Rating: PG-13: some language and content may not be suitable for me to type…but I’ll try it anyway

Distribution: ask me first

"Why? That’s all I want to know!" Jeff said, incredulous. Matt had been listening to his brother rant and rave all afternoon, ever since they had arrived in Kentucky. On one hand, Matt understood his brother’s position. On the other, he felt that he needed his own space. Which had brought him here, to a small town in central Kentucky. Kelly Mitchell, a friend of his family, had found him this apartment.

A mile from the center of town, the house that the apartment was in was huge. Several years ago, the owner had split it into 4 apartments and 1 efficiency. Matt was preparing to move into one of the larger units, on the second floor. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and lots of space in the kitchen. Matt didn’t plan on spending a lot of time here…he was always traveling around with the WWF, at least 48 weeks of the year.

"I just want a place that’s mine. Away from everything…and I do mean everything. And besides, it’s really just a place to store my stuff." Matt told him.

"This place is huge. Maybe I could…" Jeff began, but Matt cut him off.

"Don’t think so, little bro. Maybe you should get a place that’s all yours. See if another apartment’s for rent, then we could be neighbors." He laughed as Jeff shuddered at the thought.

"Here? I hope to God you’re kidding, Matthew. This town is like a boil on the ass of this state. They don’t even have a movie theater, for crying out loud." Jeff sounded so pious, Matt started laughing at him again. "And no clubs. No nothing. They probably roll up Main Street at 6 o’clock."

"That’s exactly why I want to be here, Jeffie. I can’t spend the rest of my life going to parties. I just want a place to stop and think and be by myself sometimes. Besides, Kelly got me a great deal on the rent." Hoping that Jeff would drop the subject, he changed topics. "Kelly says there’s some good looking women in town too. She also said one of them lives right underneath me now." He snuck a look at Jeff, and saw that his eyebrows were raised in interest. If there was anything that could derail Jeff, it was talk of the females in any given area.

Jeff stepped up to the window and looked down into the small parking lot. "And I would suppose that’s her car? It’s the only one down there." He pointed and Matt looked down at the roof of a dark blue Oldsmobile.

"I wouldn’t know, doofus. I didn’t ask Kel for the make and model of the vehicle her friend drives." As he was speaking, the door downstairs slammed, and a young woman came into view. From this viewpoint, all he could see was the light brown of her wavy hair. He thought to himself, ‘I’m not interested in her anyway; that’s not what I’m here for.’

Jeff, being Jeff, was clearly excited to see her come outside. "I think I’ll go introduce myself to your new neighbor." It amused Matt that all the crud Jeff had said about him getting his own place quite literally flew out the window with the appearance of the girl downstairs. ‘Typical,’ Matt thought, as Jeff bounded out the door and down the stairs. Find Jeff a female, and all other things cease the exist. Matt was glad of the distraction. All of Jeff’s arguments were getting tiresome.

Matt watched out the window as the girl turned to Jeff and answered whatever it was that he said to her. They both started laughing at the same time, and Matt got his first good look at her. She was pretty, slim and tan, even this late in the year. ‘Tanning bed,’ he thought. As Jeff and the woman continued chatting, Matt took another chance to look around his new pad.

Allegra was getting ready for work when she heard the door in the upstairs apartment close. Sighing, she realized it must be the new tenant. With any luck, he wouldn’t be like the last ones, who partied all night long weekend or weekday. She had gotten sick of listening to the loud music, and the screaming.

Kelly had said she was recommending one of her friends to the landlord. Allegra laughed at that thought. "Well," she said out loud, speaking as always to her hamster DD. "I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. After all, look at me." Even Allegra had to admit she was a strange person. Her sense of humor was usually outrageous, and she could be a real bitch when she put her mind to it. And speaking of minds, she wasn’t afraid to speak hers, which got her into a lot trouble…though usually nothing she couldn’t talk her way out of. People who took the time to get to know her usually found out she had a sharp mind, and was extremely protective of those she cared for.

Allegra grabbed her jacket and went out the door. As she stepped to her car door, she heard a voice behind her.

"Excuse me," came the soft southern drawl. "I just wanted to come down and meet a loco…I mean local."

Allegra turned around, laughing. "Got a good impression of the town so soon? It usually takes a week or two before people start testing the water for brain-altering chemicals." She looked over the newcomer, noticing his hair was covered by a backward facing ball-cap. She then grinned, and pointed out the hat to him.

"Round here, a cap like that’ll get you beat down, my friend," she said, in her best Kentucky accent. The hat in question was a college basketball hat, with the Duke logo on the front and a smaller one on the back. "Basketball season just started, and you’re already making a target out of yourself."

With a laugh, Jeff reached up and swept off the hat. He relished the look the pretty woman gave his multi-colored hair. Then, with a wicked grin on his face, he turned the cap inside out and put it back on his head.

"Forgot where I was for a few minutes. I’m surprised I wasn’t stopped at the state line. My name’s Jeff, by the way," belatedly, he reached out and shook her hand.

"Allegra," she replied. "I guess you’re the newbie upstairs?"

She laughed again at the look that crossed his face. "God, no. Although now I don’t think it’s such a bad place. My brother is the one moving in." Jeff turned to look at the upstairs window, which was now empty. "I guess he’s not feeling very sociable right now. Don’t worry, the boy wonder will make an appearance shortly." He studied her face for a second. "I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what color are your eyes?"

It was a question Allegra was used to. "Technically speaking, they’re gray. But right now they’re probably greenish…I don’t really know, they change color with my moods and my clothes." She gave him a once-over just as he had. "You look kinda familiar. Are you, like, somebody I should know?"

