AN: Okay, First off, thank you guys for all of your great reviews on NLT. It really means a lot to me and I know that some of you were shocked to read the ending. I wans't planning on doing a sequel but now I've been considering it. It all depends on how well I can plan it out...so look out for the follow up to NTL. As for this new story...please bare with me...hopefully you guys will enjoy it and please read and review. I love getting feedback...it helps me with my ideas for my stories.

I Disclaim

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Dave Batista heaved a heavy breath as he threw the last piece of clothing into suitcase. His eyes wandered around his bedroom to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. That was when his eyes landed on a framed photograph that he kept by his bedside. He was a big guy that many thought was unbreakable, but the thought of leaving her behind was enough to make him want to cry. He felt the tears well up in his eyes as he continued to look at the picture, but he refused to let those tears fall. He walked towards his bed and sat down before reaching over and grabbing the photo and keeping it closer to him so he could recognize every detail in the picture.

He was wearing khaki cargos with a fitting white long sleeved shirt. He wore a black visor and most of all, he wore a smile. It wasn't that strange to see the man Batista smile, but it was a harder feat capturing it on film. He wasn't too fond of his smile; thought it made him look goofy…but she loved it. It seemed she loved everything about him, and despite the fact that he loved her with all his heart, he knew that she was just fooling herself into thinking that they really had the kind of relationship that ended with a happily ever after. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that she loved him, that much was obvious, but he was pretty sure that he was not her soul mate, even though he wanted to be. He didn't think that he was her end-all or be-all and as much as it hurt him to leave, he knew that she would need to figure things out…even if she didn't know it yet. His thoughts travelled back to the picture as he moved his focus on to her. She wore a matching black visor with a white sleeveless jumpsuit that fit her every curve. The diamond belt that hung loosely around her hips accentuated her generous assets even more. She stood in front of him with a big smile across her face, as he hugged her closer with his hands around her tiny waist.

He loved her enough to let her go and hope that she would come back….well, that's what he kept telling himself, but the closer the time came for him to leave, the more he doubted whether he was selfless enough to do it. He needed her more than the air he breathed and even though Paul and Ric convinced him that it was a stupid idea that would only break her heart, Dave knew that there was no other way to do it. He wasn't sure for how long, but Dave had to leave. He picked up the two letters, ready to drop them off to their respected people.

"There's no going back now" he said to himself and with that he picked up his bags and was ready to seal his fate.

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Trish smirked as a jealous Amy's jaw dropped in shock as the young female fan lifted up her shirt so Chris Jericho could sign her bra. Trish could hear Amy curse under her breath and tried her hardest to keep from laughing out loud. It wasn't everyday that Trish saw her best friend jealous, but when the occasions did arise, she had much fun in teasing her about it later on.

"You guys ready to go?" Chris asked. Amy shot him a glare and stopped back to the car without a word. Chris, wide-eyed turned to their best friend Trish for help.

"What did I do?" Chris asked as though he couldn't figure out that by signing that women's bra, it was like him practically wearing a sign saying "Hey I'm not getting any tonight!".

"You are truly hopeless Chris" Trish said as she leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek and walked off to catch up with Amy.

"God….I wish someone would write a manual on how men can understand women….I know I would buy it…" he mumbled as he pouted and stomped ahead to catch up with the girls.

Trish and Amy were already in the car waiting for him to hurry it up and Chris automatically noticed that Amy opted to sit in the back with Trish rather than in the front with him.
"Oh shit….I'm so screwed" he said to himself as he continued to make his trek forward. He stared at Amy hoping that he could send her some telepathic message to look up and then he would give her "I'm so incredibly sorry" look. Too bad it didn't work because Amy refused to look his way and instead focused her attention on her and Trish's conversation.

It was only a ten minute from the mall to the hotel, but to Trish, those ten minutes seemed to take forever. The silence between Chris and Amy was unbearable and Trish tried her hardest to get them talking, but Amy wasn't having any of it.

"I'll see ya guys later" Trish said reaching over to give Amy a hug and leaned over to the front to give Chris a kiss on the cheek before quickly hopping out of the car. Normally they would all go up together and hang out, but Trish didn't really feel like being the middle man in their oncoming argument.

"Poor Chris….he's definitely gonna pay for that one" Trish laughed to herself as she walked into the lobby, heading for the elevators. She noticed the elevators closing and decided to make dash for it. She could see the shadow of a figure already in the elevator and she yelled out for them to hold it for her. Apparently they didn't hear or they were just extremely rude because Trish could plainly see the doors still slowly closing.

