Author Note: HAYHAY. I know I said last chapter that I wasn't going to upload the next one until I got a sufficient amount of reviews, but I got tired of waiting, so whatever.
Disclaimer: DON'T OWN 'EM.
-
By the time it was to retire to bed, Jeff had consumed more alcohol after Matt left early. He was asleep in Shawn's arms now, who was carrying him, walking down the hotel hallways with Hunter.
"If Jeff's sleep-talking is as obnoxious as Matt says, then good luck. You'll need it," Hunter chuckled, stopping in front of the Hardy's hotel room.
Shawn shook his head, "Good night."
He went into his own room he had formerly shared with his best friend, and gently dumped Jeff on Hunter's bed, pulling the covers over him. The younger Hardy curled up on his side, huddling within the warmth of the blanket cutely.
Shawn smiled at his adorable action, reaching over to touch his silky blonde hair. He went to bed then, shutting off the light and trying to fall asleep. Well, barely. He kept thinking about Jeff and Hunter. He wondered if, hypothetically, Hunter liked Jeff. The younger male was always so sweet - he doubted he would shoot Hunt down too quick. At the most, he'd decide to give The Game a chance and go out with him for a while. That was at the very most.
Turning on his side in bed, he thought some more. He had to come to terms with the fact he liked Jeff - he knew that. But how? Saying it out loud might help a little to make him feel better.
Hesitantly, he whispered to no one in particular, "I like Jeff." Nothing responded, nothing judged him. "I like Jeff, a lot."
He was starting to feel a bit more assured, and decided he should stop thinking so much and just sleep.
Well, until Jeff started sleep-talking.
It wasn't very coherant at first, and Shawn barely stirred from his sleep when he started. But then, it got more clear.
"Hm... Wow, you're cool, Matt. Who wipes out like that bowling?... I can't believe Shannon got the most points... He can't even keep his food on his plate when he eats. Oh, man, I keep getting gutter balls. The goddamn ball doesn't stay where I throw it. Oh, hey, Hunter, what are you doing here?"
He stopped talking for an hour or so, granting Shawn more sleep until he started again, "I'm not that pretty, shut up... Now you're just bullshitting... Aw, John, you're so sweet."
Shawn's eyes popped open in the sheer darkness of the room. What the hell is he dreaming about John for?
"You don't look so bad yourself, you know..." There was a long pause. "John... John, I'm so sorry. I can't do this. I like someone else. Hm? I can't tell you who, sorry..."
Subconsiously, Shawn whispered, "Tell him who you like."
"I really can't say anything, John... He doesn't even know... Okay, okay, come here real close."
The older male had to strain his ears to hear Jeff's light whisper, "Shawn."
-
The next morning was an entirely new episode all together.
Jeff was a little hung-over when he woke up, and Shawn was already awake. He gave the younger Hardy a glass of water as he sat up.
"Is it really bad?" he asked softly.
Jeff shook his head, "What happened last night? Where's Matty?"
"Um... you kind of called him out last night and you wanted to switch rooms with Hunter," Shawn replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
The younger sat up in shock. "I did that? Oh wait, I kind of remember now," he said thoughtfully, "Is he mad?"
Shawn shrugged, "I don't think so; it's not that big of a deal."
After a few minutes, Shawn announced he'd be in the shower and that Hunter or Matt might be stopping by, leaving Jeff by himself. He stood from the bed and sloppily pulled the covers up over the pillows to make it look at least half-made.
As Shawn had predicted, there was a knock on the door, and Jeff went to open it. Hunter was on the other side of the doorway, looking quite awake and ready to tackle the day. The older blonde let himself inside.
"How's that hangover, boo?" he asked casually, sitting down on the end of the bed.
Jeff sat beside him. "Not that bad. Just got a headache."
Hunter smirked a little, "Let me make it better, then."
Gently, he cupped Jeff's chin and tilted it down so that he could plant a feathery kiss on his forehead and tucked a stand of blonde hair behind his ear. A pink blush surfaced Jeff's cheeks, and the older male caught it, holding back his amusement.
