I have my reasons

by Aydine

Red, white and blue the Dutch flag, John has to travel to The Netherlands and takes Chas with him. John is confronted with not only language barriers and time differences but also the question why he brought Chas with him. Chastine.

Title: I have my reasons
Author: Aydin S.K.
Type: One shot
Pairing: Chastine
Genre: Humor, mostly
Rating: PG-13, for strong language. Warning: M/M sex(-iness) but nothing graphic.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just borrowing to play.
Summary: Red, white and blue; the Dutch flag, John has to travel to The Netherlands and takes Chas with him. In a country they barely know, John is confronted with not only language barriers and time differences but also the question why he brought Chas with him.
AN: This was originally written for a challenge that never went up, which gave me the opportunity to rewrite and improve it because what I initially handed in was for the most part written in a drunken state of mind which I will never ever do again.

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After another tiring day of driving John to this place and that place, Chas dropped him off at his building. John didn't get out of the car right away, but fished around in his pocket for his smokes and lit a cigarette. For a few moments he glared out of the side window. "Pack a bag, we're going to Holland," he finally came out with.

Chas' eyes widened. Sure, he had waited for the day to come that John would ask him to help and he knew that was a long drive from home, but he never saw it coming that he would have to go all the way to The Netherlands for that. He spun around in his seat. "What? Why? When?"

"Vacation," John sneered. "Why the fuck do you think?"

"Yeah, John, you look like you could use a break," he shot back and then sighed. "Could you just answer the question, please."

"A book got lost."

"A book got lost," Chas echoed under his breath, impatiently he drummed on the steering wheel, waiting for John to explain himself further. But he didn't, Chas knew he wouldn't, but he was always excited to be surprised. "So, I'm assuming the danger's in the book because the other way around wouldn't warrant any sympathy from this side of the cab."

"Good," John said dryly. "So start packing. We leave tomorrow."

"What? Tomorrow? Jesus." Chas turned around, staring at the dashboard, he needed to think. After a moment he turned around to face John again. "For how long?"

"How ever long it takes," John muttered, still glaring out the side window. But upon Chas' unusual silence and the sting of his persistent staring, he looked up at the youngster. "We'll be back before you can say 'cat in a hat'."

Chas shook his head in disbelief. "Don't say that, John, we both know we're not even airborne by the time I'm done saying that. I can say 'cat in a hat,' right now and you're not even out of the cab yet."

John sighed. "A week, at the most."

"Thank you. So now can you tell me why you need me to come with? You never insisted on that before, John," Chas inquired. He took off his hat and tossed it on the passenger seat as a sign that he was more than willing to hear all about that. There was silence, hardly unusual, but at no time whatsoever do humans hesitate to get that damn wrapper off the present to see what's inside. Chas was no different, though he realized it was pointless to look for something that didn't want to be found. He snorted. "Or do you want me to wait in the plane? John, we leave tomorrow, now would be a good time to tell me why you need me there."

"I have my reasons," John spoke under his breath, not revealing anything besides from the fact that he somewhat harbored the kid's presence, but it didn't cover enough to remove Chas' snide remarks.

"You looked up the word 'apprentice' in the dictionary," he guessed, diminishing John's motivations, what ever they were because John obviously wasn't going to lay all his cards on the table.

"You're coming, Chas. I'm not asking you to rubber-stamp it, just be here in the morning," John sneered and opened the door to get out of the car.

Chas put both his hands on the steering wheel, getting ready to get a move on. He needed to pack, do some research, pack, research and stay calm. "You'd tell me if there's anything I need to know, right?" he asked, getting increasingly worried about what John was getting him into and very aware of the fact that John was not a very forthcoming man.

"No. See you at half past six," John said flatly and grinned. He shut the door and walked to the building.

"Half past six," Chas muttered to himself. "Great."

Chas was ready to drive off, but then his cellphone rang. He hit the breaks before the cab even moved and fished around in his jacket that lay on the passenger seat. "Kramer," he answered as he momentarily glanced out the side window to find John standing at the side of the building, he looked back at him, holding a phone to his ear as well. "John," he let out, somewhat annoyed. "This better be something really urgent that you couldn't tell me to my face, you're not even 10 feet away. Why are you calling me?"

John said nothing. He just took a drag off his cigarette before he tossed it away.

"You probably have your reasons," Chas said sarcastically and hung up. "Asshole," he mumbled as he drove away.

The next morning, Sunday morning, Chas showed up at John's apartment as agreed. As ordered. They took a cab to the airport and John had to share the back seat with Chas, for both that was quite an odd experience. The driver speeding through the curb didn't really help in making it more enjoyable, as John's weight got tossed into Chas who got squished between the exorcist and the side of the door.
John didn't take seat belts very seriously and was willing to risk being chucked around in the car when ever the occasion asked for it. Chas wasn't really put off by it, he did tell John to buckle up and as John's body roughly met his, he couldn't help but feel accomplished, either for telling John "I told you so," or for having John brush against him, both were kind of amusing.

They arrived safely at the airport and got out of the cab. Chas had to carry both his own backpack and John's bag, he decided he'd put up with it for now, but his patience was slowly wearing him out and Chas had a lot of patience, or so he discovered. Was it really so much to ask, for John to just ask nicely rather than to shove the bag in his arms? Chas tried to hide the resentment with a smirk, but the bag was just asking to be sailed in John's direction. But, it was John, after all, whatever that meant.

"John, I know you're nervous about flying 9 hours into the future," Chas tried to calm his own nerves, having to run a few steps to keep up with John who seemed to walk faster every second as they rushed through the airport. "But there are some important things you must memorize," Chas continued as he scooted after the older man, struggling with both their luggage.

"Why?" John asked, not really interested in the answer. A little crabby, John tugged his sleeve to check his watch, it read 6:46 am. He sighed, the flight would take at least 7 hours, not to mention the enormous time difference they had to adjust to.

"Because you need to know something about your destination," he pointed out. "Tulips, clogs, cold weather and pickled herring," Chas summed up from the top of his head.

