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"Oh!" Lafayette exclaimed, swatting John on the shoulder lightly. The radio was playing softly, barely audible, having been nothing more than slight background noise since the engine turned on. "Hercules wanted me to ask if you were up for a movie night."
John sent them a quick smile before his eyes went back to the road ahead. "Hell yeah. You know what this means."
They let out a whoop, and said in unison with John: "Snack run!"
Lafayette looked towards the backseat where Alex was seated, his head swiveling back and forth between the two of them like a ping pong ball. "I need to tell Herc something about our situation."
Laf ignored Alexander's joking, "Oh, so you remembered I'm here."
Laurens hummed. "I assumed you'd already texted him about it."
"Maybe I was waiting for you to come to your senses." They shot back. "I am not sure what to say. Perhaps I should just let him know that something is the matter, but no specifics? It is not something easily explained in text, but I don't want him oblivious."
John half-shrugged. "Whatever you think is best, I doubt it really matters in the end."
Lafayette decided to send out a small text.
The three of us need to have a talk about something tonight
Sent 6:43pm
Does J kno???
Sent 6:47pm
Lafayette's eyes darted over to him, suddenly paranoid he could see the texts. His eyes were settled on the road, just like before. Laf chided themself for being so silly. They typed something out and put the phone under their leg after they sent it.
Putain de merde! No no, not that, Christ
Sent 6:47pm
Way to give me a heart attack
Sent 6:47pm
Brzzt. They looked at John once more before checking the reply.
Sry . U sounded srs, my mind jumped 2 tht
Sent 6:48pm
It's nothing like that, we talked to le petit lion earlier.
Sent 6:49pm
Ok
Sent 6:49pm
They stared at their screen for another minute, waiting for another text. They reined in their slight frustration when nothing followed. If they had been in Herc's position they would be asking every question imaginable. The two of them were very different, but thankfully not so much that they clashed.
They decided to leave it at that and wait until they all got home. Sometimes it was just easier speaking face to face.
John was in the parking lot for the store now, rolling into a space just in time, a soccer mom honking at him angrily.
Alexander laughed heartily at this.
"I'd watch out, she might try to stab you with her kids trophy. Maybe they didn't win? Could be the true source of her anger." He stroked his chin, trying to pull a serious face.
He yelped as they both got out of the car and pushed the doors closed. "Wait for me!"
He jogged up to them. "How rude. You just left me behind."
"You're like an sinus infection, we cannot seem to shake you off completely."
John gave Laf a reproachful look. "Be nice."
He smiled beatifically. "Yeah, be nice."
John turned the look on him. "Don't push your luck."
When they get inside the store, they make a beeline for the junk food, ignoring Alexander's flailing gestures towards the movie promotions they pass by. "All these good movies being sold! What's a movie night without movies?"
"We have a pretty big movie collection between the three of us." John says without turning around.
"And what we don't have, we watch illegally." Laf tacks on with a wicked smirk.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."
They weren't impressed. "Tightass."
"Criminal law major."
"Same difference."
John threw his hands up in a placating way. "Girls, girls, you're both pretty."
Lafayette made a hmph noise, choosing not to comment, but Alex cracked up laughing.
"Laf, you should go get the jerky Hercules likes since it's not on this aisle. I'll start narrowing down the list--we'll be in this general area--and when you get back we'll grab what's left and go."
They nodded, already walking off.
John hummed quietly to himself as he searched the bags, grabbing a few things here and there.
Alexander poked at one of the bags on the shelf just to have something to do. "So how long have you and Lafayette known each other?" A short pause, and then-- "Wait, what are your last names? I'm possibly staying at the house of a bunch of people who I don't even know so much as a last name about. Clearly my self preservation skills are A1."
"I'm John Laurens, the guy you have yet to meet is Hercules Mulligan, and Lafayette--" he snorted. "Just leave it at Lafayette."
