Hello, thanks for so many reviews! I hope you guys are enjoying this, because I have no plans on stopping any time soon.
Kinzey (thatwritermadeofpotatoes) my beta reader has put in her notice! It's been great Kinz, she still helps me though when I'm having a dilemma about putting something in. You can thank her for persuading me to keep Lafayette's funny innuendos! Seriously though, great beta reader, great writer. You should check her out! Well, because if this, forgive any typos or spelling mistakes. It's exhausting to edit a 9,000 word document...
LamsPickles: the hilarious thing is, I wrote the chapter before seeing your review, so when I did see it, I was like, hmmmm. This is fortunate!
ShipperInParadise: Okay! (:
TheSilvernote: *gulps and tugs nervously at collar* I uh... I'm not giving them an easy time at the moment... P.S I think the vine is on YouTube, it's pretty amazing.
PJOandHP4life: I'm glad you like it!
EffinVictory: 3 thanks for reviewing all the time by the way!
ANDPEGGYOnBreakSince1801: sorry, fluff is over now... mostly.
Hamiltrash55: You don't ever need to wait for me to update because I'm constantly writing, there's always a new chapter to read lol.
Trigger warnings: Bullying, homophobic parent.
This chapter isn't so angsty, but ooooooh, look out for chapter 16. Jesus, I made myself cry.
The hours slowly trickled by until Sunday dawned into Monday morning. John woke up nervous. He poured out his cereal as usual and moved the empty cans of beer out of the living room. He did this everyday, it was safe, routine, corporeal. This comforted him, it was nice to start the day out normally.
His dad was probably still in bed and wouldn't stir until nine or ten, working from home had its advantages, apparently drinking late and getting up even later was one of them.
He chose his outfit carefully. His armoire was a sea of blacks and dark blues, pretty much the only colours he wore. Usually he would throw something on, only regarding cleanliness and harmony of the colours, but today he had a date.
He and Alex were going to the cinema after school, the showing started at five thirty so they figured they'd get something to eat beforehand, maybe hang in the mall until they could go into the auditorium.
John eventually decided on a navy button down, some black jeans and his usual leather jacket. He thought it looked good; like he hadn't put too much thought into it.
He grumbled nad took a deep breath before sticking his head into his dad's room before he left, just to let him know he'd be going out after school.
To his surprise, the man was dressed in jeans and a polo shirt. The bags under his eyes were more noticeable than usual and his eyes were slightly red rimmed, but he didn't look too bad.
"Morning dad. I'm going out after school tonight, yeah?"
His dad looked around to him, his brows furrowed. Henry Laurens was a man of contrasts. Full, dark eyebrows but pale lashes, dark skin yet light eyes, not at all like John's. A slightly less than average stature but a formidable temper.
"Where?"
"The cinema." John fiddled with the zip on his jacket.
"When will you be back?"
"Eight-ish. Maybe earlier, not later."
John squeezed his fist hard, awaiting the dreaded question.
"Who with?"
He tried to make his voice casual, as though going out with this boy was the most normal, platonic thing in the world.
"Alexander, I think you know him."
His father raised an eyebrow, he'd walked to his dresser and was arranging the books there.
"The Washingtons' boy?"
John nodded, not daring to take his eyes of his father's collar. It was blue, there was a tiny emblem on the corner. John realised it was a pin. An elephant. The one he'd gotten from the Virginian republican convention. It had been last June, over a year ago. When John had refused to go he and his father hadn't talked for at least two weeks.
"Anyone else?"
John shook his head, his hands in his pockets, pressing hard into the leather.
"He doesn't have a girlfriend?"
John's breath hitched in his throat and he shook his head.
"Uh, no."
His father sighed and turned around to face him properly.
"I hoped you'd be bringing girls to the cinema by now. You're nearly sixteen John."
John swallowed and shrugged. He didn't talk with his dad about his sexuality. It had always been assumed that John was straight. When his dad had first gotten a whiff of the opposite, he'd seemed more withdrawn from his son. Disappointed, dissatisfied.
"I... I don't know. Maybe someday?"
He knew damn well this was a lie, but right now he didn't care. His father sighed again and shook his head.
"Why can't you just be normal for once? Take a girl out, your brother does all the time!"
"Are you asking me to sleep around?"
The moodiness in his tone shocked John himself but he kept eye contact with his dad, not daring to look away.
His father growled slightly and stepped towards John, who didn't back down. His father had never hit him, he probably wouldn't now, John wasn't scared of him.
"You will not take that tone with me young man."
His voice was dangerously low and his eyes narrowed with anger.
"Sorry. Jesus."
