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*Later that week*
Matt Hardy sat glumly in the catering room at the arena. There were a few other superstars around, but he opted not to have anything to do with them. At the very moment, he was perfectly content to do as he was doing - sitting alone and wallowing in his seething anger.
He barely reacted as he heard two new voices suddenly intermingling with the others. Those belonged to Jay Reso and Trish Stratus - two people he'd considered good friends but who were much *better* friends with that scumbag Adam Copeland. He knew they had chosen Adam over himself. Hell, even his own damned brother was still seemingly friendly with the Canadian - and Amy as well.
All at once, he realized that Trish had stopped speaking. She'd been chattering away to her boyfriend a moment before, but now had shut up. A quick, almost disinterested glance her way told Matt that the diva had apparently stopped talking because of *his* presence. She was no doubt talking about *him*, and about Adam and Amy. It made his blood boil. It was just a good thing he hadn't seen the tall blond man tonight, or else he might have *really* snapped. Mere thoughts of Copeland were enough to make him violent. And, as far as Matt was concerned, the worst part of all was that Adam was indeed Amanda's biological father. Of course, he'd known all along that he himself wasn't her father, but knowing the blond man *was* made him more sick than just about anything he could imagine.
One thing that surprised him was that all the gossip about Amy and Adam had died down considerably. He'd opened his mouth to just about anyone who'd listen about the situation, but damn it, he had every right to. His girlfriend of five years had cheated on him - had an affair with one of his closest friends. And then, after all that, he'd had to find out that the two had a past together and that Amy's daughter was in fact by Adam.
"Matt?"
The dark-haired man looked up at the sound of his name. He met Jeff's eyes with naked annoyance, resenting the fact that his brother had interfered with his thoughts.
"What?" he snapped.
Jeff didn't flinch or even seem to mind his brother's hostile reaction toward him.
"I need to talk to you."
Matt eyed his younger sibling almost warily, but shrugged. Letting out a weary sigh, he spoke again.
"Not here, man. This has to be private."
Without a word of response, Matt rose from the chair and table, then started for the exit. Jeff followed closely behind him as they walked back to the locker room.
"Okay, we're alone now," the dark-haired man said when they arrived, Jeff shutting the door behind them. "What's so important that you need to talk to me about?"
The younger man shifted his green eyes downward, not sure about how to tell his brother. Undoubtedly, Matt would be upset... But he had no other choice than to tell him.
"It's about Adam and Amy," he finally said.
Matt made a face that clearly exhibited all of his disgust.
"Yeah... So?"
"Well," the younger man continued, "there's something you should know, but I'm telling you because it would be easier to hear from me than from someone else."
"Stop beating around the bush, Jeff!" the older man shouted. "Just spill it already!"
Jeff was perfectly calm as he did so.
"Okay... Adam and Amy are engaged..."
Matt merely blinked as he stared at his brother. He couldn't possibly have heard him right.
"What?"
"Trish said she saw a diamond ring on Amy's finger earlier this week," Jeff explained. "They
haven't made any announcement yet, but-" He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as Matt
bolted up and ran right out the door.