Payback
Prompted by 'lingeringmelodies' and set around late August 2016, what if Scott found out that James paid Harry for sex?
It had been years since John Paul had felt as low as he did. Obviously it wasn't fair to compare losing your sight to being raped – they were completely different things – but he still felt an emptiness within himself that wouldn't go away. However, John Paul wasn't sure whether the emptiness was just as a result of losing his vision or of his loneliness. After all, he had recently broken up with Scott, and his relationship with James had ended before it had even properly started, and he missed having the company of people that he wasn't related to. The days following the accident all merged together, especially since John Paul had no concept of time anymore and spent his days secluded in his bedroom with only his son for company. He couldn't even take care of his child properly, and he would give anything to be able to see the sights that used to annoy him, like chocolate smeared faces or dirty clothes.
After miraculously managing to descend the stairs without injury, John Paul joined Myra in the living room. Although he was sick of her pity, he decided that having some company was better than being alone with his miserable thoughts all day. Fortunately, before his mum had an opportunity to make too much of a fuss over him, there was a knock at the front door and John Paul desperately wanted to open it himself, but obviously Myra was at the door before he even had a chance to stand up. The exasperated sigh from his mum made John Paul's heart race with the hope that it might be James changing his mind about taking care of him.
"What are you doing here?" Myra asked the person outside and John Paul held his breath in anticipation
"I heard about John Paul-" Replied a voice which John Paul immediately recognised as Ste's, and his heart fell in disappointment
"Well nothing stays secret around here for long, does it?" Myra interrupted
"Can I come in?" Ste asked tentatively
The fact that John Paul's blindness had enhanced his other senses meant that he could practically hear Myra deliberating about whether or not to let Ste into the house. After a few moments she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and closed the door behind Ste as he entered.
"Hey John Paul" Ste began slowly as he approached him
"Hi" John Paul croaked as he reached towards the voice
He felt Ste grasp his hand firmly, "How are you feeling?"
John Paul rolled his eyes, though he wasn't sure how ridiculous that would look to everyone else, "On top of the world" he retorted
"Stupid question, sorry" Ste apologised, "Can I join you?"
John Paul nodded and felt Ste release his hand before he felt the sofa dip next to him as Ste sat down.
"I got you something" Ste began, "I thought it might keep you occupied while you're, uh…"
"'Visually impaired'?" John Paul finished
"Yeah" Ste whispered before placing a rectangular object in John Paul's left hand, "It's my old mp3 player, but I've wiped the music and put some audiobooks on it instead. Harry helped me pick out some that you might like, but if you wanted something different then we could download some together"
John Paul was touched by the gesture and could feel the tears welling but fought them back, "Thank you, that's really thoughtful"
"It was nothing" Ste replied dismissively, "I didn't get you any headphones though, so I didn't think that through very well-"
"I'm sure we've got some lying around somewhere" Myra interjected, inwardly impressed by Ste's present whilst annoyed that she hadn't thought of it herself, "I'll go and find a set" she added before leaving them alone
A lingering silence descended on the young men until Ste sighed, "So apart from the obvious, how is everything?"
John Paul let out a deep breath, "It's like my life's falling apart" he admitted tearfully before chuckling bitterly, "I know that sounds really melodramatic, but just as I thought things might get better, it all goes wrong"
"What do you mean?" Ste asked
"I ended it with Scott just before the accident" John Paul replied, "He's so lovely and any guy would be lucky to have him, but I'm not that guy"
Ste nodded in understanding and John Paul continued, "I fell for James, and for a moment it looked like we were going to make a go of it, then he tells me that it was all part of a bet he made that he could get me to break up with Scott"
Ste was outraged, "That's horrible"
"Yeah, and now I've lost everything I cared about" John Paul murmured before chuckling bitterly, "The only good thing about this whole situation is that I can't see Scott's heartbroken face or James' smug one"
"Maybe it's a good thing that you're single for now" Ste suggested, "I mean, you've got your family looking after you, right?"
"I guess" John Paul mused, "Mum and Sally are getting along better, it's just a shame it took me losing my sight for it to happen"
Ste considered this; he had hardly spoken to his ex-husband in ages, so he was one of the last people to find out that Sally was John Paul's dad. He hadn't even had the chance to talk to him about it, but he was glad that things seemed to be improving in that respect.
"Anyway, enough about me" John Paul suddenly began as he clapped his hands together, "What's going on with you?"
Ste shrugged, "Same old"
"Really?" John Paul scoffed, "What's 'same old' in Ste Hay's world?"
Ste hesitated, "I've been reconnecting with Amy and the kids"
"That's great" John Paul responded brightly, "How are they?"
