I hear birds chirping, very different form the kookaburra that usually wakes me up. I did my daily back cracking ritual, and slipped a baggy shit over my trainer bra I wore to bed. I looked at the clock, 6:28am, well that was one time to wake up. I guess I'm lucky I have trouble sleeping back home; it makes the whole jet lag thing seem non-existent. Walking to the kitchen, I grab an instant coffee, nothing like a hot coffee in the morning, even if it's instant. I grabbed my coffee and headed outside, coffee and the morning air, nothing better. Being Australian I thought, early December, yea summer, as I got out of bed, stupid me stupid me. I walked our of the heated house, in my boxers and baggy shirt, and get hit with seven degree temperatures. Shit I was cold, worse still it was windy, baggy shirt, bad idea. But, hot coffee still very welcoming, so I just sucked it up and sat on a porch chair. I was rather comfy, even in the cold when I was not so rudely interrupted.

"Morning Sunshine" I hear in a southern drawl.

"Sup dude" I replied still groggy, its not that I hate mornings, I just wish they were later in the day.

"Nice to see you're a morning person"

"I can be, but only after two coffee's. And when I'm not frozen"

"Well whose fault is that really?"

"Yours Hardy, simple as that"

"I can see this whole not a morning person thing so much more clearly now" Was he not listening before? "But I must say, even if your not enjoying the cold I must say I'm enjoying your lack of effort to get a jumper" Jeff said. I immediately felt uncomfortable, cold weather, nipples, they really don't go.

"Glad my discomfort could be of service to you" I replied shortly.

"Oh trust me, so am I" he replied with enthusiasm.

"Darlin, I'm like expensive jewellery, you can look but don't think about touching." I told him, wishing he would, wow where did that come from.

"Then what's the point of having the jewellery unless you're going to wear it" Jeff rebutted, good point too.

"Or maybe I am more like a model car, you can pretend to drive it, but you get nowhere."

"Ok, now you've lost me" Jeff said, confusion etched into his features.

"Well what would happen if I were to do this?" I asked before leaning in and ever so slightly brushing my cold lips against his luscious ones for a second before leaning back.

"Ahh well then I would have to do this." Jeff said, before cupping my face with one of his hand and bringing his face to mine and he kissed me. He ran his tongue along my lip, begging for entrance, and unlike me, I granted it, slowly he began to search my mouth with his tongue, in what turned out to be a hot and passion filled kiss. I involuntarily gave a small moan into his mouth, just before he pulled back. "I would have to do that"

"Strangely enough Jeff, I don't mind too much" I said as I lifted a hand to my lips, where I could still taste him.

"Neither did I." Jeff said. "Would you like to join me for another coffee?"

"Hmm, allow the trespasser to steal me back to his house for coffee?"

"Hey, you did it yesterday"

"Well then, it's only fair."

"That it is." He said, before offering me a hand, which I willingly took. We walked to his house where as promised there was hot coffee, his house was substantially warmer than outside, but still Jeff reappeared with a hoodie, offering it to me. I was about to refuse when I remembered that I had to go back sooner or later.

"Thanks, this might come in handy." I looked at the hoodie; it was mostly black, with a purple and green HB design on it. "What's HB? Is it an American label or something?" I asked curiously.

"Nah, it's the symbol me and my brother use when we wrestle, it stands for Hardy Boyz," He explained. "Even when we don't wrestle together, we wear them to show we'll always be there for each other"

"Aww, that's cute" I cooed.

"Hey, it's not cute, and if you think it is then you can just walk home without my hoodie." He teased, at least I hope he was teasing. I quickly put on the hoodie, though it was pretty baggy on my thin, but curvy frame compared to his tall and fairly muscular one.

"Now how ya gonna get it off me?" I asked, knowing full well he could.

"Fairly simply, but then again if you died from cold, it might be my fault. Outside?" he asked holding up two cups of hot coffee.

"Definitely" We headed out to his veranda, where I saw like thirty life size sculptures of people.

"My friends." He answered without me asking.

"Makes sense" I said, thinking he was bonkers.

"No really, they make people think I have people over constantly, so they don't break in. It does work."

"Well except on me, now I know that you don't actually have people over, I might as well come over when you're not here. Maybe take a nap or watch on of your movies." I said as a joke.

"Elsie…"

"Jeff, call me El, or Si, Elsie is too formal." I said, kind of sick of the amount of times I've been called Elsie of late.

"Ok squirt, I have told you that you're always welcome here, whenever you want, for whatever reason."

"I'll hold you to that…no matter what right?"

"No matter what"

"So lets say I wanted to see you in the shower" I said half jokingly, but with all honesty, if you had the chance would you say no?

"Every morning at 8:15" He replied seriously.

"Thanks for the info" I giggled. "Or if I wanted to pig out on some food, or have a drink or two"

"Hold up, I will not be responsible if you have an alcohol problem" Jeff interjected.

"Don't worry boyo. I drink back home"

"I thought Andrew said you lived on your own." Jeff said more to himself than me.

"Yea, it's called a fake ID dummy, not that I'll need one soon though." I said thinking about my upcoming eighteenth.

"You said you were seventeen" He said in the same tone.

"Yea, my birthday's on the 18th"

"Eighteen on the eighteenth hey, but still you've gotta be twenty-one to drink legally here."

"You've gotta be shitting me…that sucks ass. You only gotta be eighteen back home"

"I shit you not, but don't worry somehow I doubt that'll stop you anyway"

"Damn straight" We sat in a comfortable silence, just drinking our coffee for some time.

