Part 8

Things went pretty much as he expected.

"Are you out of your damn mind Shawn? How can you possibly say you are in love with him after all the pain and misery you've suffered because of him?" Kevin's bellow echoed loudly in the room.

Scott was still sitting in the corner of the couch with a huge smirk on his face staring at Kevin. Sean was glaring at Chris with an almost murderous intent. Shawn rubbed his face with his free hand while wondering if he was ever going to be able to get Kevin to understand even after he explained.

Shawn felt Chris's hand tighten around his. He looked at Chris and noticed the moisture in his eyes. Obviously he regretted the things he'd done to Shawn in the past even though he'd thought he had good reasons at the time. He also noticed Chris's tense posture and knew he had to be fuming over Kevin's condemnation of him. Shawn knew if he didn't get the situation under control soon, Chris was going to let loose all that rage. If that happened, God help them all. Shawn saw Kevin open his mouth to speak and knowing he was going to yell again, Shawn allowed his frustration with the situation to burst out.

"Kev, will you shut up and calm down for one damn minute. If you would give me a fucking chance to explain, I'll tell you exactly how I can love him. Instead of blaming Chris for all my misery and pain why don't you place the place the blame where it belongs…on Hunter." As he finished his rant, three heads snapped in his direction. The look of confusion on their faces was almost comical. That wasn't how he'd planned to introduce Hunter's part in all of this, but it sure was effective. The silence in the room was deafening.

Never one to stand the silence, Sean was the first one to break it. "What are you talking about Shawn? Why would we blame Hunter because Jericho acted like a first-class asshole towards you?"

Chris's head snapped up and he focused on Sean. "Maybe because if Hunter hadn't fucking lied to me about Shawn, I never would have treated him like that in the first place!" The barely controlled fury in Chris's voice didn't bode well.

Scott had lost his grin. Sean was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped and a confused look on his face. Kevin raised his hand to run it through his hair impatiently, a scowl on his face.

"I think you'd better start explaining Shawn." Shawn was surprised at Kevin's almost neutral tone. Obviously Chris's outburst had made him curious.

Shawn looked to Chris and could tell he was having trouble sitting still. His restrained anger was making him jumpy. Shawn could tell he needed to move around. He squeezed his hand gently and nodded at him in silent communication. Chris squeezed his hand in return and then loosened his hold on Shawn's hand. He stood and walked over to the window. He put his hands in his pocket and stared vacantly out the window as Shawn began his explanation.

"I'm going to give you the short version and if you have questions, then I'll answer them." He waited for each of them to nod, then continued. "Chris and I talked the other night after the show. We had a slight…disagreement about my involvement in the match at the pay per view. He had the idea that maybe I would try to sway the odds in Hunter's favor. I smarted off in my usual style and he took offense. I told him to be quiet and then I tried to explain my…relationship with Hunter. You guys know things have been bad between us since the feud and why, so I don't need to explain that. When I tried to explain that Hunter and I were barely talking after our feud, he didn't believe me. If you remember, just before Chris and I were set to feud, there were…Kliq issues brought up," Shawn glanced quickly at Sean, "that meant I had to deal with Hunter. Chris didn't know why I was talking to him, just that I was. I told him that Hunter couldn't accept the fact that I was interested in someone else. He, for valid reasons, didn't believe me. He started yelling at me and told me not to lie to him. That's when I found out about the letter."

Shawn paused for a moment to catch his breath, but apparently Kevin was feeling impatient. "What letter, Shawn?"

Shawn glanced at Chris and noticed he hadn't changed position. He knew bringing all this up was upsetting Chris, but it was the only way they could clear the air.

"The night our feud was scheduled to start, I had been talking to Hunter in his locker room. Chris had written a letter for me, and since he was told I was with Hunter, that's where he looked for me. I had left for a moment, I don't even remember why, but Hunter told him I'd be right back. He left the letter with Hunter and went to his own locker room. Hunter was supposed to have given the letter to me when I got back, but that never happened. It seems that Hunter decided to read it and apparently wasn't happy with what he read. When I came back to talk to him about things, he was in a nasty mood and I didn't stay long. I went out for my promo with Chris, and you guys know the story from there, or at least what we thought was the story. Apparently we were missing a big part of it and that's the part that changes everything."

Chris leaned against the windowsill and rested his head against the window. He knew Shawn was going to have to tell them the rest, but he desperately wanted to tune it out. Knowing that the most painful time in his life was about to be scrutinized by the other men in the room was painful in itself. He hoped that Shawn could keep it brief and there would be few questions afterwards.