"Well, the last name’s Hardy," Jeff said, and waited. At her perplexed look, he continued. "As in the Hardy Boyz. Emphasis on the ‘zzz’." When she still looked baffled, Jeff opened his mouth to explain himself more clearly. Then he noticed the smile on her face.

"I knew who you were before you even took the hat off. I just wanted to see if you were as full of yourself as Kelly said you were." At his open-mouthed look of surprise, she laughed. "I’m just surprised she hasn’t told you horror stories about me. Or has she?" Allegra asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Actually," Jeff said, trying to sound insulted and haughty, "she told Mattie about you. This is the first I’ve heard of you. Just like them to keep someone like you to themselves." He wiggled his eyebrows comically, making Allegra laugh again. He was starting to like her. She had a dry sense of humor that matched his.

Looking at her watch, Allegra sighed. "I hate to break us up, but I’m gonna be late for work. I hate working the mid-shift. You guys gonna be around later?" At his nod, Allegra smiled. "Drag your brother down, and I’ll get hold of Kelly. We can go do something, get to know everybody."

Agreeing to talk his sourpuss brother into joining them, Jeff told her goodbye and watched as she pulled out of the lot. When her car was out of sight, he turned and went upstairs to inform his brother he was going to be living right above the future Mrs. Hardy.

"And does the future Mrs. Hardy know she is the prime candidate for the title of Mrs. Hardy?" Matt asked Jeff sarcastically. After hearing Jeff describe their conversation, Matt knew the two of them were just alike…hence, she would have absolutely nothing in common with Matt. He was always the serious older brother, while Jeff was the goof-off.

"Nope. Maybe I should tell her. She wants us both to go down to her place tonight to meet up with her and Kelly. Maybe they know where there’s a decent club around here." Jeff noticed the look on Matt’s face. "Before you say no, I am gonna insist on it, Mattie. You get to meet your neighbor, and find a place in this town that maybe has some decent food. Hell, neither one of us will feel like cooking once we get your stuff moved in here."

Matt couldn’t argue with Jeff’s logic on the latter statement. They had only moved a few boxes, and put his bed together, and he felt wiped out. Next they’d move the entertainment center. Just thinking about it made Matt groan. "OK, OK. But we can’t stay out too late. I want to actually sleep in this place before we have to hit the road again, Jeff."

"No prob, big bro. You’ll be here in bed before you turn into a pumpkin. I guarantee it." And with that, Jeff went outside to see what else needed to be brought in off the truck.

Almost three hours later, the truck was empty, and Jeff and Matt lay on the couch and floor respectively, exhausted. At a knock at the door, Matt called, "Come on in!"

The door opened, and Kelly walked in, threading her way around boxes and furniture. "Love what you’ve done with the place, Matt. Early American Clutter is a good look." When both men stood, she gave them each a hug, then sat on the couch with Jeff, while Matt moved some books off a chair and sank down in it.

"My friend from downstairs called. Said we were going out tonight," Kelly raised her eyebrows at Matt. "Even you, Matt? I thought you were done going out. Jeff told me you were going to apply to a school for chanting monks, or some nonsense like that."

"I can’t help it. Jeff guilted me into it. I haven’t even met this Allegra yet. But Jeffie is taken with her," Matt added, almost malevolently. Leave it to Jeff to find a girlfriend not 2 hours after he put in an appearance. He was so much more outgoing, in personal relationships anyway, than Matt. Jeff knew how to get close to people quickly. Matt figured it was his sense of humor. Although Matt was at ease in front of audiences of 15,000 screaming fans, one on one conversation often left him tongue-tied. Funny, in light of the fact that in all the interviews they did on TV, Matt was usually the one who did all the talking.

Of course, since he was playing a character on TV, it wasn’t really him up there. It was the reason Matt loved working in the WWF. On the road, wrestling, he could be the guy that he’d always tried to be…and the crowd would think that was the way he was. But in reality, at home, he was quiet and brooding, letting Jeff’s more buoyant personality speak for both of them.

"I guess we should take our respective showers, Matt. It’s almost 7:30. Kel said she gets home around 8. Then we can go grab some food," Grinning, Jeff went toward one of the bathrooms after grabbing a change of clothes.

Kelly shook her head. "Jeff doesn’t waste time, does he? I wonder if Allegra knows what’s going to hit her."

Matt just shrugged and picked up his overnight bag. Excusing himself, he went to the shower in the master bedroom.

Half an hour later, they were clomping down the stairs and knocking on Allegra’s door. A muffled voice called for them to enter. ‘Weird,’ Matt thought. That was the exact way she said it. "Enter."

They walked into an apartment that was as big as Matt’s; only the setup was a little different. Matt noticed a rodent cage on top of a desk. At the moment, it was either empty or the rodent in question was hiding.

Matt and Jeff both stood when Allegra came into the living room. From his window above, he had thought she was pretty. But looking closer, he saw that she almost glowed. Like she was more alive than anyone else in the room. Her eyes were actually twinkling at Kelly and Jeff introduced her to Matt.

"Nice to meet you. Welcome to town," she said, her voice musical in Matt’s ears. "I hope I’m not dragging you away from anything too important up there."

"No, we were finished for the day anyway," Matt said, forcing the words out. He thought to himself, ‘At least I’m not stuttering.’ He found himself, as usual, with nothing good to say.

Sensing this, she stepped away and grinned at all of them. "So, are we ready for some food? I’m starving!" At everyone’s agreement, they piled into Allegra’s Olds and headed for the town’s main entertainment, the bowling alley. Kelly explained that a steak restaurant was located at the front of the establishment, with a bar and a mini golf course inside.

