This is almost over. Probably one more chapter to go. Keep those reviews coming!
Warnings:
more sexuality in this chapter. Actually, this is probably the chapter with the most sexuality out of the whole story.
Disclaimers: I don't own WWE or am affiliated with WWE or its Superstars/Divas. Please be nice to me, Jeff and John.
Reviews and Critique:always welcomed!

Chapter 4: aftermath

John's jaw was fine. It turns out that Jeff didn't dislocate it, but rather he left him with a very nasty bruise instead. The following week, John drew a lot of unwanted attention from backstage personnel because of it. Everyone he encountered asked him about the bruise, and John rattled off as many excuses as he could think of:

Oh, R-Truth and I were training yesterday and I let my guard down.

I walked into an open locker door.

I tripped and hit my face on a bedpost last night at the hotel.

He rattled off anything he could think of that sounded legitimate and protected Jeff and his own career. Despite whatever consolation John had given himself the previous week, he still continued to feel underlying twinges of worry. He probably also would have felt guilt had he not been absolutely certain that Jeff blamed himself for the situation. Maybe it was a bad thing to be taking advantage of someone like this, to be manipulating the feelings of someone he cared about just to—

"Hey, John…"

John turned around. He was on his way to the locker rooms, bag in hand, to start getting ready for that night's tapings. He would have arrived some time sooner, if only he hadn't been stopped every ten feet by people asking him what happened to his face. Vince assured him that the make-up artists on-hand would help him with that. So at this moment, he thought he was going to be stopped by another curious observer, but when he saw who it was that stopped him, he became fairly certain that he wasn't going to be further interviewed about his bruise.

"Hey, Jeff."

Jeff fidgeted a little. "Listen, uh…" He was still uncomfortable. Uncomfortable, but succumbing; John could feel it in his words. "Sorry about, you know…that." He pointed to a corner of his own mouth, referencing John's bruise. "And uh…thanks for covering for me."

"Yes, well thank you for not ratting me out," John said.

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "Honestly, it never occurred to me."

John gaped slightly. Really? It seemed to him like Jeff didn't want to hurt him or compromise his job. This was going far better than expected. But how much longer could he carry on with this? Just how far could he take it at all?

"I appreciate that." He started moving forward and had his hand half-raised, not quite sure of what he wanted to do here. Kiss him? Hug him? Pat him on the shoulder?

Reflexively, Jeff took a step away from him. John stopped, slightly confused. Then he smiled and laughed lightly. "See you later, Jeff." He turned and left.

Jeff stood there with himself, alone in the hallway and positively burning on the inside.

Idiot! he thought. Why did you tell him that? Now he's going to think you don't care that he's trying to mess with you!

"Jeff!"

Jeff looked up to see Matt walking towards him. They had arrived at the arena together, but Matt had to take off ahead of him to go talk to the general manager. As he approached, Jeff saw that Matt looked like he had something to ask him. He didn't know if anything good would come from this.

"I just saw Morrison back there," Matt said, jabbing a finger over his shoulder. "Did you do that?" He pointed to his jaw.

Jeff shook his head. "Well, he and Ron were training last night. Guess it got out of hand." He hated lying to Matt. But then again…this wasn't really lying. The two Superstars did train together last night. How would he know if it had gotten out of hand or not? For all he knew, R-Truth may very well have roughed him up too.

"Thought so," Matt said. "You said you two were going to patch things up, so I didn't want to think that you were the one who got carried away." Jeff let out a breath. "So. Did you clear things up with him?"

"What?" This question had caught him off guard. He definitely did not patch things up with John Morrison, but it could be argued that he had cleared things up with him. Certainly not in a way that Jeff liked, or in a way that would satisfy Matt. He didn't want to tell him John kissed him, but he also didn't want to lie to him anymore.

"Well enough" was the answer he settled on. A part of him was hoping that since he didn't report the situation, John would be nice enough to leave him alone now. Maybe John would take this as a warning.

