It had been almost three months since Jeff and Ciara were introduced.  Soon afterward, they started spending a lot of time together and becoming virtually inseperable.  And there were even romantic hints.
    Jeff reached for his cordless, and called down the road to see if Ciara was home.  He wanted to know if she would like to come over for movies tonight, instead of their usual Friday Night movie night.  He dialed her number, and waited, as it rang.
    "Hello?" some guy answered.
    "Is Ciara in?" Jeff asked.
    "What do you want with my girlfriend?  Who is this?" the guy said
    "Oh, this is her friend, Jeff from down the road.  Just wanted to know if she wanted to come over for movie night, like she always does." Jeff said.
    "Well, Jeff, she's with me.  She's not going anywhere tonight." the guy said with a menacing tone.
    "Okay, fine. Goodnight" Jeff said as he hung up, not liking the tone of Ciara's boyfriend.  He worried, but he didn't want to intrude.  Ciara seemed like a girl that could handle things on her own... but could she?  Jeff was beginning to feel that Ciara was the one he had been waiting for for his entire life.

                    ******
Ciara's House

    "Who was that on the phone, Anthony?" Ciara asked.
    "Some loser named Jeff who lives down the road." Anthony said to her.
    "Jeff is not a loser.  He's a very nice guy who happens to be a good friend."  Ciara replied, not liking where Anthony was going.
    "He is a loser.  He only cares about getting in your pants." Anthony growled, grabbing her arm "You are mine."
    Ciara groaned as she felt his crushing grip on her arm. "Anthony, knock it off.  I am not yours, anymore.  We were done a long time ago."  But this only made him grip harder. "Anthony, please, you are going to break my arm."
    "Good, maybe then you will learn to obey me." Anthony said, as Ciara winced.
    "Anthony, if you keep behaving like that, I just may have to lay the hurt on you." a voice said from the living room.
    Ciara looked around and saw Jeff standing by the door.  She looked at Jeff with the "Get this ass off of me look."
    Anthony turned around, looked at Jeff and threw Ciara to the ground, as if she was a rag doll.  "Yeah, like you can hurt me, yokel.  I am Anthony Scarpacci, a professional bouncer.  I take care of bigger chumps than you nightly."
    "Yeah, well, I am Jeff Hardy, professional wrestler.  And I brought some friends.  May I introduce you to The Undertaker, Chris Benoit, Shane Helms, Shannon Moore, Matt Hardy, and my father, Gilbert.  Leave Ciara alone." Jeff said, staring Anthony down.  Jeff had taken guys bigger than him and won.
    "Jeff, are you sure about this?" Shannon asked.
    "Yes, I am.  When I called Ciara, I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. So I called you guys." Jeff said, and looked back at Anthony, "Now, are you going to go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, or are we going to have to get rough?" Jeff asked, raising an eyebrow.
    "Anthony, just get the hell out of my house.  We have been over for a while now.  Get over it, and go out with someone else." Ciara said
    Anthony walked over and slapped her "Quiet, bitch. You'll only speak when I say so."
    Matt looked at Jeff, and saw that Jeff was growing angrier.  Matt also saw what Anthony had did to Ciara, and he hated to see any woman getting slapped around like she was a toy.  Matt and Jeff skulked around Anthony and summoned Mark (Undertaker) and Chris over to Anthony's back, where Jeff suddenly put Anthony in a headlock, while Chris took out Anthony's knees.  Matt stood in front of Anthony, and drilled him with a severe uppercut. "Now, you will know how she feels." Matt said, as he kept drilling Anthony.
    Anthony caught one of Matt's hands and snapped the wrist.  That brought the big man over.  Undertaker had seen what Anthony did, and he grabbed Anthony, chokeslamming him into the ground, making him immobile. "Don't you do that to that girl, ever again, or, Bubba, you and I are gonna tangle in my yard next time." Mark said with a menacing voice.
