Sleep was troubling. Jeff tossed and turned as he went through a dream he never had before. It was weird, he couldn't see but he felt--he heard his brother screaming for help but he couldn't see him. A rush of helplessness hit him as he tried to find his brother but couldn't manage too. He heard a screech of pain that threw him out of his dream world and into reality. He took a few deep breaths and he realized his brother--still in his body--was shaking him. He noted he was shaking anyway, even without his brother. Cold sweat glisened his body.
"Jeff? You OK buddy?" he heard his own voice whisper and then he remembered it wasn't his voice any longer. He felt himself pull his brother into a hug, which kinda surpised Matt.
"It was horrible.." he finally managed to whisper. Matt regarded him with worried eyes. "So black.." Matt sat next to him, now out of the hug.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked. It had always been like this. He and his brother did this since forever. Whenever either of them had a nightmare, they'd be there for each other.
"It was so dark..I heard you screaming but I couldn't find you.." he said softly.
"Well, I'm right here and I'm fine, Jeff." He ruffled his hair affectionately like he always did. He realized then it's been a long time since his brother was so shaken up by a dream. "Trust me, those monsters still aren't here." Jeff cracked a grin at that.
Jeff remembered that well. He and his brother, when he was 4 and Matt was 7, were suddenly aware that monsters could be looming anywhere and decided to go on a little hunt at 2 o clock in the morning. Two broken glass objects later, they soon found that no monster would dare live in a house with what his mom called them as "psychopath little rugrats". They were grounded for a little while..well, 2 weeks, which was pretty much hell to such young kids, and they learned an important lesson then. Never think that clear vase shaped objects were fish monsters.
"I still think that one vase moved.." he chuckled.
"Yeah, well, Mom didn't believe us." Matt fakely pouted. "Oh well, you OK now?"
"Yeah, thanks Mattie." he smiled. "Guess you are worth something."
"I'm hurt.." he said fakely. "Well, I'm glad you're OK, little bro."
"Hey, I'm not the little bro anymore." he protested with a grin.
"You still have the mind of a 22 year old." he pointed out. "Well, I'm going back to sleep. You sure you're OK?"
"Yeah." he nodded. "You're not so bad Mattie." Jeff slugged his brother's shoulder playfully.
"You're lucky it's late or you'd get an ass whoopin'." Matt smirked as he lumbered back to his bed.
"G'night, Matt." Jeff mumbled as he got comfortable again.
"Goodnight." Matt mumbled back.
And the dream didn't return.
***
The morning sunlight that so helpfully beamed in Jeff's eyes awoken him. He didn't want to get up, but he remembered he was going to Dallas very soon. Matt was still fast asleep and Jeff didn't have the heart to wake the poor guy up. He instead got ready first and just for the added gesture of gratitude for putting up with him he attempted to make pancakes. This proved difficult and he ended up nearly getting splattered with one. He flipped one a bit too high and he found himself almost diving out of the way so it didn't splatter onto his head. It landed on the floor. He groaned and went to wipe it up..then he smelled something burning. The pancakes were burning.
"Damnit!" he cried out before trying to put it out. He shut the burner off and slammed the stupid lid on it. He took it off and he didn't like what he found. The pancakes were sorta..black.
"What in the hell..." the voice made him turn. Matt was standing there, looking at the mess in front of him.
"Um..I hope you like your pancakes very well done.." Jeff said sheepishly.
"What on earth possessed you to try to cook?" Matt asked, trying to hold back his laughter.
"I dunno..thought you might like some breakfast..hey, I bet the soot flavor will be drowned out by a little syrup.." he offered. Matt couldn't hold back his laughter any longer and started cracking up.
"I think I'll pass." he smiled. "Want me to take over before you burn the hotel down?"
"I always liked eggs better anyway.." Jeff grumbled as he handed over the skillet and what he called a flipper. Matt took it over and no time made a perfect batch of pancakes.
"Show off." Jeff grumbled as they sat down at the little table the hotel offered. He was stuffing his face, though, seconds later.
