///::A New Beginning::\\\

______________________________________________________

She'd never expected for it to happen again - ever.

{I wasn't searching
To end this hurting
But out of nowhere
You made me feel

I cried about it
I lied about it
And tired to doubt
This could be real
You've touched me far too much
I'm letting go of all the pain
I'm into you in every way...}

Trish Stratus ran a hand through her long golden hair as she hesitated just outside the door to what she knew to be his locker room for that evening. Fortunately, she'd been lucky enough to get away from that dumb ox, Tyson Tomko. If the burly man had known what she'd had in mind, she'd never have been able to even attempt this.

She bit her lip, tilting her head to one side as she peered into the barely ajar door. He was in there, all right, and he appeared to be hurting. Yet after what he'd just endured mere moments ago, that was to be expected.

"Damn it..." he groaned from inside the locker room. He was shirtless but still clad in the black vinyl pants he'd worn for The Highlight Reel that night. His midsection hurt like a son of a bitch after the whipping Christian had administered - not to mention the chair his former friend had hurled down onto him.

Chris Jericho gingerly got to his feet, grabbing a fresh shirt to change into when he suddenly had the distinct feeling of a pair of eyes on him. He started to turn around, toward the door... And that was when he caught sight of her.

Trish... The beautiful blonde diva with whom he'd once been so enamored. The truth was, despite everything she'd pulled against him, and most especially Christian - he'd never truly gotten over her. Their eyes met and locked at that moment, and the blond man became even more painfully aware of that fact.

{Send me a lover
Someone to believe in
Please send me someone I can hold
Baby now
Send me a lover
A new beginning
Someone to take away the cold
And give me back
What I've been missing
All the love that lays and waits inside your heart...}

"Um... Hi," the little blonde said softly, an uncertain expression on her face. To Chris, for some reason, somehow, she appeared to be lost. Why he thought this, he was unable to discern - but 'lost' was the first word that came to his mind. Trish stepped just forward, hovering at the doorway as she peered in at him with concern. "I hope you don't mind...?"

Jericho softened despite his better judgment screaming at him to turn her away. She'd hurt him time and again, sliced deep into his heart at WrestleMania XX when she'd betrayed him and slapped him across his face... Laughed at him as she and Christian stood over him, and while he was thoroughly defeated... Made a big show of kissing the creepy little bastard right in front of him in celebratory fashion. Yet despite all of those things, he simply couldn't harden his heart against her - especially not right now, while she stood there looking like a lost little girl, and so worried and concerned for *him*.

"Come on in, Trish." He managed to make an almost sweeping gesture with his right hand, inviting her in.

She did so and blinked rapidly as she kept her deep brown eyes on him the entire time, not once shifting her gaze elsewhere. Tentatively, she seated herself on the edge of the small loveseat a few feet away from him.

"I'm so..." She paused, biting her lip for a moment as she looked him over from head-to-toe. "Are you all right?"

"Honestly?" he replied. "I feel like hell. But that's nothing compared to what I'm gonna do to your little boyfriend when I get the chance." His handsome features hardened as he recalled what the returning Christian had done to him. The sneaky S.O.B. He'd probably been lying in wait all along, and he couldn't help but wonder if Edge had known about it all along. It wouldn't surprise him, seeing as the taller man definitely *was* full of surprises these days - as had even been voiced during The Highlight Reel.

The blonde diva shook her head almost sadly, her voice firm as she spoke next.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore..."

"Come again?" Jericho asked, a brow arched.

Trish sighed.

"I said he's not my boyfriend anymore," she repeated, her gaze staying on his crystal-blue eyes. She'd always found those eyes to be so incredibly beautiful, like the tides of a restless ocean, so deep and dreamy, she could lose herself in them. "We broke up a couple of months ago," she continued.

"You don't say..."

She nodded.

"It just wasn't working out," she admitted. "So, we had a long talk while I was out with the beginnings of my hand injury, and we decided to call it quits."

"Let me guess," the blond man said, for some reason deciding to at least *try* to harden his heart against her. After all, she *had* been quite the bitch toward him for awhile now. "*He* dumped *you*, didn't he?"

Trish frowned at his biting words, her heart sinking at the cynical smirk his handsome face suddenly wore. What was wrong with him? Okay, so she'd been horrible to him. She knew that. But here she was now, coming here to be nice - nothing more, nothing less. So, what was his problem?

"As a matter of fact, no," she said sharply, her heart pounding uncomfortably fast in her chest. She was so upset she was suddenly shaking. Her face felt impossibly hot, and her breathing began to quicken, as though she were about to start hyperventilating - or worse yet, break down and cry her eyes out. "If you *must* know, it was *my* decision to break up with Christian. And I thought I could come here to see if you were all right since I was genuinely worried about you, but since you can't be civil... Goodbye..." With that, she pushed herself to her toes, tears already beginning to burn behind her lids as she stormed to the door.

