Wrestling 1. Christmas with the gang

Disclaimer - Same as usual, I don't own anything because if I did..well look I don't so lets not even go into it! I own this story but obviously I don't own any of the WWE wrestlers and if any of you think I do then your stupid. I am not an old man with grey hair called Vince..nuff said. This is the requested sequel to "The Island" Enjoy my lovelies =)  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Hey Steph, is it true that Chris really did wrestler with a pack or rabid wolves before saving the day and single hand idly getting you all off of that Island?" Jay asks as Stephanie walks back into the lounge and hands out the drinks she was carrying for her guests. It had been nearly three years since the "Island" incident and it was coming up to the third anniversary of them getting stuck there.  
  
"I don't remember that!" Paul laughs taking his drink and taking a sip from it  
  
"It's because it didn't even happen" Steph sighs sitting down on the couch cuddling up next to Chris who puts his arms around her and rolls his eyes. "Sounds to me like Mr. Irvine it making up stories again" she laughs turning round and poking him in the side. He grabs her hand and holds it away from him and looks at her.  
  
"Yeah it did, you must have just not been there at the time" Chris insists folding his arms angry that no one was believing him. He turns to Andrew "You remember it don't you? You tell them it happened so they'll believe me" Chris grins at him.  
  
"Oh right, yeah I remember that Chris" Andrew starts, Chris beams smugly at all the others at the party "And then I became undisputed Champion and flew to the moon before bedtime am I right?" Andrew laughs making Chris glare at him.  
  
"Yeah.." Chris says quietly to himself as the others start laughing at him. "No one ever believes me" Chris pouts putting his head on Steph's shoulder, she pats the side of his head and strokes his hair. "You lot weren't even there," Chris says sitting up again and picking up his drink.  
  
"Yeah but Andrew, Stephanie and Paul were there with us Chris" Adam laughs leaning back against the bottom on the couch where he is sitting "If they don't remember it then I'm sure it didn't happen. Besides the version I remember is that Steph was the one that did all the chair smashing to get us away from that Shan guy on the first one and it was Vince that got us out of there on the boat on the first one"  
  
"Yeah and he also got us onto the second one! So even if you did wrestle a pack of rabid wolves you sure as hell didn't single hand idly get us off the Island" Paul laughs nudging Chris in the side telling him they are only messing with him. "Why are we even talking about that, we're home now aren't we and we're all safe"  
  
"What got you all talking about this anyway?" Steph asks leaning her head against Chris's "We haven't mentioned it much since we got back, and that was years ago"  
  
"We were just talking and Adam realised it's nearly three years since we were there and we were talking about whatever happened to Mr. Shan, oh yeah and how much we still hate your dad for that whole thing with more Islands"  
  
"Yeah but your faces were priceless!" Chris laughs, "When he said 'Your Island adventures have just begun' the look on your faces was a classic! I wish I had a camera" Chris chuckles.  
  
"You can talk! You were the one that screamed and started going psycho on us" Adam laughs making everyone laugh at Chris again. "It was kinda funny I guess but still, it does kinda add to our island adventures" Adam chuckles to himself remembering what they'd gone through after they'd got off the first Island. "Gives us more of a story to tell"  
  
"I didn't scream!" Chris grumbles leaning forward and smacking Adam in the back of the head "That wasn't a scream. It was more a cry of terror!" Chris laughs "But come on guys was the second Island really THAT bad?" Chris asks looking at them. Paul laughs quietly to himself and puts another log on the fire. "No really, what was wrong with it?..I had fun, loved every second of it!"  
  
"Liar!" Stephanie giggles tucking her feet beneath her "I think you got the worst of it" She smiles and looks at the fire "It's nice that we're all here don't you think?" She asks yawning and stretching her arms above her head. "There were a few points we didn't think we'd ever make it back alive, but here we are. Nearly three years on, at Christmas having a weekend away in the mountains with our closet and dearest friends"  
  
"Oh here we go, she's going to get all sentimental now!" Chris laughs looking round at everyone.  
  
"No I'm serious, thanks for all being here," Steph says laying herself down in Chris's lap and wrapping his arms loosely around her. "Even if it does mean I'm putting you all through spending more than twenty-four hours with Chris Irvine. Trust me, I've had to do it for the past three years. It's tough you know!" Steph laughs swatting Chris's hand away when he starts tickling her.  
  
"You know, I don't think you ever did tell us what happened on the second Island..Have they?" Rob asks looking around at the others as they all shake their heads.  
  
"I'll tell them!" Chris says excitedly clapping his hands together, Steph punches him in the arm making him settle down "That hurt" He whines rubbing his arm.  
  
"Don't let Chris tell them, it'll turn into fire breathing dragons and him taking on three headed monkeys or something!" Paul laughs toasting his feet on the fire. Chris looks over at him and scowls "Sorry Blondie but it's true..You do like to..Exaggerate"  
  
"Why don't we tell them tomorrow, it's getting late and this story could take a while to tell" Steph yawns again. "You don't mind if I go to bed now do you? Chris can set up where everyone is sleeping..After all it is his holiday cabin" Steph stands up.  
  
"It's OUR holiday cabin" Chris says getting up and following her "I don't know where people are supposed to sleep, it was your idea to invite all our friends to stay with us over Christmas.." Chris continues as he follows her into the bedroom and closes the door. 


	2. And so it begins again

Chapter 2  
  
"Well this is just great isn't it!" Andrew moans kicking at the sand on the beach. Chris shakes his head and looks around them while Adam and Steph help Paul up the beach towards the other two.  
  
"At least it looks alright," Chris suggests shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"That's what we thought about the last one, you remember don't you Chris. The nice weather and the great food we caught and our little house and then it all went wrong didn't it! We got attacked by strange animals, we got put under extreme temperatures, Steph got kidnapped need I go on idiot!" Andrew yells loosing his cool, he sits down in the sand with his back towards the others.  
  
"Sorry" Chris mutters sitting down too and putting his arms crossed over his knees, Steph walks over with Paul and Adam and sits down in front of him and takes both his hands. "What am I supposed to have done to him in the last ten minutes? This is obviously all my fault isn't it" Chris mumbles sarcastically "Let's all blame this one on Chris!" He shouts In Andrew's direction "Miserable sod"  
  
"You didn't do anything wrong, just ignore him. We're all tired and stressed out, and well..Disappointed" Paul says calmly dropping down into the sand next to them "We thought we were going home" Paul sighs looking at his leg which had been injured on the first Island.  
  
"You think that'll be ok?" Chris asks nodding towards his leg, Paul just shrugs his shoulders and looks at the ground "So what do we do now? I don't think sitting here is going to help us"  
  
"Even if we did find somewhere to shelter until we can figure a way out of this mess..We don't have any of our stuff anymore. No food, no clothes, no coats, no water, no nothing. We left it all behind, we didn't know we were going to need it did we" Andrew says still facing away from the others.  
  
"I say we split up, some of us can find some shelter while the others find us some food and water" Adam suggests finally sitting down with the rest of the group after walking around for a while. "I don't see what else we can do, we could spend ages just finding a shelter but then realize we're going to need food and water to survive. This way both tasks get done"  
  
"Yeah but if we split up there's nothing saying that we'll find each other again, we don't want to get separated. That's the last thing we need to do, if this one is anything like the last one we stay together at all costs" Andrew turns around to face everyone "We cant afford to lose any one of us agreed?"  
  
"He's right, we could get separated" Stephanie says getting up "I think right now while it's still light finding food and water is more important, shelter isn't a big problem. If we don't find anything my night fall we go to the tree line where the forest meets the beach and we stay there" Chris gets up too and dusts the sand from his trousers. "Is that ok with everyone?"  
  
