A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad that you're enjoying this story as its such a departure from my usual pairing. I'm sorry that I didn't update sooner, but I have a lot of other fics, and I try to udpate all of them with some sort of regularity, even though I hardly succeed. Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and keep reviewing. :)

"So you're going out with him tonight?"

"It's nothing big Chris, I just want him off my back."

"Uh huh...off your back," he said, his voice quiet for the latter part of that statement. He looked to Stephanie who was perched in his lap and he gave her a knowing look. Stephanie ducked her head a little and looked over to Trish, raising an eyebrow.

"Ok, what's with the look?" Trish asked, her voice getting agitated.

"Nothing," Stephanie said, "But I just think that's the most lame reason I've ever heard. You're going out with him to get him off your back. That's not why."

"Yes it is!" Trish exclaimed, pounding her fist on the table. "What else am I supposed to do huh? He won't leave me alone!"

"Well, you can just tell him, in a CALM manner, that you aren't interested," Stephanie said, "Did you try that?"

"I think that's a little too rational for her right now," Chris joked, then shut up when Trish glared at him. "Or not..."

"I tried that."

"Calm manner?" Stephanie reiterated.

"As calm as I can be when that slimebucket is around me."

"Oh how charming, you call him slimebucket, they already have pet names," Chris laughed. Stephanie joined in on it, much to Trish's dismay as her anger threatened to reach a boiling point. "Trish, at least admit to yourself that you want to go out with him, that you're even just a little bit attracted to him."

"I wouldn't be attracted to him if he was my dream guy."

"So what is your dream guy?" Stephanie asked, a smirk ready to burst on her face at any moment. "And if you say blonde, blue-eyed, Canadian, I might get the wrong idea and pummel you."

Trish managed to smile at that one. "I just want Randy away from me, and if we have the worst time tonight, then he'll leave me alone, and that's exactly what I plan on doing."

"So you're going to sabotage your date with him so he figures out that you don't want him?"

"Exactly," Trish nodded. "I figure if I'm the worst date he's ever had, he won't have this stupid crush on me or whatever. Or, if I go on this date, his true colors will be revealed and you can all see him for the toad that he is."

"I still don't see why you would intentionally want to ruin your date?" Stephanie pondered, looking to Chris as if he had the answer.

"Because, like I've said a million times before, I hate the guy, and if he gets the point, then he'll be forever off my back."

"Trish, will you at least entertain the possibility that you might have a good time tonight?" Stephanie pleaded, knowing that if Trish gave Randy half a chance, she might actually like the guy.

"But I know that I won't," Trish said, like she knew all the answers before the questions were asked.

"Fine, I guess that's your prerogative," Chris said, "But we tried to help."

"Randy is part of the bad guys!"

"Every team of bad guys has the one guy who's just dying to turn good," Stephanie pointed out, rather astutely, and speaking of her extensive knowledge of the nature of filmmaking and plot contrivance.

"Then with my luck, it's Dave...I better go and get ready, or maybe I should deliberately make myself look like shit," she said, thinking aloud.

"Whatever you say, good luck!"

Trish got up and left their hotel room. Stephanie and Chris watched her go, each sighing to themselves. They looked at each other and laughed, both of them thinking the same thing...that Trish was deluding herself. How could someone that was so smart, be so simultaneously oblivious to an obvious situation?

"So do you think she'll come around?" Chris inquired of his girlfriend.

"I don't know, she's almost as stubborn as we are, and we figured it out eventually."

"But it took us a while, I did keep denying that I was madly in love with you, running into the arms of other women I didn't love, trying to forget that you were the one who ruined me."

"Maybe Trish will get it right on the first try...and maybe it's time to tell my parents about us..."

"Really, but--"She put a finger to his lips, replacing it shortly thereafter with her mouth.

Trish ended up looking nice, in a tight-fitting, filmy white dress. It wasn't fancy, but it was date-appropriate. She might as well lead him on a little bit before she showed her "true colors." Now all she had to do was wait for Randy. She kind of hoped he wouldn't show and she would be saved from this stupid date. But she never had that kind of luck, so she wasn't banking on him standing her up.

Randy was indeed completely ready in his gray button-down, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black, pressed slacks. He wanted to make the best impression possible on Trish. This was his one chance to impress her and he had to capitalized on it, or lose any possibility he had with her. He grabbed the flower he had gotten for her and went down to her room.

She answered the door on the second knock. "Right on time. At least you know how to tell time, I was beginning to doubt it," she snotted.

