[Original Fic] "Call"
More John fic, not really canon, but if it were, it would happen in the middle of "Hands" (paragraph three, to be precise).
Call
John gets a call. 441 words, no prompt.
Something was being loud. It dragged me, protesting, from too few hours of sleep into the wan light of way too fucking early in the morning.
Blearily, I fumbled for my cell phone, flipping it open and mumbling something that may have been a greeting, but could just as easily have been more along the lines of, “Fuck off, I’m sleeping.”
The laugh that echoed in my ear sounded disgustingly awake. It was also very familiar. I groaned and rolled onto my back, tossing my arm over my eyes. “Jess? What the hell is wrong with you, man?”
“You want that by category or in alphabetical order?” he cackled at me.
“No, seriously, dude. It’s…” I checked the clock, “five-ten in the fucking morning, you loon!”
“What, a guy can’t call his best friend without there being something wrong with him?”
“You’re mental. Completely mental. I’m going back to sleep,” I grumbled.
“Man, John, you’re no fun. I just called to say good luck for junior year.” He blew a raspberry at me.
“That’s it? You couldn’t have waited till we were at school? Fuck, man, I can’t believe you woke me up for that,” I whined at him. Great, and I was starting to wake up, which meant that going back to sleep till my alarm went off wasn’t going to happen.
“You’ll get over it,” he laughed at me. “Crap, they’re coming. I gotta go.”
“Jess?” No answer. “Jess, not funny, man.” Still no answer. Weird, I hadn’t heard him hang up.
I heard footsteps come down the hall just before the knock sounded. “John? You awake, baby brother?” My sister’s voice sounded thick, like she was crying, or had been recently. That, coupled with the baby brother, shot a jolt of dread straight to my stomach. My door opened and Ydra slipped in, sitting on my bed and touching my shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” I managed before I was engulfed in a hug so tight I was having trouble breathing. Or maybe that was the fear.
“Mom just got off the phone with Mrs. Dela Cruz,” she murmured into my hair. “There’s been an accident. It’s- I’m so sorry, baby brother, it’s Jess. He- he didn’t- he didn’t make it. I’m so, so sorry.”
Dimly, I registered that I was being rocked, but I was too busy trying to form the words to deny it. It couldn’t be true. I had just talked to him. Had just…
My hand tightened around the cell phone still in my grip. I brought it up and stared at it for a moment, unbelieving, before I started to shake.
It wasn’t even on.
Call
John gets a call. 441 words, no prompt.
Something was being loud. It dragged me, protesting, from too few hours of sleep into the wan light of way too fucking early in the morning.
Blearily, I fumbled for my cell phone, flipping it open and mumbling something that may have been a greeting, but could just as easily have been more along the lines of, “Fuck off, I’m sleeping.”
The laugh that echoed in my ear sounded disgustingly awake. It was also very familiar. I groaned and rolled onto my back, tossing my arm over my eyes. “Jess? What the hell is wrong with you, man?”
“You want that by category or in alphabetical order?” he cackled at me.
“No, seriously, dude. It’s…” I checked the clock, “five-ten in the fucking morning, you loon!”
“What, a guy can’t call his best friend without there being something wrong with him?”
“You’re mental. Completely mental. I’m going back to sleep,” I grumbled.
“Man, John, you’re no fun. I just called to say good luck for junior year.” He blew a raspberry at me.
“That’s it? You couldn’t have waited till we were at school? Fuck, man, I can’t believe you woke me up for that,” I whined at him. Great, and I was starting to wake up, which meant that going back to sleep till my alarm went off wasn’t going to happen.
“You’ll get over it,” he laughed at me. “Crap, they’re coming. I gotta go.”
“Jess?” No answer. “Jess, not funny, man.” Still no answer. Weird, I hadn’t heard him hang up.
I heard footsteps come down the hall just before the knock sounded. “John? You awake, baby brother?” My sister’s voice sounded thick, like she was crying, or had been recently. That, coupled with the baby brother, shot a jolt of dread straight to my stomach. My door opened and Ydra slipped in, sitting on my bed and touching my shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” I managed before I was engulfed in a hug so tight I was having trouble breathing. Or maybe that was the fear.
“Mom just got off the phone with Mrs. Dela Cruz,” she murmured into my hair. “There’s been an accident. It’s- I’m so sorry, baby brother, it’s Jess. He- he didn’t- he didn’t make it. I’m so, so sorry.”
Dimly, I registered that I was being rocked, but I was too busy trying to form the words to deny it. It couldn’t be true. I had just talked to him. Had just…
My hand tightened around the cell phone still in my grip. I brought it up and stared at it for a moment, unbelieving, before I started to shake.
It wasn’t even on.