Soft | Lams

Chapitre Quarante-Neuf

"I feel so sick," Alex complained after Thanksgiving dinner. He was sprawled out on his back on the bed they were sharing in the guest room. John laughed.

"I mean, you didn't say no, so you made my mom happy," he pointed out. Alex groaned.

"Was it worth it, though?" Alex wondered aloud. Once again, John laughed.

"Long term, probably," John said.

"I'm sleeping this off," Alex decided. "I won't be conscious for the next couple hours, hope you don't mind."

"You do that," John laughed. He got up off of the bed he had been sitting on, and went downstairs to help his mom clean up. He passed Henry Jr. on his way to the kitchen, but barely even glanced at him. They hadn't spoken since the day prior. John walked into the kitchen, and his mom turned around to see who walked in. His dad didn't look away from the dishwasher as he loaded it.

"I'm here to help clean," John said told her. She smiled.

"This is why you're my favorite," She said to John. "Can you go and bring the last of the dishes on the table over here. When you finish that then help your father load the dishwasher. I'll be right back." Eleanor left the room and John went to get the rest of the dishes. He brought them over and started loading this dishwasher.

Originally content with the silence, it soon seemed awkward between him and his father. Henry was not cold with his son, but very reserved and quiet. They had never been super close, and the quiet in the kitchen reminded them of that. Thankfully it was soon broken.

"Alex is nice," Henry started, and smile tugging on the corners of his lips. John nodded.

"Well, I'm dating him, so he better be," John joked. Henry chuckled a little.

"Do you have pet names for him?" Henry asked, grinning cheekily. John was taken aback.

"Wh-what? No, I don't have pet names. What's that even supposed to mean? What makes you even think that?" John kept stuttering and babbling, while Henry started chuckling again.

"Well, if it wasn't for the fact that I heard you call him sweetheart when I passed the guest room one time, your damn stuttering would've been a dead giveaway, too," Henry explained, smirking. John blushed deep red.

"Daaad," John whined. "Be nice! I'm sure you call Mom pet names sometimes." Henry shook his head.

"Pet names are your mother's thing. I call her Eleanor like a gentleman," Henry said, trying to drop his southern accent in order to sound proper. His mother, as if sensing she was being talked about came back in the kitchen, and started washing the counter. John childishly glared at his father, smiling nonetheless.  He looked down and noticed the dishwasher was completely loaded.

"I'm gonna go up to the guest room, 'kay Mom?" Eleanor nodded, cheerfully, and John left the room to check on his boyfriend. He opened the door quietly and walked in, internally laughing when he saw Alex passed out on the bed, slightly snoring. John sat down on the bed, intentionally harder than he normally would have normally. Alex slowly opened his eyes and turned towards John.

"You feelin' better, hun?" John asked quietly. Hearing that pet name that John used ever so often in his southern accent was something Alex adored. Alex smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so," Alex said. He sat up "Do you wanna go downstairs?" John shrugged.

"Sure. I think Mary wants to get as much outta you as she can before we leave tomorrow evening," John laughed. He quickly sombered up a little, though. "Hey, my parents don't want to invade her privacy or anything, so they won't do this, but do you think you could look around Mary's bedroom at some point? I don't know, I feel like she's a little different, and I know you don't have a problem snooping." John winked at Alex, who laughed.

"Sure, I'll do that sometime," Alex said. "Now let's get downstairs."

OoOoO is Mary hiding something??? I guess you'll have to wait and seee