Title: Two Wrongs
Author: Tay
Email: da1redgem@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
Distribution: Sure but just let me know. ;)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Nothing specific. Just takes place at a random point in time.
Summary: Love isn't always easy. Lita/Jeff, Chris/Trish
Content warning: Nothing that should offend you in this chapter. Let me know if I do though, so I can punish myself. Lol.
Lita held her sobbing friend closer. She'd struggled to get her friend from the gorilla to the locker room. The little blonde had just collapsed into her arms as soon as she walked through the curtain, without a single word. And it was quite obvious that she wasn't crying about a lost title shot.
Well … maybe just a little. Everything seemed to be weighing down on Trish, nothing going her way. Trish had lost the one man she'd truly loved, and now she was nowhere near having a title shot. Could things get any worse?
Lita patted Trish's back comfortingly, as they sat on the couch of the room. The sobbing had seemingly calmed down, a soft whimper escaping the blonde's lips every now and again. She supported the woman's shoulders as she pushed her up off her shoulders, so she could look in her eyes. Her eyes were swollen, red, puffy. And the look in her eyes nearly killed the redhead. Trish seemed lost, hopeless. She seemed like a lost puppy, not knowing where to go or what to do. Lita couldn't help but hate the blankness on Trish's face, even wishing that she was showing a little sadness. But that was not the case. The blonde instead seemed defeated.
"Hun?" Lita called to her, hoping to get some response from her. However, Trish continued to stare into blank space, her eyes fixated on a certain spot of the bed. Lita tried again, despite Trish not acknowledging her efforts.
"Trish, honey. I'm not gonna tell you everything's okay, 'cause I know it's not. I hate to see you this way. I wish I could do anything to make this better. Do you want to talk to me about it?" Trish continued to stare at the bed, as though she hadn't heard her friend.
"It's okay if you don--" Just as the words had escaped Lita's lips, Trish sprang up from the bed. She walked a few steps, heedless to where she was going. With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her silky, blonde hair.
"Li, I just don't know what to do. I love him so much. I don't know what I did wrong." Trish's voice was on the edge of cracking, the hoarseness from her crying apparent. The blonde continued. "I've tried everything. And he just won't talk to me. I don't know how I can fix this if he won't even tell me what I did wrong." There it was again. That hopelessness. Lita frowned deeply, pondering how she could help her best friend.
"Trish, don't give up. You have to keep trying. Chris loves you. He'll break eventually. If you just keep trying--"
"I've been trying for almost a month!" Trish spun around, throwing her hands in the air then slapping them down on her legs. Her look was not one of anger but one begging for an answer. She figured there was no chance of getting Chris back or even just getting him to talk to her.
Lita stood slowly, approaching her friend little by little as she spoke. "Well, keep trying. Sometimes it takes a little time." Lita placed a gentle, comforting hand on Trish's face. Trish closed her eyes, shaking her head softly as she looked down toward the ground.
"But this is taking too much time."
"How much do you love him Trish?"
"More than you could possibly imagine."
"Then there's no such thing as too much time." Trish leaned into Lita, hugging the redhead. A couple minutes went by with silence, the only sound being Trish's sniffles.
"Why are you so smart?" Lita laughed at the blonde's comment, glad the girl was getting a little back to normal. "Li, I'm gonna go in the bathroom and wash off my face." Trish pulled away from Lita, walking into the bathroom, shutting the door behind herself.
Lita plopped down on the couch, holding her head in her hands. Everything was just so crazy right now. Was it not just three months ago that they were all good friends, with no kind of problems? Nothing could have been better. She was in love with Jeff and he was in love, or at least she thought he was, in love with her. And it was obvious that Chris and Trish had feelings for each other. But now …
Sighing, the redhead sat back, letting her head hang over the back of the couch. All four of them were miserable. Chris wouldn't talk to Trish, and Trish was going insane without Chris. The poor woman was lovesick and miserable. At least they had some hope. Lita knew in her heart that this was all a big misunderstanding. The two blonde Canadians had a chance of getting back together. It only made sense that they would sort this out and be together because they belonged together. But she and Jeff …
It was over for them.