Still, Jeff tried to avoid his eyes, but Hunter's gaze was too strong. "What wrong?"
"Nothing," the younger Hardy insisted, "I'm fine."
Hunter didn't believe him, especially because he knew that whenever Jeff was lying, he couldn't look anyone in the eye. But before he could call him out on it, Shawn appeared, leaving the bathroom in a towel and a string of steam following him.
"There he is," Hunter said, "Put some clothes on, sexy boy."
Shawn pulled out a second towel from his bag, using it to towel-dry is his hair. "You seen Matt?"
"Yeah, but he's catching up on two weeks worth of sleep," he joked, elbowing Jeff in the ribs a little, "Speaking of sleep, how'd that go?"
Jeff peered over at Shawn, who shifted uncomfortably under both their gazes. He cleared his throat, "It wasn't as bad as Matt makes it out to be."
To move on from the conversation, he said, "I'm starving. You guys wanna pick up breakfast?"
Hunter and Jeff agreed to go get breakfast together, and they stopped back at Matt's room to see if he was awake yet, but he was pretty much knocked out. They went downstairs and to a cafe, where they got their breakfasts.
While Hunter was devouring his food, Shawn and Jeff seemed a little less than hungry. Shawn was too distracted by the memory of Jeff's unconsious confession last night that he liked him back. He was both surprised and shocked, and the concept had to sink in some more. Jeff just wasn't hungry in general, too hungover.
"What's up with you two?" Hunter mumbled.
"I feel kind of nauseous," Jeff confessed, rotating is plate around.
The oldest blonde sighed, "Food will help that, champ."
Then, they saw Adam and Chris, who walked over to them cheerfully. "What's up, guys? Had a good night last night?"
Hunter and Shawn eyed eachother, both eventually cracking into grins, and then laughter. Jeff glared at both of them, but pouting cutely.
"You guys are complete tools," he claimed.
The Game laughed harder at that, "Sorry, Jeff, but last night was pretty funny."
"What happened?" Adam asked, and they joined them at the table, pulling chairs to sit.
Shawn tried to control his laughter, but whenever Hunter thought something was funny, it was hard not to laugh with him. "Um, when we were at the bar, Jeff was already drunk when Matt showed up, and he went accusing Matt of being a jerk lately."
"Which he has," Hunter broke in, "And a huge argument broke out between them. Turns out Matt's been a bitch because of Jeff, who's been sleep-talking lately."
He fell into laughter again, covering his face with one hand. "A-And, Jeff, hicupping and slurring, went, 'Fine, if my supposed 'sleep-talking' keeps you awake all the time, then you should have no problem if Hunter and I switched rooms!'" He mimicked Jeff's voice by making it high and disoriented.
Everyone laughed at that, even Jeff. "I hate you, man. You're a jerk," he chuckled.
-
Hunter was backstage in the locker room, watching a wrestling match between Jeff and Umaga. He was hanging out with Batista not too long ago, but the larger man left to get ready for his match that was next.
He watched Jeff closely in the screen. He barely escaped Umaga's large fists from hitting his flawless, pretty face. Jeff then turned around and smacked the taste out of Umaga's mouth. The much bigger male stumbled backwards a little, but then he grabbed the younger Hardy and threw him against the corner of the ring. Hunter cringed as he practically saw the wind escaping the younger Hardy.
Dramatically, Umaga yanked out his whip and held it in his meaty fist in the air. Just as he was about to bring the harsh material down on Jeff, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by Matt, and John Morrison stood by in case he was needed.
The crowd cheered loudly, and Hunter smiled. It was rare that someone could hurt Jeff without having to pay for it.
When the match was over, Hunter waited for Jeff to come into the locker room. He did shortly after he disappeared from the screen, rubbing the back of his neck a little.
"Oh hey, Hunter. What are you doing back here?" he asked, sitting down on a bench.
Hunter sat next to him. "Waiting for you," he replied simply.
Jeff smiled a bit at him, their gazes catching each other. "Well, thanks, I guess."