John looked up from his watch and quirked an eyebrow. "Pickled herring?"

"Oh, and Queen B."

"Queen B?" John wrinkled his nose. He was having trouble to take in all this information. He didn't really care, Chas seemed to know enough for the both of them and it wasn't likely that Chas would stray from his side.

"And gin," Chas added, hoping to elicit some expressions other than annoyance or disgust on John's face.

John's face actually brightened somewhat at the notion of drinks, he knew there would be drinks in Holland, but he was very antsy about having to leave his own stash of malt whiskey behind. He wasn't happy about having to fly either. John had traveled by plane before, he strongly disliked it, but it was always bearable when he didn't have to tolerate a 20 year old motormouth sitting next to him, spitting out word after word, sentence after sentence. John's face fell a little, he suddenly couldn't remember why he dragged the kid along.

Though it was hardly visible, Chas recognized the bitter pill that John tried to withstand. "They probably have scotch, too. Oh, John, and they have cheese!" Chas let out excitedly, forgetting the fact that John wasn't even remotely interested in cheese. Not now, not ever.

"Very comforting, Chas," the exorcist said sarcastically.

Chas grew annoyed. "And you know the best part?" he flared at John, adamant on throwing more Dutch culture in the man's direction. "I don't have to be 21 to get a drink over there, John."

Upon hearing that, something in John snapped, it was like a loud bang in the back of his head. A flash of a liquored up Chas went through his mind, it never occurred to John that Chas could get any louder than he already was, but booze could probably make that happen. John felt like running away from the image in his head, but dismissed that idea and quickened his pace instead, trying to leave the imagery behind and a slightly disgruntled Chas who sprinted after him after a few moments.

"John, if you're going to ignore me, least you can do is carry your own shit," Chas let out while he got in John's face, finally having lost that last drop of patience, getting more aggravated every moment John pretended he wasn't there. He tried to force him to take his bag, but when John didn't take it from his hands, Chas decided to take charge of the situation and just dropped the bag at his feet and started to walk off to get their luggage checked in. Now it was up to John, he had to either carry it himself, leave it behind or grab Chas by his ear and drag him back to the bag. That was tempting, but also quite ridiculous.

Constantine growled, picked up the bag and hoofed it until he walked next to Chas again. John gritted his teeth. "Asshole."

At that, Chas looked up. "Thank you, John," he bit back. "I'm looking forward to more bouquets, yours are the sweetest."

John wondered if he could last a whole week with Chas on his side, but soon he remembered why he asked him along, no matter how stupid he thought the reasons to be, they were his own and he'd just had to deal. He did like the kid, more than he cared to admit, the strange feeling he would have when he got in the cab with him was so rare he could barely define it. But he trusted Chas, he didn't know whether to fight the feeling or embrace it. He was not going to embrace anything, Constantine does not embrace. That's just stupid.

"John, the bag," Chas interrupted his thoughts. John stood motionless, part of him knew he was being addressed but the other part was wrapped around his thoughts. As persistent as Chas usually was when waiting for John to respond, this time he couldn't bother and roughly took the bag from him for it to be put on the conveyor belt. When they were asked to show their passports and tickets, Chas had to call John by his name several times before Constantine finally got out his passport. After a lot of frustration from Chas' side due to the nearly apathetic John, they finally got their boarding passes.

Satisfied that it finally came to an end, Chas looked up at John, who still wasn't quite there. "You look a little pale, John," he pointed out and tapped the man on his chin with the boarding passes to get his attention. John didn't even object, he just blinked and for a short moment he looked a little bothered with the interruption. "We still got a few more minutes before we have to get on the plane, anything you need?" Chas wondered while he wasn't really expecting a response. Right now Chas wished he was back in his trusty cab, waiting for John.. actually, this was exactly the same. "John," Chas tried again. If Chas only had the courage to slap the man. "John," he let out again with more emphasis.

"What?" John finally responded, irritated and his gaze flammable. Chas' face fell, dreading the thought that he had to sit next to that for 7 hours and spend a whole week with the most aloof man he knew. The urge for enthusiasm had left because it just didn't rub off on the man and Chas didn't bother to repeat the question. He simply glared back at John for a moment and then walked off to do some shopping before they had to board.

Much to Chas' surprise, John followed him around from store to store, albeit that he would wait outside, giving off a rather bored and chafed vibe. "What did you get?" John asked as he recovered from the boredom when Chas was finally done. At first, Chas thought he misheard that, it couldn't possibly be that John was showing an interest in the contents of his shopping bag. "A phrase book and some other stuff to read," he answered, slightly confused at the sight of John smirking. The man had been nothing but grumpy from the minute he got to John's building and now he was too glee for John to be serious. "Could you stop smiling, it's really disturbing, John."

John shrugged but didn't cease the grin. "Suit yourself, kid."

The men kept silent and only exchanged glances every now and then on their way to the gate, Chas' were uncomfortable and John just kept on asking questions with his eyes, sometimes the grin was there, and other moments it wasn't. Chas quickened his pace, this was really weird and he hoped John wasn't going to do that during the entire flight. The more tensed up Chas became, the harder John's stare, or so it seemed. When they finally boarded, he had to control himself so that he wouldn't shout 'What do you want from me, you freak?'
If only Chas had stopped being such a basket case, John might've ceased the staring, the restlessness of his apprentice was gripping and the fact that he caused most of that was gratifying.

Chas sat down next to the window and John sat down next to him, again with the staring. "John, stop it, now," Chas let out before he realized it. "You're making me nervous, stop making me nervous."

"Sorry," John murmured amused as he adjusted his coat. Then his stare trailed off to the shopping bag Chas had shoved under the seat in front him. "What other books did you get?"

"Nothing that interests you," was all that he said, almost choking on his breath. John gave it a rest, he did notice Chas was growing more nervous almost every minute, he didn't know whether to occupy the kid or leave him alone but he kept a close eye on him either way. It didn't take long for the plane to take off and at that point Chas was barely able to breathe, it felt as if his heart was going to burst through his chest and he was sweating all over. John couldn't ignore this anymore. He lay his hand on Chas back and told him to breathe calmly after he gave him a vomit bag in which he breathed in and out, John breathed with him until Chas' breathing was more steady.