Matt eyed him suspiciously. Jeff fidgeted uncomfortably, wishing that Matt would go away. If he wasn't here anymore, he wouldn't have to keep lying to him and he would never have to tell him what happened with John.

The feeling of his phone vibrating in his pocket both spared him and jolted him out of his stupor. Grateful, he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. He had gotten a text message, but not from the person he hoped for.

"What's up?" Matt asked as Jeff sighed in frustration.

"Been expecting Beth," Jeff said, not even bothering to reply to it. "A call, a text, or anything. She didn't seem all right when we left for the airport. I've sent her a couple texts but she hasn't replied yet."

He looked up at Matt, who was also glancing at his own phone. He was scrolling through messages with a slightly guilty look on his face. Jeff raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Have you heard from her?"

It was several seconds before Matt replied. "Yeah, kind of. We talked a little before we left, and she sent me a text an hour or so ago, just checking to see if we made it okay."

Jeff was utterly bewildered. "Why didn't she text me?"

"Well to be honest, she's a little upset with you."

Jeff stared at his brother, gaping. He was stunned by the news, but knew that he probably should have expected it.

"She says you've been short with her, avoiding certain questions, really jumpy at whatnot lately, haven't been resting even though she told you to," Matt said, looking anywhere but at Jeff. "She says last time she called you, you never called back."

Not long after Jeff's unpleasant confrontation with John Morrison in the backstage hallways last week, he discovered that he missed a call from Beth. He figured that between John throwing him against walls and kissing him, he had been too numb to feel his phone vibrating. The aftershock and lying through his teeth to Matt about where he was simply pushed from his mind the thought of returning her call.

"Well, I was going to see her the next day anyway, wasn't I?"

"Jeff, you never miss a call from her," Matt said. "And when you do, you always return it. I know you do. You've flipped out about missing calls from her before. And considering her concerns about you right now, I would think that calling her back would be top on your list of priorities."

Jeff swallowed. "I…I just got caught up in…talking to people. Someone," he managed, correcting himself before he realized the words were out of his mouth.

"Was it John Morrison?"

He wished he could get away from Matt right now. He prayed for a phone call, for someone to come looking for him, for any kind of distraction or escape. He didn't know if Matt was catching on or not, but even more than that he wanted to get away from Matt; he didn't want him to know about what happened with John.

"She thinks you're hiding something from her," said Matt, finally.

Correction: more than anything, he didn't want Beth to know.

Jeff felt numb. He could only manage to shake his head.

Matt stared at him and seemed to be forcing himself to accept Jeff's response. "Right, well I'm not going to tell her that. You can clear things up with her yourself. Give her a call and see if she picks up, 'kay?" He pulled his bag over his shoulder.

Jeff nodded weakly. "Yeah. I'll do that."

"Good. See you after the show."

Jeff glanced at his phone, bearing text messages that had no replies and phone calls that had not been returned. There was a twinge of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He looked up to say goodbye to Matt, but he was already walking away.

Jeff felt even worse than before.

.xXx.

The show came and went, perhaps faster than it normally did. Whether it was due to the fact that he won his match that night, or because he just so badly wanted the night to end already, he didn't know. Jeff had the feeling that Matt wasn't too happy with him right now. They both had talked casually about their respective matches while packing up in the locker rooms, but as soon as they got in the car and started driving off to the hotel, all speaking ceased.

"Great day this has been so far," Jeff muttered, taking their room key from the front desk manager.

"Yep."

Jeff knew Matt wasn't agreeing, but seemed more like he was acknowledging that his brother wasn't having the best of times. It created an awkward tension.

"Still, you won your match," Matt said as they stepped into the elevator.

"Somehow, I don't think that will make Beth stop being mad at me."

"What, you didn't call her?"

"She didn't pick up, so I left her a message," Jeff muttered. "You know…again."

The doors opened. Jeff seized his bags and strode quickly out of the elevator. Matt hung back a couple paces to make sure Jeff couldn't see him before pulling out his phone. As Jeff jammed the room key into the door, Matt finished up his text message, sent it, and put his phone away.

