A/N: Just one chapter away, everyone! Thanks again for reviewing and being patient with me. This chapter is...well...you'll find out. lol. R&R. Enjoy!

Chapter 26

"Letting You Go"

Randy Orton arrived in St. Louis, Missouri around 4 o'clock in the morning. As soon as he picked up his luggage at the baggage claim, he met up with his father Bob Orton Jr. in front of the airport upon his arrival.

"Hey, son." His father greeted as the two share a warm hug. "How was the flight?"

Randy smiles followed by a deep yawn. "Well I didn't fly first class so it kind of sucked." Bob slightly chuckles. "But other than that it's great to be home."

"It's nice to have you home, son." Bob Orton then helps him with his luggage as he leads the way to the car in the parking garage.

The ride home to Randy's beautiful two-story house wasn't too long for it only took about half an hour to get there from the airport. As soon as they arrived, Randy tiredly walks towards his grand porch while dragging his luggage from behind. He then inserted the house key inside the hole and opens the front door.

His house was quite new. Randy had it for a year now and there was barely any furniture due to being on the road most of the time. People would expect a guy like Randy to be a complete mess, but luckily he isn't as home very often to cause a riot. He even has his parents check the house from time to time. Everything was just so neat—almost neat as Trish's home in Toronto which is always tidy.

As soon as Randy got situated, he tried to go back to sleep but couldn't do so as he headed downstairs to join his father for coffee.

"Can't sleep huh?"

Randy nodded his head, taking a seat across from his father on the table, "Nope."

Bob went ahead to make him some coffee. "So tell me," he starts off while pouring some coffee into an empty cup he grabbed from one of the cupboards, "how's everyone in the business?"

"Pretty good."

"Uh huh," Bob noticed the grave tone of his voice, "and how's Trish doing?"

It was the topic Randy hoped his father didn't have to mention, but knowing how his son felt about Trish and what they once had, it was no surprise to him.

"She's doing just fine," he grunted in response, "but can we not talk about her?"

Bob raises an eyebrow. "Why, did you two get into a fight?"

"No, I just--" Randy pauses in mid-sentence and sighs, "I just don't want to have a conversation about Trish for once."

"Hey, you're the one that talks about her."

Randy did not respond, but it was true. Every time he's in some engaging conversation with his father he would always mention Trish and talk constantly about how great and wonderful she is. Bob is aware of the friendship his son shares with the Canadian bombshell and he knew very well that Randy is much in love with her whether he admitted or not.

"Listen, son." Bob places the coffee in front of Randy. "If something is bothering you--"

The self-proclaimed legend killer interrupts him with a deep groan, "Nothing is bothering me, Dad."

"Oh really?" Bob tilts his head to the side and studies him carefully

There was a moment of silence as Randy looks down and deeply sighs in response. "Okay you got me," The old man smiles.

"Alright," Bob gets comfortable in his seat as he sits back to listen.

"So there's this girl…"

"You mean Trish Stratus."

Randy shot him a look. "How did you--" He stops and groans. "Never mind. So anyway…there's this guy…"

"John Cena."

He stares at his father in disbelief. "Okay you're starting to freak me out."

Bob chuckles. "Relax. It's no secret that John has his eyes on Trish. I remember when he came over to the house, just a few weeks after his debut on WWE, I asked him if he had his eyes set on any diva and he mentioned Trish." Randy smiles, remembering the moment, "And you mentioned the same diva when I asked you."

He pursed his lips and deeply sighs. "You know what sucks, Dad?"

"Hmmm?"

"They really like each other," there was a small pause as the thought depresses him, "and I can't do anything about it.

"Have you told her how you felt?"

"I've tried so many times, but there are always these interferences which tells me that maybe I shouldn't tell her." Bob frowns on his son's behalf. "Ever since we stopped dating I thought you know everything was going to be okay. But no, each day when I'm not with her gets harder. And just when I was about to move on, she and John gets closer and they look great together and that kills me."

"Son, you obviously have all these emotions locked up inside of you and if you keep them to yourself any longer it's just gonna keep building up and eventually you will explode."

