When I See You Again

9) The Discoveries of the Deep

:Third:

It's been a week since Hercules and Lafayette first spent the night at Alex's. The first night was tough, the second night wasn't as bad, third night wasn't bad, but by the seventh night, Alex felt a hell of a lot better and was ready for the next month ahead of him.

On the first night Herc and Laf stayed, Monday when they got the news, they claimed their room and set their travel bags down. Alex's anxiety was through the roof so everyone sat down on the couches and watched movies till one of them fell asleep and Alex was calm.

"Mon ami, we need to get him," he pointed a finger at Herc, "to bed. He's a bit heavy cause he's so muscular but I think if you grab his hands and if I grab his feet, then we will be able to carry him like that."

"Nah. Watch this," Alex said as he quite easily lifted Hercules off of the couch.

"Bruh, whut?" Laf said in astonishment, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

"You know I've taken up working out as a sort of hobby. I build my muscles and get ripped so people can underestimate my height and think I'm a scrawny rich boy when in actuality I'm a tank in disguise!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh! Makes sense!"

They two boys bring Hercules back to the room and say goodnight to each other. Soon Alex is off to bed and ready for school.

——we skipping school bruvs. It'd be just too boring——

They all arrived back to Alex's after school and went straight to the kitchen, expecting snacks to be laid out.

"Hey Uncle Ji... wait. He's not here," Alex sadly said, a frown forming on his worry free face. "I don't think I'll be able to get over that. Normally he'd have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ready..." A small tear rolled down his cheek as he remembered the good times when his Uncle was still at home.

Hercules came up from behind Alex and quickly threw him over his shoulder, Lafayette giggling at the sight. He whipped out his phone and took many pictures of the two goofballs in front of him.

"LAFFFFFF!!" Alex whined.

"What?"

"Tell your BoYFriEnD to put me downnnnnnn!"

"Nope. Sorry. Can't do that. He has a mind of his own!" Laf said as he watched Herc spin Alex around and took off running through the house.

"Wheeeeeeee! I feel like a kid again!!" A small frown reformed on Alex's face when he remembered the fun times of Uncle Jim and him taking off to the park and running around together. He quickly pushed those thoughts away and the group of boys settled down.

———After dinner———

"That was an amazing meal, Laf!" Alex claimed, pushing his chair back under the table.

"Glad you enjoyed it! Now who's going to do the dishes?" Lafayette asked, knowing none of them would do them. All three stood there, staring at each other.

"Uhhhhhhh..." Herc mumbled, waiting for someone else to jump up at the opportunity.

No one did. The dishes sat in the sink for the night and no one mentioned them again.

——————Next day——————

Alex was the first to wake up, so he decided to take a shower. He turned the hot water on and waited for it to heat up while he undressed.

He bathed and sat down in the shower, thinking about the day ahead of him, when his phone dinged.

From ???: hey I hope you're up. I left you a small something on your front porch. I promise it isn't poisoned or tampered with.