Distribution: Go right ahead, just let me know.

Disclaimer: Story mine, Characters not. Nuff said.

Notes: Set in late 2001, around Jericho's heel turn.

Warning: Potentially dark fic in later chapters. Not a feel good romance. Proceed at own risk.

Prologue: Seeing red

Blind. That was precisely what he would describe himself if he could see himself. He was blinded by his love for her. All he ever saw in his minds eye was her, and only her.

Maybe, he reasoned, that was why he was seeing red a lot these days, literally. Red – the colour of blood symbolising life, or death depending on how you saw it, the colour of pure rage, anger, that of molten lava. The colour of the heart, of love.

And of course, it was the colour of her hair. Oh yes, Chris Jericho knew that he was being quite ridiculous, to be thinking of the many associations with the colour red. To think it was all because of her.

He briefly wondered if she ever suspected of his feelings for her, or if she had really been too blind to see it. He found himself questioning all the what if's scenario. If he had told her, would she have returned his feelings? What if he was the one who had kissed her at the ring following her victory over Malenko, instead of Matt? Would they be together now, as a whole like he knew it should have been, like it should be.

He used to call her red, he remembered, not too long ago. It was his special nickname for her, his and his only, much like her. But then, Matt had to start calling her that. Chris had felt like it was a horrible violation, a sign of things to come, that maybe he, Matt, might one day wrestle his girl away from his grasp before she was even his.

But, she was never yours, Chris thought to himself darkly, scowling at the thought. And it was all thanks to that rotten Hardy boy. Funny, how people called Matt the brother with the longer life expectancy, because when Chris was done with him, he wouldn't havea life left. He would make sure of that. He would, because it was personal.

Personal. He wished he had never saved Matt from the Radicalz that night. He only did so because she was at ringside. Before that, he never teamed with the Hardys, found no need to do so, until her. That was why he found himself insulting Dean Malenko, coming to her aid. He thought that though maybe he couldn't tell her he loved her, because the Hardys were hanging over her like flies, he could show her.

He was wrong, he realised now, actions don't speak louder than words. Perhaps, that was why he was a natural loud mouth – it got him places.

When Matt and Lita finally got together, it was too much for him to bear. He began lashing out against the couple, as it was broadcast on the titatron. It was a primal instinct, to lash out and bonds in hopes to break them. He was hoping somehow to break down the bond, the relationship between them. Instead, it backfired – they were now quite possibly the closest couple on SMACKDOWN, next to Perry Saturn and his mop.

It hurt him so much to think about it, yet his mind continued to harp on it, over and over again. It was his own personal hell, to watch Lita with another.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

TBC…

Author's note:

Surprised by the pairing? I think the note was a dead give away. I know this is short (it's just a prologue, after all) but there'll be more to come. That is, if I have the time and laziness isn't eating me away.

Enjoy! (and hopefully, review as well)