A/N: So, I managed to delete this by accident from my hard drive and have spent the last two weeks searching for the right damn memory stick with it on - but finally I found it. So, its here and the story trolls on... enjoy :)

"Who's in there? Shawn? Fuck, Paul he's been in hospital for weeks. This is hardly breaking news. Now are you..."

"No, Chris is in there. He's with Shawn as we speak. I, well, I've been following him for a few days now. I knew it'd only be a matter of time before he came here. In fact I bet they both been waiting until the coast was a little clearer to pick up where they left off."

All humour was gone from Paul's voice and that wasn't lost on Hunter. He felt the colour draining from his face as it seemed as if all the blood in his body settled into his legs and feet that were no longer as eager as they were to march into the hospital. Inside his mind was racing. Was it the way he'd seemed not to want Shawn to come home that had driven him to bring Chris to the hospital? Could it be that his early morning visit had interrupted a pattern that his usually drunken and desperate sleeping body hadn't been around to know anything about? The silence between himself and Paul started to grow more than awkward and Hunter felt helpless to do anything about it, his grip on the envelope tightening to the point where his every knuckle blanched.

"Hunter. You're still gonna do this aren't you?"

The despair in Paul's tone made it clear that he'd still not confronted Chris and although Hunter wasn't overly enamoured about being anyone's easy way out he knew that he was his own only way out.

"Ye...yeah. I think so. Fuck Paul, what...when did he get here?"

"He's been here little under an hour. Brought a bagful of stuff with him and just headed in. I decided to wait out here and grab him on the way back out. It didn't seem fair to Shawn to get on his case while he's still laid up here. I never meant...not this bad...I just..."

The raised hand in his face had silenced Paul and he was glad that his babbling stream of words had been stemmed. He knew he'd never be able to justify his actions to himself so he had little hope with anyone else and especially Hunter.

"Look, I'm still going in there. Two birds, one stone right?"

"I'm coming with you."

"No you're not, big bones. You can stop here. I don't want you anywhere near Shawn. I don't care what he's done or not done with Chris, you nearly killed him."

"Hunter, I'm going in that hospital whether you like it or not. I've got problems with all this too. Its not just you and your precious boyfriend up there that this is hurting."

With one look at Paul's face Hunter lost the will to argue. He hadn't got the inclination to get in some parking lot brawl with a man almost twice his size. Instead he figured there was a better way to deal with it all.

"I don't want you near Shawn, understand me? No way. So I'll get Chris out of there and send him to you. There's a family room at the end of the ward. You wait there and I'll send him to you. That way you can say and do what you like while I try and sort my life out now you two have turned it on it's damned head. And this isn't a discussion Paul, either we do this my way or I'll have security on your ass just like last time. It's your call."

Paul knew that he wanted into the hospital. He also figured that getting through the doors peacefully was the best way to do it. He didn't have to do anything Hunter told him once he'd made it in. Slowly he nodded his agreement ensuring that the smirk that sat suppressed behind his lips stayed there. He didn't want to touch Shawn again but after being so humiliated by Chris moving out he'd got a few words for him that he'd not managed to say in the string of rejected phone calls he'd tried to make to him of late.

The journey in the elevator was awkward; Hunter stared intently at the illuminating buttons as he carefully kept an eye on the larger man beside him. He felt his neck muscles tighten when Paul cracked his knuckles. Hunter didn't want any trouble but suspected that it might well come looking for him anyway. If Chris was in the hospital and was at Shawn's bedside there was every chance that he'd have told Shawn about how he'd been attacked and by whom. A string of images depicting the potential outcomes of that situation flickered in his mind's eye and he conceded that none of them ended well for him.

Once on the corridor of the ward he pointed Paul towards the family room, deciding it best not to speak in case the door of the private room was open. After a moments hesitation Hunter watched as Paul went and sat near the window of the empty room, his eyes trained directly on the door he'd just gone through. The steely eyed determination in the look was enough to make Hunter briefly thank whatever God was up there that he wasn't the one Paul wanted that kind of word with.

He turned and walked away, his hands starting to tremble around the envelope that he was still clutching tightly. In a number of seconds he was in front of the door and peering in through the window of the private room. There Chris was, in his chair at bedside, one hand on the sheets and the other holding a cup of coffee. Both men were laughing and Shawn's wide smile stabbed Hunter straight through the heart. Instinctively he opened the door and headed inside, not bothering to care if he was interrupting anything.

"Hunter! You're early today... good to see you though."

Shawn's smile was every bit what it had been in response to Chris and it reassured Hunter that maybe it was just a friendly conversation that had been taking place before he arrived. He walked over to the bed and leaned over, ensuring that today his kiss was planted squarely on Shawn's lips.

"Its good to see you too, real good. And you have a visitor! How's it going Chris? What brings you to this part of the world?"

