"I'll be right back guys," Chris called casually as he strode towards the door.

"Can I ask where you're going," Hunter asked curiously from his position on the couch with Randy's head resting on his thigh.

"I'm going to go see Shawn. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Babe, when did you and Shawn get close?"

"We're not like best friends or anything, but I guess it happened after me and you broke up," he said with a shrug and was out of the door without a backwards glance.

Hunter didn't say anything, but Randy could feel him tense underneath him. He knew that if Chris had been looking at them when he spoke he would've noticed it too.

"What's wrong," he asked sitting and turning to face Hunter.

"Nothing."

Randy could feel the change in his lover. His voice wasn't just low, it was cold. Guarded.

"Hunter, tell me what's wrong," he demanded. He was past asking.

"Shawn."

"Shawn? Isn't he like your brother?"

"Yeah."

"So what's the problem? If he's like family then why does it bother you that Chris brought him up?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Oh I'm worrying about it," Randy informed stubbornly.

"I said don't worry about it," the amber haired man said through clenched teeth but in the mood they were both suddenly in neither one was ready to give in.

"Okay," Randy said standing with a loud exhale of air. "I guess I won't worry about the fact that if one of us brings up Shawn you're gonna get pissed and pull away from us! I won't worry about the fact that you're being a complete and total asshole right now for no fucking reason!"

"I'm not the one being an asshole," Hunter yelled standing as well. "I told you to drop the goddamn subject and you won't! You're the one who can't fucking listen!"

"Listen to what?! You telling me to ignore you being upset over something that concerns you and Chris?! I'm one of the boyfriends here too you know! If something is fucked up I have a right to know what the hell it is!"

"Oh, so you think I'm fucking things up between me and Chris?!"

"Hunter, what the fuck is wrong with you, are you high or something?! You know that's not what I'm saying! Don't try to twist my words around because you've made yourself look like an ass! That shit isn't going to work this time!"

"I'm the one trying to twist shit to get out of a situation?! This is rich! Have you forgotten all the times I've had to save your ass because you can't play grown-up and own up to your own shit?! I don't ever run from a situation I've created!"

"Like hell you don't! And you wanna talk about saving someone's ass?! How about the fact that you and Chris spent two months apart because of you starting some shit without even knowing what the hell you were talking about?! You couldn't face what you did like a man, you ran and hid like a little bitch! You two didn't get back together until I, not you, went and brought him back!"

"I think you should shut your mouth, Randy," Hunter said in a soft, dangerous voice.

Randy was too angry and feeling a little too invincible to pay attention to the danger he may have been putting himself in. He stepped up until he and Hunter were half an inch apart and he was staring down into his lover's fiery hazel eyes.

"Why, Hunter, truth hurt a little too much? What exactly are you gonna do about it?"

Hunter felt his fragile control slipping with each passing second and he could almost see himself losing control. He could see the same thoughts reflected in his youngest lover's eyes and it only further enraged him for some reason. They might've tore each other apart in the next breath if Chris hadn't chosen that moment to open the door.

With Shawn right by his side looping a friendly arm around his shoulders.

"What in the hell is going on here," the blonde asked in shock. "Hunter, Randy, what are you doing?"

Randy felt Hunter literally shaking with anger now and followed his stare to Shawn's innocently placed arm around their boyfriend's shoulder. It all dawned on him.

"That's what it is," he said not caring whether or not Hunter wanted this revealed. "That's why you freaked when Chris brought Shawn up earlier."

"What are you talking about," Chris and Shawn asked him at the same time, but Randy wasn't paying them any mind. He was looking solely at Hunter as he continued to voice his suspicions.

"He's the guy isn't he? He's the one you thought Chris was cheating on you with. He's the one Rob said he saw Chris giving head. I always wondered why you turned to me instead of him like we all thought you would. And it looks like it wasn't even because you were guilty over thinking he would try to come between you and Chris. It's because maybe you thought he really would."

Hunter balled his fist up and punched the nearest wall. It was either that or Randy and as much as he wanted to at the moment, he wasn't going to hurt his lover. Ever.

"Hunt?"

Everyone went silent at Shawn's one word. It was full of hurt and question and something like betrayal. Hunter hated himself for putting that in his voice. He couldn't bring himself to ignore it either.

"What, Shawn," he whispered in response.

"You really thought that I would do something like that to you. I fucking love you, why would I hurt you like that? And the kid's right, you do think that of me because you've gotten over any doubts you ever had about Chris' fidelity but the thought of us spending time together is making you mad as fuck. You don't trust one of us and since Chris can go anywhere else with anybody else I'm guessing it's me."

"It's not like that."

"What's it like then," Shawn demanded in a hard voice. He'd never had much tolerance for mistrust among them and he certainly didn't have the temperance for this.

"It's not that I don't trust you, I'm just insecure when he's with you," Hunter admitted with a sigh. "I fucked over him, bad. After three years of being with him, I believed that he was cheating on me, with you of all people, my fucking brother, because of something somebody said. I didn't give you or him the benefit of the doubt or anything, just jumped and believed Rob. I believed him because I loved Chris so much and the though of him cheating on me made me so angry and hurt that I didn't even stop to think about it.

After we broke up I knew that it wasn't true and I couldn't bring myself to come to either of you. I didn't think I deserved his love or your friendship, still don't. Then I got to thinking about the whole thing, and about the two of you together. I know that if he'd chosen you, you'd have been so much better for him…to him. You're one of the greatest guys in the world and you'd be everything he deserves and more. And when I see the two of you together I get mad at myself because it just reminds me of all of the bullshit I've put him through and everything that you wouldn't. Proves what a dick I am and how much you're not and just how lucky I am to have either one of you in my life anymore."

He'd said all of this to the wall and so he never saw the man approaching him. He tensed a little when the toned arms wrapped around his waist, but relaxed at the chaste kiss to the back of his neck. He knew exactly whose embrace he was in.

"Sweetie, I…I didn't know. I didn't know who you thought it was, I didn't know you still felt this guilty, and I damn sure didn't know you felt like you didn't deserve me. I love you, Hunter, so fucking much do you understand me? You hurt me, you did, but we all know that and we're all moving past that. I have you now, and I know how much you regret what you did. You don't have to keep doing this to yourself because I forgive you. And so does Shawn. Don't you?"

"Of course," Shawn said suddenly at Hunter's side. "Hunt, I'm sorry for being mad at you. I love you, and I won't hold a thing against you, except maybe the fact that you didn't talk to me about this. You should've told me what you were dealing with and what you were thinking. I would've gladly set you straight. I'm nowhere near as worthy of what you have as you are. I'm no better than you, I'm way worse. You shouldn't ever put yourself below me, baby, it's practically criminal."

"You should love yourself a lot more than you do, Shawn. Where's HBK and all his cockiness at?"

"Safely tucked away until his next ring appearance," he said with a chuckle. "You alright now?"

"I th-" he was cut off by the opening and closing of the hotel door. Without looking up he knew Randy had run off somewhere. "No, no I'm not alright."

"I'll go," Shawn volunteered. "I need the exercise. Plus he'll respond better to me than to either of you right now and I think the two of you need to talk about a few things."

