Disclaimer: I own no one except Nicole Austin

A/N: Thx for all those who reviewed, hope you enjoy this chapter as well

Chapter 21: Standing Still

After spending three exhausting days with Jeff Hardy, Nicole was back on the road with her fellow WWE Superstars. As she stepped into the arena, she felt a sense of comfort run through her; knowing that she would not be alone anymore, but with her friends always made her feel better.

During her final three days at home, Jeff had made her work harder than she ever had. She didn't really mind it all that much, after all she knew how Jeff was, but none the less she protested and whined trying to get her way out of it. Yet, no matter how much, Jeff just kept pushing her to her limits, and that was why she loved Jeff so much; he was able to see potential in every situation.

By the time he was done, Jeff had made Nicole clean the whole apartment so that it was literally shining clean. He had forced her to go grocery shopping, and buy only healthy foods; something she had not been eating as of late. He brought her to the gym every day for 2 hours of exercise, and last, but definitely not least, every night after supper they would have their "therapy sessions."

Nicole knew she didn't really need these, but Jeff thought otherwise. According to Dr. Hardy, Nicole was in need of some serious Randy detoxification; that is letting out all that she felt for him. Of course, Nikki had to comply, and so by the end of their sessions, Jeff thought Nicole had made some great progress. She was no longer slumping around the house, she had her energy back, and was looking better than ever. Nicole, even though she would never admit it to Jeff, also felt better and that the talks she had had with Jeff had been beneficial. She had left with Jeff promising he'd call her in a few days, as he was off to Universal Studios for the TNA shows.

It was also during her last days that she had received the call from her mother, Debra. Steve had filled her in on all that had gone on since she had joined the WWE, and so she didn't bother Nicole with rehashing all that she wished to forget. She mother had been quite sympathetic, and yet was a little hurt that her daughter had not bothered to inform her mother of all she was doing. In this, Nicole promised she would stay in touch with her mother as much as possible, and vice versa.

And so, she was now back on the road. She had taken the first flight out of New York City to Boston, and was now making her way through the halls over to Bischoff's office.

She finally reached her destination, and raised her hand up to knock, but as soon as she did the door flew open, and there stood Chris Jericho.

"Nikki...", he scooped her up into a hug, "How are you sweetheart?"

"I'm doing alright; definitely better than I was before." she put on a fake smile.

Chris smiled and kissed her forehead as he placed her back down to her feet, "That's my girl. I'm sorry I wasn't able to come and see you, but I did leave countless messages on your answering machine..."

"Sorry about that, I just didn't really feel the need to talk to anyone...I just needed to sort some things out."

"Well, doesn't really matter now. I'm just glad you're back, for good this time."

Nicole nodded, and then looked back at Bischoff's office door, "Is he in?"

"He's on a conference call, something with the FCC." Jericho snorted.

Nicole rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm just going to pop in and let him know I'm here; won't take more than a minute."

Chris nodded and Nicole quietly slipped into the room. She tried her best to stay quiet, and as she closed the door Eric looked up and smiled at her. She walked over to him as he continued to jot down notes on a pad of paper; apparently the FCC was not in a good mood. He rolled his eyes at her, as the man on the other end continued to argue his points. He then quickly went into one of the desk drawers and pulled out a manilla folder.

"Your new script; we had to change some things around to fit in with your absence. It's nothing drastic just a few minor details. John has a script already, and I suggest you go over it as you start up tonight." He said all in one breathe, as he muffled the receiver.

Nicole mouthed "Thanks", and as quietly as she had entered she left, rejoining Chris in the hallway.

"Well, I think we should go and find Trish before she goes crazy looking for us" he explained.

Nicole nodded her agreement, and the two blondes made their way across the arena.

In a short while, they arrived at the Divas locker room. Nicole knocked on the door, and walked in before Chris, making sure the girls were decent. As soon as she had entered the room, it fell silent and all eyes were on her.

Trish, who had been applying lipstick, saw her through the mirror and immediately stopped what she was doing and ran over to Nikki, "You're back!"

"Well, did you think I'd be gone forever?"

"No, but we just thought that..." Stacy jumped up and ran over to Nicole wrapping her in a hug, "Oh Nikki, we know how hard this must be for you."

Nicole sighed, this was exactly what she didn't want to happen. She didn't want people feeling sorry for her; even if they were her friends. That was the whole reason she took time off, not only would she be able to deal with things the best way she could, but she wouldn't have people pitying her. Yet, that was not the case, they still seemed to think she was falling apart.

