Thank you everyone for your reviews. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

"You look so beautiful Steph" Linda said with tears in her eyes. It was the final moment of the night, her fake wedding. Linda was acting if she were really getting married or something as she watched her mother dry her tears with a tissue.

"Mom it's not real" Stephanie said with a laugh.

"I know but I can't help it" Linda replied her voice cracking a little. "Okay I better get going before I'm a mess"

"I'll be out there soon" Stephanie said as her mother took one last look at her and left her dressing room.

Stephanie took a breath and exhaled slowly. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Although part of it was because she was afraid of tripping and falling but the rest of it was officially beginning her storyline with Paul and how the fans would react. Part of her was still hoping Vince would change his mind because she still didn't want this. Paul had apologized last night for the things that had happened but that still change the way she felt and how bad it still hurt to think about it. Stephanie shook those thoughts away, she didn't want to think about them. Especially since she had to go out there and pretend to be ecstatic about her wedding.

Stephanie opened her door and stepped out and went to look for her dad when Paul caught her attention as he walked down the hallway towards her.

"Wow Steph just…wow" Paul said as he reached her and she rolled her eyes but couldn't help the blush that warmed her cheeks.

"Thanks" Stephanie replied and he smiled at her.

"Did you get my flowers?"

"Yes I did but they weren't really necessary Paul"

"It's just another one of my ways of saying sorry" Paul replied putting his hands in his pocket. He looked away and stared past her. She turned her head to see what he was staring at and her eyes landed on Joanie. Stephanie expected him to walk off to talk to her but he just stood there watching her, it was a pretty uncomfortable moment. Stephanie cleared her throat and he turned his attention back on her.

"So are ready to ruin this wedding?" Stephanie asked trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah there is nothing like ruining a wedding" Paul joked and smiled but she could tell something was bothering him. Especially after the way he stared off at Joanie but she wasn't going to say anything. It wasn't any of her business and she didn't want to care.

"Steph it's almost time are you ready?" Stephanie heard Vince's voice behind her.

"Yeah I'm ready" Stephanie replied turning around looking at him.

"I'll see you out there soon" Paul said and she nodded her head at him.

She then followed Vince down the hallway to the gorilla and Andrew was waiting to go out. He looked over at her and smiled.

"You look great Steph" Andrew said and she smiled back at him. She didn't blush the way Paul had made her and she didn't understand why his compliment was any different. Something must be wrong with her tonight.

"Thanks" Stephanie replied as Andrew's music started to play and he made his way through the curtains.

Her turn was next and the butterflies in her stomach was ten times worse than before.

"Are you ready?" Vince asked looking over at her.

"Yeah. I'd be even more ready if you would just let my storyline with Andrew keep going" Stephanie replied and hooked her arm through Vince's and he just patted her arm not saying anything. After a moment the music started for her to walk down. Taking a deep breath they went through the curtains and she put on the biggest smile she could.

After it was over Stephanie stepped through the curtains and hurried for her dressing room to get the wedding dress off. She opened her door and went in and locked it behind her. When she was done dressing back into her usual clothes when there was a knock on her door. She went over and unlocked it to see Shane.

"Hey" Shane greeted her.

"Hey"

"Are you getting ready to leave?"

"Yeah, why?" Stephanie asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well Marissa and I have this friend who would like to meet you"

"Really Shane?" She sighed "Why tonight?"

"He came to see the show and I was thinking why wait since you both are in the same place"

"I can't tonight. I have to go home to Aiden, I'm sure Kelsi is up waiting" Stephanie replied grabbing the wedding dress and her purse and stepped out into the hallway.

"He's heading this way. It won't take long" Shane said and Stephanie looked up to see a tall slender man with dark brown hair walking their way. As he came closer Stephanie eyes locked on to his pale blue eyes and he smiled at her.

"Hi I'm Jake" He said holding out his hand to her. She shook his hand and smiled at him. He was attractive and she couldn't help but to be drawn to him.