If anything, his father looked even angrier, he crossed himself and glared at his son.
"You will not take the Lord's name in vain, John!"
John sighed and walked back out of the room, pulling his leather jacket tighter around his shoulders.
"Come back and apologise this instant, John!"
He sighed and continued on, grabbing his bag from his room.
When he stepped out onto the landing, his father was there waiting for him.
"You're not going tonight, I won't have you associating with the son of that man. You know well my opinions on his politics."
John rolled his eyes and made his way down the stairs.
His father was yelling after him, John could sense the trembling of his hands by his voice.
"If you go tonight, I will make sure you do not talk to that boy again, I'll ground you. Is that clear? John!"
John didn't turn around. He reached the door of the house and paused, turning back to his father with livid eyes.
"I'm going, and guess what! It's a date!" He hissed, ignoring his father's yells behind him as he walked out of the house, down the drive.
The home behind him was unnecessarily large and extravagant looking, the drive was way too long. He listened to his father's angry shouts get fainter and fainter until he was half way down the street, his teeth gritted tightly and his walk fast and determined.
Alex examined the shirt he was holding and sighed. It was too much. He had to go to school first and he wasn't about to go to the cinema looking like he'd mistaken it for the Met Gala.
"Laf! Tu peux me donner un coup de main?"
Laf! Can you give me a hand?
He heard his foster brother's footsteps in the hallway and turned to the door, smiling sheepishly.
"M'aidais, I don't know what to wear."
Lafayette grinned and clasped his hands as if in prayer, looking towards the ceiling.
"Merci! Mon Dieu, I've been waiting for this day for so long!"
Alex rolled his eyes and opened his drawer, showing Lafayette the clothes he had.
Lafayette looked through them quickly, examining clothes carefully and glancing at Alex when he conesidered items.
He quickly picked out a striped button down, grey and off-white with a pair of acid wash black jeans.
He suddenly looked up very mischievously at Alex and smirked slyly.
"Est un choix stratégique de caleçons necessaire, oui ou non?"
Is a strategic choice of boxers necessary, yes or no?
Alex dropped the empty mug of coffee he was holding and blushed furiously. He bent down to pick up the mug, which mercifully hadn't smashed, and whacked Lafayette around the head.
"Merde! Bien sûr que non!" He protested, ears flaming.
Shit! Of course not!
Alex snatched the clothes off Lafayette who was doubled over in laughter.
"Je sais! Je sais! Je rigole- OW!"
I know! I know! I was kidding-OW!
Alex had stamped hard on his foot and was glaring at him with no remorse.
"Nous avons quinze ans!"
We're fifteen!
Lafayette suddenly looked apologetic, though a glint of humour remained in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, it was only a joke, I didn't mean anything by it."
Alex softened and rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for the help, this looks good. You should just be glad I know you well enough to understand you were kidding."
Lafayette laughed and stood up, wincing when he put his weight on his foot.
Alex looked nervous and watched his foot anxiously, "I didn't hurt you too bad did I?"
Lafayette shook his head and wiggled his foot slightly. He smiled one last time at his foster brother and walked out of the room
Alex was left alone to change. Upon trying the outfit on, he had to grudgingly admit that it looked good.
It was the last class of the day, fifth period, and Alex was looking at the clock anxiously. Twenty minutes to go...
It was an English lesson, so it wasn't too torturous, nevertheless he couldn't help eagerly awaiting the end of the day when he could finally go to the cinema with John.
Eventually the bell rang and Alex hastily stood up, grabbing his things and sliding them into his bag with one sweep of his arm. Mrs Monroe was wiping down the board and yelling over the din to remind everyone they had work due in the next lesson.
Alex was halfway down the corridor when he stumbled and fell, pushed by a strong hand into the nearby men's bathrooms.
He cursed under his breath and hissed in pain when his knee collided with hard ceramic tile.
He stood up quickly and scowled at Charles and George, who were standing by the door smirking.
"Seriously, I have a- thing to get to..."
He stopped himself at the last minute, sharply cutting of his words and trailing off. He had been about to say he had a date, but considering the extensive homophobia Lee harboured, he thought it was wise to say nothing.
"Do you have to do this now? Didn't get enough pocket money or something? I really don't care."
Lee laughed cruelly, it bit into Alex's bones and froze him from the inside.
"You have a what?"
Alex rolled his eyes.
"What do you care?"
Lee shook his head condescendingly, as though he was disappointed in Alex. He was on him in a second, knee colliding with stomach and hand pulling at his hair sharply.
Alex yelled in shock more than anything else, used to this kind of treatment from an extensive group of people.