"Hey Squirt, can I ask why you said you have nothing to go back to?"

"Hang on, I said I have nothing but Bray, there's a big difference"

"Ok, why have you only got a boy to go back to?"

"My dad is kinda like the opposite of Andy's…a nobody, he ditched me and my mum for his secretary as soon as he found out about me. My mum died seven years ago, in a car accident, apparently the brakes were cut. The pigs couldn't find any evidence that would stick, but I know it was fucking Rob."

"Your uncle?"

"For lack of better word, yes, anyway I lived with my Gran till two years ago, but I felt like I was imposing, so I went back to my old place. And now all I've got is Bray"

"So it's just you and your boyfri"

"Bray? My boyfriend? Darlin he don't swing my way. Buy yea, he's all I've got, Gran moved to Southern California like two months ago."

"So why don't you stay here?" Jeff asked as if he were asking what 2 and 2 make.

"Hmm lets think, Kimmy can barely afford to live now, let alone with me too, I don't have a job, or really anywhere remotely long term to stay. So please Mr Hardy, pray tell why should I stay here?"

"This" he said, as he pulled me in for another kiss, but this time when he asked for entrance into my mouth I refused. I pulled back, but then realised I was in a wrestler's house, he could literally kill me with his bare hands if he wanted to, especially since he knew I was a nobody to anyone, so instead of seeing how mad he was, I looked at my hands. "Elsie" he said as he put his hand under my chin, so I had to look at him. "I'm sorry I was out of line, I just I really like you…a lot"

"It's ok Jeff, but unfortunately we don't always get what we want"

"What do you want squirt? Anything and I'll give it to you" You.

"My mum, I miss her so much. And I, I just don't know what I want" I said as I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.

"Yea, I know how you feel. I was six when my mom died of cancer, we, me my dad and Matt were in the hospital room when she passes." The pained expression on his face made me feel worse for dampening his morning.

"Does it ever get easier?" I asked.

"Eventually, you can never replace them, but it gets easier"

"What about the other stuff? That too?"

"What other stuff" Jeff asked. FUCK!

"Other stuff?" I asked, I panicked, I hadn't meant to say that…oops.

"Yea, the other stuff you mentioned"

"That? That's nothing" I lied.

"Nothing to be bringing such a beautiful person down?"

"Yea, nothing"

"Bullshit" He said rather aggressively "but if you want to talk I'm here" Jeff said, sincerely.

"It's fine, it's in the past, can't change it so why talk about it" I said trying to avoid the issue.

"So you can get passed it. Clearly something's got you pretty wrung up, so if you ever feel like an ear, I have two."

"I don't want to bring down your morning." I said, still not believing him.

"Elsie, what's up, something's bothering you this much. I want to help"

"You promise not to go all over protective and treat me like a baby?" I asked, not wanting him to treat me like a kid. "And promise not to tell anyone" I added.

"I promise"

"Ok, well you see" This was harder than I thought. Jeff squeezed my hand in support. "Just after mum died, I was, well miserable. And the kids at school didn't get it. Not that sixth graders would but they just picked on my, coz I didn't want to say mum had died. And so I took it, but this real brat, Courtney, her brother was sixteen at the time right. So he came round to my house to see, and this was before I moved in with Gran, like two days after mum died. I was completely devo. Anyway, he comes over knocks on the door, barges in and tells me to shut up and lie down, that he was doing a test, and if I passed he'd leave, if not he'd keep testing me." I managed to get out before crying.

Jeff picked me up and carried me into his lounge room, sitting on a couch, with me lying on him. "And he…he" I choked out. "He raped me, he took something from me I can't get back." I said bitterly. "And then he laughed at me, telling me he thought I might have failed but he wasn't sure, so him and some other guys other guys would test me" Jeff rubbed my back as I relived that terrible day. "I was raped that day…five teenagers raped me. All of them got away." That was it for me, nothing else could come out, I was bawling on some guy's couch, I hardly know him, and I hadn't told anyone, not even my cousins.

After a while I managed to compose myself enough to speak again. "Shit, Jeff you've gotta promise not to tell anyone. No one knows, your and my secret yea?"

"But what about your Gran, she knows right?" Jeff asked.

"No I was still at home, she didn't know mum had died, I ran to her house the next afternoon. I was so scared, I couldn't go to that school ever again. I changed schools, moved back to a house near where I lived till I was eight. Jeff you can't tell ANYONE promise?"

"Promise"

"Thank you" I just lay in his embrace, listening to his heartbeat. Tears streaming down my cheeks. We lay there for hours, I looked at the clock, 10:17am. Shit, Aunty Kimmy would be up soon. "Jeff, thank you so much for listening to my crap, I don't know what I'd do without this chat. I think it really helped."

"Squirt, that's ok. I promise, anytime you need an ear, I got two"

"Thanks Jeff, I gotta head back, Aunty Kimmy will be getting up soon, if I'm careful I can sneak back into bed no questions asked. I'll see you later yea?"

"Yea later squirt".

I ran as fast as I could back to Aunty Kimmy's house. Silently opened the back door, and crept up to the guest room. I took of the hoodie Jeff had lent me, boy it had come in use. And the baggy shirt, hid the hoodie, and slipped under the covers. I actually felt exhausted after my little spiel to Jeff, maybe a nap would help. I drifted into a calmer than usual sleep, thanks in big part to one Jeff Hardy.