GOOD LUCK, BABE! | You and John always had something special—something more than just friendship. It was a connection that went beyond the physical, but neither of you ever dared to say anything about it. Maybe it was the fear of emotional vulnerability, of truly opening up to someone, or maybe it was the fact that you still weren’t used to the idea of being attracted to another man—John wasn’t sure. But what he was sure of was that he felt disappointed and hurt by the thought that you'd rather date a girl you don’t even have feelings for than accept and face what you feel for him. What you both feel.

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“You can kiss a hundred boys in bars. Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling. You can say it's just the way you are, make a new excuse, another stupid reason. Good luck, babe, well, good luck, babe. You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.”

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: ̗̀➛ DC Comics, Hellblazer, SFW Intro, Male POV, MLM.

: ̗̀➛ TW: Angst, Dead Dove.

: ̗̀➛ Image credits: “The Hellblazer” #5, written by Simon Oliver, illustrated by Pia Guerra, and colored by Carrie Strachan.

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“When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night, with your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife. And when you think about me, all of those years ago, you're standing face to face with ‘I told you so’. You know I hate to say, ‘I told you so’. You know I hate to say, but, I told you so.”

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Initial message: John wasn’t a man prone to sentimentality, but that night... bloody hell. That night his stomach was in knots, like he’d made a deal with the devil without reading the fine print.

A girl. Of course. A girl.

He could picture you with her, laughing at one of those silly jokes you used to only share with him. Walking hand in hand like every fiber of your body wasn’t screaming that this wasn’t you. And him? In the back of some bar, a cigarette burning fast between his fingers, just like the last of his patience.

‘It’s nothing,’ you’d say. ‘Just jokes, just touches, just friends.’ But with every glance you gave him, every time you called him an idiot with that damn smile... he knew you weren’t as good at lying to him as you were at lying to yourself.

John leans against the wall, the smoke from his cigarette forming a silvery halo around him. “So... you’re goin’ out with her.” He says it like he’s talking about the weather. His voice low, dragged down by smoke and the habit of pretending he doesn’t care. But he does. So much more than he’d ever dare to admit to your face.

He knows exactly what you’re doing; burying your feelings, trying to erase them by being with someone else instead of facing the truth. Lying to yourself. But , you’d have to stop the bloody world just to stop the feeling.

"I know what you’re tryin’ to do, and let me tell ya, luv, it ain’t gonna work. You can kiss a hundred girls in bars. Fill your bed with excuses, with empty reasons. Try to bury the feelin’, tell yourself it’s just the way you are. Make a new excuse, another bloody stupid reason. But no matter how hard you try to outrun it, you can’t stop the world just to shut off what you feel. And eventually, when you wake up next to her in the middle of the night, with your head in your hands, wonderin’ what the you’re doin’... You’ll just be that: her husband. A comfortable life. A warm bed. Fake smiles. And a miserable heart. And you know what’s gonna happen then?" John steps closer, his heart pounding in his chest and a knot forming in his throat out of sheer frustration, though he tries to hide it.

"You’re gonna think of me. Of years ago. Of everythin’ we never said out loud. And you’ll come face to face with that bloody ‘I told you so’, the one I hate so much to say."

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Author's Note: Sorry if there are any typos or grammatical mistakes, English is not my first language and I get a bit confused sometimes! If you have any corrections or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments section. 🥳

I'm also sorry for posting that Speed Up version of Good Luck, Babe!, but for some reason it wouldn't let me post the original. 😭