"You never said you were afraid of flying," John finally said, a bit concerned and his hand didn't leave Chas' back, which was okay.

"I've never flown before," he came out with, his voice dense. Chas shrugged. "It's probably just nerves, I'll get over it."

John tapped Chas' shoulder gently, in an encouraging manner without the emotional load attached to it, whether it was there or not. "Okay," he grinned and withdrew his hand.

Shortly after that, Chas was giving John a crash course in some basics of the Dutch language from the phrase book he got at the airport. After reading most of it, Chas had picked up on it enough to help John walk through some introductory lines. John was convinced he didn't need any of those, but Chas insisted on it and John gave in. It could distract Chas and perhaps the kid was right that it could come in handy to be able to communicate a little bit. John failed terribly, he didn't pick up on it as fast as Chas did.

"No, John, you just said 'My name's John, how hot are you?' You'll get yourself hurt that way," Chas criticized the man's evidently flawed efforts.

"How the fuck should I know what I said," he lashed out, wanting to say more but then the flight attendant asking them for something to drink drew his attention. "Anything with alcohol," he said flatly. He looked over at Chas for a minute and pointed at him as he faced the woman again, "One for him too."

Chas snickered at the thought of John fixing him up with a drink, never minding why, John got him a drink, that was awesome. He accepted his glass, which ended up being scotch at the flight attendant's choice, and he watched speechlessly as John soaked up his own drink in one swig. Chas took it easy and spread it out over several sips while he skimmed through the book just to learn some more himself and didn't bother with trying to teach John because he wasn't that eager to begin with.

After a few hours, John had fallen asleep and Chas looked up from his book to take a peek at John's profile. The dark hair that looked so soft and just did what it wanted to, perfectly corresponding with John's state of mind it seemed. It was as though John's sleep made his hair fall asleep too. His face was almost serene, the smooth skin he had noticed before but he had never seen John this peaceful, it probably didn't mean that John was happy, just that he was asleep, the muscles of his face had relaxed and he didn't look so grumpy. The asshole was gone, some bastards still look like one when asleep, but John didn't, he looked pretty sweet and vulnerable, attainable even.

John stirred and Chas went back to his book in case John caught him staring, but he didn't. Though, John had moved his position so that his head was resting on Chas' shoulder. That was just great, how was he supposed to read that way? He tried to read more but soon he nodded off as well, his head resting on the window and the book falling to his feet. When they woke up they found themselves in the same position.
John glared at Chas as if it were his fault that he fell asleep with his head on Chas' shoulder, but Chas just shrugged with a smirk, "Not my fault you couldn't control yourself." John was ready to make a come back, but the passengers were told to buckle their safety belts and John got too distracted. That was damn stupid, falling asleep on a kid's shoulder.

John could see the nerves creep up on Chas again and he handed him the same bag, just in case. "You're doing fine, Chas, just breathe." His voice was calming and not annoyed or disparaging as Chas would normally expect him to respond, making it easier to stay calm and breathe.

Immediately after they landed and came to a halt, Chas freed himself of the belt and jumped off his seat, grabbing his bag with books and ready to get off the plane, anxious to get out. John took his time, it took him 3 times as long but Chas did wait until the man was ready. "Ok, can we get off now?" he asked impatiently and John walked to the exit, Chas was right behind. They both noticed it was dark when they landed, just like when they took off, but it probably wasn't morning over here.
They went through customs again and collected their luggage. A sigh of relief escaped Chas, at least that was done, now he had to see if he could get through a whole week in a foreign country in John's company. He didn't really know what was worse, a foreign country or living with John. Constantine seemed to be a whole different language by himself.

They grabbed a cab, they tried to. It was a little more difficult since the driver in his neat suit didn't speak English very well and Chas didn't bother to look up the section on getting a ride in the book. "Ah.. Hotel," was Chas' last resort on trying to make it clear what they wanted, at least that was a word that was exactly the same in English as well in Dutch and John wasn't exactly a great help either. In fact, John just stood there for the sake of standing there and feeling important.

Once again Chas and John sat next to each other in the back, that wasn't really necessary as the driver had gestured that someone could sit in the front, but John automatically slid in the back as he normally did and Chas didn't want to be the one with the awkward responsibility to have a conversation with the driver, not this early in the country. Snuggling up next to John sounded much more appealing, but unless 'shifting in your seat' meant 'buoyantly elated', neither of them had a jolly time.

John checked his watch, he didn't think of that when they got off the plane. It read a few minutes past 2 pm, but that wasn't right, in LA it was 2 pm, but not over here. He tried to remember how many hours ahead they were now, 7 or 9? Chas noticed the slight confusion on his face and the hesitation to ask the driver what time it was. Chas tapped the back of the driver's seat. "What time is it?" he asked the driver, hoping that the man would understand something that simple.

"Time?" the driver repeated. "Eleven o'clock."

"Holy shit!" Chas blared and stared at John. "John, did you hear that? It's.. -"

"Yeah, I'm not deaf, Chas," he shot back and adjusted his watch.

Chas stuttered for a moment. "At night? I mean, I noticed it was dark, but it was kinda dark when we left home, too."

"Ask the guy if he knows a place where we can eat," John nudged his young friend and ignoring the complete shock of the time difference. He was a little stunned himself, but he was rather hungry and ready for a drink.

Indignant, Chas shot him a glare. He fished around in the shopping bag and threw the phrase book at the exorcist. "Do it yourself, John."

Constantine grabbed the book and unfolded it, making a sound very similar to a growl. He searched for the word 'food' and quickly he found several examples of sentences he could use, he swallow hard, there was no way he could produce these kind of sounds. Trying to hide the embarrassment, he made an attempt at seeming very interested in the contests of the pages, anything but bothered.

