Hehe I'm updating on time. XD lol I'm proud of myself.
Anyways... here you go. I own nothing. :P
Stephanie sighed, rolling her eyes as boredom overcame her. She drummed her fingers on the table where she was sitting, as she listened to Eric Bischoff going on about Survivor Series. She took a look around at all the wrestlers sitting near her, who looked equally bored as well.
"Now I know that some of you have had questions regarding the matches that are going down at Survivor Series, but don't worry, they will be addressed tonight. As you all know, or at least, I hope you all know, Survivor Series will be a joint pay-per-view with Raw matches and Smackdown matches.."
Snickering was heard as the wrestlers began talking in low tones to each other at this point. Stephanie sighed loudly again, before feeling something like a crumpled piece of paper bounce off the back of her head. She spun around, scanning everyone standing behind her, before her eyes came to rest on a particular Canadian. She narrowed her eyes angrily at him.
Chris gave her a look of feigned surprise, before pointing to Randy who was standing next to him. Randy noticed this and gave him a puzzled look as Stephanie "hmmph"ed and turned back towards Bischoff.
"This is going to be yet another chance for Raw to shine. I want you guys to know, after this pay-per-view, I'm going to be taking a month off for a vacation that I for one feel is very well-deserved.."
Stephanie rolled her eyes and felt yet another crumpled ball of paper bounce off her head. She growled and turned to give Chris a death glare, but he once again pointed to Randy. Randy frowned and shoved Chris, whose smirk was giving him away.
"Excuse me.. is there something going on back there? Stephanie? Jericho?" Bischoff asked, glaring in that direction.
Everyone turned to look in their direction at this. Stephanie gave them her bitchy look as she turned back around, and Chris shook his head while Randy snickered.
"I thought so. Anyways.. as far as tonight goes, word has it that Triple H isn't going to be here tonight."
The wrestlers all gave a cheer at that as Randy leaned down so Chris could whisper something to him, while he crumpled up another flyer that he had grabbed from the table behind him. Randy laughed out loud at what Chris told him, and nodded in agreement. The Canadian pulled away and straightened, just in time to have a ball of crumpled paper bounce off his nose.
Stephanie gave him a smile as he sneered at her, before turning back around to face Bischoff again.
Randy, not particularly caring in anything else Bischoff had to say, looked around and spotted Lita sitting by the entrance, looking especially bored. He turned in time to see Chris grab a water bottle with an evil look on his face, and decided it would probably be better if he left those two alone. He headed over to where Lita was sitting and took a seat in the empty chair next to her.
"I guess the plans all worked huh?" He said, distracting Lita from sending Trish anymore dirty looks. Lita looked over at Chris, who was slowly approaching Stephanie from behind with his water bottle.
"Yeah, I guess they did." She said, almost mechanically, making Randy give her a confused look.
"Well don't sound too excited."
"No no, I didn't mean it like that." She sighed. "He's a good friend and I'm glad he's finally getting somewhere with her.. it's just.. well, never mind."
"No, what were you going to say?" Randy pressed, but she only shook her head. He gave her a curious look.
"Forget it, it's nothing. I'm gonna go, I'm tired of hearing about Triple H." She said, standing. He stood as well, and when she caught his look, she patted his arm. "Don't worry about it, Randy, seriously. I'll catch you later right? I hear this meeting isn't going to be the only one of the night."
"That's what I'm told."
Stephanie, bored to tears and not noticing that Chris was right behind her, poised to douse her with some water, chose that moment to raise her hand to ask if she could leave. In doing so, she knocked the water bottle back, spilling water on him instead.
She turned to see what she had hit, and looked up at him to meet his scowl. She burst out laughing and snatched the water bottle from his hand.
"Thanks, I was kind of thirsty." She said, winking at him as she turned back around, while he took a seat next to her.
"I know, I know, hot and sexy people will make you thirsty like that." He said arrogantly, adjusting his shirt so it showed off more of his chest as he leaned towards her. "Ain't that right?"
"Yes, because Hurricane's a sexy turn-on." She said, motioning to the super hero sitting in front of her as Chris scowled once again.
"Like I said," Lita cut in, drawing Randy's attention again. "I'm gonna go."
"Okay, I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah, see you around."
