A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short! Tell me what you think in the reviews!

John POV

They said I could go back. It had been a couple of days since I first was in the hospital. But now? I was being discharged. Alex had come to visit on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I looked at my hand that I burned in its cast. Picking up my backpack, I headed off to school with Martha.

"What do you think Father will say to you? Even worse, what will he do to you?" Martha worried.

"Mar, calm down. I won't let this happen again." I assured her.

We arrived at the school and Martha found her friends, giving me a small hug goodbye.

Martha POV

I hugged John goodbye. I headed over towards Laura and Jacey.

"Omg, Mar! Who's that? Is he your boyfriend? Lucky! He's sooooo hot!" Jacey peeked over my shoulder.

"Agreed. So are ya gonna tell us who he is?" Laura pried.

"He's my brother." I caved.

"What? You guys look nothing alike!"

"Invite me to your house sometime."

"Does my hair look good?"

"Have you mentioned me to him?"

I sighed. Another long day headed my way.

John POV

I headed towards the commons area inside. After all, it was getting pretty cold outside. I looked around the room, looking for someone I knew. I heard Peggy's voice before I saw her.

"When is Laurens coming back? I miss him!" Peggy whined, oblivious to the fact I was here and I could hear her. I decided to surprise her by tapping her shoulder. "Eep!" She jumped around. She squealed when she saw me. "Laurens! You're here! Oh my gosh! Aah! I'm so happy! I can't believe you're back!" I gasped as she hugged the living daylights out of me.

"Nice to see you too, Peggy," I giggled with all the air I had left.

"Laurens!" Eliza gave me a hug, but ten times looser than Peggy's.

"I can't believe you're here, Laurens! We missed you so much!" Angelica gave me a nice firm hug, not too tight (like Peggy), but not too loose (like Eliza).

"Where is everyone else at?" I asked.

"We don't know. We were looking for them, too." Eliza said as we made our way down the hallway of lockers. I got a handful of nods or "welcome back"s from random people. Most people just ignored me.

"Hey, could you give us a second? We are gonna fix our makeup real quick, 'kay?" Angelica asked, grabbing her sisters' arms, leading them towards the girls' bathroom.

"Okay." I watched as they left the hallway. I walked down the hallway for a bit when I reached the library in the middle of the school. What if Alex is in there? I decided to go in. I had to return my books anyways.

After returning my books, I walked over to Alex's corner where the biographies are. Sure enough, he was sitting there on his laptop. I quietly made my way over there, noting that he didn't see me yet.

I sat across from him at his table and gave him a big, cheesy grin.

"Laurens?!" Alex whisper shouted, looking up from his computer.

"Hi." I said, realizing I didn't know what to say. A blush crept up my cheeks from how cute Alex looked.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" He was flustered. Darn it, that made him even cuter! There is no way that this kid could be gay. "We're you already discharged?"

"Yeah. I decided to return my books to the library when I saw you in your normal corner," I said, starting a semi-normal conversation. I wasn't stuttering, which was a good thing.

Today was going pretty well.

Alex POV

The bell rang, letting us out to our passing time before class started. I picked my stuff up and Laurens waited for me. We walked out of the library, talking like we've been best friends since diapers. Every now and then I would try to hold his hand, brushing my fingertips with his. Of course, I would chicken out every time and pull my hand away before I could fully grasp his hand.

Peggy and the others never got to give Laurens a welcome home party.

John POV

We walked and talked as we made our way to our first hour classes. I would brush my fingertips with his to grab his hand, but I would chicken out and pull my hand away before I could fully grasp his hand.

Before we split to go our separate ways to the first hour, Alex reached up and hugged me. He left without another word, and I just stood there like an idiot before walking to math.

Math.

English.

Music.

Homeroom.

Lunch. Peggy brought a permanent marker for everyone to sign my cast.

History.

Science.

PE.

After school, I went home. Nothing special, just a tinier beating from Father. The usual. But then I looked at my cast. I saw everyone had signed it, including Alex. But… Alex signed his "Feel better, Laurens! Alex." with a heart drawn next to his name.

A/N: Helllllooooooooo! Thank you for reading! I am so happy that you chose to read this fic! Come back for more!

ALWAYS FIND THE GOOD IN A BAD SITUATION. STAY HEALTHY, STAY STRONG, AND WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC TOGETHER. (yet we still have astronauts hehehehehehehe)