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"We should move in together," Lafayette said, completely out of the blue, walking out of the bathroom after they washed off all of their makeup. They felt like they were on fire, hands shaking, regret sinking in as the words made their way out of their mouth.
John, who was previously lying face down on the mattress talking about how nice the sheets felt on his skin, aware that they couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, stopped talking. Hercules' hand halted in Alex's hair, which Alex would complain about if his own heart didn't stop.
"What?" John yelled, face still buried in the sheets to hide his blush, but the bright red of his ears betrayed him.
"Well, I mean, I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I think living together would be cool? That sounds so stupid, fuck, it's fine you don't have to say anything we don-"
Alex climbed over John as quick as he could to kiss Lafayette, the scratchy material of his shirt brushing against their skin.
"You're so fucking cute," Alex whispered, hands on either side of Lafayette's face. "I love you so much."
"I love you too. Do you want to move in with me?" Their hands reach out to Alexander but don't touch him, shaking.
"I think we should get our own place, just because I don't want to try and shove all of our stuff into your apartment when there's barely any room for you, but other than that, of course I do. I'm never going to turn down spending more time with you, love."
"That's spending all the time with me, though." Alex pulls Lafayette's hands to his waist like they've been wanting to do. They sigh, Alex's forehead against his, their thumb rubbing over the soft fabric of Alex's shirt.
"We know, love." Hercules looked over them, not able to escape the wall that was John in the middle of the bed. "Why do you think we'd say yes?"
"Really? You'd actually move in with me? All of you?" They asked, tears dotting their eyes.
"As long as these sheets could come with us, I'd move anywhere with you," John muttered.
Alex scoffed. "How have you not suffocated in there yet?"
"Dedication," John replied. Lafayette laughed and hit him with a pillow.
The four of them started looking for apartments the next morning, cuddled up next to each other with Lafayette in the middle. They ate breakfast and debated over whether or not to look for hardwood flooring, what color the walls were, anything that would majorly affect their dream of a perfect apartment from being fully recognized.
It took a few weeks to find one they all agreed on, but the apartment they did end up moving into was perfect in every way. It was small but not cramped, fancy windows that Hercules loved, the light that shone through them bathing everything in a warm glow. The kitchen was huge, as was their bedroom, and there was a small spare room that Hercules could use as a studio, but only if he agreed to let Alex store all of his books in it.
The day after they moved into the apartment, Lafayette woke up alone and in pain. Their body ached from moving boxes the day before, legs cramped from walking back and forth between rooms. They stretched out across the bed, limbs splayed in every direction, trying to go back to sleep until one of their signifs came back.
"Lafayette, dear, wake up," Hercules whispered, waking them up more.
"Why? What time is it?"
"Around ten, maybe? We made breakfast though, if you want it, and Alex isn't wearing pants right now and me and John are crying about it so if you want to see that , he's in the kitchen."
"How cute does he look?"
"Fucking stunning, as always."
Lafayette groaned. "Carry me."
Alex never liked being the center of attention for things he couldn't control. He liked speaking out, talking to people, charming people with the things he could say as opposed to the things he wore or what he looked like. He was beautiful right down to his core, and he thought that that's what drew people to him, not anything he had to say, so he covered himself up and hid behind clothes too big for him so people wouldn't notice.
His wardrobe consisted of oversized shirts, some were his some were stolen from the Lafayette or Hercules, jeans that were so big they fell down if not held up by one of his fraying belts that looked as though they were about to snap. He wore shoes that were years old, falling apart, all to cover up chances to prove people wrong.
Now, though, now Alex stood there in the light of their kitchen window, Hercules' sweater hanging low on his shoulders, still big on him, but now it wasn't to hide. His bare legs were exposed, and Lafayette noticed for the first time the little beauty marks on his thighs that he never mentioned. His glasses, big and round, were sliding down his nose and his hair was tied up in a bun, off his shoulders and drawing Lafayette's eyes further to his collarbones.
