~Bonjour~ (Washette)

~03~

     It was halfway through the dinner now, and most of their food has been eaten along with Lafayette taking down glass after glass of wine. He didn't think much of it though, it was just casual dinner time drinking.
     The two boys also had to endure more compliments from the nice old lady. Laf didn't mind though, he quite enjoyed them and as he slowly consumed more wine, the comments were only egging him on until he was straight up flirting with George.
Before his attempts to flirt with George got too out of hand, he was approach by a tall, dark (and not to mention handsome) man. The man clearly had no interest in George because his attention was all on Lafayette.
     "Well who might this beautiful man be, professor Washington?" The man spoke, his voice was deep and raspy, his lips slowly curling into a smile. Lafayette couldn't help but smile back at the ebony man.
     "Shouldn't you be cross stitching or something, not snooping around in your professor's personal life?" George said with a sigh. "Hercules, this is Lafayette. Lafayette, Hercules." George motioned between the two.
     "Bonjour, Lafayette." Hercule said, gently grabbing and kissing Lafayette's hand. Even though Lafayette had mild interest in this new man, he couldn't help but blush at the gesture.
     "Salut!" Lafayette said in return, trying to brush off the awkwardness of what had just happened, but it just made Lafayette look even more awkward and flustered then before. "It is nice to meet you."
    "Likewise. I look forward to seeing you again." Hercules said with a quick wink before turning towards George. "So, old man, going for the exchange student, eh? Didn't know you were into French guys."
     It wasn't a secret there was going to be an exchange student. Everyone in Washington's English class knew he would be housing the student, so it was no surprise when Hercules brought it up.
     "Shut it, Mulligan. We are not on a date. Im taking him out to a restaurant so he can feel welcomed." George said with a huff. 
     "Whatever floats your boat, but I know a real way to welcome a man." Hercules turned to Lafayette. "Come to a party with me this weekend, it'll be in the B hall of dorm building 6. You can't miss it. I look forward to seeing you there." With that, Hercules was gone, not even bothering to say goodbye.
      "Did you hear that? I just got invited to my first ever party." Lafayette couldn't help but squeal. Back home, he never got invited to parties. Then again, he didn't really mind because he was usually too busy trying to keep his grades up. George let out a groan.
     "You're not actually going to go to that, are you? College parties are dumb. There's no point." It wasn't that George didn't want Lafayette to get out and make new friends, he was just worried that Lafayette would accidentally do something that he'd regret later.
     "Oh lighten up, monsieur! I bet I'll have a great time." Lafayette had decided, he would go to the party and try to make as many new friends as possible. He wasn't going to waste his years here in America. He wanted to put himself out there and just be free, so this is the perfect opportunity to do so.
    "Whatever, but I am not going to pick you up at 3 am when you need a ride home." George said grumpily.
     "Oh whatever! You're just jealous that you can't come with." Lafayette teased. George scoffed.
     "I doubt I would want to go to a loud party in a trashy college dorm that reeks of sex and alcohol." George replied before standing up, grabbing the check off of the table. "Not to mention cheap alcohol everywhere." George pretended to gag as he made his was towards the front to go pay.
Lafayette followed behind, making sure to stay relatively close to George. As George paid for their dinner, Lafayette took one final glace around the beautiful restaurant, letting his eyes wander across all of the patrons still sitting and eating.
     "Cmon, we've gotta get home before it gets too late. Oh, and we've gotta get-" George stopped when he realized that Lafayette was not paying attention. "Oh Laf, we'd better get you home. We have a lot to do in the morning and I cannot have you grumpy with a hangover."
    Lafayette just nodded and followed George out to the car. Lafayette wasn't like most when he was drunk. His usual loud, happy, and excited personality seems to die down the second he starts drinking. He then becomes quiet and even a bit emotional, along with the occasional spacing out, but he didn't mind. He didn't usually drink anyways.
     George opened up the passenger side door and helped Lafayette into the car, buckling the Frenchman's seatbelt. Once he closed Lafayette's door he made his way around to his own door, repeating the process with himself. He started the car and with that they were on their way back to George's home.
     "I really like you, George." Lafayette said after a few minuets off silence. George just let out a quiet chuckle as he kept his eyes on the road.
     "I like you too. I think we'll make for good friends." George said with a bright smile. Lafayette was just friend zoned, hard. Lafayette didn't pull his gaze from the window, but he did let out a clearly audible sigh.
     "Not in the friend way," was all Lafayette said after moments of deliberating whether or not he should continue speaking. He was hoping George in some way would reciprocate the feelings.
"Well in what other way?" George was stopped at a red light, giving him a chance to look over at Lafayette. Lafayette's cheeks were just as red as the spot lights.
"I don't know! In a not friend way!" He said quickly, his face flushed as he looked up at George.
George didn't say anything, just returning his gaze towards the road. He just assumed it was the alcohol making Lafayette say these things and he didn't want to embarrass himself by saying he had those feelings too if it was just Lafayette being drunk.
Lafayette, on the other hand, couldn't be more sober in this moment. He just confessed having feelings already for his professer but the Virginian just brushed him off as if he was nothing! Lafayette couldn't believe that George didn't even bother to say something back to him.
     You could have cut the tension between the two men with a knife. The way that George wouldn't even peek over at Lafayette while Lafayette stared daggers at George.
     George couldn't help but wonder how he got himself into this mess. He's know the Frenchman for a couple hours and already can formulate a list of a pretty hefty amount of the reasons he has feelings for Lafayette. He wouldn't admit he loves Lafayette though, he didn't believe in love at first sight.
     After the car ride, George pulled into the driveway of the Washington residence. Lafayette finally broke the awkward silence with a quiet, "thank you, Mr.Washington. I appreciate the effort you put into finding a restaurant that accommodated my lack of the ability to read English." Lafayette had never talked in a more disappointed, monotonous voice.
     Lafayette got out of the car, leaving George all to himself, before heading inside.
     "Jesus," George rubbed his temples, "it's going to be a long four years." And with that, he made his way inside.

1309 words. Hey hey hey! No, I'm not dead. Just busy with school, Halloween coming up, and not to mention my PSAT in 2 days. Oh well! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will do my best to get chapter 4 out soon! Thanks!
Buh-bye