Randy averts form his gaze and sighs. He knew his father is right. Heck, he seems to always be right. Like what they always say, fathers know best. "You're gonna have to tell her." Bob advises him. "Sure Trish and John are your best friends, but it's not fair to them if you just keep it to yourself."

"You know the worst part about it is?" He rubs his eyes irritably just the thought of saying his name. "Jeff Hardy is back."

Bob's eyes fell open in surprise. "Oh…well…" he bit his lip and groans, "that's bad…."

Randy scoffs in response as he releases a sigh out of frustration. "I think I'm gonna need more time before I tell her. I mean I really want to tell her, Dad but I'm looking for the right moment."

"Take all the time you need, Randy. Just don't wait too long before it's too late."

He sighs. "That's what I'm afraid of…" he averts from his gaze, "But maybe I should let it go..."

"Is that what you really want?"

"No. But It's probably what she wants."

Back in Pennsylvania, Trish teamed up with Stacey to face Melina and Jillian in a diva tag team match for a houseshow that night. As soon as the show was over, Trish and Stacey headed back to the hotel where she'll be getting ready for dinner with Jeff Hardy.

"You know, I could tell him that you couldn't make it because you're sick or something." Stacey suggested as soon as Trish got out of the shower wearing a white bath robe and a towel wrapped around her hair. "You don't have to go through this, Trish."

"Yeah, but I want to."

"Are you falling back in love with him or something?"

Trish shot her a look. "No, I just--" She stops and groans, shaking her head, "damn it I already told you why I'm doing this." The Canadian native begins digging through her luggage for something to wear that night.

"Okay well if you want to get out of it just call me and I'll simply rescue you."

She looks at the leggy blonde and smirks. "Thanks, Stace. Anyway, what should I wear?"

"Something sexy." Stacey suggested.

"Why?"

"So you could shove it in his face." She wrinkles her forehead in bewilderment. "He made a mistake for leaving you and he should realize that."

Trish rolls her eyes. "I'm going to stick with jeans and a shirt."

"How attractive," Stacey says rather sarcastically. Trish ignored the comment. "At least let me do your hair and make-up."

In John's hometown of Newbury, Massachusetts Dave Batista and John Cena were sitting out on the porch after a game of football with a few of John's family members and friends. It was now just the two of them outside of John's home, drinking beer in silence.

"You alright?" Dave turns to John who appeared awfully quiet.

"Yeah, man. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

John shrugged his shoulders. "Trish…" there was a small pause, "and Jeff. I don't know, man. It bugs the hell out of me that he's back."

"Randy feels the same way."

"What does Randy have to do with it?"

Dave drew in a few nervous gulps. "Nothing, I'm just saying that he feels the same way about Jeff now being around. You know how close Randy and Trish are."

John raises an eyebrow. "Speaking of Randy he's been acting really weird towards me and Trish lately. I mean we use to kick it and now…" he pauses as Dave could feel sweat trickling down his back nervously, "he wouldn't even come down here and chill. It's always been us three kicking it yah know what I mean?" Dave weakly nods his head. "Would you know anything about it, dawg? You two see each other like every day right?"

"He's just--" Dave stammers on his sentence, "Randy is going through--" John raises an eyebrow. "Look, do you remember the mysterious girl he was secretly dating?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it has something to do with that."

John nods his head. "He's still going head over heels for her eh? Man, I wish we knew who she was. This girl must be somethin' for Randy to stick around."

Dave uneasily chuckles as he takes a gulp of the beer. "Oh yeah."

The ride to the restaurant was dead quiet as Trish continued looking out the window. Jeff would peer at her from the corner of his eyes and notice how deep in thought she was. Jeff assumed there must be so many questions running through her head at the moment.

"Hey," he breaks the silence as Trish looks his way, "you alright?"

She weakly smiles. "Yeah, I'm just thinking…"

"About what?"

"A lot of things," she replies while turning to him.

"You mean Randy?"

Trish wrinkles her forehead in bewilderment. "What makes you think that?"

"I don't know." He shrugged with a slight chuckle. "I guess it's because you and Randy remind me of us…" the younger Hardy trails off as soon as Trish shot him a look, "I mean before when we were an us…yah know…just friends. But then again it does remind me of when we were an us too."

