I was a typical, happy, 22-year-old. I had a loving family, amazing friends, a great job with benefits, owned a small house I'd fully paid for on my own; even though it lacked the white picket fence, it was mine. My life wasn't perfect, but it was close enough for me. I'd grown up in the rural town of Cameron, North Carolina before graduating with a degree in sports medicine from the University of North Carolina.

Growing up in Cameron was an experience that only kids from small towns can understand. Our town was extremely close nit and it seemed like everyone knew everyone else and everything about everybody. Our town was small and had little in the way of entertainment. Cameron was one of those areas where you needed to travel miles to reach a major city. Kids relied on their bikes for transportation and had to entertain themselves. Luckily, there were tons of trails to explore and streams to go swimming and fishing during the summer.

As a girl, another minor downfall of my childhood: I grew up around a whole herd of boys. My older brother Shannon and his friends. Most girls would love the idea of being surrounded by guys all day. Not me. I hated not having a close female friend growing up. Even worse, being considered "one of the boys" was very annoying. I was happy that my brother's friends included me, and didn't leave me as an outcast but constantly being considered "one of the guys" was hard. Especially when puberty hit, they all were reminded that I was not "one of the guys."

The 5 of us were always together and they all loved me like a sister. I only remember one instance where I ever looked at one of them as more than my friend. The kiss lasted less than 30 seconds and was mutually agreed upon that it wouldn't ever happen again due to weirdness.

Cameron was a boring town to grow up in. Nothing exciting ever happened. Everyone knew that my ultimate goal in life was to be accepted to the University of North Carolina and escape the humdrum life that I'd have otherwise. I didn't want to end up like my parents; born and raised in Cameron, knew each other their entire lives, married right after high school graduation, having kids quickly afterwards (and back-to-back), and never having hopes or dreams of leaving their hometown. Don't get me wrong, I love both of my parents. I just wanted more than the small-town life for myself. I wanted to see things, meet new people, and let myself be myself. Shannon and the guys, well, everyone knew that one day we'd turn on WWE and they'd all be there performing. During our teen years, Matt and Jeff had created a makeshift ring in their backyard where everyone always seemed to be. It was the hotspot for Cameron's youth at least. I'd spent my fair share of time there, watching only. Something about jumping from roofs and trees through tables wasn't exactly for me. I loved to watch them. I wished I had their fearlessness, and the fact that no matter how hard they hit, they always managed to get up without a scratch on them! It was amazing to me. Every weekend, Matt and Jeff put on their wrestling shows, and considering us all being teenagers, it was actually a well-organized event. Lights, costumes, music… just like on television but I'd never let them know how I felt about it. I was a nay-sayer. I never wanting them to do the shows for fear of one of them getting hurt, but also wanting them to put on another show for the excitement of it all. Kids from our schools would fill the seats and cheer as the show went on. It was amazing to be so close to the stars of the production, I was cool by association. I wasn't just the plain girl who studied on weekends and got straight A's. In high school, I was almost invisible with the exception of being Jeff Hardy's best friend. We were the ying to each other's yang: Jeff being the crazy risk taker who thought of the consequences after; me being the cautious one who weighed each option before making a decision. Jeff and I were the same school year and 6 months apart.

The summer after graduation, I was headed to UNC while the guys were on their way to Indy leagues. I was happy for them, but I missed them. I'd never felt more alone then during my college years. I missed them all, especially Jeff. My friends had transformed into family. The 5 of us were all always together and our respective homes were second homes to the rest of the group. I felt as if I had 3 fathers and 3 mothers because regardless of which home I was at, I was surrounded by family. Out of the group of 5, Matt and Shane were extremely close and Jeff, Shannon, and I were the three amigos. Over the years, my brother and friends with their constant cuts, burns, bruises, and other wrestling related injuries, had ignited a passion in me to get into the medical field. I spent every weekend patching up the wrestlers in the Hardys' backyard and because of those teenage wrestling shows, my career was born.

