A/N: Once again, thank you all SO much for the reviews. I really like writing this strange, strange story and I'm glad people are reading it and not questioning my sanity (too much :P). Hope you enjoy this chapter too and please leave a review. :)

I'm still not convinced that Paul isn't bad news. I know Chris was deflecting, but I'm still putting my receptors up because I don't really know what he meant when he was talking about Paul. I don't know much about him beyond our working relationship and his wrestling history. I guess I just never made it a point. I look at wrestling at this job, is it my life, well, I try not to make it be my life because I've seen what it's done to my father and I don't want to end up like that. Still, it's in my blood, wrestling is, and I do love it. Still, I just didn't know Paul and maybe that's why Chris is hovering.

I sometimes wonder if it's all leading up to a point. Like maybe I've been able to see Chris all this time because there's going to be one catastrophic event and he's been building me up to that. He says he's helped me and been with me when I was still receptive to him. He would stay with me when I thought there were monsters under the bed and he helped me overcome that fear. Maybe he's been working to whatever is going to happen to me, if something happens to me. He says he's watching out, but watching out for what? Paul? I'm terrified that it's Paul and I'll be alone and no words can come from Chris to save me.

Still, I can't live my life in fear. There's no sense in doing that and I'm not going to stop living because of it. You can't be a slave to your fear and I'm not about to stop now. That's probably why I'm checking myself out in the mirror, looking at myself from all angles. I make sure I didn't spill food on my shirt and I look pretty good. My hair is curled and ugly from having it done for the show, but I've pulled it down and tried to comb it out and now it's just a mass of waviness. I can live with that, it gives me a little drama.

"You look nice."

"Thanks," I say unconsciously responding to the compliment. "Do you think he'll like it? Oh wait, you probably can't feel anything like that, right?"

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like...love I guess," I told him. I still don't know exactly what he can feel or what he can't feel, but surely he can't really feel love. Angels don't fall in love, or at least I don't think he would. I guess he could, but if he's by my side all the time, would that leave him time for a relationship? What am I saying, he's a guardian angel, he probably doesn't even think about these things.

"Well, I care about you, we don't really feel love I guess, but we care, it's a pleasant feeling," he tells me, but there's no emotion behind his words.

"That's kind of sad," I respond, looking over at him, "because love is so much more than pleasant."

"Because you'd know," Chris said and I thought I heard the distinct sound of scoffing so I looked over at him.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm just saying you've never been in love."

"I have too been in love."

"No, you haven't."

"How would you know?" I asked. "If you can't feel love, how in the hell...sorry, how would you know what love is?"

"I know what love is," Chris told me. "I know what it feels like and stuff because it's just inside me, I mean, come on, Stephanie, I'm an angel, our whole purpose is to be created from God's love, so I'd think I would know what it is even if I can't actively feel it."

"Oh, well...I have been in love."

"No, you haven't."

"Will I be?" I asked, wondering if he would tell me.

"Steph, I can't exactly tell everything that happens, you know. I mean, I think I gave you the wrong idea about how I see the future. I don't like have a movie of your life playing inside my head and I can fast forward and say what you'll be doing 60 years from now."

"60 years from now, that means I have to live 60 years from now, that's reassuring," I say as I smooth an invisible wrinkle from my shirt. He looks at me, but doesn't say anything. I'm grasping at straws I guess, "Okay, go ahead with your spiel."

"All I'm saying is I get...feelings, you know what I mean, what I do is mostly based on observation."

"So you really can't see my future."

"I can know, it's complicated, you would never understand."

"Fine," I don't really care anyways. As long as he knows something's going to happen, that's enough for me. "I have been in love though."

"No, you haven't," he tells me and I'm starting to get a little pissed off. I know he can't read my mind so how does he know I haven't been in love? How can he even possibly know if he can't feel love himself? He's probably just trying to get a rise out of me. I've learned since I've started acknowledging him that he likes to make me mad. You'd think someone who was supposed to protect me wouldn't try to antagonize me.

"Yes, I have."

"With who?"

