#constantine imagine

『••✎••』

The air in the safehouse is still.

Muted, like the world has agreed to hold its breath for once. Rain taps gently at the windows, and the scent of wet concrete drifts in through the small crack John left in the window when he went out. You sit on the edge of the bed, knees drawn up, sunglasses perched delicately on the bridge of your nose—more for the throb behind your eyes than the overhead light, which John had dimmed before leaving. He’d remembered.

It’s the small things like that. The fact that he remembered you couldn’t stand harsh light during a migraine. The fact that he’d gone out at all for you.

You hear the door open before you see him. The creak of wood and the shuffle of boots are too familiar now to mistake. And then his presence fills the room like smoke—sharp, lingering, inescapable.

You don’t move. Not at first.

You just watch him.

John Constantine, drenched from the rain, coat clinging to his frame. His tie hangs loose around his neck, and a cigarette is crushed between two fingers, unlit—for now. There was a time when you couldn’t have imagined him not smoking the second he walked into a room. Maybe he’s changing. Maybe not. Maybe it’s just you.

His dark hair, still damp, curls at the ends. You’ve always noticed how it lies slightly off-center, like he’d run his fingers through it once, maybe twice, and given up halfway. And his eyes... those weary, predatory things. Dark, sunken, always scanning—like the world had lied to him too many times and now he never trusts anything at face value. But right now, they soften when they find you.

"You still breathing?" he asks, voice roughened at the edges. But quieter than usual. Calmer. Like he knows your head is splitting again.

You manage a nod.

John sets the small paper bag down on the nightstand and pulls the chair from the corner across the room. He doesn’t sit right away. Just stands there, studying you. His silence is a loaded thing.

You take the glasses off slowly. Even through the pounding in your skull, you still wanted to see him.

"You didn’t have to go," you murmur.

He ignores that. "Tried to get the strong stuff. Your doc’s a cryptic bastard, but the pharmacist got the idea."

He lights the cigarette. Then, after one drag, stubs it out. He doesn’t look at you while he does it.

You tilt your head slightly. "You only smoke half when you’re nervous."

His jaw twitches.

"Don’t flatter yourself," he says, finally sinking into the chair. But his voice has lost all of its bite. The words fall flat—almost gentle, somehow.

You study him in silence. The way his fingers tap against his thigh, his coat hanging open and soaked through, clinging to that long frame of his. The faint shadow of stubble on his jaw. That impossible, wrecked beauty he carries like a curse. His hands—calloused, twitchy, always reaching for something to fight or light or fix.

Except now, they’re still.

He isn’t looking at you anymore, not directly—just watching the space around you like there’s something there he can’t quite name. You haven’t said much since he walked in, and for once, it isn’t the migraine that makes you quiet.

John notices. Of course he notices.

"You’re quieter than usual," he says. Not an accusation. Just observation, plain and pointed. He turns his head slightly, the weight of his gaze settling back on you. "Head worse?”

You hesitate, shaking your head. "No, It’s not that."

He leans back in the chair, arms folded. "Something happened while I was gone."

It isn’t a question, but rather just the truth, pulled right out of you without your even opening your mouth.

Your hands tense in your lap. You look down at them, at the pale curve of your fingers, like they might hold the answer for how to not say the thing pressing against your throat. But your silence is louder than anything now.

He waits. Patient, but not gentle. He never asks twice—he just gives you a moment to make your own choice about honesty.

Still, you don’t speak.

He sighs and rubs his eyes, the pads of his fingers digging into his sockets like he could push the weariness back in. "Premonition?"

Your breath catches.

You don’t mean for it to, but it does. The tell is enough.

John nods slightly. "Yeah," he mutters. "That checks out."

That shouldn’t be comforting, but it is. That unfazed tone. That shrug of reality, like death omens are as common as a change in the weather. It unknots something in you, something tangled in fear and guilt.

"I didn’t want to say anything," you admit, barely above a whisper. "Because if I said it, it would mean it’s real. And I thought maybe, if I stayed quiet long enough, it’d just... go away."

He doesn’t interrupt. He just leans forward again, his arms resting on his knees, listening.

