Chapter 7

A/N: Took me FOREVER to update this story, right? Sorry, I just ran out of ideas for this one and came up with ideas for my other ones...

"Ok, so maybe I overreacted," Chris said to himself as he headed to the hotel where he was supposed to be staying. "But who can blame me? My brother...hitting on the love of my life."

He sat in silence, alone with his thoughts, replaying the situation over and over in his mind...

"Hi Riley."

"Once again, we meet... That's twice in two days."

"Just a coincidence, or are you stalking me?"

"Stalking. See, I'm only following the portrait of perfection."

"Perfection? Yeah, I'm not seeing it."

"Look in the mirror. Do you see what I see?"

"I only see me. Show me what you see."

"Look deeper. Beneath your many layers lies your true essence. I can see it: beauty, elegance, perfection. It's all in you."

"Wow. You're really poetic."

"What the hell was he thinking?" he asked himself, thinking about Riley. "Why would he flirt with her right in front of me...and why would she flirt back?"

He pulled into the parking lot at the hotel and parked his rental car. He leaned his head against the steering wheel after cutting the car off and wondered suddenly when his life had became so complicated again.

Don't kid yourself, Chris ol' boy, he thought. Your life has never been simple...

He sighed, then got out of the car and went to the trunk. After popping the trunk, he got his luggage out. He closed the trunk and was about to head out of the parking lot when a car pulled up. The car came to a slow stop and parked right next to where he had parked. The doors opened almost immediately, and there before him stood the princess...and his brother Riley. Together.

It was a disturbing sight, to say the least.

"Are you in a better mood now?" Riley asked right away.

"Actually, I am. I thought about it and I guess I overreacted," Chris admitted. "I mean really," he continued. "Why should I care if my younger brother is hitting on the woman I love? It totally doesn't matter. I'm over it." Then he walked away, muttering to himself.

"That went well," Riley said, shaking his head as his brother walked away.

"Extremely well," Stephanie said, sniffling and looking at Chris, who was almost out of sight.

"Are you crying?" Riley asked, concerned.

"Totally not. Why would I be crying?" she asked, quickly wiping her eyes.

"Because... He's really the jealous type. He doesn't like seeing us together," he replied. "So he's going to keep the smart comments coming."

"He's being all possessive when he totally doesn't want to be with me," she said with a sigh. "He just needs to stop with all the freaking mixed signals."

"Agreed," Riley said. "Come on, let's grab our stuff and I'll walk you to your room."

"Ok."

They got their stuff out of the trunk, then headed into the hotel. They went up to the front desk, and once again, they ran into an angry Chris. Only this time, his anger was directed towards the woman behind the counter instead of at them.

"What the hell do you mean, you gave away my room?" Chris asked angrily. "How could you do something so stupid?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Irvine, but things happen," the woman behind the counter said, sounding and looking like she would be in tears soon.

"Things happen? That's all you have to say to me?" Chris demanded. "I don't understand why people hire incompetent employees,.. It just doesn't make sense!"

"Chris, calm down," Riley said, feeling the need to break in. He knew how his brother got sometimes when he was angry, and he knew what he was capable of. Of course, he wouldn't hit the woman. Riley was glad to say that neither he nor Chris would ever lay their hands on a woman. But sometimes, the verbal abuse could be ten times worse than any physical abuse could be.

"Don't you tell me to calm down, Riley. I've had a really bad day," Chris said, looking at his brother. "And all I want to do right now is go take a nice, hot shower and take my ass to sleep..." He glared back at the woman. "But I can't do that now because I don't have a room."

"I should have a room," Stephanie spoke up, walking up to the desk. She spoke quietly to the woman, calming her down. A minute or two later, she turned around to face the two brothers, holding a card key in her hand. "I have a luxury suite... You guys are welcome to stay the night there, if you want."

"Are you inviting both of us, or are you just inviting Riley?" Chris asked meanly.

"What is your problem, Chris? I'm inviting you both," Stephanie said, wondering why he was in such a crappy mood.

"Chris, just take a chill pill, dude," Riley advised. "I mean it."

