Chapter 13 guys you know I'm gonna do some sad shit for the unlucky number ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

25th September 2016

Johns POV:

"AGHHH"
A howl of laughter erupts from the small figure beside me as I cradle my ear.

"What the fuck Alex, why'd you jab my ear?"
"God your morning voice is hot." He drools over me for a moment before explaining.
"Well, you see Johnny, I wanted to wake you up, but saying your name isn't enough since you're a pretty heavy sleeper. So I stuck my finger in your ear."
"That... well, it didn't really hurt. It just made me uncomfortable. So thanks I guess."
"What can I say except you're welcome." He hummed, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Still not over that movie?"
He looked up at me, the corners of his wide eyes creased as he smiled.
"Nope."
Alex snuggled further into my side for a moment, enjoying my warmth, before separating to head into the bathroom to brush his teeth, which gave me a few more minutes of sleep.

---

3rd Person POV:

Alex poked his head out from the bathroom as he finished brushing his teeth to see John snuggled back up in the sheets of his bed, tightly holding a pillow in replacement for Alex. He let out a soft sigh from the cuteness that John was displaying, despite him even knowing it.

Alex spat out the foamy toothpaste and crept over to John's bed, clutching the ends of the sheets in his hands then proceeding to vigorously shake the covers in an attempt to wake him up. Alex wants coffee.

"John, get up, I want to get coffee and you know I need caffeine."

Instead of listening to his boyfriend, John pulled the pillow from under his head, shoved it on top and buried his face into the mattress.

"Oh, suck my dick Alexander."

Silence filled the room for a moment until John's head shot up after realising that he told his boyfriend, who he'd only had for under a week, to give him a blowjob.

"Um, actually, don't. Let's just go get coffee."

Alex's gaze followed John as he walked into the bathroom face palming and muttering about how much of an idiot he is.

John came out of the bathroom a few minutes later fully dressed and ready to go. He grabbed his keys and unplugged his phone from it's charger, quickly pocketing it and jogging towards Alex, who was impatiently waiting by the open door. They linked hands and made their way down to the campus coffee shop.

---

They chose a nice table to sit at (a table in the back corner, nicely located near some fairy lights that would make for some cool Instagram pictures) and John gave Alex some money to pay for their drinks.

"A large black coffee for Alex and caramel frappe for John?" A voice that both John and Alex recognised as Lafayette called out. They both looked up to see him smiling and holding their drinks, which they accepted, thanking him.

"Yo, Laf, when'd you get a job here?" John asked, leaning his elbows on the counter and taking a long sip from his drink.

"I actually just started yesterday and I'm only working on weekends, but hey, it's better than nothing." Laf said, smirking.

"True, true. Man, I really need to get a job. Put a good word in for me, Laf." Alex said with a wink. He turned back around with a laugh and sauntered back to their table.

As he walked away, John watched him leave with a glimmer in his eyes. Lafayette noticed this and smiled.

"You love him, don't you."

John blushed and placed his hand on the back of his neck.

"Is it too early to say yes?"

Laf smiled and laughed a little bit and rubbed John's arm comfortingly.

"Not if it's true, mon ami. Now go, your boyfriend's waiting for you."

He pointed over to the table where Alex was sat chugging his burning hot coffee whilst seeming completely unphased.

John took a seat next to Alex and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"It will always be a mystery to me how you don't burn your mouth every time you drink coffee."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked with a quizzical look on his face.

"Alex babe, you order an extra hot large black coffee and chug it within a minute. Meanwhile, I take half an hour to finish my frappe."

Alex smirked and claimed he's had plenty of years of practice to get to his skill level.

---

Just as John had taken a photo of Alex mid-brain freeze from trying his drink, it started to rain outside.

"Fuck." Alex muttered under his breath.

John knew that Alex hated the rain but he never wanted to mention why, so John never pushed him to speak. He brushed this off and continued picking a caption for the photo he took of Alex and posted it to his Instagram.

The rain got heavier and Alex was starting to feel more and more apprehensive.

"Um, John? Can we please leave soon? You know that I hate rain..."
He pulled his sleeves over his hands and buried his face in them.

