Fire and Ice/The Fine Line Between Love and Hate


Amy left the shower room and headed back to the Hardys' locker room carrying her shampoo and soap in a plastic bag.  She sighed audibly as she shoved her stuff into her bag, then stood up, running her hand through her damp red hair.

She was glad that Matt and Jeff weren't around at the moment.  But just as soon as she had that thought, the door swung open and the two brothers bounded in, bickering about something.

"Ames!" Jeff exclaimed when he saw her standing there.  "Adam was here before..."

"Jeff!"  Matt gave his brother a dirty look.

"Oh?"  The redhead's brows rose briefly in surprise, but just as quickly, her neutral expression returned.  However, on the inside, she was crying.

"Yeah..."  Then, "Will you give it up already!" the young man yelled as he turned from Amy to glare at Matt, who'd been nudging him, poking him in the ribs with an elbow and annoying him in the process.  Then, turning back to the redhead, he said, "He said he wants to talk to you.  I hope you don't mind that I told him you were in the shower and that he should come back in ten minutes."

"When was this exactly?"

The rainbow-headed Hardy brother checked his watch.  "Just over five minutes ago..."

Amy looked down at the floor, thoughtful for a moment as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.  Then, she met Jeff's gaze and said, "Oh...Well, too bad I got out early, huh?"  She knelt down to pick up her bag, then grabbed her jacket from the back of a nearby chair.  Afterward, she stepped across the Hardys and to the door.

"I'm going back to the hotel."

"Ames?"

The redhead turned back at Jeff's utterance of her nickname, but Matt waved at her.

"Let her go, Jeff," the dark-haired man said in a warning tone.

"Actually, there's one more thing..." Amy said, sighing softly.  "Jeff...come here..."

The young man blinked, turning to eye his brother for a beat before approaching her.

The redheaded diva dropped her bag to slip into her jacket, then slid her hand into one of its pockets.

"Here," she said, placing whatever it was she'd pulled out and putting it into Jeff's hand.  "I'm trusting you with this..."  She stared seriously and unwaveringly up into his green eyes.  After a moment, she knelt down for her bag, hefted it over her shoulder and left.

Jeff stood in the locker room's doorway, watching the redhead's retreating form for awhile until his brother's voice brought him back to his senses.

"Jeff, what is it?  What'd Amy give you?"

The young man looked down at the object clutched in his right hand before looking back at the older man.

"A keycard...A spare keycard for her hotel room..."

Matt frowned, not knowing what to say or make of that.

*

Somehow, Amy managed to keep all of the tears she felt coming inside as she walked at a brisk pace out to the parking lot and to her rental car.  Damn it... She didn't want to break down right here.  Not now.  There were too many people out here.

She ignored all of the stares of fellow WWF superstars, staff and whatever fans might have actually gotten into the parking lot.  All she could think of was returning to her lonely hotel room and having herself a good cry - another good cry.

As the redhead slipped into the driver's seat of her rental, she wondered who the hell had come up with such a stupid saying.  There was no such thing as a 'good cry.'  Well, maybe when you shed tears of joy, but not when you felt as though your heart had been shattered into fifty-million pieces!

Amy put the car in reverse, backing out of her space with careful precision despite her horrible mood.  She'd been literally counting the seconds until Vengeance had ended, and she would finally get to leave this damn arena.  She sighed as she wished her sorrow could at least have taken a vacation for the sake of the pay-per-view.  But what difference would that make?  Tomorrow night, she would have to deal with RAW - and then, the night after, SmackDown.

She drove out of the parking lot, pressing her foot a bit harder on the accelerator and sped down the block a little faster than the allotted speed limit.  God damn it... As she braked for the first red light she came to, she felt the tears coming.  Shit... She couldn't afford to break down now - not while she was behind the wheel of a moving vehicle that weighed a ton.

Amy was lucky in the sense that she didn't suddenly sob or cry out.  Instead, she managed to keep her crying silent, a few tears running down her cheeks.  She knew that the moment she stepped into her hotel room, she would totally lose it.

Damn... She hated her situation.  She hated Adam for what he'd done, for how he'd broken her heart.  Yet, at the same time, she loved him - she could never stop loving him.  And a sudden knowledge tore away at her.

She knew she couldn't live without him.  She didn't want to live without him.  And she suddenly decided that, once she was back in her hotel room, she was going to do something about it...











Part 36

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