Chapter Text
John cracked open his eyes and groaned, his phone ringing loudly on his bedside table being his rude awakening.
Rolling over, he picked it up and looked at the contact name, frowning when he saw it was Tom.
"What could possibly be that urgent ye had to call me so early in the morning?" John grouched, laying an arm over his eyes.
"It's nearly 12 o'clock Soap, what do you mean 'early in the morning'? Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to come over and hang out, maybe have a sleepover with the boys?" Tom paused, "Wait- are you still in bed? Did I wake you up?"
"Yes, I'll come over, and no I'm not in bed."
"Don't lie to me John, I can hear your bedsheets."
"... that's a bit creepy mate." John frowned, face still covered by his arm.
"Whatever, you've said and done worse, be here in an hour?"
"Aye, see ye then. Wait, who's coming?"
"I've invited Gaz and Ale." Tom sighed over the phone, knowing Soap wouldn't come unless he answered all the questions.
John hummed, "Won't yer brother mind? Having a bunch of teenage boys in his house?"
"Simon? Nah, he won't mind, he's only 4 years older than me, and I haven't seen him in a few days so it's not like he can tell me off."
"..ye haven't seen yer brother?"
"Yeah, he does that sometimes; goes on long trips, I don't see him for a few days at most. He usually tells me beforehand though."
"Huh, if ye think he'll be fine with it then expect me there in an hour." John agreed to go to Tom's, not quite able to squash the prickling feeling and the faint alarm bells sounding at the back of his head but ignoring it.
"Cool, see you then." Tom hung up, leaving John to drag himself out of bed and pack a small bag of snacks, spare clothes for the next day and a t-shirt to sleep in if he got too warm in the hoodie.
------->
Thanking the driver, John stepped down out of the bus and began the- quite thankfully short- trudge towards the small house Tom's older brother had somehow managed to buy.
"Heyy, you actually rolled out of bed Soap! Nice to see you man, get in here." Tom swung open the door and practically pulled his friend into the house, kicking the door shut behind them and guiding him to the lounge after letting Soap toe his shoes off.
"Tav! Made an effort with the outfit I see." Gaz spotted them from where he was sprawled on the sofa under a blanket.
John laughed, "Of course, only the best for ye lot."
Ale stared at him for a few seconds, "You travelled here in your pyjamas?"
"Uh, yeah? What's wrong with that?" After quickly glancing down at himself, Soap met his friend's gaze with a raised eyebrow.
Alejandro hummed but patted the sofa next to him in an invitation, which Soap took, unzipping his bag and pulling out his blanket- somehow only earning a scoff of disbelief from Gaz.
Having only thrown on a hoodie and the tartan pj trousers- that he always found too warm- on over his boxers, John had expected to catch funny looks from people on the way; catching strays from his friends was not on the menu but what could he do but roll with the punches.
He'd only spotted one middle aged man looking him up and down with judgement, but he soon looked away when he caught John's eyes, something that looked a bit like panic flashing across his face any time he looked in John's direction on the bus ride and saw his face turned in his direction.
Zoning back into the conversation, he found Tom rambling about a new film he wanted to watch.
"-this clip I saw online and it looked really cool so I thought we could all watch it?"
"Just say ye saw an edit Tom." John laughed, ignoring his friend's protests and speaking over him, "But yeah I'm up for it."
Only just able to speak trough their giggles, Alejandro and Kyle also agreed to watch the film, letting Tom set up the TV as they all settled down on the sofas.
(Several hours later)------->
John watched through tear bleary eyes as the two characters finally kissed, letting out a hearty cheer and accidentally waking up Alejandro.
"What the hell?" Alejandro groaned, squinting at the TV screen before rolling onto his front and burying under his blanket.
"I know! What a plot twist, I never expected them to snog." John grinned, knowing his words would only annoy Alejandro further.
Kyle tried to stifle his laugh before joining in, "Totally unexpected, there were literally no signs of that happening!"
"UGHHHH." Alejandro grabbed a pillow and held it down over his head, only making the other boys laugh louder.
A sharp knock at the front door broke through their fun, Tom pulling himself to his feet to go answer it; the other three following a little behind.
John watched as Tom opened the door and just about felt his jaw drop, two policemen stood on the doorstep.
"Hi Tom, mind if Alex and I come in?" The older looking policeman with impressive facial hair addressed Tom with a smile.
"Uh, yeah, come in?" Tom held the door open wider and stepped aside to let the two officers step in.
"What's going on Price?" Tom asked as he shut the door behind them, shooting a confused look to his friends.
"You've done nothing wrong lad, just here to ask a few questions." Price chuckled and patted Tom on the shoulder.