"So, guess you'll never be a chef when you get out of wrestling.." Matt teased.
"Hey, I think black pancakes will be a delicacy one day." Jeff replied with a grin.
"Sure bro." he laughed. "Hey, thanks for um..trying though. But..warn me if you want to try that again. I'll be ready with the extinguisher."
"Funny." Jeff grumbled.
"I'm only kidding with ya. I'm sure you can cook. Just..not pancakes. That's OK." he smiled. "Well, we certainly have a day ahead of us."
"Yep." Jeff nodded. He sat back then, his stomach digesting the..editable food. Maybe the day would get better..
***
"I got window seat!" Seconds later Jeff bolted past his brother and plopped down in the seat. Matt rolled his eyes and sat down next to his as usual hyper little brother.
"Stupid, we're in a public plane..try to act a little more like me, huh?" he whispered. Jeff shrugged.
"Sorry." he whispered back. He calmed down a little and sat back. At this point he noted two girls constantly looking at them and basically hyperventilating and if he was in the correct body he would of flirted like hell with them because that's how he is. They looked around his age too..
Matt wouldn't be like that though, of course, thus the reason why he wouldn't do it. He got comfortable and sighed. Automatically he thought of Miriam. Would he ever see her again? Did it matter? Not really. Not until he was in the right body. She liked Jeff. He was Jeff on the inside, but Matt on the outside. A very scary thought came to his mind. What if she started hitting on Matt, thinking he was..him? Would Matt blow it and he'd loose his chance?
"Something wrong?" Jeff jumped. He was in deeper thought then he thought he was. Matt was looking at him worriedly. It was weird though--his expression didn't match his face. It was a Matt look, not a Jeff one.
"I was thinking.." he started. "Um..yesterday that girl that interviewed you..I mean me.."
"Ya mean that girl that knew me?" he questioned.
"Yeah, that one." he nodded. "Miriam. Well, I couldn't help but ask her if she liked me--I mean you--I mean--well you know what I mean.."
"Why am I not surpised.." he smirked.
"Yeah well, she admitted she had a crush on me..well, me in my own body.." he stumbled on.
"I get it, keep going.." he groaned.
"Well, if she comes on to you you're not gonna screw up my chance, right?" he asked.
"So you like her?" he asked.
"Yeah." he nodded.
"Then of course I won't screw up your chances, bro." Matt smiled. "I'm sure by the time anything happens we'll be back to normal though."
"I hope so." he sighed. The plane ride was almost over by the time the two stopped talking. Jeff kinda wished he was in the plane all the other wrestlers were taking later. They would of had to take a plane ride today anyway to the same destination later on in the day if it wasn't for the signing. Geez, what would he do if one of Matt's fans asked him something even he didn't know?
They quickly unboarded and gathered their stuff only to be attacked by a few younger girls. They gave them their autographs, even took a few pictures, and before long they slipped away into the waiting limo. This was the fun part of being famous. The limos were always so comfortable. After 20 minutes in there, they saw their destination.
Long line. Very long line. God, this was the bad part. His hand was gonna hurt like hell after this. The ones sponsering this wonderful little appearance quickly moved them to where they were to sit and the signing was on.
It was OK the first hour. They asked all these easy questions Jeff knew off the top of his head. It was fun to see them basically fall over from shock. This is why he loved the fans. They were so happy to just get a handshake.
The 2nd hour just got annoying. His hand hurt like hell by the end of it, but he was still in high spirits. He glanced over at Matt who was doing OK himself. Besides on tiny screw up where he almost wrote *his* name, he did OK. None of the fans seemed to notice that the handwriting was different. He looked up at one point and his eyes met..Miriam's. He nearly jumped up at the sight of her but he couldn't, being that Matt wasn't suppose to like her. He frowned and kept signing autographs, hoping that he wasn't blushing at all.
Finally the line was done. By that time his hand was throbbing. He cracked his knuckles--a nasty habit he inquired long ago that Matt didn't do. Matt had left to get a drink for the both of them. He felt a hand on her shoulder and he looked behind him to see Miriam.
