Can't Make You Love Me, a wrestling fanfic

Turn down the lights
Turn down the bed
Turn down these voices
inside my head

She lay in the dark, her head facing the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was 2 am. Her arm reached to the other side of the bed, feeling the emptiness surrounding it. He was gone….again. It was the third time this week. Each time he came home and slipped into bed. He thought she was asleep seeing as he came in the middle of the night. But she was wide awake, listening to the soft sounds of his snore - to every breath he took. She knew where he went on the nights he wasn't home. She knew what he did. He didn't need to explain…she felt it. She closed her eyes and let a tear cascade down her cheek.

Lay down with me
Tell me no lies
Just hold me close,
don't patronize

The door opened and she knew it was him. His steps were deliberately light and soft as to not awake her. She wanted to scream to him that she knew…that he did not have to hide. He lifted up the covers and slipped inside, grunting as his body hit the mattress. It wasn't long before she heard the sound of his light snoring. She lightly ran her hand down his back and smiled softly. It was all too familiar. But deep down, things had changed. She could remember when he had proposed to her.

He had his hands around her eyes. "Where are you taking me?" she asked curiously yet excitedly at the same time.

"Just a few more steps," he said. Then he lifted his hands away from her face. "Ta da!"

She gasped. The kitchen was decorated with small light bulbs on the ceiling. On the dining table lay a picnic basket. He pressed the 'play' button on the stereo and slow music filled the room. She turned to him. "I love it," she said and gave him a hug.

"C'mon." He brought her to sit down. "I was waiting for the right time to do this and there's no time like Valentine's Day." He pulled out a velvet box from his coat pocket. He lifted the lid and inside was a 1 karat diamond ring.

"Randy…" she gasped. They had been dating for six months and she had never expected him to propose.

He bent down on one knee. "Will you be my wife?"

She smiled happily and screamed, "Yes!"

Wedding

"Do you Randy Orton take Mickie James as your lawfully wedded wife?" the pastor asked.

Randy looked into her eyes and smiled. "I do."

"Do you, Mickie James, take Randy Orton as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," she answered confidently. This was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

Cause I can't make you love me
if you don't
You can't make your heart feel
something it won't
Here in the dark
in these final hours
I will lay down my heart
And I'll feel the power
but you won't
No, you won't
Cause I can't make you love me
if you don't

Things had been great since the wedding. Sure they had their petty fights but always made up an hour later. However, both of them didn't know that his profession would change their lives forever.

Five months ago Vince had came up with the idea to put Randy and Trish together in a romantic storyline. Mickie, being his wife, was not happy about the arrangement.

"Tell Vince no," she told him, pouting. Her arms were folded against her chest and she looked away.

Randy sighed. "Mickie, you know in wrestling, you do what the boss says. How would I look telling him I can't do it just because my wife is jealous?"

She stomped her foot angrily. "I'm not jealous; I just don't want my husband kissing another woman."

He touched her cheek softly. "When I kiss her, I'll be thinking of you. Nobody can replace you in my heart."

She stared at him, her eyes moist. "What if you fall in love with her?"

For once, he did not have an answer.

The first few days, nothing had changed. After each show, they would meet at his locker room then go back to the hotel or out to dinner. She started to think that maybe the new storyline wasn't so bad after all. However he started breaking dates, saying he had to rehearse with Trish and go over their scripts. What happened one night was the breaking point of their relationship.

It was the two year anniversary of their marriage. They had planned to go to a fancy restaurant and Randy had already made the reservations. She had on a black halter dress and began putting a diamond earring in each ear when the phone rang. 'It must be Randy' she thought excitedly. She picked up the phone. "Randy?"

"Hi, babe," he said.

She frowned. He sounded a little distracted. "Where are you? You're supposed to come and pick me up."

There was a long pause on the other line. "Listen, things have come up in the script so I won't be able to go."

"But…but it's our anniversary!" she cried.

He sighed. "I know. I feel really guilty; I promise to make it up to you as soon as I get back."

"But-"She heard the click of the phone and knew he had hung up. "He's just doing his job. He's doing it for us." That was what she said every night that he was gone. At the beginning she believed it. Now…now she didn't know what to think. Then she started to do what she had done for the past few weeks – she cried.

I'll close my eyes
then I won't see
the love you don't feel
when you're holding me

Morning will come
and I'll do what's right
just give me till then
to give up this fight
and I will give up this fight

Listening to him breathe, her heart tightened. She loved him so much…more than life itself. If she asked, would he say the same? For every date he missed, for every word they didn't say, she told herself that he did love her. He just showed it in a different way. She turned to the other side so her back was facing him.

"Trish," he mumbled.

She squeezed her eyes tightly, feeling hot tears trickling from her hazel eyes. Tomorrow, she knew what she would do. Tomorrow everything will be over. But for one more night…she will let herself live a lie.