Chapter 10 - Grudges
Morrison gritted his teeth in utter rage as he walked along the backstage corridor. Even though he heard people greeted him, he didn't bother to acknowledge them back. He didn't care if those people think he was an asshole for ignoring them because he had his own reason for popping up here at their Smackdown taping, and he didn't mean to be friendly. His mind was only focused on one thing right now and it was Cody Rhodes, and that man deserved to pay for what he had done to his best friends. After Cena had told him everything about what had happened to Randy, Morrison went furious instead. Cody had just gone way too far by causing trouble to the couple which had almost torn them apart and that left Morrison with no choice but to start taking action immediately before it had gotten even worst. His patience had worn thin and he decided to pay him a little visit. He just couldn't deal with his shit any longer.
Morrison quickened his pace and headed straight towards the locker room. The taping had just over a few minutes ago and every roster must have been gathering in the room to get ready before leaving, and that included Cody. As he swung the door opened, his eyes caught immediately by the sight of Cody and Matt in front of him but they were completely unaware of his arrival at the time. His blood was boiling in sheer anger when he saw Cody instructed Matt to carry his bags and jacket and the other brunette was too stupid to comply with his order. It seemed that Cody was just using him on purpose and that had made Morrison grew even madder at him.
Clenching his fist in fury, Morrison began to approach Cody and called him out. When the younger male turned to face him, Morrison lunged forward and punch him directly in the face, making Cody stumbled back hard against the locker behind him. The sudden commotion had made every roster in the locker room turned their attention to them and everybody was trying to break up the fight.
"Morrie, what the hell are you doing?" Matt, who was still in shock by the unexpected assault, began to pull the furious male away from his lover but Morrison wouldn't budge. He persistently attacked Cody in frenzy and swung his right fist viciously towards him. Cody covered his head as if he was trying to block his attack but Morrison managed to hit him in the jaw and his left cheek couple of time before Matt successfully pulling him away, with some help from Jay. Cody winced and whimpered in pain by the assault he just received and he knew bruises might form on his face sooner or later for that, which he despised so very much.
Matt grasped Morrison's shoulder and turned him around forcefully to meet him in the eye, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you out of your fucking mind?" he yelled while shaking him vigorously.
Morrison shrugged Matt's hands off of his shoulder before saying, "Why don't you ask him yourself? Ask him what he had been doing behind your back." He still couldn't get his eyes off Cody and cursed silently under his breath.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Matt frowned in confusion, "What did he do?"
"That whore had just ruined someone's life and I'm going to teach him a lesson for messing up with my friends." Morrison began to make his attack again but Matt and Jay quickly held his arms to stop him, "Let me go," Morrison began to struggle for a release while McIntyre and MVP began to shield Cody to keep him away from receiving another attack from the ballistic man.
Morrison kept struggling to be freed from their grasps but Matt didn't think they could hold him any longer if he was keeping this way. His uncontrollable manner was starting to get on his nerves real bad and Matt began to yell at him, "Stop it! Stop it, Morrie. Stop it!" he shoved the long-haired brunette forcefully away from him, "That's it! I've had enough with you. Why are you behaving like this all of the sudden, huh? First, you became distant towards me and now, out of nowhere, you attacked Cody without reason. What is your problem, really? What is your fucking problem?"
"The problem is you're too fucking blind, Matt. What makes you think he really loves you?"
The room was now filled with an uncomfortable silence by the remark and that had made everybody in the locker room switched their eyes between Rhodes, Hardy and Morrison. They were all still puzzled about what just happened and they were waiting for a response from any one of them.
Matt went speechless as he was trying to hold back his anger. He wasn't sure what Morrison was trying to pull here but he knew for sure that the guy was just jealous of him. Ever since Morrison had been avoiding his phone calls for these past few days, he knew right away that Morrison couldn't accept the fact the he was dating Cody but why does this matter concerned him so much? This doesn't have anything to do with him at all, seriously, and his ridiculous behavior needed to stop! He obviously didn't need Morrison to tell him what to do.
"What are trying to do, Morrie?" Matt shot him a glare, "Are you trying to ruin my life or something? Why can't you just be happy for me for once? Is it too much to ask?"