"I’ve seen people die," you say. "Over and over. And I try—I do. I try to get there in time or warn them. But it’s always too late. Always."

He watches you with those sharp, tired eyes, but he doesn’t flinch or look away.

You look up at him then, blinking against the sting behind your eyes. "But this time it was you, John."

A silence like thunder settles between you.

"I saw it," you say, voice cracking. "I saw you die. And I just—I couldn’t breathe for minutes after. It hurt. Like it already happened."

Still, he doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. He just listens.

"I’ve failed before," you continue, softer now. "I’ve tried to save people, and they die anyway. And I thought I could live with that, but now—" You swallow hard. "I don’t think I can live through losing you."

A beat passes. Then another.

And finally, he stands. Slow. Careful. Like he doesn’t want to scare you off.

"You ever think maybe you care too much?" he asks, tone dry—but his eyes say something else. Something bruised and aching.

You smile faintly, humorless. "Maybe. But I don’t think that’s the worst thing to be guilty of."

John studies you for a long moment, brow furrowed slightly. Then he sighs.

You’re not sure what you’re expecting him to do. Maybe turn around and leave. He does that sometimes, when the truth gets too close. When you both come too close to the line neither has crossed. But instead, he walks to the bed and sinks down beside you, hands on his knees, eyes fixed on a point on the wall across from you.

The air in the safehouse grows heavier, thick with the weight of your confession and the rain’s relentless patter outside. John’s presence beside you is a quiet storm, his silence louder than any words could be. His shoulder brushes yours, just enough to make your pulse stutter, but he doesn’t pull away. Neither do you.

You steal a glance at him. His profile is sharp against the dim light—angular jaw, the faint lines etched around his eyes, the way his mouth sets in a line that’s neither soft nor hard, just John. He’s close enough that you can smell the rain on his coat, the faint trace of cigarette smoke clinging to him despite the stubbed-out remnant. It’s grounding, that scent. It’s him.

"You didn’t fail anybody," he says finally, voice low, gravelly, like he’s pulling the words from somewhere deep. "Least of all me."

You shake your head, the motion small but sharp. "You don’t get it, John. I saw it. You were—" Your voice catches again, and you press your lips together, trying to hold it in. The image flashes behind your eyes: blood pooling on pavement, his body still, those sharp eyes fading forever. "It was so real. I could feel it. Like I was there."

He turns his head then, just enough to meet your gaze. His eyes are darker now, searching, like he’s trying to see the vision you saw, to carry it for you. "I've outlasted worse," he says, and there’s a conviction in his tone that almost makes you believe him. Almost.

"You can’t know that," you whisper, your voice barely holding together. "You don’t even know what I saw."

He shifts, angling his body toward you, his knee brushing against yours. The contact is fleeting but deliberate, and it sends a jolt through you, like static. "I’ve been dodging death longer than you’ve been having visions," he says, his voice softer now, but still edged with that dry certainty. "I’m not saying it’s a guarantee, but I’m a hard bastard to kill."

You let out a shaky laugh, more breath than sound, and it eases the knot in your chest just a fraction. "You’re impossible," you murmur, but there’s no heat in it. Just exhaustion. Just relief that he’s here, alive, sitting close enough to feel the warmth radiating off him.

"Part of my charm," he says, the corner of his mouth twitching upward, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He’s still watching you, too closely, like he’s waiting for you to crack again. Or maybe he’s the one about to crack, and he’s just better at hiding it.

The silence stretches again, taut and fragile, and you’re suddenly aware of how close he is. Close enough that you can see the faint pulse at the base of his throat, the way his fingers flex slightly against his knees, like he’s fighting the urge to reach out. You wonder what it would feel like if he did. If he closed that last inch of space between you. If he let himself.

You’ve thought about it before—too many times, in moments when you shouldn’t. In moments when he’s looked at you like he’s looking at you now, like you’re the only thing in the room that matters. But John Constantine doesn’t do soft. He doesn’t do promises or attachments or anything that could break him more than he’s already broken. And yet, here he is, sitting on this bed, not running.

