Authors Note - Chapter 19...wow that's a lot of chapters. I like this one, quite a bit actually. I hope you guys feel the same. It was inspired by the song 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now'...a very overdramatic number. Anyways, reviews really appreciated guys, and I don't anything or anyone.

'Cammie, I think I just fell in love with you'

'Oh Violet, I'm not a lesbian. I played in the minors but never went pro'

That's not what I meant'

Trish giggled softly at the line, and proceeded to lose control of spoon full of ice cream, which dribbled down onto her chin. Slipping her tongue out to catch the creamy vanilla flavouring, she sighed uncomfortably, hugging the huge feather pillow closer to her petit body. John Cena had made sure she was comfortable after getting her to her hotel room from the arena. With his bright blue eyes telling her how concerned he was, he had finally left Trish alone in her room for the night, stocking her full with ice cream, chick flicks and chocolate.

Soaking in a hot scented bath had eased Trish's tensed muscles, and the swelling on her knee was actually gradually lessening. However, the pain in her rib cage was still ever present. The pain killers she had forced down had taken the edge of the pain racking through her body, but Trish found sitting absolutely still was the easiest way to lessen the discomfort.

Propped up by several plump feather pillows, she was comfortable as she was going to get tonight. Letting her mind wander as she became engrossed in the film, Trish groaned in pure exhaustion as she heard the timid knock at her door.

Closing her eyes, Trish hoped that whoever it was would take the hint and go away. No such luck. The knock which had begun timidly, was now rapidly progressing to louder and louder fists pounding against the wood. Groaning as she pushed herself into a seated position, Trish growled for the visitor to come in.

Carefully, the door pushed open, spilling artificial light into the room causing Trish to squint. Readjusting to the invasion of the light, Trish's shoulders sagged as she Jeff enter the room, his face flushed and looking sheepish. Her left eye socket was beginning to bruise in a deep purple, whilst his bottom lip was split and swollen.

Digging his hands in his pockets, Jeff barely seemed able to keep eye contact with Trish.

"Hey Trish." Jeff smiled, red flushing to his cheeks bones.

Pain killers and exhaustion seemed to lessen Trish's ability to fight, and she simply patted the area on the bed next to her. Shuffling across the room, Jeff perched himself on the edge of the bed, keeping his back to Trish.

"You may as well get comfy Jeff. I'm not in the mood to slap you silly for brawling with Randy, even though you deserve it." Trish commented, relaxing back against the pillow. Chuckling, Jeff eased off his boots, swivelling on his butt, leaning back against the had board next to Trish.

"I'm sorry about that." He admitted.

"You didn't him on purpose…at least the first time. The following punches may or may not have been in self defence. And I'm too beat to care right now." Her yawn was cut short by the stabbing pain in her ribs.

"I'm still sorry." His voice was quiet, forcing Trish to turn to face his deep green gaze. Tilting her head, Trish noted the dried blood on his bottom lip, looking angry and red. Yelping in pain as she sat back up, she reached down to the ice bucket beside her bed where a half empty bottle of champagne was resting.

Taking the cube between her fingers, Trish extended her hand across the bed to Jeff, softly placing the ice against his lip. In hypnotically slow movements, Trish circled the ice over and around Jeff's lip, beads of water escaping and running down his chin.

Jeff's lips parted, the feeling of ice against his stinging lip was heavenly. Continuing the movements until the ice was all but melted, Trish flicked the remainder of the cube into his mouth, causing him to giggle. Settling with his back against the bed, Jeff sighed.

"Congratulations on the win by the way. Cool way to finish her off." Jeff smiled.

"Yeah…some how I didn't think the 'Chick Kick' was going to cut it." Trish replied thoughtfully.

"Seven time Champion. That's awesome Trish." His voice hinted at a sense of pride, causing Trish to giggle.

"What's with the shop talk Jeff?" Her eyes questioned Jeff's impassive face.

"I don't get you?" Jeff's brow furrowed in confusion at the Canadian's words.

"You're making small talk Jeff. You don't do small talk." Trish stated, her face looking more serious than before. "You only ever talk to me when you have something to say."

"I…ok, so I find talking to you more difficult than anyone else." He blushed again, dipping his head softly.

"Oh…"Trish rolled her eyes at the statement, "you never used to."

"You're not the girl I knew three years ago Trish. There's a lot about you now that's new…maybe a little scary." Jeff was admitting more than he wanted, but the gaze in her eyes seemed to demand the truth.

"If I'm so scary, why bother engaging me in small talk?" She shot him a questioning side glance, her intrigue sparked.

"I guess I find it exciting too. I can't wait to get to know you again…like I did before." His smile was warm and genuine, causing her to flush colour in her own cheeks.

"I'm not that different am I? I'm still the same Trish," holding his gaze again, Trish continued, "I'm just stronger than before."

"I noticed." He grinned. Trish met his gaze with a knowing smile. Part of her felt so at home with Jeff, like those three years they had been apart never happened. But another part was actually nervous at being this close to him again. It caused feeling to stir that Trish thought were dead and buried.

"Why are you here anyway?" The question sprung to her mind, and Trish wondered why she hadn't asked it before. Surely it couldn't just be to 'get to know her again' as he had put it.

"I wanted to see if you were ok. You've been in the wars tonight." Jeff admitted.

"Tell me about it. Remind me to attach electrically charged clamps to Adam's testicles. I want to give him some vague notion of the pain I'm in right now." Trish grinned at the thought.