"Of course hon, do you want to go now?"

Alex made a sound to signify 'yes' and grabbed John's hand from across the table. Trying to reassure him, John held onto Alex's hand and gently rubbed circles into it. They both shot each other warm smiles as they stood up and John wrapped his arm around Alex's shoulders comfortingly.

During their short walk back to the dorms John noticed that Alex's breathing rate had increased and his eyes looked really panicked. His heart broke a little knowing that this man that he cared so much for was so upset and he couldn't really help him. John did the best thing he could think of and gave him a piggy back for the duration of the trip to the dorm room.

When John started to feel a dampness on the back of his neck he knew it wasn't from the rain. Alex was crying. He tightened his grip on Alex's legs and told him to hold on as he started to run across the campus, earning a few strange looks.

As soon as they got into their block and into the elevator Alex slid off of John's back and looked up to him, his eyes red, puffy and softly releasing tears. John wiped them away and pulled Alex into a comforting hug, stroking his hair.

"Baby, baby, baby, don't worry about this. Everything will be alright, just breathe." John tried to soothe Alex slightly as they got out of the elevator and walked along the corridor to their dorm, with Alex firmly gripping John's arm the whole way.

Once they got inside Alex ran to his bed and wrapped himself in his huge blanket, motioning for John to join him, which he of course obliged to.

"Alex, why do you get so upset during storms? You don't have to tell me yet, but I'd really like it if you did."

Alex took deep breaths to steady his speech before starting to explain.
"When I was 12, a huge hurricane hit the island I lived on, Nevis. It seemed as if total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of falling houses, and the ear piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into angels." (Actual quote from Ron Chernow's biography ;) )

John let out a sharp gasp from shock before Alex continued.

"That hurricane... that hurricane k-killed my mother."

A single tear fell down his soft cheek and John pulled him closer so he was practically in his lap and wiped away the tears.

"I remember the events of that day vividly. My mother and I were trapped inside our car, pretty far away from our house. The water started to seep into the car through the doors so we tried really hard to break the windows since, for some reason, the doors couldn't open. We finally managed to smash it open and I climbed out, accidentally cutting my back on the way out, which explains my scar."

He turned away from John and took off his shirt to reveal a huge white scar that looks like it would have previously been a deep gash. John gasped and ran his fingers along it. He felt tears start to form in his eyes and pressed a soft kiss to Alex's scar.

Alex turned back around to face John and put on a brave face.

"After I escaped from the car and stood up to get my head above the water level, I saw the dirty water flooding into the open window. I saw my mother's eyes, full of terror and panic. I saw her hand reach up, trying to escape but it was too late. She was already choking, she was already drowning. She had already died."

Like before, Alex started crying, but instead of wiping them away John started to weep as well. He clung onto Alex who reciprocated the action. They sobbed into each other's shoulders until the rain stopped and even after that they sat there, heavily breathing for a while.

"Alex baby I'm so sorry this happened to you. Nobody as amazing, smart or gorgeous as you deserves to go through this. I see no reason for the world to punish you this way, you've done nothing wrong in your life. I know I don't deserve you, but this past week has been the best week of my life. Every moment I've spent with you has been pure luxury and I hope that every minute you're alive from now on is a happy minute. Because, goddamn it Alex you deserve the whole universe."

"John. Of course you deserve me. You deserve so much more than me. And not all was bad after the hurricane. Aaron, he and his family survived the hurricane and moved up here to New York and since, with my mother gone, I was now an orphan, they took me in and I lived with them up until earlier this month when I came here. And I'm so glad I came here. I met the love of my life here, and yes, that's right. Love. Because John Laurens, I love you. I love you more than anything in this life, and I would choose your happiness over mine every time."

Alex continued to sob into John's shoulder, but rather than the sobs of pain he'd felt prior to this, they now seemed like sobs of...joy.

"Alex..." John started, wiping away a tear. "I love you too. You're incredible in every way. I love you so much."

They held each other close and cuddled under the sheets, eventually falling asleep with damp, yet happy faces.

13th August 2017