"You’re scared," he says suddenly, and it’s not a question. His voice is quiet, but it cuts through the haze in your head like a blade. "Not just about the vision."

Your breath hitches, and you hate that he can read you so easily. You want to deny it, to deflect, but the words won’t come. Instead, you look down at your hands again, fingers twisting together, and you feel the weight of his gaze like a physical thing.

"I’m scared of a lot of things," you admit, barely audible. "But yeah. Mostly you."

He doesn’t laugh or smirk or brush it off like you expect him to. Instead, he leans closer, just enough that his shoulder presses fully against yours now, solid and warm. "You don’t have to be," he says, and for once, there’s no edge to his voice, no sarcasm or deflection. Just truth, raw and unguarded.

Your heart stumbles in your chest. You turn your head to look at him, and he’s already looking at you, closer than he’s ever been. His eyes are dark, endless, and for a moment, you think you see something flicker in them—something that looks like fear, or want, or both. The air between you feels like it might snap, like a wire pulled too tight.

"John," you say, and his name feels heavy on your tongue, like a confession in itself.

He doesn’t move, but his gaze drops to your mouth for a fraction of a second, and it’s enough to make your pulse race. Enough to make you wonder what it would be like to close the distance, to taste the rain and smoke on his lips, to let yourself fall into whatever this is that’s been simmering between you for too long.

But he pulls back, just an inch, and the moment fractures. Not gone, but held in suspension, like the rain outside. He clears his throat, looks away, and runs a hand through his damp hair, leaving it even more disheveled.

"You need to rest," he says, voice rough again, like he’s trying to ground himself. "Migraine’s bad enough without you staying up worrying about me."

You want to argue, to tell him you’re not the one who needs saving, but the exhaustion in your bones wins out. You nod, shifting to lie back on the bed, your head still throbbing but somehow lighter now. He doesn’t leave, though. He stays there, sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands clasped between his knees, like he’s keeping watch.

"John," you say again, softer this time, as your eyes start to drift closed.

"Yeah?" His voice is quiet, almost tender.

"Don’t die," you whisper, and it’s half a plea, half a prayer.

He doesn’t answer right out, but you feel the bed shift slightly as he leans closer, his breath warm against your temple.

"Not planning on it," he murmurs, and you realize then that this was the closest thing to a promise you’ll ever get from him.

“Hi, John,” you say brightly over a proud sprig of celery sticking out of your bag. It’s almost a running joke between the two of you, your sunny brightness aimed at him like a weapon.

There’s a long pause, like always, before he finally answers reluctantly in his deep monotone, “Hi, y/n. Bye, y/n.”

Before you can engage him any further he disappears into his apartment, closing the door hard behind him, the slam in the air like an exclamation point. You stare for a moment at the space where he’d just been, tall, handsome, his suit rumpled, that tie half undone around his neck. He looked like he’d had a rough day, whatever he does.

He dresses like a professional something, but imagining that man as a door to door salesman with his attitude is laughable, and so is the thought of him working amicably in an office setting.

You go inside and put away your groceries, then spread out what you need to make dinner. It’s Friday night, and you’ve had a long week too. You are making comfort food—it’s kind of a shame to eat it alone.

Half an hour later, while the sauce simmers, you find you just can’t stop thinking about that man next door. He seems lonely, every time you see him. There is something about him that just makes you want to wrap him up in a hug.

He’d probably push you off if you tried, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t need a hug.

The thing is…you have this thing. He pretends like you annoy him, but sometimes in the hall, or down in the lobby when you’re collecting your mail, you catch him looking at you when he thinks you’re not looking. And the look on his face is never exactly lecherous, like you’re used to with most men who eye-fuck you on the street. His look is more…just…lost, and it tugs at your heartstrings.

You’re sure he’ll say no, but your feet seem to carry you of their own accord, when you find yourself at his door, knocking loudly.

Some time passes and you hear him grumbling on the other side before he jerks open the portal just a crack. “Yeah?”

“I’m making my Nonna’s meatballs and marinara for dinner.”

“Good for you?”

“From scratch.”

“Sounds time consuming.”

“Want to join me?”

