'Yes I think it's safe to say,
I feel good about the sin.' When It All Goes Wrong Again, Everclear
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Chapter Five
:
Mistakes
The rainbow-haired Hardy brother had taken Dawn home to pack for a couple days on the road. Kyle, however, was there this time. There had been a long-drawn out spat that was unlike any normal sibling rivalry, Kyle arguing that since he was older he should be the one going and working for the WWF. On the other side of it was Dawn who pointed out, at least decently, that he had no talent whatsoever, momentarily silencing her brother before he began repeating his previous yelling. Jeff hated to see this, this isn't how families were supposed to work as Dawn went to her room to pack.
She just stuffed random clothing articles into a duffel bag, it was only a 3 night trip, so she didn't need a year supply of anything. Jeff was teasing her endlessly when he picked up a pair of her undergarments that she'd tossed in, dangling it on his finger. It was a black bra along with a matching thong and had flames all over it. Dawn snatched it away and tossed it back into her bag and tossed in a last pair of pants before zipping it closed, almost closing it on Jeff's fingers.
That had all been before their flight, which had landed just forty minutes ago and they were all getting comfortable in their rooms. Amy had offered to let Dawn stay with her, but when it was all done and decided it was Matt who was staying with Amy. So that left Jeff and Dawn to share the other room. Even though they'd spent less then a week together, they were already used to staying with one another, despite Dawn's mumbling of how this ruined any chance for privacy.
"It's not like you've got anything I haven't seen before," Jeff teased when they were in the room, he was soon doubled over and gasping for air.
"Excuse me for being a proud virgin."
Jeff was tempted to say more, but the teenager had walked away from him now an embarrassed virgin. Her shyness was so cute. She'd gone into the bedroom and pulled out some athletic pants with a tank top. Dawn still had on Amy's outfit. Jeff was staring at her and Dawn made a little swirl motion with her hand raised in the air, indicating for him to turn around so she didn't have to go to the bathroom. He complied. She'd turned her back on him and had tossed off her shirt when Jeff turned back around. His eyes watched in a sort of slow motion as she slipped her pants off, revealing long smooth legs. He could see her thin trim, her curvy figure, her creamy skin. How could she be only 15 when she had the body of a 21 year old?
Quickly turning around before a fully dressed Dawn could catch him staring at her, he moved towards the bathroom and abruptly shut the door hard then he had intended to. Dawn was staring at the door he'd just slammed with confusion etched across her face. She knocked politely on the door.
"I'm going to the gym, Jeff. You okay?"
"I'll meet you down there in a couple minutes."
Dawn shrugged and opted headed for the hotel gym. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but it at least had a ring set up in it. She knew how to wrestle, she'd even done what the Hardy Boyz had done – Turned her trampoline into a ring and wrestle. It was a backyard type thing she'd done with a couple others, minus hardcore matches. If anything else it was a good workout and good wrestling practice.
She looked around. There was no one else in here. Dawn did a few quick stretches before she stepped into the ring. It had a little give to it, but not much. That meant you had to fall right or you were just doing more damage to yourself. She stood in one of the corners, cracked her neck to the side and took a couple steps into a cartwheel, followed by a back-flip and jumped onto the top rope. This was where things got complicated. Dawn immediately flipped backwards into what could have been a moonsault, but she landed on her feet and went down backwards, low enough to do a backroll and ended up doing a hand spring all the way back to the corner she'd started in.
"Bravo, Miss Mallund."
"Oh please, Jeff, don't start doing formalities. And that?" she shrugged as if it were nothing when in truth that was one of her prime moves when she wrestled with the neighborhood kids, a different version of it though.
"Alright, alright, out of the ring."
"Jeff, you're no fun!" Dawn pouted when an idea suddenly came to her. "How 'bout a match?"
"What? Oh no."
"Just for fun, Jeff. Please?"
