Chapter 14

Chris turned out to be right. Trish did indeed come back to him, and by the end of third period, they were once again the golden couple of Spritzville High School. Not that he was happy about it, because he wasn't. He didn't know why he kept taking her back time and time again, when he knew who he really wanted to be with. He wanted to be with Steph, and he had no doubts about that. He just didn't know how to break up with Trish for good and somehow spare her feelings at the same time. He didn't want to be with her, but he didn't want to hurt her in the process of breaking up with her, so until he figured out a way to do that, he was...well, stuck.

"Ok, baby, so I'll see you after second lunch and fourth period are over?" Trish asked with her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, I guess," Chris answered, looking over Trish's shoulder. He could see Steph over at her locker, trying her hardest not to look at him, and he wanted to go over there. He had to go over there. "Trish, I have to go," he said shortly, pulling away from her.

"What, no kiss?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Silly me, how did I forget?" he asked, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

"But Chris, where are you..." Her voice trailed off as she watched where he was headed: straight to Steph. "What is it with her?" she asked no one in particular.

"With who?" a male voice asked from next to her. "Stephanie?"

She turned and looked to the side to see Paul standing next to her, arms folded, staring over at Steph. She sneered a little, then looked back over at Chris, who'd made his way over to Steph by then. "Why is he so into her?" she whined.

"Her dad is Vince McMahon, you know that, right?"

"So? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Your boy toy is captain of the wrestling team here."

"So? He's captain of the baseball team, captain of the hockey team, and president of the drama club, too. What does that have to do with why he insists on being friends with her?"

Paul sighed. He couldn't believe Trish was so dumb and oblivious to what her boyfriend was really trying to do in regards to Stephanie. "Ok, I'll explain this in a way that maybe even you could understand it. Vince McMahon: owner of a major wrestling corporation. Stephanie McMahon: daughter of said owner of said major wrestling corporation. And Chris Irvine: captain of the wrestling team here at Spritzville. Do you not get the connection?"

"Ohh!" she said, voice rising a little. "He's trying to be friends with her because he wants to get into her father's company. He's just using her!"

"Took you long enough to figure that out," he scoffed. "But if you ask me, he's smart. I'd jump at the chance to use her... I could bed her and get a WWE contract, no prob."

"I bet you couldn't," she challenged.

"I bet I could, and I'll go a bit farther and say that I can do it in two months or less," he said, sticking out his hand. "What do you say, Trish? Want to make a bet with me?"

"What do I get when you lose?" she asked, looking at his hand.

"Whatever you want... Now what do I get when I win?" he asked teasingly.

"You get to have a night with me," she said, smiling up at him. "One night, me and you, and however you want to spend that night, I'm game."

"Damn, well you've got yourself a bet," he said enthusiastically, shaking her hand. "I'm going to want you at my house, half-dressed, one month from this upcoming Saturday."

"You sound confident," she observed.

"Because I am," he said, slapping her on the butt and walking away in the direction of Chris and Steph. Trish watched him, smiling deviously.

"So you're telling me that you and Trish are back together now?" Steph asked, putting her book in her locker. She closed her locker, then turned to face Chris.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Chris replied, leaning against the row of lockers. "But I told you she'd come back to me. She always does."

"Why do you take her back if you don't want to be with her, though?" she asked, trying to understand everything to the best of her ability. If he didn't want to be with Trish, why did he repeatedly take her back? Could it be that he really did want Trish?

"It's hard to explain. I don't want to be with her, but at the same time, I don't know how to turn her down without hurting her," he explained.

"Shane could do it for you," she suggested.

"Yeah, he wouldn't hesitate to dump her for me, but I don't want it to be that way," he said with a sigh. "I don't want it to go down like that, with someone else doing my dirty work for me."

"Someone has to do it," she pointed out.

"And I agree, but you and I both know that, that someone has to be me," he said, staring into her eyes. He noticed how sad she looked and couldn't help but reach out and touch her face. "Don't be so sad, Steph. I'll figure out a way to break up with her, let her down easy so there won't be any hard feelings, and then... Then, you and I will-"

"Ooh, Chris, getting a little touchy feely with little Miss Stephanie, aren't you?" Paul interrupted, stepping up to them.

"Of all the inopportune moments to interrupt, you choose now?" Chris asked, obviously annoyed. "And why are you even here anyway? I thought I
told you a week ago to stay the hell away from Steph."

"And I thought I told you a week ago that I wasn't going to listen to you," Paul countered, smiling evilly at Chris before training his eyes on Steph. "Oh, please excuse me for being so rude. How are you today, beautiful?"