There is a very long pause, in which he just looks at you. You can tell he’s at least one drink in already; you smell the fumes on his breath. And maybe it’s stupid, and you’re asking for trouble you don’t need, but the thought that that will be this man’s only dinner squeezes your heart.

Finally, he answers with a question. “Why?”

“Why not?”

This, amusingly, seems to actually flummox him, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. In the end he narrows his eyes at you, (those lovely brown eyes, you can’t help but notice), like you’re trying to trick him into something truly heinous.

It’s…kind of funny, truth be told, and you can’t stop yourself from grinning. “Come on. I know you can smell it.” Your door is wide open.

“Maybe I don’t like Italian food.”

“Everyone likes Italian food.”

“Maybe you’re a terrible cook.”

“Only one way to find out.”

He actually growls a little, which for some reason gives you a thrill to the base of your spine.  

You really need to get back to stir the sauce. You didn’t anticipate getting this far in the conversation (argument?) with him, honestly.

“Well, door’s open,” you tell him, turning to go. You throw one last little come-hither look over your shoulder, to find he is definitely staring at your ass. Or, glaring, more like.

Maybe you have a screw loose, but you find this adorable.

You go back to your sauce, and lose yourself in the preparation of the other ingredients, watching the pasta to make sure it doesn’t boil over, checking that the meatballs aren’t burning. (Your oven is a dinosaur from the 1970s, and sometimes the temp spikes for no reason).

You are about to drain the pasta, when you find a tall, rumpled man standing beside your rickety thrift store table, looking a bit confused as to how he’d ended up there. He looks so big in your shoebox of an apartment, and if you’re being honest, maybe there’s a little bit of lust tied up with your desire to mother this man.

You offer him a welcoming smile, and for a moment, you swear he looks like he’s drowning.

“Glad you could make it,” you say somewhat teasingly.

“Can I…help?” He says the last word like it’s a completely alien thing to him.

“I’ve pretty much got it under control…” you say, which is mostly true. You peruse the sparse offerings of your 3 slot wine rack, picking a $6 bottle of Chilean red blend. “Want to open this?” The face he makes looking down at the decidedly weaker-than-whiskey beverage is almost comical, but he takes the corkscrew from you as you transfer the meal to serving bowls and put glasses of water on the table.

He removes his suit jacket at the table, rolling his sleeves up over muscular forearms that are, if you’re being honest, totally distracting. After you sit down you fill your plates, and the first few minutes of the meal goes by in semi-awkward silence.

Surprisingly, it’s John who speaks first. “This is really good,” he admits begrudgingly, and you utterly fail to damper your I-told-you-so smile.

“Thanks.”

You make halting small talk. You get the feeling he doesn’t chat much with anyone, of his own free will. When you ask him how his week was, his simple answer is, “Hell.”

You have no idea he’s being literal.

You ask him what he does, and he tells you he’s a sort of private detective, and he can’t really talk about it. He asks what you do, more to get the conversation off of him than anything. You let it go, for now, telling him that you’re a receptionist at an office building for a mega corporation downtown.

“Fitting,” he grumbles, you think because of your innate cheerfulness.

You feel the urge to tell him that half the time it’s just a thing you wear like armor—but you don’t know each other that well yet.

As you loosen up a little with food and more wine, he slowly asks more questions about you, where you’re from, what do you do in your free time, and maybe it’s stupid, but you feel like he’s actually kind of interested in your answers.

You enlist him to help you with the dishes, and as you stand together at the sink you bump him playfully with your hip. He peers down at you, his dark hair in his eyes. He is so tall, and there is a hint of a smile on his lips now. For him, it’s like a full-on toothy grin, and it doesn’t fail to quicken your heart in your chest.

Constantine can’t help but feel…puzzled, by you. Yes, you’re his cute neighbor, who teasingly likes to hail him in the hallway. And maybe he does look forward to the way your eyes sparkle, when he begrudgingly acknowledges you before retreating to the safety of the quiet solitude of his apartment. But you are so…nice. He can just tell, and he has no idea what a girl like you might want with a degenerate demon hunter like him. There are enough assholes in L.A. who would be happy to take you out. Why would you waste your time chasing him down?