Chris and Hunter nodded as Hunter turned in his arms.

~~~~

"What in the hell are you doing out here," Shawn asked slightly annoyed and immensely relieved nearly twenty minutes later.

Randy didn't even look away from the patch of sky he was staring at and Shawn cocked his head trying to figure out how he was going to go about this. The kid had ended up on the roof for God's sake, he couldn't have been in the best frame of mind. He shuddered at the images that one thought conjured and tried to focus on getting him down. He doubted picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder would be the best way to go about it, even though it was his first instinct. And even though he wanted to snap the younger man out of his trance he figured grabbing and shaking him wouldn't be much better.

"They really are beautiful together," he tried softly as he stepped closer to the younger man, but not close enough to invade his personal space.

A soft smile touched Randy's lips almost unconsciously at the words. "Yeah, they are."

"They're even more beautiful when you're there too."

The younger man finally turned around to face him and was met with one of the most beautiful smiles he'd ever seen. Not to mention one of the sexiest.

"I don't know about that."

Shawn frowned at the finality in Randy's voice. "What are you saying?"

"That maybe it's time to stop pretending. You can't make things be what you want them to be no matter how hard you try. I mean, who are we really kidding with this whole three-way thing, huh? It's them, it's always been them. I'm just something in the background."

Shawn could barely process what he was hearing.

"What? When did you start feeling like this?"

"It's been there from the beginning of this. Maybe from the first time I slept with Hunter. It got easier to forget every time we all went to sleep holding each other, or with every 'I love you,' but it's been there. Tonight just…drove it home. The love that they have for each other is something that I'll never be able to touch and something I'll never be able to feel from either of them. I'm not jealous over that because I'm happy for them, I love them, and they belong together forever. They're just not capable of loving anybody else the way they love each other."

Shawn opened his mouth to disagree but Randy was talking again so he closed it.

"Before you guys walked in, me and Hunter were about to beat the shit out of each other. I could see it in his eyes, he was about to snap, and I would've went right along with him without a second thought. Do you know that he and Chris barely ever argue? And when they do it never gets to that point. Hunter just walks out of the room and Chris sits there and pouts until he comes back. They'd never do what me and Hunter just did or what we were about to do. Even when Hunter thought Chris was cheating on him he sat him down and told him what he'd heard and calmly told him that it was over. He thought Chris had fucked him over and he still didn't yell or call him anything. And all Chris did during the whole thing was hang his head and cry. Hunter was accusing him of something he knew he didn't do and he didn't scream or yell at all. They never do that to each other."

"So you're leaving because they fight and scream with you and not with each other?"

Randy shook his head slowly. "It's not that, but what that represents, Shawn. There are boundaries and lines that they won't cross with each other, but not me."

"Honey, there are too many boundaries they've set with you. They bend over backwards to make sure you only hear and see certain things."

"That's because I'm young, not for anything else. Everybody treats me that way around here. No one thinks I can handle anything, and that's probably why they didn't let me back out of this that first night. I guess they thought I'd have a nervous breakdown if they just admitted that they didn't need me anymore."

The older man couldn't help it anymore. He pulled the brunette into his arms and squeezed him slightly. He felt the slight tremors running through Randy, making his hurt and insecurity more than evident.

"I know both of them, especially Hunter, and I know that neither one of them would ever lie to you about the way they feel about you. You wouldn't be there if they didn't want you, they wouldn't tell you they loved you if they didn't mean it, and honey it wouldn't feel as good as it does to be with them if all of you weren't feeling the same way. I know you're intimidated by their relationship before you and that's understandable, they had something so close to perfect it was almost scary, but that's not what it is anymore. They don't see it that way. Whenever either one of them thinks in terms of 'us' that consists of Hunter, Chris and Randy. You're always in the picture, homey."

"Then why did Hunter shut me out tonight? When Chris said your name everything besides him and Chris was a million miles away. He wouldn't talk to me, he snapped when I pushed, it was like I was trespassing in something I had no business being in. I feel like that a lot. Like I'm intruding when it comes to them. Sometimes I feel like an outsider in my own relationship."

The tears in Randy voice were tearing Shawn's heart in two. He cradled the younger man to him and tried to hold his own emotions back.

"Have you tried to tell them all of this?"

"No, it would only make them feel bad and I can't do that to them."

"Randy, if you're hurting you should let them know. It won't stop if you don't say anything."

"But they're not doing anything wrong. They're only doing what they normally do and if I say something, they'll fix whatever I complain about. Then everything will be fake and forced. Yeah, they'll include me in everything and go out of their way to do little shit for me, but not because they want to or it's what they'd naturally do, they'd be doing it just because they're guilty."

"They'll do it because they love you. They don't ever wanna hurt you Randy, and when they realize that they have been it's gonna kill them both."

"I don't wanna hurt them."

"They don't wanna hurt you either and the longer you go without telling them how you feel the more all of you are gonna hurt in the long run. I can promise you that."

"I can't go to them right now," he whispered timidly. "Not like this and not when they're…in their own little world."

Shawn pulled away with a nod and took his hand lightly. "Come on, you can crash in my room 'til you're ready."

"Thanks Shawn," he murmured allowing himself to be led down from the roof.

~~~~

"Hello," Hunter asked hastily.

"Hey, Hunter, I got him. He's fine," Shawn said reassuringly.

"Oh thank God. We were getting really worried when we hadn't heard from you. It's been almost three hours Shawn."

"I know how to tell time, thank you very much," he replied with a laugh. His voice turned serious however as he spoke his next words. "He's confused Hunter. He's hurt and there's a lot of things he's been dealing with for a while that nobody else knew about."

"What do you mean?"

Shawn noticed how soft Hunter's voice had become and that the fear and worry had intensified. He also heard Chris in the background asking about a million panicked questions. He shook his head wondering how Randy could ever doubt the love of these men.

"Well, he had almost convinced himself to leave you two when I finally found him, on the damn roof of all places. He unloaded a whole lot of things on me that he's been keeping bottle up. He's very insecure in the relationship, and in the way you and Chris feel about him versus each other. He said that sometimes he feels like an outsider, or an intruder when he's with y'all. He said when you guys almost fought tonight it just slapped him in the face how different your relationship is with Chris because you and Chris have never gotten to the point of almost fighting. He said it was a whole lot of little things that showed him that you two will never love him the way y'all love each other."

"What?! Shawn that's not true!"

"I know. I tried to tell him that, but he's not seeing it. He's hurt so he's not hearing much of anything."

"Where is he, can he hear you?"

"No, I'm out on the balcony right now. I didn't wanna wake him up."

"How long ago did he go to sleep?"

"About half an hour ago. We were talking for a couple of hours and he fell asleep on my shoulder. Every time I tried to move he would hold onto me. He just now let me up."

"He has nightmares. He can usually get through them if someone's there with him," Hunter explained absently. "What is he gonna do?"

"I have no clue. I've been telling him to talk to the two of you and telling him how important it is to tell you guys when you do something to hurt him. Like I said, he was pretty messed up so I don't know what he was listening to and what he wasn't. I can safely say he's not walking out on you guys though."

"He told you that?"

"Yep. Lucky for the two of you, he loves you too much."

"Thank God," Hunter whispered again. "We're coming over there right now. He won't sleep long and I think we should be there when he wakes up."

"I think that's a good idea."

"Can you do me a favor, Shawn?"

"Anything," he answered automatically knowing he would calmly slit his wrists for Hunter if he asked him to.

"Get back in bed with him and hold him? I don't want him to wake up screaming."