As they ate, Allegra and Jeff carried the conversation. They talked like they had known each other forever, throwing insults and telling jokes. Matt kept stealing glances at Allegra, watching the way she talked. She looked directly into the eyes of whoever was speaking, and appeared to take great interest in even the most lame of what Jeff had to say.

For a second, he felt a stab of jealousy. Jeff had such an easygoing manner with women. He could charm them all. Matt had watched him time and again do it at autograph sessions. Even 90-year-old grandmothers weren’t safe from his charm. They practically melted in his hands as soon as Jeff looked at them.

And here he was, wooing the most beautiful woman Matt had ever seen. He wished he had Jeff’s talent with women.

After they finished, they went into the bar. "Oh, goodie," Kelly said, in a flat voice. "Karaoke night. Hooray."

"I love Karaoke!" Jeff said excitedly. "Long as I don’t have to sing any Garth Brooks."

"How bout you, Matt?" Allegra said. "Wanna go in here and try it out, or find somewhere else to go?"

"Well, as long as I don’t have to get up and sing, I can handle it," Matt told her, and smiled shyly at her. She returned his smile with a big grin.

"Sorry Kel, looks like you’re outvoted. Let’s rock, people!" Allegra called out. All the people in the bar cheered. To Matt it sounded like most of them were well on their way to a hangover. They found a table in the front, and Allegra and Jeff started flipping through the songbook. They giggled to each other, and filled out a few request sheets.

Eventually, they called out Allegra’s and Jeff’s names. They went up onstage amid applause and hooting.

"Now, people…we’re gonna sing an oldie, but a goodie," Allegra said. "Does anyone remember this cartoon?"

The music started, as Allegra and Jeff laughed out the words to a song from Rainbow Brite.

A: All you need is a favorite song

J: someone with you to sing along

A: your best sidekick, your best chum

J: you start to whistle and you start to hum

Matt was laughing so hard, he thought he was going to wet himself. As they swung into the chorus, they were practically screaming, ‘Starlight, Rainbow Brite, a little wish in the moonlight, sunbeam sparkle and shine, you’ll always be a friend of mine."

And the crowd of drunken rednecks loved it, clapping and singing along. When they were done, they almost fell off the stage they were laughing so hard. Matt wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"I can’t believe you two," he said, still trying to catch his breath.

Allegra and Jeff looked at each other and burst out laughing again. It was contagious, and the four of them were just calming down when Allegra said, "I’m so glad we could make the night brighter for all the Rainbow Brite deprived people of the county." Laughing again, they decided it was time to head for home. Kelly had to get up early and go to work the next day.

Back at the apartment, they all piled out of the car, Jeff still humming the song under his breath. They watched Kelly get into her car and drive off with a wave, the Jeff turned to Allegra.

"Well, Allergy, it’s been real," Jeff said.

"It’s been fun, Jerk," Allegra said back, laughing.

Together, they both said, "But it ain’t been real fun." Laughing again, Jeff went upstairs to unlock the door.

Matt stood, uncomfortably looking at Allegra’s shoes. He cleared his throat. "I had a good time, Allegra. Thanks for inviting us out." He wanted to kick himself for sounding like a 14-year-old on his first chaperoned date.

But Allegra just smiled and gave him a tender look, which he missed since he was still looking at the ground. "I’m glad you came. Maybe we can do it again sometime." Impulsively, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Matt looked up in surprise, turning bright red. "I better get inside," she said, giving his hand a squeeze. Matt waited until she had the door open before heading upstairs.

After wishing Jeff goodnight, he lay in his own bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. Matt thought the little peck on the cheek was just a friendly gesture. After all, she had spent almost the entire evening talking to Jeff. ‘But Jeff didn’t get a kiss, not even a little peck,’ Matt thought, almost giddily. He lifted his hand to his cheek to touch the spot where Allegra had kissed him. Smiling softly, he drifted to sleep.

"Place looks almost livable, bro," Jeff said, looking around. It was a week since Matt had unloaded the first boxes from the moving truck. They had finally gotten everything in the living room and bedroom arranged, and almost all the boxes unpacked. Allegra had been up a few times to help out, joking with Jeff, and trying to draw Matt out while they worked.

"Gee, thanks, Jeffrey. I don’t recall asking for your opinion," Jeff chuckled, and threw a towel at Matt’s head. Jeff was going around the house, throwing his things into a bag.

"I hate to leave when things are just getting interesting, but I gotta get back to N.C. for a few days. I’ll have to bring dad out when I come back for a visit," Matt laughed at Jeff. His dad had no interest in seeing Matt’s new adventure. He probably thought it was just a phase.

When all of his things were loaded into his car, Jeff gave Matt a hug. "Tell Allegra I said bye, Matt. Wish I could have seen here before I left," Jeff looked at her front door. Although they had only known her for a week, Jeff thought his feelings for her were amazingly strong.

"I will. And give dad my love, doof," Matt said, laughing, and ruffling Jeff’s hair. He watched as Jeff ducked into the car and drove off toward the highway.

Back inside the apartment, Matt looked around again. The place really had come together, although Matt thought it was so huge he didn’t have enough furniture. Shaking his head, he went to the back bedroom to finish unpacking the few remaining boxes.

Half an hour later, he heard a knock at the door. Smiling when he saw who it was, Matt opened the door for Allegra, who was carrying a pizza box and a six pack of beer. "How’s the unpacking going?" she asked, setting her armload down on the kitchen table.

"Almost done, finally," Matt said. He had found that the longer he knew her, the easier it was to talk to her. Not that he still didn’t stumble for words around her. But when they were alone, he felt relaxed.

Grinning, she grabbed 2 plates and served up the pizza. As they ate, she was telling him about the town they were in. Although small, it was close enough to one of the bigger cities that there was always something to do. "So, while this is, as Jeff says, a ‘shitsplat’ on the map, it’s not all bad. I’ve lived here all my life, and I love it."