"What is it you're hiding? Come on, you can tell us." Lee's voice was falsely friendly and saccharine but tinted with malice. He shot a quick grin at George, who had an unnerving smile on his face.
Alex hissed in pain as the grip in his hair tightened and he shook his head.
George walked closer to the pair and smirked at Alex, suddenly grabbing his arms and pinning them behind Alexander's back.
He struggled and lashed out, his leg connecting hard with Lee's shin. The black haired boy growled in pain and punched Alex hard in the stomach, leaving him too winded to defend himself from the blows that followed.
George let one of Alex's hands hang loose to his side and seized a fist full of his hair, yanking it back harshly until Alex was forced to watch see the ceiling above him.
"Every time it comes to this, when you hold and he punches, it just serves to remind me how pathetic you are." Alex growled.
Alexander had pretty much discarded his verbal filter long ago when it came to Lee and George. He figured they would beat him up anyway, regardless of whether he mercilessly insulted him or not. At least he could practice some good comebacks.
George's fingernails were digging painfully into his scalp now, Alex did his best to wrestle free but he only succeeded in getting his unrestrained wrist twisted painfully back on itself and a fresh barrage of punches thrown into his stomach and chest.
Luckily, they both seemed to have forgotten about what Alex had been about to say and got bored of beating him up relatively quickly.
They left the bathroom a few minutes later, leaving Alex crumpled on the floor, panting and searching for his bag. Finally he found it slid under one of the cubicles. He pulled the brown corduroy jacket Lafayette had lent him back on and scrambled out of the bathroom, doing his best to ignore the throbbing pain in his stomach.
He'd arranged to meet John at the school gates at twenty to four. Cursing again under his breath he looked at the battered watch on his wrist. It was five to four, John had been waiting for fifteen minutes.
Alex raced through the corridors of the school, frantically trying think up excuses for his lateness as he opened the double doors to the school back entrance.
From a distance he could see John sat on the wall swinging his leg absently, back pack shrugged off onto the concrete.
He felt guilt stab at his stomach, even though he knew it wasn't his fault and sprinted over, making a conscious effort not to limp.
John looked up at him and grinned. He stood up and hoisted his bag back onto one shoulder, tapping his left foot expectantly.
Alex stopped in front of him and caught his breath, eyes scanning over John's appearance. He looked extremely good. In fact, good was not a strong enough descriptor. Incredible or even dangerous might be a better way to describe it.
John raised an eyebrow and Alex who sighed, an apologetic expression on his face.
"Miss Monroe kept me back to talk about an essay I'd written, just to clarify what I'd meant in a certain phrase."
John shrugged, "Its cool. It's not like we're gonna be late to the film, we have have like an hour and a half."
Internally though, John was confused. He knew Alexander, he knew his prodigy-like writing skills. How succinct and clear he was in everything he did. Surely his essays would leave no doubt in the reader's mind as to what they'd meant?
He thought about this for a while, a nagging feeling of malaise in the back of his mind. This was extinguished however when he felt Alexander's hand slip into his.
"Where do you wanna go before the film?" Alex asked, letting their joint hands swing casually.
"Wherever you want, baby girl." Smirked John, pressing the button on the crossing.
Alex groaned. "Please don't tell me that's stuck!"
John shrugged his shoulders, a small smile creeping onto his face.
"How about we get some coffee?"
Alex nodded vigorously, "yeah we should, where's the nearest place?"
John shrugged and rubbed his head thoughtfully.
"There's a coffee house a block away from the cinema, it's like a two minute walk."
Alex smiled, "well come on! I've been caffeine deprived for too long!"
The coffee shop was crowded and smokey, Alex had never been to Europe, but this was how he imagined cafés where artists had lunch in famous cities like Paris or Venice.
When he stepped across the threshold however and took in all the people crowded into the tiny premises, he felt his hands start to tremble slightly and his breathing quicken.
"John?"
John looked around sharply at the panic in Alex's voice, making him flinch away.
"I'm going to wait upstairs okay... it's too crowded down here."
John clasped his shoulder sympathetically and nodded.
"Americano with half a teaspoon of sugar, right?"
Alex grinned, "D'accord."
Alex passed a five a dollar note to John and smiled shakily, wincing slightly when a customer brushed up against him.
He walked upstairs, relieved to find it far less crowded than below and took a booth seat right in the corner, away from everyone else in the café
John ordered quickly, both their drinks being simple, one Americano with half a teaspoon of sugar and one cappuccino.
