PART SEVEN

Craig

"Never have I ever declared my love for my best friend only to be rejected" Spike says maliciously. The atmosphere in the group changes immediately and becomes charged with emotion as silence descends on the room. Everyone's looking at everyone else to see who it is that Spike's expecting to drink because it's clear he does expect someone to drink, the question was pretty direct. My eyes inevitably go to John Paul's only to see them looking fearfully back at me, his facial expression stripped of emotion, though the lick of his lips kind of gives him away. Glancing around the others again, they all seem to have different degrees of 'what the fuck is going on' about them as they wait for the scene to unfold, whatever the scene may be.

Flicking my eyes back to John Paul's, I give a slight shake of my head, imperceptible to everyone but the one person looking at me intently. He gives a little nod in return, his lip caught between his teeth as he relaxes back into his seat, arms folded once more. Hannah turns and glances at me guiltily over her shoulder but again, I give her a look that says 'leave it' and she averts her eyes away again. That just leaves Sarah then who I can feel is watching me curiously.

"Come on John Paul, aren't you going to have your drink?" Spike goads blatantly looking from me to his boyfriend.

"Fuck off Spike, stop being a wanker!" I spit out, drawing the attention from John Paul back to me.

"What do you care? You turned him down flat, remember?" he throws back. Sarah turns in her seat, eyes blazing.

"What's he talking about Craig?" I shrug my shoulders, confusion written all over my face.

"No idea, he's delusional" I tell her, cupping her cheek in my palm and leaning in to kiss and placate her. Clearly she realises there's no smoke without fire as she pulls away sharply, her gaze this time focused on my best friend, clearly spotting the weak link in the drama.

"John Paul?" He looks physically sick as seven pairs of eyes turn to him and that's it, I have to do something, I can't stand the thought of him feeling humiliated twice over the same incident, the first when he did declare his love and I said nothing, causing him to run off in tears and the second time now, suffering humiliation at the hands of his jealous boyfriend, just because the prick hates me. Picking up my shot glass, I down it in one, slamming it hard enough on the table to get everyones attention.

"It's no big deal Sarah, alright, I was pissed and we went clubbing and I told John Paul I loved him... like a brother" I hasten to add.

"And?" I glance over at John Paul to see relief filtering into those magnificent blue eyes of his, the look of pure tenderness and gratitude he's sending my way making everything worthwhile.

"And he shot me down, said he's got five sisters, what the fuck would he need with a brother as well" I say heartily, smiling smugly at a fuming Spike, grinning and feeling like a weight is being lifted from my shoulders when John Paul visibly relaxes.

"I meant it though" I suddenly blurt out, my eyes locking on his startled ones. His brows furrow and I feel butterflies frenziedly attacking my inside. "Just not as a brother" I say sincerely, never taking my eyes from his. It's finally Nancy who breaks the silence, gesturing from me to John Paul with the jug as she refills my glass with the rapidly depleting daiquiri mix.

"You mean you...and him?" she asks confused. I laugh self consciously at her unfinished question, my hand easing the tension in my neck as I turn my gaze back to John Paul.

"I don't care who knows it, you're more than a brother. You can't pick your family but you can pick your mates and you're the best friend I've ever had, love you to bits mate and I'd do anything for you...anything!" I'm not sure exactly why I chose that moment to voice my sentiments so vehemently or which of the two of them it was aimed at, probably both but as I finish my little impromptu speech with a flourish, I catch Spike's eyes, the venom in them doing absolutely nothing to ward me off. If he thinks I'm going to give my best mate up to the likes of him without a fight, he's got another thing coming.

"Right well, that's all lovely and romantic Craig, I'm going for a slash...anyone for more drinks?" Spike asks as he levers himself up off the settee. He looks around the room, shrugs and then heads off in search of the bathroom. Hannah turns around and lets out a huge breath, as though she was waiting for him to leave before breathing and Lewis and Freddy get up and grab the glasses and the almost empty jug, refilling Sarah glass with the last of it before heading through to the kitchen.

"Well, that was fun" Nancy says sarcastically, rolling her eyes at our friends.

"Hmm, very enlightening" Sarah agrees, looking right at me and giving me a slap. "You'd better not have been having sex with me when you were thinking of someone else...oh my God, you were!" she starts off teasing but by the end of it she's looking at me incredulous, shaking her head as though to ward off the thought, her mouth wide open. I frown at her, about to disagree but something in my expression must've set her off because she literally puts her face in her hands and starts moaning. "Oh God, who is she?" I'm still shaking my head, palms up like I'm surrendering but somehow, I can't voice my denial. "Are you shagging her?" she accuses, her face contorted with shock. Hang on, how on earth has admitting I've thought of someone else during sex turned into me having a full blown affair?

