Gutsy: A John Bender (Breakfast Club) Story

Pain

John had to stay in the hospital for another full day before the doctors would let him come to my house. Everything was painful for him and he was a grouch when I picked him up after school. He had finally called his parents and that had nearly sent him over the edge. Knowing his foul mood I stayed quiet in the car, I didn't even turn my radio up because I was afraid the noise would be too much for him. John sat in brooding silence next to me, his eyes flashing with anger and pain.

When we got to my house we sat in the driveway for a long awkward moment together. John leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. "You sure you want to do this?" he asked. "Open up your house to a bum?"

"You're not a bum," I said with a small laugh. "You might be a wild hooligan, but not a bum."

John smiled, but kept his eyes closed, "Wild hooligan. I like that. You didn't answer my question though."

Now it was my turn to smile, "I'm sure that I want you to stay here. Is it going to be a little weird? Yeah, but I'm willing to put up with it."

John opened his eyes, turned his head and looked at me, "You know what I really want to do right now?"

"Kiss me?" I replied with a smirk.

"Actually, I'd really like to punch someone and cuss them out because my ribs hurt like #&!!, but I'd take a kiss." John said. Wincing he reached over and took my face in his hand. I let him pull me to him and then he kissed me with a ferocity that surprised me. His fingers tangled in my hair holding me tight as our lips explored each other. With a grunt of pain his lips pulled away, but he left his hand in my hair our foreheads touching.

"I've fallen for you, Laura. Don't let go because you're all I've got." John said his breath and words sharp from pain.

A wave of protectiveness washed over me, "I'm not perfect, remember that, but I won't let go."

Untangling his fingers, John stroked my face, "I know," he said. "I just needed to hear you say it."

My heart bucked at his words and I could feel a blush creeping up my cheeks. I straightened up and opened the car door, stepping out. Across from me, John gingerly got out on his side.

"Looks like I finally got under your skin, ice queen," he said mustering up a crafty smile. "But it wasn't that tough hide I had to get through, I had to reach your heart."

My breath hitched at his words, hearing the truth ringing in them, "Guess that makes you pretty smart, John, because you're the first person to figure out how."

John's smile got even bigger, and he walked to my front door and opened it for me, "I'm just that good."

Now I could feel my face was beet red, but I kept my eyes up and walked into the house past him. I realized that even under my discomfort, I was happy, really happy. John came behind me and I heard him give a low hiss as he jostled his ribs as he slowly bent down to remove his boots.

"Want some help?" I asked.

John swore loudly and continued to take off his boots. By the time he finished he was panting and I could see that just that simple act had been extremely painful. He leaned against the wall, eyes huge with pain and jaw tight.

"Do you want to take a nap? The doctor did say you need a lot of rest." I said.

John glared at me and said, "I suppose so....I am pretty tired."

I knew it was hard on him to need to rest so I didn't push it. We slowly made our way upstairs to the spare bedroom that my mom had made up from him. John hadn't wanted to get any clothes from home so my parents had dug through my brother's closets to find a few outfits for him and she had left them laying on the bed.

"I hope these are ok," I said motioning to the clothes as we stared into the room. "We can always buy you something if nothing works."

"Anything will be fine," John said as he wilted against the doorframe.

I went and carefully set the clothes on the dresser leaving the bed clear as John forced himself across the room and gingerly sat down. I stood in front of John, hands behind my back shifting from foot to foot.

"Get some rest. I'm going to be downstairs working on homework and getting dinner ready."

John nodded and gave a pained sigh. I turned and walked to the doorway and headed downstairs.