Dirty Deeds

CH 14: So Close, Yet So Far Away

 I was pulled from my nightmares by Layla shaking me awake. "What?" I mutter.

"Hardy's at the door," she says. "He said you were expecting him?"

"Right. Sorry. I must have dozed off." I pull myself up from the bed and head to the door. Sure enough, Matt's standing there. "Hey, Matt," I say, stifling a yawn.

"Do you want me to come back later?" he asks.

"No, it's all right." I step out into the hall and shut the door behind me. "Um, can we maybe go to your room? Layla's been kind of bitchy lately."

"Lately?" he mutters. Then, "Sure. Yeah, come on."

I follow him down the hall to the elevator. Turns out his room's one floor up from mine. He unlocks the door and we go in. When the door's closed, I ask, "Are you okay?"

Matt shrugs. "Not really." He settles on one of the beds. "I feel kind of abandoned, to be honest."

I frown and sit down next to him. "Abandoned?"

"Jeff's gone. And now Maria and Shane are gone, too. I don't have a lot of friends left in the WWE."

What can I say to that? You have me? I shake my head. "I'm so sorry. This must really suck for you."

"Yeah, it does." He sighs and looks over at me. "Don't go anywhere on me, okay?"

"I have no plans to, Matt."

"Neither did Maria," he mutters. Then he says, "She thinks you're behind this somehow."

"Me? Why?"

"I don't know. We got into a huge fight at the airport. She told me not to bother to call her until I 'saw the light', whatever that means."

I bite my lip. "What about Helms?"

"He thinks maybe Maria was getting too demanding and she talked herself out of a job," he says, smiling wanly. "I tend to agree with that assessment. Don't get me wrong; I really like Maria. But she's had so much on her plate lately that I was starting to wonder if she even wanted a boyfriend anymore."

"Ouch," I say, and he nods.

"So what are your plans for the day?"

"Packing up so we can get on the road, mainly."

Matt sighs. "It's going to be a really long, boring drive."

"It's only like six hours."

"Six hours alone. Good thing I've got some CDs in the car."

I look down at the bed. It's neatly made, and there's no way the maid has been up here yet. "Have you slept at all?"

He shakes his head. "I was too busy."

"Well, look. We don't have to be on the road for another couple hours. Why don't you grab a nap? I'd hate to think of you driving on no sleep. That's worse than driving drunk."

Matt says, "I'm still not tired."

I frown. "You probably would be if you would lay down." Jokingly, I give him a shove and he falls back on the bed. Our eyes meet, and I jump up quickly. "I'll let you get some rest. I should go lay back down myself."

"You don't have to go. There's another bed here. Layla's already up, so I doubt she's going to let you sleep any more."

I groan, because he's right. Layla looked pretty ticked when I left. "I am not looking forward to sharing a car with her tonight."

Matt pushes up onto his elbows and says, "Want to ride with me, then?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Matt."

"Why not?"

"Your girlfriend just left. People are going to talk if we start carpooling."

"Well, I wasn't suggesting it become a permanent thing," he says. "Just tonight, since I'm probably going to wreck the car otherwise." He makes a sad face at me. "Come on. I'll buy you french fries."

I feel my resistance crumble. "We'll see," I mutter. He grins like that's a yes. I head for the windows and pull the heavy curtains. "Now seriously, sleep time for you."

Matt yawns. "Sure. Hey, Michelle?"

"What?"

"You're a good friend."

"Go to sleep, Matt."

He leans over and turns the AC on, then crawls under the blanket. "I'm serious about you staying if you want," he says sleepily. "Can't have you wrecking the car, either."

I sit on the other bed and say, "I'll hang out for a bit, make sure you're able to sleep." Matt smiles.

I only intend to stay a few minutes, but the room is cool and dark, and the bed is soft and inviting, and he's right about Layla not letting me sleep any more. So with a sigh, I slide down on the second bed and turn my head, so I can watch Matt sleep. He said I was a good friend, and yet all of this is my fault. I know I should confess everything to him, but if I do, he'll hate me. I don't want him to hate me. The last couple of days have been amazing. I close my eyes, and sleep overtakes me.