The barista was a haggard, worn out looking college boy who John pitied greatly. The person behind John had ordered an iced chai latte, decaff and made on soy milk with cinnamon, one flavour shot of vanilla and whipped cream. The poor barista looked almost ready to cry at that point. John thought that if you wanted some sort of sickly sweet milkshake, a coffee shop wasn't the pace to get it.
He headed upstairs, finding Alex in the corner of a booth, eyes closed and taking deep breaths.
"Alex, you okay?" He asked, tone slightly nervous.
Alex nodded and opened his eyes, it relieved John to see that his expression was far less tense than it had been downstairs.
John had taken his school bag off his shoulders and was rummaging through it, eventually pulling out a small sketchbook and a tin of graphite pencils.
Alex put down his coffee curiously and leaned in.
"I've never seen your art work before."
He looked up at John who was smiling faintly, their cheeks were nearly touching in the close proximity and Alex could see John's eyes in detail properly, all the tiny flecks of gold and streaks of coffee were visible.
"I was gonna sketch you, if that's okay."
Alex choked on the gulp of coffee in his mouth and coughed rather loudly, looking incredulously at John.
"What do you wanna sketch me for?"
John rolled his eyes and opened the sketchbook at the latest page. Alex gasped slightly when he saw the basic sketch of his own face had already been completed. That was his jaw line there, and he could see the shape his ponytail took. Recognisable to him in the way only a person's face was to themself. The face however, hadn't been filled in.
"I tried to pick an ambiguous pose you could recreate." John said, his voice was tinged with something akin to embarrassment, but Alex smiled.
"But I can't draw you in return!" He cried, folding his arms. John laughed and shrugged.
"Use those fancy words of yours. I'm sure you can think something up."
Alex rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, keeping eye contact with John as the latter pulled out a pencil and began to sketch.
They talked as he drew, Alex could move his mouth, it wouldn't inhibit John from drawing, as long as he didn't change the position of his head or expression too much.
"You really think Trump's gonna be impeached?" Alex asked, frustrated he couldn't see the sketchbook from this angle.
"I don't know. It's a possibility, but I don't know if I want that to happen."
Alex sighed and nodded, "because of-"
"Mike Pence." They said together, both in a near identical weary tone.
"You know what he did to queer kids, I think he may actually be worse than Trump."
John nodded his head, moving his pencil in long, sweeping strokes that suggested he was sketching hair.
"He's definitely at least as bad."
Alex rubbed his eyes, yawning and John grinned.
"Tired?"
Alex shrugged.
"Waiting for the coffee to kick in."
John put down his pencil and frowned at Alex.
"You're always so tired. Why is that?"
Alex coughed and looked into his coffee. He shrugged.
"I'm iron deficient and sometimes I can't sleep."
John looked concerned.
"If you ever can't sleep, just call me. You don't have to talk, just say 'Alex'. Then I can come see you, or we can meet up."
Alexander raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Because three in the morning seems like a great time to hang out."
John shrugged.
"I go on runs at night anyway. What's the difference if I stop at yours?"
Alex considered this for a moment before sighing.
"You'd better be prepared to be up about five nights a week."
John winced, "you stay up late that often?"
Alexander grinned.
"You've said you would John, no backing out now."
John smiled and picked up his pencil again, he was moving it in little dotting motions, maybe he was drawing freckles.
A few minutes later, he scribbled a signature in the corner of the piece and added the rubric, 'Alexander Hamilton.'
He picked it up and turned it to Alex.
It was him alright. In fact, the likeness was incredible. John's pencil had perfectly captured the way his eyes crinkled slightly when amused, and the defined bridge of his nose. He wondered if the drawing was how he really looked, or how John saw him and for the first time he noticed he actually had some freckles on his cheekbones. Funny that it had taken him a drawing of himself to realise.
"Woah, John... It's incredible."
John smiled and nodded in thanks.
"Do I really look like that?"
Alexander suddenly had a slightly insecure expression on his face, as though sure that this Dorian Gray couldn't possibly be him.
John leaned in and kissed him quickly on the lips, only for a moment. It was probably best, Alex was sure his mouth tasted of strong coffee, which wasn't exactly attractive.
"Even more beautiful. Because a drawing can't fully capture someone's brain."
Alex felt himself go pink and he looked at the drawing again for a long moment.
John closed his sketchbook and they finished their coffee in comfortable silence, Alex didn't know silence could be comfortable but with John he felt no insecurity that he was being watched, examined, judged.
They stacked their empty cups onto the tray and left them there, next to a two dollar tip Alex had insisted they leave.
"These people don't even get minimum wage, the least I can do is thank them for the coffee."
John nodded at that, "fair enough."
They walked hand in hand to the cinema, Alex's stomach twisting slightly at the thought of all the people there. He gripped John's hand slightly tighter and leant into him further.
