Part 10

Hannah wasn't sure what was happening around her. A couple of days ago both Sarah and Nancy were giving her a hard time because of her friendship with John Paul and now it was Sarah, of all people, who was dragging her to see her friend.

She knew something bad had happened. It was imposible not to know that, but she had no idea what. She had heard people whispering things like another secret affair, but Hannah knew this wasn't true. Her friend was still in love with Kieron. And with Craig. He had had enough secret affairs for a lifetime. This had to be something else.

And the fact that Sarah was helping him meant it was something huge. And Frankie also involved with Niall shielding him from the McQueens was surreal. On her wildest dreams she would never had even thought that was posible. Frankie Osborne and Sarah Barnes being civil with John Paul was too much. Being his confidents, was just wrong.

She couldn't avoid feeling a little jealous either. She could see her friend was going through something important and for some reason, he had chosen to trust in two people who seemed to hate him instead of her. His best friend. The one who knew all about Kieron. The only person he had talked about Craig with.

"What's going on?" she asked for what seemed to be the hundreth time to her friend and not receiving an answer again.

She was going to make her stop and explain what was happening when she spotted Carmel McQueen crying in front of Evissa. She didn't really know her, but she had never been able to let someone cry and not do something about it. And Carmel was a sweet girl.

She allowed Sarah to keep walking while she went straight to the blonde McQueen.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, it's nothing" was the answer she got before Carmel started to cry again.

Hannah sighed and debated between leaving her alone and staying. When Carmel got louder, she finally decided to stay with her and took her inside the beauty salon. Then she went and pour a glass of water for the poor woman who hadn't stop crying.

"Carmel?" she asked after a while. "Tell me what's wrong"

"I don't know if I should" was the answer that came between sobs.

"Is it about John Paul?" she asked.

She knew her friend had rejected his family somehow, the way Frankie had made them leave was all over town.

When Carmel nodded, she continued asking:

"Carmel, it's something bad, isn't it?"

She alredy knew the answer but she needed to be careful. She couldn't just go and demand Carmel to tell me everything. She needed to do it little by little.

"Yes"

"Did he do anything wrong?"

Hannah didn't think that was it. John Paul wasn't a bad person. Yes, he always fell for the wrong guys (a prick like Spike, a priest and his straight best friend), but besides that, John Paul was a good guy. And he would never make his sister cry for no good reason.

"He didn't. He didn't do anything. Nothing of this is his fault. He is the victim. He didn't deserve it" Carmel said loudly not making much sense.

Hannah was going to ask something more when Carmel said something that scared her:

"I think we are going to loose him"

In any other ocassion she wouldn't have believed it. John Paul loved his family. He was a McQueen even if he tried to deny it sometimes. His family was first for him. Always.

But the tone Carmel said it in and the way she looked, told Hannah this was a real posibility. Whatever had happened was bad enough to make John Paul reject his own family.

"How can you loose him? He's your brother!" she tried to reassure her.

Carmel laughed bitterly shocking Hannah. The sound was so foreign coming from the usuallly bubbly beautician.

"That's the problem" Carmel said between laughs, "He's not"

"What?"

"He's not my brother. Mum stole him when he was a baby. We are not related. He's not a McQueen. He's not my brother!"

Carmel went back to crying while Hannah stood there without knowing what to say or even think.

John Paul wasn't a McQueen? That just couldn't be....

But it made sense. That was why Sarah and Frankie were so nice to him, and why the McQueen sisters were kicked out the Dog so easily.

She felt a wave of compasion for her friend hit her. John Paul had lost everything. Kieron was gone just like Craig. And now he found out he didn't have a family. That his whole life was a lie.

She wanted to run to him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but she couldn't. What could she say to him? What could she do?

Then, she remembered something her councellor had told her once: "Is not about saying the right thing but just letting the other person you are there for them". That was what she was going to do. She was going to be a friend and help John Paul in doing whatever he decided.

But first she needed to reassure Carmel and she knew exactly what to say:

"Carmel, blood isn't everything. Rhys is only my half-brother but that doesn't mean I love him any less than Josh. Or Gilly, we aren't even related and I love him almost as much as my 'real' brothers."

That seemed to make Carmel stop crying, so she continued:

"John Paul loves you. All of you. He's always talking about you lot and you know you mean the world to him. Yes, now he's hurt and he doesn't know what to believe, but give him time and I'm sure he'll come around. Just be there for him. Don't pressure him. Just be there"

The blonde McQueen gave her a small smile and nodded.

"Look, I need to go. I'm meeting John Paul at the Dog and I'll try to talk to him" Hannah said walking towards the door. She stopped when she reached the door and added: "Just don't give up on him"

"Never" Carmel said sounding completely decided.

Hannah left Evissa feeling just as uncertain than before, but at least now she knew what was happening with John Paul and she knew that a lot of people was going to help him get through this.

She walked to the Dog with hope on her heart. Her friend was in pain, but she was going to help him.