Chapter 12
As soon as Jessica got outside, she lit a cigarette and took a deep breath. She felt drained, she had just spent the past hour, rehashing her pain and now they were all in there fighting about what would be best for her. No one was listening to her. She didn't want to hide anymore. She had tried the quiet way and remembered where it got her.
Jessica glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She looked disheveled, her eyes were red and puffy and tears flowed down her face. This is how is has to be. She said to herself. She opened up her medicine cabinet and grabbed the pain killers that she had from when she had gotten hurt last month in the ring. She opened the bottle and took the remaining pills and poured them in her hand. Closing the cabinet, she looked in the mirror one last time and then swallowed the pills. She sat down on the bathroom floor to reflect on her life. This was how it was going to end. Here she was a two time Women's champ, who had the perfect image. The perfect boyfriend, The Perfect life, and now she was sitting on a cold tiles waiting to die. She wondered who would show at her funeral. The McMahon's would come, as well as Amy and Matt. Jeff would be there as well. She pictured Jeff. He would be inconsolable because she knew he still loved her. She heard it every time he left a message. He would blame himself. She didn't want that. She reached over and grabbed the phone. She wanted to call him, forgive him, and let him know that she loved him but couldn't bring herself to call him. She dialed Stephanie's house.
"Hello?" A worried voice answered.
"Steph,"
"Jess? Honey, I called the cops. Are you okay?"
"I'm tired."
"Is he there?"
"No not yet."
"Listen, it's going to be okay."
"Yes. It will be. I need you to do me a favor. Tell Jeff, I love him."
"Everything's gonna be okay. You can tell him yourself. I promise."
"No. Tell him I'm sorry and that none of this is his fault."
"None of what is his fault? Jess what is going on? What happened?"
"It's over."
"Jess, oh my god what did you do?" She yelled into the phone.
"I'm tired. He won't get me. He won't get anyone. They're safe."
"Jess, you're scaring me. What's going on?"
"I love you. Take care."
"Jessica? Jessica?" Stephanie yelled as Jessica hung up the phone. This wasn't happening fast enough. She thought to herself. She should just fall asleep. What if he shows up before she dies? She didn't want her last moments to be with whoever it was that had terrorized her, and brought her to this state. She opened another cabinet and pulled out one of Jeff's razor blades. Without thinking, she slit both her wrist. She lay back on the floor and waited to die. I love you Jeff. She said as she closed her eyes.
"Are you okay?" She heard a voice say. She looked up and saw Jeff.
"No." She said back to him. Without thinking he crossed over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him and collapsed in sobs. He held her in his arms and just rocked her gently.
"It's okay. Let it all out." He gently stroked her hair and held her closely. She sunk lower till Jeff had to drop to his knees. He sat there holding her in his arms, as she just let every emotion out. Eventually, her sobs lessened and her breathing returned to normal.
"Any better?" He asked her.
"A little. I'm sorry." She said as she pulled back from him.
"Look," he started, holding her hand. "The first thing you are going to do is to stop apologizing for everything and everyone. You are not at fault. This guy is the one responsible, and me."
"Jeff no."
"Let me say this. I was a shitty boyfriend. I knew something was wrong. I saw that you were shutting me out, and pushing further and further away, and I did nothing."
"That's not true. You tried, a lot of times. I just couldn't. I was too scared." She said softly.
"Well, instead of my pushing harder, working with you to find out what was wrong, I went home, got drunk, and cheated on you. So the way I see it-"
"Don't." She cut him off. "I don't want to hear everyone tell me how sorry they are, anymore than you want to hear me apologize."
"I know but I do want us to be friends again. So I have to say this. For any of the pain that I added to what was happening to you, I'm sorry." He said looking into her eyes. She was about to respond when Stephanie tapped on the window and motioned for them to come in.
"I guess the coast is clear." She said. He helped her up and they went back inside. Everyone was calmly sitting down. Matt's lip was bleeding, and Shane looked to have the beginnings of a black eye, but they both sat at opposite chairs acting like nothing had happened. If it wasn't for the actual predicament she was in Jessica would have to laugh at the way things looked.
"Well?" Stephanie said staring at them.
"We're sorry for fighting. It must have been hard to come out and tell us everything that happened, and instead of immediately giving you my support, I get into a fight with Shane. If it upset you, I'm sorry." Matt said. "Forgive me" He flashed her his signature puppy dog eyes and she smiled.
"Okay. Let's get one thing straight." She started. "From now on, there will be no more fighting, no more blaming, and for the love of god, no more apologies." They all nodded to her. "What happened in the past between all of us is in the past. I can't and won't hear how we all should have done something different. I want all my friends back, even you Shane. While all of you were fighting in here, I was outside realizing what I was going to do. Now, you may agree with me, you may not, but you are definitely not going to change my mind. For the past three years, I have been hiding or running from my life. Well, I'm done. I am not going to just sit here and let everything pass me by. So, Steph you left me a message about appearing on RAW."