How could she have been so blind? She really did believe that they were meant to be. That he felt the way she felt about him. She'd even dreamed about having a family with him, spending the rest of her life with him. But how could they … after he …
Trying to keep the forming tears from falling from her eyes, Lita bit down on her lower lip. She couldn't even think about what he'd done to her without wanting to bawl. Oh what she would give just to hate him. How badly she wanted to be able to look into those green eyes and not break down in tears. Why did she have to be in love with him? She just wanted to be able to let go of him and move on without a second look. But part of her told herself that she wouldn't be able to do that. She wouldn't be able to let go of him.
Her heart wrenched at the thought. She sat up, shaking her head. No, she wasn't going to dwell on her problems. If there was anyone that did have some hope, it was Chris and Trish. And if there was anyone that could help them, it was her. She was going to get to the bottom of this mess and fix it. Someone here deserved to be happy.
~*~*~
Chris walked out of the arena onto the busy sidewalks of Detroit. He'd finally gotten away from an overly-ecstatic Molly. He understood that she didn't like Trish, but he didn't understand why both she and Gail had to fight Trish. It just didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair to do that to anyone. He just needed to get away from Molly and Gail's little party. He hadn't even gotten to talk to her about how he felt. Oh well, they could talk later.
The cold, brisk air ate away at the skin of his arms, as he was wearing just a t-shirt. It didn't matter, as long as he wasn't in that arena. Right now, he needed to figure out where Jeff was. He needed someone to talk to. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Jeff's cell phone number.
Ring … ring … ring …
Where the hell was he? He wasn't in his locker room. No one in the arena had seen him in the last hour or so. Knowing Jeff, he was doing something stupid after his run-in with Lita. He definitely hadn't been handling this Lita situation well.
Chris shook his head, deciding to try to call Jeff again. He placed the silver phone against his hear as the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Jeff, where the hell are you?"
"In a bar." Figures, Chris thought to himself. At least, he didn't sound too drunk. Actually he sounded quite sober.
"What bar?"
"The one two blocks away with the big sign with gold lights." Chris looked to his right, seeing the huge, flashing sign immediately.
"Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." With that, Chris clicked his phone shut and headed down the busy, crowded streets of Detroit.
The bar was pretty crowded, probably because Raw had just ended. The dim lights, light blues music, and moderately quiet conversations made for a very mellow place. A perfect place to come to sulk and try to drown away your sorrows.
Chris looked to the back of the bar, finding Jeff sitting alone on a bar stool. Slouched over, head hung low, he looked pretty depressed. Chris squeezed his way through the tons of chairs, finally making his way to Jeff. Standing behind him, he observed Jeff. Jeff didn't make any acknowledgement that Chris was there. He continued to stare into the glass of liquor, tapping each side of it with his fingers. To Chris's surprise, it was still full.
Raising his eyebrows momentarily and sighing, Chris sat beside the sullen Jeff. They were in for a long night.
"Would you like anything sir?" Chris looked up to the heavy-breathing bartender. His eyes were lit with fascination, amazed that he was standing in front of the one and only Chris Jericho.
Chris smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, thanks."
"I must say, I am a big fan of you Mr. Jericho, sir." The bartender, seemingly in his mid to late 20s, was bouncing with excitement and acting like a kid in a candy store. Chris laughed. It was always nice to meet his enthusiastic fans. "Could I possibly have your autograph? I told my girlfriend that the WWE was coming here and that I'd probably get to meet a few of the wrestlers but she didn't believe me."
Chris nodded politely. "Sure. What do you want it on?" The bartender instantly pulled up his black uniform shirt and held out his white t-shirt, pulling a pen out from behind the counter. Chris grabbed the pen, scribbling his signature mark quickly on the man's shirt. He handed the pen back and smiled.
"Thank you Mr. Jericho!" The young man looked over quickly to the morose Hardy. He motioned for Chris to lean in. He whispered in his ear, "I would ask him for an autograph too but he seems pretty depressed.".
Chris nodded and replied, "I know. I think it's better you don't ask. And I think it's better that you get back to work." Chris nodded his head in the direction of a somewhat confused, angry man who was glaring at the young worker. The man nodded his appreciation and made his way over to his boss.
Chris gave his attention back to his friend, who hadn't changed position once. Still continued to stare at his drink.
"How many have you had?" Chris could tell Jeff had heard him although he didn't move.
