Sometimes Matt was surprised by how a storyline could define the perspective that people had from them: they thought that Punk was a brat. Wrong. They thought that Mark scared everyone. Wrong. They thought that Jericho was a loudmouth man. Well, not wrong at all. They thought that, between him and Jeff, Jeff was the craziest one. Definitely wrong. But the best one, the one that Matt hilarious was about Heath being a 'vixen' and Justin being innocent and pure.
It was almost impossible to conceive, at least in his and Jay's minds; they trained them, spent time with them and they came to know them: Heath was shy, quite and didn't talk much with anyone unless you had asked him something directly. On the other hand, Justin was open, would say whatever he wanted, where he wanted and when he wanted, and had a huge attitude with those who provoked him, which was almost everyone.
But the funniest thing was that Barrett, who always praised that he was the best at anything he did, was able to keep the young South-African on his place and, in the end he would always go searching for Matt.
There were a few people who could the others from getting in trouble, and those were Punk, Hunter, Matt and Kane. Each one had a slightly different way of doing so: Punk would convince them through words (he really was great at talking, that was one of the things that wasn't made up), Hunter would threaten them with suspension (good thing to be part of the CEO and son-in-law of the boss), Matt could get a bit homicidal, specially with Justin, Jeff and Adam (the knew better to make him really angry, specially if he had something to throw at them because he rarely missed the spot he was aiming) and Kane… well, he would just crush your bones if you were lucky.
But in Justin's case he would only listen to his old mentor: he would completely ignore Punk, mimic Hunter and if it happened to be Kane… he would just start running away from the bigger man. But he would do whatever Matt told him to do and right away; he had learned his lesson when Matt threw him a shoe in his head.
And today wasn't going to be the exception.
"Matt!" He looked around and saw Otunga.
"What's the matter?" He asked when the boy arrived next to him.
"Justin. He says he is not going to room with Wade. But Vince said he has to room with someone and Wade is the only one without anyone and… well, he says he is going to sleep on the corridor if we make him room with Wade." The tan man told him.
"For god's sake. Once I thought that with Jeff being at RAW I would find some peace, I have to babysit Justin." He growled with exasperation. "Let's go, Otunga." He said and then made his way to the Nexus locker room. "What the hell is going on, Paul?" Matt asked his protégé who shifted his weight.
"I don't want to room with Wade." He said.
"And why not?" The Carolinian asked.
"Because he snores and talks in his sleep." He replied with a huge attitude.
"Behave." Matt growled. "Just for now, you'll room with me. Barret, you are going to be rooming with Adam." He said.
"With Copeland? No way! He is an asshole!" The Englishman exclaimed.
"For the love of god! What do you kids think this is? A pleasure journey? No boys, this is work, and if someone older than you says to you to do something you do it without even asking." Matt exclaimed. "If not, you can go to Hunter to explain him your problems." He suggested.
"But…" Wade started.
"Enough. Don't you even start, Young. When I just got here I had to room with anyone Vince put me with. And that was from Jeff, to Nash or Taker. It was that or to sleep on the car, we didn't get to choose with whom we wanted to room." He said. "And don't worry, Barret, you and Adam ain't that different: you both think that the Universe spins around you. The only difference you have between you is that he is Canadian and you are English. See? You even can have a topic to talk about!" He said with fake cheerfulness.
"And what would that be?"
"To badmouth the Americans. Now get outta here and head to the hotel. Not you, Gabriel." The South African hissed and hugged briefly the ginger, who smiled at Matt. "Good night Heath."
"Good night Matt." He said, softly. "G'Night Justin."
Once everyone had left Matt motioned his former rookie to come stand by his side. "Don't you learn, Paul?" He whispered into his ear.
"Maybe is just that I like it when you take charge…" The younger whispered and Matt chuckled before kissing him roughly, causing Lloyd to moan.
"Yeah, I can appreciate that." Matt said. "Let's go." He ordered.
"B-but…" Justin stuttered.
"I said let's go." The Carolinian repeated more firmly and Justin didn't dare to question him again, he grabbed his stuff and followed Matt, head bowed and in silence, just like a scolded child would do.
"Hey Hardy!" He turned around and saw Randy.
"What's up?" The older male asked, Justin still behind him.
"We are going to hang out to the bar next to the hotel, wanna come? Hey Gabriel." He greeted the younger man: he didn't see him because he was behind Matt.
"Sure. I'll see you there." The one with long hair said. "Let's go." He said and he and Justin made their way to Matt's car, under the sight of Randy who shook his head. When they arrived at the hotel Justin stayed next to the door, waiting for Matt to say something. "Strip." Matt growled and the younger boy did right away, folding his clothes and leaving them on a chair. "Bed." He moved to the bedroom, but then looked at Matt. "Left." The Werewolf lay on the bed, observing every move of his former mentor.
