Girl You Just Can't Dance Forever
A Jeff/Ashley/Shannon fic

Yes, another story! And I blame it all on my dear friend Christal lol. It started as an inside joke between us and… here we are now. As usual, let me know what you think… I still haven't decided which pairing will win in the end so… why don't you help me choose? :) And it can probably be just a mini series of five chapters or something… we'll see how it goes!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The title comes from a Lostprophets song (Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters And The Story Of A Lonely Girl). English is not my own language so I apologize for errors/typos.

Enjoy it! :)

Broken hearts and torn up letters
Girl you just can't dance forever
If you want to make it better
Times like these won't last forever…

Ashley let out a weak sigh as she pressed the 'stop' button on her iPod and removed the earplugs from her ears, focusing instead on her best friend.

"Which one are you in the mood in for tonight?" Mickie James asked hopefully looking at the dirty diva, standing before her bed with a dvd in each hand. "We have Grease or Pretty Woman. Both classics, both awesome movies, both with hot male actors… we just have to pick one. OR, wait, we could watch both, right? I mean first one and then the other, of course." She playfully rolled her eyes at her own words "Just like a mini slumber party… but just with the two of us. Since we're the best, we're made of awesome, we rock… or whatever you'd like to point it out."

The self proclaimed dirty diva couldn't help but smile at her friend's ramble, while she still looked at her proudly showing the two dvds.

"Totally okay with me, Micks. Sounds like a great plan."

"YAY! I knew it! I'm a genius…! Didn't we know that already? Yes, we did." She grinned. "So now the question is… which one do we watch first?"

She playfully rolled her eyes, adjusting in a legs-crossed position on her bed "You know Grease is your favorite movie ever… so why are you asking anyway?"

"Cause I just wanted to seem polite," the brunette stuck her tongue out at her best friend "but YAYNESS then, Grease it is!!"

As she happily proceeded to open the dvd-case and insert the disc in the player, the punk rock princess couldn't help but sigh again, distractedly looking out of the window.

How could have she allowed herself to sink in this messed up situation?

That was the question she asked herself every single day.

And every day she just couldn't find the answer.

She knew she was acting wrong, she knew she had been wrong in the first place.

But that apparently didn't stop her, did it?

And now she knew she had at least to try to make it right… but just knowing it didn't make it easier to do.

And the worst thing was that she wasn't alone in this mess, she was dragging them both down with her… and no one of the trio seemed ready to just stop this never-ending masochistic circle.

Maybe she had to be the strongest one, she had to be the one to stand up and stop everything.

But after all if she was so strong she hadn't fall in this situation in the first place, right?

xxx 6 months earlier xxx

Five AM from on the bathroom floor from the night before,
Do you find me dreadful?

What a shame, such a sad disgrace,
Such a pretty face
But she's not regretful.

The AFI song's lyrics echoed in Shannon's mind when he spotted her, knees pressed tightly to her chest and arms secured around them while her long blonde hair covered her face.

He let out a weak sigh stepping inside the bathroom and silently sat down next to her.

"He didn't show up, did he?"

"I think you already know the answer, Shan." She sadly said, still with her face low.

"What excuse did he use this time?"

"A sudden inspiration outburst… he had to finish something in his studio. And to hell our special night goes." She bitterly commented.

He closed is eyes for a brief moment, leaning his head against the cool bathroom's wall. He had seen this scene so many times that it vividly visited him even in his dreams, almost every night.

He had been happy for his best friend when he had announced him he had fallen for the dirty diva… he had had a chance to know her when she was moved to Smackdown the summer before and she seemed a nice girl. At least she wasn't one of those divas too high on herself, one of those vain bimbos… nope, she was anything but that. She was someone you could have a conversation with… from wrestling, to music, to tattoos.

Hell, he had been actually the one to introduce them. She came to his tattoo shop –as he had told her to- one day and he had invited her to stay for the rest of the day since there was going to be a party at one of his friends' house… and so Ashley met the so called Charismatic Enigma, Jeff Hardy.

