What They Say (Mullette)

VI

Two days later, Hercules woke up to hear some odd noises coming from the other side of the wall separating Laf's house. It took his sleep ridden mind a moment to figure out what it was, but when he did, he sat bolt upright in bed. Holy shit, he thought, he has a boyfriend.

He turned over in bed, blocking out the sounds and trying to fall asleep. Why should he care if Lafayette was seeing someone? The sounds stopped suddenly, leaving blissful silence in its place. Hercules listened curiously.

-

Lafayette watched the dark-haired man get dressed. He'd told himself that the guy would probably use him and leave, and he was right. But, he felt a strange longing for him to spend the night beside him. "Stay?" He whispered hoarsely.

The guy—god what was his name again? Something Lee, he was a catholic school kid—glanced back at Laf for a moment, smiling. "Look you're cute, don't get me wrong, and the accent is a definite turn-on. But, I'm not going to lead you on and make you think we can be anything more than this. I'm sorry," he apologized.

Lafayette fixed his gaze on the duvet. "I understand..."

"But hey, if you wanna do this again, call me, okay?" Lee added, handing Lafayette a piece of paper with his phone number and his name. Charles Lee. Lafayette nodded dejectedly, setting the paper on his nightstand and pulling the duvet up to his chin. He heard the sound of his window scraping open, Charles stepping out onto the roof before forcing the window shut again. Lafayette let out a quiet sob, clapping a hand over his mouth.

-

Meanwhile, Hercules had listened to the whole exchange, growing increasingly angry. How dare that guy do that to his friend? He resolved that he would talk to Laf about it tomorrow before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, Hercules caught Laf bright and early as he began the walk to school. He crisp fall air jolted him awake, hurting his lungs slightly as he jogged to catch up with his friend. "Hey, Laf!" He called cheerfully. Lafayette ignored him.

Hercules' brow furrowed. "Laf? You there?" Again silence. Was he walking faster? "Lafayette, what's wrong?"

"Leave me alone, Hercules," Laf snapped, not looking Herc in the eye. Hercules stopped walking, startled by the harsh tone. Lafayette continued walking, leaving Hercules behind without so much as a backward glance.

And so the pattern was established. For the next three weeks, Hercules would hear Lafayette's nightly activities, would hear his friend grow more and more emotionally distant with each person. One night he even had to kick out a guy who had decided to spend the night. Then the next day, Hercules would try to talk to him, only to be ignored or snapped at, leaving him confused and hurt.

That is, until one night, having been kept up later then usual by Lafayette and his latest "friend" as they went for what Hercules thought was round three, he resolved to get Lafayette to talk to him. He was done with hearing the guy he lo- his friend get his heart broken repeatedly and continue to sleep with guys who weren't h- who only saw Lafayette as some object.

The next day, Hercules walked into school, and saw Lafayette standing with Alex. The two were chatting, and then Alex said goodbye, walking down the hallway. Hercules mustered all the courage he could, taking a deep breath, before walking up to Lafayette. "Hey," he said.

Lafayette jumped, turning around, but not looking at Herc. "H-Hercules, hi," he stammered.

"Can we talk? I hate this, not being around you," Hercules asked, "I like hanging out with you."

"You should have thought about that before you-" Lafayette lowered his voice, "before you kissed me and ran away."

That set Hercules off. "That's why you're not talking to me?! I had never done anything like that before! I'd never felt that way about... hell, anyone, and it scared the shit out of me!" He shouted.

"What is it you Americans say? Oh yes, excuses excuses," Lafayette replied.

Hercules laughed in disbelief. "Wait wait wait. Lemme guess, that's also why you've been bringing home a different guy ever other night?"

"And what if it is? What's it to you mister "I'm not- I can't-"" Lafayette snarled, mocking him.

"Look, you know what you do when this shit happens? You talk about it! You don't sleep around like a fucking whore and then act like you're better than me!" Hercules screamed, not caring who heard, but regretting it right after. "Oh God, Laf. I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Yes you did. You meant every word of it," Lafayette stated, tears welling in his eyes. "Y-you're right, too. I-I am a whore..." Lafayette ran off before Hercules could stop him. God, what had he done?

A/N Aaaaaangst
That is all.

But seriously, I'm in pain writing this why do I do this? Yeah, short angsty little chapter... I'm sorry the pacing has just gone to hell, I'll try to make things a little better and pace it a bit slower, things are just all over the place rn...