One More Day [Part VI]
Title: One More Day (Part VI)
Pairing: Chastine
Rating: PG PG13
Disclaimer: I own the book and now the game and maybe a few of the comics... but that is about it. Amilla is mine though!
Summery: He carried around a lot of things, but among his arsenal was a hat
A/N: This would be PART VI of the story. This also means that only one more chapter to go and I will be done with it. Sorry that it took me a while to update… but you know how things get….
They stared at each other for a few long moments as he took it all in. Category- Love. Answer- not a long lost girlfriend that he needed to express feelings for one last time. He felt like he was on a damn game of Jeopardy. The clock was in the back annoyingly clicking with each passing moment. This is when he had the moment of realization- there had been quite a few of them in his line of work. You never quite knew what you were up against by the time you did you were screwed, the realization hitting you like a ton of bricks. This was no different.
“Fuck Chas, if you are telling me what I think you are I am going to kick your ass.” John practically growled, this has to be some kind of sick joke. Amilla, it must have been her fault. This was a joke; he wouldn’t consider it being anything else. Yes he blamed the angel whole heartedly and he just stared at his apprentice Dead apprentice he quickly reminded himself.
“Well it depends on what you’re thinking of. I hope not because I would rather like to live for the rest of the day. You see if you kill me now I won’t be able to have me chance to continue to be on Earth. It would mess up my plans and I would be royally pissed at you and make your after life even worse than hell ever could. Just because the heavenly entities are bound to play nice, I made no such accord.” Chas shot back almost defensively, “now please, enlighten me, what is going on through that head of yours?”
It took Constantine a moment to process the miniature speech, but he soon got over it and stared at the young male. “Chas, if this is some sort of joke I am going to rip you limb for limb. If this is about that damn taxi I pawned it…”
Chas stared at him for a few moments before doubling over in laughter. “R-r-really? That’s what your mind comes up with when I say that I am here for love? I hated that damn thing and you pawn-... how the HELL do you pawn a car anyway?” He thought over this for a few moments but figured that he might as well forget it. Pawing off old taxis and the process of doing do was definitely not his concern at the moment. Then it came to him, John actually... cracked a joke. “Oh my goodness, I had no idea you were capable of humor! Now, seriously, want was it that you were thinking?”
“Whatever kid.” John really wanted to reach for a cigarette right now, but he knew damn well that they weren’t there. It was in this moment that John realized that quitting smoking was a lot easier when Chas wasn’t around, because his addition came from the fact he was actually addicted to… that line of thinking was forgotten right away. “What I was going to say, really this time, is if it’s not some past girl…”
“If that if your own odd way of asking if I am gay then your answer would be a both yes and no; I am Bi.” Chas said, giving the elder exorcist an even stare.
Said man was stunned, for lack of a better word. He looked at his apprentice and his thoughts were going a million miles and hour, he was bi. He wanted to say something, anything. He wanted to say something smart-aleck, something playful, something accusing, but the only words that passed his lips were, “You have got to be shitting me.”
“You are the one that asked, John.”
“Don’t think I knew that?” He nearly growled. He wanted a cigarette, really badly. He wanted a lot of things at the moment, but a cigarette was by far the safest one on the list. Instead he grabbed a piece of fresh gum and chewed on it thoughtfully. There was a silence between the two of them for a long moment that felt more like day, and slowly changed into years. Years that Chas had been gone and dead.
Constantine, for once, had nothing to contribute to the matter- his mind was going too fast to think of a single thing to say. He was thinking of how much he cared for this charge and about he was more than a little pissed off that someone else had captured his heart. He was thinking about helping him out so he could stay on Earth, so John could watch him and this other man be happy together. Without realizing it he was scowling at the wall.
“You know you shouldn’t keep your face like that, it might stick. Scowling is bad for you. Anyway… are you gong to help me or not?” Chas spoke, bringing Constantine out of his deep thoughts.
“Yeah sure, the sooner we find this guy the sooner you can be out of my hair.” His voice was controlled, showing none of his internal storm of thoughts. “I guess I need to know a bit about him before I go in search. How did you guys meet?”
“Um… odd circumstances actually.”
“Okay, that’s helping- try to be a bit more specific. What does he look like?”
“Hmmm…” Chas got a dreamy look into his eyes. “Tall, dark, and handsome- I can’t believe no one has snatched him up yet, it’s rather amazing.”
John sighed; this wasn’t getting him anywhere and fast. It was almost noon and they only had so long to find this guy. “Ok… where can he usually be found?”
There was absolutely no hesitation on this question, “Midnights. I never got to go in, besides the one time, but you certainly see him there a lot. Actually, I met him there.” Chas gave the older man a hopeful look, wanting to know if his clue sparked anything in the exorcists mind. John, however, took the look of hope as a request to go to said bar. He didn’t like the idea of Chas being with a half-breed, so he prayed that that whoever it was happened to be just a gifted mortal.
They made their way to the bar in near silence; Chas contemplating his next move, and John brooding over their quest. When they got to the door both men walked in without trouble, seeing as Chas now had the talent to see what was on the other side of the card. Making their way into the main bar area they found a booth and Chas was sitting across from the man he was infatuated with.
Not long after arriving, their drinks were ordered and gotten. Constantine was looking about for anyone that matched the younger male’s vague description. The only trouble was almost all the demons seemed to do the trick. “Is he here?” John finally asked after a long moment.
“Closer than you think.”
This got John’s attention as he looked back at the boy. He wanted to kill and kiss him at the same time due to those cryptic answers. “If you don’t give me a straight answer, I swear that you will head back to the pearly gates faster than you….” But he was interrupted.
“John Constantine, you are the densest man I have ever met in my life, seriously. Think about everything that I told you about this guy. Just for a moment think of something other than yourself, or better yet think only about yourself. Think of any person, not demon that fits everything that I told you. Just fucking THINK!” Chas hissed at the elder man, finally fed up with everything that had been going on. Sure he was in love with John, but Constantine was completely oblivious to anything that had to deal with emotions or the heart. This worsened when said feelings were directed at him. He saw it as a defense, Chas saw it as idiocy.
So he did just that, he thought of everything that had happened over the time Chas had reappeared in his apartment not too long ago. ‘They met under odd circumstances’ this brought back a memory or two. In his mind’s eye he saw a younger Chas trying to charge his way into Midnight’s bar. Not only was he too young to drink, he shouldn’t have known the place existed in the first place. He remembered talking to the boy on a whim and enlisting him to become his apprentice…
But it couldn’t be, it just couldn’t happen. He lingered over a few of the other facts as well. Tall, dark, and handsome… isn’t that what a lot of his one-night-stands had called him? He remembered some of them even told him that out loud, that he was the perfect man because of it and his mysterious air.
He could usually be found at Midnights bar, and hell they had even met there. This rang true in his head and he just stared at Chas from across the small table. He really couldn’t mean any of this- Chas was just…
Chas stared right back and before he could stop it the words slipped from his mouth.
“I’m in love with you, asshole.”