It had been an emotional two days for everyone.  The country had been under attack by terrorists only a day earlier.  People who had experienced the Vietnam War said they'd never even witnessed anything quite as bad over there during that horror compared to these horrific attacks.  Many lives had been lost, and everyone had been affected by the horrible tragedy.

Instead of pre-empting SmackDown after the atrocities, the WWF proceeded with the show in an attempt to bring a semblance of normalcy and unity to the country - showing that "life goes on," rather than sitting back scared, which was exactly what the terrorists wanted.  Ring announcer Lillian Garcia had sung the National Anthem in front of the live audience and the wrestlers, who all stood gathered on the ramp.  Her performance had touched all, bringing tears to many eyes.

Amy felt so shaken that day.  She, Matt, Jeff, Stacy, Chris, Shane, Jay, Trish and Adam had sat glued in front of the TV in Chris' hotel room for most of the day, in shock.  Like everyone else, the redhead didn't wanted to be alone at such a time, but at the same time, she did want and need her solitude.  She finally ended up leaving to go back to her own room at a little after eight in the evening.

A moment after, she stepped into the hallway, wrapping her arms around herself protectively as she started for her own room.  She'd felt a chill within - one she could not imagine disappearing anytime soon after all the horror that had befallen the country.

"Amy!  Wait!"

She turned at the sound of the voice and looked up to see Adam heading her way.  The tall blond looked extremely concerned as he gazed at her.

"You shouldn't be alone at a time like this," he said softly when he had caught up to her.  "Let me keep you company..."

She gazed up into his sparkling emerald eyes and could not resist.  She wanted his company more than anything.  After everything that had happened, she thought she might just tell him how about the feelings she recently realized she had for him.  If anything, this terrible ordeal had clearly shown her exactly how fragile life truly was.

Still gazing up at him, she nodded wordlessly, and they continued down the hall.  She felt his arm go around her waist and didn't pull away.  Instead, she wanted to sink into his embrace.  She closed her eyes for a few seconds, trying to pull herself together.

Once they were inside her room, Amy went straight to the bed, curling up on her side.  Her eyes focused on nothing but the wall as she almost seemed to shrink into herself.

Adam stood several feet away, watching her with quiet concern for a moment, then came over to sit by her on the bed.  Her back was facing him.  He knew how shaken she was, for he was feeling much the same way.  There were no words he could think of saying that would ease her mind or soul.

He reached out with one hand and gently stroked her long red hair, smoothing some strands away from her cheek.  He began caressing her cheek as well, and Amy closed her eyes at the touch, a sob threatening to break loose from her at any moment.

She turned over onto her back and gazed up into his handsome face, which currently wore a grave expression.  She wanted him to hold her - hold her and make her forget - at least for a little while.

Adam continued caressing her cheek, and Amy suddenly began sobbing softly.  She couldn't help it.  She turned over so that she was back on her right side, not wanting him to see her crying, at her most vulnerable.  Despite all the horror they'd all witnessed, she was a bit embarrassed by her own tears.

It didn't take more than a couple of seconds of seeing Amy's body shaking with sobs for Adam to react.  He lay down beside her, gently turning her around so that she was facing him and gazed down into her face, his hand gently under her chin, her tears wetting his fingers.

Amy met his eyes briefly, her mascara pooling a bit under her hazel orbs.  After a few seconds, she ducked her head and buried her face into his chest as she continued to weep.  Adam put his arms around her slender form and rubbed his face against her soft hair.  They lay like that, side-by-side for awhile until Amy pulled herself up into a partial sitting position.

"I'm...sorry," she finally said as she wiped the tears off her face.  They were the first words either of them had spoken since entering the room.

"What for?"

"For losing control like that...I...I shouldn't burden you like that."

"Ames..."  Adam winced for her, his heart practically melting at the sadness in her voice.  "...we're friends, and if you can't express your emotions in front of friends, who can you express them to?  I want you to know that I'm here for you, and I always will be..."  He gazed deeply and intensely into her eyes, which were now slightly bloodshot.  "...don't ever forget that."

She kept her eyes on his for a beat, then looked down and slid over until she was again in his arms.  Adam closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh as she snuggled against him.

"Thank you..."

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close against him.  "There's no need to thank me," he said softly.  He savored the sensation of her warm form in his arms, sorry that it had taken a horrific tragedy for it to come to such physical closeness between them.  After a moment, he moved his head just slightly to place a tender kiss on her forehead, and the redhead seemed to stiffen a bit in his arms, then relaxed again.

