CHAPTER 19

Edge rose from bed early, stealing out to the kitchen. Looking through the drawers he found Kayla's address book. Christian stirred and opening his eyes looked at his brother curiously. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see," Edge answered mysteriously.

Christian wrinkled his brow and sat back to see what Edge was up to. Flipping through it he quickly found what he was looking for. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. After several rings someone answered. "Hello?" A woman's voice asked.

Is this Mrs. McIntyre?" Edge inquired politely.

"Yes it is. The voice on the other end confirmed, "May I ask whom I'm speaking to?"

"My name is Edge, ma'am and I'm from the WWF, I would like to talk to you about your daughter."

Christian's eyes bugged out and he could imagine that Kayla's mother did the same. One thing for sure, Edge had guts and Christian knew that he must really care about Kayla to go out on a limb like this for her. The younger brother listened intently as Edge pleaded his case to Kayla's mother.

Fortunately Kayla's mother seemed more ready to deal with Kayla's decisions than her father had been. Finally Edge smiled and nodded, "I'm glad we talked, Mrs. McIntyre. Thank you."

"No," Kayla's mother replied softly but sincerely, "Thank you. It's good to know that my daughter really does have friends that care about her out there. I've been so worried."

Edge laughed, "Believe me, when I tell you that your daughter can take care of herself," He sobered a bit, "And I promise you that we'd never let anything happen her."

"Thank you again, Edge," Kayla's mother said, "I've got to get going. I have a lot of work to do."

"Good luck," Edge told her before hanging up.

Edge stood up and walked into the living room where Christian was waiting. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Things just might be all right after all," Edge told him with a smile, he sat down and told his brother all about the conversation he'd had with Kayla's mom.

Kayla rolled over and was awoken by the lack of a warm body next to her. Opening her eyes she saw the Edge had already risen. "He must have got up early," she muttered. It was only 9:30 and her alarm was set for 10:15. Kayla played with the idea of going back to sleep for those forty-five precious minutes but with a soft curse drug herself from the nice warm bed.

She walked out into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. Christian was making breakfast and the sight caused a slight smile to come to her face. "Maybe I should keep you around, it's nice to have your own personal chef."

Christian looked up and smiled in greeting. "Morning, Kayla."

She looked over to the couch where Edge had fallen back asleep. "How long has he been out here?"

"Not long," Christian told her casually, "He woke up and his ribs were bothering him and he needed to stretch," Christian lied giving her the excuse he and Edge had come up with if she asked any questions. "You can go on and wake him up. Breakfast will be done in a couple minutes."

Kayla tiptoed over to the couch sitting down on the edge of the couch. Leaning over she pressed her lips to those of her sleeping boyfriend. Edge's arms came around her and he returned her kiss passionately. As it escalated to a full-blown make out session they heard Christian's voice behind them. "Excuse me, I hate to ruin your fun, but you two are making me nauseas! I would like to be able to eat my breakfast, thank you very much. You two can play tonsil hockey later."

Edge sighed, "Party pooper, " He growled, releasing Kayla and sitting up. "But what a way to wake up." Edge gave Kayla a sexy smile before heading to the table for breakfast.

Jericho had been drug out of bed and the foursome had eaten and was on their way to the arena. "I'm gonna get my ass kicked," Kayla chuckled from her place in the back seat.

"Yup," Jericho chirped cheerfully, "But we'll show you how to do it right." Jericho took a sharp turn and the tires squealed around the bend.

Christian looked over at him from the passenger seat like Chris had grown a second head, "That's it, dude, next time, I drive. You're going to get us killed!"

Jericho grinned, "Oh quit bitching, Grandma. You'll be fine."

Edge and Kayla rolled their eyes. They listened as Chris and Christian bickered back and forth until they arrived at the arena. They continued to trade insults until they arrived at the ring where Kayla stopped short. "I'm gonna get my ass kicked," she whispered her words from earlier as she saw Jeff standing beside his brother in the ring.

Edge put an arm around her. "It'll be fine. I know Jeff is acting like a jerk but I don't think he'd purposely hurt any of us."

Kayla nodded as she climbed into the ring. "Okay, where do we start?" she asked Matt trying to appear confident.

