Mending Hearts

"Why are they following Matt and me around, Jeff?"

Jeff shook his head to help wake up. It was too early in the morning for this. Jay had called extra early, too. This meant that he was pissed.

"Who?" Jeff finally asked weakly. "I don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about, Jay."

"Shawn and Lance," Jay growled. "They've been following us around all week and Matt's beginning to get antsy."

Damn! Those two don't know when to quit! He thought he had an understanding with them when they met over this. If Matt found out so many people knew about his plans, he'd leave wrestling altogether. And wrestling was his life. Jeff had to protect his brother even as he had to stop him. Talk about impossible odds.

"Look, I told them not to make any waves, Jay," Jeff said tiredly. "They said they wouldn't do anything unless Matt made a move. Has he?"

"Like I wouldn't warn you!" Jay huffed. "We've been over this, Jeff. I'm on your side on this but I don't want Matt to get spooked. If he catches on or if other people notice those two and make comments, how will we ever help him save face?"

"Well, I didn't tell them to do anything," Jeff insisted. "Hold tight. I'll try to find out what the hell is going on."

"Fine. But I'll be waiting for your call!"

Jay severed the connection abruptly and Jeff rubbed his eyes before punching Lance's number into his phone.

"Hello?" Lance's chipper voice came through at a higher decibel than Jeff would have preferred.

"What the hell are you and Shawn doing following Matt and Jay around?" Jeff demanded without preamble.

"And a good morning to you, too, Mr. Grouch."

"Just answer me," Jeff hissed. "I got an early morning how-do-you-do from Jay and he's pissed. You told me you would let me handle things as long as Matt didn't try anything. How am I supposed to settle this thing quietly with you two nosing around and making Matt suspicious?"

"We're not 'nosing around' at all," Lance growled in exasperation. "We're spending quality time with him."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I thought it would be more difficult for Matt to plan my demise if I got closer to him," Lance explained. "What's the harm?"

"The problem is that Jay says Matt's not liking it."

"Maybe it's working then."

"Or maybe he'll stop socializing and become a recluse altogether."

"You don't believe that, do you?" Lance sounded skeptical. "Look, we can't just sit around and not do nothing. You have to let us at least try to reach him in our own way."

"You don't understand, do you? He'll leave wrestling. I really mean that exactly as how it sounds. He'll leave and his job IS his life right now. I cannot stress to you enough how important it is that we don't spook him."

"I understand the situation," Lance sighed. "But I can't just stay out of it. He's your brother and I respect your concern. But this is my relationship he's targeting. I can't just stand by."

"I can sympathize with you," Jeff said calmly. "But we need to be very careful with Matt's ego."

Silence greeted him as Lance pondered what he'd said. Jeff hoped that he'd made his point sufficiently clear. It wasn't easy defending Matt when his actions violated every rule of friendship. Lance and Shawn had no reason to want to preserve Matt's feelings and he wasn't even sure if it was okay to ask this of them, but he had to.

"Look, I'll promise to let up a little," Lance conceded, "but that's all. I'm still going to make Matt see that I'm a human being and his friend."

"So, you'll stop following them everywhere?"

"For the time being," Lance replied. "But we will keep an eye on Matt and I'm going to still make friendly overtures."

"But not frequently, right?" Jeff felt like he was negotiating a contract.

"No, not as frequently."

"Thanks, man," Jeff breathed a sigh of relief. "I know I have no right to ask this of you. I appreciate you working with me."

"I just want Matt to be okay again," Lance said sadly. "I don't like being a reason for his unhappiness."

"You are far more charitable than any other man might be."

"Maybe. But I am who I am."

They said their goodbyes and Jeff went to the bathroom to freshen himself up before calling Jay. The bastard woke him up before ten. Let him wait a few minutes. Jeff showered and dressed before picking up the phone again. Jay was more than relieved to hear that Lance and Shawn would ease up a bit. He'd rather they abandon the plan altogether, but at least they were willing to compromise. When Jay hung up, Jeff dialed his lover's number.

"Hey, baby," the man said without even a hello.

"How'd you know it was me?" Jeff asked.

"Got my caller ID fixed finally," he replied. "Jericho took me to a great place yesterday."

"I'm glad." Jeff then told him everything that had transpired that morning.

"Lance and Shawn need to calm down," his lover muttered darkly. "We'll never keep Matt's face if this keeps up."

"I know. that's what I told them."

"At least you got to them before it went too far."

"I guess."

"What's bothering you, babe?"

Jeff should have known better than to try to hide his worries. His mate was very sensitive to his moods, especially in light of what had happened when they first got together.

"Shannon," Jeff murmured. "It's bothering me that I'm being so careful about Matty after what he did to Shannon."

"You couldn't stop that from happening. You tried your best."

"But he used him like a toy!"

"You couldn't have known what he was doing to Shannon, Jeff. You tried to make them both see some sense, but Matt's intentions weren't known then. If you did know, you would have stopped him, right?"

"Hell yes! I probably would have beaten the sense into Matt myself!"

"See? I know it's easy to blame yourself after everything's happened, but it really isn't your fault."

"But how do I protect him now?"

"Who? Shannon?"

"Who else? Matt can take care of himself in the romance department. Well, usually."

"Who are you protecting him from?"

"Adam."

"Jeff, you said yourself you're going to have to trust Adam with Shannon's recovery if you have any chance of saving Matt."

"I know."

"What's changed? Has Adam done or said something?"

"No, nothing like that," the younger Hardy sighed. "But he was so cruel to Jay."

"Cruel how? He didn't hit him."

"But he shunned him in public and only wanted him when no one else was around."

"I agree it was harsh," the other said on a sigh. "And not unlike myself."

"I wasn't saying that, Shane," Jeff replied. "And we've already settled that."

"But there's no escaping the fact that if I'd been more honest with both of us about my feelings from the get go, your relationship with Randy would never have happened and we'd have been together sooner. Furthermore, you'd still be with WWE."

"No, that's not necessarily the case."

"We both know you left because I almost gave you a nervous breakdown."

"Shane, will you STOP already? That's not true. I gave myself the stress, not you. By that time you'd already accepted that you loved me. You just didn't know if I would leave Randy if I knew."

"I know we've been over it, but I still can't help but feel like I could have done things differently. And maybe had you with me all the time instead of waiting home for me."

Jeff shook his head and thought back to the way things began. Shane hadn't known he was gay until he'd seen Jeff and Randy flirting in the catering room one day. Jeff couldn't believe the look of jealousy that appeared on his old friend's face. But when Jeff went to question Shane about it later the other man denied it, thus Jeff turned his attentions back to Randy. So much happened afterwards, it hurt Jeff to ponder it.

"I love you."

"I know. I love you, too."

"I don't think you really believe I do, though. Not if you keep second guessing us."

"Yes, I do know," Shane said quietly. "I just need to know that you forgive me and can trust me."

"I already forgave you and I trust you with my life."

"So, if I can be trusted after all of that, why can't Adam?"

Jeff stopped to think about that. Shane always had a way of making him think things over in a different way. But Jeff knew that his lover still felt self conscious about their relationship and all of the hardship they'd endured, some of it needlessly.

"You are a slick one, Mr. Helms," he grinned. "I guess he deserves a chance."

"Like me."

"You deserve the world," Jeff whispered.

"You are my world."