"Of course. Anything else?"

"I'll ask you when that time comes."

"Okay," he said nodding even though Hunter couldn't possibly see it. "See you in a few."

"Right," Hunter said in return before hanging up the phone.

Shawn walked back into the hotel room and placed his phone on the bedside table before carefully sliding into bed beside the beautiful twenty-four year old man who practically gravitated into his arms the second he was settled on the mattress. He smiled softly and kissed his forehead before tightening his arms around him hoping to keep him safe from his dreams for a while.

~~~~

Hunter pushed Shawn's hotel room door open and he and Chris ambled in slowly, almost fearfully while Shawn watched. It was odd to see them approaching the bed with such trepidation when the worry and near panic was in their eyes making it obvious that they'd ran there as soon as Hunter had hung up the phone. Shawn thought it had been maybe two minutes since he joined Randy in bed again.

"He's been crying," Chris whispered to Hunter in a pained voice. "God, look at how swollen and red his eyes are. What have we done?"

"I don't know," he murmured back matching Chris' self-loathing to a 'T'. "I don't have a clue, but whatever it is we hurt him."

"We promised," Chris breathed in a voice so anguished both Shawn and Hunter flinched at it. "God damn it we promised," he repeated blinking back tears of his own.

Shawn felt bad for all three of them. This just wasn't their night at all. First Hunter's big confession and now this revelation. They were getting slammed from every way possible and the worst part is that in every situation two out of the three of them had absolutely no clue what was going on.

"I think he's feeling a lot better than he was a few hours ago," Shawn informed softly trying to comfort them in any way possible. "He said he's not leaving at least. I think he was just really overwhelmed over what came out earlier and then over the fact that you and him," he said indicating Hunter, "almost fought. He said he's had insecurities and doubts from the beginning and when you start out that way they only grow until you deal with them. He's never dealt with them or brought them to your attention, just let them kill him slowly and it all came to a head. It's better that it happened now, though, instead of later on down the line when it's too far gone for anybody to do anything about it. You can fix it right now, while he's still willing to listen and to stay."

"We didn't try to do this. We never meant to make him feel like he wasn't included. That first night, I told him that we didn't wanna do this without him."

"I know, Chris. Like I said, if he's had doubts from the beginning they were bound to eat him alive and if he never told you then there's nothing you two could've done. I'm not laying the blame completely at you guys' feet, just like I'm not laying it at his. It's a communication problem."

Randy chose that moment to stir causing everyone in the room to wait with bated breath. He nuzzled closer to Shawn and tightened his arms around the older man's waist slightly, kissing his shoulder through his shirt. None of this was unnatural for him, up until he whispered a single word in his state of half-sleep half-wake.

"Shawn."

Hunter and Chris inhaled sharply causing Shawn to look away from the youngest in the room and refocus on them.

"What's wrong? I thought you said he was clingy from the nightmares and all that," he questioned even softer than before.

"He is, but he never knows who's holding him when he's in between like that. Most of the time he wakes up a little and has to look around for a while to figure out where he is and flinches away from whoever's holding him until he wakes up a little more and recognizes them. Then he goes back to sleep," Hunter said in a cool, controlled voice that was rapidly rivaling the guarded tone he'd used with Randy which had started this half of the night's fiasco.

Hunter's words finally brought the weight of Randy's whispered word to Shawn's attention like a slap in the face. He was about to speak when Randy again stirred, this time opening his eyes and looking directly at him.

"Hey, how long was I out for?"

"About forty-five minutes," Shawn returned unable to help the soft smile on his lips. "Are you feeling any better now?"

"Yeah, other than a headache and feeling a little like shit. I always feel like shit when I cry at night," he stated off-handedly. "I appreciate everything you've done for me tonight, Shawn. I probably would've done something stupid if you hadn't found me when you did."

"What do you mean something stupid," the older man asked in a voice edged with worry. He figured he knew what Randy was talking about.

"I don't know, but the way I was feeling…"

Shawn felt him shudder as he let his sentence trail off. He pulled him closer and kissed the side of his head tenderly. "Well let's thank God it didn't come to anything like that."

"No, not God. Thank you Shawn."

"I'd hold the thanks for a while," Shawn informed biting his lip a little.

"Why?"

"Because things are about to get either a whole lot better or a whole lot worse."

"Stop talking around me and just say it," he said in words laced with something akin to panic.

"I called."

"Them?!"

"Yeah," Shawn said and raised his eyes from Randy's face to the other two in the room. "They came right over."

Randy turned five different shades of red, then went white and settled on slightly green before his head finally raised from Shawn's shoulder and turned to see the two men he loved more than life. Shawn shifted beneath him and he tightened his grip on the older man to an almost painful point. It didn't go unnoticed by his lovers.

"I think you might've been onto something, Hunter. You just had the wrong one," Chris told Hunter quietly without taking his eyes off of Randy and Shawn. Everyone knew what he was saying and the hurt in his voice was making it more than obvious.

"Chris, no. Me and Shawn…it's nothing like that," Randy nearly whispered.

"Like hell it isn't. Everything Hunter thought and said about me and Shawn is way better suited for you."

Randy closed his eyes and was about to let his tears fall again over having pushed them away because he was too scared to go to them. Over having blown any chance he might've had because he couldn't speak up and tell them what he was feeling. Instead of doing that, he'd succeeded in convincing them that he was cheating on them. They would never trust him again, not with the evidence so clear. Hunter had had only hearsay in his situation with Chris and that had been enough to end that relationship briefly, so he fully expected the visual-aid of him in bed with Shawn cuddling him right in their faces to be more than enough to end this one too. Permanently. He knew it looked bad, he knew it would be the downfall of their relationship, and he still couldn't let the older man go. He was too afraid of what was happening to release him. If they were leaving him, if this was it, he needed to anchor himself on someone or something. Shawn had been his rock through the earlier part of the night and he needed him to be his rock right now also.

A sudden thought tore through his head increasing his anguish ten-fold and had him squeezing his eyes shut even tighter. Now he'd driven another wedge between Hunter and Shawn, not to mention Shawn and Chris which meant Shawn wouldn't want to have anything to do with him either. He wasn't just fucking up anymore, he was fucking up SPECTACULARLY.

"We've hurt you, and I am so fucking sorry baby," Chris choked out shocking Randy into a wide-eyed stare. "God, look at what we've done to you. You're crying and talking about hurting yourself and you're so damn sad and confused. We did that, the ones who're supposed to love and protect you. And then here comes Shawn and he's the one who held you together and made you feel better. He gave you everything that we couldn't and did everything that we didn't. Maybe you deserve him, and everything he can do for you. And maybe we don't deserve you at all," he ended in tears.

Hunter tried to take Chris in his arms but Chris jerked away not wanting to be comforted. Not feeling that he deserved it. He stood with his arms wrapped around himself leaving his tears unchecked as he felt hatred for himself wash over him in waves.

Hunter turned away from all of them and stared at a wall. He agreed with Chris whole-heartedly, only it was worse for him because he'd now succeeded in doing practically the same thing to the two people he claimed to love most in this world. It seemed to be a pattern with him, pushing people away. First it was Chris and he was lucky enough to have him come back, now Randy and he honestly didn't know which way that was going to go. Sure he'd said he'd stay, but that was hours before when he was still emotional. He could change his mind at any moment and leave them. And where would Hunter's relationship with Shawn stand after all of this? Surely his friend would want nothing to do with him if he hurt his youngest lover. If Shawn's sudden protective nature for the twenty-four year old was any indication, Hunter thought he and The Heartbreak Kid might fall out entirely.

