Alex wished he could defend Laurens in court. However, his only qualification was three months in pre-law classes, so he could hardly call himself a great lawyer. He had to contend with writing reports of the event for the person who would be defending his friend.
In this case, that person was Henry Laurens, who was flying up from South Carolina the next day. Alex was really excited to meet him – as the founder of one of America's biggest law companies, and the father of the cutest guy Alex had ever met, he was definitely someone to impress.
Everyone had their own way of dealing with nerves, and it seemed like Laurens' was watching back episodes of Judge Judy and making a list of every possible outcome. After almost five hours, Alex decided enough was enough and put a documentary about softshell turtles on before joining his friend on the sofa.
"Hey. Are you okay?" Alex tried to make conversation.
"Not really. You know it's up to seven years, right?".
"Or an alternative sentence, avoiding jail time altogether. And your dad's a really good lawyer, right?".
"Yeah, but maybe I deserve it. Angie thinks I do.".
"Angelica does not think you should spend seven years in jail. And neither do I.".
"What if my dad does?".
"Your dad would never think that. Even if you think he's like them, he can't be. He's related to you. And if you don't believe me, you can ask him when he gets here tomorrow. If that's what you were worried about, don't be, just watch the documentary.".
Laurens smiled at him. "You're awesome, Alex.".
"Just shut up and watch this, okay?". Alex grinned at the boy sitting by him, admiring the freckles he'd stared at so many times before. All he knew was that they couldn't send this perfect cinnamon roll to jail, just for standing up for people's rights. They just couldn't.
At some point, they must have fallen asleep, because Alex woke up the next morning in a tangle of limbs and fluffy blanket. And, for whatever reason, he wasn't mad at himself for getting behind on his work, because it felt like it had been worth it.
A/N LONG OVERDUE LAMS FLUFF! Okay, so the trial is definitely happening (finally! I've kind of been putting it off for ages) next chapter. And an all out Lams/JeffMads war might be somewhere in the near future. And yes, I know this is a short chapter, but the next one will be longer. And now I'm making waaaaaay too many promises so let's move on...
QOTC: Helpless, Satisfied, Congratulations (outtake) or Burn?
AOTC: Congratulations, mostly because it's mainly rapping so it doesn't sound too bad when I do it, but Burn in a very close second.
Thank you for reading!
Kitty :)