The ref counted and held up Matt's hand in victory, then Matt slid out of the ring, grabbed his half of the tag title belts, and ran around the ring, giving high-fives to the front row. How could he be so friendly to the crowd but such a jerk in real life? These fans liked him, sure. They'd never seen how cold and callous he really is.
"I don't get it," I moaned to myself.
"Don't get what?"
I turned, surprised. I didn't know anyone had been listening. Jeff watched me, concerned at my sudden outburst. Seeing Jeff just reminded me more of what a jerk Matt could be. I don't know why I suddenly felt the urge to bitch about Matt to Jeff. Maybe so he could see that I saw what he was going through.
"It's just that..." I shrugged and noticed Matt coming down the aisle to us. "I'll tell you later."
Jeff raised a brow at me, confused. "Promise?"
I nodded. "Sure."
"All right. Well, I gotta go," Jeff said, jumping into action. Matt came back, taking a couple of deep breaths, and stopped with a smile when he saw Jeff and me. Jeff held his hand out then, when Matt took it, he pulled him into a brief hug. "Great match, man. My turn."
"Absolutely. Good luck." Matt patted Jeff on the shoulder as he let go, sending him on his way out to the ring. I watched this, confused further. How could Jeff be so nice to him after Matt treats him like he does? Matt looked at me, shortly, and I quickly looked away.
"Great match," I said, examining his boots.
"Thanks. Y'did good t'night, too."
I looked up quickly. That was uncharacteristic. I had 'escorted' Shannon to the ring and gotten the opportunity to use my moonsault on Jason, nothing spectacular. Matt watched me for a moment, silently, his chest rising and falling rhythmically as he tried to catch his breath from the match, and he rested his hands on his hips. His hair fell in damp ringlets onto his shoulders that were almost as dark as his eyes. It was really starting to get to me that I found him so attractive when I knew he was such a jerk. It was even worse that I knew I didn't need to mess with a man right now. My brain was starting to overanalyze everything again which was never a good thing. I searched for words. "Thanks..."
Matt examined my eyes again for a minute, then nodded perfunctorily with a dismayed smile and walked away. What the hell was that? I crossed my arms over my chest, defiantly, watching Matt walk away. I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped slightly to fine Mike stepping past me to get backstage. I guess I was in the middle of things. I stepped back for a moment, letting Mike and Shane trade places. Once I found an out of the way corner, I started looking for Matt again. He had disappeared! Dammit! I mean, um, good! Good riddance. I went back to where I'd been watching before as Jeff and Shane started measuring each other up in the ring. This was the last match of the night. I always surprised that Matt booked himself as undercard, never fail. I would have expected him to try to push himself as the best ever. Whatever.
Finally Shane and Jeff locked up, and Jeff threw Shane into a corner. I noticed someone come up next to me and I looked up to see Shannon. He'd come to watch his best friend, Jeff, wrestle. Those two had a lot in common. They were both very laid back and had mostly the same interests, same sense of humor, but even beyond that. They looked alike, too. Similar build, Shannon was slightly smaller but much shorter than Jeff, same blonde hair, and same fashion sense. It was almost as if they were the brothers, not Matt and Jeff. I turned my attention back to the match. Jeff and Shane were putting on a hell of a match and the audience was marking out appropriately. They both hit their high spots, and Shane finished the match with his own invention, the VerteBreaker. Of course, that didn't sit well as Jeff was playing the face, but it had been a good match. Shane came back to some great heat and scored some high-fives from Shannon and me as he passed.
"Way t'go, man," Shannon added.
"Thanks," Shane grinned, then started looking around for someone.
"What're y'lookin' for?"
"Matt, seen him?"
"Yeah, he's watchin' on th'other side." Shannon gestured across the arena, and I finally noticed Matt, still in his wrestling gear, hanging back behind the crowd all the way across the arena, watching me. Er, Shane.