And there is that smaller nagging voice in the back of his head. You are damned, and you don’t deserve her.

Fuck if it doesn’t make him want to touch you even more.

Later, he will look back on this as a moment of weakness. You, looking up at him with your big eyes, like you're old friends. You made him feel, for a fleeting moment, like he wasn't some doomed asshole with nothing to live for. Like he was an actual person. A man who could matter, to someone. Maybe even to you.

When you splash him with a flick of dishwater after he insults your favorite TV show he narrows his eyes down at you, and you get the fluttery feeling that he might like to eat you a moment before he cups your cheek in his big hand and catches your lips in a kiss. It’s everything you’d hoped for, even if you never actually expected it to really happen. Maybe the wine helped? Or maybe…he likes you? Luckily you get over your surprise, standing on tiptoe to meet him, looping your arms around his neck.

You yip with surprise when suddenly he lifts you to sit on the sink, pulling you close as the kiss deepens. “Was getting a crick in my neck…”

Your answering laugh is shaky at best. “Sorry.”

“Is this why you invited me over?”

“Sort of?”

He lifts an eyebrow at that, waiting for further explanation. You reach up to toy with his collar, tracing the line of his loosened tie, totally distracted by the shape of his collarbone and what’s bared of his neck. This man has a jawline that looks like it was sculpted from stone. There’s no shortage of beautiful people in L.A., of course, but you’ve never met anyone quite like him. He doesn’t seem vain, an oddity in this town, but underneath his rumpled suit this man definitely has the physique of a movie star. You try not to dwell on how odd it is, that he would choose to spend his Friday night with you.

“I mean, I’m definitely not complaining,” you offer with a sly little smile.

However, his answering expression is nothing less than stern.

“I’m warning you now, sweetheart. I’m not boyfriend material, and I’m not going to be your project.”

Even if both of those things may have crossed your mind, your thoughts are too hazy with lust from his lips on yours. Maybe he’s a grouch…but he’s a great kisser.

“Okay.”

“Good.”

He kisses you again, and you melt even more under his exacting touch. Those mitts for hands make you feel small, and you arch against him as they travel the ladder of your ribcage to your spine.

The wine was good, but you know you are mostly drunk on him.

Then he is lifting you again, like you weigh nothing, carrying you to the couch. You settle down into the worn vintage cushions and make-out like teenagers, all lips and teeth and pawing hands.

You’re the one who actually initiates something further, pulling off your shirt, and John blinks as he takes in the swathes of your bare skin. He glares at your lacy bra like it owes him money, and you can’t help but laugh breathily. You haven’t felt thishappy in a long time, truth be told.

“Something funny?” he asks, nipping at your neck. With a flick of his fingers your bra falls away, and your breasts are in his hands, and you forget how to speak intelligibly. With his lips on your nipples you manage to loosen his tie without strangling him, unbuttoning his shirt with an increasing desperation. You sigh when at last the bare skin of your torsos is pressed together, his weight pressing you down into the couch.

It occurs to you, how small your couch is, and this man is definitely over six feet tall. “Would you prefer…the bed?” you ask between kisses.

“Up to you.”

You nod, but find you can’t really stop kissing him long enough to move. You can feel the impressive length of him through his pants and yours, aligned with your center and you dry grind, thinking even that is wonderful. He, however, lets out a frustrated growl, and pulls you to your feet again.

Dizzy with desire, you lead him by the hand to your bedroom, and you make it there eventually between kisses and shedding the rest of your clothing. His thick fingers between your legs are a marvel. “So fucking wet for me,” he groans, and it’s too embarrassing to admit, but sometimes after seeing him in the hallway you’ve fantasized about something like this going down, and it always leaves you soaked.

“I…like you,” you admit, moaning as a second finger finds its way inside you, his thumb circling your clit.

“I still don’t get that,” he admits, but kisses you hard before you really have a chance to answer. It would be a little too crazy, to tell him right now that you’ve always just felt pulled towards him, like the Universe was giving you a nudge any time you saw him. He’d laugh at you, or he’d leave, and either of those at this point would be unbearable.