Chris didn't say anything. He just turned and headed across the lobby towards the elevator, pulling his luggage behind. Stephanie and Riley shared a look, then followed him over to the elevator. They all stepped inside, and Stephanie pushed the button for the ninth floor. They stood in silence. Chris looked at a fixed point on the floor, Riley looked at the numbers above the door, and Stephanie looked at Chris...

After what seemed like forever, the elevator reached the ninth floor and they all stepped out together. Stephanie led the way to the room and opened the door. "Well, here we are," she said, stepping inside the suite. "Hope you guys don't mind sharing a bed..."

"With you?" Riley couldn't resist asking in a teasing voice.

"No, not with me," she replied seriously, glancing at Chris. She didn't want to do anything else to make him upset. "This room has a king-sized bed in the bedroom and a fold-out bed over there in the couch, so I figured you guys could take the bed and I'll take the couch."

"I can't sleep in the same bed as him," Chris objected immediately, pointing at Riley. "He hogs the covers and he kicks!"

"You sound like a ten-year-old," Stephanie said, frowning at him. "I mean, really."

"I hate to say this, but he's right," Riley said, shrugging. "I sleep like a wild man, and it wouldn't be a really good idea for me to share a bed with anyone..."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Stephanie asked, slipping into "princess" mode. "I may have given up the king-sized bed, sure, but there's no way in hell I'm sleeping on the floor. That's where I draw the line."

"Relax. No one's asking you to sleep on the floor," Riley said. He looked at her, then at his brother. "Why don't you two share the big bed and I take the couch?"

Chris looked at Stephanie for a minute, then looked back at Riley. "That's not a good idea, man. As a matter of fact, that's a horrible idea!"

"Why is it horrible? You don't want to sleep in the same bed as me," Riley reasoned. "And there's a whole lot of room for the two of you."

"No, no, absolutely not," Chris said. He looked at Stephanie, looking desperate. "Tell him that's a bad idea, Steph."

He called me Steph? she thought, surprised. She smiled to herself. "I think it's a good idea, actually," she said.

"What?" Chris asked, surprised that she hadn't agreed with him.

"Then it's settled," Riley said, grinning. "You two will share that bed tonight and I'll take the couch."

"Sounds good to me," Stephanie said, going into the bedroom and putting her luggage down, leaving the two brothers alone.

"Look, Riley, I don't know what you're trying to pull here," Chris said. "One minute you're flirting with her in my face, and the next minute, it's like you're trying to set us up."

"I'm not doing anything," Riley said. "You're doing it all yourself."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chris asked.

"Figure it out yourself... I'm going to take a shower," Riley said mysteriously. He smiled at his brother, then headed for the bathroom.

"You really bug me!" Chris called after him.

"I know, and it's fun!" Riley called back, and then he shut the bathroom door.

I guess I better go in there now, Chris thought. He took a deep breath and pasted what he hoped was a neutral look on his face, then walked into the bedroom where Stephanie had disappeared into a short while before. He spotted her on one side of the room, looking through her luggage. "Thanks for letting me share the bed with you," he said grudgingly. "I'm sure you would rather share with Riley but..."

"Cut the crap, Chris," she said shortly, turning to look at him. "What's wrong with you, anyway?"

"Why would you flirt with him in front of me?" he asked her finally. That was what he wanted to know, what he needed to know. "My own brother..."

"Do you think that flirting with him meant something to me?" she asked, sitting down on the bed.

"I don't know. Did it?" he asked, coming to sit next to her.

"Of course not," she answered softly. "Do you think I would intentionally hurt you?"

"Well you did go and marry Paul Levesque and disappear from my life for two years," he muttered. "Without a word, no less."

She looked away. "Yeah, that's true..."

They sat in silence for a while, and then he stood up. "So, yeah, I'm going to go...somewhere..."

"Where?" she asked immediately.

"I don't know... I guess I'll go for a walk so I can clear my mind," he said. He walked over to the door, but paused in the doorway. "Thanks for putting up with me tonight, though."

"If I won't, who will?" she joked, looking over at the doorway to the bedroom, but by then he was already gone.

A/N: Weird update, I know. I started this chapter long ago, and I never knew what to add to it. So I just added whatever came to mind while I was watching "One Tree Hill" tonight, which was really quite good. I love that show... Anyway, here's the update. Feel free to comment on how it didn't live up to everybody's expectations, lol...