A/N: Hello everyone! I'm trying to space out the updates, but here's another one for you! Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I'm enjoying the writing process, especially since I got so much help from my friend, a fellow writer on here. I honestly couldn't do this without her and I'm just so thankful for her support. All of your support means the world to me, so thank you for liking the story! Things are starting to get crazy, but thankfully I have a few chapters already written out. Currently writing chapter seven of this story and I'm making good progress. Thank you for all the love!

Three

Stephen exited his car and sighed. Matt had texted him the night of the barbecue insisting that he had to speak to him before he left. Emerson had told him that they knew of her condition, that they knew she lost her memories. He wasn't exactly looking forward to this conversation. He didn't feel the need to justify his actions concerning his younger sister. It was none of their business. Years of friendship aside, Emerson was his family, not Matt's or Jeff's.

Locking his car, he made his way to the front door, which opened revealing Matt.

Stephen smirked. "Just you?"

"Jeff doesn't need to be here for this, he might try to strangle you and I don't have the heart to stop him this time." Matt stepped aside to let Stephen in, closing the door after him.

"Where's Amaya?" Stephen had met Amaya when Matt was still dating her four years ago. She was a nice girl and was a great fit for Matt.

"She went out to do some errands." Matt replied. He had asked his wife to go over his father's for a while; he wanted it to be just him and Stephen. Amaya didn't need to be there for the conversation.

Matt led him to the kitchen which was located next to the dining table that overlooked Matt's backyard. Though his backyard was basically a forest, but still a backyard. They sat across from one another, Stephen waited for Matt to speak, he wasn't exactly sure how he should start the conversation since he didn't know the questions Matt had.

"You're an asshole, you know that right?" Matt started.

"I do, many reasons why I'm asshole, want to tell me why you're calling me one?" Stephen questioned.

"Look, you have a vendetta against Jeff, fine, but for you to not tell any of us that she lost her memory, that was fucked up." Matt sneered. "Closing all of us off was not only unfair to us, but to Emerson as well. Didn't she ever ask about us? Why we weren't speaking to her?"

Emerson asked about the Hardy's, Shannon, and Shane quite often. She wondered why they were no longer around or why they never visited. Moving was never in Emerson's plans, even when she broke up with Jeff. She was going to tough it out and stay in North Carolina because that's where home was for her. Stephen felt awful, he did, as hard as it was to believe, he felt terrible. But he did what he did for his sister and he wasn't alone in this, Vanessa was on board as well. Not like he was trying to place blame, but losing your memory was traumatic, he wanted Emerson to stay close so they can be with her at all times.

Sure, he was in New Orleans, but Vanessa was in Texas. At least she had someone there who could always look out for her. Maybe he could be accused of being overprotective, but he lost his younger sister once, it wasn't going to happen again.

"I'm not going to apologize." Stephen began. "I did what I had to do for my younger sister, we spoke about this before this all went down, remember?"

Matt opened the door and was surprised to find Stephen on the other side. He gestured for his old friend to come in, telling him he was just preparing dinner.

"Did you want some?" Matt questioned.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you." Stephen replied, sitting by the island counter Matt had at the center of his kitchen. "About Jeff and Emerson."

It was an end of an era. Jeff and Emerson finally broke up. Sure, they had their break-up's before, but Jeff was always able to win Emerson back. But this time around, Emerson walked away before Jeff could even begin forming a plan to win her back. Whenever Jeff tried to call her, she wasn't answering. He would call her siblings, but that's a lost cause. When he would come by the house, Emerson was never home. He thought it was a lie, but Vanessa would even let Jeff look around the house and he never once saw Emerson.

Matt felt horrible that it ended the way it did, but Emerson had to walk away before Jeff dragged her with him. Jeff was not in a good place and the last thing any of them wanted was for Emerson to be dragged down. He was going to talk to Emerson, to try and convince her that she could be there for Jeff, just not in a romantic stand point, it was the last thing Jeff needed. But before he could even say anything, Candice, the girl Jeff was having an affair with, came clean to Emerson. He hasn't told Jeff, but he was certain his younger brother would find out soon.