"Just this one." Double-taking at the still full glass, Chris breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't getting drunk off his ass. What was he supposed to say to him? He had no idea how to make Jeff feel better.
"How could I have been so stupid? I can't believe I did that to her." The pain and frustration was obvious in Jeff's features. He was dying inside. Chris knew how he beat himself up everyday about what happened between him and Lita. He listened to him asking himself how stupid he was. He'd watch as Jeff wrote about six pages of his feelings and poems that expressed them. Jeff would tell him everything, that is except what exactly happened.
"You would kill me if I told you." he would say. "You wouldn't understand." Chris would beg him to just try. He would listen and try his best to understand. It was just so obvious that Jeff was so ashamed about what he'd done. So ashamed, he couldn't even bear telling his best friend.
"Come on…"
"I don't know."
"Are you sure you still don't wanna try to tell me? It could help to get it out." The blonde almost begged him to tell him, the slightest glimmer of hope in his voice. How badly he wanted to help him. How badly he wanted to know. And then there were his own motives. He wanted someone to just be able to sulk with. To just talk about all his problems with.
But then again, Jeff was already too depressed to worry about anyone else's problems. It had just seemed best to keep his problems to himself and to just try to be there for his seven-year best friend.
Anxiously waiting an answer, Chris observed Jeff's slightly scrunched up face and furrowed eyebrows, knowing that the chances of Jeff telling him were slim. Jeff picked his small glass up, placed it against, and tilting his had back, he downed the liquor almost within a heartbeat. Not being able to help but flinch, the blonde Canadian gulped as he wondered what could be going on in the younger Hardy's mind.
Sighing and placing the crystal glass on the counter, the Hardy leaned over on his elbows and replied, "Fine. I'll tell you." Chris couldn't help but feel an overwhelming feeling of victory. After three months of trying, finally he'd get Jeff to talk to him. They'd just have a one-on-one like they used to. After this whole Lita thing, Jeff hadn't been so open to discussing much of anything. But how could he blame him? Chris knew he hadn't felt too social lately either.
"Well, do you remember when we were on tour in New York City, and we had that party at that bar?" Jeff shifted and cleared his throat out of obvious discomfort. Chris responded 'yes', hoping that it would encourage Jeff to continue.
Seeming to have gained a little composure, the sullen man continued. "And you remember that Ames wasn't there. I uh…..I don't know how, but I got really drunk. I don't remember drinking any alcohol or anything, but I must have because I was incredibly drunk." There was a slight sniffle and then a sigh. "I don't remember much of anything from that night. I can only remember coming to the party. But the next morning I woke up with the biggest migraine, and…." His head hung over. Light reflected off his weary eyes, showing the glimmer of tears. Jeff just shook it off, blinking a few times and raising his head again.
"She was there. Whoever she was…" He shook his head, slowly as though he still couldn't believe it. "She was putting on her shoes. And she…all I saw was her back…I cheated on Amy with some girl and I don't even know what the girl looks like."
Chris swallowed the huge lump in his throat. It was so obvious how much this was killing Jeff. If there was one thing he knew about Jeff, it was that he would never do anything to purposely hurt Lita. He'd made it so clear from the day that he knew he'd fallen in love with her, that his only intention was to make her happy and not be the one to break her heart. But just knowing that he did, after all the promises he'd made to her and everything he'd told her, was eating the young Hardy up inside. Chris knew his best friend would give anything to take that back and make things right between them.
Jeff remained still in the chair, his gaze unmoving, face unchanging, not a muscle even moving as a tear slid down his cheek and fell from his chin. Silence had overcome them, that silence driving Chris insane as he sat there unsure of what to do or say from there. God, wasn't there anything to break this unbearable quiet? Chris let his blues eyes travel along the other side of the bar. He just couldn't look at him. He couldn't look at the wreck his friend had become.
"The girl left before I realized what I'd done." Chris's head snapped back in Jeff's direction, his heart pounding, surprised at the sudden continuation of the story. "Uhm…Ames came back two days after that. Chris, she was so beautiful. She walked through the door so happy." A smile spread across his face. "She said she was so happy to be home, so happy to see me. Can you believe that? Happy to see me." Just like that, the smile had transformed back into a frown. "And she hugged me and kissed me. Oh God Chris, I had to tell her. I had to crush her and break her heart. I had to break every promise I'd ever made to her. I had to…" He choked on his words. Jeff bit down on his lip, getting himself under control.
