Hi guys! I'm having a bit of a ball writing this story. I'm going off pure memory from this time years ago, and Stephanie and Triple H's interactions are just subtly adorable. Thanks so much for reading! Xo

Stephanie shifted a bit as she sat in her booth, waiting for Paul to return from the bathroom. She was fine in the dark, but realizing she'd have to sit in-front of this man and eat just made her panic. Its not like she liked him, but, she was a girl who didn't surround herself with many men. It was quite ironic, given her father's occupation, but it still wasn't easy. She noticed three small girls playing with what she assumed to be their mother and father in the hotel lobby, and it made her smile softly.

"You like kids?"

Stephanie gasped softly, not even realizing Paul had been sitting at the table for quite sometime now. She made slight eye contact, shrugging at the question. "They're okay. I've always loved little girls, though. Always wanted my own little princess to dress up. Never had any sisters, plus being the youngest, I was everyone else's little girl. I'm just babbling, sorry. Kids are really cute, though." She stared at her nails, focusing hard on the soft red polish.

Paul studied her, before nodding thoughtfully. "I like kids, too. With this profession, I don't know if I'll get to have that chance. God willingly, maybe. But I just can't see it happening." Stephanie's eyes leveled to him, as she noticed him studying his menu. She continued to stare until his eyes locked with hers, sending a bit of a chill through her body. She gave a polite smile as he let his eyes fall back down to his menu, watching him mouth the choices of food he could receive. Stephanie glanced behind her again, as she noticed the little girls tuckered out from their playing. It caused her to giggle softly, as Paul smiled to himself from the sound.

After awhile, the waiter came to the table to place orders, and in no time was back with the food. Stephanie ordered a simple salad, and Paul ordered a T-Bone steak with potatoes. Stephanie tried not to gawk at his food, for she had never seen a steak that big. Paul found himself gawking at her salad when she wasn't looking, for he had never seen someone eat something so small. She nibbled quietly on the lettuce, letting her thoughts carry her through the dinner. Paul dug into his steak, surprisingly hungry after just eating not too long ago. He caught Stephanie staring once again, and it prompted him to give her a little nudge under the table.

"Hungry? You can have some of this steak, you know. I don't mind sharing, since you seem friendly enough." Stephanie chuckled, declining, before letting her eyes fall upon him once again. He was a handsome man, she admitted, but no one she could actually see dating. She tried not to dabble with the athletes, for she always knew they were trouble. Paul was different, though, and it attracted her to him. She noticed his eyes were a soft hazel, and they shifted occasionally with his disposition. He had a broad nose, and it truly complimented his face. He had hair that you only saw on most women, and she couldn't help but be jealous. She chuckled again from her thoughts, as Paul's eyes fell upon her.

She was gorgeous, the simplicity of her was what really made him go wild. He had seen bikini models, women that could drive men into a spin with their bodies, yet Stephanie in her lavender sweater with a leather skirt made him wish he could get to know her more. Despite what most said, he wasn't a man who cared about what someone could give him. Someone who was a true person really made him long to have them near. He wondered what color her eyes were, for he had noticed that occasionally they would appear to be grey, and other times they would be an ice blue. He found his eyes falling upon her chin, for he found that strangely to be gorgeous. He let his eyes fall against his plate as he noticed he had eaten everything. Stephanie found herself chuckling again, and Paul slouched back, chuckling back at her.

Stephanie stared at him, before studying him intently. "What are you laughing at?" Paul shrugged, letting his eyes fall against hers. "I heard you laugh, so I thought, "What the hell?", you know?" Stephanie laughed loudly, watching him as he cleaned his face from his meal "You are a strange man, Paul Levesque. But I like you, I like strange people." Paul laughed, snatching a piece of her salad from the tiny bowl. "I'm flattered, Steph. Not many notice my charm, especially when my face is greasy from a steak." They both laughed softly, before returning to their shy positions. Paul spoke up first finally, and it made Stephanie sigh from relief.

"About this storyline... I wonder why your father chose us to partake in it as a couple? We only knew each other in passing, and don't know one damn thing about each other." Stephanie agreed, as she cleaned her lips from the Italian dressing. "I know, its odd. But, I guess he didn't see much chemistry between Test and I. Maybe he thought we'd be a great fit, not sure. My father has a method to his madness, so we'll see." She smiled softly, before resting in her booth. "But that makes me question where that would leave Joanie and yourself. You guys are both an onscreen couple, and a couple in reality, correct?"

The question made Paul cringe. He had been basically crushing on this woman from a far, and when the question of his girlfriend was brought to the table, he realized he hadn't thought of her one time during this dinner. "Yeah, well.. I know Joanie wants to do alot for the Women's Division. So I think she'd be alright, I don't think she likes carrying dead weight with me as a sidekick. She's gone on to do incredible things in this business with being the first woman to do things like fight men, so I think its for the best." Stephanie nodded, understanding where Paul was coming from. "Well, I guess we are on our way to be Husband and Wife, Paul. Luckily you told me before I went into creative feeling clueless. What else did you hear?"

Paul racked his brain, before it fell upon the slight details he had heard about it all. "Something about Vegas, me taking you somewhere and marrying you, with you drugged or sleep, one of them. I guess the greatest way to marry a girl, huh?" She laughed, knowing her wacky father had to be the one to come up with this. They found themselves laughing a bit more about the situation, before Stephanie looked around at the empty lobby. She studied her watch, before sighing a bit.

"Its 3:30am.. We've been here for nearly seven hours. The guys have long gone from after the show, so we might as well take a room here. Two rooms." Paul reddened from the thought of having one room, but was happy that there was a second possibility. They found their way to the front desk, as they asked for two rooms for the night. The African American woman shrugged sadly at them, as they both found themselves panicking.

"Only one room left. But I could always bring extra sheets?"