In New York You Can Be a New Man

Chapter Five

Cue the cliche chapter! Anyways, here's when Alex finally opens up to John (I guess) so enjoy!

***

"Okay, I can tell something's up. You can tell us, mon ami." Lafayette tilted his head so that he was in John's eye line. "We're practically your best friends; you can trust us."

"All right, let me get something to eat first." John said, looking both Lafayette and Hercules in the eye in turn.

The pair waited patiently until John returned, and then began to barrage him with questions. John shot them looks, and they stopped talking.

"Okay, it's about Alexander. He-"

"I knew it! You always have roommate trouble!" Hercules called, but then a look of guilt flashed across his face. "Sorry for interrupting, please continue."

John rose an eyebrow at Hercules but continued, "No, we aren't dating. I've spent a half of a year together, and I hardly know him. I don't even know his phone number! All I know is his favorite color is green and a bunch of other random irrelevant facts."

"There's not much we can do, John. Just keep trying. You can't be that dislikeable—oh wait, just kidding." Hercules said with a smile.

At that, John exclaimed a sound of indignation and picked up his plate to eat in his dorm.

"You guys are impossible." John said, discreetly flipping his friends off.

John jogged across the campus, raising his jacket above his head to cover himself from the rains. Luckily, no thunder had occurred, but it was predicted to show up any time now.

Reaching his dormitory, John sighed in relief and lowered his jacket.

--

John took a deep breath and inserted his key into the shared dorm's lock. John hadn't seen Alexander since the night before, but he knew that his roommate would be sitting in his desk, typing on his computer like always.

The door creaked open, and John scanned the room.

"Hey, Alex? You there?"

There was no response, which was normal for Alexander, but this time, John didn't see Alexander sitting at his desk.

A flash of lightning illuminated the room, and John heard a whimper from Alexander's side of the room.

Immediately, John rushed to that side, scanning for Alexander's small frame. Another crack of lightning, and John noticed a shaking blanket.

John sat down on the bed and pulled away the blanket. Inside, Alexander sat, curled up in a ball and hugging his sides.

"Alexander? You alright?"

Alexander met John's eyes, but they were dull and full of fear. John wanted to try and comfort Alexander, but he didn't know how.

Instead, John lifted Alexander's frail body and set him on his own lap. Running his hands through Alexander's hair, John murmured into Alexander's ear, trying to calm him down.

"Hey, darling, it's gonna' be alright. I'm here for you. Nothings gonna happen. I've got ya."

Alexander only whimpered in response, digging his face deeper into John's shoulder.

The rain continued to pour, and John started to rub Alexander's back as well.

"Do you want to talk about what's making you feel-"

Even before John could finish his sentence, a flash of lightning shone through the window, and Alexander nodded his head vigorously.

Gently, John turned Alexander's body so that he faced John. "Alright, go ahead."

"I-I was brought up in the Caribbean... There was a rainstorm. And e-everyone died except for me... I couldn't seem to die..." Alexander muttered, feeling the tears spill down his cheeks.

John noticed Alexander's normally-eloquent words become chopped and stuttered. This only made John want to kiss Alexander's forehead in a comforting gesture, but Alexander was shaking too much.

As the night progressed and the rain refused to cease, Alexander kept himself huddled into John's side and John kept his arms tightly wrapped around Alexander.

Around 2 AM, John heard Alexander's breathing steady. Not wanting to disturb his roommate's slumber, John reclined in Alexander's bed and shifted Alexander to be more comfortable.

"Night, Alex." John said, pulling the blankets tighter around Alexander.

***

Well! Here we are! It took me forever to complete this, and I'm sorry! But thank you for 2k reads !! (◡‿◡✿) it means a lot!!

I might not update a lot this weekend/week, I have LOTS of homework and I'm kinda stressed out. Sorry!