CHAPTER 14

Mark held Lily close to him, feeling her trembling from head to toe and wanted to kill Matt for the poison that was coming out of his mouth.

"You two wouldn't have listened. You never cared about my problems. It was always 'how's the twins doing' or 'how's Jeff doing'. Even during my goddamn surgeries people were still asking me about JEFF or YOU instead of how I was doing! So I decided to hit him where it would hurt the most, his home and his fucking dog. And I also knew that by destroying Jeff, I destroyed you." Matt chuckled darkly.

Lily was going to puke. She looked past Matt, locking eyes with John and nodded.

Adam cringed alongside Randy as John tackled Matt from behind, sending the oldest Hardy to the floor face first.

Purposefully, Lily stepped on Matt's right hand with the heel of her boot, hearing something crack. "You're sick. Stay away from MY brother." She said coldly, stepping away. "I have to go throw up." She whispered, looking at Mark.

He nodded, watching her hurry off and cracked his knuckles. "Let's take a walk, Hardy."

***

It took Lily an hour before she was even calm enough to speak a sentence without the words 'fuck, Matt, kill' in it. Then another fifteen to quit shaking. She didn't want to know what happened to Matt, having been informed that John and Mark had taken him outside. No doubt he'd be in the ICU for awhile. Not that he didn't deserve it.

She ambled into Alex's office, frowning when she seen Jeff was asleep on a cot. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine. I had to sedate him when he flipped out but…"

Lily looked around, realizing the room was in shambles.

Alex patted her shoulder before walking out, giving her time alone with her brother. That and he had to go talk to Vince about the damages. It was amazing what the normally vibrant and easygoing Jeff Hardy could do when pushed over the edge.

Lily sat down on a small stool, reaching out to take Jeff's hand; tears pricking her eyes. How could Matt do this? He had torn their family apart because of his jealousy. If she and Jeff had known how he felt things would have been different. They hadn't even been aware he had felt left out.

Even so, that was no reason to… to…

Lily had to think about something else, knowing she was liable to either get angry again or start dry heaving. Squeezing Jeff's hand, she brushed a lock of hair off his forehead, knowing when he came too he'd either fly off the handle again or crumple.

About ten minutes later, Mark walked in followed by John and a fuming Alex.

Both men were sporting blood and smelled a bit like gasoline.

"Sit." Alex order gruffly, shaking his head. Matt was currently on his way to a local hospital. "What the hell did you two do to him?"

"Gave him a taste of his own medicine." Mark grunted, looking Lily over intently.

Alex was going to regret asking but did anyway. "How?"

"We burned him." John said, sounding oh so casual.

"Alive."

"With a dog collar wrapped around his fucking neck."

"He'll be fine. We only broke some limbs…"

"You set my brother on fire?" Her eyes were going to fall clean out of their sockets, she simply knew it. Maybe she hadn't wanted things to go THAT far but then again… Glancing down at Jeff, Lily nodded. "Good." She got up and walked over to hug John, not caring about the blood. "Thank you." She whispered in his ear before going to Mark, taking his hand in hers. "Now that you've got all that aggression worked out, do you feel better?"

"Do you feel better?"

She nodded.

He nodded as well. "I'm sorry but…"

"Shit, I'm not sorry." John interrupted with a snort. "I'm glad that son of a bitch will be out for awhile. Maybe next time he'll think twice before deciding to go all psycho on people."

"John…" Alex sighed.

"No fuck that! He fucked over his blood! His blood, his family, all because of jealousy. He killed his brother's dog, totally destroyed everything he had. That's messed up and I don't regret a damn thing we did to him."

Mark pinched the bridge of his nose.

"John is right." Lily said flatly. "Matt deserved everything he got and much more. He purposefully destroyed Jeff's life and tried to take everything away from him. He failed on one account, Jeff still has me." She tilted her head back to look up at Mark. "You smell like gasoline, you need a shower. John, you alright over there?"

"Fine beautiful, just fine." John cracked a smile at her, winking.

Lily automatically checked Mark to make sure he wasn't about to kill anyone.

"John and I have come to an understanding of sorts." He told her, looking thoughtful. Mark took a deep breath, as if what he was going to say next physically injured him. "I'm going to give you the option to pursue him if you want."

Lily's green eyes widened.

"I know you don't trust me right now, Liliana and I don't blame you. I also know that you don't kiss a person without feeling SOMETHING for them. So here's what I want you to do: go on a date with John; explore your feelings and make your decision afterwards."

"HUH?" John was staring at Mark like he had lost his damn mind.

"After that date, if you feel you still want to be with me and you love me, then I'll be waiting." Mark finished as if he hadn't even heard John, his eyes never leaving Lily's astonished face.

"First off, John isn't… I wouldn't…" Lily was flabbergasted. That kiss was over SIX months ago and this was the first she had even seen John SINCE then. "I wouldn't be here with YOU if I didn't-" Lily frowned when he shook his head and jumped up to box his ears.