Matt could see why she loved it so much. The town itself was pretty, the people were exceedingly friendly, and it was a peaceful place to escape from the hordes of wrestling fans that hounded them. Strangest thing about it, though, was that almost everyone in town recognized who he and Jeff were; yet no one bothered them about it. No autograph seekers, no rabid females professing their love. He mentioned this to Allegra.

"Not surprised at all," she said, taking a bite of her pizza. "With a couple of country music stars living around here, and some other celebs, we all grew out of the star-struck thing. It’s more live and let live, unless you do something really dumb. Then they only rag you about it for a few weeks."

Matt laughed, and reached over to brush some pizza sauce from Allegra’s chin. He let his fingers stay in contact with the soft skin of her face. She leaned forward to let herself be caressed. Shaking his head, Matt dropped his hand down to the table. He didn’t know what he was thinking.

Abruptly standing up, she said, "Well, I think between the two of us, we can knock out the rest of the unpacking in an hour or so. Then we can find some other mess to get into." Agreeing, he led her to the back room and the last of the boxes. They worked side by side for a while, not talking, just listening to the radio Matt had brought in from the bedroom.

Matt noticed she had stopped working, and looked over to see what she was doing. Allegra was holding a box of condoms in her hand, and she had an amused look on her face. Matt could have fallen through the floor and been happy. "I’m gonna kill Jeff. Probably his idea of a good joke. You heard him talk about me joining a monastery." He was babbling, and he could feel his face turning crimson.

She gave him a crooked grin, and tossed the package into the box marked bathroom stuff. "Better safe than sorry, I suppose."

Turning back to the box he had been emptying, and cursing Jeff in his mind, he quickly finished his own box and looked around. The box Allegra was working on was the last one, so he took all the empties outside to throw away. When he came back in, Allegra was just finishing putting his bathroom stuff in the cabinet under the sink.

"Well, that’s it. Now you have an extra room to play around with," Allegra smiled at him.

"Yep, I think I’ll get me a pool table to put in there. Or maybe a computer. I don’t know yet," Matt said, trying to get past his earlier embarrassment.

"If you need any help, let me know," Allegra said. "I guess I should head downstairs and feed DD." Saying goodbye, she went outside.

Later that night, lying in bed and trying to read a book, Matt was once again mentally kicking himself. Allegra found a box of condoms, and he acted like a mentally incompetent 15-year-old. He was told old to be hung up over what was almost a necessity for a single guy in this day and age. Sighing, he opened the nightstand to put his book inside, and was confronted with the package in question. ‘Well,’ he thought, closing the drawer on the books and the condoms, ‘I should have seen that coming. She’s almost a clone of Jeff.’ Smiling sardonically at that, he flipped off the bedside lamp and drifted to sleep.

The next afternoon, Allegra was confused by Matt’s behavior. In the week since he’d moved in, she had thought they were going to be friends. Slowly, he had opened up to her, and lost some of the shyness that tripped him up. But today, he was once again only looking at the ground, and reverting to one-word answers to her questions. She tried to shrug it off; she had only seen him twice today…once at the mailbox, and then as he was leaving and she was arriving in the parking lot.

But she still had a strong suspicion that there was something wrong. She thought back to yesterday afternoon, and his embarrassment. It was cute the way he turned red at the slightest little thing. She realized her reaction to finding the box of condoms was strange. For a minute, she couldn’t see Matt needing them, and then she had realized she could. It had really gotten to her, thinking about it.

What she didn’t know was Matt’s reason for closing her off today. He had spent the entire night having very detailed dreams about Allegra. Matt could remember every bit of them too, and every time he saw her, all he could think of were those dreams. And he felt even more awkward than before, because Jeff had already said he had more than a passing interest in Allegra. And Matt would never move in on what Jeff thought was his territory. But then again, Jeff was gone, and his relationship with Allegra was only friendship right now. Matt thought there was a chance for him and Allegra, especially with Jeff gone home to visit their dad. He could feel it in the way she looked at him, and talked to him. Not at all the way she joked with Jeff and Kelly.

Matt couldn’t figure out for the life of him what she would see in him. Jeff was the fun one, easy to get along with, outgoing. Matt didn’t even know what was running around in his own mind half the time. He was still struggling to become independent of his family. He was shy and reserved. In other words, he paled in comparison to Jeff.

‘Not true,’ he said to himself. ‘I’m just different, and that’s all.’ Matt knew his main problem, and it was constantly comparing himself to Jeff’s outrageousness. He was always coming up on the short end, at least in his own mind. ‘Maybe I should dye my hair orange and purple. That might give my attitude a boost.’ He decided against it, since Jeff’s expertise was in the hair-color field.

Matt knew he could change how he acted. It was like being in front of a crowd of one. He thought about using his wrestling persona all the time. It seemed like Jeff did it that way, but no one ever realized that with Jeff what you saw was what you got.

Making a quick decision, which was unusual for him, he went down the stairs and was rounding the corner of the building to knock on Allegra’s door. Matt only had a week to go before his vacation was over; he didn’t want to waste time trying to sort out what he was feeling. He wanted to be with Allegra.

As he raised his hand to knock, Allegra tossed open the door. They both jumped back in surprise, then laughed.

"I was just on my way up to see you," Allegra said, smiling.

"I guess we’re sharing a brain now. I thought I’d see if you wanted to go out somewhere tonight. Maybe to the bowling alley?" Matt asked, hopefully.

"I’d love to. But it’s Sunday. The alley’s already closed by now. We could go into Lexington to another one. I’m in a mood to bowl," Allegra said. After she grabbed a jacket, they got into her car, and she drove the 14 miles to the city.