"What are you looking at?" Alex mumbled, pulling the sweater down over his legs further, the tips of his ears turning red. John's eyes are focused on where the sweater ends, glint in his eyes sending a clear message as to what he was thinking.
"I love you," Lafayette said, face blank, heart almost painfully constricting. Alex squeaked, hands covering his face as he blushed.
He moved his hands to cover his cheeks. "I just thought, because we live together now, and this is usually what I would wear when I'm home alone, that you could maybe get used to this so I could, y'know, wear it more often? I don't know please don't laugh at me."
Lafayette rushed over to Alex before John could even blink, kissing him with all they had. Hercules laughed, shaking his head as he continued to make breakfast.
"I love you ," they repeated, hands on his waist. Alex stared up at them, stars in his eyes, smile playing on his lips.
"I love you too," he whispered, burying his hand in their hair guiding them back down to kiss him.
Hercules finished breakfast, which they ate on their couch. Hercules wanted to buy an antique dining table to add character , but they didn't have time to go antiquing before they moved in, which left them with no other option than to eat on their couch.
"Harry Potter is on!" Alex all but screamed as he flipped through the TV guide.
"Are you going to quote it like you always do?" John asked.
"Always," Alex whispered, giggling when John elbowed him.
Him and Hercules trade back and forth between characters, going along with the conversations, Lafayette sometimes pitching in for a third character when Hercules and Alex were each busy reciting their own lines. John was terrified, didn't understand how they memorized entire movies in the way they did, never was allowed to watch Harry Potter as a child so he didn't have a head start.
"This is horrifying, I'm washing the dishes," he told them, surrendering and taking all of their plates over to the sink.
"He was their friend, John!" Alex called, laughing.
"And he betrayed them!" Lafayette added, snorting as Alex buried his face in their neck to muffle his laughter.
"He was their friend!" Hercules choked, snorted when John flipped him off without looking over.
He finished the dishes and squeezed himself in between Lafayette and Alex on the couch, kissing both of them before nuzzling into Lafayette's side, Alex hugging him from behind. They spent the rest of the morning cuddling under the huge throw blankets Hercules brought from his apartment, making out and managing to get through three more Harry Potter movies, stopping right before Deathly Hallows to make lunch.
"I don't want to get up," Lafayette whined, wrapping their arms tighter around John.
"We have to eat ," Hercules argued. His voice suggested urgency but his hand ran through Alex's hair as he talked, which ensured he would stay put until Alex got up first.
"I'll make you a deal," they offered. "We all sleep through lunch because I'm tired as hell still, John is almost passing out on me, Alex is practically dead-"
"No 'm not," Alex grumbled, eyes closed, no energy to even lift his head up.
"Then we can go out to dinner later," Lafayette finished. Hercules kissed Alex and agreed to the deal, burrowing further down into the blankets and falling asleep with the rest of them.
Lafayette woke up to the sound of Alexander singing, soft under his breath, eyes still closed.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to get my headache to go away," he moaned, rubbing at the temples of his forehead.
John snored, rolled over to face Alex, his arm flopping across his stomach. Lafayette laughed, kissed his forehead and watched as he smiled in his sleep. God, they loved him.
"By singing?" They asked, fiddling with one of John's curls.
"It usually works," Alex explained. He continued singing, soft and gentle. His voice sounded like rolling hills that stretched out for miles, mountain peaks hidden by mist, waterfalls pouring into crystal clear lakes. Lafayette listened to it until Alex drifted off again, curled into Hercules' chest, words muffled in the material of his shirt.
"I think I'm dying?" John complained when they all woke up.
"Same," Hercules said, rubbing at his forehead.
"So, do you still want to go to dinner, or?" Lafayette asked.
Alex rolled onto his back, only to be shh'd by John for no reason. "I do. I need food and fresh air and to live until tomorrow so that I can never take naps again."
