A/N: Heh, hoped you liked my little reveal last chapter my faithful readers. ;)

Trish walked nervously into the ballroom. It was beautiful and it hurt to look at it. She didn't feel beautiful at the moment even though John had told her at least five times that she looked fabulous and that they were sure to upstage the couple of honor tonight. But deep down inside, she felt anything but beautiful. She felt mediocre, she felt pathetic, she felt like nothing would ever be normal again.

The colors were simple, a pale blue and a wonderfully shiny silver. The room almost glowed while the lights were dimmed to create an intimate feel. Along one wall was a long line of tables that held pictures of the couple and she smiled as she could see a few from here. Every table had little gift bags sitting on the plates along with name plates. Trish imagined that Stephanie had put her and Christian as far away as possible. It was a sit down dinner, but cocktails were being served first at the bar and a couple of waiters were walking around with trays laden with champagne flutes.

"I wonder how much this set them back?" John whispered in her ear.

"I don't think Hunter cares," Trish said. "I think he just wants her to love it. I like that he wanted this all for her. It just…it's nice, you know."

"Yeah, it really is nice in here," John admired. "Not exactly my type of scene though."

"Johnny, nobody wants to have a party in some parking lot somewhere with tricked out cars and stuff," Trish joked.

"I didn't say that was the ideal type of place," he said, trying to act indignant.

She laughed softly and held his hand tightly. She let herself be lead around by him, and was content to listen to him mingle with their friends. He handed her a glass of champagne at some point and she took a sip, reveling in the bubbly fluid sliding down her throat and making the colors shine a little bit brighter around her. She resisted the urge to look around, to look for Christian. She had to or risk losing her sanity.

People were still milling in and the couple of the night weren't set to arrive for another twenty minutes so they could make their grand entrance in front of everyone. It was all so regal, but had a laid-back tone to it. Trish leaned her head against John's arm, getting lost in the dreaminess of the entire night. She wanted to get lost in John because he would make her forget.

"Let's get this party started!" Chris sang as he entered the elegantly decorated ballroom. "Wow, this place looks great."

"I know," Stephanie said as she hung off his arm. "I did a good job if I do say so myself."

"I never doubted you," Chris said, looking at her. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

"What?" she asked coyly. "Going to tell me how gorgeous I look?"

"You know I think that already."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm sorry you never got an engagement party."

She smiled and her eyes crinkled a little bit at the edges. She loved that this man could still say things that made her melt. She shook her head and tipped her head up to kiss him softly. "I didn't need one."

"Hey Steph," John said, walking over with Trish in tow. "You did good, I'm impressed."

"My woman is awesome," Chris said, pulling Stephanie tighter against him. "It's why I love her."

"Well, I love you too," Stephanie said sweetly, "but I've got to check on some last minute details with the caterers and make sure that when Hunter gets here, the whole thing is a surprise for you-know-who."

"Leaving me already, I can't even show off my trophy wife," Chris said, scoffing.

Stephanie shook her head in disgust. "Shut up Chris, Hunter entrusted me to run this whole event and I'm going to make sure it's wonderful. I'll see you later though, love you." She quickly kissed him and then scurried off to parts unknown.

"So…you guys liking the party so far?" Chris asked as he looked keenly at Trish. Trish gave him a brave smile that reassured him a little.

"Yeah," Trish said quickly, the first thing she had said in a while. "Right Johnny?"

"Yeah, it's nice, like I told Steph, she really outdid herself. I didn't know your old lady had it in her?"

"She busts out a surprise every now and then, and don't tell anyone, but she let me help a lot of the time. Best man duties and everything, apparently that means that I have to take on some extra responsibility or something. As if trying to calm down Hunter isn't enough."

"Can I talk to Chris for a second?" Trish asked John. "Then we can go show off some more."

"Sure, I get it, one of the bridesmaids and the best man have to discuss the couple. I get it, don't worry about it, but don't you go stealing my woman now," John said, planting a kiss on Trish's cheek.

