Break Downs and New Friendships…

The scream was so piercing, Randy was on his feet before he even knew he was awake. He watched as Lita sat straight up in the bed, panting and staring, wild-eyed, around the room. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he took her in his arms, but immediately let go when she stiffened at his touch. She looked at him with fear and panic in her eyes and throwing the blanket off her, she jumped up from the bed and ran out of the hotel room.

Randy was so taken aback, he couldn't immediately react. After a brief moment, he regained his composure and, grabbing her duffle bag from its spot on the floor, ran out of the room after Lita. He caught up to her as she was fighting to unlock her hotel room door. Randy watched as she kept putting the card into the lock, taking it out, and putting it back in. She was getting frustrated and kept running her hand through her bright red hair. Finally, after one last attempt, she turned and slid down the wall burying her face in her hands. Randy leaned down and carefully took the key card from her hand, unlocking and opening the door. He reached down and grabbed her hand pulling her up and guiding her into her hotel room, dropping her bag beside the door. He directed her over to the couch and was just turning to make sure the door had closed when he heard her low voice.

"Make sure the door is locked. Both locks. Make sure," she said almost pleading with him.

He didn't exactly know how to respond to the tone in her voice, so he did as she asked and checked to make sure the door was securely shut and locked. Turning back around, he saw her watching him. He slowly made his way back over to the couch and crouched down in front of her. As he reached out to touch her hand, she leaned further into the couch cushions, slightly pulling away. He looked at her and moved back a step.

"Lita?" questioned Randy.

He was just looking at her with those blue eyes…eyes that were filled with questions and worry.

"Please – let me help you. I know we haven't ever really hung out or for that matter had a real conversation. But I know something is wrong and that you need a friend right now. Let me be that person for you," he said as he stared into her hazel eyes. He spoke so honestly, Lita was completely taken aback.

"Randy, I-I uh. No!" she cried, "I can't do this right now! I don't even know you Randy. And I wake up in your hotel room this morning and then you're chasing me down the hallway and now you're sitting on the floor in my hotel room asking me to share my pathetic secret with you?" Lita exploded as she turned and walked over to the window.

Randy was so taken aback by her outburst that he didn't know how to react at first. He simply stared at her in shocked silence before shaking his head and making his way towards the door. Maybe this wasn't going to work after all. But how could he just walk away? He knew something was terribly wrong with the diva. Her eyes held a secret, they were a source of immense pain – of that much he was sure. It wasn't until he had his hand on the doorknob did she finally turn from the window and call his name.

"Randy? Please. I'm sorry. You've been nothing but nice to me the past 24 hours and here I am jumping down your throat for it. Don't go."

Randy turned from the door and looked at her. She was standing there, with her arms wrapped around her, her eyes now filled with something he couldn't quite name. He simply nodded and made his way back over to the couch. He sat down and waited patiently while she seemed to be having a mental battle with herself. Finally, she began to move towards the couch and perched herself carefully on the complete opposite end, not wanting to be too close to him. She needed to free herself of this secret or she would eventually wither and die, not that a part of her soul hadn't already begun to do so. She glanced at the clock, pushed her hair behind her ears, and took a deep breath.

"It all started two months, five days, nine hours, thirty-two minutes, and eleven seconds ago…"

Randy sat in shocked silence as Lita told her story. He watched as she wrung her hands together, only stopping to wipe away the tears that had begun to fall. He watched as her eyes filled with the terror and panic she must have felt that night as she was put through hell. He understood now why he always saw her run right to her locker room when she got the arena, only leaving for her match, and then returning to her locker room immediately afterwards. He had heard Stacy and Trish whispering in quiet corners, wondering if everything was okay with the redheaded diva, knowing something was wrong, but not sure exactly what might have happened. He understood now why Jericho and Benoit were always asking the other if he had spoken to her. She had cut herself off from anyone who truly loved her. She had decided to keep her nightmare, her terror, her pain to herself rather than share the burden with her best friends. And now, here she was, perched on a corner of the couch, in some random hotel room, telling her story to him. All he wanted was to reach over and pull her to him, to hold her in his arms, to stop her tears, to make her feel safe.

"And that's why, last night, when my car wouldn't start, I panicked. I used to love taking walks on dark clear nights and just look up at the stars. And now? The dark is the most terror-filled place for me. It's where all my nightmares become reality," she concluded as she tried to breath through the agony she was feeling.