Chas smirked, this was one of the most beautiful moments in his life. John could fool himself all he wanted to but he couldn't beguile the youth, no matter how hard he tried. "'Sup, John?" Chas provoked with the widest grin ever. John quirked an eyebrow and glared at him without turning his head. After 10 more minutes John still hadn't made use of the handy book and Chas took it from him. "When we get to a hotel, we can just get room service. So you're off the hook for now."

John snorted. If John would get paid for every time that he did, everyone but John would be poverty stricken.

"Oh!" Chas had a brilliant thought and returned the book to John. "Look up the word 'Thank you'."

"Don't flatter yourself," John argued, tossing the book back at Chas, who returned it just the same. The book got chucked through the back of the cab several times until John finally flipped it out the side window.
The driver of the cab pretended he didn't notice that nor the bickering that went on behind him and minded his own business. He didn't want to get between the broody black-clad man and his young friend, he found John rather intimidating and he looked dangerous enough to just clip off one of his fingers.

The fact that John just tossed the book out the window, twisted something pretty bad in Chas and he looked it. "Now you've done it, John."

The driver cringed, fearing for the kid's safety but admired how fearless Chas seemed and secretly applauded him for confronting John. He kept his eyes on the road and listened.

"Done what?" John wasn't going to be intimidated by Chas.

"You threw the book out the fucking window," he bit, harsh.

John nodded and kept his cool. "I know."

Chas sighed. The week hadn't even started yet. This was not Chas' idea of having a nice time out, not that it was meant to be one to begin with, they came here to find a spooky book of some sort and John just tossed one of a very helpful nature out the window. "You owe me 6 bucks."

John gave him a look that obviously meant he didn't owe him anything and put a cigarette between his lips. He stared at the driver. "Can I smoke in here?" he asked dryly and already got out his lighter.

"Actually, no, sir," the driver stuttered and received a glare from John in his mirror who lit his cigarette anyway. "Tuurlijk," he muttered in Dutch and sighed.

John looked up as he took a drag, taken aback. "Türluck?" he echoed the sounds, which was a lot easier than reading them from the book. "Sounds dirty, what the fuck's it mean?"

The driver swallowed. "It means.. 'of course,' or ah.. 'sure,'" he explained as best as he could.

"Which did you mean?" John inquired.

"Sure."

John grinned. He'd made a new friend.

The cab pulled over in front of a hotel and he told the men that it summed up to 15 Euros. John made a face. "Euros. What kind of bullshit currency is that," he muttered and got out his wallet and handed the money to the driver but retracted his hand when the driver motioned to take it. John grinned, "Our phrase book went out the window," he started. "And we could use some help while we're here. Could you be here tomorrow, 11 am?" John asked as he added another 10 Euros to the amount.

Chas just sat there and gawked at John's generosity. "Wait, John, that's 30 dollars you're holding there. You never give me more than 10," he complained and watched as John finally paid the man with 40 Euros, paying little or no attention to Chas' whining. "John, that's almost 50 bucks! I want a bonus for flying all the way up here with you."

John turned to the young man on his side. "Chas, shut up and let's go," he snarled. They said goodbye to the driver, who was relieved to be rid of them for now and watched them as they got out of the cab to make sure they entered the hotel.
The woman behind the counter greeted them in a friendly manner, or at least they assumed as they couldn't understand a word of what she said, but she had a grin that was far too big for her face and that could only be friendly. John cast a glance over his shoulder at the cab that was still outside.

The woman asked them something about 'helpen' which sounded a lot like 'hell pun' in John's ears and his face contorted with confusion. "What the hell?"

Chas leaned towards John to share his thoughts on the 'hell pun'. "I think she's talking about 'helping'."

John gave him a fake smile, also to be taken as a 'Thanks, but shut up.' The exorcist looked back at the woman again and didn't bother to get rid of that annoyed expression on his face. "Do you speak English?"

The woman nodded. "A little bit."

"Sure," John breathed. "We want a room and we're staying for a week."

"Ok, sir. Double bedroom or twin bedroom?"

"Twin!" Chas shrieked before John could answer.

Constantine raised his eyebrows at Chas. John would've handled that a little more calmly and less conspicuous. John sighed. He was just pleased that the woman's English was well enough to avoid a lot of awkwardness. They paid for the room and got the keys.

They arrived at their room and entered while Chas was once again loaded with both John's bag and his own backpack. John hadn't asked for that nor did he demand it, Chas just did. He dropped their luggage on the most nearest bed and was in awe with the room, it wasn't too big, but it wasn't very small either. It had two separate beds, cabinets, bathroom, a closet, it was like a very small house and he was excited to be there, this was so different from the broom closet he lived in.

"What's that?" John asked as he walked towards the television.

"A TV, John," Chas sighed. "I know you live a rather isolated life but you do know television, right?"

"Not that, you asshole," he bit back. "That thing here." John picked up a little box and held it up to show Chas what he was talking about.

Chas laughed, thinking that John just might have been pulling his leg. When all he got in return was a blank stare, he swallowed. "Remote control, John. That's for the lazy people who don't want to move 5 feet to switch channels."

"Infrared shit, I've heard about that," John muttered with a dense grin and returned the remote next to the TV. He tucked his hands in the pockets of his pants and looked around the room, trying to see the point in all the excessive luxury. He'd been in hotels before, the really cheap ones that were crawling with cockroaches and only had a bed, a small bathroom and a chair. He never thought of throwing in some extra money to get a decent room like this one. John never needed much, long as he had his space, drinks, smokes and his acerbity to feed off of.
But he wasn't by himself this time and he didn't quite feel up to it to hear Chas whine about cockroaches on the wall, the stuffy smell, uncomfortable mattresses and the overall lack of sanitary. The cab driver just dropped them off here anyway, which seemed just right, a little too much for John, but Chas seemed to be pleased with it and right now, John settled for that.

"John, sometimes I wonder if you're actually human," Chas said as his eyes kept following John around. John checked the bed as though he had never seen one before and tested its comfortableness, it wasn't as nice as his own bed, but it was all right. He flipped the TV on and off several times and then wandered off to check the cabinets, he was clearly looking for something and growing more annoyed every second his search was unsuccessful.

