And now for that super-important chapter I mentioned and...holy crap, it's long. (blushes) Sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy. (sheepish grin) I hope it went well...

Shawn wandered down to the bar of the hotel, taking Kane's advice, hoping that the Big Red Machine was right. He had searched Mark's room--cautiously--but found no sign of him. His first instinct was to see if the motorcycle was outside, and it was, which meant that he was still here.

If the Undertaker wasn't down in the bar, though, he didn't know where else to look.

" 'Taker?" he called, walking slowly into the darkened room. The place seemed completely empty. Shawn sighed, and was about to head out when he heard the soft clink of a glass on a table. He turned and saw a shadow among the other shadows…the Undertaker sitting there, one arm resting on a table, his eyelids dropping.

"Mark?" he called, going over to his friend and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you drunk?"

The Undertaker gave no response at first, and seemed to be…sleeping. His eyes closed completely, and he laid his head on the table. "Drunk? Sorta… Hey Shawn," he mumbled after a moment. HBK smiled gently at the big man.

"So you're a sleepy drunk then?" he asked, sitting down next to him. The Undertaker nodded vaguely, a small smile coming to his lips.

"Yeah, but at least I'm not a giggly, horny drunk like you used to be."

Shawn laughed, putting his arm around the Deadman's shoulders. "Ouch, good one," he conceded. But his smile slowly faded as he looked down at Mark. "Why are you drunk, 'Taker?" he asked gently.

The Undertaker sat up slowly and opened his eyes. They seemed unnaturally bright in the dim room, and slightly reddened. "I was sad," he said simply, blinking slowly and not looking at Shawn. "Because I think too much."

"Sad?" Shawn's brow creased with worry. "Why?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Now Shawn was even more worried, and he thought about Kane's warning. His first thought was to lighten the situation with humor. "Oh, so you're a weepy drunk too, eh?" He watched the Undertaker nod slightly, putting his head on the table again. "Alright, come on, I'm taking you upstairs." He slid his shoulders under the Deadman's arms, and stood up slowly, bring the him to his feet as well. He actually could walk fine without Shawn's help, but he allowed himself to be carried slightly…just this one time.

"I missed you," Mark said in a low voice, and although he couldn't see his face, Shawn smiled.

"I missed you too," he replied, literally biting his tongue before he could say more.

HBK walked slowly, loving the warmth of the Undertaker's body. And he always smelled so good! He allowed himself a sniff of the Deadman's long dark hair and sighed. 'I feel so strange around him,' Shawn thought, shaking his head. 'And I still feel bad about what I said to him. But I had to do it. I love Hunter… I've always loved him…'

When they at last reached the Mark's room, Shawn reached into his pocket and fished out the key, opening the door wide enough for both of them to go in at the same time. The Undertaker walked over to the bed, only staggering slightly, and lay down on top of the sheets.

"Aren't you going to change into your sleeping clothes?" Shawn asked, shutting the door as he turned on a lamp. "At least take your shoes off."

"Doesn't matter… I'm too sleepy," the Phenom yawned, shifting on the bed so that he was lying on his back. For a moment, his eyes were clear. "Ugh, not looking forwards to the headache tomorrow."

"Where'd you go after your match?" Shawn asked quietly. "The lights went out, for a moment…"

'Taker shrugged slightly. "I disappeared," he said simply. "That's why my head hurts so much."

"What?"

"I disappeared… It's pretty easy." He rubbed his eyes slightly as they clouded over again. "But I didn't do it on purpose."

Shawn smiled and walked over to him, not understanding a word (he figured it was the rambling of a drunk man) and sat on the edge of the bed. Still, he couldn't help but admire the beautiful man lying there, dark hair free and flowing, a stark contrast to the white sheets. He looked for all the world to be an angel. Some sleeping, Dark Angel.

"You're beautiful," Shawn whispered, putting his hand on the Undertaker's forehead, before beginning to unlace his boots and slide them off.

'He didn't even change out of his ring gear…must have went to the bar right after the match,' Shawn thought with a cringe, brushing Mark's hair lightly.

The Deadman opened his green eyes slowly at the touch, and they seemed to Shawn very large and innocent.

"You're beautiful too, Shawn," he said in a low voice, turning on his side suddenly so that his back was to him. "Now let me sleep."

HBK was puzzled. "Did I make you mad?" he asked, again running a hand over the man's hair fondly. 'I love his hair…' he thought absently.

"No. Just…sad."

"Sad?" There was a long silence, and Shawn wondered if 'Taker had fallen asleep. But his mind was racing. "Mark? I made you sad?"

The Undertaker sat up slowly, and Shawn could see that he had tears in his eyes, tears that dared not fall. The black make-up he always wears around his eyes was smeared, and Shawn was stunned at the sight.