Shawn was lying rigid with shock trying to process just what the hell was going on with the three of them. Why did Hunter and Chris suddenly think he was the greatest thing walking? And why was Randy treating him like he was his own personal savior? And why the fuck did it keep coming around full circle that one of them ended up crying in his arms and another one thinking that he, Shawn, was more deserving of said person in his arms? Why couldn't they see that he wasn't a part of this? Why couldn't they all see that they all loved each other to death and that if they could sit and talk without somehow ending up hating themselves that all of this could be worked out quite easily? And why was he always the one fixing all the other Kliq member's problems anyway? Specifically Hunter's. Wasn't Kev the leader, the big bad wolf? Shouldn't he be the one taking care of the cubs?

He couldn't believe that he had the ability to babble inside of his own head.

Randy couldn't help the fact that his mouth was hanging open and his eyes were glistening with tears. Chris was in a state he'd never seen him in before. Sure he'd seen him after Hunter broke up with him, but not right after. He'd been preoccupied taking care of Hunter and he knew that Chris had Jason so he wasn't overly worried. Then when he did see him, Chris had hid his emotions well enough. To see him this way was nearly killing Randy. Not to mention Hunter. He'd turned his back to them all, but Randy could see the slump of his shoulders and the sheer hurt radiating off of his entire presence. He knew he was crying. Randy could feel how rigid Shawn was beneath him, probably in shock. He couldn't blame him at all, he was pretty damn surprised himself, not to mention unfathomably guilty. Instead of them accusing him of cheating after finding him literally in the arms of another man, they were making themselves out to be the worst people in the world and all but pushing him to Shawn. The fact that he'd caused them this grief hurt more than he imagined death would. After all, he felt like he was dying.

"I can't speak for Hunter," Chris managed to continue moments later in a rough voice, "but I'll understand if you never want anything to do with me ever again."

"No!"

The delivery of that word snapped Shawn out of his reverie, had Hunter turned back towards the bed and had Chris' head back up in a flash. All eyes were on the young brunette who was now sitting up regarding the two loves of his life.

"I don't want you to go, not unless you're really tired of my shit and you don't want me anymore. But don't go because you think that's what I want. I love you two, and I don't ever wanna be without you. Before we all hooked up I don't think I knew what love was. I mean, I loved you," he said looking at Hunter, "and I had feelings for you," he told Chris, "but that doesn't compare to the way I felt the night we all made love for the first time. And then, Chris, when you finally told me you loved me in the limo that night and we all said it to each other for the first time everything was complete, and I felt complete too. I felt whole and I've never felt that way before. If you two walk away from me, I don't think I'll ever be complete again."

"There's nothing in this world that would make us leave you, Randy, except you. If we're hurting you, if you're not happy, if we're not what you need and you tell us that you want us to go, we'll go. No matter how bad it'll hurt us to let you go," Hunter told him softly as Chris nodded. "We'd rather walk through hell than hurt you."

"Please tell us what we're doing and we'll stop it. We'll do whatever it takes," Chris said in a tone that was slightly desperate. "I hate the thought of causing you pain and that I have been since the night we got together."

"I don't even know what the problem is," he said shaking his head. "I'm probably just over-exaggerating."

"Uh-uh, not this time, honey," Shawn said chided immediately. "You can't run from it anymore, you have to be honest with them now or this is never going to go away. Tell them what's wrong."

"I can't," the youngest man whispered to Shawn. "What if they get mad, or I hurt them?"

"Hunter just told you that there's nothing that could make them leave you, unless you ask them to, and Chris is all but begging for an answer. Honey, they need to know as much as you need them to know. How would you feel if you knew that you were doing something to hurt them and you had no clue what it was? All you knew was that you were the one causing it?" When Randy looked down Shawn knew he had him. "Be fair to them and let them help you, or at least stop hurting you, it's killing them too."

Randy took a deep breath and let it out. He held out a hand to them and after a short hesitation they both came forward and onto the bed. Hunter sat in front of him lacing his finger's through the offered hand and Chris moved onto Randy's free side putting the brunette between himself and Shawn before stroking his hair lovingly. Shawn watched it all with a slight smile before moving to disentangle himself from the bed.

"Nope," Hunter said reaching out with his free hand to stop Shawn from leaving the bed. "You're just as much a part of this as we are. You're staying."

Shawn nodded and settled back down to watch everything unfold.

"I feel…I feel kind of left out sometimes," Randy admitted softly and avoided all three sets of eyes trained on him.

"Like when," Hunter asked anxious to get to the bottom of things and fix them.

"Like earlier tonight with the whole Chris and Shawn thing."

Hunter was at a loss. "But…it had nothing to do with you. When everything was all out in the open it was something I had to fix between the two of them and myself. I…what could I have done to put you in that?"

"Not right then, I know that had nothing to do with me. I meant earlier when Chris left and it was just the two of us. When I asked you what was going on with you two, you snapped at me. You acted like I had no right to ask, like it was none of my business. Then whenever I told you that you changed the subject really fast."

Chris cocked his head to the side as he considered what was being said. "Do we do that to you a lot?"

"Not a lot, just sometimes when it's really serious stuff. It just shows me that you still see the relationship as being only the two of you at points. Like you forget that I'm there, or that you don't think I'm your equal in this."

"No, baby, that's not it," Hunter told him softly as Chris shook his head. "We know you're in this and you are just as equal as either of us. It's just, we're used to shutting people out on serious issues about anything. We shut people out about things concerning you and our relationship, concerning the ring, concerning fans, contracts, anything. I know it's not an excuse, but it's a habit that we both have. When we're upset, we shut down. We do the same thing to each other. Hell there's been plenty of things over the last decade or so that I've froze Shawn out on."

Randy glanced Shawn's way to see him nodding with a slight smile grazing his lips. There was something in that smile that Randy was too upset to really catch, but it wasn't all happiness. "Where do you think he got it from? I gave it to him and I'm guessing that's where Chris picked it up."

Chris nodded in agreement then suddenly shook his head. "It is a habit that we have and one that we'll train ourselves to break when it comes to you, but that's not the whole reason we gloss over some things or just plain avoid them with you. We love you Randy and we know you're young and still pretty innocent to a lot of things. We're not taking anything away from you because if it's one thing you don't do, it's act your age. The way you carry yourself has made more than one person forget that you're at a vulnerable age or that you're supposed to be wide-eyed and inexperienced right now, but that doesn't mean we can forget too. You're twenty-four years old, baby, and you shouldn't be stressed out and worried. When something comes up between me and Hunter we leave you out of it mostly because we know we'll work it out pretty quick. There's no need to drag you in and have you upset and emotional over nothing."

Shawn was unconsciously nodding at Chris' words. He could easily see their line of thinking. Randy was, even if it was hard to believe, pretty fragile and they loved him to no end. Even people who weren't in love with Randy felt the same way. Wanting to shield him was a common thing among most of the guys in the back. They'd all been twenty-four once and it hadn't been an easy age in the business. It had to be even harder on Randy considering the level of success he'd achieved in such a short time-frame. He was dealing with stresses that most guys didn't have to deal with for at least three or four more years.

Shawn almost snickered as another thought occurred to him about the guys in the back and their treatment of Randy. While they were gracious to him because of his age they were especially nice to him because of his connections. No one had given him too hard of a time in the beginning since he'd been placed under Hunter's seal of protection from the moment he stepped onto RAW and joined Evolution. Now that he was romantically linked to two of the most respected and feared men in the business, people practically tripped over themselves to make sure the young man's life ran smoothly. Randy, bless his heart, was aware of this but never purposely used either Hunter or Chris' pull for his own devices.