They bowled a couple of games, and Allegra was touched that he was making a concerted effort to come out of his shell. Matt was fun to be around in a way that was totally different from Jeff. His sense of humor was quieter and more subtle that his brother’s.

They had been there for a few hours when Allegra noticed several of the people the lanes surrounding them staring at Matt. One of them was a young man, who looked like he was well on his way to a head-smashing hangover. Although in Kentucky it was illegal to sell alcohol on Sunday, some people smuggled it into the bowling alley.

Sensing trouble coming, Allegra rushed to finish the game they were playing. It was one thing to be recognized by adoring fans, another to be swamped by drunk jealous looking assholes. They managed to clear out of the alley before any trouble started. It was in the parking lot beside her car that the problems started.

"Look, guys," said the drunk man. He was flanked by three of his drunken buddies. "It’s one of the ‘Hardly boys’. What’s a pretty rassler like you doin’ round here?" His words were so slurred, Allegra could hardly make out what he was saying. Matt just looked resigned to the confrontation; he had been through it before.

"We were just leaving, guys," Matt said, in a conversational voice. Sometimes sounding humble worked with these kinds of jerks.

"Leavin’? I think my girlfriend wants your autograph. Are you gonna be an asshole and not give her one?" The second guy said. Matt knew this was big trouble, it had happened before. Give out autographs and the boyfriends get jealous; don’t do it and they think he had something personal against them.

Matt pushed Allegra behind him, and said, "Why don’t I sign one for you to give to her. Then me and my friend can be on our way." He was still trying to be nice to them. He didn’t want to have to fight in front of Allegra.

But the locals weren’t listening. They started closing ranks on Matt, blocking him and Allegra against the car. The third guy, who hadn’t said a word, threw back his arm to take a punch at Matt. He started to dodge it, when the punch was intercepted by Allegra’s hand. She had the moron’s hand in hers, and quickly twisted it up his back, applying pressure to the nerves in the shoulder and neck. The big guy squealed in pain, and the other two just stood there and watched in shock.

"Why don’t you shitheads go bother some other people. We just want to go home. Got me?" Allegra said, in a low voice, twisting the arm even harder.

"Yeah!" the big guy said, wincing in pain. Big beads of sweat had popped out on his head. "We wasn’t gonna do nothin. We was just kiddin around." Allegra pushed him away and let go of his arm, then bit back a smile as he tripped on his own feet trying to get away from her. The other guys still stood there, debating on whether they should attack or retreat.

Matt stepped up the man who appeared to be the leader. "Fuck off, guys. We’re going to leave, and you all need to go get dried out." With that, he turned and opened the car door for Allegra. As she got in, she flashed him a grin, which he returned. As he turned to go around to his side of the car, he noticed the three guys had run off, presumably back into the bowling alley.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Matt got in the passenger seat, and busted out laughing. "My God, Allegra. You got some skills!"

"Well, you know. Girl living on her own and all that. I have to be able to defend myself from the cretins of the world," Allegra laughed as she drove out of the city. "I hope I wasn’t too hard on the moron. I could’ve broken his arm if he gave us more trouble."

Matt was still chuckling over Allegra pulling a ‘Jean-Claude’, as Jeff would call it. "I never pictured you being the violent type."

As she pulled into the driveway, still giggling, Allegra turned to him, and said, "What type would you say I am, Matt?"

Instead of answering, Matt cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Finally, both of them panting, he pulled away. Without a word, he got out of the car and walked around to open her door. Allegra stood, and put her arms around him, kissing him again.

"Your place or mine?" Matt asked, hoping she was on the same track he was.

He was more that pleasantly surprised to find out she was. "Yours. You have the box of condoms, remember?" At that not so subtle reminder, Matt groaned and pressed his burning face to her neck. "This is not the time to be shy, Matt," Allegra said, grinning and pulling back to look in his eyes.

Without another word, Matt took her hand and led Allegra up the stairs.

Allegra opened her eyes to see sunlight streaming into the room. Groaning, she pulled the blanket over her head, and snuggled back into her pillow. It wasn’t until her hip bumped into an unknown object that the past night came back to her. She wasn’t in her own bed, but in Matt’s, while he slept on beside her. Smiling, she gave up snuggling with her pillow and burrowed next to him. Still asleep, Matt put his arms around her.

Allegra decided he wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon, and extricated herself slowly so she could take a shower. After 15 minutes in the steamy bathroom, she stood toweling off when she heard Matt finally get out of bed.

She wrapped a towel around herself and went out to give him a good morning kiss. But when she walked into the living room, she came face to face with Jeff. As he looked at her surprised, she felt herself redden. At that moment, Matt walked in from the bedroom. He looked from Jeff to Allegra with a pained expression on his face. Without saying a word, Allegra turned back to the bedroom to get her clothes. As she dressed, she didn’t hear anything from the next room.

She giggled when she thought of what Jeff had almost seen. And the look on his face was almost comical. She couldn’t help but grin as she went back to the living room. But her smile abruptly died when she saw the looks on the men’s faces. Quickly excusing herself, she went down to her own apartment.

As soon as he heard the door downstairs close, Matt opened his mouth to talk. Jeff interrupted before Matt even got started.

"What the hell? Matt…" for a minute Jeff could only stare at his brother. "I mean…what…?" At an uncharacteristic loss of words, Jeff turned to the nearest wall and punched it.

"Look, Jeff," Matt began, talking in low tones. But once again, Jeff interrupted him.