"Can I ask you something?" Jeff said as they walked into their room.

"Sure."

"Do you agree with her? That you know…I'm hiding something from her?"

Matt bit his lip, a little put off by this question. "I don't want to believe it, so I haven't given it much thought," he answered finally. "I'm sure you're not, though," he added quickly, seeing Jeff's expression.

Jeff threw his bags down and collapsed face-down onto the nearest bed. Matt glanced at him as he started to unpack, sincerely feeling sorry for him. "Hey, Jeff."

"What?" Jeff did not turn to look at him. His question was muffled by the bed sheets.

Matt walked over to sit on the edge of his bed. Curious, Jeff looked up, and rolled over onto his back when he saw Matt was sitting next to him. "Bro, listen," Matt started. "You know I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I don't know what this is about, or what's going on with you and Beth."

Jeff noticed he didn't say anything about him and John Morrison.

"You've got a lot going on right now, I understand that," Matt continued. "I know Beth is giving you crap, and I probably did too today. It's probably more than you want to deal with, so…I'm sorry. She'll come around, right? Always does."

He clasped a hand onto Jeff's shoulder. Jeff forced a smile.

Matt got up and went back to unpacking. Somewhere beyond the bed, Jeff heard his phone vibrating. He found it lying on the floor next to his luggage, bearing a message from Beth.

"She texted me," Jeff said.

"She didn't call you back?" Matt asked, surprised. He looked through his phone for the message he just sent her to make sure he had specifically asked her to call Jeff and not just merely text him. He then realized that he hadn't specified, but no matter—at least she was talking to him again.

"Guess she's still kind of mad," Jeff replied, shrugging and opening the message:

How was your day?

Getting better, he replied.

Sorry.

Me too.

I just worry about you, you know…I don't like it when you hide things from me. I love you so much, Jeff. You know you can tell me anything, right?

He hesitated. Beth's words rang in his head and his guilt was making him sick. She said he could tell her anything, but he couldn't. He just couldn't. How was he supposed to tell her about John Morrison? It was his fault that John had that bruise, and he was probably the reason John was driven to kiss him anyway.

Of course I do. I just don't know where to start.

And that was the truth. It wasn't so much that it would be immensely difficult to put his situation into appropriate words if he were to tell her, but rather like he himself didn't know what his situation was exactly. He didn't know what John was up to. There was of course the possibility that he was using him, but he didn't really know how or what for.

Why's he doing this…? he wondered.

"Hey Jeff, you have next week's schedule yet?" Matt asked.

"Oh right, lemme check," Jeff said, shoving John Morrison from his mind. He switched over to his iPhone's browser, glad for the distraction. After about a minute, he was able to answer Matt's question. "Well, I don't see it in my email anywhere…"

Matt frowned. "Odd. Maybe Randy has it?"

"I'd have to go check with him," Jeff said. "I think I know where his room is."

Jeff got up and walked towards the door, stowing his phone away in his pocket. He had run in to Randy Orton down in the lobby before the show while checking in. During their casual conversation, he was pretty sure Randy said he was staying on the same floor as him, though he could only vaguely remember what room it was. Beth ignoring him and John messing with him had both thoroughly distracted him and pushed all else from his mind.

He recognized the room number once he saw it. The door was slightly ajar, so he knocked on it. Someone inside told him to come in, but it wasn't Randy. He pushed the door open and took a few steps inside, looking around for any sign of Randy. There was someone sitting on one of the beds across the room, and he froze at the sight of him.

He must have been tuned out when Randy told him that he was staying with John Morrison.

For a second, Jeff considered turning around and heading back for his room as fast as he could, but his feet wouldn't move. He was flooded with guilt and dread upon seeing John, but what would Matt say? He didn't want to leave without the schedule, and he most certainly didn't want to have to explain the situation to his brother, who was still, for the most part, in the dark.

John was typing on his laptop when Jeff walked in. He looked up towards the door and stopped typing when he saw Jeff standing there instead of Randy.