"I understand what you're saying," Randy said quietly looking between them. "I really do get that, but I don't think you get me. When you shut me out, protecting me or not, it hurts. Think about how much it's killing you guys right now to know that I'm going through something and you have no idea what. Now picture that happening almost every time something comes up. To be in the dark about what's going on in my own relationship isn't protecting me, it's driving me crazy. Imagining the problem is way worse than knowing it, and who's to say I couldn't help? That's like saying I'm useless if you just cut me out and not even consider coming to me for help."

"You're not useless," Hunter whispered harshly.

"Then please don't make me feel that way. Let me be a part of what's going on. Even if you think it'll worry me or hurt me or stress me out you have to remember that if you don't tell me it'll do a whole lot worse than that." He hesitated for a moment, obviously debating with himself before continuing. "Do you know that I stay on edge because I'm afraid that I've fucked up and you're both pissed at me? When you snap, or don't talk or just gloss over shit, I feel like you're mad at me and I'm just waiting for one of you to say it's all over," he admitted in a barely audible voice.

Shawn closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. He didn't even have to look at the older two to know that they were either crying or close to it. Hell it had shaken him to the core and he wasn't even in their relationship. And he didn't have to see Randy to know that his eyes were filled with guilt over having hurt them with this information.

That admission was going to stay between the three of them for a very long time to come, maybe even forever. Especially Chris because he'd been in a relationship with Benoit where he'd been forced to live in fear of mistake. To know that he'd put Randy through that too was probably tearing him to pieces.

"I…I think I'm going to be sick," Chris announced softly before jumping from the bed and running towards the bathroom confirming Shawn's suspicions.

"Damn it," Hunter cursed softly as he watched the blonde sprint across the room. "He's not ever going to let this go."

"I didn't mean to…Fuck...I'm gonna go," Randy choked before trying to climb out of bed.

"No," both Hunter and Shawn said holing him in place.

"Anything you say tonight needs to be said," Hunter assured him. "We're not mad, how could we be when we caused it? Chris is deeply wounded by what you said but it isn't your fault, it's ours. Even if it's by accident we've made you feel this way. Now that you're telling us what we're doing we can do our damnedest to fix it."

Randy's voice clogged in his throat as the gagging sounds came to a stop followed by the flushing of the toilet. They heard some shuffling and then the sink faucet turned on. The unmistakable sounds of someone gargling and spitting came and went and then they heard nothing at all. A few tense moments passed and then all three of them jumped up and out of the bed at a shattering noise.

Shawn reached the door first and pushed it open, eyes going wide at the blood pouring from Chris' clenched fist onto the shattered remains of the bathroom mirror. He got over his shock quickly and reached under the cabinet for the first-aid kit. He calmly stepped over the glass and sat Chris down on the toilet lid kneeling in front of him as he began to clean and bandage his hand while the other two stood and watched silently.

Chris sat there numbly and Shawn was willing to bet all of his hard-earned money, and he had lots of it, that the younger blonde wasn't feeling a thing. That was actually worse than if he'd been jumping around cursing to high heaven. Shawn couldn't even comfort himself by saying Chris was in shock, because he wasn't. He was fully aware of everything going on, he just looked hollow, like something inside him was either broken or at least badly damaged. Shawn hoped, for the other three as well as himself, that it was the latter because you could fix what was damaged over time. If it was broken…it was just broken.

He looked at the other two out of the corner of his eye and hid a smile at the fact that Randy was taking comfort in Hunter's arms as they watched him tend to Chris. Things were far from perfect, but they were looking a lot better than they had almost four hours ago on the roof. He chanced a glance at Chris and started slightly when he found passionless blue eyes boring into his own. He offered a tight smile and focused on wrapping up the now sterilized hand in front of him.

"All done," he announced a while later with a cheeriness he didn't feel and patted Chris' leg as he stood up. "Feel better?"

Chris blinked slowly at him in response before standing and walking past him towards the door. When Randy and Hunter didn't move to let him pass he simply stood there waiting with a blank look on his face.

"Chris," Hunter said in a soft concerned voice. "Are you okay?" When Chris gave no indication that he'd heard him he tried again. "Babe, answer me, please?"

"Montreal," passed through the Canadian's lips almost silently.

Hunter frowned in confusion and the frown only deepened when Randy hugged him tighter and Shawn turned his back. He turned the word over in his head trying to decipher what it meant for a few moments.

Realization hit like a sledgehammer.

Chris saw the second Hunter remembered the story of what had happened that night in Montreal with Benoit and he suddenly found himself in a strong embrace which Randy joined in. Even with both his lovers' arms around him he couldn't thaw himself from the cold he was encased in. He wasn't even sure he was trying to warm himself and he wasn't really sure he cared about what his lack of effort implied. He just wanted to get the night over with and go to sleep now.

"Come on, we're not done hearing how we've screwed Randy up."

There was no mocking in his voice, nor sarcasm or malice but Randy still flinched. He knew Chris wanted to hear so that he could change it, but he wasn't sure he could keep going on with it. Chris sounded so weak and empty that the thought of laying anything else on him was enough to make Randy want to go back up on the roof and do his best rendition of Jeff's Swanton.

"No, we can stop, I've told you mostly everything. There's almost nothing I can say now that won't make me repeat myself and you need some rest."

Hunter and Shawn didn't speak a word of protest knowing that Chris needed sleep and that Randy was telling the truth. Chris, however, shook his head not accepting 'mostly' and 'almost'.

"We've gone this far, we might as well finish. I don't care if you rip me to shreds, I wanna know what I'm doing and what I've done. I won't have you living in fear of me and Hunter and I won't continue to treat you like that bastard treated me," he said showing the first sign of emotion since he'd ran for the bathroom. The strength of his hatred was overwhelming. "I love you too fucking much for this shit to go on, so you will sit down and tell us and we will get past this."

Shawn had to hide another smile at what he was hearing. Chris sounded like he was coming back to them and all over his feelings for the younger man. He concluded that Randy was pretty fucking amazing, Chris and Hunter were pretty fucking extraordinary themselves, and he was pretty fucking lucky to have them as his friends. He was so stuck in these thoughts that he didn't notice that they were going back into the bedroom area until Hunter poked him gently.

"You in there?"

"Yeah, sorry, just thinking."

Hunter gave him a long pleading look and Shawn took him into his arms without hesitation. "I love you Shawn."

"I love you too, Hunt. This is all going to be okay. You just gotta make it through tonight and everything will be so much better in the morning. I promise."

"How did you get to be so strong," Hunter whispered into his shoulder. "How do you always know what to say to me?"

"We were together for five years, Hunt, and I've known you a lot longer than that. If I didn't know what to say to you by now I'd be an idiot."

"And the strong part," Hunter asked straightening with a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Somewhere between Scott's drinking, Sean's drugging, and Kev's depression I learned how to be strong. I knew I had to be there for you or you'd follow the same path they did, and if it happened to you I wouldn't be too far behind. Then who'd take care of the three of them?"

"So it was for the family?"

"Everything's for the family one way or another."

Hunter's smile became a tad bit stronger as he held up the Kliq sign and Shawn returned the gesture. Something in that moment renewed his strength and he felt like he could handle whatever Randy was about to tell him.

"Come on," he said before the two of them walked out of the bathroom to join his two boyfriend's.

