Title: Snow Joke
Summary: Shawn gets some bad news while he's at a hotel.
Notes: Inspired by the UK weather conditions. Was going to be a one shot, but I got an idea that made it a bit longer.
He held the phone to his ear, hand shaking slightly. This couldn't be happening to him.
"Are you still there?" Came the voice of his best friend.
"Yeah." He said.
"It'll be all right, Shawn."
"That's easy for you to say." Shawn said.
There was a knock at the door. "Tell Vince next time I see him I'll be making a formal complaint."
Hunter smiled to himself. "I give you a call tomorrow, see how it all went."
"Thanks for the support." Shawn said, voice tinged with bitterness that Hunter was happily at home right then. Shawn ended the call and went to the door. He decided that the best approach was to deal with this like a plaster, quick and painless. He opened the door quickly, startling the man on the other side. He wasn't sure what to make of his guest.
"Hi." Came a sheepish Chris Jericho. He didn't look any happier about this than Shawn.
"I guess you better come in." Shawn said. Not happy with sharing his space still.
Hunter had been the messenger. Chris was supposed to catch a flight straight after the show tonight and fly out. He stayed behind a while and the snow had moved in. Most of the other wrestlers had got stranded at the airport.
Shawn had planned to wait until the next day to leave so he had the luxury of a room. The conditions had meant the hotel had been booked solid by the time Chris got there and with the snow coming down hard now, he had to stay there. He'd called Vince to let him know where he was and he'd told Chris he'd get Shawn to share his room.
Chris dropped his bag just inside the door. "I'm really sorry about this, I'd have slept in the lobby but Vince...."
"It's fine." Shawn said, not sounding fine about it at all.
"Oh..." Chris said.
Shawn stopped in his tracks and turned. "What?"
"I've never seen you in your pyjamas before." He said.
"Well you wouldn't have." Shawn said, turning back round and continuing on his way. He went through an open door. Chris looked around the room he was in. It was a decent size and there was a chair he could use for a bed.
Shawn came in with a blanket and pillow and dumped them on the chair Chris had been thinking of using for his bed.
"There you go. I'm going to bed now."
He turned back round and closed the door to the other room.
Chris wondered if it was possible to get Shawn some kind of hospitality lessons. He pulled out some of his clothes and made himself a bed.
He climbed in and lay there for a while.
A smile spread across his face. He never thought he'd ever share a room with Shawn Michaels. He felt like he was the luckiest fan ever, even if he had managed to piss HBK off as well.
He was far too hyper to sleep and pulled his music player from his bag, put the headphones in and listened to some tunes until he felt sleepy.
*
It didn't take long for Shawn to drift off to sleep. But his blissful rest was interrupted by someone calling his name.
Not able to work out where he was or who it could be, he cracked his eyes open only to see Chris Jericho leaning over his bed.
He closed his eyes and rubbed away the sleep before opening them again. Chris was still there.
"I'm sorry to wake you, but is there heating somewhere out there? It's freezing and I can't sleep."
Shawn struggled to find his voice, tiredness making his mind sluggish. "The heater..."
"It's not working. You wanna take a look?"
"No, I wanna sleep." Shawn mumbled.
"It's freezing out there."
"Jus' sleep on the floor then." Shawn said, turning over to get away from Chris and back to sleep.
Chris went back out and grabbed the blanket and pillow Shawn had given him and made a bed on the floor. As nice as the carpet was, it was pretty hard but Chris didn't think he should say anything to Shawn about it. He'd already woke him up once.
He closed his eyes hoping sleep would come to him this time, but as he lay there all he could listen to was the sound of Shawn breathing. The harder he tried to ignore it and concentrate on sleep the louder Shawn seemed to get.
He knew there was only one thing he could do.
*
Shawn's mobile was going off and he wearily reached across to the bedside cabinet to get it.
"Here you go." Came a voice near him.
Shawn opened his eyes to see Chris Jericho in bed next to him.
"Argh!!" Shawn gasped as he saw the man laying next to him. The idea of distancing himself from Chris while he was in a bed didn't occur to him as being a stupid thing to do, at least not until he hit the ground.
"Are you okay?" Chris asked.
"Get the damn phone." Shawn snapped.
Chris answered Shawn's cell. "Hello, Shawn's phone?" He was silent for a moment or two before replaying the message to Shawn. "It's Hunter and he wants to know why the hell I'm answering your phone."
"Give it here." Shawn demanded. Chris passed the phone to Shawn. "Hunter?" Shawn asked to check it was him on the phone.
"It's me. What the hell's going on?"
"Chris made me fall out of bed!" Shawn said, giving Chris a look as he said it.
"I did not." Chris protested.
"He did what? Are you hurt?"
Shawn pouted a little even if Hunter couldn't see, but made sure Chris could. "I think I'm okay."
"So what's Chris doing in your room?" Hunter asked.
"More importantly, what do you think you were doing in my bed?" Shawn asked Chris.
"I..... you told me to get in!!!" Chris defended.
"I did not!" Shawn denied. "Hunter, he got in bed with me against my will."
