Disclaimer : I do not own any of the characters mentioned herein. This is pure fiction, written for entertainment only.

Chapter 18

Matt and Adam watched as Jeff paced furiously in the room, cursing under his breath. Matt found out from Adam what took place and was waiting for his brother to calm down, but from the way it looked, Jeff wasn't going to calm down anytime soon. He finally lost his patience and halted him in mid stride.

"Stop that already, Jeffro, they were both drunk, they didn't know what they were doing."

His eyes softened as he watched his brother's eyes swam with tears. Jeff fought them back but a fat tear rolled down and sniffles escaped him. Matt sighed as he pulled him into a comforting hug.

"Don't cry, they didn't mean to hurt you. You should know by now that they would never hurt you intentionally." Jeff just burrowed his face in his chest and sniffled softly.

"It's the first time I've ever seen Randy or John drunk," Adam said in a musing tone. "They are, or should I say, were the minority who always make it a point to stay sober and take it upon themselves to send the heavy drinkers safely back to their rooms after a night out." He paused for several moments before adding, "I think Morrison had something to do with their drunken state."

Jeff raised his head to give him a doleful look. "Are you saying that he deliberately got them drunk? But, why?" he cried out.

Seeing that Jeff was beginning to get upset again, he said in a consolable tone, "I'm only speculating and I could be wrong. If you like, we can go and talk to Morrison."

Jeff pondered over what Adam just said and decided. "I want to talk to him. Can we go and see him now?" he pleaded.

"Hold it, guys," Matt stopped them. "It's very late. I'm sure everyone is in bed already. Let's wait till tomorrow."

Jeff knew Matt was right but he couldn't get the image of Randy kissing John and John holding Randy like they were a couple, out of his head. His eyes dimmed with sadness and Adam felt sorry for him. He tried to cheer him up as best as he could.

"Look at it this way, Jeff. Randy and John will come crawling and begging for your forgiveness when they find out what they did. Let's have some fun with them! I can make them squirm if you want me too, you know, to punish them for making you upset," he suggested in a cheeky tone, hoping it would lift Jeff's spirit. It did draw a small smile from him but he shook his head forlornly. Jeff knew he was probably overreacting but he couldn't stop feeling hurt. What if his boyfriends did have hidden feelings for one another? That thought made him feel more wretched than he already was.

"Wipe that thought out of your head, I know what you're thinking but you're wrong!" Matt told him, seemingly reading his mind. "Have some faith in them," he advised but Jeff remained quiet. His disastrous relationship with Raven caused him to lose faith in himself. How could he learn to have faith in others when he didn't even believe in himself?

At that moment, Matt's eyes landed on the bracelet Adam was wearing. "Did you just buy that bracelet? It's looks nice," he admired its simplicity yet elegant design.

Adam beamed with pleasure and stretched out his hand to let Matt take a good look at it. "It's a birthday present from Jeff," he said proudly. "I'm surprised he remembered."

"Hey, that's right! It's your birthday tomorrow, I mean today. It's past midnight already!" Matt exclaimed. Adam gave him a look of astonishment, "You remembered my birthday?"

Matt fidgeted uneasily before finally nodding, "Yeah," he said in a gruff tone.

Jeff smiled in spite himself and looped his arms through both men's arms. "I'm glad we are all back together again. I wish Jay is here with us, it would be like old times. I miss him."

"So do I," Matt said just as Adam added, "Me, too." The three men looked at one another and started laughing, the feeling of awkwardness dissipating.

"Hey, why don't we throw you a birthday bash? I'll get all the guys to join us, that is, if you have no objection," Matt suggested.

Adam grinned, "I know you far too well, Matthew. You just want to find a reason to get pissed drunk, just admit it."

Matt started to protest when Jeff said, "Don't we all?" and they laughed out loud.

"That settles it then. Hmm… you have hit thirty-three. How does it feel? You do realize that age is catching up with you, don't you?" Matt teased him in friendly fashion.