"I knew it was you." she said simply. He cocked a confused brow. "Don't play stupid with me..Jeff." He almost fell off his chair at that.
"Huh? Uh--uh--what are you talking about?" he tried to cover.
"Jeff.." her voice was lower. "I know what happened."
"Let's go get my brother." he finally said.
They didn't have to move. Matt came back about 10 seconds later. He looked at Miriam and quickly tried to look like Jeff. He was surpised when Jeff took him by the arm and led him into a nearby closet along with Miriam.
"What the..?" he questioned, surpised.
"Matt, Miriam knows about our little um..problem." he explained quickly.
"Why did you tell her?!" he demanded instantly. "I PROMISED you I wouldn't mess up--" He was cut short by Jeff who put his hand on his mouth. He was blushing profusely.
"Shut up and calm down." he quickly said as Miriam watched the two brothers fight.
"Why are we in this closet?" she sighed.
"Because my brother has a big mouth." he sighed irritably.
"Matt, I swear I didn't tell her." he frowned. "And I don't like how you treat me all the time. I'm sick of it."
"I have a feeling I should leave.." Miriam said, making a beeline to the door.
"Stay right where you are." Matt instructed. "Now, how did you find out, huh?"
"I know who did this to you." she explained. "But I can't tell you who..but I know I'm suppose to help you. You guys gotta get along. When you learn a lesson that goes with the reason why you turned like this you'll change back instantly."
"Is that all you can say?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah, sorry guys." she frowned. "I have to go now. Good luck." She opened the door and shut it behind her.
"This is going to take FOREVER." Matt groaned.
"We'll think of something." Jeff said as he opened the door to get out of the closet.
"I can't see how you can be positive right now Jeff." Matt said as he closed the door.
"Easy. We can beat this..all we have to do is figure out what we have to figure out." he said, making it sound so simple.
"We wouldn't have to even do anything if you didn't make that damn wish!" Matt accused. "Now we're going to be stuck in the wrong bodies forever!"
Jeff stopped cold. His brother was right..this was all his fault. All his fault. He was a fuckin' screw up in his own eyes and his brother's too. He felt tears welling up but he wiped them away quickly.
"Um..I'll meet you at the hotel, Matt.." he sniffed. Matt turned but Jeff was already gone.
"Jeff? You OK buddy?" he heard his own voice whisper and then he remembered it wasn't his voice any longer. He felt himself pull his brother into a hug, which kinda surpised Matt.
"It was horrible.." he finally managed to whisper. Matt regarded him with worried eyes. "So black.." Matt sat next to him, now out of the hug.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked. It had always been like this. He and his brother did this since forever. Whenever either of them had a nightmare, they'd be there for each other.
"It was so dark..I heard you screaming but I couldn't find you.." he said softly.
"Well, I'm right here and I'm fine, Jeff." He ruffled his hair affectionately like he always did. He realized then it's been a long time since his brother was so shaken up by a dream. "Trust me, those monsters still aren't here." Jeff cracked a grin at that.
Jeff remembered that well. He and his brother, when he was 4 and Matt was 7, were suddenly aware that monsters could be looming anywhere and decided to go on a little hunt at 2 o clock in the morning. Two broken glass objects later, they soon found that no monster would dare live in a house with what his mom called them as "psychopath little rugrats". They were grounded for a little while..well, 2 weeks, which was pretty much hell to such young kids, and they learned an important lesson then. Never think that clear vase shaped objects were fish monsters.
"I still think that one vase moved.." he chuckled.
"Yeah, well, Mom didn't believe us." Matt fakely pouted. "Oh well, you OK now?"
"Yeah, thanks Mattie." he smiled. "Guess you are worth something."
"I'm hurt.." he said fakely. "Well, I'm glad you're OK, little bro."
"Hey, I'm not the little bro anymore." he protested with a grin.
"You still have the mind of a 22 year old." he pointed out. "Well, I'm going back to sleep. You sure you're OK?"
"Yeah." he nodded. "You're not so bad Mattie." Jeff slugged his brother's shoulder playfully.