"They're good" Ste replied flatly
"Way to sound convincing" John Paul retorted before worriedly asking, "What's wrong?"
Ste sighed, "Amy's engaged to mister perfect and the kids love him"
"So mister perfect does exist then?" John Paul muttered, "Shame he's straight though"
"He just annoys me so much" Ste continued, "He's acting like Leah and Lucas are his kids, and he's got them all hanging on to his every word"
"You know, I think you worry too much about other people" John Paul replied, "And not in a good way"
"What do you mean?" Ste asked
"You seem so obsessed with complaining about how other people are better than you and how much it irritates you" he pointed out, "So instead of whining about them, why don't you use them as a reason to better yourself?"
"I am, I'm trying to turn my life around" Ste argued
"That's good" John Paul replied slowly before hesitating, "Don't take this the wrong way, but how many times have you said that in the past?"
Before Ste had a chance to interject, John Paul continued, "Look, just don't be too proud to lean on other people if you need to, there's no easy fix when it comes to self-help"
Ste sighed, "Yeah, I know but it's not fair for me to rely on you"
"Why not?" John Paul questioned, "I'm blind, not incompetent"
"That's not what I meant" Ste assured him awkwardly, "We just have a lot of history"
"That's exactly why we should be there for each other" John Paul countered, "Whether we're together or not, you still mean a lot to me and I want to help you in whatever way I can"
"Same here" Ste whispered, feeling guilty about the fact that John Paul was insisting on looking out for him whilst he was dealing with his own problems. It was an annoying fact of the past couple of years that John Paul was constantly looking after Ste and having to clean up his mess; it shouldn't still be happening now. Ste didn't want to stay much longer and made his quick – but polite – excuses to leave. John Paul thanked him again for visiting and bringing the present, oblivious to Ste's real feelings.
xxx
John Paul was still on Ste's mind as he entered Esther's Magic Bean. He ordered a couple of coffees to take away for himself and Harry whilst trying to focus on something else besides his ex-husband. Scott approaching him on his mobile attracted Ste's attention, and his heart pounded heavily when he realised that the other man was talking to Sinead.
"How's Hannah?" Scott asked her, and Ste wasn't sure whether Scott realised he was right in front of him.
"It sounds like you're doing a good job with her" Scott assured her after a pause, "But if you need anything, just let me know"
After another pause Scott scoffed, "Well now that Diane's gone and I've been dumped, there's not much for me to stick around for right now"
Ste's feelings of guilt returned now that he knew the real reason for Scott's break-up with John Paul, whilst the other man was unaware. A few moments later, Scott said his goodbye's and hung up, so Ste turned towards him.
"So how's Sinead?" he asked pointedly
Scott shrugged, "As you'd probably expect with her being a single mum"
"Hey, it's not my fault if she's having a hard time" Ste argued, "Sinead's the one who ran off with my daughter, and even though I want to be involved, she refuses to speak to me"
"Well she wasn't the one who cheated with Tony's son, was she?" Scott pointed out
Ste flinched, "I miss them so much" he admitted sadly, "I wish things had turned out differently, I'd give anything to be able to turn back time"
"Don't we all?" Scott muttered, "I'd have pushed John Paul out of the way of the car instead, or just stopped myself falling for him in the first place"
Ste picked up his coffees and stepped aside for Scott to order, "That wasn't your fault" he assured him
"What would you know?" Scott scorned
"Quite a lot, actually" Ste replied, "I went to see John Paul earlier"
Scott glanced at him before quickly shrugging in an attempt to look dismissive, "How is he?"
"Upset, lonely, angry" Ste listed, "Thanks to James"
"What do you mean?" Scott questioned
"According to John Paul, James made a bet that he could break you two up" Ste revealed
"Seriously?" Scott exclaimed, "So he manipulated John Paul into breaking up with me?"
Ste shrugged, "That's what it sounds like, yeah"
Scott let out a deep breath and shook his head in anger. John Paul was the first guy that Scott had ever been able to see a future with, the first one that he had ever truly loved, and now as a result of a stupid bet, it was all over. Scott was overcome with a number of different emotions, so as soon as he received his drink, he stormed out of the coffee shop with a bemused Ste watching after him.
xxx
As he opened the front door, James was greeted by a cup of hot chocolate being thrown all over him by a fuming Scott.
"What the hell was that for?" James cried as he grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe himself with.