"Dude, I've got a wife and two kids, if I left with Trish, I'd be hunted down and killed," Chris chuckled, leading Trish away by placing his hand on the small of her back. "So hey…"

"Hey," Trish said back. She looked around the room. "So…is he here?"

"He's waiting outside, he's afraid to come in here."

"Because of me," she said pitifully.

"Not because of you, because of him," Chris said. "Look Trish, I know that Stephanie lectured Christian today, and I know that she lectured you too, but I'm going to lay it all out there for you. You NEED to talk to Christian. You need to speak with him and you need to settle whatever this is between you. Nobody in this situation is going to be okay if you do."

"What do I do Chris?" Trish begged him to answer.

"I've never been in this situation Trish," Chris said sympathetically. "Stephanie's the only woman I've ever loved so I don't even know. If I did Trish, I'd tell you, you know I would. I can say that John is a really good guy and he like would probably have your babies if you could."

"I know he's a good guy," Trish sighed. "I'll talk to Christian, I need to."

"You do," he said, hugging her, "good luck okay."

"Thanks," Trish said. She watched Chris walk away and she looked around, hoping she would spot John, but she didn't see him anywhere. She sighed. She wasn't in the mood for small talk with anyone and if John was next to her, he could do all the talking and she could just be the one standing there looking pretty and drinking. She closed her eyes a moment, hearing the soft music playing and drowning out all the sounds of the people around her.

It was a few moments later she felt John's familiar arms wrapping around her waist from behind and begin to softly sway to the music. She let her body go, just letting him control her movements. She sighed against him, feeling his hard body cradling hers. She didn't even know if they were on the dance floor or just in the middle of a crowd, but she didn't care at the moment. The combination of the music and John was enough for her.

Christian finally mustered up the courage to walk into the ballroom where the party was being held. He looked around, wondering if he should just walk back out again, but Hunter had invited him, and it would be rude not to even congratulate the engaged couple. He gulped and grabbed the nearest flute of champagne, practically chugging it down before finding a place to set the empty glass.

It was then that he saw her. She was standing there, eyes closed, a blessed out look on her face as she swayed to the music. That wasn't all though, John Cena was behind her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder. They were dancing together and looked so happy that he wished he had a whole bottle of wine. He was rooted to his spot though, he couldn't take his eyes off of them for one second. It was breaking his heart.

"Hey Christian."

Christian looked over his shoulder. "Lita."

"Don't beat yourself up over that," Lita warned. "You know she couldn't stay yours forever if you left."

"I know," Christian said. "Where's my brother?"

"Around," Lita said, gesturing to her surroundings. "I don't know exactly, but you looked like you needed to be around someone and not standing there like a statue."

"She's over me isn't she?" Christian said.

"No," Lita said softly. "She's not. She's hurting Christian. We all see it. She tries to hide it, but we all know Trish can't hide some things."

"Yeah," Christian said with a gulp. "I should go talk to her."

"Who gave you that advice? Steph?"

"You know her," Christian chuckled.

Lita looped her arm through Christian's. "Before you go and do any talking, why don't you come around and say hi to everyone, we've all missed you, and I need an escort since your brother ditched me."

"I hardly think he ditched you," Christian said as he grabbed another wine. He knew he was going to be needing a few of those. They walked over to where Stephanie was talking to Dave Batista.

"Stephanie McMahon, what the hell is that in your hand?" Lita said, looking pointedly at the champagne glass in her friend's hand.

"Sparkling cider," Stephanie said, sticking her tongue out and shoving the glass at Lita, who took a sniff and satisfied gave her a smile. "You're worse than Chris, I swear. So how are you guys liking the party?"

"You did good Steph," Dave said. "So stop fishing for compliments."

"I'm not fishing," she teased, nudging Dave in the side. "I'm just saying."