"Well, I'm glad I could surpass your expectations," he said good-naturedly, handing her the violet he had bought for her. She took it and gave him the tiniest of smiles.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I didn't know what kind you liked, so I made a guess."

"It's fine," she said. "Are we going now?"

"Yeah, if you're ready."

"I am if you are."

"I am."

She let Randy lead her out of her room, but when he attempted to put his arm around her, she shirked her body out of the way. Randy gave a small sigh, but didn't let it get him down. He was going to win her over soon anyways. She followed him out to a waiting limo. She was slightly impressed, but she didn't let him know that. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

He was being the perfect gentleman, playing up every angle that he could. She did find it nice to be on a date with a guy who had enough foresight to be a gentleman to her. She just wished that it wasn't Randy. She was not going to go to her friends tomorrow and bite her tongue to admit that they were right and she was wrong. She was going to be right, and that was the end of the story.

He took her to some really fancy Japanese place, low lights, private rooms, and in the middle, a huge sushi bar, with a little conveyor belt with sushi rolling around on it, letting the customers choose what they wanted. It was an impressive spread, and Trish had to wonder briefly how Randy knew that she really enjoyed Japanese food.

"So who let the beans spill?" she asked as they stood for the hostess to come greet them and show them to their table.

"What do you mean?"

"You couldn't have known that I love sushi before you even got to know me, so which one of my friends let you know what I liked."

"None of them. This is one of the fanciest places in town, and I was just hoping for the best," Randy shrugged. That was the complete truth too. He had just asked around as to what the best restaurant in town was, and this place kept coming back to him.

"Yeah, I'm so sure," Trish mumbled, intending to interrogate her friends until one of them fessed up to being the culprit. The hostess came to greet them and took them to one of the private rooms, partitioned off by paper walls. She took her shoes off and Randy did the same as they sat down at the low table.

"I wasn't expecting such a nice place," Randy said, sounding stupid because he had picked out the place.

"Never been here before then," Trish said, leaning her chin on her hands.

"No, I just asked people at the hotel what the best restaurant was and this one seemed the best out of all of them. I wouldn't go bother your friends to find out information about you," he told her, and it was true, he wouldn't do something like that.

"Well maybe you should get a medal then," Trish said, bored as she looked around at the bare room, wishing she was not literally stuck in here with Randy.

"So your match was really great at Raw," he told her, trying to make conversation.

"It's easy when you have no competition," Trish answered. "You can tell that to your stupid, little partner Molly. She doesn't stand a chance with me."

"Um, how about we just not talk about Evolution tonight?" Randy suggested, hoping that she would take that bait. He really didn't want to talk about the group he belonged to, because tonight, as far as he was concerned, Evolution didn't exist to him. He just wanted a nice night with Trish, one that didn't have to bring up anything other than the two of them.

"Yeah, and that's why you bring up wrestling," Trish snapped. "Because Evolution is such a tiny, small part of WWE."

"Ok, so we're the biggest faction on television right now, there's a lot more to me that you don't know. I'm not just what you see on television."

"Could've fooled me."

"If I was just like the guy I am with Evolution, do you think that I would be sitting here with you know, busting my ass to try and make this evening enjoyable for you? I'm trying really hard here Trish, because I like you, and you won't even give me a fair chance. I haven't judged you once since we met, not once, and yet you continue to judge me for something that I've repeatedly said didn't matter!"

Randy was exasperated, and he didn't really want to get angry with Trish, knowing that she could just dish at him right back, but if she didn't even want to try with him, what was the point? She wasn't going to change his mind, and a part of his was starting to regret even asking her out tonight. He wanted a nice evening, but she refused to even try. Maybe he really couldn't break through her defenses. Maybe she really was a lost cause that he should just give up on.

Trish felt bad. She wasn't a mean person by nature, but she was looking at his group of friends, and then judging him by that standard. She didn't really like hating someone so vehemently, and she knew that Randy really was trying. Maybe the least she could was try, she didn't really have anything to lose.

"I'm sorry," she said, trying not to sound flippant. "You're right, I really wasn't giving you a chance, and that's so unfair of me to do, so ok, let's have fun, it's the least I can do right."

Randy didn't think that was going to work. He thought she was going to stand up from the table (a little carefully since they were sitting on pillows on the ground), and leave, without a word, maybe a glare, and definitely with an enormous amount of hatred reverberating off of her. But she simply settled herself into her seat (read: pillow) and looked at him intently. So taken aback was he, that he didn't know what to say.

"I never said I didn't reserve the right to shock you," Trish answered with a glib smile.

"Well, you just accomplished just that," he told her. "Thank you though. I really tried to make this evening enjoyable for you."

