"Matt!" Jeff was hammering on his brother's door, loud enough to wake the entire hotel, but he didn't care. He was panicking, and he needed his brother right now.

After a few minutes Matt opened the door. "Jeff, what the fuck is going on?" He was tired and irritable as hell.

"It's Chris, he didn't come back from his meeting with Shane and he's not answering his phone and something bad's happened I know it has." Jeff was breathless, his skin pale and eyes wide with fear.

Matt closed his eyes, wishing he could just go back to sleep. "Jeff, they probably just went to a bar. He probably can't hear his phone and he'll be back later. Now let me get some sleep." As Jeff walked away he slammed the door shut.

Jeff didn't believe his brother. Something was wrong; if Chris was going out he would have called to say so. He walked back to his room, nerves coursing through his veins. He saw Shane walking down the corridor.

"Shane!" He ran over to his boss. "Have you seen Chris?"

Shane shook his head, surprised. "No, he left straight after the meeting finished… that was four hours ago. He said he was coming straight back here."

"He's not here. Shane where the fuck is he?" Jeff was terrified now. He was sure something was badly wrong.

"Jeff, I really don't know." Shane rubbed his eyes. "It's only a five minute walk from the arena."

"I'm going to look for him." Jeff ran off. He mentally retraced Chris' route, following the path from the arena to the hotel, looking out for any sign of his lover. His eyes flickered to an alleyway and for a moment he thought he saw a slight movement. Intrigued, he stepped towards the dark passageway.

"Chris?" Jeff's voice was tentative and unsure. "Is that you?"

There was a little more movement, and then a faint voice spoke. "Jeff?" The voice was hoarse and the person behind it made to stand, taking a few steps towards Jeff before falling to the ground, groaning in agony.

Jeff ran forward and knelt beside the body. "Chris? Baby what the hell happened? Are you OK?"

"Jeff." Chris lifted himself a little. "There were these guys… they hit me… punched and kicked me… it hurt so much… my ribs… my head… Jeff I'm scared."

"Chris baby I'm taking you to hospital. I'm calling the police." Jeff pulled out his cell phone.

"No police Jeff." Chris was terrified. "Just take me back to the hotel, please Jeff."

"But honey, you can't even stand. Chris, you need to go to hospital, god knows what they've done to you." Jeff was close to tears, but he had to stay strong.

"They mustn't know. No one must know." Chris refused to look at Jeff, covering his face in his hands.

"Baby listen." Jeff tried to think calmly, tried to think who could help them. "I'm gonna call Shane. He can drive us to a hospital."

"No." Chris shook his head. "He can't know. He can't."

"Chris, it's OK. He's worried too. He knows that something was wrong."

"No one else must know. If he has to know…" He coughed, and groaned in agony. "Then so be it, but no one else."

"Shhh baby. Don't worry." Jeff called Shane and the junior McMahon drove round, helping Jeff to lift Chris into the back seat of the car and driving straight off to the nearest emergency room. Shane had seen wrestlers in similar situations, and was resigned to it happening every so often, usually because they'd got drunk and picked a fight. This was different because Chris had always been a calm person. He didn't know what had provoked the incident. Half of his didn't expect to find out, for Chris had always been a secretive person: it had been a long time before he'd allowed his relationship with Jeff to become common knowledge. He was never happy with himself, always worrying about how people saw him. Jeff had helped him to come out of this a little, but the fears still resurfaced every now and then.

At the hospital Chris was treated for concussion, broken ribs and severe bruising, and some of the cuts on his face required stitches. Jeff sat with him throughout, whispering words of comfort, while Shane sat in the waiting room. Eventually they were allowed to go home. As Shane drove back to the hotel, he lectured the couple.

"I don't know what went on, but Jeff, I want you to take Chris home and look after him. I don't want either of you back at work until you've dealt with this. Chris, I know you guys get into fights sometimes, and most of the time the people involved don't surprise me, but you? You're not one of those mouthy drunks. I have a feeling something more serious happened, something that has shaken you far more than a beating would."

"It wasn't cos I'm a wrestler." Chris whispered, taking a deep breath to try and keep himself calm. "They saw us together… it was cos I'm… cos I'm gay."

"Oh baby." Jeff sighed. Chris was nervous enough about his sexuality: his religious upbringing had made sure of that.

Shane shook his head. "Fuck." He slammed his hands on the steering wheel. "Chris, don't let those bigots get to you."

"Too late." Chris murmured, and the car descended into silence again.