"I was going to try and convince her to leave, that she could be there for Jeff without being with him, but Candice beat me to it." Matt turned off the stove, knowing that he wouldn't be able to give the food his attention. "I love my brother, I'd do anything to keep him happy, but I just couldn't keep watching Emerson be dragged down with him. If he wants to do drugs, that's on him, but to constantly have Emerson there, just picking up the pieces, it was too much."

"You did the right thing," Stephen commended him. "Jeff's a friend, but I'm not going to let him keep doing this to Emerson. She deserves better. Sure ain't Alexander, but they deserve better."

"They?"

"I mean Emerson and Jeff. Emerson deserves a better boyfriend and Jeff should clean up his damn act." Stephen explained. "I'm not the biggest fan of Alexander, but I can't deny that my sister listens to him like he's the second coming of Jesus Christ. Never understood it, he flakes more than anyone I've ever met, but she still believes in him."

"She sees the good in people?" Matt shrugged. "Emerson isn't waiting for him, he's just there when she needs him the most, but he usually disappears afterwards."

"Flake." Stephen shook his head. "How's Jeff?"

"Miserable."

That was one way of putting it. Jeff was no longer employed by the WWE, reasoning that he wanted to heal his injuries, which was not a lie. Jeff's had a few lingering injuries and with the E's schedule, it would be difficult to heal. And his head wasn't in the game, he had to take some time off, to collect himself. Matt was pretty sure he was using again as well; he could see the signs.

"You should take him to rehab, I'm just scared he's going to overdose with Emerson no longer around." Stephen voiced out.

"Makes the two of us, I have my dad checking in on him, but we learned with Jeff. You can't make him do something he doesn't want to do. He feels that these pills are helping him, so what can we do?" Matt was frustrated. It was the same thing. He wanted to help Jeff, they all did, but you can't help someone who doesn't think they need help. It was nearly impossible. He wasn't going to keep forcing Jeff; it was hopeless.

"No, you can't, just like Emerson." Stephen chuckled. "Unless you drag her kicking and screaming. So does Jeff know about Candice telling Emerson?"

"I don't think so," Matt shook his head. "I'm surprised Candice hasn't tried reaching out to him since she knows they're over. She saw Emerson the night she came to the house show."

"Emerson told us," Stephen nodded. "Listen, I'm not Jeff's biggest fan, but it sucks seeing my little sister as broken up as she is."

"Yeah, I can't imagine what she's going through, how is she doing?"

"She takes it one day at a time, there are days she's okay and other days where she just keeps to herself."

"It'll get better right?"

"Yeah, it will,"

"She doesn't want to see Jeff or you won't let her see Jeff?"

"You and I both know that I can't make Emerson do anything, it was her choice. She knows what would happen if she did, she would give in and stay." Stephen sighed. "Emerson is a strong woman, that's not something I ever doubted, but the way she stayed with Jeff, it was pathetic. She knew Jeff started cheating on her way before this Candice incident, but what did she do? Look the other way, doesn't fucking make sense to me."

Matt nodded. It didn't make sense, but Emerson had talked to him about it. When Emerson stopped traveling with Jeff and stayed home to manage her bakery, things started changing. By that time, Jeff was already involved in drugs, but it wasn't as bad as it was now. Either way, Jeff partied hard and had fun, while Emerson stayed home. He slept around, this he could attest to and he kept mum. It wasn't his business. Besides, Jeff always assured him that he loves Emerson; it was a slip of judgment. There would be months where Jeff didn't cheat on her then he would break it then he would be abstain again.

If Matt was going to be honest, the bakery started all of this. When Emerson started building a life of her own, things started going awry between her and Jeff. The problem wasn't the bakery, Jeff was supportive, it was the way Emerson went about getting the bakery that Jeff had much problems with.

"She was just afraid of what would happen if she walked away."

Stephen shook his head. "Still doesn't justify it, no offense, but your brother is a big boy, his mistakes are his own."

"But put yourself in Emerson's shoes, you're his girlfriend, you two basically share a life. She would feel guilty if she walked away and he overdosed while she wasn't there."

"Whatever man, I'm not going to excuse your brother's idiotic behavior."

"She's not leaving North Carolina?"

"She doesn't want to. I think it's a horrible choice, I'm pretty sure she'll run into Jeff."

"Jeff isn't working, I'm sure he's just waiting to see her at the shop."