"Lita…" Randy's voice trailed off. What could he possibly say that would make her feel better? There wasn't anything he could say or do to change what had happened to her or what she was going through now. Instead, he stood up and held out his hand to her. Lita looked first at his hand and then at his face. He was staring down at her with a look of such intense calm, she immediately felt her own heart rate slowing. Cautiously, she placed her shaking hand into his, not exactly sure what he had planned. He pulled her to a standing position and led her towards the bed. For a moment, Lita couldn't believe that after what she had just told him, he was going to try to get her into bed, but then he once again surprised her. Using his free hand, Randy pulled down the comforter and gave her a boyish smile.

"I think you should try to get some sleep. We don't have to be anywhere until later tonight, so why don't you just rest for a while. And I promise – I'll be right here when you wake up."

Lita softly smiled as he let go of her hand and once she was lying comfortably, he carefully pulled the comforter up around her.

"I promise – I'll be right here," he repeated again as she closed her eyes and for the first time in what seemed like years, fell into a somewhat comfortable sleep.

Later that Day

Lita awoke feeling better than she had in a long, long time. She looked around her hotel room for the familiar face, for the person who had promised that he would be there when she woke up. When she didn't see him, she felt tears sting her eyes. But what had she expected? Him to stick around after that story she had told him?

"Yeah, right," she muttered, as she sat up on the edge of the bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey! You're awake," came a voice from over on the couch.

Lita stood up and walked towards the sound of the voice. What she saw almost made her laugh. Randy was lying on the couch, all rumpled and disheveled, looking like he too had fallen asleep.

"Did you fall asleep too?" she laughed.

"I guess. One minute, I was watching South Park on t.v. and the next thing I know I'm being laughed at by a beautiful woman."

Lita blushed at the last comment and a smile played at her lips. She watched as Randy sat up and stretched his muscles a bit, loosening them up after lying on the cramped couch for the last three hours. Lita couldn't help but notice how his t-shirt tightened over his arms as he stretched or how tanned his skin was or how when he lifted his arms over his head, she could see his tight abs.

"So what do you say?"

"Huh? Uh, sorry…I must have spaced out there for a minute," she stammered.

The trademark smirk of Randy Orton played on his lips as he repeated his question.

"I wanted to know if you wanted a ride to the arena tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks. I'd appreciate it," Lita said as she took a seat beside him on the couch, being careful not to sit too close.

"So are you, I mean are you okay?" Randy cautiously asked.

"Am I okay? I doubt I'll ever be okay. But am I a little better? Yeah. Thank you for being patient and letting me say what I needed to say," Lita said with a small smile as she stood up from the couch.

"I'm glad I was able to be there for you…" Randy trailed off as he realized she was standing in front of him wearing a tight tank top and a pair of low-cut jeans. His eyes quickly took in her curves before he shook his head and gazed back up at her eyes. He could see that her eyes seemed calmer at the moment, but at the same time, he could still see the fear and panic that he knew would plague her for a long time. Not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, he decided it was probably time he took off back to his own room to get ready for that night's RAW.

Bending down as he passed her, he whispered in her ear, "I'll come pick you up in an hour. If you need anything, just call."

Lita opened her mouth to say something, but no words would come out. For some reason, having him standing so close to her was causing her knees to feel weak. She looked down at the floor and counted to ten before looking up again. He was standing by the door ready to leave.

"See you in a few," he said as he gave her a dazzling smile and a wink before walking out the door.

Oh my god! What the hell am I doing? I'm an emotional mess, my life has been nothing but panic attacks and nightmares for the past two months and now there's this guy that has suddenly come into my life and for whatever reason, he's decided to be my friend. Maybe it's a good thing – I definitely need someone I can talk to, someone who won't judge me or get all emotional, someone who just wants to be there for me.

She immediately stopped her train of thought after glancing at the clock. She had less than an hour now to shower, dress, and pack her bag before Randy came to pick her up.

Lita made sure the door to her hotel room was securely locked before getting in the shower. She stood under the hot water for a while, before finally deciding she better get out and get dressed so she would be ready in time to leave for the arena. Pulling on a pair of baggy black cargo pants and a gray t-shirt, she combed her hair and pulled it back into a messy ponytail. Just as she finished packing her duffle bag, there was a knock on her door. Looking through the peephole, she smiled and opened the door.