"And about the other bit...a little over three years, I guess. We knew each other before college but we were only acquaintances, our main interactions were Facebook likes more than anything. But then college starts and we're the only people we know going here, even if we aren't exactly bffs. We start talking to each other a bit more, and--" he shrugs. "As they say, the rest is history."
"Three years? Sheesh. I don't know if anything in my life has been permanent enough to last that long."
"I know it sounds a little naive, but I expect we'll know each other 'til we're old and grey. It's how we are, we...fit."
John also knew, deep down in the place where he knew their friendship would last, that the future held a marriage between Lafayette and Hercules. It was a bittersweet thought. He wanted his best friends to have every happiness. They deserved nothing less. At the same time, his heart hoped against hope that he would be a part of that. He couldn't seem to quash the dream entirely, no matter how much time had passed.
He brushed the maudlin thoughts aside. Standing in the grocery store holding a package of moon pies was no time to have a crisis, for gods sake.
Alex purses his lips, considering his words. "Unrealistic, but cute."
John makes a face at him.
"And I am treated as the child," Alex mutters, loud enough to be heard.
Lafayette comes gliding down the aisle--apparently everything they did seemed graceful, a fact that was as attractive as it was infuriating--holding jerky over their head proudly. "Victory! What is left to snag?"
"Just the white cheddar popcorn and pretzels."
"You got my milanos?"
Alexander got the impression this was something John heard often, if his fondly exasperated expression was any indication. "Yes, I got your milanos, you fiend."
When no one was near him, Alex seized a bag of cheddar goldfish and placed it in their cart.
Alex watched as Laf looked into the cart a moment later and grabbed the bag of goldfish, holding them up for John to see. "Are these yours? I didn't put them in here."
He shook his head.
Alex gave a winning smile. "Whaaat, how crazy, how'd that get there? Hey, maybe you should buy it. Mysteriously appearing in your cart? Sounds like snack food fate."
Lafayette and John shared a look before John said "Sure, put 'em back in."
Alex did a fist pump when he turned back around.
As the crackers & sweets faded into chips, Alex dove for the funyuns, doing a slam dunk to get them into the cart. Noticing Lafayette and John had seen him this time, he pulled his best innocent face. "Last thing?" He clasped his hands together in front of him. "Please?"
Lafayette pointed a finger at him, pulling a stern face. "The very last! And you will pitch in with your share of the bill!"
He nods quickly. "Fair enough."
They make it out of the store finally, though through no help of their companion.
"We have plenty of beer and sundry drinks at home. You'll live."
"But they had a special edition flavor of mountain dew! I was going to pay and everything!"
"We had spent long enough in there! Get it another time!"
John bangs his forehead against the steering wheel, turning the radio up louder before he starts for home.
"I was going to bring this up earlier, but one of you can take me to get my car tomorrow right?"
Lafayette is the one who answers him, surprising him a little. "Of course, we wouldn't have told you to ride with us otherwise. I suppose we could've given you directions, but this just seems to work better. Having to give you step-by-step directions over the phone when you inevitably get lost would have driven me to fling myself into the sun."
"I'll have you know I have an excellent sense of direction."
They open their mouth to reply, but it falls shut when John pointedly turns the music up further. They turn around and settle back into their seat.
-
When they get home Hercules is already there, in the kitchen putting a peanut butter and banana sandwich together with careful precision.
John ushers Alex into the living room area, he and Lafayette heading towards the kitchen themselves. Alexander thinks it might be for privacy, though the kitchen opens up into the doorway and living room, so he still hears most everything. He wonders if they know that and are just ignoring it.
When Hercules speaks, it's muffled by a mouth full of sandwich. "What's up? Why is the Hamilton dude with y'all?"
There's nothing more from him as John brings him up to speed (with the occasional shrill interjection from Lafayette).
A small silence in which Alex can just tell Hercules is shrugging. "I don't care if he stays as long as he's not stuffed in our room."