"..Okay? Do you want to sit down or is this a quick visit?" Tom, still seeming unsure, gestured towards the lounge in suggestion.
"Sure, why not. Lead the way." Price nodded as he kicked his shoes off.
They all settled down on the sofas again, film paused and a new awkward tension in the air inadvertently caused by the two policemen sitting on a sofa.
"So, Tom, have you heard from your brother recently?" Price broke the silence, suddenly looking a lot more serious than he had been.
"No, last saw him about a week and a half ago. Why? Is he okay?" Tom sat forward and started picking at his nails.
"We don't know. I noticed I haven't seen any of my favourite delinquents- I'm sure you're familiar with the rest of his gang?"
Tom nodded, urging Price to carry on.
"Well, I was really hoping you'd have something that'd help us find them."
"Tom, ye mentioned that yer brother sometimes goes on long trips right?" John chipped in, hoping to ease the worry he could almost see piling onto his friend's shoulders.
"Yeah but, I dunno, this time he didn't tell me. Are you trying to tell me you think he's gone missing?" Tom mulled over Soap's suggestion, firing a question at the two policemen again.
"Essentially, yes. I'll call Nik to ask if he's heard anything from any of them, excuse me for a second." Price's eyebrows furrowed, the man leaving the room and pulling a phone out of his pocket.
A few moments later, he returned with a grim expression, "Went to voicemail, I'll talk to him when I get home. That'll be all-"
The front door being slammed open cut him off, several sets of heavy footsteps heading into the kitchen causing him to whirl around at the sound.
"Bloody hell." Price breathed out, only pausing to tell the boys in the lounge to stay sat down before following the footsteps into the kitchen.
John watched as Tom waited until Price's back was out of sight before jumping up and following him, Alex went to stop him but Tom cut him off.
"This is my house and I'm going to check whatever that was and you will not be stopping me."
Sufficiently told off, Alex sat back down and stared at his feet.
"What are ye doing ye numpty? Up ye get."
"Tom and Price might need backup, could be a robber." Gaz added on, hauling the trainee police officer to his feet and dragging him behind them.
John let himself be pulled ahead of the two of them by Alejandro, both boys crowding the doorway to see what the commotion was.
"Damn." Alejandro breathed out, taking in the mess of people in the kitchen.
"Is that yer boyfriend?" Soap prodded him and nodded towards the young man pressing on a the calf of a young woman who was sat on the kitchen table.
"Where?" Ale whipped his head around, eyes locking in on his boyfriend, "Rudy!"
Trying desperately to pull his friend back from going into the chaos that was the kitchen, Soap watched as several people looked towards the sound of Alejandro's shout.
Tom only glanced up from where he was by the sink, the ginger guy leaning against the side next to him stared at the two for a few moments before raising a hand in a half-hearted wave.
Rudy startled, turning to look over his shoulder quick enough to look like it hurt- not exactly helped by his wince and hiss of pain- eyes landing on Alejandro and face splitting into a tired smile.
"Hey Ale, just wait by the door for me okay?"
Alejandro nodded and immediately stepped out of the kitchen, Soap having to stifle a laugh in his hand at how obedient Rudy made his boyfriend, earning himself a glare from Alejandro and several equally as amused looks.
The girl who was sat on the table let out a sound of pain, almost folding over on herself if she weren't for the fact she was holding someone's hand and practically had their whole forearm in her lap in an attempt to mitigate the discomfort of having her leg poked and prodded.
"Well then boys- and girl- what are you going to do?" Price finally spoke, eyes darting around the room and taking in the sorry state of the teenagers.
"Already sent Nik." Someone mumbled from general area around the table.
John frowned, searching for the owner of the voice, eyebrows raising high when he saw a guy cushioning his face against the table with one arm, the other being used as a stress ball by the girl.
Although he could only see the back of the guy's head and his back, John immediately knew he'd probably end up developing a crush on the man.
Desperately hoping this blonde guy with back muscles he could only dream of wasn't Tom's older brother, John leant against the doorway as Price's jaw almost hit the floor.
"You did what?"
"It was my suggestion." The girl chipped in, still grimacing as Rudolfo continued poking her leg.
"Farah.. why would you do this to me?" Price dragged a hand down his face, spinning on his heel and pointing at Alex- who Soap had actually forgot was stood behind him.
"Alex, call Beth and get her to come here, she's dealt with these muppets before."
Alex nodded and walked off, dialing a number on his phone and leaving Price to manage the situation.
"Okay. Rudy go sit down, help will be here soon, Tom go fetch a first aid kit for me, and you lot," he pointed at the three boys loitering by the door, "Go sit back down, the less people crowding around here the better."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Gaz, Soap and Alejandro all snapped into a salute at the same, despite not planning it, giggling at each other as they went back to the lounge.
