In this story Tommy=Crimson.

May 2011

Bobby was lying naked face down on the bed, one hand near his mouth. The comforter was puddled on the floor - after many nights in the hotel, half of which were with James, he knew FAR better than to ever lie on a hotel comforter. He'd taken a back suplex from Devon very awkwardly and now he was in agony from his arches to his eyeballs. He'd swallowed two percodan but they weren't doing more than nibbling delicately at the edges of the pain. As long as he stayed perfectly still on the bed, without any clothes that were fucking with his skin, he could deal with it. The TV was on. He had the remote control and his phone directly next to his head so that he would have to reach the absolute bare minimum. Unless the drugs suddenly made a tenfold leap in the next hour, this night was going to be long and miserable. And lonely. At least Cheers was on.

His phone buzzed. He extended a finger and pressed twice. James Storm's voice blared out at him.

"BOBBY! Are you feeling any better? Pills kicked in yet?"

"No," Bobby said quietly. "Everything still hurts."

"Damn shame man. Tell you what, we'll come up there and make you feel better. Deal?"

"Not again, James. I can't even get the fuck out of bed to let you in the door."

"Don't worry about that. I got my ways. It's just me and Tommy right now, I might try to see if we can get AJ in too. He can hold the empties for you to piss in."

"Some other time I would think that was funny. Right now I'd be honored."

"You know we gotta look out for each other. I got something that's gonna make you feel fine. You really ain't in a place to refuse it, so forget it. Take it now and complain later if you feel like it. We'll be up in ten minutes. You hungry?"

"I can't eat."

"I'll bring you two burgers in case you change your mind."

"Whatever. You do want you want anyway." Bobby sighed.

"That's right. In an hour you'll thank me. TOMMY! WHAT? Alright, we comin' now." James hung up.

True to his word, in five minutes James was unlocking the door and he and Tommy piled in. James was carrying a paper bag that was heavy with clinking bottles, and Tommy was holding a slightly greasy paper bag full of food.

"Great," said Bobby, "the watch chain mafia."

"Watch your tone or the ginger here will kick your ass," retorted James. He and Tommy piled their stuff on the table and moved it and the two chairs closer to the bed. Tommy looked down at Bobby and made a face. "You couldn't throw on a towel or something?"

"Please, like you ain't never seen a naked man before," snarled James. "You hang out with me all the time."

"At least you keep a tag belt on."

"And there's another thing you ain't never gonna do. Leave Bobby alone. Man can't hardly even breathe. Go outside and get some ice for these beers, since you want to act like you got so much mouth. Sorry about him Bobby, he wasn't raised right."

Bobby could only murmur. Tommy gave Bobby another disdainful glance and went outside. As soon as the door closed, James gently pulled the top sheet over Bobby's butt, but not before softly stroking his right cheek. James was a veteran tease.

"Inch towards the front of the bed a little, man."

Bobby demurred. "I can't move. I mean it. I can't fucking move an inch. And I'm definitely not moving so I can smoke anything. No thank you."

"Well you can lie in pain all night with them two percs I know you took, or you can hit this shit enough so that you can go to the bathroom. I wasn't serious about making AJ hold the empties for you cause there's a deposit law around here. Scoot up. You'll feel better."

Usually Bobby didn't partake, but he was throbbing in pain all over so badly he could barely think. Slowly, very slowly, he scooted forward on the bed a tiny bit at a time, until his head was hanging over and the pain was rampaging through his body. A tear slipped down his face and he collapsed, totally exhausted, with his face barely clearing the bed. He moaned and James rubbed his back a bit in sympathy. James dragged one of the chairs near the bottom of the bed and sat down next to it, his back to the door, a pipe already in his hand. He held it to Bobby's lips and lit it. Bobby hesitated.

"Don't worry, I'm not calling AJ until this is over, and then you can blame it on us."

Right then, Tommy came back in with the ice. "Sorry it took so long. The fucking machine broke and I had to go two floors up to find some. You two alright?"

"Fine. We'll be done in a minute."

An hour later, Bobby was finally able to roll over, and to Tommy's great pleasure and James' light mocking, he put some shorts on. He still ached, but it was down to a dull roar, and if he stayed in one place, he was fine. He hated to admit James was right out loud, so he nodded to him and James nodded back. He was all right. Tommy on the other hand, was getting louder and louder and more annoying by the minute. Bobby wondered, not for the first or fiftieth time, why the hell James hung out with this dude. He pulled his phone off the bed and texted AJ to see if he was still up. The answer came fast.

"yeah still up watching a movie. whats up"

"not much. in my room with james and tommy m. come on over and save me from these two idiots"

"both of them at the same time? don't know if anyone can handle all that"

"that's why I need you here so I have someone to talk to."

"k ill be there"

The first smile of the night surfaced on Bobby's face, and James didn't miss it. He tipped Bobby a wink as he handed him a beer. "Company coming?"

"Yeah, AJ's coming over."

"The place still smells. Is he going to whine about it? I don't want him to come over if he's gonna complain all night," said Tommy. Both James and Bobby gave him hard glances. "No," said Bobby, a little frost edging his words, "he's cool."

"You gonna put some more clothes on? A shirt at least?"

"No." Bobby laid back down on the bed. A knock came. After a second, James got up to answer it. AJ came in, all smiles and friendliness, and gave James a hug hello. He nodded to Tommy, who nodded back, and sat on the bed next to Bobby. Close, but not close enough to arouse Tommy's suspicion. Bobby already could not wait to get Tommy out of there so that he and AJ could get closer. He already knew James was 100% behind this match, and he had a sneaking suspicion that James had come up on purpose to get them together tonight.

As if he was reading Bobby's thoughts, James checked his phone, and swatted Tommy on the arm. "Dude, we gotta go. One of my friends is in town and he texted me that he's coming to the hotel bar with a couple of chicks. Let's roll."

"Now that's my kind of party," replied Tommy as he got to his feet and grabbed both bags. "Just let me drop this stuff off in the room and I'm set. Later, AJ. Later Bobby."

The two of them strolled out of the room, and James winked at Bobby as he left.

"So," said AJ. "Your back feeling any better?"

"A lot better now, thanks."

"Good." AJ shifted on the bed a little awkwardly.

Bobby put his hands behind his head - damn, it felt good to be able to do that - and smiled at AJ. "I'm glad to see you."

"Glad to see you too. Now that those two are gone, we can talk a little bit."

"Talk. Oh yeah. Mmm hmm."