I suddenly remember we aren't alone and look over to see John Paul looking back at me with a hint of amusement in his eyes, his brows raised and Hannah stroking Sarah's knee in a show of kindness towards her. Sarah then lifts her head and brushes Hannah's hand away, turning her face from Nancy to her best friend and then to me.

"It's not...you don't...tell me that the friend you wank over isn't here" she whispers. Hannah blushes like mad and Nancy...well she just snorts very unladylike into her drink, wiping her nose and covering her mouth as she starts spluttering. "Is it Craig? Is it one of our friends you think of when we're in bed?" I clear my throat, my mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land, feeling like one too as my mouth dries up making talking impossible. Ironically, it's John Paul who comes to my rescue.

"Sarah, listen to yourself. He probably just thinks about that bird off Soccer AM or ...what's her name, that girl off the soap that you said looks like Sarah?" he waves his hand at me, encouraging me to enlighten her. I'm drawing a blank though and despite Sarah looking expectantly back, all I can see is the blond hair and blue eyes of my mate staring back at me. "Kelly Foster, that's the one" he says clicking his fingers together.

"Right yeah" I take his lead, turning to Sarah and taking hold of her hands. "I'm not shagging anyone but you but believe me, if I did, you'd be the first to know, now can we just enjoy ourselves, please?" She nods her head stiffly and hands me her empty wine glass.

"I'll have another white wine please...oh and see if there're any of those pretzel things will you Babe?" she says, suddenly sounding more cheerful. I roll my eyes at John Paul, blushing when he shakes his head and winks back and then I go off in search of snacks before the next round of questions starts.

Rounding the corner, I stop dead just shy of the kitchen door when I hear Spike's voice coming from behind it, my ears pricking up as Freddy responds, mentioning John Paul's name.

"So you've been together a while then, you and John Paul?" I can pretty much picture Spike's nonchalant shrug of the shoulders as he answers.

"A little while. Boyfriends isn't really my thing, I don't do serious but he's not been out long and believe me, he's not one for casual" he says, his words making me smile on behalf of my friend. Good for John Paul holding off for a bit of commitment before putting out.

"What's he like then?" Lewis asks, sounding more eager than I'm comfortable with. I feel sick, physically sick that they're talking about him like a piece of fucking meat. I thought it was only girls that behaved like that. Then I remember how I'd been with Hannah and Sarah, curious when she'd let slip that her and John Paul had slept together for the first time and...I'm annoyed and disgusted with myself. I'm almost as bad as they are, worse even, seeing as he's my best friend. I'm brought out of my reverie when Spike speaks again, his usually cocky tone filled with contempt.

"How the fuck should I know? He hasn't let me go there yet" he spits out derisively. I hold back a giggle, listening on, shocked and delighted as Spike continues to elaborate to his captive audience. "I'm not kidding" he says mockingly, "John Paul acts like a frightened virgin every time things start to get interesting, you'd think a blow job was sacred or something" he continues with disgust.

"What so, he's not blown you either?" Freddy asks, laughing his head off at Spike. "There was me thinking you were just being a selfish prick" he says in reference to 'never ever', snorting with laughter once more. I'm having to hold back a giggle myself, in fact, I'm biting my lip so hard I think I might draw blood. No wonder Spike's been behaving like a Neanderthal if John Paul's been keeping him and his dick at arms length this whole time. The stomach ache I've been fending off for the last half hour or so, the one no doubt brought on by the dodgy pizza, seems to just disappear at the revelation, only to return ten fold, like a sucker punch to my solar plexus at Spike's next words.

"Fuck off! Besides...tonights the night and given the opportunity I'm in there...fair game right?' he says lewdly. I stand there for another couple of seconds, long enough to hear the conversation turn towards which of the girls Lewis and Freddy fancy most and then I move, trance like, back into the living room, my head filling with images of Spike and John Paul, his last words reverberating round in my head in a continuous loop, 'I'm in there...fair game right?'

Walking back into the living room, I notice Nancy's now sitting beside John Paul, talking to him a mile a minute and making him laugh, so I take the seat I've just vacated beside Sarah, glancing at John Paul, catching his eyes for a second to exchange a smile before he turns back away.

"Drink Babe?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, that'd be great, thanks I'll uhm...I'll have a bottle of lager...no! Vodka, if there is any" I say, figuring I need something stronger. I glance at Sarah and throw her a smile before getting immersed back in my thoughts...or trying to.

