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*RAW, February 18, 2001*
"Edge, would you cut it out? You're driving me crazy!"
The exclamation had come from Stephanie and caused the blond man to stop in his tracks, putting an end to his pacing.
"Well, at least it won't be a long trip," he snapped, although that was always stated as a joke - albeit a cliche one. But iin this instance, he felt no humor behind his words.
"Ha, ha, ha..." the brunette said.
The two of them were currently alone in his and Christian's locker room, as his best friend had made a stop over at Vince McMahon's office - Commissioner Foley having been fired two months earlier.
He noticed Stephanie rise and come over to him.
"Look, she'll be okay. She has the Hardyz to back her up."
Edge swallowed hard and clenched his hands into fists.
"Yeah, but they're not allowed at ringside," he reminded her. Last week, on SmackDown, Dean Malenko had grabbed the redhead and forced a kiss on her lips, causing the diva to say 'no more' and then challenge the pervert to a one-on-one match on RAW - tonight. This was the real deal, much like that night in early December, when she'd faced him for the Light Heavyweight belt. Only difference was that, since then, the issue had become much more serious. Malenko had since tried to cripple Lita, putting her in the Texas Cloverleaf and an array of other maneuvers. He was a bitter man, and that made him dangerous.
"If you're really that worried, why don't you do a run-in?" Stephanie suggested, compassion in her blue eyes. His concern for the redhead touched her deeply, and she thought it sweet that he was, in her opinion, so overly worried.
The tall Canadian ran a hand through his long blond hair and held it there as he stared at the young woman.
"If I do *that*," he reminded her, "I'll be letting the whole world know about Lita and me - and we agreed to keep our relationship a secret, remember? Just like you and Christian..."
The brunette sighed.
"I know... but does all that really matter anymore?" In her personal opinion, things would be a lot less complicated for Edge and Lita if they just announced they were a couple - a lot less so than if she and Christian came clean.
"I'm definitely going to keep a close eye on the match," the blond man stated firmly, his left hand balled into a fist. He wanted to take it and smash a left hook directly into Dean Malenko's nose. Or, as Chris Jericho had dubbed the man awhile back, *Malurkel*'s nose. He couldn't stand the bastard!
"Well... whatever you do, I hope Lita's match goes okay." Stephanie turned to leave. "I've got to go see Hunter - we were going to go over our spots for tonight. Try to keep calm, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Edge muttered, and he began to resume his pacing.
"And stop pacing!" the brunette snapped. "You're going to wear out a hole in the floor!"
Despite the cheery smile on the woman's face, Edge simply glared at her. Then, a moment later, Stephanie left.
Lita's match was just starting as Christian came back. The shorter man spoke, but Edge was so focused on the match that he didn't even realize it.
"Oh, *that* match," the blond man said, chasing his words with a laugh. "He's gonna kick her ass!"
Edge felt his blood boiling at his friend's comment but forced himself to swallow it back down. He didn't even turn his head to glare at Christian out of fear of what the other man might see in his eyes.
But Christian was right - Malenko *did* kick the redhead's ass - until Matt Hardy suddenly appeared.
It all happened so quickly - the referee had been knocked down as Dean swung Lita around, her feet making contact with the official's head. Matt took a chair, whacked the Radical, and the diva covered him for the three-count.
The tall blond man allowed the tiniest smile to cross his lips. Lita and the elder Hardy Boy hugged - and then, something happened to cause Edge's blood to boil yet again...
... Matt kissed Lita.