Stacy POV

"Were you really in the Military?" Stacy asked after finishing the last of her strawberry shake.

Randy, who'd inhaled his chocolate shake in one minute, was now lounged in the seat across Stacy, biting on the remains of his straw.

They left the arena right after both of them showered and changed. Even though Randy was supposed to stay for Triple H's match, they managed to sneak out early and come to this old ice cream parlor in lower Chicago. Absolutely no one was in the place and the only worker there looked way too dreary to recognize who they were, it was perfect.

"Yeah, the Marines." He casually answered as he balanced himself on the back legs of his chair. "Was discharged though, it was the biggest mistake in my life joining. Made a complete ass of myself."

Stacy was surprised by his answer. "What did you do crash a tank?" She joked.

Randy smiled. "No, I was rifle control."

"Uh-oh." Stacy couldn't help but make jokes, Randy looked so relaxed that just getting him to smile was immense.

"Very funny." He said still wearing his million-dollar grin. "But I didn't go out with a bang, it was more like a flop."

"Well what happened?" Stacy was curious now; he was offering to open up and to something very private in his life.

He leaned forward putting the chair back on all fours, resting his arms on the table his eyes were on the napkin dispenser in a daze, he didn't want to talk about it, but he wanted her to know.

"I signed up when I was in 11th grade, wasn't much of a thinker then being only 17, but all my friends were talking about it and it just seemed like something cool to do before I got into wrestling. Anyway after boot camp and graduation, it just wasn't cut out for me anymore. I desperately wanted to start training to be a wrestler, not a soldier. So I left, I went home and didn't go back, it was a coward act, and I still wish I hadn't gone out like that, but I just felt trapped." He looked in a world of his own, like he didn't care who was listening now, he was telling the story no matter what.

Stacy listened intently, she never would've guessed Randy would just give up on something, the whole time she was with him he never back down on anything, he accepted every challenge, every obstacle. Was it only because it was for her? He backed out of the Marines because he didn't want to be a soldier, he didn't think he deserved the title of a US Marine. But he continued to fight for Stacy, he accepted all challenges he ran into that involved her, and he fought his hardest even though his knee was bad, even when he was furious that she might've told his opponents about his knee, he still continued to fight.

This wasn't making any sense; truthfully it began to scare her. Sure she felt different about Randy, but that's only because he's desirable in bed, and she knew for sure that's how he felt about her. Randy Orton, though not a monster, wasn't the type to fall in love. He had himself. And she had herself.

"So I was court marshaled, where I had to spend a couple of weeks at camp Penn Elton, a hell on earth, let me tell ya. Afterward I was discharged, and now I'm here…"

"…A WWE superstar having a shake with a diva." Stacy finished for him.

Randy just smiled at her.

Stacy fought from staring. "Um." She needed to keep talking; no talking is bad. "Well at least you're what you wanted to be, a superstar, right?"

The smile faded from Randy's face. He shifted in his seat obviously bothered by the question. Stacy grew confused, what was the matter with him? He looked 100 wrestler, not just his appearance but she could tell by his heart, he loved the game.

"Randy?"

He looked at her, but didn't answer.

"You don't like being a wrestler?" She was edgy with her words.

Randy shook his head. "I love wrestling, it's just…" He started staring out the window.

Stacy continued looking at him, waiting. "What?"

"It's not enough. I mean remember what I said about feeling trapped before from the Marines?"

"Yes?" Stacy said quickly.

"That's how I feel now. I mean I'm just Randy Orton, Bob Orton's son, that's all. I've conquered nothing, I have nothing to fight for." His voice was so soft, so meaningful Stacy wasn't sure if this was still Randy sitting in front of her.

She stared at him, concentrating on his features, his head tilted slightly to the side with his eyes glued to a stain on a table. He did an awful lot of day dreaming, but in a sensitive way, it was charming.

There was a long silence at the table before Stacy spoke. "Well you have me."

Randy's eyes shot to Stacy so fast she nearly jumped out of her chair. What was she thinking?

