Author's Note Thanks to Latisha C and The Kiss of Death for the reviews, Kaz you don't count, JK. So I just left you with that cliff hanger and I decided to be nice and write a nice long chapter for you guys. Hope you enjoy, remember I love reviews!
"Hope you thought long and hard boy." He said.
"Baby, are you okay?" Paul asked.
"Don't." she said as he reached for her.
He dropped his arms to his sides.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
She fought back the tears.
"Why?" she demanded.
"Maybe you guys should take this conversation inside, where the boys can't see or hear." Steve whispered pointedly.
"No." she said quickly.
"We have to talk, Kayla." Paul said.
"No, I can't, they boys want to see you, when you need to go out or get ready bring them to my dad." She said.
"You have to talk to me sometime." He insisted.
"Why? Why now, Paul?" she asked.
"I am your dad's best friend; I shouldn't think or feel this way. I should think of you as a daughter, little sister, or something like that. I can't help it" He said.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Don't cry, I hate it when you cry." he said.
"I don't know what to say or do, I… love him, Paul." She whispered.
He looked away. Steve herded them into Paul's locker room and shut the door. "Hey boys, want to hang out with Uncle Steve?" he asked.
"Where's our mommy?" they asked.
"She's talking to Paul, come on, we'll get ice cream and watch old wrestling tapes." He said desperately.
"Okay." They said.
Kayla sighed with relief.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
He wouldn't look at her.
"Paul, don't do this." She begged.
"What does he have that I don't?" He asked looking at his hands.
"He's so kind and sweet. He always puts the boys and I before himself. He's great with them, patient, and shows a real interest in them." She said.
"I don't love them, I'm not patient with them, and I don't put the three of you before myself?" he asked.
"Paul…" she said.
"No, from the very beginning I was there, who watched them when you were gone with him for a week. Who got up in the middle of the night with you all the time? Who takes them when you're working? Me. I do. Not Shawn, Mark, Steve, Shane or the others, it was me." He said.
"I can't do this to him." She whispered.
He still wouldn't look at her. She turned and ran out of the room. He punched the wall, never feeling the bone jarring pain radiating up his arm or the blood welling out of the deep gash, just the deep ache of her rejecting him and his love.
She ran until she couldn't run anymore, tears blurring her vision.
"Kayla what's wrong?" Mark asked finding her standing alone crying.
"I can't, I can't, I can't." she whispered.
He pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly.
"What can't you do?" He asked as she sobbed.
"I wanna go home; I can't be here right now." She whispered.
"Where are the boys?" he asked.
"Steve… has them." She said.
"Can we go to your house Uncle Mark?" she pleaded.
"Of course sweetie lets go get the boys and we can head out." He said, mentally vowing to find out what was going on.
They got the boys and left.
"Why are we going to Uncle Mark's" Brandon asked.
"You said we could hang out with Paul." He added when his question was ignored. "Mommy, are you okay?" Luc asked.
"I'm fine sweetie, I'm just really tired." She said.
He studied her closely and looked at the passing scenery.
Both boys knew there was something wrong but they let the matter drop.
Kayla's cell phone had been ringing constantly since they left and she finally had to turn it off. The boys were settled in the living room watching wrestling and Kayla sat down emotionally exhausted at the kitchen table. Mark set a steaming cup of tea in front of her and sat down next to her.
"What's wrong sweetie?" he asked.
"I overheard Paul and Steve talking, Paul loves me." She said.
"Do you love him?" He asked.
"No… I don't know…" she said sighing and put her head down on the table.
"Maybe you should give him a chance." Mark said.
"I'm with Shane right now; I can't hurt him like this." She said.
"Shane as in Shane McMahon?" He asked.
She nodded.
"When did that happen?" he asked.
"Well when he made me take a week off he told me he loved me, and I asked him for some time and this morning I told him I loved him." She said.
"Okay I guess I can't blink anymore I miss too much." He said trying to lighten her mood.
She gave a watery laugh.
"Do you have feelings for Paul?" he asked.
"I don't know." She said.