"I'm still trying to convince her to start anew, she's a talented cake designer and her pastries are amazing, she can always start over." Stephen took out his phone to check if Vanessa called and there weren't any missed calls. "She's my baby sister man, you know I would do anything for her."

"Yeah, but take it form me, don't ever try to run your younger sibling's life, it doesn't get you anywhere." Matt advised.

Stephen chuckled. "You're telling me, sister's are so difficult."

"I definitely do not envy you, especially with a sister like Emerson." Matt chuckled as well. "No offense, she's amazing, but she's a fucking handful."

"Ugh, don't even get me started." Stephen rolled his eyes.

"We're good though?"

"You and me?"

"Yeah."

"Of course man, we're good, I know it's going to be weird for a while, but we're good."

"No on is faulting you for taking care of Emerson, that's your sister, it's understandable." Matt commended. "But you deliberately hid her when we could have helped her out."

"You could have, but I'm not going to dwell on that." Stephen was not apologetic. If Matt wanted an apology, he wasn't getting one from Stephen. What he did was justifiable to him, no matter how wrong it was to everyone else. "You should know, you would have done the same for Jeff."

"No I fucking wouldn't. If I knew certain people could help him, I would do anything I could to help him." Matt shook his head. "Stephen, your anger is understandable, but this is ridiculous."

"What do you want me to say Matt? You obviously asked me to come here for a reason."

"I just want to know the details, what happened?" Matt knew that he was battling a losing fight with Stephen. Stubbornness was a Leon trait. "When did the accident happen?"

"When Jeff called her after his arrest," Stephen replied. "We had gotten into an argument because she insisted on seeing Jeff, I was adamant that she didn't go. Jeff was in a bad place and my sister didn't need to be around that, especially since he just got out of jail. I should have stopped her." He regretted it, letting Emerson go that night. He blamed himself at first then he blamed Jeff, but it was Emerson's choice. Yet, he couldn't conclude to her accident not being his fault even though it was Emerson's choice. He felt like he could have done more and it pissed him off to no end. "Whenever she questioned things about the last few years, shit is hard man. Emerson is there, but she's different, she's not the same stubborn young woman who gave me shit about Jeff or about school. At times, she's so unquestioning that it's surreal."

"How hurt was she?"

"She had a few scratches, broken arm, but the most significant injury was to her head. She hit the window pretty hard when the car was t-boned." Stephen recalled. "The car was wrecked, I mean, the driver's side was basically indented in, I'm surprised the broken arm was the only thing she sustained, at least until we learned how severe the head injury was."

"Did she even know she was in a car accident?"

"No, she thought she had her wisdom teeth removed, which she did two weeks after her graduation." Stephen pursed his lips. "She was so afraid man, at least she remember some things, but to learn she was twenty-six and she's lived a life she doesn't remember, it was heartbreaking."

"Did she ask about us?"

"Oddly enough, her first question was where Jeff was, she didn't even know why she asked that." Stephen crossed his arms over his chest, looking up at the ceiling. "Jeff was the one who brought her in to get her wisdom teeth taken out, one of the times they were alone together and she had told me how interesting Jeff was. Could you imagine that? Jeff rarely interacted with my sister then, but first thing she asks about when she wakes up was Jeff."

"No matter what you do, it's like Jeff is embedded in her memory already." Matt laughed.

"Don't remind me," Stephen rolled his eyes. "I wasn't trying to erase Jeff, I just thought she would be able to remember without bringing her home here, that she would be okay. There was never a time table, but I thought she would remember within a couple of months."

"But she didn't?"

"No, she just got frustrated and became more closed off."

"Is that when you decided to bring her here?"

"Not exactly," Stephen chuckled. "She wouldn't talk to me and basically threatened to run away and come here. Teenager way of thinking, but I wasn't even surprised."

Matt laughed. "Ah, I remember those days, that's why I offered my house as her escape."

Stephen and Emerson always came to blows, especially when her mother died. They didn't always disagree, but when they did, Emerson always ran. It was her way of dealing with things since she didn't want to stay home. There were several times that Vanessa and Stephen would call Matt or Gil, Jeff and Matt's father, if Emerson were at their home. Eventually, Matt offered Emerson an escape. Whenever she was feeling overwhelmed, she was welcomed at his house.

