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Alexander was completely focused on the laptop in front of him. Some idiot on this random website he had somehow found his way on was spouting alt right bullshit and Alexander had to stop it somehow.
The stupidity was physically hurting him.
He heard the familiar sound of fabric shifting and he glanced up at the person in front of him.
"How's the prettiest person in the universe?" Laurens asked, beaming. He pulled out the chair in the coffee shop and sat down.
"I don't know," Alexander said, as casual as ever before looking up at him. "How are you?"
"I-!" Laurens stammered, freckly cheeks stained pink.
Alexander laughed. "When you said 'let's get coffee together', I didn't think you meant we should actually get coffee."
"Neither did I," he admitted. "But you seemed so happy to get some coffee and I didn't want to ruin anything. I'm so sorry."
"Laurens. It's fine," he assured him. "We can just go over to mine, order a pizza and watch a movie. Is that okay?"
"Of course it is," Laurens' blush still hadn't fully died down. "Come on, let's go."
Alexander pulled on his coat and tucked his laptop into the crook of his elbow.
Laurens had linked his arm through Alexander's, listening to him talk animatedly about whatever mishaps and random things go on in his strange little town of his.
Alexander led the way to his house, opened the door with his personal key and was about to make his way upstairs with Laurens when he heard a familiar croaky voice.
"Hamilton."
Alexander turned around slowly, fighting the urge to run. "Mr Arnold."
His foster father terrified him. He walked quickly, leaning on a black cane with a gold coloured handle that Alexander was sure he didn't actually need. Benedict Arnold was all lingering touches and a voice that was constantly croaky and constantly breathless. Alexander didn't know why but his heart begun to beat faster around Arnold.
Arnold swivelled his head slowly, his beady eyes resting on Laurens. "And who is this?"
"John Laurens," Laurens supplied helpfully before waving. "Hi."
Alexander quickly decided to abandon them and go upstairs on his own. He plopped onto his bed and waited for Laurens to make his way over to him.
"Alexander," Laurens whispered, moving closer to him. "What was that?"
Alexander swallowed. "It's quite ridiculous, really. He just makes me feel uneasy."
"You're scared of him," Laurens said, breathless, before his eyes hardened. "Alexander. Did he do something to you?"
He shook his head quickly. "No! It's just. I have a bad experience with people like him."
Laurens nodded before tipping his head back against the wall, his eyes closed for a moment. He finally opened them and shot Alexander an uneasy smile.
"You said we would watch a movie." Laurens commented.
Alexander's eyes lit up and he grabbed his laptop again. "Yeah! I found this sketchy illegal website you can use to watch free movies and tv shows!"
Laurens laughed. "Okay, then. What would you like to watch?"
He shook his head. "You're my guest, it's my job to be a good host and it's your job to pick."
Laurens shifted slightly. "I-is it alright if we watch Love, Simon?" He asked. "I can't go to the cinema and watch it there because my dad will get mad and—"
"Laurens," Alexander cut him off gently. "We can watch whatever you want. It's a good choice, really. I've seen it a gazillion times, you will love it."
Laurens beamed, placing his hand over Alexander's. "Thanks, you're the best, Alex."
Alexander grinned. "Alex? Haven't heard that one before. Most people figure out I'm not one for nicknames."
"Oh!" Laurens' eyes widened. "I'm sorry!"
"Laurens," he started. "It's cool, I don't really care. It's not like it's personally offending me or something."
Laurens nodded quickly and Alexander was already ticking off the signs in his mind. Rarely initiates physical contact, refuses to make eye contact, flinches when people move too quickly, low self esteem, apologises for everything all the time, frightened of his father—
Laurens was being abused by his disaster of a father.
And Alexander was here to fix it.
Well, try to fix it.
He remembered tear tracks stained on Laurens' cheeks on the day of the detention, but he didn't assume that they would be caused by the thoughts of what his father would do to him.
Alexander jumped off the bed and pulled out a box from underneath it, ignoring Laurens' careful gaze on him. He grabbed three fluffy blankets and threw one at Laurens, almost wincing when he flinched, that was a stupid idea, and he sat back down next to him and draped it over his shoulders.
Laurens glanced at the two blankets in Alexander's lap. "Why do you have two?"
