Chapter 4:

Alexander was confused.

He woke to the sound of someone watching TV, which was strange as his cousin never watched TV in the morning. Even stranger, his bed seemed to move under him and he couldn't remember a single occasion in which his mattress had ever moved. But it was once he opened his eyes that he discovered the strangest thing of them all. He was bundled up in an American flag.

Memories of the night before came crashing into him and Alex smiled. He would've been content to stay like that, all bundled up and re-living the meeting with his roommates, but he decided that he needed to investigate the sounds emerging from the living room. Besides, he was kind of hungry.

Alexander got all of two steps out of his door before he turned on his heel and ran back inside, realising that he was in his underwear. He quietly cursed himself as he threw on the first clothes he could find. He couldn't just go waltzing out to his new roommates in his pants. He wasn't Lafayette, dammit.

The person responsible for the noise turned out to be John. He sat on the sofa with a bowl of cereal, completely indulged in a TV program. It appeared to be some sort of nature documentary but Alexander didn't give it much attention. He was a lot more interested in John, who looked really adorable with his ruffled curls and sleepy expression. Alexander was almost happy when he turned around, because otherwise Alex might've stood there all day.

"Oh crap, did I wake you? Sorry," the other boy's voice was slightly hoarse and Alexander presumed he had just woken up.
"No no it's fine. What are you watching?"
A relieved look spread over John's face at hearing that he hadn't woken Alexander. Well, at least not as far he knew.
"It's about the animals in the Amazons, it's really cool!" He scooted over slightly to make place for Alexander next to him. "You want to see?"
After giving him an enthusiastic response Alexander plopped down next to John on the couch. It wasn't long until they were engaged in a conversation about which Amazon animal was the coolest. They could probably have continued forever, but Alexander's stomach interrupted them with a loud growl.

"You want breakfast?" John asked, though it wasn't really a question. Few stomachs growl like that without wanting breakfast. He pointed towards the small kitchen at the other side of the room."There's cereal in the left cupboard and milk in the fridge. There might be some bread left as well, but I'm not too sure. We haven't shopped in while."
His statement was correct, as the only food Alexander could find was some cereal. Not that he minded at all though. After pouring himself a nice bowl and returning to the sofa he made a shocking discovery.
"There's marshmallows in this!"
"Of course there is, have you never had Lucky charms before?"
Alexander shook his head and John burst out laughing at his incredulous expression.
"Who in their right mind would put marshmallows in cereal?!"
"Oui oui, mon ami" Lafayette said as he entered the room, "Americans are crazy with their cereals!" He made his way over to the kitchen, pulling a maroon tank top over his head as he went.

Alexander took a tentative spoonful of the Lucky Charms. He had to admit it was good, though way too sweet to have first thing in the morning.
"Careful, you don't want to get a heart attack;" Lafayette joked as he placed himself in an armchair, croissant in hand.
"It's not that sweet!" John looked seriously offended. "I mean there's sweeter cereal!"
Alexander must've looked incredibly surprised, as the two other boys broke into laughter.

"Are you having breakfast without me?" a grumpy voice said.
Hercules came into the living room, through what Alexander could've sworn was the door to Lafayette's room.
"Oh, croissants!" His expression brightened instantly. Herc turned hopefully towards the French boy, who took a large bite of the bun and cheekily said:
"Last one, mon cher."

Once Hercules had grabbed himself some cereal - and given Lafayette a vulgar gesture - the conversation changed from marshmallows to life stories. Between bites of cereal and croissants the three boys explained to Alexander how they had met. It turned out that John and Herc had met in the last year of high school when the former had transferred school. They had become fast friends and decided to go to college together. Lafayette had met them during the summer when he first moved here from France.

"So what about you?" Hercules asked once they had finished.
"Nothing special really. I grew up in a small town" Alexander fiddled with his spoon.
"I decided I wanted to do something with my life so I started writing. Got some of it published and then some of the townspeople told me that I should go to college. So I applied and got in by chance. From what I heard someone on the staff had read some of my writing and decided to give me a shot."He slowly looked up from his bowl.
John grinned at him, which made his eyes crinkle in a very adorable way.
"Cool, you can help me write my essays then!"
The boys laughed, and Alexander grinned back at John.
"Sure," he said, only half joking.

After a good while of talking and laughing Alexander decided to get his room in order. John offered to help, which had both Lafayette and Hercules chuckling.
"Looking to become a maid Laurens? Didn't think you'd need a college education for that!"
John had only stuck his tongue out at them and gone to help alexander unpack.

It turned out Laurens was good help, as making a bed really wanted alexander forte. It wasn't Laurens either, but after a good while of fumbling with sheets and pillows they manage to get the bed in decent order. They had just finished when Lafayette stuck his head in through the door.
"I'm headed out to the store, friends. Need anything?"
Alexander shook his head but John muttered "Nachos." His gaze fell onto Alexander's desk. "Oh yeah, a chair."
Lafayette heaved a sigh. "I'm going to the store, ami. For food".
"Still need one".
Lafayette's head disappeared from the door.

Twenty minutes later John and Alexander had completely forgotten their conversation with Laf. John sat with criss-crossed legs on Alexander's bed and drew while Alexander unpacked the last of his clothes. John had decided to keep him company while he finished organising his room. Though truthfully, said organising would've been finished a lot faster if he hadn't, as Alexander spent more time talking to John than actually unpacking. Neither boy really cared though and Alex had just finish folding his last shirt when the door was kicked opened with a loud bang.

Lafayette came prancing in, holding a chair.
"You're kidding!"
John had jumped from the bed at the noise, and now stared at Lafayette in disbelief.
"I can't believe you. I wasn't serious!"
Hercules appeared behind the very smug Lafayette, positively shaking with laughter.
"One chair, as per your request!" Lafayette pushed the chair towards John.
The poor boy only pushed it towards the desk before falling back onto Alexander's bed with an exasperated sigh.

Alexander couldn't help but to join in on Lafayette and Hercules' laughter and after a while even John was chuckling.

Things didn't seem so confusing anymore

Once again, thanks so much for reading! This turned out a bit longer than I expected so I had to split it into two, but hopefully that means I can get the next chapter up pretty soon. I'm having a lot of fun writing this so I hope you enjoy reading it as well. A huge thanks to everyone who left reviews, it really encourages me to keep writing. Take care!