"I did this for your own good, Matt, "Morrison retorted, "I know he doesn't love you and he obviously doesn't care a shit about you at all. He's just messing with you. I don't understand what you see in him, anyway. He's nothing but a pretentious, selfish piece of shit!"
"Don't you dare saying bad things about him. You know nothing!" Matt snapped furiously. He just loved Cody dearly and he couldn't stand when Morrison was trying to make such accusation of his lover, "For your information, Cody and I are doing just great and we love each other. We're happy and that is what really matters, and you have no damn right to judge him that way!"
"You really think he loves you?" Morrison scoffed while casting a sneering look at Cody, who was still hidden behind Drew at the time before facing Matt again, "You have no idea, don't you? He's just using you, dammit! Don't you see that?" The older Hardy just gave him a cold stare but Morrison deliberately rolled his eyes in response, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You're blind, and that is why you didn't realize that you had fallen straight into his trap. I feel sorry for you Matthew," he said with sarcastic tone in his voice.
Cody, on the other hand, was so dead pissed at him right now. Not only that he bruised his face but his plan also has messed up. Morrison has always been interfering into his business all the time and Cody wasn't going to take this matter lightly. He swore that he would strike a revenge on that man if his plan had fucked up. He really meant it.
"You can say anything you want about him but I don't believe a shit you said, "Matt shook his head and scowled, "Cody did nothing but being very sweet to me all the time so I don't get it why a good, charming guy like him would do such thing to me. You're just jealous, Morrie. You're jealous because you still hadn't found the right guy and thus, you let your frustration out on me. Just because you stop fucking around with every guy you could get your hands on doesn't mean you have the right to judge me with whomever the fuck I am supposed to be with right now. You're pathetic, Morrie. Pathetic! How could you do this to me? I thought you're my friend!"
Morrison was shocked and heartbroken. Nothing could describe how hurtful he really was by his words. He couldn't deny the fact that he was indeed jealous of seeing them together but all he was just trying to do was to help Matt to realize that Cody had been fooling him the entire time. His intention was sincere but the brunette Hardy didn't see it that way. Matt really thought that he was just trying to ruin his life and Morrison felt extremely frustrated by his ignorance. He never thought that Matt had the nerve to throw a harsh insult like that. How could he do this to him?
"Okay fine, whatever," Morrison threw his hands up in defeat, holding back his frustration, "I don't want to argue about that anymore since you choose to be so fucking in denial about it but let me tell you one thing. Instead of you worshiping him like you have no damn life, maybe you should, at least, try to consider visiting your brother and see where your stupidity has led to. I know Randy is innocent and I want you to tell Jeff exactly what happened that night at the party and clear things out to him before it's too late. You had almost cost their marriage, Matt and I want you to be responsible for that since everything happened was because of your own damn fault!"
Matt stiffened upon hearing Morrison mentioning his brother. He was always known to be very protective of Jeff and when he heard such news about him, he couldn't help but to feel worried, "Jeff? What do you mean? Wh-what happened to him?"
"Oh, what? Too busy playing footsie with your new boyfriend, you don't even know what the hell had happened to your brother?" Morrison just smirked lazily as he spoke, "Shame on you, Matt. I thought you really care about Jeff all these time. Why don't you just find out for yourself. You'll know what I'm talking about and you'll know that asshole had been taken an advantage of you all along. Don't be fooled by him, Matt. He's not as sweet as you think he is. He's a fake. Do not trust him," he warned the older Hardy before setting his eyes on Cody and gave him a deadly glare, "You better stay away from Randy if you don't want my five fingers sucker punch gets in your so called pretty face again. If I ever found out you're trying to bother him again, your face isn't going to be so flawless anymore, you got that? Consider this a warning…"
Without anyone's expectation, another hard punch has landed on Cody's face and that had made the younger male stumbled onto the floor.
The locker room went ruckus once again. Matt quickly came to Cody's aid and held him in his arms when he saw his lover was now grunted and wailing in pain as his lips and nose had busted open. Matt tried his best to soothe him as Cody was now had gone complete hysterical because of the injury and when he was about to scold Morrison for his irresponsibility, the man was already gone from his sight. Matt cursed silently to himself for his bad luck but then, he turned his attention completely to the injured man in his arms. Cody's nose and lips were now bleeding out and some of the blood stained noticeably on his pastel blue designer shirt.
