Disclaimer: Don't own.

A/N: -cracks knuckles- Okay then, let's get started… Don't start with this story, the series starts with Time Withers All. Like the others, this is not kayfabe compliant, takes place before the 2008 draft only with Matt on Raw, and more info can be found on my profile. Also, this is the LAST story in the series! –sniff- Hopefully it'll be a good ending, so sit back and enjoy the ride!

Jeff sat by his brother's bed, watching him sleep while guilt ate away at him. Though the doctor said that the concussion wasn't severe and Matt was only in the hospital for the night to play it safe, it still boiled down to the fact that Jeff put him there- and he wasn't going to be getting over that guilt anytime soon.

Jeff sighed, running his fingers distractedly through his hair. What he needed to do was find someway to explain everything to Matt that didn't result in his brother storming away from him at the first possible opportunity. Scratch that- the first thing he needed to do was figure out if Matt was still willing to forgive him. After all, his brother had barely even noticed that he was around when he was awake; for all Jeff knew, he hated him after the match. Not that he could really blame Matt, though.

And then there's still the matter of the explanation, Jeff thought. Somehow I don't think a simple "It was for your own good!" will cut it.

That was the problem, though. There was no simple explanation for what he had done to his brother, but he didn't want to go into a lengthy one, either. All he wanted was to go back to the way things were before and do his best to forget the mess he had managed to create in the past few weeks.

Jeff shifted in his chair and winced as his back throbbed in protest. In the rush to take care of Matt any concern over Jeff's back had been quickly forgotten, though that was fine by him. It was just sore, just a little bit of strain from his match with Hunter and then the falls when he was fighting Matt. He couldn't really blame anyone, though; in all the excitement since Wrestlemania his back injury had been completely forgotten. Besides, all he needed was some rest and it would be fine.

Matt shifted on the bed and Jeff froze, watching his brother nervously. He prayed that Matt wouldn't wake up because he was nowhere even close to coming up with an excuse for what happened. Unfortunately, it wasn't long until Matt slowly opened his eyes, frowning slightly as he looked around to see where he was.

"You're at the hospital," Jeff said softly. Matt flinched at the sound of his voice and cautiously glanced over at his brother. Of course, he probably expects me to start tormenting him again. Jeff felt sick as he realized just how much Matt distrusted him. "I'm…" He stopped. What could he say? I'm not going to hurt you- again? He couldn't make that promise. I'm not going to leave? That would probably just scare Matt even more. I'm sorry? It was a bit late for that.

Jeff stood up abruptly. What the hell was he doing here? Matt wasn't going to want him around, not after what he had just done to him. It would be better if he just left now and stopped messing up his brother's life. He looked down at the floor and quickly but quietly made his way over towards the door.

"No…"

Jeff paused for a moment by the door. The plea was soft and he wasn't sure if he had heard it. Every bone in his body was still screaming at him to keep walking, but the quiet command had brought back images of Matt lying in the ring, broken and in pain. If his brother wanted him to stay, he couldn't walk away. He just couldn't.

"Jeff…?"

Jeff slowly turned around, both needing and afraid to know what would happen next. "Yeah?" His voice was soft and he couldn't quite bring himself to meet his brother's eyes. Though he had been willing to risk their relationship before, a rejection now would hurt worse than anything else.

"Don't leave."

Jeff shook his head. "Matt, I… do you even remember what happened?"

"Yeah," he said in a slightly hoarse voice. "You changed your mind. Something happened in the ring and you just stopped pretending that you didn't believe me. You carried me to the back and stayed with me until now… and I want to know why."

Jeff shook his head. He was not ready to have this conversation. "Matt…"

"Damnit, Jeff, this isn't open for discussion!" Matt snapped. "You're probably feeling guilty as hell. Scratch that- you are feeling guilty as hell, considering you were just about to sneak out of here! So please, just tell me what happened during the match."

Jeff took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "What happened was that I realized that I was hurting you more than I was helping you."

"Wait, what!?"

"Never mind," Jeff muttered. "I've said too much already." With that he turned and quickly walked out of the room, ignoring Matt's pleas for him to stay.

XXXXX

"Do you have someone you can call to pick you up?"

