Xtreme Revolution

Chapter 6

"It's locked."

Lita stared at Matt, her brow furrowing. "It can't be locked. There are no locks on the doors, and if there were, they wouldn't be on the outside," she strode to the door.

"I'm telling you, it's locked," Matt said, stepping away from her as she tried to open the door, rattling the handle as she did so.

Lita cursed beneath her breath as she desperately tried to open the door. With a tired sigh, Matt walked to a bench and lay down, staring at the ceiling. When it was positively apparent that the door was not going to come open, the redhead resorted to banging on it to try and bring someone's attention to the problem, because one thing was for sure: she didn't want to be locked in a room with Matthew Hardy.

Matt rolled his head over, watching Lita's back. "Lita, that door isn't going to come open."

Her reply came laced with irritation. "I pretty much figured that out."

Rolling his eyes, Matt spoke again, "What I'm trying to say is that banging on the door or trying to pull on it isn't going to do anything. The door is made of steel; no one is going to hear you from outside."

Lita sighed in defeat, leaning against the door, her back to it. "So you're saying we're stuck here until someone gets us out."

"I'm sure the guys will be back from the ring soon," Matt told her.

The redhead frowned. "What if Evolution locked us in here?"

"They can handle Evolution," Matt told her, "plus, Evolution was already in the ring when they left."

"So it wasn't Evolution."

"Why are you so sure that someone locked us in?"

"The door doesn't have a locking system. Someone must've lodged something by the door to keep it shut."

"Oh, come on Lita, now you're being melodramatic. Who would lock us in a room together?" his eyes met hers, and there was silence for a moment.

"Jeff," they said at the same time. Lita cautiously made her way to the second bench, sitting down. Silence overtook them, except for the occasional sigh or sneeze. Awkwardness settled soon after. Lita circled her temples with her fingers.

It was going to be a long night.

Matt was the first one to break the silence. "Why did you decide to rejoin the team?" he asked out of the blue. Lita looked over at him, her hair falling into her face. He could see her mentally sorting her words, and was silent as she did so.

"I guess it was because I missed the way we used to be; you, me, and Jeff. We were a team, and there was nothing that would come between us... We nearly always had fun wherever we went. I miss being friends without worrying. After we broke up, I always had to worry about people backstabbing me, like Trish, Victoria..." she trailed off.

"And me?" Matt prompted, emotion unreadable in his eyes.

She looked at him. "And you," she confirmed, and he nodded, returning his gaze to the ceiling. Lita took the time to ask a question of her own, a question that had been eating at her for years.

"Why did you do it?" she asked, and Matt looked back at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you betray Jeff and me? Why did you break up with me on RAW...twice?" she questioned, refusing to acknowledge the flash of pain in his eyes. There was a long, tense quiet before he answered.

"In the last days we were a team, I had started thinking... Maybe this wasn't the best thing for us. I mean, your attention and skills were being diverted from going after your title. You'd get hurt during our matches, and that would cause you a match later... Jeff was, and still is, an amazing wrestler. He talked to me a few times about going after another belt. Our team was holding him back."

"That's all?" Lita asked, her anger pricking. 'You didn't have to betray us!' the voice inside of her head screamed.

"No," he told her, and paused before continuing. "I had a backstage spat with Triple H. I pissed him off pretty bad..." he sighed. "Hunter made some threats. Now, given the fact that he was busy with another feud, I shouldn't have worried about it too much, but I did. I don't know what I would have done if he'd hurt one of you..."

"So you hurt us instead," Lita responded, her eyes cutting. She winced immediately, "I-I'm sorry, Matt," she whispered.

"No, you're right," Matt replied, his eyes downcast.

Lita had no intention of trying to hurt him emotionally more. She could see the immense guilt in his eyes, and she knew his confession was taking a lot out of him. Yet, at the same time, she had to put her own feelings on the table. The redhead fought insistent tears as she spoke. "You should've just talked to us, Matt. We would've understood."

"You wouldn't have been worried about Hunter."

"It would have hurt less if he attacked us."

"I know," Matt replied softly.

"Why didn't you tell me later? Why didn't you tell Jeff?"

"By the time I came to my senses, you and me were going out. I didn't want to ruin our relationship..."

"But you did anyway," Lita responded. "You pretended to propose to me, and then turned your back on me," the redhead reminded him, her lower lip trembling as she fought the tears stinging her eyes.

Matt sat up, guilt continuing to eat away at his emotions. His eyes locked onto Lita's, and for one second she could see all of the pain he had put himself through. "I never told you how sorry I was about that, did I?" he whispered, expecting no answer. He spoke a few minutes later. "I was going to propose to you, Lita. That wasn't part of an elaborate plan. In the middle of our match, I panicked... I kept thinking of how my enemies would become your enemies. My feuds would affect you. Someone would inevitably try to take advantage of our relationship. They would hurt you. I started to think about how there has never been a happy marriage in the WWE, and that we wouldn't be any difference... So I did what I did, and I'm sorry."

Lita felt the tears drop down onto her cheeks, and the emotions running through her. Words failing her, she reached out and hugged Matt. "I'm sorry too, Matt," she whispered, "I'm sorry..." he hugged her back tightly.

In that moment, she knew the truth about what had happened during the past few days. She would've given anything to have known before the events had occurred, but the past was something not worth continuously dwelling on: something she should have realized a long time ago. And in that moment, she realized something.

Maybe Jeff was right.

Maybe things would change for the better.