Chapter 8
Steph, Amy, and Ty stepped cautiously into the den downstairs and found Shane, Chris, and C-Dawg sitting on the floor talking animatedly about something. As soon as the three guys spotted them, however, their conversation ended abruptly.
"I wonder what they were talking about," Ty said.
"Obviously us, or they would still be talking now," Amy pointed out.
Steph nodded. "I still think they're up to something."
"You girls scared to come over here?" Shane called over to the girls. Chris and C-Dawg snickered softly, elbowing each other, nodding in agreement with Shane's question.
"What is there to be scared of?" Steph asked bravely. She looked at each of the three guys before continuing. "Nothing, nothing at all."
"Is that what you think?" Chris asked her, looking amused.
"It's what I know," Steph answered. "Come on, girls."
The three girls made their way over to where the boys were sitting and sat down near them, forming a circle. Steph looked directly across from her into those blue eyes that captivated her every time she looked into them... Chris looked back at her, straight into her eyes, and smiled at her. She let her eyes roam over his muscular body, and he returned her sentiments...
"Chris... Earth to Chris," Shane said, elbowing Chris in his ribs. "Stop checking my sister out and hand me the damn bottle!"
Chris looked away from Steph and blushed. "What makes you think I was checking Steph out?" he asked, handing Shane a bottle.
"Dude, it's obvious," C-Dawg spoke up. "Trish needs to keep an eye on you, Chris..."
"I don't wanna talk about Trish tonight. This weekend, as a matter of fact... I want a Trish-free weekend," Chris said. He looked at Ty. "No offense to you, Tyra."
"None taken," Ty said, smiling at him. "I don't really wanna talk about Trish this weekend, either."
"What kind of boyfriend are you, Chris?" Shane teased. "Not even wanting to talk about your awesome, wonderful girlfriend... Shame on you."
"Yeah, poor Trish," C-Dawg said sarcastically. "She'd be just heartbroken if she knew how you really felt."
"Could you both just shut the hell up?" Chris asked finally, looking down at his hands.
"Why? Because you're feeling sad?" Shane joked.
"Because I said I didn't wanna talk about Trish and we're talking about her anyway!" Chris exclaimed. "Can't there be one weekend when I can be Trish-free?" He stood up and stalked out of the room.
"Dude, we were just joking with you!" Shane called after him.
"Dawg, you know there's no use in trying to talk to him once he gets into one of his pissed off moods," C-Dawg said. "He's so damn sensitive lately."
"Well? Aren't one of you guys gonna go after him?" Steph asked Shane and C-Dawg a minute later.
"Nah. He'll come back once he's calmed down," C-Dawg said with a shrug.
"Yeah, this isn't the first time it's happened," Shane said. "Apparently, the whore...I meant, Trish...is a touchy subject these days."
"Well I guess I'm not like you guys. I can't just sit here," Steph said, standing up. "I'm gonna go after him."
"That's right, Steph! Go after your man!" Shane teased. He looked at Ty, Amy, and C-Dawg. "Meanwhile, we'll be playing Spin the Bottle."
"Whatever," Steph said shortly. She walked out of the den and looked around, wondering where Chris had stormed off to. Why had he gotten so mad about talking about Trish? She was his girlfriend, and they were a happy couple, weren't they? And what was he really saying when he said he wanted a "Trish-free" weekend? Was he implying that he didn't even want to be reminded of the fact that Trish was his girlfriend?
Steph shook her head. "I'm jumping to conclusions," she whispered to herself. Now where would I go if I was Chris? she thought. There were a number of places a person could go at in the McMahon mansion if he or she wanted to be alone, which would make it the perfect place for Hide and Seek. But right now, the one and only place she could picture Chris being was the club house, as weird as it seemed.
She went out the back door of the mansion and headed for the club house. The club house was pretty big, and it was a whole separate building from the mansion. She made her way along the path to the smaller building. When she reached her destination, she leaned down and felt underneath the rug for the key. She grabbed the key and unlocked the door. Afterwards, she put the key back under the rug, then stepped inside the club house and into complete and total darkness.
She reached for the light switch and flipped the lights on. And, just as she had suspected, Chris was there. He was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall, looking at nothing at all. His look was focused, yet blank, and she wondered if he was ok.
"Chris?" she said softly, taking a cautious step in his direction.
He looked up at her and almost immediately a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Steph," he said quietly. "You followed me."
"Of course I did," she replied, walking over to him. She sat down next to him. "Tell me what's wrong so I can help you fix it."