"To fight for I mean. In the matches I mean, because I pick someone, and you fight, and I'm the one who is being fought over. Well not necessarily fought over, but I am, you fight, and I…" Okay she had no idea what she was saying, and now she's blabbing, and Randy's staring at her like she's a nut. You dumb ass; Stacy thought to herself.

Thankfully Randy stopped her. "I get it." He said putting his hands up for her to stop talking.

Stacy could feel her cheeks burning red. Randy just smirked at her.

"You're blushing." He grinned gesturing to her cheeks.

Stacy pouted. "Everyone does."

"Yeah, but you're doing it now." He pushed.

"I think you enjoy picking on me." Stacy proclaimed tossing her empty cup at him.

Randy caught it with one hand before setting it back on the table. "Oh, that's not all I enjoy doing to you." He said with a wink.

There was a silence again and if possible Stacy's cheeks grew hotter. She felt ridiculous, here she is trying to have a serious conversation with the guy she's confused as hell about, and she is blushing like a high school girl.

"Um." Abruptly changing the topic, Stacy went back to the conversation. "You were talking about feeling trapped."

Randy's eyebrows arched. "I was?"

Swallowing the dryness from her mouth Stacy nodded.

Randy thought for a minute before blinking causing his long, dark lashes to lower. "Oh that." He remembered, leaning back in the chair and stretching out his legs under the table. "Look I don't want to get all deep and shit, I'd rather not get into it."

Stacy just stared at him. She was disappointed; she really wanted to know what he was talking about.

He didn't like the look she was giving him. "Well if you really want to know, why don't you try your little, 'I know People' routine on me and to figure it out."

Stacy narrowed her eyes at him. He was teasing her, but he was right, she was so right about him last time it should be worth thinking about. And she had permission this time.

She bit her lip and began studying him, it looked like she was reading his mind, but instead she was just thinking about everything he said, the way he acted, then she thought back at his career highlights.

Randy just watched her, a smirk painted on his lips, he looked so relaxed in a plain white shirt and Nike pants, lounging back in his seat, sometimes it was so hard to tell who he was.

"Okay I think I got you figured out." Stacy smiled.

Randy rolled his eyes. "Right."

"Hey do you want to here it or not?"

"Give it to me baby." He teased.

Stacy ignored him as she sorted out the words. She was totally winging what she was going to say but maybe it'll get him talking about it again. "You just want more."

Rolling his eyes again Randy let out a chuckle. "That was pretty much a gimmie, sweetheart, try harder."

"You want gold, to be more precise." Stacy continued. "You want a title, you want to be remembered."

The amused look slowly vanished from Randy's face. When he didn't say anything, she kept going.

"'The Legend Killer' wasn't good enough, and the IC title was nice, for a little while, but they aren't what you really wanted."

"What do I really want?" His voice was low but fierce.

Stacy looked at him a while before answering. "You want something worth fighting for, something worth your hard work. Not just a name or a belt, or a valet." She swallowed hard at the last part. It hurt to admit, but she knew it was true. Randy was bored, that's the only reason he wanted her with him, just an item to take up his time. He wasn't fighting for her for any other reason besides wearing out this item until he tosses her aside for something else, another diva perhaps.

He was gazing into her eyes. There was something there, what was it? She saw it before in the locker room on the first night she was his valet, the night he was icing his knee. The compassion in his eyes, but it was so mystifying she couldn't tell. For a second, it looked as though he was feeling guilty. Why would he feel guilty for using her, isn't that what he was doing all along?

"It's confusing." Randy narrowed his eyes, not understanding himself.

"Not really." Stacy stated. "I can tell how you feel. I know that every time you get in that ring you wonder if that may be the time for you shine. You hope that something great will happen in that match, something amazing so people would remember 50 years from now and say your name with envy. You think about your father, and his father, and you wonder if they ever had the same trouble you do, did they try so hard but knew they were going fail? You feel trapped, like a bird, a bird in a cage that is only expected to do little things, but he knows he can do remarkable things."

As soon as Stacy looked up to meet Randy's face her stomach dropped. The look he was giving her, it was forbidding. His eyes said it all, Stacy made a big mistake.