~~~~

Randy woke up the next morning to the sound of someone grumbling. He tried to roll over only to be stopped by something warm and heavy. Upon opening his eyes to examine this, he became swiftly aware of a few things:

A) He was in bed with Hunter's arm thrown across his stomach B) He had a pounding headache C) His eyes would only open about half way and they were very sore D) His mouth tasted like stale alcohol E) The room smelled like sex and finally, and maybe the most important thing F) Shawn Michaels was standing at the window naked as the day he was born and seemingly unashamed of it

After three failed attempts and a few swallows he finally managed to croak out, "Shawn?"

The gorgeous blonde turned to him with a careful smile. "Morning, kid. How you feeling?"

"A little hung over and a little scared. What did we do last night?"

"There's little we didn't do," Shawn said with his usual ruthless honesty. "The four of us had one big intervention and therapy session for you and you boys followed by one big orgy. You don't remember anything?"

Randy concentrated as hard as he could with his head threatening to cut itself open. Images began to trickle back to him in snippets. Shawn holding him on the roof, he and Hunter in each other's face, Chris bleeding surrounded by broken glass, all four of them crying both together and separately, someone tipping a bottle of alcohol into his waiting mouth, him and Shawn kissing passing liquid between them, and suddenly the image of him sitting back against Hunter's chest sliding his back against his lover's hard dick as Chris gave him while getting fucked from behind by Shawn.

"Oh shit."

"Yeah, it was pretty out there," the older man agreed with a slight smile. "Reminded me of the Kliq days, except you and Chris are a lot more bendy than Kev and Scotty ever were. About on the same level as Sean. Made things pretty interesting."

"Oh. Uhm, why did it happen?"

"We were all trying to make you feel better. Especially after you told us about that shit with Bischoff and Shane. We-"

"Wait, I told you about that?!"

"Yeah, you were pretty smashed, kid. Sorry you told us, but we needed to know. Now we have a few people to assault. It'll be fun."

"I wasn't supposed to say anything. I'll lose my job and-"

"Yeah you told us about the threats too, but trust me honey, you aren't going anywhere. They can't fire their Intercontinental champ and if they try to make you drop the title or some shit we'll all threaten to walk. See if the WWE can get along without four of its number one headliners."

"You guys would do that for me?"

"Damn straight. You go we go."

A few more false starts later Randy was finally able to voice a coherent thought. "What are we gonna do? I mean about this," he said nodding towards his two lovers.

"Depends. Do you regret it? Well, what little of it you can remember anyway?"

"I don't think so. I mean, the concept isn't freaking me out or anything, so no."

"Okay, we'll we have to see how your boyfriends feel. The only reason they'd be upset or anything would be because you were involved with me at all. Me and Hunter were together for five years, you know that, and me and Chris have been together three times now. Before you ask, no it wasn't recently. It was during my time as Commissioner when he first came to the company. Me and Hunter were on a little break. So it all comes down to me and you."

"Why would it be a problem for me and you to have done anything?"

Shawn sighed and turned back to stare out the window. "Because you, Randy, are the jewel of both their lives and I'm me. Not only is Shawn Michaels an arrogant, selfish, cruel, manipulative bastard but I'm also a royal fuck-up and a major slut who does nothing better than seduce and screw up young guys."

"What," Randy asked in pure shock.

"Oh you've heard everything they say about me and we both know backstage gossip is seldom wrong. I'll sleep with any and everything. I probably did sleep my way to the top unconsciously, though everyone else seems to think it was a purposeful thing. I fucked Hunter's head up so much it's not even funny. Thank God he ended up with you two because it looked like he was heading over to Kid. And while I love Sean to death he would've only made Hunt worse. Funny thing is I'm the one who screwed Sean up too so if Hunter did end up with him and got even more fucked up it would've been behind me anyway. Sorry," he apologized turning back to the brunette briefly, "I'm babbling. Anyway, I guess I'm saying that they know me, so they might be upset about me being with you."

Before Randy could argue the point both of his lovers sighed and mumbled, "Shut the fuck up, Shawn."

Shawn looked at both of them and smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He moved his head slightly so that his hair fell and shielded most of his face. "How long have you two been up?"

"Long enough," Hunter said tightening his hold on Randy while looking at Shawn's mostly hidden face. He was getting worried.

"What time is it," Chris moaned sounding like a mix between half-sleep and half-drunk.

"It's almost eight-thirty," Shawn supplied with a soft laugh when the younger blonde groaned.

"What in the HELL are we doing up at eight-thirty? This has to be a sin or something."

"Now you wanna get religious," Hunter teased. "After last night I think the church would burn to the ground if any one of us stepped inside."

"I don't know, we were calling out God and Jesus' names a few times each last night," Chris moaned as he rolled his face into a pillow trying to somehow both wake up and go back to sleep at the same time. "The word 'holy' came up a lot too."

"How is your hand," Randy asked softly.

Chris picked his head up and looked over Hunter's body at his youngest lover. "It's fine. I don't feel it right now and it'll probably only hurt a little bit later on. It's not broken or anything."

"You're sure?"

"Positive, baby."

"Okay," Randy said satisfied for the moment.

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good considering everything."

"You sure," Hunter pressed. "You told us a lot of stuff."

"So I heard. Really I'm okay, I feel better because I got everything out in the open. There's nothing standing between us. Any of us," he said looking back towards Shawn only to do a double-take when he saw the older man now leaning his forehead against the glass, posture clearly depicting tension. "Well maybe one of us."

"Shawn, it's too early and too unnecessary for you to be having a breakdown right now," Chris whined playfully hoping to draw Shawn out of his mood. It was actually scary for Chris to see him like this. He'd never seen Shawn anything but calm, confident, and strong. He was the only thing that had held them all together last night and now to see him breaking down was too much for the youngest blonde in the room. "Can you reschedule this for when I'm a little more coherent please?"

Shawn didn't even move. It looked like every muscle in his body was pulled taught with the strain to either not run or not cry. For a second Chris thought he was going to lose the battle with both until Hunter released Randy and climbed from the bed. He went over to his forgotten pants and grabbed his cell-phone dialing some number before pressing it to his ear.

"Dave what time is the flight?………You did? Why?…………Thank you man, I owe you one." He clicked the phone closed and promptly walked over and grabbed Shawn by the arm. "We have to be on a plane at two o'clock. That's plenty of time to get to the bottom of this shit."

Shawn allowed himself to be pulled over to the bed where Randy and Chris were now sitting up waiting with concerned looks on their faces. "I'm alright, I swear. Just the alcohol."

