𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑 [𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙽𝚄𝙴𝙳]

On Our Way

A moment of silence passes between the two men, where nothing but Alexander's shaky hiccups, and Thomas's rapid heartbeat was heard. Well, perhaps not really the second one, but Thomas could swear it was as loud as it was in his ears in real life. He didn't know what pained him about the sight, or the words the immigrant had spoken. He didn't know why he wanted nothing more than to hold Alexander in his arms and tell him it'll be alright, without a hint of hesitation or worry in his voice. He wanted to believe his own words. He wanted Alexander to believe his words. He wanted to see the immigrant better.

Alexander blinked for a few moments when he saw Thomas reaching his hand down to him, confusion written in his eyes. The motion from the Virginian caused Gordita to mewl, automatically moving to rub against Alexander's leg, perhaps as a yearned attempt at protection or at least comfort. One of the two - Alexander couldn't decide which. He lightly shushed the animal, lifting his hand to scratch her chin, before hesitantly taking Thomas's hand. He helped himself up, automatically earning a pained sob from his own lips. He collapsed against Thomas, whose eyes had widened because of the action, quickly making headway to pick the smaller male up, despite the protesting meows of the cat below them. He set Alexander down on his desk, worrying his bottom lip between his top teeth.

Thomas wasn't an idiot. He knew full well who did this, who caused this. It didn't matter what kind of bullshit he already knew Alexander was going to try to pull. It'll be obvious that he didn't fall down the stairs, or burn himself on his straightening iron, if and when Thomas were to ask what happened. However, he completely doubted that Alexander would actually flat out tell him what happened. If he were to think that, he would be too trusting. So, while he managed to pull a first aid kit from one of the not-yet taped boxes, pulling out what he needed, he decided on different conversation.

"I like your cat."

Alexander cocked an eyebrow, watching the taller Virginian move around in slight confusion. However, when he saw the first-aid kit in the other's hands, the confusion wrote away, him instead staying silent on the subject. He knew he would have to undo all of the help Thomas was about to do, but he wasn't about to argue with the Southerner now, already knowing where that would lead him.

"G-Gordita?"
"Yeah."
"It means c-chubby girl in Spanish."
"Oh?"
The name brought a small chuckle out of Thomas's lips, as he grabbed the Neosporin from the clear box, along with a napkin. He tabbed some of the dried blood off of Alexander's lip, which earned a small hiss, before putting some Neosporin on the napkin, gently buffing it into the smaller male's lip.
"Why'd you settle on that?"
"B-Because she's chubby and J-John doesn't understand Spanish."
"Ah. So this is all John?"
There was a moment of silence coming from Alexander, before a sniffle followed suit after. Thomas sat the napkin down, now covering Alexander's busted lip with a small Band-aid. When Alexander had finally decided to speak, it wasn't much above a whisper.
It took all Thomas had not to beat somebodies ass then and there.
"I-I'm afraid of- of him."

Thomas heaved a heavy sigh, leaning forward and pressing a kiss against his forehead - as if that were to help literally anything in the current situation. Because of this action, Gordita let out a long mewl, jumping up into and curling up on Alexander's lap. The immigrant, in turn, let a small laugh escape his lips, settling on petting her. Thomas took this moment to assess the damage on Hamilton's eye.
"Do you want to leave?"
"..Y-Yeah."
"Can you?"
"N-No."
"Do you think what he's doing is right?"
"I don't.. I-I don't know."
Thomas frowned slightly, before only bothering to sigh and nod, leaning away from him. His lip was caught between his top teeth, and Alexander coughed into his hands. He glanced down at what was in his palm, before clenching his hands shit. He never opened them.

Thomas noticed this and glanced down at his hands with a small frown. He hesitated, before reaching out to take Alexander's hands in his own. Alexander shyed away from him for a moment, before already heaving a defeated sigh and putting his hands back. With careful movements, Thomas unfolded Alexander's hands so they were now open, glancing up at the other before looking down at what Alexander was so keen on hiding. It was a flower petal of all things, a striped carnation from what Thomas could tell. Thomas stared at it wide-eyed for a few moments, before swallowing down a new wave of emotions riding up in his throat. He took the petal from Alexander's hand, rubbing it between his fingers before letting it float from his hands down into the trashcan.

"Do you know who it is?"
"U-Uh- yeah."
Thomas paused for a moment, before nodding, running his hand through his unruly mess of hair. He hesitated, his decision ultimately landing on not speaking more about it, glancing around the room. He wasn't given a lot of information about the situation, but he wasn't like what he was told. He finally looked back at Alexander, who was currently busying his mind with petting his cat. The sight brought a small smile to his face.
"You can't stay there."
"I k-know."
"Do you have anywhere?"
"Harleigh."
"Who?"
"She's G-Gordita's vet. She knows everything. S-She lets me stay o-over if I need to."
"And she doesn't do anything to actually fucking stop it?"

Thomas's tone caused Alexander to flinch, the Virginian instantly frowning at the reaction. Following Alexander's silence, was a shaky sigh from the Southerner.
"You can't stand, can you?"
"H-Hardly."
"How did you get in here?"
"Don't- d-don't ask."
"What happened, anyway?"
"Untreated b-broken ankle, I think."
"Do I have permission to carry you?"
"Uh.. Y-Yes."

Thomas swallowed down and nodded, carefully wrapping his arms around Alexander. He picked the other up, with hardly any difficulty, the immigrant in turn clutching onto Gordita for dear life. She seemed used to it, though, a comfortable meow escaping the animal. Thomas glanced down at the two of them, as if to make sure they're okay, before beginning to carry Alexander to his own car, ignoring his rising frustration and anger. He knew that it was likely this was still going on, why didn't he do anything to stop it? Why couldn't he just think, for once, instead of ignoring the problem? Why did he have to be so selfish?
When he got to the car, Thomas sat Alexander down in the passenger seat, shifting the seat back so the immigrant could lay down. The shorter male in question had already closed his eyes, along with the already snoring Gordita, looking as if he hadn't slept in months.
Which, Thomas would have assumed was true with ease.

Thomas sighed, pressing the seatbelt in over the man's body before quietly shutting the door. He got into the driver's seat, starting the car and putting his own seatbelt on. Turning down the radio so that Alexander would be able to actually sleep, he pulled out of the parking lot of the office building, driving to the address that Alexander had given him while they were walking to the car. He sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, humming softly to himself mostly to keep himself sane, before Alexander's voice cut through the silence, causing Thomas to jump slightly.
"T-Thomas?"
"Yeah?"
He was silent for a few moments, before continuing in a quiet voice.

"I t-think I love you."