Author's note: Hey everybody... sorry it took me so awfully long to update but I had a lot to do and in addition to that a very bad case of writers block but finally I had an idea for the new chapter and I just hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this story except Alexandria, Marissa and Martha belongs to me...

Chapter 26: Questions

Marissa watched Randy go and she was glad that Alexi was at least talking to him and trusting him enough. In a way it was ironic that Alexandria had fallen for a wrestler out of all people but she knew that it was a first step towards forgiving Shawn when she was able to love a wrestler.

Marissa smiled a little. Randy was a fine young man and in a way he reminded her of the Shawn she had met over twenty years ago but on the other hand they were totally different.

"Marissa, is everything okay?" Shawn's concerned voice brought her out of her deep thoughts and she saw four worried faces looking at her.

Marissa smiled a little and placed her hand on HBK's arm and told them: "Yeah… I'm okay but I was thinking about everything that has happened in the last hours."
Shawn nodded. He could understand that very well. His mind was trying to work everything out too. Batista and John, who had been silent the whole time, looked at each other in silent understanding.

They stood up and John spoke up: "Dave and I will go back to the hotel now. If you need something just call one of us."

Chris, Shawn and Marissa looked at each other and then at the two in surprise.

"You don't have to go. You've become as much a part of this as we all have. So you can stay if you want." Chris told his two fellow wrestlers.

Dave smiled a little. "Of course we know that Chris. But we should better go back to the hotel to explain everything to Vince and to have an eye out for Hunter and his buddies." He explained.

Shawn clenched his fists when Batista mentioned the name Hunter.

John immediately noticed that and so he asked: "Shawn, Chris, and Marissa, what do you want us to tell Vince if we see him?"

Marissa and Shawn looked at each other and then at Chris, who still leaned against the wall and just shrugged.

"It's your choice Marissa. I'm just a minor player here." He said his voice a little odd. Marissa sighed and walked over to him.

"Chris you never were a minor character here and you'll never be. Alexi trusts you and she'll forgive you. So you, as Shawn and I have a right to say what you want others to know."

Shawn just nodded in agreement. He still wasn't entirely sure what a relationship Chris, Marissa and Alexi exactly had but what he could see was that they were pretty close.

Y2J sighed and smiled slightly.

"Well I guess Vinnie knows almost everything by now. Except everything that has happened here and that Shawn knows about Alexi." He told them.

"Woah, wait a second. You're telling me that you told Vince 'bout Alexandria?" Shawn questioned trying not to get angry because there had been too much hurt and anger in the last days.

"Yeah. I had to tell him to keep him quiet about Alexi. I didn't want him to tell anybody and I didn't want him to ask questions."

Shawn nodded. He could understand that.

"So what do we do now?" Batista was a little confused on what to do now.

Chris sighed. "I guess the best we can do is to tell him everything and see how he reacts. I mean you all have seen where all the lies have brought us."

That was something the others could only agree with.

"So Dave, John, could you do that for us? I mean tell Mr. McMahon about everything?" Marissa asked the two men.

Dave, after a short look at John, nodded slowly.

"Sure if that's okay with all of you then of course we will tell him."

Shawn and Chris just nodded and Marissa smiled. For the first time in days she felt like everything was going to be okay.

"Well then see you tomorrow. And remember if you need something just call." John said once again before he and Batista finally left.

Chris watched them go and after a short look at his watch a small smile made its way onto his face.

"Is it okay if I leave you alone for a while now?"

Marissa nodded. "Sure. Where are you going?" She asked curiously.

Chris ran a hand through his hair and was a little embarrassed.

"Well… um… I've asked Martha… Dr. Cormela… to have a coffee with me." He admitted a little awkwardly. He felt bad that he was having sort of a date when Alexi was still so bad off.

But Marissa's smile made his feelings vanish.

Alexi's mother was glad that Chris was finally starting to think about himself for once.

"Okay. If something with Alexi changes we'll let you know." Marissa told Chris. Y2J smiled a little and hugged Marissa tightly. "Thanks Aunt Marissa. I really appreciate that." He whispered.

