"Where is he?"

Hunter looked up and gave Chris one of his patented, annoying smirks.

"Where's who?"

"You know damn well who," Chris replied hotly.

"You mean your little friend...the one you dumped?"

"I mean Christian," he practically hissed.

Going back to the task at hand, Hunter jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "He stomped off that way. Seemed very put out. You might want to bring him a peace offering....you know...to make up with him."

Laughing at his own failed attempt at humor, he continued to wind tape around his wrists.

Chris turned to leave, but couldn't resist a parting shot.

"I know you need that stuff to hold your body together. But save some for the rest of us."

He didn't bother to stick around to see Hunter's reaction. That snarl was burned into his brain. And right now he had far more important things to do...like salvage a friendship.

It didn't take him long to find him. All he had to do was follow the sound of the angry muttering coming from behind a nearby closed door. When he opened it, he found his friend, dressed in street clothes, angrily stuffing his belongings into a canvas bag.

Christian glanced up when he heard the door open and his reaction was far worse than anything Chris had expected.

He knew his friend was upset....angry....and maybe more hurt than he realized. But what he saw in those cold, hard eyes made him freeze in the doorway.

Still completely at a loss as to how he should handle this, Chris tried the gentle approach.

"Christian...what are you doing? The show isn't over… you can't leave yet."

"Oh really? And why is that? Do the writers....or you....have something scintillating in mind for me? Because I was under the impression that I was done for the night."

Chris ran a nervous hand through his hair. Something he'd been doing a lot lately. "My part is done too. But we always stick around until the show is over. You know how Vince....."

"Screw Vince," he snapped.

Chris swallowed hard. This was worse than he thought.

"Look....why don't you wait for me at least. We rented a car together… remember? And I'm the one with the hotel key card. It'll only be another hour or so and then..."

"What part of "I'm leaving" don't you get?" Christian asked, his voice icy. "I'm catching a ride to the hotel with Lance and spending the night in his room. I switched my flight, so I'll be out of this God forsaken state at dawn."

For some reason Chris had wrongly assumed that his friend's earlier tirade was just him blowing off some steam. Venting a little anger and frustration at his current standing within the company. At the time he thought it was a little over the top...even for Christian. But now he could see just how deeply his feelings ran. And this time he wasn't going to be able to kid him out of it.

"I still don't understand what you're so worked up about," he said quietly. "It really isn't like you to get so upset over a storyline."

Christian paused in his third attempt at folding a t-shirt and simply rolled it up and jammed it in with the rest of his clothes.

A storyline! That's all it was to him....a storyline. Christian wanted to scream the truth to him. It wasn't just a storyline. It was a relationship he had come to rely on almost as much a the air he breathed. And apparently all it meant to Chris was a few words on a page.

Months of spending time together, sharing meals, travel time.....hotel rooms. All those hard fought matches...the fun....the...

He shook his head almost imperceptibly. Of course it didn't mean more to Chris. How was he supposed to know that each time he looked into his eyes he didn't see just a friend. He had no clue that each hug they shared for the benefit of the audience was a moment of pure bliss to him. All those teasing comments about being a sexy beast...the mischievous caresses....the playful grabs. It was all fiction.....at least to Chris.

But he had no way of knowing how painfully real they were to him. How the feel of his skin remained like a ghostlike image on his fingertips long after a show had ended. He might not have been inclined to share a room with him if he knew how many times he had lain awake, listening to him breath and wondering, longing to know how sweet his lips would taste.

Would he think he was crazy if he knew how much he hated Trish? How much he despised the fact that she got to be so close to him now. That she was the one Chris touched.....kissed?

She didn't deserve his attention. She didn't listen to him when he was tired. Weary and aching from a long night. She didn't unpack his things for him when he was barely able to keep his eyes open after a twelve hour travel day. She didn't confirm his travel plans so that he wouldn't end up on the wrong side of the country.

That was him. And he didn't do it because they were in a storyline together...or because they were friends. He did it because he loved him. The fact that Chris was in the dark about his true feelings didn't matter.

Why was it so hard for him to understand? Why couldn't he see his pain? For the sake of a stupid storyline...something that would be forgotten within months...he had tossed him aside. Moved on to something better...at least in his eyes.

He kept his head down as he replied. Not willing to share his pain with someone who he felt didn't care anyway.

"You dumped me," he sad quietly. "You took everything we had together...our friendship....our work...everything. You threw it away....for her!"

"I haven't thrown anything away," he insisted. "I finally got the chance to write my own angle. You know how long I've wanted to do that."

"You're damn right I know," he muttered angrily. "That was me you kept awake 'til all hours running down idea after idea. I was your sounding board. I was the one who encouraged you to push for it. And what did I get in return? I got tossed out like yesterday's garbage."

"Christian...you're over reacting. This story still has a long way to go. I have plans for you and me...."

"Save your plans pal....cause I'm not interested. Go sell your ideas to your little girlfriend."

Chris furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Christian...what are you talking about? She isn't my girlfriend. We work together. You and I talked about this. The Jericho face turn. Vince has wanted it for a while. I just thought...."

"I know what you just thought," Christian cut in. "You thought you'd use your little "idea" to get a bit closer to her. I was just a convenient addition to your little plan. And now that you don't need me any more..."

He stopped suddenly. Aware that he was dangerously close to revealing the truth. Not that it would have mattered to Chris anyway. There was no way in the world that he felt the same way. And there was no point in letting him know now.

Besides, if all he was going to salvage from this were some fading memories and a secret he'd have to keep forever than so be it. Chris had forfeited any right to know what his true feelings were.

He reached for his bag and yanked at the zipper. Taking out his frustration on something so stupid was hardly satisfying...but right then it was all he had. All he wanted at that moment was to be as far from Chris as possible...a thought that at one time would have been impossible for him. He was seconds away from a clean get away when the zipper jammed. Tugging furiously he could feel his carefully built up wall crumbling.

Everything he had ever wanted was standing just a few feet away. And it might as well have been miles.

Chris reached out what he thought was a helpful hand but Christian pulled away. He knew that feeling that touch, even for a fleeting second, would dissolve any barriers had put up.

He quickly slung the still opened bag over his shoulder. "If Vince asks....just tell him I was sick. It's pretty damn close to the truth anyway."

Chris stood there dumbfounded. He still couldn't completely fathom the depth of his friend's pain. But a nagging doubt kept whispering to him that there was more to Christian's unhappiness than he was willing to admit. And there was something else...a pain deep inside… one he couldn't name...but one that seemed to say that he was losing far more than a friend here.

He opened his mouth to try and speak...and he would have. But he was stopped by a soft voice behind him.

"Hey guys...everything ok? I thought maybe we could all go out a get some coffee or something. Talk about what happens next?"

She sounded friendly enough and the question was directed to both men. But the fact that her eyes never once left Chris wasn't lost on Christian.

He glanced briefly at her before turning to his former friend for a much longer....and final look.

"I already know what comes next."

He brushed past Trish, without so much as a word and she looked at Chris in question.

"What does he know that I don't?"

But Chris never heard her question. The sudden realization of the truth had left him speechless.