A/N: Thank you I'mxAxRockstar and Esha Napoleon for the reviews :]

Chapter Five: Murder Would Be Easier

"You told him what?!" Raleigh screamed as she practically broke through Jeff and Chris' hotel room door. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Possibly," Chris shrugged with a nervous look on his face, "there may have been more or less words. It was an accident!"

Raleigh's mouth twisted into a frown, she slowly nodded her head with understanding.

"Well you do have a big mouth, I think we can all agree on that."

"I can second that," Jeff's smile widened, until he saw Chris' glare. "I mean… what? Chris does not have a big mouth. He barely ever talks."

"Are you drunk? Are we talking about the same Chris…" Raleigh thought quickly for a second and realized why Jeff had a sudden change of heart. "Or are you just sucking up to him?" Jeff quietly moved his head up and down, looking like a tiny puppy. "Ugh, he's not going to make you travel with Matt," Raleigh glanced sideways at Chris who stood with his arms folded across his chest.

"Oh yes I will!" He argued.

"No you won't. You're a big softy, you give into anything I ask," Raleigh smirked with thoughts that appeared in her head, "speaking of which… now you owe me." Raleigh sat on the edge of Chris' bed, he cringed, afraid that she would attack him at any moment. "I'm not going to hurt you," she replied, almost reading his mind by the look on his face. "However, I do want you to talk to Vince. I want you to convince him to make this storyline a love triangle, that way I won't have to be with Randy long. He'll listen to you, he thinks your brilliant."

"Can't you just murder me?" Chris whined. "It would be so much easier. Not to mention, less painful. Vince is going to kick me out of his office, on my pretty little behind."

"Seriously… can you never stop talking about yourself? This is important, you OWE me. Now that Orton knows how I felt about that godforsaken kiss, he's going to use it to his advantage to torture me." Raleigh put Chris' puppy dog pout to good use, on her own face. He feel for it hook, line, and sinker.

"Okay, okay. I'll talk to Vince. I still don't know how Cody is going to feel about all of this…" Chris thought out loud, trying to hint to Raleigh that she still needed to tell him. "This is gonna suck!" He threw the blanket over his face and mumbled under his breathe. Raleigh walked away, happily smirking to herself for the victory. Randy wasn't going to be able to torture her long, not if she could help it.

******

The next morning Raleigh rolled right off her bed and smacked her head off the nightstand, courtesy of thunderous hammering on the door. She rubbed her head on the wounded spot, slowly making her way over to the door. She hurled it open only to see the last person on the Earth she wanted to.

"What are you doing?" She glanced back at the shiny red numbers on the alarm clock. "It's six in the morning."

"Gym," he said waving the bag in front of her face.

"Hell no, Vince never said I needed to be your damn escort."

"Oh, you don't remember?" Randy used his forearm to push past Raleigh, he eyed up her gym bag before trying to snatch it.

"Remember what?" Raleigh protectively gathered up her gym bag in her arms, hiding it behind her back, so Randy couldn't reach it.

"You agreed to it."

"Like hell I did."

"I have longer arms than you, I hope you realize," he quickly enveloped her whole body with his long arms, successfully seizing the bag from her. "Ha," he chortled, "told ya."

"Ahem," Raleigh turned her head sideways to see Chris leaning against the doorframe, his lips forming a cocky grin. Raleigh looked down and realized why he was smiling, Randy's arms were still wrapped around her, and she was making no effort to protest. "Am I interrupting something? Should I come back?"

"No! We weren't," Raleigh squirmed out of Randy's tight forearms, "doing anything."

"Ahh, is that what the kids call it these days?" Chris' condescending voice ricocheted up and down the hall. "Can I hit the gym with you guys?"

Randy instantly frowned upon Chris' request. Now how will I get my torturing done? Was the only thought that came to mind.

"Yes! Yes you can," Raleigh's tone grew excited abruptly.

In the car Randy and Raleigh argued over what station to listen to, while Chris chatted away on the phone with someone who neither Raleigh nor Randy could figure out. They basically ignored him anyway with their constant bickering. A back and forth battle of slapping hands ensued all the way to the gym. Finally, after agreeing on a station only two minutes before, they pulled up to Gold's Gym.

The three walked in, gym bags flung over shoulders, all separating to different sections of the gym. After Raleigh spotted that Randy was far in the corner, out of sight, she rapidly approached Chris. He was busying himself doing curls when Raleigh shoved into him. She ripped out his headphones mercifully.

"Ouch! That hurt," he rubbed one earlobe while sending Raleigh an evil glare that she completely ignored.

"You'll get over it," she stuck out her tongue immaturely. Unexpectedly, she threw her arms around him in a hug, Chris stood motionless, confused about the sudden show of affection.

"What was that for?" Chris arched an eyebrow, his usual signal of confusion.

"For coming here with me, so I don't have to be alone with him," she shrugged her shoulders to the corner where Randy jogged on a treadmill.

"I'm starting to think this is all a front on your part. I mean, I didn't see you complaining when he was practically groping you back at the hotel room," he smirked shoving a headphone back in his right ear.

Raleigh hastily stole it again before he could even fully replace it.

"Okay, that's getting old," he pointed antagonistically at her.

"Who were you talking to on the phone?"

"Vince," he answered flatly. "Why so curious?"

"What did he say? Did you ask him?" Raleigh's eyes lit up with hope.

"Sheez, calm down! You're acting like a girl whose about to see me naked, tone it down six notches."

"Whatever, just tell me," Raleigh pleaded.

"You have to make me want to tell you," Chris' arrogance filled the room, engulfing Raleigh with it.

"You really want smacked, don't you?" Raleigh rolled her eyes but followed his wishes. "Tell me, oh great savior." Raleigh tried to put on her poker face, but ended up smiling at the end anyway.

"That's better," Chris said, apparently accepting her fake admiration. "I threw around the idea with him about it being a love triangle, being you, Randy and someone else." He looked away to build up suspense, which Raleigh did not appreciate.

"And?" She waved her hand at him, coaxing him to continue.

"He said it's a fantastic idea, and he loves it. Not to mention that I'm a genius."

"Well, whose the third person?" Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Cody walking into the gym, she grew weary knowing that she would have to tell him about Randy. For the most part, she wasn't paying much attention to Chris since all of her emotions were focused on Cody.

"Did you hear me?"

"What?" Raleigh snapped out of her daze, patiently listening to Chris again.

"You asked who the third person was in the love triangle," Chris reminded her.

"What'd you say?" Raleigh rested her hands on her hips.

"Me."