"Come on, Cody. Let's get you to the trainer," Matt began to lift him up carefully and walked him out of the room, leaving the other staggered colleagues behind.
While he waited patiently for Cody getting his treatment, his mind started to drift away and kept replaying on what Morrison had said regarding Jeff earlier. He was confused. What had happened to Jeff exactly, and what did Morrison really meant by saying he had almost cost his brother's marriage? He didn't understand. What he had done wrong to cause that to happen?
Matt started to feel uneasy about it. It has been quite awhile since the last time he met Jeff, considering that he was too busy spending time with Cody, and he felt that he did neglected his brother somehow. He was worried if something bad had happened to him and he decided to pay Jeff a visit when he had a free schedule this week. He needed to find out what went wrong and hopefully, nothing terrible had happened between the Ortons even though, judging by Morrison's way of speaking, he doubt that it would be a good thing.
o-o-o-o-o
Jeff paid the paints and canvas he purchased as soon as the cashier announced the prices and he strode his way out of the Wal-Mart building immediately. Although he had his hoodie and shades on, he still didn't feel like wanted to attract attention from others. He didn't mean to be cocky. He always has been humble and appreciative to his fans but with the current miserable state he had right now, he didn't feel comfortable meeting with anybody for the time being. He preferred to be alone and kept himself away from any disturbance and that included his husband, Randy. He rather spent most of his time doing his paintings in the basement since that, at least, would make him feel at ease a bit from his stress.
It had been almost a week from the dreadful incident and Jeff still hadn't forgiven his husband ever since. Every time he set his eyes on Randy, he couldn't help but to feel terribly hurt. A mixed feeling of anger, sadness and disappointment welled up inside of him. He didn't think he could handle such sorrow anymore and even planned on moving out from that house but Randy stopped him. He had been crying and groveling on his hands and knees, begging for Jeff to stay with him. He never saw Randy in such wretched mess and as much as he was so upset of him, he did feel sorry for Randy. Jeff didn't have the heart to leave him and decided to stay but he didn't speak nor slept in the same room with his husband. That was the only thing he could think of would work out between them in this intense moment.
As soon as he had reached in the parking lot, Jeff began to dig his hand into his jeans pocket for his car key. He cursed silently as he could feel the key sunk deeper into the pocket and when he began concentrating on reaching the key without being aware of what was ahead, someone had just come in his way and bumped into him hard, making his shades flew from his face and inadvertently dropping his belongings onto the asphalt surface. At first, Jeff was annoyed by that idiot but then, he was completely surprised when he happened to recognize the big muscular man in front of him.
"Dave?" His emerald eyes still blinking in disbelief. He didn't expect he could meet him again, but here, in St. Louis.
"Jeff! I never thought I could meet you here. It's good to see you," Dave said with a smile, showing how much delighted he was to see him there although he had been following him around, yet again, ever since Jeff had left the house. But then, he got distracted when he realized that Jeff's eyes were red and puffy. "Oh dear. What happened to you?"
"Uh, it's nothing," Jeff began to scramble for his shades on the ground and quickly put it on back to cover his eyes before retrieving his scattered belongings. He didn't want Dave to suspect him anything and began asking him so many questions. He obviously didn't have the mood to answer it.
"You've been crying, aren't you?" Dave asked while helping Jeff collected his items. His eyes kept staring at the blonde male curiously.
"N-No, I'm not. I'm just-,"
"Don't lie to me, Jeff. I know you're lying to me. You're in trouble, aren't you?"
Jeff wasn't sure how he should hide from him anymore since he was too damn obvious dejected at the time. Reluctantly, he had no choice but to just admit it, "It's complicated, really," he responded gloomily, "I don't think anyone could help me, though…not even myself."
The corner of Dave's mouth twitched in excitement, knowing that his depression must have something to do with Randy. They must have been into a big fight right now and Dave was glad to know that those pictures he sent to Jeff a week ago had worked tremendously to ruin the couple. However, being a slick manipulative snake he was, Dave sure knew how to play innocent and began to plan his next move, "Come with me, Jeff. Let's do lunch together and we can talk about your problem. I'm buying."
