Start a Revolution

John felt like he was floating on cloud nine.

When the nurse finally treated him, a half-an-hour after he had sat down in the office, she told him it was best he go home. He was disappointed since he and Drew had finally taken a shot in the dark with this relationship, but Drew also said she wanted him to go home too. That showed him she cared and he would do anything she said if she cared.

"I'll come visit you after Toybox, all right?" Drew smiles as they walk out of the nurses office. John couldn't help but grin at their twined hands. "I'll even bring some soup."

"I'm not sick, I just have a black eye."

She shrugs, stopping as they come to the doors that lead out of the school. "It's the thought that counts isn't it?" His grin widens as she leans up and presses a hesitant kiss to his cheek. He knew she was still self-conscious about this whole thing, but she'd come around.

"I guess," he murmurs. "See you then."

They share one last look before he releases their hands, leaving the school. She waves goodbye from the window as he goes to his car, his arm rising to wave back.

On the drive back to his house, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

To know he had finally cracked her, gotten her to let the walls fall and open up, was such an accomplishment. John didn't expect what he found, for her to actually return his forbidden feelings. He thought she was so focused on Joey; that was reaction he saw when kissed her Friday night. When she ran off he knew he blew it. Or, he thought he blew it. But come today and she actually felt the opposite of what he suspected.

As he pulls up to the curb outside his house, his parents' cars gone as they were at work, John couldn't help but smile. Everything was going according to how he wanted and not even Joey fucking Rhimes could stop him. Drew was his, just like he wanted, and it was as if he were on top of the world.

John grabs his ice pack and presses it to his nose, unbuckling and moving out of his car.

He was surprised when he walks inside to hear the TV going. His little brother Shane was propped on the couch, an empty bowl sitting in front of him on the coffee table. John raises his eyebrows.

"What are you doing here?" he asks Shane, moving toward the living room.

Shane snorts, shaking his head. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Well, if you actually graced me with your eyes, you would see that I have an ice pack over my nose," the older boy retaliates haughtily. Shane finally looks over at him, his eyes blowing wide. "I got punched so the nurse sent me home. By the looks of it, you didn't get punched, so tell me what the fuck you are doing sitting on the couch."

Shane shrugs. "Got sick. Now you need to explain what the fuck happened to your face."

"Got a black eye," he responds, plopping down on the loveseat across from Shane. "A bruised nose too." He tried to sound short, end the conversation, but his little brother didn't get the hint.

"No, who did that to you?"

John groans, the noise vibrating his noise. He winces. "Joey Rhimes. You don't know him, okay?" He thought that would end the conversation, but his little brother obviously had no idea what to say and what no to say.

"Joey Rhimes?" Shane's brow furrows. "Isn't that the guy Drew Hemingway is hooking up with?"

A flash of anger hit John in the chest like a punch. He growls deep in his throat, grateful it was quiet enough that Shane didn't hear him. "She isn't hooking up with him. They had a brief almost-fling where they were about to get back together, but..." John shifts on his cushion, averting his eyes. "They aren't anymore."

"Because you punched him in the face." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Actually," the older boy clears his throat, "I never got a punch in. Before I could Drew broke us up. I'll punch him another day though."

"Why were you fighting Drew's boyfriend anyway?"

John clenches his teeth, setting off another pang of hurt in his face. "He isn't her boyfriend." I'm her boyfriend. "And he attacked me. I promise. I didn't instigate it. Drew is a witness to that. She took me to the nurses office before any faculty could see us." He grins at the thought of the nurses office, ignoring the new pain in his nose. All the pain in the world couldn't stop the high he was on about her.

"So you and Drew are friends."

Oh shit. Oh shit. John bites at his bottom lip, trying to keep his gaze level with his brothers. Shane knew of what went down; the accident and why the families hate each other. And that meant if Shane found out about him and Drew, he could spill the beans.

"Not...exactly..." he clears his throat. "Drew and I are partners for an English project."

Shane still seemed skeptical, crossing his arms over his chest and cocking his head to the side. "That's it?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. "Just project partners?"

John bites his bottom lip. "Yeah."

His little brother snorts out loud. "You are the worst liar ever! You're fucking her aren't you?"

"NO!" John gapes, his jaw dropped. "And that's the truth. I can't believe you would think I'm doing Drew." He looks down at his lap. "We may just be kind of...dating. If you wanna call it that."

There was a hefty silence as Shane just stared at his older brother, his brows raised. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. For John to date a Hemingway...it was unheard of. Of everyone in the family, John hated the Hemingway's the most. John's favorite brother had been Kyle and he wanted nothing more than to make Annie feel the pain he felt when she killed Kyle. So for him to just get over that? It's huge.

"But..." Shane felt speechless. "She's one of them."

"She doesn't know anything about the accident, all right?" John growls, standing up. "She's clueless. She's...different." He exhales deeply. "I'm going upstairs. Leave me alone."