Midnight:

Chapter 4:

John's Dorm

January 3rd

6:30 PM

"So, what were you planning on wearing on this date?" Hercules asked John, standing in front of the wardrobe, looking through the different shirts and pants that were hanging up, trying to create and outfit out of all different combinations that he could find, which weren't very any.

"I think the more important question is; where are you going, mon ami?"

Gilbert was seated on the bed next to John as the two of them watched Hercules go through the clothes. Every so often he would show them an outfit combination only to hear yay or nay from Gilbert and John.

Before John could speak Hercules spoke once again, "Actually, the most important question is; have you told either Alexander or Martha about each other yet?"

A thin line appeared on John's lips as he sat looking at the blanket on the bed, not looking at either Hercules or Gilbert. "No, I haven't."

Hercules turned back to the clothes, going through them once more. "You need to tell one of them. If either of them finds out, you're going to be in deep shit."

"I know, I know. You don't need to tell me twice."

"Anyways," Hercules began again as he turned away from the closet with a shirt and a pant combination in hands. "I think we found your date outfit."

John pushed himself into a sitting position before glancing at the outfit that was presented to him. It was a black button-down shirt with a pair of black pants "Black?"

Hercules shrugged his shoulders. "It's a classic look for any first date. You never did answer Gilbert's question, where are you two going?"

"Oh," John pursed his lips before answering the question. "There's a seafood place not too far from campus that I was going to take him and then perhaps the ice cream shoppe across the street from there."

"Awww, how sweet." Gilbert said as he glanced over at John. John was looking over the clothes before nodding his head. He stood up and laid the choices on the chair before he began getting changed as Gilbert and Hercules talked.

"Well?" Hercules began as he glanced over at John and looked him over. "What do you think?

John was still getting his shirt buttoned as he turned to look at the two of them. He shrugged his shoulders, looking at the all black ensemble. "I think it's a nice thing that we're going out to dinner instead of going out in the middle of the day. It would feel a little silly, besides, I feel like I might be a little overdressed for this date with him tonight."

"I think you look perfect." Gilbert told him as he grinned from John at his spot on the bed,

Hercules nodded as John finished up with his hair, tying it back so it was out of his face and his eyes. "We'll be waiting here for you to hear all about this date."

John nodded, glancing at his phone to see what time it was. He still had sometime before he needed to meet with Alexander. He reached onto the desk and grabbed his wallet. He paused, glancing back over at John. "Do you think my father would be suspicious that I'm up to something if he sees me spending on a seafood restaurant?"

John hated the fact that his father still paid his bills, but his father had made it clear to him before going off to college that he needed to focus on his studies and after he could get a job.

"You could tell him that you passed an exam and went out to celebrate?" Hercules suggested as he shrugged his shoulders. "Or that you had a craving for seafood."

"Or you could borrow money from me and pay me back later?" Gilbert suggested as he began looking through his own wallet. Moments later, he presented John with two hundred dollars in cash.

"I can't take that, Gilbert."

"Yes, you can. In fact, if you don't take it, I'm going to sneak it into your wallet it anyways. It's fine. I hardly need it."

There was a moment of silence before he reached out and took the cash from Gilbert. He nodded his head before giving him a small smile. "Thank you, I'll pay you back."

"I know you will. Also, don't worry about the change. Why don't you get him something a little extra before the date? Flowers? Candy? Something like that."

John nodded as he slid the extra two hundred dollars into his wall before turning back to look at the two of them. "Alright, I'll see you both later."

"Bye," both Hercules and Gilbert waved as John took a deep breath in and stepped out into the hall, ready to meet Alexander for their date.

Revere's Seafood Bar and Grill

7:50 PM

John took a deep breath in as he stood there outside of the restaurant. He was a little early, but after leaving his dorm he went to grocery store that was a few blocks over and picked up a bouquet of flowers. His palms were starting to sweat, and he wanted to just leave but he was already excited.

"John?"

He blinked several times as John was brought out of his own thoughts and back to reality. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Alexander coming up to him. "Hey," John greeted, a smile growing on his face. He looked down at the flowers in his hand before presenting them to Alexander. "These are for you."

"Oh, thank you." Alexander nodded before smiling as he took the flowers from John. He closed his eyes as he leaned in, inhaling the scent before looking back over at John. "These are really nice. Uh, sorry I don't have anything for you."

John shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine, don't worry about it. I wasn't expecting anything. I just picked those up because I thought you might like them." He smiled back at the other man. "Shall we go inside and find out seats?'

Alexander eyed the restaurant before looking over at John. John wasn't sure but Alexander seemed a bit nervous. Was this place too much? Was Alexander allergic to seafood? He was about to ask when Alexander nodded at him with a small smile. "Sure, that sounds good to me."

The two of them made their way inside. The hostess perked up as the two of them made their way over to her stand. "Good evening, gentlemen. Is it just the two of you tonight?"

John nodded as he gave her a smile. "Yes, ma'am."

She nodded as she grabbed two menus. "Follow me to your seats then."

They nodded as they followed her to their seats. John glanced around the restaurant to see a few people here and there and was glad that the restaurant wasn't too full. As soon as they were handed their menus, John began looking it over before glancing over at Alexander over the top of the menu. "Anything looking good?"

Alexander was silent for a moment or two before folding his menu and setting it off the side. "I was thinking about getting one of their soups."

John looked at him for a moment before nodding and setting his menu off to the side as well. He smiled at Alexander. "So, where did you grow up?"

You were supposed to get to know one another on a date, weren't you?

Alexander shrugged, thanking the waitress that brought them their water. "Are you ready to order?" She asked, taking her out her pen and pad.