"No Craig, you said you were getting me a drink, wine remember?" She frowns at me like I've forgotten. Okay so yeah, I had forgotten but I was hardly going to walk on in there and face Spike after what I'd just heard, besides, I had more pressing matters to deal with.

"Yeah...sorry I forgot". I know I'm distracted and she'll probably sulk because I'm not giving her my full attention but...Jesus Christ, John Paul's been seeing Spike for weeks and he's not so much as given him a blow job? Why? I mean, it's obvious to me why I wouldn't but he's John Paul's boyfriend, you don't go out with someone unless you fancy them do you? So how come he's barely let him touch him? Me, I'd be repulsed, I can't stand his arrogance and the way he smirks that cocky ass grin of his would make me want to punch him not kiss him but still, John Paul obviously likes him or they wouldn't be going out.

He laughs again and I find my eyes once more drawn in his direction. It's weird but after hearing what I did from Spike's own mouth, I can't help looking at him differently now. I can't help seeing the innocence in him, the same way I can when I look at Hannah. Thinking about it, when he's with Spike, kissing and touching and stuff, it's always his boyfriend that instigates it. Lifting my hand to my mouth, I start chewing on my thumb, trying to pinpoint a time we've been out together when he's rung Spike and not the other way around and I can't, I'm sure there hasn't been one.

Maybe he's just completely ambivalent when it comes to sex. I know when we talked after him and Hannah did the deed he wasn't exactly enthused but after he came out, I put it down to the fact she's a girl, besides, she seemed to think it was great. Perhaps I'm right and he's really just not interested in getting physical at all, regardless of the person. Grinning to myself, I realise that's what it is.

Then the scene from before plays out in my mind and I throw my theory away. Picturing the way he was responding to Spike's touch when they were together on the settee, his boyfriend kissing him, stroking his naked skin beneath his shirt, there's no way I can kid myself he wasn't interested, wasn't enjoying it.

Biting at my nail, I can't help the overwhelming feeling of sadness and anger that attacks me at the thought of him and Spike doing...more. Spike who's admitted to shagging at least three different people in a day, sleeping with strangers and having threesomes. Seriously, John Paul, with him, it doesn't bare thinking about.

As if hearing my thoughts, the bastard comes back into the room, standing next to the sofa until Nancy looks up at him. He's clearly expecting her to get up and move but, good for her, she just raises an eyebrow at him and goes back to talking to John Paul, leaving Spike standing there looking like a right moron. He covers it well, handing John Paul the drink he's brought in for him, leaning down to kiss him hard on the mouth before backing up and sitting on the floor where Nancy was sat earlier, cocking his head to the side as he listens in on the conversation.

John Paul's gaze sweeps around the room a couple of times but it's like he's consciously not looking in my direction as his eyes seems to stop at Freddy and then flick back to Nancy, the thought that he's purposely ignoring me making me uneasy. I watch as John Paul lifts the frosted beverage to his lips and takes a gulp, grimacing and frowning into the glass for a clue of what the hell it is that he's drinking. Sarah slides ungracefully across the settee when I nudge her off my knee and reach out towards John Paul, wiggling my fingers at him until he looks up from his conversation, his brows raised.

"I'm gagging for a drink mate, any chance...?" John Paul smiles warmly and hands me the glass but almost drops it when he lets go before I'm even hold of it. "Easy there" I say chuckling, watching as a flush spreads like rapid fire over his cheeks. He ducks his head bashfully but not before I see those sparkling blue eyes of his light up at my gentle teasing, his lips curving into a lopsided smile. I grin back over the rim of the glass as I take a sip, the liquid fire of the undiluted flavoured vodka burning the back of my throat. Bloody hell, that's potent, what's Spike trying to do, get him pissed?

Then it occurs to me, of course he's trying to get John Paul drunk, he's intent on bedding him tonight, he said so himself. I can feel a fire ignite in my belly but this isn't from the alcohol, it's from the realisation that Spike's trying to take advantage of John Paul, lower his defenses so he can fuck him. That in mind, I grab one of the mixer bottles of lemonade off the table and top up the vodka until it's overflowing, taking a quick sip and licking the drop of liquid from the edge of the glass before passing it back to John Paul. He looks a little tense as he takes it back but smiles his thanks, one of those lovely smiles of his that makes his eyes sparkle hypnotically. Then, turning my head to look directly at Spike, I see the challenge in his eyes as he glares at me and then the intent in them as he grins and winks at John Paul. So he thinks he can win John Paul round to fuck him with a few flirty glances and some alcohol does he? Well he can fuck himself because if he thinks I'm going to let him do that without warning my best mate, he's got another thing coming.

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