Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) do not own any of the characters in this story. Or the setting. Or anything that comes directly from the programme (obviously – as they're from the programme.)
Pairings: JP/Spike to begin with, but it will be McDean – I promise! They are destined. I just can't make Spike be a complete bastard because that's harsh and it's not his fault he's in the way.
Anyway, this story is set just under a month after what has happened in the programme.
Craig took a deep breath to steady himself as stood on his former, and hopefully future, best friend's doorstep. He slowly raised his hand to ring the doorbell, snatching his hand away again before berating himself for his ridiculous behaviour. No longer nervous, he rang the bell, hoping that the door would be answered by someone at least a little sympathetic towards him. After Jacqui's warning to him to stay away from John Paul only a week before, Craig severely hoped that he would not bump into the ex-convict on this visit. Luckily, it was Myra who answered. She hurriedly bustled him in and told him that John Paul was just eating his breakfast in the kitchen.
On the way through the house, Craig couldn't help but remember the path he had taken the last time that he had been here. How John Paul had let his distraught friend in, given him a drink and been undeservedly kind to him. How Craig himself had kissed him, while John Paul simply stood there, stunned. How he had led him up to the bedroom where they had had the best sex that Craig had ever experienced. How Craig had then thrown everything back into John Paul's face, calling him 'faggot' and spitting at him. He felt sickened by what he had done then, but even more so now at how he had reacted to it and treated John Paul afterwards. He only hoped that there was still a chance for them.
Finally reaching his destination, Craig pushed the door open before shutting it gently. His eyes widened and his breath hitched. If he had been in any doubt that he was attracted to his friend, all doubt was now irrevocably shattered. John Paul was sitting facing away from him, wearing a pair of grey pyjama bottoms. It wasn't a particularly 'sexy' outfit, but Craig could help but stare at the contours on his friend's back and the beautiful blond hair, which, he knew, was so soft.
To be completely honest, he had no idea exactly what he felt for the other boy, but he was sure that whatever it was, it was definitely not platonic. These feelings, Craig was very much looking forward to discovering and exploring. Eventually Craig pulled out of his daze and remembered why he had come here. He quickly cleared his throat and prepared himself for the following onslaught.
John Paul was surprised when he heard a noise behind him. His mum was in the living room writing a shopping list and everyone else apart from Michaela was out – she was still sleeping off a Sonny induced hangover. He was so surprised, in fact, that he dropped his spoon and spun around, only to find himself face to face with the love of his life who had more recently ruined said life, Craig Dean.
"What the hell are you doing here, Craig?" John Paul hissed, feeling slightly panicked. He rose from his chair and backed away slightly.
"I… I needed to talk to you. To apologise for what I did. That should never have happened."
"I think you've made it clear enough that you don't think it should have happened. Why can't you just leave me --" John Paul could feel his anger rising but forced himself to keep his voice calm. It wouldn't do for the whole street to hear this. It wouldn't do for anyone to hear any of it.
"That's not what I meant." Craig said hastily, cutting John Paul off. "I mean, I'm sorry about what I called you. That was completely out of order and unforgivable, I know, but if you did forgive me, I would do anything – absolutely anything you wanted to make you believe how truly sorry I am for it. I'd..."
At that point, Myra called from the other room. "Well I'm out now – you sure you don't want anything from the shop?"
John Paul bit his lips to stop himself exploding from what Craig had just told him. After having gathered his thoughts again, he called back to his mum "Actually, Michaela, Mercedes and Russ drank nearly all the beer last night – only have a couple of bottles left. D'ya think you could get some more?" After hearing an affirmative answer and finally hearing the door click shut, John Paul gestured to another chair, motioning for Craig to sit on it.
"You're right," he said finally. "It was unforgivable. But even more than that, what you did… what we did before that was unforgivable. I mean, how would Sarah and Spike feel if they ever found out?"
"They won't find out, John Paul. I'm not gonna say anything and neither are you." Craig growled, standing up and walking over to John Paul. "This is just between you…" at this he put one hand behind John Paul's neck and the other on his chest, "…and me," he whispered before leaning in to kiss the slightly shorter boy.
Behind the door, Spike's jaw dropped, as he heard what could not be mistaken for anything other than two people kissing passionately. He had been worried about his boyfriend but mostly put the stress down to exam nerves. Now, after they were all over, he had bought tickets to a concert and arranged a day out for him and John Paul to spend some time together. He had arrived just as Myra was leaving, so she let him in, telling him that John Paul and Craig were in the kitchen talking. It didn't take an idiot to see that something had happened to make the two less close than they had been, and that John Paul was less than happy about it, so Spike had sat on the sofa waiting for the two to finish up in the kitchen.
Not long after he had sat down, he heard his name being mentioned, 'how would Sarah and Spike feel if they ever found out?' Now, Spike wasn't normally one to eavesdrop but if there was something concerning him, he felt that he had a right to find out what it was. Spike was just about to burst through the door and demand to know what was going on, when he heard a crash from the other side and his boyfriend's angry voice.
John Paul had pushed Craig off of him and was now staring wide eyed at him. "What the hell did you do that for? Haven't you been listening to a single word I've been saying?"