"I'm Stephanie"

"I know" he laughed "Shane and Marissa is always going on about you and how I should meet you"

"They are always doing this stuff" Stephanie replied with a laugh.

"How would you like to go to dinner?"

"I can't tonight I have a son-"

"Aiden, right?" Jake asked as she nodded her head. She always tried letting guys know she had a little boy up front because if they weren't okay with it then they weren't worth her time.

"I have to go home to him. My friend is waiting on me"

"Okay we could try for another night. How does that sound?"

"That would be great" she might as well try. It had been awhile since she had a date.

"Let me walk you to your car at least" Jake said and she nodded her head and started walking down the hallway.

Paul walked out of his dressing room and shut the door behind him. He was in a bad mood from Joanie, it seemed like that was always the reason lately. She had caught him leaving flowers for Stephanie after he arrived at the arena earlier and she of course accused him of cheating on her already. He tried to explain he only left them because he had been a dick to Stephanie last night and he was trying apologize so he wasn't on Stephanie's bad side. Of course he left out the parts Joanie didn't need to know but trying to apologize to Stephanie just pissed Joanie off more at him. No matter which way he went he still had someone pissed off at him. It didn't help that Joanie was being childish and trying to piss him off back by flirting with every male she talked to tonight.

Paul sighed as he made his way out of the arena and headed to his car. On the way there he spotted Stephanie and some guy at her car. She was smiling and laughing at him, he couldn't help but feel a little envious that it was so easy for that guy to get Stephanie to like him. It wasn't that he wanted Stephanie to like him in the way she apparently liked this guy but he wanted her to like him enough to be nice to him. Which tonight she was kind of nice to him but he wasn't sure how long that was going to last. After Paul reached his car he unlocked it and got in. He started the car and started driving off not really wanting to go to the hotel he was staying at because Joanie and him was sharing a room. Paul knew once he got there it would be nothing but fighting and he wasn't sure if he could get through it tonight. Not having anywhere else to go though he made his way to the hotel.

After he arrived and parked his car he made his way into the hotel. He was hoping that maybe Joanie would already be asleep and he could just deal with the consequences of his actions tomorrow. When he reached his room he pulled out his keycard and opened the door. It was dark inside so he tried to walk blindly through the room hoping he wouldn't trip over anything. He didn't want to turn the lights on because he was pretty sure she was asleep so after reaching the bed he tried laying down gently trying not to make much movement on the bed. Then he stretched his arm out to hold her but came in contact with an empty spot on the bed. He sat up and flipped the lamp on beside of him and spotted her suitcase where she had put it when she got here. She hadn't got a new room apparently so he wondered where she was and got up to check the bathroom but the door was open and the light was off. Well at least he was safe from fighting for now which he felt relieved about but he was a little worried about where she was. He had seen her getting ready to leave when he had been talking to Stephanie.

Paul headed over to the phone and decided to try her cellphone but it just kept ringing until it went to voicemail. After that he decided to go on to bed, he knew she wasn't going to answer for him. If she wanted to act like this towards him then he wasn't going to sit up and wait on her all night.

The next morning Paul woke up and heard the shower being shut off in the bathroom. Obviously she had made it back in one piece but he was upset that she didn't tell him she was going out and wouldn't answer her cellphone.

"What time did you get in?" Paul asked startling her as she came out of the bathroom.

"Almost four" Joanie replied and shrugged.

"You could of answered your cellphone at least. I was worried about you"

"It died. Besides I thought you would be to occupied worrying about the princess"

"Damn it Joanie I already explained this shit to you and I know you're fucking lying about your cellphone. Which makes me wonder what else you're lying about" Paul shouted getting up from the bed and throwing clothes on.

"I'm not lying" Joanie said but she wouldn't turn around to face him. Now he was really pissed and he needed to get away from her and cool down.

"Where are you going?" Joanie asked eyeing him as he put his shoes on.

