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*February 14, 2001*
Edge sat back in the locker room, amazed Christian didn't order him to leave. He supposed that angry speech he'd made to his best friend a few months back had stuck and that he would no longer be kicked out when Stephanie was around. Although he'd said that and meant he wouldn't stand for such happening at the hotels - and nothing about the locker rooms - he wasn't going to complain.
It was Valentine's Day... He couldn't get his mind off of Lita and what they would do tonight to celebrate it. Well, they would celebrate in the only way they pretty much *could*, as still not a soul knew about their relationship. He supposed the same would pretty much go for the brunette and the other blond man. Beyond Lita and himself, no one knew about Christian and Stephanie's relationship, either.
He perked up as he took a quick glance at his watch - quarter after ten. They were doing a houseshow tonight, and it was almost over. He and Christian had had a match earlier, and while the redhead hadn't had one of her own, she'd had to stand in the Hardyz's corner during their contest against Eddy Guerrero and Perry Saturn.
Thinking about the Radicalz brought to mind a certain *other* member of that group... Edge nearly growled as he thought about Dean Malenko stalking his girlfriend around the ringside area. That bastard... Because it was a houseshow, he naturally hadn't *seen* it, but that was what Lita had told him and happened when she'd called his cell phone from her own about a half-hour earlier. As it was, she requested he meet her at ten-twenty in an empty locker room several yards down the hall. And, come to think of it, it was now ten-nineteen, so he figured he'd better get a move-on.
Because Christian and Stephanie were so consumed by one another across the room, the blond man holding one of the diva's hands and kissing it, Edge left the room unnoticed. If Christian questioned him later, he could always come up with an excuse for his disappearance. No biggie there.
Finally arriving upon the room the redhead had insisted on meeting in, the tall Canadian ducked inside. He was wary for a beat, as the thought of Lita somehow not being alone popped into his head.
But then he saw her... She was standing across the room, her hands gripping the belthooks of her tight stretch jeans, her head cocked to one side as she grinned at him. She was breathtaking - and blessedly alone.
"You made it!" she said in a soft voice. She edged toward him, and he met her halfway.
"It wasn't hard to get away," Edge explained. "Stephanie came by to be with Christian, so he was a bit distracted, shall we say." He chased his words with a chuckle but then grew serious. "So what exactly happened out there tonight?"
The diva arched a brow and looked up into his brilliant yet annoyed green eyes.
"Oh... Dean, you mean." She removed her arms from around him and shook her head. "He's such an ass... Tried to chase me around the ring. He eventually got me, too, but then Matt came over and stopped him from doing anything."
The tall blond man clenched his hands into fists, his face turning red in anger. He never thought he'd ever think this, but... thank goodness for Matt Hardy. Aloud, he gave a slight growl.
"You know what I wanna do to our pal Dean? I want to tear his head off! I wanna rip his eyes out for ever having the nerve to even *look* at you... I wanna-"
"Edge, please calm down..." Lita said softly, her small hands grabbing at his wrists as she noticed his clenched and slightly shaking fists. "Nothing is gonna happen. I love you... Now, c'mon, kiss me already. We've been alone in this room for a whole five minutes and you haven't even made an attempt yet." She smiled sweetly, and the blond man noticably relaxed.
"I love you, too, Lita..." With that, a soft smile replacing the fury on his face, he gathered her into his arms again. Their kiss was passionate and slightly wild since the 'forbidden' aspect of their relationship, combined with the fact that anyone could stumble along and catch them here, was not lost on them.
In an ironic twist, as it was, someone *did* catch them - although they were too busy and consumed by one another that they didn't notice. But the man who'd wandered in here and watched Lita and Edge for a good few seconds wasn't all that surprised. He might have known something was up with these two after Edge had warned him to back off on the redhead. It was one thing to have suspicions, but a completely different story to have them confirmed.
And then, Dean Malenko slunk away, unnoticed by the two lovers. He smirked as the image of them remained burned in his brain.
This was a very interesting development.