"Jeff," he said, surprised. "What uh…" He paused. He was about to ask him what he was doing here, but then he stopped to ask himself if it really mattered. Jeff was here, in his hotel room, in what was probably a most opportune moment indeed. He had come to him, just like Randy said he would. In a split second, he changed tactics. "What can I do for you?" He gave him a little smirk, shifting his body towards Jeff's direction.

Jeff grimaced. "Don't get any ideas, John. I spared you a whole lot of uncomfortable questioning and compromise by not reporting you to the executives, my brother, or my girlfriend." He took a couple steps into the room, the door closing behind him.

"Noted," John said, his smile faltering a little. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to know if you or Randy had gotten the schedule email from the GM yet," Jeff said.

"I did, don't know about Randy," John replied. "You didn't?"

"No, not yet."

"Weird," John mused. "Okay, come here."

Jeff eyed him warily. John glanced at him, bemused.

"Type in your email address and I'll forward it to you," John said, firmly, holding up the laptop. He scooted over on the bed, clearly indicating Jeff to sit down.

Jeff kicked himself on the inside. "Fine."

He walked slowly to the bed and then stopped. For a moment, he considered just taking John's laptop and type in his email address standing up. But then he looked once at John's bruise, and once at the spot on the bed John had made for him, had a twinge of guilt, and sat down.

John handed his laptop to him once he had taken a seat. Jeff took it wordlessly and started to navigate the website, typing in his email address. As he was working, John started to lean closer to him, slowly and subtly. Jeff did his best to ignore him. He finished up and thrust the laptop back at John to keep him from further advancing on him. John caught it and found his hands inadvertently overlapping Jeff's. They stared at each other for a while in a mixture of awkward curiosity and want.

Jeff's mind blanked out as soon as John's hands touched his. John's eyes were dark, mysterious. Something was going on inside his head, but his face gave no hints. He had apologized to John earlier that night for the bruise, but his heart wasn't in it. He knew it at the time, and knew it now. He had an unexplainable desire to apologize again—the bruise, the offensive slur…But what of all the things John did to him? Surely an apology was deserved on his part, too?

Right. Wishful thinking, Jeff.

He coughed once and pulled his hands out of John's. John smirked a bit.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll get right on it."

Jeff muttered a half-hearted "thanks" to him with the intent to leave. He had, after all, no further reason to stay. If anything, getting away from him should be top on his list of things to do. He had been trying to avoid him for weeks, nearly turned back when he entered his room tonight, but now…he didn't know why, but he didn't want to leave quite yet. He had even straightened up and started to move his legs off the bed, but stopped. It was the oddest emotional combination of curiosity and fear.

He knew what John was capable of. The man had daringly kissed him just a week ago and very well could have gotten in a heap of trouble for it, had Jeff reported it. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and let John continue enjoying being employed. Surely this earned him a favor from John? If John knew what was good for him, he wouldn't try anything again; Jeff might not be so merciful next time. But yet, this was John Morrison he was dealing with. Given that he had been playing with his head for the last couple months, getting him to stop playing mind tricks with him would probably be as easy as keeping the sun from rising tomorrow.

And yet, he had to give credit to John. Yes, he's playing mind tricks with him, but he sure knows how to do it and do it well. Jeff still didn't know exactly what this game was or why he was doing it, but he'd be damned if that man wasn't one hell of a methodical trickster. He would probably be more impressed if he wasn't caught in the middle of it. And with the impression came curiosity and fear: what else could John do to him, knowing that he was torn between playing the game and keeping his job?

Jeff was feeling a little daring.

"So uh…where is Randy?" he asked.

John raised an eyebrow. Was it possible that Jeff Hardy was taunting him? He knew the game made him feel adventurous, but never would have thought it would have the same effect on Jeff. He had thought Jeff was trying to resist him—that's what was twisting the game and making it challenging for him. But then again…if he had carried through with the game and saw it through to the end, then he would expect Jeff to give in to him. Was that what Jeff was doing now? No, it couldn't be; the game was not over yet. Jeff was just testing him. John smirked aside to himself—it was funny how the game brought out the daredevils in both of them.