They lay like that together for awhile, and Amy realized she could hear Adam's heart beating.  She concentrated on its strong, steady rhythm for several minutes, closing her eyes.  She was again reminded of how precious and fragile life was, and after awhile, she bolted up into a sitting position.

Adam sat up slightly and met her eyes across the bed.  "Are you okay, Ames?"

"I...yeah," she replied dumbly.  She wanted to tell him - right there and then.  "Adam, I..."  She paused, stuck.

"What?  Tell me, sweetheart...talk to me."  He reached over and grasped her hand.

Amy stared into his eyes.  After a moment, she said, "I just wanted to tell you..."  She swallowed hard, hating herself because she knew she wouldn't say it.  She was sure it was only friendship he felt toward her.  "...thank you for being here with me."

Adam squeezed her hand gently.  "Again, there's no need to thank me, Ames...there's no place I'd rather be right now..."

Amy lay back on the bed, turning over onto her left side so that she was facing him.  Her hand still in his, she cursed herself for not saying what she really wanted to - what she truly felt in her heart.  Still, she felt so comfortable with the blond man beside her that she closed her eyes, falling asleep very soon after.

Adam watched as she drifted off.  He reached out to tenderly touch her hair, grazing her right cheek with the backs of his long, slender fingers.  He tilted his head slightly as he gazed down at her, noting her slow, regular breathing.  She was sound asleep.  He felt a burst of tenderness more fierce than any he'd ever realized for the redhead.  As he continued caressing her cheek, and as she continued to sleep, he whispered, in the softest voice possible, "I love you, Amy..."  He couldn't quite believe the words, though spoken so inaudibly, had really left his lips.  But he knew it was true.

After a long while, a half-hour, an hour - Adam had lost all concept of time after he had whispered those four words to her - he was going to leave her alone to sleep peacefully, for he knew that she hadn't slept much the night before.  But when he gently pulled his hand from hers, the redhead suddenly stirred and moaned softly.

"Adam?"  She opened her eyes and peered up at him sleepily.

"I was just going to leave you to sleep," he explained in a soft voice.

"No..."  She reached out for him with her right hand almost beseechingly.  "...stay with me tonight - please..."

{Cool I am
When I am with you

Cool I'm not
When I am lonely...}

Adam gazed down at her gently.  How could he ever refuse her?  "Are you sure?" he asked, sitting back on the edge of the bed.

"Yes...please, Adam.  I...I can't be alone tonight...Just hold me like you were doing earlier..."

Without another word, he slipped back into the bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her as she clung to him and buried her face into his chest.  He was happy to oblige to her request.

As he lay there with Amy in his arms, Adam wanted more than anything to lower his head and kiss her, but he restrained himself.  The last thing he needed right now was for her to pull away and tell him all he was, and all he would ever be to her, was a friend.  His heart just wouldn't be able to take that during such a trying time...

*

Unforgiven, September 23, 2001

Things had lightened up a bit in the nearly two weeks that had passed.  The country was going on as normal, and the WWF had not postponed its current pay-per-view.

Amy sat backstage in a locker room with Trish and Stacy, free to just relax since the Hardy Boyz had already been in the tag team elimination match as the first order of the night.  She was looking forward to seeing Adam and Jay compete in a long-awaited battle between brothers Edge and Christian.  Although she was sad to see Adam lose the Intercontinental title, she was happy for her other friend, as this would be his very first win for the championship.

It was also Matt's 27th birthday, and Jeff and Stacy had planned a surprise birthday party for him that would take place that night after the pay-per-view.  Amy smiled, knowing the dark-haired Hardy Boy had to be onto them, since he was usually extremely perceptive.

"Look," Trish's excited voice penetrated the redhead's thoughts.  She pointed one French manicured-nailed finger toward the TV monitor in the room.  "There's Jay!"  He was being interviewed by Lillian Garcia before the highly anticipated match.

Amy knew that Jay was still a bit upset by the storyline of he and Adam going their separate ways and feuding, but the deal had been somewhat sweetened by him winning the title.  She couldn't help but feel badly for Adam, although he was perfectly happy and more than willing to job out for his best friend.

They watched the match in near silence for the first several minutes, except for an occasional "ooh" or "ahh" or sigh.  It seemed to go back and forth to each man's favor for awhile, the two blonds alternating between technical and high flying moves.

Amy's breath caught in her throat as Edge climbed the top turnbuckle when Christian was down.  The shorter blond got up, but his back was turned, so when Edge leapt, he landed on his feet behind him.  The taller man stood in an offensive stance, prepared for Christian as he turned around, unaware, directly into a German suplex that was converted into a bridge-pin combination by Edge.  Christian kicked out and got to his feet...

