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*Royal Rumble, January 29, 2006*
"I'll meet you inside, okay, babe?" Adam eyed the redhead as he lugged his suitcase out of the rental car. He had to go and meet with John Cena and with Vince once again prior to the pay-per-view. He certainly wasn't looking forward to facing McMahon again since their last meeting on Monday.
"All right," Amy replied with a short nod. She was pretty slow to unload her stuff and as usual, fashionably late. She felt bad, though, because the blond man had had no choice but to ride with her when they'd been sharing the rental. She hoped he made it just in time for the meeting and sighed as she leaned over the driver's seat to reach for one of her bags in the back.
The redhead's guard shot up as suddenly, she heard the distinct sound of someone entering the car on the passenger's side where Adam had left a moment ago. The door slammed shut, and she turned around in her kneeled position in the seat, her heart lurching as she cast a glance at the intruder...
... It was Matt Hardy - her ex-boyfriend.
"What the...? You scared me half to death!" she cried, annoyance running through her. What the hell was he doing getting into her rental car, anyway?
"I'm sorry, Amy," the dark-haired man said, putting both hands up as though to appease her. "I just got here a little while ago, saw you and had to come over... Long time no see."
"Um... Yeah," Amy said as she pulled her bag into the front seat with her and straightened out in the driver's seat. She felt extremely uncomfortable, and strange. What did he want? What could he *possibly* want?
Matt was silent for a beat as he eyed her. Then, "I heard you got a bit of a scare a couple of weeks ago... Lisa sent you a box of dead roses?"
The redhead rolled her eyes... It didn't surprise her that this news had reached his ears. As much as she loved Trish Stratus, her blonde friend had a *really* big mouth. She was a bit of a gossip, and stuff had a tendency of leaking out and reaching other people.
"Yeah... That did happen."
The man shook his head.
"That's horrible," he said. "You would think she would have gotten over things by now."
Amy stared at him wordlessly, but she couldn't believe her ears... Matt Hardy saying someone else should get over something was ludicrous - he should have learned to take his own advice months ago.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Nothing else has happened since then." The truth was, she'd put the incident out of her mind over the span of the last two weeks, as she'd had bigger things on her mind. She hadn't received anymore late night phone calls, either, so things were probably back to normal.
"Good." Matt smiled at her. "Look, I know we haven't exactly been friends in awhile, but I'd really like to be... Again."
The redhead cocked her head as she looked into his brown eyes. Somehow, he sounded and even looked sincere, but she was wary where he was concerned - and why shouldn't she be? The memory of those incriminating photos online of the dark-haired man kissing Adam's ex-wife briefly flitted through her head, but she shook it off. It was too vile for words.
"Well... Okay. I guess we can call a truce again," she said. "I appreciate your concern, too." She managed a tiny smile, although her guard was still somewhat up. The last time she'd trusted Hardy, he'd been calling her a whore and shooting at and running over a picture of her on his online show.
"Cool," Matt said, his smile enlarging. "I just wanted to say hi and see how you were, and..." He hooked a thumb over one shoulder. "... Well, I should be getting into the arena in a bit."
"Okay," the diva said. She didn't say anything more as her former boyfriend unlocked the door and left. He waved at her before trotting off.
Amy bit her lip, wondering what he must be thinking - and what Adam would think or how he would react if he knew Matt had approached her. The tall blond man trusted her wholeheartedly, and he'd been fine with it previously when she had tried to be friends with her ex... Still, she couldn't be sure exactly how he would react just now.
She unlocked the driver's side door of the rental, her bag in tow, and exited. She needed to go into the trunk and get her suitcase and head into the arena. As she was unlocking the trunk, she noticed a group of fans in her peripheral vision, watching her - and apparently, talking about her as well. She knew exactly what must be going through their minds, too - seeing her and Matt in the car together, they could have a myriad of thoughts about that. Amy wanted to roll her eyes as she knew the headline, "Matt Hardy & Lita Back Together" would turn up on one IWC site or another.
As she pulled her suitcase out, she managed to keep her eyes ahead and didn't pay any heed to anyone else.
*
Ashley Massaro squealed with delight as she finally spotted her boyfriend entering the backstage area. She waved but then frowned as she caught the expression on his face. He actually seemed to be muttering to himself, under his breath.
"Hey... What's wrong?"
"Hey, Ash." Matt leaned down to kiss the pretty blonde and shook his head as he straightened up. "Nothing. I just saw someone outside, that's all."
Ashley arched one eyebrow and wondered what he was talking about but then realized he must have been talking about his former friend Adam Copeland. She hooked her arm into his and held on as she walked with him to his locker room.
"Oh... Sucks about him losing the WWE title tonight, though," she said casually.
This time, a grin came to the dark-haired man's face. He'd been pretty much relishing in the news upon first hearing it. Good... That bastard Copeland never deserved to be champion in the first place. If anything, he should have been released for all the hell he'd put him through.
"Are you kidding?" he asked as Ashley walked him all the way to the locker room. "This is the best news I've heard in ages." He was still smiling quite largely as they stepped into the room, and he dropped his bag on the floor. "He's getting exactly what he deserves."
The blonde shrugged. This was the sort of conversation with Matt that made her very uncomfortable. She didn't know Adam very well - same went for Amy - but the Canadian was a talented wrestler, and in her opinion, he deserved to be champion.
"I don't think so," she said. "He's getting a raw deal." She grew uneasy as her boyfriend looked up to stare into her eyes, his own orbs appearing cold. She explained herself. "I mean, come on - he's brought in such high ratings for RAW and all. He doesn't deserve to be stripped of the belt so soon."
Matt somehow managed to keep from rolling his eyes. In truth, he just wished Ash would go away. She was pretty to look at and all, but she was beginning to aggravate him.
"Hey, don't you have a match to get ready for?" he asked.
The diva search winner was taken aback. She bit her lip and nodded. She would be facing Mickie James later on, with Trish as the special referee.
"Yeah... I do. Okay, I'll see you later, honey." She came forward and pressed a kiss to Matt's cheek before she slipped out of his locker room. Once out in the hallway, she couldn't help but feel as though her heart had sunk. He'd been so... cold.
Ashley stood there for a moment before continuing to the women's locker room. She didn't notice the person watching her
intently the entire time.