"Jeff, I..." The older male wanted to say something, anything, to let Jeff know he cared so deeply about him, but decided to go another way.
He swooped in to catch Jeff's lips with his own, reaching up to hold the side of his face. Jeff's heart beat quickened and he inwardly panicked. What in the Jesus Christ hell is he doing?! He thought Hunter's flirting was harmless - he had no idea Hunter liked him this way.
The younger Hardy pulled away, gasping. He stood up quickly, leaving Hunter to appear to be extremely confused and a little hurt.
"W-Why did you do that?" Jeff asked, running a hand through his hair anxiously, "Hunter..."
"I guess I kind of like you, Jeff," Hunter answered, trying to keep a straight face.
He swallowed tensely, silence filling the room aside from the noise coming from the television. "Hunt, I... You're one of my best friends," he said softly, "I don't like you that way. I'm sorry."
Hunter stood up, sighing. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that - I was out of line."
"It's okay," Jeff spoke tentively.
"Just know that I'll always care for you regardless of whatever happens."
Jeff looked up at him, a smile easing onto his face, green eyes twinkling prettily. "That's very sweet of you. Thank you."
They embraced genuinely, Hunter enclosing his arms on Jeff's smaller body.
Hunter inwardly rolled his eyes at himself and the things he'd do to help out his best friend.
-
"JEFFREY NERO HARDY."
Shawn could hear Matt's beyond furious voice all the way from backstage, and the last he saw, Matt was in the locker room taking a shower. Now, Matt came storming in, wet brown hair sticking to the sides of his face, a towel around his waist. He was absolutely seething. Then, it hit Shawn like an atomic bomb - the smell. His hand shot to his face to block his nose from the scent coming from the older Hardy. It smelled like one of those stink bombs from elementary school.
Matt's glaring eyes caught Shawn. "Where the hell is that little shit?"
"I don't know, but if I were you, I'd get out of here right now before that smell kills me," Shawn muttered in a nasally tone.
Hunter walked into the room casually, until he caught whiff of Matt. He groaned loudly and covered his face. "Jesus Christ, what is that smell?"
Matt balled and unballed his fists. "You wanna know? Jeff put boullion cubes into the shower head in the locker room. I saw him wrapping them earlier."
Suddenly, they heard someone greeting Jeff in the hallway, and Matt ran out like an enraged bull. Hunter and Shawn followed him, to see what would happen, and also to hold Matt back if he decided to charge at his little brother.
Indeed, Jeff and Randy were greeting eachother. Jeff saw them coming, and froze in his tracks, looking much like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Jeff," Matt forced out.
"Y-Yeah?"
"You should run."
Bolting immediately, Matt was hot on his heels, pushing anyone who was in the hallways out of his way. That included Batista, Brian Kendrick, and unfortunately, the Deadman. As he rounded a corner,
he was just about to raise his hands to shove the giant body out of his way, until he realized who that giant body belonged to. He gulped, staring up at the peeved off face.
"Sorry, Mark. Excuse me," he mumbled, resuming chasing his brother.
Jeff was doing all types of wacky things to avoid bumping into people and objects, but Matt wasn't so daring, and it slowed him down dramatically. Finally, he quit, breathing hard. But he'd be damned if he was going to let Jeff get away with that.
-
About fifteen minutes after the incident, Shawn was walking around aimlessly, bored out of his mind. He had to wait for Hunter to finish his match, and that wouldn't be for quite a while longer.
He thought about going to see Matt, but he was already in a terrible mood. Batista was outside smoking, Glenn was about to go into the arena, and Adam was nowhere to be found. Basically, every one had their own thing going on. As he rounded a corner, he bumped into someone.
"Sorry, man. Didn't see where I was going," John Morrison apologized.
"It's cool," Shawn muttered carelessly.
Just as he was walking away from the younger man, his ears picked up, "You're a classy one, aren't you?"
He whipped around to see John staring right back at him. "What did you say?"
"Nothing," he spat, and left.
