Chris' next road trip took him home to Winnipeg for Raw.  As they sat in the lounge waiting for permission to board the plane, Rosie couldn't help noticing the admiring glances several of the females kept throwing Chris' way, even though he had "dressed down" for his journey.  He wore snug fitting jeans with a navy blue polo shirt, his thick blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail and he was wearing his glasses, something he rarely did, preferring to wear contact lenses. One teenage girl in particular kept staring at Chris and Rosie was sure the girl thought she recognised him but couldn't quite place him.  Chuckling softly to herself Rosie dug into her shoulder bag to extract the book she had bought with her.

 "What's so funny?" Chris asked looking up from the magazine he was flicking through.

 She leaned over to whisper in his ear. "That young girl over there can't take her eyes off you, you sexy beast."

 "Which one?"

 "The one sitting next to the vending machine."

 Chris scanned the seating area and his eyes locked with the girl Rosie was talking about.  She blushed beet-root red and looked away.

 "The effect you have on a young girl's heart," Rosie sighed, opening her book.

 "Not just young ones," he murmured as his lips lightly brushed her neck just below her ear, causing a shiver to run the length of her spine.

 "And don't you just know it." she responded as the lady on the loud speaker announced the plane was ready for boarding.   

~<>~

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
The Next Day 

Chris leaned back in his chair and stretched to get the kinks out of his back.  He gazed down the line of eager autograph hunters and gave a small sigh: it was going to be a while before he got out of there. 

"Feel good to be home?" a deep voice asked as a hand slapped him on the back.

 He turned to see Hunter slide into the vacant chair next to him.  "Yeah, it's always good to come home."  Chris turned his attention to the young boy standing in front of him.  "Hello and you are?" he asked as he scrawled his name on the program thrust at him.

"Johnny," came the timid reply.

"Well, Johnny, you enjoy the show.  Are you a Y2J fan?"

"Oh yes, Mr Jericho, you're my favourite wrestler!"

"That's great to hear, now you cheer really loud tonight ok?"

"I will, and thank you," Johnny said as he moved along to Hunter.

The next in line was an extremely star-struck teenage girl who couldn't utter a coherent statement if her life depended on it.  After finally working out her name was Natalie, Chris signed his name and breathed a sigh of relief as she moved along.  An amused Hunter murmured "The affect you have on young girls."

Chris threw him a dirty look and muttered "You're sounding more like your sister every day."

 Hunter chuckled at that.  "Why is that?"

Remembering his promise to Rosie to try and get along with Hunter, he reluctantly told him of the incident at the airport the day before.  Hunter laughed out loud at how close his and Rosie's statements were.  "She's a great girl, that sister of mine."

Chris was slightly taken aback at the genuine affection that was evident in Hunter's voice when he spoke of Rosie.  The only other time he heard it was when Hunter spoke of Nan.

"That she is," he replied, a hard edge evident in his voice.  Those three words seemed to further tickle Hunter's fancy since he was still grinning from ear to ear.  "What's so damn funny?"

"You are," Hunter said, his brown eyes were twinkling.  "Never noticed before how possessive you are."

Chris made an unflattering remark about Hunter's parentage under his breath then continued signing autographs. 

As the last person walked away Chris stood up to go back into the arena.  Halfway backstage one of the technical staff stopped him and directed him to the media room, explaining that there was a journalist waiting to interview him.  As he walked along the deserted corridors Chris puzzled over this as he didn't remember having to do any interviews that day.  He pushed open the heavy green door and stopped dead in his tracks. 

"Hello Chris, remember me?" 

~<>~ 

"What the hell do you want?" Chris growled at the female who leaned casually against the desk.  She could only be described as stunning.  Shoulder length wavy blonde hair, startling green eyes, full pink lips, slim body and legs that went on forever.  She wore a crisp white shirt beneath a tailored navy jacket, the matching navy skirt reached mid-thigh.  She hasn't changed in 15 years, Chris thought to himself as he stood with his arms folded across his chest waiting for some kind of explanation.

"Chris is that any way to talk to an old friend?" she purred as she straightened up and walked towards him, stopping only inches away.

"We are not old friends, Carly." He replied stiffly, absently noting that she still wore an over-abundance of Chanel No 5.  Oh how he loathed that fragrance.

"But we are, baby, they say you never forget your first love." Carly ran a crimson tipped nail down his cheek, smiling slightly when we pulled his head away.

"Yeah well whoever said that obviously hasn't met you."

Carly took a step back and nodded her head.  "I deserved that, but I was hoping we could be friends.  We were only kids when we were together, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, and in all seriousness I am here to interview you.  I work for the local paper, now."  She flashed her backstage media pass to show him she was telling the truth. 

Briefly glancing at it Chris turned to exit the room.  "Next time, go through the proper channels if you want an interview," He threw over his shoulder as he walked away.

He failed to see the smug expression on Carly's face.  "Oh this is going to be as easy as 1-2-3.  You're still not over me," she remarked quietly to his retreating figure. 