Randy watched her give Trish another dirty look, then give Chris and Stephanie a look he couldn't quite place before leaving. Hanging out with the Canadian every week had greatly enhanced not only Randy's smart ass vocabulary, but also his intuitive and curious nature. He knew something was up that he wasn't in on; just couldn't place it just yet.
He leaned back against the wall and watched as Chris randomly poked Stephanie on her side, earning angry glares in the process. Sighing, he leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes as he fell into deep thought.
Revenge was what the two wanted, not that Randy could blame them. He was more than ready to lend a helping hand; after all, payback was a sweet and beautiful thing.
And against a group like Al's, it would be twice as rewarding.
"Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon! Do I need to get you two a hotel room?!" Eric Bischoff angrily shouted, snapping Randy out of it. Randy looked over at Trish, who had a look nothing short of evil on her face as she glared at Chris and Stephanie. He snickered; she had no idea what she was in for.
Chris leaned back in his chair, stopping his tickling assault on Stephanie (who was busy fixing her appearance as they once again had the attention of everyone in the room) as he looked defiantly at his boss.
"You don't need to, but if you really want to, we'll take it." Chris said with his cocky demeanor. Stephanie grabbed the water bottle from the table by the top and went to smack him on the head with it, but he got his arm up in time.
"That's it for this meeting." Bischoff spat out angrily, knowing he wouldn't be able to control a whole room full of wrestlers should they all grow defiant; which they all looked ready to do too. He stepped down from the podium as everyone in the room began talking all at once.
"Rundo, what are you doing all the way over here?"
"Felt like getting away from you and Stephanie for a while, for one." Randy said, amused. "Where is she by the way?"
"Going to meet up with her pathetic excuse of a man."
"But I thought that was over?"
"It is. He just doesn't know it yet."
"I thought Bischoff said Triple H wasn't going to be here tonight." Chris said in disgust, shaking his head as he walked away from a monitor, Triple H's segment still fresh on his mind.
"He's not here, this is from a remote location." Randy said, emphasizing the words with his fingers as they both headed down the hallway. Chris snorted and shook his head.
"And here I thought Halloween was over."
"You really think he's not here?"
"I don't know. Remember what I told you, kid. He's like a cockroach. He just doesn't go away." The Canadian said, shrugging.
"Who cares about that though? Imagine if we win at Survivor Series! We can get that title off Triple H so fast.."
"And back around my glorious waist, I know.." Chris said smugly as he pictured it in his mind.
"So have you and Stephanie come up with anything good yet?" Randy asked, getting an evil smirk from his companion.
"It's a work in progress, Rundo."
"But you had all week to think about it! What the hell were you guys do -- okay, I'm not even gonna go there."
Chris just snickered as he pushed open the door to his dressing room, not surprised to find Lita there already waiting for them.
He was, however, surprised to find Maven in there with her.
Chris's gaze went from Lita, to Maven, then back again to Lita, as if demanding an explanation. Maven stood up as Randy watched from over Chris's shoulder.
"Chris man, I wanted to ask you a favor. I need you and Randy to back me up."
Chris gave Lita a puzzled look before looking at Maven, raising an eyebrow as Randy stepped in next to him.
"That depends, Munvo. What are you gonna do?"
"Munvo?"
"Munvo, Monvi, whatever your name is, get on with it. What are you gonna do?" Chris demanded impatiently.
"I wanted to give Evolution a piece of my mind, but I obviously can't take them both on at once." Maven said, frowning as he took Randy's cue for him to drop the name thing because he just wouldn't win.
"We'll help you out." Randy said decisively, getting a glare from Chris.
"Excuse you Rundo? I make the decisions around here, seeing as how I have seniority." The Canadian stated, before turning back to Maven. He looked at him for a few moments, before finally nodding. "We'll help you out."
"Alright guys, that's really cool! Strength in numbers, that's what I'm talking about! We got it at Survivor Series, yeah! High-five!" He said, raising both of his hands. Randy high-fived him, but Chris simply stared.
"Just let us know when you're on your way so we don't show up too late, Munvo." The older man said, walking around him and going to take a seat next to Lita. Randy gave Maven a reassuring look.
