"Pride and Prejudice"
An Edge/Ashley fanfic
Thanks to miles89, Edgesgurl, csimiamigirl73, Christal-R, xAttitudex, charliz, purplefeather21, KxH, Jeria4Ever-WWEDivaAlexandra and JeffHardyFan4Everx333 for reviewing last chapter, you guys rock!
SO sorry for the late update, holidays have been hectic and now i've been sick for two weeks straight. I'm still taking meds and all, but i finally menaged to write this down. Hope you'll like it and you know what you gotta do now...
R&R :D
Chapter 36
"Falling Apart"
By the time Adam had finally reached the backstage again, as predictable, Ashley was already gone from the Gorilla position.
And nowhere to be found, as it seemed.
"What do you mean you don't know where she is? She was by your side, for heaven's sake!" The Rated R superstar snapped in frustration as a helpless –and very much intimidated- Cherry shook her head.
"I'm sorry… but a minute I was asking her if she felt fine after the bump she got on the stool and a moment after she was gone." She explained in a feeble voice.
"Gone." He repeated, swallowing the word with apparent calmness. "HOW ON EARTH CAN SOMEONE VANISH FROM YOUR SIDE LIKE THAT?!" He then exploded all over again, tossing the beanie he was wearing on his head on the floor. "Dammit."
If the shy diva wasn't already shaking with fear it was obvious that she was just a few seconds away from that.
"Look," he suppressed a sigh, trying to regain his composure "did you at least see in which direction she went?" He asked in a forced-calmer tone.
She lowered her gaze, ready to shake her head for a negative response, when luckily for her someone interrupted the not-so-pleasant intercourse.
"Why don't you get mad at yourself instead than yelling at her?" Michelle asked, firmly walking over and protectively placing her arm around the smaller diva's shoulders, a hard expression on her face as she stared at the world heavyweight champion.
He rolled his eyes, "I wasn't yelling at--"
"Yes, you were." She coldly cut him off.
He huffed. "Okay, maybe I was. I apologize for that, Cherry. Now can I please know if--"
"You got some nerve." The all-American girl scoffed. "Really I can't believe you even have the guts to ask where she's gone. Do you plan on running after her? You'd better run for yourself, trust me, before Paul and Brian find you."
And with a last disgusted look she turned her back at him, softly pushing the other diva forward as the two proceeded down the corridor.
"Michelle, please." He called back after her "It's not what it seems, I need to explain her. Do you know where she is?"
She turned one last time, an eyebrow raised at him. "No, I don't. But even if I did, I probably wouldn't tell you."
He helplessly shook his head, distractedly bumping the edge of his foot against the white wall before him in frustration.
"Fuck." He muttered as he was left on his own once again.
But there was no way he was going to give up. Oh no.
It was literally impossible that she had already gone away… how much time had passed? Five minutes? Maybe around ten now?
Well even with that advantage he was going to find her, come hell or high water he needed to explain her everything. And he trusted she would believe him… maybe at the moment she was a bit pissed off at him… but she had gotten to know his real self in the last months…
Yes, she was going to believe him.
Now, if only he could find her.
x—x—x—x—x
The punk diva hadn't wasted any time in chasing after her target, her head still throbbing for the hard and unexpected fall against the steel stool.
But this was anything compared to what she was feeling at the moment.
Heck, probably even with a broken leg she would have been able to run after the younger blonde right now. There was nothing that could stop her.
And poor Jamie Noble learned so at his own expense as he was abruptly shoved off the way while he tried to approach her.
Wrong timing.
The little, pathetic, useless…
And almost as a wish granted, there she was right from Ashley's thoughts, turning a corner just before the women's locker room.
So with a last sprint the self proclaimed dirty diva reached her and made her turn by harshly seizing her elbow.
"What the… oh, it's you." The irritated expression immediately turned into a satisfied smile as she met the face of who had dared to stop her. "I guess you want the details?" Gosh, I haven't even told my other girlfriends yet!" She giggled "But… yeah, he's a pretty good kisser… and not only that, of course."
"Shut your mouth, you bitch." The punk princess spat.