Before she could say anything, or apologize, he stood up, his eyes not leaving her. He looked atrocious, Stacy felt like a cowering prey. She remained seated, looking at him with anxious eyes, her stomach in a knot.

"How do you know so much about me?" He asked, his voice full of amazement.

Stacy's breath caught in her throat. Randy did look on edge, but in a positive way. He was impressed but also frustrated that he could be read like a book. She couldn't answer him; she couldn't say anything to him. She could only stare at him, showing her surprise.

He watched her, eyebrows still arched, he wasn't really waiting for an answer, but he seemed overcome and he didn't know why. He didn't know how this diva knew so much about him, things he thought were so secret, but she did and it frightened him a little.

When a cell phone rang breaking the tension, Stacy took a deep breath. Randy barely took his eyes off her as he answered it.

"Yea?" The annoyed face he made shortly after, told Stacy exactly who was calling.

"Hey Hunter." He said unenthused.

"No I'm at the hotel, my knee was bothering me." He explained.

He seemed to be listening to something Hunter was saying; he listened for a while before answering.

"Yea I can do that, but uh, I can't go anywhere tonight."

"Tomorrow?" Randy's eyes glanced to Stacy. "No can do, I got plans, actually it's more important than I thought." He said quietly.

Stacy tried not to show her pleasure to that small compliment.

"So I'll just meet up with you tomorrow night at the airport. Okay, see you." He flipped the phone closed and stuffed it back in his pocket before sitting back down.

Another silence washed over the table and it hit Stacy like a cold wind causing goose bumps to crawl along her skin.

She hated being uncomfortable.

"I didn't offend you, did I?" she blurted out.

Randy was playing with the car key in his hand. He looked at Stacy like he just noticed she was there.

"No, uh, no. Don't worry about it." He cleared his throat.

"I won't do it again." Stacy promised. She knew it sounded lame, but she wanted to convince him that she wasn't trying to make him angry.

The corners of his lips twitched at what could have been a smile. "No it's okay, I kind of like having someone understand me."

All Stacy could do was smile.

"So, you like shopping?" he asked all of a sudden changing the subject.

"W-What?" Stacy asked startled by the abrupt question.

"Shopping, you know? Sak's, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor. I need new shades since my others, um, broke." He said scratching his forehead.

Stacy was beaming. She used to live for shopping, but ever since she got into this business, she never had anytime. "I love shopping."

"Good, we'll do that tomorrow before I leave." He said standing up.

"Leave?" She asked getting up too.

"Yea. They want to shoot cologne commercial in California and Evolution's going to be the spokespersons or whatever. All I know is I get free stuff." He threw their empty cups in the trashcan and headed to the exit, Stacy followed.

She thought about what he was said, only he was going, he wasn't going to drag her along. He was going to let her have a couple days of freedom. Stacy could barely hold her excitement, but then she thought about it. Did she want to be alone? Or better yet, did she want to be away from Randy?

Carrying her mixed feelings along with her, she only glanced up at Randy as she walked through the door he was holding open, oddly enough, his face looked just as twisted up as hers.

Randy POV

It's for the best, Randy thought to himself as he laid on the couch staring at the ceiling for another hour. This thing he had with Stacy was dire; he needed to get out. But at the same time he didn't want to let her go. God it's so frustrating

She's the only person in the world, who could figure him out. Sometimes he didn't even understand himself. This girl was special, way to special for him. So the only way to prevent anything at all happening for both their sakes was he'd have to keep his distance from her. Meaning as much as he wanted too, no more sex with her, no intimate moments, just treat her like any other girl.

But she wasn't any other girl, dammit, that's the fucked up part. Randy cursed. The sheets were rolled around his body from twisting and turning all night, but he couldn't sleep with Stacy tonight.

He thought back to her look of surprise when he told her he was going to sleep on the couch. She didn't say anything, but she was thinking something. Who knows maybe she was glad. Maybe she really wanted to get away from him. Stacy found no passionate interest in him, and if she does, then she's just confused, and maybe this little vacation away from each other will help. He just hoped she'd be okay alone. He hoped everything would be okay.

STACY POV

"How does this look?" Stacy asked holding a pink cashmere shirt up to her body.