"Tell him he can get arrested for that." Hunter told Shawn.
"He'll get fired for that." Shawn said.
"Hey, look I woke you up, I told you I was cold and you said 'just get into bed and shut up, I'm tired.'" Jericho defended.
"That does sound like you." Hunter said on the phone.
"Whose side are you on?" Shawn asked.
"Ha, he agreed with me?" Chris said triumphantly.
"Tell Chris I'll kick his ass next time I see him." Hunter said to Shawn.
"I can't tell him that. You'll have to do it." Shawn passed the phone to Chris and while Hunter threatened Chris, Shawn got off the floor.
Chris handed the phone back to Shawn, he was wearing a sullen look now. Whatever Hunter had said to him, Chris hadn't liked it. "I'm gonna get my stuff." Chris said.
Once Chris was out the room, Shawn went back on the phone with Hunter. "What did you say to him?"
"It doesn't matter." Hunter said. "So, you enjoy your night of passion with Chris then, huh?"
"Very funny." Shawn said. "He did keep interrupting my sleep with really stupid.....Oh..."
"What's wrong?" Hunter asked.
"I think maybe I did hurt myself when I fell. Ow... dammit."
"Shawn?" Hunter's worried tone cut through.
"I don't feel so good." Shawn said.
*
Chris tried to get everything tidy and the way it was when he got there.
He looked at the bedroom door where Shawn still remained. He considered saying goodbye but Hunter had made it perfectly clear what would happen if he went near Shawn again.
He understood that. Shawn was oblivious to it, but Hunter had seen the looks he'd given Shawn before. Seen the wanting in his eyes. He was just being a friend to the older man really, protecting him from any damage that Chris might cause.
Not that he would. He adored HBK, would never hurt him.
Saying goodbye wasn't a good idea. He opened the door to the hotel room, ready to try and catch a flight out to the next town if he could.
His phone started to ring. He answered it straight away.
"Chris, you hurt Shawn." Came Hunter's voice.
His own thoughts confused him for a moment as he tried to process what he was being told. "What? I don't...."
"Get back in the bedroom, Shawn's hurt. Stay with him until an ambulance gets there."
"Oh crap." Chris said as he rushed back into the bedroom.
*
Chris opened the door to the bedroom.
Shawn was sat on the bed, phone in hand as he text a message.
"Oh damn it, I thought you were on the verge of death the way Hunter was panicking."
"Sorry my injury isn't more life threatening for you." Shawn snapped back. He continued on the phone and didn't look back to Chris until he had finished.
"Well what the hell's wrong?" Chris asked as Shawn continued to sit, looking perfectly fine.
"I fell out of bed and landed on my ass, what the hell do you think is wrong." Shawn replied.
Chris suddenly understood the tension in Hunter's sharp words earlier. "Your back."
Shawn didn't answer. He didn't need to. He could tell from the look on Chris face how bad he felt and knew if he were a decent person, he'd ease some of those fears, but he wasn't feeling all that decent so he left Chris to stew in his own worry.
They stayed silent and unmoving for a long time, both just waiting for the magical knock on the door.
Chris broke the silence first.
"I'm really sorry." He said.
"I know." Shawn replied, not ready to forgive and forget right there and then.
"Hunter's a jerk." Chris blurted out.
Shawn looked at Chris, his emotion unreadable. "I'm not even liking you right now and you're gonna insult my best friend as well."
"You don't know what he said to me on the phone." Chris insisted.
"Going to hospital here!!!" Shawn exclaimed. "He's allowed to be mad at you."
"He didn't know you were.... going to hospital then." Chris mentioned, knowing that argument was weak.
"You don't have to wait here you know. I'll be fine."
"I wouldn't dare leave you in case Sir Helmsley McMahon found out." Chris mocked. "He might bury me."
"Literally, I hope." Shawn moved a little on the bed and winced in pain.
"Can I get you something?" Chris asked, wanting to help if he could.
"You've done enough thanks." Shawn replied.
"If I gotta stay here at least let me do something."
"Your jobs to open the door when the ambulance gets here and that's it."
"I can read you something from my book."
"Don't have a copy, sorry."
"I have one in my bag."
"You carry your own book around with you?"
"I might need it."
"Well, no still."
"I can read the bits about you."
"No!"
"Fine." Chris admitted defeat. "How about if I sing to you?"
"I've heard you sing, no way."
"You're gonna mock me about singing? You?"
"Hey, I'm not that bad. I mean, I'm not good but I'm not in a band so I don't have to be good."
"Oh, that's just cold. But hey, I can sing. I'll sing something you like. Like...er.. Elvis."
"I don't want songs I enjoy spoilt forever by you, thank you very much."
"Hurry up." Chris muttered, willing the ambulance to get there quicker.
"Aren't you enjoying my company?" Shawn asked.
"You're not exactly a riot." Chris said, almost sulking.
Shawn smirked. "I thought you'd have loved spending all this alone time with me, what with the huge man crush you have on me."
It was Chris' turn to crash to the ground.