    "Dad, call the cops." Matt said.  "Let's send this clown back to Boston.  He may think he is one of the Sopranos, but he got kicked out of the casting call." Matt said.  Gilbert went to call the cops, as Jeff walked over to a hurt Ciara, who was curled up in a bundle, sobbing.  Mark and the rest of the guys were standing over Anthony, so he wouldn't move.
    "Ciara, you okay?" Jeff asked, gently touching her.  He saw her face, which was a bloody mess, where Anthony had hit her, and her arms were all bruised.  He looked up and down her arms, seeing that this wasn't just a random occurrence by the scars that were present.  Jeff saw the fear in her eyes, and hugged her close.
    "Jeff, I'm scared.  Don't let him hurt me." Ciara cried, as she relaxed  in Jeff's arms, feeling secure in Jeff's tight embrace.
    "Don't worry, Ci Ci, he won't touch you." Jeff said, trying to calm her down.
    The cops arrived, and came into the house.  Ciara had Matt put the dogs outside, because she wouldn't let Jeff leave her.  Even though, Jeff was a good friend, she felt a deep bonded feeling for Jeff that she had never felt with Anthony or any of her other boyfriends.  She felt that Jeff was her one true love.
    The state trooper walked into the house, showed everyone his badge, and saw Anthony lying on the floor.  The trooper looked at the face, and took a paper out of his pocket.  He looked at the paper, and then at Anthony.  He called for backup, and took Anthony out of the house in handcuffs.  Ciara watched as the cops dragged a beaten Anthony out of her house.
    "Officer, was there something the matter?  I did have a restraining order against him, but did he do something else?" Ciara asked, still gripping on to Jeff.
    "He's Antonio Scarapaccio.  He's wanted for the murder of ten other women in five other states.  Have you known him for long, ma'am?" the officer asked Ciara.
    "Yes, I've known him for years.  He was my boyfriend for about three years, until he started beating me.  I moved down here to escape him." Ciara said.
    "Ci, you told me you moved here to teach?" Jeff asked.
    "Yes, I do have a teaching job here in Cameron, but I got that because I wanted to escape Tony." Ciara said, looking at the car, containing a now irate Anthony. "His mother would be so heartbroken if she knew that he was a serial killer.  She was such a nice lady."
    The deputy smiled, "The parents usually are surprised.  Was he Mafioso connected?" he asked.
    "No.  God, no.  I don't think the mafia admits idiots like him.  He squeals too easily." Ciara said, smiling. "For curiosity reasons, why do you ask?"
    "Agent Fred Jones, FBI." he said, as he showed Ciara his ID. "I've been riding around with the North Carolina State Police dressed as a deputy."
    "Oh.  But wouldn't you have files on him?" Ciara asked.
    "We do, but I just want to see if you knew if he was?" Agent Jones asked her.
    "If he was, it would be a complete shock to me."  Ciara honestly said.
    "He wasn't." Agent Jones simply said, as the car started. You folks have a good night, now."
    Jeff started chuckling as the state police cars drove away. "How about you come down the road and stay with Liger and I tonight and get away from this hell hole?" he asked, hopeful that she would come over. "I got movies." he said, tickling her nose with the end of his hair.
    "Sure.  Can I bring my dogs too?" Ciara asked.
    "Of course.. bring the dogs and the cats.  We can send the horses to Dad's, so they can be cared for properly." Jeff said, as the deputy looked on.
    "Sounds like a plan." Ciara said, as she went back into the house, where Matt and the guys were cleaning things up.
    "Ciara, you okay, kiddo?" Matt asked, concerned.  He had met Ciara a while ago, and he took a big liking to her, but sort of in a little sisterly way.
    "Yeah, Matt, I'm fine.  Thank you guys for your help." Ciara said.
    "The one I think you should thank is Jeff for his sense of  impending doom." Shannon said from the kitchen.
    Ciara turned to Jeff, and looked at him. "Thank you." she said, as she planted a kiss on his lips.