Shawn balled his fists up and glared at nothing in particular. God, did he hate that punk. Walking around like he was a hot shot, when he was barely anything at all. Also, he had once heard in the locker room John and Dolph Ziggler talking about Jeff. They were insanely gross about it, talking about how much they wanted to bang the younger male. He'd rather not recall everything that was said. Ever since, however, Shawn hated John for being annoying as hell, disrespectful, and fake.
He went into what he thought was an empty locker room, trying to quell his frustration. Once he was inside, though, he heard noises. There was a rattling of metal, mumbled curses, and sighs of annoyance. He walked in a little further, peered around the room, and then found something that he didn't know whether to laugh or raise an eyebrow about.
It was Jeff that was cursing up a storm, and Shawn didn't blame him, since he'd be pissed off too if he were handcuffed to a towel rack.
"Jesus, Shawn, finally," Jeff huffed, pouting.
"What happened?" the older male inquired.
Jeff rolled his eyes and motioned with his chin at a set of keys lying on the floor a fair distance away from him, "Can you let me out first?"
Shawn picked up the keys and released Jeff from his metal prison. The younger rubbed his wrists and had the most adorable look of annoyance on his face, much like a kitten being disturbed from it's nap.
"I thought I was home free when Matt got tired of chasing me," he explained, "But then he threw me in here when I didn't see him, and handcuffed me to this thing. I even tried to cry so he could let me go, but he knows when I'm fake-crying."
"That's mean," Shawn tried to sympathize, but he ended up breaking into a grin.
Jeff glared at him. "Thanks, jerk. And I wasn't even trying to prank Matt - I was trying to get Mark. Matt just fell into my trap. Believe me, I was just as devestated."
"I bet you were," he chuckled, "Is Matt still mad, though?"
"I doubt it. He's used to my pranks," Jeff said, smiling, "Ever since we were kids, I would prank him. One time, he got so mad, he tied me to the tree in the backyard in the freezing cold. But we'd always make up right after, you know? He made me hot cocoa after untying me from the tree."
Shawn couldn't help but feel his heart melt into a gushy ball of sentiment. He could have broke out into an 'Awww', but decided that was quite unmanly for tough guy such as himself.
Jeff always knew Matt could never stay mad at him. Sure, he might have handcuffed him to a towel rack today, but he gave him an affectionate kiss on the top of the head before he left.
They started leaving the locker room together, and found Matt walking around after taking another shower.
"Looks like Shawn saved your ass, huh Jeff?" Matt smiled.
Jeff stuck his tongue out at him. "You're so mean. Someone creepy could have walked in and violated me."
Matt caught his brother in a hug, kissing his temple and messing up his hair as usual. "I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, baby bro."
They went and found Hunter after his match and waited for him to get changed into his street clothes, but the oldest male said he was going to go see Glenn, and Matt had a photoshoot right after the matches. So Shawn had to drive Jeff back to the hotel.
In the car, Jeff was messing around with the radio. "There's no good music anymore," he whined.
"Then stop touching the radio," Shawn said, switching it off.
"Shawn, does my sleep talking bother you? I can move back in with Matt," Jeff asked, looking at the older male.
He didn't reply immediately. "No, it doesn't bother me. You should hear Hunter's snoring. Besides, I like having you in the room."
Jeff snorted, "Yeah, right. I was drunk on the first night - that's an awesome first impression."
"First impression on what?" Shawn laughed, "I've known you for so long now."
The younger male just shrugged. "So, what was I talking about?"
Shawn gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "Um, something about bowling with Matt and Shannon. Then Hunter apparently showed up. And you started talking to John, I guess you could say."
"John?" Jeff asked, incredulous, "Shut up. I thought I was talking to John?"
"Yeah. You were flirting, to be more presice. But then you said you liked someone else other than him."
Jeff covered his face with his hands, groaning. "That's so embarrassing. Did I say who?"
"Uh... I don't think so."
-
Brotherly pranks are fun in the sun. I was inspired by my own prank-gone-wrong, and I got my mom instead of my cousin x_x. Needless to say, I'm very grounded.
Oh, and don't get me wrong - I love John Morrison, but he seems like someone Shawn would hate. I dunno.
