Disclaimer: I do NOT own the following wrestlers, or any of the events that actually happened on camera.
I respect the actual beliefs and sexualities of the following wrestlers.
(Lifts shirt to show everyone blue and black mark) Inner Jericho has been poking me with a stick to get this one done. And, since I've been away from a computer the last two weeks, no time to update... so I couldn't placate him. Here's hoping he'll give this bruise some time to heal. Thanks, NeroAnne, for encouraging him. Molly, get HER with the stick we gave ya! Anyway, have no idea how many chapters are left, but we are in the latter half of our journey. Stick with me, and I think it'll be worth it. Better be, for this bruise.
Thanks for the reviews, everyone. Thanks for making this my most successful fanfic to date. As for the warnings, some angst, and some violence. A lot more to come. It came back...
Well, here's part seventeen.
It couldn't be Adam. There were a million guys with white skin and knit caps. But Matt couldn't stop thinking that it HAD to be Adam... no one knew him like Adam did. Adam knew him better than anyone, more than most people would care to know. But Adam loved him. And people in love didn't... Matt touched the fading mark on his neck, keeping one hand on the wheel. Adam would never do that, because he loved him.
But then again, didn't Chris love him too? Didn't Chris badger him about how much he loved him for the past weeks? And he could easily believe it was Chris. Why couldn't he wrap his mind around the idea that Adam might've hurt him?
He remembered how Adam held him Tuesday night, not talking, not asking for anything, just holding him. Making it easy for him to sleep after the worst day of his life. Why would Adam hurt him, and then make him feel better?
Because he wanted Chris to take the fall, a nasty inner voice replied, Because he wants you back. He said you couldn't leave him, remember? He said he needed you. Would probably do anything it takes to get you back. He did everything it took to make you his friend again, remember?
Matt put his hand to his head, shaking his head in frustration. Chris looked over at him from the passenger seat and, sounding very worried, asked, "Are you okay?"
Matt looked over at him briefly before turning his eyes back to the road, giving him the best reassuring smile he could. "Perfectly." Through the mirror, he could see how bruised Chris was, and how tired he looked. "Are you?"
"I can handle it," he said softly, "At least my name is cleared now."
"I'm sorry we hurt you," Matt said, "I... I should've listened to you. I shouldn't have just assumed."
"Matt, what did I say the night you took care of me?" Chris asked.
"Chris, I'm sorry," Matt said, "I don't know what else to say. You guys held me down most of the time anyway, so there wasn't much I could do to stop you. I'm sorry if..."
Chris put his hand over Matt's mouth, cutting him off mid sentence. "Stop apologizing. You never have to apologize- not to me." Matt gulped, and he saw Chris' eyes on his, and he knew he was thinking. Chris broke the stare first and snuggled into his pillow. "Goodnight, Matt."
Matt blushed a little, remembering that night. "I never have to apologize to you."
"Yeah, that still applies. I don't blame you. I would've done worse to me." Chris stretched his arm out and traced the fading mark on his neck. "I... I understand. You were upset, rightly so. And frustrated. I couldn't imagine how awful you felt. And if beating me up stole some of that pain from you, I'd gladly go through it again."
"Chris, please stop," Matt said.
Chris moved his hand away. "I'm sorry."
Matt shook his head. "No... don't apologize. Not for being so amazing."
Chris stared at Matt, thinking he heard wrong. "You think I'm amazing?"
"No one else would have taken such a beating just for me. I shouldn't have doubted you."
"You had reason to doubt."
"Stop... how am I supposed to feel properly guilty if you don't condemn me?"
Chris smiled. "I don't want you to feel guilty."
"Damn you, Irvine." Matt looked at him through the mirror again. "Go to a hospital before we leave here. You need new stitches."
"Not looking forward to that." Chris winced, thinking about getting sewn up again.
"Well, you have to." Matt parked in the hotel parking lot and turned to Chris. He leaned forward and kissed Chris softly on the cheek. "I know you don't want me to apologize, but know that I am sorry. And I will clear your name first thing tomorrow."
Chris and Matt walked back to the hotel and split. Matt waited until Chris was clear out of sight until he ran back to the rental. Please, he prayed, Please let me be wrong. Don't let it be Adam.
