The Great Escape

AN. Thank you to xHalosandwings, quteash, TJ Sparkles, xxchasingdreamsxx, xTwistedxImperfectionx, Tiffyxox, WweDivaTayTay45 & John Cena's Field Hockey Star for reviewing the last chapter.

Thanks very muchly :)

Chapter Thirty-Three – The Distance Between Us

RANDY

This was torture.

Seated around the dinner table with both his family and that of next door's to him, Randy Orton simply knew the next couple of hours would be dragged out and slowly drive him insane. He hadn't been keen on the idea of going home for Christmas break in the first place, but this just confirmed his worst fears; this remaining week would be the worst.

Over his dinner plate, the dark-haired student stared at the girl sitting conveniently opposite to him. Michelle McCool wore that perfect smile of hers as she conversed with members of his family, and for the first time since they'd met he saw the fake sincerity in the girl's gesture. How had he been so blind to her motives before? Now, it all seemed clear to see.

Of course, the blonde looked stunning in a simple pair of jeans and a cute grey tank top with intricate black butterfly designs. Her hair was short and curled, while her make-up was subtle and appropriate for the company. She'd always managed to look flawless in the hot model kind of way—no matter how much he wished to deny it.

He suddenly found himself grateful that he knew the real girl; it was comforting to know he wasn't still being duped into believing she was the nicest person he'd come to know. Once seen as ugly on the inside, it was hard to see her in a different light, and now he merely saw her as ugly on the outside too.

She caught his stare. Digging her fork into a piece of fresh lettuce on her plate, she paused, and smiled in the next second. That smile of hers... it was so innocent and friendly. She didn't know that he'd worked out her lie to Maria.

He broke the contact to glare at his own plate of food—he simply couldn't handle everything he now saw in his ex-girlfriend. It was unethical. He'd been with her for years, and yet it felt like he hadn't known her at all. Now she was nothing more than a stranger to him. It sickened him.

But he knew he wasn't the one to feel sorry for in this situation. This privilege was handed to Maria Kanellis, who was now on his lonely mind and not bothering to escape his thoughts anytime soon. She invaded his memories completely—as it was often the case—and moved him to a better place for a good while.

He was grateful for the distraction. Anything that could take him away from reality was much appreciated.

It was his mother's voice that brought him back into it, whispering subtly into his ear in the midst of all the family chatter. "It's a shame you and Chelle have broken up, isn't it? I always thought you two would be together forever – as cheesy as it sounds."

Randy almost stabbed at the piece of meat underneath his knife. He knew she meant well, that she was absolutely harmless, but he'd been receiving comments of the same nature ever since he'd returned from college and announced the split. Enough was enough. "Well things change, Mom," he muttered, trying to push the frustration he felt out of his tone.

"Obviously." The adult answered, and then hastily added, "But where did it go wrong for you young lovebirds? You won't tell anyone."

Now was hardly the most opportune time to speak the utter truth, but he couldn't help the itch that needed to be scratched. He and Michelle's relatives would never be satisfied until they got a proper outcome, and his perfect ex was hardly going to spill the beans, was she?

"Okay Mom, I'll tell you." He set down his cutlery and turned to her calmly. "I fell in love with another girl. She's beautiful – a gorgeous redhead – and she's so down to earth. She's witty without knowing she is, and she doesn't even have to try with me. She just is. She made me realize, for the first time in my life, what love actually is. I love everything about her. I love her. I'm in love with her.

"And no, before you ask, I didn't break up with Michelle for that exact reason. It helped push me to that point, sure, but it also helped me realize how unhappy I was in my own relationship. We were stale... past our sell-by-date—and I know you want to believe we were perfect together, but we definitely weren't. We looked like it but it was just a lie. Our relationship became a lie.

"And it doesn't help, of course, that I've now realized how much of a bitch she is." About to be told off for this coarse language used, despite the stunned reaction, he hastily continued. "After we broke up—and even before that—she didn't like this new girl. So she lied to her. She was manipulative enough to make it seem like I was the callous one in our relationship and it made that sweet girl unable to trust me any longer.

"So there are a couple of reasons why we broke up. Mom, I'm in love with a girl called Maria Kanellis and I can only hope she'll believe me when I try to explain this mess to her. As for Michelle? I honestly don't care."

His mother was still rendered speechless.

"May I be excused now?"

After being nodded her consent, he rose to his feet. A casual glance in Michelle's direction said it all—she'd heard every word of all he had to say on the matter. She looked, beyond anything, bitter about the subject.

And as Randy traipsed up to his room, he decided he simply didn't care. The blonde would probably try and lie her way out of the issue—it was the least he could expect actually—but he didn't care. She wasn't the main concern here, and they both knew it.

He collapsed onto his bed with a heavy sigh and stared up at his ceiling not a moment later. Even if he could somehow stop his brain from thinking about Maria, he wasn't sure he would want it to. She was beautiful, and just the mere image of her made him feel better about himself. She was the ultimate pick-me-up.

And yet, thanks to the false detail that had been given to her involving him, he couldn't give a proper smile at the thought of her. As soon as her pretty face clouded his thoughts, it wasn't long after that he remembered Michelle's deceitful lie, and how Maria actually believed her. Or seemed to, anyway. It was just horrible. What a mess they were all in.

He knew that he had to rectify the situation though. Having been forced to tell her the truth over an impersonal phone call, he wasn't sure what her exact response was—she'd hung up, but was that out of surprise or disgust? Did she believe him or not? Was she on Michelle's side after all?

Unable to help himself, he leaned over to reach his desk and grab his phone. He held it above him as he lay on his back, and for a moment he did nothing; he was fairly sure the answer to his unasked question was obvious. But he still found himself pressing a button on the device, only to watch it light up and reveal that no, there weren't any new messages.