"Aw, what's wrong? You seem a little… angry about something?" Kelly asked, faking a baby voice.
…and that was when her smirk was wiped off by a powerful bitch slap.
Well, sometimes you got to find a way to let go of the tension, right?
"Who do you think you--" But her high pitched protest was cut off by Ashley's words while she narrowed her eyes at the younger diva who was holding her jaw in fresh pain.
"Who do I think I am? Someone better than you, for sure."
"Really?" She faked a smile "Funny how Adam went behind your back with me then… if you were so much better than me as you go around saying…" She rolled her eyes.
"No," now it was the punk's turn to smirk "I don't go around bitching about you… I actually have the guts to say in your face how I think you're nothing more than a little whore."
"Ouch, that stings." She carelessly shrugged.
Ashley briefly laughed. "Joke all you want Kelly, that doesn't change the facts. Oh and by the way, if I haven't mentioned before, I don't believe you."
At this point the Extreme Exposé's leader was slightly taken aback… she hadn't foreseen this option… but, unfortunately for Ashley and fortunately for herself, she had a back up plan anyway. The famous ace in the sleeve. Her A game. And evidently the time was come to play it.
And to play it good.
"Oh really?" She pretended to be surprised just to merely roll her eyes a moment later as she exited the little space Ashley had cornered her into and casually leaned against the opposite wall. "I always knew you were pathetic but, honestly, living in denial isn't a little cliché at this point?"
"Baby, maybe the only concept of a relationship you have is just sex… but I know who I'm with. And I know Adam loves me and would never do that to me. And especially…" she took her time to look at her enemy from head to toes "not with a little skank like you."
Kelly laughed. "Wow. You really think he loves you, he'd be delighted to hear you totally fall for his little act."
"I don't believe you, I told you."
"You're not blind, are you? Cause I think the titan tron showed the sequence quite good… in HD and all…"
"That just showed mere 10 seconds of a kiss. I won't be surprised to hear you threw yourself at him. It wouldn't be the first time, after all." She added with a roll of eyes.
"Alright, I give you credit for that" she lightly giggled "that could be plausible. But what about this then?"
And with that she took her hand behind her back… just to show it a moment later, a black skull-printed bandana closed in her fist.
THE black skull-printed bandana.
And the confusion mixed with surprise on the punk's face definitely gave her away.
Owned.
"What are you doing with it?" She questioned "That's mine. And you know it. You were in the locker room when I asked if someone--"
"Relaaax." Kelly rolled her eyes "I didn't take it from you, don't worry. Someone gave it to me. He must have forgotten it was yours in the first place."
"Someone… who?" Ashley inquired, and her voice was already less sure than before.
"What about… hmm… I don't know… your own oh-so-in-love boyfriend?"
"Yeah, sure." She forced to chuckle… but it came out rather as a shaky laugh.
"You still don't believe me… gosh, you're stubborn." She sighed. "Now, really, what reason should have I to take your trashy bandana honey?"
"You're bluffing."
"Sure I am." She sarcastically replied. "Okay, I get that you're not so ready to trust my words… can't blame you. So why don't you ask that to your man? I'm sure he'll give you a plausible reason, right? You'll see."
And with that she opened her hand, letting the bandana slowly fly down until it reached the floor just in between the two divas.
Then, with a mischievous wink, she turned on her heels and quickly disappeared inside the women's locker room.
Ashley was too speechless to move at first, staring at the soft item that she had searched for for so many weeks… and, even if she didn't want to freely admit it yet, there wasn't an explanation. Why should have Kelly taken her bandana months back when the two of them were on totally normal terms?
This didn't make sense at all.
And if she was bluffing… if this was just a made up story… why would she suggest her to ask directly Adam? Wouldn't he obviously deny this absurd explanation?
And the kiss… she had been so ready to blame Kelly… but why hadn't he told anything to her about that?
There was so much confusion going on in her head right now…
And so she just leaned with her back against the cold wall, softly bumping the back of her head against it and letting out a weary sigh.
She knew the only one who could put her out of her misery was him.
But now, was he going to?
