"Okay Shane, I'm not gonna discuss with you the intent of the X-Men comic. What makes you think I want to spend my time talking about a pointless object such as a comic book?!" Hope laughed as she reworked the straps on Shane's mask before a very important pay per view.

"Sorry, but you know me, I start to ramble on about comics when I get excited. You're just in the wrong place at the wrong time Hardy," he replied as I slipped his mask on over his face.

"There, how's that feel now?" she questioned crossing her arms over her chest as he got up to check it out in a mirror. She walked up behind him and started screwing around with his hair. Making sure it wasn't stuck in any of the straps and that the green on the top was easily visible.

"Great, thanks sweetie," Shane smiled kissing her cheek. He put his arms on her shoulders and started to rub them gently. She smiled up at him before he leaned down to kiss her soft pink lips.

"OH JESUS!!!" Hope screamed as she shot up in her bed. She looked around her small apartment bedroom and smiled. Sighing as she realized it was just a dream. "I don't know what the fuck that was, but I'm glad it's over." It had been a month since she had gone to that concert with Shane, and ever since that night, she had been having the most awful dreams about her and him. Nightmares in her opinion. She glanced over at her clock and realized she had to rush her ass to the airport to fly to California for a RAW show the next night. She began to get excited about her trip. It had been almost 3 weeks since she had last seen her brothers.

Hope quickly got out of bed and ran to her window, pulling open the curtains to allow the bright sun light into the room. She smiled as she looked out over the city of Stamford and thought about how it would be a beautiful day. Unfortunately for her, she was about to spend the great July day on a plane to Sacramento. By the time she'd arrive there, it would be 6 at night and her beautiful day will have disappeared. But none the less, she happily got ready to go.

She yawned as she shouldered her bag and walked off the plane. The sun was still out, though it was beginning to fade, but the air seemed to be extremely warm, making her very glad she had worn the tiny spaghetti strapped tank top and short cargo style skirt. She crossed her arms and thought about how she'd probably have to stand in the terminal for an hour before Jeff would finally decide to bring his ass there to pick her up. But as she walked toward luggage claim she saw the familiar bright orange and red hair and she was suddenly energized, running the rest of the way to meet her twin. He lifted her off the floor and swung her around a bit as they collided.

"Well, what do you know, you're on time for a change," she smiled up at him as he sat her back down on the floor. He chuckled and ruffled up her dark purple hair.

"I knew I should have made you cool your heels for a bit!" he growled as she dragged him to the conveyor belt to grab her luggage.

"You know I would have definitely kicked your ass if you had done that."

"Yeah, but since when do you need a reason to TRY and kick my ass?" he question with a grin on his face.

"I don't need to try Jeffrey," she shook her head as her bags began to roll toward her on the conveyor belt. "So how are you?"

He grabbed her bags and set them on the ground before looking at her. He shrugged and put on a smile. "I'm alright. Ya know how it is."

"No, I don't. That's why I was asking," she laughed as a group of teenage girls started screaming and running in their direction. "Oh great. This is what I need right now."

"Shh……." Jeff shushed her as he smiled at the fans. She stood back, rolling her eyes, but smiled, thinking about the times when she'd walk through the mall in North Carolina and had guys running up to her, talking about the wrestling show she had been in the night before. She realized she did miss that attention and all the fans. But she definitely didn't miss the pain of falling on the concrete on her head!

"Hey, chick, can you take a picture of me with Jeff?" one of the girls questioned. Hope looked down at her rudeness and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" Hope questioned putting her hand to her chest.

"No, I'm talking to the wall. Although I'm almost positive the wall has a better personality than you do," the girl replied forcing her camera into Hope's hand.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" she whispered to herself as Jeff and the girl stood together.

"Thank you Jeff!" the girls chorused as they began to walk away happily. Well, that was until the one girl turned back around giving Hope a dirty look.

"What a bitch she is! I can't imagine what Jeff sees in her! She looks like a ho if ya ask me!" the girl laughed. Hope over heard this and tried heavily to control her anger. "She's probably just using him for his money!"

"Oh that's it! That little brat is gonna get it!" Hope exclaimed racing toward the teenager who couldn't have been more than 15 years old. Hope almost had her hands around the girl's neck when Jeff caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, hoisting her back towards him. "Jeff, I swear, let go of me! I'm gonna teach that little witch a fuckin lesson!" Hope struggled against his grasp as the girls turned back around to look at the twins.

"I'm sorry, did say something you didn't like?" the girl laughed.

Hope took a deep breath and final pushed Jeff off her. "Listen you little bitch. I'm not Jeff's ho! I'm his fuckin twin sister you moron! God! What is wrong with you little brats?! You're never gonna get Jeff. Get it through your heads that I'm not his girlfriend! We're family! If you knew anything about him OR Matt, you would know who I am!" The girls seemed to back away, looking as if they were embarrassed. "Yeah, that's right, I'm their sister!"

"I, I, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I was just jealous, I guess," the girl apologized.