Craig looked down at the floor where he was lying, not having moved from where he had been thrown. "I know… it's just that I thought…"
"You thought what?" John Paul broke in. "That whenever you're feeling a bit 'bi-curious' or whatever you could just come round here and I'd let you… I'd let you do this to me?" He flinched as he stuttered over his words, not wanting Craig to see how affected he was by his attentions. "I'm gonna go put a shirt on," he muttered, walking towards the door.
Outside, Spike was shaking as mixed emotions coursed through his body. To begin with, it sounded like John Paul had been cheating on him with Craig, but then afterwards he had been the one to stop the kiss and then say it shouldn't have happened. Also, Spike felt a little guilty about listening to a conversation that he probably shouldn't, as there was, so far, no real evidence to prove that John Paul had done anything wrong.
"Wait," Craig quickly sprung to his feet and rushed to the door, keeping it closed.
"Get away from the door," John Paul said quietly, reminding them both of when they had been doing the same thing in the art room when John Paul apologised for telling Craig he loved him. Except now it was Craig who was doing the explaining.
"Please, John Paul. I just… I need you. And I thought you loved me. Isn't that what you said?" Craig was close to tears and he knew he was starting to whine, but at that point he didn't care. He just needed John Paul to understand how he felt.
John Paul on the other hand was sure that his heart pounding could be heard in Australia. He was confused but remembered what he had promised himself. "No, Craig. I told you no. This can't happen. You have no right to just use me and use my feelings for you. I might love you, but I hate what you've done to me. I was getting over you. Do you have any idea how hard that was? But I was, and now… now you're saying that I don't have to and it's just doing my head in. The way I feel about you is killing me Craig, and you don't care one bit."
Craig was shocked at the sudden turn around in John Paul's character, but managed to maintain his composure long enough to find a way to potentially turn it to his favour. "Of course I care!" he admonished. Cutting John Paul off before he could deny it, he continued "I care about you so much, and I…" here he took in a deep breath. "I think I'm in love with you."
Outside, Spike was in tears, knowing that he had lost John Paul forever. Everyone knew John Paul loved Craig more than anyone and that he would be thrown away like a used tissue the second JP had a chance for a relationship with Craig. He paused as he turned away however, thinking that he should probably hear the end of this. It was nothing like what he had expected.
"NO!" John Paul shouted. "You're not. Don't say that. Don't say things you don't mean. You're just saying that so that I'll sleep with you again and then you're gonna go running back to Sarah. Just like last time. We're better off just being friends, so leave me alone."
The shock of this revelation was almost too much for Spike, who was caught between being ecstatic that John Paul hadn't gone off with Craig and sickened that he had cheated on him.
"You're wrong," Craig tried to reassure him. "I won't do that again. I'll be here for you…"
"No you won't," John Paul snarled back. "You never are. And you know what? No one will be. The one good thing in my life has been ruined because of you. Spike's been the best damn thing that's happened to me in a long time and now you've taken that away from me."
Craig swallowed loudly before trying one more time. "So are you gonna tell him, or what? He won't understand, you know. Not like I do."
"I don't know." John Paul sighed. "He deserves… he deserves so much better than all of this; than me. I mean, I feel like I should tell him. What kind of relationship is built on lies and cheating? But then all those agony aunt things say that he's better off not knowing and that if I tell him, it'll be for me and not for him. All I know is that I can't lie to him. If he asks, I'm gonna have to tell him."
At this point, Spike felt that it would best if he made his entrance. He wasn't quite sure exactly what he was going to say, but had a fair idea of where to start. He pushed the door open as gently as he could, given how angry he was feeling and surveyed the scene before him. John Paul was sitting on the floor in the centre of the room: his legs were under his chin and tears were streaming down his face. Craig was kneeling in front of him, his hands on JP's shoulders.
The three of them stayed in silence for a while, as the force of what this could mean hit them. Spike couldn't keep his eyes off of JP, while he was staring fixedly at the floor. Craig had a face rather like one of a startled bunny and looked unsure of which of the two he should be looking at. Finally, he moved away from John Paul and sat down on a chair, his face in his hands.
At that point, Spike decided to break the silence. "No need to tell me – I heard for myself. Your mum let me in and I wasn't meaning to listen, I just overheard and…" He was rambling, but knew that he had to keep talking to keep away from the deathly silence of before.
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Spike. You aren't the one who's done anything wrong." John Paul's voice sounded broken and defeated, but he bit his lip to force himself not to cry. He didn't deserve any sympathy. "I'm so, so sorry. I know it doesn't help but…"
"We need to talk." Came the stony reply. Spike was surprised at how calm his voice was remaining; a complete contrast to the rest of him. At this, he looked pointedly at Craig. "Get out Dean, before I do something I… no wait, I won't regret it."
"Nah – no way am I leaving you alone with him while you're in this mood." Craig felt that he had done enough letting JP get hurt while he just stood around for one lifetime. He couldn't do it again.
Without lifting his head, John Paul pleaded with Craig. "Just go. I'll be fine. Just, please, leave."
Craig gave the two of them one last sneer before disappearing through the door and running out of the house, not allowing the tears to fall until after his was well beyond hearing range of those who had caused them. His phone beeped as he received a text message. Looking at his phone, he saw Sarah's number flashing with the text reminding him to meet her in five minutes. Smirking, he walked up to the Dog to clean himself up before going to see his beautiful girlfriend. 'Two can play at that game,' he thought.
As I said, JP and Craig will get together, I just think that Craig should have to work a bit harder for it considering everything that's happened.
What do you think?