"I made her sit down and I told her everything. I was honest to her. I owed her at least that after all. God, the look on her face…her eyes…" The Hardy's head fell back as he looked to the ceiling. He couldn't control the few tears that slipped from his eyes then. Bringing his head back to level, he sighed another exasperated sigh. "She was so hurt. The tears just kept coming. And the way she looked at me. It was like I felt what she was going through. I could feel myself dying inside, like she was. I never thought she'd look at me like that. I asked her if she hated me and do you know what she said? 'No. I love you so much and that's why this hurts so bad.' Why can't she just hate me?" A pause. "She ran out on me and I haven't been able to talk to her since." Finally done with is story, Jeff place his head in his palms, shame obvious in his body expression.
The blonde Canadian sat in awe. He was only speechless at what he'd just heard. His mouth was slightly ajar, mouth ready to voice words of comfort, but he found nothing. Not a word. He hadn't quite understood the misery Jeff had been through until that moment. Nothing seemed to make sense. Jeff cheated on Lita? It hadn't ever seemed possible. It didn't all sound right.
Chris was in a daze, trying to understand how this happened to two people more better for each other than anyone he could think of. He couldn't even bring himself to be mad at Jeff for cheating on Lita. Something about it just didn't seem right. Nothing was making sense to him.
"So?"
Chris snapped out of his state of confusion, once again focusing on the Hardy. "So what?"
"Well…what about you and Trish? What happened to your fairy tale romance?" No smiles were evident on Jeff's face. Bitterness lay in his voice after recalling his breakup.
Chris cleared his throat. It was only fair to tell him what had gone wrong between himself and Trish since Jeff had poured his heart out to him about Lita.
"You've known how I felt about Trish for the longest time. Well, I finally told her about and she told me she loved me too. Well, to keep this story short and sweet. She lied. She slept with another guy about a week after she told me that." Chris caught Jeff's emerald green eyes staring a hole right through him, questioning what he'd just heard. Brows furrowed, lips pursed with bafflement, Jeff brought his hand over his eyes trying to understand.
"Chris, that doesn't make any sense at all. I know Trish. You know Trish. Trish wouldn't do something like that to you. I know for a fact that she's in love with you and she would never do something like that to you. Chris, what makes you think she did something like that?"
Chris sighed, looking away. He didn't want to tell him. Trish was one of Jeff's best friends. He could never believe that she would do something so cold-hearted, that she could be so heartless. It would crush Jeff to know that the beautiful blonde was not exactly what she seemed to be.
Chris winced at the cruel unreal ness of it all. He of all people thought he knew Trish so well. He'd fallen for everything about her so fast. The sophisticated air about her, her infectious laugh, her silky, smooth voice, her entrancing eyes, her sense of humor…the list could go on forever. Everything he wanted, she had it. Before he knew, little 'ole Trish Stratus had Chris Jericho wrapped around her finger.
Scoffing in disgust at the thought of Trish using him, Chris decided to just get it over with and tell Jeff exactly how he knew Trish had betrayed him.
"Molly told me."
Jeff's eyes shot wide open as he almost jumped out of the chair. Jericho was sure Jeff was ready to kill him at that moment. "WHAT?! You believed that tramp over Trish?! How could you after all that Trish has done for you?! What were you thinking? You broke her heart! All because of what Molly told you! Jericho, I --"
"And…" Chris cut off a now irate Hardy off before he could too far ahead of himself. "I asked the guy." Chris finally brought his blue eyes back over to those of the Hardy, finding a mixture of disbelief, sorrow, bewilderment. The two miserable best friends stared at each other for a long time, understanding each other's pain and knowing that things would never be the same.
Author's Note: This is the long, very overdue chapter from me. I just wanted to give you guys a side note. I want you to disregard the scene with Jeff, Chris and Christian in the first chapter. I've decided to go in a completely different direction with this story as you can see. So just ignore that because it really doesn't make sense with this. I hope you like the story so far. Review, let me know what you think. I'll try as hard as I can to update and stuff but it has become increasingly hard lately since the end of the school year is fast approaching. Thanks guys.