When they got back to the hotel Chris went straight to bed, not saying a word. Worried, the younger man stripped off and joined him, wrapping his arms around him and spooning him. Chris shrugged his embrace away.

"Don't touch me Jeff." He said sadly.

"Why?" Jeff looked shocked and scared.

"I can't be with you. Not… not if I want to stay safe… not if I want this to stop… you can't go through this."

"Chris…" Tears welled in Jeff's eyes, and he shook with fear. "Don't let them get to you… don't let them hurt you like this."

"Society doesn't want me Jeff. So, I can't be what I am. I have to be what they want me to be… so that they don't hate me." Chris closed his eyes. All he wanted right now was for Jeff to hold him and sooth him, but he couldn't. "We can't be, Jeff."

"No, Chris please." Jeff started sobbing into his hands. "Don't let them do this to us."

Chris turned away, moving away from Jeff. He heard Jeff sobbing himself to sleep and hated himself. Someone would always be hurt, no matter what he did. He was protecting Jeff in the long run, this way was easier. Those men, they'd said he was wrong, dirty, the names they'd called him had hurt as much as the beating.

Once he was sure Jeff was asleep, he turned over to look at him, and his heart broke. His eyes were read and puffy from crying, and his elfin face was contorted in sleeping agony. Chris hated himself for doing that, for causing that. When he was with Jeff, it felt right, perfect. Why had people decided that was wrong? How could something that felt so good be wrong?

Chris sighed, he was so confused. All he wanted was for Jeff to hold him, but that would only make it harder in the long run, harder to leave. But tonight, he didn't have the strength on his own, didn't have the strength to leave, to be alone. The least society could afford him was one last night holding the man he loved.

Slowly he moved closer to Jeff and stroked his cheek, taking in and imprinting on his brain every single line, every feature. He would never love another, so he needed this, he needed the picture in his heart.

Jeff awoke and smiled nervously. "Chris? You OK baby?"

Chris shook his head, tears coming to his eyes again. "I'm sorry, I love you Jeff. I'll never love anyone else."

Jeff pulled him close and rubbed his back tenderly. "It's OK baby, shh now, I love you too, it's gonna be OK."

Chris knew that it wouldn't be but he needed this. One last night in his lover's arms. Surely no one could condemn him for that.

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

Jeff awoke first, watching his lover sleep for a while. He was more than concerned. What Chris had said last night had really scared Jeff. He knew how fragile Chris was, a lot more than anyone could imagine, given his in-ring persona. Chris had suffered from depression in the past, he'd been kicked out by his parents when they found out he was gay, he'd already suffered so much. For several years he'd denied his sexuality, but it had been too late to rescue his relationship with his parents. When he'd met Jeff, the attraction had been too much to hide and they'd fallen in love. Jeff had gently coaxed Chris into accepting who and what he was, until Chris had been happy with himself. And now all that work had been destroyed.

Jeff thought over what Shane had said, and grabbed his cell phone from the side of the bed. He briskly and quietly booked two tickets to Florida, to Chris' home, and then set about waking the older man.

Chris groaned as he stretched, the effect of the beating obvious. Jeff looked concerned, stroking his cheek tenderly.

"Morning baby."

Chris turned away. He couldn't let himself stay with Jeff, he couldn't.

"Chris…" Jeff feared this might happen, but he'd had time to think, and knew that he wasn't going to give up without a fight. "Baby, I'm not letting you go."

"You have to."

"No I don't, and I won't." Jeff put his hands on Chris's shoulders and gently massaged the tension knots that had formed there. "Chris honey, I know you're scared right now, and confused. I understand how you feel, but you have to let me help you. You can't deal with this on your own. It'll just hurt you inside and tear you up until it destroys you and I won't let that happen."

"I'm scared Jeff… They… they said I'm wrong, we're wrong." Chris turned back to face Jeff, too scared to look him in the eye.

"Does it feel wrong inside Chris?" Jeff asked softly, lifting the blond's chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "Tell me baby, does it feel wrong?"

"No." Chris began to sob. "Jeff, I'm scared and it hurts and I don't know how to deal with any of this."

"Shh." The younger man pulled him into his arms. "I know baby, I know. What we're gonna do, we're gonna go to Florida, cos Shane's given us some time off, and we'll work through this, OK?"

"Are you sure you want to do this for me?"

"I know I do. Now calm down baby. It'll just be you and me and no one else and we'll be safe, I promise."

"Thank you Jeffie." Chris closed his eyes and relaxed into the embrace. He felt right in Jeff's arms, so how could anyone say that was wrong?