Alexander brushes some nonexistent lint off his pant leg. He looks around the room, spying the different things strewn about. It's a surprisingly homey place, despite it being one of many sterile apartments thrown together for the college kids in the area.
There are a few hushed things said between John and Lafayette, before Laf's voice rings out loudly.
"For the record I think you are all being, how do you say...dumb as fuck."
Alexander stifles a chortle.
With this last statement from Lafayette, they traipse out of the kitchen.
John gives him a steady look. "We decided you can stay here since you have a difficult situation going on with your dormmate."
Lafayette crosses their arms across their chest. "For now."
Alex might've been more worried under different circumstances, but as it is John and Herc don't seem ruffled at all which leads him to believe Lafayette is all bark, no bite. "Cmon, you know you love me." He gives a cheeky grin.
"I enjoyed this all much more when you were only a bother at work. It was funny more than anything."
They still have a pinched look on their face, so Hercules walks up behind Lafayette, wrapping his arms around them and kissing the side of their neck gently.
"Wait, what's this? I thought you were together." Alexander points at Lafayette and John. He looks a bit confused, though notably not very shell-shocked. "Are the three of you dating or something?"
Lafayette gets one arm free from Hercules' hold, uses it to snag John's sleeve and pull him closer. Makes a show of putting their arm around him. "And if we are?"
"Laf, honestly, stop trying to scare the man off." He shrugs their arm off, though not unkindly. "No Alex, Hercules and Lafayette are the ones that are dating. I'm very single." He claps his hands together. "Now, are we watching these movies or what?"
He starts moving, then, shuffling the snacks in his arms and heading towards the couch, but Alex's speculative gaze follows him. Shaking himself, he calls out, "We should watch National Treasure!"
"We can't." Is John's only answer.
"But it's so good! Seriously, if you haven't seen it--" His spiel is cut off.
"We pick them out in advance for the next time we have a movie night, this time it's Never Let Me Go and The Da Vinci Code. I guess since you're staying we can watch that next time if you're still here. Show of hands, who's cool with watching National Treasure next time?"
John and Hercules' hands shoot up immediately. Alex takes a minute to clue in, but when he does he raises his hand with the rest of them. They all turn to look at Lafayette.
Hercules kisses their cheek. "Outnumbered."
"Okay, we can pick any other options later. Let's watch."
Alexander is still happy with the choices. "The Da Vinci Code is almost," he pauses dramatically. "almost as good as National Treasure."
They pile onto the couch. Lafayette sits in Hercules' lap, leaving plenty of space for Alexander to spread out, but he chooses a seat right beside John. John looks over briefly, but focuses back on the screen.
Thirty minutes into the movie and 2 interruptions from Alexander's fidgeting later, he's picking at his hands when he looks over at John, who's leaned forward slightly, intently watching the movie. His hands still as he starts to watch John more than the movie itself. He's so into it, even gasping at serious parts.
Alexander finds it fucking adorable. He does the first thing to come to mind and stretches his arms above his head before putting one behind John on the couch, then slides it forward onto his shoulder.
John's attention is torn from the movie. He glances at Alexander's hand and laughs in disbelief. "Is this really your move?"
"Would better moves be welcome should I decide to up the ante?"
His eyebrows shoot to his hairline. "Hamilton we've known each other for around, oh I don't know, six hours. You don't even know me." He adds on, "I don't know you."
He waggles his eyebrows. "Technically we've known each other for a couple weeks, we just didn't talk until today. Besides, people have fallen in love in less time."
"I don't believe in love at first sight."
Alexander leans over, officially in his personal bubble now. "Then look again."
John turns to face him, puts a hand on either side of his face--slow enough that Alex could pull back should he wish to--and brings their faces a little closer together. He looks deep into his eyes without blinking, and then abruptly shifts back into his seat, leaving Alexander staring at thin air.
He shoves a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "You should talk less."