In the locker room Jade shares with her brother she's curled up in the corner of a bench reading a book. I's been months since Jade's accident, and the old cliche of 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' seems to apply to her. Her whole outlook has changed since the day of her accident. Also since then, her feelings toward a cerain Dudley has seemed to increase. Almost her every waking moment she's thinking about him, and when se sleeps she dreams about him. She jumps and whirls her head around as she feels someone touch her shoulder. She laughs seeing the look on Bubba's face.
"You're worse than your brother with books. Anytime anyone sees either of you alone, you're reading. So what is it this time?"
She laughs knowing his statement's true. Both she and her brother have a love for books, but subject matter slightly differ. She looks up at him with a smile playing on her lips and holds the book up for him to see the cover. He rolls his eyes as he glances at the cover.
"Women and those damn novels!"
She swats him playfully on the arm and laughs. She looks up at the doorway seeing Spike poke his head in.
"Hey have you seen...there you are! Bubba, it's time to go in! You can come too Jade if you want."
Bubba walks to the doorway and stands with Spike. He watches her get up, put her book down, and walks toward them. He can't help but stare. To him she's the most beautiful woman in the world. A yellow tank top that has a smiley face with knock out eyes and saying 'Nucking Futs' on it that shows off her stomach, a pair of black, wide-legged pants, and black boots make up her outfit. He watches her walk past them and can't help but notice something on her lower back.
"Did you get a new tattoo?"
She nods her head and pulls up the back of her shirt revealing a large heart with stemmed rosebuds crossed in front of it and fire shooting up from behind the heart.
"Damn! Where did you get the idea for that?"
"Just thought of it. Each tat has a story or meaning behind it."
"Really? How many do you have?"
"Four actually...my thumb, my calf, my chest, and my back."
"What are the stories?"
"Well my first one, the dagger on my calf, I got when I was around 16. I could tell Frank didn't really care for me. So I got it really for two reasons. One, basically rebelling against him and two, I had to express how I felt somehow. The dagger being stuck in my calf was how I felt, it wouldn't necessarily kill you just hurt forever. My second was the heart ring. It happened when Momma and I were in a store. She pointed out a necklace that was basically hearts strung together. She said that that was how a family was suppose to be, everyone's hearts strung together. After that I knew I had to get that, Momma was my world. My third I got the day after her funeral. Basically, a small heart with her initials."
She looks down at her hands sadly, missing her mother terribly. She breaks out of her daze hearing Bubba speaking to her.
"So what about the one on your back?"
She smiles shyly up at him debating on whether to tell him the truth or to make something up. She's saved from having to make a decision when she fells someone come behind her and pick her up. Knowing it could only be one person, she smacks them on the arm. Raven laughs and sets Jade on her feet.
"So what kind of trouble are you stirring up now?"
"None! He wanted to hear the stories behind my tats."
"All of them?"
"Um...oh hey! We're being left behind!"
She runs down the hallway to catch up with Spike, and to avoid the subject all together. Bubba looks at Raven as he shakes his head.
"What's with the new tat?"
"It just has a really personal meaning. You know how she is."
Bubba walks on down the hallway slightly hurt that she wouldn't even tell him that is was personal and couldn't talk about it. Instead she completely avoided it. She was probably like those other bitches around the place and didn't think he was smart enough to understand. He walks into the arena part of the civic center ans slams and bangs everything in his path. Jade starts to walk up to him, but Dvon grabs her shaking his head.
"Jay don't even try girl. Somethin's pissed him off, and all that'll happen to you if you try to talk to him is going thru a table. Wait here and and I'll talk to him."
Dvon walks up to his brother and taps him on the shoulder. Knowing what's coming, he ducks as Bubba swings his fist as he turns.
"Woah my brother! What's wrong with you?"
"That little bitch over there!"
Dvon looks at where Bubba's pointing and raises his eyebrows. He's completely shocked at his brother using such harsh words against Jade. If anybody ever said anything against Jade, Bubba was the second person there to beat them, the first being Raven.
"What happened with Jade?"
Bubba proceeds to tell Dvon what's going on. Watching a few feet away with her heart broken into pieces stands jade. Hearing Bubba call her a bitch and tell Dvon she was like the rest of the bitches around killed her. What gets her is she doesn't know what she's done. But, what gets her the most is she's never going to get the chance to tell him how she feels...to tell him she loves him. Everyone's told her she's crazy for even thinking such thoughts about him, but she can't help it. Just something about him got to her.
"Maybe I am crazy."
She quickly runs out int the hallway in a blur of tears. She feels someone grabs ahold of her and shestruggles to get away, at the moment is too weak. She stops her struggles and collapses against the familiar leather coat of her brother's in tears. She feels him wrap his around her and she looks up into the blurry face of Raven's. He holds her and pats her back until she quiets down.
"It'll be alright Jay. We all tried to tell you."
"But that's the thing, I haven't told him. Just out of the blue he starts acting like this. Did you hear what he said?!"
"Yes I did. Sis, it's hard to tell with him, if you want I can try to talk to him."