"Whatever, I'm so over this!" Hope exclaimed quickly grabbing her bags and rushing out the door past them.

"Jeff, I really didn't mean to be that mean. If I knew she was your sister, I would have never said those things," the girl continued to apologize.

"Personally, I think if you really didn't mean to say those things, you wouldn't have. Hope is one of the best people I know. And I wish some of you fans would just think before you speak or act. It's really starting to bother my sister. And if you hurt my sister, you're no true fans of mine," Jeff replied as he followed his sister out of the airport. "HOPE!" She turned to him, her face red with anger.

"I'm so tired of them treating me like this! It's not fair! I'm telling ya, if Shane wasn't dating that tramp and was still on RAW, I'd have him come and get me and shit!" Hope yelled.

"I know, I'm sorry. I think they're getting worse," Jeff smiled. "Maybe if you were to, I don't know, wrestle with me again as my sister, they'd leave you alone?"

"Yeah, nice try Jeff. Not gonna work," Hope sighed. "Can we just get to the hotel?" Jeff nodded as they headed toward the car and hotel for the night.

"My top is too small. I think you need to let it out. I think I've balked up," Shane sighed as Hope pressed her cell phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Balked up on what? Fat or muscle?" Hope questioned as she drew up sketches for Crystal's wedding dress while she waited for her brothers to finish their run through for the night.

"Muscle Hardy, and you know it!" he replied harshly.

"I haven't seen you in like a month. How the hell would I know if you've gotten fat or not?"

"Stop trying to be funny, cause you're no Mike Myers."

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed as she threw her sketch pad on the floor.

"I'm guessing you're getting pissed with Crystal's wedding dress?"

"Um, yeah, just a bit," she replied sarcastically.

"Hope, can you come spot me for a sec?" Jeff yelled into catering. She looked up and started walking towards him, strands of her dark purple hair flying around her face, after having come loose from her ponytail.

"Shane, I'll have to call you back. Jeff needs me out to the ring for a second."

"What the hell am I gonna do about my top?!" Shane shrieked.

"Go without until I can get my hands on it! If you're so buff all of a sudden, it won't bother you at all!" Hope exclaimed. "I'll call you after RAW." She turned off her phone and followed her twin to the ring. "What am I doing out here?"

"I need an outsider's point of view. I want to know if this move looks good or not," Jeff smiled as he started to climb up to the top of the post. Hope looked up at him and smiled. "You'll probably get a better view if you come in the ring." Her smile faded quickly as sweat started to pour from her forehead. "Hope, you comin in to spot me?" Hope looked down at the floor, she could no longer handle looking at the ring, or the people inside. That one night kept flashing in her mind. She could see herself falling to the cement floor. "Hope? Are you okay?" Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder and she was brought out of her daydream.

"I…….I……no, I can't do this. I'm sorry Jeff, you're gonna have to talk to someone else about your move," she trembled as she ran back up the ramp.

"Hey, what's wrong with Hope?" Matt questioned his little brother. Jeff looked towards him and shrugged.

"I don't know. I asked her to come into the ring and help me. I was hoping it would put her back into the wrestling mood, ya know? But she like freaked out. I don't know why, but I will find out!" Jeff exclaimed before running after his twin.

Hope continued to run until she reached the back doors of the arena. She pulled out her cell phone and called her new best friend.

"Didn't I just speak with you like 10 minutes ago?" he answered.

"Shane, what am I going to do?! I can't be petrified of the ring for the rest of my life! It's in my blood and sooner or later my brothers are going to demand I get in the ring and help them with whatever! I can't lie to them about it!" she started to cry.

"Sweetie, what happened?!" Shane exclaimed starting to worry.

"You know how I got off the phone with you to help Jeff at the ring?"

"Yeah…….."

"He want to try out a move, asked me how it looked from an outsider's perspective. But then he asked me to get in the ring. I don't know what happened Shane. I couldn't move, breathe, I started to sweat, I was a fuckin wreck! I didn't even get in the ring. No motion to move any closer than I already was to it. You have to help me Shane! I can't keep doing this!"

"Hope, I will help you out in anyway possible. You will get over you fear of the ring. I promise you!" Shane replied.

"Thank you Shane. You don't know what that means to me," she replied, starting to calm down a bit. She began to realize why Matt was such good friends with him. And then began to feel something she had never felt before. Especially for Shane.

"Hope, you're trembling," Shane spoke softly as he placed his arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him as they stepped into the town hall basement where the independent federations held most of their practices. "You have nothing to worry about. You'll be fine."

She looked at the ring, all she could think about was the fall to the cement. She couldn't move, she was rooted to that one spot. "Hope?" Shane questioned stepping in front of her. He placed his hands on either side of her face and sighed, snapping her out of her dream, or nightmare. "Why don't you go change in the locker room?" She nodded and walked around the perimeter of the hall, way away from the actual ring. "How do I make this easier for her?" Shane stood there, thinking for a bit, before he noticed all the mats standing up against the wall in the corner. He smiled and started working on padding the floor.