"Toby," I answer. Toby was my first college boyfriend and the guy I lost my virginity to. He'd been an art major at my school and he was so laid back and opposite from me. We'd gotten along on that basis alone. Our lives just meshed well together. It only ended because he'd wanted to become a tattoo artist and had the opportunity to apprentice in Japan and he'd taken it and I'd been devastated.

"You did not love Toby," he said having the audacity to laugh at me.

"How can you even say that? If he came back today and told me he loved me and wanted to marry me, then I would absolutely marry him. I wouldn't even hesitate," I say without even thinking, but it could be true. I don't know, Chris is just making me so mad with these claims that I didn't love someone that I know I loved.

"Stephanie, you didn't love him, I mean, you did, I guess, but it was such a childish love. You two were so annoying, constantly talking about feelings and how he was going to get a tattoo on every one of your anniversaries, what did he say it was going to be of? Oh yeah, a flower petal every year and then when you guys were old he'd have a full flower in bloom because you'd led a full life."

"I thought it was a beautiful sentiment."

"Stephanie, come on, you guys were not in love, you thought you were in love, but look at yourself right now, look at what you've become. You are not that same girl who wanted someone so radically different from her. I'm not saying that you're completely different or you need someone who is your carbon copy, but someone a little less...flighty would be good. You just wanted someone that wasn't like you, rebellion."

"I was not rebelling."

"Sure you were," Chris told me. "Trust me, when you fall in love, really fall in love, you'll know it."

"I think I have."

"Okay, think what you want then," he said, giving in to me. I was probably acting like a stupid kid and that's why he's giving in, but I know how I felt. I know my own self, but I hate that Chris also knows about me, maybe even more than I do because he remembers what I don't, he's seen things I haven't or I've ignored. He knows me, he's known me since I was born.

"Chris?"

"What?"

"Were you there before I was born?" I turn to him.

"Not really," he answers and says no more so I don't press. I think that's one of those things I'm not going to understand, maybe not ever.

There was a knock on my office door and I turned to look at it. I left the bathroom where I'd been meticulously looking over my appearance Chris followed me. I'd been getting accustomed to his eyes on me again, but they weren't so scary this time around. I took a deep breath and then opened the door to Paul's smiling face. I resisted the urge to look over at Chris's reaction. I don't think Paul would get why I was looking at thin air.

"Hey," he says, then tells me, "You look great."

"Thanks," I think I'm beaming at him. I hope I'm not coming off as eager. I like Paul, he's a nice guy, but I don't know too much about him, I mean, I do, but I don't know everything about him, plus, if I seem to eager, he may try to do something to me, something that Chris has warned me about.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, I am," I tell him, grabbing my things. He takes them from me and I smile at him again. I follow him out and Chris has decided to walk on my right side. If only he were some sort of solid I could nudge him away, but even if I did, I'd be nudging air.

Paul ends up taking me to a nice, but casual restaurant. We get a table and sit down and that's when Chris decides he's going to stay right next to Paul. I glare at him, but he just shrugs and looks at me, like he's daring me to say something to him. I don't take the bait and smile over my menu at Paul. Chris looks like he's talking to someone, but I can't hear what he's saying. I decide quickly what I want and then put my menu down and look at Paul.

"So...work's been fun, huh?" I say.

"Yeah, I love our storyline," Paul tells me enthusiastically. "It's just grabbing in the fans, you know. I just can't help but love it. Being around you is a pretty good part of it too, probably my favorite part actually."

My cheeks burn a little and Chris is rolling his eyes so hard I'm afraid they might pop out. Maybe he can actually pop them out. That would be creepy. "But you're the title holder."

"Still, you're better than the title," he says charmingly.

My cheeks burn a little more. Chris is gagging now. "Hey, you know, when he was in middle school, his nickname was Pinocchio? Apparently Levi, his angel, told me and he would get completely upset about it and go home and cry."

I try to hold my laughter and look at Paul. "Thank you, I don't think I'm that great." I couldn't think of anything else to say. I'm picturing Paul crying and I've realized that Chris is evil because it's like he's trying to make me laugh.

