Set immediately after John Paul confessing that Finn raped him. My take on how things transpired.
"I know you're telling the truth Nancy, because he raped me too".
There was complete silence as everyone absorbed the information that John Paul had revealed. John Paul looked to the floor, avoiding any form of eye-contact with anyone. Nancy was the first person to break the silence as she stammered, "Wh… what? He-"
She was interrupted by Diane, who took a step towards the man who had turned as white as a sheet.
"This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed, "as if our Finn would rape anyone, let alone his teacher; his male teacher who's about a decade older than him!"
She paused as she looked between John Paul and Nancy, before snaking an arm around her son's shoulder.
"This is some sort of sick wind-up, isn't it? You're just ganging up on my innocent boy"
"There ain't nothing innocent about this little pervert!" Ste cried, pointing at Finn, "Do you really think John Paul would accuse him of rape for no reason? When he told me, I could see that it was the hardest thing he's ever had to do, he wouldn't just tell all of you for the sake of it!"
John Paul grabbed Ste's arm to silence him. Jack emerged from behind Darren, though nobody noticed him escaping in the first place. This was followed by the sound of car doors slamming which startled everyone in the pub. A trio of police officers marched in.
"Finn O'Connor?" one of them called out. Everyone turned to stare at Finn, whose face had become red and was staring at his shoes.
"Would you come with us please?" they asked. Finn shook his head and stepped away.
"Sir, if you don't comply with us then we're gonna have to arrest you" a second officer told him.
"I haven't done anything!" Finn shouted. The third officer grabbed his arm and Finn tried to shake him off. Tony grabbed Finn's shoulders and looked into his eyes.
"Finn, if you're innocent then you have nothing to worry about" he assured him, searching for a guilty reaction from his step-son. Finn glanced at Diane and Tony helplessly before removing himself from Tony's grip. The officer led him away, whilst the remaining two looked around.
"We'd also like to speak to the victims", one of them announced. Nancy stepped forwards whilst John Paul shrunk backwards at being labelled a 'victim'. Ste squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"You need to go" he murmured, "You can do this"
John Paul looked into Ste's eyes pleadingly.
"I'll wait for you" Ste told him before gently pushing John Paul forwards. With one last glance towards his boyfriend, John Paul followed Nancy out of The Dog.
Frankie - always one to try to lighten the mood - suddenly noted, "why is this place so popular for these kinds of reveals all of a sudden? First Maxine, now John Paul"
"I can't believe it" Esther admitted, shocked, "I don't want to believe that Finn's capable of something like that, or that John Paul went through all of that"
"When did it happen?" Darren asked Ste quietly
"January" Ste replied shortly, checking his pockets to make sure that he had everything.
"He's been dealing with this on his own the entire time?" Frankie asked, aghast.
"Only a few people knew, until today" Ste told them
"Well it certainly explains his behaviour over the last few months" Jack added, "lashing out at Robbie, losing his job, not fighting to stay out of prison"
"Among other things" Ste retorted grimly, "look, I'm heading down to the station if anyone wants to join me"
"Yeah, I need to be with Nancy" Darren stated, joining Ste.
The men exited whilst the rest of the guests remained standing, still in a state of shock.
xxx
Ste stood outside the police station, staring at the star lit sky. He didn't particularly want to sit inside, partly because the air and atmosphere was stifling, and partly because he had been in that place far too many times in his life and was sick of it. He was taken out of his trance by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind. He spun around to face John Paul and immediately threw his arms around him in a tight embrace. John Paul relaxed into his arms and rested his head on Ste's shoulder. They stood in their hold for a while before Ste eventually pulled away.
"Are you ok?" he asked, holding his boyfriend's face in his hands.
John Paul paused before replying, "I don't know"
Ste let his hands fall before taking one of John Paul's in one of his own. They began to walk away from the police station.
"I'm proud of you" Ste told him after a long silence. John Paul looked at him quizzically,
"For what?" John Paul asked, "For waiting nearly nine months to tell the truth, for almost letting the same thing happen to one of my best friends?"
Ste shook his head, "For telling the truth. You didn't choose to do that, you didn't do it to get back at Finn or for attention. You did it to support Nancy" he paused, "I know how difficult that must have been for you, and that was the bravest, most selfless thing I've ever seen anyone do in my life. And that's saying something"
John Paul smiled faintly, cheeks turning slightly pink. He glanced at Ste.
