Chapter 1



The clock read 2:30am. Matty had been gone for 2 hours now. An empty box of tissues sat on the nightstand, surrounded by crumpled piles of the soggy remains. Jeff knew something was wrong - it had been for weeks. Ever since they had asked Matt if he wanted to switch to the Smackdown roster. As Jeff checked the clock one more time, he knew he had to be honest with himself. Things between him and Matt had been tense for longer than that. Jeff thought back, trying to remember when he first realized there was a problem.

"Where ya goin'?" Matt stopped at the sound of Jeff's sleepy voice rising from the bed. He was almost out the door when he heard it. Turning back to the bed, he replied, "just goin' down the hall to get somethin' to drink." Matt kissed Jeff's forehead. Jeff smiled and rolled over, quickly falling back into his dreams. With a sly smile, Matt checked his appearance in the mirror once more, then left the room. What Jeff don't know won't hurt him, Matt thought as he made his way down the hall.

That was a month ago. Matty seemed to be thirsty a lot since then. From the outside, things seemed to be the same. Matt still booked Jeff's matches, still made sure he was up on time every day, fed him, comforted him…and fucked him on a daily basis. That was the problem, though. Matt never looked him in the eye anymore, not when they were in bed. It usually lasted long enough for Matt to get off, and there had been a few times when he had completely forgotten about getting Jeff off in the process.

2:45. Jeff reached for his cell phone and hit the memory dial button. It rang a few times before he heard a familiar voice answer. "Yeah?" Jeff swallowed a few times before speaking, trying to soothe the rawness of his throat. "Shane?" he asked, his voice cracking. On the other end of the phone, Shane sat up in bed, trying his best not to wake the man lying next to him. "Jeffy?" Shane asked quietly. "What's wrong, honey?" Jeff stopped trying to hide the pain in his voice, or the tears in his eyes.

"Oh, Shane," he began. "He did it again!" Shane looked at the clock and saw what time it was. He ran his hand down over his face, then asked, "how long he been gone?" Jeff looked at the clock. The scary thing was, he knew that answer down to the second. "Coupla hours," Jeff said. "He…" Jeff's voice choked on his tears. "He fucked me, then waited until he thought I was sleepin' and snuck out…as usual." Shane sighed as he heard Jeff break down crying again.

"Shit, Jeffy," he said. "I'm sorry, man. I wish I knew what to say to ya, but I ain't got a clue." On the other end of the phone, Jeff nodded. "I know, Sugar," he replied. "Ya ain't ever had nobody treat ya like this 'fore." Shane looked down as the blankets started to stir next to him. A sleepy green eye peeked out from under the blanket. Shane smiled down at his lover, knowing Jeff's words were true.

"Who ya talkin' to?" Jeff sniffled on the other end of the phone. Shane moved the phone away from his mouth and whispered, "Jeffy." Jeff looked at the clock again before saying, "What?" Shane shook his head before answering Jeff. "Sorry," he said, "Shan asked who was on the phone." Shannon had sat up next to Shane, his head on Shane's shoulder, trying to listen to the conversation.

"What's a matter?" Shannon asked, his voice still heavy with sleep. Shane covered the mouthpiece of the phone and turned to Shannon. "Matt left him again," Shane said. He watched as Shannon's sweet, cherubic face turned dark and menacing. Shannon reached out and grabbed the phone from Shane, cursing under his breath.

"Jeffy baby?" Shannon said as gently as possible. Jeffy wiped his eyes, as if Shannon could see him through the phone. "Shanny!" he said, trying to sound cheerful. "Sorry I woke ya up." Shannon rolled his eyes. "Don't worry 'bout it, Jeff," he said. Shannon knew he was trying to act brave, but he had known Jeff far too long for that to work. "Tell me what happened, baby." He heard Jeff cough, knowing he was holding back the tears that seemed to come on a daily basis now.

As Jeff explained to Shannon everything that had happened that day, Shannon couldn't help but think of how badly he wanted to kick Matt's ass for putting Jeff through all this pain, this torture. When Jeff had stopped talking, Shannon said the only thing he could at that moment. "Baby, I know you love him, but he ain't worth all this. Leave him, Jeffy. That's the only way you're gonna get better, the only way you're gonna be happy."

Jeff nodded, knowing Shannon was right. But where would he go? What would he do? Who would take care of him now? He was about to ask Shannon for answers to the questions on his mind when he heard a noise outside the door. "I gotta go," Jeff whispered into the receiver. "I think he's back." Shannon sighed. "Call me if ya need anything," Shannon said. "Don't care what time it is or nothin'. You need me, you call." He heard Jeff say something before the line went dead. Shannon closed the phone and sighed as he put it back on the nightstand. Shane reached for him, holding Shannon as close as he could, knowing he wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night.

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