Randy barely glanced at her. "Good."

Rolling her eyes she put the shirt back on display. "You didn't even look."

"I told you unless it's lingerie, my taste for women's clothes sucks."

Stacy giggled and picked out a blue blouse.

They were in the private dressing area for women at Bloomingdale's, Stacy had a whole rack full of clothes that some of the saleswomen brought to her. She was looking through everything acting like she just ran through the whole Sahara desert and the clothes were gallons of refreshing water.

The day so far was going really well. Randy woke her up around 9, where they got ready and had breakfast. First they went to Sak's Fifth Avenue, so Randy could get his beloved sunglasses. She didn't know what it was about those shades, but they made him look more seductive when he wore them.

After that he took Stacy to Lord & Taylor where she bought another pair of designer boots. Randy got 2 pairs of up market pants and a silk sewn tie. She had admit, Randy had some really great taste, he was definitely a significant dresser, well in the ring he is as oppose to the sleeveless white AND1 shirt he was wearing with blue Adidas pants and shoes he was wearing now. Actually Stacy liked his jock style, he reminded her of a teenager. A very mature, muscular, exotic teenager.

"Why don't you just get them all?" Randy asked from the waiting area.

Stacy glared at him. He was sitting on one of the love sofas with his left leg hanging over the arm of the chair. He was bored but he was being patient, he totally understood how important shopping is to a woman.

"I would but I think I left my millions of dollars in my other bag." Stacy said sarcastically. "Anyway I think I'll just get this skirt." She held out a fashionable camel skirt.

Randy looked at it. "That's what I'm talking about." He jumped up from the chair. "You hungry?"

Stacy nodded as she fished her purse for a credit card.

"I know a nice place and it's right next to my favorite store." He explained watching her become frustrated with her bag.

An hour later Stacy stood on the sidewalk staring up at the large brand store. "Nike-town?"

Randy beamed at her before walking inside; she followed with a tiny grin on her face.

"I thought you were hungry." She said as they entered the store.

"I am, but I thought we'd get this done first. You going to get something?" He asked taking his sunglasses off.

"Sure." She glanced around the store before turning back to him. "What should I get?"

Randy laughed before putting his arm around Stacy's shoulder and leading her to the women's department.

"I really didn't need all those things." Stacy said as she poked at her fruit salad.

They were seated in a small restaurant at the Neiman Marcus, enjoying a nice lunch; both of them were nearly wiped out from all the shopping.

"Sure you did." Randy commented over his hamburger.

"Randy I got a sweatband. When am I going to wear that? I don't even sweat!"

Randy tried to cover his amusement with his fist.

"Shut up." She cried throwing a grape at him.

"Look 5 bags isn't so much." He teased.

Stacy bit at the tip of her nail. "I don't know what I'm going to do with some of that stuff. I'm afraid it's just going to sit in my closet."

Randy shrugged. "Or sign some of it and give it to fans. They love that kind of stuff."

Stacy looked at him, she never would have expected him to do something like that. Then a deeper side of her could actually picture Randy pulling a Nike shirt off his back and giving it to a fan. "Good idea."

"What are we doing after this?" Stacy asked. She was having a great time shopping around Chicago.

Randy glanced at his watch. "Well I got four hours until I have to be at the airport. You got any ideas?" he asked.

Stacy was eager to do anything, but now that he wanted her to come up with something to do her mind went blank. The last thing she wanted to do was shop some more especially after her little spree at Nike-Town, a movie sounded to lame, and it was way to early to go to a club. Then her attention caught a poster hanging on the far wall of the restaurant, 'The Marquee Grand', one of the fanciest and classical ballrooms in the entire world. Her eyes lit up, ever since she was a little girl she's always wanted to go to a ball, of course she'd dreamed to be with a prince, but Randy was the closest she'd get.

"I have a tiny suggestion." She answered.

Randy POV

He couldn't believe he agreed to do this. It was a ludicrous idea, but yet he stood in the lobby of the hotel dressed in the most expensive tuxedo he owned, everything black from the jacket to his shiny labeled dress shoes. The only color on him was the silk Armani tie that hung around his neck, it was a deep maroon the most seductive color a man could wear, well at least that's what the salesmen who sold it to him said.