"Ready?" Randy asked. He was standing there in a pair of track pants and a black fleece sweatshirt smelling of soap and cologne. The sleeves of his sweatshirt were pulled up just enough so she could see the tattoos on his arms. She felt herself blushing once again and quickly turned to grab her duffel bag from the table.

"I think so. I think this is the first time in two months I'm going to walk to the elevator, not run and stand there pressing the button over and over again waiting for the doors to open, practically hyperventilating…" she trailed off as she saw the concern in his eyes.

"Are you sure you're up for this tonight? I mean, I could call Eric and tell him you're sick or that you had a family emergency and needed to go home for a few days."

"Randy? Really, it'll be okay. I need to start living my life again." She tried to sound confident, but the words sounded somewhat hollow, even to her own ears.

Randy could hear the words for what they were as well, but instead of commenting, he smiled and held out his hand to Lita. Lita debated with herself for about half a second before placing her hand in his and letting him lead her to the elevators. It was the first time in two months that she was actually walking down a hallway at a normal pace, rather than running panicked and breathless from her room to the elevator, and it terrified her. Despite the fact that Randy was walking right beside her, her nerves began to kick in. Lita felt her heart rate increase. Her palms starting sweating and her eyes were shifting from side to side, looking for anything out of the ordinary. It was almost as if Randy could sense her unease because the grip on her hand tightened and he smiled down at her with those icy blue eyes.

"Relax okay. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise," he said reassuringly squeezing her hand.

Just then, they heard a voice calling their names down the hall. "Randy? Lita?" they heard the voice call.

"Shit. I am not in the mood for a million questions right now," Lita mumbled as she dropped Randy's hand from her own.

Randy shot her a questioning look and Lita mouthed, Stacy.

"Hi! I tried calling your cell phone all day today. It must have been off though. So are you okay? I was really worried last night. I mean, you haven't exactly been acting like yourself for awh-"

"Stacy, Stacy. I'm fine," Lita said, cutting her off. "I was taking a nap this afternoon and turned off my phone because I didn't want to be woken up. You don't need to worry about me…" Lita caught the look Randy was giving her out of the corner of her eye, but with a little nod of her head warned him not to say anything. She might have been able to tell her deepest darkest secret to him, but she didn't think she was prepared to talk to Stacy about what had happened.

"Oh well, okay. So, Randy what are doing here?" asked Stacy, glancing from Lita to Randy and back again.

"My room is a few doors down from Lita's and we just happened to heading towards the elevator at the same time. That's all," stated Randy with a shrug.

By this time, the elevator had arrived and the three stepped through the doors and an awkward silence descended over the group. Stacy knew something was up with Lita, she just couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. She discreetly kept looking from Lita to Randy to see if she could maybe come up with some answers, but the two superstars were staring straight ahead. Finally, they reached the hotel lobby. Stacy waved goodbye as she spotted Victoria and Trish waiting for her by the hotel entrance. Lita breathed a sigh of relief as the trio finally exited the hotel, although she felt a little awkward as they all glanced in her general direction with looks of concern and then began whispering frantically as they walked out the doors. She looked down at her feet, as she felt Randy's eyes watching her.

"I could never get up enough courage to tell her. I was with her and Trish that night in Boston. I know Stacy – she would feel insanely guilty for letting me leave the club by myself. She would blame herself for what happened, and I couldn't do that to her. Randy, please don't say anything to anyone! Please!" begged Lita.

Randy could hear the pain in her voice as she spoke. He moved closer to her and, putting his finger under her chin, he lifted her face until she was looking him directly in the eyes.

"Lita, it's not my secret to tell. You'll let Stacy and Trish know what happened when you're comfortable. I'm just glad that I was able to be there for you when you needed someone to listen to you. A friend Lita – that's all I want to be to you," he said, though a part of him knew he was completing lying to himself. He could see her meaning more to him. Hell, she might already mean more to him than he was ready to admit.

Lita just smiled as Randy once again grasped her hand and led her out to his car. Opening the passenger side door, she climbed in while Randy walked around to the driver side. Turning on the ignition, he put the car in gear, giving Lita's hand a comforting pat, and began to drive towards the arena.

Please Read and Review - let me know if I should keep going with this!