"Hey...where are Adam and Amy?"

"They went back to the car," she said.  "I am so sorry about your pants, Jay!"

"It's okay, sweetie...like I said, before, it's okay..."  He put an arm around her shoulders as they began walking on the way to meet their friends.

"Really?"

Jay stopped to gaze into the diva's worried face.  This woman was so undeniably precious.  Her uncertainty was actually endearing.  "Yes, really...come here..."  He smiled as he put his arms around her, drawing her against him.  He kissed her tenderly at first, but grew more passionate as he slipped his tongue into her mouth.  Her own tongue was still a little cold from the ice cream she'd just finished.

After a moment, he pulled back to gaze into her blue eyes, glad that she was now smiling, no longer looking unsure of herself.

"You're adorable...I love you!" he said with a slight chuckle.

Nora's eyes widened in surprise, and now it was Jay's turn to grow uncertain.  Oh, God - had he really said that out loud?  It was way too early for those words.  But it was too late - he'd said them, and he couldn't take them back.

"I'm sorry..." he mumbled, certain that he'd probably scared the hell out of her.  He looked away.

"For what?" the blonde woman questioned.  She reached out with both hands to gently turn his head so that he was looking into her eyes.

"For...what I just said," Jay replied.  "I know it's way too early, and-"

"Jay, I love you, too..."  She moved forward and placed her lips on his, and he kissed her back.  He mentally counted his lucky stars that her reaction was one-hundred and eighty degrees different from what he'd expected.  God, he loved this woman.

*

"God damn it!" Paul Levesque spat in his fury.  He smashed his right hand against the steering wheel, wishing it was the windshield.  He was that angry.

He hadn't meant to shoot the redhead.  Damn it - he'd had a clear shot at Copeland.  It would have been so simple - there'd been basically no one around.  He would have finally gotten the job done and then split - but that meddlesome Dumas bitch had ruined everything.

He couldn't believe what she'd done - the woman had placed herself in front of Copeland like a shield - and she'd known what was about to happen.  He was damned sure of it.  Paul didn't know if he considered her more crazy, stupid or brave for what she'd done - maybe the girl was a bit of each.

"Fuck!!" he yelled to no one but himself.  He just couldn't fathom the redhead's actions.  Even when Levesque had been with Joanie, whom he had actually loved, he knew he would never have taken a bullet for her.  Amy's actions had spoken volumes about how she truly felt about the tall blond man.

And if Amy Dumas died, it would be all her own fault - all her fault for having acted so recklessly.  Paul would not go down for this - he was not to blame.  And that was all there was to it.

*

Jay and Nora walked hand-in-hand as they neared the parking lot.  The blond man saw the commotion first, squinting his eyes as they neared.

"What's going...Adam!"  He quickly glanced at Nora.  "Oh, Christ - something happened..."

The blonde woman gave him a look of concern before they broke into a run, heading toward the scene.

There were a few people gathered around, apparently looking down at something - or someone on the ground.

Still holding tightly to Nora's hand, Jay pushed his way in between people, his heart nearly stopping at what he saw.

"Oh, my God..."

Adam was kneeling on the ground, but it hadn't been his best friend who had been the victim - it was Amy.

Nora's blue eyes widened in horror.  "Amy...?!"

The redhead had been shot, the front of her shirt stained with blood.  She appeared to be unconscious as the taller blond knelt over her where she lay on the pavement.  One of Adam's hands was gripping Amy's, the other clutched his cell phone.

"Oh, God..."

"Adam!" Jay called, and his best friend turned to look up at him over his shoulder.  The tall man's face was full of anguish, his cheeks drenched by tears.

"Holy shit...did-did you call 911?  An ambulance...?"

Adam nodded.

Nora couldn't contain herself any longer as she stared down at her friend lying there so helplessly, bleeding - perhaps to death.  She knelt down beside the blond man and stared into the redhead's face, tears welling in her eyes, nearly blinding her.

"Oh, my God..."  She turned to look into Adam's stricken face.  "This was Paul's doing..."

The man didn't reply yes or no, but the platinum blonde knew her former boyfriend had been behind this - and as she had after the rape of Torrie Wilson, she couldn't help feeling responsible.

The tears were streaming down the small diva's face as she thought about Paul Levesque.  She had never hated a soul in her entire life, but at that very moment, she hated him with all of her being.  She hated him so much, she wished he were dead...