"He met up with some friends and they went out," John answered. He hit the "Send" button and closed his laptop, putting it aside. "He won't be back for a while."

As he spoke, he leaned over across Jeff, putting a hand on either side of him. Jeff found himself trapped between John's arms, pinned to the backboard of the bed with nowhere to go. A chill ran through his blood. If he was willing to continue playing games with Jeff, to even kiss him again, then it seemed like John didn't really care about further jeopardizing his career. But why was that? Did he know something that Jeff didn't?

John was staring him dead in the eyes. Jeff's eyes were wide and apprehensive, but curious. Of course they were, why else would he have taunted him? He wanted to know why John was still so comfortable with his job security after what happened last week. He supposed he had the game to thank for that.

"You know, uh…M-Matt's expecting me back soon…" Jeff said. He had been curious, he knew it, though he probably should have already known. It's not like he could have expected anything less from John Morrison.

"Your point?" John replied.

Jeff tried to back away from him, but couldn't flatten himself against the backboard any further. He could have turned his head away, but John's tantalizing, dark eyes firmly held his gaze up until he closed them and he kissed him for the second time. It was gentle at first and again, Jeff froze and became unresponsive, but this time, he was fully aware of what was going on.

The conscious comprehension allowed him to think, despite his swimming mind. John was soft, gentle, a far cry from last week's encounter. He had always known him to be brash, harsh and rough. He never would have expected to see passion and softness from Johnny Nitro. But maybe that's why he wasn't Johnny Nitro anymore.

John noticed Jeff wasn't protesting or trying to get away this time, and it pleased him. He parted his lips a little, taking more of Jeff's mouth in his. Jeff blankly slacked his jaw slightly, allowing John to deepen the kiss. John put a hand on the side of Jeff's face. His hand was calloused from weightlifting and fighting, but still had a surprisingly soft touch to them.

It reminded him of Beth.

Jeff wasn't trying to escape, but he wasn't kissing him back either. To John, this was pretty good progress already. He climbed on top of Jeff and started kissing his neck. He started moving southward, kissing his collarbone and running his hands over Jeff's abdomen. Jeff started to tense up and had to grab two fistfuls of the bedsheets to keep from striking him again. John's hands found Jeff's belt and he pushed his shirt off of it. Jeff released the sheets to shove John's hands away from his belt. In turn, John grabbed Jeff by his ankles and pulled him away from the backboard and into a laying position. He sat on Jeff's hips as he pulled off his shirt. He slid his hands up Jeff's abdomen and chest as he started to lie down on top of him.

Jeff would admit that he had been curious to see what John would do to him if given the chance, but never imagined that he would go so far as this. He was even surprised at himself of how long he had allowed this to go on. He didn't care that he felt guilty for punching John last week, he didn't care that he felt bad for calling him a fag. It was bad enough that he had sat there and let John kiss him, but he was starting to take things too far, and he had to stop him.

He threw a hand against John's shoulder, half-grabbing him by the throat. "Stop," he said, trying to catch his breath.

John took Jeff's hand and placed it on his chest. "Is that really what you want?"

Jeff was taken aback. He had no answer for that.

John pried himself in between Jeff's legs. Jeff tried to kick him off, but John grabbed his thrashing legs and held him still.

"Beth?" Jeff asked, weakly.

"What about her?"

Jeff looked like he was going to open his mouth and say something, so John silenced him by thrusting against Jeff. Jeff gave a wide-eyed, silent gasp and seized the bedsheets again. John flattened himself against Jeff, kissing his neck again while grinding him through his jeans. Jeff grabbed the younger man by the shoulders with shaking hands.

"No…" he breathed, dragging his nails down John's arms. He was torn between his love for Beth and the feeling he was getting from what John was doing. He didn't know if he was enjoying it or not; his head was far too dizzy. He tried to push John off, but it was feeble.