"Let's call it karma" Scott growled
"I know I've not exactly been a saint over the years, but talk about 'disproportionate punishment'" James muttered
"All you've done since you arrived in the village is ruin things for everyone else" Scott cried, "You took 'The Hutch' away from Tony and Diane, you broke me and John Paul up-"
"Oh please" James interrupted, "Those things were inevitable, I just helped move the process along a bit"
"There's something seriously wrong with you" Scott pointed out, "Betting on whether you could break up my relationship, that's sick"
"What do you want me to say?" James questioned, "I just did it for a laugh, it's how I get my kicks"
"What, by screwing people over?" Scott shouted
"Yep, literally and metaphorically" James chuckled, "Just ask Harry, he'll back me up on that"
Scott was confused, "What are you talking about?"
"When he and Ste were broke and homeless, I decided to help out" James began, "Harry's a good-looking lad and he was desperate for money so I offered him an exchange"
It took Scott a few moments to figure out what James was implying, but once he had, he was appalled, "You gave him money for sex?"
"Oh don't be so shocked" James retorted, "Just because you wanted to save yourself for the right man – and look how that turned out – doesn't mean we all have to be frigid"
"So you're happy to destroy other people's lives just for the fun of it?" Scott questioned
"Exactly, I'm a disgusting person" James replied nonchalantly before laughing, "And to think that John Paul still chose me over you"
Scott was speechless as James slammed the door on him. Inside, however, James stopped laughing. Saying those things about himself was easier than he had thought, and he wondered whether those things were true, and whether he had now resigned himself to a miserable life.
xxx
Scott didn't need to bother hiding his grin from John Paul as he entered the McQueen household. Myra was suspicious about his expression considering that he and John Paul had just broken up and John Paul had been blinded after saving Scott from being run over. However, when she let him in she wondered whether it was a good idea to leave them alone after everything that had happened. Once the men had started making small-talk, Myra decided that it was safe to make herself scarce.
John Paul desperately felt the need to tell Scott about what James had done, "I am so sorry about what happened" he began earnestly, "I think I owe you an explanation for-"
"No, you don't" Scott assured him as he took his hand, "Ste told me what James did"
John Paul shook his head in disappointment, "I should have told you first, not Ste"
"It's ok" Scott replied gently, "We can forget about all of that and start again, we can get through this together"
John Paul shook his head slowly, "I don't want to"
Scott was confused, "What do you mean? You want to get better, don't you?"
John Paul nodded before awkwardly responding with, "Of course I do, but not with you-"
"You don't want to be with me?" Scott questioned, "But I thought that James just got in your head"
John Paul considered this and pulled his hand away, "He did, but it hasn't changed anything"
"So you're still choosing him over me" Scott muttered before John Paul had a chance to object, "Well, don't expect to skip off happily into the sunset with that pervert!"
John Paul looked confused, "Wait, what are you talking about?"
"James just told me that he paid Harry for sex a few months ago" Scott revealed contemptuously.
John Paul was shocked and disgusted by this revelation, but he didn't want to give Scott the satisfaction by reacting in such a way, "He admitted that to you?" he asked stonily
"Yep, he was almost proud of it" Scott spat, "Isn't there a crime against that sort of thing anyway?"
John Paul shrugged, "I'm sure he could twist the story to make it work in his favour" he replied casually
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Scott questioned bitterly, "He gets away with paying a teenager for sex and you two can be together"
John Paul sighed, "Scott, I'm not getting involved with James" he pointed out, "After everything he's done, do you really think I'd go there?"
"You've been involved with worse" Scott murmured
John Paul stood up suddenly, "That's it, get out!" he snapped
"What? Why?" Scott asked in surprise
"The last thing I need on top of everything else is you waltzing in here and making me feel worse than I already do" John Paul shouted, "I don't want to be with you, I don't want to be with James, I don't want to be with anyone. I just want to be on my own"
"You're not on your own, you've got your family" Myra interjected as she made her way downstairs. After her son had started yelling, she realised that she was needed, "Time to go, Scott"
"Look, I'm sorry" Scott insisted
"I know you are" John Paul whispered lethargically, "But I can't do this anymore, so just go"
Scott knew it was pointless to plead after everything that had just been said. One glance at John Paul's shattered expression was enough to tell Scott that he was fighting a losing battle. He slowly left John Paul with Myra, and the older woman raced over to her son and embraced him tightly. John Paul let the tears flow, realising that he was back to where he started; the only change being that he now had his new audiobooks, which were a poor consolation.
Thanks for reading, and thanks 'lingeringmelodies' for the prompt: I hope this was somewhat close to what you were expecting. Apologies if it seemed disjointed, but there were several components that I was trying to fit together, so it might have read quite awkwardly. Anyway, if anyone has any more ideas for one-shots, then let me know (and I'll try my best to get them done), and remember that reviews are always welcome!