We Should Be Together - Lams AU

12.

"John! John!" Lafayette banged on the door. "John, come out of there. Please!"

"Seriously, John, we're worried about you!" Hercules' smooth baritone voice cut through the air.

"John?" Alex tapped quietly on the door. "Can you let me in?"

I was still inside, still crying madly. All I wanted was to just have a nice trip, before getting Alex, but no. I wasn't even allowed that. Tears poured down my face as I sat on the grubby toilet floor, leaning against the wall.

"Just leave me alone," I screamed, before breaking down all over again. I didn't know how long I'd been in the toilet now, but long enough for everyone on the plane to know there was a problem.

"Boys, you need to go and take your seats. We're landing soon, and you all need to have seat belts on." Mr Washington had arrived now. As soon as they'd left, I heard another knock on the door.

"John? Are you alright?" Mr Washington asked, voice void of taunting or laughter.

"No," I mumbled.

"John, I know that this is the last thing you want right now, but you do need to come out of the toilet," He explained. Ha. Fat chance. "I've arranged for you and Aaron Burr to swap, so you can sit next to Alex whilst we land."

That coaxed me into opening the door. Mr Washington threw me a sympathetic smile, and led me to my new seat where all my hand luggage had been neatly arranged. I slid into the seat next to Alex, and saw him mouth a 'Thank you' at Mr Washington.

People were still staring at me, filling me with shame. I covered my puffy red eyes with my hands and hoped that my tear stained cheeks weren't too obvious. But still, I felt people's stares from all over the plane.

The second the doors were open after we'd touched down, I grabbed my stuff and stormed off the plane. I was just trying to avoid eye contact with everyone, but apparently the heavens were opposed to that.

I didn't see Charles Lee sticking out his leg until I'd come crashing down on the floor. I lay wincing I pain as everyone laughed. My eyes met George's, who was finding this the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

Charles hissed some horrible homophobic insult and spat at me, but Alex pushed him out the way and pulled me to my feet. I was so humiliated. In that moment, I just wanted to die.

Laf and Herc also came to my rescue and they all got me off the plane without any other incidents. They guarded me on the bus and in the hotel lobby as well. I was so grateful for them. And Alex... he was my knight in shining armour.

Alex did a quick check that he was sharing with me, before escorting me up to our room. Once we were safely locked inside our room, I let my suitcase fall to the floor and slid down the wall crying.

Alex joined me, wrapping his arms around me and cradling me to his chest.

"Shh, it's OK, John. It just doesn't seem it now," Alex reassured. "Soon it'll all blow over and everyone will have forgotten. Don't worry. The gossips have bigger fish to fry."

Still, I sobbed into his chest, unable to control myself. He traced calming circles into my head, softly playing with me hair and shushing me.

"I-I t-tried to d-deny it," I sobbed hopelessly. "B-b-but they d-didn't believe m-me."

"It's OK, John," Alex murmured into my hair. "It's OK to absolutely suck at lying. Which you do by the way. As soon as we get back to the States, we'll file for harassment and bullying in student support. Charles Lee isn't going to get away with that. Not even if I have to beat him up myself."

I giggled despite choking on tears, as did Alex. We both knew he would definitely lose that fight.

"Come on, it's late and we're all severely jet lagged," Alex sighed, jumping up and pulling me to my feet. "Let's get you to bed."

"OK," I quietly agreed as Alex quickly unchanged in front of me. I thanked God he hadn't judged me for what happened and still trusted me to watch him undress.

I couldn't stop myself from checking him out, though. His well defined abs, his toned abs, his v-line... oh my God! His v-line was heavenly.

I shook myself out of my trance and quickly undressed too, before sliding my turtle pyjama top over my head and pulling up my bottoms, also littered with tiny little cartoon turtles.

Alex saw them and shook his head, laughing.

"God, you still have a pair like that? Last time I saw you in turtle stuff was in grade eight!" He giggled.

"Yeah, like them?" I joked.

"Like them? I love them!" Alex clapped his hands and jumped up and down. "I want a pair!"

We both broke down into giggles, before we started reminiscing.

"Oh my God, and do you remember when we slept over at Herc's house and watched our first horror movie together in grade five?" I squealed.

"Oh yeah! How could I forget?" Alexander laughed. "We started with Saw!" He shuddered.

"That was a mistake," I laughed.

"And then do you remember in the summer of grade seven when we all got into a massive water ballon fight on the field during the last day of the semester?" Alex recalled.

"Ha, yes!" I remembered. "Which Team Revolutionary totally won, by the way."

"Well, yeah. I mean, the Democratic-Republicans cheated. Jefferson had more people and more balloons. But we beat him anyway!" Alex's eyes lit up.

"And speaking of Jefferson, do you remember how we used to call--" I was silenced by a knock on the door. Both Alex and I looked at it, before Alex got up to answer it.

"Hey, baby!" Eliza chirped. Ah, yes. The girl who watched the whole thing unfold and didn't stand up for me. What a bitch.

"Eliza!" Alex pressed his lips to her forehead, making me feel a fresh wave of jealousy.

"I was wondering, if for the Eiffel Tower trip tomorrow, we could go in pairs?" Eliza batted her eyelashes, still ignoring me.

"Yeah, of course," Alex agreed before turning to me. "John, do you want to join us?"

Eliza panicked. "Alex, we're supposed to be in pairs!"

"It's OK," Alex reassured her. "Mr Trumbull likes him. He won't care."

"Well, sure then," Eliza muttered, smiling weakly. "I'll see you tomorrow, baby."

"Night, Betsy!"

She blushed, before leaving. Alex closed the door and faced me, smiling.

"Well, I'll be going to bed then. Night, Alex!" I chirped falsely.

"Night, John," Alex yawned before climbing into one bed and I climbed into the other. He was closest to the switch, and so hit the lights, plunging us into darkness.

I drifted off to sleep thinking of Eliza. Yes, I'd had a temporary distraction, but now I was fully committed to my plan. She'd just shown she wasn't ballsy enough to date him when she didn't stand up to George.

Oh, my mind was buzzing with ideas. I couldn't wait for my next opportunity.

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Word Count: 1221 Words