Warning:  Mention of foul language, exhaustion, overworking, child neglect, gangs, OCD, Asperger's Syndrome

OC's Name:  Christine Everleigh Dawson

Chris's Face Claim:  Dianna Agron

(Please tell me I'm not the only one who adores Dianna to pieces)

Chris has thin and wavy blonde hair, is 5'6" and has hazel eyes

Chris's Age:  17
John's Age:  17

Inspired by lafayeet
Go read their Lams one shots. They're amazing!!

This is really long, so I'm making a part 2!

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3rd Person

    Chris Dawson was doing last minute touch ups to her makeup. She had a very important date with her boyfriend, John Laurens; it was their 6-month anniversary. Chris was waiting for John to pick her up.

Chris and John met and became friends in the 6th grade. John and his brother Alex had moved from South Carolina to New York with their adoptive parents, Martha and George Washington. George was a high school history teacher, and Martha was a — and definitely the best — defense attorney in Brooklyn.

It was the first day of 6th grade, and Chris was looking for spot to sit in the cafeteria during lunch. Yeah, it was just like a cliche out of a rom com. She looked for a few minutes before finding a seat next to a freckled boy with curly hair and deep brown eyes. Sitting next to the freckled boy was another boy, who was about the same age. He had deep brown eyes as well, but a lighter complexion and straighter hair.

"Excuse me, but would you mind if I could sit with you guys?" Chris asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

The second boy looked up with a smile. "Of course we don't mind. I'm Alexander and this is my brother John."

"Nice to meet you Alexander. I'm Christine, but please call me Chris." Chris replied.

When Chris sat down next to John, said boy looked at her. He shot her a small smile and awkwardly stuck out his hand in her direction. "Hi Chris. I'm John. I like turtles; they're my favorite animal."

Chris smiled and shook hands with John. "Nice to meet you, John. And turtles are my favorite animal too."

Following the entirety of their 6th and 7th grade lives, the Washington brothers became very close friends with Chris. They were practically inseparable; they were a modern-day version of the Three Musketeers.

Chris found herself enjoying their company, but she gravitated towards John a bit more than Alex. John was just very interesting in her eyes, and he never ceased to surprise her with random facts about things or stories of him and Alex when they were younger.

It wasn't until 8th grade when Chris found herself blushing at John's words, or hearing her heart beating faster than usual when she'd see him smile. It was a weird feeling for the 14-year-old to have. The giddiness, the nervous feeling of being around John sometimes, and even her accelerated heart rate.

Chris had talked to her mother about these feelings, who then deducted that her daughter had a crush. Chris was in shock that she had a crush on John.

8th grade was also the year Chris saw that not everyone thought so highly of John Laurens. Kids in class would roll their eyes if John answered a question, and would send glares his way if he got a perfect score on a test. John was also very quiet, which gave their peers another reason to dislike him. If kids did talk to him, he either changed the subject or would respond at a later time, which would annoy people to an extent.

    It was October 14. The autumn crisp had eased its way into the season, and Chris had favored wearing a light jacket and leggings to school to be a bit more comfortable. She had just finished retrieving her materials for the first half of the day when she was approached by Alex and John.

    "Oh, hey guys. What's up?" Chris asked. Alex gave her a serious look; it implied that the impending conversation was important.

    "We need you to come with us for a minute." Chris shut her locker and proceeded to follow her two best friends to an empty janitor's closet.

    Chris sat down opposite Alex and John, fiddling with her hands — a nervous habit she had. "What's going on?"

    John looked into her hazel eyes, and Chris had to ignore her increased heart rate. "Chris, there's something I have to tell you about myself. I haven't told anyone before. Please don't think badly of me after I'm finished."

    "John, I could never think badly of you. You can tell me anything." Chris encouraged. John let out a deep breath and looked at his brother for reassurance. Alex gave him a supportive nod.

    "You know that I don't usually understand things such as sarcasm and jokes. I'm very awkward around a lot of people, and that I'm considered a 'teacher's pet.' When I was 2, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, and I was diagnosed with early onset OCD when I was 4. My brain works differently than other people's." John explained.

