So Chris had given up being friends with Stephanie. It wasn't like he wanted to do it, but he had to if he wanted to salvage his relationship with Trish. She had been willing to talk to him after he had told her that he was no longer friends with Stephanie. He tried to explain that everything that he had said and done was due to his concussion and he hadn't known what he was doing. That was basically the truth though, he didn't really remember any of it. He was glad for that because he had a feeling he had embarrassed himself royally.

He hadn't seen or talked to Stephanie in days, and he actually kind of, sort of...missed her. It was kind of odd in a way, its not like they had been friends for very long or anything, but...he still missed her. He felt terrible about it, except he didn't know what he felt more terrible about, hurting Stephanie, or feeling guilty for feeling so much about Stephanie.

"Mmm, I missed you," Trish said as she snuggled up to him in their hotel room the morning of Raw.

"I missed you too," he said, kissing her forehead reverently, "There's nothing like waking up to you."

"Oh no, don't say that, I look like shit in the morning," she giggled, "You must think I look like a hideous beast."

"Never," he said, brushing her hair behind her shoulder as he kissed her neck softly, "Thank you for taking me back."

"It was an honest mistake," Trish said, "I mean, she was the first person you saw so you know, I'm willing to overlook what I think is a just a Freudian slip."

"Good, I'd hate to think that you dumped me because I said something during a concussion. You should know that when people have concussions they tend to lose their minds a little bit."

"Well I know now," she joked, "Just don't go out and get yourself another one of those. I don't want to find out from Benoit or something that you told him you loved him."

"If I tell Benoit that I love him, please just shoot me or something, but I would have officially gone crazy."

Trish laughed, sparkly and clear in the morning air, "Ok, I promise to do that."

"Chris, I need you."

Chris closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. He must have been having a daydream or something, because he could've sworn that he just heard Stephanie's voice speaking to him, but she wasn't here, or anywhere near her. He looked around the room for a moment and then shook his head.

"Chris, you ok? Is your head still bothering you?"

"A little," he said, attributing the concussion to the utter randomness of hearing Stephanie's voice.

"Oh, thank God Vince said you didn't have to wrestle tonight," Trish said, rubbing his temples as she leaned in to kiss him.

"Yeah, but I still want to go and be with you."

"I wouldn't want you anywhere else."

As Chris was walking down the hallways later that evening, he wanted to see Stephanie. He knew it was wrong and that Trish could possibly become upset with him over it, but he just needed to see how she was doing. Sometimes you had to go with your gut, even if your brain was telling you something completely different. His brain was committed to Trish, but his gut just wanted to check on Stephanie.

He walked up to her door and knocked quietly. He didn't know if he was doing the right thing, especially the right thing by Trish, but he at least had to give Stephanie a proper good-bye, a good-bye that he said face-to-face instead of the coward's way out that he had taken before, calling her up and just ending their friendship.

"Chris?" Stephanie said as she opened the door. She was surprised to see him there because of what had happened, though his presence was certainly not unwelcome.

"Hi, I just wanted to make sure you were ok...after what happened."

"Chris, please..."

Chris blinked and stared at Stephanie. Had she just said something to him? He could've sworn that she had just said something, but he hadn't seen her lips move. How could she have spoken without her lips moving? But he had distinctly heard her voice.

"Did you say something, Stephanie?"

"I just said that I'm fine," Stephanie said, tilting her head slightly to get a better look at him. "Is something wrong? Does Trish not believe we're not friends anymore because I can tell her that I'll stop hanging around you."

"Um...no, no, not that, I just, it's weird...but don't worry about it."

"Did you have another dream?" Stephanie asked in a low voice, leaning forward ever so slightly so as not to let anyone hear their conversation even though nobody was actually around at the moment.

Chris was reluctant to tell her that he had, because he would just be drawn into her again. Stephanie knew his dirty, little secret and because of that, she...well, he kind of needed her. All along, he had tried to convince himself that Stephanie needed him, that she was the one who needed a friend desperately, but if the truth was to be looked at through a microscope and exposed for what it was, well, it would reveal the fact that he needed her to be his friend.

"I did, but you don't have to worry about those anymore either. You just concentrate on your work."

She sighed and Chris caught the flicker of sadness in her eyes. He didn't get a good look at it before it disappeared back into the blue depths of her eyes. He put his thumb and index finger on her chin and made her face him as he looked into her eyes. They definitely hid it well, but she was sad and he could tell.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, his breath pushing a few wisps of her hair back.

"Nothing," she responded in the same tone that he had used.

"There must be something wrong for you to look so sad."

"I'm not sad," she told him, her chin raising up defiantly. "I just..."

"You miss me?"

"I didn't say that," Stephanie answered. "And when did you get so full of yourself as to think that I actually miss you?"

"It's ok to miss--"

"Look, it's just family stuff that's going haywire and that's what has me on edge; it's nothing to do with you, or our friendship, it has everything to do with my family."

"I'm sorry," Chris said, "I guess I'll just leave."

"Maybe you should."