That was the stinging question.
x—x—x—x—x
By the time Kelly Kelly emerged from the women's locker room a few minutes later, changed in a too-much-revealing mini skirt and a golden tank top, she was welcomed by the unmistakable sound of clapping hands.
So she turned with a puzzled look, gasping the duffel bag on her shoulder to prevent it to fall down, only to find a smirking Matt Hardy staring back at her.
"I need to say it Kells," he started to walk towards her "I'm really pleasantly impressed with you. That bandana-whatever idea? Awesome."
And with that he casually leaned with a shoulder against the wall, his arms folded across his chest.
The blonde rolled her eyes, "So you were eavesdropping on me?"
He laughed. "C'mon now, eavesdropping?" He shook his head "I'd rather called it making sure that everything's going as I wished."
"Well," she shrugged "let's just say that your little video arrived with the perfect timing. But as you witnessed, I already got it all covered."
"Indeed. Bravo." He chuckled.
She mocked a bow. "Why, thank you very much."
"So… is that true?" He nonchalantly asked.
"What? The story behind the little bandana missing thing?"
"Yup."
"Well… no, duh!" She giggled "I just took advantage of the situation." She revealed matter-of-factly.
He rolled his eyes but smiled nevertheless. "Well I'm glad you did."
She nodded… then cocked her head sideways as to study him.
"Something wrong?" He inquired.
"Can I ask you a question Matt?"
"Sure, shoot."
"Why… why are you doing this? I know you and Ashley once were together but… I always saw you being good friend with her, do you still have feelings for her then?" She asked in curiosity.
He seemed to think over the matter for a moment, then replied with a careless shrug. "You know my story with Edge, I assume. That's it. That's time to change things the other way around."
And with that settled, he moved forward to leave, under the thoughtful gaze of the blonde.
Normally, at this explanation, anyone would have thought that he was… well, an ass for playing this way with his own friend (and ex girlfriend)'s feelings… but, after all, it's Kelly we're talking about.
So she just shrugged the thought off, a playful smirk on her lips as she called after him:
"Get ready to strike then, the game's just began!"
And he echoed with a chuckle of his own, oh he perfectly knew what the next move was going to be now.
x—x—x—x—x
Almost 20 minutes later and, much to his disappointment, Adam still hadn't had any luck in his search.
Even though, probably, the fact that he didn't bump into either Paul or Brian could have been considered definitely lucky cause neither of the two was feeling particularly good hearted towards the Rated R superstar at the moment.
Shutting his cell phone close once again after having been directed to the punk diva's voice mail for the 4th time straight, he helplessly entered his locker room again… only to find the one and only dirty diva there indeed.
"Ashley…!" He exclaimed, slightly taken aback at the unexpected sight "I searched for you anywhere, I was… wait," he interrupted his ramble "what are you doing?"
She didn't even lift her eyes on him, busy tossing her belongings in the duffel bag left open on the small table before the black leather couch.
"Looks like I'm packing my things to leave." She emotionlessly replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
He was half expecting the cold shower treatment, so barely sighing, advanced towards her.
"Baby, we need to talk." He stated in a soft tone, running a hand through his blond hair. "I need to explain… I know it must have hurt you but, really, this is not what it looks like."
She gave an imperceptible shrug, still focusing on her task.
Well it wasn't exactly an encouraging reply, but at least she wasn't yelling at him. Or throwing any kind of heavy objects at him for the matter.
At least, not yet.
So, taking it as a good sign, he went on with his own explanation.
"I'm not saying what the bitch showed us isn't true… but it's a manipulated truth. I didn't kiss her. I swear to God I didn't." He firmly repeated, standing just a few feet away from her.
He tried to closely study her face for any little sign of reaction but her long blonde hair was blocking the view as she was inclined forward, putting a pair of tight black jeans in the bag.
"I ran into her the other night at the ppv… in front of the coffee machine as you saw, and you know her, she started to shamelessly flirt with me and I told her off. I did. Then next think I knew she literally launched herself at me… and I shoved her off as soon as I possibly could. I didn't kiss her back. Not even for a moment. Really. That's why the video was like… what? 5 seconds long? And I have no idea who filmed it either."
Still nothing.
"…Ash?" He unsurely asked.
