"Are they arguing again?" Scott Levy asked Chris Irvine as they both heard raised voices from the locker room next door. Chris nodded grimly, wincing when he heard the sickening sound of hand against cheek. A minute later they both heard Shane McMahon storm out of the locker room, and sighed in resigned recognition.

"I'll go see if he's OK. "Chris looked worried. This was getting way too frequent.

"Chris, you have to get him away from that bastard." Scott shook his head. "One day, Shane's really gonna do that kid some damage."

**************************

Carefully the Canadian made his way to the locker room next door, quietly walking in. Jeff Hardy was sat with his head in his hands, and didn't notice the older wrestler sit by his side.

"Jeff?" he said softly.

He looked up, surprise then disappointment on his face when he realized it wasn't Shane. There was a harsh red mark on his cheek; four finger marks clearly visible.

"I'm OK Chris." He whispered, his tear-filled voice suggesting the opposite. "Leave me alone, please."

"You can't keep letting him do this to you." Chris insisted. "You don't deserve to be treated this way."

"It's my fault. He wouldn't… if I was good enough for him he wouldn't have to… you don't understand Chris." It was a familiar story that Jeff had told a million times before.

Chris knew that there was no point in arguing. "Jeff, you know where I am if you need me, don't you?"

"I know Chris, but I'm fine, really."

Unhappily Chris left, making his way to the meeting room where his colleagues were gathering. The look on his face told them what had happened.

"He did it again, didn't he?" Jay asked sadly, shaking his head. "Did you talk to Jeff?"

"He won't leave him." Chris stared at the floor. He was fed up with this, and so were the other wrestlers. They'd all witnessed Jeff's relationship with Shane, witnessed the verbal abuse that Shane would submit Jeff to, the physical abuse that was now occurring with alarming regularity. No one could understand why Jeff stayed with him, and they prayed that Shane would relinquish his hold on the young wrestler before it went too far.

Sean Waltman put his arm around Chris sympathetically. "Don't worry Irvine, one day he'll realize, and he'll come to you." Chris' desire for Jeff was common knowledge, but they all knew that wasn't his main motivation for getting Jeff away from Shane. Everyone was concerned, but they all knew that Chris and Jeff were best friends first and foremost, so if anyone was going to get through to Jeff, it would be Chris. Matt had never got involved. Since he'd started dating Amy six months ago, his relationship with his brother (and most of the other wrestlers) had deteriorated. Amy was incredibly demanding, and it wasn't so much that Matt didn't care what happened to his brother, he just had so much pressure keeping his girlfriend happy that he didn't know about what was happening to Jeff.

Jeff and Shane entered the room hand in hand, Jeff wearing a tearful smile. Chris couldn't stand to see it. Shane had a smirk on his face, and as he walked past Chris he put his arm around his lover, rubbing the Canadian's nose in it. Jeff smiled happily at the show of affection from the younger McMahon, oblivious to the motivation of the action.

**************************

The next day Shane was very caring towards his young lover, especially when Chris was about. Jeff basked in the unexpected shows of attention, forgetting every harsh word and every brutal punch. Not realizing, he smiled broadly at Chris, something that the Canadian couldn't handle. He ran out of the room almost in tears: how could Jeff be so happy in something so horrible?

Shane saw the smile and pulled Jeff into the next locker room, which happened to be deserted.

"Why did you smile at Chris?" Shane demanded angrily. "I know Irvine wants you. Do you want him too, bitch?"

"No Shane. I only smiled at him cos I was so happy cos you were being so nice to me." Jeff stammered nervously.

"I was being nice to you, and this is how you repay me." Shane spat. "I don't know why I fucking bother with you."

"Please don't leave me Shane. I'm sorry." Easy tears sprang to Jeff's eyes.

Shane's fist hit Jeff's face. "I'll teach you to be sorry." He spat. Jeff just stood there as Shane punched him several times more, until he collapsed unconscious on the floor. Shane continued to kick him, until he heard the door open, and saw Kurt Angle staring at him. Shocked, he pushed past the Olympian and ran out of the room.

