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The young man wore a smile on his face, his heart catching at the scene he beheld on the TV monitor. He was actually getting choked up.
Jeff Hardy swallowed back the lump of happiness he felt forming in his throat before turning toward his brother.
"See, Matt? He really *does* love her..." His green eyes traveled back to the television screen, where his best friend, Amy Dumas, was now shedding tears of joy. Her boyfriend - another good friend of his - Adam Copeland - had just announced to the redhead and the world, that he loved her. The pair had been together just over a year now, though they'd started out as just occasional and then frequent sex partners. But after a short while Amy had come to Jeff and confessed that she had fallen in love with Adam. For a long time, the young woman had had doubts that the blond man reciprocated her feelings. On top of that, she had even broken up with him for a few weeks after learning Adam had pretended to have been involved with their friend Trish Stratus at the start of their relationship. Jeff didn't quite know exactly what had happened, but his two friends had gotten back together - evidently only last night.
And Jeff couldn't be happier for them. He knew Adam and Amy were truly in love...
"I don't like this..."
The sound of his brother's voice cut into the young man's thoughts and happy mood. The look on Matt's face was a displeased, dark one.
Jeff couldn't believe his sibling could still feel so negatively about Adam after his heartfelt admission and display in the center of the wrestling ring. He was seriously beginning to wonder if Matt had a heart made of stone.
As the rainbow-haired man eyed his dark-haired brother expectantly, Matt spoke again.
"I don't trust him... And I don't buy this little display for a minute."
Jeff stared at him in utter amazement. Sometimes, Matt could really be impossible. He was stubborn, hard-headed and had some pretty warped ideas. And once he made up his mind about something, it was damn near impossible to get him to change it. *This* was a definitely testimonial to that fact.
"C'mon, Matt - it's so obvious it's not an act... Adam *loves* her," he protested.
The darker Hardy stared at his younger brother as though he were insane - or just plain naive. After a beat, he shook his head.
"You're just damn gullible, Jeff..."
"Well, *I* don't think so," the younger man said firmly. "And I know you're wrong about Adam. You *know* he's a good guy. I mean... good grief, Matt! Have you forgotten he's our *friend*?" Jeff shook his head in frustration as he recalled that he'd been asking Matt that very question multiple times in the not-so-distant past.
For once, the dark-haired man had no response. However, the expression on his face as he turned back to eye the monitor spoke volumes. And there was something in Matt's brown eyes that Jeff did not like...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amy Dumas looked adoringly up at Adam Copeland as they made their way to gorilla position. She loved what she saw in his handsome face and green eyes - kindness, sweetness, compassion, and, most and best of all, love... Love for *her*.
To think she'd doubted his feeling... While it was true that he'd had trouble saying the actual words throughout the majority of their relationship, she now knew he loved her. And, like an insecure teenage boy, he'd played a silly game to see if she possibly had feelings for him in pretending something had been going on between himself and Trish. Amy felt a little silly about all that now - because if Adam and Trish had really had a thing going on, she surely would have found out about it way back. Likewise, of *course* Adam had loved her - if he *hadn't*, he would have been fucking who knows how many other women? And she knew he'd only been sleeping with her and no one else. For God's sake, the only time they'd spent apart was when they were trying to throw others off their trail... Others like Matt Hardy.
When she reflected over the course of their relationship, she could hardly believe it herself. They'd actually started out hating each other's guts... Well, maybe that was a bit harsh, but they certainly hadn't *liked* each other. But then, that night in early November of 2000 - the night he and Jay Reso - as Edge and Christian - had caused her to lose the WWF Women's title - had changed their lives drastically. That had been the night when they'd first had sex. From then, they'd sort of become friends with benefits, only they hadn't exactly been *friends*.
She looked down to her left wrist, around which Adam's right hand was curled. He wasn't holding her hand because it, along with her right, was bandaged. Bandaged... That, of course, was partly as a result of her suicide attempt from the previous night. She shuddered as she thought about it... She could have been dead right now instead of walking through this arena hallway beside this beautiful blond Canadian man with whom she was so madly in love - who was so madly in love with *her*...
They suddenly reached Adam's locker room, and stopped in front of the door as he gently turned her to face him. There was a soft smile playing at the tall blond man's lips.
"No more hiding or sneaking around... I love you, Ames," he said, green eyes sparkling as he gazed down into her hazel.
She felt a tugging on her heartstrings as he placed one of his hands against her cheek.
"I love you, too, Adam..."
A second later, when they were locked in a passionate kiss, they failed to realize that someone was watching them with the utmost displeasure...