"Bastard" she muttered but she kept running towards the elevator. First thing many learned about Trish; the woman could be incredibly impatient when she's not in the mood. But now, Trish didn't want to get to the elevator so she could spare herself the wait for the next one, now she wanted to make it the elevator just so she could tell off the idiot in there who didn't even have the damn decency to simply push a damn button to hold the door. It's not like it would take much effort. Within seconds, Trish jumped into the elevator. Luckily they were staying at an upscale hotel that had motion sensors installed into their elevator doors, because as soon as Trish's right foot slipped in, the door popped back open. Unfortunately for Trish, in her haste to get there, her shoelace had come undone and she conveniently tripped over them as she entered into the elevator. She went soaring and landed hard on to the fancy tiled floor.

'This is so fuckin' embarrassing' she thought to herself as she lifted her head off the floor only to see that she landed right in front of the guy.

"You okay?" the deep voice asked as he bent down and held her by her waist and helped her up.

"I'm fine" she said as she slowly rose to her feet and quickly ran her hand through her blonde hair.

"You know…didn't your mother ever tell you that it's dangerous to be running around with your laces untied" he said with a smirk. Trish's head shot up as she sent him a glare.

"Shut up Randy….if you had held the door open like I asked you to, I wouldn't have had to run, which caused my laces to become undone and most importantly, I wouldn't have tripped to begin with" Trish shot back as she bent over and began putting the pieces of clothing that had fallen out back in their bags.

"Wow….very lovely" he said admiring the gold and sage green lingerie set he held in his hands. Trish looked up and her face immediately turned red. She snatched it away from him and shoved it in one of her bags.

"Hey…no need to get all feisty, I was just helping you pick your stuff off the floor" Randy said as he held up his hands as though he was innocent.. Trish was ready for a witty comeback but then she realized something.

"Why aren't we moving?" she asked nervously.

"Moving where" Randy asked, confused by her change in subject.

"Up! You idiot…the elevator isn't moving…I should have been at my floor by now" she said.

"Relax, I'm sure it's nothing big" Randy said casually. It didn't help any as Trish began pounding on the elevator door.

"Why can't they hear me? When this happens in the movies, the people outside can usually hear the people inside…." Trish said panicking. She wasn't sure if she was claustrophobic, but she didn't want to find out, especially stuck in an elevator with Randy Orton of all people.

"Well, maybe we're stuck between floors…that could be why no one can hear us…that or there just isn't anyone out there" Randy suggested. Trish didn't bother reply to him but instead, she hurried over and pulled open the square cover to reveal a phone. She pulled it out and was about to dial when Randy interrupted her.

"Uhhhhh Trish?" Trish rolled her eyes and turned to look at him.

"What?" she snapped.

Randy silently moved closer and lifted the other end of the phone line. Trish's eyes widened as she realized that someone had pulled the wire right out from the back of the phone so there was absolutely no connection. Wonderful. They were stuck and only God knew how long they would be in there….and together. She was in for a long night.

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An hour had passed and somebody had yet to arrive and get them out.

"Did you by any chance bring back something to eat from the mall?" Randy asked softly.

Trish only shook her head without looking up at him. She wasn't sure where things had gone so wrong between her and Randy's friendship in the past but what she was sure of was that they were far friends today.

She remembered it so clearly. It all began when Vince booked two public conferences where RAW superstars would be in attendance interacting with the fans and promoting upcoming RAW and Pay-per-view events. She and Randy were among the six that were booked and she being the only diva. That's how their friendship stemmed…from being together so much doing promotional stuff. Eventually they started to hang out after RAW and even on their time offs she would either spend a weekend in St. Louis or he would spend a weekend in Toronto. Amy and Chris had teased her relentlessly about falling for him and the two of them acting like a couple. Trish would just shrug it off and call Amy and Chris crazy. Maybe she refused to allow herself to think of him that way because if there was one thing she had learned from their days of friendship, it was that Randy was quite loose with the ladies. She wasn't sure if he was still like that considering he was officially in an exclusive relationship with her good friend Stacy Keibler.

She would laugh to herself when she remembered Stacy's face when she tried to bring up the subject of Randy asking her out. Trish knew that many people thought that her and Randy were lovers that had gone through a bitter break up but truth be told, Trish wasn't at all that sure of what had caused the drift. She knew it began somewhere around the time she became involved with a co-worker and Randy had slowly began to drift away from her from then. It wasn't like she was ignoring him or anything, she always made time for them both to hang out and he'd even come along for group outings since she was involved with his best friend. She'd be lying if she said she didn't miss him and that she wasn't hurt by the fact that he began ignoring and avoiding her without any explanation, but Randy was the one who had walked away, not her and she would have to deal with it. The past was just that - the past. And she wasn't sure if they could salvage a friendship even if they wanted to.

"Hey you still there?" Randy asked as he gently shook her. Trish snapped out of her reverie and looked up into his curious eyes.

"What were you thinking about that had you so caught up?" Randy asked with a smile.

