Dirty Deeds

CH 34: Wrestlemania!

  We've been at the University of Phoenix for most of the morning. It's now edging toward showtime, and I'm feeling nervous. Before the show starts, we get our final instructions. Team Lay-Cool is looking awesome, and we're all talking and laughing. Matt gives me a good luck kiss, but then he has to go and hang out with the rest of the Money in the Bank guys, since they're up before us. I watch with my team backstage. Every match is amazing. I wince every time Matt falls or gets slammed in his match. It feels like I'm wincing a lot.

"Geez, Michelle," Vickie teases, "you look like you're the one taking the hits out there."

"I feel like it, too," I mutter, and Layla smirks.

"He'll be fine," Vickie says. "You know wrestlers. They could break their necks and they'd want to walk it off."

I know Matt's not going to win, but it's still an amazing match. When it's over, he comes back and finds me. "Good match," I say, giving him a kiss.

"Thanks, Michelle." Matt grins, but he looks utterly exhausted. We find a quiet corner to watch the next couple matches in. Punk and Rey Mysterio are up finally, and Matt and I are both greatly amused by Punk's antics. He loses, of course. "Guess it's up to you to win one for Team Adorkable," Matt says.

"Oh, I'll win, all right," I say.

We're up after Jericho and Edge. It's a weird place to put a Diva match, but that's where they put it. So when Jericho and Edge head out, I give Matt one last kiss and head for the staging area. "Nervous?" Layla asks me.

"No, I'm good," I say. "You?"

Vickie says, "I am. You know how much I hate doing splashes."

Layla and I grin at her. "You'll be fine," Layla says.

Pretty soon, Jericho and Edge are walking past us. "Good luck, ladies," Jericho says. "And McCool, no food fights tonight, eh? I'm not up to it."

I laugh. "I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."

When our music starts, I'm ready. We come out to boos. It's loud in the arena, and that crowd is huge. The match has some good back and forth, though the highlight is when we help Vickie do her splash and she points to the sky in tribute to Eddie. The crowd quits booing us for that brief moment. And then, of course, they resume when we pull it out and beat the other team. It doesn't matter what the crowd is doing; it still feels great to be out there.

I can't believe it. I'm done with another great Wrestlemania. It's an amazing night, and there's so much more to come. We head backstage, and I find Matt again. He's waiting for me with a bottle of water and a huge smile. "Good job!" he says, grabbing me up in a hug.

We're already celebrating, despite the fact that the event isn't over yet. Back in the locker room, the monitor is on and John Cena is battling it out with Batista. We keep an eye on the match, though it's not the one that everyone here is waiting to see. Finally, Cena wins and it gets quiet. Everyone backstage has been waiting for this moment. Shawn Michaels is about to wrestle his last match.

At some point during the match, Matt gets up from the couch and wanders off for something. I'm completely engrossed in what's going on on the screen. I notice when he leaves, and I'm half waiting for him to come back, but the match itself has most of my attention. I'm so engrossed that I don't notice who's in the room and who isn't.

When Shawn Michaels tells the Undertaker to end it, Matt's still not back. The room is deadly silent as the Undertaker gets the three count. His record stands, and the celebratory feeling backstage is now more somber as we listen to the crowd. It starts slow, but it builds up, and even in the locker room, I can hear the echoes of the words, "Thank you, Shawn."

I turn to say something to Matt and realize he's not there. Neither is Layla, though she comes back through the door a moment after I notice. "Hey, have you seen Matt?"

"He's in the hallway," she says with a shrug. "Match is over, huh?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "It's going to seem so weird not having Shawn on Monday nights."

"We barely ever saw him, anyway," she answers. "But I know what you mean."

I hug Layla, and say, "I'm going to go find Matt."

"Good idea. I'll see you at the party, right?"

"Sure." The thought of the party makes me smile. "I promised Punk a dance, anyway."

Layla chuckles. "Hope your boyfriend is okay with that."

"They're cool," I say. "Anyway, see you there." I step out the door. Matt's down the hall; I can see him, head down and deep in thought. I walk toward him. "Hey, Matt."

He lifts his head and looks at me, and for a moment, I can't place the expression on his face. Then it dawns on me. He looks like he's in pain. "Michelle."

"Are you okay?" I ask, rushing to his side. "What's the matter?"

He shakes my hand off and his gaze burns into me. "Michelle, I..." He looks away and takes a deep breath. "I love you so much that it hurts. This is tearing me up inside."

"What is? Matt, what's wrong?"

His eyes are full of tears when he raises them again. "I know everything."