I disclaim again. I only own Charlie and those unknown.

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Chapter Fifteen – Loss of Privileges

Randy sat on the floor facing the hotel room door. He listened to his I-pod and waited for Charlie. He'd been handed his punishment from the WWE earlier that afternoon and he wanted to tell Charlie. He thought his punishment would be a hell of a lot worse, but evidently the old man felt bad for his tirade and Steph had a big part in it. He didn't think Steph would disagree with her husband and Randy knew how Paul felt about him. He had invested a lot in the young kid only to have it thrown back in his face by the backstage antics of an immature ass. Randy would happily sit out some shows and give up some pay as long as he still had a chance.

Charlie said she'd be back later, but to him 'later' was a few hours. She'd been gone all day. He wished he remembered all of last night and not just bits and pieces. Had he done more than a few drinks? He physically felt like shit and now he was angry with himself. He had paced a pattern in the carpet, sat listening to music and tried to get some sort of workout in, but nothing was helping. John and Adam came in and stared at him. "What?" He asked annoyed.

"We came to check on you. Where's Charlie?" John asked as he and Adam looked around.

"I don't know." He replied quietly as he turned off his I-pod and looked at the floor.

"What do you mean you don't know? Did she say anything?" Adam asked as John called Maria.

"She said she needed some space right now." He said standing.

"Space? What the fuck does that mean? Did she leave you?" Adam looked in the bedroom and saw a few of Charlie's things.

"Space as in I love you but I can't look at you right now." He said flopping onto the couch. "She left this morning and said she'd be back later."

"Dude, its after dinner time and getting dark, aren't you worried?" Adam said as he called Amy.

Randy shot his friend a look before responding. "Yes, dumbass, I'm worried sick. I've been calling her every hour and all I get is voicemail." Hearing everything out loud made him panic more.

"She's not with Maria and she hasn't seen her since lunch." John said beginning to worry too. "They had a late lunch together, which I knew but forgot until now. That was at the mall around 2."

"Amy hasn't seen her either." Adam said as they all individually thought of places she might be. "She's getting Maria and they'll look for her." They all sat silently for about 15 minutes before bouncing ideas off eachother. He heard his phone ringing but couldn't find it in time. It was a new number and he didn't recognize it. He panicked thinking something was wrong and the police or a hospital had just called. He waited for the voicemail but got none.

Adam grabbed Randy's laptop and got on the internet as John grabbed a phone book. They each began calling hospitals and Randy turned on the tv looking for any news. He was afraid to leave in case she came back or someone tried to contact him at the hotel. They heard Maria and Amy in the hallway arguing and then Charlie's voice filled the hallway. Randy almost fell over the couch trying to get out there. He opened the door to see her talking to Amy and Maria along with three bellhops who had their arms filled with shopping bags.

The girls were laying into her about calling and he launched himself at her. He grabbed her and hugged her before giving her a piece of his mind. "Where in the fuck have you been all day? You can't answer your damn phone or call me back? I've been worried sick and about to call the police. Jesus, Charlotte, a little consideration." He stepped back from her and bent over resting his hands on his knees as he took in deep breaths. A bit stunned the smirk spread across her face as Charlie looked at everyone around her and they all had the same exasperated expressions. She led the bellhops into the room and tipped them before responding to Randy's tirade.

She stood with her arms crossed in front of Randy and waited for him to look at her. "First of all, I told you I'd be back later, second I left my phone here and I didn't realize it until about ½ hour ago. Third you are not my owner or keeper so do not ever talk to me like I'm a child. If you want to get into this in front of everyone I'll continue." Randy's response was to lean against the wall and glare at her with that I'm waiting look. Everyone around them was riveted to the argument in front of them.

Charlie poked a finger into his chest. "I don't like you very much right now and I needed to get away from you. Your performance last night was a hell of a lot scarier than I prefer and I absolutely had to get some space to calm down. IF you don't remember I can refresh the events of the evening for you." Charlie was so angry she needed a few breaths to calm down. She grabbed Randy by his t-shirt and pulled him forward before slamming him back into the wall. She still had his t-shirt in her hands and her fists were pushing into his chest as she looked at the floor. Her emotions got the better of her and she looked up at him as a few tears escaped her eyes.

"I love you. More than I wanted and more than I have ever loved anybody else. But if you ever pull a stunt like you did last night I will kill you myself." She slammed him against the wall again and walked into the hotel room. Randy didn't move and left his t-shirt bunched up where she'd grabbed him. He looked at John and Adam ignoring the looks on the faces of Amy and Maria.

"What exactly happened last night?" He asked quietly and his heartbreak was written all over him.

John and Adam flanked him and they all sat on the floor. "You drank a bottle of Jack and that was before we got here. You were half way through another bottle when she got here and you were drinking it quicker than we realized. We thought the half bottle was the only bottle until Charlie almost broke our heads with it." John told him. "Oh and you added a few hits to that."