"Anywhere away from you" Paul replied getting up and walking past her out the hotel room door. They hadn't even talked for five minutes and he couldn't deal with her. Paul walked to elevator and pressed the button and waited on it.

"Hey Paul" Paul heard Shane and looked to see him come stand beside of him.

"Hey Shane" Paul replied noticing Shane had his suitcases. "Checking out already?"

"Yeah Marissa wants to get home" Shane replied as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. Paul pushed the button to the lobby and waited for the doors to close.

"Is Stephanie staying here too?" Paul asked trying to fill the silence with small talk.

"No she went home last night" Shane replied and Paul nodded his head as the elevator made it to the lobby.

"I guess I'll see you later" Paul said stepping out of the elevator.

"Later Paul" he heard Shane say as Paul headed outside. He was seriously considering going back in and checking out too, he had to soon anyways but he decided to go for a drive and clear his head. He needed to figure something out to fix things between him and Joanie. Even though he hated her behavior lately he loved her and he definitely didn't want to lose her.

Stephanie had been up for awhile now talking to Kelsi who was asleep on the couch when she got home. She felt bad that Kelsi fell asleep waiting on her because she spent too much time talking to Jake. Kelsi didn't mind at all though thankfully but this morning she wanted details.

"He is very good looking but the most important thing is he fully accepts that I'm a mom and being a mom comes first. So far he has a great personality and I'm pretty excited about a possibility of a date" Stephanie said and she couldn't help the smile on her face. She had been smiling all morning. After Jake walked her to her car last night they ended up talking for almost an hour.

"He sounds great" Kelsi replied "but I have to ask"

"What?" Stephanie asked as Kelsi instantly looked apologetic.

"How is it being around Paul again? And I've been watching wrestling lately and oh my God he still looks hot"

"He's annoying and it hurts to be around him most of the time. You remember what he did to me and the last one wasn't a question" Stephanie replied and took a drink of her coffee.

"Does he look as hot in person as does on tv? There I turned into a question and I'm sorry for bringing it up" Kelsi said before taking a drink of her coffee.

"It's fine. I have to deal with it now that I'm in a storyline with him anyway. To answer your question no but that is because I don't look at him that way"

"Not even a little?"

"No. I don't want to think of him that way either" Stephanie replied not wanting to bring up how she blushed at his compliment last night.

"Okay I was just curious" Kelsi replied dropping the subject "Are you really going to see Jake again?"

"I don't know" Stephanie sighed "he seems great but it could all be an act and I just want to spend what time I have with Aiden"

"Well I think you should because you seem to like him. He makes you smile"

"At first I wasn't sure about him but as soon as we started talking and joking around he just made me feel something that I haven't since…" Stephanie trailed off about to say Paul but Kelsi already knew what she was referring to. Why did everything have to come back to him? God knows he hasn't made her feel like that in years and anymore all he does is irritate her.

"Are you okay Steph?" Kelsi asked as Stephanie looked into her sympathetic eyes.

"Yeah, its in the past" Stephanie said trying to get Kelsi to stop looking at her like that. She didn't want sympathy, her and Aiden had been fine without him. They still were and she wasn't some fragile little girl anymore.

"Thanks for watching Aiden last night" Stephanie said after a few minutes of silenced passed between them.

"Anytime. You know that, he's like a little nephew to me" Kelsi replied and Stephanie smiled remembering how Kelsi had been there for her through out her pregnancy.

"I really don't know what I would do without you"

"You'll never have to" Kelsi replied smiling "but right now I have to get home. I have some things to do before work"

"Okay and thank you again" Stephanie said as Kelsi got up from the kitchen table and she stood up and hugged her.

"You're welcome. I'll see you sometime soon"

"Bye" Stephanie replied as Kelsi left.

"Where did Kelsi go?" Aiden asked coming into the kitchen.

