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Her eyes fluttered open slowly as she came awake. She was momentarily disoriented as she felt a strong arm draped over her torso, hair that felt different than what she was used to just brushing against her cheek.
As Ashley's eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, it all came flooding back to her. She and Matt had had a fight... Carlito - she had gone to him, and he'd let her stay the night.
He was apparently sound asleep, his arm draped over her, his head turned toward her, eyes closed. He looked sweet...
... He *was* sweet. The blonde thought she might have been a bit overbearing when she'd come here to his hotel room and asked to stay the rest of the night. There was only one bed, so naturally they'd had to sleep together. And Charlie had respected her; he had scooted way over to one side of the bed so she could have the other - but somehow, during sleep, they'd moved over, close to one another to the point of this.
As gently as she could manage, Ashley moved the man's arm and slid as gingerly as possible out of the bed. Damn it... Thanks to her broken leg, this wasn't going to be an easy task. She had to hop to the opposite wall for her crutches.
The sound of Carlito suddenly mumbling in his sleep in Spanish startled her. Her gaze shifted over to him, and she saw he was also moving around but was still apparently asleep. He seemed to be searching for something in the bed, feeling around - for her? And then, the one word she recognized emerged from his sleepy lips was her own name.
"Ashley..."
The blonde's heart was hammering as she stood there on her one good foot, the other up as she held onto the desk chair for support. She felt so safe here with Carlito, like she never wanted to leave.
But she knew she had to. No doubt, Matt would interrogate her after she'd spent nearly all the wee hours of the morning elsewhere... And lord only knew what he would do if he found out she'd been with another man - even if it hadn't been in *that* way.
She had come over barefoot, without shoes, so it would be a somewhat less noisy exit. She limped the rest of the way to her crutches, careful about bumping into anything. Somehow, she kept quiet enough that Carlito remained asleep.
When she reached the door, Ashley turned back again. Sure enough, the young man was still asleep. He'd stopped shifting and talking in his sleep and was still again.
Her heart caught at the sight of him... She raised a hand to her lips and blew him a kiss before slipping out of the hotel room.
*
*That Night, RAW*
"Hey, can I talk to you two?"
Trish and Amy looked up from their small conversation to see Ashley there, propped up by her crutches. There was an expectant and anticipatory look on her face, plus something more that amy was unable to describe.
Trish nodded and spoke first.
"Sure... What's up, Ash?"
The taller blonde gingerly lowered herself to sit in one of the two free chairs at the table. They were in catering, a very open area where anyone could wander in or over to them, so she would have to be extra specially discreet. Fortunately, Matt had gone home while she'd attended RAW. And although there was nothing planned on the show for her tonight, she sure as hell hadn't been about to tell the elder Hardy that.
"I spent the night with Charlie," she blurted, her eyes closing.
Amy and Trish exchanged confused glances. Charlie? But then, the redhead rememebred that the blonde called Carlito by that name, and shock coursed through her. She could tell from the expression on the Canadian woman's face that she felt a similar emotion.
"You what?!" Trish asked in a loud whisper.
"It's not like that," Ashley said as she shook her head. Not that she would have *minded* if it had been that way.
"Matt and I had a huge fight last night," she explained. "He... He even slapped me." As she spoke that last admission, she bowed her head in shame and embarrassment.
Trish's eyes widened, and a gasp escaped her while Amy wasn't all that surprised.
"That bastard!"
"We made up," Ashley went on, still embarrassed. "But..." She shook her head. "... He's cheating on me. I *know* he is!"
The redhead eyed the younger woman with empathy. She knew just what Ashley was going through, although Matt had never struck her when they'd been together. But she knew the man had cheated during their relationship, particularly during her neck injury. Naturally, Matt had never admitted it and insisted he'd been the perfect boyfriend, but she knew... She'd *always* known.
"Oh, my... Honey, are you okay?" the little blonde was asking. She examined the other woman's face, as though searching for a slap mark. "I could just punch out that son of a bitch myself!"
"Physically, I'm okay." Ashley met the redhead's hazel eyes, and the two shared a silent communication. The blonde could see it in Amy's eyes - Matt had cheated on *her*, too.
Shortly after, Trish remembered something else the Diva Search winner had revealed to them.
"So, wait... What happened with Carlito? You were saying...?"
Ashley swallowed hard, fighting back the tears.
"I went to him after the fight," she explained. "I had to talk to someone... Someone who cares." She had a sudden flashback of the previous night, to when she'd been hoping Charlie would kiss her. She'd wanted it so badly, but he had moved away from her. However, due to her vulnerability, she admired the fact that he had done that. What a special guy he was...
"And, well... I asked him if I could stay with him the rest of the night. When I told him Matt hurt me, he..." Her voice lowered even more. "... He said if he ever did it again, he would kill him."
The last words didn't phase Amy in the least. Adam had said the same thing to her, but about Matt hurting her in other ways than physical. What struck her was that Carlito must have been harboring pretty deep feelings for the blonde, and not merely friendship.
"I... I wanted to kiss him last night, ladies... I really wanted to." Ashley felt her face flushing red at the admission.
Amy and Trish again exchanged glances, and the redhead knew they were both thinking the same thing.