"Look nothing!" he practically screamed, turning to face Matt. "I told you I liked her Matt. What the hell did you do, wait all of 5 minutes after I left to jump on her? Don’t answer that, I really don’t want to know." Jeff stopped abruptly and waved his hands. Matt had never seen Jeff so angry that he couldn’t put the feelings into words.

"Let me explain, Jeff," Matt was almost pleading with him. But Jeff wasn’t hearing anything he said.

Seeming to shake it off, Jeff said, "I drove over because McMahon said he needs us tonight in Cincinnati. We have to be there before 6 tonight." After this flat statement, Jeff turned and left the house, leaving Matt to stare at his empty doorway.

After calling the home office and confirming that he was needed tonight, he phoned Allegra. "I have to go to Cincinnati tonight for a storyline we’re working on," he told her.

Allegra sensed the strain in his voice, and asked what was wrong. "I hope I didn’t embarrass Jeff coming out from the bathroom like I did," she said.

Matt had to swallow a large lump in his throat to answer. "I don’t think so. I can’t talk right now, Allegra. I have to get ready to go." Trying to ignore the fact that she sounded hurt when she said goodbye, Matt quickly threw his gear into a bag.

As he drove from his apartment to Cincinnati, a good 2-hour drive, he had a lot of time to think about his situation. Although Jeff had expressed an interest in Allegra, he never acted on it. In fact, he treated her like he did all of his friends; like one of the guys. Matt, on the other hand, thought the impossible had happened to him. He had fallen in love after only knowing a girl for a week.

The more he thought about it, the more he knew it was true. Allegra made him feel more like the man he was wanting to be. Instead of Matt the shy, quiet guy, she made him feel interesting, funny and intelligent. But Jeff wouldn’t care about that. For the first time in their lives, Matt had taken something Jeff wanted.

As he stood in the locker room in Cinci, lacing his boots, Jeff stood across the room, not bothering to even pretend to be friendly with him. Lita walked in and took a careful inventory of them.

"I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with you two," she said, eyeing Jeff, who kept his back to them, "but you’d better suck it up. If everything goes good tonight, you guys will be champs again after the pay per view."

When neither one answered her, she rolled her eyes. "OK, I know there’s only one thing that’s caused this. You two need to leave your women troubles at the door. It’s an important night for us." Finally, Jeff looked around at her. He nodded solemnly.

"You’re right," then he glanced at Matt. "I guess we need to pull together a little. I’m all for dropping this. For now."

Agreeing, Matt, finished lacing his boots. "Yeah. OK. I’m willing." He didn’t sound particularly enthused about it, but Lita saw the guys let some of the tension go and breathed a sigh of relief. Although she wasn’t a part of the tag title scene, a win for the Hardyz ultimately led to good things for her, as both a wrestler and a semi-manager.

After the live episode of Raw went off the air, and things had gone off exactly the way Matt, Jeff, and Lita had envisioned them, they were set to win back the tag team gold. Thinking his situation through on the way home, Matt came to a decision. As long as he was seeing Allegra, a rift was there between Jeff and him. And he didn’t work long hard years with his brother to see it thrown away. Matt was in love with Allegra, but Jeff thought he was too. So Matt decided to be the bigger man, and back off, hoping Allegra would understand.

Allegra did understand, maybe a little too well. After explaining to her what had happened, she didn’t speak for several minutes.

"Matt, I…think I’m in love with you too," she said, softly. "I thought Jeff and I were going to be friends. I didn’t know he had any kind of stronger emotion for me." She stopped and stared out the window of her kitchen. "Basically, either way, I’m going to be the bad guy here." Looking at Matt, she took his hand. "If wrestling is so important to you, I can let it go at that, Matt. But it’s not going to make me love Jeff the way I love you." He smiled sadly, and leaned over to kiss her, but she backed up and shook her head. "Maybe you should just go, Matt."

A little startled by her words, it was finally sinking in. Matt had just thrown away the woman that he was in love with for a career that, if he was lucky, would take him up to around age 40. As he left her apartment and headed upstairs, he tried to block out the image of her crying as he left. Allegra would haunt him for a long time.

Almost one month later, Matt and Jeff should have been on top of the world. They had easily won the title belts back from the RTC, Lita regained her women’s title, and they both had gotten raises for their performances. But Matt and Jeff hardly spoke to each other. Lita was used as their go between on the rare occasions that one felt the other needed to know something. Lita was almost at the end of her rope with them both. She knew Jeff had a stubborn streak a mile wide in him, but Matt being too taciturn was a new thing to her.

Lita couldn’t help thinking that Jeff was the one at fault though. Even though neither one would talk to her about the problem, she knew Jeff had a temper that could flare up with little fuel to feed it. She sighed as she thought about him. Lita was carrying a torch for Jeff, and had been since they first met. ‘Torch, more like a bonfire,’ she thought to herself as she watched Jeff grab a plate of food at the catering table.

Jeff came over to her table and sat down across from her. As they ate, they didn’t say much. And when Matt came in and sat at another table with Edge and Al Snow, she raised a questioning eyebrow in Jeff’s direction.

"I know, I know. You want to know what’s going on," Jeff mumbled, stuffing his mouth with food. "I hate fighting with Matt. You know that. But…"

"But?…" Lita said, trying to help him along. Although Jeff was usually very open about his feelings, right now he was having problems. "Whatever it is, Jeff, I want to help. Please," Lita said, covering his hand with hers. He looked at her hand for a few moments before speaking.

"I realize I’m being a total moron. There’s this girl, see," Jeff began, and Lita felt her heart sink. She had done everything but strip down naked for him, and he was always going for someone else. "Well, there was this girl. I was getting really friendly with her. Then I go away and come back to see Matt had moved in. I guess I saw red." He looked embarrassed as he remembered giving Matt the cold shoulder since that day. "I feel like an idiot, Lita. Really. I thought me and this girl had something good started. But I’ve been thinking about it. I mean, I never told her I liked her or anything. But it just gets me. I don’t know why I feel so possessive."