"Don't worry, he's like that." Randy said in a low tone, though containing amusement at the look on Maven's face. "We'll be there, just let us know."
"Thanks, I will."
"Rookies," Chris snickered after Maven had left. "If I was a rookie, I would've gone up to Evolution on my own and taken a stand."
"And gotten your ass kicked?" Randy said as he took a seat on the opposite side of Lita. "You can barely handle Batista right now, let's not say when you were a rookie."
"Hey, I was a damn good rookie. I was trained by Stu Hart, not by Al Snow, okay?"
"Are you ripping on Al Snow?"
"I don't like him."
"Why?"
"His name is Al. I already told you I don't like that name.. Al.. what kind of person would name their kid Al.."
"That's name discrimination."
"Kid, you can't even spell discrimination so shut up."
"Okay guys, cut it out." Lita said, cutting in. "You wanted to talk about the plan, right?"
"That's right, Rundo over here getting me all off topic."
"Me? Oh give me a break."
"Yes, you. I see no other Rundo around here, now do I?"
"See, you get yourself off topic!"
"Guys!"
"Okay okay, let's see.." Chris said, rubbing his hands together. "You know, I don't really care for Christian and Tomko."
"Oh, didn't you hear?" Lita interjected. "Tomko's hurt."
"I didn't hear that." Randy frowned.
"You never hear anything, that's your problem." Chris chastised, then continued, not allowing Randy a chance to cut in. "In any case, they were lackies in all this. All Christian wanted was my title, which I don't have anymore..."
"So we're only looking at Al and Trish then."
"That's the idea. You two get Trish, me and Stephanie will take care of Al."
"Speaking of," Lita cut in. "Where is Stephanie?" Randy gave Chris a look which the Canadian missed.
"She's with Al. He doesn't know that she knows what's going on, she's playing dumb. I wanted to do this this week, but we didn't come up with anything yet.. nothing good anyways." Chris said, shrugging. "That's why this is Strategizing Week."
"Strategizing Week?" Lita and Randy said together.
"Yes.. iron out all the details, stuff like that."
"Well I don't know what we can really do anyways without Stephanie here, so I'm gonna go." Lita said, standing. Chris looked at Randy, who just shrugged, before standing up.
"You don't have to go, I was just saying."
"I know, but I have some things to take care of anyways." She said, already opening the door. "See you guys later."
Chris went and sat back down next to Randy silently, the look on his face a combination of bewilderment and confusion. He looked at Randy, who once again, just shrugged.
"Did I say something?"
"No, least, I don't think you did. Sometimes women get offended over little things though, but I don't think Lita's like that."
"So what the hell was that all about?"
"Well it's obvious that she's.." Randy started, before catching himself. "Ah never mind."
"What were you going to say?" Chris growled, before knocking was heard on the door.
"That's probably Maven, we should go."
"Not til you tell me what you were going to say."
Randy looked at him, sitting there with his arms crossed over his chest and a stubborn look on his face. He sighed, and knew that he really wasn't going to budge.
"Fine.. I was just thinking, not that I know anything, but I just get the vibe that Lita, well.. she's kind of, how would you say.."
"Oh spare me the drama kid, just let it out." Chris said, rolling his eyes impatiently.
"Jealous."
"Jealous? Of what?"
"I don't know of what, but if I was a betting man, I'd say she's jealous that of you and Stephanie."
"Give me a break." Chris scoffed, before laughing. "Jealous of us? Why? We're not even officially together.. yes we've made considerable progress, but she's technically still with Al until further notice.. I guess we're kind of unofficially together or something like that.. actually, I'm not really sure what we are." He said, frowning as he thought about it. "I guess you could say that --"
"I don't think she's jealous of you two." Randy interrupted, lest Chris get a spiel going. "I think she's jealous of Stephanie."
"Again, that makes no sense." Chris said, standing up and heading over to the door. "There's nothing to even be jealous about."
"Dude, either you've never seen a girl be jealous before or you're seriously blind. I mean, even I can see that Lita's jealous, and it can't be of you, so it has to be of Stephanie." Randy said as he stood as well, following Chris out of the dressing room. "She's trying not to make it obvious, like Trish, but come on, it's still there."
"She has no reason to be jealous."
"I think she does."
