Speak Up // Lams

Chapter 28

- John's POV -

Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

"What, Alexander?" I laughed. He stopped poking my arm and smiled up at me. It was Wednesday morning and he'd been released from the hospital yesterday. He didn't go to school though, which surprised me. But I could tell he was eager to go back and see everyone.

I get to go back to class today! He signed with an excited look on his face. I laughed again and shook my head, pulling the covers off of us and getting out of bed.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited to go back to school." I said, stretching while I looked for something to wear. He smiled again and shook his head.

The past couple of days have been crazy. Alex in the hospital, me driving between school and home and the hospital to check up on him, trying to get him to eat stuff and failing 95% of the time. And, getting New York information.

We've set it all up. We're going to pack up all our stuff and move out of the apartment so we don't have to pay the rent for four months without even living there. We're keeping everything we can't take to NYC in Usnavi's extra room in his apartment. We're going to move to New York, get as cheap of an apartment as we can, and get Alex into eating disorder recovery as well as speech therapy.

I'm going to get a job up there, and Alex is planning on getting one as well if the speech therapy works. It'll be summer break when we're up there so we won't miss school, and since I'm a senior this year, I'll probably apply to a college up in New York incase we decide it would be better to stay.

Alex seems excited to go to New York but I can tell that he's very apprehensive as well. He always refuses to admit his anxiety to me and let me help him through it. But he knows that whenever he needs me, no matter when or where or why he needs me, I'll be there.

I finish getting dressed and so does Alex and I peek at the clock, noticing we have about twenty minutes before we have to leave so we can get to school on time.

"We have time to grab breakfast on the way.." I say as I pull on my Converse. He shrugs a little bit in response. I can tell he's still apprehensive about eating and it usually takes a lot of convincing to get him to eat a tiny bit.

"We can go to that little café! I can get you one of those really good coffees that you like, and they have breakfast sandwiches. Or you could get a donut or a croissant! That sounds really good, doesn't it?" I said, in an attempt to convince him. He shrugged again and I sighed to myself.

"Ok. We'll drive by, and you can decide if you want something. But I'm starving, so I know that I'll get something. Just let me know, alright? Consider it. Doesn't coffee and a donut sound really good?" I replied. This is the tactic I'd been choosing to use lately. Just throwing the idea out there and trying to entice Alex into it. Sometimes it worked, but nine times out of ten, it didn't.

We grabbed all our schoolwork and backpacks and such and got into the car. I almost always drive because Alex doesn't like to. I drove to the cafe and pulled in to an empty parking spot. We got out of the car and I took Alex's hand, holding it in mine. He smiled up at me and pressed a soft kiss to my lips as I opened the door.

As soon as we walked in, the smell of donuts and coffee washed over me. I took a deep breath and smiled at Alex, leading him to a small table where we waited for a waitress.

"Do you want something? I'll order for you." I said, leaning across the table a little to speak with him. Surprising me completely, he pointed to something in the menu and I nodded, a smile quickly spreading across my face.

I ordered coffee for both of us and a breakfast sandwich for me, as well as fruit and toast for Alex. It wasn't much, but it's enough to start with. We ate and went over stuff about New York a little bit more. We talked (well, I did  Alex signed,) about how school ends in less than a month and everything we wanted to do in New York.

I want to see a Broadway show. It would be so much fun.

I laughed a little bit at that and nodded. Of course Alexanders first thought about New York was about Broadway. But I can't blame him for that.

We finished eating and went to school, where Alexander was quickly swarmed by well meaning friends and even teachers. He seemed happy. For once, things seemed to be looking up.

Hopefully it would stay that way.