Gaz flicked on the TV and pressed play on a random film, Alejandro and Soap settling down on the sofa again to watch.
For the next hour or so, Soap found his attention jumping between the film and what he could hear going on in the kitchen, the faint sound of Price and the nurse- who'd stormed through the door about 10 minutes after the boys went and sat down- constantly scolding the group.
------->
Finally, Tom came through to let the nurse out the door, wandering into the lounge afterwards looking a mix of stressed and confused.
"Tom?" Soap waved a hand in the air to catch his friend's attention.
"Hm? Yeah?"
"You okay?" Gaz piped up, knowing look in his eyes.
"Uh yeah, just shocked and tired I guess." Tom shrugged, collapsing next to Gaz on the sofa.
"They're all okay before you ask, just a bit shaken. I think the plan is everyone staying here overnight." Tom spoke after a couple minutes of silence, startling Soap from his doze.
Various noises of affirmation came from the piles of human around the room, Tom taking the initiative and flicking another film on.
------->
The next morning, Soap found himself blinking his eyes open in the golden morning light far too early for his liking.
Glancing around and finding all his friends passed out on the floor or, in the case of Alejandro and Rudy, sharing the other sofa, John groaned quietly to himself and pulled himself up to standing.
Plodding into the kitchen for a drink of water, he was met with the sight of blood and dirt coating the table, floor and counters.
He stood and stared at the mess for a minute or two, spinning on his heel after he made up his mind with what he was going to do about it, sneaking back into the lounge and finding his bag.
Opting to take his whole bag with him instead of making a racket rustling through his bag while his friends were still sleeping, John dumped his bag by the door and pulled his headphones on.
Connecting his phone to the headphones and pressing play on his playlist, he set about finding the equipment he needed (a broom, dustpan and brush, wipes and spray)
Humming quietly to himself as he worked- and definitely not stopping occasionally for dance breaks- John managed to work his way through the mess in the kitchen and make it halfway presentable in just under an hour.
"-Soap!" Gaz waved a hand in his face, hissing his nickname as loud as he could without disturbing anyone else in the house.
Soap startled badly, hands swinging up to knock Gaz's lights out before he realised who it was, diverting his hands to pull the headphones off and rest them around his neck.
"Oh shit, Gaz. Need anything?"
"No, just wondered where you were.. you cleaning the kitchen?" Gaz glanced around, spotting the broom leant against the wall and the spray in his friend's hand.
"Mhm, ye volunteering tae help?"
"Go on then, what do you want me to do?"
"Finish the sweeping, broom's there." John jerked his thumb in the direction of the broom for a second before pulling the headphones on properly again, not hearing his friend grumble about how he'd only half done everything.
Moving to start on the table, Soap noticed a sizeable pool of dried blood where the cute blonde guy had been resting his head, stifling a worried frown- it wasn't his business after all, and the paramedic girl probably took care of it.
Pushing his worries away and focusing on the music instead, Soap began scrubbing the table, unable to stop his thoughts from drifting back to the blonde man.
------->
By the time Soap had finished his impromptu cleaning of the kitchen, and stood back to survey his work, the sun was a bit higher in the sky, bathing the kitchen in a nice yellowish light.
Pulling his earphones off and resting them around his neck, John breathed out a sigh and stretched his arms above his head, the sigh switching to a groan as he did so.
"Stop that." Tom appeared in the doorway, looking weirdly shifty and glancing over his shoulder.
"Good morning Tom, yes I'm fine thanks for askin'." John rolled his eyes, spinning around to face him, "What did I do to piss ye off this time?"
"I think he meant stop doing that or a certain someone will jump you." Farah added helpfully as she squeezed past Tom and made herself comfortable by the kitchen table, moving quickly despite the splint on her leg.
"What does that even mean??" Soap frowned, shooting a glance to Alejandro and Rudolfo who'd just walked in.
"It means you're hot Soap." Ale- bless him- chipped in, sitting down in the chair next to Farah.
"We're open for a third if you'd like." Rudy added, somehow maintaining a straight face despite his boyfriend almost giving himself whiplash with how fast he turned and Farah's delighted wheeze.
Soap laughed, still confused but unwilling to question it further, moving to pick up his bag.
"I've got some homework to do, better run." He waved at everyone, collecting his blanket from the sofa and stuffing it in his bag before making his way to the door and slipping his shoes on.
"Nah come on tav, I'm sure you could do that homework some other time." Gaz pleaded, already knowing it was a lost cause.
"Sorry mate, due tomorrow and ma said I had to make dinner tonight, see ye." Waving to the small crowd in the hallway, he stepped out of the house with a smile, deciding to just walk the whole way home instead of taking the bus.