They took her through many different moves. Edge called out instructions from the sidelines and eventually Edge had suggested that she attempt a spear. Jericho volunteered to be the speared. As Kayla's small shoulder collided with Jericho's stomach sending both of them to the ground Lita yelled her encouragement. Both the speared and the spearie lay on the mat the wind knocked out of them.

"Ow," Kayla muttered once she could speak. She looked around her to see Jericho climbing to his feet. Kayla gritted her teeth and struggled to her knees. Jericho stretched out a hand to help her up which Kayla took.

"You okay?" Matt asked coming up behind her.

"Yeah," she told him offering a small smile but Matt noticed how both her hands rested on her back. Kayla looked around the ring and her eyes locked with Jeff. The younger Hardy had been relatively quiet during the training session keeping conversation with her on a strictly professional level. He'd shown no mercy and had taken her down hard several times. Kayla knew that she had to get used to pain so she welcomed the experience. Part of her was glad he was at least being civil to some degree.

Matt was watching Kayla carefully. Vince had told them to show her no mercy but had also warned them not to push too far too fast, especially since she was still sore from the attack. "Maybe we should call it a day."

Kayla shook her head, "No, really I'm fine."

Jericho crossed his arms, "Bend over then."

"What?" Kayla asked him confusedly.

"Bend over," Chris repeated, "If you're fine that shouldn't be any problem."

Kayla bit her lip and bent over. She bit back a cry of pain as she attempted to straighten up. "Okay," she admitted somewhat angrily, "Maybe I'm not fine."

Edge had climbed into the ring and was at her side. "Here, let me help you," he told her wrapping an arm around her and helping her to stand straight.

Jeff leaned against a turnbuckle and jeered, "Can't be such a baby," he said smugly, "Pain is a part of the job. Suck it up. Maybe the rich girl isn't cut out for this sort of work huh?"

"Hey, Jeff, back off," Lita warned him angrily.

"Kayla's back is still hurt," Matt reminded him harshly, "Cut her some slack."

"She did good for her first day," Jericho told him with an edge to his voice, "You know damn well it takes time to learn to take hits like that and get back up."

"I can keep going," Kayla broke in trying to show Jeff that she could measure up, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Matt shook his head, "We've been going for five hours," He told her kindly, "You really did great, Kayla. You can't learn it all in one day anyway. If you push it with back hurt you'll just hurt yourself worse."

Kayla clenched her jaw and Lita walked over and hugged her. "I know it's frustrating but believe Matt when he said you're doing good."

Jeff snorted and Kayla looked over at him angrily. Without a word she turned and climbing out of the ring stormed off.

Edge glared at Jeff before taking off after Kayla, "Princess, wait!" he called moving as quickly as he could after her.

Jericho turned on Jeff his blue eyes burning angrily, "Great job, asshole. You know it takes confidence to pull of these moves. Why don't you just knock her down a few more pegs." Y2J shook his head, "Kayla did great today, she did even better than I expected her to. If you can't at least not be a hindrance to her progress then maybe you should stop showing up because frankly I'm getting sick of your shit and if you hurt her again I am going to kick the shit out of you. And that's a promise." Jericho turned and strode quickly from the ring before he did some he and Jeff would both regret.

Christian sighed, "You know, Jeff, I've been a real jackoff and I've done some rotten things, but you're a bigger bastard than I'll ever be." He turned to Matt and Lita, "I'll talk to you guys later," he turned back to Jeff, "And you just stay the hell away from Kayla." Christian followed Jericho back stage.

Christian found Edge and Jericho standing outside the women's locker room "What are you doing?" Christian asked the two frustrated looking men.

"Kayla locked herself in there and won't come out," Edge told him tiredly, "Between Jeff and the thing with her parents it's a wonder she hasn't snapped."

Chris nodded, "Kayla has a lot to deal with, she doesn't need Skittle's shit."

"Have you two tried talking to her?" Christian asked.

Edge nodded, "We tried to get her to talk to us but she said she just wanted a few minutes alone."

Jericho gestured towards the door, "Why don't you try? Maybe she's ready to talk."

Christian shrugged and knocked on the door, "Kayla? Princess, it's Christian. Why don't you let me in so we can talk?"