"You know what Matt, I'll apologize for excluding you, you truly looked after my sister." Stephen had to give it to Matt. When he wasn't there and enjoying his life in New Orleans, Matt took care of his sister at the best of his ability. There were flaws with the way he handled the situation, but again, he was not apologetic for closing some people off, specifically Jeff.

"You're still an asshole."

Stephen laughed. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

"So what's the plan now? Where does she go from here? Does she work?" Matt questioned.

"She's just going to start her life over."

"What?"

"Emerson has basically resigned herself to the way her life is now, that she's not going to remember anything. If she remembers, she remembers, if not, she'll learn to live her life." Stephen placed his elbows against the counter, leaning against it. "It's stupid, but what can I do? It gets frustrating because she doesn't remember shit. Not even when Alexander comes to town."

"Why? Does he still have his savior complex?"

"Oh you know it." Stephen didn't like Alexander, not even a little bit. He liked Jeff more than Alexander, way more. "I never understood Alex, he seemed so in love with my sister, yet, he never tried to make a move, not even now and she's back in the 'Alex is my whole world' binge."

"She's back to that?" Matt groaned. "Things just keep getting better and better."

"Right? Alex always came when my sister was in trouble, he felt that he had to save my sister or something, especially from Jeff." Stephen said.

"So, did Emerson ever ask what she did all these years she missed?"

Stephen nodded. "She did, we told her about the bakery, which she seemed surprised about, but we left out anything more complicated than that."

"Nice way of saying we left out Jeff."

"Hey, what else can I say? It would complicate things, we're just letting her remember on her own, if she ever remembered something about her and Jeff I would have answered." Stephen argued. "Emerson is still there, it's not like she changed all that much, but she's just missing some stuff."

"Do you think she'll remember?" Matt questioned.

"We all hope Emerson remembers and with her being back where she grew up it might make things easier." Stephen replied. "But I'm not going to hold my breath either and make it seem like she'll remember just cause she's here. I want to stay optimistic, but sometimes, you have to face reality. We can always rebuild memories, I'm just happy she's alive."

While Stephen was at Matt's, Emerson had asked Jeff to come over to help her out with some things. No housework, she just wanted to ask him what happened after her wisdom teeth removal. She remembered how frightened she was coming in, thinking about the pain of the procedure. Regular dental work like fixing a cavity was already horrible for her, but wisdom teeth removal, they had to put her to sleep.

Once Jeff arrived, he noticed that Stephen wasn't there. Then he remembered about Matt's talk with Stephen. He wanted to be there, but Matt advised against it, citing that the last thing anyone needs was for Jeff to go to jail. Ringing the doorbell, Melody answered the door, pointing down the stairs to where Emerson was. He mouthed a thank you before making his way down to the basement.

He found Emerson sitting down on the couch, watching television. Her eyes drifted to him and she smiled.

"Hey Jeff! I'm surprising you're up with the amount of alcohol you put in your body yesterday." Emerson teased.

She did that before, whenever he had a little too much to drink. She'd be so annoying, but in the end, she would give him some aspirin and just cuddle with him till he felt better. He truly missed those days.

"I've trained myself over the years." Jeff chuckled as he sat beside her.

"You guys were always great drinkers." Emerson turned the television off.

"So, what's up? What did you need help with?" Jeff looked around, not seeing anything that would need any attention from him.

"I wanted to asked about my wisdom teeth removal."

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "Of all the things to ask about, why that?"

"It's the last thing I remember," Emerson explained. "When I woke up in the hospital, I was surprised to be in a hospital because I could have sworn to God I came to a dental office. So I asked for you and my brother had to explain what happened."

"I see," Jeff nodded his head. He couldn't help but feel happy that she asked for him. "What about your wisdom teeth removal? It was successful."

"Figured that much," Emerson laughed. "I just wanted to ask what happened afterwards, did you wait for me?"

Jeff was assigned to bring Emerson to the dental office. Stephen was running late at work and Vanessa was out of town. Matt was going to bring her, but he overslept, so he had called Jeff to bring Emerson to the dentist. He didn't want to at first, but he ended up going since he owed Matt a favor. Truth be told, he didn't regret going, hanging out with Emerson was pretty fucking fun. Jeff didn't spend that much alone time with Emerson, but when he did, he usually had a great time. Even though she was much younger than him.