"In his letter, Chris told me he…had feelings for me and he…asked me out. Hunter took it upon himself to go to Chris and give him my reply." His tone left no doubt that the reply had not been his at all. "Hunter told him I had laughed over the letter. He told Chris that I said I would never want to be with a pathetic loser like him, that he was a waste of oxygen. He said that I didn't want a no-talent wanna-be using me to get to the top. Then he told Chris that I belonged to him and that he and I were…together. He told him that he never had a chance with me and that he had better keep his feelings to himself." Shawn paused a moment to let it sink in. "I don't blame Chris for how he treated me after that. If someone had said the things to me that Hunter told him I said about him, I'd have hated that person for the rest of my life. I'd have treated them the exact same way. If anyone is to blame here, it's Hunter. He kept things from me and he lied to Chris. He set the whole thing in motion. He cost me two years that I might have had with Chris. I won't ever forgive him for that."

With that said, Shawn stood up and walked over to Chris. When he placed his hand on Chris's shoulder, Chris turned to him and Shawn pulled him into his arms. Chris wrapped his arms around his waist and buried his face against Shawn's shoulder. Shawn held him tightly and kissed the top of his head, trying to give him some comfort from the memories he knew were on his mind. "I love you, sweetheart." He'd said it quietly to avoid the prying ears in the room. Chris lifted his head to look into Shawn's eyes and smiled tentatively. Chris knew they weren't finished. After all, the Kliq were famous for trying to defend their own. It was only a matter of who would go first.

Shawn shifted his gaze to the other three men in the room. He noticed Scotty's contemplative look and knew he that he had questions, but he would wait to see what the others had to say. Surprisingly Sean seemed to be accepting what he'd been told as truth. Although he had been on the receiving end of a few of Hunter's "for your own good" power trips himself, so maybe it wasn't so surprising. Kevin's gaze was fixed on Chris in a defiant manner. 'Oh hell, I should have known,' Shawn thought to himself.

"So Shawn, don't you think this story of his is a little…convenient?" The snide tone in Kevin's voice said he found it anything but convenient. Kevin was now standing in front of the couch with his arms folded across his chest. Shawn felt Chris stiffen in his arms and tried to think of some way to head off the explosion he knew was coming.

"Oh hell." Sean's almost whispered curse was not acknowledged.

"Kev, I don't think…" Scotty's attempt to diffuse the situation was doomed as well.

Chris's head snapped in Kevin's direction and Shawn could feel the anger vibrating through his body. Shawn made one last ditch effort to keep the discussion civil. "Exactly what are you saying, Kevin?"

Chris knew exactly what Nash was saying and there was no way he was going to let him plant doubts in Shawn's mind about how Chris felt about him. He'd had enough. He pulled away from Shawn and slowly stalked across the room. He stopped with the coffee table separating him from Kevin and set his face with an arrogant smirk. Shawn groaned audibly. This was not going to be pretty. Y2J was at large and in charge. Having been at the receiving end of a few of Chris's cutting diatribes, Shawn almost felt sorry for Kevin.

"I think what Nash is trying to say, Shawn," Chris's tone sounded almost amused. That changed in a flash as he finished with a hint of barely restrained violence, "is that I made the whole thing up. That I'm willing to whore myself out to you in order to have a chance to win the title. That is what you were trying to say Nash, wasn't it?"

Shawn could see a flash of regret in Kevin's eyes for having made the accusation, but Big Sexy wasn't one to back down from a confrontation. Even so, he never expected the next words he heard from Kevin's mouth. "Whoring yourself out for the title wouldn't be a big stretch would it? After all, I've heard you whore yourself out quite often for much less."

Shawn's mouth dropped open in shock. He could see Chris clenching his fists and couldn't blame him for his anger. Shawn knew from his discussion earlier with Chris that it wasn't true. He also knew Kevin wouldn't have said it if he didn't actually believe it, but where would he have gotten the idea that…Hunter! Before Shawn could point out the likelihood that Hunter had been feeding Kevin false rumors, Chris decided to set him straight in a much more spectacular manner.

With a deceptive smirk he tossed his head back and stared Kevin in the eye. "You've heard? Let me guess. Your great fountain of knowledge was your boy, Hunter."

Kevin realized at this point that if the rest of their story was true, Hunter had probably lied about Chris's activities as well. Kevin still had doubts about Chris's interest in Shawn, but he was beginning to believe that Hunter had lied. He was about to acknowledge that fact to the others when Chris continued speaking.

