Happy Saturday, lovelies, and a very happy birthday to John Laurens! I wish I had something written for him or at the very least saved his birthday stuff for today, but oh well. Sorry for missing Thursday's update, but I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday (apparently my hearing is looking "grim") and couldn't get the chapter done in time for Thursday. Hopefully you lovelies enjoy this slightly belated chapter! ~Shaymie
"I think everyone's staring at you, John," Gil said as he opened the helmet to his costume and took a bite of pizza. We had decided to go our favorite pizza place before we left to trick-or-treat. We were all pressed together tightly in a booth, with the exception of Thomas and Maddie, who were in the booth next to us. I rolled my eyes and took a bite of pizza.
"I'm pretty sure they're staring at the idiot in a full suit of armor. Why didn't you leave that in the car?" John asked, shoveling pizza into his face like it was the last time he'd get to eat. Somehow he managed to not mess up his makeup. "Compared to that, a zombie's almost normal."
"Excuse me if I have dedication to my costume unlike some people." Gil narrowed his eyes at Alex, who had taken off his makeup the second we walked into the restaurant. He said he didn't mind looking like an idiot at school, where he actually knew people, but he drew the line at a public restaurant. I knew Darcy would kill him when we got home. She hated when her makeup got ruined, so I couldn't imagine the freak out she would have when she found out that Alex had washed her hard work down the drain.
Alex pretended to not notice Gil's piercing stare and nonchalantly wrapped an arm around my shoulder, accidentally pushing Peggy's hand into the pizza. He looked away innocently as she glowered at him and turned his attention to the window, frowning at the light drizzle that was starting to fall outside. That would put a damper on our plans. Maddie couldn't be outside in the rain. It was a miracle he had even been allowed to come out with us in the first place. I was pretty sure his mom would kill us if she found out we were out in the rain. Granted, we did have umbrellas… It shouldn't be too bad.
"We should get a move on before the rain gets worse," I said, wiping my hands on a napkin. I turned to Thomas and Maddie's booth and smiled when I saw Thomas fretting over his boyfriend, tightening his scarf and making sure that his beanie was on right. I didn't know why nobody else liked Thomas. Sure, he was a bit annoying and flirtatious (he had flirted with Darcy this past weekend, earning him a slap on the arm from Maddie), but he really was a good guy. "Are you guys ready to go?"
"Just about," Thomas muttered, grabbing a pair of gloves from the seat next to him and putting them on Maddie's hands. Maddie rolled his eyes and sighed. I snorted. He was dressed as a vampire, like Thomas, but his costume wasn't even visible underneath the bundle of clothes he was wearing. The only part of his costume that I could see were the fangs in his mouth and the fake blood on his face.
"Thomas, it's not even that cold out," Maddie complained, moving the scarf away from his mouth. I nodded in agreement. He was worse than Nelly, Maddie's mother, and that was saying something. I was sure she would make her son live in a bubble if she could. Thomas kissed Maddie on the cheek as he started gathering their things, murmuring that you could never be too warm.
"You're going to give him heatstroke or something at this rate," I giggled, climbing out of the booth behind Peggy and Alex. I grabbed Alex's hand as we all piled out of the restaurant, candy bags in hand. We opened our umbrellas when we stepped outside and started walking towards the rich neighborhoods, our first stop on the trick-or-treating adventure. They always gave out the full-sized chocolate bars. Peggy groaned impatiently and started pulling Gil along by the hand, causing him to blush a deep red. If they didn't confess their feelings by the new year, I was doing it for them. They had spent years dancing around each other and it was almost painful to watch.
Alex's grip on my hand tightened as there was a flash of lightning across the sky. I looked up at him and saw that he was staring forward, his jaw set tight. I frowned as his face paled. I had never seen him like this. His eyes were almost unreadable, except for the tiny glint of panic in them. I struggled to keep up with his long strides as we trailed behind the group.
We had been trick-or-treating for about an hour when the rain suddenly started pouring down. Alex squeezed my hand almost painfully as another crack of lightning lit up the sky. The hand that was holding our umbrella started trembling. I opened my mouth to ask if he was okay, but Thomas cut me off before I could even talk, saying that we were close to his house. He took lead of the group and led us to his house-which was really more like a mansion. I hadn't been there since the party when I met James, but I pushed back the feeling of dread.
"I never thought I'd willingly come to Jefferson's house," Angelica said as we stood on Thomas' porch, watching him fiddle with his keys. Maddie shivered and dashed into the house the second the door opened. I tugged Alex along with me since he seemed a bit… dazed. Normally he would be complaining about having to come anywhere near Thomas. I was getting worried. Something wasn't right. He didn't even look at me as I helped him sit down on the couch once Thomas covered it with towels.
