Hush

Chapter 2: Diving In

A/N: So many introductions I am sORRY

After around ten minutes I arrive to the Stevens residence, Thomas himself doesn't seem to be present but everyone else is, excluding Lafayette of course. With my own set of keys ,I open the door and step in, breathing in the smell of cupcakes.

"What's up with the smell?" I ask no one in specific. Maria, who's sitting at the dining table surrounded by history notes, takes a second to swallow the rest of the cupcake and respond.

"A girl in my school had a birthday party and brought a bunch of those," The brunette explained.

"Uuuu, are there any for me?"

"No," Maria and Burr say simultaneously. They have always been closer to each other than to the rest of us, but I don't mind. It's not like we don't get along. My relationship with Aaron is a little tense but nothing bad, I would say.

"You guys are awful!" I whine as I walk toward my room. It's the last one down the hall, besides it there's Maria's room and across its Burr's. Lafayette's is upstairs just like Thomas' and Neddie's. It's a pretty big house, which is not strange after you see Thomas' paycheck. He's a humble man and acts like it's not much but he's one of the most successful businessmen here in Georgia, which sure comes in handy when you have to maintain a bunch of children on your own.

I throw myself on my bed and send a quick text to Lafayette, letting him know that I didn't been kidnapped by a drug cartel on my way home. Stretching my hand over to my nightstand I grab my copy of Brave New World and look for the page I last read, I already read this book once when I was fourteen but it doesn't hurt to do it again, especially since I quite like it. It's about a utopian future in which humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order, just my type of book. Still, something in the back of my brain kept nagging me about John Laurens, flooding my thoughts with questions.

After forty minutes or so of forcing myself to read the words printed on paper and failing miserably, I hear the door open and slam against what I suppose was the wall. Lafayette is home. Without even feeling guiltily I put the book away and leave my room, I would read it some other day. In front of the door, I see my brother kissing Maria's cheeks and tickling her ribs, it's a tender scene, the type that makes you want to coo out loud. After Maria pushes him away he turns toward me and smiles, his teeth looking so big it might seem like they barely fit in his mouth.

"ALEX!"

Next thing I know my body was being pulled into a bone-crushing hug, the air in my lungs being immediately thrown out of my body. "Hey there, Laf," I manage to choke out.

"How are you my little lion?" He mumbled on my hair.

"'m fine. Hey, I kinda need to breathe so if you could just—" He immediately steps back, giving me the chance to look at his face.

Lafayette is taller and stronger than me, meaning he gives some mean hugs, but sometimes they can be too much. He's 5'9 and still holds some muscles from when he was on the swimming team, but is still on the slimmer side. Tied in a ponytail is his windblown frizzy hair accompanied with a relatively thin set of eyebrows, at least compared to other men. When he smiles, his full lips stretch and cover half of his face, almost resembling a happy puppy, which is a pretty accurate description of Lafayette.

"Oh! Désolé, Alex. How was your day? Did you eat well?"

Uh, no.

"Of course," I lie like a little shit, fortunately, Lafayette believes me.

"Good," He decides before pulling me into another warm hug.

What is there not to love about Lafayette?