A/N: Hewwo! Another Chapter! Read and review please! :)
December
"Sooooo, whatcha guys doing for Chrismas Eve?" Peggy rested her head in her hands.
"Pegs, you know we are going to go to your Christmas Eve party!" Alex rolled his eyes as he typed away on his computer. He was adorable when he did that.
"Oh, goody! I'll talk more about it tomorrow." Peggy said as her phone rang. She walked away from the table and was chatting away on her phone. Typical Pegs.
The rest of the day went by slowly like always.
-(~xWx~)-
"Father? Could I go to the Schuyler Sisters' Christmas Eve party?" I asked, hoping for a small beating over a large beating.
"Sure sure. Whatever. Go but come back." He said. He was in phase one of drunkenness. Phase one was agreeing with whatever someone says. Phase two was a nap, phase three was beating Mar and me.
Alex POV
Today at lunch Peggy brought a hat and slips of paper for her Secret Santa plan for her Christmas Eve party. Every year we do this, and surprisingly, it gets more fun every year. I reached in and got Laurens. What would he even want for Christmas? I've seen him doodle on his homework a lot and he already had a sketchbook almost filled… a new sketchbook?
John POV
I reached in the hat for Peggy's Secret Santa idea for her Christmas Eve party. I got Lafayette. That would be easy; I'll get him a copy of "How to Speak English for Dummies" I saw at the mall when I went with the guys before Herc got kicked out.
-(~xWx~)-
I looked in the mirror. I was wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks and black dress shoes. Alex told me that every year they had to dress fancy to impress the Schuylers parents. They would, apparently, only let in people who dressed nicely. Fun.
Mar walked over to me and hugged me. "Have a good time tonight. Father shouldn't be home until tomorrow night." She said into my chest. Father was on a business trip (thank goodness).
Martha let go of me and handed me my black backpack, Lafayette's present, and a jacket. "Thanks, Martha." Before walking out I hugged Martha one more time. I waved and set out to Alex's house. Mr. Washington was going to give us a ride there. Alex said the Washingtons were always invited.
"Laurens!" Mrs. Washington ran over to me and engulfed me in a hug. "How are you tonight?"
"I'm doing good, Mrs. Washington," I said. Mrs. Washington put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye.
"How many times do I need to tell you? You can call me Martha," she chuckled.
"Hey, Laurens," Alex walked over to me, waving slightly. He wasn't carrying his computer bag like he normally was. His hair was in his signature ponytail and was wearing cute glasses instead of contacts. He had a dark dress shirt, dark slacks, and dark dress shoes. He looked beautiful. I held my invoulentarily breath.
"Hi, Alex." I waved.
"Okee dokee, let's get in the car now," Martha motioned to the car, grabbing Alex's present for Secret Santa. "We don't want to be late!"
The entire car ride there, Alex and I were discussing what normally happened at the Schuyler parties in the backseat while Martha and George were discussing the weather or something boring like that.
As we hopped out of the car, Peggy ran to us. "Laurens! Alex! You made it!" She pulled us down to her height and gave us a group bear hug. When she let go, she ran over to Martha and George before we could say anything else.
"Martha! George! Thank you for coming!" Peggy gave them both a bear hug.
"Peggy. Let's let our guests inside before we scare them away," a man in the doorway said. I assumed it was her father.
We made our way into the foyer when Alex stopped me right before we walked under the mistletoe. I blushed. I could have kissed him… Maybe he doesn't have romantic feelings as I do. Maybe he isn't even gay! My thoughts overwhelmed me as I almost tripped over my feet trying to make it into the living room in a single line to avoid kissing Alex.
Alex POV
"Come on. I already told you they lived in a mansion. Just enjoy yourself instead of standing there with a stupid look on your face." It wasn't just stupid- it was cute. But I didn't say that. We were about to walk into the living room when I stopped Laurens.
