Chapter 2

Matt woke up next to Jillanna. Her beautiful red hair was flayed out on her pillow in long curls. He played with one of them and she sighed gently in her sleep. He wanted to tell her that he loved her but he was afraid to. His experience with relationships had all ended up the same. He had given his heart to others and they had walked out with his beating heart in their hands and their fingernails digging in and making it bleed. But he had been more careful with Jilly. He hadn't told her he loved her yet and it was a new record. He had never been this long in a relationship before dropping the L-bomb on the girl.

This time it really felt right. Those other girls were mistakes and his heart had been misgiving but not this time. Jillanna was the one he truly loved and although he was still nervous to tell her he wondered if the nerves were warranted. She fell into place with him, they fell into place with each other, and when she looked into his eyes he saw nothing but a sincere woman with love for her man. Jillanna stirred and woke up. Her big green eyes fluttered at Matt and he smiled back at her.

"Good morning beautiful." He said and brushed her fiery hair from her face.

"Hey." She said with a stretch.

She got up and stretched again and took off Matt's shirt and tossed it on the floor.

"I'm going to go shower. You can come if you want…" She walked out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. "Eew!"

Matt heard her shriek of disgust and went to see what it was. Maybe she wanted him to smash a spider or maybe Jeff or Shannon forgot to flush.

"Someone spewed all over the toilet." She pointed and then stepped into the shower closing the glass door.

"Yeah…I got it." Matt got a rag and some cleaner and knelt in front of the toilet to clean it. "Hey baby, can I talk to you about something?" Matt said a little loudly so Jilly could hear him over the rain of the shower.

"Sure. Come in here and we can talk." She giggled.

"Not now. I want to ask you…" Matt trailed off and for a few moments the only sound was the sound of the shower head and the soft humming of Jilly. He could hear Jeff or Shannon rattling around in the refrigerator. Jillanna poked her head out of the shower.

"What is it Matt?"

"Um…what do you think about us?"

There was a pause.

"Matt you're a wonderful guy. You treat me great, the sex is good, well I've had better but that's not all there is to it, and I like what we have right now."

Matt stopped cleaning.

What does she mean about that sex comment? It made him a little aggravated. No woman had ever bad mouthed his bedroom abilities before. Were they just being nice or was Jilly being a jerk? She got off when they…or was she faking so she wouldn't hurt his feelings? Great.

"Matt are you still there?"

"Yes." He said quietly. "So you like what we have right now. What exactly would you say we have right now? I…I think I may be lost." He had felt so happy up until now and with her comments he was starting to feel a little down about their…whatever it was they had. Up until that moment he would have classified it as a relationship. What was it to her friendship with mediocre sex?

"I didn't mean to upset you baby…come in here."

"Answer my question first." Matt tried to stay firm but knew he would give in. If she had him it would make him feel better about them and about himself.

"Don't get shitty with me Matt." She snapped.

"I didn't know I was I'm sorry okay?" There was silence between the two of them. It seemed like forever. Matt sat on the toilet lid and sighed. He got up and took his shorts off and climbed in to the shower with her.

Later than evening Jeff took Matt and Shannon to dinner because Matt was acting a little down. The three were at a local bar which was known for serving killer buffalo wings. Inside the atmosphere consisted of mostly men and a few women watching sports on big screen t.v.'s that were hung around on the walls. The patrons were loud and the smell of alcohol and hot wing sauce permeated the air. It was a good smell and a good place to hang with friends. Jeff and Shannon were going easy on the drinking tonight choosing to stick with soda. Shannon took a bite of his wing and gulped some soda.

"That's really--" He gasped. "Hot."

"What kind?" asked Jeff taking one and looking at it.

"Um…well…it's medium but it's really spicy for medium don't you think?" Shannon took another gulp of his soda. Jeff took a bite, chewed, and then shrugged.

"It's good. I usually get fire."

"Oh well I could get the fire ones." Shannon waved at a waitress to come to their table.

"It's not a big deal Shan, it's just a difference in taste." Jeff tossed the bone from his eaten wing onto his napkin. "Don't do something stupid…but I guess it's useless to say that with you." Shannon waved at the waitress again. She came bopping over with a short skirt and bouncing blonde curls.

"Hey miss, can I get some fire over here? These are like little baby wings. I want something with some kick to it."

Jeff just shook his head and looked over at Matt who was staring into his soda.

"Earth to Matt." Jeff waved a hand in front of his brother's face.

"Huh?" Matt looked up and blinked. "Oh, sorry. Did I miss something?"

"No, Shannon is just preparing to make a fool out of himself. Nothing out of the ordinary. But what's bugging you?"

"Nothing." Matt replied and looked down at his empty plate. "Are you going to eat those?" He said to Shannon. Shannon handed his puny medium wings over.