Jeff was quite surprise to hear his kind offer. Never in his life had he seen Dave was being so nice to anyone before and that made him felt slightly awkward.
"Well, it's been really nice of you, Dave but I don't think I -"
"Oh, come on. It's not like we could see each other every day, Jeff. Our last meeting was kind of rush and I still have lots of things in my mind I want to talk about. Besides, while I happen to be here…is it wrong for me to do a good deed and try to make you feel better? I don't think that's hurt, right?"
At first, Jeff was hesitated to accept his invitation. He was unsure about him. He still thought that it wasn't such a good idea at all to be anywhere near him but he had no other choice. He didn't want to be rude and disappointed the guy despite that being around Dave made him nervous so badly. He just didn't get it why Dave was so interested in talking to him all of the sudden. Was there any motives hidden behind all these? Jeff really thought that he should be more careful whenever he was around him.
They headed to a diner nearby and Jeff ordered just a latte out from the menu. Dave did suggest him on ordering some proper meal but Jeff declined politely, saying that he was well satiated even though he actually didn't have any appetite at all, especially with the current mood he had right now. Therefore, they both settled for just having a drink instead.
While waiting for their orders, Dave began to initiate the gloomy blonde into a conversation, "So, care to tell me what's bothering you, Hardy?"
Jeff sighed weakly, "Believe me…you don't wanna know about it." He didn't think that Dave would be interested to listen to his problem since this involved his long-time sworn enemy.
"Try me. You can tell me anything you want and I'm all ears just for you" Dave persuaded him with a reassuring smile even though he knew well enough what it was all about. When he saw the younger male remained quiet, he had to add something, "Come on, I know this must have something to do with Randy, right?"
"I'm not so sure if I should talk about this. I mean, just thinking about it makes my mind going insane already," Jeff mumbled coherently but then, they got distracted when the waitress arrived at their table.
As soon as the middle-aged lady set their drinks on the table and left, Dave began to ask him in a low tone, "So, I assume that… the cheating rumor turns out to be true, huh?" and when Jeff reluctantly nodded his head, "How do you find out about that?"
"I…happen to have some proof for that," Jeff said weakly. He refused to tell him the details since he didn't feel comfortable to discuss about it right now, especially to Dave. He took a sip of his latte in order to get a hold of himself for a few moments before saying, "It really hurts to know that he cheated on me over Cody. I just don't understand what makes him decided to do that. I thought he's happy for what I had given him all these years. It's a shame that I put my full trust on him," Jeff said while staring down at his drink the entire time but Dave just smirked as an evil plan has struck into his mind.
"Randy has always been greedy, Jeff. Always have. Everybody in the locker room knows about that already. He never satisfied of what he had now and always wanting more, and I don't think cheating is something new for him either. Randy is nothing but a selfish, ungrateful, self-centered asshole and that explains why we never get along so well with each other. I just don't get it how you can stand living together with him for so long. That guy is evil. If he could cheat on you now, then I bet he will cheat on you again later," Dave deliberately made up stories. He just wanted to stir up the already heated situation but, however, the blonde didn't seem too convinced by his allegation at all. Jeff wasn't sure why he should believe in someone that he barely knew himself and he had to stand up for his husband somehow.
"Actually, Randy is a very different person when it comes to me. He always been nice and caring and nothing like you claimed he is. Randy never-,"
"That's not the point, Jeff. The point is he cheated on you. You should take this matter seriously," Dave interjected him. He didn't even want to hear any more complimentary remarks about Randy because that would make his blood stirred instantly. Everything about Randy was always perfect and that was what had made Dave so mad at him. Not only Jeff but Hunter, Flair, Vince and even everybody seems to worship Randy endlessly. What was so special about him anyway? Everybody seems too busy praising and kissing his ass, they didn't even notice that he, Dave Batista, would ever existed. He deserved to be treated as equal as Randy but people didn't give a fuck about him at all. Randy always won and got what he ever wanted, and that included his long time secret crush, Jeff Hardy. That was what had cause the collision and brawl between them in the first place and until now, Dave still held grudges against Randy for taking what was supposed to be his.
There was a long silence between them for a few moments before Jeff started to speak again, but this time, his voice became low and strained. He started to feel awkward when Dave snapped at him like that, "I still find myself hard to believe that he's cheating on me…because sometimes… my heart tells me that there's someone out there is trying to screw us over. But hell, how am I supposed to know about that for sure."
