Title~ Texas Grace (6/?)
Author~ Cristal
Email~ Talis13@yahoo.com
Rating~ PG13
Disclaimer~ All characters belong to the WWE.
Distribution~ hardy2extreme.com otherwise, please ask permission. =)
My Group~ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cristal-FanFic You should go and join… ;)
Notes~ Roster split IS in effect.
Summary~ Lita finds an unexpected savior…Lita struggled her way through the rest of the show that evening. She sighed worriedly as she packed her things into her bag and started out the door. Rob offered to drive her to the hospital to check on Bradshaw since Matt and Jeff had an appearance tomorrow morning and needed to sleep. She sighed again as she walked down the desolate hallways of the arena. She wasn't sure what to do really…
Sighing again, Lita turned the corner, hefting her bag higher on her shoulder. She told Rob she'd meet him in front of his dressing room. Her thoughts trailed over the last couple of weeks: things had changed so much...things had gotten out of hand... She shook her head, red hair trailing softly behind her as she sighed yet again. She liked him too much: didn't want to hurt him. And Jackie had made certain she knew the repercussions of hurting him.
"Lita? Got a minute?"
Lita looked up at the soft drawl and smiled brightly. "Hey Jackie! Yeah, come on in."
Jackie nodded, shutting the door of Lita's dressing room behind her as she entered. She turned, facing the redhead who arched an eyebrow at Jackie's posture: hands on her hips and a pout on her lips. "You can sit if you'd like..."
She shook her head. "No thanks. This won't take long." Lita nodded tentatively as she turned in her seat, facing the other woman. "Now listen. I've heard about you takin' a liking to Bradshaw."
"Everybody thinks it's some BIG thing and it's not yet!"
Jackie leaned down, coming nose to nose with Lita, putting her hands on each arm of the chair, making sure she didn't move. Not to mention making her the slightest bit uncomfortable with the look. "Fine. You can make that claim. But I'll give you this warning: only once though." Lita nodded, hazel eyes wide as Jackie leaned closer. "He's one of my good friends. I only want what's best for him. But I will tell you now: if you hurt him, your ass will be grass."
"I don't want to-"
"You may not want to, and for your sake, I hope that's true: because you really aren't a bad person." she paused. "But, intentional or not, if I find out you're leading him on and not interested in anything serious we might have problems if you don't tell him. Understand?"
Lita bit her lip before nodding. "Y-yeah, I understand Jackie...no problem."
She nodded as she stood. "Good. Like I said, you're a good person. I think you two would work together. But don't go looking for trouble."
Lita nodded again as the other woman exited with a parting glance. "...no problem Jackie..."
Lita shook her head at that recent memory as she felt someone fall into step next to her. She was half afraid to see who it was... "Oh! Hey."
"Hey." he smiled. "You're not too with it right now..."
She sighed with a shrug. "No, not really...just replaying a friendly warning I got from Jackie the other day-"
"Ohhh. You mean the 'if you hurt him I'll kick your ass' warning?"
"Ah, you're familiar with it?"
"I've seen her implement it several times, yeah." he shuddered. "Not pretty."
She laughed softly as they made it to the car. "Well, I have no intention of hurting him. No desire to hurt him actually."
He nodded as he tossed their bags into the trunk, slamming it shut. "Yeah. That's probably in your best interests because that little woman is mean as a snake if she thinks she has to be."
"Yeah, I understand." she replied, thinking of the Hardy brothers. "Understand perfectly actually..."
They made it to the hospital fairly quickly. Lita found his room number and she and Rob hurried to it. He grabbed her arm with a comforting smile outside the door. "I'll be right over there. Holler at me when you're ready to go."
She smiled, nodding her head. "Thanks Rob..."
