A/N: Thanks for the reviews and reads and everything associated with that. I'm thinking maybe the next chapter is the last, so I hope you enjoy this one while it's here, and if you review, that's awesome of you, thanks. :)

He's gone.

Or at least he's not showing himself, but it might as well be the same difference. Either way, he's not here, he's not showing himself, and I don't know what to do with myself. If he went back to being an angel, I could have dealt with it. It would have hurt for a while, possibly a long while, but I would have eventually gotten over it as long as he was there, as long as I could talk to him, but this, this is worse than anything I could have imagined.

It's been six days since he disappeared, and there hasn't been a trace of him since. I've tried everything I could think of, praying, going to churches, I think I even confused the hell out of a priest, but still, nothing. It's not like I would even know where to look if he's still human, and if he's human, what the hell is wrong with him, just leaving like that? I just, there's just no way that he could have left me of his own volition, his love for me is…well, it's eternal.

"Stephanie?"

I look up and see my mother starting to sit next to me. I didn't even notice her come into the room. My parents invited me over for dinner, and since my life is now in shambles, I might as well. I haven't been eating well, and I haven't been sleeping well, and even though I say that it's not a big deal, and that it's just happening, I know a part of me is hoping he'll notice, see me wasting away and show himself again. I know it's a pathetic plan, but I feel pathetic right now so why not go full-out with that?

I mean, I've pretty much hit the bottom of the barrel, haven't I?

"Chris," I lay there, staring at the wall as if he'll walk through it, laugh and hover himself around me. "If you're there, and maybe you are, maybe you aren't, I can't feel you anymore, but if you are there, I promise, it's okay to come back. I just want you to come back."

For the first time ever, I feel like he's not even there. Even when he disappeared before when I was so angry with him, I still felt him. I still knew he was there, but this time, it's different. My eyes sting with tears because all I want is to feel his presence. I just want to feel like he's here with me. When I close my eyes, I can still feel his fingers ghosting across my skin, his touch so reverent, like he couldn't believe he actually got to touch me. If I think real hard, I really feel like he's there, but then I open my eyes and the feeling is gone, and I'm left feeling cold.

"I don't care how you are, and I don't care what I am or what you are, I just need you here with me, if you're here, Chris, if you are, please, I'm begging you…" My tears start to fall, a torrent of them, and I feel like I could cry for a thousand years, that's how deep the chasm is. He's been with me my entire life, being there, protecting me, and now he's gone, and I feel empty.

"Please, Chris, please…"

I never want to relive that night. I cried myself to sleep, and after that, no more tears would come. I don't know if it's because I'm all cried out or because I'm just too tired to cry, but I can't do it anymore. "Stephanie?"

I look over at my mother again, and she's giving me the look of concern. I know that I look worse for the wear, but I try to keep my chin up, "Yes, Mom."

"I've been worried about you," she says gently, and there it is.

"Mom, I'm okay, why worry?"

"You just haven't been yourself for the last week, not since your break-up with Paul. I know that you're probably going through a mourning period, but really, sweetheart, we both know that was going nowhere." I want to laugh because sometimes my mom is so like my dad and she doesn't even realize it. Her solution to getting over things is to just plow on through to the next thing.

I also want to laugh because she actually thinks I'm torn up about Paul. I wish I could say I gave him a lot of thought over the last week, that I still felt guilty for the way I broke up with him, but that'd be a lie. I'm not sorry about that. This week has been filled with a lot of things, but regret over breaking up with Paul is not anywhere on the list. I liked him, but that's not what this is.

But how to tell that to my mom? Oh well, blunt is always the way of the McMahons. "I'm not torn up about him, in fact, I'm very much over that. Like I told you, I'm fine."

"Stephanie, we both know that's not true. You've barely left the house in the past week, you've been working overtime at work, you look…well frankly, you look a little harried, like you didn't even bother to get ready to come here."

"This is your house, Mom, I'm not here to impress everyone."

"What's going on?" she asks me, and I really just want to leave now. If I told my mom the truth, she would call me crazy, think I legitimately need to go to a mental institution or at the very least get checked out at a hospital with a psych evaluation. I don't need one. I've long since established that I'm not crazy.

"Nothing, I told you."

"Don't lie to me, young lady," she chastises me like I'm fifteen again. I roll my eyes, but she grabs my hands and makes me look at her. I stare uncomfortably into her eyes for a moment before I have to look away. My mom has always been one of my best friends and seeing her looking at me with such concern breaks the dam a little bit. "I just…I have a friend, and we kind of had a falling out."

"Who? Who is it?"