"Really?" Dave stared fixedly at him while stirring his tea. A small smile has formed on his lips when Jeff apparently mentioning his doubts. "What makes you said that?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Some sick bastard has been sending me gifts and claimed that he's my secret admirer and all. It was just a little misunderstanding and Randy thought that I was having an affair with this guy and he went furious. That's how our conflict started in the first place and when I found out that Randy is the one who cheated on me, I don't think I can deal with him anymore. We got into a big fight after that, "Jeff let out a long sigh and held his head in his hand, "I just don't get it why all of this shit is happening to me? What did I do wrong to deserve all this?"
Dave had to smile to that. He really thought that this was the perfect time he had been waiting for to start making his first move on the younger male since the couple was on the verge of splitting at the moment. Gradually, he took a sip of his tea before saying, "I know this may sound wrong and weird but having a secret admirer isn't something unusual, Jeff, especially for someone as beautiful and gorgeous like you. It's pretty normal, you know," he chuckled lightly and that had made Jeff literally squirmed in his seat. Dave's remark was kind of discomforting for his ears to hear. Why would he say such thing? He was supposed to make him feel better, not freaking him out like that.
"Well, speaking about admirer, haven't you thought about looking for a new…man in your life? I mean…someone like you must have many guys waiting in line to take Orton's place, right?" Dave added while giving the younger male a long, heated stare.
Once again, his question had caught Jeff by surprise. He didn't think it was appropriate for him to ask such question since it was still far too early for him to consider such thing like that; let alone looking for a new companion to replace Randy. Dave was starting to scare him off somehow.
"I don't think so. I mean, I'm still traumatized about what had happened to me and I don't think the idea of finding another man at this time will do any good. It will make things even worst." Jeff avoided looking Dave in the eyes as he spoke.
"It's never a bad thing if you happen to found a perfect man that will makes you truly happy," Dave smiled and started reaching for Jeff's hand and caressed it, "If Randy could cheat on you, why can't you do the same to him?"
Jeff wasn't sure what Dave was trying to do but he believed that man was trying to make a move on him. Swiftly, he pulled his hand away and stared at the man in front of him in shock and disbelief. Dave was just too damn much to deal with right now. "I don't care what you think. I still don't think it's right for me to do that to him. That just plain wrong and I'm not that selfish," Jeff started to get pretty annoyed by his behavior but Dave just smirked evilly in return.
"You're too nice Jeff. You still want to take on his side even though you know damn well that he's plain guilty. Too bad you didn't know who the real Randy Orton is," he said evenly while circling the rim the cup with his forefinger.
"What are you talking about?" Jeff frowned in puzzlement. He wasn't sure what did he meant by that. Dave had become strange all of sudden and that had scared the shit out of him even more.
"I don't mean to hurt your feelings but to tell the truth…Randy isn't what you think he is, Jeff. He's a phony," and that statement had left Jeff blinking in confusion but Dave didn't wait for any response from the younger male as he continued, "I've always been keeping my eyes on him back when we were still in our Evolution's years and I just knew that he always had something devious planned in his sick little mind ever since he first laid his eyes on you. That two-faced lying son of a bitch wants nothing but to show off that he could own you and make you completely swept off your feet by his charm. But the truth is…he didn't love you, Jeff. He never loves you. That explain why Randy and I always gotten into a disagreement the entire time because I know that he had something sinister up his sleeve on you. He always tried to avoid me from getting close to you because he's afraid that I might spill his dirty little secret to you. He just wanted to take an advantage of you, Jeff. Pity you didn't see that coming." Dave, yet again, made up another accusation even though he knew Randy was definitely far from it and that made the younger man went dumbfound at once.
Jeff wasn't sure how to react about it but he didn't find his words made sense at all. If Randy didn't love him, why would he want to waste his six years living together with him? Why would he make such commitment on getting married with him considering that it might cost his popularity and fame in return? Would Randy ever do that and took those risks if he didn't really love him? After a long pondering, Jeff really thought that he shouldn't take heed of his allegation. Dave was behaving very suspicious just now and he wasn't sure if he should trust him on this. He really thought he should make his leave immediately before Dave tried to do any harm to him. He wasn't going to let that man poisoning his mind with his nonsense horrid thoughts.
