(That damn question was asked again and again. Yet he couldn't muster up the nuts to do it. They were walking down the street with her arm in his. Shops were closed or closing as they walked passed, and Jamie was looking so deep into Stein's eyes that she could probably see the backside of his skull. Dan stopped, and turned to his not-quite girlfriend.)

Dan Stein: "Not right now, not right here. Someplace... special."

('Special', she thought to herself.)

Jamie: "Danny, any place I go with you is special."

(And Stein was dumbfounded. He didn't know what to do, and when he finally decided to say something, it sounded like...)

Dan Stein: "Fafjfjakjdfajkldf?"

(Jamie laughed at him. Stumbling over his own words was a trademark with Stein, at least around her. Maybe that's why she liked him so much.)

Jamie: "What'd you say there, Tiger?"

Dan Stein: "I don't know. Heh."

Jamie: "So I figured."

(She and Dan continued down the street again. Their pause had given the rest of the stores time to close down, leaving them with nothing but each other for the rest of the night. Stein was ready to go home - Jamie, however, wanted to figure this out.)

Jamie: "Ask me to be your girlfriend, Danny."

(Her straightforwardness shocked Stein a little bit, his eyes grew wide before shaking it off. She forced him onto a bench on the side of the street and stood between his legs, her hands in her pockets.)

Dan Stein: "I... I can't. You know why I can't."

Jamie: "Why, Danny? Because you're too chicken shit to love again."

(Stein tried to stand up, but Jamie pushed him down again, gently.)

Dan Stein: "No, no. Nooo. I'm not afraid to love... I'm just afraid to let someone I love get hurt. Not.. that I.. love you or anything."

Jamie: "Don't worry, Scooter. I understand. But Dan, you got to let it go, hun. You got to move on. Sure it's only been a month, but dammit, Dan, you've got something good with me -"

Dan Stein: "Aint that the truth."

(She playfully slaps his chest and smirks to herself as she continues on.)

Jamie: "But I need that commitment, Dan. I need someone who wants to be with me."

Dan Stein: "I do want to be with you!"

(She sits down on his lap, wrapping her arm around his neck.)

Jamie: "Then ask me to be your girlfriend."

Dan Stein: "Actions speak louder than words, 'Jam-Jam'."

(She looks at him, her soft eyes and softer skin make him melt.)

Jamie: "Not right now. Not in this instance."

(Stein sighed. He knew there was no way around what he was about to do. He nutted up the courage, put one hand on her thigh and the other wrapped around to her side.)

Dan Stein: "Jamie. Would you please be my girlfriend?"

***

THE LIGHTS: "Actions speak louder than words, Marc. For the last two weeks, I've let my actions do the talking for me. I haven't guaranteed a victory. I haven't threatened any pain. As a matter of fact, I haven't done anything except point out peoples' weaknesses. You, on the otherhand (pardon the pun)... well, we all ready know what your weekness is."

(Stein smirked underneath his black Oakleys.)

THE LIGHTS: "You're walking around with a ten pound battering ram glued around your hand. Why? Because you got a little over anxious with your signature move. You got a little over zealous with it, didn't you, Marc-y Marc? Generation Gapped yourself straight to the ER, but not before you got 'your' title back from Bozo. Congratulations, bub. I'm sure the funky bunch has been stroking your... ego... since you got out."

(Stein grinned as he continued on.)

THE LIGHTS: "I mean, don't get me wrong. I 'marc-ed' out like a little girl when I saw what you did. A little bit of it was excitement... a lot of it was opportunity. Sure you're a champion, so you've got to wrestle like one and all that jazz. But even Superman has Kryptonite, bub. That cast of yours isn't exactly the best thing that's happened to you in your career. Nor have the years and years of prescription drug use, but lets not get into that now."

(Stein paused for a second.)

THE LIGHTS: "See, the problem I have with your last video is obvious. Well, at least to me. 'Anyone can have a good night'. Right... right A good night... man, that right there is a slap in the face if I've ever heard one. You're trying to say that I might 'have a good night' and take you off your high horse, when you're the guy going into the match one hand down? I don't care how good you are, Marc, if you can't grab a hold of me, you can't catch me, you can't move that thumb of yours... you're not in the driver's seat in this match."

(Stein looked at the camera, taking in his thoughts for a second.)

THE LIGHTS: "It's good to see Kris 'I'm on my last leg' Taylor over there commenting on my life when he's the one that can't seem to throw down a big boot to save his career. But that's not who I'm facing, this week. It's you who I am facing, Marc. It's you who has my complete, undivided attention. It's you whose face I see on the guy I spar with, it's you who hands me my waterbottle when I get out of the ring. I am eating, breathing and sleeping Marc Stanton this week. You have my complete and undivided attention. Unlike... well, you know when."

(Stein smirked for a second, pulling off his glasses for a second.)

THE LIGHTS: "I guaranty a different wrestler in the ring against you, Marc. I guaranty a wrestler you have never seen before and never will see again. You keep talking about how you wont give up, no matter what the cause. You know what I say to that, Marc? The same thing I say to the question you posed to me: 'What kinda mindset am I in?' Actions. Speak louder. Than Words."

Lights Out