Stephen was going to pick her up, but once Jeff was there, he just decided to wait for her. He did promise her that he would.

Emerson sat in Jeff's car looking out the window. It was an hour drive to the dentist and she really was not looking forward to this. She hated the dentist. Then again, who likes going to the dentist? But Emerson just really hated it. She could live through the cleaning, but anything that involves a drill and cutting inside the mouth was just not her thing.

"You alright?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, I just hate the dentist," Emerson looked over at Jeff and frowned. "Thanks for bringing me, Jeff. I honestly could have driven myself if I wasn't going to be incapacitated after the procedure."

Jeff laughed. "You passed the test? I didn't know you were taking it, you should have told me."

"Since four months ago?" Emerson replied. "Thanks for teaching me how to drive, by the way, Stephen is overbearing and Matt panicked too much."

Jeff laughed once more. "Not a problem, I understand the feeling. Matt tried to teach me how to drive and I had to refrain myself from throwing him out of the car."

Emerson laughed. "Matt's not that bad, sorta." She leaned back. "You should be resting, you just got off the road."

"Emmy, it's fine," Jeff reassured her.

She smiled, hearing Jeff call her Emmy. He rarely did it, but when he did, it always made her smile. It's the way he said it that just brought calm to her.

"How is life on the road? It must be amazing to be able to just see the world." Emerson commented.

"It is, but it gets extremely tiring."

"I'm sure it does, the way you guys put your body on the line, I can't even imagine the pain you go through."

"It's painful, but I'm doing what I love so it's not so bad." Jeff shrugged.

"Makes sense," Emerson nodded. "I was going to ask Alexander to bring me, but he flaked on me last minute."

"He seems to do that quite often." Jeff commented. It wasn't the first time he's heard the disappointment in Emerson's voice. He hated hearing it. She was a lovely girl who was hung up on a guy no one could count on. He's seen Alexander around, girls dropped to their feet for the kid. He didn't understand the attraction, but Emerson basically worshipped the ground he walked on.

"No, it's okay, he did tell me that there was a chance he might not be able to take me. I'm used to it, he said he'll visit me after the procedure." Emerson replied.

It was the hope in her voice that killed Jeff. He was certain Alexander would come, but the belief she had in this guy, it was crazy. It's like her whole world revolved around him. Well, it did, teenagers had the tendency to do that when it comes to the person they had deep feelings for.

"Emerson, you know you deserve better right? I'm sure Alexander is a great guy, but there are other fishes in the sea."

"I know, I'm not holding out hope that Alexander will love me," Emerson looked over at him. Jeff really liked her eyes, Emerson had these greenish-hazel eyes and they were just so captivating at times. "He's my best friend, he's always been there for me, he's always protected me, I can never thank him enough for that."

"Is this just a gratitude thing?"

"No, you see, for me at least, being a flake is horrible, but when I need him the most, Alexander is always there. For that I can forgive all the other times he's flaked on me."

It was noble, but he was certain that Emerson would eventually reach a breaking point with Alex.

"I mean that's on you." Jeff shrugged.

Emerson noticed that they were almost at the dentist. She could do this. She would be asleep, it shouldn't be that bad. "Will you be outside when I'm done?"

Jeff looked over at her and smiled. "Of course, I promise."

"Of course I did, why would I leave you?" Jeff questioned.

"I don't know, I guess I was hoping I would remember if you waited or not." Emerson gave him a small smile. "It sucks, not remembering anything, everyone moved on with their lives and here I am, just living a life I don't know nothing about."

Jeff frowned. "Don't say that, you'll get your memories back and even if you don't, you can always make new memories. The important thing is that you're safe."

"Yeah, wish my brother had the same sentiment as you did."

"Your brother? Why? Is Stephen giving you a hard time?" Jeff moved his body so that his right arm was leaning against the couch as he faced Emerson.

"He's just not supportive of my plans. Not exactly at least. We got into an argument yesterday when we got home from the barbeque and he was trying to convince me to go home again." Emerson sighed. "Make a long story short, Stephen is cutting me off."