She turned and stepped quietly into the room, shutting the door. Looked like he was asleep: which was perfectly logical of course. It was like, one in the morning now... she shook her head as she stepped over to the bedside, watching as he slept. The blankets were tugged down slightly, showing his taped up ribs and bandaged arm. There was a nasty looking cut down the left underside of his cheek, almost following along his jaw line...probably from wood shrapnel flying up. She sighed, not sure what to do...it really was her fault...if only he hadn't helped her that night. It seemed so long ago, not just two or three weeks...she shook her head, cursing herself for crying.
Tears trailed gently down her face. She wished this hadn't happened...not that she wished she hadn't gotten closer to him, not that at all. She was VERY happy that had happened. Unexpected, but wonderful. But now...now he was hurting...and it was her fault. God she hated herself right now... Her hand reached out, barely touching his face as she smoothed back his hair. His hand came up immediately grabbing her wrist, holding it in a painful grip. She gave a soft, startled cry at the brush with pain.
His eyes opened as he tugged her closer, finally seeing who it was. He released his breath as he let go, looking up at her. His anger melted immediately and she relaxed slightly, unconsciously rubbing her wrist. He grabbed her hand, pulling her closer, causing her to tumble down next to him. He wrapped her tightly in his arm. "I'm so sorry...didn't know who it was..."
"It's all right...I shouldn't have-"
He stopped her apology with a shake of his head. "You're fine. I'm glad you came..."
She smiled sadly as she sat up slightly, looking down at him. "I'm not conducive to your good health obviously."
He couldn't help but grin. "No woman ever is."
She brought a hand up menacingly. "If you weren't already in bad shape I'd be smacking you right now."
He chuckled, hugging her close again. "And I'd deserve it, I know."
She snuggled closer to him, her hand trailing over his chest. "No you wouldn't..." he strained to hear her soft voice in the quiet room. "You're one of the sweetest men I know..."
THAT he heard. Something akin to surprise flooded through him. "Really?"
And now he sounded like a dork. Oh good: that's the way to impress a woman. He was relieved when she laughed softly. "Yes, really, really."
"I can't help sounding like an idiot sometimes, you'll have to forgive me."
"It just means you're human." she smiled over at him, her head resting on his shoulder. "And that makes you even more appealing than you already are."
How did she manage to keep saying things that just continued to surprise the bloody hell out of him? "Uh, thanks..."
Yet another smooth comeback. He needed to beat himself. She smiled again. "You're welcome." her smile slid off a moment later into a gentle pout once more. "I'm sorry you got hurt..."
"Wasn't your fault." he shrugged. "I just should have clocked Show harder the first time."
She shook her head. "No...I mean, if you hadn't been nice to me that night then-"
"I wouldn't be talking to you now..." he trailed off slightly before looking at her once more. "And I wouldn't change a thing that happened, because I'm GLAD you're talking to me now. Even if it meant a beat down by the Jolly Green Jackass and his little rat friend. I wouldn't do anything differently Lita: I hope you realize that by now."
She sat up slightly, looking at him. "I-I know Bradshaw. And I wouldn't change getting your companionship either...the only thing I'd change is your getting hurt: it kills me..."
His hand came up, running gently through her soft red locks. He gave her a gentle, easy smile. "Thank you. But I wouldn't change a thing. Besides, I CAN'T change it and neither can you: so stop worrying about it Li...I'm just gonna enjoy my time with you."
She smiled at him, watching as he looked tiredly up at her. "I probably should go...you're tired and need sleep."
He shrugged. "I'll be out tomorrow morning: they're just keeping me to make sure everything's all right."
"I know." she paused, her voice soft as she spoke. Her fingers smoothed his hair back again as she leaned closer, brushing a gentle kiss over his lips. "I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"
He gave her a slight, quirky smile. "I look forward to it. Good night Li..."
She stepped over to the door with another soft smile. "Good night..."
End Chapter 6
Author's Rambles~ Sorry it's a bit shorter than normal. ^^ Seemed an appropriate place to stop. ^^ Please feel free to let me know what you thought! ^^