"Don't forget you're only one year younger than me!" Adam retorted, rousing chuckles from them. He glanced at his watch and said, "It's getting late, I better get going. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Goodnight everyone."

After Adam left, Matt turned to his brother who had gone back to brooding in silence.

Matt sighed before joining him on the bed. "Still thinking about what happened?" he patted him on his leg. When no reply was forthcoming, he said in a reassuring tone, "Everyone makes mistakes. I doubt they even know what they were doing. Get some sleep, you'll feel better tomorrow." He kissed him on top his head before getting up to go to the washroom.

Jeff sighed and looked at the clock, contemplating calling Shannon. Talking to his best friend might ease his apprehension but it was almost two in the morning. Shannon would not appreciate him calling that late. He decided to call him in the morning instead. When Matt came out some time later, he found his brother curled on the bed, fast asleep.

"You silly goose, Randy and John will never think of betraying you," he whispered endearingly before pulling the covers over his brother and crawling into bed himself.

-ooo-

Randy woke up first. His first conscious thought was that he had a pounding headache, and the light filtering into the room through the windows was aggravating it. Keeping his eyes closed, his hands fumbled in search of an extra pillow to cover his head but they touched warm flesh instead.

"Oh, baby, you came," he said in a caressing tone as he drew closer towards the warm body. He frowned as his hand touched hard bulging muscles; Jeff wasn't that thick and muscular. Cracking a bleary eye open, he shot up suddenly when he realized it wasn't Jeff lying next to him.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed, Cena?" he yelled and immediately regretted it as his head throbbed with pain. "Oh … fuck!" he groaned just as Cena sat up with a start before groaning in unison with him.

"What are you doing in my room?" Randy asked again, speaking a bit more subtle than usual as he held his head.

Cena grimaced with pain as he said, "I should be asking you that, this is my room and you're in my bed."

Both men gasped at the sudden realization before jumping off the bed on each side at the same time.

"Did I …? Did we ….?" Randy whispered fearfully. He couldn't put his thoughts into words, dreading what they could have done.

Cena looked down at himself and was relieved to find himself fully dressed. "We're safe. We still have our clothes on," he pointed out with a sigh of relief.

"Whew, that was close!" Randy said before sending him a grim look. "I swear that would be the last time I allow myself to drink that much!"

"I agree. Just what the hell did we drink anyway?" Cena complained as he crawled back into bed again. His thumping headache was growing worse and he decided to go back to sleep, his eyes closing already.

But Randy had more important things to worry about. "Hey, John?" he shook him by the shoulder and Cena cracked one eye to look at him. "What is it?" he asked sleepily.

"Don't tell anyone that we slept on the same bed. You got that?" Randy said.

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." Cena let out a huge yawn and shut his eyes. "Please shut the door when you leave," and went back immediately to sleep.

Randy pulled on his shoes which he had discarded the night before and made for the door. He pulled the door open slightly and popped his head out. Satisfied that it was safe for him to leave without being seen, he stepped out and closed the door quietly behind him.

When he reached his room, he padded his pockets for the cardkey and finally found it in his back pocket. Just as he slid in the card, the door next to his opened and Adam stepped out. "Had a good time last night?" he asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he leaned casually against the door frame.

Randy sighed, "Not that I can remember." He was surprised when Adam laughed at him. "What's so funny?" he asked with a frown.

"You don't remember, do you?" Adam gave him an amused look.

"Remember what?" Randy asked, giving him a puzzled look.

"You kissing John … in front of Jeff," Adam informed him with a smirk on his face.

Randy looked horrified. "W..what did you just say?"

Adam chuckled, "You heard me the first time, Randy. Don't you remember Jeff slapping the taste out of your mouth and John's?"

"Oh my God!" Randy clutched at his hair in consternation. "Did Jeff think John and I were …?"

Adam nodded vigorously. "Yep, he thought you two were getting it on and he was majorly pissed! Doesn't your cheek hurt?" and started snorting with laughter.