"Yeah I'm starving" Chris says patting him stomach, Steph looks at him "What I am, we haven't had anything to eat for ages you know" Steph takes hold of his hand and puts his arm around her waist.  
  
"Don't play hero and go wondering off on your own alright" Steph smiles at him and kisses his cheek before walking over to the others "So which way do you think we should be going, we need fresh water right so we need to go away from the sea" Steph and Adam help Paul up as they all look around. Chris walks over to her and puts his arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder.  
  
"What do you mean don't go off on my own, like I'd ever do something like that!" Chris laughs "Anyway stop distracting me from the task at hand, we've got stuff to do if we don't want to be stuck here forever and your trying to seduce me" Steph shrugs him off of her and pushes him away from her lightly "See you cant keep your hands off me, you want me"  
  
"Chris just stay focused alright, I think we should head along the beach and see where we are before we do anything. It might help if we sort of know our surroundings" Steph says before walking along the beach with the others. Chris turns to Andrew and points to Steph.  
  
"That woman so wants me," he tells him before running after the others. 


	3. Dreams of home

Chapter 3  
  
"I cant wait to get home and have a hot bath, oh yeah and sleep in a bed that doesn't consist of a sleeping bag and the ground" Steph whispers to Chris looking up at the sky "You can join me if you like" she laughs quietly tracing her fingers over his hands as they sit next to the fire together. "I'm glad we're together Chris"  
  
"Me too" Chris smiles to himself and wraps his arms tighter around her, he looks over at the other three who were sleeping soundly now. "I'm sorry about everything I ever said to you.." Chris whispers kissing the side of her head "I didn't mean any of it, I'm sorry"  
  
"Stop apologizing it's alright honestly" Steph says leaning back against his chest "I've forgotten it already"  
  
"Yeah but I still feel bad, I made you cry and I made you upset. I was such an asshole to you for no reason, I took it way too far all the time. I feel bad sitting here with you or anywhere else telling you how much I love you after everything I've said in the past, how can I make it up to you?" Chris mumbles brushing the hair away from her neck and kissing it "I'll do anything you want me to"  
  
"Well how about you stop talking about it..The rest..You can make that up to me when we get home" Steph says to him as he tightens his arms around her, she runs her hands over his forearms feeling the hairs on his arms stand on end "Are you cold or something?"  
  
"No, it's you" Chris laughs "Stop it, your giving me goose bumps" He laughs grabbing hold of her hands stopping her from tickling his arms "You'll wake the others up and you now how grumpy they'll be then" Chris lays down on his back propping himself up on his arms as he watches her in the small amount of light that is given off from the fire.  
  
"Do you think we'll ever get out of here and get home?" Steph asks crawling over to him and laying down next to him "I want to go home" she whispers closing her eyes tightly as if trying to block out their surroundings and her tears, Chris looks down at her and puts her arm across her. She opens her eyes and looks at him and smiles weakly "I shouldn't even have to ask, I know you'll make sure we get home"  
  
"Of course I will..Just think of this as a little holiday that we'll be going home from afterwards. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, I promise" Chris says running his hand over stubbled chin "I didn't even want to grow a beard you know..Not that I have much choice now though we don't have any of our stuff"  
  
"Ever heard of waxing?" Steph yawns pushing him down onto the ground and laying against his side.  
  
"I can't wax my face, that would be just plain stupid" Chris laughs and wraps her up in his arms "I didn't even know what was possible to wax your face..Is it?" Chris asks her "Steph?" Chris turns his neck and looks over her and smiles when he sees she's asleep "I didn't know I was that boring" Chris sighs to himself before kissing the top of her head.  
  
"Chris..shut up already" he hears Paul mutter as he turns over.  
  
"Sorry" Chris whispers before laying his head against Steph's back and falling asleep.  
  
********************  
  
"Chris..Are you awake?" Chris opens his eyes a little bit and sees Steph kneeling next to him trying to wake he up, he closes his eyes tightly again "I know your awake Jericho so quit pretending" Steph laughs grabbing his arms and pinning them above his head, she looks down at him while he tries not to smile "What's that?" Steph asks running her fingers over a mark on his arm, he flinches away from her and opens his eyes looking at it.  
  
"I dunno, it looks like a bite or something..It hurts. I must have got bitten by something in the night" Chris mumbles, "How did you know I was awake anyway?" Chris asks as Steph climbs off of him and stands up.  
  
"You look way cuter than you did just then when your sleeping, so innocent, so adorable" Steph laughs "Maybe you should show Paul your arm, he knows loads of useless information and maybe he'll know..Don't tell him I said that though alright," she says holding her hand out to Chris and pulling him up who groans from the pain in his back. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Sleeping on nothing but the ground is really doing me no good, at least when we had the sleeping bags we had something to sleep on" Chris moans stretching "Where is Paul and the others anyway? Did they get lost in the jungle or eaten by cannibals?" He asks wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.  
  
"You wish Irvine" Paul laughs "Besides, whatever ate me last time couldn't have thought much or they would have finished me off" he says "here's your breakfast" he chucks Chris a green banana as Andrew and Adam walk over to them as well and sit down, Chris looks down at it in his hands and then back at Paul "Sorry that's the best we could do for now"  
  
"I don't like bananas..Especially not green looking ones" Chris holds it up in front of him pulling a face.  
  
"It's just not as ripe as it could be, there's nothing wrong with them but your welcome to go and try and find something else if you want but I don't think you'll have much luck" Paul replies watching Chris slowly unpeel it with a look of disgust on his face.  
  
"It's something at least, where's your sense of adventure Chris?" Steph asks him sitting down with him leaning against his side "It's better than being hungry"  
  
"I'd rather have a pizza..And my sense of adventure, I think I left it on the other island. The last time you asked me that you fell down a big hole and I thought I'd never see you again so don't start with me" Chris laughs a little before taking a bite out of his breakfast. "I think I'm going to be sick," he moans cupping his hand over his mouth and running towards the jungle away from the others. 


	4. Buncha Idiots

Chapter 4  
  
"Is he feeling alright now?" Paul asks sitting down next to Stephanie as they take a break from walking along the beach to find some shelter of some kind. Steph just looks at him and then back to where Chris is running around knee deep in the sea spearing Adam and Andrew into the water. "Yeah" Paul laughs "I guess he's fine then"  
  
"Apart from moaning about his arm and how he's never eating another banana again I think he's alright" Steph smiles to herself and watches Chris, she notices Paul laugh to himself and looks at him "What's so funny? Why are you laughing at me like that?" She asks puzzled, he shakes his head and laughs some more "tell me.."  
  
"I've never seen you look at anyone like you look at him before that's all, it's just something I've never seen..Least of all to a guy who you supposedly hated" Paul says watching the corners of Steph's mouth turn up realizing what he was talking about.  
  
"I do hate him, I love him at the same time though..I guess I always loved him really I just thought it was better to make myself believe I hated him..If that makes sense?" She laughs as Chris comes running out of the water being chased by Adam and Andrew. She holds her arms out to him as he runs over to her skidding down into the sand next to her letting her wrap her arms around him.  
  
"Erm..Yeah perfect" Paul nods just going along with it, he notices Chris looking at him wondering what they were talking about "What's wrong Jericho, don't think we were actually talking about you do you?" Paul laughs, Chris turns his head away and lays it on Steph.  
  
