TITLE: Lips of an Angel

CHARACTERS: Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, minor Cinzia and Rebecca

PAIRINGS: Implied Bret/Cinzia marriage, implied Shawn/Rebecca marriage, Bret/Shawn

NOTES: Inspired by the Hinder/Jack Ingram song ‘Lips of an Angel.’ Bret is divorced from Julia and she has the kids when this takes place. Cinzia is his Italian wife (information from Wikipedia). Shawn is still married to Rebecca.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the people that are used in this story. They are the property of themselves/Vince McMahon. I also do not own the song that inspired/gave its name to this fic. It is owned by its writer/singer.

Bret shifted in bed, not really awake, but not asleep either. Subconsciously, he pulled Cinzia closer to his side, needing to feel the warmth of another human body. He sighed and burrowed deeper into the blanket and felt Cinzia settle into his chest.

The phone on his nightstand went off. Bret groaned and turned his sleep-filled eyes to the table. The caller id displayed the number and a tag for San Antonio. He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear, not daring to hope that it was Shawn, while secretly praying that it was. “Hello?” He managed to breathe.

“Bret…” The voice on the other end returned, nearly as breathless.

“One sec.” Bret covered the receiver and looked to his wife. “I’ve gotta take this, okay? Go on to sleep, I’ll be back soon.”

Cinzia barely raised her head in return, rolling onto her other side and going back to sleep. Bret grabbed a pair of pajama pants from the floor as he headed out of the room. Once in his office, he finally pulled the phone back to his ear. “Shawn?”

Bret heard Shawn sniffle and then, “Bret, I miss you.”

How those four words affected Bret, especially with the quiet sniffs from the other end. “Honey, why’re you calling me so late?”

“I needed to hear your voice. Bret, I miss you so much!” Shawn said in a loud whisper.

“Shawn, babe, why’re you crying?” Bret asked, eyes widening.

“I-I just feel so…I need you, Bret. Rebecca’s sleeping; I needed to talk to you. We haven’t talked in months. I just wanted to hear you so bad, baby.” Shawn replied, sniffling once more. “I know we shouldn’t be like this, but, I just need you so bad right now.”

Bret smiled to himself before looking out the open office door into the hallway and to his own bedroom door. “Listen, Shawn, Cinzia’s asleep right now.” He sighed and added, “You know, every night in bed, I hold her close and wish she was you.” He laughed. “Damn, I sound like such a pussy.”

Shawn laughed along. “Yeah, you do. But that’s sweet. A lot of the time, I wish Rebecca was you, though, too.”

Bret smiled again. “That makes me feel great, you know that?”

“Yeah, you always liked compliments.”

“I miss you a lot, Shawnie. I know I don’t say that enough.” Bret sighed, looking back down at the worn beige carpeting.

“Bret, you don’t have to say it. I know it; I know how you feel even if you never say it.” Shawn said in a comforting voice.

“Aww, I love it when you say my name.” Bret groaned, grinning.

Shawn giggled. “Bret. Bret, Bret, Bret.”

Bret let out a small moan. “Shawn, it sounds great when you say it. More meaningful than Cinzia. She hardly ever says my name.”

“Aww, that’s sweet. Thanks…Bret.” Shawn laughed again. “I…I dreamt about you last night…”

Bret felt his eyes open again. “R-really? I mean, me?”

“Heh, yeah. I don’t know why.” Shawn sighed. “I really miss you, Bret. Can we, you know, get together sometime soon? I don’t think I can wait too long.”

“Sure, of course.” Bret said, meaning it. “I’d love that. So…about this dream…was I clothed?”

Shawn just laughed. “Maybe…at least for a little while…”

Bret chuckled quietly. “You little perv.”

“You love me.”

“Yeah, I do. And don’t you forget that!” Bret laughed and clutched the phone tighter. “I’ve been dreaming of you, too, lately.”

“Am I ever dressed?”

