helpless (lams oneshots)

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this is for -capetownie ily bub sorry this is choppy i'll do a part two later

To say Alex was stressed was an understatement. Even after his stomach would growl and his hand would cramp he kept his pencil to paper, writing as much as he could before another dizzy spell would take over and he'd start to drift off again.

His eyelids got heavy and started to droop and he shook his head again, cursing under his breath. His vision was black around the edges and he felt his head slowly start to fall to rest on the desk.

As soon as his forehead touched the cool metal, his head shot up. This continued all through the night and in a last ditch effort to keep himself awake he stood up and went to his bathroom. He ran the water and splashed his face, shivering at how cold it was.

Alex made his way out of his room and to his kitchen. He couldn't be bothered to make dishes for himself to clean, that would only make more distractions for him instead of writing in his room. He grabbed a phonebook that had sat in the corner of his kitchen since he had moved in, flipping through the pages and looking for any local pizza places.

He would have looked it up on his phone if his bill was paid, but it along with a few other pills sat piled on the kitchen table. In an effort to save money, he had only paid bills that he needed; electricity and water. He didn't pay his insurance, didn't pay for the paper boy, didn't pay for anything he felt he didn't need.

He found a pizza place and dialed the number on a prepaid phone he had bought one night on a late trip to the grocery store. It only costed $20 so he didn't mind paying for the prepaid cards when he needed.

"Laurens' Pizza Palace, how may I help you?" Said a man in a monotone voice. Alex rubbed his eyes and mumbled down the line, "Do you deliver?"

"Yes! Would you like to place an order?" Said a completely different voice. Alex would have said something but he was honestly too tired to give a damn, "Yes, I would. Can I order one," He paused, debating what he should get. He was stuck between the hawiian and the pepperoni. He sighed, "Pick for me. Hawiian or pepperoni? Which is better?"

"Oh, uh... Well if you want to know my favorite, I'd get hawiian." The new man said, "Alright, then one hawiian."

They discussed his address and the price and the wait time, to which Alexander replied in as short answers as he could manage.

He hung up his phone, leaning his head against his fridge and waiting for the delivery man to come.

It had been a good half-hour when there was a light knocking at the door, "Pizza!"

Alexander made his way over to the door, his vision going fuzzy again. He shook his head, grabbing his wallet as he walked past the kitchen table.

He stumbled to the door after almost falling over and threw it open. A man looked up at him, extending the pizza box out, "Here you are, sir. One hawiian pizza, to a Mr. Alexander. That'll be $8.97." He said with a happy expressipn on his face. Alex huffed, thrusting the ten out to him and muttering, "Keep the change."

Alex took the pizza and thanked the man before he piped up, "Sir, are you alright?" He frowned, of course he was alright. Just tired, staying up all night never killed anyone, "Yes, I am." He said, "But, thank you for your concern..." He trailed off as his vision blurred around the edges. He blinked rapidly a few times to try and see normally again but this time he couldn't seem to shake the sleepiness that was overpowering him.

His hand flew to the wall and he kept himself up. "Just tired." He assured, mumbling a little. He kept the pizza box close to his chest, his eyes trailing back to the door. The man was still there, a mixed expression of sympathy and awkwardness painted on his face.

He looked torn, as if he didn't knoe if he should help Alexander or just leave. To Alexander's surprise, the man entered his house, taking the pizza box. "Hey! You.. you can't do that. This is my house." He mumbled, his vision going dark again.

He saw the man set the pizza down on the kitchen table and rush back over, "I'm sorry, sir. You don't seem well, I want to help." Alex opened his mouth to protest but it shut quickly as he slid down the wall, blacking out.

~

"Papa, please! I was only trying to help him."

Alexander's eyes cracked open at the sound of someone yelling.

"No! I wasn't trying to slack off! Yes- I know there were a lot of orders but did you expect me to leave him here alone?"

Alexander sat up, his back ached and his bones popped. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, looking over to see the pizza boy from earlier on his phone. He was turned away from the couch, yelling down the line at who Alex presumed was his father.

"Let me check up on him and make sure he's okay first. I'll head back after." He sighed. Alex got up, slowly recalling the events that led up to where he was now.

"Yes, Papa. Okay, okay, bye." The man slammed his phone down and buried his face in his hands, sighing shakily. Alexander grimaced, he didn't want tl have to comfort the man, as rude as that sounded. He already had enough on his plate.

Alexander cleared his throat and the man spun around, his eyes glossed over, "Oh! You're awake.. Did you hear that? I'm sorry. I probably woke you up, it was my dad on the phone. He's mad at me because I stayed here with you." He babbled and Alexander held up his hand.

"It's alright. You should go, he sounds upset..." Alex said, guilt overcomimg his body. He looked at the nametag on his chest, John, "You might get in more trouble." He said. John's face screwed up for a second and he looked toward the door, "I... I guess you're right." John said, looking back to Alex.

John gave Alexander a small smile, "Uh, I know you don't even know who I am.. But please, take a break every now and then. You look really tired and your eyes are so bloodshot, it's rather scary." John frowned. Alex tensed up, this man had no right saying that. He had no right to tell Alex that he needed to take a break. He didn't take breaks, they only distracted him from his work.

John bid Alex goodbye, a blush on his freckled cheeks. He waved and left without another word. For some unknown reason, Alexander's heart ached a bit at his lack of company.

He glanced back at the pizza box, going towards it and taking out a slice. He ate slowly, his mind now clouded with thoughts of the man John and his family's pizza place.

After his slice, he found himself making his way back to his room. His pencil found it's way back to his hand and he continued to write what he had been writing all night, a letter to Elizabeth Schuyler.