Author: Tay
Email: da1redgem@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
Distribution: Sure but just let me know. ;)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Nothing specific. Just takes place at a random point in time.
Summary: Love isn't always easy. Lita/Jeff, Chris/Trish
Content warning: Nothing that should offend you in this chapter. Let me know if I do though, so I can punish myself. Lol.
Lita held her sobbing friend closer. She'd struggled to get her friend from the gorilla to the locker room. The little blonde had just collapsed into her arms as soon as she walked through the curtain, without a single word. And it was quite obvious that she wasn't crying about a lost title shot.
Well … maybe just a little. Everything seemed to be weighing down on Trish, nothing going her way. Trish had lost the one man she'd truly loved, and now she was nowhere near having a title shot. Could things get any worse?
Lita patted Trish's back comfortingly, as they sat on the couch of the room. The sobbing had seemingly calmed down, a soft whimper escaping the blonde's lips every now and again. She supported the woman's shoulders as she pushed her up off her shoulders, so she could look in her eyes. Her eyes were swollen, red, puffy. And the look in her eyes nearly killed the redhead. Trish seemed lost, hopeless. She seemed like a lost puppy, not knowing where to go or what to do. Lita couldn't help but hate the blankness on Trish's face, even wishing that she was showing a little sadness. But that was not the case. The blonde instead seemed defeated.
"Hun?" Lita called to her, hoping to get some response from her. However, Trish continued to stare into blank space, her eyes fixated on a certain spot of the bed. Lita tried again, despite Trish not acknowledging her efforts.
"Trish, honey. I'm not gonna tell you everything's okay, 'cause I know it's not. I hate to see you this way. I wish I could do anything to make this better. Do you want to talk to me about it?" Trish continued to stare at the bed, as though she hadn't heard her friend.
"It's okay if you don--" Just as the words had escaped Lita's lips, Trish sprang up from the bed. She walked a few steps, heedless to where she was going. With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her silky, blonde hair.
"Li, I just don't know what to do. I love him so much. I don't know what I did wrong." Trish's voice was on the edge of cracking, the hoarseness from her crying apparent. The blonde continued. "I've tried everything. And he just won't talk to me. I don't know how I can fix this if he won't even tell me what I did wrong." There it was again. That hopelessness. Lita frowned deeply, pondering how she could help her best friend.
"Trish, don't give up. You have to keep trying. Chris loves you. He'll break eventually. If you just keep trying--"
"I've been trying for almost a month!" Trish spun around, throwing her hands in the air then slapping them down on her legs. Her look was not one of anger but one begging for an answer. She figured there was no chance of getting Chris back or even just getting him to talk to her.
Lita stood slowly, approaching her friend little by little as she spoke. "Well, keep trying. Sometimes it takes a little time." Lita placed a gentle, comforting hand on Trish's face. Trish closed her eyes, shaking her head softly as she looked down toward the ground.
"But this is taking too much time."
"How much do you love him Trish?"
"More than you could possibly imagine."
"Then there's no such thing as too much time." Trish leaned into Lita, hugging the redhead. A couple minutes went by with silence, the only sound being Trish's sniffles.
"Why are you so smart?" Lita laughed at the blonde's comment, glad the girl was getting a little back to normal. "Li, I'm gonna go in the bathroom and wash off my face." Trish pulled away from Lita, walking into the bathroom, shutting the door behind herself.
Lita plopped down on the couch, holding her head in her hands. Everything was just so crazy right now. Was it not just three months ago that they were all good friends, with no kind of problems? Nothing could have been better. She was in love with Jeff and he was in love, or at least she thought he was, in love with her. And it was obvious that Chris and Trish had feelings for each other. But now …
Sighing, the redhead sat back, letting her head hang over the back of the couch. All four of them were miserable. Chris wouldn't talk to Trish, and Trish was going insane without Chris. The poor woman was lovesick and miserable. At least they had some hope. Lita knew in her heart that this was all a big misunderstanding. The two blonde Canadians had a chance of getting back together. It only made sense that they would sort this out and be together because they belonged together. But she and Jeff …
It was over for them.