"You're amazing," he told me and he seems sincere. How can someone who says things like that sincerely be someone who is going to hurt me? But I guess it takes all kinds of people to hurt others so I can't judge by pretty words or sentiments. "I can't believe nobody's snatched you up yet."

"Snatched you up?" Chris said, looking at Paul. "Stephanie, really, this is what you go for, really?"

I couldn't believe Chris's audacity. If he weren't an angel, I would say he was jealous, but I think he really just gets a kick out of making fun of people. Some angel I got. I wonder if other people's angels are so sarcastic and moody. I think for a moment and almost groan, I just described myself. Maybe our angels are meant to reflect ourselves. That's an eye-opener if I ever heard one. If Chris is just like me, I must come off awful to a lot of people.

"Well, I work a lot."

"I know you do, I see you."

"Yeah, that didn't sound creepy at all," Chris told me. It actually did sound kind of creepy to me as well. Was that a warning? Was Chris pointing that out as a warning to me?

"Well, yeah, you do," I said as the waiter came over to take our orders as a bus boy set down some bread with a pesto paste to put on top of it. I helped herself first and then Hunter took some, taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully. "So where did you grow up?"

"New Hampshire," he said after swallowing. His grin grew wide, "Born and raised."

Chris looked over at him and started laughing. "Stephanie, he has a piece of basil stuck in his teeth!"

I looked at Hunter's grin and sure enough, there was a huge piece of basil just sticking there, adding to the awkwardness of his smile. I bit my lip to keep from laughing, Chris's own laughs ensconcing me so much I can hardly even concentrate. "Um, you kind of...have something on your teeth," I point out to him, trying to be delicate.

"Oh geez," he said, rubbing at his teeth vigorously. He looks up again and flashes his teeth, "Better?"

"All gone," I tell him, thankful that I don't have to see it. "So New Hampshire, beautiful up there."

"I think so," he told her. "So what kind of music do you like?"

"I like all kinds really, I listen to all kinds," I tell him, Chris is just over there, just over his shoulder and he's talking again. I don't really know what he's saying, I can't really hear him and I strain to. Maybe he's talking with Paul's angel again, maybe Paul's angel will know something or feel something about Paul's future. Maybe something with me, maybe something bad.

"What's he saying?" I blurt out.

Chris turns to look at me, but more importantly, Paul is looking at me strangely. He looks over his shoulder to where I'm looking, but there's nobody there. "Steph?"

"Sorry," I tell him, looking around frantically. I spot the TV at the bar and quickly say, "I saw a show and it looked good and I was wondering what the character was saying. Stupid, huh?"

"No, not stupid," he said. "Is my conversation boring you?"

"No, no, no," I reassure him. "I'm sorry, I'm listening, what kind of music do you like?"

"Rock mostly," he answers.

Chris is laughing again. "I can't believe you just tried to talk to me. Is he that boring that you can't even talk to him for that long and you have to resort to talking to me in public, where anyone can see you talking to nothing?"

"Paul, I have to use the bathroom," I tell him, cutting him off from what he was talking about, which I have no idea what it was because Chris is distracting me. I don't wait for his answer before I stomp my way to the bathroom, checking the stalls and then heading into one. "What are you doing!"

"I'm just observing."

"What were you saying to his angel? I know that's who you were talking to."

"Actually, I was talking to someone else's angel."

"You were not!" I tell him, "I know you were, what were you talking about? Is he bad? Is Paul bad for me? Are we destined to be together or something?"

"Stephanie, calm down," he tells me. "Geez, we were just telling funny stories about you guys. Look, it's not up for me to decide who you date or who you don't date. If you feel comfortable with Paul, you'll go out with him more. My opinion doesn't matter, not that I have true opinions, I just call it like I see it basically."

"You don't like Paul."

"I tend to like people, it's kind of what an angel does, do I really need to dress in all white togas and play harps for you? I could put the halo on for you if you want."

"You can put your halo...this is no time for that, please, just don't be so distracting. If he's meant for me, then I guess I will know it, but I can't have you trying to influence me."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I will be the perfect little angel." I groaned at his lame joke as I went back to the table.

"Sorry about that, now where were we?"