Chapter 1: It comes with the territory

Monday Night Raw, 9:00 p.m.- the Hardys and Lita fighting against RTC- as usual RTC's Ivory interfering, knocking out Lita, distracting Matt, enabling Steven Richard's to clothesline and then pin him. Disgusted he flicked the off button on the remote. Jeff got up off the recliner and walked into the kitchen -- "Well, Matt, what can we do to beat RTC at their own game?" he asked in frustration.

"Don't worry about it tonight, Jeff. Just sleep it off. We'll figure something out."

The next morning, Matt had just gotten off the phone with Vince, when a knock sounded at the door. "Hey Amy, come on in," he said with a slight drawl.

"So, are you guys ready to go?"

"Uh, not quite, Jeff is upstairs getting dressed." She narrowed her eyes -- "The gallery opens in 20 minutes. He woke up late didn't he?" Matt nodded.

"Doesn't he have an alarm?" she questioned, exasperated.

"He claims he is his own internal alarm," he said with a slight grin.

"Well, the batteries are dead," Amy deadpanned.

"Not dead, just need to be recharged," Jeff's voice said from around the corner. He walked into the foyer running a towel through his wet hair. Amy reddened, she hadn't meant for Jeff to hear her comment.

He grinned, " I expect an alarm clock from you on my birthday," he replied mocking her tone of voice.

"In your dreams," she replied. She hit him lightly in the arm, but smiled slightly.

Fifteen minutes later:

Amy was impatiently tapping her foot on the floor while she attempted to relax on the Hardys couch.

"Come on Jeff," she muttered, "hurry up."

"Okay, let's go," Jeff said as he bounded down the stairs.

Matt read his brother's face, "I know -- we'll stop and get some breakfast on the way."

Amy looked disbelievingly at Jeff, "I thought you had eaten already."

She waved her hand in the air despairingly, "Sure, fine, whatever, but I'm driving!

Matt tossed her his keys, "I like a woman in control," he remarked jokingly.

Amy smirked, " If I recall correctly, at the end of your last date, she was the one asking for a goodnight kiss and holding the door open for you. You were just beside yourself. It was hilarious!"

"Thanks for the reminder Amy," Matt replied sourly.

"Your welcome," she said with a grin.

Fifteen minutes later they were on the road again after getting Jeff some breakfast.

"Jeff, bro, you may want to get an alarm clock," Matt said, looking uneasily over at Amy. She hadn't said a word since they had left McDonalds.

He knew she was upset. Normally, when she was really mad, she didn't say a thing until she was good and ready. He sighed, *this was going to be a long day.*

*It is at least an 1 ½ hour drive to Fayetteville and we have 1 hr. and 15 minutes to get there! *Amy's mind was screaming. Matt knew what she was thinking.

"Uh, Amy, I think I can get us there quicker," Matt said a bit reluctantly. Amy shrugged, and Matt knew she was listening. At the same time Jeff realized how ticked she really was. It was about 5 minutes before their scheduled signing that the "Hardyz and Lita" finally arrived. Amy jumped out of the SUV followed by the Hardyz.

They had to sneak in the back way or as Jeff had so aptly pointed out "Be mobbed by young girls,"

"Oh, I'm so sure you guys would hate that," she said with a sly smile.

Jeff looked at her apologetically, "Look Am.." Amy shook her head and smiled, "Don't worry about it. I didn't want to be late. Besides, I've been kind of moody lately, so I'm sorry for being so mean earlier. You still need an alarm clock though," she said with a grin, as she punched him lightly in the arm.

After 2 hours of signing autographs the guys and Amy were pretty tired, but it had been Amy's Idea - she had gotten plenty of fan mail requests for her and the boys to visit Fayetteville on their next trip to North Carolina. She hadn't regretted their decision until now. Usually love sick girls didn't bother Amy all that much when it came to the Hardys, but she was articularly annoyed watching some blond floozy hang all over Matt, and he looked as if he was enjoying it way to much! *What is the matter with me, * she thought, *the girl fan thing never bothers me*

She was jerked out of her thoughts by a young man's voice, "Excuse me, but may I have your autograph?"

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and smiled brightly, "Sure, there you go," and she handed the photo back to him.

"Wow, thanks!" he said excitedly.

"Your welcome," she said distractedly, sneaking a glance over at Matt.

She sighed, the girl was gone, along with the line.

*Hopefully, she would have time to check out the museum before they had to head back to Cameron to catch a flight to San Francisco.*

"Penny for your thoughts?" a masculine voice asked.

"Huh, oh Jeff, sorry. Hey, who wants to check out the paintings before we have to leave?"

The guys shrugged, "Sure, why not."

"Come on," she said, "we don't have that much time!" As they wandered through the art gallery, Amy said, "Jeff, you should see about putting some of your art here."

"They probably wouldn't think it classy enough," Jeff said. Both Amy & Matt could tell he was mulling it over though.

They left the museum at 1:30 in Matt & Jeff's dad's 1987 Bronco. At Jeff's suggestion, the stopped at Arby's on the way back, to grab a bite to eat.

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