September 19th 2016

Alex's POV:

"ALEX!" I hear a voice shout, presumably John's. My eyes shoot open to see John hovering above me, his face conveying a panicked look. I instantly start to worry, since he's usually pretty calm.
"John, calm down, what's wrong?" I respond, trying to have John mirror my calmness. It doesn't work.

"We only have 3 minutes to get to class."

"Shit."

I bolt out of bed and into the bathroom and brush my teeth more rapidly than I've ever done them before. I run out of the room to see John holding his bag and staring down at his watch, so I quickly shove some books into my bag, not checking if I've even got the right ones, pull on some random clothes from the floor and nod at John, signalling that I'm ready to sprint to our first lesson of debate class.

We arrive together, bursting through the door two minutes late, but we see that people are still just taking their seats, so we don't panic too much. John and I take seats next to each other, and I look down and realise something. I'm wearing John's hoodie.

"Oh crap, sorry John, I just picked a random one off of the floor." I say, directing my hands towards his bright orange hoodie.

"Don't worry man, it suits you better anyway." He responds with a wink, that doesn't seem very platonic to be honest, but I brush past it, dismissing any thoughts of him having feelings for me.

Instead of responding, I just smile and blush a bit, directing my attention to the front of the room, where just like yesterday, Mr Washington walks into the room.

"Hello class, good morning, and welcome to your first lesson with me in debate class. I hope you like who you're sat next to, because they're your partner in this until Christmas break."

John and I turned and looked at each other; I saw his freckled face beaming at me brighter than the sun itself. His beauty blinded me in this moment, there was a stream of light over his face, lighting up most of the right side of his face. The natural light made his usually hazel eyes appear more of an earthy green colour, whilst the eye that wasn't covered in sunlight retained its usual appearance, an equally gorgeous colour. His hair was still slightly messy, probably from waking up and realising how early it was. Regardless, it still looked amazing, he could suit any hairstyle, I swear. His smile was wider than I've ever seen it before, it was the cutest thing in life and I could barely handle it. He looked so... perfect. There's really no other way to describe him other than that. And, his appearance seemed so effortless. The guy literally woke up ten minutes ago, and he's already looking flawless, in comparison to my huge eye bags that scream 'sleep deprived'.

Man, I need to tell this guy how much I like him, soon too, before he's gone, before it's too late.

"Lucky you, Alexander." He squinted at me and I tried to collect myself from the web of my thoughts before I made a mess of myself.

"I didn't think it was possible for us to spend more time together," I say, still internally drooling over his looks, but remaining cool and collective on the outside. "Not that I mind though. We'll have a lot of work to do if we're ever against Jefferson." I snarled the last part, causing John to smirk and chuckle lightly.

John's POV:

"What are you saying about me, Hamilton?" We hear a familiar voice say. Alex rolls his eyes as we turn our heads behind us to see none other than Thomas Jefferson himself sitting behind me, next to James Madison, who currently has dark circles and has the bottom half of his face buried in a loose turtle-neck. Must be ill.

"Not much, Jefferson. Just that if we have to debate against an ass like you, then we should get more information on the topic, since you love sucking up to every teacher so they'll give you a higher grade. Or maybe you were hoping for something e-"

"I'd shut your fucking mouth Hamilton, you don't know what trouble you'll wind up getting yourself into. I'm sure your friend, Laurens, isn't it?' He says, nodding towards me, causing me to grit my teeth and clench my jaw out of anger. "I'm sure you haven't told him half the amount about your past that you told me a few years back. I know things, Alexander, so you better watch it. Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead."

Alex interrupts him, and I see a smirk grow on his face and his hands turn into fists "Likewise, Thomas. I know about all of the shit you did in high school, don't forget that. Who was it again, Sally Hemmings? Remember what you did to her? You r-"

His sentence was cut short by Thomas reaching across his desk and in a swift movement, grabbing Alex by the throat and punching him twice in the face, producing a groan from Alex and a limp throw at Thomas, which he easily blocked. I'm sat still in shock, and look over at Madison, who is sat coughing into the sleeve of his sweater, but regardless, he has a panicked look in his eyes, which is saying for me to do something.
Blood starts to pour out of Alex's nose and I see bruises start to form around his eye. I try to pry Thomas off of Alex, but he punches me hard in the jaw, which stops me, causing me to yelp in pain. I hear Mr Washington at the front of the room shout something at us, but I wasn't paying much attention; I'm too busy yelling at Thomas.

Mr Washington continues to yell, which makes Thomas finally let go of Alexander, who honestly looks a mess. His usually gorgeous brown eyes are puffy and watering, his left one is turning dark and has blood rushing to it, and the sight of it is making me wince. His nose is bent to the right and has a lot of blood splattered around it. Also, his lip is bleeding pretty badly, and there are so many bruises and places where blood has risen to scattered around his face, it's a miracle he's consci-

His head thumps against the table. I immediately panic and rapidly wave my arms in the air and start shouting:

"SIR, MR WASHINGTON, CAN I BE EXCUSED. ALEX, UH, JUST... I'M NOT SURE, BUT HE ISN'T AWAKE."

