Author: pandora1017
Rating: PG
Content: A little slash - but not really. Erm, well, you'll see.
Notes: I hate writing timed fics. You wouldn't be able to tell it from my track record, but I do. This story will make no sense in a couple weeks when Vinnie and the crew drop the Trish/Jeff angle [again], but TOO BAD. I felt like writing this, despite the fact that I DO NOT LIKE Jeff/Trish stories/on screen angles. She belongs with Jericho, dammit! Anyway, this is from St. Patty's Day '03 RAW, for those of us keeping track. Li'l Jeffro just kissed Trish. This is kinda a songfic - in the title/crux. I got the idea from Pearl Jam's Hail, Hail, when Eddie sings, "Are you woman enough to be my man?" Oh, come on. That's begging for a slash fic. I figured it'd end up being a Matt/Amy one, but... eh. It works here.
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I ran backstage after my match, bright red - save a couple of blue-green splotches on my cheek and forehead - and bolting for the women's locker room. When I got there, I slammed the door shut behind me and leaned up against it, trying to catch my breath.
"Again," I muttered to myself, "He did it again...!"
"Something you're keeping from us, Trish?" a smug voice asked, reminding me that I wasn't alone in the locker room. I looked up quickly and narrowed my eyes.
"Can it, Stacy."
This caused the other girls in the locker room to start giggling, and I could feel my face turning even flusher.
"Hey, Trish, ya got a little somethin'..." Jackie started, gesturing to her own forehead with a smile. I shifted my glare and sneered at her slightly.
"Thanks, I missed it when it was displayed fifty feet across on the Titan Tron."
Again the girls laughed at my expense, so I just shook my head and ducked into the bathroom to wash my face. I heard the door open again after I shut it and glared up to the intruders reflection, relaxing when I saw it was just Lita. I could talk to her - she was the only one who wouldn't make fun of me for my fixation on the painted wonder. Of course, at the moment, that was the last thing I wanted to think about.
"Trish -"
"Please, Lita," I frowned, turning back to the wet paper towel in my hand and my reflection, "not now."
"No, listen. I think there might be something Jeff's -"
"Lita!" I yelled, not even wanting to hear that name said aloud ever again. "Please!"
"Just hear me out!" she insisted, taking my object of distraction - the towel - away from me. I frowned at her, and she brought the towel to my face, wiping the few last smudges of body paint. I sighed, letting her clean my face off, but not letting her speak.
"Look, the last time he kissed me, he ignored me then started seeing Christian. Now what am I supposed to expect? Just more torment before he starts dating who? Lance Storm?!"
"Lance isn't his type," Lita explained gently. I just frowned at her before she continued. "All I'm saying is there has to be a catch - Jeff never kisses people twice unless he's interested."
"And in case you haven't noticed, Jeff is rather infamous for not being interested in girls - particularly me."
Lita tossed the towel in the trash can and turned back to me with a bored look. "Which is exactly why I think there has to be something more there than what meets the eye."
"Such as...?" I pressed.
"Such as... him wanting to kiss you more - I don't know! Why are you being so difficult?! You're the one who likes him!"
"Thanks, Leet, just what I needed to hear," I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know," she quipped, smirking. I stared at her flatly. "Oh, come on. All I'm asking is that you go talk to him - just ask him what that was about. He'll tell you."
"And I'm sure that'll do wonders for my failing self-esteem."
"Self-esteem?" Lita laughed. "Jeff's the one who should be worried about self-esteem. He just kissed a girl who has been paired with Test, Albert, Val - er, Chief Morely, the Rock, Bubba Dudley, and the Hurricane. You're the only girl he's even looked at twice around here."
"Nicely phrased," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Ok, so you've had more guys than he has, too."
"You are getting less and less helpful by the second, Leet."
"Just go talk to him!" she pleaded with exasperation. I sighed.
"What if he laughs at me?" I asked, nervously.