Chas knew exactly what the man was craving for. "You're going to love me for this," he smirked as he walked over to John.

John quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" he asked. Though excited to learn about Chas' discovery, he hid it extremely well.

Chas tugged the man's sleeve and dragged him in the direction of a small refrigerator that John managed to overlook. "Mini bar," he let out smugly. "Gimme love."

John managed a smirk, trying to think of what he was going to do to follow up on that sentence. "I'll give you a drink."

"Good enough," Chas shrugged while inside he was ecstatic that John was going to share his drinks with him. After all, that was about as generous as John could get, apart from the fact that he tipped the driver with 30 bucks. But then, drinks got a lot closer to John than money, luxury hardly meant a thing to the exorcist so drinks were personal. This was bonding, Chas decided.

John tossed a little bottle of gin in Chas' direction, who managed to catch it perfectly. John commented on the nice reflexes as he opened his own bottle of gin, putting the small bottle to his lips. That was a little getting used to, for 20 or so years John had drank viscious, malted whiskey, this gin here tasted a bit lemony, it was nice and it did the trick, but John wanted to go home and hug his bottles of whiskey. "I thought they called it 'Dutch courage'," he let out a little disappointed, studying the tiny bottle. "Or some other bullshit line like that."

Chas, however, didn't know what face to make after sipping it, it must've taken those people courage to drink this. He seldom drank stuff this strong and the usually lighthearted smile on his face was hard to salvage. Putting his hand to his chest, he looked at John, "And they also said it should keep your stomach healthy."

John smirked. "That was the 14th Century, Chas. Have another sip."

Chas did just that, he did more than that. He plopped on one of the beds and soaked up every drop the bottle had to offer. Maybe a little too fast, his head was spinning and he lay back on the bed, the spinning didn't stop, not even with his eyes closed. It felt as though his eyes were spinning circles in their sockets, or his body was doing hula-hoops around him, something was spinning. It didn't take very long for John to give him a glass of water, which he refilled a couple of times. "I shouldn't have given you a drink before you had something to eat," John then uttered, it had probably still made the kid very lightheaded considering Chas rarely drank this sort of stuff, especially since he drank it down that fast. Stupid asshole.

John stepped out for a minute and then came back with a Mars bar, determined that Chas should eat something right now. While the kid wolfed it down, John took it upon himself to call room service, which luckily was available 24/7.
While John was busy ordering room service, Chas overheard him calling the person at the other end an asshole and insisted on the number of the nearest Chinese restaurant, but they refused. "No, I want egg rolls, you piece of..- Give me the num- What? Screw your mashed potatoes."

About thirty minutes later they were sitting opposite each other at the table in their room, staring at their plates with mashed potatoes mixed with vegetables. Chas shrugged. Food was food and eagerly he began to stuff his face with potatoes, he was starving and not being as picky as John was, who listlessly poked at his dinner. "John, I know it doesn't look like egg rolls, but it's really good," Chas said with his mouth full, trying to encourage the man to eat something.

"Could you say that again without half of it hanging out of your mouth," John said sarcastically.

Chas swallowed his food. "John, you're ruining the romance," he spoke just as caustically and continued eating as if he hadn't eaten in days. John hesitated as he watched the kid before he finally took a bite himself. It wasn't too bad, John finished his plate 10 minutes after Chas did and they got out more drinks from the mini bar. More gin. Even to Chas it was appealing, regardless of his earlier merry-go-round trip on the bed, he was just going to take it easier this time.

Around 3 am in the morning they had finished quite a lot of bottles of gin. "So, John, could you tell me more about that buck- book?" Chas' speech was slightly slurred, he was sprawled out on the bed again. He did take it easy on the gin, but he could've tried harder, things didn't spin as much as before but he felt safer this way.

John seemed unwilling to share the information about the book, but if he was dragging Chas into it, the kid deserved to know, especially because Chas accompanied him in this foreign country without having had a say in it. "It can open a portal from Hell," he eventually explained. "Like a one way ticket, if the book's opened, demons from Hell can enter our plane, but they can't be deported back the same way."

Chas rolled on his side and faced John, who was seated on the other bed. "What happens when you close the book?"

"Nothing," was John's flat response, studying Chas. The fine lines on his face, the eagerness in the hazel eyes that were now a bit muddled and drunk. There was an innocent quality to the kid, but he knew too much to be innocent or ignorant. It could've been the young age of Chas that was so beguiling or the fact that he looked even younger than he was. He knew Chas sometimes outsmarted him, not something John would admit other than to himself, but it was true and somehow invigorating, albeit that sometimes it was annoying that Chas wouldn't leave him alone. Chas was loyal. Eager and loyal hazel eyes that would not cease to throw question after question in John's direction, footsteps echoing behind every move John made. He'd be there the second John needed him.

John needed him. Don't be stupid. He didn't need a kid. 'I'm not a kid, John,' Chas' words flashed through his mind. 'That's what they all say,' John remembered telling him. He gave it a rest and indulged in watching as Chas dozed off. When he was sure that he was asleep, John switched the lights off and got under the covers in just his boxers and tried to get comfortable in a bed that wasn't his own and with the drunken kid snoring in the other bed only 3 feet away. John groaned and flipped on the little lamp on the night stand.
Chas wasn't even under the covers, he just lay there as though he fell drunk on his bed, asleep on impact. It didn't stray too far from the truth, but there was no way in hell he could fall asleep with Chas snoring and mumbling about egg rolls that escaped from Hell.

Frustrated, John kicked off his sheets to get out of bed and walked over to Chas. "Shut up, asshole, I want to sleep some time tonight," he hissed, realizing just how uncomfortable he felt to be standing next to Chas' bed in his boxers and telling a sleeping person to shut up. Chas muttered something that John couldn't make out, it probably had something to do with the evil egg rolls.
John sighed and looked at the sleeping boy. Chas was going to get cold like this. It was going to be a difficult task to get Chas underneath the duvet whereas he was now on top of it. If John would tug it from under the kid, he'd probably pull Chas off along with it. 'Just wake the kid up.' But John was going to do it the hard way.