"What do you care?" Trish bit back and hung her head once again as she fixated them on her fingers.

"What is with you anyway" she said as she looked up at him, square in the eyes. She couldn't take it anymore and she knew she'd kick herself later if she didn't take the opportunity to ask.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Randy replied, averting his gaze as he stood and fixed his shirt…anything to avoid the conversation. Trish wasn't having any of it and she too stood up facing his back.

"Don't bullshit with me Randy. You go through more moods with me than any woman I've ever known. You act like a first class jackass and I think sometimes you forget we're not friends anymore and you try to humour me…which doesn't work by the way" she said angrily. She waited for him to turn around….to say something…anything, but it never happened. He just stood there, still as ever.

"I guess you didn't hear a word I said, which probably isn't very hard for you since you're a pro at ignoring me" Trish said, throwing up her hands in defeat.

After a few minutes of silence, Randy sighed in relief. He wasn't ready to talk to anyone about his past friendship with Trish, especially to Trish herself. He knew he owed her an explanation but he just didn't know how he could say all that he wanted to say without hurting the people he cared about.

"Why did you leave me?" she asked softly, her voice breaking with emotion. It sounded so innocent, like a child lost. Randy closed his eyes and then slowly turning around. He noticed the tears in her eyes and walked forward, wiping them away. He opened his mouth to form some sort of response for her. He knew it wasn't going to be a good one, but at least it was something. Before any words could leave his lips, the elevator began to shake and Trish instantly propelled into Randy's arms by the force. After a few seconds, the motion stopped and they heard a noise behind them.

"Sorry it took so long kids…you were stuck between floors and we had to find a way to either pull you up or send you down one floor without breaking any of the pulley wires…otherwise you'd practically fall to your death". The old man said as he wiped the grease off his hands. The man chuckled as he recognized who the two inhabitants of the elevator was.

"I hope we didn't scare you…but I'm sure the two of you kept each other good company" he said with a wink and turned and walked off.

"Uhhhhhh…..Randy?" Trish whispered softly.

"Hmmmm…." he responded, looking down at her.

"You can let go now…." she said as she bit her bottom lip nervously. It took a minute for it to register in Randy's mind what she meant but then he realized that he still had a tight grip around her and he immediately let go as if she were made of fire.

"Thank you for catching me" she said as she walked over and picked up all of her bags.

"Not a problem….I would have done it for anyone" he answered back, clearing his throat and trying to regain his composure.

"Anyone….I figured as much" Trish said to herself quietly. Randy heard her comment and he also heard the hurt in her voice, but before he could comment she walked out of the elevator, leaving him behind.

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Trish let out an exhausted sigh before setting her bags down so that she could open her hotel door. When the door slid open, she hastily picked up her stuff and walked in. She walked further into the room, noticing that none of the lights were on.

"Hmmmm, that's weird" she said to herself as she made her way to the bedroom to put her newly bought things in her suitcase.

With each step, she felt an odd sensation come over. She wasn't quite sure what it was but she had a feeling that she wouldn't like it.

She walked into the bedroom and turned the light on, only to be met with emptiness. She closed her eyes and reopened them, hoping that she wasn't imagining or dreaming. She didn't have to wait any longer, she knew exactly what had happened but the real question was 'why'? The tears immediately sprang to her eyes and she dropped her bags to the floor and quickly jumped on the bed and buried her head down, letting the sobs overtake her. When she couldn't breathe any more, she lifted her head to regain her breath and that's when she noticed the neatly folded paper laying on top of the pillow on her side of the bed. She nervously picked it up and read it. She read it three times before realizing that the words weren't going to change, no matter how much she willed it to.

Her mind was a daze and she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do so she got up and in a daze, grabbed some of her things and made her way to the only reliable thing she had.

Minutes later, standing outside the door, Trish clutched to her clothes as though it were a life preserver and she was in danger of drowning. But that's exactly how she felt. She kept asking herself what could have possibly happened but no answers came to her and that made it hurt all the more.

She was about to knock one more time but the door flew open.

"T, what happened?" a concerned Chris Jericho asked as he pulled the petite blonde into the hotel room.

She didn't answer him, she just let him lead her into the room. Chris's concern continued to grow as he looked into the vacant eyes of one of his best friends. He wasn't sure what had happened and therefore, he didn't know what he was supposed to do, so he opted to pull her in close for a hug. He held her tight and stroked her soft blonde mane as she cried into his chest.

"Chris what happ….." Amy stopped dead in her tracks at the scene before her.

"Sweetie, what happened?" Amy asked as she rushed over and gently rubbed Trish's back, trying to soothe her cries. If there was anyone that could get through to Trish, it was Amy. They were good for each other that way. They had a bond that most didn't understand. Both were very good friends with the other divas, but their friendship with each other was different and everyone, thought not all understood it, they respected and admired their loyalty to one another.

