Chapter 2: Numb

Shannon sighed quietly as he pulled his shirt down over his head, straightening and smoothing it flat over his chest. He hummed to himself as he began running a brush through his hair. In another part of the locker room he heard a voice echoing over the running water. He paused and looked in the direction with a small smile. Rob had started singing the song he was humming. The man had no singing talent whatsoever, but Shannon still thought it was cute.

"Can't you see that you're smothering me, holding too tightly afraid to lose control."

The water stopped along with the singing, only a quiet hum following. Shannon snickered and went digging through his duffel bag to find the pants he was going to wear during his match. It proved a difficult task as his mind drifted slightly to all that had happened in the past two weeks. After his initial rough encounter with Matt Hardy, he and Rob had become inseparable. It was partly due to the fact that Rob was being very protective of him, but it was also due to the growing affection between them. Rob had revealed his intentions the very night that he had saved Shannon from Matt's wrath, holding him and kissing him, telling him repeatedly that he wanted to keep him safe and stay with him all the time. That first kiss had scared the bejesus out of him. He cherished it, though. He wasn't ready for anything like that quite yet, but he knew he would be soon enough. As long as Rob stuck around and kept treating him like a prince.

"Well, I come out of the shower and get treated to the sexiest sight I've seen all year!"

Shannon quickly straightened and whirled around, his cheeks burning hot with embarrassment. Rob only grinned after catching him bent over in only his shirt and boxers. Shannon huffed and threw his brush at him, which was easily dodged.

"Asshole," Shannon said without sincerity.

"Gorgeous," Rob countered.

Shannon rolled his eyes. He couldn't win any argument with him. Rob thought Shannon was sexy when he was angry and comments like that always killed his temper easily. Rob went into his own bag to dig out his clothes, finally turning his eyes away from Shannon. He took advantage of it and pulled out his pants to finish getting dressed.

"So who's up for you tonight, Shan?"

"I got Christian."

"Really? Damn, they're moving you up fast aren't they?"

He looked up with a broad smile. "They like me here. They actually want to give me a push."

"That's cool! That's totally cool. Now turn your happy self around so I can drop my towel." Shannon blinked at first, but then smirked and crossed his arms. He obviously was refusing to turn around. Rob narrowed his eyes at him, but had a wicked smirk of his own. "You little pervert."

"Hey you commented on my ass a few minutes ago."

"Your fully clothed ass I point out."

Shannon thought that meant he should turn around because it wasn't fair otherwise, but Rob turned away from him and the towel dropped to the floor. Shannon's eyes went wide. He looked him over slowly, taking in the chiseled muscles under bronzed skin the only place that didn't appear to be hard as rock was Rob's butt. Of course you didn't have to see him nude to know that he had what most would call a "ghetto booty." Shannon giggled a bit getting Rob's attention. He looked over his shoulder.

"Ya know it's not exactly comforting to hear laughter when you're standing around naked."

"Sorry. I don't mean anything by it."

Rob slowly turned back around, holding one of his airbrushed singlets in front of him. It was the only thing hiding him from Shannon eyes. The boy's eyes softened at the beautiful sight, eyes roaming once again to take in everything that he could see. As soon as his gaze trailed over the singlet Rob moved it aside. Shannon gave a short gasp and quickly looked away.

"Holy shit," he muttered, steeling a quick glance back.

"What's that comment for?"

"Um… Let's just say I'm impressed." He looked back at him, this time looking at his face. "Stripping get you a little excited?"

"Maybe. More than likely it was looking at you that did it, though."

Shannon giggled again. "I have to wonder how you manage to pack all that into that tight outfit."

Now Rob was blushing more than Shannon. "Okay, enough! I gotta get dressed."

"Good luck!" Shannon laughed.

Quite a few items of clothing came flying at Shannon's head then, causing him to duck and cover, not that it helped much. Eventually the two of them did get completely dressed and ready for their matches, then followed the scent of food to where catering was setup. They each grabbed a few light things, salad and water that would stay down during a match, and settled at a table that was nearby. Of course their peace was short lived as Rob looked up and saw Matt coming down the hall towards them.

"Don't look up. He's coming."

Shannon glanced up at Rob, but then quickly back down at his plate. He and Rob had decided to do their best to just ignore Matt and keep their distance. Hopefully he would leave Shannon alone after the fight that had happened on Shannon's first night. Matt had gotten a pay cut for it and warning to not bother his co-workers. Of course he was well known for not always following the rules. Sure enough he came up to them, snatching a cherry tomato from Shannon's plate to pop in his mouth.