After a lot of difficulty and carefully rolling the sleeping Chas back and forth, John was relieved that he was now holding the cover without waking Chas or to explain why a half naked man was tugging at his bed. He walked around the bed and clumsily pulled the blanket over Chas up to his elbows.
Just when John wanted to pull it over Chas' shoulder, the kid stirred. John froze, still holding the blanket. Chas opened his eyes only to be faced with John hovering above him with his grip on the covers. Not only that, but John was standing there in his underwear. Next to his bed. A half naked John. Next to his bed.

"John," Chas murmured with a sleepy frown. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you under the covers," he said casually, trying to hide the embarrassment and pulled the blanket over Chas' shoulder.

"And you took your clothes off," Chas observed suspiciously as he held onto his blanket and studied John from head to toe. Those were nice abs to have.

John groaned and walked back to his own bed. He got under the covers and switched the light off again. "Get some fucking sleep. It's 4 in the morning."

It took Chas a little while before he fell back to sleep, it was difficult to get the image of what he just saw out of his head. It was a lot harder than he thought to get a scarcely dressed man like John to leave his mind. He must've been so relieved when the overwhelming need for sleep induced by gin interrupted him. Chas slept like a baby.

John however, was not so lucky. He stirred in his bed for an hour and then he sat up, tempted to get another drink. And why the hell not? He got up and got another bottle of gin out of the mini bar and poured it down right there, he figured if he would just drink enough of this stuff then surely he would grow to like it and as a bonus maybe even fall asleep. He snorted and got out another bottle with which he headed to his bed and sat down. He opened the bottle as his eyes trailed off to the sleeping Chas on whom his eyes rested until the bottle was finished.
He got under the covers again and shut his eyes, waiting for sleep. Around six in the morning he still hadn't slept one bit. It wasn't until 8 am that he finally dozed off. Next thing he heard was the alarm clock going off at 10, but he was still too shitfaced to do anything about that horrible sound. Unfortunately, he had to because Chas slept right through it. John let out a growl and reached for the alarm clock and turned it off. John threw the blanket off and sat up.

"Chas," he said loudly and ran a hand through his hair. "Wake up."

"I don't want to," he whined. "Need more sleep. And my head hurts like hell."

John rose to his feet and walked over to the chair where he dumped his clothes to throw on his pants. "Yeah, tough shit, I didn't sleep at all." He reached for his shirt and put it on and Chas watched him buttoning it up. Upon noticing the stare, John stopped and stalked towards Chas' bed, roughly jerking the blanket off of him. "Quit watching me getting dressed and get up."

"All right, all right." Chas knuckled and got up slowly, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms. He studied himself and smirked. "Well, at least I don't have to get dressed."

Constantine chuckled. "You're welcome."

"For what? For not taking my clothes off along with your own? You didn't tell me you sleep in your boxers," Chas fussed.

"What, you think I always sleep in my suit?"

"Well, no, but -"

"Then stop whining."

They had a quick and quiet breakfast and then they headed downstairs a few minutes before the cab would arrive. They drove around for a few hours but where to begin was a mystery to John's drunken state as he kept nodding off in the back. "John." Chas poked him and repeated his name as often as he needed to until John would wake up.

John jerked his head up. "What?"

"This is pointless, John. Even if we do find something, you're a sleep walking, drunken exorcist and you'd get us all killed with your eyes closed."

"Well, I've got you," John sneered.

Chas nodded. "..waiting in the cab yelling at you to wake up?" He paused for a minute before he continued. "Do you see the dilemma at all? Let's just turn around and go back to the hotel. We might have to go back anyway, because we didn't bring your bag, so.."

"You forgot the bag?"

"Sure, blame Chas," he mumbled. "I'm not your lackey, John."

John sighed and pondered the options. Chas may have been right. Constantine was hardly alert and he probably couldn't do anything besides trying to keep himself from tipping over. "Egg rolls," John let out determinedly.

"This is no time for jokes, John."

Briefly he glanced at Chas but didn't bother to get into another argument and faced the driver instead. "Take us to the nearest Chinese restaurant."

"The what?" the driver asked.

John threw his head back in frustration. The guy didn't understand the meaning of 'Chinese' and 'restaurant'? Maybe he spoke too fast. "Chinese. Restaurant," John said slowly but not without annoyance and refrained from adding 'Dumb asshole,' to it.

While the driver nodded, Chas looked at John, not understanding this at all. He understood the idea of going to a restaurant and eat Chinese but the timing was just ridiculous.

"It's 3 in the afternoon, John."

"Like I care."

And so it happened. The driver dropped them off at a Chinese restaurant and had no problem waiting for them outside. John went for the egg rolls, as did Chas, just because he couldn't think of anything else fast enough in John's opinion. Actually, John just ordered that for the kid because it took too long.

"Stupid chopsticks," Chas mumbled when the food escaped and fell in his lap. "Ugh."

John chuckled as he skillfully managed to eat with those sticks. "There's a fork and a knife right there, Chas."

Chas placed the chopsticks on the table and shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But I wanna be able to say that at least I tried."

"You've been trying for the last 40 minutes. Give it up," Constantine uttered impassively. "Did you even get to eat some of that, or is everything nested in your lap?"

"Very funny, John." Chas looked down and carelessly brushed the food off his lap, dropping it all on the floor.

Briefly, John glanced under the table at the sound of food softly plopping on the floor. "It's raining bean sprouts."

Chas looked down too and bit his lip. "And probably some chicken."

John snorted and continued eating. Though Chas envied John for being able to eat with them, he left the chopsticks alone before he would get food in his neck because one can never tell in which direction the food's going to go then. He picked up his fork and finished what was still left of his food.
Around 5 in the afternoon they headed back to the cab and got back to their hotel room. The first thing that John did after tossing his coat on his bed was open up the mini bar. He held up one of the bottles and looked at Chas. "Care for a drink?"

Chas shrugged. "Yeah, sure." He walked over to Constantine and took the bottle, which he did more than once during the course of the evening.