How could she have been so blind? She really did believe that they were meant to be. That he felt the way she felt about him. She'd even dreamed about having a family with him, spending the rest of her life with him. But how could they … after he …
Trying to keep the forming tears from falling from her eyes, Lita bit down on her lower lip. She couldn't even think about what he'd done to her without wanting to bawl. Oh what she would give just to hate him. How badly she wanted to be able to look into those green eyes and not break down in tears. Why did she have to be in love with him? She just wanted to be able to let go of him and move on without a second look. But part of her told herself that she wouldn't be able to do that. She wouldn't be able to let go of him.
Her heart wrenched at the thought. She sat up, shaking her head. No, she wasn't going to dwell on her problems. If there was anyone that did have some hope, it was Chris and Trish. And if there was anyone that could help them, it was her. She was going to get to the bottom of this mess and fix it. Someone here deserved to be happy.
~*~*~
Chris walked out of the arena onto the busy sidewalks of Detroit. He'd finally gotten away from an overly-ecstatic Molly. He understood that she didn't like Trish, but he didn't understand why both she and Gail had to fight Trish. It just didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair to do that to anyone. He just needed to get away from Molly and Gail's little party. He hadn't even gotten to talk to her about how he felt. Oh well, they could talk later.
The cold, brisk air ate away at the skin of his arms, as he was wearing just a t-shirt. It didn't matter, as long as he wasn't in that arena. Right now, he needed to figure out where Jeff was. He needed someone to talk to. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Jeff's cell phone number.
Ring … ring … ring …
Where the hell was he? He wasn't in his locker room. No one in the arena had seen him in the last hour or so. Knowing Jeff, he was doing something stupid after his run-in with Lita. He definitely hadn't been handling this Lita situation well.
Chris shook his head, deciding to try to call Jeff again. He placed the silver phone against his hear as the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Jeff, where the hell are you?"
"In a bar." Figures, Chris thought to himself. At least, he didn't sound too drunk. Actually he sounded quite sober.
"What bar?"
"The one two blocks away with the big sign with gold lights." Chris looked to his right, seeing the huge, flashing sign immediately.
"Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." With that, Chris clicked his phone shut and headed down the busy, crowded streets of Detroit.
The bar was pretty crowded, probably because Raw had just ended. The dim lights, light blues music, and moderately quiet conversations made for a very mellow place. A perfect place to come to sulk and try to drown away your sorrows.
Chris looked to the back of the bar, finding Jeff sitting alone on a bar stool. Slouched over, head hung low, he looked pretty depressed. Chris squeezed his way through the tons of chairs, finally making his way to Jeff. Standing behind him, he observed Jeff. Jeff didn't make any acknowledgement that Chris was there. He continued to stare into the glass of liquor, tapping each side of it with his fingers. To Chris's surprise, it was still full.
Raising his eyebrows momentarily and sighing, Chris sat beside the sullen Jeff. They were in for a long night.
"Would you like anything sir?" Chris looked up to the heavy-breathing bartender. His eyes were lit with fascination, amazed that he was standing in front of the one and only Chris Jericho.
Chris smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, thanks."
"I must say, I am a big fan of you Mr. Jericho, sir." The bartender, seemingly in his mid to late 20s, was bouncing with excitement and acting like a kid in a candy store. Chris laughed. It was always nice to meet his enthusiastic fans. "Could I possibly have your autograph? I told my girlfriend that the WWE was coming here and that I'd probably get to meet a few of the wrestlers but she didn't believe me."
Chris nodded politely. "Sure. What do you want it on?" The bartender instantly pulled up his black uniform shirt and held out his white t-shirt, pulling a pen out from behind the counter. Chris grabbed the pen, scribbling his signature mark quickly on the man's shirt. He handed the pen back and smiled.
"Thank you Mr. Jericho!" The young man looked over quickly to the morose Hardy. He motioned for Chris to lean in. He whispered in his ear, "I would ask him for an autograph too but he seems pretty depressed.".
Chris nodded and replied, "I know. I think it's better you don't ask. And I think it's better that you get back to work." Chris nodded his head in the direction of a somewhat confused, angry man who was glaring at the young worker. The man nodded his appreciation and made his way over to his boss.
Chris gave his attention back to his friend, who hadn't changed position once. Still continued to stare at his drink.
"How many have you had?" Chris could tell Jeff had heard him although he didn't move.