There was silence for several seconds before she answered, "Please, Christian, I just need a couple more minutes."

Edge spoke up, "Sweetheart, please come out. Don't let him get to you. Just open the door."

A minute later just when they were ready to give up the door opened slowly and Kayla stepped out. While her eyes were dry they had never seen her look more tired and dejected. "Hey," she said softly as she stepped outside.

Edge stepped forward and took her chin in his hand. "Are you all right, baby?"

Kayla sighed and nodded, "Yeah, I'm sorry about my little tantrum, I'm just so frustrated right now."

"Don't let Rainbow Head get to you, Princess," Jericho told her ruffling her hair.

"I . . ." she broke off not sure of how to express herself. Kayla wasn't sure if she wanted to share her feelings with them. Her eyes took in the three men that stood before her and her heart softened. In such a short time she had come to adore all of them. They were her family now. Taking a deep breath she tried again. "I just feel like I'm such a let down. With this whole mess with my parents I guess that when Jeff told me I wasn't doing good enough it just set me off."

Edge took Kayla by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake, "You are in no way a let down. Kayla, you have shown as much guts if not more than any woman in the WWF. You stood up to Test and Angle more than once. You went toe to toe with Jeff last night. You are one hell of a woman."

"Edge is right," Jericho chimed in, "We all know I'm not the nicest with women I don't respect. Hell, even I admit I'm hard to impress," Jericho flashed her a smile, "But there's one thing that you've done time after time and that's impress me."

Christian nodded, "And if there's anyone who think any different, they'll have to deal with us."

Kayla smiled and jumped on Christian hugging him. "I love you guys!" she told them fervently as she hugged Jericho and then kissed Edge. "Come on," she told them, "Let's get out of here."

As they walked out to the car Edge pulled on a strand of her hair. "So what do you want to tonight, babe? Remember I've got you all to myself tonight."

"How could I forget?" she asked him with a smile leaning against him, careful of his still sore ribs. "I want a quiet night. How about dinner and then we can just chill and watch movies at my place?"

"Sounds great," Edge told her just glad to get some time with her alone. He loved his friends but frankly was getting sick of sharing his girl.

Jericho dropped them off and Christian left in his own car leaving the couple alone at last. Once they were through the door, Edge grabbed her pulling her to him for a long kiss. "Finally," he muttered kissing her again.

Kayla moaned softly agreeing with him wrapping her arms around his neck and returning his kisses passionately. "Oh yeah," she whispered in between kisses. A shiver ran down Kayla's spine. Edge dominated her mouth kissing her hungrily again and again. He had never been this possessive with her and it excited her.

Finally the need for oxygen overtook their need for each other and they separated gasping. "Let me take you somewhere nice," Edge told her, "Just the two of us. There are some really great places around here."

"You mean get all dressed up?" Kayla asked slyly.

"Yep," Edge told her stroking her cheek, "I'll even put on a suit."

"Do you have one here?" Kayla asked him confused.

"Yup. Had Christian bring it over the other day." Edge told her somewhat smugly. "So will you give me the distinct pleasure of your company tonight?"

"Well, . . ." Kayla pretended to think about it, "I guess that would be okay."

"You guess huh?" Edge asked as he pounced on her tickling her. "Remind me to thank Chris for showing us how ticklish you are." Edge tickled her some more before asking, "Now, would you like to accompany me out tonight, Princess?"

"Yes!" she squealed, "I'd love to!"

Edge quit tickling her and she lay there gasping for breath. Kayla glared at him balefully as he stood wincing only slightly as the movement pulled on his ribs.

Edge stretched out a hand and she allowed him to pull her to her feet. It was her turn to wince as sore muscles made themselves known. "Owie." She muttered with a wry grin.

"Sore?" Edge asked stating the obvious.

"A bit," Kayla admitted, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be."

Edge chuckled, "Just wait until the morning," he told her knowingly.

Kayla smiled, "Then we'd better get dressed and enjoy this why I can walk." Kayla turned and walked off leaving Edge shaking her head.

"She has the weirdest sense of humor," he murmured before smiling widely, "No wonder we get along." Edge followed her back the hall heading to his own room to change.