Trish lifted her head off of Chris's chest and looked at Amy and in one swift motion, she let go of Chris and welcomed Amy's open arms.

"He's left….he just….he's gone" she murmured through her tears. Amy and Chris looked at each other and then back at Trish. They didn't have to ask who she was talking about, they knew exactly who it was she was referring to. They didn't understand why either, but their primary concern was making sure she was okay.

"You just wait till I see him…." Amy said softly but with conviction. She didn't care if it was man, woman, or beast….no one got away with hurting her best friend.

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Before Randy could open the door, it flung open and he was met by a perky blonde.

"Good, you're back….what took you so long?" she asked with a smile.

'How the hell is she always so fucking perky all the time?' he thought to himself.

"Sorry babe, the elevator got stuck so I had to wait for the people to fix it….it took a while" he responded before undoing his shirt and disregarding it.

"Oh…well was there other people with you?….I mean, it would really suck if you got stuck by yourself…it would be so boring".

"Yeah, there was one other person…Trish…." he said with a sigh.

"Oh boy….you better not have said anything stupid Randy because….."

"Stacy…" he interrupted her. He hated it when she admonished him. It wasn't very girlfriend like, more motherly and it irritated him.

"Don't start with that….Trish and I just don't get along, why can't you just leave it at that?"

"Because she's one of my best friends….sure we don't have the type of relationship she has with Amy, but she has always been there for me. She helped me through break-ups, my stress….everything…..and I hate the fact that my own boyfriend can't even be decent enough to be kind to her…." she said a bit angry at the thought of how Randy treated Trish. She was very well aware that Trish fiery as well and that she could certainly hold her own. Stacy, herself, has heard Trish dish it right back to Randy, but he usually instigated the confrontations and she was fed up with it.

"You use to be best friends" Stacy said.

"Yeah….well things change….people change….feelings change…." Randy said softly.

"Whatever…..by the way, someone slipped this through the door for you….I don't know who it's from" Stacy said with a bit of attitude. Without further acknowledging him, she made her way to the back to take a shower. As far as she was concerned, he wasn't getting lucky tonight.

Randy didn't even noticed his retreating girlfriend as he stared down at the envelope that has his name written across the front.

Unable to detain his curiosity, he ripped the envelope open and began to read.

Randy,

I don't exactly know how to go about writing this letter to you. I don't know what to say except that you just need to trust me on this. I know what I'm doing…at least I think I know what I'm doing. You're my best friend…you have been for a very long time and I trust you with my life and the lives of the people I love the most. That's why I wanted to ask a favour of you. Remember the bar incident? Well, buddy….you owe me one. I know it's a pretty big favour to ask, but I hope that our friendship means enough to you.

I'm going to be gone…I don't know for how long. I need some time to think, but more importantly, I think Trish needs time to think as well, though I'm sure she doesn't feel that way right now. But she will, just give her time. I know that the friendship between the two of you has practically vanished and I'm not quite sure why….neither does she, really. I guess you're the only one that knows the answer to that. She misses you….she talks about your adventures together all the time and we get a good laugh out of the stupid things you two have done, but I've noticed the hurt in her eyes as well. That's why what I'm about to ask you…I'm not quite sure it's the best thing to ask of you but I trust you and I know that you trust me too. I want you take care of her for me Randy. I know I'm asking a lot, but I love her despite my leaving….I'm not asking for you to rejuvenate your friendship….just look out for her and spend some time with her. I know she'll be lonely…she's going to push people away, except for Amy and Chris but she'll feel like the third wheel being around them all the time. Maybe you'll even remember how spectacular she is and why you two were such great friends and build from there.

I know this may be hard for you, but I know you won't let me down and I promise that I'll be back as soon as I can.

P.S. I'll even bring you back something!

Your pal,
Dave Batista

Randy took a seat on the couch and laid his head back. He lifted his head up and looked at the letter he held within his grasp.

Dave had no idea what he was asking of Randy, but Dave was right about one thing….Randy could never let him down. He shot up from his seat and in his haste, forgetting to put on a shirt, he made his way out the door, with a specific destination in mind. He knew exactly where she would be and he knew exactly what kind of state she would be in. He prayed that she would be alright and he prayed that she wouldn't make this hard for him…but most of all, he prayed for himself.

'People change….Feelings change' his conscious reminded him of his own words he spoke.

"Dave trusts you….he's counting on you" Randy softly coach himself as he finally made it to the door he was looking for.

"Here goes nothing" and with a solid knock at the door, he sealed his fate. There was no turning back now. Dave may have trusted him, but he certainly didn't trust himself. Not with his best friend's girlfriend…. the same woman that stole his heart and occupied his dreams every night.

"I am so screwed".