"I just came by to see Shawn, catch up, see how he was getting on. See if he needed anything I could give him to aid his recovery."

The sly smirk that accompanied the words had already started to make Hunter's blood pressure rocket and the way the words hung so pointedly in the air did nothing to ease it. The silent stand off was only interrupted by an oblivious Shawn's voice which seemed to echo its way into the forefront of Hunter's pre-occupied mind.

"Say Hunt, did you know Chris got jumped the other night at the arena? Apparently they think it was Paul but Chris here can't remember a damn thing about it. With that black eye I'm not surprised though, it looks pretty nasty to me. I never thought he had it in him until he busted me up but to do it to your own guy is so...so not him. You wanna be careful Hunter, I don't want him coming after you if he's outta control like that."

"Well Chris I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. I've been out of the loop a little since all this went off. Which reminds me, can I have a quick word with you out there? I got something couriered down from Vince about the Canada tour he's planning that I just wanna run past you for a sec. That senile old man needs to get himself a better research team and I need my first coffee of the day. Shawn, you want anything while we're gone?"

The tone of his voice was intended to make it clear to Chris that his invite was far from being one. It was a demand, an order, a command that he hoped Chris had the good sense and grace not to challenge. He'd remained sure that Chris remembered everything about the attack given that his wallet and diary were gone and was just playing along with the amnesia for his own benefit.

"No, I'm good thanks Hunt, Chris here got me one just before you arrived."

Hunter watched Chris get out of the chair, a confused expression replacing the smug one he'd had moments ago. Inside Hunter wondered if Chris was really that naive to believe for one second that he wanted him for that. It truly didn't matter as long as he could get him out of the room, into the hands of his deranged waiting lover and out of Hunter's way while he got down to some serious talking with Shawn.

They filed out of the room as Shawn picked up the remote and flicked on the news channel, his breathy cursing about the latest political scandal bluer than the guilty party's neck tie. Hunter waited until the door was closed behind them before clapping his hand down on Chris' shoulder and squeezing painfully hard.

"I think we need to go and have a little talk, don't you Chris?"

His silent nod was enough to indicate that he had no intentions of arguing and Hunter hoped that was something Chris would be able to continue when he saw the intimidating figure of his almost ex-lover standing before him shortly. Loosening his grip he steered Chris in through the door of the family room and, noticing that Paul was nowhere to be seen, nearly had a heart attack when the large hand came out from behind the door and knocked Hunter's out of place.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

Paul's tone was low and menacing, the anger within it apparent and fortunately for all concerned only present in his voice. His hand clamped harder onto the flesh under his grasp and both men watched as Chris' face twisted into a grimace and he buckled a little with the pain.

"I'm just visiting a friend, a friend you damn near killed you idiot! And what is this? Rent-a-Goon? Hunter did you really need to get Paul to come fight your battles for you? If you'd wanted me to leave then you should've just said."

"Don't bullshit me Chris. I know what's been going on with you and Shawn. Hunter knows too, we all do, so why don't you stop lying to us, man up and tell the truth."

"I haven't got a clue what the hell you're on about, now let me go or I'll..."

Before Chris could finish his sentence Hunter stepped to the side of them and pushed Chris had in the middle of the chest sending him out of Paul's clutch and clumsily onto the nearby sofa. He didn't want a full scale brawl breaking out with Shawn only doors away and had decided to stop it before it could get going. He moved to sit on the coffee table in front of Chris and leaned forward to get as close to Chris as he dare without being unable to resist the urge to blacken the swollen eye even more than it appeared he already had.

"A friend huh? You expect me to believe that Chris when you must've travelled hours to get here and not even called once to see how he was? You must think I'm as stupid as big boy over there."

"What have you two been drinking? I came to see a friend. Can't you understand that or get it through your two thick skulls? Shawn and I are friends and I was concerned for his health after what happened, that's all."

Paul listened to the metered tone of Chris' voice and felt the tiniest hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He knew it was all lies, he knew full well that Chris wasn't the kind to make mercy missions no matter how close he was to someone. All the answers, the honeyed and considered words were doing nothing to quell his suspicions that all the evidence he had was pointing in the right direction after all.

"Here. You tell me what you and you're 'friend' were up to when these were taken."

Hunter had listened to Chris' words and decided that he didn't buy them any more than Paul seemed to do. The cynical look on Paul's face was accented by one large raised eyebrow and Hunter knew then that he wasn't at all convinced. He'd slowly withdrawn the photographs from the envelope and after speaking tossed them casually into Chris' lap, his eyes concentrating unerringly on the angry looking face of the smaller man. All he saw was the fight in the muscles at the side of Chris' jaw as they flexed and moved the skin around them. A trace of a smile turned up the corners of Chris' thin lips, particularly as he came to the last photo, the one that had been taken along with his diary. There was no look of surprise there which confirmed he knew only too well the identity of his attacker and the whereabouts of his belongings.