"Fuck! I've totally screwed it this time! What am I going to do? No! I've to see Jeff and explain to him what happened!"

Randy started to make his way towards the lifts when Adam stopped him, "You can talk to him tomorrow. He should be in bed by now. Let's go to my room and talk." He let him in and closed the door and sat down next to Randy on the bed. "Just tell me one thing, how the hell did you get yourself into such a predicament?"

Randy found himself telling Adam about Morrison's invitation to him and John to join his friends at the bar for a couple of drinks. "One drink led to another and I don't know, maybe, I was upset and I drank more than the usual. I don't even remember leaving the bar."

Adam chuckled, "You and John have better prepared to face the wrath of one Jeffrey Nero Hardy!"

Randy gave him a look of remorse, "Looks like you're one step ahead of us. After what we both did, I think Jeff is having second thoughts about us."

Adam let out a heavy sigh and said, "I wish that was the case but I'm not in the running anymore. Jeff told me he doesn't feel that way for me. It's just the two of you vying for him."

Randy perked up at the revelation but he did feel a pang of pity for him. "Hey, at least you know where you stand with Jeff. I don't know if I can keep up this charade of 'it's fine with me if you go out with John'. Would anyone in their sane mind let their boyfriends go out with another guy? The thought of Jeff with another man ….. I want to fucking choke Matt Hardy for coming up with this stupid idea!"

Adam grinned at him. "Be careful what you say. Aren't you afraid that Matt will try to sway his brother towards John instead if he finds out how you feel about him?"

Randy's eyes narrowed, "Are you threatening to tell Matt what I just said?"

"There you go again, jumping to conclusions! I'm just saying you should keep your thoughts to yourself. Matt is not stupid. He knows how we feel about the situation but he's only trying to protect his brother. Which brings me to this, let me tell you here and now that I won't let anyone hurt Jeff and that includes you, John or anybody else. You'll answer to me if you break his heart! You got that?"

Randy saluted him and said, "Loud and clear! Now, if only I can get Jeff to forgive me for my drunken stupidity."

"It's your turn to go out with him today. Make good use of it. I'll start by going on my knees and beg for his forgiveness." He sniggered at Randy's awkwardness. "Don't tell me you're too embarrassed to get down on your knees?"

"It's not that." He hesitated before asking tentatively, "Did anyone else see me kiss John?"

Adam barked out with laughter and finally calmed himself to reply, "Morrison, Khali and Miz but the latter two were just as drunk as you and John. Why? Can't live it down?"

"Damnit! I don't want John to find out! This is so embarrassing!" Randy dragged a hand down his face in dismay. He turned suddenly to Adam as a thought struck him, "Did John kiss me or anything like that?"

"No, but he put his arms around you in lovey-dovey fashion," Adam informed him gleefully.

"Fuck! And Morrison saw all these going down?" Again, Adam nodded with a grin. "I'm going to kill the guy for getting us drunk and making fools of ourselves!" Randy swore.

"You know what? I think he has a motive for doing so. And if my guess is right, I think he has achieved what he set out to do," Adam said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Care to explain what you mean by that?" Randy asked, giving him a confused look. Adam decided to elaborate for his benefit.

"Well, it's just a wild guess but I think Morrison is trying to prove that this idea of Jeff dating more than one guy is a foolish one. Let's face it, none of us likes the idea of Jeff going out with another man, it makes us hot with jealousy. It's the same with Jeff, when he saw you and John cozying up, he gets jealous. I think Morrison has actually done everyone a favor but it's a bit too late; Jeff has fallen for two men, yourself and John. He's going to have to make his decision sooner than later and I don't envy his position," Adam said in a sympathetic tone.

"Who do you think he will choose?" Randy couldn't help asking. Knowing that Adam and Jeff went way back then, he was hopeful that he might have an idea who Jeff was leaning to.

"I'm sorry but I don't know," Adam sent him an apologetic look. "You just have to wait and find out."