One thing led obviously to another and now after 5 months they were a couple. Actually a 'no-strings-attached' couple as they defined their relationship. Odd as it may seem to someone, but still a couple nevertheless.

Being Shannon his best friend, this meant that of course he and Ashley had no choice but to become even more acquainted with each other and they began to spend much more time together. Either with Jeff or not.

Yes, cause the younger Hardy seemed to have a habit of leave his girlfriend alone. They made plans, he made plans with her… and then whatever reason turned up it always ended up with him calling his best friend and make him his substitute for the occasion. Either a night to the movies, or just a dinner, or whatever.

And that was the case of that very night, almost as usual. Only this time Jeff hadn't had time to reach Shannon earlier, so the self proclaimed Prince of Punk just woke up in the middle of the night at the sound of his text message alert going off… asking him to check on the diva. And that leaded him, sitting down on the bathroom floor next to her.

"You're allowed to think that I'm an idiot." She said lifting up her gaze for the first time and rubbing her tear-strained eyes with the back of her hand.

"You're not an idiot." He softly chuckled.

"Well considering how many times you've seen me like that… I'd beg to differ."

"You just love him, Ash. You can't be an idiot for loving someone."

"And can you be for remaining with him despite of all the crap you have to take?"

"He's just like this… he loves you in his own way, but he's a free spirit… he can't be understood I guess."

"Lucky girl." She muttered almost to herself, then something suddenly hit her. "But what are you doing here? I mean, I'm sure it's past 3 AM… shouldn't you be at your own house, in your own bed?" She almost panicked. "Oh no… he called you just now… I'm so sorry Shannon, that's… that's not fair. You're not his substitute, he has to stop this bullshit. He can't expect you to fix his mistakes for him every freakin' time."

"Hey, would you calm down?" He slightly smiled "It's alright, it's not like he forced me to come here. I could have said no, couldn't I?"

"Go back to sleep Shan, there's no use to waste your time here. I'm so sorry…" Her voice trailed off as she fought back fresh tears.

"I'm not going anywhere, that's my place." He softly said placing an arm around her shoulders and leaning her against his chest… where she broke down again. "Hey… c'mon." He tried to hush her gently rubbing her back "He doesn't… he doesn't deserve your tears, Ash. You know he doesn't."

"…You're speaking of your best friend." She pointed out in between the sobs.

"Well he's an ass anyway. It doesn't change the fact that he's acting like a jerk with you. And no, before you even start to consider the idea, this is no way your fault."

A faint smile curved her lips as he held her tight. "Thanks Shan… you're always here to put together my pieces."

"I don't intend to be anywhere else." He almost whispered… causing her to lift up her head to look up at him. "You need someone who loves you like you deserve to, who treats you like you deserve to."

"I know…" She sighed, biting her bottom lip while he caressed her cheek with his thumb, wiping a tear away in the process.

And a second later, after an intense eyes-lock, his lips crushed onto hers and he was kissing her like there was no tomorrow… as she sweetly and passionately responded.

/ end flashback /

And that was just the first of many, many times.

She was still with Jeff, but in meanwhile she couldn't bring herself to walk out from her secret involvement with Shannon.

Jeff was –obviously- unaware of anything, but he still treated her as he used to.

Shannon, on the other hand, never gave her any pressure to leave the rainbow haired warrior once and for all.

And the friendship between the two men seemed to go on as nothing at all was happening.

Was she okay with that? Absolutely not. She hated the situation they all were in and she felt awful about it. But apparently that still wasn't enough for her to take a decision once and for all.

She just couldn't choose. She felt like she needed them.

Both of them.

"Ash? Are you listening? C'mon, sing along!! Tell me more, tell me more…"

The punk princess could just hide the amusement at the brunette's behavior and joined her on the floor, with a huge bowl of pop corn in between them, trying to forget her problems for at least one hour and half… dreaming of a possible happy ending just like in the movies.