"Awww c'mon, this is me and Shawn having lunch and just hanging out together. Can't two guys do that any more without it being front page news? And fuck Hunter, what's with having me followed like this? Are you really that possessive that Shawn can't even have friends?"

A half-laughter cry of "Bullshit!" came across the room and Paul shook his head at the casual nature of Chris' protestation. If he was lying he was getting damn good at it and that made him start to wonder just how much more of what he'd heard coming out of that mouth had been lies too. He noticed Hunter still fiddling with the bulging envelope and was about to ask him what else was in there when a voice cut him dead.

"Don't insult my intelligence Chris. You and Shawn never got along."

"Things change Hunter, people change. They move on, grow, evolve. You should know all about evolution but I'm sure sometimes its hard to see past the end of your nose..."

The sniping comment only served to get Hunter's heckles up further and he began to wonder if he wouldn't have been better off finishing what he'd started when he'd punched Chris before. He knew that there was never going to be a straightforward or honest answer to anything he asked but he was still shocked that Chris would carry on lying after being presented with the damning evidence. His patience was being roundly tested by Chris' show of defiance and he figured that there was one last way he could try to get to the bottom of it all. Taking the photos back and palming them into his pocket he smiled broadly.

"Well, seems like the cat got your tongue there Chris. Never mind though, I'm sure Paul here has a whole lot of things he wants to say to you. I'll give you two a moment and I'll go ask Shawn myself just what the hell is going on here."

Before Hunter's arm was fully outstretched to push himself up off the table Chris was out of his seat, his scowling face staring down angrily. His eyes were screwed up which in turn furrowed his brow deeply and even though Hunter pushed himself up slowly and his height advantage over Chris became clear it did nothing to stop the outburst that followed.

"Don't you dare go upsetting him when he's sick. You don't care about him at all do you? He deserves better than you. Better than the kind of person that could do something like this," Chris gestured dramatically towards his face. "If you did this to me then I dread to think what you could do to someone as fragile as he is right now!"

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me. If it wasn't for you he wouldn't be laid up in here. You're the one that threw him and broke his body almost in two you sicko. And Hunter here is just as bad. If he'd been taking proper care of Shawn you wouldn't have got to him like you did. Not to mention that he turns up backstage and beats the hell out of me for nothing. You're nothing but a fucking psycho Hunter. You're as bad as Paul if not worse. Both of you, all you've ever done is hurt Shawn and I'm going to make sure that never happens again."

Hunter grabbed the collar of Chris' jacket and yanked him close until their noses were millimetres from touching and the rapid spent breaths blew hotly against both their faces. He eyed Paul moving towards them and shot him a glare to warn him to stop where he was.

"You're nothing to Shawn. Nothing. He doesn't care about you any more than I do. His illness, his problems – they're all your fault. You and your boyfriend over there. He's nothing to do with you."

"Hunter, if it makes you feel good lying to yourself like that then go ahead. You know what the deal is here and if you can't handle that then I'm afraid that's your prob-"

The hand that grabbed Chris by the hair dragged his body backwards and looked as if it had no intention of releasing him. Paul's face was red and hot, his anger palpable as the snarl on his lips bared his teeth. Hunter noticed the sparkle of tears in the corners of Paul's eyes but wasn't sure if they were from hurt or frustration.

"What are you saying Chris? You and Shawn...?"

"Oh please. You've seen the pictures, right? Of course me and Shawn. You...you disgust me. I can't believe you hurt him like that. I should kill you for what you've done to him. You can't compare to someone like Shawn. You're nothing but a freak of nature, a fat guy who was lucky enough to get a growth spurt and make it to seven feet tall. You're not beautiful, attractive, sensual; all the things Shawn is to me..."

The silence weighed heavy on them all as the worst fears of two men were confirmed by the heartfelt words of the third. Hunter rubbed his hand down his side and felt the pictures in his pocket, the sharp corner catching on his palm. The sensation seemed to jolt him back to some kind of action and he finally did make it towards the door. He eyed the still restrained Chris who had started to struggle and then opened his mouth into more than the grimace it was still twisted into.

"Whe...where are you going Hunter?"

"Not that its anything to do with you but I'm going to settle this once and for all."

Hunter saw Chris kick his legs out as if trying to get himself away from Paul but the restraint was unrelenting. It was clear that for the time being Chris was going nowhere fast. Paul's lips pulled into a sneer and the words that escaped them had a tone which contained more than an implied threat.

"You, Chris, are staying right here with me. We have a few things to discuss after your little admission don't you think?"

As Hunter opened the door and slipped through it he heard a loud bump but chose not to look back. He wasn't interested in their domestic problems as he certainly had a world of his own problems left to sort out.

A/N: Hope everyone still reading this story is enjoying it as much as I am writing it *and editing it now I've found the right memory stick XD* All reads and reviews appreciated as ever :)