John groaned, sitting up and taking his shirt off as quick as he can. "Why are you all so warm, Jesus fuck ." He collapsed back onto the couch, landing half on Alex's body, who didn't even complain.
"It would help if we weren't squished together on this couch, y'know," Hercules pointed it out. He yelped as Alex pushed him off the couch.
"There, now we're fine."
"Fuck you."
Lafayette got up to get dressed, trying to will away the gross feeling they had by sheer force of will. They picked clothes out of one of their suitcases at random, throwing them on and walking out, throwing their hair in a bun as they walked into the living room.
"Lafayette!" Alex squealed. "You look so pretty!"
"I literally did nothing, I just put on clothes."
His eyebrows furrowed. "You always look pretty, though. You could wear a garbage bag and still look stunning."
"Right now I feel like I should be wearing a garbage bag with how fucking gross I feel."
"Me too," Hercules called, still on the floor from when John pushed him earlier.
"Let's go get food then!" Lafayette urged, grinning in victory as the three of them trudged off to their room, in clothes that matched well enough.
"Hercules, kiss Laf for me," John said, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.
"Why?"
"I can't reach them," he mumbled, gesturing to their heels. Hercules rolled his eyes but kissed Lafayette anyway, who was smiling too wide to kiss back properly.
Alex came out in jeans that fit him, which made Lafayette scream and rendered them speechless for around ten minutes, and they left after Lafayette could form words again.
Hercules held the door for all of them as they walked into the restaurant a block away from their house, John now jumping as he walked. They used to go here before they started dating, glad to live so close to it now, enjoying the familiarity of it.
"Can we get a canopy bed?" Alex asked, stealing french fries from Hercules' plate before he could smack his hand away.
"We already have a bed," John argued.
"But we could have a better one."
"I'd be too scared of it collapsing and suffocating me," Lafayette said.
Alex shrugged. "Fair enough."
They plan how they're going to decorate their apartment, including a fifteen minute discussion about what color drapes to buy and what the maximum budget should be for new pillows. They steal more french fries from Hercules and Hercules doesn't even say anything, too happy to just talk to Lafayette, Alex, and John to stop them.
Their waitress came up to them, by then the sun had gone down, the fluorescent lights inside and the neon ones bordering the windows glowing brighter. She warned them that they were ten minutes from closing, to which Lafayette apologized to her, left a tip that almost equaled what their bill was, apologizing again before leaving.
"This feels like our first date." John swung Hercules' hand between them as they walked.
"How?" Hercules asked, kissing John's knuckles. "Because we stayed until closing and Lafayette risks bankruptcy by apologizing?"
"It was appropriate!" Lafayette tried to defend themself, holding John's hand on his other side. Alex walked ahead of them, laughing at the conversation, staring at the lights around him.
"It wasn't, but that's not what I meant." Lafayette hummed and waited for him to continue, kissing him on the cheek.
"I mean, I just, I love you all so much. Just watching you talk to each other makes my heart flip over in my chest like it did on our first date, and right now my heart is dying almost."
Alex stopped and turned to him. "You're so cute," he whispered, kissing him quick before skipping ahead.
They got home and stumbled into their bedroom, tripping over one another. Lafayette walked off into the bathroom, emerging with their hair in twists. They flopped onto the bed, ignoring John's complaining groan to cuddle up to him, which he didn't argue about in the slightest.
"What do you think we're gonna do next, as like, a collective unit that lives together?" Hercules questioned. He was lying further down on the bed staring up at the ceiling, Alex running his hands through his hair and pinching the longer curls, dragging them out so they stood up.
John gasped, hands flailing. "Dogs."
At three in the morning, Lafayette gets a call from their landlord about a noise disturbance. According to the tenants downstairs, several people were screaming 'dogs' over and over at an extremely high volume only minutes ago.
Lafayette, with their eyes now focused on lists of dog adoption websites, denied the entire thing.