"So, you wrap yourself in a blanket," Alexander explained. "I wrap myself in a blanket. We wrap our blanket-y selfs in this blanket and boom! Maximum warmth!"
Laurens couldn't help but laugh at his over excitement. "We would overheat and die."
"At least we'll die happy!" Alexander squealed, caught in the moment. While he was basking in the glory of making Laurens laugh, his impulsiveness flared up and he grabbed Laurens' cheek and planted a long kiss on his lips.
Laurens pulled back after a few seconds, his cheeks stained pink and his eyes wide. He stood up slowly, pulling on his shoes.
"Laurens?" Alexander whispered.
Laurens glanced up for a second, his expression unreadable. "I'm sorry."
"Laurens!"
"I have to leave." He mumbled, tying his shoelaces robotically.
"Don't go!" Alexander stood up quickly not caring if he seemed desperate. "But—"
"I have to go," Laurens snapped before his gaze softened. He looked at his watch, his eyes widening. "I think I'm late."
Laurens left the room soon after that, and the house descended into an uneasy silence that wrapped around his throat and choked him.
So, of course it was a surprise when Laurens turned up at his house two days later, a bruise on his forehead, a cut lip and tears spilling down his cheek.
Alexander pulled him into the house and took him upstairs, murmuring something about Arnold not being at home while grabbing a first aid kit on his way upstairs.
While he was cleaning the blood from his lip he was also carefully focused on Laurens’ eyes which looked glassy and far away.
“How about you sleep for a bit,” Alexander suggested, his voice coming out a bit softer than he planned it to. “Then I’ll wake you up and we’ll talk.”
Laurens nodded slowly and Alexander shot him a smile. He pushed him back onto the bed and piled pillows and blankets on top of him.
Alexander closed the curtains then laid back besides Laurens, letting a comfortable silence rest on them both.
Laurens turned around to face him. “Alexander?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you,” he shifted. “Can you talk to me? About anything, I don’t care.”
Alexander clicked his tongue sympathetically. “Helps you sleep?”
“Y-yes.”
And so Alexander talked. He rambled about different things, like why grape ice cream doesn’t exist, why cats and dogs aren’t actually opposites and he kept on talking and talking, with every word the volume of his voice decreased, and Laurens’ breathe evened out.
When Laurens woke up, it was to Alexander nudging him frantically.
“Wha—?” He yawned. “What is it?”
Laurens grabbed a hair tie off his wrist and tried to pull his hair back before giving up and letting it stay curly around his head. He could do that later, when he actually had a stretchy hair tie and when he wasn’t face to face with an unnaturally handsome boy.
Alexander blinked then suddenly deflated. “You were asleep for a long time, I was getting worried.”
Laurens nodded. It did make sense, he was a deep sleeper. He could duck and dodge every question Alexander could ask him or he could just tell him. No prompting, no lies.
“Alexander?”
“Yeah?”
Laurens shuffled uncomfortably. “I’m sorry about what happened two days ago, but I had to go and I would have gotten into trouble if I stayed out any longer. I’m so, so sorry and—”
Alexander cut him off. “Laurens. It’s fine.”
Laurens let out a sigh of gratitude. At least Alexander wasn’t angry at him for whatever he did. He wouldn’t be able to stand that, he hated it. He also knew that if he didn’t change the subject, Alexander would start talking about more uncomfortable things.
“Why do you call me Laurens?” He asked, deflecting expertly.
Alexander blinked. “There’s too many John’s. It’s becoming a problem.”
Laurens nodded and Alexander continued. “Also, about me kissing you. What was up with that?”
“What do you mean?” Laurens stammered, looking away, his face heating up.
Alexander moved in closer. “Laurens, I like you a lot.”
Laurens looked back at him, quickly making the decision to just let go. “I like you a lot too.” He mumbled.
Alexander’s eyes lit up. “Brilliant!”
Laurens shot him an anxious smile before leaning closer to him and planting a kiss on the corner of Alexander’s lip.
“What is this?” Alexander asked, breathless while twirling his finger.
Laurens grinned. “Affection.”
He shook his head. “Disgusting,” he looked up, a small smile on his face. “Do it again.”
And so Laurens did.