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Lita watched the Tag Team title match with baited breath, a slight feeling of shock taking over at the ending of the contest. More aptly, she was feeling a strange mix of emotions - shock, surprise, joy, sorrow and guilt.
The "Conquistadors" had won. After Matt had been distracted when he'd tried pulling off Edge's top mask, Christian had taken the advantage by delivering the Unprettier. Jeff had been on the outside, sprawled out on the floor and therefore unable to prevent the pinfall. The Hardys lost the match, the Tag Team belts along with it.
The redhead bit her lip, joy the one emotion that had decided to dominate her at the moment. She had to go over and congratulate Edge - as he'd told her, he and Christian would win back the championships, and they'd succeeded in doing exactly that.
She slipped from the women's locker room, but no one really seemed to notice her. The only divas currently present were Jacqueline, who was busy yakking on her cell phone, and the Kat, who was normally a bitch and avoided having anything to do with Lita. Actually, the only diva the trampy little blonde ever had anything to do with was Chyna - she seemed to enjoy kissing the ass of the Ninth Wonder of the World to no end. The other divas were indisposed at the moment - Ivory was probably with Right to Censor, Chyna was either with Eddy Guerrero or Billy Gunn, Tori had to be with X-Pac and the Road Dogg, Trish was obviously with T&A, and Terri was probably with the Radicalz.
As she made her way down the hall, Lita knew no one would miss her. She came to the door of what she knew was Edge and Christian's locker room and knocked lightly, tentatively.
Edge, still clad in the shiny gold outfit, opened the door and quickly ushered her in, glancing around the hallway for a few seconds before ducking back in and shutting the door.
"You won!" the redhead exclaimed. "You really did it!"
"Si, senorita!"
The diva laughed, knowing that he was pantomiming his repeated "si, senor" lines from earlier in the night, when Kevin Kelly had been interviewing Los Conquistadores.
"Well, even though you did it the way you did - even though you beat my best friends...Congratulations, numero uno..." She put her hands up to his gold mask-clad head and pulled it down to her, kissing him as best she could. She giggled a little as she felt his tongue actually manage to dart out of the mask's mouth hole and lick at her lips.
"What the hell is this?!" a shrill female voice suddenly shrieked, and they both gave a start. Lita turned her head sharply in the direction of the door and saw Stephanie McMahon standing there, a combined look of fury and shock on the brunette's face.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" she demanded as she stared at Lita.
"I...I..." The redhead was so stunned she couldn't speak.
"Get the hell away from him!" the angry woman shouted. She made a move as though she was going to shove at Lita, but then she went over to Edge instead, reaching up and back to undo his mask.
The brunette muttered to herself as she peeled the mask off his head, and then her features seemed to take on a surprised and then somewhat embarrassed look.
"Edge! Oh, God...I'm so sorry. I-I thought you were Christian..."
The tall blond man finally found his voice. "How could you ever think I was Christian? Aren't I a bit too tall for you to mistake me for him?" He shook his head, thinking how pathetic the woman was for apparently not having remembered her own boyfriend's height. While Christian was barely an inch or two taller than Stephanie, Edge had a good seven inches in height over her. He held his tongue against calling her a dumbass or a dorkchop.
"Well, what is she doing here anyway?" Stephanie demanded, pointing a finger at the redhead, evidently recovered from her embarrassing mistake. "I thought she was the Hardys' little toy..."
Edge glared at the brunette furiously, and Lita's hands clenched into fists at her sides. Before the redhead could remind the boss' daughter that she was still there and still very capable of kicking her ass, the blond man spoke up.
"Don't you ever talk that way about my girlfriend again..."
"Your what?"
Edge moved to stand directly beside Lita, wrapping an arm around her waist. He drew her securely against his side, obviously not caring what Stephanie McMahon thought.
"I think you heard me, Stephanie - and if I ever hear you speak that way about or to Lita again, you will regret it," the Canadian said between gritted teeth, his green eyes widened in anger.
"I..." Now it was the brunette's turn to be rendered momentarily speechless. "Sorry, Lita."
The redhead raised an eyebrow, as Stephanie's apology actually sounded, to her ears, to be a sincere one.
"I have a question...What are you doing here?" Lita managed to ask, her arms crossing under her breasts as she stared at the other woman suspiciously.
"I...Well, I just wanted to..." She glanced at Edge, as though the blond man might come to her rescue, but he didn't say a word to help her. "Okay...I'm Christian's girlfriend," she blurted.
The Women's champion stared at the other girl in shock, her mouth dropping open. "But I thought...you and Hunter...?"
"We're not really married," the brunette admitted, and while Lita felt shocked over this news, when she glanced up into Edge's face, it was clear that the blond man already knew about this. She grew more surprised by the moment as the other woman explained how the McMahon-Helmsley thing was all just for appearance's sake. Likewise, she and Kurt Angle really were just friends, and she insisted to being a faithful girlfriend to Christian.
"Anyway," Stephanie said, feeling strangely about having admitted these very personal things about herself to a woman she didn't even like, "when I came in here, I thought Edge was Christian - that's why I got so mad when I saw you two kissing..." She stared at them, frowning a little. "When exactly did this happen, anyway?"
"Only a week ago," Edge replied. "Actually, it started with a booze-filled night - but we decided to give it a go. And," he added as the brunette arched a brow, turning his head to gaze into the redhead's sparkling hazel eyes, "so far, so good..." He gave Lita a winning smile.
The Women's champion tried to smile back at him, but she was a bit too alarmed to manage a genuine one at the moment. Turning back to the brunette, she said, "Look, Stephanie...You have to make us a promise that you won't tell anyone about us. If Matt and Jeff found out, things could get really ugly..."
"Oh, I totally understand," Stephanie replied with a vigorous nod. "I won't say a word..." She shifted her gaze to Edge. "Umm...does Christian know about this?"
"No...and I'd like to keep it that way," the tall blond man replied.
"Okay," the young woman said. "Then I won't say anything to him, either. But..." She glanced from Edge to Lita. "You can't tell anyone about Christian and me, either."
"You know what?" the redhead said as she stepped closer to Stephanie. "You've got yourself a deal." She put out her hand, and the brunette glanced down at it for a beat, then took it, shaking on the deal.