A sigh escaped Chas' lips and he sat down on his bed, not fighting the urge to lie down. "Ok, worst case scenario," he started and stared at the ceiling. "The book's opened, demons take over The Netherlands. What do we do? A: You get out the sacred brass-knuckles and beat the shit out of them for all eternity and I sit back in the cab. B: They eat us alive. C: We go back to America. Or D: We-" Chas was cut off in the middle of his preparations by the touch of John's lips on his. Chas blinked. John kissed him. Chas blinked again. John was still kissing him, his arms leaning on the bed and unsure if he was allowed to get closer.

It felt kind of nice, it could've been what Chas had always wanted, but he never really knew what he wanted from John, acknowledgment? This certainly fit the description. Not asking for an explanation, Chas relaxed, closed his eyes as he parted his lips, allowing himself to savor the taste of John and the touch of his tongue. John climbed on the bed as Chas rolled on his side and pressed himself against John's body. Their hands roamed over each others' bodies, raking through one another's hair as the kiss intensified.

When Chas' hand shot up underneath John's shirt, John broke off the kiss and stared into the expectant eyes when he stopped Chas' hand from moving further. He wanted to feel, and he read from Chas' eyes that he wanted the same. But John couldn't, not right now. Chas didn't speak a word, yet his eyes told John that he'd wait. Chas would always wait, John knew that now. His grip around Chas' wrist loosened and he motioned to run his hand through the curly hair, softly kissing the lips that tried to smile at him. He then let go off Chas and got up to sit down on his own bed, taking off his shoes. "We should get some sleep."

Chas nodded, but didn't bother to get under his sheets. He watched as John got up again to turn the lights off. Chas couldn't really see it, but he could hear that John undressed himself and got under the covers. After a while Chas decided he didn't want to sleep in his clothes again and did the same to get back in his bed wearing a shirt and boxers.
For at least 2 hours both of them stirred, not being able to sleep. Pent up frustration, the kiss, the wonderment, it didn't put either of them to sleep. "I can't sleep, John," Chas muttered. "Are you sleeping?"

"No," was the answer, it sounded calm and a sigh followed.

Chas sat up. It could've been the drinks, the restlessness, the desire, it didn't matter to him what urged him to get out of his bed, he just did. He did remember John stopped him when he reached under his shirt several hours ago, it could quite possibly get him killed if he crawled in John's bed, but it didn't stop him. He snuck into John's bed, under the covers before John realized that Chas pressed himself against his back. Chas wrapped his arms around the exorcist, feeling the warmth of his body against his and buried his chin in John's neck to try and get his attention.
John didn't kick him out of the bed, instead he turned around to his other side to face him. The embrace was returned and they kissed until they were too sleepy to continue and fell asleep in the small bed.

The next morning, Chas woke up on the edge of the bed, the shock of realizing he was on the verge off falling on the floor caused him to fall out of the bed with a loud thud. "Shit!" he let out as he hit the floor and took the sheets with him. John didn't even wake up from the noise or the sudden lack of warmth.
Chas glanced at the alarm clock, it was 9 am. They still had 2 hours to get ready before the cab driver would arrive. Chas jumped to his feet and crawled back on the bed, shaking John. "John, wake up."

John didn't want to wake up, he turned around, leaving Chas looking at his back. The kid groaned, he mounted John's body to get to the other side of the bed to face John. "We have 2 hours until the cab gets here, John. Wake up."
John opened his eyes. He looked so sleepy, Chas would've left him alone if they didn't have to go anywhere, it was kind of touching to see an awakening John, he was still in his fragile state until he was fully aware and sat up with a groan. Chas suddenly wondered if maybe he just should've let the man asleep, John seemed very annoyed. John ran his hands through his own hair, as though he was telling his head to wake up.

John finally got out of bed, they got dressed and they had a simple breakfast, fried eggs, some sausage and kisses shared between them. "What are we gonna look for today? The book, again?" Chas asked when John pulled out of one of the many kisses they shared that morning. John felt like hammered shit, he'd slept all right, not much, but it was nice. His stomach turned at the sight of the breakfast, he tried to eat as much as he could, but it didn't taste as good as it normally would have, like when he was actually hungry.

It didn't seem to bother Chas that much, he wasn't as vibrant as usual, but the habit of being called out of bed during the middle of the night to drive John to a demon that needed some exorcism had grown on him and he never did get that much sleep ever since he started working for John. The part where he woke up in John's bed with a hangover was a slightly different story, but at least he remembered everything that had and hadn't happened.

"Yeah, we need to locate the book," John finally answered, listlessly eating his breakfast.

By the time the cab had arrived, John still hadn't finished his breakfast, which was fine, John had never been a person to eat right after he awoke. He took a swig out of a bottle of gin and followed Chas out the room. When they finally got outside, the cab driver was anxiously waiting for them, they were 3 minutes late. John, however considered that punctual and didn't bother arguing with the driver as he got in the cab after Chas did.

"Where are we going?" Chas asked.

"No idea," John said, his mind occupied and told the driver to take a left at the nearest curb.

Chas frowned. "You have no idea, but you tell him to take a left?"

John glared at him. The book was near and John could sense it and Chas swallowed when he realized that, throwing up his hands as though surrendering. After 40 minutes of driving around, suddenly the cab started shaking. Much to Chas' surprise, John smirked, "He's here."

"Who? Who's here?" Chas wanted to know, rather shocked by the turbulence, trying hard not to grab onto John.

John told the driver to stop the car and then opened the door to get out, ignoring the fact that Chas was calling after him. John shut the door and looked around. The streets were abandoned and it was cold, wind blowing through the black hair.

"Hello, Johnny," he heard behind him. John turned around to be faced with Balthazar, smirking at the exorcist. "Looking for something?" he asked deviously, holding up the book they'd been looking for.

"I'm not surprised," John said, stalking his way around the car to face Balthazar more directly. "Pretty tacky, unleash Hell on earth? Come on," he taunted.

Balthazar sniffed, contemptuous. "You smell like little boys," he said, eyes trailing off to Chas who watched from inside the cab, ready to step in when necessary.