She looks down and chuckles. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, he cares a lot about you. And you seem to like him…"

"Whoa, now…" Trish tilts her head to the side and studies Jeff carefully. "You think I like him like him?"

"Well do you?"

"No," she scoffs. There was a small pause as she is now deep in thought. "Well at one point I did, but no…" Trish shook her head. "Randy is like my best friend—my brother."

"He seems to like you though."

The blonde cringes her nose. "You think?"

"Well yeah it's kind of obvious, Trish. The guy is even protecting you from me." Jeff smirks. "Admit it, he's jealous."

"Randy? Jealous?" Trish chuckles at the thought. "He isn't exactly the jealous type."

"Seriously, Trish. You sure there's nothing going on between you two?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Trish?"

"We dated," she finally answers with a deep sigh, "once…"

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I was too overwhelmed I guess." Jeff gives her an odd stare as he parked his car. They were engaged in a conversation that Trish didn't even notice they have arrived at the restaurant. He turns off the ignition and faces her.

"Why is that?"

"Because," she trails off followed by a deep sigh of frustration. "I still couldn't…" Trish stammers on her sentence nervously.

"Still couldn't what?"

She turns to him, "I still couldn't get over you."

Jeff's lips slightly parted as awkward silence hung in the air for a moment. Trish looked away and simply got out of the car. Jeff took it as a sign to follow.

As soon as the waiter situated Jeff and Trish at a table for two, uncomfortable silence continued to falter between them as the blonde Canadian looks through the menu in a way to avoid the situation. Jeff however could no longer stand the silence or the waiting that has been driving him insane ever since he returned to the WWE. The truth is Jeff is still madly in love with Trish.

"Hey, Trish." He drew in a few nervously gulps as he places the menu down and stares deeply into her eyes. "Just wondering…do you still…" he pauses, "have… feelings…for me?"

She gives him an icy glare. "Are you seriously asking me this?"

Jeff looked rather confused. "Well yeah."

"Let me ask you this," she leans back on the chair and crosses her arms. "Why did you decide to take me out for dinner huh?"

"I want us to start over, Trish." She wrinkles her forehead. "I took you out tonight simply because I wanted to be with you."

She brushes her hair back and sighs. "Jeff--"

"No, let me finish. Ever since I saw you at that club it hit me." Trish tilts her head to the side and listens. "I made a mistake, Trish and I want us to be back together."

She studied his serious face with her mouth slightly open in disbelief. "You think it's that easy, Jeff? You can't just suddenly walk back into my life and expect things to be back the way it used to be."

"I know, but we can work things out." She averts from his gaze and sighs. "Trish, look at me. Look at me, please." The blonde reluctantly faces him. "Look at me…and tell me that you don't love me anymore…"

She scoffs, "I will always love you, Jeff. No matter what, you were my first love"

A smile crossed his face. "And I love you, Trish. I mean its fate that brought us here…at this time…at this place…and at this very moment." His eyes soften. "Doesn't that tell you something?"

Trish stares at him blankly. "I can't believe you're saying this…"

"Look, we can work something out. I'm not saying it will be easy but if we truly love each other then we can pull this off."

She shook her head as she begins getting up from the chair. "Maybe this night was a bad idea…"

"Trish, wait--" Jeff grabbed a hold of her arm as she turns back around and pulls away from his grasp.

"You know, if you truly loved me, Jeff…" she stares deeply into his eyes seriously, "then you wouldn't have left the first place."

Their contact grew intense as silence fell upon them. "I can't believe--" Just when Trish was about to say anything else, Jeff cupped her face in his hand and presses his lips against hers, taking the blonde by surprise. Trish's eyes widen as she finds herself at a loss for words. Jeff was surprise that she didn't even try to stop it as he deepens the kiss while parting her lips with his tongue. A moan escaped from her lips, and when she realizes what they were doing she came back to her senses and immediately pulled away.

Breathing heavily, Jeff touched his lips and studies her puzzled face. "How did that feel?"

She stares at him in utter surprise. Trish didn't think he had it in him to kiss her like he did. "It feels--" she bit her lip as a smile crossed her face, "it feels like old times…"

He smiles in return. "What are you thinking now?"