"She had to go home sweetie"

"I wanted her to watch a movie with us"

"Well she can the next time she comes over okay?"

"Okay"

"Come on let's go watch your movie" Stephanie replied as they headed to the living room. Aiden got up on the couch excited to watch his favorite movie. He had watched it a million times but it never got old to him. Stephanie put the movie in and pressed play and Aiden stared at the tv as the movie came on.

She looked over at him recognizing how much he looked like Paul. It made her wonder if anyone else would notice the resemblance and the thought worried her.

After the movie was over Stephanie heard the phone start ringing and she grabbed it as Aiden went to his room to play with his toys.

"Hello" Stephanie answered.

"Hey how was last night?" Shane asked.

"It was good. You actually set me up with someone decent"

"I knew you would like him"

"You were actually right for once" Stephanie replied with a laugh.

"Hey I'm right about a lot of things. When are you two going on a date?"

"I'm not sure. I want to spend as much time with Aiden as I can and I feel like I haven't seen him very much in the last two days"

"That is understandable but don't blow this guy off like you have the other ones. He's a good guy"

"I won't Shane"

"Well I just wanted to check in. Give Aiden a hug for me"

"I will. Bye Shane" Stephanie replied and then ended the call.

Stephanie thought about what Shane had said, sure she didn't contact most of the guys back after meeting them. She had went through some guys who had not been worth her time and the last guy she had been kind of seeing turned into a complete asshole after awhile of seeing each other. That was about eight months ago and after that she stopped trying. When she met someone worth dating she figured she would just know. Stephanie wondered into Aiden's room where he was sitting on the floor playing and sat down with him and picked up one of his toys and started playing along with him. Right now he was the only boy she wanted to focus on.

Later that night Paul woke up to complete darkness. When he checked out of the hotel earlier that day after his drive Joanie was already gone. He had flew home without her and once he arrived he found that she wasn't here either. After hours of being bored and not feeling up to going out or doing anything at all really he had laid down on the bed and fell asleep. He had no idea how long he had been out but he could see a faint light leading into the living room from the bedroom meaning that Joanie must be there. Making no attempt to move he just laid there listening for the tv or anything but it was silent until he heard Joanie. It was faint but it sounded like she was crying and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to try and comfort her. She would probably yell at him for that too but soon he found himself kicking the blankets off of himself and getting off of the bed. He walked into the living room to see the rest of the apartment was dark the only source of light was the lamp that was sitting beside of her and she was slumped over crying.

He walked around the couch coming closer to her and he could see she had her face in her hands. She sniffed and lifted her head looking straight ahead of her not noticing him. Paul cleared his throat and she froze for a minute before looking at him, her eyes looked red and her makeup smeared. She wiped away the mascara stained tears from her face.

"What's wrong Joan?" Paul asked gently and she started crying again. He sat down beside of her and put his arms around her trying to comfort her and he couldn't help but feel bad, after all it was probably his fault. Paul ran a hand through her hair and waited for her to stop crying.

"Paul I-I.." Joanie tried talking but it was useless as he could hear her trying to choke back the sobbing.

"Shhh" Paul whispered "It's okay Joan. Please tell me why you are so upset so I can fix it"

"I don't think you can" Joanie replied pushing herself away from him and staring at her hands as she put them in her lap. At least the crying had stopped, for now.

"Come on Joan I know we can fix this don't throw it away because of this storyline with Stephanie" Paul said getting up from his spot and running his hands through his hair. "Just tell me what I've done to make you this upset. I love-"

"I slept with someone else Paul" Joanie blurted out looking up at him and new tears started spilling from her eyes.

Paul stood and it was as if he could actually feel his heart break. It felt like a tightening in his chest, like he couldn't breathe and he didn't want to believe what he was hearing. He couldn't believe she would cheat on him, this had to be a bad dream or some kind of joke. Paul looked into her eyes and he couldn't deny it.

"Who?" Paul asked feeling sudden anger burn in his chest.