Somehow, it made him even more beautiful.

"Shawn, I know that you love Triple H," the Undertaker said in a whisper before he could stop himself. "And you say that I'm beautiful, but I know that you'll never love me." He closed his green eyes, unable to say more. In his drunken haze, he hoped that the man sitting next to him understood, although a part of him wished that he hadn't said a word. Most of all, he hated being this drunk--not drunk enough to pass out, but just enough to be completely unable to hide his emotions. Kane's warning still concerned, him, though and after tonight…

Shawn's blue eyes widened. "Love you? Mark, what…?" He sat the Undertaker up more, stroking his hair. "You want me to love you? Is that why you're sad?" A reluctant nod. "My God… I didn't know …" The Heartbreak Kid bit his lip.

'No,' he thought, 'You knew. At least, you had a feeling. But he wants me to love him! Does he love me?' His heart pounded at the thought, and he tried to look the man in front of him in the eyes.

" 'Taker… Mark… Are you in love with me? Do you love me?"

The Undertaker pushed Shawn away and lay back on the bed, angrily turning away. He wiped at his eyes before closing them.

Shawn stood in silence for a long moment, feeling a strange tug on his heart. "Alright then, I'm sorry, I'll go," he said softly, turning to leave.

"I am," came the soft reply, and Shawn froze in mid step. "I…do."

Feeling tears in his eyes, the Showstopper approached the bed and sat on the edge again. The Undertaker's hand came to rest on his, and he clasped it gently between his before sitting up again. Shawn noticed that the eyeliner was even more smudged than before.

"I love you Shawn," the Deadman said in a whisper, hair falling in front of his face. "And, dammit, you're so close to me now, but always so far from my reach…" He blinked back tears, mind foggy with drink and sorrow. "When Triple H returns, you'll leave me completely, won't you?" A black tear made its way down his cheek, but the Undertaker's voice was steady and sad. "He won't let you see me …"

Shawn felt tears falling from his eyes as his heart broke in half, the words hitting him hard.

"I can see you," Shawn started to say, but then froze. He took a long look at the man in front of him, and it was as though he was seeing him for the first time.

'I love him,' he admitted to himself at last, which seemed to open the floodgate of his tears. 'I love him…'

" 'Taker," he whispered, kissing him feverishly on the forehead, embracing him desperately, vision blurred. "Mark… don't be sad… I was wrong. I see you! I do love you… I love you too!" He hugged him even tighter to himself and the Undertaker smiled slightly, embracing Shawn back instinctively.

"I'm dreaming now, aren't I?" he asked in a low voice, looking off into nothingness. "But it's a nice dream."

Shawn couldn't help but smile even as he sobbed, and wondered if the Deadman would remember any of this in the morning.

'Probably not,' he figured, wiping away his tears. 'But I'll be here to tell him all about it when he wakes up tomorrow. God, tomorrow… What am I going to do?' Carefully, Shawn pulled back the sheets and climbed into bed beside the Undertaker after kicking off his own shoes. Without a word, he pulled the larger man's head against his chest and cradled him as best he could. They both had a lot of inner wounds to heal, and he understood the need to be held perfectly.

'We're so different,' Shawn thought, snuggling against the Undertaker. 'But alike in so many ways… And I think, in our broken hearts, we both just want to be loved.'

"Goodnight Mark," he whispered, kissing him on the head again, lightly.

The Undertaker chuckled slightly. "What a strange dream, I must be really drunk," he mused, drifting off into sleep, cradled in the arms of Shawn Michaels.

The Undertaker groaned as sunlight assaulted his closed eyelids. And his head was killing him. "Go away," he mumbled to the sun, turning to avoid the glaring brightness…

…and came face to face with Shawn Michaels.

'Taker jumped out of the bed, damn near out of his skin too, blinking in utter confusion and rubbing his eyes as he stumbled over nothing.

'What the hell?!' he thought, mind racing as he backed away from the bed, clutching the sheets to his chest. 'What…how…?' He tried to remember all that had happened last night. But the only thing he could recall was going down to the hotel bar to get a drink…and then Shawn was there…

"Shit…" For the second time in less than 24 hours, he had woken up somewhere and had no idea how he'd gotten there. The last time that had happened…

'Did I…? Did he…?' the Undertaker wondered, looking down and noting that he was still dressed, sighing with relief. Well, at least he hadn't accidentally slept with Shawn. That would have been too terrible.

But, somehow, there was Shawn, sleeping as peacefully as anything in his bed as though he belonged there.

"Mark?" HBK whispered, stirring at the noise, sitting up slowly and yawning. "You're awake? How's your head?" He saw the look of confusion on the big man's face and he became almost instantly alert. "What's wrong?"

"What happened last night?"

