+ ~~ +
Alone in his room, Matt couldn't stop the hot tears as they slid down his cheeks. He watched with a heavy heart as Amy threw her things into the back of her father's car before climbing into the front seat. Mr. Dumas came out a few minutes later and shot an angry look up at Matt's bedroom window before getting into the driver's seat and pulling out of the driveway.
Part of him was screaming to run downstairs and do something — anything — to stop her from leaving. But an even bigger part of him was still stinging with the betrayal. He was very proud by nature, and he couldn't just take back the words he'd said. That wasn't the way it worked.
Drying his tears and giving the puffiness in his face time to fade away, Matt grabbed the handle of his door, inhaling deeply before pushing the door open. Jeff was sitting on the floor, and he looked up as Matt came out. His brother stood up and started to speak, telling Matt how sorry he was and begging his forgiveness.
Feeling tears well up in his eyes, Matt walked faster, reaching the stairs and jogging down them. Jeff followed, but Matt refused to talk to him. He just couldn't bring himself to look into his little brother's eyes, knowing what he knew.
"Amy's gone, isn't she?" Jeff asked, trying desperately to make eye contact with Matt.
Matt spun around and looked Jeff in the eyes. "What do you think?" he asked, his voice filled with anger and disappointment.
"Aren't you going to make her come back?"
Matt scoffed. "If she wants to come back she will. If she doesn't, she won't."
@~~~~~~
*May 1998*
*Four years later*
+ ~~ + I would like to visit you for awhile
Get away and out of this
city
Maybe I shouldn't have called, but someone had to be the first to break
+ ~~ +
"Hello?"
"Is this Amy?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"Amy, it's me. Matt."
Amy's voice failed and all she managed to do was gape open-mouthed at the phone in her hand. She swallowed heavily and cleared her throat. "Um, hi, Matt."
"How long has it been?" His voice sounded over casual.
"Almost five years," she answered immediately, flinching at how cold her voice sounded.
It was silent for a second. "Look, I would really like to see you. I'm in Fort Lauderdale right now and found you in the phone book. Could I come over?"
She bit her lower lip. "Why?"
"I just want to see you, Amy. Please?"
"Okay. Do you have something to write the address with?"
+ ~~ +
+ ~~ + I don't know you anymore
I don't recognize this place
The
picture frames have changed and so has your name
We don't talk much
anymore
We keep running from the pain
But what I wouldn't give to see your
face again + ~~ +
There was a knock on the door about an hour later and Amy nervously checked her appearance in the mirror in the hall. She pulled the door open slowly to find Matt Hardy standing nervously on the second step. Forcing a small smile, she stepped back and let him in. "Hi."
"Hey," he said, looking around before his gaze settling on her. His eyes widened a little at her appearance, but he didn't say anything. He followed her into the living room where he sat down in a peach colored recliner by the picture window. She sat down on the floor, her back against the couch, noticing with a pang of sadness how rigid and uncomfortable he looked.
"This is awkward," she said after a few seconds of tense silence.
Matt laughed and looked down at her. "Still prefer the floor to chairs?"
She shrugged. "Our situations are reversed. The first time I was in your house, I was in your favorite chair. Now you're in mine."
He smiled and licked his lower lip. "That was 15 years ago."
"Fourteen," she automatically corrected, then laughed at herself. "I have a lot of time on my hands these days," she shrugged. "So . . ."
Matt leaned forward and started at his shoes. A famous nervous habit of his, she noticed with a faint grin. "I saw your name on the roster," he said suddenly, looking at her.
She nodded. "My first televised match is Monday night in Albany."
"Really? Jeff and I are going to be there, too. We have a non-title match."
Amy nodded again. Their lives had changed so much since the last time they'd been together. Matt and Jeff were professional wrestlers now, going by the name of the Hardy Boyz and she was about to enter the WWF as Lita.
"Do you win?"
"No," he laughed. "So, where exactly did you come up with Lita?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just came up with her."
"You sure changed a lot to become her," he said.
He was referring to her hair that she had died red with pink highlights. "Well, I wanted to become a whole new person. Someone I could escape into. You haven't seen this yet," she said, pulling up the sleeve on her shirt to reveal her shoulder tattoo.
"Whoa!" he said, jumping up and getting a closer look. "Don't you think that's going a little too far?" he asked, his eyes wide.
"Hey, I did that because I wanted it," she said defensively, pulling down her sleeve. And what about you? You never died *your* hair or let it grow long before you started in the WWF."
He shrugged. "You're right. Sorry." He walked around her living room, stopping to look at all the framed pictures on her walls. "Wow, these are all wrestling shots."