Jeff bit his inner cheek, trying to refrain himself from bad mouthing her older brother. Stephen was always tough on Emerson. He had expectations for his younger sister, especially when their mother passed away. When their mother had passed, Stephen moved to New Orleans and insisted on taking his sister, but Matt offered his home to Emerson who didn't want to move. At that time, Vanessa was finishing school in Texas, so Emerson only had Stephen to go with. But Matt put his offer on the table, which was another reason Emerson and Jeff were able to become as close as they were; she stayed in North Carolina.

Stephen was a bit overbearing at times, but he never forced Emerson to do anything she didn't want to do. School was the only exception and Stephen made sure she finished. As siblings went, Stephen and Vanessa were great to Emerson, she was closer to her older sister, but that was expected. The three did well considering how hard they all took their mother's passing. It was the reason Stephen couldn't come back to North Carolina, too many memories of his mother.

"What do you mean cutting you off?" Jeff questioned.

"Initially, Stephen was going to pay the bills till I can find a steady job. But he said if I wanted to act like an adult, then I can learn how to be an adult and pay the bills." Emerson frowned. "I was being immature and a bitch, I just hated how he still wanted me to leave after I've moved. He can't be here for his reasons, but this is home for me."

"Why did he want you to leave?"

"I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact he won't be able to look after me," she shrugged. "His concern is appreciated, but he needs to get back to his life, I just feel bad because I feel that I'm holding him back when he should be with his family."

Jeff placed his hand on Emerson's hand that was on her lap. He gave it a soft squeeze. "Emerson, your brother loves you, everything he's doing he does it because he loves you. You're his family too."

"I know, but both of my siblings have literally put their lives on hold for three years, I think it's time for them to actually get back to their normal routine." Emerson sighed. "That's why I'm pushing to be here, so that they can just do their own thing. I don't need them breathing down my neck like I'm a five year old incapable of doing anything."

"You're not incapable, but they rather make sure you're comfortable, considering what happened."

"No offense, but I lost my memories not functionality of my body."

"But losing your memories is a disadvantage, you've basically been reverted back to your teenage years." Jeff felt the frustration coming. Emerson was a bit of a headache when she was eighteen. A little too opinionated at times and was stubborn.

"Wow, you're just like my brother," Emerson took her hand away from Jeff's touch and crossed her arms over her chest.

Jeff knew this all too well. It was what she used to do when she didn't get her way, when she acted like a fucking brat.

"I'm actually offended you would compare me to your brother, but I'll let it slide. I'm sure he won't cut you off when you don't have a job yet." Jeff didn't want to think badly of Stephen. He was an asshole, but he wasn't that much of an asshole.

"It's Stephen, he hardly jokes when it comes to these types of things. Besides that, I really pushed buttons yesterday and I don't blame him for cutting me off. I'm pissed, but I just have to try and find a job much quicker." Emerson frowned. "Or cut off some of my expenses like internet and cable."

"How are you going to be able to sleep at night?" Jeff knew Emerson kept her television on at night, it was her way of being able to sleep. It annoyed him, but he learned to live with it, hell he started doing the same thing.

"I'll figure it out, I have an iPod, I just need some background noise." Emerson smiled. "I still have a good amount in my savings, should be able to help me out while I figure things out. I guess I'll have to be an adult."

It wasn't like Emerson was spoiled, but when she was eighteen, everything was done for her by her siblings. The time she learned to fend for herself was when she started living at Matt's house and was alone most of the time. Sure, Matt and Jeff's dad checked on her, but otherwise, she was responsible for Matt's bills and all that good stuff. Now, she had to relearn everything.

Jeff felt like it wasn't fair for Stephen to just pull the plug on his younger sister. As protective as Stephen was, he wasn't beyond teaching Emerson a harsh lesson. He knew Stephen's game plan. If Emerson's not able to make it through, she'll call him and she won't have a choice, but to move back to Texas.

That wasn't happening, unless not under Jeff's watch. Like he told Melody, it was his turn to be selfish with Emerson.

"Have you started job hunting?"

"No, but I might ask Shannon if he knows anyone who is hiring." Emerson leaned back against the couch. "You know anyone hiring?"

"I'll inquire," Jeff followed her movement and looked up at the ceiling. It was surreal having Emerson back, but he was overjoyed. He missed her terribly and now she was back, nothing could ruin things for them, not even her memory loss.

First thing's first, he was going to talk to Stephen.