"Are you okay, Alex?" I asked, taking his hands in mine. He jerked away from me and buried his face in his hands, tugging at his hair as another flash of lightning lit up the room. His breath came out in ragged gasps as he curled up on the couch, looking smaller than I'd ever seen him. I pulled his hands away and forced him to look at me. My heart dropped at the look in his eyes. He looked so terrified…
"I'm… fine… Just don't like storms…" His voice was scratchy as he spoke, and I could have sworn I heard the tiniest hint of an… accent? That was pretty damn sexy. Now I understood how he felt when my accent slipped out. Wait, now isn't the time to swoon over my boyfriend! He looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack. I kissed his hands as he started counting in French. I counted along with him, albeit in English. It took several minutes, but eventually he was able to get relatively back to normal. He smiled down at me, his eyes still slightly glassy.
"I never pegged you as the type to get worked up over a bit of rain, Hamilton," Thomas said as he sat Maddie in front of the fireplace and lit it. I looked up at Alex, expecting him to have a snarky remark or start yet another argument that I'd have to break up. But there was none of the usual fire in his eyes. He just looked tired and broken and lost.
"Fuck off, Jefferson," he muttered, but there was no fight in his voice. He hid his face in my chest (causing me to blush and John to glare at the two of us from his seat) as there was another crack of thunder. I kissed his forehead and brushed some of his hair from his face. "You wouldn't… You don't understand…"
"Being scared of storms is more normal than being scared of people," I said, holding Alex's trembling form close to me. He was still terrified and counting under his breath. I wish I could do more for him. I had panic attacks all the time, I should know how to help my boyfriend with one.
"It's not that, Lo," he gasped out between shaky breaths. He looked up at me, and for a moment it was like we were the only two in the room. I found myself getting lost in his eyes, which were glistening with tears, and lightly traced a finger over the new bruise on his cheek as he spoke. "I… I hate storms. A storm ruined my entire fucking life. This one's at least bearable, but I just… hate them. Period."
I was curious about what he meant when he said a storm had ruined his life, but now wasn't the best time to ask, and I didn't want to pry. We had been dating for a little over a month, but that didn't give me the right to meddle in his life. He would tell me when he was ready. It wouldn't do any good to press him. Considering how patient he was being with me, that was the least I could do for him.
"I understand, Alex. You don't have to tell me if you're not ready." I shifted slightly to get more comfortable and felt my foot brush against our candy bags, which sat forgotten on the floor. I couldn't help but grin. We had reached the jackpot. With it raining, there were very few parents willing to let their children go trick or treating, which meant that we had all gotten twice as much candy… When we weren't being shooed away for being "too old" to go trick or treating.
"Since it looks like this storm isn't letting up anytime soon," Thomas' sentence was accented with a clap of thunder, causing Alex to flinch, "I suppose we should all actually do something aside from sitting around all night."
We built pillow forts as Thomas rummaged around, looking for his collection of horror movies. I stayed close by Alex's side, only leaving him when Peggy got the brilliant idea to make hot chocolate for everyone. As if she needed any more of a sugar rush. She had been stuffing her face with candy since we got here.
"Lorin, I need help," she said as she started grabbing mugs from a shelf that was a bit too high for me to reach. She had dragged me to the Jeffersons' expensive-looking kitchen. George and Martha were just as rich, if not richer than the Jeffersons, but they didn't feel the need to flaunt their wealth around like they did. I nodded for Peggy to continue as I looked around for the hot chocolate mix and jumped as she slammed a mug down on the counter. Thomas yelled for us to be careful with his stuff or he'd kick us out into the rain.
"How did you tell Alex you liked him?" Her voice lowered as she spoke, her eyes darting around anxiously, though I was pretty sure nobody else was coming in here. They were focused on whatever shitty horror movie Thomas had put on. "I mean, did… Did you just… blurt it out, or did you pass him a note or what?"
"Why are you asking all of a sudden? Do you like someone?" I grinned, waggling my eyebrows. It was no secret that Gil and Peggy liked each other. The four years I had known them, they had liked each other but were both too awkward to tell each other. According to Alex, he had spent many nights coaching Gil on how to confront her about the crush, but he bailed out each time. Maybe he should try the Alex method of kissing her without any kind of warning. That seemed to work.
"I don't like Laffy!" Peggy squeaked, her face reddening as she covered her mouth. We both looked over to the living room and sighed in relief when we saw Herc and Angelica trying to help Gil out of his costume. He was completely occupied and most likely couldn't hear any of what we're saying. I turned back to Peggy with a grin.
"I didn't ask if you liked Gil, Pegs. Although that was a bit obvious anyway. Everyone knows that you two like each other." I started making the hot chocolate and chuckled at Peggy's spluttering as she tried to come up with a response, her face redder than I'd ever seen it. I put my hand over hers. "Just tell him you like him, Peggy."
She chewed on her lip in thought while I worked on the hot chocolates. I made a cup of coffee for Alex, since he didn't have much of a sweet tooth for some reason and he was probably going through a caffeine withdrawal at this point. He hadn't had a cup of coffee since this morning. Peggy followed me silently as we started handing the drinks out, her long princess dress fluttering behind her. Alex smiled at me as I handed him his coffee and kissed his cheek, the one that wasn't bruised. I settled down next to him and grinned as he wrapped an arm around me. Tonight may not have gone exactly as we planned, but it was still alright.