Matt was the one who knocked—pounded, actually—on Shawn Michaels' and the Undertaker's door.
There was a thump, then muffled footsteps approaching them. With a slight creaking, the door was swung open, and—to Matt and Adam's surprise—it was neither Shawn nor Mark who answered. It was Hunter. The blonde behemoth stood before them, his eyes looking droopy and his stringy hair falling into his face. He looked neither pleased nor displeased to see them, merely somewhat surprised. He wore a tight fitting white tee with loose pants; the clothes looked like they had been pulled on in a hurry, for the shirt was inside out and the pants were extremely wrinkled.
"Hardy? Copeland?" Hunter blinked his hazel eyes, "What do you want?"
"Hunter?" Adam's eyes widened, "What are you doing here?" They had all heard the rumors that Mark gladly shared Shawn with Hunter…but no one had ever completely proven it.
Hunter shrugged nonchalantly, giving the Rated R Superstar a stern look that said now was not the time to discuss his love life.
"Sorry to bother you Hunter." Matt stepped in, his dark eyes hardening, "But we really need to talk to Mark. Is he around?"
Hunter gave an affirmative grunt and looked over his shoulder, "Mark! Shawn! You guys decent? Hardy and Copeland want to have a word with you."
There was some sort of an answer that sounded like a mix between actual English and animal noises, but Hunter must've understood, for he stepped aside and beckoned Adam and Matt to follow him in. To their surprise, the room was quite spotless. There was even a fresh, clean scent permeating the air. Hunter led them across the room, his hulking body moving slowly. Mark—in his trademark dark jeans and black tank—was standing near the bed while Shawn—who was wearing tight fitting jeans and nothing else—was sprawled lazily across the couch. Hunter plopped down next to him, sitting far too close then casual friends normally would.
"Hardy?" Mark growled, "What is it?"
"I need you to be honest with me, Mark." Matt swallowed nervously but kept his voice steady, determined to get the truth.
Mark's eyes narrowed, "I can't make you any promises."
"Damn it Mark!" Matt sighed angrily, "Me and Adam are worried sick about Jeff…the last thing we need is you holding out on us."
"If you got questions about Jeff," Mark hissed, stepping forward threateningly, "Then why don't you go ask him?"
Matt looked like he was about to angrily reply, but Adam spoke up, not wanting Matt to get into a confrontation with the Deadman, "Please Mark, you know how Jeff is."
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Mark's resolve seemed to be wavering slightly.
"You know he's irresponsible." Adam persisted, "He's like a little kid sometimes."
"Mark," Matt rubbed his eyes tiredly, "You know I care a lot about Jeff. You know I only want the best for him. But I can't help him if he refuses to tell us the truth."
Mark's mouth tightened into a frown, but he kept silent, considering what Hardy was saying.
"We know Jeff's been lying to us." Adam continued, "We just want to figure out what's going on. We don't want anything bad to happen to him."
Mark sighed, his eyes closing in thought. He knew well and good that Matt Hardy only wanted the best for his brother…and he knew Adam Copeland cared a lot for Jeff. Neither one of them came here with bad intentions…they only wanted to help someone they cared about. He also knew that Jeff Hardy was one of the most impulsive, irresponsible adults he knew…and one of these days, he was going to get himself in real trouble because of that.
But, most of all, Mark knew Randy Orton was bad news…whether Jeff wanted to admit it or not, he should not be getting involved with the Viper. Mark took another deep sigh, his eyes traveling upward to meet Matt's hard gaze. Shawn must've sensed what Mark was about to do, because he stood up suddenly, his eyes narrowing.
"Mark," Shawn frowned, "This is Jeff's business. If he wants to tell Matt and Jeff what's going on, then let him do it."
"We're trying to help him Shawn!" Matt growled, angry that Michaels would get involved in their business.
"Look," Shawn huffed, holding his hands up defensively, "If you go behind his back to get information you're just going to make him even angrier! You're going to drive him away even more!"
"Shawn," Adam looked the older man in the eye, "My boyfriend hasn't come home the past two nights. I think I deserve to know where he's been."
Shawn stood his ground, meeting Adam's eyes, "This is Jeff's business. Me and Mark have no right telling—"
"Shawn." Mark said, his voice deeper and sterner then before, "Jeff's in a rough spot. He needs help."
"Mark, come on, don't." Shawn pleaded.
Mark shook his head and turned toward Matt, "I lied to you yesterday. Jeff didn't stay here."
Adam clenched his fists, his eyes looking at the floor, white hot rage flowing through his veins. His sonofabitch boyfriend had lied to him. This entire time. God…who the fuck knows where he really was. Adam suddenly felt a very strong urge to punch a hole in the wall, despite the fact that there was a small voice in the back of his head telling him that this is what he deserved… Matt looked equally as angry. He opened his mouth a couple of times, but each time he clenched it back shut, too furious to speak.
"Mark…" Matt finally managed to find his voice, "Why the fuck did you lie to me?"
"Jeff asked me to." Mark replied, voice tight, "And I can't say no to him."