"The thing is, there are several problems with your theory, Nash. First, even if I didn't love Shawn, which I do," Chris turned to smile at Shawn before looking back at Kevin, "I respect him to much to use him that way, regardless of Hunter's opinion of me or yours. Second, Hunter's lied to his friends on more than one occasion to gain his own ends, what makes you think he's above lying to me or about me in order to keep Shawn to himself?" When it looked as if Kevin was going to interrupt him, he made a dismissive gesture towards him and continued speaking.

"Third, other than Shawn, who I haven't had sex with…yet," He gave Shawn a quick wink, "I've only been with one other person since around July of 2002. If my sleeping with one person in almost two and a half years means I'm a whore…what does that make you, Nash? I mean seriously. We've all heard stories of the famous Kliq orgies. You've had sex with more men in one night than I've been with in, oh let's say five years? So between the two of us, who would you say is the bigger whore, Nash?"

Shawn winced at the triumphant smile on Chris's face. The fact that Kevin's face was a particularly bright shade of red was somewhat disturbing as well. If someone didn't get control of the superegos soon there was going to be big trouble.

"Kev, why don't we sit down and try to talk about this without trading insults? This isn't very productive." Scott knew it was futile, but he'd had to at least attempt to reign Kevin's anger in. He watched as Sean got up from his chair and crossed the room, seeming to find the painting on the wall of extraordinary interest. 'Sean was smart enough to get out of the way, so why am I still sitting here like an idiot?' Scott thought to himself.

"If you think I'm going to stand here and listen to you disrespect me like that you've got another thing coming, Jericho." Kevin's icy tone seemed to amuse Chris.

He turned his back on Kevin and it looked as if he was going to walk from the room. Shawn figured maybe it was for the best that Chris leave the room for a bit so they could all calm down. Chris had taken three steps when Kevin's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm talking to you, bitch! I think you owe me an apology."

"An apology? You want an apology?" Shawn couldn't see Chris's face, but it was obvious that he was seething. "I'll give you your damn apology…" There was no way Shawn could have made it to Chris to stop what happened next. He wasn't even sure he would have stopped him if he could. Kevin was being a monumental ass.

Shawn watched as Chris turned and with his quick grace used the table to launch himself at Kevin. His forearm nailed Kevin in the forehead with enough momentum to propel them backward over the couch. Scott's head dropped forward into his hands and he groaned. Sean was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room laughing like a loon. Shawn stood still in the middle of the room with his mouth hanging open. He could hear grunts, rustling sounds, and some other strange noise from behind the couch, but wasn't sure he wanted to look. Scott pulled his hands from his face and peeked over the back of the couch. He snorted in laughter and turned his head to the side as if another angle would change what he was seeing. Shawn finally walked over to see what Scott found so amusing.

Chris was straddling Kevin's waist and had his hands threaded tightly in his hair. It looked like he was trying to use it to beat Kevin's head against the floor, but was having limited success. Kevin had his hands around Chris's forearms trying to pull his hands out of his hair. Every time Kevin jerked his arms to try to pull them down Chris tightened his grip on Kevin's hair. The resulting tug caused a grunt of pain from Kevin and a responding laugh from Chris, who was trying to smother the sound in his shoulder. It surprised Shawn that Chris was actually trying not to gloat at the fact he had Big Sexy at a disadvantage. Shawn couldn't help but laugh at the scene.

Shawn's laughter alerted the two men on the floor that they had an audience. They looked up to see Shawn standing to the side laughing and Scotty peeking over the top of the couch trying to smother his own laughter. They could hear the sound of Sean's laughter from the other side of the room. Scotty noticed the disgust on Kevin's face at being found in this embarrassing situation.

"I think you better call off your little pitbull, Chico. It looks like Kev's had enough for this round."

Shawn stifled his laughter and smiled at Chris. "Come on sweetheart, let him go."

Chris pouted and whined, "Aww Shawn, do I have to?" Shawn nodded at him. Chris was far gentler with untangling his hands from Kevin's hair than Shawn had expected. Chris stood up and walked to Shawn's side before snuggling against him.

"That's disgusting." Kevin proclaimed from his still prone position on the floor.

Stifling another snort of laughter as he stood up and offered a hand to Kevin, Scott asked, "What's disgusting Kev?"

"Shawn calling him sweetheart." Kevin grimaced as he allowed Scott to help him up.

"Well you are gonna have to get used to it Kev, cause I'm not going to stop." Shawn told him. Chris smiled up at Shawn and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Kevin made a noise of disgust at the sight then smiled wryly. "His whining is more annoying than yours is Shawn. I suppose I'll have to get used to that too, huh?"

Shawn smiled at the seeming acceptance in Kevin's voice. "Yeah, I suppose you will."

Kevin groaned. "I knew you were going to say that."

Read Chapter Nine of Undelivered