Lita thought for a few minutes. So it was a woman. She had known from the start that it had to be a female. It was the only thing that could possibly come between the two brothers. "So what’s happening now? Matt still seeing her?" Lita tried hard to mask the hope she heard in her voice. Silently, she prayed Matt would stand his ground so Jeff could move on to other things, namely Lita.

"I don’t think so," he said, partially deflating Lita’s brief balloon of hope. "I don’t know for sure. We haven’t exactly been discussing the situation." Jeff started to pick up his tray to leave.

"Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. He dumped some girl for you? Then why the hell are you still pissed off?" Lita was almost laughing.

"I’m not. I think he’s mad at me more than I was at him. I just want to forget about this whole thing and move on, but Matt’s hurting. And it’s my stupid fault," with that, Jeff stood up and walked out of the room. Lita studied Matt thoughtfully for a few minutes before picking up her things and following him.

Matt picked at his food as Edge and Al made jokes about Christian, who was walking toward their table. Almost everyone on the roster knew Matt and Jeff weren’t speaking to each other, but for a change had decided to let them work things out for themselves.

For the last month, he and Jeff had traveled separately, eaten apart, and didn’t share motel rooms. They had never gone longer than a day or two without speaking. Added to that was the fact that Allegra was never far from his thoughts. He had only been back to his apartment for a weekend since she had told him to leave her apartment. Although he tried to tell himself he wasn’t watching for her, Matt sat in his chair by the front window, trying to get a glimpse of Allegra. Apparently, she knew it. Matt never saw her coming or going. He would look outside and her car would be gone. A few minutes later he’d look again and the car would be back in the lot.

He heard her opening and closing her front door. And late Saturday afternoon he heard the sounds of the band Limp Bizkit. Kelly had stopped by for a visit, and listened to the beat that came up through the floor.

"She must be mad. Only time she ever listens to music like that is when she’s pissed," Kelly said, looking amused at the thought. Matt wasn’t amused; he knew exactly what she was mad at. "Don’t see her get angry a whole hell of a lot, though. Somebody must have threatened bodily harm to that rodent she calls a pet."

Matt didn’t even crack a smile at the joke. Kelly finally decided to leave, and jokingly told Matt to call her when he got up out of his funk. Absently seeing her out the door, he thought about going downstairs to talk to Allegra. In the end, he went into his room and curled up on his bed.

After a while, the music shut off and Matt heard Allegra open her door. A few seconds later, her car started, and she left. Looking at the clock, he saw it was almost 7. ‘Maybe she has a date or something,’ he thought, feeling even more miserable at the thought.

Matt’s whole weekend at home went that way, tracking Allegra’s movement in her apartment.

Now it was almost two weeks later, and he was trying to eat cold chicken while Edge and Christian made up new words to everybody’s theme music. Matt watched as Lita and Jeff talked quietly at a different table. He couldn’t understand why Jeff wanted Allegra. It was obvious to Matt and anyone else that was looking that Lita was in love with Jeff. She did everything except advertise it.

‘Maybe I should tell her to quit being subtle. Jeff never was any good at picking up on low key emissions,’ Matt thought to himself, and almost smiled. Their dad often said the only things Jeff missed were the things that didn’t knock him on the head with a 2x4.

Almost 2 weeks later, Matt was once again in his apartment. Kelly had invited a bunch of the guys down for the local county fair. It was a really big thing in the town; for days it was all the people talked about it. Tonight, Kelly was actually going to drag a bunch of big brawny wrestlers to the local fairgrounds to go line dancing.

Matt met the others at the county park, which had the fairgrounds to one side and a large blue building used for classes and events like this one. When he got a look at Mick Foley, he laughed out loud for the first time in weeks. Mick had, as usual, gone a little overboard with his outfit: western boots, a cowboy shirt covered by a flannel shirt, and a big Jim Ross style black cowboy hat. His wife and kids were with him, dressed more like normal people. The kids were begging for mom to take them to the fair.

The group also included Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, both with their women. And Kurt Angle had finally shown up, late as usual. Lita and Jeff were there, with Hunter and Chyna. A few more of the keys were already at the fairgrounds, riding the rides.

Matt waited awkwardly for Kelly to lead them into the dance hall. He hated dancing, and the only reason he had come along was to get the guys to quit bothering him about it. He planned to sit on the sidelines all night, watching everyone else.

When they finally went inside, Matt and the rest of the group, minus Collette and Mick’s kids, pulled a bunch of chairs into a corner. When the music started, the first ones on the floor were Hunter and Chyna. While Hunter, like Matt, hated to dance, Chyna loved it. She was having a ball, and they had only been there for 5 minutes.

For the better part of an hour, Matt watched as his group laughed their way through old time dances, like the Cotton-eyed Joe. Matt laughed out loud again as Mick tripped over his own feet while dancing with Kelly.

Chyna came over to sit with him, as Hunter left to find something cold to drink. "Reminds me of a big high school dance, only the guys aren’t afraid to ask the girls to dance," she laughed, and then noticed Matt wasn’t paying attention to her. She followed his line of sight to see a woman entering the building with a large group of guys. She was smiling and pointing them to the fairgrounds. Chyna raised her eyebrow, and said, "Someone you know?"

"My neighbor," Matt said. Chyna laughed and clapped her hands.

"Neighbor, right! You’re a terrible liar, Mattie. You’re looking at her the way I hope Hunter looks at me," she grinned at him. "What’s her name? Kelly told me…Allegra, that’s it."