"Just this one." Double-taking at the still full glass, Chris breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't getting drunk off his ass. What was he supposed to say to him? He had no idea how to make Jeff feel better.
"How could I have been so stupid? I can't believe I did that to her." The pain and frustration was obvious in Jeff's features. He was dying inside. Chris knew how he beat himself up everyday about what happened between him and Lita. He listened to him asking himself how stupid he was. He'd watch as Jeff wrote about six pages of his feelings and poems that expressed them. Jeff would tell him everything, that is except what exactly happened.
"You would kill me if I told you." he would say. "You wouldn't understand." Chris would beg him to just try. He would listen and try his best to understand. It was just so obvious that Jeff was so ashamed about what he'd done. So ashamed, he couldn't even bear telling his best friend.
"Come on…"
"I don't know."
"Are you sure you still don't wanna try to tell me? It could help to get it out." The blonde almost begged him to tell him, the slightest glimmer of hope in his voice. How badly he wanted to help him. How badly he wanted to know. And then there were his own motives. He wanted someone to just be able to sulk with. To just talk about all his problems with.
But then again, Jeff was already too depressed to worry about anyone else's problems. It had just seemed best to keep his problems to himself and to just try to be there for his seven-year best friend.
Anxiously waiting an answer, Chris observed Jeff's slightly scrunched up face and furrowed eyebrows, knowing that the chances of Jeff telling him were slim. Jeff picked his small glass up, placed it against, and tilting his had back, he downed the liquor almost within a heartbeat. Not being able to help but flinch, the blonde Canadian gulped as he wondered what could be going on in the younger Hardy's mind.
Sighing and placing the crystal glass on the counter, the Hardy leaned over on his elbows and replied, "Fine. I'll tell you." Chris couldn't help but feel an overwhelming feeling of victory. After three months of trying, finally he'd get Jeff to talk to him. They'd just have a one-on-one like they used to. After this whole Lita thing, Jeff hadn't been so open to discussing much of anything. But how could he blame him? Chris knew he hadn't felt too social lately either.
"Well, do you remember when we were on tour in New York City, and we had that party at that bar?" Jeff shifted and cleared his throat out of obvious discomfort. Chris responded 'yes', hoping that it would encourage Jeff to continue.
Seeming to have gained a little composure, the sullen man continued. "And you remember that Ames wasn't there. I uh…..I don't know how, but I got really drunk. I don't remember drinking any alcohol or anything, but I must have because I was incredibly drunk." There was a slight sniffle and then a sigh. "I don't remember much of anything from that night. I can only remember coming to the party. But the next morning I woke up with the biggest migraine, and…." His head hung over. Light reflected off his weary eyes, showing the glimmer of tears. Jeff just shook it off, blinking a few times and raising his head again.
"She was there. Whoever she was…" He shook his head, slowly as though he still couldn't believe it. "She was putting on her shoes. And she…all I saw was her back…I cheated on Amy with some girl and I don't even know what the girl looks like."
Chris swallowed the huge lump in his throat. It was so obvious how much this was killing Jeff. If there was one thing he knew about Jeff, it was that he would never do anything to purposely hurt Lita. He'd made it so clear from the day that he knew he'd fallen in love with her, that his only intention was to make her happy and not be the one to break her heart. But just knowing that he did, after all the promises he'd made to her and everything he'd told her, was eating the young Hardy up inside. Chris knew his best friend would give anything to take that back and make things right between them.
Jeff remained still in the chair, his gaze unmoving, face unchanging, not a muscle even moving as a tear slid down his cheek and fell from his chin. Silence had overcome them, that silence driving Chris insane as he sat there unsure of what to do or say from there. God, wasn't there anything to break this unbearable quiet? Chris let his blues eyes travel along the other side of the bar. He just couldn't look at him. He couldn't look at the wreck his friend had become.
"The girl left before I realized what I'd done." Chris's head snapped back in Jeff's direction, his heart pounding, surprised at the sudden continuation of the story. "Uhm…Ames came back two days after that. Chris, she was so beautiful. She walked through the door so happy." A smile spread across his face. "She said she was so happy to be home, so happy to see me. Can you believe that? Happy to see me." Just like that, the smile had transformed back into a frown. "And she hugged me and kissed me. Oh God Chris, I had to tell her. I had to crush her and break her heart. I had to break every promise I'd ever made to her. I had to…" He choked on his words. Jeff bit down on his lip, getting himself under control.