"Like what, for example? Is she jealous of Stephanie's hair?" The Canadian mocked, before going off into thought. "She does have nice hair though, it's very soft.."
"No Jericho, somehow I think it's deeper than that."
"There is nothing deeper than that."
"God you really are hopeless. Look, Maven's going into the locker room over there, that's probably Evolution's."
"Fine, let's go help the rookie out. But we are not done with this conversation, I hope you know."
"Trust me, I know."
"You know what? I'm gonna have to teach you and Munvo some new wrestling technique." Chris stated, as they walked over in the direction of Evolution's locker room.
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"How to fight dirty. You kids fight too clean, it's not gonna work with Evolution."
"Please, I know how to fight dirty, okay? I was with Evolution."
"Don't worry.. I'll show you how it's really done."
Chris and Randy stared at each other a half hour after the show had ended, both daring the other to make a move.
"You first." Chris demanded, his glare never faltering.
"You first." Randy responded, matching the Canadian's glare.
"Would one of you just go already?" Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "Geez, wasting my time."
Randy laid out his hand on the table as Chris and Stephanie leaned in to see.
"Three queens, huh? Read 'em and weep junior." Chris said, smirking as he laid down his hand. Randy scowled as he saw three kings, while Chris leaned back arrogantly. "I'm the king of the world, didn't you hear?"
"Then what does that make me?" Stephanie said, laying down her hand, revealing three aces. She laughed at the silence that she produced, before picking up all the cards.
"Whatever." Chris said, waving it off. "Just a stupid game."
"Losers always say that." Stephanie smirked at him, but he just snickered. "So we've agreed on the plan for next week?"
"Hell yes." The Canadian said, grinning as he leaned back on the sofa. "It is going to be so sweet, I can't wait."
"Neither can I." She responded, her eyes sparkling as she imagined it. "I absolutely hated spending time with Al tonight.. God I almost did cartwheels when he agreed to let me leave on my own. I just can't stand him anymore, I can't believe I couldn't see how fake he's been with me all this time.."
Somewhere during her spiel, Chris had effectively zoned out and was just staring at her. He loved the way she came to life when she was pissed; he always had. That was a major part of the reason he loved to rile her up (the other part being that it was fun, of course).
Randy noticed the way Chris was gazing at her as she kept going on about how much she hated Al. He smirked and pulled up his bag near him, before digging through it.
".. I mean he's using me worse than Hunter in some ways, at least Hunter wasn't in it for the money, you know what I mean? And it upsets me that he wanted to keep me away from you, because even if everything was fine, what, am I not allowed to have friends, I mean honestly Chris, why didn't you figure it all out sooner.."
Chris sighed contentedly, pleased inwardly that they had arrived to this point. After all the weeks of heartache and drama, everything was out in the clear.
Well, amost everything anyways. Payback still had to be dealt out, of course, but not before he got to the bottom of whatever was going on with Lita..
"Chris, are you even listening to me?" Stephanie demanded, drawing his attention once again. He nodded, and was going to respond when Randy held up a piece of paper with some writing on it behind Stephanie, diverting his attention.
It read: Just tell her that you're madly in love with her already you idiot.
Whatever Chris was going to respond with died on his tongue the moment he read that, and, having one of those rare occasions in his life, he was rendered speechless. Stephanie looked at him curiously, before turning to look at Randy, who crumpled up the paper as soon as she did.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's going --"
"Nothing, nothing." Chris said quickly, grabbing her hand and sending Randy a look that simply read "I am going to beat the living hell out of you". Randy smirked and shrugged, responding with his own look that read "Ha, you're not going to in front of Stephanie!"
"Steph, can you leave me and Randy alone for a few minutes?" The Canadian asked as she looked back at him.
"I'm just gonna go actually, I didn't realize how late it was. Don't want to keep Al waiting!" She said in mock excitement, before rolling her eyes.
"That assclown is going to get his. He's lucky I didn't run into him tonight, let me tell you. I'd have to give him an official Y2J style beating." He said smugly.
"Whatever." She said, standing up and prompting both of them to also stand. She walked over to the door, Chris right behind her.
"So I'll call you?"
"You called me every day last week and you didn't ask me permission then, so why are you asking it now?"
