Torment of Tantalus
Chapter 8

Chris Jericho sat down in the seat across from Stephanie without saying a word. She sat with her back rigidly straight; her eyes focused on the swirling cup of coffee below her. His eyes settled on the growing red mark across the bridge of her nose and a rush of anger clenched his stomach. "I'm really sorry, Stephanie," he said finally, and she looked up at him and smiled a little.

"It was worth it to see the look on his face when he saw the car," Stephanie told him. He smiled and tried to push away the nipping guilt that it was partially his fault that she got hurt. The smiled faded from her face as she took a sip of coffee. Chris knew the look in her eyes. She was thinking, of what?-Chris didn't know. He leaned back in his seat as he stared at her. Everything had been so perfect up until a week ago. Chris ran a hand through his hair. He still couldn't even begin to contemplate what she saw in him.

Personality, maybe? Nope, unless she had a thing for vain egomaniacs. Physical reasons? No. Hunter probably had more sexual relations with his title belt than Stephanie, not to mention that anyone who found the man's big nose attractive obviously took one too many pills that morning. So what could it be? Scouring his mind, Chris could not find one tangible reason why Stephanie would hook up with Hunter.

And what about the timing? Chris's eyes fell on her lips for a moment before he looked down. Just two weeks before the fatal announcement, his efforts at gaining her affections had hit a major checkpoint. They had kissed—and no peck on the cheek, either. So what had happened that made Stephanie about-face so easily? 'Maybe she just didn't think of me like that…' Chris thought to himself, but refused to accept it. Stephanie was not the one to toy with emotions—at least not those of her best friend. He sighed, putting his head in his hands.

Stephanie glanced at Jericho for a moment before sighing and looking back at her coffee. Her nose was still throbbing from the blow. 'It was an accident,' Stephanie reminded herself. 'Accident, maybe, but he didn't listen to me. I kept telling him to stop but he wouldn't. Whether Hunter likes it or not Chris is my best friend and I'm not going to stop being his friend because of some stupid feud between them. I'm not going to tolerate Hunter going after Chris. It's ridiculous. They both say they care about me, but they don't care about me enough to stop fighting.' She bit her lip, concealing her anger. 'At least Chris stayed to make sure I was okay,' she thought, glancing up at him with gratitude. Hunter was probably already on his way to the next city, not even giving a second thought about what had gone on.

'I'm overreacting… Hunter is my fiancé! So yeah, maybe he made a mistake, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about me. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have asked me to marry him again. We wouldn't be in a relationship if he didn't care about me,' she reminded herself, but now there was this nagging doubt in the back of her mind… Hunter had been so quick to attack Chris. What was between the two men, anyway? Recently they hadn't even come into contact with one another; not that she knew of. Generally they were at least tolerable. At least not exchanging blows in a parking lot, for Christ's sake!

"Steph…are you sure that Hunter is the wisest choice?" Chris spoke up finally. Stephanie looked up and met his gaze.

"What do you mean?" she snapped, instantly defensive.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," he said sincerely.

"I know what I'm doing, Chris," Stephanie assured him…but the truth was that, well, she wasn't anymore, and it was giving her a huge guilt trip.

"I'll always be here for you, Stephanie," Chris told her. Stephanie tilted her head, taking time to consider those words. He had always held himself to those words, ever since the first day he said them. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. She'd love to believe that it was just because they were good friends, but she knew that that wasn't it. Deep down inside, the memories of the kiss they'd shared a few weeks back lurked. She didn't want to accept the fact that he cared about her as more than a friend. That would cause complications; complications that she didn't need. So she'd pushed it aside and tried so hard not to think of it again…but now she was. She was hurting Chris by being engaged to Hunter; that was a bare fact. She was hurting Chris The Best Friend and Chris The Potential Boyfriend all at once. She hated it, but she saw no way out of it. Stephanie was engaged to Hunter. They were going to be married sometime soon. She loved Hunter…

…didn't she?

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I updated! Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. Please review!

Thanks to:
DCFanatic4life
gtea-angel
AniLuLu
Latisha C
Y2J Chris Jericho
StephanieIrvine