"What?" He asked. I pointed to the mistletoe on the doorway, realizing my mistake. I could have kissed Laurens, dang it!
"Oh." He seemed kind of upset about something.
"Why are you upset? Are you sad you couldn't kiss me?" I flirted. What? It's my natural instinct.
"U-uh, n-no, I just… family crap." He said. My face dropped.
We walked in a single file, except Martha and George. They gave each other a peck on the lips before proceeding into the living room. Blech. I made a gagging noise to Laurens. He chuckled. I love his chuckle. It's adorable.
"Bonjour Mon amies!" Laf said, giving us a hug.
"Bonjour, Mon Ami!" I chuckled, returning the hug.
"Hey, Gilbert," Laurens gave Laf a hug when Laf let go of me.
"Alex! Laurens'" Angelica gave us a group hug.
"Hey, Angie," I said.
"Hi!" Laurens said.
"Hi, guys. Thanks for coming!" Eliza gave us each a separate hug.
"Hey, Eliza," Laurens said.
"Hi, Eliza." I said.
We talked for a bit, waiting for everyone else to arrive. We set our gifts in the middle of the living room. Eventually, Herc came, then Aaron, then Theo, then James and Thomas.
Once we said our hellos to Thomas and James, we all sat in a circle with our gifts.
Laurens had Lafayette. Lafayette had Maria. Maria had Herc. Herc had Eliza. Eliza had Peggy. Peggy had Thomas. Thomas had Aaron. Aaron had James. James had Theodosia. Theodosia had me. I had Laurens.
Lafayette got a book called "How to Speak English for Dummies." I snorted as Lafayette opened the book, genuinely interested. Laurens looked pleased with himself.
Maria got new French oil pastels for her collection of art supplies. She thanked Leaf profusely and was reading the tips and tricks booklet as she thanked him.
Herc got a framed picture of four horses. He grumbled. Maria handed him a second present- a new Adidas beanie. He smiled and thanked her.
Eliza got a blue scarf to match her blue and black jacket. She hugged Herc as a thank-you.
Peggy opened her gift quickly as ever. She got a new yellow skateboard she had been asking for. She squealed in delight and hugged Eliza before shaking in her seat with excitement.
Thomas got a hairbrush as a gag gift. He gave Peggy a glare. Peggy laughed heartily before handing him a different gift. It was a magenta computer case.
Aaron got a personalized phone case with a picture of all of his friends.
James got the full set of Harry Potter books in order. He opened it right away and started reading. Everyone laughed.
Theodosia got a new jewelry-set with silver bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings. She put one of the bracelets and examined it with interest on her wrist.
I got a new journal with expensive pens I've been wanting. I gasped and flipped through the pages with delight. I then handed Laurens his gift.
He opened it carefully and stared at it. I got him a personalized sketchbook with a black cover. However, the inside had a picture of all of us together when Laurens came back to school after being the hospital. He looked at me, tears welling in his eyes. He put a hand over his mouth. "Alex… I love it," I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
We continued to talk and have a great time. The food was expensive, that's for sure but tasted delicious. Everyone talked and laughed and before we knew it, it was time to go. Everyone else had left except for Laurens, me, and the Washingtons. We said goodbye to the Schuyler Sisters as they went upstairs to their bedrooms. George and Martha said goodbye and walked ahead of Laurens and me. We stepped into the foyer together as we both stopped at the same time. I felt my cheeks flush. No way… please tell me... no, don't tell me! We both stared at each other before glancing up. Mistletoe. My face turned redder than ever before. I didn't think it was possible to have my cheeks turn this red.
Laurens leaned down ever so slightly and I leaned upwards. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. We gave each other a small peck on the lips before turning away. We walked to the car in awkward silence.
John POV
I kissed Alex. I kissed Alex. I kissed Alex. I kissed Alex. I kissed Alex.
My face was no doubt redder than it ever has been. We climbed into the car and sat in silence. Martha ended up breaking the silence within the first thirty seconds. "So, boys, did you have fun?"