Jeff looked at her, she'd put the big doe eyes on and it was impossible to refuse her. He climbed into the ring and Dawn mocked the dinging of a bell to signal the match start. Jeff was hesitant, Dawn, however, was not. It was an amusing sight to see someone almost a foot shorter do an armdrag, but Jeff had instinctively jumped to help her get him over. He got back up, Dawn dropkicked him. She hopped up onto the rope RVD-style and Jeff had gotten up again, this time to catch her. Dawn glowered at him, but she jumped off anyway… And Jeff caught her, falling back with her and then flipping them over to he was on top. He pinned down her arms and legs and counted to 3, grinning all the while.
"You aren't any fun, Skittles."
"I know."
He smiled and leaned down, kissing her gently. It felt so natural, so right. Jeff's lips were still lingering until his pulled back sharply. His eyes were wide and rolled out of the ring, rushing out of the gym leaving a stunned Dawn still lying in the ring.
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Where was he? Dawn had gone back to their room expecting Jeff to be there. But he wasn't. She wandered around the hotel after that, hoping to find him somewhere. From top to bottom she'd gone through the hotel and there was no rainbow-colored hair in sight. She kicked the nearest vending machine. She understood why he ran off, but she hated to be treated like that. Like a kid. The least he could have done was apologize, as much as she would have hated to hear it. Even though she hadn't truly realized it before, she did feel an odd connection to Jeff. It was like she didn't have to put up some façade for anybody or worry about being labeled a freak because of her appearance. She could just be Dawn. But I guess I'm just a kid to him. I don't get it, age is only a number. Its not like a kiss is breaking the law, is it? Well, even so, no one saw it. Gees Jeff, why'd you have to do that?
Dawn thought about that a moment longer, her mind was slowly trying to give her answers. She might be young, but that doesn't make one ignorant. To let me know what I was feeling. I'm falling for a 25 year old.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"Hey, Chris."
"You wouldn't happen to know where Jeff is, would you?" she asked hopefully.
"Sorry, Dawn. I haven't seen him. I'll let you know if I do."
She smiled at him weakly before heading back to her room, other then the gym, there was really nothing to do. And Dawn was far from going back to the gym.
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Jamming his hands into his pockets, Jeff stalked down the sidewalk. It was starting to get dark. The air was getting colder and a breeze had picked up. A walk had always helped to clear his mind, but not this time. He knew he'd made a mistake by kissing her, by kissing Dawn. What he felt towards her was undeniable. You haven't even know her a week, you idiot. He chastised himself. Mental abuse seemed like a good punishment at the moment. When he wasn't doing that, he was busy making excuses. I was just caught up in the moment. She could understand that, couldn't she? I mean, a kiss between friends is okay. There's no harm done if no one saw anything. We can just forget it ever happened. With that, Jeff began making his way back to the hotel.
He enjoyed the warmth of the hotel compared to the brisk night air. He hesitated a moment before sliding the keycard through and opening the door. Jeff had every intention of telling her to forget what had happened back in the gym, it was all just a spontaneous thing that shouldn't have happened.
All the lights were off. Was she asleep? It couldn't be that late. He flipped on the light to find Dawn curled up on the bed, still fully clothed. Suddenly he felt bad, he had a guilt conscience weighing on him. Not because of the kiss, because he was going to lie to her. He had been too caught up in the moment to realize what he was doing, but the honest truth was he enjoyed it. However, that didn't mean it wasn't wrong. Law was law.
Jeff sat down next to her on the bed and almost jumped in surprise when she rolled over. She was wide-awake. He immediately noticed the puffy eyes, the flushed cheeks and the tearstains. And he knew he'd caused it. But he still had to tell her…
"I'm sorry I ran out like that, Dawn. It w-was just…" he stopped short. Her eyes looked so sad, a contrast to the beautiful puppy dogs he'd seen from her earlier. Oh to hell with it.
Jeff put a hand on her cheek, idly wiping away the trail the her tears had made. For the second time that day, their lips met. Dawn was expecting him to pull away again, but when he didn't, she finally gave in and enjoyed the tender kiss.
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A/N – Yes folks, I know Jeff is over 25. About 30 now if I'm not mistaken. But 15 years older then her seems a bit much, doesn't it?
Teaser – Does this make Dawn and Jeff a couple of secret now? What would Matt, Amy and Chris think if they found out? What would Vince think? Can Jeff and Dawn really deal with all of this…?