He checked his watch; they had 20 minutes to get to the place and then 2 hours to spend before he had to get to the airport. Why did girls always take forever to get ready?

"Hey you." Her sweet voice spoke from behind.

When Randy turned to her he literally felt like he was punched in the stomach, all of a sudden it was it was so hard to breath, and he couldn't find the strength in him to speak. For the first time in his life Randy Orton was speechless.

She looked amazing. A rich satin dress hugged her petite body. It was gold with tiny diamonds framing the low neckline. A single strap went behind her neck to hold the dress in place, and it sparkled all the way to her toes, which could be seen in matching gold heels. She wore her hair up in a fancy bun but a few pieces were left down to frame her face, she looked like an angel.

"Wow you look great." She smiled as she briefly eyed him. "You ready?"

Randy could only nod. But those two words really hit him. Ready? Ready for what exactly? All he knew was it didn't matter if he was ready or not, something was happening to him, and he could only hang on as it did.

Stacy POV

The Marquee was beautiful. Stacy couldn't stop smiling as she arrived holding onto Randy's arm. The ceiling was so high and the walls gigantic with huge paintings framing them. The floor was marble and had little diamonds mounted inside.

Stacy looked at Randy, he was looking straight ahead, like he didn't care about the room. He had the kind of image as a person who's been to a thousand balls and extravagant parties. She noticed many of the women eyeing him from their seats, even a couple of men shot him a glance either out of admiration or pure jealousy. Stacy felt like the luckiest girl in the room.

They took a seat at a table for two near a secluded corner. They didn't order much to eat since neither were very hungry, but Randy ordered an expensive bottle of champagne she's never had before.

"So what about you?" Randy asked spontaneously.

Stacy arched her brows. "What?"

"Don't you have anything from your life you'd like to share?" He took a drink of champagne.

"Oh um, no, no not really." She was growing nervous; Stacy really didn't like talking about herself.

Randy narrowed his eyes at her. "Come on, I'm curious as to how you got into this business. No offense but I don't picture you as the type of girl who dreamt of going to wrestling school."

Stacy giggled. "Well that's true, I'm no Lita, but I'd have to say my heart is as strong about wrestling as hers."

Randy nodded.

"I love this business, I love being a diva, and I love to compete, even though I pretty much get my ass kicked, it's great to have a challenge." Stacy took a sip of the sweet champagne before continuing. Randy listened.

"I never really had an idea as to what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loved to dance, I knew that much, but performing on stage in Broadway wasn't really exciting to me. I became a cheerleader for my home football team in Baltimore; it wasn't until the end of my third season when Eric Bishoff approached me. He told me he was scouting for beautiful girls who had the right attitude and the dance skills. I wasn't sure what WCW was, I never really watched pro-wrestling, but I took the job as a Nitro Girl and that's pretty much how I got in the business." Stacy finished with a smile.

Randy looked confused. "So you had absolutely no direction in life, you just sort of…"

"Went with the flow." Stacy finished for him.

He chuckled, "That's not at all what I thought of you."

Now it was Stacy's turn to look confused. "What did you think of me?"

He shrugged. "Well just the type of person who had their whole life planned out. You know, parents sent you to the best schools, you had extra piano or French lessons, you would go to college for law or something, marry some surgeon, have a couple spoiled little kids, and retire in Hawaii." With that he downed the rest of his champagne and waited for her to speak.

Stacy wanted to laugh at the image he had of her. That was the total opposite of what she would've wanted for herself. "As appealing as that life sounds, I'd have to say this life is a lot better."

Randy smiled. "Even with me in it?"

She could feel her cheeks growing hot, it was open net and Stacy wasn't sure whether she wanted to take it. She quickly looked away from the piercing blue eyes and watched the couples on the dance floor. "You want to dance?" She asked.

Randy looked a little taken back by the sudden subject change, but he overcame it when he stood from his seat and held his hand out to Stacy.