He trembled when one of the powerful hands stroked his thighs and pressed his lips in a thin line, knowing that he wasn't allowed to make any sounds.
Justin was very aware that if someone, anyone, besides Jeff, Heath or E&C found out about them, Matt could be in serious problems. It wasn't that inter-relationships were forbidden or anything in the business, but most people thought that he was innocent while they thought, knew, that Matt was exactly the contrary. Matt had told him that Nash had got in real trouble when Vince found out that he was fucking with Matt, the boss man said that Kevin was taking advantage of him.
Paul arched his back when Matt started to stroke his cock, writhing slightly. He knew that it was easy to misunderstand that scene, it really looked like Matt was taking advantage of him, but he knew better, of course he did: Matt loved him and he always took care of him. Plus, he liked when Matt took charge over him. He loved it.
"Uh!" He exclaimed softly when Matt pushed one finger inside of him and then bit his lips.
"It's okay baby." Matt cooed into his ear, still stretching him. "But what it's not ok baby, is that you were such a brat with your tag-mates, and this is why you are going to be punished." He whispered and Justin whimpered.
Matt stretched him for some more minutes, watching, amused, how the boy shifted his hips. "Stay still." The one with long hair before he pulled his fingers out, then he took a couple of things from his bag: a pair of cuffs and a vibrator. He moaned softly at the sight. "That's right babe. You'll be punished tonight." He muttered and then smirked. He carefully cuffed him on the headboard and then put a pillow behind his head. "Open your pretty legs baby." Justin did and then moaned sweetly when Matt pushed the toy inside of him. "Feels good?"
"Yeah, but you feel better." He replied, smiling sweetly.
Matt smiled and kissed his mouth lovingly, stroking his cheeks. "I love you, you know that, right?" He whispered, lips brushing against lips.
"Of course I know. And I love you too." He replied. "H-how long are you going to be out?" He asked, almost shyly.
"Just half an hour. I promise." He kissed his sweaty forehead and then switched on the sex toy at the fifth lever.
"Oh god!" He moaned and closed his fists.
"Be good." He whispered and then stood up.
When Paul heard the door close he sighed and shifted his hips, trying to get a faster relief. In that period of thirty minutes he came four times. He was sweating, moaning and almost about to pass out when the door opened and his lover came in.
"Matt." He moaned, looking at the older man.
"Hey babe. You are soaked." He pointed out and then smiled, sitting next to him and uncuffed his hands. Justin let his arms drop onto the mattress, breathing hard. Matt stripped down to boxers and then sat down next to his baby. "Come here." He patted his lap and Justin hurried to comply, his arms around Matt's strong neck.
Matt kissed his neck, licking the cum off that was there and started to move the dildo, fucking his boyfriend with it.
"No, no." He moaned and grabbed Matt's wrists. "You, I want you. I need you." He said and Matt nodded before taking off his boxers and throwing them somewhere in the room. "God yes!" He whispered as he impaled himself on Matt.
It wasn't long until Paul came again, going completely limp in Matt's arms and then Matt started jerking himself off, staining Paul's buttocks with his semen.
"How are you my love?" Matt asked softly, putting him down on the bed. "I'll clean you up." He said, kissing his forehead. A few minutes later he came back with a wet, warm, soft rag that he used to clean the tired body of the South-African. "Here, baby." He opened his arms and Justin moved himself into Matt's arms. The American lifted and moved him onto the other bed and then lay beside him. "Are you tired?"
"Yeah. I cum five times in half an hour, you know?" He said, smirking.
"Well, you needed to be punished for being a brat, baby." The older reminded him and then kissed him softly on the lips.
Paul smiled and snuggled closer to him, wrapping both arms around Matt's neck, sighing when the Carolinian wrapped one around his waist and the one around his back, positioning the younger man over himself.
"Matty?" He mumbled.
"Yes honey?"
"Will… will we ever tell the others?" He asked, not looking at the older man, hiding his face on Matt's chest.
"Of course honey. We will tell you at your second anniversary as a Superstar, sounds fair?"
"Yes." He smiled and pecked his cheek. "Sounds really fair." He mumbled. "Matty?" He asked again after a few minutes of silence.
"What?" Matt whispered lovingly, stroking his brown hair.
"I love you." Paul said, smiling at him.
"And I love you too, sweetie." He replied. "I was thinking…how about we go to South-Africa on Christmas?"
"You mean it?" He looked up at him; hope glimmering in his eyes.
"Of course I do. I would love to see your hometown." He said, smiling and hugging him tighter.
"I'll call my mum." Justin said as he grabbed his phone from his bag.
"What time is in Cape Town?" Matt asked, propping himself on his elbows, watching every move.
