______________________________________________________
The young woman let out a soft little laugh as she gazed up at the young man.
"You know, I think I'm gonna like being a part of the RAW roster," Shelton Benjamin said with a smile.
Stacy Keibler glanced quickly down at their clasped hands, a smile on her pretty face.
"Only 'like?'" she teased, her blonde head cocking to one side. She and the former SmackDown superstar had already gone out a couple of times after combined roster pay-per-view in the past, but now that Shelton had been drafted to RAW, it could finally turn into something more serious than friendship.
"Okay - correction. I'm going to *love* being part of the RAW roster." The young man wrapped his arms around the leggy diva's waist, holding her close against him.
Stacy craned her head a bit, her lips only inches from Benjamin's, until she noticed a movement just beyond her vision. She pulled away, her face full of concern as she gazed past her beau...
"What's wrong, Stace?"
The blonde gestured beyond him, and Shelton turned to see Edge standing against the wall nearby, his good right hand clenched into a fist. At the very least, he looked quite unhappy.
Stacy motioned to Shelton, and the pair approached the tall blond man. Apparently, he was so deeply distracted by his thoughts that he didn't even notice them.
"Edge?"
The Canadian abruptly looked up, seemingly surprised there was anyone else out here in the area of the hall.
"Hey..."
"Are you all right?" Stacy questioned, a look of concern on her pretty face.
Edge looked from the tall blonde diva to the young man whose hand she held, then shrugged.
"It's hard to say," he admitted reluctantly.
While Shelton merely wondered what was going on, Stacy squinted as she eyed Edge.
"Does this have to do with Lita?"
The tall blond man looked from the diva to the floor. The mere mention of the redhead was enough to make him feel even more horrible. It was bad enough that he had totally screwed things up, but even worse that Lita now seemed to hate him. He'd really done it - he'd made anything between them irreperable. What a fool he had been. What a fool he *still* was for having thought himself worthy of the redhead's forgiveness, for the possibility of a reconciliation with her.
When the blond man didn't answer, Stacy spoke again.
"It *does* have to do with her, doesn't it?" She quickly exchanged glances with her boyfriend, who gave her a questioning look. Shelton had never really known Edge too well, although they'd both been on the SmackDown roster until recently. Before the Canadian had suffered his neck injury and left for surgery, the two had been enemies. Of course, things were different now, but he wondered what was going on - and what Lita could have to do with Edge.
Stacy winced and put a gentle hand on the blond man's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I hope things get better for you. Maybe she'll come around someday soon."
Edge met the diva's warm brown eyes, hoping she was right. But if she wasn't, he knew
one thing for sure - it would be his own damn fault.