Temper, Temper
Chapter I
Calm down already." Matt Hardy marched into the hotel room, hot on Kalleasto McMahon's heels. He half slammed the door shut behind them, dropping his gear down on the table inside the door and moving over to her where she was pacing. "Kalli."
"She had her arrested!" Kalli rung her hands together as she paced back and forth, "She had my kid sister arrested, Matt!!!"
The Hardy Boy reached out a hand, grabbing her arm and whirling her to face him. Under the circumstances he wasn't sure exactly how smart that was, and seeing the fury on her face, he almost wanted to back peddle. "Will you just calm the hell down?"
"Did you see the look on her face?" Kalli ranted, completely ignoring him, her anger consuming her, "Did you see the look on my sisters face? Do you see what she's doing to her?" The McMahon Heiress shook her arm free of Matt, pacing again, "Why doesn't she just leave her alone? How can she be so stupid? You don't fuck with the McMahon family." Pure hatred ran through Kalli's cool but hateful voice, "You do not fuck with us."
"Kalli!" Matt grabbed her again, whirling her back to him, shaking her, "Stop it! Right now!"
"Matt..."
The girl started, but he cut her off, "No, you listen to me. Stop it right now!" He shook his head, his angry voice full of concern, "I have never heard you speak to anyone the way you spoke to Joanie tonight." His eyes were wide with the lingering disbelief that filled him, "You meant that, you meant every word." He looked deep into her brown eyes, "What's going on with you?"
"What's going with me?" The girl snapped up at him, "Look what that bitch is doing to my sister."
Her words trailed away when Matt shook her again, his angry words coming in a rush, "And look what you're doing to yourself!!!"
For a moment she simply stared at him blankly, her blind fury still dancing in her eyes.
But slowly, shame filled the girl's face. Her soft features falling, she lowered her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Matt." She whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Kalli," his voice softened, "I've seen you lose it before, but I have never seen you lose it like that. You normally strike out, but." He tilted her face up so she had to look at him as he whispered, "You threatened her life." His belief in the words filtered through his sweet drawl, "And you meant it." He paused, waiting for some response from her.
Instead the girl just stood before him, trembling slightly, again looking away. Her cheeks were tinged with her embarrassment, her disappointment, over her own actions.
"Kalli," he whispered, "Talk to me."
She shook her head, "There's nothing to say..."
"Bullshit." He squeezed her shoulders tightly, a little rougher than he had intended and her eyes snapped up to his. Her attention now unquestionably his, he said, "I want to understand what happened to you tonight because I mean it. Dammit, I mean it, Kalli. I have never seen you like that..."
And though the girl's voice had softened, there was still venom lingering in it, "She's fucking with my sister's life..." Her trembling seemed only to increase as her fury seethed through her veins, "You don't mess with my sisters..." She near chanted softly, her grip on her emotions seemingly slipping, "You don't... You don't..."
The way in which the girl spoke the words sparked something inside Matt and his eyes narrowed softly, "Kalli..." He pressed a hand softly to her cheek, "There's something more going on here, isn't there?"
Her cheeks flushed crimson at this, and he could see the battle within her clearly written on her face, "There's nothing more to this than that bitch Joanie Laurer trying to fuck up Lindsey's life..."
"But you threatened her and you meant it and you know you did," he asked her as gently as he could manage, "And that's what's bothering you right now, isn't it?"
"Matt..." she shook herself free of his grip, stepping back even more. He could see the wall she was trying to build around himself and it confused him. What was she hiding? What was it that made her feel so ashamed?
He reached toward her again, his voice filled with love, "Talk to me..."
"There's nothing to say!" She snapped.
"Evidently there is..." His eyes searched hers, "There's something..." He looked as deep inside her as he could before she averted her eyes, determined not to face him. He mused softly, "Something old..."
The girl turned her back on him, moving to the opposite side of the room to tear off her jacket, slamming it down onto the window seat. He moved across the room after her, and the moment she felt him near her she whirled, "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?" He asked, flabbergasted.
"Trying to make this into something it isn't!" She peered up at him, her temper darkening her gentle features, "I'm pissed that my sister has just been hauled off to jail for something she didn't do and you're acting like it's wrong for me to feel this way..."
"Because what you're feeling is not just anger, Kalli, and I can tell!" He grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him again, "You're own temper just upset you big time..."
"Why?" She seethed without thinking, "Because I know I'm capable of doing EXACTLY what I said I would?" The honesty in her voice sent another flush of shameful colour through her cheeks and she lowered her voice, "Because I'm capable of killing her..."
The Hardy Boy nodded softly, "That's it, isn't it?"
Kalli shook her head, "Matt..."
"Talk to me," he wrapped his arms around her, "Please."
But as he held her to him, her head resting against his chest, he could feel the tension in her, her very being stiffening beneath his embrace. Hurt filled him at her obvious discomfort.
