A/N: Sorry for the long, long wait; winter quarter pretty much kicked my ass around here.

Chapter 5

"What the hell happened to her?" Amy asked, glaring at Kurt as if to insinuate that he was responsible for Stephanie's current state.

"I don't know. She was sitting on a curb rocking back & forth shivering when I found her. The entire way from the parking lot to here, the only words that I heard her say were 'Please don't hate me…. I'm sorry'. Luckily one of the trainers was just checking into a room down the hall & I was able to catch him before he settled in for the night." Kurt explained as Amy continued to stare holes into him. "What?"

"You know what; don't act like you don't Kurt. If it weren't for your blowup the other week, maybe Stephanie would have come here to you instead of almost turning into a frozen human outside."

Trish had heard more than enough out of Amy already and knew she had to stop this train before it jumped the tracks. Even though Trish did agree with some of what Amy was saying, she still couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the man in front of them. She knew that he meant no harm at all and just wanted the best for Stephanie, just like the rest of the group.

"Cool it Ames, save the aggression for your workout tomorrow. There's more important matters at hand right now then trying to place blame on anyone."

Trish sat the fiery redhead down before turning back around to face Kurt.

"So what exactly are we going to do? We can't exactly go get help because one, it'll get back to Gonzo the reject, and two, I don't know about you but I don't want to deal with Vince at this hour of the morning."

Kurt shook his head, the last thing he wanted or needed right now was to be dealing with the boss in any way, shape, or form. He walked over to the table over in the corner by the window and grabbed a pile of clothes, handing them to Trish.

"Ok, so these are the best I could do at the moment. They might be a bit big but they're dry and will keep her warm. What I was hoping was that you guys could get her changed out of these cold, damp clothes so she doesn't get sick. I'll go sit out in the hall and wait, just let me know when it's ok to come back in."

"What about the rest of the night? What are we going to do about finding her a place for the night?"

"No worries, she can stay here unless she wants to go with you guys. I'll just sleep on the couch over there and she can have the bed.", he replied, leaving the room to give the girls some privacy.

Trish rolled her eyes after the door closed behind Kurt. "Amy, come help me a bit over here!"

Adam was walking down the hall when he saw what appeared to be a somewhat depressed Kurt Angle sitting against the wall. 'That's weird', he thought, 'his room's like right there. Wonder what he's doing out here?' So Adam did what any good friend would do… he went to go check and see what the deal was.

"Hey dude, what's up?"

Kurt looked up at his friend with sad, tired eyes that said so much on their own but still held so many secrets.

"Well, other than an inconsiderate boss, my flawless ability to chase people away that I care about, and my own personal problems and feelings… not much."

Adam sat down next to Kurt, prepared to spend quite a bit of time mostly listening to everything the man had to say.

"It's comforting, in a way, to know that some things never change." Kurt continued, "Adam, have you ever hid something from someone you cared about in order to protect them?"

Adam sighed, knowing exactly what the problem was. "Yes, I kept a huge secret to myself about something I had seen because I didn't want to see a good friend of mine hurting. I regret not telling them though… everyone deserves to know the truth, no matter how hurtful. I guess I thought it was the right thing to do at the time."

"Ok… so this guilt I'm feeling right now about this stuff with Stephanie is normal?"

Adam laughed, knowing so well what was really going on in that head of Kurt's. Confused, Kurt looked at his friend wondering what was so funny.

"That is so not guilt you are feeling man & you know it." Adam told him, trying to contain his laughter. "You loooovvvveeeee her!!!!"

Kurt started to turn red like sunburn in the middle of summer as he tried to keep cool.

"That's crazy talk man! I think you've taken too many chair shots to the head."

"Then why are you blushing now lover boy?? Huh??" Adam asked, a cheeky grin on his face.

"I'm not blushing, it's just hot in this hallway."

"Bullshit! You can't fool me Kurt, I'm not that naïve." Adam snickered, knowing he won this time.

Kurt sighed, there was no way to get out of this. Adam was just too good at figuring him out, no matter how much he tried to masked his feelings.

Adam wasn't finished teasing him however. "You really loovveee her, you wanna kiss her…"

"Don't you dare finish that thought Adam!"

"… do some rollercoaster ridin'…. Allllllllllllniiiiiiiiiiigghhhhtloooooooooooonng" Adam sang, breaking out in a fit of giggles.

"That's so not true man!" Kurt said, punching Adam in the arm.

Everything came to a complete stop as the door to Kurt's room opened and out walked Amy. She said nothing to the two, just glared at Kurt before walking away.

Back in the hotel room, Trish and Stephanie, who was beginning to feel more like her usual self, were talking about everything that happened.

"I'm so sorry I caused you all this worry Trish. I didn't mean to almost turn myself into a human icicle when I was out there; just had a lot on my mind and it was the only place…"

".. you felt you could go? What about Kurt? Why couldn't you go to him?" Trish asked, even though she knew the answer. She just wanted Stephanie to come out and admit to at least one thing tonight.

