Chapter thirteen Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers are in the preceding chapters.
"Hon, I came as soon as I heard your message," Kira said the next morning, rushing to get Krys out of the prison that was a hospital. "What on earth happened to get you so depressed?"
"I was taken for a complete and utter fool," Krys said miserably, watching the world go by sullenly as Kira wheeled her wheelchair through the hospital floors. Kira signed Krys out, and Krys signed her name as well, and Kira continued to wheel her friend out through the double doors to the front of the hospital. Kira wheeled her down to her Jeep, and Krys stood up and got into Kira's car. "Matt played me for what I was worth."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah." Krys faced the window and said, "We were talking in my room, and he suggested we go back to his place in Vass and 'lick each other's wounds'. He said he'd heal my broken ribs, and I could heal his wounded pride."
Kira almost choked laughing. "What the hell would he have wounded pride for?"
"He claimed he had wounded pride for skipping out on a match to be with me." She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "What a guy. I feel so honored by his valiant efforts."
"Well, what happened then?" Kira asked, turning on the ignition, and starting to pull out of the parking lot. "I'm pretty sure that's not it from the way you were moping around in the hospital, your room, and now."
"We kissed, and when I asked if this made us an official couple, he panicked and said that we'd be official only if I wanted us to be. It was then that I confronted him about his feelings for Ashley, telling him that if he wanted her instead of me... I wouldn't stand in his way of getting to her." Feeling bitter tears sting her eyes again, Krys scowled and looked away towards the window view.
"He then said that it was too soon, that he was still hurt over the bullshit that Amy and Adam 'put him through'. He said he cared for me, but then I gave him a blast from the past, and he swore it never fucking happened." Krys swiped at her eyes, but the attempt to conceal her emotional pain failed. She put her head in her hands and started to cry. "Jesus, Kir, I've never felt this strongly about a guy before Matt. I want him to feel the same way about me I do about him, and it just hurts knowing that we'll never be anything more than friends ever again."
Kira pulled the car over and hugged her friend tight as Krys's shoulders shook powerfully with emotion. "I'm really sorry, Krys," she whispered, trying her best to soothe her heartbroken friend. "I wish I could say something to help you, but I don't know what to say. I'm really, really sorry."
"It's okay, Kira," Krys sniffled, pulling away from the brunette Diva. "I just needed to let all of this mess out. Now I know how Kitty felt after finding out that Adam cheated on her. I'll be fine from here, sweetie, thanks a lot."
"I already loaded up your bags for you," Kira said. "Do you need anything else before your plane takes off?"
"Well, I'd like for my friend to be at the gate, waving to me as my plane takes off," Krys said with a small smile.
Kira smiled back at her. "Of course I'll wait with you, and wave like an idiot when your plane goes up in the air. That is, as long as you wave back."
The two friends grinned at each other, then went into the airport to get Krys's ticket. Half an hour later, Kira and Krys each kept their promises and waved to each other as Krys's plane took off back to Philadelphia.
xXWWE RAW - Backstage before the Main EventXx
Damn it! Matt almost slammed his phone down into his gear bag, and ran his hands through his deep brown hair. He'd spent Friday and all weekend trying to get a hold of Krys back at her home in Philadelphia, ever since Kira had told him that she'd never wanted to work with him again. His frustration level was high, and he didn't like the way it was headed. He tried to calm himself down before his main event match, a tag team match with the WWE Champion John Cena as his partner, heading in against Edge and Kurt Angle. He, Kurt, and Cena had went over what they were going to do for the match that night, and Kurt had left the mens' locker room with the promise of filling Edge in on what was to go down.
Matt sighed, and sat back on the bench he was sitting on, and remembered what Cena had said to him as soon as the door had closed behind Kurt.
xXEarlier that DayXx
The door closed, and the WWE Champion lay down his belt next to his tag team partner for the evening. "What's on your mind tonight, man?" he asked. "You haven't been this fucked in the head since you came back last August. What's workin' in your head this time, Hardy?"
"Don't worry about it, John," Matt said, taking the shirt he'd worn that afternoon to the arena off, and replacing it with his 'I will Not Die!' shirt. "It's nothing business-wise, so you, Kurt and Adam are safe for the night, man."