"Where was he?" Adam hissed through clenched teeth, eyes wide with anger.
Mark and Shawn exchanged hard looks, Shawn's eyes narrowing in an anger that was unusual for him.
"I'm sorry," Mark finally said, "But I can't tell you that. He did tell me, but if you want those answers you're going to have to ask him. I'm done being involved in this."
"If you didn't want to be involved," Matt snarled, his voice as full of fury as he looked, "Then you should've never lied to me in the first place!"
"My fucking boyfriend is running around on me…isn't he?" Adam looked ready to hurt someone.
"You're going to have to talk to him about it." Mark sighed, rubbing his brown eyes, "I can't help you anymore."
"Yeah, that's pretty fucking obvious." Adam answered, becoming angrier and angrier by the second, "You know what? Fuck this. Come one Matt, let's go get some real answers."
Matt and Adam both stormed angrily past Mark, neither one meeting his eyes as they headed for the door.
"Wait," Shawn called after them, a worried look on his face, "Where are you guys going?"
Adam stopped, giving them one last, hard look before slamming the door shut.
"To find my boyfriend!" He yelled.
"So…" Hunter said, looking back and forth between Shawn and Mark, "I'm guessing I'm missing something here?"
"You have no idea." Mark groaned.
Jeff sat at the table, a plate stacked high with pancakes covered in strawberries and strawberry drizzle set directly in front of him. Even though there was probably enough sugar on his plate to send a man into shock, it looked positively delicious. John Cena sat across from him, with not one, but three plates in front of him. He had eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and even grits.
"Are you really going to eat all that?" Jeff murmured. It was the first words spoken between them since leaving Randy's room; frankly, everything had been real awkward since then, and now Jeff was beginning to regret coming with Cena.
To his surprise John laughed, "Of course I am."
"That's a lot of food." Jeff said, not really knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, well," John leaned back, flexing his arms, "It takes a lot to keep this muscle machine going."
The sight of John flexing pompously was pretty funny, so Jeff found himself giggling despite the black mood he was in.
"Ah," John smiled widely, revealing pearly white teeth, "So you do smile!"
Jeff's face fell and he stared at his food, "Sorry. It's…it's been a rough week."
"So I've heard." John gave him a soft look as he began scooping food off his plate.
"Randy told you?" Jeff winced as he began cutting his pancakes, feeling a bit embarrassed that Randy would share that information with John Cena.
"I was there when Mark confronted him." John replied in between bites, shoveling down mouthfuls of food like it was nothing, "And Randy's my best friend. He tells me everything. Thing is though, he told me it was a onetime thing."
"It was supposed to be a onetime thing." Jeff sighed sadly, looking down at his food, "This wasn't supposed to happen again."
John paused his ravenous consumption, "If you don't mind me askin'…how did it happen again? Randy seemed pretty sure it was over and done with."
"Um…" Jeff reached up, twirling a strand of bright hair between his fingers, "We, uh, got drunk."
"Oh." John seemed a little surprised, "Hold on. Back up…how did you and Randy end up drinking together?"
"I got into a fight with Addy…Adam." Jeff sighed, "And I didn't really have anywhere else to go…Randy took me in and we were both upset and then he brought the liquor and then he was crawling and he looked sexy on his hands and knees and—"
"Whoa there," John chuckled, holding up his hand to calm Jeff down, "I don't need all the details. You went to Randy's room, you guys got drunk, and you guys fucked. That sound about right?"
Jeff nodded, taking small, tentative bites of his strawberry pancakes, savoring the sweet, warm food in his mouth. "I didn't mean for it to happen," He admitted after swallowing the food, "I mean…I got a boyfriend…"
"Oh…yeah. Forgot about that." John sighed, "Well, what are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?" Jeff blinked, looking at John curiously.
"Well…" John set down his fork, his blue eyes focusing, "There's obviously a bit more between you and Randy then you guys thought. And your boyfriend cheated on you—"
"Wait," Jeff's green eyes widened, "You know about that?"
"Uh, yeah." John replied sheepishly, "Randy told me."
Jeff hung his head, "Please d-don't tell anyone, I don't want anybody feeling sorry for me or anything."
"Don't worry about it Jeff." John assured him, "Anyway…what are you going to do? Stay with Adam? Leave him? Try to start something with Randy?"
Jeff let out a croaking laugh, "Do you know how many people I would piss off it I tried to be with Randy?"
"Jeff," John's blue eyes turned icy, "You need to do what you want. Don't worry about everyone else, you need to let yourself be happy without worrying how everyone else is going to react."
Jeff was silent for a moment, chewing his pancakes, and then he swallowed and responded, "I don't think Randy is much of a relationship guy anyway. I don't think he…would want to, you know, be with me."
John shook his head, "Jeff, Randy took you in last night. He doesn't do that for just anybody, you realize that right? Look, I've been Randy's best friend for years…trust me, I can tell when he's taken a liking to someone. And right now, that someone is you."
"You think so?" Jeff's eyes sparkled as he looked up.
"I really do." John grinned at him.
