soothe her.

"Exactly, this isn't your fault whatsoever!" Chris looked over and gave Trish a glare, hoping she'd feel guilty for what she caused.

Chris had been more than a little surprised when he opened the door to find John and Nicole on the other side of it. He had been so sure that Randy wasn't going to go through with what they had planned, and had thought that was for the best. Yet, again, he had been mistaken. Orton had come through with their deal, much to Trish's delight, and his dismay.

He looked over to the two blondes sitting on the couch before him. He, himself, couldn't help feeling guilty for what had taken place. If it hadn't been for his and Trish's stupidity, then none of this would have ever had to happen. He had been so ready to just accept Nikki's relationship with Randy, but he had let Trish talk him into a devious plan. Now, he only hoped that Trish felt even half as guilty as he did.

Focusing back on Nicole, he watched her rise and walk into the washroom. He followed her and watched as she attempted to rid her face of the mascara that had run. She looked up at herself in the mirror and sighed.

"Is there anything I can do to make this a little better, sweetie?"

She looked over at Chris and smiled; she had the best friends in the world. She had been hesitant to come to them for help, but when they welcomed her with open arms she knew she shouldn't have been. She should never have doubted them. Sure they were mad at her for being with Orton, but she knew they would never turn her away in a time like this.

She pondered his question a little while longer, "I just wanna go home Chris."