/ At the Arena /

"Andrea!" Evan's attempt at enthusiasm sounded incredibly false to everyone there, and to Andrea herself.

Andrea's wan smile was meant to thank Evan for his effort, but it only served in emphasizing how listless and fearful she had become. As she raised her eyes to look around at the people she now counted as family, she noticed, with some embarrassment, that everyone around her had fallen silent and were scrutinizing her.

Hunter's hands had balled up tightly upon seeing her face and she heard Shawn muttering something about giving Randy a taste of his own medicine. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see some of the others shaking their heads.

Humiliation burning her cheeks, she lowered her head, letting her soft hair hide her face from view. She knew that they could guess where she had gotten these new injuries from. Hunter might have told some of them, but the rest could and would guess.

She stood there, lost and embarrassed, until a gentle hand found its way onto her shoulder. And, she heard a familiar voice saying "Andie, it's been such a long time since we last saw you." Hunter steered her gently away from the centre of the locker room, away from the prying eyes of the rest.

Despite her wanting to evade Hunter, she was grateful for him getting the attention off her. She smiled at Hunter, who had draped his arm around her shoulders and led her toward a nearby bench where they could talk. "Yeah, I've been really busy with... stuff."

"But, you should never be too busy for friends," Hunter replied disapprovingly, trying not to make it too obvious that he was checking out just how bad her injuries were. Since he had found out about things that fateful night, he was getting so sick of seeing Andrea like this. She deserved so much more than what Randy was doing to her. He lowered his voice. "You could come to me, Andie. I told you that night. I meant it. You could come to me. Anytime at all, for any reason."

Andrea drew away from Hunter, realising in an instant what hidden meaning his words implied. She was still racked with guilt about that night and she didn't need to add further complication to her life with Hunter's declaration of his feelings for her. "Thanks, Hunter. Not that I would have any reason to, but thank you."

Hunter slammed his hand onto the locker behind her, causing Andrea to jump. "Cut the bullshit, Andie! I am so sick of seeing you like this. How long are you going to let this go on?"

"Nothing is going on, Hunter! Everything's fine!" Andrea flinched at the fury in his voice.

"You call constantly getting beaten up nothing?" Hunter demanded, incredulously. He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to get a better look. "Andie, this can't go on."

Andrea laughed shakily, pushing Hunter's hands away. "Really, Hunter. Everything's good, no one's beating me up. I slipped in the shower and hit myself..."

Hunter shook his head. "Something has to give, sooner or later. I'm not stupid, Andrea. Leave him, I will take you in."

Andrea gulped, lowering her head, not daring to meet Hunter's eyes. "There's nothing to worry about, Hunter. Everything will be fine. Once things get easier for Randy, everything will be fine. He's just really stressed right now."

"What if things don't get easier? What if creative refuses to give him a title shot?" Hunter replied tersely. "What if things get even more stressful, which I think it will. What is going to happen to you then?"

Andrea took a deep, shaky breath. "Randy loves me."

Hunter rolled his eyes and snorted. "Well, if abusing you is his way of showing love... Fuck, it doesn't seem to be the case at all! He doesn't love you, Andie. Will you wake up and fucking see that?!"

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Andrea had somehow managed to convince herself that it wasn't the case. Having someone have to tell her what was so painfully obvious to everyone else was absolutely shattering. She opened her mouth to protest but all that came out was a strangled little gasp. That was when her tears started to fall and she suddenly found herself encased in Hunter's comforting arms once again.

"I'm sorry," Hunter murmured, trying to keep his own tears at bay as he rubbed Andrea's back soothingly. Just as she had that night, Andrea felt so small, so fragile, so vulnerable in his arms. "Look, I'll help you in any way that I can. We all will. We're all your friends, we hate seeing you getting hurt like this. If you want, you can move in with me. I've plenty of room at my place and..."

"Get your fucking hands off her, Hunter."

With a little gasp, Andrea pushed herself away from Hunter and looked up guiltily at Randy who stood above them, his lips pulled down in a frown. She quickly brushed away her tears and forced a cheerful smile on her face even though she knew that she wouldn't be fooling anybody. The rest of the roster had fallen silent and were watching them. "Randy! I was..."

"Getting too close to Hunter, aren't we, Andie baby?" Randy spat out the last word.

Andrea looked at the ground, too frightened to answer.

"You are not coming here anymore, okay?" Randy's voice reverberated clearly around the silent locker room.

"I thought you liked me to come here and wait for you," Andrea mumbled, wishing desperately that this conversation wasn't being held in front of so many people. She had no doubts that she look incredibly pathetic and that she had absolutely no dignity left.

Randy shrugged as he shouldered his duffel bag. "I changed my mind. I obviously can't trust you to keep your hands to yourself." Noticing that Andrea hadn't gotten to her feet to follow him, Randy added mockingly. "Look, are you coming with me or are you planning to take Hunter up on his offer? Either way is fine with me." He turned on his heel and walked out.

"I was serious, Andie," Hunter interrupted them, willing Andrea to put her foot down and end this abuse once and for all. "I meant it, it's no trouble at all."

"Thanks, Hunter, but I don't think so," Andrea replied without any hesitation as she ran after Randy.

Hunter watched her go helplessly. As soon as the couple was gone, he whirled round and kicked the bench over. "Damn it! Andrea's supposed to be so smart, what the fuck is she thinking?"

Shawn shook his head, resisting the urge to run after Andrea himself. "She's not thinking. Randy's got her too frightened to think."