John's hands found Jeff's hips again. He started to pull his shirt off of his pantsline again, but Jeff's phone started ringing. Startled by the noise, John stopped what he was doing and Jeff regained his senses. He suddenly found the strength to shove John off of him and they both sat up, with Jeff's legs still on either side of John's hips. Jeff hurriedly pulled the phone from his pocket and fumbled with it for a few seconds.

"Hello?" His voice was shaky.

"Jeff!" It was Matt. John could hear him speaking loudly. Both he and Jeff looked panicked. What would happen if Jeff told him?

"H-hey, Matt," Jeff started.

"Where the hell did you go? You've been gone for like, ten minutes!" Matt yelled.

Jeff looked to John and was surprised to see that he actually looked worried. Jeff didn't rat him out last week—perhaps he was now taking Jeff for granted, ensuring himself that if he didn't rat him out before, he wouldn't do it this time. But now, Jeff was actually in a situation where he was being confronted. He hated lying to Matt, but couldn't help but feel a bit of pity towards John. He had provoked him after all.

"Did you get lost again?" Matt asked.

"No, I uh…"

Suddenly, John grabbed the phone from him. "That'd be my bad, Matt, sorry."

There was a short pause. "Oh, hey John."

"Yeah, Jeff got here and I sent him the email and we started talking," John said, casually. "I reminded myself of something I wanted to show him, so he's been here the whole time. Sorry for holding him up. He's on his way now."

Matt thanked him and they both hung up. For a while, Jeff and John stayed where they were. Jeff was staring at John, but he wouldn't return the gaze. John looked almost guilty.

"Get going," he said suddenly, throwing Jeff's phone back at him. "He's expecting you."

He pushed Jeff's legs off of him and resumed his spot on the bed, sitting up against the backboard and pulling his computer back onto his lap. Jeff remained frozen, shocked by what happened. He couldn't believe he had provoked him, allowed him to take advantage of him as much as he did, or that he had very nearly defended him when Matt came calling. He was absolutely torn on the inside.

"I uh…thanks for the email, I guess," Jeff said, quietly.

He got off the bed and staggered towards the door. They didn't say anything else to each other. There was nothing more to say.

.xXx.

Neither Jeff nor Matt was fighting the next night, but they still arrived to the arena for house shows to hang out with their friend Greg Helms. Things were a little unspoken between Jeff and Matt at the moment. Jeff thought that John's quick thinking would save him from Matt's questioning, but when he got back to his room, things became uncomfortable fast. Matt still wasn't fully buying that John held him up to show him something, given that he had been known to try and come on to Jeff. Last night before his match, Jeff had told his brother that he had cleared things up with John Morrison "well enough." Matt, though suspicious, had bought it, and Jeff did well to remind him of this again upon returning to their room after his latest episode with John.

Matt had since accepted that he wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Jeff, so he reluctantly let the matter settle. This had created something of a tension between them. Jeff hated it. He didn't want to lie to Matt, but he also didn't want to rat out John. But at the same time, there was no way he could keep things from Matt forever. Or even Beth, for that matter.

Oh yes, and then there was Beth. Jeff loved her dearly and knew that he would never leave her for anyone else…but for whatever reason, he was allowing John Morrison to take advantage of him. He simply did not know why.

Matt had long since gone to find Greg before his match. Jeff decided to let him go without him, given the tension between them right now. He could always meet up with Greg later. In the meantime, he needed to relax.

The green room was always stocked with food and refreshments, but since it was less substantial than catering, it was usually pretty empty. Jeff liked being in here when he just wanted some alone time. He was sitting on one of the couches against the wall, feet propped up on the coffee table and reading that day's newspaper. He had gotten himself a bottle of water from one of the coolers, but it remained unopened on the table next to his feet.

Several times, people walked into the room to peruse the food tables and pick at something. They never stayed long. So when someone walked in, stopped at the drinks table and just stood there, Jeff became curious. He glanced over the top of the newspaper to see John Morrison staring at the selections indecisively.

Figures, he thought.

He hid his face back behind the paper. John was still showing up wherever he was. He found himself unable to avoid him lately; maybe that was a part of these mind tricks John was playing on him. Despite his guilt, he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger towards him for playing him like this, and also angry at himself for letting him.