"Nope, I'm getting some fire. I'm going to eat them all too."

Matt started to chow on his newly acquired wings.

"Something's wrong with you Matt."

"No."

"Yeah, you eat when you get upset."

"I do not." He said taking another bite. He looked down at his plate. "Well okay maybe I do, so what."

"Here are your fire wings." The waitress sat the basket in front of Shannon and flashed a big smile at Jeff and batted her eyelashes.

"Why is she ogling at you? I'm the macho one with the badass wings."

"Hey Shan, I really wouldn't…" Jeff tried his best to warn his friend but the warning fell on thick-headed ears.

Shannon quickly ate the meat from his first wing and started on the second one. Jeff watched as his eyes began to tear up.

"Spicy?"

"No…are you kidding?" Shannon shrugged between mouthfuls.

He started on a third one. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes and ran flowing down his cheeks. He started on his fourth and his nose started to leak too. He grabbed his soda and started to chug it. Jeff watched amused. Even Matt slowed down on his food to watch. Shannon finished his soda and gave a loud belch.

"Shit…my lips…my tongue…my stomach…oooww."

Jeff only laughed.

"I told you so, man."

"I can't feel my lips, dude…are my gums bleeding? Man what the fuck do they put in that stuff lighter fluid?" He dabbed at his eyes with his t-shirt sleeve. "To use the expression of a wrestling legend WOOO!"

"Congrats Shannon. You have proved your manhood." Jeff reached over and whacked Shannon on the shoulder. "Hot lips." He laughed.

"Sweet." Said Shannon and he blew his nose into his napkin. "Hey, don't call me that."

"Are you going to eat the rest?" Matt tapped Shannon on his shoulder and pointed to his uneaten wings.

"You don't get anymore until you spill the beans." Jeff said and snatched the basket with the remaining fire wings in them.

"I don't have to give you a play by play of my life." Matt glared.

"Of course you do I'm your brother."

"Yeah and I'm your goofy best friend." Shannon put in despite his sniffles. "What's up Matt? Are you just getting sick of Jeff staying at your house? I told him he could stay with me."

"I'm not staying with you Shannon." Jeff picked up a wing and smiled at it. "Mmm…looks good doesn't it."

" You're an idiot. Both of you are…I took care of your dumb-asses last night why can't you let me be with my wings."

"We're not as nice as you are." Said Shannon. He was still licking his stinging lips like a cat licks its lips after tasting something nasty.

"It's just Jilly. It's no big deal now give my wings back." Matt reached over the table and snagged his stolen goods.

"I don't like her." Shannon let everyone know for the millionth time. He hadn't liked her from the very beginning and had been pretty vocal about it early on. He'd finally quieted about it when it had seemed the relationship was sticking. He rarely mentioned his distain for Jillanna anymore unless it was to Jeff in private.

"What did she do now?"

"Nothing. It's me. It's just me." Matt sighed and leaned back in his chair. "She's confusing. Why can't women come with some kind of instruction manual? Damn it!"

"Well because if they did have an instruction manual it would weigh 500 pounds and it would be written in .5 font size in Egyptian hieroglyphics." Shannon said. His eyes had finally stopped watering and his lips were cooling down. "And there would be an instruction manual for that instruction manual and--"

"What did you do?" Jeff interrupted. "You're nothing but a good guy to her. She treats you like crap sometimes and you're still man enough to take it and say nothing. I'll I've seen is you being awesome to her. What could she find to pick on you about?"

"She doesn't treat me like crap. A woman has needs too."

Jeff and Shannon looked at each other.

"Well I know she got her needs met this morning. You two were at it awfully early." Jeff raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Jeff, please." Matt rolled his eyes.

"Yeah and I had to go really bad. You guys shouldn't do that when you have company." Shannon got up and reached into his back pocket. His cell was ringing. "Hey, I'll be right back." He flipped his phone open and walked outside.

"Well what's her issue, bro?" Jeff pried.

"It doesn't involve you just drop it…and don't say she treats me like crap…I love her."

Jeff didn't like to hear that part. He had seen many other Matt Hardy relationships end in train wrecks. Matt was just too sweet to the ladies. He gave his heart out too early and too often. He only hoped this relationship wasn't heading the same way. He was tired of seeing his brother hurt by cheap women whom Matt had misjudged or who had led Matt on just to get his feeling smashed to bits. Jilly seemed like the rest but Matt had been with her longer than any of the others. Well, that might be up for debate. They had been on and off for years, basically since Matt and Jeff had debuted on WWE, because Matt had met her for the first time that night. They had been together steadily after Matt's last break up which had been almost four years ago.

"You love her but does she love you Matt?" Jeff asked quietly. He didn't like the unsure look in Matt's eyes. Matt's eyes looked back and forth revealing that he really didn't know the answer.