"I'm fine, now can you leave us alone?" Steph asked nicely.

"I just wanted to say hi and tell you that you're beautiful," Paul said, trying to appear sad. "Is that so much of a crime, for me to come over here and compliment you on how strikingly beautiful you are?"

Steph didn't know what to say to that, but that was ok because Chris had more than enough for both of them to say. "Steph, why don't you head on down to lunch and I'll catch up with you?" he asked in a tightly controlled voice.

She nodded, a little unnerved by the storm she saw brewing in his blue eyes. He was about to lose his temper in a bad way, and he didn't want her around to see it. She walked a few feet away, then turned around to look at the two guys standing there face to face.

"What the hell do you want with her?" Chris asked, wasting little time in getting to the point.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Irvine. I just want to be...cordial...to her," Paul said unconvincingly.

"Cordial, my ass!" Chris exclaimed angrily, slamming Paul hard against the row of lockers and getting up in his face. "You listen to me, you bastard. I want you to stay the hell away from Steph, because she is off-limits, you hear? I don't know your true intentions, but I know they're probably not good, so fuck off, got it?"

"Wow, someone's getting all riled up. Not a good look for you, pretty boy," Paul laughed, smirking at Chris. That is, until Chris pressed one of his strong forearms against the smirking idiot's neck and held it there. That's when the smirk disappeared. "Hey bitch, I can't breathe," he said breathlessly.

"That's how I feel when you're around Steph. I can't breathe," Chris said, eyes icy blue. "Now you stay away from her, you hear me? Say it!"

"I would, if I could breathe," Paul croaked.

"Chris, Chris, let him go! What are you doing?" Steph exclaimed, pulling Chris's arm in an attempt to make him let Paul go.

"God, I don't know, he just pisses me off!" Chris spat, letting Paul go. The warning bell rang, and he took a few deep, calming breaths before turning to Steph. "Want me to walk you to class?"

"We have lunch," she reminded him quietly.

"You're right. I just need to calm down. I'm sorry you had to see me lose my temper like that. I'm just...fiercely protective of you," he replied, glaring daggers at Paul, who was walking away and gingerly holding his throat. "That guy, he thinks he's so slick... Thinks I won't get pissed when I know he's plotting something and trying to get you..."

"Just calm down," she said, looking down the suddenly empty hallway. She put her hand on his arm and rubbed it a little, trying to comfort him and simultaneously attempting to ignore the tingle she felt when she touched him. "Don't let him get to you, Chris."

"You don't understand, Steph, I know him," he said, pulling her into his arms and hugging her. He didn't want to let her go, so he started touching her hair. As he held her against him, he closed his eyes briefly, savoring the feel of her in his arms. "You don't know what kind of person Paul is."

"And I don't think I'll be finding out, because I have no plans to get to know him on a personal level," she informed him, closing her eyes and hugging him back. She inhaled deeply, taking in and trying to memorize the scent of his cologne, before speaking again. "I'm only seriously interested in one guy in this school, one guy in this state, even, and that one guy is you."

"You have such a way with words," he said, pulling away and kissing her on the forehead. His lips lingered on her forehead for a minute, and he felt that familiar urge inside to kiss her properly, but he knew that he had to resist it for the time being. He pulled away completely and looked down at her, then smiled and took her hand. "Let's go downstairs for lunch. I'm sure your brother is wondering where we are."

"Yeah, you know how he is," she laughed, squeezing his hand as they headed for the stairs. "Always worrying about me."

"Hey, it's hard not to. I worry about you, too..."

From a few doors down, Trish looked on, her face a mask of total fury as she watched the two walk away together, her boyfriend hand in hand...with a freshman. What the hell was going on with Chris and Steph? Why had Chris gotten so pissed at Paul for simply speaking to the girl? And had he really just hugged her, kissed her forehead, and walked away clutching her hand tightly in his own?

"Miss Stratus, are you in the class or out?" her teacher, Mr. Foley, asked.

"I'm in," she muttered, coming completely into the class and flopping ungracefully down in her assigned seat. She tried to look happy, and she even managed a little smile, but inside she was more than a little pissed. Paul better hurry up and hook up with that little bitch, she thought angrily, biting her lip. Because she's already causing problems...

A/N: Compared to the last chapter, this one was kind of short (although it seemed long when I typed it on my Sidekick II). However, I felt this was a good place to end it. We're building up to that Halloween chapter I keep mentioning, slowly but surely!