Chris marched through the corridors until he reached his locker room, thankful that he didn't have to share with anyone and thankful that Rosie hadn't arrived at the arena yet.  He slammed his door shut and leaned back against it, taking several deep breaths in an effort to calm down.  "Why now?" he groaned, "Why does she have to appear out of nowhere right now?"  For the past couple of years life had been great.  He had found Rosie, his career couldn't be better and things had been patched up with Nan.  Now all of a sudden he felt like things were crashing down around him.  Why did Hunter have to be Rosie's half-brother and why in the name of all that was holy, did Carly have to show up?  As he took stock of his feeling he began to realise two things:  firstly, he was jealous of the closeness Rosie had developed with Hunter, not an easy thing for him to admit.  Secondly, he realised that his brief encounter with Carly had dragged to the surface feeling and emotions he preferred to keep buried.  All the insecurities and self-doubts he had experienced 15 years ago were back in full force. 

Chris was dragged out of his deep thoughts by a knock on the door.  "You're on in 15 minutes, Chris," a voice called.

"Ok, thanks." He called back.

He quickly changed into his ring attire before leaving the room.  As he was walking towards the Evolution locker room he saw Hunter standing with his back to him, a pair of very female arms wrapped around his waist.  There was nothing remarkable about that except he recognised those long, bright blue fingernails as belonging to Rosie.  The blood pounded in his head until he forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths. 

At that moment Rosie untangled herself from her brother's tight embrace and noticed Chris walking their way.

"Honey I'm so glad I got here before you went on, traffic was an absolute nightmare!" She wound her arms around Chris' neck when he stopped in front of her.  He held her tightly, one hand cupped around the back of her head, the other caressing her back.

"I'll leave you two love-birds along," Hunter said as he turned to his locker room.

"We'll catch up after the show?" Rosie queried, turning to look at him.

"Sure.  We're all heading for that bar down the road.  See you there." Hunter replied before closing the door. 

*****  

As Chris and Rosie left the arena after the show they were greeted with dozens of screaming fans.  Rosie was secretly amused at the hero worship Chris was receiving, but he was pre-occupied and edgy.  He signed anything that was thrust his way but hardly smiled and didn't take longer than was necessary with any one fan.  When they finally reached his father's car Rosie felt as if she was being watched.  She turned towards the arena and seen a blonde woman standing near the entrance.  Blue eyes locked with green and Rosie was momentarily taken aback by the hatred that was evident in those eyes, even at that distance.  She was used to receiving envious looks from women when they realised she was Chris' girlfriend but never had she experienced such hatred.  Shrugging slightly she got into the car and decided not to mention the incident to Chris. 

***** 

An hour later, after showering and changing, Rosie & Chris walked into the bar where all the wrestlers gathered after a show in Winnipeg.  They spotted Hunter and Nan sitting with Dave Batista and Rosie started to walk towards them. 

"Rosie, I've got to go talk to Adam, I'll be over in a minute," Chris explained as he started out in the opposite direction.

Rosie approached the corner booth where Hunter and Nan sat facing Dave, who had his back to her.  She laid both hands on his massive shoulders and leaned over to whisper in his ear.  "How ya doin, big man?"

He turned towards the voice and a grin split his face when he saw who was behind him.  "Rosie! Good to see you again!" he exclaimed as he captured her is a hug.

"You too, Dave, you're looking great!"

"Come sit beside me, sis," Hunter instructed.  Rosie obeyed her brother but not before leaning over him to hug Nan.  The two women embraced, mindless of the fact that a 265 pound man was struggling to breathe beneath them.  When they broke apart Hunter slipped an arm across each of their shoulders, grinning as he leaned back, looking like the cat that swallowed the canary.  "Don'tcha love my two girls, Dave?"

"Every guy in here is green with envy, man," Dave replied as John Mellencamp's 'Hurt So Good' blared from the jukebox.  "Hey, they're playing my song…..anyone want to dance?"

"Ok, let's see what you're made of," Nan stood up and led Dave onto the small dance floor.

 "Ahhhh, don't they make a cute couple?" Rosie laughed as she watched Dave and Nan.

"I know two other people that make a cute couple," Hunter replied, "How are things going with you and Chris?"

"Things are going great."

Hunter looked sceptical.  "He's been wearing a face like a thundercloud today; I just thought you two may have had a disagreement."

Rosie sighed deeply.  "I'm really not sure what the problem is. I mean we're getting along fine, but something seems to be bothering him lately, and he's not too keen to talk about it."

"Do you want me to have a talk with him?"

"Hunt, I don't think that will help things," Rosie laughed, pleased he would even offer, despite her amusement. "In case you've not noticed he's not too friendly towards you either."

Hunter shrugged his massive shoulders.  "We get along ok, we're just not real close."  When Rosie raised one eyebrow at that comment he continued "Ok, we're not anywhere near close, but we do share a common interest, and that is caring deeply about you and although we have a bad history, I'm willing to forget our past and look towards the future."

Rosie rested her head on Hunter's shoulder.  "I just hope Chris can do the same.  It takes him a long time to get over things."

Hunter dropped a kiss on the top of her head before standing and dragging her with him.  "C'mon, sis lets dance."

