DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the wrestlers; they are owned by people who are not me. 'Crash and Burn' belongs to the late, great Savage Garden.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, I'm not perfect, so if stuff is wrong…don't yell at me. The lyrics are not in their exact order, because otherwise they'd be repetitive…
A/N 2: This is only my second Smoochy fic…be nice…
// denotes lyrics
// When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you //
Chris sat at the bar, alone and dejected.
He should have been celebrating his big push, and upcoming match with The Rock, but he couldn't. He didn't think there was much point to celebrating alone.
That's what he was - alone. It was hard to believe, since less than a month ago he was friends with almost everyone.
It was those rumors that had done it. Those Alliance rumors.
Was he joining the Alliance? He almost felt like it now. After all, everyone thought he was a traitor - he may as well act it.
But he hated the Alliance. They hated him. And deep within him, he knew he could never go back to WCW. Or ECW - with it's trashbag ho owner.
// Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart //
He let out a small sigh, and was surprised to hear it echoed by the person next to him.
"I know how you feel," said a small voice, obviously female. Chris didn't allow himself to look at the woman - it could be a fan - or a colleague. Best to remain anonymous.
"Do you?" he asked, a tone of bitterness in his voice. He didn't think anybody could feel as bad as him.
// I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you //
"Alone. Desperate. Confused. Depressed," the woman said, each word hitting right on target.
"Okay, you got me," he said, surrendering.
"Spill it," said the woman.
"My friends all think I'm a traitor, because of some stupid rumors. And the people I'm supposedly going to align myself with hate me, and I hate them," he said, surprised at how simple the whole thing sounded when he said it out loud.
"Well, my family all hate each other, and everyone thinks I'm just a fake bimbette," said the woman, putting her own two cents in.
// It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold //
Chris allowed himself to look at the woman - and was surprised to face the very trashbag ho that he had just been thinking about.
"Stephanie?!" he said, with shock and surprise written all over his face.
"Surprise," she said wryly.
"Stephanie," he repeated, as if the more times he said it, it would sound more believable.
"Yes," she said simply, finding a speechless Chris almost as hard to believe.
"I - I've got to go," he said. He left her looking at the door, almost in tears at the fact that she spilled her heart out to someone who probably couldn't care less.
// When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find //
Chris wandered the halls of the arena, trying to find someone to talk to.
"Matt! Matt!" he called, as he spotted the older Hardy at the end of the hallway. Matt just looked once at him and did a quick 180.
Chris was left alone - again. Why did they all have to believe those stupid rumors? he thought. If I weren't a guy, I'd be crying right now.
// You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head //
Alliance. WWF. Alliance. WWF. Those words kept on repeating themselves in his head. He felt as if he was being split in two.
The Alliance can offer you more, said one half.
The Alliance is filled with a bunch of jackasses that hate you and their leader is Stone Cold 'What?' Austin, said the other.
It's not like you're exactly buddy-buddy with your friends in the WWF, argued the first half.
It will boil over, replied the other half hopefully.
Great. Now, not only do I have no friends, but I'm schizophrenic. Just great, he thought.
// When hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face the day //
"Chris Jericho, at No Mercy, you will have a match for the WCW Title against The Rock. How do you feel about facing one of you own teammates?" Lillian Garcia asked.
"Well, Lillian," started Chris, searching for some smartass comment, but finding none, "it's going to be very exciting, I can tell you that."
"Is that it?" she asked, searching for more material.
"Yes, that's it. Got a problem with that?" he replied, a little too defensively.
"Uh, no. Thank you," she said quickly.
Chris walked away briskly, thinking to himself that the match was probably going to be exciting - but, knowing his track record, it wasn't going to go his way.
// Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall //
"Chris?" asked a voice, softly and tentatively, at Chris' door. He looked up to see Stephanie.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Well, as much as I hate you, and you hate me, you need a friend. And I'm it," she said.
"You really are a McMahon, aren't you?" he asked.
"Pure born and bred," and she gave him a small smile. Chris reluctantly returned it.
// Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart //
"Seriously, Chris, I was being truthful. You need a friend right now," she said.
"I know," Chris conceded.
"And I can be that friend…if you let me," she said softly.
// If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone //
"Steph, look, I know we got off on the wrong foot -" she cut him off.
"Oh, I'd call bottom-feeding trashbag ho the wrong foot," she said, but smiling, so he could tell she was teasing.
"But yes…I'd like you to be that friend," he said.
"Of course, Chris," Stephanie said, with compassion that, just one day ago, he never would have thought she had.
They smiled at each other and Chris realised that he wasn't alone.
Not anymore.
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