wed.

Turns out John's pyromania is out of control

...

To say it was tense between Alex and John would be an understatement. They could barely look at each other, and it broke John more than it seemed to break Alex. John picked up a job at the library just so he could give Alex a little bit of space. In the mornings, they still sat across from each other at the table, only John kept his eyes on his most recent book instead of making soft conversation with Alex. He didn't talk now. He didn't show up at Alex's office or crept into Alex's room at night. After what Peggy said, both Alex and John couldn't be around each other.

John was sitting in his room, on his bed. He had his headphones on, but nothing was playing at the moment as he focused on the paper in his hands. A dozen or so paper cranes were littered around him on the bed. He mumbled to himself, and then blew a curl out of his face.

Outside the room, Alex bit his nails while watching John fold paper, which Alex didn't see how that could be fun. Finally, he pushed open the door the rest of the way. He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms, then cleared his throat. John glanced up and then pulled off his headphones.

"Um, hey," Alex said.

"Hi."

"I'm throwing a dinner party. Well, actually, Thomas is, but he wants to have it here and not at his place for some reason. Probably because he knows if he has it here, I can't bail." Alex chuckled and then pushed off the wall.

"Um, ohkay. The only thing I can make is the apple pie I made you once. But you have cookbooks in the library." 

"I don't want you to cook." Alex shook his head. "Unless you want to," he added.

"...Okay. I guess I can just hang out in a cafe or diner," John said slowly. He stared at his bed sheets with the occasional glance up at Alex.

Alex shifted. "No. I was going to ask if you wanted to come."

John hesitated and continued folding the paper crane in his hand. "You want me to go to your dinner party," he stated.

"Thomas's. Why? You don't wanna go?"

"No, I do. It's just downstairs, so I'm not really going anywhere. Are there any specific standards?"

"Nope." Alex shook his head.

John's eyes connected with Alex's for a second before he quickly looked away. "Is that everything, Alexander?"

Alex paused and then walked away.

...

John paced in his bedroom. He stopped in the mirror and straightened his shirt. He took a breath and brushed his hair out of his face. He grabbed a hair tie and tied it back, before letting out a huff and pulling the hair tie out. He stared at himself in the mirror. Peggy's words kept swimming in his brain and the voices made sense out of them that contradicted what he thought of them. John knew he loved Alex. But he wasn't so sure anymore.

He mentally shook himself and then walked out of his bedroom. John could hear the sound of soft music playing downstairs and voices overlapping each other. He walked downstairs and immediately ran into Maria.

Maria gently shoved John's chest. "Hey, Johnny Boi. Haven't seen you around much. You never come around the office anymore. We should grab lunch sometime." 

"I, uh, actually am working at the library now."

"So, what? You don't eat lunch?"

"Hey, you guys." Peggy smiled, having walked over. "John, you look nice. What're you talking about?"

"John and I are going to get lunch next week." Maria turned to John. "Let's say Thursday? I want to hear all about your current Alex drama. I never hear anything from Alex." She looked back at Peggy. "You want to join us, love?"

"Sure, yeah. I can do Thursday. Just us three. Quality bonding moment." Peggy smiled. "It's a date."

"Wonderful!" Maria beamed. "Now excuse me, I'm going to pour myself a drink." She patted John's cheek and then walked away.

As the night rolled on, John became extremely bored. The people just talked about politics and John didn't really understand any of it. He drank a couple of glasses of wine, but eventually ended up pouring himself some whiskey in the kitchen. He became more tipsy as the dinner party progressed.

Once the party ended and everyone left, John disappeared upstairs, and was sitting against the bathroom wall, drunkenly drifting in and out of consciousness. He kept flicking his lighter open and closed, and occasionally lighting it.

Meanwhile downstairs, Alex and Thomas were chatting quietly outside. Thomas had his feet in the pool, smoking a cigarette and Alex was sitting on the swing, listening to Thomas talk. Alex sighed heavily. He paused.

"What's that smell?"

"What smell?" Thomas asked.

"Smoke," Alex mumbled.

"I'm smoking. I literally have a cigarette in my hand, Alex." Thomas chuckled. "You had way too much to drink."

"No, no. Thomas, shut the fuck up. Something's wrong." Alex stood up and walked inside. He didn't get to the top of the stairs before he saw that the entire second floor was on fire. He stepped back, terrified.

"Alex, what's the---" Thomas stopped, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Jesus fucking Christ! What the fuck?!"

Alex glanced back at Thomas and one thought came to mind. John. "Oh, my god, John." He ran through the fire barrier, trying his best not to get burned. He held his shirt over his nose, coughing, as he called out for John and shoved doors open. He could hear Thomas calling out to him with curse words and threats; it was clear that Thomas was terrified and hysterical.

Alex found John slumped against a wall, coughing and hacking. John still had the lighter clutched in his hand and he tried to move, but couldn't. He was too drunk from the whiskey and too weak from the heat. Alex crouched down in front of John, trying to push down his panic. He shoved John's shoulder and John slumped forward, coughing some more.

"John. Hey, look at me. Come on. We have to get out of here."

John weakly grabbed Alex's shirt, tears coming to his eyes. "Just leave. It's okay. Just go---"

"Fucking hell! John, I'm not going to leave you here! Let's go now!" Alex pulled John up, despite John's protests.

John begged Alex just to leave him there. He said it was fate. But all he could do was cough and gasp for air as Alex helped him downstairs as fast as he could.  Alex couldn't carry John all the way though, and John wasn't very much help either. Plus the smoke was getting to Alex now, and made his feel fuzzy and breathless.

Meanwhile outside, Thomas watched the fire department pull up. He was pacing back and forth and calling Peggy and Lafayette, worried to death for Alex. Finally, one of the firemen helped Alex and John out of the house, and Thomas ran over.

"Jesus Christ, Alex," Thomas gasped, hugging Alex tightly. Alex pulled back and coughed. He stared up at his house. Thomas reached over and squeezed Alex's hand. "You okay?"

"My house," he whispered. Alex glanced over at where John was being tended by a paramedic. He ripped out of Thomas's grip. "I'm going to fucking kill him. I'll fucking kill him."

Thomas grabbed Alex's arm. "You're in shock. You can kill him later. Let's get you some water."