"Hey guys. What's going on?"

"Didn't you get told to stay away from us?" Rob asked.

"No, only warned not to start fights. I'm not here to do that. I just wanna let you know something, Rob."

Shannon slowly looked up at Matt to see his eyes were locked on Rob, staring with those narrowed eyes that meant he was seething. He glanced him over slowly, noting Matt's arm twitching and his foot tapping. He was going to start a fight. He only got this antsy when he intended to do something physical.

"Well, go ahead. You have my attention," Rob said.

"I don't know what you're after with Shannon, but I doubt that it's anything honorable or moral. And if that's the case then you should know that I will kill you if you ever lay a hand on him. He's mine whether he likes it or not. I even laid my mark on that fair skin of his."

"Really? I'm not surprised. I heard on the Discovery Channel once that primitive animals always marked their mates." Rob took a bite of celery and shrugged. "Of course, my mouth is bigger and my teeth are sharper so if I wanted to I could just replace yours."

"You never will. The second you get near him he's going to freak out on you. He'll start remembering the things I did to him. He's scarred for life, Rob. He'll even admit that. I ruined him."

Rob glared up at the proud smirk on Matt's face, wishing he could wipe it off with his fist. "Is that what happens when you fuck people, Matt? You warp their minds? That explains a lot. Now I know why Jeff acts the way he does."

Matt's eyes went wide at what Rob was insinuating, then a loud growl came from him before he lunged forward. Shannon stuck his foot out quickly. As Rob jumped back Matt tripped and fell straight to his face on the concrete floor. To add to his torture, Shannon grabbed one of the mustard jars and `accidently' dumped it on Matt's head.

"Oh, I'm sorry Matty! I know how much you hate mustard!" he laughed as he quickly skirted away.

"You dirty fucking whore! I'm going to get you, Shannon! Believe me I'm gonna get you back and you'll never walk away from me again."

"You can't touch him, Matt," Rob interrupted. "He told you to shove off, the company has told you to stay away from him, and now I'm telling you. He's not yours anymore, Matt."

Matt got to his feet, trying to wipe some of the mustard from his face and out of his hair, his eyes locking on Rob to give him a deadly stare. Then he looked down at Shannon. The coldness in his gaze made him shiver and step closer to Rob for protection. Matt gave a snarl.

"If I can't have him, no one can."

With that Matt walked back towards his locker room, obviously in need of another shower. Rob turned to Shannon, seeing his face had turned an even paler shade than usual. He was shaking terribly. Rob pulled him back over to the table and sat him down in the chair that hadn't gotten splattered with mustard. Shannon wrapped his arms around himself, fighting back tears as his teeth chattered. It was almost as if he were freezing.

"Shannon? Shannon, stop this. You can't let him get to you like this."

"I can't help it. The things that he says and the way he looks at me, Rob, just makes me feel like he wants to kill me. And I think he actually could if he had the chance."

Rob's heart ached at hearing the emotionless tone of voice Shannon used whenever he spoke of Matt. No matter what he said or how his body reacted to his thoughts his voice always went almost monotone. It was as if he really didn't feel anything whenever Matt was around. Like he was going numb. Rob looked around briefly to see no one around but some of the backstage crew. He leaned down and kissed Shannon's cheek, stroking the opposite one with the palm of his hand.

"You need to calm down. You have a match in just a few minutes."

"I know. I know," he sighed. "Yours is right after mine right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're gonna take me back to the hotel right?"

"Of course."

"Okay. I'll wait for you by the back door after I get my stuff together. Matt won't be able to find me out there and then we can just leave as soon as you pick up your bags."

Rob smiled a little at him, leaning his forehead on Shannon's. "I love you."

Shannon smiled back and nodded slightly. "I know."

It hurt slightly to hear such a response, but Rob knew exactly why it came. Shannon was still healing, slowly but surely. He didn't mind. He'd wait forever if he had to as long as Shannon said those words to him someday. He kissed his cheek again and took his hands, pulling him to his feet. He led him through the halls again towards the arena entrance. Shannon looked anything but ready to go into a match, but there wasn't much choice at the moment. He was on in only a minute or two.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. Just don't forget to meet me out back."

"I'll grab my bag and come running. I won't even shower."