He missed her.

Dropping the phone into the space beside him, he let out another sigh. Then he closed his eyes and delved deep into his thoughts, content to spend the rest of his evening thinking about all of the encounters they'd shared ever since the first time they'd met.

The excited little girl in Maria Kanellis was re-emerging once again during this Christmas break. It couldn't be helped—not that anybody around her was surprised by the character change—and it wouldn't be helped; it was Christmas Eve, and that was reason enough for the general mood to be joyous. And maybe she was a little too joyous but that wasn't a bad thing, was it?

A perfect smile graced the girl's pretty features as she picked up a fallen decoration from the floor and placed it back on the huge free in their living room. She felt... homely. It was a lovely feeling to have, no matter how much she enjoyed college, and she revelled in it. Her delicate fingers placed the mini gingerbread man back on its fake branch; it fitted perfectly into place.

Smiling at all of the work that had gone into making this place look like something worth celebrating, she stepped back. A couple of minutes out of her time were used to admire her surroundings before she turned around, happy to find Mickie and Eve staring back at her from the doorway.

"It looks beautiful, Maria," commented the Latina of the two, and they both stepped into the room to join her. The paused image of a young Macaulay Culkin in his Home Alone debut on the television screen made her laugh softly. "You really are getting into the spirit, aren't you?"

"Oh come on, Eve, you know what she's like." The other girl rolled her eyes playfully. "But I have to say I'm happy that I decided to spend some of my evening here. It's nice."

"And I'm happy you could tear yourself away from Phil long enough to spend some time with your girls."

Maria giggled at the exchange between them as the shorter of the two hit her lightly on the arm for the comment about her boyfriend. In the next instant, she sobered; despite feeling content and at peace with the day, she also felt something else. It took only a moment to realize what this was. "It isn't the same without Ash," she mumbled as she walked over to the couch and took a seat.

"As much as I hate to admit it," said Eve, following suit, "I agree. I mean, I didn't know what to think when I slipped in the kitchen just now and she wasn't there to laugh at me. I miss that bitch."

Mickie didn't answer straightaway. She watched the two as, dejected, Maria pressed a button on the remote to take the film off of pause. "I miss her too," was all she offered eventually before she came to sit down beside them. Her tone of voice gave it all away; she missed her best friend an awful lot.

For the next half an hour or so, there was silence between the trio as they watched the film. Unbeknownst to the other, they all had issues on their mind—Eve was worrying about the mess called her love life, Mickie was thinking about her best friend and what she was doing, while Maria was trying but failing not to think about her own problems.

The latter slipped further into her seat as she lost herself completely. One of her favourite movies of all time completely evaded her mind as Randy Orton came to her thoughts instead; it had been a while since she'd thought of him—this was on purpose, as she didn't trust herself otherwise—and tonight was certainly quite the occasion to pull herself back into the old habit.

She wondered what he was doing right now. It was Christmas Eve, obviously, so maybe he'd be out? Maybe he was out with his friends, ones he hadn't seen since heading to college, and they were having a brilliant time together? ... Or maybe he was enjoying some quality time with his family and those closest to him?

Did this include Michelle?

Something seemed to twist in her stomach as the image of the tall blonde came to mind. After all that Randy had told her in that last phone call, it was hard to see her friend in any other light than the one she saw her in today—she was now the traitorous, jealous bitch. She had no doubt that he was telling the truth about his ex-girlfriend, no matter how strong her bond was with Michelle; there was simply something in his tone that cemented her trust in his words. Michelle McCool was the bad guy in this story and that was that.

But what about him?

She'd spent so long building a case against him—if not for her protection, then for her friend's—and now it had been torn down completely. The guy she'd pinned Randy to be was no longer him at all. She wanted to think of him as a careless heartbreaker for the split with Michelle, even if she didn't believe it for one second. But while the accusation did make it easier for her to deal with these forbidden feelings she had inside, there was always something off about it—and now everything she secretly felt was proven to be true.

Just what was she supposed to do? She hadn't called or texted him back after their last form of contact, and the next step to take was unclear.

"I'm going to head off in about twenty minutes, I think." Mickie's voice brought her back into reality, and she turned to the brunette with a polite smile. "My parents want me back to help sort out presents for everyone. I don't know why I always get stuck with sorting out which one is for who—I enjoyed doing it when I was little, but I think I've proven – you know, what with college – that I'm grown-up now."

"Parents don't want to let their babies go. Mine, of course, are more focused on my brother but what can you do?" Eve shrugged. "Whatever. Twenty minutes is okay. Ooh, we can decorate those cookies in that time."

"Good point. Dibs on the biggest one!" And with nothing more that needed to be said after the thought of cookies, both disappeared. Only Eve realized that her best friend wasn't following and stuck her head around the living room door, confused. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to finish this film and then I'll join you—there's only a couple of minutes left and you know how I like my happy endings."

"Of course I do. Okay, I'll save you some icing."

As soon as the brunette disappeared, she turned to face the screen. She didn't, however, pay any attention to it and instead dug out her phone from the pocket of her jeans; she had something else other than Home Alone on her mind.

Scrolling down to his name in her list of contacts, she hesitated for a moment before finally pressing down on the "Send Message" option. She waited for a second as it loaded and then focused on the keypad.

Merry Christmas. I miss you. x

Then, after some careful thought, she sighed and removed the last sentence. It was a fairly standard text to send and she felt bad as she did just that, pushing her cell phone back into her pocket. It wasn't much, but perhaps it was something.

Turning off the television, Maria jumped to her feet. It was time to inject some of that fantastic mood she'd felt earlier back into the bloodstream. It was Christmas Eve, after all.

So there's the next chapter. Please review :)

Up next is Ted/Punk's chapter.