#sorry im rambling im house-sitting for my mum this week and found a bottle of captian morgansfrom i think before i moved out

[cliveguy]

skyrim and its consequences were a massive blow for people who enjoy massive open world games but even the most pretentious of us need to get super drunk sometimes and play their skyrim save with a billion mods

[mclennunf]

This Boy - Chapter 31

A/N: yes its a day early!! enjoy :) 

~John's~

"You got bloody married?!" George shot up off his kitchen chair and onto his feet, running over to the doorway where I was standing and throwing his arms around me. "That we did!" I chuckled, hugging him back. "Sit down, sit down! Have a cuppa tea." George was nearly vibrating he was so happy. "I'm sorry Paul wasn't the one to tell ye." I apologized as I sat down with him at the table. "It's alright, mate! I can understand why it needed to be just between the two of ye." George brushed it off, and poured my tea.

"So tell me about it! I thought there might have been a reason for you two runnin' off so soon before the trial." George was extremely intrigued. I was never one to talk gushy shite. "Ah Paul will fill you in on all the soft details, Geo." I laughed, blowing on my tea. "Speaking of the trial.." I sighed. "You're nervous, huh?" George observed, crossing his legs and allowing his face to drop to a more serious expression. "'Course I am. But, you should see Paul. He's a nervous wreck." I went on.

"Sharing our emotions now, John? Thought you didn't dig the soft talk." George joked with me. "Nah I'm only joking, go on, mate." George went back to being serious. "Ah. He was just a shaky mess yesterday, mate." I explained. "Where is he now, then?" George asked, tilting his head like a small puppy. "He wanted t'spend some time with Mike and Gin. Although Gin said she's takin' Mike into Blackpool.. I think Paul just wants some time alone." I admitted, still worried for my husband. "Don't sweat that, John. We both know how Paul can get, he's a worrier. He's an anxious worrier, making it that much worse." George rambled a little bit. I knew he was right, but I couldn't help but worry.

"Yer right, 'e probably just wants some time to think, y'know, prepare himself." I nodded as I sipped on my hot tea. "I was meanin' t'ask Paul this, but I suppose yer just as good..." George began as he stood up to rinse out his now empty cup. "What's that?" I raised an eyebrow and him curiously. "Well, y'know, since I was there for pretty much the whole damned ordeal.. D'ye think Paul would want me to y'know, testify or whatever?" He asked as he sat back down. I smiled at the thought. That would help so much! Paul would feel much better with his best mate up on the stand with him. "George, I know it's not me place  t'say, but I think that's a bloody brilliant idea." I agreed excitedly. "Ye do?!" George asked, his eyes wide. "Yeah, mate. That would help our case substantially, plus I think it would help relax our Paul." I told him. I knew it would help. George had always been there for the both of us, but at the end of the day, he was always there for Paul.

"It makes me sick t'think there's even a slight chance that he won't be sentenced guilty." George added, looking sincerely sick to his stomach. "I think there's a 99% chance of him going away for good, mate. Don't you start worryin' on me, I've already got enough doubt on me hands dealin' with Paul." I tried to joke, but I was serious. I knew this was going to be a bumpy road for all of us. "Y'know I'm gonna worry, mate. You both almost died 'cause of this bastard." George so brutally reminded me. "I know. Those were horrible days, weren't they?" I chuckled a little bit to hide my uneasiness. "Seems like yesterday, though. You came into his life and changed it forever. I could never have done what you did." George became oddly serious. "What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled and concerned for his response. "I mean, you all of a sudden just cared so much. You're the reason he all-of-a-sudden had the courage to stand up t'his father and say no. Remember? When he was tellin' Paul 'n Mike they were moving to Scotland?" George asked, reminding me of the day my husband was almost beaten to death.

"Ye, I remember. Jim almost killed Paul for that. Can't say I'm proud for bein' the reason behind it..." I said with an odd tone, unsure of whether or not I was mad at George for saying that or not. "Nah, mate I don't mean it's your fault he got hurt. I mean you're responsible for giving the kid some damn respect for himself." George smiled slightly as he spoke. I looked at him with disbelief. "You know how Paul was treated at home and at school. If you were him, would you have any self respect either? Betcha' he doesn't think he deserves you." George hit the nail on the head with that one. I knew Paul, and I knew he felt that way. "Yer right. I'm worried because I don't think he sees what Jim did t'him t'be a big deal, y'know? Like just because it was him. If it had been Mike, it'd be different. I think he's worried the judge might see it the same way. If that makes sense." I tried to explain, realizing I was just spewing out my thoughts all at once on George.

"No no, I know what you're tryin' t'say. But mate, I gotta say, when he has someone who loves him as much as you do... I don't think ye 'ave much t'worry about. He's gonna do this, and he's gonna do great." George smiled. Sometimes it was easily forgotten how George was younger than both Paul and I because of how wise he could be. He had such an old soul, and I loved that about him. "Thanks mate." I smiled at George as I spoke. "You two might want to consider telling Ritchie about ye two as well. He's gettin' suspicious." George warned me. "I'm not worried about Ritchie. We'll tell him soon. I'm sure he'll be coming to the trial, yeah?" I asked. "Of course he will! He's gotta be there to support you lads." George told me with a wide smile. "Y'know, I know that rubbish was hard on you too, Geo." I said in a low voice. "It was, yeah." George's smile faded rather quickly. "I know he's your husband now, but he's always been me best mate. I've almost watched him die one too many times, bloody hell, I dream about it still." George admitted, standing up to pour himself another cup of tea nervously.