"Please Paul it doesn't matter. I just want you to forgive me and know I will never do it again, I promise" Joanie pleaded tears streaming down her face.

"Forgive you?" Paul asked in disbelief and laughed viciously in her face. "You have been a bitch to me once my storyline started with Stephanie. Icing me out and leaving without so much as a phone call. You accused me this morning of cheating on you and now you want me to forgive you for something you accused me of?"

"I'm so sorry Paul" Joanie replied her voice breaking grabbing his hand. He pulled it away quickly and backed away from her putting distance between them.

"Who was it?" He repeated his question but she sat there crying shaking her head.

"Just let me explain why"

"I don't want an explanation. I don't want your fucking lies"

"Paul just listen to-"

"Get out!" Paul shouted he had the last straw. He didn't want to be near her and if she wasn't going to tell him who it was all he wanted was her gone.

"No Paul" Joanie replied standing up shaking her head and inching her way closer to her.

"Fine! Then I will leave and when I get back you better be gone" Paul said leaving the room and going to the bedroom and shutting and locking the door.

Paul flipped on the light looking for his suitcase. After he found it he went to the closet pulling out some of his clothes and packing them in his suitcase. As he packed he heard the doorknob trying to turn and then he heard her up against the door crying.

"Paul" Joanie cried but he ignored her zipping up his suitcase.

He went back to the closet and pulled a pair of shoes and slipped them on and then grabbed his suitcase. Paul unlocked the door and opened it to come face to face with her but he just pushed passed her and ignored her pleas as made it the front door. Without even pausing he opened the door and slammed it behind him. He kept walking until he was at his car and then he broke down crying, slamming his hands on the hood of the car.

The next day Stephanie walked down the hallway to her dressing room, she had arrived a few minutes early. She was going over the script for the night so when she reached her door she opened it and was scared half to death when she looked up to see Paul sitting on her couch. Clutching her chest as her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her she noticed Paul looked rough. His eyes puffy as if he didn't get enough sleep and his hair was a mess.

"Paul you scared me" Stephanie said breathless as she walked completely into the room and the door shut behind her.

"Sorry" Paul replied his voice somber.

"What do you need?" Stephanie asked tossing the script on her table.

"Am I really that bad of a guy?" Paul asked staring into her eyes.

"I think you might be talking to the wrong person about their opinion of you" Stephanie didn't want to get an argument with him tonight and she knew that is exactly what would happen if she was honest with what she thought of him.

"Actually you're the perfect person to talk to since according to you we dated" Paul replied and Stephanie sighed.

"I don't know you Paul. Back then I thought I did but then you proved me wrong"

"I know I hurt you Stephanie and now I think I realize exactly how much. When you love someone and they hurt you and break your trust you don't want to do feel anything but hatred for that person. It makes it easier to hide the pain" Paul said as Stephanie stared at him. She was starting to put together why he looked like hell and the reason he was asking her the question he did.

"Yeah something like that" Stephanie replied trying to fight this sudden emotion of feeling bad for him. She had been in his position before but the difference was hers was caused by him.

"This is probably karma" Paul laughed but Stephanie could tell he didn't really find it funny. "The one person I have ever really loved is gone"

His confession stung even though she heard a couple of days ago from him that he hadn't loved her. The thing that hurt worse this time was the woman he left her for was the one he loved the most. How does she bring herself into these situations? It was like reliving every thought she had when he first left her and now she knew they were true. She didn't understand why it bothered her, she didn't even care about him.

"I don't know what it is Paul" Stephanie shrugged and crossed her arms.

"I know. I'm sorry I'm rambling on" Paul said running his hand through his messy hair. "I'll get out of your hair"

Stephanie watched him get up and walk to the door before she picked the script up again to read it.

"Steph" Paul said and she turned back to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we will ever be friends? Do you think you can ever stop hating me?"

"I don't know Paul" Stephanie replied and he nodded his head and left without saying another word.