Kurt shouted for someone to get Chris, who soon ran towards the room.

"Irvine, quick, Shane's done it again." Chris' pace quickened and he soon got to the door. "This time it's really bad."

Immediately the Canadian ran over to Jeff's unconscious body, telling Kurt to call an ambulance.

"Jeff, can you hear me honey?" He frantically surveyed the scene. Jeff was breathing, but he was still unconscious and blood was trickling from his nose, bruises beginning to form on his cheeks and around his eyes. "Come on angel, open your eyes, let me know you're OK darling."

A few minutes later Jeff stirred. His eyes flickered open and he immediately winced at the pain that a slight movement sent shooting through his body. Gingerly he managed to sit up and began to sob, Chris gently holding him in his arms, letting Jeff cry into his shoulder.

"It's OK now Jeff, it's OK." Chris stroked his hair tenderly. "Don't cry darling."

Kurt came rushing in with the paramedics and Jeff looked up, a little scared. But Chris' gentle reassurance led him to allow the treatment and Jeff's firm grip on the Canadian's hand made sure that he accompanied him in the ambulance.

Once Jeff was treated at the hospital Chris was allowed to go in and visit him. He winced at the evidence of the attack: bruises all over Jeff's face, neck and torso.

"How're you feeling?" He asked softly, taking a seat by his colleagues side.

"I'm OK… I didn't need the hospital, it's only a few bruises."

"C'mon Jeff, you can't keep letting him do this to you." Chris saw the agony in Jeff's green eyes, and it killed him.

"I love him Chris."

"But you can't let him do this to you. This time it was only bruises. What about next time Jeff? He could really hurt you."

"If you love someone… you accept their faults. Chris, he loves me, and that's all that matters." Jeff sounded so certain, and Chris wondered what must have happened to him to give him such a heartbreaking view of love.

"Even when he does this?" Gently Chris touched Jeff's cheek.

Shane tentatively entered the room. He immediately looked at Jeff with sorrowful brown eyes. "I'm sorry baby."

Chris looked daggers at him. "Get the fuck out of here Shane."

"But…" Chris could see why Jeff always forgave him: the puppy dog eyes, the nervous chewing of his lip, he did look sorry.

"Get the fuck out." Chris' voice was cold. "I think you've done enough damage."

"Jeff I'm sorry. Forgive me please." As the Canadian took a step forward towards him Shane made to leave. "Baby I'll wait outside. I'm sorry Jeffie."

The younger Hardy turned to Chris. "You shouldn't have done that. I can handle this. Stop trying to control my life Chris. Shane said he was sorry. I want to see him and I think you should go."

"After what he's done, are you still going to forgive him?" Chris was incredulous.

"Go Chris. Just go." Jeff tried to inject some confidence into his voice, but all his friend could hear was weariness.

"OK I'll go." But he was stubborn. He was not going to give up on Jeff. "But promise me that if you ever need anything, someone to talk to, support, anything, I'm here for you always."

"I know… I do appreciate everything you do for me…" Jeff let his insecurities show. "But Shane loves me and I can't risk losing that."

*******************

Chris hurried out of the hospital, go a cab back to the hotel, damn near ran up to his room, and promptly burst into tears. He'd watched Jeff suffer for so long, and even now, even after this, he could do nothing. It hurt to see Jeff submit to that agony just because it kept Shane by his side. It was obvious that all Jeff wanted as for someone to be there for him, someone to love him; why couldn't he see that Chris would do that?

********************************

Jeff smiled as Shane entered the room. His happiness soon evaporated as the saw the angry look on his lover's face.

"What is it baby?" He asked worriedly.

"Who the fuck does Chris Irvine think he is, throwing me out of here?" Shane raged. "My family owns this goddamn company and he thinks he can tell me what to do? I'll ruin his career for this."

Jeff sat there listening to Shane's wrath, his complaining about all the things "that punk Jericho" had done to him. Slowly he began to realize something, and when Shane had finished his rant he looked at him, for once ice cold to those big brown eyes.

