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This was not how James saw his afternoon panning out.
On the run from some clowns with a bag full of illegal drugs
“I have a plan” Liam said.
James throws his boyfriend a confused look when his heart stops feeling like it will jump out of his chest. He doesn’t remember the last time he ran so fast. He never did fitness.
“Care to tell us then?” Juliet asks at the same time James does.
Liam peers over the containers the three of them are currently hiding behind before turning back to them. James can see the fear but a hint of mischief in Liam’s sharp blue ocean eyes. That’s never a good sign.
“Okay, so the coast is clear… for now…” Liam urges all of them to huddle a bit closer. “…here’s what we will do. First of all, James-“
“Yeah?”
“—will you marry me?”
"What?" An audible gasp escapes James’ lips and his mouth drops just a little. He’s also pretty sure his ears are ringing.
“Wait.. what!? That is your plan, Liam? That’s an awful plan!” Juliet all but yells flying up from the floor. “No offense,” she quickly adds looking at James.
“Shh!” Liam hisses at her and pulls her back on the floor. “That’s just part of the plan,” he informs her while giving James an almost guilty look.
Slight anger rises through James’ body when he realizes why exactly Liam asked to marry him. “I am not going to like the rest of your plan, am I?”
“No, you’re not,” Liam admits biting on his bottom lip. “But if you say yes then that will give me even more of an incentive to get out of here… well, alive.” He gives James a smug look while waggling his eyebrows. “Huh huh so what do you say?”
“What exactly do you mean it gives you the incentive to get out of here alive? Where are Juliet and I going?”
“Out of here,” Liam replies as a matter-of-fact. “There is an exit through back there,” he says pointing to the back of the warehouse where they are hiding. “So take your sister and go.”
“What are you going to do?” Juliet chimes in. She sounds as concerned as James feels.
James doesn’t take his eyes off his boyfriend. He has a million different things running through his head right now. Half of which include ways in which he will kill Liam if they all make it out of here alive or in one piece.
Liam squirms under his glare which gives James a tad bit of satisfaction. “I will show these clowns what happens when they deal in my territory.” The devilish smirk that appears on Liam’s face briefly reminds James of the old Liam. The one who once ran this town. “Now give me the bag-“
“What? No!” Juliet protests hugging the backpack close to her chest like it’s a prized possession, which right now it is. “James said this is my only hope of staying out of prison.”
“We need to turn over these drugs to get Juliet a plea bargain from the crown prosecutor," James reminds him. "Her word won’t be enough. They need solid evidence because they are desperate enough that they will pin this whole thing on Juliet and call it a day.”
Liam sighs and looks over the barrels again before getting down beside them. James can hear footsteps in the distance which gets his heart beating faster again.
“Do you really think these wannabe gangsters with cheap £6 haircuts are the masterminds behind this whole thing?” Liam huffs. “They were recruited and groomed just like your sister. This goes deeper than any of us can imagine and I intend to go to the very top and end the problem at its source. You don’t cut off the hydra’s head, James, you put it through a wood chipper.”
“You think you can do this alone, you stubborn bastard?” James whisper-yells at him. He just got Liam back. He wasn’t ready to let him go again.
The footsteps get even closer. James can also hear voices nearby. Shit.
“And here I thought you knew me. You wound me, my love,” Liam says in a mocking tone which just infuriates James even more. “Now give me the bag and go.”
“No!” James replies adamantly. “They want Juliet. They will kill you.”
“They just want their £200k worth of drugs back and as long as I have it, I have the upper hand.”
James isn’t convinced and as much as it surprises him, he actually trusts Liam. “Give it to him.”
Juliet doesn’t look too convinced either but James gives her what he hopes is a reassuring nod.
She hands the bag over to Liam, who opens it and starts taking out the small pouches that contain the drugs.
“What are you doing?” James asks confused.
“I said I needed the bag not the drugs inside it,” the smug bastard replies, sounding too proud of himself. “Now take these and go. I’ll just keep this one.” He picks up the smallest pack and puts it back in the bag, “I’m sure PC Piss—“
“Kiss” James and Juliet correct him at the same time.
“Yeah fine. I’m sure Georgey Porgy won’t die if he only gets £190k worth of drugs instead of 200”
“You’re going to bluff them?” James asks incredulously. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“No! I am trying to save you because I love you and I’d rather at least one of us make it out of here alive. And I want it to be you because you are that kid’s only hope,” Liam says pointing at Juliet. “Now go. Please.”
The way Liam adds please at the end and gives James a desperate look takes him by surprise.
“Okay,” James replies giving up. But before leaving, he grabs Liam by the collar of his silk shirt and pulls him closer. “The answer is yes. I will marry you, Liam Donovan. So you better make it out of here alive or I will bring you back to life and kill you all over again myself.” He smashes their lips together and gives Liam a rough kiss while ignoring the gagging sounds from Juliet.
“Check over there in the back!” James hears one of the goons say as he pulls away from his boyfriend— fiancé? He doesn’t have to look to know that the goon is referring to the place where they are hiding.
“Stay low!” Liam whispers once he seemingly recovers from the kiss.
James gives Liam one last look before guiding Juliet out of the room. The two stay low on the ground, their arms filled with the pouches of drugs from the backpack. Just as they are about to get out he hears Liam shout—
“Okay, okay, I surrender! You clowns— sorry you boys win”
“He’s definitely going to die,” Juliet says when they’re outside.
“You know, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Liam Donovan it’s that he has a way of getting out of sticky situations and saving his arse,” James replies feeling surprisingly calm. He looks around and finds an old Vauxhall saloon standing nearby.
“I can get us in. Hold these,” Juliet dumps her share of the drugs onto James and takes out Bobby pins from her hair before getting down on the driver’s side of the car. James keeps a lookout but it seems those wannabe gangsters are too stupid to keep anyone outside as a watchdog.
It doesn’t even take 10 minutes before James hears a click of the car door unlocking. “Exactly how many times have you done this before?” He asks tossing the drugs in the back and getting into the driver’s seat.
“Do you really wanna know?” Juliet asks, almost challenging him.
“No, I really don’t.”
Now, this was the part James was actually good at. He pulled out the wires from under the steering wheel and hot-wired two of them together.
“What the- where did you learn that?”
“You’re not the only Nightingale with a criminal past, darling,” James replies smugly before pulling the car to the edge of the car park where Liam would see them.
“Hey, James?”
“Yes?” James looks over at Juliet to find her practically squirming in her seat. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I just… Did we do the right thing? Leaving Liam in there?” She asks timidly
“Liam will be fine” and as if on cue, Liam comes bolting out the door and hurtles into the passenger seat of the car. James puts his foot down as he passes the bag back to Juliet who puts all the drugs back.
“What did I miss?” Liam says as if he has just got back from work. Techniqually he has.
“Just us hot-wiring this car so we can get away.” Juliet says very smugly.
“You got us in. I hot-wired it” James says still putting his foot down as there were now the clowns following them.
“I didn’t know you could hot-wire a car.” Liam says now slightly turned on at the fact his fiancé can be a bad guy.
“You also don’t know that I can actually disassemble and reassemble a car. I am a man of many hidden talents.” James said still focused on the road.
They drove at speed for a good hour or two before the clowns ran out of petrol.
They all arrived back into Hollyoaks with grins on their faces. A newly engaged couple and a way to keep Juliet out of prison. They couldn’t be happier.