Chapter 6
"Man that was insane." Jay said grabbing a water bottle and handing one to Jeff.
"Yeah, thanks." Jeff gulped down the water. "I want to kill Shane."
"Well, I think Jessica took care of that." Adam joined in.
"Yeah, the look on Shane's face when he went down was great." Matt added.
"He used her to get back at me." Jeff said disgusted. He remembers the look of hurt across her face. It was the same look she gave him when their eyes locked out at the ring.
"Well I'm pretty sure if he wants to keep having kids, he won't do it again." Jay said. There was a knock at the door. "That must be Stephanie." He opened the door and Stephanie walks in with Jessica staying back.
"Hey guys. Listen, I'm really sorry with the way everything went down today."
"Steph, how come you didn't tell us?" Matt asked.
"I wanted to, but when you were in my office it wasn't definite. Jess was having second thoughts and I didn't want to bring anything up until she was sure. As soon as she agreed, Shane was supposed to go tell you. Jessica had nothing to do with this. She would only agree if you knew and were okay with her being here. Again, I'm sorry. I brought some stuff for you guys to work on for next week. I'll leave you all to get reacquainted then." With that she pushed Jessica into the room and walked out. It was quiet at first with everyone just looking around. Eventually all four guys just stared at her.
"Hey." She waved nervously. There was silence again. "Okay, this is exactly what I didn't want. I really had nothing to with this. Well, except for the part where I'm back. I'm sorry." Not knowing what else to say she just looked to the ground. Finally Adam stood up.
"Hi." He said extending his hand, "My name is Adam. I'm looking forward to working with you."
"Okay" She laughed and took his hand. He pulled her into a hug.
"You look good. I'm glad you're back" He said and let her go.
"Uhm, my name is Jay, and I'm the sexier of the two." He came over and hugged her.
"Don't I know it" She whispered to him.
"I missed you. Welcome back."
"You too." She turned her attention to the two brothers. Jeff was staring down at his hand, but at least Matt was looking at her. "Matt?"
"It's good to see you again." He smiled and she smiled back. Finally Jeff looked up at her and mustered a nod in her direction. "Well it's a start." She thought to herself.
"Have a seat." Adam gestured. "Where are you staying?"
"Oh, the Marriot."
"Us too. We'll give you a ride back if you need it."
"Well I was supposed to celebrate my return with Shane but uhm, I think he has a date with an ice pack." Jessica said and got a laugh out of Adam and Jay. "So I guess I'll take you up on your offer."
"Good, we can head to the bar and get you drunk. It's been ages since we had a good drinking contest." Jay said.
"Why bother? You never win. Or did you finally learn to hold your liquor? You usually pass out by the fourth drink." She said with a gleam in her eyes.
"I've been practicing."
"God, I can't believe your back. I guess I get to look forward to my own knee to the groin moment." Adam said shaking his head.
"Hopefully soon." She teased and picked up the packet Stephanie had left with her name on it. "Wow, this is thick."
"Well you know you have to memorize it, and then eat it. Steph will kill you if you let it get in the hands of another." Adam said. Jessica smiled then looked to the Hardy's. So far they haven't said anything, but she expected it. She knew that her history with them ran a lot deeper, then Adam and Jay. They became her family and she just shut them out cold. Jeff may have deserved it, but Matt didn't.
"Look" she started to Adam and Jay "Do you think you guys can wait outside for a minute, and then we'll head to the hotel?"
"Sure no problem, we'll give you guys some space." Adam said as he and Jay grabbed their bags and left the room. Now they were all alone with the uncomfortable silence.
"So, this return is for real?" Matt finally asked.
"Yea." It got quiet again. "Look I know I just fell off the map and everything but there was a lot going on, more than you guys know. I probably handled something's wrong and I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is cause any problems, so if you want me to I'll ask Stephanie to move me to RAW, or ECW." They were quiet to her. Matt looked at her and knew that she was hoping for acceptance back. He remembered what Adam had said and how she had basically had a breakdown. He knew it took a lot for her to come back, and he knew she couldn't do it alone. She was going to need a lot of support.
"I want you to stay" he said. "We'll work it all out."
"Whatever." Jeff said as he stood up. "I'll be in the car."
"Don't worry about it." Matt said after Jeff left. "He'll be kind. You just kind of shocked him. We weren't really expecting this."
"I know." She said, tears forming.
"Wait, no crying. Besides Jeff's the one who should be apologizing, not you. We're gonna work this all out, don't worry. We have a couple of days off, I'll work on him, but are you sure you wanna do this?"
"I do, I trust you guys the most and I need that right now."
"And Jeff?"
"Three years of therapy I think I can deal with Jeff." She said sounding more convincing then she felt.
"Look, you know Jay, Adam and I got your back. Jeff will come around. He's just having some problems. Don't worry about him, but we should get going before Jeff leaves me stranded." She hugged him.
"I'm sorry I didn't return your calls. There was a lot going on and I just couldn't deal for awhile, and then I was too afraid of the time that past."
"I was your friend." Matt reminded her.
"You're his brother."
"That didn't matter."
"It did. I could hear it in his voice when we broke up. I knew he wasn't going to be able to handle it well. He was going to need your support."
"So did you."
"I had support. He didn't have much. I knew that everyone was going to blame him. Besides I was afraid to call and he'd be there. You know it's funny, he broke my heart and I was still worried about hurting his."
"That's what we love about you. Take care okay. If you need anything give me a call."
"I will."
"Let's go. It's been a long night." Matt said. They walked outside and headed to the parking lot. Jeff watched from the car as Jessica said goodbye to his brother then slid into Adam's car. His heart ached as he realized the feelings were still there. He was angry with himself for not being more civil to her. He should have welcomed her back and instead he sulked out of the locker room. She made him feel horrible. She stood there and basically apologized for not calling, when it was he who had cheated. She apologized for what had happened earlier, yet it was Shane's false, and his fault as well.
He glanced at his cell phone and saw three missed calls, all from Meg. He looked up at the car pulling away, Jeff was now more confused than ever.
