A/N: Technically, it's still Jeff's birthday my time so I am on schedule with this update!

I had a surprisingly busy first week of school, so I didn't have a lot of time to write.

I did most of the writing today and honestly I wasn't sure I would get it done.

The first part is a bit rough, but it definitely picks up, so I hope you read the whole thing!

This went into a completely different direction so the original title that I picked didn't fit.

This is the first time that I've published an untitled chapter, but I thought it was better to get this out than to wait and try to pick a title.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter because I worked really hard on it!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the wrestlers, they all belong to WWE and TNA. Trust me, if I owned Phil and Jeff, they'd never leave my apartment.

Chapter 2:

Phil is not a patient man, but for Jeff's sake he's really trying to work on that. Phil runs a frustrated hand through his hair and he looks over at his sleeping boyfriend. He looks peaceful and Phil can't help but notice that there's a hint of skin showing from under his shirt. He knows that he should ignore it, but he's way too curious.

He reaches over and very gently rolls the rest of Jeff's shirt up. Phil's not sure what he's expecting to find, but he's prepared for anything. He raises an eyebrow in confusion when he sees the bandages wrapped around Jeff's stomach. He starts wondering if Jeff is injured and that worry makes his chest ache. Phil is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't see the panic setting in on a suddenly awake Jeff.

Jeff quickly pulls his shirt down. "Phil, you weren't supposed to see that."

"I just need to know if you're hurt," Phil replies.

"I'm fine," Jeff answers defensively.

"That was convincing," Phil sarcastically responds.

"I wouldn't hide an injury from you," Jeff truthfully states.

"I really want to believe that," Phil comments.

"I've never lied to you. I have a few secrets, but―"

Phil cuts him off. "Lies of omission are still lies, Jeff."

Jeff has a crestfallen look on his face and Phil immediately feels bad. Phil didn't mean to sound so callous with his last statement, but he's just so frustrated that Jeff is withholding things from him. He turns to apologize, but Jeff leaves the bed and walks to the bathroom, loudly slamming the door behind him.

Phil sighs because he knows that when Jeff gets pissed off or hurt, that it can last for a few days. Jeff doesn't want to be bothered when he's in one of his moods, so Phil doesn't chase after him. When Phil hears the water running in the bathroom, he reaches for his iPhone. He scrolls through his contacts until he finds Matt's number. The phone rings a few times before Matt finally answers.

"Hey Phil," Matt greets.

"Hey," Phil echos.

"Is everything ok with my brother?" Matt wonders.

"Not exactly. I was wondering if I could talk to you about it over lunch," Phil explains.

"Yeah, sure," Matt agrees.

They agree to meet in the lobby in about 20 minutes and to figure out where they want to eat then. Not knowing if Jeff is taking a shower or one of his really long baths, Phil quickly writes a note letting Jeff know that he's out and should be gone about an hour, maybe longer. He quickly gets dressed and leaves the room. Matt is already waiting when he makes it to the lobby.

"There's a restaurant right next door, wanna go?" Matt asks.

"Yeah, sure," Phil concurs.

The restaurant isn't crowded and both men are thankful for that. They find a table in a secluded corner anyway and their waiter brings their menus pretty quickly. They order something to drink and silently look at their menus as they decide what they want to eat. Matt orders tacos and Phil picks the vegetarian chili. Phil plays with his silverware and he starts talking after taking a sip of Pepsi.

"Does Jeff always wear bandages on his stomach?" Phil finally questions.

Matt nods. "Yeah, he has for the longest time."

"I thought that he was fighting injured and keeping that from me," Phil reveals.

"He knows that we would both kill him if he did something like that," Matt assures him.

"It's just difficult to trust someone when they won't disclose everything," Phil tries to explain.

"Jeff's still a little damaged from his ex, just give him a little more time. He loves you and he'll open up to you eventually," Matt believes.

"I'd like to find his ex and kick his ass!" Phil comments.

Matt laughs. "Well, you are fighting him on Sunday."

"What? John Cena is Jeff's ex?" Phil asks, truly surprised.

"That was my reaction when Jeff first told me too," Matt adds.

"And people think that me and Jeff are weird together," Phil replies.

"Yeah. I know it seems like they'd be an odd couple, but they were actually pretty cute together. Jeff was going through a really rough time though and I guess that John just couldn't deal. It nearly killed Jeff when Cena left him. I don't mean that figuratively either," Matt says, suddenly solemn.

Thinking about Jeff being in such a state of despair makes Phil lose his appetite abruptly. He thanks Matt for meeting with him and tells him that he'll keep in touch. He asks for the check and a box to put his chili in when the waiter gets back. The only thing on Phil's mind is confronting Cena at the pay-per-view in a few days.

Phil has just retained his title in a match against John Cena, but he's in no mood to celebrate. He tells Jeff to catch a ride to the hotel with Matt, but he doesn't tell him why. Jeff kisses him on the cheek and leaves. Phil doesn't even knock on John's door, he just rudely pushes it open. John gives him a questioning look, but he doesn't get a chance to speak because Phil talks first.

"How could you leave Jeff when he needed you the most? Are you really that much of an asshole? He's such a sweet and wonderful person, but he doesn't believe it because you fucking broke him! You have no idea how much I hate you for hurting him like that!" Phil yells.

