Here's the first chapter to follow up "Battlefield". It's been four months since Hazel's death. Jeff is trying to move on with his life, but it's not that easy.
Chapter 1
Jeff stared blankly at a photo, which was from a time when his life made sense. Back before… back before everything changed. The photo curled on the ends from being held in such a way for so long. It hurt him to see the picture, but he'd never throw it away. Never. It was a reminder of what he once had, what he lost, and all the mistakes in between. He couldn't take it back as much as he wished he could. He was smiling in the picture, something that never happened anymore. Smiling meant he was happy… and his life was anything but happy. Empty and miserable was more like it. His world was black and cold now. Mostly due to the fact that the light had been crushed from his life. Part of him had died when he lost her. Lost her forever. He could have dealt with her being out of his life, especially after all the mistakes he'd made, but to have her buried in the ground somewhere was something completely different. He hated to even mutter the words "she died" but it was the truth. She had died to save him. The photograph didn't do her beauty any justice. She was an angel, put on earth and for some reason she'd fallen in love with him. An average guy from North Carolina. A nobody really, but she had fallen for him. Whole heartedly, and he had fallen head over heels for her. He would have died for her at any given chance. He had no idea that she felt the same. It wasn't until she was gone that he truly understood how much she loved him. But how could she love him so purely and so unconditionally? Him? That was what he couldn't understand.
'If I'd just let her go….' He thought to himself knowing that she wasn't that easily pushed away. She never would have left him. Her loyalty was part of her charm, but also her greatest downfall. Anyone who knew Hazel Harper could tell you that she wasn't just going to be pushed away and actually stay away. Her name pained him to say. Just a name but it caused him so much anxiety. It was because of him that she was gone. He'd been the one to set off a chain reaction of events which ultimately led to Hazel's death. Granted, he hadn't been the one who'd caused her so much internal injuries that she couldn't be saved, but he might as well had been. It was his fault she was in that match in the first place. His fault. He could have saved her sooner, but he didn't. Instead he watched as she was ripped from the top of the steel cage and screamed the entire way to the mat. He took action after that. Not before but he was too late.
He'd nearly beaten Punk to death before they'd stopped him. He wished that they hadn't stopped him. He deserved to die for what he'd done to her… what he'd taken away from him. He was alone. Matt had turned on him for the last time. There was no chance of reconciliation now. Brother or not… He had to leave the WWE just because of the memories. Hazel had won his job back for him but it was too painful to be there. He'd joined TNA a few months later. Most of the roster was comprised of former WWE people so it made it a little easier. RVD was over there and they'd reconnected. Rob knew Hazel, but he also knew not to bring her up. It's not that Jeff wanted to forget, but it was too painful to remember.