Brian Kendrick sat on his bed in some mundane hotel room. Half the time he didn’t even know what town he was in. Ever since he came back to work for the WWE, he’d been traveling with Matt Hardy and Paul London. Matt was a control freak half the time, and had to do all the driving, so most of the time Brian would sleep or listen to music, not paying much attention to where they were or where they were going. There was only one thing he was sure of, though. Tonight, he was in the room right next to Matt. He could tell by the sickening thuds on the wall in the next room. He could tell by the cries that he heard, and the words that were screamed. “Adam must be in town.” Brian said to himself, as he headed for the shower.

Matt and Adam were never good together, no matter what they had everyone believing. Matt was a giver and Adam was a taker, unless it came to the beatings. That’s when Matt became the taker. Brian had approached the subject with Matt before and found out that it was a very touchy area. Matt became enraged when Brian said anything about it, so he’d learned to leave it alone. There was only one catch. Brian was slowly, but very surely falling for Matt. He’d distract himself on the nights that Adam would come to visit. There were two sounds that came out of Matt’s room when Adam was there. Pure pleasure, or unadulterated horror.

Brian had just stepped out of the shower and gotten dressed when he heard another thud against the wall and then Adams voice ringing out like a bell. “Don’t die on me ass hole. I’m not finished with you yet.” Brian had never felt that Matt’s life would be in danger until that very moment. He flew off the bed and into the hall. Luckily Mark Calloway was coming out of his room then.

“Mark!” Brian screamed, running toward the large man. “We have to help Matt. Adams in there and I heard him tell Matt not to die because he wasn’t done with him yet.”

Mark walked up to Matt’s door and put his ear to it. He heard the anguished cries of Matt yelling for help. “Stand back kid.” Mark said, stepping away from the door and kicking it in. Brian was in the door before Mark knew what was happening. He jumped on Adams back and started choking him. “I’ll deal with this piece of shit, you go check on Matt.” Mark said, stepping up and grabbing Adam by the hair.

Brian ran to Matt, who was laying on his side, naked, on the floor, barely conscious. He knelt down beside him almost afraid to move him. Matt had bruises all over his face, one eye was almost swollen shut, there was blood coming from his nose, mouth and various other places on his face. Brian quickly assessed all the blood, noticing it was coming from Matt’s ass as well. He pulled out his cell phone and started to dial 911 when a large hand grabbed his wrist. “He needs help Mark!” Brian said, looking up noticing who’d grabbed him.

“He also needs his dignity.” Mark said, kneeling down beside Matt. “We can’t let paramedics find him like this. Go get me the blanket off the floor.” Brian did as he was told, knowing that Mark wouldn’t do anything to endanger Matt’s life. Jeff would kill him if he did. He brought the blanket to Mark and Matt was wrapped up in it. “Call Paul and tell him to pull the car around to the front, go back to his room and not ask any questions. And if anyone asks you, Matt’s sick and we’re taking him to the hospital.”

Mark carried Matt downstairs and put him in the car. Brian sat in the backs eat with him. “It’s gonna be alright Matt. We’re getting you some help.” He whispered to Matt as they drove to the hospital. Mark called ahead and there was a gurney waiting for them when they got there. Mark placed Matt on it and was surprised when Brian chimed in, “Don’t uncover him until we get to a room.”

Brian and Mark sat in the waiting room, waiting for Jeff to show up. A few hours later Jeff walked in. “What the hell happened?” He said, hugging Mark.

“Adam came for a visit.” Mark said, watching the horror grow on his lover’s face. “Don’t worry he’ll be going back home on crutches. Why don’t you see if you can find something out. They won’t tell us shit.”

Jeff went and talked to the nurse and found out what was wrong with his brother. He came back in looking more worried than when he left. “His nose is broken, he has three cracked ribs, there not sure if there’s been any damage to his eye or not. They can’t really get to it right now to check because it’s so swollen. He’s got a total of 58 stitches, three broken fingers and a concussion. He’s not doing to well.”

“It’s my fault.” Brian said, looking down at the floor. “I heard the fight, but I thought it was like every other fight I’d heard from them. I didn’t do anything until I heard Adam say ‘don’t die’. If I would have just...”