"I'm not sure you can," he replied, looking away again.
"Ok, well answer this for me, then," she said, looking at him. "What did you mean when you said that you wanted a Trish-free weekend?"
"Oh, that one's easy. I just want one weekend," he said simply.
"For what?" she asked.
"One weekend where Trish doesn't have to be the one I have to focus on," he answered. "I mean, I know she's my girlfriend, and I know it's not right to feel this way about her, but sometimes I just can't help it."
"Now we're getting somewhere," she said, happy that she was really getting him to open up to her. "The next step is to figure out why you're feeling this way, why you want to be all Trish-free all of a sudden."
"It didn't happen all of a sudden," he told her, looking at her again. "It's been like this for a while...and what are you, my therapist?"
"I'd prefer to be your friend, but if you want me to be your therapist..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away, wondering if he really thought of her as his therapist. His therapist? That wasn't the relationship she wanted with him at all, unless patients kissed their therapists the way he had kissed her earlier in the kitchen. If that was the case, she would be more than happy to fulfill the role of his therapist...
"I was kidding," he said quietly, touching her arm lightly. "Steph..."
"What?" she asked, looking at him.
"I want this weekend to be a time where you and I can hang out together without having to worry about what Trish will say," he said. "I mean, recently we haven't really had the opportunity to be together alone, and before you were too young..."
"Too young for what?" she asked curiously.
"You know..." His voice trailed off and he paused, trying to find the words he wanted to say to her. He came up with nothing, so he tried to word his next sentence the best way that he could. "Like, you were always too young to be the type of friend that I wanted...want...you to be."
"And now I'm not?" she asked.
"Now you're not," he agreed. "You're nearly 15 now..."
"I know." She looked at him, then looked away. "So... Are you feeling more calm now?"
"Calm?" he repeated, confused.
"Yeah," she replied. "C-Dawg told me that you just needed time to calm down or whatever because Trish is a touchy subject these days."
He stood up and looked down at her with a smirk on his face. "Trish who?"
"Trish, as in your girlfriend Trish," she said, looking bewildered.
"Steph, Steph, Steph," he said, pulling her to her feet. She gasped when he pulled her against him and held her there. "Trish doesn't exist for us this weekend."
"Um, ok," she said quickly, wondering if he had lost his mind. That was the only reason, the only logical explanation for all this nonsense and foolishness that was coming out of his mouth. How could Trish not exist for them this weekend? It wasn't possible!
He let her go and smiled at her. "I'm in a much better mood, thanks to you. How about we get back to the others before they start thinking stuff?"
"Stuff like what?" she asked, turning and starting to head for the door.
"They might think we're kissing or something," he called after her.
She stopped walking and slowly turned to face him again. "About that kiss earlier... Why'd you do it?"
"I could tell you that I kissed you to try to get information out of you about what you planned to do with the whipped cream," he said, stepping up to her. "But that would be a lie."
"Then what's the truth?" she asked. "Why did you kiss me?"
"Because I wanted to," he said, smiling at her. "Is it a crime to suddenly want to kiss a beautiful girl?"
"No," she replied in a low voice, blushing. "It just kind of surprised me that you did...kiss me."
"Know what?" he said, leaning down until their lips were inches apart.
"What?" she asked breathlessly. His lips were so close... Just like earlier... Was he going to kiss her again?
"If you think you were surprised then, wait and see what other surprises the night holds in store for you," he said mysteriously. He stood back up straight and headed for the door so they could leave. "Oh, and one more thing... Just sort of slipped my mind..."
"What?" she asked, following him.
They were outside of the club house by the time he finally answered her.
"I surprised myself earlier in the kitchen, too," he told her. "And there's something else I want to say..."
"Feel free to speak your mind," she said, glancing at him as they headed back towards the mansion.
"Race you back to the house!" he exclaimed. He tugged her hair lightly, then laughed and took off running.
She was surprised for a minute. Him pulling her hair reminded her of the old days when he had first started coming around the house with Shane, back when she was around five years old. She could remember him pulling her hair and running away, laughing in the same way he was laughing now... And she would always chase him, promising to get him back, because even then she hadn't been one to stand for any kind of crap...
"Come back here!" she yelled, then ran after him...
A/N: I know this skipped around a lot. This didn't exactly go the way that I planned for it to go. This chapter had a mind of its own and it wrote itself, LOL! And it's sort of short compared to other recent chapters. I guess I can pick up where this chapter was supposed to pick up in Chapter 9... But really, who can resist a Trish-free weekend?