"You're lucky it's late or you'd get an ass whoopin'." Matt smirked as he lumbered back to his bed.
"G'night, Matt." Jeff mumbled as he got comfortable again.
"Goodnight." Matt mumbled back.
And the dream didn't return.
***
The morning sunlight that so helpfully beamed in Jeff's eyes awoken him. He didn't want to get up, but he remembered he was going to Dallas very soon. Matt was still fast asleep and Jeff didn't have the heart to wake the poor guy up. He instead got ready first and just for the added gesture of gratitude for putting up with him he attempted to make pancakes. This proved difficult and he ended up nearly getting splattered with one. He flipped one a bit too high and he found himself almost diving out of the way so it didn't splatter onto his head. It landed on the floor. He groaned and went to wipe it up..then he smelled something burning. The pancakes were burning.
"Damnit!" he cried out before trying to put it out. He shut the burner off and slammed the stupid lid on it. He took it off and he didn't like what he found. The pancakes were sorta..black.
"What in the hell..." the voice made him turn. Matt was standing there, looking at the mess in front of him.
"Um..I hope you like your pancakes very well done.." Jeff said sheepishly.
"What on earth possessed you to try to cook?" Matt asked, trying to hold back his laughter.
"I dunno..thought you might like some breakfast..hey, I bet the soot flavor will be drowned out by a little syrup.." he offered. Matt couldn't hold back his laughter any longer and started cracking up.
"I think I'll pass." he smiled. "Want me to take over before you burn the hotel down?"
"I always liked eggs better anyway.." Jeff grumbled as he handed over the skillet and what he called a flipper. Matt took it over and no time made a perfect batch of pancakes.
"Show off." Jeff grumbled as they sat down at the little table the hotel offered. He was stuffing his face, though, seconds later.
"So, guess you'll never be a chef when you get out of wrestling.." Matt teased.
"Hey, I think black pancakes will be a delicacy one day." Jeff replied with a grin.
"Sure bro." he laughed. "Hey, thanks for um..trying though. But..warn me if you want to try that again. I'll be ready with the extinguisher."
"Funny." Jeff grumbled.
"I'm only kidding with ya. I'm sure you can cook. Just..not pancakes. That's OK." he smiled. "Well, we certainly have a day ahead of us."
"Yep." Jeff nodded. He sat back then, his stomach digesting the..editable food. Maybe the day would get better..
***
"I got window seat!" Seconds later Jeff bolted past his brother and plopped down in the seat. Matt rolled his eyes and sat down next to his as usual hyper little brother.
"Stupid, we're in a public plane..try to act a little more like me, huh?" he whispered. Jeff shrugged.
"Sorry." he whispered back. He calmed down a little and sat back. At this point he noted two girls constantly looking at them and basically hyperventilating and if he was in the correct body he would of flirted like hell with them because that's how he is. They looked around his age too..
Matt wouldn't be like that though, of course, thus the reason why he wouldn't do it. He got comfortable and sighed. Automatically he thought of Miriam. Would he ever see her again? Did it matter? Not really. Not until he was in the right body. She liked Jeff. He was Jeff on the inside, but Matt on the outside. A very scary thought came to his mind. What if she started hitting on Matt, thinking he was..him? Would Matt blow it and he'd loose his chance?
"Something wrong?" Jeff jumped. He was in deeper thought then he thought he was. Matt was looking at him worriedly. It was weird though--his expression didn't match his face. It was a Matt look, not a Jeff one.
"I was thinking.." he started. "Um..yesterday that girl that interviewed you..I mean me.."
"Ya mean that girl that knew me?" he questioned.
"Yeah, that one." he nodded. "Miriam. Well, I couldn't help but ask her if she liked me--I mean you--I mean--well you know what I mean.."
"Why am I not surpised.." he smirked.
"Yeah well, she admitted she had a crush on me..well, me in my own body.." he stumbled on.
"I get it, keep going.." he groaned.
"Well, if she comes on to you you're not gonna screw up my chance, right?" he asked.
"So you like her?" he asked.
"Yeah." he nodded.