"Cool, man, thanks. Catch y'all later," he said, and started to make his way around the back towards where Matt was. Yeah, that was another one that confused me. Shane and Matt were great friends. God, I just couldn't understand how anyone could tolerate him, especially people like Shane and Jeff. Speaking of, Jeff finally stumbled out of the ring and towards the back, high-fiving the audience members as he passed, half-heartedly, still trying to sell Shane's offense. The funny thing was that as soon as he was out of the audience's view, he slumped even further. Jeff went out there and killed himself every show, but his 'selling' was usually less than he was really hurting. The poor kid. Of course, that never stopped him. He loved every minute of it, and didn't mind the aches. When he got back, a smirk formed on his face as he saw Shannon.
"That was great, man, killer."
"Thanks," Jeff said, now grinning. "I think th'whole show went well."
"Hell yeah," Shannon grinned. "Y'doin' all right?"
"Never been better," Jeff nodded, still smirking. He looked around, noticed me watching his conversation, and arched an eyebrow in my direction. I jumped, slightly surprised, then he turned back to Shannon for a second. "Hey, man, I'll catch y'later, I need t'talk t'Amy."
Wow, the memory on this kid was astounding. I bit my lip nervously, watching. Shannon grinned at me, and nodded.
"Sure, catch y'later."
Jeff handed off his belt of to Shannon then took a couple steps towards me, looking less pained with each step.
"Good match, kid."
Jeff smiled, as he towered over me. It didn't matter that he was bigger, more experienced, and more skilled - I was still older. But he thought it was funny when I called him kid.
"Thanks, sweetie. So what's up?"
"Don't you want to get changed or showered or anything?"
Jeff looked hurt. "Do I smell?"
I grinned. "I'm just asking..."
"I'm fine," Jeff grinned back, "but if y'don't want t'talk now, that's fine, too."
I sighed, shrugging. "I guess.. it doesn't really matter."
"C'mon, let's go out back. No one will be out there." Jeff slung an arm around my neck and almost pulled me off my feet to get me moving. I followed, not having much option.
"It's not really that big of a deal," I protested.
"Who said we're goin' t'talk 'bout you? I've got this growth on m'ass that I wanted y't' -"
"Jeff!" I cried, laughing and disgusted at the same time. He grinned and opened the door in front of us, still dragging me out.
"No, really, what's goin' on?" He asked, finally letting me go. I sighed and leaned up against the wall of the building. It was a cool seventy out, surprisingly nice for an April evening over here. Jeff slid over to stand in front of me, setting his hands on his hips, and watched me with concern.
"I'm not really sure.. I mean, it's nothing really..."
"Well, if y'not goin' t'talk 'bout you, I'm goin' t'talk about me." Jeff reached for his belt buckle. "Y'got t'see this thing, it's -"
"All right! All right!" I held up a hand to stop him, laughing again.
Jeff grinned again, nodding. "C'mon, spit it. Homesickness?"
I looked up at him, confused. "What makes you -"
"I've noticed that somethin's been botherin' y'since y'came here. Maybe b'fore, too, but I didn't know y'then. What's up? Is it th'wrestlin'?"
"No," I answered firmly, then I sighed. "I guess I'm a little homesick. But that's not the main thing, it's just that..."
Jeff waited. Jesus, now I didn't want to cause trouble between brothers. I started to wonder what Jeff would do if I told him that I thought Matt was an ass. I mean, he must have known it, but I didn't think I had the right to say it. I sighed. It was too late now. I might as well tell him. But nicer. Um. "It's Matt."
Jeff smiled. "Really?"
Why was he smiling? "Yeah."
"I thought I saw that."
"What?"
"Y'like Matt?"
I did a double take. "What?!"
Jeff hesitated, surprised. "Or not...?"
"No, most definitely not."
Now Jeff frowned. "What's wrong?"
