Chapter 8

"You live here?" Jeff asked.

"Yea, it isn't much, but it works nicely for me and Nicole. Do you want to come in or wait in the car?"

"I'll come in if that's okay."

"Yay, of course it's okay. I have to change anyway." They got out of the car and walked to the door. Alexis reached for the door, but it opened before she could grab it.

"Mommy!" A tiny little girl ran out the door and into Alexis.

"Hey baby girl, how are you?" Alexis said as she picked Nicole up.

"I'm go…" Nicole stopped abruptly when she noticed Jeff standing beside her mother. Alexis noticed this and looked at Nicole.

"Hunny, this is mommy's friend Jeff. We are going to go hang out with him." She turned to Jeff. "Jeff, this is my daughter Nicole." Jeff reached his hand out.

"It's nice to meet you Nicole. I've heard a lot about you." Nicole looked at his hand and then slapped it.

"High five" she yelled. Jeff and Alexis laughed.

"I see Aunt Taylor has showed you something new." Nicole just smiled. They all walked into the house. "Hey Cass, Taylor" she said greeting her friends. "Guys, this is Jeff Hardy, Jeff these are my best friends, Cassie and Taylor."

"It's nice to meet you two." Jeff walked over and shook their hands.

"It is nice to meet you also Jeff." Taylor said getting up. "What are you doing Ally? I thought you had to work until 2:00?"

"I was suppose to, but George told me I had the day off and then Jeff and his friends invited me and Nicole to come hang out with them before their show."

"Um, Ally, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Jeff asked.

"Yea, it is right down the hall to the right. It's the second door." Jeff walked down the hallway. "Nicole, go grab your coat, 2 toys, and 2 books that you want to take with us." Nicole ran to her room in complete happiness. She loved road trips.

"Okay, Ally spill it. What is going on?" Cassie was in complete shock.

"Yea, isn't that the Jeff Hardy?" Alexis shook her head. "What the hell?"

"I don't know. You remember how I told you that I told Shannon everything…" both girls shook their heads. "Well, he came back today with Jeff, Matt, and Amy and he didn't say anything and I am pretty sure they still don't know, but Jeff asked if I would come sit with them if I wasn't busy. That is when George told me I wasn't working today. Then Shannon invited me to their show and I do like wrestling and I couldn't say no. I miss them all so much."

"Well, I am glad that you are going. You need this time with your friends, even if they don't know that it is you."

"Yea, I know you are probably happy about this Taye." Before they could say anything else Jeff walked back out.

"Well, we better get going Cass. We should probably head out as early as we can." Taylor walked over to Alexis and gave her a hug. "Have fun" she said with a smile. Cassie walked over and gave her a hug.

"We'll see you in a couple days. Tell my dad to quit giving you so much time off. It isn't good for his business. Everyone likes you too much. Jeff, it was nice to meet you."

"It was nice to meet ya'll too." Cassie and Taylor walked into Nicole's room to say good-bye and then they left.

"Well, I'm going to hop in the shower quick. Feel free to grab something from the refrigerator or turn the TV on, make yourself at home." She walked into her bedroom. Nicole ran out a couple seconds later.

"Wanna play with me?" Jeff looked down at her. He hadn't realized he had been staring where Alexis had been.

"Sure what are we going to play?"

"Let's color." She ran over to the table and grabbed a crayon and some paper. Jeff followed and sat down next to her. She handed him the paper and pointed at the crayons.

"What color do you think I should use?" Nicole looked at the colors. It took her a while to pick one, but as soon as she gave him the crayon he started drawing a picture. 15 minutes later Alexis walked out to see her daughter and Jeff talking quietly and coloring. Nicole was doing most of the talking, but it didn't seem to bother Jeff. He just sat there listening and drawing. After a couple minutes Nicole noticed her mother watching them.

"Momma, look at my piture!" She was very excited. "Jeff says it's good. Can we put it on the frigerator?"

"Of course we can put it on the refrigerator. Let's do that now." She walked over to the refrigerator with Nicole and handed her a magnet. Nicole wanted to put it up on the freezer door, so Alexis picked her up and held her so she could reach. Jeff just sat in the chair watching this girl he had just met. There was something familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"What did you color Jeff?"

