It had been late when John and I got back. He had gone right to one of my drawers and pulled out a change of clothes before heading into the bathroom across the hall from my room. I changed into my pajamas and went to let my parents know we were back.

"We're back." I said, knocking on the door to my parents' room. I leaned a little way into the room, smiling over at them.

"Thanks for letting us know." My mom smiled back. My dad waved me into the room.

"Get the door." He said. I furrowed my eyebrows but did as he asked. "I just wanted to let you know that John's father came over earlier." I nodded and bit my lip. I had a feeling I knew where this was going. "He said he ran into the two of you earlier but you both ran off. First off I'm proud of you for staying calm and getting John out of there. Second off I think Mr. Constantine is getting wise to where John goes when it's too rough for him at home." I sighed as I took a seat on their bed.

"We knew it would happen sooner or later." I admitted. "But I'm not sure where else he can go." My dad nodded. "I mean we tried going to Chas's house earlier and his mom wouldn't even let us in the house."

"I'll have a chat with Mrs. Chandler. I'm sure something can be arranged. At least if he can get away for a few hours while we wait for Mr. Constantine to head out to the bar." My mom reasoned. I nodded and sighed again.

"At least for now, John should keep coming here. We'll keep sneaking out and I'll keep showing him a good time. We can deal with his dad when the need arises." I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I wish there was something more I could do to help him." I was on the verge of tears. I hated that my best friend had to go through this and there wasn't anything that I could do to help him. My parents hugged me before drying my tears and sending me back to John. I entered my room to see the light off and him curled up on the edge of my bed. I smiled at the sight and took a quick picture on my phone. Plugging my phone in to charge next to John's I got in bed and made sure John was covered with blankets before falling asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to John sitting on the edge of my bed, phone in hand. I sat up and started to sort out my hair even though I hadn't seen how bad it was yet. I scooted over to where John sat and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Morning." I yawned. John leaned over and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "What's wrong?" The problem with being best friends with someone for so long was I could read John like a book. Just like he could read me.

"Chas finally texted back." John tilted his phone towards me so I could see the message that Chas had sent. "The entire Chandler family is moving." My eyes widened. That was not good. I made a mental note to tell my parents later so we could figure out a new plan of action. I read the text messages that Chas had sent to John. Without lifting my head from his shoulder, I hugged him as tightly as I could. He buried his head in my neck and held onto me tightly. "What are we going to do love?" He sniffled. He wouldn't full on cry. Not unless it was because of his dad. But he could come close. Setting my jaw and knowing I'd have to take matters into my own hands, I stood up. John looked up at me with sad eyes.

"We're going to give him the best send off anyone has ever had." I announced. "And then we are going to go back to what we do best." John looked at me sceptically. "Seriously John. We will get through this. We always do." I sat back down next to John and gently shook him. John sighed and shook his head. This time he turned and hugged me, resting his head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and gently ran my fingers through his hair. I looked up when there was a knock on my door.

"Come on you two. Enough being sad. Time to get dressed and off to school." My mom's cheery voice broke through the quiet. I nodded and gently pushed John away. "I'm guessing the two of you heard." Her gaze lingered on John's ruffled appearance before her eyes fell on me. John nodded tiredly.

"Yeah. We heard." I said, my gaze falling on John. I noticed the time and started to grab clothes to get ready for the day. I gently put John's clothes next to him while heading to the bathroom to change. I could hear my mom talking to John through the door. I tried not to listen but it sounded like she was telling him not to worry about Chas or his dad. Looking in the mirror, I finished getting ready and took a deep breath. I opened the bathroom door and let John take my place. "What are we going to do now?" I asked my mom once the door closed behind John.

"We'll figure something out." My mom reassured me as she helped me make my bed. "Even if we have to fight tooth and nail for him." I nodded sadly as John walked out of the bathroom. I rushed over to him and fixed his red tie. He gave me a small smile in thanks. We gathered our things for school and headed down to grab something to eat before heading out the door. It was a quiet walk to the bus stop.

"Are you okay John?" I asked once we got to it. John and I were the only people that ever used the stop. John looked at me and shrugged.

"What do you think (Y/N)?" He asked. His tone was guarded and I knew that if I didn't keep him talking he would shut even me out. "My best friend is moving away and leaving me alone. So how do you think I feel?" He looked away and my face fell. That comment felt like a knife in the heart. I bit my lip out habit and silently prayed that it wouldn't affect me anymore than it already was. John grew silent again as the bus pulled up. He let me get on first before taking the spot next to me when I found an empty seat. We were one of the first stops so I knew it would be a long ride. "I just hope Chas is in school today so I can say goodbye to my only friend." I bit my tongue and nodded to what John had said. Neither one of us said anything for the rest of the ride. I quietly and discreetly put in one of my headphones and listened to the music, hoping that today wouldn't become a shit show.

When the bus pulled up to the school, I put in the other headphone and pushed past John as he was standing up to get off the bus as quickly as I could. As I pushed past him, I saw John tilt his head in confusion. He ran off the bus behind me, trying to catch up to me.

"(Y/N)!" He called, even when I had started to pull out my headphones once I entered the school building. I was biting back tears at that point and kept walking. I ignored John even when he stood next to my locker as I got my things. "(Y/N)." He whispered as I closed my locker and started to walk away again. "Just tell me what's wrong!"

