Let Me Inside Your Heart || Jamilton

Consolation

I swear, your pride will be the death of us all.

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Alexander was left alone in his embarrassed silence. He stared at the door for a moment, wishing he didn't have that damn habit of sleeping with nothing on. He slowly stood up and found his discarded clothing. He dressed himself, wishing he had a change of clothes. He knew he could probably just stay in here if he wanted to - after that awkward encounter, it was unlikely that Jefferson would be back too soon. And he wasn't sure he wanted to go out and face him. To his surprise, though, he heard footsteps approach his door. "C'mon, we're leaving soon," said Jefferson. Leaving? Where to? He didn't remember agreeing to go anywhere with Jefferson. With a resigned sigh, he opened the door to see Jefferson standing there with that smug smile of his. "Ready to go?" "Go where?" "To get you clothes. Unless you want to wear ashes." He felt sick to his stomach as that was mentioned. His house... his memories... gone.

"Right... Let's go then." He huffed and walked out of the house with the taller man. "Want to stop and get breakfast?" "Sure, I guess." He refused to look directly at Thomas. Rather, he stared straight ahead. They took his car and headed off. While Thomas drove, Alexander boredly thumbed through his phone. He went to his pictures and looked through them.

And then he froze.

He was staring at a picture that he'd forgotten he had taken. It was of him and Laurens. They were drunk as hell. Alex was smiling, John was sitting on his lap and laughing. The nausea from earlier returned, stronger than ever. His face paled. He genuinely felt as if he was going to throw up. Thomas looked over at him. "Wanna go in, or-" he paused. Alexander looked up. He hadn't even realised they'd arrived at a restaurant. "I'm not hungry anymore," he said quietly. "What's wrong?" He shook his head. "Nothing."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and he shook it off. He hadn't let grief get to him. He hadn't cried once since John's death. Aside from a bit last night, but that was completely unintentional. He just let the numbness consume him. Sure, he'd gotten the sympathetic glances. But something about the way Thomas was looking at him now made him want to spill it all. To let go. He bit his tongue until it bled.
"Come on. Just-"
He couldn't handle it anymore. It started with a tiny whimper, and then he was full-on crying. Through his tears and sobbing, he explained the entire thing to Thomas. How Hercules probably hated him now for the words they exchanged. For him blaming John's death on his innocent friend. Thomas just awkwardly had an arm around him while he sobbed into his shoulder. It took about five minutes, but Alex finally managed to calm himself. His eyes were red and puffy. He sniffled before straightening. The two sat in silence for a bit, before the shorter man broke the silence. "Thanks, Jefferson." He glanced over. "No problem, but since you're going to be staying with me for a while, maybe we should go by a first name basis." Alex shrugged. Thomas didn't push it. "I think drive-through is our best bet," he said. Alexander just nodded.

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Things remained a bit awkward after they ate. But the tension was broken when Alexander saw just where Thomas was planning on taking him clothes shopping. "What the actual fuck, Thomas? I can't afford to shop here. I have to, you know, get a new damn house." He was looking at a building he had only been in a few times. It was huge. And it was one of those shops in which only the wealthy bought clothing from. Thomas just laughed. "That's why I'm paying."
"No, you're not."
"Am so."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"For fuck's sake, Alexander. For once in your life, swallow your pride. I'm trying to be nice to you."
"And why would that be?"
"I'm not all bad."
Alexander could argue against that, but he was too busy trying to defend himself from Thomas, who had gotten out of the car and was now attempting to drag Alex out. Alexander could win most verbal arguments, but was not capable of physically resisting the stronger man who was pulling him out by the arm. He shoved him away with a grunt after he had been tugged out. "Whatever. You win."
"Say it again."
"I hate everything about you."
"I know." Thomas grinned and dragged him by the hand into the store.

"What about this?" Thomas held up a dark purple shirt. "That's disgusting. No." Thomas pouted, crossing his arms. He looked like a child who hadn't gotten their way. He rolled his eyes. They were near the end of their shopping trip, but Thomas had insisted on getting one more thing for Alexander. "Can't we just leave?" He asked. "If you let me get this for you." He sighed and closed his eyes, raising his hands into the air in exasperation. "Fine. Fine, whatever. But I'm never wearing it." The other man just grinned widely and they went to the registers.

They stayed out for a while, just driving around. Alexander got a new laptop, but he insisted on paying for it. He outright refused to even let Thomas go into the store with him. After that they went back to Thomas's place. As soon as they stepped in the door, Alex made a beeline for the guestroom in which he was staying so he could change. After that he decided to turn on his new laptop and check out the features on it. He would have been working, but after his boss had been informed about the fire (the source had been traced - the fire was started intentionally, but the culprit(s) hadn't yet been identified), he insisted on giving Alexander a week to recover. So when he got bored, he stepped out of his room and made his way to the living room. This is where he found Thomas, watching TV. Some dumb comedy series that Alex couldn't be bothered to ask about. He would rather be watching something off of Investigation Discovery or the History channel, but decided that hey, it was Thomas's house, he couldn't dictate what they watched. He simply sat down beside the man. Thomas let out a disgusted grunt. "Oh, it's you." Alex just rolled his eyes and didn't bother to respond. After a while of the mind-numbingly stupid comedy, Alex felt himself growing tired, and before he could go back to his room he fell asleep sitting up. His head lolled over and managed to rest on Thomas's shoulder. He stiffened as he looked down at the sleeping scholar. With a sigh, Thomas relaxed and continued watching the show. He'd wake him for dinner later.