"Stacy, I'm fine," she pulled away and looked at the Divas occupying the room, "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Trish glanced back at Chris, trying to see whether he believed what Nicole was saying. Chris shrugged; as everyone else, he didn't know whether Nicole was telling the truth, or whether she was trying to convince both them and herself that she was, in fact, over what had happened.

"Nicole, it's okay to be hurt," Christy quipped, "We all know how it is, we've all been through it, and the best thing is to just let everything out..."

"There is nothing to let out," Nikki replied exasperated, "I'm fine. I'm over Orton, and all that happened between us."

Christy nodded and then glanced over at Stacy with raised eyebrows; obviously she didn't believe one word that had come out of Nicole's mouth, and neither did Stacy.

Trish was quick to pick up the signals between her two fellow Divas, "Nikki, why don't we go and grab a bite to eat." She grabbed Nicole's arm and began steering her in the direction of the door, all the while shooting Christy daggers.

"Actually, I think I should go and find John. I just got the new script and I should go over some stuff with him..."

"Okay, yeah, sure. You should probably get back to work, as should we all." Trish looked at the other Divas motioning for them to get back to their normal routine.

"Well, I'll see you ladies all later," with one last glance Nicole slipped out of the room in search of John.

As soon as she was gone Trish turned over to Chris, "She seems better"

Chris eyed Trish, "She would be fantastic if we hadn't screwed with her and Orton"

She gave him a sharp glance, "You know I had her best interest at heart. I did this for her; so she wouldn't get burned by him."

"How can you still say that. After everything Randy did for Nicole, you still think he would hurt her. He broke up with her, thinking she'd be better off with us than with him. Now if that's not love, then I don't know what is.

"If he'd so willingly give her up like that, then no I don't think that's love"

"You gave him no other choice Trish. What the hell was he supposed to do: watch Nicole sulk over the fact that you didn't want anything to do with her." Chris raised his voice.

"Keep it down," she glanced around the room making sure the Divas weren't listening. "So what, now your sympathizing with Orton; I thought you hated him!"

"That was before my best friend fell in love with him." With that, Chris left a stunned Trish Stratus to her thoughts.

As Nicole wandered the halls in search of catering, where she knew John would be, the thought of how everyone seemed to pity her crossed her mind. She wished everyone would just believe her when she said she was okay, and yet she didn't completely blame them, for she knew that she didn't fully believe herself either.

As she continued on her way, consumed in her thoughts, she collided with what seemed like a wall. When she looked up, she realized it was not a wall, but Dave Batista.

As Dave looked down at the blonde that had just collided into him, he instantaneously realized who it was. And sure enough, as she raised her head up there was Nicole. He stood scrutinizing her for a moment, not knowing what to say. He had tried to explain how sorry he was by the messages he left on the answering machine, but she never seemed to call him back.

"Dave..." she practically whispered.

"I didn't expect you back until tomorrow..." Dave questioned.

"I changed my mind; I couldn't bear to stay home any longer."

"Well...that's good. I'm sure everyone is happy to see you."

Nicole nodded, "Seems like it..."

"So, I uh...I hope you received my messages," he scratched the back of his head.

"I did. I just was really busy, so I didn't get a chance to get back to anyone."

Dave nodded his understanding, "Right. I was thinking that, if you wanted, we could talk"

"Sure, that sounds good. Just not right now, okay?"

"Nicole, maybe we should..."

"Dave, I'm really busy now. I just got a new script and I have yet to see John." She slowly started walking in the opposite direction .

He grabbed her wrist and slightly pulled her back, "We need to talk..."

"...and we will. As soon as I have everything back on track here."

He gave her a stern look, and released her from his grasp.

Again, she began to walk, "I promise, Dave."

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, this was going to be harder than he thought. Stephanie had told him they had to stay on good standards with both Nicole and Randy, but the two of them were being stubborn as ever. Randy was completely dismissing the fact that he just dumped the woman he was completely in love with, and Nicole was trying to avoid any and all questions. Dave knew he had his work cut out for him.

Nicole soon reached catering, and as she entered she almost wished she had taken Dave up on his offer. There, seated near the back of the room was Randy Orton. He was seated alone eating his meal, intently looking at what looked like a piece of paper.