"Just so you know," he said, calmly, "if I hadn't been so completely petrified by the fact that you intended to do me, I would have stopped you."

John turned towards him. "Hmm?" He thought for a few seconds. "Oohhh, you're talking about last night. Listen, I was just messing with you."

He didn't want to outright tell Jeff about the game. What would Jeff feel worse about—the fact that John was playing "mind tricks" with him, or that he was using his popularity to boost his own? Or even that he was using him to replace Melina? Jeff was steadily catching on, giving in…He just had to wait a little bit longer.

Jeff lowered the paper again to stare at John incredulously. "Given what you've been doing to me these past few weeks—months, if you will—I hope you'll forgive me if I have a hard time believing you. I'd hate for you to think I'm giving in to you."

John smiled. How typical of Jeff Hardy to deny what anyone else tells him. He thought he'd be used to Jeff's stubbornness by now, but then again, that factor made the game that much more challenging, and made Jeff himself that much more irresistible.

"Of course," he replied.

He turned his attention back to the drinks table and decided on a cup of coffee. He had just picked up a styrofoam cup when Jeff spoke again.

"What are you doing in here, anyway?" Jeff asked. "Come to rape me again?"

John laughed softly through his nose. "Now, Jeff, let's not be so brash. We both know it's not rape if you enjoy it."

Jeff brought the newspaper down noisily, staring at John with disbelief. "What?" he said. "I don't enjoy—!"

"You don't stop me when I make moves on you," John said, shrugging. "What am I supposed to think?"

Jeff shook his head. "You're a twisted bastard."

John smirked. "If you say so."

He went to fill the styrofoam cup with coffee. Jeff uncrinkled the newspaper and started reading it again, thoroughly flustered. About a minute passed and still John had not left the room. Jeff looked up again and he was stirring creamer into his coffee.

"What are you really doing here?" he asked.

John took a sip of his beverage. "I'm fighting tonight—did you even read the schedule I sent you?" He wandered over to the couch and put his coffee down on the table. "Just thought I'd get coffee first."

He tore the newspaper out of Jeff's hands and threw it aside before jumping on to the couch, one leg on either side of Jeff. He grabbed Jeff's face with both hands and kissed him while Jeff was still temporarily stunned. Jeff's hands were still frozen in the air as if still holding the paper, and he flailed them a little before regaining enough strength and sense to shove John off of himself.

"You call that getting coffee?" Jeff gasped, one hand on his chest.

John casually picked up his cup of coffee. "Well, you know what coffee is a euphemism for. You just pushed me off before I could get it." He took a sip from the cup. "This'll do for now, I guess. See you around, Jeff."

He smirked visibly at Jeff before crossing the room and walking out through the door. Jeff gaped after him, still blank. After several long seconds, he reached for his bottle of water and opened it with a slightly shaking hand. He drank a good quarter of the bottle, but not to get John's taste out of his mouth. John's words had left him feeling dry and shamed; he was right. He hadn't been trying to stop John's advances lately. He was feeling guilty for making a slur at and punching John, and John was taking advantage of that.

Jeff didn't know why he was letting him.

Jeff wasn't in to the Divas. Everyone knew it, and though he occasionally heard rumors of various Divas liking him, no one pushed him about it. Someone once asked him if he had ruled out Divas, did he also rule out everyone else. Jeff hadn't answered; he thought that person was just dicking him around, and simply didn't know who else there was. On occasion, Jeff would go back to that question and deliberate on it. A wild answer once crossed his mind, but he pushed it aside, saying it was positively absurd.

That answer was "Superstars."

It didn't seem so absurd anymore.

End Chapter 4

Sorry for the long update. My friends and work seem persistent on keeping me busy enough to keep me from uploading.
I think Jeff and Randy are friends. I've seen pics of them on the interwebs where they're checking in at a hotel together. Not…like together, but…at the same time XD
Reviews, please, and I'll try to have the next (and final) chapter up soon!