"Shut that shit up," Hunter snapped pushing Shawn down next to Randy and sitting down beside him so that Shawn and Randy were between him and Chris. "You can hold your liquor better than almost anybody I know and even when you do get trashed you never do this. I've seen you this way exactly five times. When Kev, Scotty and Kid left, when Kid broke his neck, when they told you you wouldn't be able to wrestle again, when I tore my quad, and when we broke up. So why now? What's wrong?"

Shawn shook his head in answer and almost flinched when he felt someone moving his hair out of his face, probably Chris since he had the same habit of hiding behind his hair too.

"Oh shit. Did you sleep at all last night Shawn," Randy asked softly. It was the first time any of them had gotten a good look at the oldest blonde since waking up and it wasn't a very reassuring sight.

"Sweetie, what's wrong," Hunter asked again letting his finger trace the dark smudges underneath his best friend's eyes.

"Something that's never been right," he replied with a shrug. He was trying to be strong but his voice was cracking and his calm ___expression was wavering.

Hunter immediately knew what 'something' Shawn was talking about. "Don't say things like that about yourself. You don't deserve it."

"Oh I deserve it. If you knew-"

"I do know! I was there, Shawn, I was right there! I've always been there and I've seen everything there was to see," he finally yelled as his impatience for Shawn's self-degradation came to a head.

Shawn had known Hunter too long to be surprised or startled by his raised voice. All he did was raise his own. "You didn't see shit! None of you did! You saw what the hell you wanted to see! You saw me through a friend's eyes and through the eyes of a lover, not someone who saw every single flaw! Not someone who saw the truth!"

"Shawn, we never pulled punches with each other and you know that! Especially me and you! When you fucked up I was the first to let you know! When you were on the wrong track we all sat your ass down and told you about it!"

"Yeah shit that wasn't normal behavior for me! I was fucking the entire federation but I never got an intervention about that did I?! No of course not because that's just Shawn! Hey y'all probably didn't see that as me going on the wrong track because I was fucking you guys too! Why tell him to stop if we can get in on it?!"

"That was low, Michaels," Hunter said softly, hurt clear in his voice.

Shawn closed his eyes and gripped the messy sheets and blankets beneath him until his knuckles went white. "I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," he whispered suddenly drained.

"I know you didn't, sweetie, but you have to tell me what's wrong with you."

"Bret called me yesterday to say hello," he sighed with sarcastic laugh. "You know catch up on the good old days." His voice had a nasty cynical tone to it.

Hunter didn't hear anything after Bret's name. That's all he needed to hear. That man had made it his mission in life to single handedly make Shawn's a living hell the entire time he was in the WWF. Even when he'd made the crossover to WCW he couldn't let it go, coming to WWF events just to get a few jabs in on Shawn. He'd made the cool, confident, seemingly unshakable Shawn Michaels revert back to an insecure, unhappy, self-depreciating teenager more than once over the past decade and it seems he was still at it even though he was nowhere near a wrestling ring.

Hunter knew it was jealousy, hell everyone did except Shawn even though they'd all told him that over and over again. For some reason he just couldn't see it for what it was. He let the Canadian get under his skin time and time again. Hunter couldn't even remember how many times he'd had to sooth Shawn over something Bret had called him or said about his career or did to him. It angered him to no end but by Shawn's request, and by Shawn's request only, he kept his hands off of the older man. He never knew why Shawn asked him and the rest of the Kliq not to beat Hart into a bloody pulp but he did and they never could deny Shawn anything. He was worse than Sean when it came to the puppy dog eyes.

"What did he say to you this time?"

"Same old thing."

"Why do you listen to him, Shawn? You know he's just pissed because you're better than him. You always were and you always gonna be. He's gone and he'll be lucky if the fans even remember his name in five years. You on the other hand, you came back from a career ending injury and you're back on top. It kills him that you haven't fallen so he's trying to break you."

Shawn shook his head again. "No, that's not it."

"Yes it is, sweetie, why can't you get that? Why after all these years have you let him get to you?"

"Because he's telling the truth. He told me once that nobody would ever know me like he did. It was true, Hunter, he knew me better than I knew myself. So now when he tells me these things they have to be true because he knows me."

"Shawn, listen to yourself, you sound like some confused twink. So he says no one will know you like he does and you just up and say okay? Everything he says after that has to be true just because it's coming out of Bret Hart's mouth? People tell you shit, people lie, you can't believe everything just because somebody said it. Especially that piece of shit."

"He's not just anybody Hunter. He was my first."

Hunter caught Randy and Chris' confused looks and knew his own face was mirroring theirs. "What are you talking about, Shawn? You lost it at twelve to some fifteen year old guy at a park. That's, like, a documented fact or something."

"That's not what I meant. He was my first boyfriend in the WWF. He was also the first guy I ever said 'I love you' to and he was the first one who ever said it to me. I never knew what love was before Bret, it was amazing. I was so happy with him and he knew just what to do or what to say around me all the time. He could read me like a book, God he knew things about me that I didn't even know. I told him once that he knew me like the back of his hand and he just laughed. He told me that day that no one would ever know me the way he did and then he broke up with me. That's when he started telling me things about myself that had sickened him, made him hate me. He told me that he could never be with someone like me and that if anybody ever got to know me like he did they would hate me too."

Randy was holding Chris' good hand hard enough to break it and Chris wasn't exactly going easy on Randy's hand either. Neither one of them felt it though because they were too angry. It was common knowledge that Bret wasn't above playing dirty to get what he wanted but this was just fucked up. He'd hurt Shawn the worst way he knew how. He'd played along until he'd gotten Shawn's love just to throw it right back in his face and make it look like he'd deserved it. And by the sound of it, he'd never let Shawn forget that either.

Hunter was beside himself with a fury he'd never known before. The things Shawn had just said were enough to make him understand why murders happen. He was seriously considering blowing off tomorrow night's show and taking a little trip to Canada to pay 'The Best There Is, Was, and Will Be' a little visit. He couldn't believe the sick bastard would stoop so low as that just to get Shawn's spot.

"Shawn, you listen to me and you listen to me good. He wanted you out of the picture and out of the spotlight so he tried to break you. He figured if he could throw you into a depression or just break your spirit that you would either quit or suck enough to get fired or something. I guess he was trying to isolate you from us too by saying that shit about not letting anybody else get to know you or whatever. He's always hated you, Shawn, he's always been jealous and he wanted to hurt you."

"But he told me he loved me."

"That wasn't love that was a game to him. The things that me and you did for each other and the way we treated each other was love, Shawn. We had love, still do, I love you and you love me. That wasn't what you and Bret had."

"But he knew me."

"He stayed long enough to get to know you enough. You're not that hard to read, sweetie, anybody could be around you for a week and do a personality sketch on you and be at least eighty percent right. He used your openness against you, he didn't really know shit about you except the obvious. The people who love you for real are the ones that know you. I know you."

"You know what I want you to know."

"You couldn't hide yourself from me. You tried to and I know you did but you didn't do a good enough job. I know you better than Bret ever could and I proved him wrong. I'm still here, I don't hate you like he said I would if I got to know you."

"I don't believe you. You don't know me like that, you're just trying to make me feel better."