"Okay then, see you later. And have a nice time you two." Chris said with a mischievous grin. Alexi's mother gave him a jab in the ribs but she grinned too and ushered Chris out of the room.

When the door had closed behind the young man, Marissa and Shawn looked at each other and smiled happily.

Shawn walked the few steps over to Marissa and took her into a gentle embrace and gave her a tender kiss. When the couple broke it, Marissa asked a little confused: "What was that for?"

HBK smiled. "Just because you're you and I'm so happy to have you back in my life. I love you and I don't ever want to lose you again." The wrestler admitted.

Marissa blushed a little and smiled.

"I love you too Shawn."

Suddenly, Marissa had no idea what was happening, Shawn separated from her and took a step backwards.

"Marissa. I know it's probably not the most romantic moment in the world and I don't even have a ring but ever since I saw you again this has been running through my head. And I know I should've done it twenty years ago but I didn't have the courage back then. So I'm going to ask you now before I lose my nerves again…"
Shawn stopped and took a deep breath. Marissa looked at him wide-eyed.
"Shawn… what do you mean…?" she started but stopped because she had no idea what to say.

The Heartbreak Kid softly took both of her hands in his.

"I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Marissa, do you want to marry me?"

Alexi's mother was too shocked to say anything at first. She looked at Shawn's face, then at their entwined hands and then back to Shawn's face.

"Marissa, please say something…" HBK pleaded staring at Marissa with wide eyes.

The woman squeezed Shawn's hand, opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, still having no idea what to say. But if she was honest with herself there was only one answer to that question.

So she smiled at the Heartbreak Kid and slowly nodded.

"Yes I do."

Chris closed the door behind him, still with a smile on her face. He was glad that Marissa accepted the fact that Chris still had his own life. But if he was honest with himself he hadn't expected anything different. Alexi and Marissa had never wanted that Chris lived his life just for them. Jericho however loved the two to bits and they were a part of his family now and he still felt responsible for the accident that had cost Alexi her eyesight for over a year and had nearly cost hear life.

Now, that Alexi seemed to get back on her feet again and now that she had Randy in her life, Chris felt like he could start living for himself again without feeling guilty about it.

And Martha was an attractive woman and she seemed like a nice person and that was exactly why he wanted to get to know her.

As fast as he could without looking too eager he walked over to the restaurant to meet up with Martha.

He smiled when he saw the young doctor already sitting at one of the tables. When she saw Jericho enter she stood up and smiled a little.

"Hey Martha." Chris greeted and the two sat down at the table again.

"Hey Chris." Martha replied and handed Chris a coffee she had gotten earlier.

"I hope the coffee is okay?" She questioned. "Sure… thanks." Chris told the young woman and took the cup. Their hands touched briefly and both felt a little awkward when that happened.

Martha quickly let go of the cup and pulled her hand backwards.

For a while there was silence before Chris tried to start a conversation.

"So how do you enjoy your job Martha?" He questioned, having no idea what else to ask. He felt a little dumb. Martha obviously didn't think so because she just smiled.

"I love being a doctor. I never wanted to be anything else. But I guess your job is a lot more interesting than mine."
"Oh well it's not half as interesting as it looks on the TV. Sure I work with great guys and it's a lot of fun but sometimes you have to do a thing you don't want to do and that's not so much fun anymore." Jericho explained referring to the role he was currently playing and he still feared that Vince wanted to turn him into a heel.

Martha nodded slightly. She didn't really understand what Chris was talking about but she didn't want to question Jericho too much because she didn't think she had a right to do that.

Again there was silence but it wasn't really an uncomfortable silence. They were just enjoying each others company. And both thought about what to say or to ask next without looking too stupid or to embarrass themselves or the other.

Finally Chris was the one to break the silence again. "I wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for Alexi and us."
Dr. Cormela smiled and blushed slightly. "It's okay. I mean it's my job and I love to help people. And Alexandria is a nice girl so it's even more satisfying that the surgery was successful." Martha admitted.