    Chris nodded in understanding. "That's okay, John. You're still John Laurens. That doesn't change at all. Thank you for trusting me with this. Just know that this doesn't change anything about our friendship. If anything, I feel more informed about you than I ever have before."

    John gave her a smile. "Thank you for not thinking I'm a freak. It's hard for me to express myself and my emotions at times, so I'm also extremely grateful for your compassion and kindness. It's very uplifting for me."

    As John got up, Alex did as well. "John why don't you head on down the hall to class? I need to talk with Chris for a bit by myself." Alex said. John nodded and walked off to class. As soon as John left, Alex turned his attention to Chris.

    "Thank you for your understanding and support for John. He was scared you'd think he was some kind of freak." Chris smiled gently. "You're welcome. Besides... knowing this about him makes me like him more. He opened up to me, Alex. He told me something very personal about him. I feel honored that he could trust me enough to tell me."

    Alex smiled. "I may have encouraged him to tell you. I've seen the way you look at him — you take one look at John, and it's like he's given you the stars. In my own personal reason, I wanted you to be able to understand how John works so that one day you can make him happy. I want my brother to be happy, Chris. I know you can make him happy."

    Saturday, October 28. John's 14th birthday. Chris had been invited over to the Washington house for John's birthday celebrations. It was nothing too extravagant — just John, Alex, Martha, George and Chris. Smaller parties were better for John. Chris had his birthday gift in hand as she knocked on the door of the Washington house.

    George opened it with a smile. "Chris, you're here! Thank goodness; John was starting to doubt you'd show up today."

    Chris sent the history teacher a kind smile. "I wouldn't forget about John's birthday, Mr. Washington." Chris stepped into the house, and was greeted by the sweet face of Martha Washington.

    "Chris! Oh you look so darling! You can put John's present on the table. I'll go get the birthday boy." Chris did as told, and sat in the large living room while Martha walked to the bottom of the staircase.

    "John? Chris is here!" Chris heard a few things fall and then heard rushing feet come downstairs. Before her in all his curly haired and freckled glory was John Laurens, a bright smile on his face.

    "Chris! You came!" John commented. Chris smiled as she stood up. "Of course I came, John. I wouldn't miss my best friend's birthday."

    Martha chuckled. "John, why don't you go and show Chris your room?"

    John nodded. "Okay, Ma. C'mon Chris." Said girl followed an enthusiastic John upstairs. When they reached John's room, Chris smiled at the display. Books upon books laid on shelves, notebooks stacked in the corner of a writing desk, and the pièce de résistance was the giant tank on top of John's dresser, housing two turtles inside.

    "I love your room, John. It's so... you. It's perfect." Chris stated, making John smile a bit more.

    "Thanks. Oh, Chris meet my turtles. This guy is named Fred, and this is his brother George." John introduced.

    Chris's eyes brightened. "You named them after the Weasley twins."

John nodded. "Yeah, I did. They were the first two names I could think of when I was given them."

An hour later, Martha called for the children to come downstairs. It was time for John's party. Lunch was just pizza and chips, and Martha had prepared a homemade cake for John. John made his wish and blew out his candles.

After everyone was given a slice of cake, John was asked by his father to open his gifts. Martha had given her son some new button-down shirts and the Harry Potter movies. George gave John a pair of Bluetooth headphones — John hated using the wired earbuds and headphones. Alex had decided to gift John with a book all about turtles, which was currently John's favorite gift so far.

Chris smiled as she handed John her gift. "It's not much, but I think you'd like it." He dug through the mountain of tissue paper in the bag and pulled out a green composition notebook and a pack of pencils and pens.

"A notebook, pencils and pens?" John asked curiously. "Yeah. The notebook is a journal so you can write down your daily thoughts and feelings. It's for you so you can better understand why you think and feel the way you do." Chris explained.

John stood up and looked in Chris's hazel eyes. For a split second, Chris had no idea what John was thinking. She was shocked when he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Alex, Martha and George were also shocked; John was showing physical affection to someone outside of family. Chris hugged back, a huge smile on her face as she did so.

"I love it. Thank you so much Chris. This is the best gift anyone's ever given me." John said.

Chris's heart melted at his statement. "You're welcome John. Happy birthday."

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1760 words

Part 2 will be going up soon!