Broken Hearts (the prequel to Mending Hearts)

Jeff groaned as he made his way back to his hotel room. That workout was a little more brutal than he'd intended. Jay seemed to need it though, so he agreed to it readily to help his friend. The other man was still reluctant about becoming part of the Raw roster and Jeff wanted him to feel welcome. There was nothing left for him back on Smackdown anymore now, anyway. Jeff couldn't count the times over the years he'd held his smaller Canadian friend as he cried himself to sleep over an argument with his lover. Adam had made it clear that he wasn't willing to jeopardize his bond with his family for him. He even had the gall to tell Jay he shouldn't ask that of him. After all of the years they'd been together, Adam had the nerve to question Jay's love for him? Jeff wanted to beat the shit out of him next time he saw him. But he knew he wouldn't. Jay asked him to leave it alone and he'd respect that.

Jeff reached the bathroom and ran himself a nice hot shower while he considered Jay's plight. Since the Canadian had moved out of his and Adam's house, he was more distant and unsure of himself than ever. Jeff tried to reassure him every chance he got, but that would come only with time. Meanwhile, the younger Hardy would have to give his friend as much attention and friendship as the other man required. He had no problem with that, really. If Drew weren't already rooming with Jay, Jeff would have moved right in with him. But this was probably for the better. Drew was used to waking up to the nightmares, so he would continue to help Jay there and Jeff would handle the other needs. Drew was digging Stacy right now but the relationship was too new for him to room with her. His days were free, though, now that Jeff and Jay were on the same show.

Jeff whistled as he dried himself off and pulled on a clean pair of boxers before moving back into the bedroom to dress in fresh clothes. He was just finishing with his belt buckle when the door opened to reveal an ecstatic Shane Helms.

"Stand back!" Jeff cried. "There's a Hurricane coming through!"

"Real funny!" Shane smiled as he grabbed Jeff's outstretched hand and shook it. "How you doing, man?"

"Great! I was glad to hear we'd be rooming together. If I had to take one more trip with Chris Nowinski or Maven, I'd probably bludgeon myself."

"Nowinski anything like his character?"

"No," Jeff sighed. "But he is a whiny kid. I respect that he wants to live his dream and all, but he ain't trained enough to be out here. Especially working with a concussion. He doesn't protect himself enough and ends up worsening it. I can't count how many times I've woken up to him crawling into the bathroom to upchuck. I've had to help him there on more than one occasion." He ended that statement with a dramatic shudder that brought a guffaw from Shane.

"Well, Sugar's here now," the other man laughed. "Those Tough Enough classmates can just room with each other."

"Yeah. Look, I was just going to meet Jay for lunch. Come with us. It will be good to have a third person there. He does better that way."

"Sounds good," Shane dropped his bag near the available bed and followed Jeff to the door. "How's he been doing anyway?"

"The same," Jeff grimaced and pushed the elevator button. "I wish I could get my hands on that ex-friend of mine."

"Adam?" Shane raised an eyebrow at Jeff as they got on. "Look, I hate what happened, too. But you can't choose sides here, Jeff. And Adam's not clueless. He knows he did wrong. If it's any consolation, he looks like shit these days."

"It's a small one compared to how Jay feels," Jeff muttered. "I've known him for years, Shane, and I can honestly say I think he's hit rock bottom."

They got off the elevator and moved into the lobby. There, Jeff saw Jay waiting for him in a chair. The normally jovial blond stared dejectedly out the window, oblivious to the scene around him. He nodded to Shane and pointed over to Jay as if to say, 'What did I tell you?' Shane shrugged.

**********************************

Shane watched Jeff try to pull Jay out of his depression. It was honestly painful to watch. At Smackdown, he'd observed Adam's own mood and had felt for him. Particularly after Adam had informed Jay that he'd finally granted the other's long sought after request and told his family about his sexual preference. Jay congratulated him and walked away. Walked away? Shane had thought it was a cold response but was further shocked by Jay's decision to leave the show. It had been a slap in the face to Adam, who had a hard time coming to terms with his feelings.

But seeing Jay's own depression was far worse. It brought home every pain that Adam had caused the poor man. How could Shane have forgotten? Easy, probably, since Jeff was the only one Jay would allow close enough to comfort him through his crises. And Shane was telling Jeff not to choose sides? From where the Hurricane sat, it was damn near impossible not to choose Jay.

"Hey, you and I will probably have a few matches together, Jay," Shane offered quietly. "I'm looking forward to them."

A spark lit Jay's eye for a moment as the topic veered toward work. Jay seemed to throw himself into it, even though he'd said repeatedly that he didn't want to act like the company clown.

"That should be interesting," the Canadian said with a small smile. "Which one of us would they push as the clown?"

"No offense, but I'm hoping it'll be you," Shane smiled back. He was rewarded with a very Christian-like smirk.

Jeff laughed and winked at his Omega friend in silent thanks. Shane's heart about stopped at that, though he couldn't imagine why.

**********************************

Matt rubbed his shoulder a little as he and Shannon ran through some moves in the ring. The small blond had picked up a lot in OVW and Matt knew the moves would take him far in the cruiserweight divis The The company seemed to like the look Shannon had developed, too. And he was definitely more muscular than he had been at the end of WCW. Matt was happy for him.

Shannon gazed up at him with the puppy-dog look he'd always had for him and Matt sighed. It was too bad he couldn't return those feelings. Shannon would be a very loyal lover, this Matt knew. And he'd been crushing on the older Hardy brother ever since he'd hit puberty. Most of the time, that wasn't a problem, as Matt ignored it easily to preserve their friendship. But right now it was damn tempting to contemplate.

"You have to keep your head down on that last move, Shannon," he said to him instead. "You donwantwant to hurt yourself."

"Sorry, Matt," the small blond ducked his head.

Matt instantly felt bad for his harsh voice. "It's okay," he said in a softer one. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Shannon smiled gratefully back up at him with those huge, adoring green eyes. 'Lord, help me,' Matt thought.

"Matt, you ready to go to the signing?" Adam Copeland, otherwise known as Edge, said from the apron.

"Oh shit!" Matt exclaimed. "I forgot!"

"I can see that," Adam tried to smile, though it didn't reach his eyes.

Matt jumped down and grabbed his duffle bag, shoving his water bottle and towel inside. "Sorry I have to go, Shannon," he looked up at the visibly disappointed blond in the ring. "We'll pick this up again tomorrow."

"Sure," Shannon nodded.

"Just do a couple of sets of arm curls in the hotel gym when you get back and that'll do you for today," Matt went on. He wanted Shannon to succeed and knew that only hard work would ensure that.

"I will," Shannon nodded again and went about packing his own stuff away.

Matt and Adam ran up the ramp to get to the car.

"You've jumped right in there with the training, huh?" Adam said as they relabackback in the limo.

Matt put some ice in two glasses and poured them both some water while they rode. He was still out of breath and something cold was in order right now.

"I want him to realize his potential," Matt explained.

"Is he why you jumped over here?"

Matt looked at his friend in confusion before it suddenly dawned on him what Adam was asking. He saw no hint of jealousy in his friend's eyes and knew the other man was still getting over his breakup with Jay. Even though it had happened some long months earlier, you could see from both men that the pain wouldn't be gone for a long time. Actually it may never completely heal. They were best friends before they were lovers, after all. Matt felt a deep sadness for both of them.

"No," he finally answered Adam. "I wanted Jeff to get a push and I wanted one, too. The only way to do this would be on separate shows."

Adam nodded and turned to look out the window. Matt looked at him sympathetically. He knew how the man felt.