"This is all about you, isn't it Shane?" He asked calmly. "You put me in here, yet all you can think of is yourself. You don't care about me, you haven't even asked if I'm OK."

"I do." Jeff had, for once, made the younger McMahon speechless. "Jeff… I love you."

"No you don't Shane. You love yourself." Chris had been right. Jeff realized that now. "We're over Shane. You can't treat me this way."

"You can't leave me Jeff. I won't let you."

"What are you gonna do Shane?" One half of Jeff was hoping that Shane would tell him that he loved him, promise to stop the abuse. But the other half of him knew it wouldn't happen.

"I'll… I'll ruin your career, and Matt's, and Chris'." He sounded frantic.

"You do anything to harm anyone I love and I will let Vince know exactly what you've been doing to me." Jeff put his hand up to silence Shane's imminent protestations. "You know that everyone in the locker room will back me up. I mean it Shane."

"I'm sorry Jeff, truly I am." Shane turned his puppy dog eyes on Jeff one last time.

"Just leave Shane, please?" As he was dejectedly leaving, a doctor arrived with the papers needed for Jeff to discharge himself.

There was only one place Jeff was going. Straight to the hotel, straight to Chris. He'd said that he'd always be there for Jeff: now the young wrestler needed to know if that was true.

****************************

Chris heard the knock on the door, and was tempted not to answer it: he half expected it to be Shane, come to gloat. But the knocking was persistent, and he reluctantly got up, wiped his eyes and went to the door. He didn't expect Jeff to fall sobbing into his arms, but that was what happened.

"Jeff." Chris gasped. He was completely shocked, opting to pull Jeff into the room, shutting the door with his foot, then holding the distraught young man tenderly, letting tears replace tears.

"Chris I'm sorry." Jeff began to speak breathlessly. "Chris I was wrong I treated you so badly and I didn't realize and I was so rude to you and I didn't listen and you were right and I'm sorry." He looked at Chris properly for the first time. "Oh god you've been crying was that my fault too? I'm so sorry please forgive me."

"It's OK Jeff." Chris was crying again too. "Shhh, don't cry, it's OK. It's not your fault. You've done nothing to be sorry about. Just…" He closed his eyes in fear. "Just tell me that you've left him."

Jeff nodded, breaking into fresh sobbing into Chris' shoulder. Despairing at the heartbreak, the Canadian scooped Jeff up in his arms and carried him over to the bed, gently laying him down, mindful of the bruising on his fragile body. He stroked the boy's hair until he was calm.

"It's OK Jeff." He whispered soothingly. "From now on, it's gonna be different, I promise. You aren't gonna hurt any more."

"I'm hurting now." Jeff sniffed. "He said he loved me, and he lied, and that hurts."

"I think he did love you Jeff." Chris wondered briefly why the hell he was defending Shane, but continued anyway. "He just has a warped idea of what love is. I think he sees love as a form of control, when really it's not. And because he couldn't control you, he lashed out, and you got hurt because of that."

"I thought… that if someone loved you… you forgave them anything. I thought that was a part of love." Jeff sighed and gingerly sat up to face Chris.

"Someone loving you does not give them the right to hurt you Jeff." Chris touched one of his bruises. "Love is not a justification for this."

"I just wanted to be loved. If someone loves you, then everything else in the world becomes insignificant."

"Did… do you love Shane?"

"I don't know." Jeff looked confused. "I felt happy to be with him… happy cos he made me feel secure… I felt loved and that was all I wanted. But I don't know if I loved him. I think… I loved the fact that he loved me more than anything. I know that sounds really selfish, but… I don't know. I don't know what love is. I mean, sometimes I'm with someone and I'd feel something towards them and it makes me feel good inside and I wonder if that's love… but I was always too scared to leave Shane."

"You won't go back to him will you?"

He shook his head. "No… but I'm scared."

Chris' eyes widened. "Of what darling?"