"You're going to make it worse" Steph says to him as he sits there scratching his arm "The last thing you want is for it to get infected and your arm to drop off or something" Chris looks at her and gives her a fake smile "Ok so it might not fall off exactly, but you will make it worse"  
  
"Yes mom" Chris sighs closing his eyes "I really think that my arm falling off is the least of our problems right now though don't you, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm dirty and I want to go home" Steph looks at Paul and shrugs her shoulders "you lot aren't exactly making it any easier either" he mumbles under his breath, Steph pushes him off of her and gets up, he opens his eyes quickly to see her walking off "Steph I didn't mean that!"  
  
"Grow up Jericho, we're all fed up!" Steph shouts back at him and walking towards Adam and Andrew, Paul looks at Chris and shakes his head before getting up too and going after them.  
  
"Fine, you all go off without me and leave me here to rot! See if I care!" Chris yells at them before laying back in the sand and closing one of his eyes, he folds his arms over his head blocking out the sun but making sure to keep one eye open so he can see which direction they go in so he can go after them later "buncha idiots" Chris growls to himself and slams his fists down into the sand.  
  
"Is it just me or when you stand facing this way does this whole beach seem rather familiar" Adam asks turning his body round facing away from where Chris is laying a long way down the beach. "I dunno I'm just trying to figure it out, maybe it just seems familiar because yet again we are stuck in a place with very little else but sand" Adam sighs.  
  
"And sand stone.." Andrew points out thinking nothing of it, suddenly Steph starts screaming and jumping around. She grabs Adams hands and starts shouting that he's a genius. He stands there a little confused about what exactly it is he's done to make him a genius "erm..Wanna fill me in on why I'm a genius please?"  
  
"Sand stone! This place is familiar, this is exactly the same place as we were in before! Look there's the sand stone rock where you guys set up the nets, that's why it's familiar but only if we look in that direction. We never really went the other way!" Steph screams dragging them off down the beach.  
  
"No this can't be the same place Steph, we got off the Island we were in a boat. There is no way we could have turned around or come back here without us noticing, that's just impossible" Adam says scratching his head getting confused by the whole thing.  
  
"He's right this isn't the same island, the last one we were on had three others in the distance away from us. This one only has two, but she's right as well. This is the same place, that is the rock we were fishing from..This is too weird" Paul mumbles to himself trying to figure it out "I've never heard of twin islands before, not ones that are exactly the same anyway. I guess there is one way we can find out"  
  
"Find the waterfall?" Steph suggests  
  
"Exactly.." Paul agrees looking towards the edge of the forest "If we're right it should be just behind that line of trees" he says before the four of them walk off to find the waterfall. Chris continues to lay on his back in the sand watching them go, he sits up not believing they'd go off without him and leave him on his own.  
  
"Buncha idiots" he mutters.. 


	5. Cutting the wires

A/N: Hello My lovelies, look who has added a new chapter..me yay! Haha yeah sorry it's been sooooo long and this time it really has been what seems forever but here's a chapter for you. I've been really busy and have just finished by exams and I'm on holidays now. I don't think this is going to be updated as much as it used to be because I'm very busy but I will do what I can for any of you that still read my stuff (you crazy!) Please R&R if you ever read this or any of my others, I like to know what you think.. On with the story =)  
  
Chapter 5  
  
The sound of the phone ringing out in the hallway makes everyone jump, Chris scrambles to his feet from his place on the floor in front of the fire and runs to get the phone. It was just a few days before Christmas and they'd been snowed in the night before and none of them had been expecting the phone to ring when it did. Paul yawns and stretches in his chair putting his legs over the arm lying out a little more. Chris comes back in from the hallway and sits down again in front of Steph on the floor.  
  
"Who was that?" Steph asks him, patting the space next to her wanting him to sit with her. Chris pulls himself up onto the couch next to her and puts his arm around her.  
  
"Who cares, come on you gotta tell us the rest of the story" Jay whines with the others nodding their head in agreement, they wanted to find out what was going on with the Islands, were they on the same one and if Stephanie ever kicked the crap out of Chris or not. "You are getting to the bit where you kicked Chris's ass aren't you Stephanie?"  
  
"She didn't kick my ass" Chris rolls his eyes at Jay "and it was some people that own the store up the road, they know me and Steph come here for Christmas and they just called to tell us there's another storm warning just gone up so we could be snowed in even more. Doesn't look like we'll be leaving this place in a hurry"  
  
"That's alright, we've got a while till we have to go back to work yet.and besides, we're not leaving until you tell us the rest of the story!" Rob laughs, "So did you actually kick his ass or just knock him around a bit"  
  
"Guys!..Come on, she didn't kick my ass" Chris whines not wanting to think that she had, Steph starts laughing as Chris looks at her wondering what is so funny.  
  
"There wasn't a moment when my foot came directly in contact with his backside..But yeah, I kicked his ass good!" Steph bursts out laughing, Chris throws his arms up in frustration and sighs knowing he can't win. She hadn't exactly kicked his ass but she had shouted at him a lot..But the others would soon hear about that in the story. Chris just hoped Steph would leave the parts where he begged for mercy like a little kid out, it was kind of embarrassing.  
  
"Chris if your girlfriend wasn't Stephanie McMahon we'd be forced to tear you apart with this and totally humiliate you at work because she showed you who's boss, but we cant because it's completely understandable and any guy that dates Steph is allowed to get their ass kicked my her, it's like the law or something" Jay smirks to himself and then looks over at Paul "Isn't that right Trips?"  
  
"Oh no doubt, notice how Chris is like her calm little lap dog now. He learnt the hard way not to mess with Stephanie McMahon" Paul chuckles to himself watching Chris go redder and redder by the second.  
  
"Ok everyone that's enough, it really wasn't that big a deal..Besides, Chris did fight back" Steph giggles to herself.  
  
"Woman beater!" Jay yells pointing at Chris causing everyone to laugh, "Did he give you smart ass attitude?"  
  
"Like always" Steph smiles sweetly at Chris "But I wouldn't change anything about him" she says leaning in and giving him a kiss making everyone else make retching noises and tell them to get a room. "You are all just jealous because he's mine and I've got him all to myself" Steph laughs.  
  
"Damn, she found out guys!" Rob sighs shaking his head, the group laughs again and settles down waiting to hear the rest of the story. Adam gets up and walks into the kitchen to get some more drinks for everyone, the lights suddenly go out throwing the room and the rest of the cabin into darkness apart from the orange glow coming from the fire.  
  
"Ok..Who turned out the lights?" Andrew asks peering through the darkness trying to make everyone out  
  
"It might be the fuse or something, I'll go check" Chris replies pulling away from Steph and getting up off the couch, he holds his arms out in front of him trying to look for things he recognizes so he can find his way outside to the fuse box.  
  
"I'll go with you" Paul says getting up and following him, as their eyes start to adjust to the darkness and use the light they have from the fire they all look at each other thinking that maybe it's just the snow storm that has knocked the power out or a short circuit or something. A torch is shined at the group and they see Adam with a couple of torches, he hands one to Steph and walks back over to them giving one to Chris as he goes. Chris and Paul grab their coats from the hook and Chris unbolts the front door a cold wind whirling around the room making everyone shiver.  
  
"You know, telling ghost stories right now would be a good idea" Jay suggests "I don't think there's anything spookier than a group of friends stuck up in the mountains in a cabin, snowed in unable to escape their fate. Not knowing that they are all spending their last few hours in the dark, the perfect setting for the murderer to strike and kill us all" Jay laughs  
  
"Jay stop. That's not even funny..I wonder what's taking Chris so long" Steph gets up and walks towards the front door and peers out looking for Chris. Adam sneaks up on her and grabs her shoulders tightly making her scream. He starts laughing and puts his hand over her mouth. Chris comes running inside throwing the door open hearing the scream "Adam you idiot, you scared the life out of me"  
  
"What's going on?" Chris asks worriedly thinking that something had happened to her, he ruffles his hair sending the snow falling to the floor, he slips of his coat as Paul comes running inside too rubbing his hands together from the cold.  
  