"I'm sorry for lying to you"
Ste raised an eyebrow, "I don't really get why you did that"
John Paul's eyes met Ste's, "Ste, if I hadn't shown up when I did, you would have killed him. And as much as I hate Finn - and I really hate Finn - he doesn't deserve to die" Ste scoffed so John Paul continued, "he deserves to be punished, but he should be alive while he is"
xxx
Once they had reached the McQueen house, John Paul dropped his hand from Ste's and reached into his pocket to find the key.
"Do you want to come in for a drink?" John Paul suggested, "I know I could use one, or two, or three - you see where I'm going with this"
Ste chuckled, "yeah, I reckon we both need it"
John Paul smiled and slipped the key into the lock. As he went to open the door he paused and looked to the ground.
"Ste…" John Paul began, sounding uncertain as he looked up at his boyfriend, who raised an eyebrow.
"I love you" he declared.
Ste's face broke into a wide grin, "I love you too" he responded gently.
John Paul shook his head and choked out, "No, I mean I'm in love with you. Completely and utterly. I can't even put into words how in love with you I am"
Ste's eyes glistened and he swallowed a lump in his throat. He opened his mouth to reply but John Paul wasn't quite finished as he turned around to face him properly.
"I don't know how I would have got through any of this without you. You've been amazing and I never even thanked you"
Ste moved towards him and stroked his cheek, "you don't have to thank me" he assured him.
John Paul let out a breath and rested his forehead against Ste's.
"Plus, I feel the same about you" Ste admitted. They both smiled and kissed tenderly. As they broke apart, their eyes met and they closed the distance to kiss again, this time with more passion. John Paul reached behind him and pushed the door open. Without breaking their kiss they stumbled through the front door and John Paul pulled on Ste's slightly unbuttoned shirt to drag him up the stairs…
xxx
"So much for that drink" Ste muttered, running his fingers through John Paul's hair. John Paul sat up in his bed.
"If you still want one-" he began, but Ste grabbed his arm and pulled him down into his original position so that John Paul's head was resting against his chest.
"Nope, you're perfect right here" he responded, before kissing him lovingly.
They stayed in that position for a short while before Ste wriggled onto his side to face John Paul.
"Are you ok?" he asked, rubbing his boyfriend's arm. John Paul raised an eyebrow,
"About what?"
"Well I was referring mainly to this, but I guess in general really"
"It's been an eventful day" John Paul admitted, "But I don't regret any of it"
"Really?"
John Paul nodded and linked his fingers with Ste's, "I'm glad that this happened now. Not that yesterday was the wrong time or anything"
"Yeah, I guess this kind marks the end of the Finn situation"
John Paul shook his head, "the thing is though, it's not the end, it's only the beginning"
The boys were oblivious to Marlena standing outside the door, practically jumping for joy about the fact that Ste and her beloved grandson had finally consummated their relationship. Against her better judgement, she placed her ear to the door in the hope of eavesdropping on their afterglow conversation.
"Now I have to tell my family" Marlena heard from John Paul. She was slightly puzzled: tell them what?
"How do you think they'll react?"
John Paul scoffed, "do you not know my family? They'll want to rip Finn apart, limb by limb"
Finn? Marlena was confused. What had Finn done?
"Yeah, I can imagine Mercedes acting the same way that I did" Ste noted before asking, "Do you reckon it will be the same as when Jacqui was raped?"
Marlena reeled backwards in shock, hand over her mouth. Had she heard right? Finn O'Connor had raped her grandson?
"I don't know" John Paul admitted, "Jacqui was the oldest and the strongest, but she's female. It might be different for me"
"It shouldn't matter" Ste argued, "I do know your family, and I know they'll support and defend you", he snickered "you're McQueen's, that's what you do"
John Paul chortled, "Yeah, you're right", then he sighed, "But how do I tell them that a boy overpowered me, raped me?"
They were interrupted by the door swinging open to reveal Marlena in the gloomy hallway, looking tired and grey, eyes wide with shock. The boys pulled the duvet up to cover themselves more. John Paul's face had turned pale again as he realised that his Nana had overheard most - if not all - of their conversation.
I hope people enjoyed this; I was just inspired by the reveal episode and the aftermath - they were so good! I also hope that it linked to what was actually shown (Marlena finding out about John Paul's ordeal) and that it wasn't too cheesy: I do have a habit of doing that! I do have one more one-shot planned that doesn't really link to this, though it does involve Ste. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviews are always welcome!