Jericho smiled warmly at the young woman. "I just don't mean the surgery. I also mean that you've given Alexi's parents a quiet place to talk. That wasn't something you had to do."

"As I said it was a pleasure to help."
Jericho nodded. "So tell me a little bit about you. I'd really like to get to know you better." Y2J admitted with a shy smile that Martha just found adorable.

Oh come on get a grip girl. You don't even know a lot about him. Dr. Cormela told herself in her thoughts.

"Well… I really like to travel and to see the world. Unfortunately I don't have much time with my job and all." She admitted.

Chris could understand that. Sure he was always on the road but he didn't really have time to enjoy the cities they stayed at because he was always busy doing promotion work or actually standing in the ring.

"And your boyfriend likes to travel too?" Chris questioned and could've slapped himself for asking such a question.

So much for being inconspicuous. He thought for a moment, hoping that Martha wasn't offended by the question.

The young woman didn't look like that. Instead she had blushed and had lowered her eyes.

"Um… actually I don't have a boyfriend. My job keeps me busy all the time." She admitted after a moment of silence.

Yes! Chris cheered in his thoughts but he didn't want Martha to know his thoughts so he said with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry… I shouldn't have asked that."
Martha finally looked up. "It's okay Chris. I mean I asked you about it too because I thought Alexi was your girlfriend."

Chris sighed and shrugged lightly. "Well you weren't entirely wrong. But we're not anymore as I've told you. We were once but decided it was better for both of us to end it."

Dr. Cormela nodded. "Can I ask you something Chris? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She asked, wondering for a moment why it was that easy to call Chris by his first name.

"You want to know exactly why Alexi and I thought to end it." Chris stated.

Martha just nodded. "Yeah. I mean you two seem to be still pretty close. So I just wondered about it. As I said you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Chris smiled a little. He was surprised how easy it was to talk to Martha about Alexandria. He hadn't really told a lot of people about it but then nobody had really asked. Alexi's mother had known why without the two having to tell her. But it was no wonder since she had known him and of course Alexi almost all of their lives.

"Chris?" Martha's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Sorry… I was thinking about your question. Well it's not really a secret why we broke up. So if you really want to know I'm going to tell you." He said honestly.

Martha rested her chin on her hand and looked at Jericho expectantly and waited for Chris to say something.

"Well Alexi and me have grown up as next door neighbours and have always been pretty close.

One day we found out that we had feelings that went beyond friendship so we tried a relationship.

We were together for over two years but then I started my wrestling career and the stress of it took its toll on our relationship too. We had two great years together as a couple but we decided to get back to friendship again before we would not only lose our relationship but our friendship too and we both are too important to the other to risk that. So we went back to being friends again. And as I said we're still pretty close." Chris explained. There was another factor that had made Alexi and him decide to be just friends but that didn't know anybody besides him and Alexandria and Chris intended to have it stay that way at least for now.

He looked at Martha to find out what she did think of that story.

The young woman nodded thoughtfully. "I guess that sometimes it's better to settle for friendship than to lose that person totally." She admitted.

Chris nodded. "Alexi and I never regretted our decision." He told the young doctor.

"I realised that. And it's always good to have a friendship like you two have." Martha said.

Jericho nodded again. "Yeah but I'm a little jealous at Alexi and Randy." He admitted with a sheepish smile. "Not because Alexi has fallen in love with Randy but because sometimes I feel a little lonely…" He added, once again wondering why he was telling Martha all that.

The young doctor was about to reply to that when suddenly a nurse stormed into the cafeteria.

"Dr. Cormela. We need you. There has been a car accident and one victim is seriously injured and needs surgery at once. Dr. Hanson requested your assistance." The woman yelled.

Martha was already on her feet and looked at Chris apologetically. "We'll talk later…" She said and was relieved when Jericho nodded in understanding. She followed the nurse out of the room.

Chris watched her go with a little regret but he knew that it wasn't Martha's fault. They had time to talk later. With a sigh he stood up and made his way back to Martha's office where he thought Marissa and Shawn would still be.