Chris stood there in shock, his mouth open as he watched her depart, the door slamming just loudly enough to cause him to wince. All he could think of was how much of a jerk he was... It was obvious she'd been acting genuinely when she'd come here, and it had taken guts to do so. Damn it... Why did he have to go and be so nasty to her?

He shook his head, running a hand over his face as he cursed himself out. He had his chance, and he'd blown it. Trish had come to him, shown tons of concern, and she'd even announced to him that she and Christian were over. How stupid could he have been?

{It still astounds me
The way you found me
It's almost too good
To be true
From our first meeting
I had the feeling
The rest of my life
I'd spend with you
I can't just turn my back
On everything I've heard you say
I'm into you in every way...}

Her shoulders seemed to sag as she sat there on her hotel room bed, a cup of hot herbal tea in one hand as she blindly watched a movie on cable TV. She could hardly concentrate on the mindless drivel taking place on the screen, but tried her best to do so, as she didn't want to dwell. If she did that, she'd start bawling again, and she did *not* want that to happen. She was only grateful for the chance to get away from Tomko, the big jerk having threatened to beat up whomever had caused her to cry earlier in the night. If only she could just fire him... But Christian was the one who'd hired the guy, and she had a feeling if she tried, Tyson would rub her nose into that fact. And despite them no longer being together, the so-called 'Problem Solver' was still with her.

A knock on her door suddenly distracted Trish from her thoughts and the movie alike. She glanced over at it, wondering who on earth would be visiting her now, at this late hour, and she found herself hoping it wasn't Christian or Tomko.

Slowly, she set aside her mug and padded barefoot to the door. Her breath caught in her throat when she caught sight of her visitor.

"Chris?" Her eyes widened slightly as she gazed up at him in surprise, the oddest expression on his face. In fact, he hadn't looked upon her like that, at least not in her memory, since before WrestleMania.

"Trish," he breathed, the blond man gently pushing his way through the door as he gazed down at her, "please hear me out... I'm so sorry about what I said earlier. I know you meant it when you said you were concerned, I could see it in your eyes - those beautiful brown eyes of yours... And I totally understand if my big mouth screwed up any chance I could ever have with you again, but..." His blue eyes grew softer still as the diva closed the door behind him, her small, lovely form so close to him, near enough that he could actually feel her warm breath - which smelled sweet, like cinnamon and chamomile. "... I haven't been able to stop thinking about you in months, and I've come to the realization that-"

Jericho's words were abruptly halted as the little blonde pulled him down to her, silencing him with a firm yet passionate kiss which she planted on his lips. He found himself responding instantly, not a split second of time passing before the reaction. He tightened his arms around her slender waist and sighed softly into her hot mouth as she raised her hands to his head, tangling them into his shoulder-length golden hair.

{I thought that love was only a word
I'd never feel
All the passion I hold inside
Was simply just a dream
Out of your heart you gave to me
I know it's real
And I've fallen
So in love with you...}

"I love you..."

Trish's breath caught in her throat at the sweet words he so softly uttered into her ear. She felt as though she were melting... And then the shivers chased their way up her spine and made her shudder with delight and love. She raised her face so as to gaze up into those blue, blue eyes and felt tears threatening her. She opened her mouth to speak, but was all choked up.

"You...?"

"I never stopped loving you, honey," he admitted, his voice husky as he moved his face closer to hers again, until the tips of their noses touched. "Despite everything, I just couldn't ever harden my heart to you."

A single tear escaped the confines of the diva's right eye, and he reached up with one hand to gently wipe at it, sweeping it from her face. Afterward, he kissed the still moist teartrack, causing her to let out a slight moan.

"Oh, God... Chris!" Her voice was pained as she was overcome by the sheer intensity of emotion between them. She reached up and cupped his face, pulling his lips to hers again.

He kissed her again, all the eagerness more than evident in his warm, moist, demanding lips. He dominated her mouth, captured it, made her feel more intensely than she had in months. And before Trish knew what was happening, they were on the bed, their clothing shorn and forgotten, and it was better than she'd ever remembered. Unlike the way she'd felt over the last several months since separating from him at WrestleMania, she felt alive - she felt truly more alive than she'd ever felt at any other time aside from the time she'd spent with him, in his strong arms, being loved by him.

For the first time since she'd seen him tonight, a small, soft smile touched her lips.

"Thank you," she whispered, and Chris raised his eyebrows at her words.

He reached out and caressed her cheek with the softest touch he could muster.

"For what?"

"For loving me... for just being you. For giving *me* a second chance."

Chris chuckled so softly, she could barely hear it.

"A new beginning... why don't we have one?"

Trish nodded.

"I love you..."

She turned over to rest on top of his strong form, her lips hovering just above his as she gazed down into his blue eyes. Her smile increased as the emotion brightened on his face at her heartfelt admission. Then, she leaned down the mere fractions to take his lips with hers once again, loving the way she was feeling. A new beginning... She didn't know what gods liked her enough to grant her this chance, but she loved them for it.

//? End ?\\

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