"Do you have feelings for Shane?" he asked.
"I don't know…" She said again.
"Go to sleep, I'll stay up with the boys, you're exhausted." He said gently.
She nodded and hugged him.
"Thanks Uncle Mark." She whispered.
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed as he watched her go up the stairs.
"I'm getting old." He muttered to himself as he entered the living room.
The boys didn't even look up at him as he settled on the couch; they just snuggled into his sides and watched in fascination as HHH won his match.
"I wanna be just like Uncle Paul when I get older!" Luc said.
"I wanna be like Uncle Shane!" Brandon said.
"Uncle Shane works in an office." Luc said.
"Yeah but he wrestles sometimes." Brandon defended.
"Uncle Paul is better." Luc said.
"Is not." Brandon yelled.
"Is to." Luc shouted.
"Not!" he yelled.
"To!" he shouted.
"Not!"
"To!"
"Not!"
"To!"
"Enough!" Mark yelled.
Brandon stuck his tongue out at his brother.
Luc and Brandon lunged at each other. Mark groaned as they landed not so gently on a very sensitive part of his anatomy.
"Oops, sorry Uncle Mark." Luc apologized.
"Yeah, sorry, we didn't mean it." Brandon said.
Mark gritted his teeth and tried to smile at the boys.
"It's fine, just watch TV, and behave." He ground out.
The boys settled on either side of him and continued to watch wrestling. Shortly after wrestling went off air Mark put the boys to bed.
Kayla was still up and silently crying. She didn't want this to happen to her she could be happy with Shane, why did Paul have to do this, now. There had been many opportunities for him to tell her this before. It seemed that every time she began to get settled and happy someone somehow ruined it for her. Someone softly knocked on the door and she called for them to come in after hastily wiping her eyes.
"Hey, phone, it's your dad." Mark said as he came in her room.
"Thanks." She mumbled as she took the phone.
"Kayla, are you okay? Why haven't you answered your phone?" Shawn asked.
"I'm fine, and I turned it off." She said.
"Why did you turn off your phone?" he asked.
"Because it wouldn't stop ringing." She said.
"Oh did something happen today?" He asked.
"No, I just wanted to see Uncle Mark." She lied not knowing why she was protecting Paul.
"Oh…okay… well I'll talk to you later then. I love you." He said.
"I love you too, daddy." She said as she hung up the phone.
Mark sat down next to her.
"How you holding up?" he asked.
"I'm doing okay, where are the boys?" She asked.
"Sleeping, how are you really?" He asked.
"Confused and mad." She said. He pulled her into a hug and she fought the tears.
She quickly lost the battle and cried, as Mark sat there holding her.
"Thanks Uncle Mark." She whispered.
"Anything for you sweetheart." He said.
He stood up and tucked her into bed, then leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Get some sleep, and don't worry about the boys. I'll watch them tomorrow so that means sleep in." he ordered.
"Yes, Uncle Mark." She said as she drifted off to sleep.
He went downstairs and grabbed the phone and walked outside and dialed. The person on the other line picked up after the fourth ring.
"Hello." He asked.
"You stupid mother fucker." He yelled.
"What, Mark is that you?" He asked.
"Yes it's me, what were you thinking?" He demanded.
"I can't help it Mark." He ground out.
"So tell her when she's with Shane, why don't you fuck with her some more." He yelled. "I don't have to explain myself to you or anyone else; it's between Kayla and I." He said through gritted teeth.
"She's my niece, and she just cried herself to sleep, it's my fucking business." He said. "She… she cried herself to sleep?" He asked.
"Yes, does her dad know about this?" He asked.
"No, he hasn't known about it for four fucking years and I'm not to eager to tell him either." He said miserably.
"Four fucking years!" Mark yelled into the phone.
"Yes four fucking years but I was stupid and didn't say anything because of Shawn and the age difference." He said and sighed deeply.
"Fuck Paul." Mark said.
"Yeah I know." He said wearily.
"Do you love her?" He asked.
"Yes I love her." He said.
"I don't know what to tell you." He said after a long pause.