She quietly nods her head and walks away. Raven watches her and shakes his head sighing dreading the task ahead.
2 WEEKS LATER
Bubba walks down the hallway utterly ticked off at the world. Everyone jumps out of his way when he walks thru. For two weeks straight he has been in a foul mood, worst than usual. Not even his brothers can talk to him without him snapping. Hearing his name being called he whirls around and is face to face with Raven.
"What do you want birdman? I don't have a damn thing to say to you or that bitch of a sister of yours!"
"I didn't say for you to talk, and unless you can see things I can't Jades's nowhere near here. I think it's time for to listen for a moment. To pay attention and to listen to peoples emotions instead of being ready to turn on them would be of great value to you. You have found a quarrel with my sister and left her dumbfounded and confused of her actions. But the question really is do YOU know what your quarrel with Jade is? Quote the Raven...nevermore."
At that, Raven turns on his heel and walks back down the way he came leaving a very confused Bubba staring after him.
Jade walks down the hallway with her head hanging down, not really paying attention to waht's going on and not really caring. Everyone noticed a change in the young woman. Normally up beat and cheery, the past couple of weeks she's been really distance, even from her brother. Nobody could really tell that she was hiding a broken heart. The only thing she could think of was Bubba. Granted, it was a good possibility that she was crazy like everyone said, but she didn't car. To her, he had always been wonderful. She got to see a side of him not many people got to see.
Too deep in thought to be watching where she's going she runs right into someone's chest. She mutters her apologies and starts to walk on when the someone grabs her arm. She looks up and stares into the intense face of Dvon.
"You know, you have a lot of nerve walkin down this way."
"No, I don't know! I have absolutely no clue of what's going on, or what I did wrong! All I know is one second is we were kidding around, then the next he hated me! Mybe it's a good thing I never told him I..."
Jade gasps and clamps a hand over her mouth realizing what she was about to say. She tries to get away, but Dvon holds on.
"You love him, huh? Then why do you treat him as if he's stupid?"
"I've never treated him that way!"
"Then what's this he tells me that you won't even explain to him about your tattoo? You know he's not a complete moron!"
"The fuckin tatto is what all this is about! Because I couldn't tell him the meaning of it?! You want to know the meaning? Fine!"
She turns around and lifts up the back of her shirt revealing her tattoo.
"You see that heart? That's my heart! The two roses represent me and him. The fire in the background is all the bullshit I've heard from people ever since word got around that I had feelings for Bubba Ray Dudley! Little does everyone fuckin know is that I love him! I've heard everything people has said about him, and quite frankly I don't care! He was a different person around me. If I knew what the result in this damn tattoo would've been I would've NEVER gotten it! Hell, I would've never uttered a word about how I feel. I'd rather have Bubba in my life as just a friend, than not at all!"
"Jay, I..."
"Don't say you're sorry! I don't want nor need your damn pity!"
Jade whirls around to run in the opposite direction, but standing there with his arms folded across his chest was Bubba. He stares into her eyes unable to believe what he heard. He had seen her walk down the hall, and thought it was about time for a confrontation especially after what her brother said. Then seeing her run into Dvon, he wanted to see what she would say. Definitely not what he was expecting, and from the look in her eyes there's no way she was possibly lying.
"Jade..."
Jade runs, unable to deal with a confrontation with him. She knows it's cowardly, but knowing he probably just heard everything she just said she can't face him. She finds the dressing room she shares with her brother and runs in. Seein noone's around she collapses on a bench and starts crying, unable to hold back any longer. She feels someone gently touch her shoulder. She tries to shrug them off, but they're determined. They grab her by her shoulders and hoist her up until she's sitting on the bench. Jade blinks a few times and finds she's staring into the face of Bubba. She tries to get away, but he won't let her.
"Sit still Jay I'm not gonna hurt you. Is everything you told Dvon true?"
She sits silently staring at her hands, and then nods her head. Bubba takes a ragged sigh and looks at her.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"Because I didn't know how you'd react. I was starting to get the nerve up to tell you, and then you got so mad at me. I didn't know what I had done, but I knew tellin you were definitely out of the question."
"Oh."
Jade watches him expectantly. After a few minutes pass and nothing else is said, she gets up and leaves the room. Bubba watches her leave. what was he suppose to say? The he also loves her? Definitely not! You can never tell a woman you love her no matter how pretty she is, or how smart she is, or how she makes you feel. Not even if she's just professed her love for you. He holds his head in his hands knowing that he just let the best that would probably ever happen to him slip through his fingers.
SEVERAL WEEKS LATER
Raven walks the halls of the arena aggravated. he's searched the whole arena for Jade, but can't find her anywhere. He come's up to the Hardy's lockerroom, knocks on the door, and then goes in.
"Hey have either of you two seen Jade? We have a match tonight and I need to talk to her about some things."
Jeff shrugs and continues to lace up his boots. Matt just nods.
"Lita took her out shopping to help her get her mind off of everything. I didn't know you two had a match tonight?"