John put a hand on Matt's shoulder, and the eldest Hardy looked up to see a friendly smile on the WWE Champion's face. "Bro, you know you can trust me," he said. "Whatever it is that's bothering you, I more or less can relate. Trust me, there's not a lot one man's gone through, that another man can't relate to."
Matt sighed and stood up. "It's something that I'd actually like to keep private, for the most part," he said, shaking his arms to warm himself up. "But, you're a good guy, pretty dependable, so I guess I can count on you." He leaned in and whispered, "You'll keep this between us, right man?"
John nodded. "No problem, kid. I know when to keep my mouth shut about stuff that goes on behind closed doors, and growing up with four brothers, it's no easy feat, lemme tell you."
Matt smiled for a moment, then he rested a hand on John's shoulder. "I... kind of got into a fight with Krys when she woke up in the hospital," he finally admitted sheepishly.
"Well, what was it about?"
"It started out with us joking around about going back to my place in Vass and licking each other's wounds, then we kissed, and she automatically thought that it officially made us a couple."
"Well, does it?"
"I tried to tell her that I wanted to wait for a while, then she said that she knew how I felt about Ashley, and if I wanted to be with her, then to just go and be with her. But when I tried to tell her that I cared about her more than I did Ashley, and that it was too soon for us to start dating after what happened between me, Amy and Adam, and she blew up, and kind of... mentioned something that shouldn't have happened."
"Well, what happened?"
"I did something that I definitely regretted as soon as it happened." John pressed Matt until he finally said, "I... I cheated on Amy with Krys." Looking at John's face, he said, "It wasn't something that was planned, it just... happened, I guess. I told Adam, and he swore he'd never tell a soul, not even Jeff or Amy. And that's what Adam said when he was in the ring with Amy the night Kat and Lexi jumped them. He told her that she'd spent most of her career on her back, literally whoring herself out to make it big in the company."
"Did she?"
"No! She never did any of the things that Adam said she did. She's not like that."
"But she DID sleep with an attached man."
"I already said it was an accident. And when I told Krys that it basically never happened, she kicked me out of her hospital room. I went back on Thursday to pick her up, but by the time I got there, her doctor had told me that she had already been signed out by Kira. I called Kira, and she blew up at me, calling me a whole bunch of names and other shit, and said that she was glad that Krys was on the first plane back to Philly, and away from all the hell I started." Matt then sat back on the bench, and hung his head. "I care a lot about her, and I just don't wanna lose her. I care too much about the kid to just let her go."
"Do you still consider her a kid, or is she more than enough woman for you to handle?"
Matt looked up at John, and sighed. "I really don't know."
John grabbed his belt and hung it over his shoulder, then stood up. He clapped a hand on Matt's shoulder, and said, "Man, if you love her, then go after her." When Matt looked up and started to protest, he said, "I know you never said you loved her, but if you still honestly don't believe you don't, you're the dumbest piece of shit on God's green earth." He then walked out of the locker room, leaving Matt to his thoughts.
Looking heavenward, Matt called one more time, got the voice mail, left a message, and turned off his phone. He poured water over his hair to make it harder to be pulled up by the hair, and walked to the Gorilla Spot. "Well, here goes nothing," he said, stepping through the curtains to the screams of many fans.
xXBack in Philadelphia - The next DayXx
"Krys, it's Matt again. I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry, but I just want you to know that I truly am. I don't care what you say, I'm coming up there to your house."
Krys replayed the message on her answering machine over and over, then finally erased it. She didn't want to see Matt, at least, not until the emotional scars healed, which wouldn't heal until more than likely after her ribs healed. Though she didn't want to admit it, a small part of her still wanted to see Matt, and that infuriated her.
He won't admit to what we both did, her inner voice argued. So why should you even give the bastard the time of day?
"Because I've fallen for him," she whispered to no one. "Hard."
She sat around for a few hours, going out to the local Burger King and buying a bag full of burgers and fries. She signed a few autographs, and went on her way. After about the longest of times, Krys heard her doorbell ring, and leaped out of her bed, where she had been reading and munching on a Whopper.
Nearly tumbling facefirst down the stairs, Krys hopped down them, and ran to the door, throwing it open. "Matt!" she gasped, then cried out in surprise when she saw who it really was.
"Krys," Shelton said.