"Adam and Jay were trying to scare me saying we were all going to get murdered. But anyway did you find out what's wrong with the power?" Stephanie asks picking snow out of his hair. Jay, Rob and Andrew walk into the dark hallway too wondering what's going on. Chris bolts the front door again and switches on the lamp he'd got from outside.  
  
"We checked to see if there was any snow on the power lines but there wasn't so we thought it must be the fuse box, I tested the fuse and that's fine..Someones cut the wires though.." Chris says quietly watching as everyone's faces go into a look of shock.  
  
"What do you mean someone has cut the wires, there's no one here but us.." Andrew says not sounding so sure "We are the only ones here right?"  
  
"This is the only cabin up here for about eighty miles" Stephanie mumbles "We must be the only ones here, the roads are blocked. No one can get up here by road and its too cold to walk and why would anyone cut the fuse?" she asks trying not to sound as scared as she actually is.  
  
"So that we're in the dark" Jay whispers "So they can kill us and no one would ever know.." 


	6. Harmless Threats?

Chapter 6  
  
Everyone rolls their eyes at this idea of Jays and he receives several punches in the arm telling him that his idea is a stupid one and maybe he should stop talking about the whole someone wanting to kill them in the dark thing. Chris moves his hand to the light switch and flicks it on and off a couple more times knowing that really it wouldn't help but it just seemed like the right thing to do.  
  
"Jay there is no one here but us, it probably snapped or something" Steph says taking the lamp from Chris and walking back towards the lounge with everyone quickly following behind her not wanting to be left in the dark. She puts it down on the coffee table making the whole place a little lighter.  
  
"Yeah Stephanie's right..The wire obviously cut itself in half with some wire cutters..We're so stupid" Chris laughs making fun of her saying that the wire probably snapped, Steph turns back and glares at Chris who moves quickly behind Paul out of her sight.  
  
"So come on then, when are you going to carry on telling us the rest of the story?" Rob asks putting his arm across Steph's shoulder, she shrugs her shoulders and slips out from under his arm and walks off across the room towards the stairs. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Chris can tell you.." Steph mutters, "I'm going to bed" she replies before storming off up the stairs, everyone looks at Chris thinking he's obviously upset her. The bedroom door slams making everyone jump, her footsteps are heard upstairs walking across the room above them before stopping and heading back the other way. The door is heard opening again and Steph walks back downstairs and over to Chris.  
  
"I thought you were going to bed?" Chris asks her folding his arms and raising his eyebrows a little at her, she smiles sweetly at him and moves closer to him putting her hand on his arm.  
  
"Well I am..But it's dark and I'm scared and need my big strong man to come with me and look after me" Stephanie smiles again at him rubbing his arm. Chris looks over Steph's shoulder at Adam and Jay who give him a thumbs up and start nodding towards Steph and winking, Chris rolls his eyes.  
  
"Lemme guess..Your big strong man was busy so you picked me instead?" Chris asks uncrossing his arms and putting one of them around her waist, the others sigh before going and sitting down again knowing Chris and Steph's little moments can last for quite a while.  
  
"Well no..I just decided to forgive you for being a smart ass and laughing at me so.." Stephanie puts her arms around his neck and kisses him "But if you want to tell the story it's ok"  
  
"Night everyone" Chris says quickly picking her up and running up the stairs nearly tripping over his own feet on the way, Rob and Jay look over at Paul as if waiting for him to continue the story now that Steph and Chris have gone. Paul nods his head slowly accepting the new story-telling role before continuing where they'd left off.  
  
***  
  
Chris has finally swallowed his pride and decided to run after the others so not to get lost on the beach and end up being left on his own while they went in search of the waterfall hoping to either find it in the same place it was and decide that it was the same island of a duplicate of it or to not find it and discover that it has just been a co-incidence that the beach had looked the same. Chris runs across the sand, the heat of it no longer burning his feet after all these weeks of walking around with no shoes on. He runs through the line of trees around the area he thought he'd seen them disappear into and looks around him wondering where they were his ears listening out for their voices.  
  
"Steph!? Paul!?" Chris yells looking around him again walking forward a little looking down at the floor to look for their foot prints "Adam!? Andrew!?" He yells again starting to panic a little at the thought of being on his own and dying somewhere in the middle of the jungle "STEPH! WHERE ARE Y..!?" An arm grabs hold of Chris and forces a hand over his mouth making Chris's heart stop.  
  
"Chris shut up with the screaming and come and look what we found" Paul says quietly removing his hand from over Chris's mouth and walks back off into the trees. Chris stands his heart racing thinking he was getting attacked when it was only Paul, he watches him walk away before quickly running to catch up not to be left alone again.  
  
"Where's Stephy?" Chris asks walking a little faster to keep up with Paul, his eyes darting around through the trees looking for her.  
  
"We found the waterfall, it's just where it should be and so is our cave. Stephanie is with Adam and Andrew there now and they sent me to come and get you, as you were being too stubborn to come with us. You upset her you know, your not the only one that's hungry, tired and wants to go home Chris" Paul stops and turns to look at Chris "If you upset her I'll break your legs" Paul says before continuing walking.  
  
"Woah..Hang on one minute Mr. I'm so not over Stephanie, was that a threat!?" Chris laughs more out of shock than finding anything funny, he couldn't believe what he'd just heard from Paul.  
  
"A warning more than a threat" Paul mutters not even slowing down or looking at Chris "and I'm over her"  
  
"Er yeah right! I know what this is, she's with me and you don't like it. Jeez Paul why don't you go ahead and leave me in the jungle to get lost if I'm coming between you and your precious Stephanie McMahon" Chris snaps getting annoyed that Paul had been acting all best friend like with Steph when all he seemed to want was to get her back.  
  
"Because Chris.." Paul spits "If I left you in the jungle she'd never forgive me because she loves you! God knows why because all your gunna do is upset and hurt her, but she loves you and that's her choice. Nothing I can do about it now is there," Paul mutters stepping through the line of trees into the clearing. "You mention this to her and I'll kill you" He says walking off leaving Chris on his own.  
  
"Whatever.." Chris mumbles looking around him recognizing the place straight away, he sighs and looks over to the waterfall where Steph, Adam and Andrew are already splashing around in the lake laughing and having a great time. Just a short way away Chris could see the entrance to the cave that they'd stayed in..On this Island or the one exactly like this, that he didn't know yet. Chris sits down in the sand watching them play around in the water and watches Paul join them wondering how a guy he thought was his friend and had never seen act like that while they'd been stuck could turn around and start acting like he was. 


	7. Falling out and Making up

Chapter 7  
  
Chris decided that it would probably be a good idea if he kept away from the others, firstly he didn't want to end up getting into a fight with Paul about what he'd said about Stephanie and secondly he didn't want to make her any angrier than she probably already was with him. For the past few days he'd been spending all his time on his own away from the others, down on the beach or up on the cliff where he could wait for them all too calm down. He'd go back to the cave at night and collect the food that someone had been leaving out for him incase he got hungry before going back to his own little hideout across the lake. After the fifth day of being away from the others Chris started to wonder that if they got off the Island would they take him with them or just leave him there, he'd managed to convince himself that they'd all forgotten about him and were better off without him. Chris wades out of the cool water and starts walking across the sand towards the cave, the others had all gone off down to the beach earlier in the morning and he'd sat on one of the boulders next to the lake just watching them walk away. Chris wrings out the water from his shorts and picks up the little parcel of food wrapped in banana leaves that had been left out for him, he walks back across towards the lake to eat his food.  
  
