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After traveling some more miles, Edge finally located a hotel that seemed to have vacancies. And what a relief that was, because after all that driving, he was damn tired. Visions of a nice, firm mattress, soft pillows and lightweight blankets were dancing around in his head.
Lita glanced at him, the strange urge to smile hitting her. She couldn't help but think of how protected and safe the tall blond man made her feel. It had felt like a bit of a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders at her confessions as well. Well, *somewhat* of a weight. She hadn't told him all just yet.
"Hey!" Edge exclaimed as he turned around in the driver's seat. He reached out with his right hand and swatted at a sleeping Chris Jericho. He couldn't comprehend how the blond man could have possibly drifted off during their unbelievable crisis. "Wake up, damn it!"
Chris' eyes snapped open, his grogginess giving way for annoyance as Edge's face was the first thing he noticed upon awaking.
"What the hell...? Why is *your* ugly mug here?" Y2J snapped irritably. Despite the situation, Lita smirked as she thought of how very *not* ugly Edge was. On the contrary, he was damn handsome, a fact that had never eluded her in the nearly five years she'd known him.
"We're here," the taller man explained, ignoring Jericho's remark. "At a hotel?"
"Oh..." Chris smacked his lips together, his mouth incredibly dry. "How long was I out?"
"Who the hell knows?" Edge snapped. "Frankly, I could care less about you, Jericho. I'm only here for one person, and one person only - *Lita*. For all I care, Kane could've gotten his hands on you."
Jericho practically snarled at him as he slid out of the backseat.
"Why do you have to be such a prick, huh?"
The redhead sighed, running a hand through her hair. Damn it, not again. Was she going to have to deal with this every time both blond men were conscious?
Instead of giving him the satisfaction of displaying anger, Edge chuckled, a smirk residing on his sharp features.
"I'd rather be a prick than a pussy," he retorted between gritted teeth. "You should've seen yourself running from Kane like that!" He laughed again, heartily.
"Fuck you!" the other man shouted, his body tensing as though he might take a swing at Edge. "I'd like to see how *you* would react having a psychotic, evil monster coming after you in some parking lot!"
"I'll tell you *this*," the Canadian said evenly, "I wouldn't run with my tail tucked between my legs - I'd stand my ground and fight to the bloody death."
"Like hell you would!"
"Guys, stop it!" Lita shouted, unable to withstand anymore. "Can we just... I'm tired and feel sick to my stomach. I need to take off this ridiculous dress, and... I need something to eat, drink... Can we just go inside? Please?"
The two blond men momentarily forgot their argument for the sake of the distressed redhead.
"Yeah," Jericho said resignedly. He cast one more angry glance at Edge, reluctant to let go of this fight.
"All right..." the taller blond said. "Come on."
The three of them headed into the hotel, where, fortunately, they were able to snatch up two rooms, which was all that was left at such a late hour.
Edge raked a hand through his hair as he looked gently from Lita, his gaze hardening as he focused his eyes on Jericho.
"Here's the deal," he began, gesturing with one hand as he spoke to the two of them. "There are only two vacant rooms left - which means two of us are gonna have to share one of them." He eyed the redhead determinedly, his plan sharing with *her*. No way in hell was he going to leave her to a room all to himself, and he'd be damned if he shared one with that loud, obnoxious idiot Jericho.
"Well, it's settled then," Chris said, his blue eyes shifting from the taller man to the diva. "Lita and I will take one room while *you* take the other. C'mon, Red." He took gentle hold of the redhead's wrist, leading her away, but Edge's firm, strong hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Uh uh, Chris," he muttered. "That's not the way it works. *I'm* rooming with Lita."
Jericho smirked up at him, but his crystal eyes glittered dangerously.
"Why? Do you honestly think you're gonna get some action, 'Party Man'?"
Edge's expression darkened as his hands clenched into fists, his green eyes widening in rage. If the other man kept this crap up much longer, he was just going to have to beat it all *out* of him. Jericho was seriously getting on his nerves tonight.
"You asshole," he spat. "If you don't shut that mouth of yours, I'll-"
"Enough!"
The two blond men turned to look at Lita, the diva looking more than distressed as she shifted her gaze from one to the other of them and back again. "Guys, come on... I can't take your constant bickering!" She winced, then stepped closer to them, positioning herself between the two men as though to prevent the fight she knew they would eventually have. "Look... I appreciate both of you so much. You saved me - *both* of you. And I *don't* want to room alone after everything that happened tonight, so..." Sheepishly, she looked down, then raised her head to gaze from Jericho to Edge. "... *I'll* choose who I room with tonight, okay?"
"Okay," Jericho nodded. "That sounds fair enough."
Edge didn't utter a response.
"Good..." She sighed, then ran a hand through her long red hair before continuing. "...okay, then... I want to room with *you*." She fixed her hazel gaze up to Edge's face. She hadn't a doubt in her mind that she would prefer to share with him. He made her feel so safe.
The tall blond man looked at Jericho, triumph clearly etched on his face.
"Very well, then," he said confidently. "Let's go."
As Edge led the way toward the stairs, Lita right at his side, Chris lingered behind a
little, his glare fixed on the other man's back.