"Listen Steph, you're one of my best friends and I don't want to see you push away everyone that matters to you. Amy and I were so worried when we first started planning the sleepover that you wouldn't come because no one had been able to tear you away from work. You're using work to occupy your time and thoughts so that you don't have to deal & cope with anything that is going on." Trish told the brunette, trying not to get teary-eyed. "Stephanie, you're like a sister to me and I would hope that you know that Amy, me, and the rest of the girls will be there no matter what. Us girls, we're a team, we have to stick together. There are too many jerks out there that are able to destroy us if we let them and if we are alone. When we stick together, nothing can destroy what is inside us."

In recent months, the divas had grown closer as a community after what seemed like a long period of time of infighting and childish behavior. It was always a desire of both Trish & Stephanie's for the divas to be a united force backstage in the locker room. There was no room for jealousy or petty grudges, not when they were all working to accomplish the same thing; success in a male-dominated business.

Stephanie was looking around the room when she noticed a shirt sitting on the couch that could only belong to one person. Changing the subject, Stephanie knew she had

"Trish, this isn't my room is it?"

"No, it's Kurt's. Steph, the man had enough respect for you to come find us so that you could get into some dry clothes without invading your privacy. He even is willing to sleep on the couch tonight if you decide to sleep here so you can have the bed to yourself."

Stephanie was totally beside herself as Trish continued to tell her everything. How could someone have that big a heart to be so sweet after everything that she did?

"Oh wow, I feel so bad now. I can't believe he would do all this after how much I hurt him; but why?"

Trish shook her head in disbelief that anyone would ask that question, much less Stephanie.

"You should ask him that yourself. Night Steph." She said, walking out of the room.

Stephanie didn't notice Kurt walk back in the room at first; that was until the door loudly shut behind him. She didn't know why, but she was actually nervous about him being there in the same room.

"Hey…." she said, quietly acknowledging she wasn't alone.

"Hey." Kurt replied, not really knowing what else to say at the moment. As much as he had rehearsed this meeting between the two, he was far from prepared for it. What followed was probably the most uncomfortable silence either had experienced before with anyone.

"Come here, I don't bite. I promise." Kurt nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed facing her.

"I guess it's kind of comforting to know I'm not the only one that's feelin' a bit gun-shy right now.", Steph continued, trying to ease the awkwardness of it all. Kurt laughed nervously, trying to get up the nerve to say something, anything.

"It's good to talk to you again Steph, I always enjoy our talks." 'I enjoy just being near you…' he thought.

After what seemed like forever, Stephanie broke the silence again.

"Kurt… I'm sorry I've been avoiding you lately. I really missed our talks and everything too. It was kind of a hasty decision… I should've come to you after walking out that day. I was just too scared to talk & unsure of where we stood after all that happened."

If words were daggers, then Kurt felt like he had just been stabbed in the heart. He had scared her during his rant about Paul… so bad, that she even questioned their status. The guilt he had been feeling earlier only increased and there was this sadness in his heart that weighed so heavily on his entire soul.

"Steph, I'm the one who should be apologizing, if anything. There was no need for me to yell at you like that… none at all. It was wrong and I have wished so many times that I could take it back.", Kurt held her hands in his, lost in those beautiful eyes as he continued to speak. "Please forgive me, I never want to be the reason you hurt. I just care about you a lot and want to see you happy."

Kurt turned his head as tears started to form in his eyes, not wanting Stephanie to see him cry. Once again, that stubborn pride was going to get the best of him.

"I was so scared tonight when I saw you in the parking lot… and then when you blacked out there for a bit. I didn't know what was going to happen to you and it scared me to think of what could have happened.", Kurt confessed, putting his head in his hands as the tears started to fall.

Stephanie reached out to him, moving closer while trying her hardest to keep calm & collected. The last thing she wanted was for Kurt to see her cry.

"Hey, it's ok now. I'm still here and in one piece aren't I?", she said, sitting up so that they were next to each other.

"You don't have to hide from me Kurt. It's okay to let it all out, nothing wrong at all with being true to your feelings." Stephanie wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug-like embrace as she spoke.

Kurt noticed that tired look of sadness on her face and shook his head. "Then why are you trying to hide yours?", he asked gently.

Getting no answer, he got up & walked over towards the couch. "It's late, I should let you get some sleep.", he said turning off the light. Stephanie laid back down, feeling defeated while Kurt tried to get comfortable on the sofa sleeper.

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An hour passed & Stephanie just couldn't sleep at all. At this rate, it was going to be a long night.

"Kurt? Are you still awake?"

"Huh?", he replied sleepily.

"Umm…. I can't sleep and… I was wondering…", Stephanie began to say, too shy to come right out and ask the question.

"Steph, do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?", he asked, secretly hoping for a yes.

"If you don't mind… if you can't then that's ok."

Kurt shook his head, getting up off the makeshift bed. "Nah, it's ok. Maybe it'll help me sleep better too.", he said, walking over to the other side of the bed.

Within minutes of laying down, Kurt had become what you might call a human pillow. Smiling, he draped an arm across Stephanie's sleeping form, coming face to face with her.

"I could definitely get used to this." he said sleepily, a look of contentment on his face as he drifted off to sleep.