(A/N): While brief, I touch on sexual assault at the beginning of this chapter. It's mentioned in paragraph eight and I stop at paragraph ten.
They've been dating for few weeks now and saying that Alexander couldn't be happier was a bit of a lie, a twist of the truth, a lie of omission. He didn't tell Thomas, as he seems happy with their relationship. He is unable to see how though. They disagreed quite a bit, and while he knows that disagreements are apart of a relationship, he can't ignore how their arguments are never resolved. They just stop talking about it for a little bit, sometimes ten minutes sometimes an hour, before they start talking again.
And Alexander can't ignore the fear that courses through him when their arguments hit their peak. The name on his right wrist screams at him, begging him to look, and when he does, he regrets staring at the mark. The mark that smirks so cruelly at him, taunting him and showing him a future where he would hate Thomas. Look at this, it sneers, he'll leave you if you continue to fight. Out of fear, he ignores how much he wants to win the argument, and they just stop without resolving the conflict.
"How could you be pro-choice? Abortion kills something that is living, that should have a chance to experience life! You are ripping away someone's soulmate, and there are other options like putting the kid up for abortion if they can't keep the child," Thomas says, his container full of mac and cheese being totally ignored.
"How could you call yourself pro-life while ignoring the women who end up dying due to trying to force themselves to have a miscarriage, or trying to have a back-alley illegal abortion? You are trying to force a pregnant woman to potentially kill herself trying to get rid of something that can't think or feel!" Alexander snaps back. "And I don't know what planet you live on, but soulmarks appear after a child is born. You are not ripping away someone's soulmate."
Lafayette sighs softly in frustration and hides his face in his hands, allowing Hercules to begin to rub his back. "Mon dieu we were talking about buying houses and dream homes, how did we start arguing about abortion?" He mutters.
"Alexander, I respect your opinion, but I disagree as well," James pipes up. "Abortion should be frowned upon, and there are other ways to prevent yourself from having a child, like using birth control such as condoms or pills."
"What about victims of rape? Do you expect women who are not prepared to have sex to be on birth control twenty-four seven in case some asshole decides to rape her? What if she gets pregnant and decides not to keep the child?" Alexander challenges.
"Then she should first get help. Then, she should have the child and give them up for adoption," Thomas responds, his eyes narrowing.
Alexander scoffs. "What about her family? What if they believe in no sex before marriage and shame her, saying that she shouldn't have been wearing what she had on during the assault?" He says swiftly, glaring at him. "What if her soulmate finds out and is an asshole like you and is disgusted with her because she had an abortion?" He challenges, freezing up when he realizes what he said.
"I'm an asshole because I want everyone to have a chance at living? Then what does that make you? After all, you support the idea of killing something that has done nothing to their mother." Thomas snaps, his eyes dark, hiding the pain that Alexander must have caused him.
"A decent human being," he says, not even thinking about what he's saying anymore.
"Bullshit! You support the murder of babies! Fucking babies!" Thomas snaps.
"It isn't a baby it's a goddamn fetus that can't fucking think."
"Can't think? Oh, that reminds me of you, saying shit without thinking and then expecting people to just forgive you for being a bad person," Thomas snaps.
"And you're much better? You, a pompous ass who pretends he knows everything when most of his damn opinions are fucking wrong?"
"Says the one who thinks that prisoners should have the right to vote. They are convicted criminals! They could skew the vote and vote for someone who could help them get out of prison." He snaps.
"They are human beings and should have the right to vote like us you dick!" Alexander yells, glaring at him.
Thomas glares darkly, his eyes dark. Without another word, he puts his food away and grabs his bag, standing up and walking away from the table. James, not really friends with any of the people at the table and worried for Thomas, stands up and follows him out of the cafeteria.
"You should go apologize," Hercules says softly, Lafayette nodding a bit. Alexander takes a deep breath.
"If I do, we're going to argue again. Besides, we'll talk in about an hour, maybe more." He says, hiding his concern. He just insulted his soulmate and called the boy a bad person.
Fifty minutes passed, and Alexander looks at the door, waiting for Thomas to walk into the classroom. He never did. James Madison came in halfway through class, and he purposefully ignored the empty desk next to Alexander, walking instead to the standing desks that the other professed to absolutely hating. For the rest of the class, he stood there. When they left the class, James purposefully ignored Alexander asking about where and how Thomas is.
That was the hour and twenty minutes mark. Fear begins to go through Alexander, worried that his soulmate hates him. He spends the rest of the school day distressed and scared that he wouldn't be able to make it up to Thomas. His heart beats hard against his chest, thousands of worries swirling through his head as he walks home.
He doesn't even hear Lafayette's happy chattering. His eyes are focused on the pavement in front of him as he tries to think of a way that he could make it up to Thomas. "Gil?" Alexander asks, not one hundred percent focused on the other.
Lafayette stops talking, a surprised look on his face as he looks over at Alexander. "Oui?"
"Did Thomas text you at all?" He asks hesitantly, looking at Lafayette with a worried look on his face. Lafayette is silent for a moment, shaking his head no. "I didn't think so," he says sadly.
They walk in silence, eventually getting to the house that Alexander has slowly learned to call home. Lafayette unlocks it and goes in, taking his shoes off as soon as he steps in. Alexander does the same before running up to his room, shutting the door and allowing his bag to hit the ground.
He goes over to the window seat and picks up his laptop. He gets comfortable and turns the device on, staring at the screen and watching as the device turns on. As soon as he opens Word, he begins to type furiously. His attention isn't on the words he writes, his mind wandering to exchange of harsh words. The document is soon filled with hundreds of spelling and grammar mistakes, but Alex can't bring himself to care.
An hour passes, and he frowns softly when the door opens. He looks over at it and watches as Mr. Washington steps in, a rather worried look on his face. "Hello Alexander." He says softly. "We called you down for dinner and you didn't respond," he explains as he walks over to the other. "May I sit with you?"
The boy is quiet for a moment before nodding, moving over to make room for the other. He saves the document and turns his laptop off quietly before setting it down. His attention turns to his foster dad, and he finds himself almost involuntarily trying to read his body language in an attempt to find out if something was about to happen. The door is open, he thinks, making a quick mental note of it. Alexander finds himself relax when he realizes he has an escape.
"What happened at school?" Mr. Washington asks, and Alexander is silent for a moment before sighing. He can trust the other. He did offer to help him with this situation his first night here, and just a few weeks ago they spoke about how he wouldn't hurt him.
"I had another argument with Thomas. We started arguing more recently, and this one ended with us insulting each other. Normally we leave each other alone for maybe ten minutes to an hour before talking again. He hasn't spoken to me since lunch though and he didn't say anything to Lafayette, plus he skipped most of class and I'm really worried that he did it to avoid me." Alexander says honestly, looking down at the floor.
"Did you two ever talk about the argument afterwards?" He asks. Alexander shakes his head. "Use the landline, Lafayette can give you Thomas' phone number. Talk to each other, alright? Tomorrow is Friday, if you want to meet up after school to talk." He offers.
"Okay." Alexander says after a moment. "I will." Washington smiles gently and gets up, going to the door.
"I'll put some food away for you, alright?" Alexander nods.
"Thank you."
(A/N): I promise I'm actually going to do something. Some drama is going to come up. I can make that promise. Also, how do ya'll feel about major character death? Cause, ya know, I actually have something planned for a future chapter. Also this is your warning. If you do not like major character death, it isn't too late to back out.
Also, would it surprise anyone if I told you all that I have 28 chapters planned? I will probably change things and I know I'll add more, but I have a rough out line and the plot.