"Yeah. Theodosia got me a new notebook and the pens I've been wanting for a while for Secret Santa." Alex said.
"What did you get, Laurens?" Martha asked.
"Alex got me a new sketchbook with a picture of all of our friends on the inside." I said, staring at my backpack.
"That's nice!" Martha said. She continued to ask us questions about what we did. We got wound up and lost the awkward tension between us but laughing and having fun.
Eventually, we got to Alex's house when Martha pulled Alex aside to help her grab some stuff out of the back of their car. Alex came back after a little bit. I was just about to say goodbye when he asked me, "Do you want to stay the night?"
I stared at him. "Um, sure, just let me ask my sister."
TurtleBoi: Mar Alex asked if I could stay the night so I'm going to be there for tonight is that okay with you
Marmar: sure that's fine
TurtleBoi: thank you :)
"I can stay the night," I said, putting my phone in my pocket.
"Okay!" Alex led me inside.
We walked up the stairs talking about Peggy trying to skateboard down the stairs. Alex opened the door to his bedroom and revealed a plain room. Grey walls, a black and white bed with a white quilt, a white desk with a black swivel chair on light wood flooring. There was a large, grey beanbag in the corner and a TV on the wall facing the bed. Alex flopped on his swivel chair and spun around a couple of times, leaning his head backward. He let out a large sigh between his lips making a "pbblbt" noise.
Alex stood up and changed into a black sweatshirt that said "Non-stop" on the front in white letters. I flopped on the beanbag chair. I opened my backpack up and pulled out the sketchbook Alex got me. I studied it carefully and noticed my cast in the picture. The words were a little blurry on it but one word: "Alex" and a heart.
My arms were around Alex and Peggy, my cast on Alex's shoulder. Everyone else was in a line, arms around everyone else's shoulders. They looked so happy. I then realized that my abusive father may belong my biological family, but this was the family of friends that I belong in. My eyes started to tear up without me knowing until Alex spoke up. "Laurens, are you okay?" I picked my head up to see Alex walking towards me. I felt tears slide off my face and onto my hands. I covered my mouth with one hand and looked down. I shook my head yes.
"Laurens, seriously. Are you okay?" I felt Alex sit down next to me because the beanbag sunk down a little more.
"I don't know…" I said before breaking out in cries. I covered my face in both of my hands. I sunk down further into the beanbag and pulled my legs to my chest, crying harder. The sound was muffled by my knees.
I felt Alex wrap his arms around me. My face turned redder even though it was already red from crying. He can't see my face… I leaned into his touch, burying my face into his chest.
"Shh… it's okay…" Alex said, "do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head no. I inhaled Alex's scent. He smelled of a nice soap and coffee. I wrapped my arms around Alex's chest and cried some more.
Alex POV
I felt Laurens wrap his arms around my chest and I heard him cry harder. "Shh…" I said, placing my hand on Laurens' head, petting his hair.
We were sitting like that together for a long time before Laurens stopped crying. Sometime in between our cuddling, he had pulled his arms out from around me and was hugging his legs. That's when I heard him sigh. I peeked down at him when I saw that he was asleep. I tried my best to not say, "aww." My arms were still around his shoulders, so I decided to rest my head on his head. Besides, he wasn't awake. I inhaled his scent. He smelled of soap and chocolate. I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up Laurens was trying to stand up. Dammit.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" Laurens whispered to me.
"It's fine. Really." I said, yawning.
"Okay…" Laurens walked over to my bathroom with his backpack. He eventually came out with a blue hoodie with a turtle on the front.
"Did you know you would sleepover at my house?" I joked, waving my hand as a dramatic gesture at his current clothing, different from his dress-clothes he wore to the party. I looked at my phone. 12:35 AM.