John sighs. "Jeff was damaged long before I got to him. I didn't care though because I fell in love. I wanted to stay with him, but I couldn't. I didn't know what to do, but I refused to stay around and―"

Phil interrupts. "So what happened? He started using drugs and instead of trying to help him, you just decided to desert him? Real fucking nice, John!"

"Hold on. What did he say happened to cause our breakup?" John wants to know.

"Well, Jeff doesn't talk much about you at all. Matt told me that it was a little bit after his relapse and depression that you left him. He also told me that Jeff tried to off himself..." Phil can't finish his sentence because he's too overcome with emotion.

John holds back tears. "Don't throw that back in my damn face! Matt called me from the hospital the night it happened and believe me, I'll never forgive myself for that. I didn't break up with him because of drugs though. He had another vice that I felt was even worse. I begged him to get help, but he wouldn't. I regret that I didn't try harder. I felt powerless and I didn't want to see him hurt himself anymore, so I left. I thought that since I couldn't help him, that I wasn't right for him and that he didn't need me."

"When you say that he hurt himself...you mean that he...Oh fuck, that's why he won't take off his shirt, isn't it?" Phil guesses.

"It'll break your fucking heart if you see what he did to himself," John warns.

"I have to see because it's a part of him," Phil remarks.

"He loves you more than he ever loved me and I know that you love him just as fiercely. Fix him. I couldn't mend him and I think it's because it was meant for you to," John says.

"I'm going to try my absolute hardest to put him back together. I don't care how much I get wounded in the process. I don't care if he leaves me. I'll go through that insurmountable pain of living without him romantically if it means that he never hurts himself again and that he lives a happy life. I will do whatever it takes," Phil declares, utterly serious.

"See? That's why Jeff and I didn't work together. My relationship with him fell apart so that yours could come together," John theorizes.

"I have to go to him right now. I'm really sorry. I completely misjudged you," Phil apologizes.

"Don't worry bout it," John tells him.

Phil wipes his eyes and lets out a big breath. His head is spinning and he's feeling sick to his stomach. To Phil, there's nothing worse than knowing that Jeff is hurting. He gives Cena one more sad, understanding look and then he leaves. He drives to the hotel with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. Jeff is trying to find something to watch when Phil gets to their room. Jeff immediately notices Phil's red rimmed eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jeff wonders, panic clear in his tone.

"I just talked to John and I know everything," Phil divulges.

"What did he tell you?" Jeff asks, already starting to sweat profusely.

"It didn't take long for me to put 2 and 2 together, Jeff. I need to see," Phil softly demands.

"No!" Jeff refuses.

"I already know―"

Jeff shakes his head. "You don't know half of it. Nobody does."

"Then tell me," Phil encourages.

Jeff wants to explain, but he doesn't even know where to begin. He takes his shirt off and violently tears at the wrapping on his stomach. His biggest secret, his hugest flaw is finally revealed to the one person that Jeff can't bear to lose. Phil's eyes are glued to the horribly scarred skin of Jeff's stomach and he's utterly speechless. Some of the flesh looks completely burnt, other areas are entirely red, marred, and disfigured. It doesn't even resemble a human stomach.

"This is the part where you tell me how beautiful I am and how much you love me. Unless of course you don't feel that way anymore," Jeff taunts.

"I just can't believe that you could do this to yourself," Phil responds in awe.

Jeff laughs mirthlessly. "Your sweet, innocent boyfriend doesn't seem so nice and harmless now, huh? What you're looking at right now is how I feel, it's how I see myself. Completely disgusting and grotesque. You're looking at years of self-deprecation and self-loathing. I hate myself so much that I did this to my very own body. It looks like it hurt, right? The pain of all of these scars is probably more than you could even fathom."

"When's the last time that you..." Phil trails off because the tears are falling too hard.

Jeff exhales. "Not since you entered my life. I mean when I first saw you, I stopped. Remember I told you that you made it better? I'm far from being healed, but I despise myself less when I'm around you, Phil. Although right now, I can't honestly say that. I'm not so naïve that I don't understand how much I'm presently hurting you. Nothing is more excruciating than knowing that you're in agony right now because of me and my darkness. I need you here because you make life tolerable, but I don't want to taint you or bring you down with me into this pit of despair. Matter of fact, I won't. You deserve so much more than this. I'm going to make sure that you're free of me."

Phil doesn't like Jeff's words at all and he's honestly starting to get a little scared. Jeff kisses him lightly, a barely there touch of their lips. Phil's heart aches when he realizes how final that it feels. He tries to bring Jeff closer to him, but Jeff jerks away and starts heading toward the bathroom. Phil runs after him, but he's not quick enough. Jeff closes and locks the door. Jeff wipes the torrent of tears from his face.

"I'm sorry. I love you. I don't want to hurt you anymore. Goodbye, Phil."

A/N: I don't write angst, it's really not something I feel that I'm good at and it's not in my comfort zone, so I was surprised at how angsty that this got!

I promise, promise, promise that this is not the end!

I repeat, this is not how I'm ending the story, so don't throw virtual tomatoes at me!

I will have one more chapter and I don't want to rush it, so I'm not sure when it'll be complete.

I am really interested in hearing your thoughts since this chapter turned out very different than how I planned it.

Oh and if you have an idea for a title for this chapter, give me your suggestions!

If I pick the title you suggest, I'll do something nice for you to show my gratitude!

I also find it ironic that I write my most depressing Jeff scene on his birthday, LOL!