"I made her sit down and I told her everything. I was honest to her. I owed her at least that after all. God, the look on her face…her eyes…" The Hardy's head fell back as he looked to the ceiling. He couldn't control the few tears that slipped from his eyes then. Bringing his head back to level, he sighed another exasperated sigh. "She was so hurt. The tears just kept coming. And the way she looked at me. It was like I felt what she was going through. I could feel myself dying inside, like she was. I never thought she'd look at me like that. I asked her if she hated me and do you know what she said? 'No. I love you so much and that's why this hurts so bad.' Why can't she just hate me?" A pause. "She ran out on me and I haven't been able to talk to her since." Finally done with is story, Jeff place his head in his palms, shame obvious in his body expression.
The blonde Canadian sat in awe. He was only speechless at what he'd just heard. His mouth was slightly ajar, mouth ready to voice words of comfort, but he found nothing. Not a word. He hadn't quite understood the misery Jeff had been through until that moment. Nothing seemed to make sense. Jeff cheated on Lita? It hadn't ever seemed possible. It didn't all sound right.
Chris was in a daze, trying to understand how this happened to two people more better for each other than anyone he could think of. He couldn't even bring himself to be mad at Jeff for cheating on Lita. Something about it just didn't seem right. Nothing was making sense to him.
"So?"
Chris snapped out of his state of confusion, once again focusing on the Hardy. "So what?"
"Well…what about you and Trish? What happened to your fairy tale romance?" No smiles were evident on Jeff's face. Bitterness lay in his voice after recalling his breakup.
Chris cleared his throat. It was only fair to tell him what had gone wrong between himself and Trish since Jeff had poured his heart out to him about Lita.
"You've known how I felt about Trish for the longest time. Well, I finally told her about and she told me she loved me too. Well, to keep this story short and sweet. She lied. She slept with another guy about a week after she told me that." Chris caught Jeff's emerald green eyes staring a hole right through him, questioning what he'd just heard. Brows furrowed, lips pursed with bafflement, Jeff brought his hand over his eyes trying to understand.
"Chris, that doesn't make any sense at all. I know Trish. You know Trish. Trish wouldn't do something like that to you. I know for a fact that she's in love with you and she would never do something like that to you. Chris, what makes you think she did something like that?"
Chris sighed, looking away. He didn't want to tell him. Trish was one of Jeff's best friends. He could never believe that she would do something so cold-hearted, that she could be so heartless. It would crush Jeff to know that the beautiful blonde was not exactly what she seemed to be.
Chris winced at the cruel unreal ness of it all. He of all people thought he knew Trish so well. He'd fallen for everything about her so fast. The sophisticated air about her, her infectious laugh, her silky, smooth voice, her entrancing eyes, her sense of humor…the list could go on forever. Everything he wanted, she had it. Before he knew, little 'ole Trish Stratus had Chris Jericho wrapped around her finger.
Scoffing in disgust at the thought of Trish using him, Chris decided to just get it over with and tell Jeff exactly how he knew Trish had betrayed him.
"Molly told me."
Jeff's eyes shot wide open as he almost jumped out of the chair. Jericho was sure Jeff was ready to kill him at that moment. "WHAT?! You believed that tramp over Trish?! How could you after all that Trish has done for you?! What were you thinking? You broke her heart! All because of what Molly told you! Jericho, I --"
"And…" Chris cut off a now irate Hardy off before he could too far ahead of himself. "I asked the guy." Chris finally brought his blue eyes back over to those of the Hardy, finding a mixture of disbelief, sorrow, bewilderment. The two miserable best friends stared at each other for a long time, understanding each other's pain and knowing that things would never be the same.
Author's Note: This is the long, very overdue chapter from me. I just wanted to give you guys a side note. I want you to disregard the scene with Jeff, Chris and Christian in the first chapter. I've decided to go in a completely different direction with this story as you can see. So just ignore that because it really doesn't make sense with this. I hope you like the story so far. Review, let me know what you think. I'll try as hard as I can to update and stuff but it has become increasingly hard lately since the end of the school year is fast approaching. Thanks guys.