“There would have been nothing you could have done.” Jeff said, putting his hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Besides, if Matt knew that you knew about all this, it’d kill him.”

Brian looked up at Jeff, a tear falling down his cheek. “He did know.” He said, wiping at the tear. “Two weeks ago, I tried to talk to him about it and he got all defensive. He screamed at me that it was none of my fucking business and walked away. I still should have done something.”

“He did the same thing to me when I confronted him.” Jeff said, smiling at Brian. “I just don’t think he yelled at us for the same reasons.”

Brian looked confused. “What are you talkin’ about Jeff?”

“He yelled at me because he thought I was just being nosey.” Jeff said, sitting down and taking Marks hand in his. “He yelled at you because he thought he looked weak in front of the guy he was falling for.”

Brian fell backwards into a chair, a stunned look on his face. “I gotta go see him.” Brian said more to himself than anyone else. He stood back up and walked toward the door.

“Hold up there, sport.” Jeff said, standing up himself. “They’re still gettin’ him settled into his room. They’re not gonna let you back there to see him.”

Brian turned around, tears falling freely down his face. “You don’t understand, Jeff.” He said, wiping his face off. “I fell in love with him too. I have to see him.”

“They said we can see him as soon as they get him settled.” Jeff said, lightly grabbing Brian wrist and walking him over to a chair next to Mark. “You’ll be the first to see him.” The next hour crawled by as Brian sat there listening to Jeff and Mark talk. They tried to include him several times, but all Brian could do was sit there and think about Matt. The doctor finally came in and told them Matt’s room number and said that only family could see him. “Well, I’m his brother, this is his brother in-law,” Jeff said gesturing towards Mark. “And this is his husband.” Jeff added gesturing towards Brian. The doctor said it would be fine for them all to go up and they headed toward the room.

Brian walked into Matt’s room and gasped. Matt was hooked up to machines with tubes running everywhere. “Do I look that bad?” Matt said, startling Brian. “I thought all the bruises would be an improvement. You know, hide my face.”

Brian saw red. He just prayed that Matt was making a joke, but something in him told him Matt wasn’t. “I happen to like your face unbruised.” Brian said, stepping towards the bed. “I happen to like all of you unbruised.”

“I need to get away from him.” Matt said out of the blue. “I can’t live like this anymore. I think him putting me in the hospital for the third time is enough.”

Brian pushed some hair out of Matt’s face, and looked into his one eye that would open. He noticed the hurt and pain, and it nearly broke his heart. “I’ll help.” He said, wanting to cry, but knowing he needed to be strong for Matt. “We’ll get through this.”

“We?” Matt said, trying to sit up and wincing at the pain the motion caused. “Wouldn’t there have to be a ‘we’ first?”

Brian suddenly realized he’d just let a little of his feelings for Matt come through. “Well, I know that you’re not gonna be ready for a relationship for a long time, but I was hoping you would let me help you through this.” He said, starting to get nervous and wanting to turn back, but knowing he couldn’t. Matt needed to know that someone cared. “I fell for you Matt. I fell for the way you drive, the way you eat, the way you chew the inside of your cheek when you get nervous. I fell for you. The real you, not what the fans see.”

Matt laid there for a minute, not sure what to say. His heart was already full of emotion for this man. He just didn’t know how to put it into words. He’d just been through the worst time in his life with someone he thought loved him. He knew he couldn’t stay locked up inside himself forever, but wasn’t sure he wanted to take that leap right now. Then, Brian started to walk away. Matt felt empty inside, at the loss of Brian’s touch. Something in his brain screamed at him, and he couldn’t ignore it. “I fell for the way your hair feels on my chest.” Matt blurted out before his heart could stop his brain. “That night that I let Paul drive and we fell asleep in the backs eat? I woke up with your head on my chest. I fell for you that very minute. I never wanted you to wake up.” Brian walked back to the bed and took Matt’s hand. “I’m bigger than you, but having your head on my chest made me feel so safe. I love you. I can’t loose you.”

Brian pulled up a chair, and sat next to the bed still holding Matt’s hand. “I love you too.” He said, kissing each of Matt’s fingers. “That’s why I’m not leaving.”