You are close already under his masterful touch, and you whine even as you flex your hips, all your muscles tightening in anticipation.

“Don’t make me cum yet,” you beg. “I want you.”

He groans in response to that, desperately pawing through the pockets of his pants on the floor for a condom. You watch with stars in your eyes, propped on your elbows as he rips open the packet and rolls it on that impressive length, your lip between your teeth. You feel empty while looking at him like this, longing to be filled to the brim.

There is a moment of raw eye contact between you that sears your soul, as he pulls you to the edge of the bed with those large hands on your thighs. For a fleeting second he looks almost vulnerable. It’s there and gone like a ripple in a pool, then his thick tip is at your entrance, and he is slowly pushing himself inside you.

It’s better than you ever dreamed, and you arch against him, moaning as he works inside.

“Fuck you are tight,” he pants in your ear, your walls clenching around him, seeming to fight him even as they crave the relief of his big cock stretching you out. You breathe deeply, easing him in. When at last he bottoms out inside you, your head rocks back behind your shoulders, blissed out.

“God, you feel good.”

This man actually snorts at the comment, though his voice is pure gravel, rough with need. “He wouldn't appreciate you saying it about me.”

Your laugh is half moan. 

“What, are you on a first name basis?”

“Yeah, sort of.”

You're not sure what to make of that, and you're too cock drunk to even begin to reason it out.

He can tell you're a nice girl. Or at least, that's his perception of you. So he doesn’t bend you at impossible angles or whisper filthy things in your ear. Really, there's no time for it. Just pure vanilla missionary in your sweet little snatch is more than enough to slake his need tonight. He fucks you on your back, his thumb on your clit as he glides in and out of your tight little pussy, your legs wrapped around his narrow hips.

Your pleasure builds in the cradle of your hips, wound so tight you feel like you'll either die, or fly. Usually...alright, it's never like this for you the first time with someone. There's always fumbling, and awkwardness, and half the time, if you're honest, a faked orgasm because you're too shy or too embarrassed to ask for what you really need from a new partner, afraid he’ll think you’re too much trouble. 

Well, that is not what is happening tonight. Tonight, John is taking care of you, and you can hardly believe your luck. 

“You gonna cum for me, baby?”

“Yeah.” Your reply is breathy, and you almost laugh just for the pure, unexpected joy you feel in that moment. “Oh, John...” Your ability to say real words escapes you as your body erupts with scintillating pleasure spreading through your loins. You actually scream, and the fierce clench of your cunt around him brings him too. He loses himself with a groan, his face buried in the curve of your shoulder as he shudders against you.

Afterwards, you are laying against his broad chest, his heartbeat a steady drum in your ear. You don't know it, but this is not something John Constantine usually does. Snuggling. But you are sweet and soft in his arms, and he can't quite bring himself to vacate the premises just yet. In fact, he's so comfortable that he dozes, and you follow close behind him.

In the middle of the night you wake to kisses on your neck and caresses down your curvy side. You sigh, arching into him. You feel his manhood at the seam of your buttocks, his thick head kissing your hole.

“Fuck. Sorry,” he whispers with a shuddering sigh, rolling over to reach for his pants again. How many condoms did he bring? The fact that he's not careless with you, even in the sleepy haze of the early morning second round, is incredibly endearing to you. How many times have you had to insist, and been made to feel like an uncool bitch for not wanting to risk pregnancy or disease in the heat of the moment?

Maybe it's utterly insane, but you're half in love already as he hauls you on top of him, his cock freshly capped with a new Trojan Magnum.

You are still drenched from earlier, and it's no problem to impale yourself upon him.

In the blue dark of early morning your eyes meet his, and again you sense that fleeting vulnerability before he distracts you with that clever fucking thumb finding your sensitive bud. He works you just right as you ride his beautiful dick with your back arched taut as a bow, his other hand toying with your nipple. It makes you cum in record time, so quickly it's almost embarrassing, though he doesn’t seem to mind. Within a minute he's followed along with you, his big hands digging into your hips hard enough to bruise as he reaches his own release. Your name on his lips raises gooseflesh all over your body, as though your lovemaking has invoked something powerful, something binding.