"It's up to her now, if she loves Shane and wants to be with him then you have to deal with it, don't fuck it up. If she loves you and want to be with you then don't fuck it up." He said.
"Is she okay?" he asked. "Yeah she's sleeping, I called to yell at you and now I don't know." He said running a hand through his long brown hair.
"I'm sorry Mark, I really am." He said.
"It's not me you should be apologizing to." He said.
"Yeah I know." He said, sighing again.
"Just give her some time." He said.
"I will, thanks, Mark." He said.
"No problem, see ya later." He said and hung up.
He walked back into his house and after checking on the boys and Kayla he went to bed.
Paul was on the other side of town sitting in his hotel room, thinking. He grabbed his wallet and cell phone and went down to the hotel bar. He sat down and ordered a beer and sipped at it thoughtfully. He noticed Shawn come in and then make a bee line for him. He slipped onto the stool next to him.
"Hey." He said after ordering his drink.
Paul grunted.
They sat in companionable silence, occasionally sipping at their drinks. Shawn turned to Paul and grinned.
"You know that girl over there has been checking you out, right?" He asked.
Paul shrugged.
"Not interested." He said.
"You haven't even seen her." Shawn pointed out.
"Doesn't matter I'm not interested." He said.
"Some one else caught you're eye already huh?" Shawn said scanning the bar.
"Yeah about four years ago." Paul mumbled.
"What?" Shawn asked startled.
"Nothing." Paul said quickly.
"Who, do I know her?" Shawn asked.
"Yeah." Paul muttered.
"She work with us?" He asked.
"Yeah." Paul responded.
"Are you going to tell me who she is?" He demanded.
Paul sighed and chugged the rest of his beer and ordered another.
"Kayla." He said staring straight ahead.
Shawn choked on his beer.
"I misheard you." He said.
"No you didn't." Paul said, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Tell me you're fucking joking, now, tell me you're joking Paul." Shawn said desperately.
"I'm dead serious." He said turning towards him.
"Son of a bitch." He said.
"I thought you should know." He said.
"She's with Shane!" he yelled.
"I know." He growled.
"She knows doesn't she? That's why she is at Mark's." he yelled.
By then several people had turned to them and were curiously staring.
"Yeah." He said finishing his beer and getting up throwing some bills on the bar and walked away.
Shawn got up and followed him.
"Paul!" he yelled.
"What?" he yelled over his shoulder.
"Get your ass back here." He said.
"I really don't want to talk about this in the fucking lobby. Hell I really don't want to talk to you about this at all." He said getting on the elevator.
"Too fucking bad. You thought you could just tell me that it and it would all be okay? You're fucked up in the head then." He said slipping in the elevator.
"What do you want from me? An apology, a promise to stay away from her, you aren't getting either." He said as he stepped off the elevator.
"No I want a fucking explanation." Shawn yelled back as he walked in his hotel room behind him.
"Yeah come on in make yourself comfortable." Paul said sarcastically.
Shawn glared expectantly at him.
"God damn it Shawn, leave it alone." He said.
"No I won't." he yelled.
"I love her damn it I have for four fucking years probably longer, I tried ignoring it, going out with other women, acting normal, it doesn't work. I love you're daughter and her sons, fucking deal with it." He yelled.
"I won't fucking deal with it, you fucking get over it." He said.
"I can't, even if I could I wouldn't." He said.
"You better try harder." Shawn said.
"Or what?" He said dangerously quiet.
Shawn charged at Paul and they landed with a crash on the floor.
"This." He growled punching Paul in the face.
Paul forgot that it was his best friend he just broke.
By the time security arrived they had broken the lamps, a couch, the bedside table, and the T.V.
Blood ran unchecked down Paul's face from a gash over his eye and he was pretty sure Shawn had once again broken his ribs. Shawn's eye was already swollen shut, his lip was split, and he didn't know which was bleeding more his mouth or nose.
"Break it up!" Security yelled as they pulled the two men apart.
They glared at each other until the cops came in and arrested both men.
I still have no clue who she should end up with, Shane, Paul, Some one else? Please Review!