"Yeah, but that was before all this." One look at Jessica cut her off.
"Well, you better get to work, because I'm gonna be there Monday and I want something to do."
"Wait, you want a match?" Shane asked her.
"Yeah, I do." She smiled.
"But you haven't been in a match in three years?"
"I had a breakdown, not amnesia. I still remember how to wrestle. I just may be a little rusty."
"Well," Paul stepped in, "There's always the house shows."
"There you go. Thank you."
"Jess, you think you'll be ready after appearing in a couple of house shows?" Steph asked her.
"I don't know and I don't care. My return is going to happen, and we are not going to stall it."
"Jess?" Stephanie said again, pleading with her to change her mind.
"Stephanie, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want your opinion or anyone else's for that matter." She said and then grabbed her friend's hand. "I want your support."
"You're in control?" Stephanie asked.
"I'm in control." Jessica smiled as the two girls hugged. After they pulled away she turned to look at everyone else. "So are we good?" Everyone was in agreement, and whether they thought it was a good idea or not, they were going to support her.
"I'll set everything up." Stephanie finally said.
After a couple of hours, Stephanie had everything arranged. The next day Jessica would have a warm up match at the next house show. She had made arrangements for a few trainers to be there to give her a hand. As much as she wanted Jess to hold off, she knew she couldn't persuade her to change her mind. Stephanie headed into the kitchen where everyone was sitting. Jessica had laid out some food for everyone to snack on while they waited for Steph to finish. There was still quietness in the air. No one was really talking about anything. Paul was reading the paper, Matt and Chris were on Jess' computer playing a video game, Shane was sulking in the corner and Jeff was hovering around Jessica.
"Hey Steph," Jeff said when he noticed her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, no problem." She said and they went back into the living room. "What's up?"
"I know that this is not a good time but we may have another problem and I think it may have to do with Jessica."
"What's wrong?"
"I think this guy had contacted me."
"What, how?"
"The day she came back, I got a phone call at the hotel. The guy said, 'Stay away or else'. I got the same call the next day, and someone called my house this morning."
"It had to be him."
"Yeah, but why start calling me?" Jeff asked.
"Because of how she felt about you, the history you guys have is pretty intense."
"I get that, but everyone knows that I moved on. It's common knowledge that I live with Meg. I was out of the picture; I just don't see why this guy would want to get me involved."
Stephanie knew why. Her thoughts went back to that night when Jessica had tried to kill herself. She had told her that she still loved Jeff, and that she forgave him. Jessica had begged this guy not to hurt Jeff. He must have realized that she still loved Jeff and that at the time Jeff felt the same.
"Steph?" Jeff questioned her after she didn't respond to him.
"Maybe he's just making sure that you have moved on. I just don't know." She sighed. "I wish I never convinced her to come back. I know she's trying to be strong, but if something goes wrong, I don't know if she can come back from this."
"She's stronger then we think. I hope."
"I'm going to make your hotel arrangements for now. They'll be secured. I also don't want Jessica to be alone.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm pretty sure Matt isn't either. She won't be alone."
"Good. My dad already contacted the police. They're going to look into, as will our security team. Who else knows about the phone calls?"
"I only told Matt."
"Good. For now I think we should keep this between us. I don't think it would do Jess any good to know that's he's reaching out to you."
"I agree." He said as Chris came into the living room.
"Sorry guys but I really have to go. If you need anything, just give me a call."
"Sure, no problem."
"Jess?" He called out to her. He hugged her when she came in. "You are one strong chick. If you need anything give me a call."
"I will. Thank you so much." She said. He nodded to everyone else and left.
"Honey, we really need to get back also." Paul said.
"I don't know." She started.
"It's okay." Matt said. "Jeff and I will be here. We'll meet up with you guys at the arena tomorrow."
"Steph," Jess started. "It's all right. You can go home but only if you take Shane with you." Steph smiled at her.
"If you need anything?"
"I'll call."
"Okay. Shane come on we're leaving." She called out to her brother.
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay." Shane went to Jessica.
"I'll be fine. Thank you." She gave him a hug and watched as they left. Then she turned to the Hardy's. "I guess it's just us."
"Come on." Matt said taking her hand. "If you're going to wrestle tomorrow, we got some training to do."
"Yes sir." She saluted him. Matt and Jeff spent the rest of the day refreshing her skills. They gave her new tips and pointers. It felt like old times, they all just fell into place. To Jessica, everything was the way it always should have been. After the big work out, Jessica made dinner, and Matt and Jeff spent hours catching her up on everything she had missed. The whole evening they didn't bring up her stalker but it was in the back of all their minds. As they went to bed, each one of them couldn't help but worry what tomorrow would bring.
