I Have Nowhere Else to Turn

Chapter Four

Jefferson's POV

He was pretty sure his brain short-circuited in that second.

The thoughts stopped moving and all the blood rushed through his ears. Even he could hear the silent buzzing of the speaker as John Laurens didn't speak.

Ten seconds passed.

Twenty.

And then, very quietly, "Pardon?".

Alexandra began to backtrack, hard. "No, I didn't mean to say that. That's not- I mean-" But Laurens wouldn't let her.

"No, I want to know all about this date." You could almost hear the quotations he used around the word 'date'. "You can't just say that you spent voluntary time with Thomas - I Loathe With My Heart And Soul - Jefferson. Unless he drugged you, which, in all honesty is a real possibility. Because if he did, Mulligan, myself and Lafayette would be happy to pay him a visit."

Alexandra glanced over at Jefferson. Said man shot the phone a glare and incredulous look.

"I promise he didn't. I would probably be in jail on assault charges if that was true. But John, you can't tell anyone about this. And I'm pretty sure it was a one time deal, anyways."

There was a shuffle in the background and then a shout, but Alex already had a basic idea who it was, groaning when Hercules Mulligan entered the conversation. "Yes, Hercules here, lovely to hear from you too. And just to make sure, you did imply that you went back to his place, correct?"

Questioning why she was friends with a group of such idiots, Alex reluctantly kept with her story, refusing to give them any holes for them to poke. "Yeah, but we didn't do anything, so, please, refrain from being your usual self."

"I know you love me," He snickered into the phone, giving Thomas a freakish Deja vu moment, imagining just how similar that idiot and Madison sounded.

Just because she could, Alexandra, responded, "Maybe, but at the moment, I love Thomas more," And hung up on him.

The awkward silence came back at full force. They each could hear the other breathing, which only increased how awkward it was.

Thomas couldn't take the silence, breaking even before Alexandra. "So..." He left hanging, wanting her to pick it up.

"Yeah," She began, rubbing the back of her neck; a nervous habit Jefferson had never noticed. "I'm really sorry about that. It's not true. I just felt that John and Herc were being imbéciles and I knew that would weird them out more than anything else."

Refusing to acknowledge why he felt a minute rush of sadness when the young brunette confessed her reason, Thomas huffed, crossed his arms, and wrinkled his nose, transforming into the human form of disgust. "While I can't argue with you that those two were being idiots - because when are they not - why did you have to use me as your excuse? Out of all the things out could have thought of, you now put me at the risk of being associated to you outside of despise and hatred. You must know that they are going to ask questions, making your assertion even more at risk, especially if there isn't a second date. And, as much as I hate to say it, I wouldn't be able to hold off an attack of two to three people if your friends think I abused you in some way, shape, or form more than I usually do."

Warily, she began, tipping Jefferson off to what he thought she was about to say: "So, you are implying there needs to be a 'second date', quote, unquote?"

Sighing and once again kneading his fingers against the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath, shooting a silent plea to God above, wondering why he had to communicate with such simpletons who were below him.