"Hope, are you ready?!" he yelled to her from outside the locker room a few minutes later.

"Yeah, come in, please," she replied. He opened the door and saw her on the cold floor in the fetal position. She looked up at him as he knelt down to her. "I don't know what I was thinking. I can't do this. I can't get out there! Fucking word Shane, I can't even look at that ring cause I know I'm gonna have to get in it!"

"I think I've come up with a way to make it less stressful," he smiled pulling her to her feet. He covered her eyes and led her out into the basement. She started breathing heavily, scared to death. He rubbed her shoulder with his free hand as the other one held a towel around her eyes. "Hope, you're okay. Trust me."

"Shane, what are you doing?! Why won't you let me see?!" she exclaimed.

"Don't worry, you're going to be going up a couple steps. Just take them one at a time, okay? I've got you." She took a deep breath and began moving up the steps he spoke about while his hand was placed lightly on her back. When she reached the top step, he cautiously moved her to the side and removed his hand from her back. Suddenly her leg was being lifted up and over something, but she couldn't sense what.

"Shane? Where are we?!"

He didn't respond, just placed her leg down and began to lower the rest of her body. She felt her back rub against something thick, again unable to figure out what. She felt hopeless and scared, but at the same time she trusted her leader. He finally stopped moving her limbs and she felt a slight bounce under her. "Walk forward with me. You're safe Hope. I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you!" She did as he requested, the floor moving a bit underneath her. Suddenly he stopped her, placing his hands on both her shoulders in front of her. "Are you ready for me to take away the towel?"

"Yes!" she replied anxiously.

"Okay, first close your eyes." She did as she was told and nodded as she felt the towel being taken off her face. She felt Shane take her hands in his, holding them tightly. "I'm right in front of you, Hope. Open your eyes."

She slowly opened them, fearful of where she might be that very second. All she saw when she opened her green eyes was Shane's dark brown ones. She smiled, feeling very safe. Suddenly, she had an over whelming feeling she was in a place she feared more than death itself. Her heart started to race and her body began to sweat, as her head began to feel light and dizzy. She looked around her and found out she was in the middle of the ring she feared so much. She began to cry and tremble. Shane quickly put his hands on her face, steadying her head, forcing her to stare straight into his eyes.

"Hope, you're fine. I have you. Calm down. You're in the middle. You can't fall out of the ring." He let her head go as she slowly stopped trembling.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she cried as she looked him in the eye.

"How else are you going to get rid of this fear if you don't face it head on?" he questioned with a slight warm smile on his face.

"This is a very cruel way to help me," she grumbled as her tears stopped falling.

"But you're not crying or trembling anymore. So something's working here."

"I hate you right now," she chuckled wiping her cheeks dry.

He laughed at her and started to sit down, pulling her with him. "Let's just sit here for a minute. Just so you can calm down completely before we move on to the next thing."

She nodded him and took a deep breath, looking all around her. "I can't believe I'm doing this right now. Thank you Shane. Really, I thank you for this."

"You're welcome. I just want you to get better. To not feel so bad about yourself. You deserve to do something that makes you happy."

"Design does make me happy!"

"Not like wrestling though."

"No, it makes me happier. I know you guys think I'm not happy doing what I'm doing. But the truth is, I'm very content and happy. I love wrestling. I do. But I don't think I ever pictured myself doing it as a full time job. I think I just wanted to do it as a hobby, ya know? It sucks to want to do something, but can't because of this overwhelming fear."

"But you do miss wrestling in front of an audience," Shane smiled.

"YES!!!" she laughed. "Yes, okay? I admit it! I'm a Goddamn wrestler!"

"I KNEW IT!!!!" Shane exclaimed.

"So, um, how are you and Lisa?" Hope asked looking down at the mat.

"I've been meaning to tell you, I just really haven't had the chance," Shane replied.

"Tell me what?" Hope lifted her head and cocked it to the side.

Shane smiled as he spoke to the girl he'd been crushing on for years, "We broke up a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, Shane, I'm sorry."

"No you aren't!" he laughed.

"Well, no, but yes. I mean, I know you really liked her, but there are so many better girls out there for you."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to see that," he smiled.

He stared at her for a bit, not realizing he was until she cleared her throat and began to speak, "So what's part two of my therapy?"

"Oh, um, are you ready for this?" he asked. She nodded and he stood taking her hands and pulling her up with him. "Alright, this is a little, um, harder. Or it will be."

"Why? What are you gonna do? Throw me over the ropes?" she laughed until he started moving her towards the ropes.

"No, that's like part four," he replied seriously. She closed her eyes as they quickly approached the ropes. "No, open them. You have to face you fears!" She opened them and looked over the ropes. Seeing stacks of mats all around the ring. She sighed deeply and smiled. "Part four involves me throwing over the ropes onto those mats. But we'll leave that and part three for another day."

"Great. Now to get rid of this ring rust!" she yelled as she pulled him into a grapple and moved him back to the middle of the ring, all this causing him to laugh uncontrollably.