We Should Be Together - Lams AU

23.

Of course, it was obvious from the beginning that Charles Lee wouldn't be missed forever. I just was expecting less than three days. Only when we were boarding the plane did the teachers start to look worried. They were all having serious conversations with each other.

I was sat with Eliza again, with George King in front of me. He turned around to smile at Eliza, and I couldn't help but notice the dark circles under his eyes. Had he not been sleeping? Probably not - no doubt the bed quality at the hotel wasn't good enough for his rich ass.

"Oh, by the way, John, you and Alex are very cute. Good luck, I've heard he can be quite a handful," George said to me, out of nowhere.

"Well, thanks... I'll keep that in mind," I said, surprised and slightly weirded out by his warning. Also, why would he think that Alex is a handful? Oh wait...

He's been talking to Eliza, hasn't he?

Of course she would say that. She's jealous that Alex and I are dating so she's just spreading shit about it. Well, someone should tell her that bitterness isn't a good look for her. She's just being a sad, little girl.

Me Washington started coming around the students, asking about Lee. The reply was pretty much the same - "I haven't seen him for ages, sir. We aren't friends."

It was also similar to mine. And Eliza's. And George's. And Samuel's. None of us had seen Lee because none of us liked him. I mean, I'd obviously seen Lee, but that was when he slipped to the bottom of the Seine. I hadn't seen him since (thankfully).

That was the last I heard of Lee for the whole journey back. I was also glad about that.

Compared to the flight out to Paris, we sat in complete silence. Samuel just plugged in headphones, Eliza read and I watched George as he sat forwards and bit his nails. Something was up with him, but I didn't really care what. Whatever it was, it was divine justice after what he did to me.

The trolley came around but none of us wanted anything.

Eliza fell asleep.

If she was still dating Alex, I would've taken advantage of that and done something like draw a Sharpie moustache on her, but there was no longer any need to.

I looked over at Alex, who'd clearly had an argument with Aaron Burr. He sat looking grumpy, but when I tried to make eye contact, he panicked and looked away.

Defeated, I sat back again and closed my eyes. Insecurity rushed through me. What exactly was it which meant he didn't want me?

Eventually, I fell asleep like Eliza. At least the flight suddenly went faster.

When I woke up, everyone was asleep except George. He was still biting his nails. What was up with him? Suddenly concerned, I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you OK?" I asked as he turned around.

"Fine," he replied in a flat, monotonous voice, before turning back around.

He was not "fine". I didn't know why, but whatever it was it was bad.

Sighing, I pulled out my sketchbook from my hand luggage. I looked through the pages, looking at my drawings from before going to Paris and then during the trip. Was it just me or was the shading getting darker? The angles were more contorted and the concepts were slightly more disturbing. What the hell was wrong with me?

I fell asleep again on top of the book. I mean, it was an eight hour flight, and I was tired. I was tired of myself, of the effort of trying to be with Alex and of trying to cover up a murder.

I just didn't feel at all close to anyone, and it hurt. It hurt me a lot.

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Word Count: 645 Words

Sorry this chapter was a lot shorter than the others, it just took so long to write. It was literally like writing treacle. I hit the ultimate writer's block over summer and so this chapter took from the middle of August to the start of September to write. So sorry about the shitty quality of it as well.