You collapse against his chest, and the both of you nearly fall asleep again, with him still inside you. 

“Let me get this thing off,” he requests gently, and with a plaintive little groan you roll off of him, curling in at his side. He knots the condom before throwing it in the general direction of the bin. You are both too tired to care if it actually hit home. 

Again, you snuggle close and the two of you doze tangled together until morning light streams through the window. 

You wake to kisses on your forehead this time. It's a miracle you rouse. You're a heavy sleeper—and he worked you out. 

“I have to go, honey.” 

“Want breakfast?” you murmur, half asleep.

“Yeah, but I can’t. Rain check?”

“Okay.”

Through half lidded eyes you watch as he gets dressed, half way, at least. A good portion of his clothes are still strewn around the living room.

My god, what a beautiful specimen of manhood you bagged last night. Nonna would be proud. She was an appreciator of male beauty, and if you told her that her special recipe had gotten you the best sex of your life with the handsome boy next door she would have cackled with delight.

“See you soon?” you dare ask as he buttons his pants. 

“Yeah,” he agrees, after a pause, bending down to kiss you one more time, with tongue this round. 

“Careful mister, or you'll start round three.”

“Jesus, woman,” he teases with that heartbreaking almost-smile. “You've drained me dry.” 

You look him over appraisingly.

“Doubt it.” 

He huffs with laughter, shaking his head. 

“Bye, y/n.”

You sigh. 

“Bye, John.”

With a surprisingly heavy heart, you watch the best lay of your life slip out the door. You really hope you'll get to do this again, and not just go back to awkward acknowledgements in the hallway.

***

Maybe John Constantine had told you he’s not boyfriend material.

But earlier that day, while he was having a smoke out on the sidewalk, he found himself looking over at the wares of a flower vendor and wondering if you would like them. He didn’t buy any, of course.

He wasn’t a total sap.

But it’s possible as he scales the stairs to his apartment, there’s a lightness in his heart as he thinks of you, and the possibility of seeing you in the hallway.

That's when he finds your door ajar, and your apartment ransacked, and a note in red ink on the table addressed to him.

If you want to see your girlfriend alive again, come to this address.

It’s a place in L.A. that’s deep in vampire territory, and something black and heavy weighs like a stone in the pit of John’s stomach. He’d deported a few big players of the local coven not too long ago, and he’d figured the Master would want revenge, but this?

Fucking diabolical—and just their style.

Goddamn vampires.

After a few long moments, hues wash over you, too, as the sun continued to ascend with a blinding greeting, colors growing more intense with every inch gained. The world was kissed awake with grace, with ease, with a practiced dance that almost felt like a slap in the face when the weight of Constantine’s life weighed heavy and unwelcome on shoulders carrying the burdens of Atlas – except instead of the world braced on your back, it was the casual knowledge that he had traded his soul for yours, in exchange for the demon to go quietly.

Or, according to Constantine – for the demon to go, at all.

(He wasn’t going to tell you, that, though. It was something pried out of him like teeth broken and rotting and sullied, when he wouldn’t meet your eyes this morning, nor tell you how he finished off the banishing, when your part in the ritual had ended and space was all you wanted.)

The shower that followed, washed away the grime and sweat and oil from the night, but it did not wash away the turmoil, exhaustion, and heartache beginning to creep in when he ripped you open and learned your secrets. If water hadn’t made it better, you thought, then perhaps the sun would burn it out of you.

So far, that wasn’t working, either.

Time stopped meaning anything, the longer you stayed there, watching clouds the color of a deep plum bruise gradually lighten into royal purple, mulberry, then, eventually slate gray. Watched, unmoving, as the sky doused it’s own unruly fire, melting seamlessly into a brighter, deeper blue. Wisps of tangerine and butter yellow still streaking across the sky in a futile attempt to paint this canvas forever.

As it emptied it’s burdens back into the abyss, shaking off the dramatic transformation of the night – you couldn’t help but note a stab of envy, when the world was able to shed it’s cloak of shadows like clockwork, but one of your own still hugged your shoulders tight, draped long and close and suffocating, almost, burrowing it’s way through the softness of your skin, settling cold and dark and deep among the marrow of your bones.