While Mark's head was ringing, she took advantage and pushed him down into a chair; placing her hands on his shoulders. "Listen to me, Mark Callaway, I love YOU. John is my friend and that is all he ever will be." She glanced back at John. "If you have feelings for me, I am sorry. That kiss was just that, a kiss." She looked at Mark again. "But it's you I give everything too, nobody else. We clear?"

Mark was growling at the ringing in his ears, tempted to cut off her damn hands for that but… he couldn't hurt her either. "Got it." He grunted.

John was smirking. "Looks like Lil laid down the law."

"Say that three times fast." Alex muttered, wondering if he was seeing this correctly. The Undertaker had just gotten his ears boxed and wasn't doing anything but taking it. Alex made a mental note to schedule himself for a cat scan the following morning.

"I love you, Liliana Hardy." Mark was still ignoring everyone but her.

Lily was beaming from ear to ear.

"Now," His manner changed from serious to devious. "Let's get back to the hotel."

She perked up. "Okay!"

John and Alex both made gagging noises.

***

"This surprise better be worth you covering me in blood." Lily grumbled, staring down at her hands. "Ew."

"Don't worry, you'll enjoy it AND be clean in no time." Mark promised, opening the hotel room door with one hand, pressing his other over her eyes so she couldn't see.

Lily flushed as he slowly guided her into the room, inhaling deeply and smiled. "Roses…"

"That's cheating." He grumbled, uncovering her eyes. "I love you."

The room was covered in roses varying in size and color, no two alike. Their sweet scent perfumed the comfortably warm, dimly lit room. Rose petals covered the bed, soft and fragile to the eye, tempting Lily to lay down and just breathe in the heavenly scent.

But Mark was now ushering her into the bathroom where he had the garden tub waiting. The bathroom was lit with candlelight, assorted sized and shaped candles spread out over the counters and surfaces; even on the floor. Resting on one of the ledges built into the wall of the tub were her favorite bath oils and beads.

Lily was pretty curious how much he had had to pay someone to do all this. "Wow." She breathed, inhaling deeply. The vanilla scent was heavenly. She was surprised to realize the tub was filled, rose petals floating on the water and reached out to scoop a few into her hands; the water comfortably warm.

Mark waited patiently while she took all of it in.

Smiling, she turned to look up at him, not sure what to say. "This is… sweet." It was very romantic and something she never would have expected from him honestly. "Mmm… that tub is looking very inviting right now."

"Very…"

***

After the relaxing bath, followed by a very steamy shower; Lily was ready to go sprawl on the rose petal covered bed. She wrapped herself in a fluffy; white towel, leaning back against the sink to watch Mark. Her green eyes followed every movement, the water running down his body as he wrapped a towel around his waist, took in the droplets that clung to his eyelashes before he blinked them away.

"I love you." She said softly.

"I love you too, Lily." He whispered, taking her hand to pull her against him. "Thank you for the second chance."

"Mmhmm." She murmured against his lips; smiling in turn when he lifted her up and carried her out to the bedroom.

"How're you feeling?" He asked, gently lying her down on the bed, hovering over her.

Lily knew he was referring to the whole Matt incident and nodded. "Now that I know he'll probably be disabled for the rest of his life? Fairly well." She confessed.

Maybe in a few decades she'd be ready to even LOOK at her brother but she knew the time for even mentioning his name without some kind of hatred was a long way off.

"I still cannot believe you offered to let me and John go on a date." She giggled at the look on his face. "I'm sorry, but it's kinda funny when ya think about it. You did a complete one-eighty on that. But," She trailed a hand down his forearm. "You're the only man I want in my life, Mark. Unless of course, Brad Pitt decides he's interested in women with skunk hair."

"Not like I'd let him live long enough to decide if he was." Mark said with a smirk. "You're mine."

Lily kept on giggling.

Growling playfully, Mark set out to show her how much more of a man he was than any of her crushes.

***

After being shown the error of her ways, Lily had to agree. Mark was more of a man than her poor Brad. Not that she was telling Mark that, as he apparently already knew. She smiled, snuggling into him; feeling his hands lazily caressing the small of her back.

Her life was far from perfect; her brother totally hated her though he was going to be choking on that hatred along with a tube down his throat for quite some time to come. Jeff would have to start all over and overcome the mental anguish. On that front, she was positive Melina would be a positive factor in Jeff's life.

Then there was her and Mark.

She already knew they would have their ups and downs. He was a possessive man. She wasn't his possession but she WAS his. Just like he was hers. And she had no problem in clawing out his eyes if even looked at another woman with more than a casual passing appreciation.

Well, maybe she was just as possessive as he was and it hadn't been tested yet. Thankfully.

He was moody and domineering. She was bouncy and usually fairly hyper. They were still each other's opposites and she knew in the future, their differences would make things hard and rocky. He was intense, she was laid back. He was the ground; firmly planted while she was clouds, going wherever the wind would take her.

They were definitely the odd, mismatched; imperfect couple.

No, they weren't perfect at all. But then, perfection was overrated and she liked things a little screwed up.

THE END

Yes, it's an abrupt ending!