John nodded at her. "Yes, I'll have the baked salmon."

She nodded as she wrote it on her pad of paper. "Anything to drink?"

"Iced Tea.

"And for you?"

"I'll have the Bouillabaisse."

She smiled. "Anything to drink?"

Alexander shook his head. "No, I'm fine with water."

She nodded as she collected their menus and turned to bring their orders to the kitchen.

Alexander watched her leave before turning back to John. "What was your question?" He asked the other man softly.

"Where did you grow up?"

"Oh," Alexander pursed his lips. "Well, I was born on Nevis, but I grew up on St. Croix until I was about twelve and then I moved here to live with my cousin and then after that I was in foster care in New York until I was eighteen." He shrugged his shoulders. "What about you?"

John stared at the man for a moment. He had more questions but then he shook his head. "Well, I lived in Charleston, South Carolina for the most part. My siblings and I did live with a family member in London for a year or two, but it didn't last long before we were back at home." A small pause. "Do you have any siblings?"

Alexander shrugged. "I have an older brother but we're not that close because of a lot of reasons."

If there was one thing John wasn't good at it was small talk. He already wanted to kick himself as the questions he was asking didn't seem like the best. He then tried to remember back to New Years Eve and the night that they spent together were they were getting a long and chatting like old friends. "You mentioned before you were prelaw, are you planning on your own law firm?"

With the mention of his major, Alexander seemed to perk right up. John smiled to himself, happy, he found a topic that they two of them could be comfortable with. "Well, I want to excel in these classes so I can get into the law program at Columbia."

John's eyes widened a little bit. "Columbia?"

Alexander shrugged before smiling a bit. "Like I said, I was in the foster care for New York and it became a home for me. I decided to go to school like this that had a better acceptance rate, excel at all my classes here and then I wanted to get a full-ride to Columbia." He was grinning back at John. "I have a full life plan set up for after college even if you want to see."

John paused before shaking his head, small grin on his lips. "No, no, I believe you.

"What about you?"

John blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What are you in school for?"

John let out a soft sigh. "Well, my father's a politician and I know he wants me or my brothers to follow him. If we don't, he wants us to be a doctor, lawyer or be a CEO of a powerful company. Basically, he wants us to keep the family name in the public eye." He glanced over at Alexander, who was frowning at him. "What?"

"But that's not what you want to do."

John blinked once. "Excuse me?"

"You don't look happy when talking about it. It seems more of your father's dreams for you and your brothers. Let me rephrase my question, John, what do you want to do with your life?"

John stayed there, staring at the other man for a long moment. He opened his mouth once before closing it again. Before he could even find something to say, the waitress returned. "Here you both are." She said as she placed their dinners before them.

They both thanked the waitress and dug into their food, the conversation long forgotten.

"How's your dinner?" John asked Alexander softly after a moment or two.

Alexander shrugged. "It's pretty good. How's yours?"

John smiled as he took another bite. "It's pretty good." A small pause. "Do you want a bite?"

Alexander stared at him for a long moment before nodding his head and John smiled and fed him a bite of his salmon. "It's really good, would you like a bite of my bouillabaisse?" John nodded and Alexander offered a spoonful of the soup and John closed his eyes, nodding at it.

"It's really good."

When their meal was finished, and the waitress came back with the check. "Would you two like to see out dessert options?"

John glanced over at Alexander, seeing the other man shook his head. He turned back to the waitress and smiled. "No, the dinner was wonderful though."

She smiled, setting the check down in the middle of the table. "Great, I'm gad to hear. We look forward to serving you again."

As she walked away, John picked up the check and the two of them stood up and made their way to the front. "I can pay for my own dinner." Alexander said softly as he followed John.

John shook his head. "Don't worry, it's on me."

Alexander nodded and smiled.

Once they paid, they found themselves standing outside in front of the restaurant once again. John turned to look at Alexander. "Would you like to join me for ice cream?"

"No, I can't. Like I said, I need to excel in my classes, and I have to finish a first draft tonight." A pause before Alexander continued as he looked at John and smiled. "I had a nice time tonight though. I would love to get ice cream with you another night."

John grinned and nodded. "Sounds good to me."

There was a pause before Alexander leaned in and placed a soft kiss on John's cheek. John's eyes widened a bit as he looked at the other man. "What was that for?'

Alexander grinned. "I figured there was less of a chance of you running away if I kissed you on the cheek."

He was teasing him, and John felt butterflies in his stomach as his face turned red and looked away. He knew he should be honest, but, not tonight, not after they had such a nice time together. "I'll text you tomorrow?"

Alexander nodded as he smiled. "I'll expect a text tomorrow then."

As John watched Alexander disappear, he pulled out his phone to text Hercules and Gilbert: I'm on my way back. You two want a milkshake?

It didn't take long for a reply: Yes.

John's Dorm

9 PM

John opened the door to his dorm to find Gilbert and Hercules binging a show on Netflix on his laptop. "Hey," Hercules greeted as John shut the door behind him. He made his way back over to the bed as he handed out the milkshakes. "How was the date?"

John shrugged. "It was a bit awkward at first, but it was a nice first date."

"Did you tell him?"

John paused before shaking his head, looking down at his shake, poking the straw into the plastic top. "No."

"The longer you do, the worse it's gonna be."

John wasn't in the mood for a lecture. He looked down once again. "Just start the show." He muttered.

Hercules just shrugged as he stared the show once again, the three of them sitting in silence, drinking their milkshakes as the sound of their show filling the room for the rest of the evening.

AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, til next time!