"I never ask for permission, woman. I do what I want, when I want." He grabbed her arm and stopped her from opening the door. She gave him a curious yet daring look as he smirked and backed her up against the door, letting his hands trail to her hips. "Like right now."
"Hey, say the word and I'll leave." Randy said, not wanting to be scarred for life by being subjected to whatever Chris wanted to do.
"You asked me to leave you two alone." Stephanie said, trying her best to not give in to his little game. "So, Mr. Jericho, would you please let me go so you two boys can talk about whatever it is that you talk about?"
"Mr. Jericho, huh? I prefer Chris."
"Aw, well I prefer different shoes at the moment and you don't hear me complaining."
He laughed and leaned in, giving her a peck on the lips. He pulled back, surprised to find her giving him a look of extreme annoyance.
"You call that a goodbye kiss?"
"Ah Princess, I know you can never get enough of me, but let's not get greedy now. There's enough Vitamin C to go around."
"You ass." She said, punching him in the shoulder, which was enough to make him let go. He frowned at her.
"That hurt." He pouted, making her smirk.
"Oh well." She said teasingly as she turned back to the door and opened it. She looked at him over her shoulder. "That's what you get."
"That's cold, Steph." He whined.
"Isn't it?" She said, laughing, before turning back to him and giving him a tight hug, which led to a real kiss between the two. Randy groaned loudly at the public display of affection, and was about to protest when his cell vibrated. He checked it and saw that he had received a text message from Trish.
And here he had thought it may have been important.
"Ahem." Randy said, clearing his throat. Stephanie pulled away from Chris and blew Randy a kiss as Chris shot him an annoyed look for interrupting.
"Okay, I'll see you boys next week." She said, letting go of Chris. "You better call me."
"Please, like you even have to ask." Chris snorted, poking her on the side. She swatted his finger away and gave him another annoyed look, which he met with the most charming smile that he could muster. She stuck her tongue out at him, before leaving the room altogether.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Randy asked, making Chris turn back and give him a stern glare.
"I don't appreciate your little message, Rundo."
"It's true, I think it's time you just admit it."
"That's not your call to make!"
"So you admit it, you do love her."
"Oh no you don't, you're not getting me into that dicussion, junior."
"Well you're not denying it." Randy shrugged, before smirking as Chris gave him an irritated look. "You looooove Stephaniiiieeee.."
"Shut the hell up!"
"Chris is in loooove.."
"Damn it Rundo, what did I say?"
"He is whiiiiipped.."
"Am not!" Chris cried out indignantly, his face gaining a tint of red. "I don't want to talk about this anyways!"
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"You said Lita was jealous, and said I couldn't see why. So, maybe I can't, but if you can, then I suggest you spill, kid."
"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I would say she's jealous of Stephanie.. because of you." Chris' look changed from annoyance to confusion, so Randy continued. "I don't know if it's because Stephanie is going to have a man there for her, like if Lita's jealous of the relationship aspect, or if it's because that guy is going to be you."
Chris scowled; he hated dealing with this sort of thing. Bad enough he always had to sort out his feelings towards certain females, but he hated trying to figure out what other girls were feeling in regards to him. It was drama that he just didn't need.
Not to mention, he just wasn't any good at it. But like hell he'd ever admit that.
"It's probably the first." Chris mumbled. "It can only be the second if.."
"If she's starting to look at you more than a friend." Randy finished. The very thought stunned Chris, who shook it off.
"Can't be that. If, if she's jealous at all, then it has to be the first. There's just no way it can be the second."
Randy shrugged, frowning. "It's not like it would be that bad.. she's attractive."
"You just don't get it. We're friends, kid. Friends should always stay friends."
"You were friends with Stephanie, weren't you?" Randy shot back, not knowing why he was defending Lita's stance. Hell, he wasn't even sure that she was jealous, it was just a vibe he had gotten by sitting next to her for a few minutes. Chris, on the other hand, was his best friend. He should therefore be siding with him.
Right?
"What are you trying to say?" Chris demanded, staring at the younger man intently.
"I don't know, never mind, forget it." Randy said, standing up from where he had been sitting. "I'm gonna let her know her part of the plan, and we'll just go from there next week."