Bret smirked. “Well, yeah, if you count your stripper clothes as dressed. Y’know, the ones from your ‘Boy Toy’ era?”

“And let me guess,” Bret heard a hint of a smirk in Shawn’s voice, “I strip for you?”

“Ohhhhh, yeah…” Bret replied. “You’re so sexy when you do it too, with your entrance music going off and your smooth hip shaking. God, I’m getting hard just thinking about it!”

Shawn giggled. “You gonna go jack off now?”

“Fuck.” Bret said. “Probably.”

“…Can I listen?”

“Fuck, Shawn, are you always this pervy?” Bret glanced into the other room, still seeing Cinzia sleeping soundly. He had to try and keep his voice down.

“…Yes, yes I am.” Shawn replied. “So…can I?”

Bret chuckled. “Maybe…”

“Score!” Shawn whispered loudly in a pretend scream.

“You are such a perv.” Bret snickered. “And I love you that way.”

“Aww, I love me that way, too.” Shawn smirked. “Now about jacking off…”

“I’m not doing it right now, Shawn!” Bret said as loudly as he dared. “Come on! Get your head outta the gutter.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop.” Shawn sighed. “I love you, Bret.”

“And I love you, too. How’re the kids?” Bret asked, feeling as though he would cry. Why was he going to cry, it’s not like this was a big deal! He was asking about his lover’s kids, for fuck’s sake! Deep down, Bret knew why. He wished Shawn’s kids were his, too. He wished he and Shawn were spending their lives together, not on separate sides of the country in the arms of different women.

“Pretty good, yours?” Shawn sounded a little sad, too.

“Great, they’re with their mother right now…” Bret sighed. “And Becca, how’s she?”

“Great, great. Yeah, she’s good.” Shawn said in a rush.

“…Do you think she knows about…us?” Bret whispered.

“Aww, hell, no. She wouldn’t even know if we stripped down and you fucked me while she stood there. She’d probably think we were playing a game and ask if she could join.”

“Fuck, she must be blind!”

“She pretty much is! But, baby, do you think Cinzia knows? I mean, Julia does, right?” Shawn asked, almost apologetically.

“No, Cinzia probably just thinks we’re pretending to be brothers or something. Julie, though, yeah, she knew. She doesn’t care, though, so it’s cool.” Bret sighed. “I wanna see you so bad right now.”

“Aww, I wanna see you, too.” Shawn groaned. “I don’t think Becca’ll let me outta here so soon though.”

“I’ll fly out there, then. I promise you, we’ll see each other this week, sometime.” Bret glanced at the clock. “Aww, fuck, Shawnie, I should get back to bed, gotta be up early tomorrow. I promise, I’ll call you as soon as I get a flight so you can pick me up at the airport.”

“Okay, you promise? Like, really promise?”

Bret smiled. “Oh, hell yeah, I’ll call you.”

“Alright.” Shawn gave a smile. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

“Night.”

“Night.” Bret pressed the ‘end’ button. He stood up and swayed into his bedroom, on the natural high he always got while talking to Shawn.

“Bret…?” Cinzia asked groggily from the bed.

“I’m back, baby, just an important work call.”

“Oh, okay. C’mere, I’m cold.” Cinzia extended her arms to her husband as he returned the phone to its charging stand.

Bret smiled sadly, wishing once again for Shawn. “Alright, baby.” He tossed his pants back to the floor and crawled back into bed. He wrapped his arms gently around his wife and she snuggled into his warm, muscled chest.

“By the way, Cinzi, I’m gonna have to fly out to San Antonio later this week, ASAP. Work business, okay? I’ll probably be gone about a week.” Bret felt her sigh and cuddle down deeper into his chest.

“Alright. Now shut up and let me sleep.”

“Night baby.”

And for the rest of the night, the Harts slept soundly, Bret dreaming only of his lover and best friend, Shawn Michaels.