He was shy undressing in front of the other men. He had never felt this way before, but after last night...
Joe pulled his shirt around him, glancing about the locker room. Sabin had seen the self conscious gesture, and shot him a smirk. The tumble haired brunette stepped towards him, leaning down to quip into his ear, "No one's gonna look at you." He snorted, gesturing with his chin to the other side of the locker room, where Austin was standing in a thong, debating between two pairs of tasseled tights.
Joe scowled, grabbing his bag and stomping out of the room. Maybe he could find a closet to change in. The idea was embarrassing, but he just couldn't take it today. He didn't think there was any physical evidence of last night...but what if there was? What if the guys could tell? He cursed when he heard footsteps behind him, turning to find Sabin's curious gaze upon him.
"What?" he demanded.
Sabin shrugged. "Just wondering where you're going."
"I - " Joe swallowed, not used to lying on his feet. "I left something in my car."
"Parking lot's that way." Sabin pointed in the opposite direction.
Joe froze. He tried to force himself to say that he'd gotten disorientated, but they had filmed here so often, it just wouldn't be believable. Besides that, he was a terrible liar. "Oh. I was - I was going to the bathroom first."
Sabin didn't respond to the unconvincing lie, gazing at him speculatively. "I've never seen you like this," he stated at last. "You're a headstrong, no-bullshit asshole. Now you're paranoid that the guys're gonna ogle you while you're changing? Doesn't add up."
Joe gritted his teeth. Sabin couldn't tell. There was no way he could tell. No one could possibly know. Unless...unless Kurt had told them. But he wouldn't have. Of course he wouldn't have.
"Hey Joe."
Joe couldn't hide a wince. This was the worst possible time for Kurt to show up. Sabin already thought something was up, and there was no way he could hide his discomfort around the Olympian. He assumed Kurt would just say hi, and pretend like nothing had happened...but to his great horror, Kurt put an arm around his waist, giving his ass a little squeeze. All this, right in front of Sabin.
"I had a good time last night," Kurt told him with a grin. "I got other plans tonight, but maybe we can hook up sometime again." He gave Joe another humiliating slap on the ass, then continued down the corridor.
Joe stared after him in disbelief. Kurt was acting like they had hooked up. He was doing it openly, in front of their coworkers. His jaw quivered a bit, and he fought an unfamiliar urge to cry. He was way too tough for this. This simply couldn't be happening to him.
Almost worse than the churning in his gut was the amused smile Sabin turned on him. "So, you and Kurt?" Sabin chuckled. He had no idea what he was talking about. Joe would've liked to smack him and scream that he had absolutely no idea what had happened. "Didn't expect that. Everyone hooks up, Joe. Maybe you don't much, but the fact that you did doesn't mean the locker room'll suddenly be all over you."
Joe really wanted to hit him. But it wasn't Sabin that he really, truly wanted to hurt right now; it was himself. He had assumed that because he was big and bad, nothing could ever happen to him. He had assumed that Kurt's only interest in him was as a buddy. He had assumed...and like the saying went, he had been made a fool. He had let himself have a few drinks, and been enticed up to Kurt's room for another. He had seen no potential harm from that. When Kurt spilled a drink on him, he had assumed it was a simple accident, and taken his shirt off without hesitation.
It was only when he was pushed onto the bed that he began to realize. But even then, he couldn't really believe it. This sort of thing didn't happen to big, strong guys who could defend themselves...it happened to silly little twinks. Maybe it could happen to Petey Williams, or Shark Boy. But not him. Never guys like him.
Sabin was looking at him, watching the play of emotions across his face. The young star chewed his lip, looking genuinely concerned. "Joe, you know I think you're an asshole...but are you ok?"
Joe's jaw was shaking too much for him to answer. He didn't know how to handle this. He didn't have any friends in the locker room, so he couldn't tell anyone. Not that he would ever admit what had happened to him. Things like that didn't happen to guys like him. Never guys like him.
"Fuck off, Sabin." He turned around, striding away as quickly as he could. Why the hell did Sabin suddenly give a shit? He never had before. Of course, most of his interaction with the other X Division boys involved him looking down his nose at them, writing them off as silly twittering twinks. When they complained about men, he had always rolled his eyes, thinking it the most ridiculous whining. He didn't date; why, when it was such a bother? He got his energy out through working out, he didn't need to sleep around like they did.
And despite that, despite all that, this had happened to him. How capitally unfair was that? Joe stopped, dropping his bag and leaning his head back against the wall. He couldn't get it out of his mind. Kurt pinning him down on the bed, and him too inebriated to push the Olympian off. He couldn't understand why. Kurt didn't have any problem getting guys. And he could certainly get guys slimmer and pretty than Joe, more muscular than Joe, more experienced than Joe. Why?
Joe sunk to the floor, resting his forehead on his knees. He had never felt this way before. Never. He didn't know how to cope with it. He didn't even know where to begin. It was just so unfair...so unfair.
His head jerked up when he felt a hand on his hair. He stared up into the eyes of Abyss, who was kneeling next to him. Abyss stroked his hair, gently, as if he were petting a kitten. Joe just stared at him, too hurt and confused to even bat the big man's hand away.
"Abyss!" Christian's voice echoed down the hallway. The big man's head turned as the Champ approached. "There you are." Christian offered his hand, and Abyss glanced from him to Joe, then took the offered hand, climbing to his feet. "What the hell's wrong with you?" Christian scoffed, eyeing Joe. "Big man spook you?" He rolled his eyes, taking Abyss' hand and leading him away.
Abyss glanced back at Joe, and their eyes briefly met. Then
Christian and Abyss disappeared around the corner, and Joe was left
alone, even more confused then before.