She took it with no hesitation and followed him onto the dance floor. The moment she felt his hand on the small of her back, Stacy wondered if she'd made a mistake in asking him to dance. He pulled her close, and she was consumed into his arms. The band was playing a light tune that would be used in ballet; they flowed gently to music, letting their bodies take over.

His arms were loose yet securely around her waist. One of her hands draped over his broad shoulder and the other was against his chest, she could feel his heart beat through the thick fabric of his suit. She counted 7 seven beats before looking up, they found each other's eyes and began to gaze.

She was transfixed with the Randy's blue eyes as he stared down at her.

"Do you hate me?" His voice was barely a whisper.

Stacy could barely focus on the sudden question. He looked so innocent, she couldn't lie. Without be able to find the words, she slowly shook her head.

He remained serious, deep in concentration as he glided her across the floor. Stacy stared in awe.

"After all I've done to you, after how I must've made you feel these past weeks, I can't believe you." He was opening up, showing his guilt about her. "I can't do it anymore."

Stacy remained silent, what could she possibly say? Was he regretting everything?

He closed his eyes for a second, leaving her out of something private before continuing. "I'm leaving it up to you."

"I don't understand." Stacy whispered back. She seriously didn't.

"When we separate tonight, it's up to you to make it for good. If you want to stay by my side, that's fine, but it won't be by force anymore." He explained.

Shock overcame Stacy that she had to stop moving. They stood still in the middle of the dance floor, but their arms remained around each other, but they were still.

"Y-your letting me go?" Stacy asked in surprise. "Just like that?"

Moments passed between them before he slowly nodded.

The excitement that has been building up in Stacy for this very moment she thought she'd been waiting for didn't come. She was confused by the way she was feeling. For a second she thought about not letting him go, maybe leaving her arms around him would keep him with her. Why did she not want him to let her go?

"Why?" The question was more to herself than to him.

Randy's face twisted with uncertainty, there was something he wasn't telling her. Why was he letting her go?

"Because…" He began uneasily, his eyes were glazing. "I…"

Stacy waited for his answer patiently, but her nerves were shaking. "You?" She pushed.

Randy closed his eyes again. "I- because I…" Suddenly the soft beeping of his phone sounded breaking the pressure between them.

She wanted to scream.

He pulled out his phone and looked at his watch. "Shit, we got to go." Was all he said before moving off the floor toward the exit.

He walked quickly, not bothering to see if she was following. Though she was, her mind was still back at the dance floor waiting for his answer.

It never came, not even on the way back to the hotel, or the moments they had together before he left.

"You have the room until Sunday." He said as he zipped up his bag. Stacy watched him from the sofa. He'd already discarded the handsome tuxedo for a gray Reebok sweat suit.

AS he walked toward the door, she stayed where she was, unable to move or speak. Before he reached for the handle he paused and turned to her. "I'd keep you forever if I could. But you said it yourself I'm not a monster."

She continued staring at him.

"Your more than I thought you'd be. He said without looking at her.

He gave her a fake half smile before slipping his shades over his eyes.

"Bye."

The door closed behind him and Stacy let out a much-needed breath. She was free

Though she was really tired, Stacy could not sleep. Her mind was racing over everything that happened over the pass weeks especially tonight. She saw a totally different side of Randy, and she wondered how long he'd been planning to let her go.

Things didn't equal up. Why didn't she feel enthused when he told her she was free? And what was it that was so hard to tell her at the ball? Why did he just let her go?

Stacy groaned loudly at her own frustration. She knew she felt something deep for Randy, deeper than she'd hoped for, but it just happened.

At first she thought it was just the sensation of sex, full out lust she was attracted to. But after today, he didn't touch her in that way, he treated her like a friend it was strange but special. He was special.

She meant it when she said she didn't hate him. Could he possibly feel the same way? Does he care so much, that he couldn't go on holding her against her will?

He's giving her a chance now, a chance for both of them. He's letting her choose whether to stay with him or not, willingly. It's the moment of truth. Without the burden of having to do things with him, it's now switched to wanting to do things with him. But did she want to?

Did Stacy Keibler want to be in Randy's corner?

She had the weekend to think about it. Come Monday she'll know, so will Randy, and the world.

TBC

Sorry no smut in this chappy.