Chapter 11
"What part of vacated don't you understand?" Triple H towered over the petite blonde. They had been going at it in the locker room for over an hour now and every minute that went by made her more agitated. She wasn't sure what pissed her off more, the fact that Hunter was making a fool out of her, or the fact that Dave was just sitting there letting him! All she could think about was the conversation she had with Randy a week ago. Maybe he was right, maybe she didn't know Dave as well as she thought she did.
Dave felt so terrible watching Hunter belittle Trish. And what made things worse was that she kept looking his way for support. And like a coward, he avoided any eye contact with her. The conversation he had with Ric earlier that day was the reason for his avoidance. And Ric's words still freshly echoed in his mind:
"Dave, Man, you have to stop protecting Trish so much." Anger slowly rose to the facial features of the large man. "Come on Ric, I can't believe you're doing H's dirty work for him! If he has a problem with me and Trish, let him address it, not you!" Ric came up and placed his hand on Dave's shoulder. "Big guy, you should know me better than that! I would tell you if Hunter has a problem with the two of you. I'm just telling you what I see. You're protecting her too much. One of the main reasons we asked her to join us is because she isn't afraid of anyone and she can fend for herself. If you baby her and protect her from harm, she's going to grow accustomed to it and forget how to protect herself. So you care about her…great, good for you man! It's about time you actually went after what is good for Dave. Just remember your world doesn't revolve around protecting her. Trust me on this one, it'll be better for everyone in the long run."
"Enough already! I'm positive that Eric will hand the belt back to you as soon as he returns! Carmella will have complete control of him!" Trish didn't care how loud she was screaming at this point. She had to defend herself, otherwise he'd give her a migraine. Hunter backed her into the wall and placed his hand on her neck. "Yea, you had better hope so!" By this point, Dave had seen enough, he was not cool with Hunter placing his hands on Trish. He stood up and threw a chair out of his way. After hearing the ruckus, Hunter released his grip. He knew that it was Dave who threw that chair. He turned around to meet the eyes of an angry Batista. Hunter calmly walked around Dave and left the room, slamming the door in the process.
Trish heaved a sigh of relief and looked up to find Dave staring at her. For what felt like hours, they just stared at each other. He couldn't read a single thought running through her mind. Her face was expressionless. She finally lowered her eyes and walked past him quickly and out the door. Dave made an attempt to go after her, but Edge stopped him. "Let her go man. She needs to cool down." Dave glanced at him. Out of all of them, Edge did know her the best. Maybe he was right. "Trust me, it'll be cool. Give her some space." With that, Dave exhaled heavily and threw a chair against the wall. Hunter was beginning to work his last nerve.
It was hours before the show started. Her normal routine usually consisted of working out and preparing herself mentally and physically for her match. But today was different, even though she had a huge match tonight against Lita, with her belt on the line, Trish found herself sitting in the empty arena, about five rows back from the ring, just staring. Her mind was consumed with so many thoughts, she found it hard to breathe. Dave's actions today were at the top of her list. Why didn't he say anything to Hunter? She knew it was bothering him, she could see it in his eyes, not forgetting his actions when Hunter grabbed her…Dave was already half way across the room ready to pounce on Trips. After that interaction, Randy's warning jumped into her mind. Could be actually be right? But, then she found herself thinking about Randy in general. She saw a side of him last week that he's never shown anyone before. The arrogant Randy disappeared and he honestly expressed emotion and concern for a being other than himself.
"Is this seat taken?" Trish shook her head and glanced up to be met with the blue eyes of Randy, a smile gleaming on his face. "No, you can sit" she said as she sat up a bit better. "You seem to be in a different world today." She chuckled, "I guess I haven't had a few good weeks." Randy nodded, slouching further into his seat. "So Evolution is turning out to be more trouble than it is beneficial?" She rolled her eyes, "Can we please talk about something other than Evolution…I'm sick of worrying about them." He nodded, "Yea, sure…talk about whatever you want."
A sly grin played on her lips, "So, you've had your hands full with the ladies this week." He shot her a puzzled glance. "Oh please, you mean to tell me that you haven't noticed Stacy Keibler swoon over you any time you say hello?" He rolled his eyes, "Whatever. She knows we're just friends." Trish laughed, getting a kick out of him trying to play it down. "And I think you may have Lita interested in you as well, coming to her aid the other night was very noble of you. Had you not interfered, I was going to teach her a lesson! You better not have anything up your sleeve when I face her tonight!" He chuckled, "Well, so as long as your Evolution henchmen don't interfere, I suppose I could save the plans for a later date." Her eyes grew wide and she slapped his arm. "You did have plans! I can't believe you!"
He grinned, "Anything to piss you off…you're gorgeous when you're angry." She blushed and quickly stood. "Whatever…I gotta run." As she began to walk away, she turned back to him. "Thanks." And with that she turned and walked out. Randy watched until she was completely out of sight. "My oh my…"
I'm sorry. How many times do I have to say it?" Dave was pleading with Trish in the gorilla position, minutes before Evolution had to take the ring. Batista and Hunter were scheduled in a tag match against Randy and Benoit. She remained silent. "Trish, you've held your own against him before…what's so different this time?" She just stared at him and raised her eyebrows. Evolution's music hit and it was show time. The five of them walked through the curtains. He would have to finish this conversation later tonight.
"Dave, oh god! Please open your eyes!" Trish was kneeling down holding his head in her lap. Ric was lightly shaking him. "Come on big man, wake up!" She couldn't breathe; she glanced up to see Triple H standing above them. "How could you be so stupid! How is it possible to miss Orton's head and hit his!" It looked like an accident, it very well could have been. But it was more than plausible that he hit Dave on purpose. After all, Dave and Hunter had been at odds for days and it was all because of Trish.
She couldn't believe how unstable Hunter really was that evening. As soon as the ref went down, he had a chair in his hand. He hit everyone. First he whapped the chair against the back of Benoit's head, sending him flying to the ground. Dave had handed a pretty good beating on Orton. She had no idea why Dave felt the need to hold Orton still while Triple H went to hit him with the chair. As he brought the chair above his head, Trish realized that she hadn't been breathing the entire time. She didn't want Randy to get hit with that chair…not after their fun conversation earlier that day. But at the same time, she didn't want Dave to get hit either! That desire went completely out the window…even after Hunter hit Dave in the head with the chair, he still hit Randy with it.
By this point, Edge was calling for the EMT's to come out. Trish became frantic. "Dave, please look at me! I'm sorry, I promise I'll never not speak to you again, just open your eyes! Wake up…please!" His eyes began to flutter, and he let out an inaudible moan. He started shaking his head and slowly started to sit up. "Edge, forget it, he's awake" Ric said as he stood, letting out a shaky breath. He glared at Hunter, showing his disapproval. "Oh, thank God!" Trish hugged him around the neck so tightly. "Sweetie, it's ok…but you have to let go…I can't breath." He loosened her grip from his neck and pulled her into a hug. "I'm fine…really, I'm ok." He stood unsteadily, with support from Trish and Ric, blinking his eyes many times. He couldn't get a focus at first, but once he did, heglared at Triple H, who instantly began apologizing over and over again, seeming to care about his well-being.
Trish didn't buy it for a minute. Hunter cared for no one but himself. She knew he meant to do it…there was just no way of proving it. He was sly…he was very sly. And she was on the same team as him. She didn't know whether to deem that a beneficial association or a deadly one.