Constantine took offense in that, John didn't like little boys and Chas was not a little boy. He tucked his hand in the pocket of his jacket, sliding the brass-knuckles onto his fingers, at the ready to beat the crap out of the half-breed. "Maybe you shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong," John smirked and got in his face, gesturing Chas to get ready to get out of the cab, or open the door.

Chas figured John had some sort of plan and silently opened the door to a crack as he wasn't entirely sure what John expected from him because after all, John had only made a vague gesture behind his back and it could be interpreted in many ways, 'get ready,' 'go away,' or 'stay tuned.' The cab driver knew something was up, but he thought it best to keep to himself and behind the wheel.

"What's it like, John?" Balthazar inquired, his eyes still resting on Chas. "He's so frail." The half-breed licked his lips and he looked back at John who tried hard to block Balthazar's view on Chas.

Without a moment's pause, John lashed out at the half-breed, sending him 3 feet away. Balthazar just laughed and didn't bother with putting up a fight and took another blow to his head. John was incensed and kept pounding the demon until Balthazar's grip on the book loosened and John took it from him as he smashed his brass-knuckles into the demon's face for the last time. Balthazar staggered backwards and John took the opportunity to jump into the car. Chas moved to the other end of the seat to make room for John, who closed the door behind him, telling the driver to drive, right now and fast.

It was too easy, John thought. Balthazar would've fought him off if he had plans with this book. He didn't dare opening the book, maybe it was a forgery or a misdirection, but what if it wasn't? He felt Chas' eyes resting on him, asking those million questions. John looked down, this wasn't right. Maybe it was a test. "Step on it," he growled at the driver, who complied without arguing.

They got out of the cab, John gave the driver 30 Euros, not really caring about the fact it was about 15 Euros too much and rushed inside the hotel with the book under his arm. Chas scooted after him. "John, what exactly happened out there?"

John didn't answer, he didn't answer the kid the 5 times Chas repeated himself until he stopped asking when they got to their room. Constantine lay the book on the table and took off his coat while Chas shut the door. On both their sides the aggravation and tension was consuming. John didn't understand, Chas understood even less because John wasn't in a talking mood. Chas threw his hat on the nearest bed as he watched John digging around in the mini bar. "John," he sighed. "Give me a break, getting drunk doesn't help."

John spun around. "Sure it does," he said bluntly and took a swig from the small bottle but decided against another sip. "Fuck, I'm not getting drunk," he muttered as he closed the bottle again and tossed it on the bed. He rushed to Chas, letting out all his energy when he kissed him, pressing him against the door. Chas couldn't deny he had longed for this since last night, he gave in, but his mind wondered if this was the right moment. Chas pushed him off, "What about the book?"

John thought for a moment. "Screw the book," he answered with a dense grin, pressing his lips against Chas' again but Chas kept talking through it and John took a step back.

"Shouldn't we get the fuck out of here? Balthazar may come for the book, John," he uttered. "And he's real good at sniffing."

"I don't want to talk about it," John said, simply. The only thing missing was a shrug.

"Of course you don't," the kid scoffed and looked away.

John let out a sigh. "I don't know, Chas. Maybe it's a sham, but I'm not going to open it to put it to the test."

It wasn't a boatload of information, but at least John told him something, even if it was only an 'I don't know,' it was a lot more forthcoming than Chas was expecting to hear and it wasn't like John said stuff like that every other day. John stepped closer again and waited for Chas to look back at him. Not only had Chas looked at him, he cupped John's head in his hands and pulled him into a deep kiss.

"Maybe we should burn it," Chas said, his words getting lost in John's mouth as they stumbled towards the bed and John removed his tie, loosening his collar. Chas' jacket flew through the room and John muttered a "Maybe," not giving it much thought as he was too busy kissing and trying to remove Chas' shirt as they unwittingly fell down on the bed. They did intent to end up there eventually, but it was sooner than expected and Chas was still wearing his shirt.

Positioned on top of John, he welcomed the hands roaming his back, the tugging of his shirt until it was successfully taken off. It was a difficult and pesky task, but finally the floor was wearing all the clothes they pulled off and had strewn about. Not a moment went by without touching each other and desire grew more consuming with every touch as they explored their sensations and hardness. Hands and lips roamed all over right up to the point of waves of ecstasy shattering through their sweaty bodies.
With their limbs tangled under the sheets, they lay still to catch their breath in the small bed and enjoyed the afterglow. John rested his head on Chas' chest, finding it rather calming to listen to the heartbeat getting more steady and tried to set his own heartbeat to it as it was basically throbbing in his throat.

"So," Chas started after a few moments, running his hand through John's hair. "Now can you tell me why I had to come all the way up to this cold country?"

John smirked, looking up without moving his head and intwined his fingers with Chas'. "I have my reasons."

"John, after what we just did, you still can't tell me?"

Exactly. He wasn't going to tell Chas that he came close to being 'home'. The place where you're sometimes unwanted but can always return to, the place you sometimes can't stand yet can't do without. In this foreign country Chas was the only form of solace, the only predictable aspect from home.

Chas didn't leave it alone upon John's silence. "May I remind you that your naked body is all over mine? Truth can get nekkid, too."

"Just be happy I took you along this time," John said softly without an accusing tone in his voice.

Chas smiled. "I am, but I'm still curious, John."

"I know," John teased him without looking up.

"Well, aren't you?" Chas wondered, fighting off the urge to grab onto John's hair and jerk his head up, he just latched onto it a little harder for emphasis instead.

John got the hint and lifted his head to look at Chas for a moment. "I already know," he said calmly and then placed his head back on Chas' chest.

"Yeah, I get that, but I'm feeling a bit left out."

"No need."

"Yes need." His eyes widened, getting awfully tired of the perpetual laconic answers. "John, humor me and waste some breath on it, I wanna know why."

John grinned when he noticed Chas' heartbeat went up again. "And you will." When the chest underneath his head heaved for a deep breath to say something, Constantine looked up at him before Chas said anything. "Don't ask 'when'."