"Yeah," Matt said softly. He hadn’t laid eyes on her in two months, and he couldn’t pull his gaze from her. Allegra was more beautiful than he remembered. ‘Or maybe that’s because you let her go,’ he thought to himself.

"So go ask her to dance, loverboy," Chyna laughed affectionately. When Matt didn’t get up, she took a closer look at him. "What is it? Matt, you look like you’re going to fall over!"

Matt heard the concern in her voice, and knew he had to finally talk to someone about Allegra. He couldn’t keep something this big inside. As he spoke to Chyna, he watched Allegra walk over to Kelly and Mick, where she joined their dancing. He smiled sadly as he told Chyna that he was in love with her.

"You mean to tell me that you fell in love with her, and Jeff made you dump her?" Chyna was outraged, but Matt was quick to cover for Jeff.

"No, Jeff didn’t make me do anything. I did it myself. I thought it would be easier for me and Jeff to keep working together if I wasn’t with Allegra. But we still aren’t speaking." At the look on Chyna’s face, he quickly shut up.

"That," she said, trying to stay calm, "Is the absolute stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, Matthew Moore. I mean it."

"Well," Matt said, being defensive, "what would you have done in that situation?"

"For starters, I’d tell my brother to take a flying leap. I mean…you love her, but your career is more important than that? I’d gladly give mine up if that’s what it took for me and Hunter to be together. Jeff’s a big boy, he’ll get by. Look at him and Lita." With a wave of her hand, she pointed out the two of them, slowly swaying on the dance floor. Perhaps the only good thing coming from the rift between the brothers was Jeff had finally discovered that he liked Lita a lot. They were almost as close as he and Matt had been a few months ago.

Matt was genuinely happy for them. He didn’t want to deny Jeff any happiness. Even so, he knew it was probably too late for him and Allegra. He told Chyna as much, as she took it all in.

"There’s only one way to find out, Matt," she said. "There she is. In a public place, so she can’t really kill you or anything. Go ask her to dance." Chyna’s tone invited no argument, and Matt felt a small flicker of hope. He slowly rose and made his way to the dance floor.

Matt stepped up to Allegra just as the DJ started playing Aerosmith’s Hole in My Soul. "Allegra, want to dance?" he asked, feeling himself blush. She was going to say no, then changed her mind. After all, what could it hurt? Allegra felt as if she had nothing left in her that could be damaged.

As they slowly swayed, Matt struggled to find something to say that wouldn’t sound completely stupid. Unfortunately for Matt, his tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of his mouth.

The song ended, and Allegra quickly dropped Matt’s hand and headed back to the group she had been standing with. Matt thought about just giving up and leaving, then changed his mind. He followed Allegra to the snack table, and touched her arm.

"Alllegra," he said, almost pleading. "Can’t we go sit somewhere and talk?"

Tempting as it was, Allegra had to say no. "I don’t think so, Matt. You said plenty the last time we talked, remember?" Then her tone changed, losing the sarcasm. "Actually, I think I talked too much. Either way it equals the same thing."

"What, that I was a total and complete moron?" Matt said, trying to get a rise out of her.

"You can say that again, big bro," came Jeff’s voice from behind them. "And I, of course, was a bigger ass than you were." He sighed, although it was exaggerated. Then he looked to where Lita was standing, and grinned. "But who would have thought something so great would come of me being a royal ass-pain?" Smacking Matt on the back, he pushed him at Allegra. "Why don’t we all kiss and make up? Matt, you kiss Al, then I’ll lay a big wet one on you. Then we can get on with our lives."

"The thought of getting kissed by Jeff doesn’t make me feel any better, somehow," Matt said, then smiled at Allegra. "You, on the other hand…" He trailed off, blushing again. Allegra could feel her heart melt at the sight of his red face. She took his face in her hands and put her lips to his.

A little over a year later, Allegra was hanging Christmas lights on the large tree in Matt’s apartment. ‘Our apartment,’ she thought, happily. She didn’t turn when she heard the door open. She had been expecting Matt for the last hour or so.

When Matt saw what Allegra was doing, he rushed to her side. "I told you to wait for me to do this, Al," he said, taking the string of lights from her hand. He tried to sound stern, but he was also smiling. He had really missed her these last 2 weeks.

"Although I look like the Goodyear Blimp, I am capable of running some lights around a tree, Mattie," Allegra said, teasing. Matt grinned, and gently placed a hand on her stomach.

"I think you look better every time I see you. And you don’t look like a blimp," he mused, appraising her round belly. "More like a hot air balloon." With a laugh, Allegra swatted at him with a piece of tinsel. At 8 months pregnant, she was happier than she had ever been.

"Looks like a Christmas baby, Matt," she said, hugging him. "I think we might beat Lita and Jeff by a few days." After the brothers’ back to back weddings, both Lita and Allegra had found out the same day that they were pregnant.

"Good, I can rub it in. Either way…" Matt said, grinning and rummaging through his bag. Finding what he was searching for, he held up both hands. In each one was a large teddy bear…one with a blue ribbon, one with red. Allegra laughed out loud.

"One for each right? But who gets what color?" Allegra said, still grinning at him.

Tossing the bears to the side, he took Allegra in his arms. "I guess it doesn’t matter. They could trade off, since we’re neighbors." Jeff and Lita now lived in Allegra’s old apartment downstairs. The two women had become friends lightning fast, and were inseparable. ‘Well,’ thought Allegra, placing a hand on her distended stomach, ‘almost inseparable.’

Snuggling up in Matt’s arms, she kissed him softly on the neck, and whispered, "I love you, Matthew."

Matt hugged her tighter and smiled. "I love you, too, Al." He said, as they looked at the blinking lights of the Christmas tree.