Trish averts from his gaze as she casually sits back down on the chair. Her eyes were staring back at the white table cloth as recollecting memories became clear in her thoughts. Jeff noticed a small smile on her face and took it as a sign that maybe things will turn out the way he wanted it to be. "You know, Jeff I'm not gonna lie. That kiss was great and it did bring a lot of good memories." There was a small pause. "But…it also made me realize that I've been an idiot."

"No, Trish." He shook his head, "you're not an idiot."

"Just hear me out for a sec." She sighs and continues on. "I've waited for this day to come, Jeff and now that the time has come…" Trish trails off nervously while looking down, "it just doesn't feel right. I was so scared to move on and get hurt again. And then he came along…"

Puzzled, Jeff wrinkles his forehead. "He?" The Hardy questioned. "Who's he?"

"He's just so patient with me, Jeff." The blonde exclaims. "He understood what I'm going through and he's willing to wait forever as long as it takes. Not only that, but he makes me laugh and happy and I haven't felt that way for so long…" she trails off and smiles, "and that's what I need right now, Jeff."

He nods his head disappointedly. "So there is someone else." The thought pains him as he could feel his heart drop in rejection. But then again, he didn't deserve her love not after everything he put her through. Jeff has no other choice but to accept it. "So it's over."

She sighs and weakly smiles. "I'm afraid so."

Meanwhile in the hotel, Stacey continued flipping through channels in the room out of boredom while at the same time talking to Dave on the phone. "Oh my God, did you tell him!" She shrieked as he talks about his day with John.

"I almost did, but it didn't come to that."

"Why didn't you tell him!"

"I didn't think it was my place to say. And besides, I freaked out!" He could hear Stacey release a heavy groan from the other line. "I just couldn't tell him, Stace. All he talked about was Trish this Trish that. The guy is totally crazy about her."

"Well so is Randy." Stacey lies down on her back. "I feel so bad for Trish. She is stuck in this love triangle and she doesn't even know it."

"Don't forget about Jeff."

Stacey rolls his eyes at the mention of his name. "Okay I take that back. The triangle has officially become a square."

Moments later, Trish unexpectedly walks in the room forcing Stacey to rise up from bed. "Uh, I'll call you back later." The leggy blonde whispers, "she's here. Bye!" She tosses her cell phone on the bed as Trish steps inside. "Well that was fast."

Stacey noticed Trish's excitement as she struggles to control her anxiety. "Whoa now…breathe, Trish."

"You wouldn't believe what just happened." There was a small pause as the Canadian blonde slowly calms down. "Jeff kissed me!"

Stacey's eyes widen as a gasp escaped from her lips. "He didn't…"

"No, he did."

"And? Did you like it?"

"Well yeah!"

Stacey nods her head in dismay. "I can't believe you did that, Trish."

"No, there's more."

"Oh no. Don't tell me…" She stares at her suspiciously. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No!" Trish rolls her eyes. "Can you just hear me out?" Stacey behaves and nods. "When he kissed me I felt great. It made me realize that I'm missing out on something incredible and the only thing that's stopping me is getting hurt again." Her eyes soften. "And I'm so sick of it, Stace. I want to feel loved and happy again." There was a small pause as a sincere smile crossed Stacey's face. Just then, Trish grabs her black duffel bag from nearby and begins stuffing clothes inside.

Stacey watches on in bewilderment. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"He's somewhere else now…and I must go after him."

Stacey's jaw dropped as she begins to feel excited for Trish. This is what she hoped for.

Once the Canadian native packed all the things she needed, she was only a step away walking out the door until Stacey stopped her.

"Wait, you're just gonna leave now? I mean we have another houseshow to do tomorrow."

She sighs. "I'll try to make it but this can't wait, Stacey. He needs to know the truth." Trish then picks up her duffel bag and walks out the room.

"But wait!" Stacey sticks her head out the door while Trish hurriedly along the hallway and disappeared around the corner. "Who are you going after!"

A/N: Final chapter--this is it you guys! Who is it gonna be? John or Randy? Find out on my next update!