Nicole sighed, as all that she had desperately tried to forget came rushing back into her mind. All the memories they shared, all the way down to the way he smelled; it all came back. All she had done to try and forget him, was now of no use. She still, without a doubt, cared for him; she only wished he felt the same. But she had learnt that he didn't, and she knew there was no use dwelling on what was done. Now after all was said and done, she still had to face her fears; trying to forget him while he was no where in sight was the easy part. This was her real demon; knowing that she would see him everyday for the next long while. It was only if she succeeded in this task, that she knew she would be able to do anything.

She took in a deep breath, as she further entered the room searching for Cena. She soon spotted him sitting with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. As they were seated facing her, she signaled for them not to announce her arrival.

She sauntered up towards him, and wrapped her arms around his head, covering his eyes. "Guess who?" she whispered into his ear.

It was at this very moment that Randy Orton decided to divert his attention from the photograph in his hands to glance around the room. As he did, he saw a pretty blonde making her way over to where John Cena was seated. He looked back down at the picture of him and Nicole, and suddenly his head shot back up.

There she was, a mere few meters away from him. She looked as beautiful as ever, wearing a pair of hip hugging dark blue jeans, and a white wife beater. Even in the most simplest of attires, she was breathtaking. All he wanted to do right now was run to her, take her in his arms and tell her it was all a lie; he wanted to be with her more than anything in this world.

Randy continued to watch her as she came up behind Cena and whispered into his ear. His heart tightened; what he would kill to be in John's place right now. He knew that if he hadn't cared so much about her and her well being, they would still be together. So, in reality, he knew this was all caused by him: if he had just been more selfish, he wouldn't have cared about what Trish had said.

He looked around the room once more, down at the photograph, and then back at Nicole. He realized he couldn't stay; he had to get out of the room. He knew it was best if the two never had to communicate with one another unless absolutely necessary. Besides, she looked as though she was holding up pretty well; Randy knew how strong she was.

He sighed as he stood as walked towards the exit. You need to get over this Randy, she doesn't, and is never going to want you back, especially not after what you did to her. You need to move on... He slipped the picture back into his pocket and made his way out ...easy for you to say.

A shiver ran down John's spine as he felt Nicole's breath against him. A smile played on his lips as he decided to amuse her in her little game.

"Miss Playboy April 2005?" he smirked.

"In your dreams Cena," she sat down next to him in the empty chair.

For the next few minutes the four made small chitchat, each asking her how she was doing. She replied with the same answer and manner as she had been to everyone who asked the question: she was fine. After a short while, Benoit and Eddie excused themselves and she was left alone with John.

"So, how was it being back home?" he asked, not knowing what to say.

"Very relaxing, comforting..."

"Well, I hope you're ready to get back to work, and all that comes with it; we've got our work cut out for us here with this new angle."

"Seems like it...I was going over it, and from what I understand the storyline is that Carlito attacked me, and that explains my absence?" she questioned, not completely sure.

"That's basically it. He attacked you, and so I want revenge on him now. It's going to culminate in a Street Fight at the next PPV"

Nicole nodded and bit her bottom lip, "Okay, let me see if I get all this; Carlito attacks me, and even though you and I are not always seeing eye to eye, you still want revenge for what he did to me." she paused, "So what, he did all that knowing it was going to strike a nerve, and you would go after him?"

"Apparently so," After hearing Nicole lay the storyline all out, John wondered if maybe the writers knew more about the superstars than they let on.

She shrugged, "Works for me."

"I suppose I don't have a choice..."

"Are you saying you don't want to work with me Cena? I am offended!" She crossed her arms on her chest and cocked her head.

John laughed, "You're cute when you're mad."

"I'm not trying to be cute, I'm trying to be mad at you..."

"...then you're not doing a good job" He flashed her a smile.

"Well, you don't very well make it easy do you; smiling like that, flashing those dimples."

"Works every time."

Nicole shook her head, and feigned disbelief. "So what do you wanna do?"

He shrugged, "I dunno, why?"

"'cuz I'm bored."

"Damn, I didn't know I was that boring."

"If you were boring John, I wouldn't ask you to do something with me."

"We can go to the gym, the ring, or practice our lines; I mean there ain't much to do in the arena." He suggested.

"Well then, why don't we get out of here? I mean..." she looked at her watch, "there's a couple hours 'till we should be back, and I'm sure they won't miss us here."

John stood, placed his cap securely on his head, and pulled her up holding on to her hand, "Alright, where do you wanna go?"

She looked back to where Randy had previously been sitting, and noticing the seat was empty her heart dropped. "Anywhere but here."

She focused her attention back to John and let him guide her out of the arena.