"You found the food I've been leaving out for you then" Chris stops dead in his tracks and looks up "I was starting to think maybe an animal had been getting it instead of you..I've been worried" Steph says quietly, Chris looks down at the food realizing Steph had been leaving it out for him. "I didn't want you to get hungry or anything and you might not have got much yourself.." she starts.  
  
"I can look after myself" Chris says chucking the food parcel onto the floor knowing he's going to regret that when his stomach growls from hunger. "I don't need you leaving food out for me and I don't need you acting like you care either because it's because of you I have to be on my own!" Chris shouts a pang of guilt hitting him as soon as he's said it. Chris shakes his head before continuing to walk away from her.  
  
"So this is MY fault!? What's wrong with you! Why are you avoiding me!?" Steph yells back at him grabbing hold of his shoulder making him face her. "How am I making you be on your own! How is it my fault that ever since we got here you've been acting like a spoilt kid thinking that everything is about you! I wanted to go home too, I wanted to go home and see my family and my friends and be with you! This isn't just about you and what you wanted!" Steph screams at him shoving him in the chest.  
  
"I never said this was about me! I never once said that any of this was about me, I know everyone else is feeling the same way and everyone else wants to go home but not everyone is being threatened by your ex boyfriend, not everyone is so in love with you that they would do anything to be anywhere else but here with you right now and not everyone is having to avoid you so they don't get their legs broken!" Chris shouts back at her.  
  
"What do you mean threatened by my ex boyfriend?" Steph asks her eyes wide wondering what Paul has got to do with Chris avoiding her. "He wouldn't do that"  
  
"Well guess what.. He did, he said that if I upset you again he'd break my legs. That's why I've been keeping away from you because I don't want to upset you for Christ sake!" Chris sighs, "Look I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for upsetting you and acting like a kid or whatever. I just hate this!"  
  
"I know..We all do" Steph says quietly "I can't believe Paul would say something like that..Chris please stop avoiding me, It's breaking my heart being away from you" Steph looks at him "I'm sorry I shouted too but I didn't know what was wrong with you, I thought you hated me or something" Chris shakes his head and pulls her into a hug "Where have you been?"  
  
"Up on the cliff and around the beach, as far away from Paul and you as possible" Chris says hugging her tightly leaning his head against hers "I found a little space like this little hollow area up In the cliff, I've been hiding out in there and watching you guys"  
  
"Stalking me huh..Can you show me?" she asks pulling away a little but keeping her arms wrapped around him.  
  
"Only if you don't tell the others where it is, It's nice to have somewhere to hide from them..Can be our little secret" Chris laughs taking her hand and walking along with her, Paul, Andrew and Adam step out into the clearing and see Chris and Steph walking off together. Adam and Andrew look at each other thinking Stephanie must have found him, Paul frowns to himself wondering if he should follow them or not but is soon dragged off with Adam and Andrew.  
  
***  
  
"Do you ever wonder if people are missing us back home and are wondering where we are yet?" Steph asks Chris kneeling between his legs putting her hands on his shoulders. Chris shrugs his shoulders and leans back against the rock wall putting his hands on her hips.  
  
"We weren't supposed to be gone this long so yeah I suppose people are missing us..But no doubt your dad has managed to come up with some stories as to why we're not back yet and everyone's believing him" Chris replies picking at the leaves and grass on the floor that he'd collected and had been using as a make shift mattress "I guess we'll find out when we get home"  
  
"You still think we're going to get home?" Steph sighs tugging gently at a strand of Chris's sun bleached hair that had been hanging down by his face. They all looked a lot different to when they'd left, all with dark tanned skin from the sun and Chris's hair was almost sun bleached white blonde from the bright sun everyday.  
  
"Hey don't say that of course we're going to get home, besides you said I could join you in your bath and sleeping in a bed remember..You can't break a promise like that to me, that's what I'm looking forward to most" Chris laughs, Steph raises her eyebrow at him "Ok, so I admit it..i'm a guy alright, I find you extremely sexually attractive" Chris grins at her and wraps his arms around her waist.  
  
"Wow, I'm honoured..But the feelings mutual you know. Your pretty hot yourself.." Steph leans against him and leans her forehead against his "So why wait?" she asks him looking him in the eye, just as Chris is about to say something Steph presses her lips against his stopping him from talking. Steph takes his hand and moves it to the back of her top so he can undo it as they continue to kiss each other. 


	8. Chris Dead?

Chapter 8  
  
Chris looks down at the bite mark on his arm that still hasn't gone away and if anything had gotten worse over the past couple of days. He sighs quietly and looks over his shoulder at Steph who is sleeping with his shirt over her body, he smiles to himself and looks back out over the lake swinging his legs idly over the huge drop between the ledge that he is sitting on and the water below.  
  
"Chris?" Steph says sleepily, Chris turns his head again and looks over at her as she looks back at him sheepishly. Chris crawls away from the ledge and over to her laying down on his side leaning up on his elbow. "Sorry for throwing myself at you like that" Steph laughs pulling her top on and looking around for her shorts. "I hope I didn't make you do anything you'll regret"  
  
"No, no it was fine with me" Chris smiles at her watching her stand up now fully dressed, she sits down at his side and leans back against his legs "It was a good thing" he says rolling over onto his back tucking his hands behind his head.  
  
"It was better than just good.." Steph looks at him and winks before moving over him and laying on him, she puts her head on his chest and smiles to herself "I love you Chris" she says wrapping her arms around his chest and hugging him tightly.  
  
"I love you too" Chris says grinning "I cant wait to get home, you know as soon as we get home I want you to live with me and one day I'll ask you to marry me properly and everything" Chris puts his arms around her hugging her back.  
  
"Oh yeah? When do you reckon you'll have all this done by?" Steph asks him trying not to laugh knowing all about Chris's big ideas and wondering if any of them will actually ever happen.  
  
"Well..i'll ask you to move in with me as soon as we get home and I'll ask you to marry me exactly three years after we get off of this place, that gives us three years to be together and find a place to live before we get married" Chris tells her sounding like he's got all the plans planned out ready in his head.  
  
"Sounds good to me.." Steph laughs "Chris your arms getting worse" Steph says looking at it "Maybe you should show the others and see what they think and I know after the thing with Paul you don't exactly want to ask him what he thinks but he might know, it doesn't seem to be getting any better"  
  
"It's fine, don't worry it doesn't hurt..Much and I'm sure it will go away in a few days. It's probably just an insect bite, you know like a flea bite only not" Chris tries to reassure her knowing that shes right, it hasn't got any better at all and if anything looks much worse than it had done. Chris didn't want to tell her that the pain had been moving up his arm over the past few days and that it was burning worse than before.  
  
"If it gets no better in a couple of days your asking Paul" Stephanie tells him not really giving him much of a choice.  
  
"Alright fine, he probably wont know anyways..And as great as this is I'm starving!" Chris says letting Steph climb up off of him, he stands up and holds out his hand to her helping her up "I think we've found our place to get away from the others then" Chris says nodding to no where in particular meaning his little hide out. "But lets go find the others and get something to eat, I'm regretting not eating the food you left out for me this morning" Chris says patting his stomach, he takes her hand and they climb down to the cliff path and down onto the beach to make their way through the line of trees to the clearing. "I'll catch up with you in a minute, I left my shirt" Chris kisses her on the cheek before running back to get his shirt. Steph continues to walk towards the cave where she can see the others sitting around the fire talking to each other, she smiles to herself feeling in a pretty good mood.  
  
