Laurens, I Like You A Lot

I've Seen Wonders

John's P.O.V

Everyone meets up outside of my room to look for Alexander.

"Wait, how do you know where he is?" Aaron says.

"He texted me his location before his phone died. He just said he's by an Abercrombie, but there's a ton near us." I say. Everyone sighs.

"Should we split up and go to different Abercrombie stores to find him?" Herc suggest and people nod.

"Okay. Let's split up."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Peggy and I are working together to find Alexander. We decide to go to an Abercrombie that's farther from the campus because there's a library near this one and knowing Alexander, he probably would have entered the library first.

Peggy drives her car and even though I'm not that worried, I'm still worried. Worried to the point that my hand is shaking a little bit.

"John, you're scaring me. Relax, Alex texted you on where he was and knowing him, he probably wouldn't have moved from his spot. You're gonna find him."

"It's just...why would he do that? He knows that he's still not familiar. Gosh, he's so stupid and adorable."

"Well, you said that he wanted to impress you. I think that's pretty sweet."

"It is. But...god. I can't even be mad at him. He just wanted to impress me that sweetheart."

"Aww. You want to be mad at him and you can't. That's so sweet."

"Shut up. Let's just find my boyfriend."

"Awww."

"Leave me alone. Martha came the other day. She met Alexander and she told me that she loved him, which is always good."

"Well, that is good! That means that your family will love him when you introduce him to them. They have to like him so you guys could eventually get married."

"Peggy, we've been dating for a week. We aren't even thinking about marriage."

"Sure. What about his family?"

I stay silent, as I'm not really sure about his family, or if he has any. He hasn't really talked to me about the topic, so I'm guessing it's another sensitive topic.

"I don't know. He doesn't really talk to me about his family. I think it's something he isn't comfortable with yet, which is okay with me."

"Aw. You're respecting his boundaries."

"Quit saying aw or I'm gonna leap out of this car."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Peggy parks randomly in the street and we get out the car. We look around the area for Alexander and I don't see him.

"Let's not worry. We'll find him. Let's walk around." We walk slowly, trying to find Alexander. My eye falls on a sweater that looks pretty familiar, then I realize it's because I have a sweater just like that. I look more closely at the sweater and I notice a stain on it that only my sweater has.

I mentally slap myself.

"Peggy, that's my sweater." I say. Peggy raises her eyebrow as I walk towards my hoodie.

"Alexander?" He turns around and low and behold, it is him.

"John! You found me! Oh my gosh, have you heard of Starbucks? They have these crazy drinks called Frappuccinos, they are great." I want to be mad that we went on a wild goose chase, but he's so innocent and adorable here that I just laugh, attacking him into a hug.

"I missed you, you doof."

"I'm sorry. I'm..I..I just thought you would be proud of me if I became a little more independent but I guess I'm not ready."

"It's okay baby. It's okay. It's cute. But just, take a charger with you next time, okay? And use the maps app. That's why it's there."

"I wanted to feel like I was native to the land, but guess not."

"It's fine. Let's just go home, okay?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Peggy lets me drive her car so I could have some time with Alexander.

"New York is pretty big. I'm just realizing that." He says.

"How did you even navigate the train system?"

"I don't know. I just got on a train."

"Alexander, next time, just tell me so we could go together, okay?"

"I know, I know. I just wanted to be more independent, my whole life I've been depending on people. Hell, I depend on someone to pay for my tuition, I depend on you for all the support, I depend on all our friends for the giggles and secrets. I depended on my mother and then she passed. I couldn't depend on my father cause he left. I just...wanted to try something on my own." At a red light, I look over to Alexander. It's usually in these moments, the moments where he's most vulnerable when he tells me more about his life.

"I didn't know that about your parents. I'm sorry."

"No one does. I don't really share that information cause it's sad and stupid and I'm ashamed and then I get pity so don't give me pity."

"Okay. But is that why you don't talk much about your past? You're ashamed?" He nods. I start to drive again.

"I'm trying to rebuild myself without having people know how I was."

"You can still rebuild yourself. Alexander, I want to know everything about you. I want to know what irks you, what makes you smile. What makes you cry. I want to know the more serious things, like why you think your father left, how your mother died, how you came to New York. Then, I want to know the more silly things, like what's your favorite number and where's your favorite place to be kissed. You could've been raised by psychopaths and I would still want to date you and be yours." Alex laughs.

"I doubt the last part is true."

"It is. I'm crazy about you." I quickly glance at him and I see that he's looking at me.

"How crazy?"

"On a scale from 10-10? 12."

"I've never had someone express their feelings to me like that."

"Get used to it. I'm gonna tell you every day how much I love you." The car is silent for a while and it takes me a while to realize why.

I said I love you.