"Um, it was nothing."

"Oh come on Jeff, you saw Nicole's drawing." Jeff picked up his sheet of paper and turned it so Alexis could see it. It was a picture of Nicole. Alexis couldn't believe it. "That's amazing Jeff. You are really talented."

"Yea, well, I love to draw. It really isn't anything special. It was just a quick drawing." Alexis had known Jeff loved to draw, but he had never let her see anything that he did. He went into his bag and took out a folder. He opened it up to show about 20 drawings. She sat down next to him.

"Do you mind if I look at them?" She figured he would say no, but she knew she had to ask.

"Yea, I guess so. I haven't showed anyone. Some of these are from high school, but I have started drawing again recently." He handed her the folder. She started flipping through the drawings. She flipped through until one caught her eye. It was a drawing of a girl.

"Who is this?" Alexis knew who it was, but she needed to hear it from him.

"Oh, that was one of my best friends. She was an amazing girl."

"Did she die?"

"No, we um, we had some problems and it was the last straw for her. She left Cameron about four years ago and I haven't heard anything from her." Alexis kept flipping through the drawings. When she pulled a few out of the folder a picture fell to the ground. She picked it up and saw that it was the picture of her and Jeff that she had left on her bed the day she left.

"Is this her?" Jeff nodded his head and then looked down. "I'm sorry, I'm being really nosey."
"No, it's all right. This is just a little hard for me. I miss her a lot and I didn't even get to tell her how I really feel."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I never got to tell her how much I truly loved her. She meant so much to me and I made the biggest mistake of my life. I let her go and I don't think I will ever forgive myself. Only two other people know why she left and she is one of them." Tears began forming in Jeff's eyes. He brushed them away quickly not wanting Alexis to see them.

"Jeff, it is okay to miss her. I know that I miss North Carolina and I haven't been there for a couple years. I miss my friends more than anything."

"Why don't you go back?" Alexis was caught off guard.

"I'm a little scared of what they would think of me. I haven't talked to any of them in such a long time and now with Nicole, I just get nervous."

"If they can't handle the fact that you have a beautiful daughter, then they weren't really ever your friends."
"Thanks Jeff. We should probably get going. The others are probably thinking we drove off the face of the earth." Jeff chuckled. He picked up his bag and headed for the door. Nicole was right beside him tugging on his leg.

"Tan you tarry me?"

"Nicole Cameron James, you are old enough to walk out there yourself."

"No, it's all right. I don't mind at all." He bent down and picked Nicole up. All three walked out the door and got in the car. Nicole fell asleep within the first five minutes of the drive, so Jeff and Alexis had plenty of time to get to know each other.

"Okay, so I know that you know some things about me, now it is definitely your turn Mr. Hardy." Alexis said looking over at Jeff.

"Well, there isn't too much to tell. I was born in Cameron, North Carolina. My mom died when I was 9. My dad was always there for me and Matt. I love to wrestle, but it isn't the only thing that I love. I love to paint, write poetry, music, and ride dirt bikes. I'm extreme and sadly that is probably what is going to kill me."

"Well, I hope it doesn't kill you anytime in the next 30 years." They both laughed. They finally made it to the arena about half an hour later. Jeff got out of the car and grabbed Nicole from the backseat. They walked over to the entrance and Jeff pulled out his id and a couple backstage passes for Alexis and Nicole. She followed him in and watched how so many people greeted him. She was so proud of him. He had always wanted to be a professional wrestler and now his dream had come true. Matt and Jeff had sure come a long way from their backyard wrestling league. She hadn't seen Jeff wrestle live since OMEGA and she was growing excited. They finally made it to the dressing room where other wrestlers were getting ready. Jeff introduced her and Nicole who had just woken up. She had never been happier than when she was around Jeff and his friends. They spent the entire night hanging out except when Jeff and Matt had to wrestle. Alexis watched from backstage and couldn't believe how good they had become. Alexis drove back that night with a smile on her face. Jeff was coming to pick her up for breakfast in the morning and she couldn't wait. She fell asleep and dreamt of Jeff.