What They Say (Mullette)

XII

Hercules flopped down on a couch, opening the box of pizza he'd bought. "Hercules!" Shouted Peggy, running towards him and sliding onto the couch next to him. She stole a piece of pizza. "So," she started, taking a bite, "how was your date with Laf?"

Herc laughed as the others joined them. All but Lafayette, that was, he'd gotten sick. "It was pretty good," he replied, "you're not gonna believe what happened, though."

"Oo! Spill!" Eliza said, smiling.

"Well, we were looking around, and we walked by this jewelry store. They were selling these promise rings and Laf..." Hercules sighed, "he got so excited. He wanted them so bad, but we both knew neither of us could really afford them... then, this little old lady came up and bought them for us," he stated, pulling the ring out from under his shirt.

"Aaaah! That's so cute!" Peggy squealed, taking a closer look. "L-le... le tiens," she read, struggling with the pronunciation without Lafayette there to help her.

"Yours," Alex translated, "it means 'yours." He was leaning against John, who had his arms wrapped around Alex's shoulders.

"Aaaawwww," Angelica said, "you two are complete saps, you know that?"

Herc laughed. "Yeah..."

"It's a shame that Laf isn't here..." Said John.

"Yeah... a real shame..." came a new voice.

They all turned around to find Thomas and James standing behind them. "Where are your bodyguards, Jefferson?" Alex snarled.

Thomas ignored the question. "So Lafayette's missing, is he? Wonder what he's doing?" Thomas purred coyly. "Maybe the same things he was doing back in France? I mean, old habits die hard... who's to say that he's not all la tiens..." he'd pronounced it wrong, but nobody corrected him. Everyone was just so shocked.

Hercules touched the ring around his neck. "You shut your filthy mouth, you sick fuck," he growled, curling his lip in disgust. How had he found out about Lafayette's past?

"Oh, didn't he already start sleeping around?" Thomas asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hercules asked. He knew what he was talking about, but he didn't understand how Thomas had found out.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. You shouted it loud enough for the whole school to hear," Thomas replied, "James, you've got a good memory, what was it he said exactly?"

James hesitated for a moment, biting his lip. "'You don't sleep around like a fucking whore and then act like you're better than me'" he quoted, suddenly taking great interest in his shoes.

The others gasped. Hercules and Laf hadn't told them about that incident, or about Lafayette's... activities. "You didn't actually..." John asked.

"Did he-" Peggy cut herself off.

"I see I've said enough," Thomas said coyly, "I'll be off. Let's go James."

"Was he telling the truth?" Asked Angelica, "did you really say that to him?"

"I... I was frustrated and angry and I used some words I regret..." Hercules mumbled, "look, Laf and I both made mistakes, but we'd prefer to just leave them in the past..." he said.

"No worries... you don't wanna talk about it, we don't have to talk about it," Alex said, returning his attention back to his book.