I'm Crossing The Ocean || Mullette

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lafayette Pretending To Not Be In Love For 1100 Words

|Third Person|

Despite teasing conversations in which Lafayette would insist on keeping his cool when he saw Hercules again, he still ended up with his legs around Hercules' waist and his arms around his shoulders as soon as he spotted him.

Hercules' suitcase falls from his hands and onto its side on the scuffed linoleum airport floor. Lafayette had grown quite accustomed to this airport, between seeing off Hercules, picking up Eliza and Peggy, seeing them off, and now getting to see Hercules again. He actually found himself gleeful in the airport this evening. He was beaming around at the signs displaying flight times and the large families lugging their bags on rolling carts. Everything seemed to be coated in a layer of blissful sunshine with Hercules there, his arms wrapped tight around Lafayette's waist and his hand smoothing down his unruly hair that he hadn't had the patience to do anything with. 

Hercules just laughs, greeted by the boy that he undoubtedly was still hopeless in love with. He didn't even bother with teasing him about losing it, he was too busy reveling in the fact that Lafayette was here. He was right there, wrapped around him like a monkey, and really, in all his years of playing football, he had never been so ecstatic to be tackled. 

When Lafayette finally unlatches himself from Hercules, reluctantly standing again in front of him, he's still grinning. "Hi," he says, almost out of breath for no apparent reason other than the fact that Hercules had this way of making him feeling breathless. 

"Hi, Laf," Hercules grins back, bending to recover his suitcase from the ground. He's quick to wrap an arm around Lafayette's shoulders, unwilling to break contact for too long. They walk like that, close together and smiling like idiots at each other and their shoes, making small talk through their grins and giddy laughter. 

Even Lafayette, who had been so nervous about this visit, is stuck to Hercules' side. He just can't wrap his head around the fact that it's finally happening. Hercules is finally there, his arm physically around Lafayette's shoulders and laughing as he recounts a story of someone's guide dog who had slept on his feet the entire flight. 

They pause outside in the parking lot. Lafayette is still unable to drive and Hercules has no car, so they're left with getting an Uber to pick them up. While Hercules pulls out his phone, Lafayette takes it upon himself to wrap his arms around his middle and bury his face in his chest, breathing in the scent that he lost when he moved and put away the sweatshirt he had when he decided it was too painful to have around constantly. 

But now, he wouldn't want to have anything else. 

"They're on their way," Hercules tells him, stroking his hair. He gazes up at the sky, at the stars that are blindingly visible compared to New York. 

"Ok," Lafayette murmurs, looking up at him briefly. He starts to fear that if he stares too long he'll end up kissing him or something problematic like that. He was already pushing the limitations of this "break" that they had declared they would uphold through the summer. 

"I have something for you," he says, taking a step back though he really doesn't want to. Hercules' arms drop and Lafayette feels cold almost immediately. He starts to wish that he had brought a jacket. 

"Oh really? What would that be?" Hercules raises an amused eyebrow. Lafayette looks down and starts to fiddle with the bracelets on his wrist, managing to loosen one of them and wriggle it over his hand. He holds it up in the light, pinching the cord just above the star-shaped charm. Hercules smiles. 

"Remember when you talked about how clear the sky is here?" Lafayette starts, already blushing like crazy. Hercules hums and nods, too busy looking at the adorable nervousness displayed on Lafayette's face. 

"I love it," he assures softly. 

"Good because we match," Lafayette says, holding up his wrist and letting the moon hanging there reflect in the artificial lighting. 

"They're perfect," Hercules smiles again and pulls Lafayette into another lingering hug. 

===

Hercules is staying at a hotel for the duration of his stay in Paris, so Lafayette has to say goodbye when they arrive so he can check in before it gets too late. He's back at the Morel's house at almost midnight, but he is awake much later than that. 

It's three or four in the morning when he finally falls asleep, but he's up again at half past seven when Hercules calls to ask if he wants to go out for breakfast. He's dressed and sitting on the front steps waiting for his arrival at eight-fifteen. 

It's actually a really nice day. The sky is void of all clouds and the air is warm for it being so early. It'll get hotter later on in the afternoon, but right now it was perfect. Right now all Lafayette could be bothered with doing was fiddling with his bracelet and smiling down at his sneakers. 

When Hercules arrives, it's in a rental car that Lafayette assumes he must've gotten either late last night or super early this morning. Either way, he's glad they don't have to deal with taxis and Ubers for the rest of the week. 

He grins at Hercules when he slides into the passenger seat. He's in his beanie- something Lafayette hadn't seen for what seems like forever. The hat makes him look so much like the guy that Lafayette met all those months ago in the park with John that it almost hurts to look at. Lafayette's heart aches and he watches Hercules drive from the corner of his eye, longing for the days he spent with Hercules before they'd even got together. Those blissful weeks of hesitantly flirting and admiring each other from afar. 

In a way that's what they were doing now. Both of them too nervous to push the boundaries of flirting into anything more and avoiding direct eye contact. Lafayette wanted nothing more than to press pause on the pause they'd taken in their relationship. He wished with all his might that he could just reach over the center of the car and twine his fingers with Hercules'. 

He's staring down at his hand where it rests next to the cupholders, trying to imagine what it would feel like to hold it and convince himself that he's ok with not holding it at the same time. It starts to make his head hurt so he makes himself look away. 

That's how his morning goes. Averting his eyes when he realizes he's been staring for too long and swallowing the compliments that might mean too much for them just to be friends. It's a real effort to maintain his distance, but he's almost able to accept it. If this was the cost of having Hercules around right now, Lafayette would pay it. 

Wow, school's really makin ya girl stressed. Sorry for the wait, I've had a bit of writer's block. Here's to hoping that doesn't happen again. Also, I'm so close to being done with this and it feels so weird because I started writing it about this time last year.