"No, I just assumed Lafayette or Peggy would end up spilling something." He shrugged, tossing his backpack to the other side of the beanbag. He pulled his hair out of his ponytail and shook his head like a dog to fluff it up. I blushed, hard. His hair framed his face so perfectly. He would look even more adorable if he had freckles, I thought.
"Hah, Lafayette and Peggy both spilled soda last year."
"I can imagine." He chuckled. I love his chuckle.
We talked for a little bit before Laurens sat back on the beanbag. He didn't snuggle up against me. In fact, he acted as if that never happened. He fell asleep in no time, however. He looked so peaceful. I stood up, grabbing an extra blanket and draping it over him. I sat down at my desk, opening my laptop, and started writing. I wrote about different winter holidays for different cultures. I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. Just like every night.
I didn't know long I had been writing, but when I stood up to grab a blanket, I stepped on a weak board on my floor, causing Laurens to wake up.
"Mmph… Alex? Why are you up this late? Or early, I should say…?" He asked, stretching. I looked at the time. 5:42.
"Oh.. I'm, um, I was writing," I said in a small voice. I braced myself for Laurens' scolding.
"Alex…" he started.
"Yeah yeah, I know I should get some sleep but the last time I got to sleep it ended badly!" I snapped. Laurens jumped a little.
"Alex… I didn't… I didn't know that the last time you did sleep, it ended badly." He said in a small voice. His head was pointed towards the floor, but his eyes were locked with mine.
"I'm sorry, Laurens… I just haven't had my coffee yet and… without my coffee, I'm in a bad mood for the rest of the day." I joked, trying to cover up my anger at myself for yelling at Laurens and to cover up my bad sleep habits. I spoke too much today already, at it's only 6 in the morning!
"Ah. I know that feeling." He laughed. "Well, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."
We talked for a little bit while we freshened our selves up. I pulled my hair into my signature ponytail and he did the same. "Wow, your Christmas tree is beautiful," Laurens commented, obviously thinking it was breathtaking, considering his breathy tone as he stared at it. I explained how I told Martha that I felt too old for the whole "Santa" thing and how I don't believe in it anymore. "My dad told me that Santa wasn't real the first time I asked him about it. I was like three years old." Laurens said, shrugging it off. We walked downstairs and told Martha we were going to go to the mall.
We walked to the mall and talked about random things. School, the party last night, anything… everything except the kiss and last night's cuddling. As we entered the mall, I heard my phone buzz.
InTheNarrative: [picture of Alex and Laurens under the mistletoe kissing]
I gasped and turned away from Laurens.
NonstopHamMan: where in the actual hell did you get that
InTheNarrative: I snuck downstairs to give you one last goodbye and saw you guys stop under there so I took a picture
I didn't answer her.
"What was that?" Laurens looked down at me.
"Eliza sent me something stupid. It's nothing."
"O-kay."
We ordered some Starbucks and had a fun time together.
That's when Peggy started a new group chat.
MissIgnored: hey what are you guys doing for New years
MissIgnored: Merry Christmas btw
LargeBaguette: Merry Christmas pegs we are going to go to your house for the party
HorseMan: you should know already that we are going to your house for new year's and merry chrystler
NonstopHamMan: Merry Christmas guys pegs we'll be there and also herc why did you have to add a vine to this
HorseMan: because why not
TurtleBoi: of course we're going to your party
"Waddya' wanna do?" Laurens asked in between sips of his drink.
"I don't know. I already got new stationery so I'm all set," I confessed as I started to take out my computer. Laurens stopped me by taking my bag and computer in one swipe. "Give that back asshole!" I scolded.
"No! All you do is type. Pay attention to your friends for once," he said, shoving my stuff in his backpack.
"I hate you," I said as I narrowed my eyes. He smirked.
"I hate you too."
A/N: Thanks for reading! :)
ALWAYS FIND THE GOOD IN A BAD SITUATION. STAY HEALTHY, STAY STRONG, AND WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC TOGETHER. (when are the astronauts coming back?)