Disclaimer: Own nothing. But you already knew that, right?

A/N: So here we are, at the end of the journey. Unless I get a brilliant idea for another oneshot, this will be it. I might mess around with the Hunter-Jericho-Miz-Mickie group, though, just because they're a lot of fun to write. Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to review!

"Sorry. Didn't see you."

"Oh, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

Jeff stopped, already frowning in confusion, took one of his headphones out of his ear and asked, "What did you say?"

"I said it's fine. No harm done, right?"

For most people, it was a normal situation. Two people walking in opposite directions down a hall. One bumps into the other and apologizes. That part was always normal for Jeff. The "Oh, it's fine" comment was normally fine, but not for Jeff. Two months ago, sure, no problem. Not anymore.

"Watch where you're going" or "Get the fuck out of my way" was a normal reaction now. Hell, being ignored was the best he could hope for these days. He couldn't remember the last time someone had had to talk to him and didn't slip in some snide remark while doing so.

"Is something wrong?"

"You're still here?" This was definitely strange. Jeff studied the man in front of him, trying to figure out who he was exactly. "You're from ECW, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Or, I was anyway. Just got moved over to Raw. I'm Evan Bourne." He held out his hand for a shake, but Jeff only looked at him quizzically.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah. Jeff Hardy."

Jeff sighed. "Listen, here's a word of advice. If you want to do well over here, stay away from me, okay?" He turned away and continued walking down the hallway, but before he could put his headphones back on he heard footsteps behind him. He turned back around, only to see Evan following him. "Weren't you heading in the opposite direction before?"

"I changed my mind," Evan said, though his voice was a little too innocent.

"You're following me, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Jeff narrowed his eyes. So Evan was following him. "Who put you up to it?" he snarled.

Evan's eyes widened slightly and he took a step back. He hadn't exactly expected a welcoming reaction, but neither had he expected this. "No one," he said. "I just… I was hoping we could talk."

Talk? No one had wanted to just talk to him since the whole mess began, not counting those that had been involved in the Vince Fiasco. "Did one of my friends put you up to this? Or my brother?" He wouldn't put it past them.

"No, no one put me up to this. I swear I just wanted to talk to you."

Jeff studied him for a moment, but didn't seem to be lying. "Fine. Come with me to catering. I'm starved and it should be empty by now; we can talk there."

Neither of them spoke as they walked down the hallway towards catering. Jeff walked in first but stopped just inside the doorway, causing Evan to almost run into him. "Damnit, I thought it would be empty…" Jeff muttered. "Listen, you should probably go. Don't follow me."

Evan hesitated and watched as Jeff crossed the room to grab something to drink before sitting down at an empty table in the far corner. He knew that the other wrestlers in the room were watching him to see what he would do, but he followed Jeff across the room and sat across from him.

"You shouldn't have done that," Jeff said.

"And why not?"

"Why not?" Jeff laughed bitterly. "Look around. No one's going to talk to you anymore. Not your friend will come over to say anything. They all hate me."

Evan turned around and surveyed the room. Sure enough, though people were watching them carefully none looked like they were going to come over to say hello, not even Evan's friend, CM Punk. "I see things a bit differently," he said as he continued to look around at the others. "I don't think they hate you; they're just afraid of the people who are."

Jeff snorted. "Believe whatever you want. Doesn't make a difference to me." He took a drink of his water and asked, "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Why are you still here? I mean, you're obviously miserable, you're the social outcast of Raw, and you're not playing a major part in any storyline, really. I'm not suggesting that you leave, but I don't understand why you've put up with everything for so long."

"You know nothing," Jeff snarled. "Don't you dare sit there and question what I've done. I'm doing the best I can, considering the circumstances!"

"Sorry. It's just… I'm having a hard time understanding why you're doing this. If I was in your place it would be too painful to be around the business. I already know what's going on but I don't know why, and it's driving me crazy."

Jeff almost felt sorry for Evan. He truly looked like he just wanted to know what was going on so he could figure out his place on Raw but answering his question would require digging up too many things he had wanted to leave alone. "Look, I get why you're asking me. You're curious and you haven't heard the story from the other guys enough to keep you away from me, but I don't know if I can even think of an answer to your question."

Evan nodded. "Just think about it, then. Maybe you'll figure something out eventually." He stood up and stretched. "See you around, then." He walked across the room and, to the surprise of everyone, sat down across from CM Punk.

If he keeps pushing boundaries like that he'll either do very well or get buried very quickly, Jeff thought as he watched the two started up a conversation.

XXXXX

"Matt, what's the point of me staying in the WWE anymore?" Jeff asked after the show that night.

"You thinking of retiring?" Matt asked as he glanced over at his brother.

"You don't sound surprise."

"You never struck me as one who would be content to only watch from the sidelines, not to mention that you have plenty other projects that could occupy your time." Matt shrugged. "To be honest, I'm surprised you stuck around this long when there's really not anything for you here and it was Vince himself who screwed you over."

"Do you think I should retire then?"

Matt hesitated before answering. "I think you need to decide that for yourself," he said carefully. "I don't think there's anything here for you, but I like having you around to mess around with. You need to weigh the pros and cons and decide what's best for you."

Jeff sighed. "I just don't know if I'm hanging around for the wrong reasons or not," he admitted.

"Like waiting for that 'one last match'?" At Jeff's surprised look, he chuckled and said, "It was pretty obvious that you were hoping to be able to wrestle again. Look at it this way though. If you're ever back at one hundred percent you can come back, and if the WWE wants you for a storyline they'll contact you. The real question is, is it worth sticking around until then?"

XXXXX

"Hey, Jeff," Punk said as he walked by.

Jeff shook his head. "Still can't get used to that," he murmured. It had been a couple of weeks since he had talked to Evan but he had seen the younger man's work all over Raw. A few people were starting to talk to him again, and those that weren't at least didn't openly hate him. "One guy comes here and refuses to be put into a box and suddenly everyone starts acting differently."

"Makes life better for you, though," Matt said.

Jeff nodded. "Too bad I won't be around to enjoy it."

"I take it you decided to leave, then."

"You and Evan were right. I had nothing going for me here." Jeff watched his coworkers walk by. Most of them ignored him, but he found he didn't care. He wasn't going to have to deal with them anymore and once he had something new to focus on he could finally move past what had happened. "It's definitely time for me to move on."

A/N: Okay, bit of an explanation. I wrote the part with Evan Bourne 'cause I figured that it needed to be a newcomer and he always struck me as the type that would ask Jeff what was going on and whatnot. Sorry if he seems a bit OOC, but that's just my characterization of him. =]