I had just arrived at my apartment on campus from a late-night study session before a long week of midterms and work. I was taking a full course load of honors level classes, doing an internship, and working as many hours I possibly could waiting tables at a local restaurant to pay my way through the final 2 semesters of school. I was exhausted and kicked my shoes off as I moved through the apartment towards my bedroom. I had to be in class at 8 am. It was almost midnight as I walked into my room and flopped onto the bed. I didn't even have the energy to get undressed. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. The knock woke me as I sleepily looked at the clock, nearly 1am.

"Who in the world?" I muttered to myself as I headed to the door.

As I reached the door, there was another knock. I brushed the hair away from my eye and peeked out the little hole in the door. I couldn't see anything because someone had covered the opening with their hand or something. Another knock. Panic filled my body, I watched too many crime tv shows to feel anything but fear considering I was alone and couldn't see who was pounding on my door at 1 am.

"Who is it?" I asked through the door.

"Aubree?" a southern accent said softly.

I knew that voice. I'd know that voice anywhere. I slipped the lock from the door and opened it to reveal Jeff and Shannon standing on the porch. Before the door was fully opened, I felt Jeff's arms around me. He was pulling me close to his body. His blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail. Shannon stood behind him.

"Are you both ok?" I asked once they both were inside my apartment.

Jeff released me from his grip and smiled at me. "We're fine. Just wanted to see you."

"At one am?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Bree, we needed to tell you something." Shannon said with a sly smile.

I looked at them, they both had those sly smiles that meant one of two things. One: they had good news. Two: they needed something and I was about to be begged for something, probably money. "Don't keep me in suspense."

They exchanged looks and decided that Jeff would tell me the news after a quick hand of "Rock, Paper, Scissors"… and no, I wish that was a lie but that's how most decisions were made, especially when it came to Shannon and Jeff.

"Bree… what's the best thing in the world?" Jeff asked.

"Sleep, being done with exams, meeting someone handsome….." I joked.

Jeff laughed. "Ok, rephrase, what's the best thing in the world for ME?"

I placed my finger to my lips in a playful way. "I have no idea. You got a contract and you're on your way to being a big star in the WWE?"

"Did Matt call you?" he asked disappointedly.

"No why?"

Shannon pouted. "We wanted to surprise you!"

"Now it's ruined!" Jeff whined.

"Oh my God?" I screamed. "It's true?" I exclaimed cupping my hand over my mouth as I hugged them both. "Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!"

I was proud of them. All of them. They'd worked so hard for years to get this opportunity.

We were walking back towards my apartment after a quick trip to the store.

"I love college." Jeff slurred as he drank a beer as he walked.

"Yeah, Bree. How you study with all the 24-hour beer stores around?" Shannon mumbled.

"It's so hard. I have to fight the urge constantly." I lied as I led them back to my apartment.

"She's lying, Shan. You know Bree was always our designated driver." Jeff laughed.

Once we got back into my apartment, I set them up with pillows and blankets and excused myself for the night. I loved having them over. I smiled to myself as I pulled back my blanket and crawled into bed. I turned off the light and glanced at the clock. 4am. Lovely. I had class at 8am and work later in the day. The door popped open and there stood Jeff.

"You ok?" I asked sitting up.

He nodded his head. "Bree, I'm sorry for not calling, and uprooting your night."

"It's fine. You know that you guys are always going to be more important than anything else to me." I smiled.

He stood next to the bed giving me pouty puppy dog eyes. I smiled. "Come on." I laughed pulling the covers back so he could sleep next to me.

We'd slept in the same bed for years and nothing ever had come of it. It was comfortable. Jeff was my big pillow, and when he wrapped his arms around me, I felt safe. Safest I'd felt in years.

"Shan sleeping?" I asked.

He nodded his head as we both slipped into a sleepy state. "I missed you Bree…"

"I missed you too…"