"Steph's coming" Andrew whispers to the other two as the three of them look up "What do we tell her?" Andrew whispers anxiously with a worried look on his face.  
  
"The truth" Adam says quietly looking at Paul who has his head in his hands, Adam pats Paul on the shoulder as if trying to comfort him and Adam and Andrew stand up to meet Steph noticing the smile on her face wondering how on earth they are going to break something like this to her. Steph stops and sees there faces and the concerned looks they are giving her, Steph looks over at Paul who looks to be In the worst state of them all. "Steph..Theres something we need to tell you, you might want to sit down..It's about Chris"  
  
"About Chris? What about him?" Steph asks narrowing her eyes wondering if this has anything to do with Paul threatening Chris because Paul seems to be a little bit quiet "I'm fine standing.."  
  
"Steph..I'm sorry" Paul mumbles quietly  
  
"If this is about you threatening to break Chris's legs then I already know about it Paul, what do you think you were doing saying that to him. He hasn't done anything to you and he didn't mean to upset me he just didn't think before he said that, If I find out you threaten him again I'm not gunna be happy" Steph puts her hands on her hips and looks at them.  
  
"I never meant to hurt him" Paul sobs making Stephanie's face drop wondering what's going on, she'd just seen Chris and he was fine. What did Paul mean hurt him?  
  
"Steph..Chris is dead" Andrew says quietly looking straight at her. 


	9. Seeing Double?

Chapter 9  
  
Stephanie suddenly bursts out laughing wondering how long it had taken the three of them to think something like this up to tell her when she got back to the camp, Steph rolls her eyes still laughing expecting them all to start laughing too and tell her that they were only joking. Of all the things they could have tried to fool her with they picked telling her that Chris is dead even though she'd been with him the whole afternoon.  
  
"Yeah..That was a good one guys" Steph laughs "So any ideas for what we're going to be eating this evening? Andrew did you find those fruit trees you thought you saw the other day again or are we going to have to keep searching for them?" She asks walking towards the mouth of the cave. Paul jumps up and grabs her arm stopping her.  
  
"Steph! Don't go in there.." Paul shouts pulling her towards him "I don't want you to have to see him..Steph we're not joking, I'm so sorry but he attacked me. He came out of no where and tried to kill me, me and Adam managed to over power him but..Steph he was going crazy. We didn't know what to do..I was defending myself" Paul croaks trying to stop himself breaking down in front of her.  
  
"Yeah ok, you can stop now..It was a good joke but I've been with Chris all afternoon" Steph says shaking her head pulling her arm away from Paul "You could have thought of something a little more original than that, but I have to say..you're acting is good" She smiles at them but they don't smile back. "You're being serious aren't you?"  
  
"We're sorry Steph..We'll make sure he gets a good burial" Adam whispers quietly looking at the ground "We can have it done by this evening if you pick a place for him"  
  
"Ok I think your taking this far enough now don't you. I've been with Chris all afternoon! He's just gone to get his shirt because he left it up in..On the beach. He'll be here in a minute so you can stop with this stupid joke now, it's not very nice telling me he's dead!" Steph yells at them starting to get angry with them for continuing their stories.  
  
"What's all the shouting about?" Chris asks sprinting over to them with his shirt over his shoulder, Steph motions to the others that there is Chris and he's alive. Paul, Adam and Andrew all stand there their mouths open just staring at Chris like they've seen a ghost "What's going on?" he looks around at the other three and wraps his arm around Steph's waist. "Babe..Whats happened?"  
  
"These idiots thought it would be funny to play tricks on me and tell me that they'd killed you, I guess they should have thought about it a little more and figured out that I've been with you all afternoon" Steph looks at Chris and raises her eyebrows a little "I've been with you haven't I.."  
  
"Yeah several times..I mean yeah..All afternoon" Chris laughs a little and looks at Paul narrowing his eyes still not forgetting the threats "What is you threes problem? You look like you've seen a ghost or something, what's wrong?"  
  
"I..I killed you" Paul stutters "I drowned you in the lake when you attacked me" He says pointing his finger at Chris  
  
"Yeah you wish" Chris laughs "So what's for dinner?" Chris watches as Paul, Adam and Andrew run into the cave as if looking for something "Was it something I said?" Chris and Steph look at each other as they hear shouting coming from inside the cave. They both go after the other three and walk inside seeing Adam, Andrew and Paul tearing the place apart looking everywhere. "What the hell are you doing?!" Chris shouts to them stopping them from what they're doing.  
  
"We put your body in here, we killed you! There was no pulse, we all saw you! We killed you!" Paul yells at him not knowing whether to be angry, happy or scared that Chris is alive and standing right in front of them. "What the hell is going on!" Paul shouts again dropping the things that he was holding and sitting down.  
  
"Ok everyone just calm down..Please just tell me your joking and trying to wind us up..Please?" Stephanie pleads with them as Andrew and Adam both slump to the floor too not believing what's going on. The three of them had seen Chris dead, they had felt for his pulse and there had been none. They had dragged the body into the cave and now it was gone and Chris was there with them.  
  
"I wish we were joking. Stephanie I swear on my life we're not messing around about this, we killed him. He attacked Paul" Andrew says looking at her; she immediately knows that they're not joking. Steph puts her hand over her mouth and looks at Chris her eyes filling up with tears, she turns and runs out of the cave confused at what she's hearing. Paul, Adam and Andrew had killed someone and had told her is was Chris.  
  
"Steph!" Chris yells running after her across the sand and through the trees, he jumps over the low branches across the path that had been made by them walking back and forth along it. Chris sees her a little ahead of him and runs to catch up with her before tripping on a branch at his feet falling flat on his face in the dirt. Chris pushes himself up on his arms and shakes his head feeling a little dizzy from hitting his head. He kneels up putting a hand up to his head the cut stinging, he winces and wipes the blood on the back of his hand and climbs to his feet walking out of the trees to the beach, he blinks a few times trying to focus his eyes and sees Steph standing in the sand with someone. They wrap their arms around her as she rests her head on their chest; Chris watches on feeling his blood begin to boil with jealousy. How dare some other man have their arms around her, she wraps her arms tightly around his neck as the two kiss each other. Chris's mouth drops open in disbelief, she was kissing another man! "Steph!" Chris yells again as she turns her head to look at him with a look of shock on her face. Chris's eyes widen as he sees who has their arms wrapped tightly around her..Himself 


	10. Tearing apart

Chapter 10  
  
Before he knew what was happening Chris found himself with his hands tightly around the throat of the other man that had just seconds before had his arms around Stephanie. He didn't know what he was doing, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as they fell to the floor scrambling around. Chris tightening his grip over the mans air supply choking him. He couldn't even hear Stephanie's screams for them to stop fighting but he did feel the pain, the pain from the back of his head like someone had just smashed his skull..And well she nearly had done. Chris releases his hands from around the other mans throat and rolls over onto his side screaming in pain clutching the back of his head where Stephanie had made a perfect shot with a large rock. He squeezes his eyes tightly shut willing the pain to end, his face crumbled in agony feeling the blood over his hands and then it was black..  
  
"I think he's waking up" he hears Adam whisper quietly, Chris opens his eyes a little finding the sun unbearably bright on his eyes, he lifts his arm to shade them feeling the throbbing pain in the back of his head return. She'd sure hit him hard when he was fighting with that other guy. Chris looks up squinting and sees the faces of Adam, Andrew and Paul looking down at him with stern looks on them.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Paul growls grabbing hold of a handful of Chris's hair pulling him to his feet, Chris whimpers in pain and stands up barely being able to support himself. Adam puts his arms under Chris's holding him up letting Andrew and Paul deal with him. Chris moves his hand to the back of his head and feels that his hair has matted to the back of his head thick with blood and the wound has dried a little.  
  
