Thank you guys so much for your sweet reviews :) And I'm sorry about the Bonnie scare XD
Chapter 29
John had forgotten to close the curtains the previous night and now the sun was shining mercilessly through the windows, something that really didn't make his hangover any better. Maybe one day he would learn from his mistakes, but today was obviously not the day. His head was hammering and he felt sore all over and the memories of making out with that woman last night just made his stomach turn over. John couldn't even remember her name and usually that hadn't bothered him, but this time it was different. This time he was still trying to piece his heart back together.
"When are you gonna tell what happened in Norway?"
John turned around spotted Jack casually leaning against the door. "Jesus Christ!" he blurted out and sat up in an instant, his heart hammering inside his chest after the scare. "What the hell are you doing, standing there like a creep?!"
"I've been waiting for you to wake up so we can talk," Jack replied and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
John frowned at him. "Seriously? I'm hungover and sore and really not in the mood for chitchat."
His friend bent down and picked something off the floor that John didn't recognize until it came flying in his direction. A bottle of water landed on his bed with a thud, followed by a package of painkiller.
"Now can we talk?" Jack asked.
John sank back into the pillows with a groan. What was it that he had thought about last night? Something had to change and he already had a pretty good idea how to go about that. He had an idea how he might get Clara back.
"There's nothing to talk about, I told you that before," he replied brusquely.
"Yeah, except I don't believe that," his friend said, raising his voice. Why couldn't Jack just leave him alone? His angry voice was making his head swim. "And I don't think it's just because of Amy and Rory. I mean, you've been acting like a prick before, but you've gone a little overboard in the last few days."
John scoffed in response.
"Okay, let me put it so you understand it as well," he cleared his throat. "What you said to Amy last night was absolutely out of line. You're mad, we get it, but this is not the way to treat a friend, especially not one who is already angry with you!"
John opened his mouth to respond, but Jack instantly cut him off.
"No, I don't wanna hear excuses. I want you to apologize to her because we're still living under the same roof and I can't stand the tension anymore. Amy and Rory have every right to be mad at you and it's not your place to sit in your room and sulk all day long," Jack almost shouted at him before he lowered his voice once more. "Unless there is something you're not telling me."
For a brief moment John even considered coming clean about Clara and what had happened in Norway, about how he had fallen in love just to have his heart broken because he had been an idiot. But if Jack knew he would do everything in his power to prevent the plan John had made last night and that couldn't happen. It was only a small chance of seeing Clara again, but a small chance was better than none at all.
"No," he replied eventually. "There's nothing else."
Jack eyed him for a long moment as if he wasn't sure whether he should believe him or not. Then he nodded. "Alright," he said with a sigh. "I expect you to apologize to Amy."
"I will," John confirmed while Jack was already turning to leave.
As soon as the door had closed behind his friend, John reached for the painkillers and swallowed one of them with a large sip of water. He would apologize to Amy when he returned, but first he needed a clear head for what he was about to do.
"It's Saturday," Donna remarked as she stepped into the room. "Why are you already up?"
Clara looked up from her tea mug and granted her friend a weak smile. The truth was that she hadn't been able to sleep for hours and she just hadn't wanted to wake Donna up during her well deserved weekend.
"Couldn't sleep," she replied simply. "I've been thinking."
"About the handsome man who bought you drink last night?" Donna raised her eyebrows while she sank down on the sofa next to Clara. "I saw you when I returned from the loo. You seemed happy, so I decided to call it a night and go home. How did it go?"
Clara sighed heavily. "Very well. At first. Jack was nice and charming, a little sleek if you know what I mean," she chuckled before her featured turned a little more serious again. "Then he asked if I had a boyfriend and I started telling him a bit about John. Don't worry, I left out the rockstar bits."
"Which I will never understand," Donna remarked. "If I had slept with a rockstar I would brag about it every chance I got."
Clara shot her a dark look.
"Fine," Donna said, rolling her eyes. "Go on."
"Jack said something. Something I hadn't really considered before and I'm starting to think that maybe he was right," she admitted.
"Which is?" her friend enquired curiously.
Clara exhaled sharply and stared back into her empty tea mug. "He said that I was in love with John."
Donna snorted. "You need a stranger to tell you that? Girl, I could have told you two weeks ago."
"It wasn't supposed to happen!" Clara replied defensively. "I never meant to fall in love with him, I didn't even consider that I might when we started sleeping together. I mean, he is older than I am and I knew that he had slept with more women than he could count and I just wanted a bit of fun. I'm not ready for anything else, not after Danny."
"Danny was over a year ago," her friend said calmly.
"Yes, and I'm not even close to coming to terms with his death!" she argued. "I mean, look at me. I gave up my dream job, I ran away with a complete stranger to a country I've never been to and I'm still not ready to just go back to my old life. I can't just fall in love with the first man I meet, it doesn't work like that."
"Apparently it does."
"That was the condition for me," Clara admitted. "That we won't fall in love. Because I can't handle anything else."
"Tell me something," Donna prompted her and she sat up straight, looking intently at Clara. "While you were with John, what did you feel? Did you think about Danny? How was it?"
She hesitated for a long moment because Clara could very well imagine what her answer must sound like. But Donna didn't seem like she was going to let Clara refuse the answer.
"I was happy, okay?" she spat. "John was good for me. Travelling, being with him, it made me feel free."
"Go and find him," her friend told her.
Clara shook her head.
"Why the hell not?!"
"Because he lied, because we can't have what we had in Norway and that's all I'm ready for at the moment. And I'm fairly certain that he's already moved on," Clara admitted and while she was saying these words her heart was aching a little. She wished that she could go back to Norway, back to the way it had been before she had found out who he really was, before she had been aware of her feelings for him. "Jack was right, I'm in love with him. That's why I can't see him again. He would break my heart eventually."
"Maybe he's just as much in love with you?" Donna suggested hopefully.
Clara hadn't expected that their conversation would take a funny turn, but all of a sudden she couldn't help but laugh. "The rockstar and the school teacher. Maybe if this was a silly romance novel, but it's not," he replied and rose to her feet. "I'm gonna go and take a shower."
When Clara left the living room she felt a little better because she knew that she was making the right decision. Even if they managed to get back together, even if she forgave him for lying, a relationship between them could never work out. No, it was better if she just forgot about John and never saw him again.