"You know what's wrong John Constantine." I threw over my shoulder as I kept walking. I went about my day as usual, without ever saying a word to John. Chas wasn't in school so John looked a little sad and lost. I could feel my heart hurt at the look on his face when we walked into our first class and noticed Chas's chair empty. As the day came towards an end, John stood by my locker with his hands on his hips and watching me closely. He bit his lip and shook his head before gently taking my things and putting them in my locker. He closed the locker and turned me to face him. "What?" I asked a little annoyed. I could already feel the tears building in my eyes as I watched him closely.

"Sorry." John said solemnly, his head tilting. I cocked my head at him. He sighed. "I said I was losing my best friend. My only friend." He looked away and I knew he was trying to hide from me. "I didn't mean it the way it came out." John looked back to me and his eyes were red. "Chas is my best friend. And in some ways, my only friend." I scoffed and started to walk away. "Wait!" He grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"For what John?" I hissed, yanking my arm out of his grip. "Wait for you to tell me I don't mean anything? That I'm nothing to you? Because guess what?" I didn't bother hiding the tears this time around. "You are my best friend." My hand flew out to the side and I had to hold back from smacking John. "And once Chas leaves, you're going to be my only friend." My words were coming out in sobs now. "But if you don't even see me as either, I don't know if you are going to be that either." I let John get close to me. His hands came to rest on my shoulders. I hung my head as the sobs became too much. John pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me even though I didn't even touch him. As my sobs quieted down, John pulled away from me. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were red. They shined with unshed tears. John tentatively reached up and wiped away the tears that were still streaming down my face. He nodded slowly and handed me my backpack. We made our way to the bus and sat down in our normal seats. I rested my head on his shoulder and John sighed as he wrapped an arm around me. The ride felt longer than usual with the heavy silence hanging in the air. When we reached the stop before ours, John took my hand and led me off the bus. He held tight to my hand as we walked back to our street.

"Come on." He nodded at the park that was between the street we were on and the street before ours. I followed the tugging of his hand before we came to a stop in front of a tree. Taking my other hand, John took a deep breath. "You said you couldn't be my friend if I didn't see you as mine. I don't want you as my friend." John must have sensed I was going to pull away because the look he gave me was close to begging me to stay and his grip on my hands tightened. "I want you as something more." I furrowed my eyebrows at him and shook my head.

"What do you mean something more John?" I asked. "I'm your BEST friend. There isn't much more we could get than that." My heart was pounding in my chest and my mind raced to what he could mean. But at the same time, I tried to think rationally. There was no way he could be admitting what I think he was admitting. He let go of one of my hands and squeezed my other one tighter.

"Yes there is." John reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. I watched as he let the blade out and turned towards the tree. Biting his lip, he started to carve his initials into the tree. I watched as first a 'J' and then a 'C' appeared in the bark. John glanced over at me before carving in a plus sign. John paused and took a deep breath. "This is not how I wanted you to find out. This is not how I wanted to tell you. But I've never seen you as just a friend, (Y/N)." I watched as he started to carve the first letter of my first name under the plus sign. "You're there for me when no one else is. You help me when I'm at my worst. And you make sure that when I'm at my best, I stay there for as long as possible." He paused before starting to carve the first letter of my last name into the tree. "You have always been there for me no matter what and you have never judged me. I've been incredibly lucky to know you (Y/N). And somewhere along the line," John finished up with the tree and turned towards me again. "I fell for you." He took a step to the side and I looked at the declaration of love that John had put on the tree. 'J.C. + (F/I). (L/I).' fit inside a heart. Tears welled up in my eyes again but not in sadness this time.

"John." I breathed, my hand coming up to cover my mouth. Turning back to John, I watched as he bit the nail on his thumb out of nervousness, a habit I knew he had picked up from me. "Are you serious?" My voice had raised an octave. John nodded, watching me carefully.

"Like I said this isn't how..." John stumbled back as I hugged him as tightly as I could. "Whoa! (Y/N)? You ok?" He was quick to hold me as tightly as he could. "Hey!" He felt the tears hit his neck and started to rub my back. "Hey. Hey. It's ok." He buried his head in the back of my neck and tried to hold back his tears. He didn't know how to react. This wasn't a rejection, but it wasn't acceptance either. Well as far as he could tell. I pulled back from John before taking his face in my hands. I leaned my forehead against his and rubbed my nose against him.

"Does this mean what I think it means John?" I asked quietly, hating how my voice cracked. John nodded, his eyes sad and curious.

"Yeah." He started to smile. "I've liked you for a long time now (Y/N). I just never knew how to tell you and I hate that it happened this way. I'm sorry. You deserve something big and romantic, not sad and cheesy." I laughed.

"I've liked you for a long time too John." A smile broke out across his face at my declaration. "And I don't care that this is cheesy and sad. All that matters is that it's you." John pulled me a little tighter against him. "This small action is so you. Sure we fought. When don't we? But you always find the best way to make it up to me. And now I know why." John started to laugh before pulling me into the tightest hug that he could. Hugging him back, I noticed that golden sparks started to fall down around us. "John." I giggled. He pulled back laughing.

"What?" He smiled down at me. "Can't I be a little theatrical?" He shrugged but stopped the sparks from falling anyway. "Speaking of theatrical..." he trailed off and placed his palm against the tree. I watched as his carving glowed for a second before he pulled his hand away, revealing an aged carving that was lined with gold. "There. Now this will be here for as long as we are together." He turned to smile at me before biting his lip. "If that's what you want of course." I leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Of course that's what I want."