She nodded. "Yeah. Those right there are from my audition match," she said, pointing to the group of pictures on his left.
"Your audition match was with Chyna?" he said in disbelief.
"She put me over," she said, stretching out her legs before standing up and joining him.
He shook his head. "Chyna doesn't put people over."
"Well, she cut me a break. Joanie is a pretty cool person."
Matt shrugged, looking at the pictures again. "Wow, you got great elevation on that moonsault," he said with admiration.
"I'm a high-flyer," she said with a shrug. "It's been hard, but I had a great trainer."
"I didn't even know you were interested in the business."
She sat back down, folding her legs under her. "I wasn't. But I wasn't making it as a musician, so I quit. I had to make ends meet, and wrestling seemed like a good way to get some quick cash. I have a really good friend that offered to give me lessons for free, so I've been training for about a year and a half."
Matt sat back down in his chair with a final sweep of the room. "Don't you have any personal pictures? These are all of your dark matches."
"I know. I don't have much of a social life." She thought back silently of all the pictures she used to have on her walls back in Cameron. They were all of her, Matt and Jeff. A lot of things had changed.
Matt was silent for a minute. "You know, it's sad."
"What?"
"That I don't know you anymore."
She nodded, feeling her eyes mist over with tears. Damn! It had been almost a year since she'd cried over him. She quickly fought them back and looked up again. "Yeah. It's been a really long time since we've talked."
"We haven't talked since that day."
Neither one of them added anything to that statement, but they both shuddered with the reminder of the day that they had ended their relationship. "Have you forgiven me for that yet?" she asked quietly, refusing to meet his eyes until after she'd asked the question.
He nodded. "I forgave you both the day I found out. But it was too hard to be around you knowing what I knew."
Amy brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I'm glad you came."
"Well, I was sick of running from it. And I missed you."
+ ~~ +
Matt left an hour later, after giving her his new unlisted number and promising to catch up with her in Albany. After he had gone, she picked up the phone and dialed the number he'd given her.
It rang on the other end and a man picked up. "Hello?"
"Is this Jeff?"
"Yes . . . is this Amy?"
She smiled. "Yeah, Jeff, it's me."
"God, Ames. Hey!"
She laughed, happy to hear the sound of his voice. "I wanted to call you when I saw your first match on RAW, but your number had been changed."
"I wanted to call you, but yours was changed too!"
They both laughed before sobering up. "How have you been?" she asked.
"Good. I've missed you though."
She nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "I missed you, too. Your brother was just here."
"He said he was going to try to find you. How did it go?"
"Pretty good. Certainly not like old times, though."
"No I guess not," he said, his voice sad.
"I'm just glad you two finally got to talk. Did you talk about . . . ?"
"Yeah," she said, readjusting the phone on her ear. "But not much. We both agreed that we want it to be behind us."
Jeff was quiet for a minute. "You know, after you left, a lot changed. Matt didn't talk to me for about a month. He wouldn't talk to anyone. He shut himself up in his room and blasted Pearl Jam."
She smiled, remembering that she had done almost the exact same thing. "He was never mad at you," she said matter-of-factly.
"I know. He didn't blame us for what happened. But he still felt betrayed. I guess I can't blame him. I probably would have felt the same way if I'd been on the other end of it."
"Me, too. Hey, guess what?" she asked, trying lighten up the mood.
"What?"
"I'm coming to Albany Monday night."
"For RAW?"
"Yep. I have my first ever live match."
Jeff laughed. "Matt told me your name was on the roster. Who are you fighting?"
"Stephanie."
"McMahon?"
"The one and only," she answered.
"Wow. What's the set up for it?"
Amy kicked her sneaker out of her way as she went to the refrigerator for a soda. "She gets jealous of the fact that I already have so many male admirers and I just got there."
"Sounds like Steph. So who are your admirers?"
"Chris Jericho, Edge and Christian, and Essa Rios."
"Ooh. Sounds like it's going to be interesting."
She smiled. "I hope so. I'll try to catch up with you guys Monday night."
"Great. I'd like that a lot. Have you changed your appearance for your character? I know a lot of wrestlers do."
"I'm sure Matt will tell you all about it when he gets back," she grinned. "If not, you'll see for yourself."
"Okay," he said slowly. "If I remember correctly, that means I've got to see it to believe it."
Laughing, she said, "Jeff, you always could read me like a book." They both laughed. "It's been great, but I've got to get packing."
"Alright. It's been really great talking to you."
"Sure has been. I'll see you Monday."
They hung up and Amy smiled. Maybe things weren't going to be so bad after
all.