...But what she couldn't understand was why the bastard had shot Amy.

As if reading her thoughts, Adam suddenly spoke.

"He was aiming for me...not her..."

Nora stared into his face as a fresh batch of tears formed in her eyes.

"She...she put her body in front of mine - she was trying to protect me."  He shook his head as though trying to comprehend.  "She took a fucking bullet for me!"

The tall Canadian was suddenly overcome by sobs, and Nora winced as the fresh tears ran down her cheeks.  She glanced helplessly up at Jay, who hovered just before her, his face wan and serious.  She turned back toward Adam, drawing him into a hug, which the blond man eagerly returned.

*

Torrie stirred more sugar into her coffee, keeping her eyes on Shane as he spoke.

They'd been mostly making light conversation, in particular staying off the topic of the horrible events of the past few days when he suddenly said something profound.

"I...I have to be honest here with you," he began, and the blonde met his steady gaze.  "Ever since you came to this company from WCW, I..."  He managed to keep his dark eyes fixed on her blue ones.  "...Well, I've always liked you, Torrie..."

The tall diva smiled.  It was a small smile, but her dimples showed through with it.  Shane's heart swelled at the sight of that.  He had always thought Torrie's smile as lovely.

Finally, the young woman spoke.  "Really?"

"Yes, very much so..."

Torrie's smile increased, blossoming into a full-fledged grin, and Shane felt the corners of his mouth turning up as well.  This woman's smile was absolutely infectious.  She was actually flattered by his admissions, and he couldn't help feeling a measure of relief.  For some reason, he'd always felt a bit intimidated by the notion of speaking to her so candidly.  Maybe it was because she was so beautiful - and he'd never thought she would ever give him the time of day because of it.  He was glad that he'd been wrong in that assessment.

"Wow..." the platinum blonde said, her eyes still locked with his.  "...that's so sweet..."  She was silent for a moment, a small smile still at her lips before she spoke again.  "I have to confess I...never would have thought you would ever like me..."

"What?"  Shane was surprised by that admission.  "Why?"

"Well," Torrie began, placing the spoon she'd been using down onto the tabletop, "you're the boss' son, and...well..."  She pushed some of her blonde locks behind one ear.  "...Why would the boss' son, someone so important, with so much money and power, want me?  I mean, you could have any girl you want..."

The dark-haired man chuckled softly, bordering on shock at her words as he realized that she had mistakenly thought this of him.  It was equal to how he had wrongly thought of her.  Ironic.

Shane reached one hand across the table almost tentatively, and grasped one of her hands in his.  Torrie bit her lip and stared down at their clasped hands, a pleasant chill running through her at the contact.  She rose her eyes back up to meet his and smiled.  She hadn't felt so good in days.

*

Stephanie smiled as she lay over Kurt, whose face also wore a soft, satisfied smile.  She lowered her head to his for another sweet, tender kiss, her heart nearly bursting with joy at the thought of what they'd just done.

She'd fallen in love with him over the last few days, and the brunette knew the feeling was mutual.

She lifted her head from his as their kiss faded, gently tracing a finger over his face as these thoughts went through her.

Kurt kissed the tip of her finger as it touched his lips.  "That was really nice..." he said softly, his gaze on her.

Stephanie couldn't help the tiny laugh that escaped her.  "Is that all?  Just 'really nice'?  I thought you were amazing, Kurt..."

The Olympian chuckled as he rose a hand to her cheek, caressing it tenderly.  "So are you, Steph..."  As he gently began to pull her down to him for another kiss, the tones of "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" on his cell phone interrupted them.

"Oh, jeez..."  Kurt reached over for it on the nightstand, and, checking the caller ID, he frowned with concern.  He decided he had to answer, seeing as the number displayed was Jay's cell phone.  He had a bad feeling about this...

"Hello?"  Angle felt a sense of dread as he said the word.

Stephanie gazed down at him wordlessly, a matching feeling coming over her as she saw the look on his face.  Kurt had suddenly gone deathly white, as well.

"Oh, God..."  He shifted his horror-filled blue eyes to the woman in his arms.

"What?  What is it?" she asked fearfully.

"They just took Amy to the hospital in an ambulance...she's been shot..."

The brunette stared at him with shocked disbelief, her blue eyes wide with horror.