"10am or so." He replied as he went back to his boyfriend, sitting between his open legs, to whom he smiled when he felt an arm wrapped around his waist. When his mum picked up his phone he started talking in a mixture of South-African English and Afrikaans. He didn't even know that his former rookie could speak Afrikaans. After about half an hour that he used to text his brother asking how was everything in RAW and telling him that he was going to South Africa on Christmas the younger male hung up. "My mom says he really wants to meet you personally." The younger male said, grinning.
"And I want to meet the woman that have such a lovely man as a son." He replied, kissing his cheek. "But now, let's go to sleep. We need to be at the arena by nine am."
They lay down again and Matt hugged him tightly, kissing his hair a couple of times before falling sleep, quickly followed by Justin.
And three weeks later, they were in New York, waiting for they flight to Cape Town. They were waiting at the VIP area, sitting close enough to have some contact but not close enough for some on the comprehend that they were together.
"Are we scaling somewhere?" Justin asked.
"Yeah. Las Palmas, Spain." He replied, looking at his tickets. "How long do you think is it going to be?" Matt asked.
"Humm… I guess about eight hours to Spain and then about eight more hours to Cape Town. But I'm not sure." He explained.
"Geez. That's long." Matt breathed out. "I'm going to get juice, do you want something?
"Water, please." The younger replied and Matt nodded, brushing his tight with his fingertips. To brush him was Matt's way to say I love you whenever he couldn't do it verbally.
After a very long, long day the arrived at Cape Town, both with an amazing jetlag, took a taxi and drove to the younger's man house, who opened the door and invited his lover to come in.
"Mom!" He yelled and waited for a couple of minutes, hearing noises upstairs.
"Paul!" They finally saw the woman, who his son tightly. "My love! You've changed so much!" He smiled softly and then kissed his mother's cheek. "You left being a baby and now you are a grown up man." The South-African blushed and looked over Matt, who was biting his lip trying to not burst in laugher.
"Matt!" He whined in frustration.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He mumbled as he smiled at the woman. "I'm Matt Hardy, nice to meet you Mrs. Lloyd." He said. "Justin has talked wonders about you."
"Justin? Who is Justin?" The woman asked, confused.
"I'm Justin. It's my in-ring name." The shorter man told her. "We usually just call each other by our in-ring names. Less confusions." He explained.
"I see. Please, come in." She led them to the kitchen. "So, Matt, what's your in-ring name?" The woman asked.
"Oh. My brother and I do not have any in-ring names." He told her, accepting the cup of water that she gave him. "Thank you."
"How come?" She sat down in front of them.
"Oh. We never wanted to use one. Plus, being tag-teams partners we didn't need a storyline about why we were teaming up." He shrugged and then yawned. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sweetheart, I know you must be tired." She took both glasses and put them in the sink. "Why don't you go lay down at your bedroom hey? I have already made the bed." The males shared a look and then looked back at her. "What? It's not like I'm putting you in different rooms just to have one of you sneaking into the other's."
"D-do you know… about us?" Her son asked, looking at his mom with open-wide eyes.
"Of course I know baby. It wasn't that hard. Your father and I followed the NXT show, and honey; you would look at him with adoration. Even your father saw it! And he would look at you the same way, a bit more discreet though." She shook her head. "And every time you called you would talk about him endlessly. 'He is so lekker, mother.' 'His amazing, mother.' 'You would love him, mother.'" Paul blushed furiously and Matt laughed before he kissed his cheek.
"You are so cute." He said and the younger male growled.
His mother giggled and smiled at them. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up at dinner time." She said and prompted them to leave the kitchen.
Paul led him to his room, feeling, suddenly, very nervous.
"Babe?" Matt asked and kissed his cheek.
"It's nothing." He returned the kiss and opened the door, letting Matt in.
The brunette looked around and smiled: the room was… so Paul. There wasn't any other to describe it. "It's so you." He said and pulled his boyfriend into his arms. "So authentic."
"So… do you like it?" He mumbled.
"Of course I do." He whispered and then sat down in the bed. "C'mon let's sleep some, I'm falling sleep as we talk." He said and kissed his lips.
"Yeah, me too." He stripped down to his boxers as Matt did the same and once they were inside the bed, Matt covered them with the bed sheets (thank god his mother had turned the AC on) and hugged him tightly. "Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"You do realise that if I hadn't bitched about rooming with Wade we wouldn't be here, right?" He mumbled and snuggled closer to him.
"I do, I do." He chuckled and kissed his head. "But, eventually, we would have made our way down here." He mumbled and pressed him closer to him.
"You think so?"
"I know so. I'm really serious about us, baby. I will be with you until you decide to end us." He said, staring at the ceiling. "We should switch off the light, babe."