"Yes, I requested one with the Dudleys."
"Oh! The Dudleys...revenge?"
Raven smiles sinisterly at Matt as the two girls walk in the door. Raven smiles down at his baby sister.
"I was wondering where you were. Did you have a good time?"
Jade only slightly nods. She searches through the bags taking what's hers and starts for the door.
"Thanks for taking me with you Lita. I'll have to talk to you all later, I have some stuff to do before the match."
"Jay, don't forget we still need to talk some things over before the match."
"I'll meet you in our locker room then Raven. See you all later."
After Jade walks out the door, Lita gives Raven a worried look.
"It's getting worse. She barely spoke a word the whole time we were out."
"I know Li. She keeps getting more withdrawn each day. we're just going to keep watch of her. The only way she'll ever really get better is if she confronts him."
"Yea, I know, but I'm not really seein that happenin anytime soon."
"That's true. I'm going to go talk to her before the match starts. I'll talk to you all later."
Raven walks to the locker room looking around for Jade.
"Jay, are you in here?"
"Just a sec!"
Jade emerges from the showere in a pair of ripped up jeans and an old tshirt. she plops down on a bench looking up at Raven.
"So what were you wanting to talk about?"
"I just want to make sure you're going to be able to handle this match."
"Look, just because we're going against Dvon and Bubba, doesn't mean I can't handle it."
Before another work can be spoken a stagehand knocks on the door telling them their match is up in five minutes. Jade hurries and puts on her boots and rushes to the entrance with her brother waiting on their ring music to play.
"You ready Jade?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Their music starts and they make their way to the ring. Raven slouches down into one of the corners of the ring as Jade sits beside him imitating his actions awaiting their opponents. Finally the pyros go off signifying the Dudley's entrance as both Dvon and Bubba run to the ring. As soon as they go through the ropes they get attacked and a brawl insues. The ref tries to restore some order, when finally Dvon and Jade go to their respective corners leaving Raven and Bubba to fight. Raven is merciless on Bubba never letting him up and keeping him on his and Jade's side of the ring. Raven does the raveneffect and Dvon tries to interfere. Jade rushes over to him and two brawl outside, as they stay out there Raven gets the pin on Bubba. After making sure Bubba isn't gettin up, Raven rushes out of the ring, grabs a steel chair, and clocks Dvon from behind knocking him out cold. Jade looks up at Raven with tears in her eyes. He can't help but smile down at her relieved since this is the first sign of any kind of emotion she's shown in months. He puts an arm around her waist and walks her to the back. As soon as they get behind the curtains a sob tears from Jade's throat. Raven gently gathers his baby sister in his arms and carries her to their lockerroom. He sits down on a bench setting her beside him rubbing her back.
"It's okay little sister, let it out. I've gotcha."
Jade turns, putting her head on his shoulder sobbing. A gentle knock sounds on the door and Lita quietly walks in. Her face instantly softens as she looks at Jade.
"Oh Jade! Honey, it'll be alright!"
Lita sits down on the other side of Jade stroking her hair. After a few more moments Jade finally lifts her head sniffling.
"God, I feel so stupid crying like this."
"Jade, honey, there's no need to. You've got your brother here to help you and you know me and the Hardy's will be here if you ever need us. Anyways, you need to cry to let it out so it don't eat you up from the inside out. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
Lita gently takes Jade's hand and leads her to the bathroom having her sit on the toilet seat. She takes a wash cloth, wetting it with cool water, gentley wipes her face, and then hands her some tissues. Lita waits for her to finish blowing her nose, and then smiles down at her.
"You think you're gonna be okay?"
"Yea, I'll be just fine."
The two girls walk back out to the locker room. Raven smiles at Jade.
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Yea I think so. Hey, I'm gonna grab a soda, you all want anything?"
After seeing them shake their heads, Jade takes a deep breath and heads out the door and down the hall. Humming to herself she walks down the hall thinking about everything that has gone on. Not really paying attention to anything else, she bumps into someone. She mutters her apologies, and then she stops in her tracks when she sees the camoflauge pants. She slowly raises her eyes to meet the intense gaze of Bubba.
"Jade, we need to talk."
Jade stares at him for a moment, and then leans against the wall.
"Then talk."
"Jade, I've been pigheaded about everything, and I just wanted you to know that I am sorry."
"You know Bubba the past few months I've been going thru hell over the whole situation that's happened..."
"Jay, I said I was sorry..."
"I'm not finished yet...the past month or so I've been thinking of how much you hurt me. So, before you even try, let me just tell you this...sometimes a heart gets broken so many times that no matter what you try to do, it can't be fixed."
Jade stares into Bubba's eyes intensely until he finally has to look away. The look in her eyes haunted him. All the hurt and pain HE caused radiated from them. Without another word from her, she walks slowly on down the hall. He watches her go and stares after, noticing her shirt's raised slightly in the back showing off her tattoo, but it looked different. A dagger was positioned in the middle of the hear with blood dripping down from it. Bubba can only sigh.