"She took care of you instead of taking you to the hospital, dude. Spared you the public humiliation, the internet rumors, possibly your first appearance in the National Enquirer, let's see what else." Adam tortured Randy, despite it all being true, and let him get off easy. "I'm sure you had alcohol poisoning and she made you puke it all up." The girls groaned at Adam's comment and they all got the idea of what Charlie had done for him last night. "She stayed up almost all night watching you and probably saved your miserable ass life." They all sat silently absorbing the magnitude of his actions. "You better have a huge apology brewing up in your idiot head."

"Go buy her something big!" Maria said. "Or something small and sentimental."

Randy headed for the elevator with a mission. Barefoot or not, the hotel was going to help him fix this.

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He walked slowly into the hotel room and saw Charlie lying in the middle of the floor with her shopping bags all around her. She was curled up on her side and had a few tissues scattered amongst the bags. He saw her ragged breathing and his gut told him this was single handedly one of his worst personal moments. He made those tears, she cried for him and because of him. He wasn't sure if he should go to her or leave her alone. He picked up his I-pod and sat back in the spot he occupied earlier, waiting for her to come to him.

Charlie knew he was there and she didn't want to look or talk to him right now. She felt like a failure even though his actions weren't her responsibility. She felt like all his hard work just nosedived and he may be fired simply because she chose not to drive the three hours. Why didn't she? What was so goddamn important she couldn't go to Indy and support him? It was three fucking hours and she didn't do it. Of course from the other side, it was only three hours and he should have been with her in St Louis right now. She didn't go because it was only three hours and he could drive that easily when Raw was finished.

Charlie looked over at Randy from the corner of her eye and he looked so pitiful. He knew this was a huge fuck up in their book and little did he know she blamed herself for his fuck up. She stood and went to him removing his I-pod and replacing it with hers. She found an open spot against another wall and waited for him to listen to the song being played. He wasn't big on Avril Lavigne or showtunes, but this fit the moment. She found it to be very un-Avril and a wonderful song.

She wanted to get the point across she was still standing by him and they'd deal with whatever came next together. She might get pissed at him and not agree with his actions, but she loved him, she loved Randy. Not Randy Orton the superstar, just Randy the man. Oh he would pay for last night, he would pay big. Charlie never wanted to be that scared again. She didn't care about the WWE and their punishment, she didn't care if he smoked every once in awhile to deal and she didn't care if he had a few drinks. Charlie did care if he went way overboard and almost kill himself.

Randy listened to the song and when it was over he looked at her. She had her head against the wall and her eyes closed. A tear escaped and her chin quivered and he wondered if she was replaying the night's events. "Charlotte." He whispered barely loud enough for her to hear him. She couldn't look at him or the tears would freefall. Spending thousands of dollars today didn't help, she needed a nice hot bath to calm down. She shook her head 'no' and walked to the bathroom. When he heard the water running he knew she still needed space, but at least she was here.

He hated talking about feelings, always thought actions spoke louder and he could express himself better, but Randy needed to know what was going through her head. Was he on strike 2? If he fucked up again would she be gone from his life? Sure the song said 'You're not alone, Together we stand, I'll be by your side, You know I'll take your hand' but how long would that last? His brain was giving him too many scenarios he didn't like and he needed answers; or questions from her. Or Charlie needed to yell at him, the tears and silence hurt worse than anything, knowing he'd disappointed her.

Women's tears never affected him before, but something about Charlie's tears crumbled him. There was no question he loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone, but the women he thought he loved had cried and it just made him roll his eyes. Well, Sam's were crocodile tears anyway she was good at turning them on. Maybe that's what it was, he knew Charlie's tears were genuine, they came from her heart. Okay she had 15 minutes and he was going in there.

Knocking on the door first, he slowly entered. It was hot as a sauna in there and she was neck deep in bubbles. She looked over and couldn't help but smile. He looked like a little boy who'd been yelled at by his mama. Randy knelt by the side of the tub, afraid to touch her but afraid to be too far away. Charlie leaned forward and glanced behind her; Randy was behind her quicker than he'd ever moved before. His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her to him. His chin rested on her shoulder, "I'm sorry for disappointing you."

That was all Charlie needed. She turned and hugged him as much and as tight as she could. "No. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I should have been there and this never would have happened." Logic offset those words, but its how she felt.

He jerked her back from him. "This is not your fault. Whether you were there this time or not, I did this. I chose to drink the Jack, if it wasn't this time I might have cracked another time." He roughly pulled her back to him. "I just need to hear you say its still you and me."

Charlie looked up at him and held his face in her hands. "Nothing has changed. Nothing will change. Everybody fucks up. It's very rare, but even I slightly mess up sometimes." She got a smile from him and kissed his beautiful mouth. His punishment would be painful and torture for her too, but she meant business. The next time he decides to walk on death's door, it better be at someone else's hand and not his own. How long would he lose his privileges? She wanted it to be awhile, but the way his tongue danced on hers it would only be another five minutes. Max.