Jeff sighed deeply, "I don't know what's up with me. I'm having sex with a guy I never imagined I'd ever like in the least bit, and now I'm spilling my guts out to someone I've barely said ten words to the entire time I've known him."
"What can I say," Cena flashed his trademark smile, "I got good people skills."
"Randy sure doesn't." Jeff giggled a bit.
"Oh don't even get me started…" John rolled his eyes, "He's about as friendly as a…well, a viper."
"You know," Jeff twirled his hair a little bit more, "He kinda reminds me of a bear…he can be cuddly, you know."
"No, I don't know." John grimaced, "And I'd rather not find out, thank you very much."
"He's a good cuddler." Jeff giggled, teasing Cena, "And you should see the way he su—"
"Alright, alright!" John groaned, pretending to gag, "Too much info! I don't need to know all that!"
Jeff actually laughed at that, and if felt good to just let go and feel happy again. He'd never really gotten to known Cena, but honestly, he seemed like a really cool guy. Barely thirty minutes with him and he'd made Jeff fell like they'd been friends for years. It was nice to talk to someone that wasn't mad at him, someone that wasn't judging him, someone that could help him figure all this stuff out. Truthfully, he could really get used to this…
"What the hell is going on here?"
John and Jeff immediately snapped their heads to the left, and the Jeff's dismay, his boyfriend and his older brother were both storming toward them, both of them looking furious as all hell. Addy's blonde hair was all mussed, like he'd been running his hands through it; something he always did when he was angry or really stressed out. Matt didn't look much happier; he was glaring at Cena with outright animosity.
"Jeff!" Adam growled ferociously, "What the fuck are you doing here with Cena?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Cena stood up, holding his hands palms out, "Calm down guys, let's just talk this—"
"Shut the fuck up!" Adam turned on him, eyes wide with rage, "You just stay out of this!"
"Hey," Cena's eyes narrowed, "You need to calm down right now."
"Well Jeff?" Matt glared at his brother, the older Hardy clearly pissed, "Answer Adam. Just what the hell are you doing here with Cena?"
Jeff looked between his brother and his boyfriend, his green eyes looking more and more frightened by the second.
"Come on Matt," John sighed, "Do we really have to make a scene here?"
"You've got a lot more to worry about then just making a scene, Cena!" Adam hissed, his voice getting louder, "Just what the fuck are you doing here with my boyfriend?"
"Addy, calm down p-please." Jeff spoke up meekly, "We just came here for some breakfast—"
"Were you with him last night?" Adam demanded, glaring at his boyfriend, anger bubbling in his chest.
"No." Jeff replied, feeling himself getting angry at his dumb boyfriend, "Why the hell do you care anyway?"
"Jeffrey Nero Hardy!" Matt gasped, mad that his brother would dare turn this around on Adam, "You're the one that's stayed at some guy's place these past two nights!"
"I was with Mark!" Jeff protested.
"Ha," Adam laughed, but there was no humor in his voice, "Why don't you tell us the damn truth? Mark admitted you didn't stay with him!"
All the color drained from Jeff's face, "I…um…"
"Come on Jeff," Adam said, "Tell us the truth."
At his boyfriend's demands, Jeff felt the rage build up inside him again. How dare his cheating boyfriend make these demands on him! Adam was the one that started all this…not Jeff! Jeff was not going to let this be turned around so that he was the bad guy!
"It's none of your damn business where I was!" Jeff snarled, pushing Adam in the chest, "And I'm not going to tell you…so fuck off!"
"Were you fucking him? Huh? Were you?" Adam pushed Jeff back, waving his arm toward Cena.
"Hey!" Cena shouted, "Leave me out of this! I didn't touch your damn boyfriend!"
"I wasn't with Cena you idiot!" Jeff stamped his foot in anger.
"Oh, so it was some other guy?" Matt groaned, "I swear to God Jeff…you just need to…stop! Just stop this!"
"Stop what?" Jeff hissed through his teeth.
"Stop being a damn slut!" Matt screamed, eyes livid.
It was like all the life was sucked out of Jeff. His shoulders slumped and his head bowed, his eyes meeting the floor. Tears welled up in his green eyes, but he kept his gaze on the floor, his lip trembling as he tried to hold the sobbing in. Matt must've realized he crossed a line, because he bit his lip and stepped forward.
"Jeff, I—" Matt began.
"Don't!" Cena stepped between them, looking angrier than anyone had ever seen the Champ.
"I…" Jeff's voice cracked, "John…l-let's just go."
"Jeff…" Matt's voice was almost a whine; there seemed to be genuine hurt in his eyes.
"Don't follow us." John snarled, his voice throaty with a warning.
Cena reached out and wrapped his thick, muscular arm around Jeff's shoulders, and it was then that Jeff lost it. He began sobbing, his shoulders heaving as fresh tears poured out of his bright eyes. Cena steered him toward the elevator, giving Adam and Matt one last hateful look before they entered the elevator.
Adam stepped forward, "Matt we can't just—"
"Let him go, Adam." Matt felt like he was about to collapse, "There's nothing we can do right now."