"Good. I just want to go to bed more than anything right now." He stepped forward into Rob's embrace, apparently not caring who saw them. "Can we do that when we get back? I'll go to bed, you shower and then join me."

"Join you?" he asked with surprise.

"Yes. The couch futons are killing your back," he looked up at him, "and I trust you can behave. You can hold me and not go any further than that, right?"

"It'd be an honor to hold you as you sleep," he whispered very quietly as Christian came walking towards them.

"Okay! Break it up! I don't wanna see your mush!" Christian exclaimed and waved a hand at them.

Shannon didn't make a move to pull away, only looking at Christian in questioning. "Like no one has ever seen you hugging Jericho a million times!"

"That's a little different, kid. You two are a couple. Jericho and I aren't and never will be."

"I bet," Shannon smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Shannon shook his head and finally pulled away from Rob. His music was just starting so he went quickly up the stairs surrounded by black curtains. Rob watched him until he disappeared around the corner. He sighed a bit, but was startled when Christian touched his shoulder.

"I'll walk with him to the locker room."

Rob had never been more relieved in his life. "Thank you, Christian."

"No problem. I know you have a match and someone needs to keep an eye on him just in case…" he trailed off as his music started up. "Well, you know. See ya!"

"Good luck, but don't stomp on my boyfriend too much!"

Rob could hear Christian laughing at that as he walked away to head back to the catering area. He needed something more in his belly to make it stop doing flip flops after the almost encounter with Matt earlier.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"I'm really sorry about your ribs, Shannon," Christian said as he walked back to the locker room.

"I told you it's okay. They're just sore is all."

"I still feel bad. I didn't want to go that rough on you."

"Christian, we're opponents. You're supposed to kick my ass, and I kick yours. That's what wrestling is all about." Shannon stopped outside the locker room he and Rob shared, eyeing the door suspiciously. There was a light on inside. He looked up at Christian. "You open it."

"What? What if someone's waiting in there with a chair? Or worse?"

"Better you than me. Besides I know Rob told you to protect me while he was in the ring."

"Actually, I offered out of the kindness of my heart," he huffed as he shoved the door open. He poked his head in and looked around. "Looks like you guys just forgot to shut the lights out. Not a soul to be seen."

Shannon looked into the room himself just to be sure. It was completely empty save for two duffle bags, used towels, dirty clothes, and two leather jackets. He breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Christian for walking with him. Once the door was closed behind him he made quick work of gathering his things. He even went about getting Rob's things ready, pulling out fresh clothes and lying them on the bench then stuffing all the dirty things back in the bag. Then he pulled on his long leather trench and walked out, making sure to check the halls first. He made his way to the back of the arena as stealthily as possible, checking with the crew and security whenever he ran across them to see if anyone had seen Matt. Once he was outside he felt a thousand pounds lighter. He sighed and leaned against the building, dropping his bag down to the ground. It was raining, a cold Northern rain that could chill a person to the bone, but Shannon was grateful for it. It would chill his burning skin and hopefully numb his feelings away. Now all he could do was wait for Rob. His match was scheduled to be short so at tops it'd be twenty minutes.

Forty minutes later Shannon shivered and wondered where Rob was. He was soaking wet now, his hair plastered to his face and the collar of his coat. He didn't care about that, though. He was worried about whether or not Rob had met up with Matt again. It was the only explanation he could think of as he stood around watching the rain and wishing he was at home. Or at least in the hotel with Rob. A song popped into his head as the situation seemed to fit all too well. He sang to himself as he tended to do often.

"I'm standing on the bridge, I'm waiting in the dark, I thought that you'd be here by now. There's nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground, I'm listening, but there's no sound. Isn't anyone trying to find me? Won't somebody come take me home?"

That was when he heard the door behind him open. He turned around with a smile on his face that quickly faded as he saw who was coming towards him. Without a second thought he whirled and took off running through the parking lot, his bag forgotten, fishing through his pockets for the spare keys to Rob's car. He found them and spotted the car only a few more yards away. If he could just make it there he could lock himself in then take off on his own. He suddenly heard the thumping footsteps behind, pounding the pavement as they closed in on him. He was tackled and slammed to the ground hard. The keys flew from his hand to God only knew where. He struggled and fought, but he was no match for such enraged strength. He never had been. He was rolled onto his back and pinned down, forced to stare up into that familiar face once more.