Shawn smiled. "Well, last night you had gotten pretty drunk, so I went downstairs to get you and bring you back to your room. However, I had noticed that you were, um, really sad…"

Mark felt himself blushing. "Was I crying?" he asked after a moment.

"A little."

The Undertaker's red color increased as his memory returned slowly and in fragments. "Did I…tell you why?"

Shawn nodded, and he watched Mark go over to the large window, dropping the sheets and leaning against the pane.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I…shouldn't feel that way about you. You told me that you loved Hunter, and I tried to stop loving you, but I couldn't. I can't." A small, bitter smile came to his lips. "I'll understand if you want to stay away from me--" His words were cut off by the feeling of Shawn's hand on his.

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?" the Heartbreak Kid asked with a small smile. "Because I wasn't finished."

'Taker gave a weary nod, expecting the worst.

"Well, you told me that you loved me, and I was shocked, naturally." He paused and sat on the large window ledge. "But then, Mark, I realized something. I realized that I felt the same way about you."

Mark gave Shawn another confused look. "What?"

Shawn laughed and placed his hand gently on the Undertaker's cheek. "Simply put, I love you too."

The Deadman shook his head, prompting him to wince because of the sudden shooting pain. "But…you love Hunter, you told me yourself."

"Yes, I love him, but I love you too… As much as I love him…" He raised his head to stare straight into the Undertaker's emerald green eyes, his own blue ones wet with tears. "I love you too, and I didn't want to admit it to myself because I was afraid, but now I don't care anymore. I shouldn't have broken your heart like that…" He ran a hand across his own eyes. "And I swear I never will again. That's the whole story."

There was a long silence that passed between the two, as each sorted out his own thoughts. The Undertaker had gone from worried, to saddened to utterly confused in a very short time, and it was making his head hurt even more. And now Shawn said that he loved him?

"Is this a dream?" he asked softly, looking down at Shawn.

"You asked the same thing last night," HBK laughed. "And since then, I thought of a way to prove to you that this is real…" His expression became serious as he stood and took a step forwards, left arm raised.

Mark was ready to feel a stinging slap across his cheek and closed his eyes. What he wasn't ready for was the feeling of Shawn's warm hand on his neck, nor the heat of his lips on his mouth. His eyes opened wide, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around the smaller man as he stumbled backwards slightly.

Of course, after the initial shock, he began to kiss him back, closing his eyes and letting the sensations overwhelm him.

'He's such a great kisser,' the Undertaker thought as he leaned back against the nearest wall, trying to remain standing, never wanting to leave this embrace.

"You're a great kisser," Shawn remarked aloud, breaking the kiss and causing the Undertaker to laugh.

"I was just thinking the same thing."

"Great minds think alike," the Heartbreak Kid answered as he placed another quick kiss on his new lover's lips. "How sweet you are," he mused aloud, already imagining all the possibilities open to him now that Mark was officially his. It felt great to kiss him without guilt. "But I think we should go get some breakfast."

'Taker nodded, brushing his hair back, slightly out of breath. "Sure," he said at last. His forgotten headache came back full force and he sighed. "I'm going to need a hell of a lot of coffee…"

Shawn laughed, kissing his hand, and all but skipped out the door.

"Shawn?" he heard Mark call from somewhere behind him, making him freeze in his steps.

"Yes?"

"You… You've done more for me than you know." 'Taker smiled to himself. "And you've made me the happiest person in the world."

The Heartbreak Kid grinned. "I'd have to disagree. You're the second happiest—I'm the happiest. And the sexiest too, but I don't think you'll disagree with that…" He sighed happily when he felt warm arms wrap around him from behind.

"Nope, not gonna argue that point," Mark said softly, nuzzling Shawn's neck slightly, practically purring with happiness. Both men froze, however, when they saw the door across from them open.

And their jaws dropped in unison when they saw Kane emerge with Beth Phoenix, holding hands.

The pair looked over at 'Taker and Shawn, at 'Taker's arms wrapped around Shawn, and laughed.

"Guess everyone decided to pair off after the pay-per-view," Beth said with a laugh. "Must be the weather." Glen nodded, all smiles as he looked his blushing brother up and down.

"Don't say anything," the Deadman warned.

"Oh, I won't…" Kane said with a grin, inching away from the pair. His eyes fell on Shawn.

"I see you found him."

Shawn nodded sheepishly. "Yeah… Took a bit of looking, but I found him."

Glen nodded, sharing a glance with his big brother, who gave him an assuring nod. "I'm glad everything's okay…But, damn, bro, you gave it up quick, didn't you?"

It took the new couple a moment to register the words, but when they did, Shawn blushed as Beth laughed heartily, and Kane took off down the hallway with 'Taker in hot pursuit, shouting obscenities.

"Boys," the remaining two commented in unison before walking towards the elevator.

(smiles) Review?