"He won't! Go!"
"But -"
"Get out of here, Trish, before I bring him to you."
I shook my head. "All right, all right. Just let me change first."
"You have ten minutes," she ordered, mock serious. I shook my head and went back into the locker room to start digging through my bag for my street clothes. As I was getting changed, I heard Stacy talking to someone else, purposely loud enough for me to hear.
"...Well, some of us are smart enough to chase after straight men..."
I stood up, suprised at her gall, then turned to her, glaring. "And some of us are smart enough not to let our boyfriends read issues of Playboy with our best friends on the cover."
I heard Lita try to choke back a laugh as Stacy turned white. "Test? What?"
I just nodded with a shrug, and she bolted out the door yelling, "Andrew? Andrew!"
"Well, I feel better," I smirked, pulling a shirt over my head. When I looked up again, Lita was smiling confidently and pointing towards the door.
"Go now," she smirked. "Find Jeff."
My smile faltered slightly, but she didn't leave room to question, so I obliged. I heard Jackie wishing me luck, but I just let the door fall shut behind me, fully understanding that I would need that luck. I took a deep breath to reassure myself, the started up the halls, looking for that man who'd been driving me crazy for almost a year now. Lita swore up and down that I stood a chance, but no one I had spoken to had ever seen him with a girl for more than one kiss. But I guess I was just as good as anyone to break that chain - or so Leet lead me to believe. And somehow that stuck me in this position - roaming the halls in search of a man who most likely only enjoyed tormenting me with his confusing behavior. I wasn't the first, I knew, and I definitely wouldn't be the last -
Oh. There he was. I hadn't realized how far I'd gone when suddenly I saw Jeff in front of me, sitting on a tech case, quietly strumming his guitar. His back was to me, but he hadn't changed since he came to rescue me from Stevie Richards - and he was hard to confuse with someone else, generally speaking. I wracked my brain for something clever to say, but came up short as always. Cutting my thinking time short, Jeff turned to me. I can only imagine the shock on my face. His shiny hazel eyes revealed his ever present mirth, and he had washed off the face paint. My first thought went to my own face.
"I'm sorry I smeared your make-up."
Dammit. I could feel my face turning red. What a stupid thing to say. Jeff, however, seemed amused. "It's all right. What's up?"
"I... ah," I cleared my throat. "I wanted to thank you for helping me out down there."
"Not a problem," he responded lightly, his voice soft as usual. He continued examining me with his eyes, as if he expected me to say more.
"...And I was wondering about... um, how... after the match..." I struggled to find the right words, stuttering and generally sounding like a moron, "how you -"
"D'ya like Pearl Jam?"
I looked up quickly, suprised at his cutting me off. "I... they're all right..."
"There's this song by them when th'man sings, 'Are ya woman enough t'be my man...' an' it got me thinkin'."
I lifted an eyebrow curiously, finally realizing this was Jeff's roundabout way of explaining himself. "Oh?"
"So Ah thought Ah'd try it."
"Try... what?"
"Seein' if there's a woman enough t'be my man."
A breath caught in my throat. Was he...? I coughed delicately to clear my throat. "Is there...?"
"Ah dunno yet," he shrugged, looking away from me for the first time to hit a few notes on his guitar again. I waited, uncertain of what else to do. Jeff then set his guitar down and slid off the tech case and stepped up in front of me. I felt my eyes go wide as plates as I was pretty sure I knew what was coming next. There was a silent moment of examining each others' eyes, then Jeff leaned in once more and kissed me again. Not that weak little kiss he had tried in front of the audience, but a real, full on kiss. It was a good thing he put his arms around me, because I was melting. I had never been kissed like that in my entire life - it's the only way I wanted to be kissed ever again. After a moment, he stood back up again, and my eyes blinked open. There was a smirk on his lips. Was that it? Did he just...?
"Nah," he said under his breath, shaking his head. With that, he took his guitar and walked away.