"Not important," I tell her, "I just had a fight with someone, sort of, and it was just nothing, I'd rather not talk about it if it's at all okay with you, Mom."

"Are you sure this isn't about Paul…or it is what…well, what I heard happened with Sean. I can't believe that man would ever try anything, and while your father was there too, what kind of man…"

"Mom, it happened, we can't change that."

"I've heard that Sean has been pretty freaked out by something that happened, he insists a chair or something came out of nowhere," my mom tells me, and that just makes me think of Chris. I have to bite the inside of my cheek so I don't start crying, but I manage. Remember, no more tears, I'm not going to let anymore fall.

"Everything happened so quickly," I tell her, shrugging, acting like Chris didn't save me, that he didn't suddenly turn human for me and save me from whatever Sean was going to do. My mind relives the moment, when everything changed. His face, so scared, confused, terrified really, and me running out of there. "I don't remember much."

"I think he's just gone crazy, thank God he's fired and away from you," my mom hugs me, "if anything happened to you. But you must have a helluva guardian angel watching over you."

I pull away quickly, "What do you mean by that?"

"Mean by what?" she asks in confusion.

"The guardian angel thing, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, sweetie, I was just joking, I know you're not religious, I'm just saying it was fortunate that nothing happened to you," she pats me on the arm, but I don't know, maybe it's my disappointment in Chris leaving me, but I can't let the subject go just yet.

"Do you believe in them though? I mean, you personally, do you believe in guardian angels?"

She shrugs, thinking for a moment, "Oh, I don't know, sweetheart, I suppose the thought is nice, having someone watching over you, making sure you're safe, it's a nice thought. I'd like to think if I had one it's my own grandmother."

"I don't think it works that way," I tell her, letting a little bit of my life slip into her consciousness. She stares at me, and I just continue, furrowing my brow as I think of him. "I think…I think we all have one, like we're given one when we're born, and they just stay with us until it's time to go."

"That's beautiful," my mom kisses my temple, "I'm glad yours was around the other day, that's for sure. Whoever they are, they've done a good job."

"Yes, yes he has," I nod as my father comes into the room, not giving my mother a chance to ask why I would think my guardian angel is a man.

"I can't believe the hard press these people are making for this particular wrestler," my dad isn't necessarily irate, but he's definitely not in a good mood. "I'm glad to get Sean's salary off the books, but from the way everyone talks of this guy, you'd think he was the second coming of Hulk Hogan."

"Who's Dad talking about?" I ask my mom.

"Oh, there's been a few calls from some of the indie promotions about a wrestler that is pretty good from their standards. They sent your father some tapes of him a couple weeks ago, was it?"

"Something like that, I'm not even sure I remember," my dad chuckles, "I just remember seeing the tapes on my desk and remembering that I was told to watch them. I just don't need to be constantly bugged about it. I've already had JR talk with him, he sounds like a nice guy, good stock, but I don't need to be constantly bothered by it."

"I've seen the tapes, he's really quite good, it's amazing we haven't heard about him yet."

"I'm just glad we're snatching him up before WCW does," my dad cackles because he loves when he gets one over on our rival company. It's actually pretty funny when you think about it. My dad says that this isn't really a competition, but he feels like it is.

"Oh, Dad, always having to beat someone," I laugh for the first time in forever it seems. It feels good, and I still miss Chris, but maybe this has to be my life now. He must have heard me when I was talking about guardian angels, and still, he won't show his face. If that's the case, maybe I should just give up. Maybe I'll never see him again. Maybe he thinks that's for the best considering we can't be together. One night was all we got, one perfect night and maybe that's how he wants me to remember him.

I kind of hate him if that's the case.

"We wouldn't be McMahons if we weren't, and Linda, can you set the table for four tonight?"

"Is Shane coming?" my mom asks, but since my brother is never without Rissa, it can't before him.

"No, it's this new guy, he was in the area, and I invited him to dinner, I figured that would get the promoters off my back for a while," my dad reasons. "He should be here any minute, I want to get in a call with JR before he does though, just to get some more background information on him. Stephanie, can you watch out for him?"

"Of course, Dad," I smile at him, settling back into the couch as I grab the remote and turn on the large TV. My mom disappears into the kitchen, grumbling about my father inviting someone over for dinner while my dad goes back to his office as I hear the door click. I curl up on the couch and wallow in the weirdness that is my life when the doorbell rings. I realize I don't even know this guy's name, but I forge ahead, going to the front door. I give myself a quick once-over in the hall mirror to make sure I don't look like a total mess in front of a stranger before I open the door.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't get your name—"

It's Chris.