"It is...now. I'm starving and I love all this food, you're probably going to have to pay big bucks because I plan on ordering a lot of stuff."

"To be honest, I've never really had sushi or anything," Randy said.

"Really? And you took me here when you didn't even know you'd like it?" she laughed. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you. Unless you have an affinity to fish of any kind."

"I'm up for anything."

Trish took over the duties of ordering the food, and Randy didn't complain once, even though he wasn't sure that he would like those little egg thingies that he didn't even want to know what part of the fish it came from. But she made good choices and he was having a good time. And she looked like she was having a good time too, which delighted him. He was happy just being able to smile at her and not look like a stupid fool, or some sort of stalker. Not that he had ever stalked her or anything, he wasn't crazy.

When they were done with their dinner, they walked out of the restaurant, and Randy dared to put his arm around her waist. Trish tensed for a second, but she let the contact be, she was trying to be nice after all. And she couldn't be nice if she didn't let him touch her at all. She wasn't a doll after all. Inside, Randy was jumping up and down, she was actually going along with him, and it was so nice.

They walked down the street a little, having told the limo driver that they would be back in a little while. They were in Southern California and it was a balmy late summer's evening, and they were in a nice neighborhood, so they didn't feel unsafe walking around after dark. And Randy was there, and she was a wrestler, and felt they could protect themselves should they need to.

"I'm glad that we're in California tonight, it's so nice out," Randy said.

"Yeah, it is," Trish answered. "I bet it's freezing on the East Coast."

"Yeah, it probably is. You live in Toronto though right?"

"Yup, it's where I'm from you know. And I like being up there, it's just familiar, and when you're constantly on the road, a little familiarity is always nice to come back to."

"I feel you there," Randy nodded. "But I wouldn't trade this life for anything."

"Even if you're with Evolution?"

"Dave's a cool guy," Randy answered. That was all he said, and Trish would've been deaf and dumb if she hadn't noticed that. She didn't know if he was thinking about what to say next, or if that was in, but when another moment of silence passed, she opened her mouth to speak.

"That leaves three members unaccounted for."

"Yeah," he laughed shallowly. "It does, doesn't it?"

"So you're saying that Dave is the only worthwhile member of the group."

"You said it, I didn't."

"Oh, so this is your way of saying it without actually saying it," she nodded in understanding. "I get what you're saying though. Nobody likes any of them anyways. How did you get mixed in with them?"

"They asked, I was a rookie and just coming off an injury and there they were. You just want to fit in, in this business. You want to make it to the top and when Ric Flair and Triple H ask you to be in a group with them, you hardly think about the consequences. And then when I really did feel like getting out, Dave joined, for the same reasons, and he's my best friend, and you don't desert your best friends."

"Wow, I never looked at it that way," Trish said quietly. "I think I've misunderstood a lot of things about you Randy."

"Didn't think that I actually was loyal to them for any good reasons huh?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, Dave's a good guy. He just got caught up in the same game. We want to be on top, and you do what you have to do. Sometimes Dave can be a jerk like them, but most of the time, he's not."

"That's good to know."

"You want to go back to the hotel now?" he asked as he saw her shiver a little.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired."

Randy nodded and put his large hand on the small of her back, leading her back in the direction of the limo. Once they were inside, Trish leaned her head on Randy's shoulder, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. Probably because she had worked yesterday and she hadn't really gotten that much rest. She didn't even realize she was laying on Randy, but he didn't mind at all. Tonight was like...well, it was perfect, and that was all he wanted to say, lest he jinx himself and she turned him down for another date. And he really wanted another date.

He walked her up to her hotel room and looked down, embarrassed suddenly, because he didn't know how to end this date. Not that he wanted it to end, but he didn't know what to say. Luckily, she spoke first. "I underestimated you Randy, and I'm sorry for that. Thank you for a great night."

"You're welcome, thank you for actually giving me a chance."

"I'll have to give you another chance soon," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek, which melted Randy to the spot where he was standing. Trish walked into her hotel room, leaving Randy to float back to his room.

Trish turned on the light and gasped suddenly, dropping her purse. Sitting at the table in the common room of her hotel room were Molly, Hunter, and Flair, all looking very smug. Hunter was in the middle of the other two, playing the obvious leader, and Trish stood there, dumbfounded as to how they got themselves in there. She was so stunned, that by the time she turned to leave, Flair was already in front of the door, blocking it. She hadn't even seen him get out of his seat, her body was in such a delay. Hunter stood up and went up to her.

"Well, it's about time you showed up. We've been waiting for you."