This was something he had never seen in her. Something she had never shared...
Quite probably with anyone.
"Why are you so upset with yourself, Kalli?" He pressed his lips to her forehead, "God, baby, I see you feeling this way and I hate it... Let me help you..."
"You can't..." She whispered. "Matt..." She moved to pull away from him and reluctantly allowed her to do so. "Just drop it..."
Again he softly touched her cheek, "I can't."
Her eyes hardened, "Then let me help you." And with that she moved away from him, marching straight across the room into the bathroom and slamming the door. Surprised he stared after her a moment, his heart sinking when he heard her click the lock.
He moved slowly to the door, resting against it, "Kalli?"
"Goodnight, Matt." Her angry voice came back.
He shook his head, "McMahon, come on."
"I said goodnight."
The Hardy Boy paused there, completely confused. "Kalli," he shook his head in disbelief, "You honestly don't mean to spend the night in there, do you?"
The angry shout that came back at him startled him, confusing him all the more as her shout echoed around the bathroom, "I SAID GOODNIGHT!!!" She added nastily, "Now go away!"
But there he remained.
Shocked, hurt...
And wondering what the hell had really just upset his girlfriend so damn much.
~*~
Chapter II
It had been hours.
Not one sound had been heard from the hotel room since the girl's pained but angry, "Now go away!" had burst through the locked door.
Kalleasto McMahon sighed, wiping her teary eyes, sniffling as she climbed to her feet from the cold bathroom tiles. Her head ached, and as she put all her weight back onto her legs, steadying herself as she gripped the toilet she had been hidden behind, the tingles of pins and needles broke though her. She stretched, breathing deeply, trying to clear the haze in her head.
When her legs felt a little less shaky, she moved to the door, opening it slowly. She looked out into the room, about to step out when she realized there was a figure sitting in the doorway.
A sad little look crossed her face as she took in his sleeping features where he sat, propped up against the door frame, his expression still as pained as it had been when she had marched into the bathroom to lock him away. She stepped over his outstretched legs, kneeling down on the plush carpet to look at him.
All honesty, she had no idea why she had pushed him away the way she just had.
But she was scared.
Not of Matt Hardy, and certainly not of Joanie Laurer.
No.
Kalleasto McMahon was scared of herself.
And now that she had calmed down, not that she had soothed her anger away enough to form a rational thought, she knew she owed the handsome man before an explanation...
And above all else, an apology.
"Matty?" She reached forward, brushing some hair back from his face. He stirred slightly, but did not wake. She smiled softly, leaning forward to press her lips to his forehead.
Again he stirred, and before she pulled away, he opened his eyes, blinking away the sleep in them. "Kalli?" She moved back, locking her eyes on his. He sat forward, suddenly wide awake, "Are you okay?" She nodded softly and he reached out for her, gently cupping her face, "What happened, McMahon?"
She sighed, "Matty..." Her voice was as much a whisper as his, "I'm sorry," she shook her head slightly, "I'm sorry I lost it like that..."
"Don't be sorry," he told her, "Just tell me what's going on with you."
Again she sighed, pausing a moment, fidgeting, before whispering, "I was scared." She told him softly, "I scared myself tonight, Matty. I mean..." She locked her eyes on her fidgeting fingers, "I really scared myself."
"Because of what you said to Joanie." He said knowingly, nodding. "Baby..." He pulled her forward, the girl plonking forward and landing in his arms. The Hardy Boy whispered, "That scared me too." He kissed her forehead, "I've never seen you lose it like that."
Kalli closed her eyes, "I have before..."
Surprised he asked, "You have?"
She nodded against him, burying her face in his chest, "Just once."
Matt hugged her that little bit tighter, silence filling the air a moment before he whispered, "Tell me..."
"Did you get all Heidi's homework?" Kalli held open the gate of the front yard of the house for her younger sister as she stepped through it.
Amy nodded, "Uh huh. They gave me lots. So she would be busy until she can go back to school next week."
The older of the two girls giggled, "I bet she'll love that..." Her voice trailed away, the sound of breaking glass filling the girl's ears, followed by a sharp, shrill scream.
"Kalli..." Amy whispered, the girl's face paling in fear. "What was..."
But Kalli was off, her school bag slamming onto the concrete path as she tore up to the front door, rushing into the house. "Heidi?" She called out desperately, her heart pounding in her chest. "HEIDI?"
Another scream filled her ears, this one clearly coming from the kitchen at the end of the house. She ran down the hallway, her knees near buckling under her for fear...
When she round the corner of the hallway, screeching to a halt in the kitchen door, her fear was realized.
Heidi was on the floor before the smashed kitchen window, blood all over her, Kalli couldn't even tell from where...
