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"I don't... I don't understand."
Chris shook his head in despair, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. "I thought that everything was going so well."
Trish eyed him sadly, hating the fact that he was hurting... And it was because of her. She had just told him it was over, but what choice did she have? She was in love with someone else.
"Chris, it's not you - it's me," she said, hating how lame that sounded. Although true, it was such a cliche excuse.
Jericho met her brown eyes squarely, his own clear blue clearly filled with hurt. He shook his head. It just didn't seem right, not like something Trish would do.
"Did someone put you up to this?" he asked. For some reason, a vision of RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff's smug face came to him. He knew how the man felt about both of them and that he would have no qualms about forcing them to split up.
The blonde diva shook her head.
"No, Chris... I swear." She bit her lip as she came away from the turnbuckles against which she'd been leaning. "There's... more I need to tell you." She gazed up into his face pleadingly. "Just... please don't get too mad," she begged. "This is my fault, anyway."
Y2J frowned and studied her more intently. Suspicion began to course through him as he wondered exactly what she was getting at. Before she could continue, he cut in. He had to know.
"There's someone else, isn't there?" he said, more rhetorically than needing an actual answer.
Trish bowed her head, fearful to allow him a view of her face. At the same time, she knew she was so transparent at that very moment. Only an idiot would not be able to see right through her to the truth. And Chris Jericho was most certainly no idiot.
"Chris..." She reached out and took hold of his arm. "... I should have told you from the get-go. I-I have... a lot of history with this guy, and I knew I was still in love with him," she said. "I didn't realize I still did, but after you and I got so close-"
"Then you came to the realization that you still love this jerk?!" he demanded. At this point, his voice was laced with anger as well as the hurt that was still present. "Well, that's just great, Trish." He stared at her, wondering why it was that he hadn't pulled his arm out of her grasp yet. "Okay, so don't keep me in suspense any longer... Who is he?"
Trish bowed her head again, and this time, fear was her most prevalent emotion - not for herself, but for him. She swallowed hard, ridding her throat of the lump that had formed, then raised her head, meeting his eyes directly.
"Christian." She spoke the name so softly, even she could barely hear it.
"What?" Jericho damn near did a double-take. "It's Christian? Please tell me you're joking!"
That same pleading expression was back on the diva's face, but she couldn't utter a word now. And she didn't have to as the blond man knew he'd heard her correctly and that this was no joke.
"That little assclown!" he yelled, his hands balling into fists. "I'll beat the living daylights out of him!" For emphasis, he smashed his right hand into the top turnbuckle on the other side of the ring.
Trish stared at him with a combination of shock, regret and horror. She wanted in the worst way to close her eyes and have all of this just go away. Jericho was furious, just as she knew he would be... But he couldn't take it all out on Christian. And she knew this was the right thing to do. It hadn't been fair for him to keep thinking all was right and rosy between them.
"Chris, no!" she protested, her hands out as she made her way toward him. Reluctantly, she touched him on the shoulder, his back to her. "Please don't... I... I know you're mad as hell right now, but beating up Christian won't solve anything."
He whirled around to face her, his crystal blue eyes cold, which scared her.
"It wasn't? Well, it'd solve one very big problem I have right now," he snapped. "That 'problem' being that I wanna kick his ass!"
The little blonde winced and shook her head.
"No... It won't make anything better, or any different." She cocked her head as she tried to appeal to him. "Please, Chris..." she breathed. "I know I'm probably your least favorite person now, after all this, but please... for me. Don't."
Jericho stared at her, deeply into those twin chocolate orbs. He sighed, softening just a bit. It seemed an impossible task, but he would listen to her for now and not do anything. Still, he knew before long, he wouold at the very least challenge his former friend to a match, man-to-man. He couldn't believe this betrayal. But then, Christian hadn't been his friend in awhile, so it really wasn't he who'd betrayed him.
"Fine," he said evenly, no traces of warmth left on his face. "Listen... I hope you and Christian will be very
happy together." He gave her one last stern look before leaving the ring and leaving Trish behind.