Matt sighed. He had just been released from the hospital, but was still sore and tired. Now, after his conversation- or rather, lack thereof- with his brother, the last thing he wanted to do was figure out who could pick him up from the hospital. "I'll just call a cab," he finally muttered.

"Are you sure?"

"No, that won't be necessary." Both Matt and the nurse turned around to see Jeff walking towards them. "I'm his brother; I'll be taking him back to the hotel." Matt let Jeff steer him away from the nurse and out of the hospital. "I hope you don't mind walking," Jeff said, his voice almost apologetic. "It's not that far and I've already returned the rental."

"It's not a problem." But it was a problem. Maybe not the walk back to the hotel, but the whole situation was a problem. He was too afraid to speak up, though, sure that if he said something Jeff would run. Matt had spent the last month without a brother and he didn't want that to continue now.

True to his word the walk was short and, in no time, they had arrived at Matt's hotel room. "Here, I grabbed your key from your bag," Jeff said as he fished it out of his pocket and handed it over. Matt unlocked the door and Jeff pushed past him into the room.

"You need to get packed up now. The rest of the crew flew out earlier and our flight leaves in…" he checked his watch. "An hour and a half. We can swing by my room to pick up my stuff on our way out."

"No."

Jeff looked surprised. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean I'm not packing until you explain what happened during the match yesterday!"

Jeff sighed. His first reaction was to refuse, but he knew that if they delayed anymore they'd risk missing Raw and he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize Matt's career again. "Fine," he said. "You pack, I'll talk."

Matt hesitated for a moment before nodding and grabbing his bag to start packing.

Jeff paused for a moment before starting. "That night, after Wrestlemania, I… I didn't know what to think. There was the video in front of me, but I also kept thinking of reasons why you could've been the one to start everything. It was all just stupid, meaningless comments you had made but still, they added up. So at first I was angry at you. Then the anger started to wear off and I wasn't sure what to think anymore. So I had Vince make that match. I figured if you were guilty it was what you deserved, but if you weren't then at least you wouldn't be around me any more."

"What are you talking about?"

Jeff frowned. "What?"

"Well, you said at least you wouldn't be around me anymore. That implies concern for me, instead of concern for yourself," Matt explained. "So why were you concerned for me?"

Jeff shook his head. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does! It matters because I need to know why you did what you did in order to know where we go from here!"

"Can't we just go back to the way things were?"

Matt snorted. "Do you really think we can?" he asked.

Jeff sighed. "I can hope, can't I?"

The room was silent for a moment before Matt spoke again. "Where do we go from here?" he asked softly. "Do you still think it would be a good idea for me to not be around you?"

"Honestly? Yes," Jeff said. "But I also know that that wouldn't work."

Matt exhaled slowly. He wanted to know why Jeff thought he was such a horrible influence, but he didn't dare. He no longer knew where their boundaries were and he didn't want to start finding out now. "So what, then? What happens now? What do we tell the fans? Vince? Do we go back to looking for whoever set this up?"

"No." The word was harsh and Matt flinched. "You are not going to go back to that."

"Wait… I'm not? What about you?"

"Does it matter what I do?"

"Goddamnit, Jeff, yes it does!" Matt knew that ne needed to be careful- no boundaries anymore, gotta remember that- but he was sick of Jeff making these cryptic distinctions between them. "Why the hell does it matter if I help or not?"

"Because I'm not going to let you throw your career away for me again!"

Matt was stunned. He hadn't expected that. "Jeff… What do you mean?"

Jeff sighed. There was no point in trying to step around it anymore. "You've always put your career on hold for me, you've always cleaned up my messes for me. When I hurt my back you took almost an entire year off to help me. Then you allowed yourself to get roped into trying to figure out who was hurting me. After that you were still working with me and I hurt you. I don't want you to sacrifice your life for me anymore."

"Jeff, you're my brother. Do you really think my career means more to me than you do?" Matt shook his head. "You really don't know me at all, do you?"

Jeff flinched. He knew the question was meant as a bit of a joke, but it was true. He didn't know Matt at all. If he truly knew him he wouldn't have thought that he was the one who hurt him. He would've realized that no matter what he did he couldn't keep him from trying to help. If he knew Matt, they wouldn't have been in the situation they were in now.

"No," he said softly. "I guess I don't."