...And that was when she saw the blood.

"Adam!" Amy gasped and placed a hand against her mouth.  The tall blond was suddenly bleeding under his left eye, which was squeezed shut.  As she watched in horror, he placed a hand on the wound, checking for the blood.  "Oh, my God..."  Amy realized Adam was bleeding pretty heavily, and she guessed he would probably need to be stitched up after the match.

"Poor guy..." she heard Stacy say sympathetically.

The women watched the remainder of the match, and Amy felt relieved when she realized Adam seemed to be okay enough to continue.  After all, it was only a cut.  She herself had suffered the exact same injury - ironically enough, even in the same place, directly underneath her left eye - at the Survivor Series a year earlier.

It was Trish's turn to gasp when, toward the end of the contest, Edge tripped Christian, who had been holding a steel chair and intending to deliver another one-man conchairto to the taller blond.  The kick had foiled that plan, and Christian had fallen onto his back, the chair he'd been holding smacking directly into his own face.  When Jay stood back up a moment later, he was bleeding from a cut under his nose.  However, it was obvious that Adam had suffered the worse injury.

Amy winced at the match's unmerciful ending.  While the referee's back was turned, Christian grabbed one of the two steel chairs he'd hauled into the ring and brought it up hard between Edge's legs from behind.  The Intercontinental champion immediately fell to the canvas, his legs together as he writhed in pain.  Christian took advantage, went for the cover and got the victory.  As he departed the ring with the belt in hand, hugging it as he made his way to the back, Edge still lay in the ring in agony.

"Oh, God..." Amy breathed.  "...Adam."  Without a word to either of her two friends, she fled the room and ran out into the hallway.  She rushed down a corridor and nearly ran smack into Jay.

"Amy!" he exclaimed in surprise.  "Sorry, I didn't see you."

"Never mind that, Jay...where's Adam?  Is he still out there?"

"No," he replied.  "He's in with the trainer, getting stitched up."  He looked past the redhead and saw his girlfriend approaching them.

"Jay..."  Trish came over and put her arms around him.  The man lifted his head to avoid getting his blood in her blond hair as he hugged her back.  "Are you all right?" she asked, pulling back slightly to stare up at the cut he'd suffered.

"Yeah, I'm fine, babe...it's not that bad.  I don't need any stitches or anything."

Amy quietly left them to each other and walked briskly down the hall to the trainer's room.  The door was open a mere crack, and she peeked inside, getting a glimpse of Adam's blond head.  Slowly, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The trainer was working on him.  As she silently moved around to the other side of the room so that she could see him, she winced and blinked with concern as she noticed his left eye was shut.  It appeared to be nearly swollen that way because of the bad cut.

Both Adam and the man tending to him looked up simultaneously.  "Amy..."

"I saw what happened to you out there," she said softly.

"Yeah," the tall Canadian muttered.  As the trainer finished up with him a couple of minutes later, he stood up to leave.

"Thanks," he told the man.

"Remember to come see me in exactly a week from today - the stitches should be ready to come out by then."

Adam nodded wordlessly and turned to Amy, gesturing for her.  They stepped out of the room and into the hall.

"Are you okay?" the redhead asked with concern.  She reached up tentatively with one hand to his face, but she stopped herself from touching him.  She didn't want to hurt him.

"Yeah, I'm okay...it was all my own damn stupidity that caused this," he replied.

"It was?"

"When I did that German suplex, I didn't throw Jay far enough back - he landed partially on my face, and that's why I got this cut."  He was annoyed with himself for that.  He'd meant to ask Kurt Angle for some tips on executing a better German suplex but had never actually gotten around to it.

They continued down the hall to Adam's locker room, and they stopped just outside.  "Are...are you still going to Matt's surprise party tonight?" Amy asked almost shyly.

"Of course I am...it would take a lot more than just a little cut under my eye to stop me from hanging out with my friends."  He wanted to add, Besides, nothing would ever stop me from being with you, but he held his tongue against it.

The redhead smiled as she gazed up into his face.  She reached out for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and he smiled back at her.  "Good...well, I'll let you get showered and changed and stuff."

"Okay...see you later, Ames," he said.

She pulled her hand out of his loose grip and turned to leave, then had a second thought and turned back around to face him.  To his surprise, she stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his left cheek, making sure to avoid touching his wound.  Afterward, she smiled at him again and then turned around and headed back to her own locker room.

Adam sighed, a soft, gentle smile still on his face as he watched her walk away.  God, he wanted so badly to kiss her - to really kiss her, but that peck on the cheek had been nice...