October 15th, 2017
Alexander's House
Freshman Year of College
//I live through pictures as if I was right there by your side//
Alexander sat on his bed, reading through one of John's old books.
Ever since John had left, Alexander had been a mess. He'd wear John's shirts and hoodies all the time, trying to imagine what the warmth of John's arms around him would feel like.
He looked through John's sketch books. There were many drawings, but most of them were of Alexander.
Alexander cried any time he flipped through the sketches, looking at the light markings that sculpted his features. He never knew that John had these.
He also looked through John's writings. Many were about a broken heart and left tears staining Alexander's face. John had written countless poems about his heart shattering and dozens of short stories about the one that got away. Alexander held each and every one of the beautifully written pieces close to his heart.
There was a knock at the door. George and Martha weren't home; they were away on a weekend together, hoping to relax a bit.
Alexander sighed, wiping the tears off of his cheeks. He pulled his hair into a bun and yelled, "Coming!" as he made his way downstairs.
He opened the door with a smile, "Hi ther-"
His smile dropped when he saw John standing in the doorway with Jack on his hip and Martha holding his hand. A suitcase stood behind them.
"John?" Alexander whispered.
John smiled sadly with tears in his eyes, "Hi Lexi."
"Uh, I, uh, do you want to come in?" Alexander asked, pulling the door back for them.
"That would be great," John mumbled.
Martha ran inside and jumped on the couch, "Home! We're finally home!"
Alexander smiled. He missed her exciting personality.
John sat Jack down next to Martha and pulled their suitcase inside, putting it beside the couch.
John took a breath, "Look, I know that you're probably really confused, but if you let me-"
Alexander cut him off, pulling him into the kitchen, "Confused? Yeah, just a little. You only left before graduation, went missing for three months, leaving behind no explanation what so ever, and then show up at my door one day, hoping to be forgiven?"
"Lexi, listen," John tried to interrupt, but Alexander wouldn't let him.
"No, John. My god! You left before our high school graduation! That day was supposed to be spent together! But I spent it alone, crying. I was going to ask you to the prom! I was going to ask you if you wanted to be more than just best friends, because I am so sick of living my life without telling you how I feel! But you left, and then I am told that you've loved me all this godamn time? I missed you so fucking much, John! And you take the kids with you as well? Where did you go for three months?" Alexander yelled, "Were you afraid of commitment? Afraid of being with me? Why did you fucking leave?"
John felt tears well in his eyes. Alexander wanted to be with him?
"Lexi, my dad escaped from jail the night of prom."
Alexander looked up, tears falling from his eyes, "What?"
"H-He stole some keys from a guard and he somehow managed to escape. I received a call from an investigator that night saying I was to bring my sister, Jack and I to a secret address so that we could be safe."
"Y-You what?" Alexander whispered.
"The investigators said that my father knew where we were s-staying, and we needed to be on the move. We stayed in eight different hotels, trying to keep safe until they had him behind bars again."
"Oh," Alexander breathed.
"We had no idea how long it would take, and," John turned to Alexander, "I missed you so much, Alexander."
"I'm sorry I never wrote to you or gave you some sort of clue as to where I was. They wouldn't let us do anything that could even possibly compromise our safety. But I did write to you, the letters were just never sent," John said with a sad smile.
"John, I'm sorry-" Alexander tried to apologize, but John waved him off.
"It's okay. You have no reason to be sorry. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry for leaving."
Alexander shook his head, "No, don't be sorry."
"So, do you think I could move back in?" John asked with a smile.
Alexander chuckled, "Of course."
Alexander walked towards John and wrapped his arms around his chest, hugging him tightly. John wrapped his arms around Alexander's waist, hugging him tighter. Alexander buried his face in John's chest and smiled, his tears drying. John placed his chin on the top of Alexander's head, smiling.
"Lexi, is that my sweatshirt?"
YOU ARE READING
Paper Hearts ▪ Lams
Fanfiction[completed] it's like a goddamn tragedy because he looks at him like he put the stars in the sky and he looks at him like he's the only thing that matters but they both think that the other is looking down. [cover drawn by: @hamils...
