Authors Note: Totally on a roll, wrote 2 chapters at work today! Also I have no idea how long Shannon & Julie & Shane & Jamie have been together, so let's just go with what the story says, yes? Yes. :D Also, Shane can babysit me ANYTIME!

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Big huge hugs, thanks, and cookies to LuLu606 for the review, and to everyone who has subscribed! Loooove!

Disclaimer: If I owned Matt Hardy, we'd all be in trouble. Emma Keating = mine all mine.

If This Isn't Love - Chapter 8


Beth searched the hotel frantically for nearly fifteen minutes before she found Emma on a bench outside the front doors, twisting her hair feverently and staring into nothingness.

"There you are, jeez! I was starting to worry that Hornswoggle kidnapped you or something," Beth teased, planting herself down next to Emma on the bench. Emma snickered, still sniffling and wiping stray tears as they fell. "You know he feels like shit Em," she started, before Emma stopped her.

"I don't care," she said, although everything about her at that moment showed otherwise. Beth sighed, between Matt and Emma she didn't know who the more stubborn one was, but she was sure these arguments were taking years off of her life.

There were a few minutes of silence before Beth spoke again. "Remember the night all the guys got food poisoning?" she asked, trying a different tactic. Emma groaned.

"Ugh, how could I forget? Between me, you, Julie, and Jamie we were up to our ears in vomit." She smiled at the memory; Jeff, Shannon, Shane, and Matt all in various stages of sickness around Matt's living room, the culprit sushi the girls had refused to eat mocking them from the kitchen. Emma had sat up with Matt all night, giving him water, rinsing out puke buckets, worrying like crazy. The next day when his skin had lost some of it's green tint and he could hold down toast, Matt had looked at her in wonder and said, "Boy, you must really love me."

"I must," she had smiled, and despite having been together for almost a year at that point it was the first time either of them had mentioned the L-word. Two days later he'd asked her to move in. The memory brought fresh tears to her eyes.

"He doesn't want to be with me," Emma choked out, her tears falling freely now.

"Of course he does," Beth started, rubbing her back comfortingly, but Emma shook her head sadly.

"No Beth, not forever. He told me. He said .. he said he wouldn't marry me, ever." She barely whispered the last sentence, as if she couldn't bear to say the words. Beth vowed when all this was over and settled she would wring Matt's neck .. those damn Hardy's could be such idiots sometimes!

"I'm sure he didn't mean .."

"He wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it," Emma stated matter-of-factly. She had known Matt long enough to know that he always meant what he said, and Beth knew it too. Again, Beth vowed to wring his neck .. maybe this time enough to kill him.

The cab Emma had called pulled up to the front of the hotel, and Beth looked at her in surprise.

"You're leaving?"

"I can't stay here Beth. I can't look at him, and feel how I feel and know that he doesn't feel the same way. I just. I can't." She stood up, gathering her things.

"Where are you going?" Beth asked with concern.

"Home. Well, my parent's anyway .. I guess 'til I get my own place?" She shrugged sadly, opening the cab door. Beth put a hand on her arm, willing her to stay.

"Em, I just think .."

"Just watch out for him, okay Beth? Just make sure he's okay." She got into the cab and closed the door before another round of tears could start, leaving Beth standing alone on the sidewalk.

"She WHAT?!?" Matt demanded, his voice rising to a dangerous level. Jeff gave him a warning glare for raising his voice at Beth, and Matt took a deep breath in attempts to calm himself.

"She left," Beth re-stated, and the confirmation knocked the breath out of Matt. He collapsed into the hotel chair, burying his face in his hands.

" I can't believe she left," he whispered.

"Can you blame her?" Beth asked indignantly, causing both brothers to look at her in surprise. "Matt, you told her you would never marry her."

"You did WHAT?" This time it was Jeff whose voice rose.

"I didn't mean .. I didn't .. I was pissed, and she .. argh!" Matt growled in frustration, slamming his good hand down onto the desk and wincing as pain shot up it. At this rate he'd have two broken hands by morning.

"I gotta go after her," Matt declared, standing up.

"Are you crazy? We have a show tomorrow. You have a meeting with Vince!" Jeff said.

"I don't care."

"You'll be suspended!"

"I. Don't. Care." Matt moved to grab a shirt, and Jeff moved to stop him.

"Don't make me break your other hand," Jeff threatened as his temper flared. Beth quickly stepped between the brothers.

"Whoa, whoa, time out .. to your separate corners boys." She ran a hand through her brown hair before turning to Matt. "Look, it's nearly five in the morning, no one is going anywhere. Let's all just get some sleep, and after your meeting with Vince tomorrow you can go home and work all this out. You're gonna be out for a while anyway, right? Plenty of time to work it out."

It took a few minutes but Matt finally calmed down and agreed, and just to be sure he didn't change his mind and try to sneak out, Jeff called Shane and had him come down to stay in the room for the night and "Matt sit."

"So kicking your ass for this," Shane grumbled, still half asleep as he tossed a pillow and blanket down in front of the door and proceeded to pass out again within a few minutes. Matt watched the sun rise from the hotel balcony, officially ending the worst night of his life.

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