I don't wait for a response; I can just hear Mr Washington start to stutter as I swipe mine and Alex's belongings into our bags and pick him up bridal style and run out of the room and back to our dorm, shooting Thomas an angry glare as I see him getting verbally slaughtered by Washington, which I can't help but smile at, especially when I hear the word 'suspended' in the conversation.

---

I lay Alex down onto his bed and rush to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit, taking out the antiseptic wipes and disinfecting a cut he's obtained above his eyebrow and applying a Band-Aid to it. I tend to any other injuries and sit on the floor next to him. I take hold his of hand and rub circles into the back of it, also taking this opportunity to lightly kiss it.
'It's not like I can do that when he's awake, so I might as well do it now, whilst he doesn't know.' I think to myself. Now, since he can't hear me, seems like a good time to talk to him, admit feelings, and enjoy his company.

"Hey Lex, I'm sorry that I didn't help much back there, I was really intimidated by Thomas, and I guess, it's hard, you know. It's hard to see someone you care so much about getting hurt, and feeling worthless in the battle. I'm not sure what you were really saying to Thomas for him to beat you up that bad, but I am so, so sorry for not being able to help you. I just like you a lot, and I know this is crazy to say, since we only met recently, and you can't hear me anyway, but there's something special about you, Alexander, something that I've never seen before. You're so different to everyone else in the world, in the best way possible. Your eyes light up when you see something you like or when you're talking about things you're passionate about. Truly, you are so much better to talk to than the rest of humanity. Nobody seems to ever have a passion for anything anymore. You've got a spark. Don't ever let it die."

I paused for a moment, just appreciating his silent company, leaning my head against his cold metal bedframe, inhaling his scent; It was slightly woody, had a strong coffee scent and also smelt like a dusty library. I smiled at the familiarity of it and shut my eyes for a minute or two, still holding onto his soft hand.

I opened my eyes and looked up at Alex, who had remained in pretty much the same position, except he had a slight curl in the corner of his lips. 'It's now or never to admit your feelings John.' I heard the voice in my head say. They're right.

"Man, Alexander, I'm resisting so many temptations right now to kiss you. I know that's super weird, but I don't care. You're just, so perfect. I know it's mad, I couldn't care less. Each moment that we spend together makes me fall harder for you. Thank you for being you, because that's all you need to be. You."

---

I woke up on the floor net to Alex's bed and checked how long I'd been sleeping for. Five hours. Great. I stood up and clicked my neck and back, as I do every morning, which annoys the hell out of Alex. I glanced over to him to see him sleeping soundly, looking more peaceful after the events that happened earlier in the day. I started to see the bruises looking more prominent, which made me frown. As I had missed all of my classes anyway, I decided that I would do work for my art, and since I had finished the picture of me, I started working on one of Alex.

Before I walked over to my desk, I leant over and pressed a soft kiss to Alex's forehead, avoiding any bruises. I don't think he is unconscious anymore; he's just sleeping at this point. After releasing his hand from my grip, I sit at my desk and pull out my sketchbook and some acrylics and start a new piece.

---Two hours later---

I'd been painting for a few hours when I heard Alex start to wake up. My eyes shot over to him as I saw him sit up slightly and wince from the pain his head was causing, which made my heart pang. I hate seeing him like this, in pain. He doesn't deserve this; I'm going to kill Jefferson.

"Pain... Killers... Please." I heard him say to me, with his voice full of tiredness and a slight hint of pain. Yet again, my heart thumps in my chest as I see him in this condition. I quickly rush over to the medical cabinet in the bathroom and pull out a box of painkillers, then quickly filling a glass with water and I walk, slightly quicker than usual, back over to the side of his bed, where I hand them to him. He pops two tablets out of the packet and passes it back to me with a weak smile, which I return, and I place the pack on his desk. He quickly gulps them down and I turn to leave his side, when suddenly he grasps onto my arm, making my heart flutter.

"John, lean down, I need to tell you something." He whispers, so I comply, making my head level with his, and nod to tell him to start talking- "Thank you for helping me earlier, John, I'm really lucky to have someone like you in my life. By the way," his cheeks start to flush slightly, "I wasn't asleep earlier-"

He put his hand around the back of my neck and quickly pulls our faces close together, connecting our lips and causing me to gasp. He takes this opportunity to take control of the kiss and softly slip his tongue into the kiss. Instead of just staying still in shock, I join in with the kiss, which is full of passion rather than greed. He runs his hands up my neck and tangles them into my hair, making me melt under his grip. I wrap my hands around his waist and pull myself closer to him.

He softly ends the kiss and presses his forehead to mine and looks into my eyes. I notice his pupils seem huge as we look at each other and I can imagine that mine are the same. I move my head away so that my chin is on his shoulder and inhale his scent that has spread onto my jumper. He suits it so much better than I do. I feel his warm lips pecking against my neck, so I move my face back to his and pull him into another kiss, just a normal one, short but sweet. I feel as he smiles into the kiss, making me blush deeper than before.

"Laurens, I like you a lot. I've not been able to admit my feelings for this past week, it seemed too early. But after hearing you earlier, I knew you were saying it whilst I was asleep because you feel the same way." He says, also blushing.

"I'm so glad you heard it. Ever since I saw you I've felt this feeling, spending all of this time together has only made it grow." He grabs me by the collar of my shirt and kisses me again, and in this moment, my life is absolutely perfect.

13th July 2017