Randy prayed that Shannon would come through for him. He promised he would call once he found out Jeff's thoughts on the situation. Well, there was only one thing left for him to do. He just had to be patient and in the meantime, he would try to get back into Jeff's good graces. He prayed that Jeff would forgive him for his slight transgression.

-ooo-

Carlito couldn't help chortling with laughter when he found out Morrison's predicament. His roommate just told him what happened last night and dreaded the repercussions of his brilliant plan.

"You should have minded your own business. I won't be surprised if Randy and John show up and beat you into a pulp!" he chuckled with amusement.

"I was only trying to help them out. I guess I should have listened to you," Morrison said with a sigh.

"It's too late for regrets. Just pray that they show you some mercy when they come for you!"

Morrison glared at him. "You're not helping me with your comments! I expect you to be more understanding since I'm just trying to help out your lover's best friend! Just forget it. I'll deal with this myself!"

He was about to walk away when Carlito stopped him. "Hey, I was just kidding. I'll back you up if there's any trouble," he assured him.

Morrison crooked a smile at him, "Thanks, I need all the help I can get."

Just then, someone pounded at the door and he heard Miz screaming at him to open up. Shaking his head, he got up and said, "Looks like it's going to be a long day."

Morrison had trouble keeping the grin out of his face when Miz waddled in with a thunderous look on his face. He glanced behind him and asked casually, "Where's Khali?"

"I want to flatten your face with my fist!" Miz hissed, grimacing in pain.

"What's wrong with you?" Morrison thought it was best to feign ignorance, hoping that Miz would think twice about confronting him if he thought no one knew about his tryst with Khali last night.

Miz looked taken aback momentarily. Carlito realized Morrison's strategy and played along.

"Will you guys take it easy on the drinks the next time? Morrison was behaving like an ass last night. He came back all drunk and got all slobbery over me. I almost threw him out of the room when he tried to join me in my bed! Thank God he fell asleep before I could herd him out," he groused.

"You were drunk as well?" Miz asked, looking dubiously at them.

"I don't know, I woke up in bed this morning and couldn't recall how I got back. Carlito told me that I came back pissed drunk."

Miz remained silent, looking down contemplatively.

"Is something wrong?" Morrison asked. He watched as Miz studied him carefully before finally shaking his head.

"You said something about flattening his face. What's with that?" Carlito asked, feigning a puzzled look.

Miz took a deep breath and said, "It's nothing. I… I was just kidding with him."

Morrison and Carlito kept straight faces with the former asking, "Is Khali up yet? We can all go down for a late breakfast."

"He's still asleep," Miz replied hastily. He didn't want Khali blabbering to them about what they did last night. "I think I'll skip breakfast and get some more sleep before we leave in the afternoon. I'll see you guys around," and left quickly.

As soon as the door closed, both men burst into laughter.

"One down, two to go!" Carlito said after they had composed themselves.

"Miz is gullible but not Randy and John. I'm not sure if I can escape their wrath," Morrison said despondently. He was starting to count down the number of hours he would stay alive until they got their hands on him.

"There's someone who can save you but you have to explain your actions to him," Carlito said after a moment's thought.

"And pray tell me who's going to save my ass?"

Carlito gave him a cocky grin. "Isn't it obvious? As I see it, all you have to do is to tell Jeff why you did it. He could very well stop them from wringing your scrawny neck!"

Morrison looked unconvinced. "I don't know. It could backfire and blow up in my face. He was furious at both of them and he might lash out at me for setting them up. Things would have been fine if those two didn't start feeling and touching each other."

"From where I stand, you have nothing to lose. Come on, let's grab something to eat and then look Jeff up. It's almost nine o'clock. He should be getting up soon."

But, Morrison held back. "Matt will be with him. Are you sure it's safe to go to their room? I don't want to get cornered and mauled in there."

