Ever Fallen in Love
Author's Note:
Thank you all so much for the reviews!!
You guys are great… and thanks for helping me find some Jeff&Maria fics… I'm gonna check them out!
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirteen : Hanging By A Moment
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"Jeff! Help me up!"
Jeff Hardy rolled his eyes at Maria, as he stayed firmly in his position at the corner of the ring. They had been training for nearly two hours in the empty Raw arena, and Jeff had promised the Diva that he'd teach her how to do a proper Whisper in the Wind. Unfortunately, Maria was proving to be the most difficult student he'd ever seen.
"I'm not helping you climb up that turnbuckle."
"Why not!?" She asked stubbornly.
"Because, Maria, next week in you're match against Beth Phoenix do you really think she's gonna help you up the turnbuckle so you can do a Whisper in the Wind in her face?
"But you're not Beth Phoenix."
"I'm still not helping you up."
"But Jeff-"
"No buts! Now stop being difficult and get on that turnbuckle!"
"Fine." She huffed, as she made her way to the top rope with no problem whatsoever. Once she was standing steadily on it, with her back facing Jeff, the horrible feeling of stress started to kick in. "Ok…" She said slowly, making sure to not lose her balance. "Now what…?"
"Now you do a back-flip, while slowly turning to your side. You know how to do a back-flip right?"
"Not one in the air!"
"Don't worry Maria. It's easier than it sounds. Just make sure you jump high enough, and keep your head held up high."
Maria gulped, but Jeff didn't feel the least bit worried for her. He knew she could do it… He was sure of it. After all if he didn't believe in her, he wouldn't be encouraging her to do a risky high-flying move like The Whisper in the Wind. Now all he needed was for Maria to believe in herself.
"Jeff… What if I can't do it, or I fall or something…?"
"I won't let you get hurt."
The firmness in his voice immediately soothed her. Of course Jeff wouldn't let her get hurt. She trusted him. And she wanted to impress him too.
Ok… Here goes nothing.
She took a deep breath, and jumped backwards off the top rope. She applied everything Jeff told her too, and she would have done the move perfectly if it all hadn't gone too fast. Before she knew it, she was landing face-first into Jeff's arms, sending them both to the floor. Instead of hitting the mat in a sitting position like she was supposed to, she found herself lying on top of him. They both looked at each other, and immediately burst out laughing.
"You did it!" Jeff said between fits of laughter. His breathing was coming out all the more difficultly because of Maria's body on top of his.
"Please, that was the worst Whisper in the Wind ever!"
"But it was still a Whisper in the Wind! With a little practice it'll be perfect… I knew you could do it!"
Maria giggled, as she stayed in her position on top of Jeff. She felt comfortable, resting in his arms. And he didn't mind one bit.
"I'm proud of you…" He whispered.
Their smiles were slowly fading. They stared into each other's eyes, almost getting lost in them. They temporarily forgot where they were, and what they were doing. Everything seemed to disappear, except for each other. Something was going on between them at that moment, and it wasn't just chemistry…
Their faces were only inches apart, and they were getting closer…
"Uhum..."
Maria and Jeff's moment was interrupted as they jumped up in surprise. She scurried off of him, and they both turned to face the person standing behind them.
…The Undertaker.
"Oh shit! I mean, hi!" Maria stuttered nervously as she got to her feet. "Sorry… Um… we weren't doing anything you know! So-"
"I'd like to train." Taker cut through her. He looked at both Maria and Jeff with those cold, unfriendly eyes. He stepped into the ring in a robotic and intimidating manner, making the Diva unconsciously position herself behind Jeff's back.
"We were just leaving. Ring's all yours man… I mean Undertaker!" He corrected himself immediately, and slipped out of the ring with Maria hurrying behind him. The Deadman had taken off his hat, and stared at the pair until they were all the way up the ramp. When they were far enough from his presence, a small and sneaky smirk crawled onto his face as he stared throwing punches in the air.
Completely unaware of how much fun the Undertaker took in scaring the daylights out of them, Jeff and Maria rushed through the curtains and made it backstage. They let out a sigh of relief.
"I have to admit…" Maria began, as she walked with Jeff towards their locker-room. "…That that was even scarier than the back-flip in the air!"
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In the past two months that they had been paired together, Maria knew for fact that Jeff Hardy always took at least half an hour to find their rental car. So as usual, she took her time to pack her belongings in her duffel bag, knowing she still had a while before meeting Jeff in the parking lot. But for once, she appreciated the fact that he was never on time.
She needed to think… and about him.
She couldn't help but wonder about what happened a little earlier on. Or what would have happened if the Undertaker hadn't shown up. They had gotten really close… maybe even too close.
Would we have kissed?
The question didn't leave her head as she slowly walked backstage towards the exit. She just couldn't answer it, and that scared her.
I wouldn't have kissed him. Jeff and I are just friends. Just friends…
Then why did she feel so drawn to him in that ring? It wasn't just physical attraction. It was something else, something more. And she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Maria!"
She was pulled out of her thoughts when someone a few feet away called for her. She turned around and her heart dropped.
CM Punk was walking towards her.
"Hey Maria…"
Maria tried to regain her composure as he stood right in front of her. She hadn't seen him since that night in the club: the night where she didn't recognize him anymore. And here he was, smiling at her. But it still felt intimidating to see him. She still had feelings for him, after all.
"I was looking for you."
"What for?" She asked, obviously surprised. All the anger she'd seen in him lately seemed to have disappeared. He was talking to her in that soft and endearing voice again.
"For a lot of things… First of all I wanted to apologize. I was out of line with you at Kansas, when we were clubbing. And even before that, I said some terrible things… So I'm sorry."
Maria smiled. It felt so good to hear him apologize; to see him back to normal.
"Apology accepted! I'm glad you don't hate me anymore."
"Of course I don't hate you! And that brings me to the second thing I wanted to ask you…"
"Which is…?"
"I wanted to know if you'd like to go have dinner some time… So we can catch up…?"
One week ago, Maria would have accepted his offer in a heartbeat, even after the way he'd acted with her. But now, something held her back.
"I don't think dinner would be such a good idea Phil…"
"Oh…" He said, obviously looking disappointed. "Ok then. It's alright…"
"I'm sorry, but I can't just forget everything that happened. There's too much tension between us, and I know I'm mostly to blame for it. But still… It's too soon for us to have dinner together."
"Yeah, yeah you're right. It's too soon. I understand…"
"Ok." She said softly. "I got to go. I'll see you around I guess!"
"Yeah, see you… Maria, wait!"
She turned to face him again. His face had softened up even more.
"I don't want you to forget about me…" He admitted, his voice sounded pleading.
"I won't."
She gave him a small kiss on the cheek, and continued on her way towards the exit. She felt more confused than before.
Of course she was happy to have "made peace" with CM Punk. She was even happier that he'd come to his senses. He had even offered to go on some sort of date with her… and she refused.
We might have gotten back together… I knew that, and I still said no.
She wasn't even sure why.
Maria stepped out of the building, and to her surprise she found Jeff standing in front of their rental car.
"You're on time!" She squealed as she approached him.
"I told you I was getting better! So maybe now you'll start believing me."
He smiled at her, and stepped inside the driver's seat.
For some reason, at that moment Maria knew she'd done a good thing by turning down CM Punk.
She smiled to herself and stepped inside the passenger's seat.
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There you go! I hope you enjoyed it!
Here's a little preview of what I've got in store for you ;)
Maria and Jeff's romantic storyline takes an important turn…
Hope to hear from you in a Review!!