"Of having no one to love me. I'm scared of being alone, cos… I'd have no one and I can't live like that. Isn't anything better than nothing?"

"You have so many people who love you Jeff, you could never be alone. Matt loves you for one."

"Does he?" Jeff cut in. "You wouldn't know it."

"He does." Chris cursed Amy. She didn't realize the damage she'd done. "And you have so many friends who love you. Jay, Adam, Sean, Kurt, Scott, and that's just a few people. And me. You know I'll always be here for you."

"Do you love me Chris? I mean love, not friendship."

Chris looked away, screwed up all his courage, and nodded. "You know I do."

"Will you love me?"

The question surprised him. He looked up at Jeff, his eyes unsure and curious.

"I mean… I guess… you say that I have loads of friends and everything… but I need someone to show me that they love me."

"I will love you." Jeff's eyes lit up. "But only if you love me too. I need this to be for the right reasons, for myself and for you. Jeff, I love you and I will love you, but I don't want to deny you the chance of happiness with someone else if it's not really me you want."

Jeff smiled. "Chris… I know my head is fucked… and I'm not entirely sure what love is… but I get this feeling when I'm with you… it's in my heart… and I'm not sure what it is… but it feels like what people say love feels like. Is that enough for you?"

"It is Jeff." Hell, it was more than Chris had ever dared hope for. "Just as long as you're happy… that you don't feel pressured into this."

"I don't know what's gonna happen in the future… but right now I know I'm with the right person and I'm happy."

Chris leant forward and kissed Jeff. The kiss that he'd been waiting for so long for, and it was everything he'd always dreamed it would be. Jeff was this innocent, yet yielding creature, everything that Chris had desired. He was tentative and unsure, but Chris' gentleness reassured him.

Jeff broke away first, smiling and blushing. Chris smiled too, touching his cheek with tender, caressing fingers. "You OK sweetie?"

"Yes." For once Jeff's smile was genuine. Then it fell away. "Chris… all my stuff… it's still in Shane's room."

"Shall I go get it for you?" In one way, Chris didn't want Jeff to see Shane again, so he was relieved when Jeff nodded.

He walked along to Shane's room, half expecting to see him already with someone else. He was surprised when he found the door unlocked and half-open, and shocked to see Shane sobbing on the bed. Sensing Chris' presence he looked up, and locked eyes with him.

"I fucked up, didn't I?" he stated brokenly.

"I'm sorry Shane." Chris realized that he was right. Shane had loved Jeff, in his own way. "It was just…"

"You don't have to say anything. I know." Shane sniffed. "He loves you, I can see that, I think I could see it before. And I know that you love him. You deserve to be happy. I know I've got what I deserve."

"You'll find someone Shane. You just need to change the way you treat people."

"I know." Shane forced a smile. "Tell Jeff I'm sorry."

Nodding, Chris gathered up Jeff's things and left quickly. He felt sorry for Shane. He'd realized the hard way about love, but… It didn't matter now. Jeff was the only one who mattered to Chris.

When he got back Jeff was dozing, but he woke up when he felt Chris sit on the edge of the bed.

"You sleep Jeff, I'll see you in the morning." He leant over to kiss his forehead, then went over to his own bed, undressing quickly and slipping under the covers. Then Jeff's voice called to him.

"Chris, please stay with me. I'm scared."

"OK." He padded over to Jeff's bed and lay behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist. "You have nothing to be scared of Jeff. I'm not gonna leave you."

"I know, it's just I felt so alone."

"You're never alone Jeff." Chris sighed. "Shane said he was sorry, and I believe him." Chris said that before he realized what he was doing, and Jeff sensed his fear. His fear that he would so quickly lose what he'd desired for so long.

The younger Hardy turned over to face him. "It… it helps, knowing that. But it doesn't change anything. I'm not going back to him Chris."

"Thank you Jeff." Jeff wasn't the only one who needed love, but who didn't have a clue what it was. Chris didn't know what was going to happen, he just knew that Jeff was everything to him at that moment, and he hoped that for both of them, that feeling would never change.