When Alexi had hung up the phone, Randy sighed once. He had hoped that Sid would've been to busy to come back so early so that he would've had more time to convince Alexi to at least talk to Shawn. But Eudy had seemed very eager to come and see Alexi from the way the phone call went.

"Randy, is everything okay?" Alexi questioned when she heard him sigh and turned his head in his direction, her hand searching for his.

The young Orton gently took her hand.

"Yeah everything is okay." He reassured her. Then he said seriously: "Lexi, I know you're eager to talk to Sid and to finally get to know the whole truth but do me a favour and don't believe everything he tells you." The pleading in his voice made Alexandria nervous.

"And why shouldn't I believe what he says? I mean he has no reason to lie to me." She wanted to know.

Oh he has many reasons. He hates your father. He is probably responsible that your parents split in the first place and he and Hunter are planning something. Randy thought but knew that he couldn't just tell her that right now.

"Please Lexi just trust me and try to stay objective. I know it's hard but you need to question what he says." Randy pleaded gently, squeezing Alexi's hand to emphasize his words.

The girl slowly nodded. Randy's words sounded so desperate and she knew that he probably had her reasons to say that so she promised herself to try to stay objective.

"Okay Randy. I will try."

"That's all I ask of you." Randy agreed with a small smile. He was glad that Alexi was at least not accepting everything that Sid would be telling her.

Silence entered the room and both were once again lost in their own thoughts.

Finally Alexandria broke the silence. "Randy. Can you tell me how my mother and Shawn stand to each other now?" Her voice was a little odd and Randy couldn't really tell what she expected him to say. He also had no idea what to tell her now. The young Orton had seen that Marissa and Shawn had already found back together but he had didn't know if they wanted Alexi to know about that already.

Probably not… Lexi's reaction to Shawn is a strong indication that she won't forgive him that easily. And she's also mad at her mother right now. So if I tell her now there's no guarantee what the outcome will be. The Legend Killer told himself.

The best he could think of right now was to pretend to not know what was going on between Marissa and the Heartbreak Kid.

"Sorry Lexi. I wasn't really paying attention to them. I was too worried about you to actually watch what's going on between them." He said, trying to sound as convincingly as possible.

He was sad that he was lying again but he told himself that it was just for Alexandria's own good. She needed to concentrate on her recovery and not worry about her parents' relationship.

The girl seemed to believe him because she didn't question his words and silence entered the room again that was only broken when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is there?" Alexandria questioned looking a little afraid and Randy guessed that she feared that Chris, Shawn or Marissa were standing out the door.
She only relaxed when a, by now, familiar voice said: "It's Sid Eudy."

Randy immediately tensed but tried not to let Alexi feel that.

The girl didn't seem to notice because she called: "Come in Sid."

The door opened and the older man entered the room in his hands a bouquet of flowers.

Randy had to admit that for the casual observer he looked just like a friendly visitor.

But there was an expression in his eyes that Randy didn't really like and he knew he really needed to have an eye out for Sid so that he wouldn't hurt Alexandria.

"I brought you flowers. I hope you like roses." Sid said slowly, sounding awkward like he feared Alexi would be offended because he had brought her flowers even though she couldn't see them.

"Oh thanks Sid. They're my favourite." Lexi admitted with a bright smile.

Sid grinned a little and walked over to the small washbasin in one corner of the room and gently laid the flowers down into it so that they had enough water and wouldn't die.

"I hoped so. Your mother loves roses too." Eudy told the girl and sat down in a chair at the other side of the bed than Randy sat.

The Legend Killer had been silent and had to admit that either Sid was really serious and didn't mean to harm Alexi or he was a damn good actor.

After a moment of silence Alexandria questioned: "So will you finally tell me the whole story."Sid nodded slowly even though Alexi couldn't see that and with a sigh once again started a story about what had happened twenty years ago.

to be continued... hey guys we're finally nearing the end of the story and I'd like to ask if you want a sequel or not... just so that I know which ending I'll write (I have two in mind but I can't decide...) 'hugs all readers'