"I-uh, I don't know, Dave. I just don't know what to say about it. I'm so confused right now and discussing about this makes thing gotten even complicated than it already was. Maybe it will be much better if we didn't prolong this conversation anymore. I know you just being concern towards me and all and I thank you for that but I'm not really comfortable talking about it right now. I hope you understand that. Now, will you excuse me? I have to go. Thanks for the latte by the way," Jeff gingerly stood up from his seat but suddenly, he could feel Dave gripped his wrist firmly.
"After what he had done to you… you still want to live in his lies? What makes you think that he can bring back happiness, Jeff? When are you going to learn that he just wanted to mess up with your feelings?" Dave couldn't hold his patience anymore. He had been waiting for this moment for far too long and when Jeff didn't seem to show any sign of interest in him, he became furious. He was desperate and didn't even bother to be discreet about it anymore.
Jeff yanked his hand harshly, "Look, I just don't get it why you were so upset about it. This doesn't have anything to do with you, Dave. Seriously! Why don't you stop prying into our business," Jeff had to retort as Dave started to get on his nerves. The busy diner went silent at once upon hearing the commotion and everybody turned their attention to them.
"Oh yes, it does. You never know how long I've been waiting for this moment to come, Jeff. I've always want to talk to you and be close to you so I can get to know you better because I really like you. But, that bastard Randy always gets in my way. He always been a nuisance but now is the only way I finally have my chance to state my feelings to you..."
"What? " Jeff never thought that Dave would have feelings for him. The guy never showed any interest in him before and when he suddenly said something like that, Jeff was completely shocked. While his mind still hadn't recovered from the shocking remark, Dave grabbed Jeff's hand and held it firmly in his grip.
"Just leave Randy and be with me instead, Jeff. I promise you that I will give you a better life. Better than anything you'd ever have when you're with Randy, I can assure you that. Please, come with me, Jeff," he pleaded but the smaller male jerked his hand back hard.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Dave? Are you out of your fucking mind?" he yelled furiously, "Randy is still my husband and I ain't going anywhere near you. There's no way in hell I would leave him just to be with someone else that I barely know myself. I'm not a cheap slut and I don't FUCK around with another guy, especially not with someone that I don't have feelings with, like you. Sorry, Dave but I am NOT that desperate. Get a fucking life, will you!" Jeff headed straight to the door and stormed his way out of the diner. He quickly made a run to his car without even bothering to look back anymore.
Dave became furious and he began to go after the blonde but by the time he reached at the diner entrance, Jeff was already too distant away from him. Instead, he just yelled at Jeff from the door, "If you decide to keep on living your so called happy life with Orton, fine! Go ahead, but you make a big fucking mistake, Jeff. You hear me? You're going to regret it for rejecting my proposal, dammit. Turning down someone that actually cares about you. You'll never be happy, Jeff. You and Orton will never be happy! You hear me? NEVER!"
Everybody in the diner was still taken aback by the incident and when Dave realized that they have been staring at him curiously, that annoyed him to no end, "What the hell are you looking at?" and that was when everybody resumed on their previous tasks in an instant like there was nothing happened. Dave didn't care if those people recognized him or not. He was so pissed right now, he couldn't hold his temper any longer.
Dave went back to his table and flopped down onto the seat, frustrated. His plan to lure the younger Hardy into his hand had failed completely. He knew downright that Jeff could sense the suspiciousness in his behavior and Dave cursed under his breath for his foolishness. He had to make a change of his plan somehow and that left him with no choice but to do it the hard way. He didn't give a fuck about the consequences at all. He just wanted Randy out of the picture permanently. As long as Randy still existed in this world, his life would never be complete and Jeff would never be his no matter what. He didn't care if Cody refused to go along with his new plan because Dave was going to make sure that he would. He had to do what he had to do and nothing could change his mind, and he couldn't care less about the risk he was about to take. Dave was too desperate and he's willing to do anything, in any way, to get his revenge on Randy Orton.
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Big thank you to IsidoraAngst, takers dark lover, Magz86, Slashdlite and OrtonFan for their reviews XD.