"Guys..It's me" Chris croaks his throat dry and sore, his whole body was aching and bruised. Specks of blood covering his chest and hands. He closes his eyes the world spinning again as his knees buckle and he slumps to the floor again. Chris opens his eyes and looks up at the figures standing around him. It was his friends, but why didn't they recognize him. Why were they asking him who he was.  
  
"He looks so much like him..It's incredible. He must have attacked you Paul and then tried to attack Chris too" he hears her say from beside him somewhere, Chris turns his head and sees Stephanie standing there with the man..The man from the beach that looked just like him. The one that had the nerve to put his hands on her and to kiss her, she has her arms wrapped around his waist and her head against his chest as she looks down at Chris sitting on the floor.  
  
"Steph it's me" Chris cries before receiving a sharp kick in the back from Adam making him cry out again and double over. "Please..It's me," he sobs breaking down into tears.  
  
"Don't listen to him, he's trying to fool you into thinking he's Chris" the other man says, Chris looks up at him the tears stinging his face. "You cant fool us" the other man smirks down at Chris and wraps his arms tighter around Stephanie running a finger under her chin "Isn't that right Stephy?" This guy was good, he had her nickname he gave her right and everything. "Come on babe, lets go for a walk on the beach and let these three deal with him" the man says taking Stephanie's hand as the two walk away.  
  
"No! It's me! Steph please listen!" Chris yells climbing to his knees trying to stand up "It's me! Don't go with him! Steph listen to me, your necklace has seven shells..Two pinks, two blue, two white and a green one in the middle..Please listen!" Chris sobs making it to his feet "Please!" He yells after her but she's too far away to have heard any of it. Chris falls back to his knees curling up putting his hands over the back of his head the pain unbearable. "Please listen," he whispers to no one but himself. Paul and Andrew grab hold of him and pull him to his feet dragging him towards the lake. Chris closes his eyes and lets himself be dragged through the sand knowing there is nothing he can do to convince them. The other guy looked just like him and had made sure that he was on the beach before Chris was.  
  
"Just throw him in the water to clean him up a bit" Paul says to Andrew as they pick Chris up and chuck him into the lake sending him underwater. He resurfaces and takes a deep breath of fresh air before he's dragged onto the sand again by Paul. Paul walks around in front of him and kneels down looking him in the eye "You tried to kill me and you tried to kill Chris now we're giving you two choices here. You either tell us who you are and we wont hurt you or you refuse and we kill you..It's that simple do you understand" Paul grabs Chris's hair "Do you understand?" Chris nods his head and closes his eyes wrapping his arms around his knees and putting his head down.  
  
***  
  
It was soon dark outside but Chris hadn't moved from his spot next to the lake, his whole body was aching worse than before now from the constant shots from Andrew and Paul coming out to check on him. A kick in the stomach here, a punch in the face there. If only they knew each hit was to their friend and not the fraud they thought. The pain in the back of his head was nothing more than a dull ache now that didn't seem to want to go away and the cut on his head stung every now and then as if wanting to be a constant reminder that he was hurting. Steph and the other man had returned to the camp about an hour after leaving, Chris watched them go past his heart breaking in two seeing her and knowing he had no way to prove who he was or more importantly..Who he wasn't. But the other man was so alike him, he looked the same, talked the same, acted the same..hell he even walked the same. It was as if he was an exact replica of himself. When Chris saw them walking back to camp together her hand in his it made him feel sick, she didn't know it wasn't him and she didn't know how much it was tearing him apart. Maybe she'd never know, maybe she'd forever be with this fraud and copy of Chris Irvine and the real him would be left to die. No one would ever know but one thing Chris did know..He had to prove he was the real Chris. 


	11. Taking a Hostage

Chapter 11  
  
They'd been taking it in turns to watch him and make sure he didn't run away, they'd sit just inside the cave entrance thinking he couldn't see him and thinking that he was just sitting quietly maybe having had enough of the beatings they'd been dealing him. They didn't know that Chris had kept his eye on them watching them moving around and finally the other four going to sleep leaving one on guard. Chris sighs to himself and looks up at the sky trying not to make too much movement so that Adam, who has been placed on guard thinks he's asleep. Chris turns his head a little and looks over at Adam who seems to be finding it very hard to keep his eyes open. Chris closes his eyes trying to ignore the thoughts of how badly his so called friends have been treating him, they didn't know it was him and they wouldn't be hurting him if they knew Chris had to keep reminding himself. They were his friends and they'd all been a much tighter group since getting stranded on the first island and they were the people he was stuck with, Chris's eyes start to feel heavy as he starts wondering if Steph will ever figure out it's not him or if she'll just forever think he's the fraud trying to hurt her..If only they hadn't come back from the hideout.. Chris's eyes snap open, the hideout! The other man surely wouldn't know about this, only him and Stephanie did so as long as he could get on his own with her and the fake Chris he could prove it to her!  
  
"Hey you..Are you asleep?" Adam whispers to Chris, Chris lays completely still pretending to be asleep. He knew Adam wouldn't be able to tell this far away from each other if he was awake or not anyway but he didn't want to risk it. Chris watches Adam slump back against the wall and rest his head against the rock surface. He listens carefully to Adams breathing until it evens out and light snoring starts coming from him. Chris sits up and stands up crouching close to the ground. He grits his teeth so he doesn't end up crying out from the pain, he crawls as quietly as he can across the sand towards the cave. Chris shrugs off his shirt and tears it in half before tucking it into his pocket and crawling into the cave.  
  
"Wakey, Wakey Adam" Chris whispers to him giving him a little poke. Adam's eyes slowly open and looks up at Chris leaning over him. It takes Adam a few seconds to realize what is going on as he opens his mouth to scream and wake everyone up. Chris puts his hand over his mouth tightly and puts his arm across him hauling him up and dragging him out of the cave with Adam kicking and screaming.  
  
"Will you stop it, it's me for Christ sake" Chris hisses in his ear pulling him along the sand the best he can even though Adam is making it very difficult for him. Chris reaches the line of trees and drops Adam into the sand and grabs the torn pieces of his shirt. He takes his hand away from his mouth trying to keep Adam still and from running away.  
  
"HEL.." Adam starts to scream but Chris pushes the piece of shirt into his mouth and bounds it around his mouth so he's gagged and cant scream anymore. Chris ties it tightly at the back of his head in several knots so that it wont come undone and picks up the other piece, Chris pushes Adam onto his front and ties his hands behind his back, Chris kneels down in front of Adam.  
  
"It's me..Adam please you have to believe me" Chris whispers to him only to receive Adams feet in his stomach knocking Chris back, Chris grabs Adam's legs and looks around for something to tie them with "I didn't think I'd have to tie you up, I know you don't believe it's me but it is. I know how to prove it too but I need to get Steph" Adam starts kicking even harder trying to get away and to go and warn Stephanie. "I'm not going to hurt her" Chris sighs standing up thinking that if Adam made a run for it now he could probably catch him so he could not worry about him getting away while looking for something to tie his legs. It doesn't take him very long to give up looking for something, he grabs Adams shoulder and pulls him up dragging him along with him.  
  
***  
  
By morning they'd found Adam gone straight away of course, They'd seen that the man they thought was the fraud Chris was also missing and decided that he had taken Adam with him. Meanwhile the real Chris sits hiding away from them, watching as they hurry around splitting into two groups to go and search for Adam. Andrew and Paul heading towards the beach to search while the man they all thought as Chris and Steph search around the lake and jungle. Chris turns and looks at Adam who is still tied up on the floor.  
  