"It's just.. well, he treats everyone like shit around here. Like he's better than everyone." There, I just said it straight out. Jeff's eyes grew wide with surprise. Well, I guess he wasn't expecting that. He moved his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. "I mean, even you. Especially you. He just orders everyone around and doesn't seem to care about anyone."
"No, no way, that's not it at all," Jeff said quickly, finally getting his tounge back. "He jus' wants t'help us. He pushes us t'be th'best. He has a profound desire t'get everyone here int' th'WWF. Maybe he is a li'l abrupt, but it's not that he doesn't care, that's jus' his work ethic."
I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. "I don't know..."
"An' trust me, he doesn't treat me bad at all. We've been doin' this f'years, that's jus' how we work. We know each other so well, we don't need t'say most things, we jus' know. One thing I know, though, is that he doesn't think he's better than anyone. If he did, he wouldn't push himself so hard. Why d'y'think he's always bustin' his ass out there? He wants every match to be twice as good as th'last. Maybe his pushin' himself trickles down t'his pushin' us every once in a while, but what we see is nothin' compared t'what he does t'himself."
Now it was my turn to sputter for words.
"Oh, Amy, don't let that get t'you. Are y'worried 'bout how y'are performin' here?"
"A little."
"Y'want t'impress us?"
I sighed. "Yeah."
"Y'are. Very much so. You're awesome, no lie. Matt an' I see it. An' everyone else, too."
"I don't know about that.."
"Now that's somethin' y'have in common with Matt. Y'are both overachievers."
I blushed. "Thanks, Jeff."
"C'mere," he said, reaching out for me. I pushed off the wall and went to his arms for a hug. I held onto him more firmly than I intended to. He was the first person who I'd hugged since I was last home, and it had been a while. He noticed my reaction and squeezed me gently, reassuringly. "Everythin' will be jus' fine, trust me. Jus' do me a favor."
I smiled, laying my head on his chest. "As long as it doesn't involve your ass..."
Jeff laughed. "No, not this time at least. Jus' give Matt another chance. I promise you, he's really a great person."
I let go off Jeff and he let me back up. Give Matt another chance? I looked up to him, uncertainly. "We'll see."
"I guess I'll have t'take that f'now. But consider it, all right?"
"I'll consider it."
"All right, now let's go inside. I need t'take a shower," he said as he slung his arm over my neck again, drawing my head unknowingly towards his armpit.
"Man, you're telling me!" I shot back, shoving his arm off me.
Jeff laughed and pulled the door open for me. I started in, looking back and laughing at Jeff, and almost ran into someone who'd been about to push the door open from the other side. I stopped laughing as I found my nose inches from Matt's chest. Looking up quickly, I saw a look of surprise in Matt's face. I took a step back and ran into Jeff.
"Hey, man," Jeff said, calmly, over my head. He set a hand on my shoulder to help me keep my balance. "What's up?"
"I was lookin' in the locker room f'you, an' Shannon said I could find y'out here. I wanted t'go over some numbers with you b'fore we went home."
"Sure, man, let me take a quick shower first."
I was frozen into place, watching Matt, still intimidated. Matt looked from Jeff down to me for a second, with mixed look. I couldn't tell if it was disdain or sorrow. I felt very uncomfortable. His eyes looked almost black in the dim light of the doorway and they seemed to look right through me, as if he knew how much he scared me.
I don't know how much time went by, but, finally, Jeff sidestepped me, patting my shoulder. "I'll catch y'later, Amy. Keep y'chin up, you'll be fine."
I looked to him, greatful for an excuse to break the glance with Matt.
"Thanks, Jeff. I'm going to..." Dammit, some how I'd met Matt's glance again and froze. I stuttered for a second. "Um.. y'know.. I'll..."
I pointed the other direction with my thumb and smiled, blushing and feeling dumb. Matt watched and I backed up a couple steps before turning around and lowering my head in embarrassment. Give him another chance, my ass. I just wanted to get away. Which is what I did.