"Can I do anything to make you more comfortable?" His question tugged at Trish's heart strings, but she refused to give in.

"You can quit talking so I can watch my movie." Trish offered, her voice was soft and playful, bringing a smile to Jeff's lips, as he held a finger there as if shushing himself.

"You're watching Coyote Ugly again? How many times have you seen this woman?" Jeff chuckled heartedly, remembering many nights on the road where Trish had suggested curling up with a good movie, which always ended up being this particular chick flick.

"This is you being quiet?", Trish giggled, "about a thousand times. I love it."

"You must know every word by now," he mused, brushing back blue streaks of hair from his face, "I remember the first time we watched this together. It was right after Backlash where Brock slapped my ass all around the ring. You ran me a bath with rose petals an candles, feeding me strawberries. You were rubbing my neck and we ended up…"

Jeff stopped his sentence, blushing even harder as the memory of Trish's smooth body filled his senses, as he remembered their passionate love making in the bath tub. Trish recalled the same moment, bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Didn't we get charged for water damage from that hotel?" Trish smiled.

"I think we did. Still, it was worth it," His smile hinted at this fondness of the memory. In the spur of the moment, Jeff asked the question that he knew he shouldn't have, "How did we get so fucked up Trish?"

Despite Jeff's fears Trish would turn and verbally tear him a new asshole, her face looked deep in thought, as if she were considering the reasons for their split. Sighing softly, she faced Jeff, a heart felt sadness stealing the colour from her chocolate eyes.

"Because you decided that you couldn't trust me enough." Her answer was simple and honest, if a little vague. And still, every word cut into Jeff's heart, as though he were trapped in barbed wire.

"Can't I take it back?", his quietly desperate response came, "can I make it so I never let you go?" Trish smiled sadly touching her hand to Jeff's cheek, who in response put his arm around her, drawing her body closer.

"I wish you could. Really, I do. Then maybe things wouldn't be like they are now. But there is no way back to 'us' Jeff."

"How can you just say that Trish? Don't you feel anything for me at all?" Jeff's pleas were easily breaking down Trish's defences, causing her heart to swell.

"I don't know. I just don't. I spent the longest time waiting for you. If you had come back…or even called me…I would have been yours again in an instant. But you never did. You just upped and left. It was as if you died that day, like you didn't exist anymore. When I eventually realised that you weren't coming back, I had to build myself back up. I had to make myself strong again. In some ways, I owe you so much. You helped me realise just how capable I am to pull through." Jeff reached up his hand, taking Trish's tiny palm in his.

"I just want to take all the pain away Trish. All the hurt and crying and despair that I caused. It cuts me up to know I did that to you, that it was my doing. You have to believe me butterfly, I really thought I was doing it for the best. I thought I was protecting you." His eyes reflected the sadness in Trish's, knowing this was an impossible venture.

"That's not even a question in my mind. I know you were trying to protect me Jeff, but all you were doing was hurting me. And I can't put myself in a position where I could feel like that again. Do you understand?" her eyes searched into his, hoping to find some glint of recognition.

"Yes." His reply came in a cracked voice, full of emotion.

"Just be my friend Jeff, okay? Don't expect anymore, and maybe we can see where things go. But there is someone else in my life right now…someone who, however much of an ass he might be, fires me up…makes me feel things I haven't felt in so long. I fought against it for so long…but now I feel like I owe it to myself to see where that goes first." Trish tucked a stand of blonde hair behind her ear as she waited to see Jeff's reaction.

"I respect that, and I will gladly be your friend. Just know all I want is for you to be happy, even if it is with someone else, okay?" His smile was one of a broken man, but an honest one all the same. Trish pulled him into a hug, ignoring her protesting ribs.

Slowly, she slipped into his arms, resting her head against his chest, feeling exhaustion overtake her. Jeff moved to leave her to it, but her insistent moan and squeezing hand forced him to stay put. Gradually, his head rested back, and he joined Trish in the warmth of sleep…

…whilst outside, Randy Orton paced back and forth in front of Trish's door, twisting the rose in his hand.

What the fuck am I doing here? This is bullshit.

Convincing himself he was being a pussy, Randy turned on his heel, marching back down the corridor the way he came. He had almost reached the elevator, when he threw his hands up in defeat and turned back around, jogging towards Trish's door.

I'm here because I want Trish. She makes me feel things I've never felt before. She deserves better than to see me turning my back on her and walking out. She's probably gonna chew me out, but I've gotta at least make this right. I can't let her go just yet…not until I know what it is I feel for her.

And with a final huff of resolve, Randy knocked softly on the door. Finding to his surprise that the door inched open, he gently gave it a shove to open it all the way.

"Trish?"

His voice barely came above a whisper, but it was enough to stir the dozing blonde. Her chocolate eyes opened in time to see the crestfallen Randy Orton dropping the rose he had in his hand to the floor. From his perspective, all he could see was Trish wrapped up in the arms of Jeff Hardy, the former 'love of her life', and the man he had been pounding on earlier. Feeling a stab of some feeling he didn't like in his chest, Randy's face became a stony glare. Gritting his teeth, he offered a weak smile, before backing out of the room.

"Randy…wait…"

"Nah. It's cool baby girl. I shoulda known I wasn't the only one you were fucking. After all, all you ring sluts are the same right?" With a final cocky grin, Randy shut the door behind him, leaving Trish smarting and confused by the cruel words he had spoken.