"Do you promise not to scream for help?" Chris asks him, Adam doesn't move "Ad come on, I don't want to have to keep you tied up. When we get off of this island your going to hate me for doing this for the rest of our lives" Chris says tucking his arms around his legs again. "I'm gunna let you think about it alright, I'm going to follow Steph and that fraud and see what's going on. If you decide you want to be untied then your going to hear me out when I get back..Stay boy" Chris laughs a little and pats Adam on the top of his head before climbing down and checking around him to make sure that no one is near by.  
  
"I hope we find Adam soon" he hears Stephanie say "I don't understand how he could have disappeared like that, the guy was pretty beat up and surely couldn't have taken Adam" Chris jumps into the undergrowth and lays down on his stomach so he's not seen. He watches as the other guy and Stephanie walk past just feet from where he is hiding.  
  
"Maybe Adam let him escape, maybe he thought this guy that is pretending to be me could get them off the island. For all we know Adam could be long gone by now" the other guys says, Steph stops and pulls her hand away from his and looks at him.  
  
"Adam wouldn't do that, he's our friend" Stephanie snaps getting annoyed with the man that she thinks is Chris, Chris sniggers to himself from his hiding place in the grass "You know what, ever since we got back the other evening you've been acting like a real jerk. I'm going to go and look for Adam," she mutters walking away from him. Chris grins to himself watching Steph walk off one way and the guy the other, he quickly gets up and runs after her.  
  
"Don't scream.." He whispers in her ear clasping his hand over her mouth and wrapping his arm around her waist "I'm not going to hurt you" Chris says softly. 


	12. Truth revealed

Chapter 12  
  
"So someone that looked like Chris was actually running around with you guys pretending to be him and you didn't even notice?" Rob laughs "you beat them hell out of him for two days almost and he's still talking to you guys" he laughs even harder finding the whole thing really funny, which of course at the time it wasn't.  
  
"He was just the same as Chris, we didn't know any different. Ok so he was acting a little weird but you know Chris, he has his little weird moments when he doesn't act himself, we just thought it was like that" Adam says adding his part to the story in their defence.  
  
"How come you threatened Chris over Stephanie anyhow?" Jay asks looking at Paul in the dim lighting, the whole group minus Steph and Chris had now crowded around the fire and the light on the coffee table while Paul, Adam and Andrew continued the story. Paul blushes a little and clears his throat.  
  
"I kinda..I kinda still liked Steph then and thought Chris was going to mess her around but I was wrong and they are happy. Being on that island was like having cabin fever, it was driving us all a little crazy after that amount of time. We had seen nothing but the same scenery for weeks not to mention the same people. We all were snapping at each other and I didn't mean it and Chris knows that" Paul replies the blush in his cheeks fading.  
  
"I still cant believe how you treated Chris.." Rob whispers almost wondering why Chris is still friends with any of them.  
  
"He was hurt" Andrew pipes up nodding his head slowly "We broke his ribs and stuff all along thinking it wasn't him, we didn't know what to think of this guy that looked just like him and when Steph had assumed that our Chris was the same one that attacked us we went along with it and believed that our Chris was the fake one..you'll see"  
  
"This being in the dark thing is getting old preeeety quickly" Adam says resting his chin on the palm of his hand "Chris was right though you know, I am still mad at him for tieing me up. Not because he actually did it but more because he stuck that smelly piece of his shirt in my mouth"  
  
"What the hell was that?" Jay asks sitting up complety straight as the others look around too hearing a loud crashing sound "it sounded like it came from outside" he says standing up and walking over to the window, he pulls back the curtains and looks out but can see nothing but darkness and the slight white of the snow  
  
***  
  
Chris shakes his hand angrily putting it to his mouth, he holds it up to his face looking at the teeth marks in the skin from where Stephanie had just bitten him. He lets go of her and steps back a bit, she quickly turns around and delivers a hard low blow straight between the legs. Chris howls in pain and falls to his knees, the shot below the belt knocking the wind out of him and leaving him hurting.  
  
"That's gunna leave a mark" Stephanie says a small smirk appearing on her face, she dusts her hands off and folds her arms just looking at him, the other guy comes running out through the trees followed by Paul and Andrew after hearing Chris's yells. "Nice to know that you three are looking after me when this maniac is on the loose..good job I can take care of myself isn't it"  
  
"What happened?" Paul asks looking down at Chris who is laying on his side on the floor curled up, Steph puts her hands on her hips and looks at Paul.  
  
"He attacked me that's what happened, but it's alright because I dealt with him" Steph smiles to herself and turns to walk away, Andrew and Paul grab hold of Chris up of the floor and start beating on him. She looks over her shoulder and sees Andrew and Paul hitting him and beating him up yelling at him to tell them where Adam is.  
  
"Steph" Chris shouts trying to get her to get them to leave him alone "Ask him where you were with him" he cries thinking this could be his last chance.  
  
"Shut up!" Paul yells slamming his fist into Chris's face again, Chris curls up into a tighter ball trying to block out Andrew and Pauls attack when they suddenly stop. Chris opens his eyes and sees Steph has pulled them off of him, she kneels down next to him and puts her hand on his back. "Steph what are you doing?!" Paul asks her pulling her away from Chris.  
  
"Take me to where we were, our little hide out from everyone else. Take me there and then I'll know you're my Chris" Steph says turning to the other guy "If you are him you know exactly where it is and only you and me do.." she says looking him straight in the eyes. "Please take us there now and I'll know its you..if you cant then we'll know that he is our Chris" Steph looks down at Chris laying on the floor covered in blood praying that the man that had been taking all the beatings for the past few days wasn't the real Chris.  
  
"He cant take you there, he doesn't know where it is" Chris says dragging himself through the sand and away from Paul and Andrew so they cant attack him anymore, Steph looks at him and then back at the other man standing by her side.  
  
"Well can you take me there?" She asks him looking him straight in the eyes, the real Chris sits there praying that he wont be able to and that they'll stop beating him up and finally believe him. He closes his eyes and waits for the fake Chris's reply, when it doesn't come he opens one eye to see what's going on and sees that Steph is stepping back from the fake.  
  
"That isn't Chris.." she says quietly to the others  
  
"What do you mean that's not Chris? Of course it is, we've been beating up the fake for days now to tell us where he's taken Adam" Paul says frowning, he looks over to the man they'd been beating up and then to the fraud who has started to become uneasy, before anyone can say anything else he turns and runs off heading towards the trees as fast as he can. "Get him!" Paul yells as him and Andrew sprint after him, Paul starting to slow down his legging starting to hurt him.  
  
"Stephy.." Chris whispers quietly to her as she watches the other two run after the fraud Chris "Adam is up on the cliff where we went, I didn't hurt him" he says watching her shoulders slump looking like she is crying.  
  
"they hurt you.." Steph sobs before turning and dropping into the sand next to him throwing her arms around him "They could have killed you and this whole time he was walking around with us pretending to be you while they beat you up, why couldn't I tell it wasn't you and stop you getting hurt like this"  
  
"Its not your fault, he had you all fooled and im fine honestly" Chris winces as she squeezes him even tighter "But I think I'm a bit broken so you might not want to squeeze me so hard" He smiles at her when she releases him and kisses her cheeks that are wet from her tears "I'm alright, I promise" He says as she helps him to his feet and they hug each other tightly again both wondering what has happened to the man that had been pretending to be Chris. 


End file.