"George..." I tried to begin, but he wasn't finished yet. "I tried t'fuckin' help 'im, y'know?" He went on. He poured his tea down the drain and opened the cupboard, grabbing a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. I smirked at the sight. "I knew as soon as his Mum died that things weren't goin' well. Even told me Mum and Dad, they went over there to talk to Jim and he seemed as right as rain." He poured our glasses almost to the rim as he spoke. "Me parents were mad at me, can you believe that? They said I had accused a sorrowing man of abusing his son when all he was doing was mourning the loss of his wife." George took a large gulp, as did I, and we both made a twisted face at the cheap whiskey taste. "Not long after that, the bugger started comin' t'school with a black eye, or cigarette burns on 'is arms. Bloody teachers just thought 'e was gettin' bullied." George was pouring out his horrible memories of his best mate, my husband. It made my heart ache. "Finally I showed up at the McCartney's house unannounced. Which as you know, is quite unlike me. I was goin' t'knock, but I heard Mike screamin', 'e was just a wee baby then. I walked in and that was the first time I found Paul unconscious gettin' repeated blows to the head from his father." George stared down into his glass as he spoke.

My heart was beating fast. I had never considered the fact that this whole situation didn't just mess up Paul, Mike and I, bu it had also clearly messed up our mate pretty bad. "Did Jim come at you?" I asked, the words slipping out of my mouth before I could stop them. I took a long drink from my cup, the same twisted face followed. "Nah. I grabbed Mike and ran home. Got me parents, and of course they called the police. Paul and Mike stayed with us for about a week until the police thought Jim was fit to go home, blamed it on Mary's death." George shook his head again. "D'ye think that's why he started drinkin' so much, though?" I asked, once again not controlling my filter. "Yeah, I do. But the resemblance between Paul and Mary was uncanny. I think it scared Jim, y'know?" George added and I finally watched his face soften. "You knew Mary?" I asked, with a hopeful voice. "Yes! Oh, John you would've loved Mary. Such a sweet woman she was." George smiled as he topped off both of our glasses.

"Paul doesn't talk about 'er much." I said, noticing the alcohol begin to blur my vision even more so than it already was. I pulled my glasses out of my pocket and placed them on my face. "You don't talk about Julia much." George said. His words floored me, I hadn't expected him to bring up Julia. "Well Geo, I didn't know her very well." I sighed. I felt more comfortable now that I had some liquor in my system, otherwise I would've gotten defensive about Julia. "I know, but you should know you can talk about 'er." George tried to comfort me. I smiled at his attempt. I had never really had conversations like this with anybody but Paul, it was refreshing.

"Julia was lovely. Unfit to be my mother, I guess. Or maybe I was unfit to be her son." I sighed as I spoke. "What makes ye say that?" George asked. "Well she was ill, y'know. She couldn't quite handle it. Of course she could when she remarried and had a whole new family. I'm glad I reconnected with 'er, but I also hate that I lost 'er twice." These words were some that I'd never said to anybody before. "I'm sorry, mate." George said, rather quietly. "Ah, it's all over now. I've got you guys for a family now. Dysfunctional and broken, but we're family mate." I smiled at him, watching a smile grow on his face too. I felt myself begin to choke up. I cleared my throat and took another swig of my drink. "So much for not gettin' soft." I laughed, George joining me.

"Well, Geo. As lovely as this as been, I best go check on my husband and make sure he's not gone stroppy on me." I said as I finished my drink, standing up and immediately feeling the alcohol in my wobbly legs. "Alright mate. Come by later, if you and Paul wanna help me finish this bottle to celebrate the secret wedding." George joked as he walked with me to the door. "Ta for everything, mate." I smiled, definitely drunk. "Aye, thank you." George nodded and watched me leave.

It was raining lightly as I walked back to Paul's house, quite refreshing considering I was a little but drunk. I thought about what George had said felt quite guilty. I had never thought about how the whole situation may have effected him in the long run, and it obviously had substantially. I arrived at Paul's and opened the door quietly, realizing it was passed Mike's bedtime. I kicked off my shoes and peered around to see where Paul was. Gin must have been in bed, or else she would've been in her usual spot on the couch reading her books. Paul sat at the kitchen table, looking oddly similar to the scene I had just left at George's. He sat with a bottle of whiskey on the table and a glass, except he was alone. "M'love?" I called to him as I slowly entered the room. "Bad day?" I asked, sitting down across from him. Paul's eyes were blood shot, as if he had seen a ghost. "Paul, yer scarin' me. What's going on?" I asked, reaching across for his hands. He quickly pulled away, his sudden movement scared me. "Paul!" I almost shouted, being cautious of his sleeping family upstairs.

"I can't do this, John." Paul finally looked up at me, revealing tears streaming down both of his cheeks. My heart nearly stopped, my drunken stomach flipped. "Can't do what?" I asked, noticing he was playing with his wedding ring. "No, what the hell do you mean?" I asked sounding a little more angry. "I can't..." Paul began sobbing into his hands. I looked at the bottle of whiskey on the table and noticed there was maybe only a shot left. He was knackered, more so than I was. "I'm going to stay at Mimi's tonight and I'll give you some space." I said as I stood up, heading toward the door. "John?" I heard his small voice say from behind me. I had to repress the anger I was feeling toward him right then. I turned around slowly. "Yes, Paul?" I said, trying to sound soft and sweet.

"I love you."

"I love you too, m'love."