"Fine. I know everything Bret knows, everything everyone else knows. You've slept around, you can be a brat, you're the original Dive of the WWE, you can be cold, you can be manipulative, you have the ability to be a callous bastard and the most annoying person on the face of the earth. But I also know that you would walk through Hell to make up for your mistakes when you've wronged someone that you care about. I know that you would put your life on the line for someone else if you had to. I know that you would go out of your way to cheer somebody up. I know that you love the stars and you sit on the balcony outside your bedroom in San Antonio just staring at them for hours. I know that when you talk to Cam on the phone your voice gets really soft and you get this faraway look in your eyes. I know that your whole world centers around being a good father and building something that Cam can look back on and be proud of you for. I know that you have six different smiles and four different laughs. I know that you still hate yourself because you didn't cry at Owen's funeral even though it was impossible for your body to make anymore tears. I know that when you're upset your eyes get darker and when you're thinking they turn this aquamarine-ish color and when you're happy they sparkle. I know that you think the wisest being in the world is SpongeBob Squarepants. I know that your favorite movie is 'Dirty Dancing' even though you'd never admit it out loud. I know that you beat yourself up over shit that has nothing to do with you if you think you could've stopped it. I know that you loved me for a long time before you actually said it out loud. I know that last night you did everything in your power to help us even though you didn't have to because that's the kind of person that you are and you care about us being happy. I know that you deserve to happy too. I know that I love you and that I always will and that the same goes for you about me. I know that I could go on and on for weeks but I don't have to because you understand now. And I know that right now you're trying really hard not cry but you're gonna cry anyway and I'm gonna be here to hold you when you do."

Randy and Chris were both blinking back tears as Shawn all but collapsed into Hunter, shoulders shaking with his silent sobs. Hunter immediately enfolded Shawn in his arms and held him tightly whispering sweet familiar words of love and comfort into his ear until he calmed enough that the tears were simply flowing, but the sobs and hitching breaths were slowing to a stop.

Randy decided that now would be a good time to become involved again and simply slid an arm around Shawn also and laid down resting against him letting his body offer silent comfort. Shawn nuzzled against him to show that he appreciated it. Chris reached across Randy and began to run his fingers through Shawn's hair showing his support for the older man also. He and Hunter's eyes caught and Chris gave him a brilliant smile showing his understanding of Hunter and Shawn's relationship. He was happy that Hunter understood the gesture and returned it with a relieved smile.

~~~~

Time passed unobserved and unmeasured until Shawn finally sat up breaking the pose they'd formed. Hunter opened his arms, Randy sat up releasing him also and Chris' fingers slipped from his hair as they all waited for a response.

"So…Bret was jealous of me?"

"Yes," Hunter confirmed.

"He wanted to hurt me?"

"Yeah," Randy said softly.

"He lied to me?"

"Yeah he did, sweetheart," Chris said apologetically with a nod.

"I've been letting him hurt me for the past ten years thinking that he was telling the truth, thinking that I deserved the pain. I've been carrying around all of this hatred for myself because I though that every word that came out of his mouth was true. I stopped you guys from kicking the shit out of him, I stopped myself from kicking the shit out of him, because I was this fucking stupid," he said shaking his head in amazement. "WOW."

"We all do some pretty crazy shit when we're in love," Randy comforted. "Look at me last night with the whole roof thing."

"Look at me when I was with Benoit," Chris said with a shudder.

"Look at me and the whole RVD thing."

"Shit, we're all pretty damn fucked up huh," Shawn asked with his first real laugh of the day.

"Seems like it," Randy said with a chuckle of his own. He gave both of his lovers a long questioning look. When he received two smiles and nods he smiled at Shawn. "We could all be fucked up together. If you want."

"Do you mean…?"

"If you want," Randy repeated with a soft smile.

Shawn turned to look at Hunter and found nothing but love in his eyes. He turned to Chris and almost laughed at his hopeful smile. "Ah, what the hell? It's not like I have anybody better to do."

There was a moment of quiet before Hunter, Randy and Chris all laughed and almost hurt themselves reaching for Shawn all at once. Hunter ended up getting the first kiss followed closely by Chris who'd somehow squirmed his way over Randy and next to him. Randy waited impatiently for Chris to finish before lying down and pulling Shawn over Chris and on top of him giving him a very long, slow and involved kiss.

"Well damn, Orton, I'm gonna be a permanent fixture from now on. No need to kiss me like you'll never get to do it again," Shawn panted with a teasing smile.

"You think you're so cute don't you," Randy asked before he realized what he was saying. He groaned playfully when he saw Shawn's eyes light with mirth. "Oh God, what have I done."

"Here we go," Hunter managed between laughs.

Chris was more than willing to play and smiled hugely. "Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Shawn smiled his thanks for the intro and went into his song. "I think I'm cute, I know I'm sexy. I go the looks, that drive the boys wild. I got the moves, I really move 'em. I send chills up and down their spines. I'm just a sexy boy."

Hunter Chris and Randy all chimed in with high girly voices. "Sexy boy."

"I'm not your boytoy."

"Boytoy."

"I'm just a sexy boy."

"Sexy boy."

"I'm not your boytoy."

"Boytoy."

"I make 'em hot, I make 'em shiver. Their knees get weak whenever I'm around. They see me walk they hear me talkin'. I make 'em feel like they're on cloud nine. I'm just a sexy boy."

"Sexy boy."

"I'm no your boytoy."

"Boytoy."

"I'm just a sexy boy."

"Sexy boy."

"I'm not your boytoy."

"Boytoy," Hunter, Randy, and Chris finished holding the high girly note until they were out of breath and Shawn was hitting them with a pillow threatening suffocation.

"Between the three of you I've got my work cut out for me don't I," he said shaking his head.

"Sure do Sexy boy," Chris laughed looking down at his own now hard dick pointedly. A sudden though occurred to him that caused him to smile. "Do you know that that whole conversation took place while we were completely naked?"

"Most good conversations usually do," Hunter joked.

"But we had no clue. We, like, forgot that we were naked. Do you know what that means," Chris asked with a huge grin.

"That this is gonna work," Randy said picking up on Chris' train of thought.

"Because we forgot we were naked? How is that a sign."

"Shawn Michaels, ladies and gentlemen. The original bubble-headed blonde," Hunter said with a roll of his eyes.

"I thought I was the original WWE Diva."

"What's the difference?"

"Ooh good one," Randy said. "I'm gonna tell Trish that one of these days."

"Watch Tyson if you say that shit to her. The guy's out of his mind, he takes that Problem Solver gimmick a little too seriously," Chris said rubbing his now healed ribs absently at the memory.

"He won't do shit if he's smart. We have just formed one of the most dangerous relationships in history do you realize that," Randy asked them all. "None of us minds getting our hands dirty, but we all have the influence not to have to. Hunter and Shawn are two of the most vindictive and powerful people in the WWE, Chris can go completely psycho at times, and I have a mean streak in me that I don't mind showing when I have to. The four of us together is fucking unreal."

"Yeah we are. Who would've thought we would end up together like this," Hunter asked with a smile. "First it was me and Shawn and now all of this. How did we get here?"

"Me and you hooked up and then all of your exes started popping back up," Randy supplied with a teasing smile. "If you got anymore maybe you should tell 'em to stay where they're at. I don't think there's room."

"For real," Chris said with a laugh. "I mean I love you guys but I think this is the limit."

"There's no one else in this world that I could love as much as I love the three of you," Hunter said softly.

"I love you too, Hunter," Chris said kissing him softly.

"I love you too Hunter," Randy said from underneath Shawn.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too. But could somebody please explain how this whole forgetting we're naked thing means we'll make it?"

End