*****************
Matt looked at Bernie, who grinned and said, "Lemme guess... still thirsty?"
"Yeah. Get me a rum and coke. No ice." Matt sat at the bar, wondering how to start this conversation up.
Bernie gave him the drink and said, "I didn't want to say anything in front of your friend... but is he okay? Poor guy looked trashed."
"He's... okay, I guess," Matt drank it quickly, then ordered another. "He doesn't want me to know how hurt he is."
"He seems the type. How about his issues with the girl... Madeline? Is Maddie short for Madeline? I dunno."
"Yeah, it is," Matt lied, "They... they have a lot of issues to work out. Madeline doesn't even know where to start. She does care about him... maybe even loves him... but she doesn't know. She also cares about someone else really deeply, and he means a lot to her. He's done everything for her, and he loves her a lot too. And there's other issues..." He sighed, thinking about the rape. "She doesn't know."
Bernie nodded. "Tis the way of the heart, to mess with us. But in the end, she'll see what she needs."
Matt drank the next drink more slowly, and then he said, "Well, um... Bernie? You said my friend was carried out by a white guy?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Matt took out his phone and flipped through the pictures until he found the one of him and Adam, at a bar a few weeks ago. Adam was wearing a knit cap in that one, and he thought it'd be best to use that one. "Is this the guy who carried him out?"
Bernie peered at the picture. "Yeah! That's him alright. He looked upset, but he didn't talk. Drank a few beers before he left... you know, he seemed way more sober than even I was, so it was okay."
It was Adam, you hear, he took Chris out of here, and he was angry at him, angry because he thought Chris took you from him. And he wanted you back so badly, you should've known Adam was behind it, you stupid fuck...
Not Adam, Matt begged, I... I can't take it if it was Adam.
But it was, the inner voice replied. It was Adam, and it was so easy for him to manipulate you, to rape you and then get you to willingly come into his bed the next day, even if your clothes were still on... and you beat up Chris for him.
Matt wanted to bang the desk in frustration, but he held himself back. Instead, he stood up and paid his bill. "Thanks."
"No prob."
As Matt left, he thought about Adam. How could he do this? How could he think he was just going to get away with this? How could he take advantage of him?
How could Matt be so easily deceived?
*************
Matt opened the door to the hotel room and shouted out, "Adam!" He looked around, but Adam wasn't there. Matt wasn't sure what to think of it. He thought Adam would be waiting for him... he said he would. And Matt wasn't sure what he was going to do, but damn, it needed doing.
Suddenly, his phone rang. Matt looked at it and saw the caller was Adam. Matt took a deep breath and answered it. Before he could say anything, he heard a yelp of pain. A familiar yelp of pain. "Chris?" Matt asked, worried. What was going on?
"No, silly. Adam." Adam sounded completely deranged for that moment, and Matt found himself shaking in fear.
"What the fuck are you doing to Chris?" Matt asked, "I swear to fucking God, if you hurt him..."
A groan filled the receiver, followed by a laugh. "I'm beyond hurting him now, Matt." Adam looked down at the shivering, almost dead form of Chris Jericho. Chris tried to fight at first- and valiantly, for someone as hurt as him, but Adam was completely healthy, and he hadn't fought in a long time, so Adam easily beat the fight out of him.
Chris held back tears. He wouldn't show that bastard anymore weakness than he already had. Adam pulled him up by the hair and then knocked his head into the metal bedpost, adding a little more bruises to his already battered face.
"Adam, stop it," Matt said, growing more and more afraid for Chris by the minute.
"I think it's time the three of us talked," Adam said, "There's been too many secrets between us, and it's time to fix that. Won't you come talk to us, Mattie? So long as you come here and stay on the phone with me while you're coming, I won't hit the little bitch anymore."
Matt bit his lip. "I- I'm coming. Just... don't hurt him."
"Sounds fair. Oh, and if you think about trying to inform anyone else, the deal's off, so's we're clear. We're in dear Chrissy's room, waiting for you... don't make us wait long." Matt shook his head. This was all his fault. Why was he so easy to manipulate? Now Chris had to pay for his mistakes...
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