"She's totally fishing," Chris said over Stephanie's shoulder before Stephanie elbowed him in the stomach and she followed him away. Dave turned to Lita and Christian and smiled at the blond man.

"Christian, nice to see you man," Dave said, shaking his hand. "Long time no see."

"I know, how've you been?" Christian asked.

"Good…good…so um…has everyone seen you?" Dave asked tentatively.

"No, uh…no," Christian said. Did everyone think that this thing between him and Trish was so serious? Was it? Oh hell, who was he kidding, of course it was serious. He had practically left without a word to her, a quick goodbye. Did he really expect that to suffice? No, and everyone knew that it hadn't.

"He knows," Lita said simply. "He knows what he has to do."

"Good," Dave said. "Not to put the pressure or anything on you man, but you know."

"No, I get it," Christian said. "I will talk to her, don't worry."

"We're gonna go see some other people," Lita said, walking away with Christian. "Sorrya bout that, people just…well, we all know."

"She's that bad?"

"No, but you can tell, she zones out a lot. Someone, man, who was it? Um…oh yeah, Rob, he saw her walk straight into a wall one time she was so zoned out. That's how bad it can get Christian."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"No, you didn't. And I'm not trying to condemn you or anything, but things have changed around here and Trish is upset and you have to fix it so she can move on and so you can move on, or it's just never going to happen for either of you and that'd be just sad."

"Everyone!" Stephanie's voice came from the front of the room where a small stage was set up. Everyone quieted down. "I just got the phone call from Hunter and the happy couple is coming down, so you all know what to do I hope, does everyone know what to do?"

"What my lovely wife is trying to say is shut the hell up so you don't ruin the surprise," Chris said, hopping up on the stage.

"Shut up," Stephanie told him, pushing him away. "Okay, well, if you all know how this is going to go, then well, do what Chris says and be quiet."

Chris hopped back off the stage and helped Stephanie off the stage as well before everyone became silent. Trish finally opened her eyes as the music stopped. She looked to her side and studied John's profile for a moment. She smiled and leaned the little ways to kiss his cheek. He smiled at her and then turned to face the door. It was then her eyes settled on Christian and as she felt John tense, she knew that he had seen him too.

"What the hell is he doing here?" John said.

"Johnny, shh," Trish whispered. "Hunter invited him, they're friends, that's it."

"Wait, you KNEW about this?" he asked her, and she felt his arms leave her waist. "You knew he was going to be here."

"Yeah…I was warned, that's it, I didn't like invite him or anything, I just knew he was going to be here," she said, leading him to a more secluded area.

"How could you not tell me?"

"It doesn't matter John, he's here, so what, I'm here with you," she told him seriously. "Not with him. I've been here with you."

He took a calming breath. "Yeah, you have. But why did he have to come?"

"Johnny, it's not his fault, Hunter is his friend, we can't control that," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. She had expected him to be more upset, but she could tell that he was holding it in because of her and because of the people around them, and because of the engaged couple who were supposed to be coming in a few minutes.

"Are you going to talk to him?" John asked quietly, almost painfully.

"I don't know," she answered, and truthfully, she didn't. She could say she was going to all she wanted, but saying and doing were totally different things. She knew she should, but the actual act of talking would be the most difficult.

"Maybe you should," he said and she looked startled by the revelation. "Look babe, we both know that sometimes, you're just not happy, and we both know it has to do with him. So you know what, go talk to him."

"But Johnny…"

"You aren't here with me all the time babe, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I deserve a little better than that."

"You do," she agreed, "and I'm so sorry that I can't give that to you right now."

"We ain't breaking up," he told her, cupping her face in his hands.

She put her hands over his and kissed him softly. "No, we…ain't."

"Don't you go talking like me now," John told her. "I like the way you talk and I don't need another wiseass like me around here."

"I'm scared."

"Don't be scared, he should be scared."

"Why's that?"

"He's the one that left ain't he?"

She couldn't argue with that.