In theory, you imagined it would feel good – or, at the very least, better – finally knowing exactly where it is you stood with John Constantine, and he with you. That’s usually how it works, wasn’t it? Like a weight falling off shoulders, Atlas incarnate no more.

But, instead – because of course it was, God forbid anything ever be simple with him – it was like drowning in a surge of ice water: the current pulling you hard and fast and unyielding over the edge into the tug of a waterfall. The deposit point was, apparently, a bed of broken rocks with edges worn dull with water and element and age.

You yawned widely while rubbing at your eye with a fist and strolled into the kitchen.

“Rough night?” Chas teased, clearly knowing exactly why you were so tired.

So you decided to double-down and said, “Well, you know John. He’s quite thorough.”

“Oh eugh!” he cringed as you grinned at his open disgust.

“Here I was trying to be romantic and what do I find? You telling my best mate our dirty business,” came the demonologist’s teasing voice from the doorway.

When you looked over, you immediately saw the long-stemmed rose, pastry bag, and coffee cup in his hands. “Tell me that coffee’s mine, and I’ll say you’re the most romantic man I know.”

“Definietly. Everyone knows I don’t touch the stuff, and Chas’s favorite flowers are roses.” He snarked right back with a grin. His lips were warm and a touch chapped when they brushed yours. “G’morning, love.”

One moonlit night, after a fierce battle that left the air thick with the acrid scent of infernal smoke, Constantine found himself in a secluded corner of the city. The echoes of the confrontation still resonated in his chest, a haunting melody of battles fought and adversaries vanquished. Yet, amidst the triumph, an unfamiliar ache lingered - a longing that echoed in the chambers of his heart.

The night seemed to hold its breath as he leaned against a cold stone wall, the city's pulse throbbing beneath his fingertips. In the solitude of the moment, he pondered the inexplicable yearning that tugged at the frayed edges of his warrior's resolve.

"Though I know my heart would break," Constantine whispered to the shadows, his voice a mere exhale in the stillness. The admission hung in the air, a confession to the universe that even a stoic demon hunter carried the burden of unspoken desires.

In the midst of the urban labyrinth, where mortal and supernatural forces collided, Constantine felt an unfamiliar vulnerability. The city's heartbeat, usually drowned by the cacophony of nocturnal life, now echoed the rhythm of his introspection.

As he navigated the labyrinthine alleys, a figure emerged from the darkness - a woman, cloaked in shadows like an ethereal wraith. Her eyes, pools of mystery that held the secrets of both realms, met Constantine's with an unspoken understanding.

In the silence that stretched between them, Constantine recognized a kindred spirit - an ally in the ceaseless war against the demonic forces. She, too, carried the weight of battles on her shoulders, and in her presence, Constantine sensed a resonance that transcended the realm of supernatural camaraderie.

"I'd tell them, 'Put me back in it,'" Constantine murmured, his voice a low declaration that hung in the air. The words, a plea to the cosmic forces that governed fate, held a quiet desperation. He was willing to endure the heartbreak, the vulnerability, for the chance to delve deeper into the enigma of his own desires.

As they walked through the labyrinth together, Constantine and the woman forged a connection that defied the usual boundaries of their existence. They shared tales of battles won and lost, victories celebrated and scars earned. In each other's presence, the weight of their duties felt momentarily lifted, replaced by a shared understanding that transcended words.

In the heart of the city, where the boundaries between realms blurred, Constantine and the woman stood face to face. The moon cast a silvery glow on their figures, an ethereal spotlight on a moment that held the promise of vulnerability and connection.

And then, as if guided by an unseen force, Constantine and the woman leaned in. Their lips met in a kiss that tasted of both victory and longing - a union that held the echoes of countless battles and the quiet whispers of unspoken desires.

In that transformative kiss, Constantine discovered a solace that transcended the chaos of his existence. The heartbreak he had feared seemed a small price to pay for the warmth and connection that blossomed in the embrace of the night.