"Then of course I won't screw up your chances, bro." Matt smiled. "I'm sure by the time anything happens we'll be back to normal though."
"I hope so." he sighed. The plane ride was almost over by the time the two stopped talking. Jeff kinda wished he was in the plane all the other wrestlers were taking later. They would of had to take a plane ride today anyway to the same destination later on in the day if it wasn't for the signing. Geez, what would he do if one of Matt's fans asked him something even he didn't know?
They quickly unboarded and gathered their stuff only to be attacked by a few younger girls. They gave them their autographs, even took a few pictures, and before long they slipped away into the waiting limo. This was the fun part of being famous. The limos were always so comfortable. After 20 minutes in there, they saw their destination.
Long line. Very long line. God, this was the bad part. His hand was gonna hurt like hell after this. The ones sponsering this wonderful little appearance quickly moved them to where they were to sit and the signing was on.
It was OK the first hour. They asked all these easy questions Jeff knew off the top of his head. It was fun to see them basically fall over from shock. This is why he loved the fans. They were so happy to just get a handshake.
The 2nd hour just got annoying. His hand hurt like hell by the end of it, but he was still in high spirits. He glanced over at Matt who was doing OK himself. Besides on tiny screw up where he almost wrote *his* name, he did OK. None of the fans seemed to notice that the handwriting was different. He looked up at one point and his eyes met..Miriam's. He nearly jumped up at the sight of her but he couldn't, being that Matt wasn't suppose to like her. He frowned and kept signing autographs, hoping that he wasn't blushing at all.
Finally the line was done. By that time his hand was throbbing. He cracked his knuckles--a nasty habit he inquired long ago that Matt didn't do. Matt had left to get a drink for the both of them. He felt a hand on her shoulder and he looked behind him to see Miriam.
"I knew it was you." she said simply. He cocked a confused brow. "Don't play stupid with me..Jeff." He almost fell off his chair at that.
"Huh? Uh--uh--what are you talking about?" he tried to cover.
"Jeff.." her voice was lower. "I know what happened."
"Let's go get my brother." he finally said.
They didn't have to move. Matt came back about 10 seconds later. He looked at Miriam and quickly tried to look like Jeff. He was surpised when Jeff took him by the arm and led him into a nearby closet along with Miriam.
"What the..?" he questioned, surpised.
"Matt, Miriam knows about our little um..problem." he explained quickly.
"Why did you tell her?!" he demanded instantly. "I PROMISED you I wouldn't mess up--" He was cut short by Jeff who put his hand on his mouth. He was blushing profusely.
"Shut up and calm down." he quickly said as Miriam watched the two brothers fight.
"Why are we in this closet?" she sighed.
"Because my brother has a big mouth." he sighed irritably.
"Matt, I swear I didn't tell her." he frowned. "And I don't like how you treat me all the time. I'm sick of it."
"I have a feeling I should leave.." Miriam said, making a beeline to the door.
"Stay right where you are." Matt instructed. "Now, how did you find out, huh?"
"I know who did this to you." she explained. "But I can't tell you who..but I know I'm suppose to help you. You guys gotta get along. When you learn a lesson that goes with the reason why you turned like this you'll change back instantly."
"Is that all you can say?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah, sorry guys." she frowned. "I have to go now. Good luck." She opened the door and shut it behind her.
"This is going to take FOREVER." Matt groaned.
"We'll think of something." Jeff said as he opened the door to get out of the closet.
"I can't see how you can be positive right now Jeff." Matt said as he closed the door.
"Easy. We can beat this..all we have to do is figure out what we have to figure out." he said, making it sound so simple.
"We wouldn't have to even do anything if you didn't make that damn wish!" Matt accused. "Now we're going to be stuck in the wrong bodies forever!"
Jeff stopped cold. His brother was right..this was all his fault. All his fault. He was a fuckin' screw up in his own eyes and his brother's too. He felt tears welling up but he wiped them away quickly.
"Um..I'll meet you at the hotel, Matt.." he sniffed. Matt turned but Jeff was already gone.