"See kid, now you got me thinking that maybe she is jealous." Chris groaned, running a hand through his loose hair. "I hope it's not true, I don't really need to deal with this on top of getting some payback. I like to tackle one thing at a time, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I know. I guess we'll find out though."
"I guess we will."
"So you get what's going on next week?"
"Yeah, I got it. Sounds good."
"So, um," Randy said, uncomfortable as he kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good." Lita said, giving him a confused look as she leaned against the side of her car. "A little sore from that encounter with Trish but, I guess that can't be helped."
"I wasn't really talking about that.."
"Oh.." She said, crossing her arms. "Well, if this is about Kane.."
"No, it's not about that either. It's about Chris."
"What about him?"
"Well, I just.." He paused, not wanting to come out and blatantly ask her what he really wanted to know. He had to be more tactful than that; not to mention he'd have an extremely pissed Canadian to deal with should he be that blunt.
"You what?"
"Well, I know you guys have been friends for a while.. but I just kind of got a feeling that you wanted more from him.. wanted him as maybe something more than a friend." He shrugged, and was glad it was nighttime so she couldn't see him blushing.
Come on man, you're a lady's man, snap the hell out of it! You can talk to one girl!
He shook his head and looked right at her, trying to read her response.
"Randy," She started, carefully choosing her words, "If I was interested in him as being more than a friend.. then why would I want to help him get Stephanie in the first place?"
"You tell me."
They remained in silence for a while, before she sighed loudly.
"It doesn't even matter.. he's been blinded by Stephanie since Day 1." She said quietly, and he nodded, before it dawned on him what she was saying.
Holy shit. I was right!
Damn I'm getting good at reading people.
I can't believe I didn't notice sooner.
I wonder what Chris would say right now. Probably something like "Everyone loves me." Arrogant jackass..
Wow, she looks kind of hot right now..
I was right.. man I hate being right.
"Randy?"
"But.." He sputtered, forcing himself to speak. "What about Matt?"
"I love Matt." She said, sighing. "He's always been there. But so has Chris. Have you ever felt like there was someone you had a chance with and they slipped away?"
He thought about it, before shaking his head. She snickered and rolled her eyes.
"That's right.. lady's man Randy Orton gets anyone he wants, right?" She said teasingly, but instead of the words inflating his ego like they normally would do, they hit him like a brick.
"That makes me sound like some kind of womanizer or something." He said, rubbing the back of his head.
"I didn't mean it like that Randy, don't take it that way." She hesitated for a moment, choosing her words more carefully. "Chris doesn't fit the bill of the guy that got away.. he's more like the guy who just never was. He was always just a friend, and he's always been head over heels for Stephanie.. so I guess.." Her voice trailed off as she suddenly looked up at him. "Please don't tell him any of this. He's happy with Stephanie, I don't really want to ruin that. Especially after what happened with Trish, he deserves this."
"I won't tell." He said, shaking his head. He crossed his arms over his chest, ready to listen attentively.
"I guess when he came to me for help, it didn't really make a difference. I was already tied up with Matt and Kane, so it's not like there was much hope.. well, let me rephrase that. There is no hope for anything between us."
"So is that why you agreed to help in the first place?"
"I agreed to help him because I knew how much he wanted it." She said, sighing again. "Didn't you see them? They're perfect. I can't compete with that.. it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though."
Without thinking about what he was doing, he stepped towards her and hugged her. She tensed at the initial contact, before easing and letting him hug her.
"Things work out in the long run."
"Yeah." She let out a deep breath, before pulling away from him. "Thanks, Randy."
"No problem."
She gave him an appreciative look before opening the door to her car and climbing in.
"See you next week."
"Til next week."
Randy watched as she pulled out of the parking lot, standing there for several moments. After her car was out of sight, he turned and looked at the car that had been parked next to her, and walked behind it. As he expected, he found a certain Canadian sitting behind it, leaning back against the car.
"Told you." He said simply, as Chris shook his head.
"I can't believe this. Talk about something I didn't need." The older man sighed, closing his eyes. "Man.. I should've seen this coming."
"Now what?"
"I don't know kid."
They both sighed simultaneously and remained in silence for several moments, each deep in thought, before Chris finally broke the silence.
"Women."
"Tell me about it."