"Are you okay?"
Alexander nodded, smiling up at John reassuringly.
"Of course, I have you with me."
John grinned and all of a sudden, Alex felt John's phone vibrate in his pocket. Their hips were so close together.
John rolled his eyes and opened his phone. It was an incoming call from 'dad'.
John's face darkened but he pressed the green answer button anyway and held his hand out in apology to Alex.
"Hey dad."
Alex could hear muffled voices on the other end, but wasn't able to make out clear words.
John gritted his teeth and listened to his father.
"John, I swear, if you aren't home in the next fifteen minutes, you won't be leaving the house aside for school for the next six months."
"I'm on the way to the cinema now dad." Said John, trying to keep his tone neutral so Alex didn't know about the argument they were having.
"John, I will not have you out with that boy, certainly not on a date with him."
John sighed, "I'm going dad, I'll be back by eight."
"John, I'm not going to lie to you. If you keep up this- this ridiculous charade with these boys, I don't want you in my house any longer."
John's breath caught in his throat and he closed his eyes.
"We'll talk about this when I get home, at eight, after I see the film."
His dad didn't even wait to hear John's full sentence, he hung up on his son, leaving him seething. John turned off his phone and put it back in his pocket. His hand had left Alex's to answer the phone, but when he put his phone back in his pocket he didn't take it back.
Instead they walked down the road in silence, this time, that silence that had been comfortable in the café was suffocating.
"Uh John? Is everything with your dad okay?"
"It's fine." Snapped John, picking up his walking pace and not even sparing a glance at Alex. Alexander flinched away from John at this, his many years of associating angry tones with pain almost causing him to stumble and fall into the road.
Soon they reached the cinema and Alex pulled out the money George had given him to pay for a ticket. John shook his head and gently put his hand over Alex's.
"I'm sorry I snapped, please, let me make it up to you."
"You don't have to..."
"No, Alex, it's fine." He said, just the tiniest trace of impatience edging his voice.
Alex hastily put the money back in his pocket and nodded. They reached the front of the queue and John ordered for the both of them. He got one medium popcorn to share and two tickets. It was five twenty two, so the ads would start soon.
"John, are you sure every thing is alright?" Alex had taken a step away from John, afraid he would be mad at him for asking.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Let's just enjoy the film, okay?"
Alex smiled and moved closer to John, who wrapped his arm around his shoulder.
They gave their tickets to a grumpy looking worker in the booth and were directed to screen ten, just a few paces down the hall.
The auditorium was dark and only the silhouettes of people were visible in their seats, it was clear to the both of them though that it was packed.
Alex took a deep, steadying breath and walked up the stairs to the middle of the row of seats.
They were sat directly between an old couple with too many shopping bags for comfort (they were practically trapping them in their seats) and a group of three young women in their twenties.
The film started after a series of repetitive and laughably stupid commercials, John and Alex clutching each other in mirth, trying not to disturb the quiet of the cinema.
John had told Alex he'd picked the film because it was scary and that he'd thought it would be a good way to get Alexander clutching at him like a blonde from a crappy eighties movie.
Alex had been sure he would be able to prove John wrong, but as the film continued, the tension built and built, leaving Alex terrified and invested in the main characters. It was a horror from 1980, but Alex couldn't help be impressed with the directing and cinematography. The slow and chilling descent into madness and absurdity had the old lady next to them clutching her amused husband's arm.
Around two hours into the film, Alex was holding tightly onto John's arm and his head leant agaisnt his chest, the movie was steadily getting bloodier and there had been two jump scares already. In all fairness to Alex, John looked pretty spooked too. His eyes were wide as the film progressed and his Jaw had tensed noticeably. Looking at the people next to them, Alex saw this reaction was mirrored on many other people's faces.
They were currently watching a scene were one character, Wendy, was walking through a hallway of the hotel. Suddenly, in the eerie quiet of the cinema, the camera panned to a figure standing behind Wendy covered in blood.
Alex couldn't help let out a tiny yelp at this and jump in his seat, looking around he saw he wasn't the only one in the cinema who had been startled by this.
He could hear some people laughing behind him, obviously at his reaction to the film. He turned around angrily to glare at whoever it was and froze when he saw who it was.
Even in the dim lighting of the cinema, it was impossible to mistake those eyes. Icy blue and sharp, the eyes of Charles Lee.
Alex tried to turn around, praying to God he hadn't seen him, but it was too late. Their eyes met and a grin spread across Lee's face.
This was not good.
Lafayette is out of control people! Nah, I feel like he's such a lams shipper, like us but in the story!
