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"Ashley! Hey, Ashley!"
Jeff continued knocking on the screen door as he peered into the house, concern hitting him as he realized the door was wide open. Where was she? He couldn't imagine the blonde would have gone out and left her house unlocked.
He suddenly heard a small scuttling sound, and the diva's dog, Tobey, came over to sniff at him through the door. The black and white pooch began to not bark, but rather, yap, wagging his short tail excitedly.
Jeff cupped a hand over his eyes as he tried looking in through the door again. He knew she had to be there, but where was she? Why wasn't she answering? And then, suddenly, he realized he had missed her. She was there after all, sitting on the floor on one side of the living room, barely visible to his eyes. She had her back against one wall, her legs up and bent before her, her arms wrapped around them, hugging them against herself protectively. And if the rainbow-haired man didn't know better, he could swear she was crying.
"Ashley!" Telling himself, To hell with it, Jeff tested the latch on the screen door. It was indeed open, and so, he let himself in. He ignored Tobey for the time being, concerned as he approached the blonde woman.
"Hey." He knelt to her level and even waved a hand in front of her face. She was indeed crying, and she seemed to be in another place. He repositioned himself so that he was sitting Indian-style in front of her. He reached over, placing his hand on one of hers. "Are you okay? Please talk to me."
Ashley finally looked up to meet his eyes, and her own were full of tears. There was such an expression of hopelessness in them that Jeff felt as though his heart were breaking. As long as he'd known this woman, she'd always been so vibrant and happy, full of energy and life. Now, she looked desolate and devoid of happiness.
"Ash... Don't cry."
She shook her head, her gaze falling to his hand that was covering her own.
"You're right," she said, sniffling. She raised her other hand to wipe at the tears. "I shouldn't cry. It's just that I'm so angry, so hurt that he would say such vicious things."
Of course, the young man knew who she was referring to. His features hardened into a frown for a split second, and he looked down. He wondered if Ashley had done the same thing he had and called Matt to confront him about his blog.
"You spoke to Matt, didn't you?"
Ashley nodded, and somehow, she managed to keep the tears from returning. She recalled what her ex had said, the lie he'd told her over the phone. Sure, he was really talking about Adam Copeland and Amy Dumas... Sure.
"I called him about an hour ago," the blonde elaborated. "I wasn't going to do that at all, but when I read his new blog-"
"He's got another new blog?" Jeff questioned. His brows rose for a beat until the frown returned to his face. What more could his brother have said about them?
She nodded, pushing herself up to stand. She strode over to her computer, and Jeff rose and followed her.
"Look at this... He tried to cover up with a lie about who he was talking about in the first blog," Ashley said. "It's also pretty cryptic... But let's face it," she continued, meeting his green eyes as she looked at him from over her shoulder, "you and I both know him like a book."
He nodded. That was one-hundred percent true. He sat down at the computer as the woman gestured for him to do so and started reading what was open on the monitor. It was exactly what Matt had told him when he'd confronted him the other day. His eyes narrowed as he took it all in.
"Yeah, he said the same thing to me when I called him... Who the hell does he think he's foolin'?" Jeff muttered aloud. He knew who his brother's friends were, and with whom he hung out. Adam Copeland was not among those people. Although the two had once been close, their friendship had ended in the midst of the love triangle over Amy Dumas just over three years earlier. There was no way in hell Matt was referring to them - although that was what he claimed right here.
Disgusted, Jeff pushed the chair out and stood up. He had to get away from the computer before he smashed a fist into the keyboard. He normally didn't have much of a temper, but this was enough to push him over the edge. He sat down on the sofa instead, burying his face in his hands as he tried to grasp control over his emotions. He felt Ashley sit down near him a moment later. He felt her small hand suddenly on his shoulder.
Jeff looked up, meeting her concern-filled blue eyes. He'd come over wanting to find out how she was doing since the previous day. He had also felt badly about blowing her off for dinner and had wanted to make it up to her.
"You want to get out of here?" he suddenly asked her. He knew it sounded so out of the blue, but what the hell?
Ashley's expression changed for a second. She thought it over quickly and then nodded.
"Yeah... I think I'd like that," she replied.
She had no idea that was going to mark the beginning of something truly amazing.