She let out a barely noticeable whisper, "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I know, you're right." He nodded "I should have. I just… it didn't matter to me. It was just a pathetic try on her side and her side only. I intended to tell you… I did, but then… you were already going through so much because of her, and all the shit with the whole roster, and then… well you remember what happened that night between us so… it totally slipped out of my mind, I'm sorry."
Nothing.
"But you have to believe me, I--"
"I do." She finally spoke, cutting him off. "I believe you. Actually I already did from the first moment I saw that. I knew that had to be something like this." She merely rolled her eyes.
"Oh." He was first surprised at this, then a smile curved his lips. "Good then." He grinned "Is everything alright then?" He tried to catch her attention, relieved for her answer, but still confused at her odd behavior.
She finally stopped and lifted her gaze on him.
And no, her expression wasn't relaxed at all.
"I need to ask you something."
"Sure, shoot baby. Anything."
"You know what this is?" She asked, handing him the famous bandana.
He studied it for a couple of seconds, a chuckle coming across his face.
"Oh, you found it." He said in amusement. "Alright, touché."
"…You had it all the time?" She unsurely asked.
"Yeah," he smiled "you left it in my car the first night we went out… the night of the famous date. And just when I was going to give it back to you… I started to fall for you, punkie, and I decided to take it as a little reminder of those moments cause, let's face it, I would have never guessed that you were going to fall for me too. Sorry about that."
If Kelly's speech wasn't echoing in her mind at the same moment, she would have probably melted at the sweetness that were his words but, unfortunately, this wasn't going to happen.
Not tonight.
So she just acknowledged his words with a stiff nod, zipping up her bag and placing it on her shoulder with a quick movement.
"Wait, Ash, where are you going?" He looked at her in confusion.
"Away."
"…Let me get changed first." He said, not understanding the meaning of her words.
"No." She stopped, "I'm not going away with you… I'm going away from you."
"Baby but… that doesn't make any sense! You just told me that you believed me…!" He pointed out more puzzled than ever.
"Yeah, and what about this, huh?" She waved the bandana in front of his face.
"You gotta be kidding me," he lightly laughed "you're mad cause I didn't give you your bandana back? I mean… okay, I get you liked it but seriously--"
"You don't get it, do you?" She shook her head in disappointment "I know. I know everything."
"But everything what?!"
"You know where I got this bandana today?"
"…In my hotel room, I guess?"
"No, Kelly gave it to me 10 minutes ago. Kindly explaining me how you gave it to her… after I just made an idiot out of myself going after her and telling her how I didn't believe any single word she was saying and how I trusted my fuckin' boyfriend!" She finally snapped, desperately holding back the tears forming in her eyes.
He was too speechless to utter a single word… then her words finally kicked in and he found himself instinctively sprinting forward, an arm outstretched to reach her…
But she retrieved from his touch.
"Don't you dare touching me." She hissed.
"Baby, you can't seriously believe her… that's… that's not true!" He exclaimed in disbelief.
"Really? Tell me what the truth is then. You just confessed you had the bandana the whole time, right? Then tell me why on earth she had it now… tell me…" She almost pleaded.
But this was something that he, even most willingly, couldn't do. Cause he just didn't know. And so he helplessly sighed.
"I don't know Ash… I have no idea how this all happened… All I know is that this is not what it looks like." He repeated, trying to make eye contact with her.
But she closed her eyes for a brief moment, slightly shaking her head.
"So much for an explanation, right?" She bitterly smiled.
"Ash, I--"
"Whatever." She cut him off "I… I'm out of this."
And with that she tossed the bandana at him, quickly reaching for the door.
"Ash, wait!!!" He yelled, launching himself after her.
But she wasn't going to.
"Go to hell," she spat quickening her pace "we're done."
And after hearing those 3 words he stopped dead in his tracks. Completely paralyzed.
This couldn't…
She couldn't…
This had to be a nightmare or the worst joke ever.
But no, she didn't come back with a playful smirk on her face exclaiming a 'gotcha' right in his face… and so he was left at the hard reality, helplessly looking as she disappeared from his sight.
Taking his heart with her.