"Right." He moved a bit and turned off the light and then put his head under Matt's chin. "I want to be with you forever Matty, I can't imagine a life without you." He whispered.
"I don't either." He whispered. "I love you Paul."
"And I love you. Forever and always." The younger smiled and pressed a couple of kisses on the bare shoulder before he closed his eyes. "You know? When I signed the contract with the WWE I was really scared. And I really wanted to come back here when they started to made fun of me and my accent. But then you arrived at my life and everything was… it was just perfect." He told the untold story until that moment. "When they said that you were going to be my pro everyone said that having you as my mentor was my death sentence, that I would be the first one to leave, and instead I was the third in the table." He sighed. "But I knew you were just perfect for me, from all of them you were the one that knew more about high-flying, more techniques and movements, you were also the one that looked more… human."
"What does that even mean?" Matt asked, chuckling.
"Besides Jay and Punk… all the others just came, met their rookies and left. You, Jay and Punk asked Heath, Darren and me, to have lunch with you. I really loved it." He said. "But what I loved the most was that you never made fun of me, that you really, truly, cared for me. That is more than any rookie at NXT can say. You took me to your house, to Jeff's house, watched movies with me, you were by my side when Lena left me…" He listed and Matt sighed, remembering all of those things. "Not even Jay or Punk took Heath or Young to their homes. It meant so much to me."
"Do you want to know what I thought when I first saw you?" Matthew asked softly.
"Of course I do." The other male replied.
Matt caressed his back for a minute or so before he started again. "He is going to be a troublemaker. That's what I thought the first time I saw you. After so many years with Adam and Jeff together… Ha! There was no way you could have fooled me with those shining eyes and that beautiful smile at all. And I wasn't that wrong, was I?" Justin's chuckle gave him his answer. "But then… then I discovered that under that pretty face, under the smiles there was a boy that was a spoiled brat who only wanted to have fun. You reminded me of my brother and I when we started, hell we haven't changed that much! But as weeks went by I found out that under the boy there was a man, a man that couldn't have been seen for any of the others because they didn't looked for it: I found a grown up man that knew what he wanted, yes, but I also saw a man that was looking for someone's acceptation, my acceptation."
"You knew about that?" A flushed Justin asked, embarrassed that Matt could have read him so easily.
"Yeah I knew. Even Jeff knew, but all the others where so centred in their worlds that no one else noticed it, besides your mother." He said and then kissed his forehead. "And now, sleep, I'll continue tomorrow."
"Ok." Lloyd mumbled and let sleep claim him, quickly followed by Matt.
They stayed two weeks at Cape Town and they did everything that could be done: from eating koeksisters, to cleaning the house, to watch a soccer match. Soccer! He didn't even know that his boyfriend liked soccer!
"Well, you know, in here we have both soccer and rugby. But rugby is played more by white people and soccer by black people." The younger explained him one night that they were alone in the house watching a sappy movie from the 80's.
"I see. I had never watched a soccer match until now." Matt said, wrapping an arm around Paul's shoulders.
"I bet." He replied as he snuggled closer to Matt and smiled at him. "Do you think that the others will accept us?" He asked, suddenly feeling really small.
"Yeah. Not that I really care about their opinions but yeah, I'm sure they will. We are not the only ones who are in a hidden relationship baby." He said.
"What do you mean? There are others?" The South-African asked, looking up at him, completely shocked.
"Of course. Glenn and Mark, Adam and Johnny, my brother had a fling with Shawn while I had it with Nash which basically ended up the same way Kevin and I did." He shrugged and kissed his brow. "You just have to look for it and you'll find them baby." He said, smiling.
"You know them really well." Justin observed.
"It's been a really long time since I met them, honey. They used to be my family." He replied.
"Used to be? Who is your family now?" He asked, looking at him.
"Jeff, Ruby and you, of course." The brunette responded as if it was obvious.
"I'm part of your family?" He muttered under his breath, more to himself that to his boyfriend.
"Of course you are baby. Why wouldn't you be? You are my boyfriend after all, aren't you?" He asked, kissing his nose.
"Yeah, yeah, I am." He said and then kissed snuggled closer to him. "I love you, Matthew."
"And I love you." He replied and then hugged him tighter.
Paul smiled, his eyes fixed on the TV screen as Matt stroked his hair: he couldn't be happier, he had it all: money, health, friends, family and an amazing boyfriend who loved him and whom he loved with all his heart.
Yeah, life couldn't be better for him.
Matt kissed his head again and sighed: yeah, for the WWE Universe and some of their co-workers his baby was like Virgin Mary, for his Nexus team mates he was just a spoiled brat, but for him, Paul was his everything he ever wanted on a partner: love, respect, happiness and fun.