"Will you stop being a coward? It was your idea to put this into play in the first place! So, stand tall and face them like a man! Now, haul your ass before Randy and John show up at our door!" Carlito urged him out and this time, Morrison went along willingly. Once again, his friend was right. If anyone could save him, it would be Jeff.

-ooo-

Jeff took his phone with him into the bathroom. Matt was still soundly asleep. He put the toilet cover down and sat down on it before putting the call through. "Shanny?" he spoke in a small voice as his friend picked up at the fourth ring.

"Jeffy? What's wrong?" Jeff heard the note of concern in his voice and tears started filling his eyes. He was choked up with his emotions and couldn't speak.

Shannon waited patiently, giving him time to compose himself. Finally, Jeff spoke.

"Randy and John went out together last night and … and they acted like a couple," he confided in him.

"What do you mean they acted like a couple?" Shannon asked from his end.

Jeff folded his legs up and leaned back against the water cistern. "Randy kissed John and John hugged him," he explained in a hurt tone.

Shannon was left stunned. His astonishment was replaced by fury. Damn that Randy, he hurt Jeff again! And what was Cena thinking! He had a mind to fly down and give those two men a piece of his mind! But then, something struck him as odd. How could Randy change his mind suddenly? He had called him for his help about Jeff. Something wasn't right.

"Did you catch them in their room?" he asked.

"No, they were coming out from the bar." Shannon breathed out easy. "Jeffy, were they drunk?"

"Yes, but …." Shannon cut him off.

"They were drunk, so pay no heed to what they did. It's all a misunderstanding," Shannon comforted him.

"But, what if they have feelings for each other?"

"Jeffy, listen to me carefully. Randy called me yesterday. He's worried that he might lose you and he wanted me to help him by providing him with all the little details about you. Take it from me, there's nothing going on between him and John. He told me that he can't lose you, that he can't go on without you and that you mean everything to him. I believe him."

"H..he said all that?" Jeff asked as his heart lifted with joy, a smile slowly breaking on his face.

"Yes, he did. Are you feeling better?" Jeff swore he could hear him smile.

"Thanks, Shanny! I'm glad I called you! I'm spending the day with Randy today. I'll call you tonight and let you know how it went. Bye!" He hung up quickly and headed immediately into the shower, eager to meet up with his Randy pooh.

Shannon grinned as he hung up. He had done Randy a favor and somehow, it seemed the right thing to do. "But what about John?" he asked himself. Cena struck him as a nice guy and he didn't want to be bias. "It's up to Jeff really who he wants to be with. I need to talk to him tonight and find out what's going on." On the spur of the moment, he dialed Carlito's number.

"Hi Carly, whatcha doing?" he asked. After several minutes of conversation, he found out from his long distance boyfriend the trouble Morrison caused. He couldn't help chuckling and finally told Carlito that he had talked Jeff around to forgiving his drunken boyfriends.

"Well, that was easy," Carlito said. "I thought Morrison was a sitting duck. Randy has a terrible temper."

Shannon frowned, "He does?"

Carlito detected the note of anxiety in his voice and said quickly, "Don't get the wrong idea. He won't hurt Jeff if that's what you're worried about. I mean, everyone can see the attention he showers on Jeff. And, of course, you can't push John out of the picture. He and Jeff have amazing chemistry. They get along very well and John's very protective of him. And, we mustn't forget Adam."

"Looks like Jeffy is going to have a hard time on his hands deciding who he wants to be with," Shannon said with a sigh.

"We'll just have to wait and see. So, what's going on with you?"

Their conversation was interrupted when Carlito excused himself for a minute. Shannon heard voices in the background and then shouting. There was a crashing sound followed by more shouting. He waited anxiously for Carlito and after several minutes, he spoke urgently into the phone, "Shan, I have to call you back later! Morrison is getting trounced by Randy!" and the call was cut off.

"Shit! I better call Jeff and let him know what's going on." As he made the call, he prayed that Randy didn't hurt Morrison too badly.

-ooo-

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