Coffee (Lams)

Chapter 12

Laurens digs through his friend's closet. He roots around for a few minutes before emerging with a green turtleneck and black slacks.

"Is THIS okay?" He asks.

"That is the first acceptable thing you've shown me all afternoon. I think I'm going to wear it."

Hamilton answers, and he takes the outfit. "So, what are you going to wear?"

Laurens ponders this for a moment.

"I don't know." He answers.

Laurens is ushered to his own room and watches as Hamilton digs through his drawers. Finally, Hamilton pulls out a powder blue button-up shirt and brown dress pants, along with a black tie.

"Looks like the outfits are decided." He says.

"We're going to look like losers." Laurens groans.

"Cute losers." Hamilton corrects.

They arrive at the restaurant almost a half an hour early, at Laurens' request, but Hercules and Lafayette were already there. Laurens was nervous, and he could feel sweat trickling down his face and neck.

"Yo, Herc!" He calls out. Fuck being nervous, he had a date. Hercules looked up and waved them over. He had worn an impeccably tailored suit.

"I see that you're overdressed, as usual." Laurens comments.

"Or perhaps you two are underdressed." Hercules replies. They both laughed.

"So, Hercules. Can I speak with you a second? Alone?" Laurens asked. They walked a little bit away from the entrance, and Laurens hisses, "You aren't going to pull any shit like last year, right?"

"John, I swear to God, that was an accident! Besides, I have to stay sober to keep an eye on Laf."

"So, have you done it yet? Hercules asked.

Laurens stiffens. Shit.

"John, answer me."

"Shush."

"John, you're sweating."

"Shhh."

"The jig is up, John."

"Fine. No, no I haven't." Laurens admits.

"John."

Laurens instinctively bites his nails. Whoops, was he suposed to? They walked back to the group, and Lafayette grabs onto Laurens' arm.

"John! What a pleasure to see you." Lafayette says, guiding Laurens away from the group. Laurens looks back at Hamilton, helpless.

"So, you two are still friends." They said once they were far enough from the group.

"Fuck." Was Laurens' reply.

"Well, you know, it does take time." Lafayette says, "It was quite a while before Hercules and I-"

"Alright, alright! I get it!" Laurens says.

They walk back to the group, laughing.

"Hey, 'Lexy." He said, the nickname making Hamilton pout.

"Lexy?" Hercules and Lafayette say at the same time.

Laurens laughs. Hercules' phone buzzes.

"Hey, we gotta go, lovebirds."

Laurens walked into the restaurant, hand in hand with Hamilton. The place was fancy. Too fancy.

"So, um, Herc." He says, tapping Hercules on the shoulder. "What's the occasion? I mean, this is a swanky place here. What's your deal?"

"Well, me and Laf were talking about how our little baby was growing up, and then we agreed that we needed to take you guys out. Get to know the man that stole our little Johnny-boy's heart a little." Hercules explains, gesturing to the restaurant around them.

"Here we are, Mr. Mulligan." The waitress that was leading them said. Hercules thanked her. He pulled out a chair for Lafayette, who thanked Hercules before sitting down. Hercules sat down next to him. Lafayette kissed Hercules on the cheek and giggled. Laurens rolled his eyes. Was Lafayette going to act like a fucking middle schooler all night? Laurens looked over at Hamilton. Hamilton shrugged.

"So, Hamilton. You are ze one who Laurens was gushing about! I don't believe we've met." Lafayette says.

"Well, I think we've met once, but that night doesn't count." Hamilton corrects.

"Wait, you were there? Great!" Lafayette rages.

Hercules wraps an arm around Lafayette's waist.

"Don't worry about it." He says reassuringly.

Lafayette crosses their arms and lets out a sound of indignation. He looks back up at Hamilton, and cocks their head to the side.

"Say, you look a little familiar." Lafayette muses.

"Actually, I'm Burr's roommate. Though I tend to stay out of the little parties he throws." Hamilton explains.

"Wait, you're Burr's roommate? I didn't even realize it!" Lafayette exclaims.

Laurens sits at the table, zoning out as Lafayette chats with his "date". Hercules, noticing that no one was paying attention, took it upon himself to order everyone's food. Laurens didn't even realize how long he'd been sitting there until a steaming plate of food was placed in front of him. Lafayette and Hamilton were still chatting away, though now they were speaking entirely in French. Laurens wasn't really paying attention enough to translate what they were saying. He took a bite of the food in front of him. Hercules sure knew what to order.

"Hey Johnny-boy, look at that. Who's dating who here, am I right?" Hercules nested, pointing at Lafayette and Hamilton.

Laurens looked over at the two. He taps Hamilton on the shoulder, making him look up.

"What, John?" Hamilton asks.

"Nothing." Laurens said. He went back to eating his food. Hamilton looks at him questioningly, but continues talking to Lafayette. Laurens kept hearing a chair scraping against the floor. He looked up to see Lafayette scooting their chair towards Hercules. Seeing the bottle of wine on the table and the empty glass in Lafayette's hand, Laurens put two and two together.

"Oh no." He whispered. Hamilton looked at him, and Laurens pointed at Lafayette. They watched as Lafayette threw both of their arms around Hercules and giggled. As Laurens finishes off the last bite, he hears a crash. He looked up and saw that Lafayette had knocked Hercules down , and Hercules was trying to remove the drunk Lafayette from on top of him. The waiter was looking at the two with disdain.

"Johnny, help me!" Hercules exclaims.

Laurens stands up and pulls Lafayette off of Hercules, placing them back in their chair.

"We should maybe go..." Laurens whispered to Hercules, "I think that's the manager."

"Aww, I really liked this place, too." Hercules said. They collect their things, and Lafayette, Hamilton and Laurens dash out the door while Hercules pays.

"Well, that could've gone better." Laurens said. They'd brought Lafayette to Hercules' car, and they were currently sitting in Laurens' pickup truck.

"I thought it was nice." Hamilton replies.

Laurens drums his fingers against the center console. He felt Hamilton's fingers intertwine with his, and he squeezes his hand. Maybe this was a good idea after all.