And her mother was there, standing over her, pale and crying. The woman turned to look at her oldest daughter in the doorway, "Kalli..." She whispered pitifully, "I didn't mean to, I swear I didn't mean to..." Her words trailed away as her daughter stepped forward, crossing the room in an instant to deliver a horrific punch to her mother's face. The woman tumbled backward, landing on the floor. "Kalli! Please.. I didn't mean it! It was an accident..."
"An accident?" Kalli screamed, dropping down onto her mother, pinning the shaking woman to the floor, "An accident? Like all the other times my sisters have fallen onto your fucking fists?" She delivered another fierce punch to her mother's face, "Like all the other times you've hit them and hurt them and said you were sorry..." She punched her again, "And then you do it again..." Another punch, "And again..." Yet another, "And again..."
Beneath her, her mother cried out in pain, trying to raise her arms to block the vicious fists that were buried in her face over and over again...
The McMahon Heiress broke off, her lower lip trembling with the threat of tears.
"Kalli?" Matt whispered.
Clenching her eyes closed, she whispered, "I didn't stop hitting her..." Her voice was filled with pain, a tear slipping down her cheek, "I didn't stop."
He sighed softly, kissing her forehead, "Oh, Kalli..." His fingers crept into her hair, stroking through the soft locks of mousy brown strands. "What happened?" He whispered, almost afraid to ask.
"J..." She struggled, "Jake came home..." She shook her head gently against him, "I don't even know how long I had been hitting her... Minutes, maybe..." She sobbed softly, "Maybe more..." She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "He... He's bigger than you, Matty... He's bigger than you and he couldn't drag me off her. He had to... He had to hit me to make me stop."
Not sure what to say or even how to react, Matt simply held onto her. He could feel her need to continue and he had no desire to make her stop.
"They called an ambulance... For Heidi, for me..." She whispered, "but mostly... Mostly for Mum." She swallowed the sob trying to escape her, "I nearly killed her... I nearly killed my own mother..." She managed to open her eyes, staring blankly through the bathroom door at nothing in particular. "I didn't come to America because she got tired of fighting with me." Her voice was filled with shame, "I came because I nearly killed my mother."
"Kalli..." Matt whispered, "God, baby, why didn't you tell me?"
She shook her head softly, "I never told anyone... Only Daddy..." She looked up, barely able to make out his beautiful features for the tears in her eyes, "They sent me to stay at a foster home... Jake had me charged with assault..." She continued quietly, "But Daddy came... He got me a lawyer... And... And because I was only a minor... He got me off. And he brought me here."
The Hardy shook his head, "They punished you? They punished you because of her..."
"But I..."
Cutting her off, Matt brushed his fingertips tenderly across her face, wiping away her tears, "You beat her?" He shook his head, "After how many years of her beating you? Of beating your sisters? Kalli..." He cooed, "Something had to give."
"But I..."
"You what? You did the wrong thing?" Anger teetered in Matt's heart, "They punished you for that one mistake, and your mother got away with it?"
Kalli shook her head softly, "Not entirely." She looked away, again leaning her head on his chest, "I wouldn't leave Amy and Heidi... I couldn't... So Daddy had charges pressed against my mother... They took Heidi and Amy away from her and forced her to take anger management classes." She went on softly, "It was six months before the girls were allowed to go home, and, from what Heidi says, she never hit them again..." She closed her eyes again, allowing herself to get a little lost in his arms as she whispered, "But Mum and Jake told me never to come home again." She whispered, "And so here I am."
There was a long pause between the two before Matt eventually asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't tell anyone, Matty..." She whispered, "I was too ashamed, too embarrassed..."
Still angry for her, hurt for the girl he loved, he asked disbelievingly, "Because you tried to protect your sisters?"
Kalli shook her head and admitted heart brokenly, "Because in that moment, I became my mother." She sobbed softly, "And when I threatened Joanie tonight, I became my mother all over again."
"No," he tilted her face up to his again, locking his eyes on hers, "You are nothing like your mother."
"Aren't I?"
He shook his head, "You are nothing like her." His belief in the words was apparent, his determination to make her see that was not who she was clear, "You are not your mother."
"Then why did I do what I did tonight?" She cried softly, "Why did I do that?"
The Hardy smiled softly at her, "Because you love your family. Combine that with your temper and rational doesn't exactly become your expertise." He kissed her lips softly, "That doesn't make you a bad person, Kalli." His love for her danced in his eyes, "It makes you a passionate one. That's all." He outlined her cheekbone with his thumb, gently cupping her face, "And I wouldn't have you any other way."
"But..."
"Stop it!" He snapped. "I won't have you thinking of yourself like that. I won't."
"But Matty..."
"I won't," he stated emphatically. "You're better than all that, Kalli." He told her honestly, "I know you, and I know that you are."
Though doubt still lingered in her eyes, she whispered, "Thank you." She leant forward, kissing him softly before melting back down into his arms, grateful for him, grateful for all that he was...
And though she still frightened herself more than he might ever truly understand.
In his arms, she was safe.
~ The End ~