Chapter Forty

John lit a match on his teeth, smirking at Mary and Clarissa's reaction to the trick, and tossed it into the pile of old habits and magazines. He ran his tongue over the little rough patch on the back of his incisors, watching as his demons burned in the fire pit. "So long, El Diablo." He smiled as the flames consumed the last of the Playboys.

Dominic chuckled turning to his cousin. "Esas perras estaban calientes."

John rolled his eyes, looking at his cousin as he decided whether or not to use English or Spanish to reply. "Eres un perro cuerno."

Dominic shrugged, making an obscene gesture at the front of his jeans. "Al menos no me masturbé con ellos."

"Boys," Mary scolded, hating that they knew more than one language, "English please."

John turned to the moms, shaking his head. "You don't want to understand what we're saying."

Clarissa cocked a brow at Dominic, making him stop with the gesture. "I think we got an idea."

Claire opened the door to the house, walking inside with the other girls and Jan, Dana, and Kathrine. She set her bags on the table, noticing that John and Dominic were outside standing around the fire pit with a couple cans of Coke, and a small flame in the pit which they were roasting marshmallows over.

Kaylie chuckled, watching as John handed the marshmallow on his stick to Amelia to eat. "At least he seems to be in a better mood today." She grabbed a root beer from the fridge, handing one to Allison as she started for the sliding glass door. "You coming?" She asked, looking at Claire in John's old t-shirt and his ripped jeans.

"I'll be out in a second." She smiled, praying that John would forgive her for calling him out on the magazine.

Kaylie shrugged, closing the door behind her as she hoped down the stairs of the porch. "Yo! Dipshits! Get me a marshmallow stat!"

Claire smiled, noticing how John tossed her the stick he'd been using, sticking a marshmallow in the end as he popped one in his mouth, getting gooey white strings all over his shirt and his lips and chin. "He is an absolute mess." She chuckled, noticing how he did seem to be feeling better and seemed happier now that the court day had been postponed for another two days.

She glanced at the calendar, noticing that there was something written on the square for the twenty-fifth. "Shit! It's Allison's birthday tomorrow?"

Kathrine nodded, watching as Kaylie gave Dominic a noogie before she sat down in his lap to annoy him. "She's going to be Seventeen."

"We have to throw a party!" Claire announced, already thinking of ideas for a gift. "I'll go ask John about it when Allison isn't listening." She smiled, happy that she could finally give her friend a real party.

Clarissa chuckled, opening the door for her whirlwind of a daughter to run through to see her battered boyfriend. "Remember his leg still hurts!" She reminded her, knowing that she probably didn't hear her. "I swear she's going to kill him one day when she tries to love on him." She watched as Claire flung herself onto his lap, tipping the lawn chair backwards as she kissed him. "Especially if she keeps doing that."

Mary turned the page in her book, shaking her head at the two. "They just better hope Thomas doesn't see her doing that."

"And that Amelia doesn't blab." Jan pointed out, watching how John's legs kicked straight up in the air as Claire pushed him father into the ground. "Oh, young love." She sighed, remembering her high school love life. "It was so gross when I was their age, but now look at them."

"I better go make sure John's okay." Clarissa opened the door again, stepping out as John shouted 'I love you' at the top of his lungs. "Yep, he's fine." She cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting at her daughter to take it easy. "Don't kill him Sweetheart! I want to have grandbabies some day after you get married!"

The teens erupted with laughter, Claire pushing off of John until she was sitting back on his hips. "I'll be careful."

John grabbed the collar of the t-shirt she'd stolen from him, pulling her into another kiss. "Don't be careful." He whispered just before her lips touched his, gasping as she stuck her tongue in his mouth.

Amelia made a gagging sound, running up the deck to her mother. "Gross! She put her tongue in his mouth!"

Mary laughed, taking her daughter inside. "They're very in love."

John fished in his pocket for something. Pulling it out when Claire sat back from his face, and handing it to her. "Read it." He ordered, smiling as she unfolded it.

She carefully read over his uncharacteristically slopping had writing, knowing that it was because his hands and arms were hurting when he'd written it.

Letter to my Princess

I stuffed bits of my
old life in a box.
I was looking at them
tonight, rusted, torn and
empty. I was deciding their fate.

You came in with hurt in your
eyes that I can't bear and asked
questions and twisted my answers.
Wounds; old and new open on my skin.
Why can't you see how much I love you?

I'm trying to do the right thing but redemption
sometimes seems so far away. People assume
and look at you like you're scum. You get so
tired of hold up the walls. I'm bleeding red.
Help me. I'm lost. You're my way home.

When you love someone you accept
a person for who they are, faults and
all. Then you celebrate the virtues.
And live life together, realizing hopes and dreams.
You saved my life, Princess. And for that.
I'm forever grateful.

She leaned down to hug him, pressing a thousand kisses to his entire face, jumping back when he flinched at her kissing his blackeye. "Sorry." She winced, noticing that she'd made his lip bleed again. "Oh my God, you're bleeding."

John wiped a hand over his lip looking up at her. "I thought that was you." He smirked, rubbing the blood from her lips with his thumb. "I'm glad it's not though."

"Get a room you two." Dominic smirked, switching to Spanish for a moment. "No olvides un condon."

John shook his head. "Not until we're married dipshit."

"What did he say?" Claire asked, wishing that John would actually teach her some Spanish.

"He said to remember a condom." He stated, knowing that Claire would think it was just as absurd as he did. He looked over Claire's shoulder at his cousin. "You know our views on that shit."

Dominic sat back in his chair, ignoring the scolding look that John was giving him. "Just saying. Don't want there to be too many surprises that night."

Claire gave him a puzzled look, getting off of John's hips to look at the older of the cousins. "What do you mean?"

He smirked holding up his fingers about an inch from each other. "He's got a gherkin." He chuckled watching as John held up his middle finger. "You know what that is right?"

Claire nodded. "It's a little pickle."

"Exactly. Not much to work with there."

"Dom, we were six when you saw my dick. We've both grown a lot since then" He shook his head, righting the chair before taking a seat again. "Besides, mine was bigger than yours even then."

"Yeah but I'm the one who's used it for the intended purpose."

"Yeah, you slept with a snake because you were drunk."

"Technically since her name is Medusa, she's a gorgon not a snake." Dominic pointed out. "Surprised you didn't know that one, mister 'Greek is in my blood.'"

"How about I send you to the fields of punishment right now?" John snapped, pulling out the silver dollar he kept in his pocket. "Here, you're ferry trip is on me."

"Boys." Claire placed a hand on John's shoulders, gently rubbing them to take the tension out of his muscles. "Stop talking about me and John having sex, it's not happening until we're married." She raised a brow at Dominic. "And I've felt him through his jeans a couple times, he is not packing a gherkin."

John nodded. "Thank you!"

The Poem isn't my work, thank you HMG2000!