"That was a pretty sad song you were singing back there, baby. I hate seeing you sad. You're prettier when you're screaming in pain," Matt hissed at him. "Let me take you home, Shannon. I'll make you feel all better."

"No! Get off of me!" He started struggling again, trying anything to throw Matt's weight off balance to gain an opening. "Help me! Someone please help me!"

"Your screams can't be heard in that building. The fans are cheering, the wrestlers are involved in the show, and not to mention there's a few feet of steel and concrete between you and them. You're all mine now, Shannon."

Matt tore open the front of the trench coat, sending buttons flying. Next he grabbed at Shannon's shirt and ripped it down the center. Shannon threw a punch at his face that never hit target. Matt only dodged and threw his own fist into the mix, colliding with Shannon's temple. The world went blurry and spotted for him as Matt moved further down his body. He was distinctly aware of his pants being yanked to his knees, the cold water and pavement bringing him to his senses. He screamed as he started to fight again, kicking and trying to shove Matt off with all of his strength. It made things quite a bit more difficult for him to say the least. He snarled, growls coming from his throat as he tried to catch Shannon's flailing limbs to pin him down again.

"Get off of him!"

Before either of them could look to see who was yelling a boot collided with the side of Matt's head. He was sent to the side roughly, his forehead slamming into the bumper of one of the cars, and he dropped like a rock to the ground. Shannon looked at Matt's unconscious form, then looked up at Rob who was still in a karate- like stance. The shocked and frightened expression on the martial artist's face struck him as odd. Shouldn't he have been angry with Matt? But then Shannon realized what he was seeing. He was half naked, bloody and scraped up from the fight, and soaking wet from the rain and the fact that he'd been shoved into a large puddle. He was half naked. That was the thought most prominent in his mind. Matt had been stripping him as they fought. He started to shake uncontrollably, his breaths coming in short gulps as he tried to sit up and pull himself together. Rob instantly reached down to help him up, conveniently grabbing him by the belt of his pants so to pull them up as well. As soon as he had his pants back on and done up Rob pulled the coat closed tightly then pulled Shannon into his arms.

"This is over tonight. No more. I'm letting Vince know exactly what's going on and Matt is going to be fired. He's never going to come near you again."

"He was pulling my clothes off. Dear God, Rob, he was stripping me down like he was planning on…" Shannon stopped before stating those words, switching to something just as closely related. "He said I was his."

"No, you're not!" Rob yelled as he clung tighter to him. "You don't belong to anyone, Shannon! He brainwashed you! You're free. You're a free person. No one can own you."

Shannon listened as he heard soft sobs coming from Rob's chest, each one making the taller body jerk as he tried to hold them back. Despite the fact that he was crying Rob turned and led Shannon to his car, letting him in, starting it up and turning the heat on, then going back to gather their bags that were still by the back door. Shannon locked the doors and watched just in case Matt should get to his feet again, but it didn't look like that would be happening anytime soon. Rob finally got in the car, throwing the bags in the back seat, and sped away from the arena.

At the hotel they each got ready for bed in silence. Without even asking Rob pulled out the couch futon to put sheets on it. Shannon watched him from where he lie in the other bed, thinking about their original plans to sleep together that night. He knew that was impossible now. He couldn't imagine anyone ever touching him again. Not after what Matt had tried to do to him. Shannon was completely aware of what had nearly happened to him. Matt had intended to rape him. There was no other explanation.

He realized Rob was staring at him then, blinking back to reality and returning his gaze. His golden eyes were filled with sorrow. Shannon knew that his own gaze was empty. He had a habit of turning himself off whenever something bad happened. This was more than just bad, though. This was horrific. It was something out of a slasher movie. He wondered if he'd ever turn back on again.

"I'm going to fix this, Shannon," Rob voice cut through his thoughts. "I'm going to stop him once and for all. And I'm going to give you your life and happiness back. I swear by it."

Tears welled up in Shannon's eyes at hearing those words. He nodded silently and watched Rob lie down on the squeaking futon, trying his best to make himself comfortable. Shannon turned off the lamp and laid down as well, staring at the shadowed form on the other bed. He cried because he knew that Rob would never be able to keep his promise. Matt would never stop until he either got what he wanted or killed everyone in his path. Shannon knew what he had to do. There was only two ways to stop this. He'd try the first option first thing in the morning.

Read Chapter 3 of 5 of Not Yours Anymore