John-Paul POV
I teach my kids that every story has a beginning, middle and end. Then I get asked if there is a story I don't want to end. I always say no but truth is there is one I don't want to end but it all ended when the letter came through the post box this morning. Ste and I were officially divorced. No longer Mr and Mr McQueen. The story had ended.
I opened the letter with James while he opened his letters. James and I are a good match. We had a high level of combined intelligence. He is a Lawyer and I am an A-Level English Teacher. What more could you want. James got letters about people needing lawyers and I only got the divorce finalisation and a letter saying that Finn would be staying in prison.
"I am going to go to the shops, we need some stuff for dinner tonight. Do you need anything?" I ask him as I get my coat on.
"No I am ok thank you." He says getting up and joining me by the door. He kisses me and I head out.
As I step outside I see Ste. He looked rough but I didn't ask why. He probably had another argument with Harry.
"Morning" Ste says in a deep voice like he had just woken up. God that voice made me go crazy.
"Good morn" I say to him trying to cheer him up slightly.
"I take it you got the letter as well then" He says and I know what he is on about.
"Yep, we are officially no longer Mr and Mr McQueen" I say to him.
"Bet James can't wait to have you all to himself" He smiles at me which make me melt slightly.
"Yep. I bet Harry feels that same." I say to him knowing Harry is going to love this. Ste now has no connection to me.
"Ye. He is umm planning a party for tonight. Would you and James like to come? It's at ours" Ste asks unenthusiastically. He doesn't seem too happy about the party.
"I will see what we are doing." I say to him before turning and going towards the shops.
Later that day
I walk through the door of the Nightingale house with Sally in tow and see James and my son Matthew playing with his toys. Well, James is mainly watching.
"I'm home" I announce. Matthew comes bounding up to me.
"Daddy" he practically shouts in my face as I hug him tight.
"Right little man, you are going to with nana Sally and have a sleepover for tonight, is that ok." I say to him and he nods. I grab his coat and shoes and they are both soon out the door. Sally has clothes and PJ's for Matthew at hers.
I see James packing Matthews toys away and putting them up in the cupboard where Matthew can't reach. I unpack all the shopping I got. I am just putting the coffee next to the coffee pot when I feel arms snake around my waist and pull me backwards towards a very warm James Nightingale. His lips soon attach to my neck. I know he is only doing this because Matthew is out. It's rare we get time to ourselves anymore.
One of his hands leaves my waist and he stops kissing my neck and just rests his chin on my shoulder. He hands me a little box and I open it. Inside is a beautiful gold ring.
"Marry me" He whispers into my ear. I am shocked. James doesn't do commitment so this is a big step for him and me. I just got my divorce finalised today.
"Yes, I'll marry you" I say gleefully. I turn around and wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. He breaks the kiss only to put the ring on my finger. I smile at him and he smiles back.
"Are you happy?" He asks me. Probably because my smile faded remembering tonight.
"Yes I am happy. I saw Ste earlier, he has invited us to a divorce party tonight at the Hutchinson house." I say to him hoping he will go.
"What better way to show you moved on than to go to your divorce party with a new engagement ring on your finger?" James says kissing me again.
"Come on, I need to get dressed ready for this party." I say grabbing his hand. He needed to change as he was in a full suit.
"Button up shirt and trousers then." James asks.
"I was thinking nice top and jeans" I say looking through my side of the wardrobe.
"At least wear black jeans." James says pulling out a pair of black trousers and a white shirt for him.
"Fine. As long as you leave the top 2 buttons undone." I say to him seeing him changing one shirt for another.
"Deal." He says and we both get dressed.
At the Hutchinson
James and I arrive and I knock on the door. Harry opens the door with less than a welcoming face.
"Who invited you" Harry says as if he was annoyed.
"Ste did." I say and he steps aside so that we can enter. I see Ste sitting at the kitchen table.
"I'll have a beer" James says to me. When James says he wants a beer that means he doesn't want to stay long. I nod and walk over to the kitchen table where the drinks are.
"Sorry about Harry. He can be protective. I don't get why he was like that though. We just divorced so there is no reason for it." Ste says drinking more of his beer.
"It's ok. I have dealt with worse than him" I say not going into detail. Ste lived through it all with me.
"You don't think it's James he has a problem with." Ste says handing me two beers.
"Why would he be miffed that James is here" I ask Ste.
"Don't know but I think I might do some digging." Ste says. I just nod and go and sit next to James and hand him his drink.
Soon that party was dead, people were here but no one was dancing or talking. James and I were stood with Mum and Diego. Mum was congratulating us on the engagement even though she doesn't like James. I saw Harry storm out about 5 minutes ago and Ste looked pretty upset. James got a phone call.
"Sorry. That was work. There is a double overnighter in Manchester that they want me to cover." James says to me.
"What... But we just go engaged" I say to him.
"I know and I will celebrate with you soon and I will bring you flowers and chocolate and anything but this is a big job for my career." He says kissing me and leaving.
About 30 minutes past and everyone had left and there was only me and Ste.
"Look at us. Abandoned by our loved ones." I say to him and sit down next him.
"Come on. Grab your jacket, let make a night of this." He says grabbing his jacket. I followed suit and went out the door so that he can lock up behind us.
"Do you want to get chips or something?" Ste says to me as we walk down the steps.
"I could eat" I smile at him and we head off to go and get chips from a local fish and chip shop.
We made small talk about life in general.
"I forgot to say congratulations. I bet you're dead happy" Ste says pointing to my engagement ring.
"Yeah, I have been waiting so long for James to make a commitment and now he has" I say to him giving a half-hearted smile.
"You don't look very happy. Is this really what you want" Ste says looking at me.
"Well, James is like a robot. Sometimes I think I see a flash of something human then it goes" I say to him looking down at my ring.
"Well I guess thing have changed then" Ste says to me, looking at the side of my face as I was still looking down.
"Feelings don't change," I say looking him in the eyes. Every time we lock eyes, I just melt, "Maybe marrying James isn't what I want." I smiled at Ste and surprisingly he smiled back at me.
"What do you want?" Ste says smiling at me.
We both just looked at each other with the same serious expressions.
"James is out" I say to him smirking and gesturing to the Nightingale house.
"Harry stormed off" Ste smirked. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. I threw my chips in a nearby bin, Ste discarded his a while ago. I grab his hand and we both grin like Cheshire cats as we basically run to the Nightingale house. I knew no one was in as Marnie was in America with Tabby and James was out in Manchester. I heard Ste's phone ringing but we both just ignored it. I unlocked the first door, let Ste in and then locked the first door. Literally as I locked the door, Ste's lips were on mine. We hadn't even got into the house and we were in a heated lip lock. I pushed Ste against the main door and tried to unlock it. Ste detached his lips and re-attached them to my neck making it harder to open the door. He knew exactly where my weak spot was. I did get the door open and basically slam it shut. Ste reattached his lips to mine and made our way to the bedroom.
We woke the next morning wrapped in each other's arms, bare chested and breathing softly.