Chris, who was standing on the other side of the room with Adam, watched the interaction between Rosie and Hunter with a scowl on his face.  If it was possible the scowl deepened when Hunter kissed Rosie.  The way he was feeling it would have taken little effort to walk right up to Hunter and plant his fist in his face.

"Are you ok, buddy?" Adam asked, turning around to see what Chris was looking at, yet seeing no tangible reason for the look on his face. 

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think I'll go grab some fresh air," Chris replied turning away, leaving a puzzled Adam to watch his retreating back. 

***** 

From the dance floor Nan seen Chris push his way outside and from his body language she could tell he was not happy.

 "Let's take a break, big man," she suggested to Dave. 

 "Ok, want something to drink?" he asked

 "Thanks, surprise me.  I'm just gonna duck outside for a breath of fresh air, I'll meet you back at the table."

 As Nan emerged out into the night air she seen Chris leaning against the brick wall, arms folded across his wide chest and his eyes closed.

 "Chris?" she said softly, laying her hand on his arm as she stood in front of him.

 "Hi Nan," he sighed, not moving.

 "What's wrong, hun?"

 He was silent for so long she thought he wasn't going to answer her, but he finally opened his eyes and looked deeply into hers.  "How can life change so much in such a short period of time?" he asked, rhetorically. 

 "Life doesn't stand still for anyone."

 "Guess who I saw at the arena tonight."

 Although not 100% certain she wanted to know, Nan waited for Chris to tell her.

 "Carly.  The bitch had the audacity to want to interview me and she was flirting with me."

 "Oh Chris...."

 "Why now, Nan," Chris continued as if she hadn't spoken.  Pushing himself away from the wall he moved around her to pace back and forth.  "You know I felt like I was 18 years old again, and even after all these years, she still has the ability to make me feel worthless.  How the hell I made it through the show tonight, I'll never know."

 "If it's any consolation, no-one could have faulted your performance tonight, you were Y2J at his best and the crowd absolutely loved you."

 "At least someone does," he muttered.

 "Chris, has something happened with you and Rosie?"

 "No." he sighed again, "I guess I'm just paranoid something will."

 "You still haven't told her about what happened with Carly, have you?"

 Chris' refusal to meet her gaze was all the answer she needed.  "For Christ's Sake, Chris, you've got to tell her!" Nan exploded.  "If you don't, your suspicions will destroy your relationship!  She's the best thing to ever happen to you and I don't want to see you lose her."

 "Do you think I don't know that?" Chris demanded.  "I love her more than life itself, but every time I see her hug that brother of hers all I see is Carly.  Every time he smiles at her, or puts his arm around her, or kisses her, I don't see his face, I see Darren's.  If I didn't get out of there I would have ended up flooring Hunter." 

 Nan grabbed Chris by the forearms.  "Tell me one thing, do you trust Rosie?"

 "I………."

 Nan's dark brown eyes deepened to black at his hesitation.  "Well let me tell you something, Christopher, I trust Hunter impeccably and I would stake my life on the fact that neither he nor Rosie would do anything to hurt either one of us.  I've never seen Hunter so content within himself since he found out about Rosie.  Finally he has someone to call family, and I mean no disrespect to my own family when I say that because they all think of him as one of us anyway, but she's his own flesh and blood.  You have no idea what his parents were like, especially his mother who makes a frozen fish seem warm.  Few people can claim to know Hunter like I know him and believe me when I tell you that deep within him lies buried a man who has always craved for close family ties." 

"Nan, I'm…"

"I can't believe you're acting like this.  How long have you been with Rosie, two years? More?  You've given her your love and devotion, bought her a house for God's sake, and now you're telling me you don't trust her.  You can't have love without trust."

"I never said I didn't trust her!" Chris raked his fingers through his hair in frustration.  "Christ, I thought you of all people would understand how I'm feeling.  Can you honestly tell me that their closeness doesn't bother you?"

"Why the hell should it?  Because you're an only child you couldn't possible understand what it's like to have a sibling."

"Don't patronize me, Nan," Chris warned.  "You've always been like a sister to me."

"But there's a difference!" An exasperated Nan tried to explain.  "The relationship we have, although close, can't compare to one of a brother and sister that share blood.  And even though they only have a half share, I think it's great to see how close they've become.  There is a lot of sibling out there that can't stand the sight of each other."

Unable to argue that point, Chris hung his head.  "You always did shoot straight," he commented quietly.  "Trust you to make the muddy waters crystal clear."

Nan drew him into her arms and held him tight.  "It's only because I love you that I'm trying to make you see how foolish you are being."

"I've promised Rosie I'll try and be nice to Hunter," he murmured against her hair.

"That's certainly a step in the right direction," Nan smiled.  "Now lets go back inside, have a drink, maybe a dance, but at the very least have a good time."

"Lead the way, girl."  Chris invited as he spun her around and anchored her to his side, his hand resting lightly on her hip.

Unbeknown to the two of them a figure watched them from the shadows, an evil smile forming on perfectly made up lips.  Now she knew how to manipulate matters for her own ends. 

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