Chris obeyed her and left the room, closing the door silently behind him, but not closing it quickly enough to hear the first sniffle from Stephanie. He sighed to himself as he leaned against the door and closed his eyes. Why did life have to be so filled with decisions that seemed almost impossible to make? Why did someone have to choose friends, and choose people who they loved?

He pushed himself away from the door in search of Trish. Seeing her would make him feel better; he knew that. He was falling in love with Trish, and he was so close to telling her the words, those three binding words that would most certainly make this relationship feel completely real and serious. He wanted a committed relationship with Trish; she was someone that he could see himself marrying one day. As the thoughts invaded his mind, he started to get dizzy from standing up so much and still being a little unsteady from his concussion. Deciding that he needed to lie down, he slowly went back to his locker room.

"Chris, you look awful!" Trish exclaimed when she saw Chris's ashen-colored face. She rushed to his side and lent him her support as they made their way to the couch. "What happened?"

"I just got a little dizzy," he said, "I guess I'm not completely over the concussion."

"Man, you should be in bed resting and not here tonight. I knew I should've made you stay at the hotel!"

"Trish, I just need to lie down," he said, chuckling a little at the worried face she was making right now. Her eyebrows were creased and her lips were pursed together forming a tight line. He reached out to touch her cheek, causing her to relax ever so slightly. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"I love you," she said, kneeling next to him.

"I know, but I'm Chris Jericho, I'm fine always."

"Ok, I have to go cut a promo, but you'll be ok back here, won't you?"

"I'll be just fine. I think I'll take a little nap and then you can come in here and wake me up when your match is on so I can watch my girl kick all kinds of ass in the ring."

"I don't kick all kinds of ass, I just try my best."

He brought Trish's face down to his and gave her a long, lingering kiss, "You do kick all kinds of ass, and I think you are so sexy when you are doing it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, how many guys have girlfriends who are just so fucking awesome and could probably kick any guy's ass that they wanted. Hell, you could protect me from people if you wanted to. Just a chick kick here, a little punch there, and you're done."

"Are you sure you got your head examined thoroughly?" Trish said, with a silly lilt to her voice. "Because I swear you've gotten weirder."

"Nope, not weirder, just falling more and more in love with you," Chris told her, grinning from ear to ear.

Trish's face looked as though a beam of light had just shined down upon her. She looked truly angelic when she was so happy. Her eyes shined like pretty jewels, outlined by her long eyelashes and her blonde hair which fell in the cutest way that made him always want to push it out of her eyes.

"I love you so much Chris Jericho."

"I know," he said, kissing her sweet lips again, "Now go out there and make me proud."

"I'm going, I'm going."

About ten minutes after Trish left, Chris found himself drifting off into a world that had become so familiar to him in the recent weeks. It was almost as real to him as the real world. The line between reality and dream sometimes blurred, melding into a world that Chris couldn't quite define.

"Reid and Brennan called from your parents today and they miss us," Chris said as he packed his bag in the hotel room.

"Did you tell them that we're picking him up today?"

"No, I told them that they were going to be stuck there forever, and that they would never see us again and would have to fend for themselves...what do you think I told him Stephanie?"

"Well I don't know, sometimes you can be a jerk!"

"Me? A jerk? Ok, a little bit, but not around them."

"Aww, because you love your kids," Stephanie teased.

"No Stephanie, I hate my kids, I wish we had never had them at all."

"See, this is what I'm talking about, jerk to me."

He laughed and walked up to her and picked her up so that they were eye to eye. "I love you so much and I'm only a jerk to you because I know that you put me in my place all the time."

She kissed his nose, "I love you too. Sometimes I think that it'll all just fall apart one day and you'll be gone."

"I won't leave you Stephanie, I will never leave you because I love you far too much for that."

"But there's always that lingering thought. Marriage and love seems so fickle these days. One day you're in love and the next you're out of love and you just don't know when or if it'll happen to you."

"Wild dogs would have to drag me away from you, wild fucking dogs."

"That's not a comforting thought."

"What is then?"

"Don't get hurt on me either, I couldn't stand it if you ever left me alone in this world."

"Again, no worries, because I--"

"Chris, please come back..."

Chris's eyes shot up and he sat up, his breathing labored. That voice again. Her voice; she needed him, she was in trouble, or pleading or something. He ran out of the room and down to Stephanie's office, throwing open the door to see...

Stephanie just sitting there looking over some papers.

"Chris, what's wrong now?" Stephanie said.

"Do you need my help?" he asked frantically.

"No, this isn't anything that you could help me with."

"Is everything all right with your family? I mean, if you want to talk about it, I'm here."

"Chris, I'm fine, you can leave me alone, I swear to you, I'm fine."

Chris nodded and looked at her as if she would say something and make him stay. She didn't, barely giving him a glance and he left silently. Something was bugging him, something was plaguing his mind, and he vaguely wondered if maybe he was going insane. But he heard her voice, and it was pleading to him. Maybe it wasn't Stephanie's voice, but it sounded like her. This mystery was puzzling him and he wondered just how long he could take this. Maybe if he told Trish he loved her, maybe it would end, maybe this entire thing with Stephanie would end.

Or maybe it wouldn't.