The horizon and the balcony

Chapter seven

The next morning Lafayette rose early and smiled to themself.

Back on schedule they thought and rolled out of bed. Exactly fifteen minutes later almost like clockwork John was groaning and stretching, arching his back until he was satisfied with the amount of cracks.

Lafayette felt a strong pair of arms wrap around them and closed their eyes sighing in contentment as butterfly light kisses were trailed down their neck.

"G'mornin princess"John rasped and placed a kiss on Lafayette's cheek. Lafayette smiled and leaned back into John's touch. They savored moments like this with John, just the two of them.

"Good morning mon amour"They said.

"How's about you hop in the shower and I go make you some breakfast with un cafecito?"he said and smirked at the dumbfounded look on Lafayette's face.

"I did not know you spoke another language..."They said in shock. A heavy feeling grew in their chest at just how little they really knew about John.

"Don't stress about it princess, I never told anyone"he said.

"But why you sounded...beautiful" Lafayette whispered.

John blushed and shrugged them off.

"Don't flatter me, I only offered to make you a 'lil coffee"he said and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why don't you speak it?"Lafayette asked.
"Are you ashamed of it?"

John quickly shook his head and sighed.

"Let's just say Alexander wasn't the only one who grew up in the Caribbean"He said.

"Tell me of where you grew up"Lafayette whispered cautiously and took the man's hands in their own. John sighed and pulled away.

"Maybe another time..."he said but Lafayette grabbed his hands tighter.

"Why are you doing this?"Their voice was almost unrecognizably thick with confusion and sadness. John's eyes widened as tears welled up in his partners brown eyes, everything was crashing down around him.

No one is ever as strong as they seem. He wanted to scream, he wanted to explain everything. The trials and tribulations, how fucked his childhood was. How Steve and Janice could kiss his ass and go to hell, the amount of times he thought he was bound for hell.

"What do you mean?" Is all he said.

Lafayette pulled him out of the room and pinned him against the wall.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!"They exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"Why do you always close yourself off, especially to me? Am I not good enough for you John? Am I too feminine?"They asked.

John quickly shook his head.

"No Laf it's not that you know I care about you more than anything, I like the way you are and who you are"he said.

"Are you sure? I know people look at us differently when we go-"

John rolled his eyes and reached around grabbing Lafayette's hair in his fist and pulling them into a kiss. Lafayette stumbled for a second at the sheer force but soon brought their hands up and cupped John's face.

Before things could go any further John pulled away and looked up into Lafayette's teary eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling this way?"he asked.

"Because I didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing"they said.

"Your feelings are something Lafayette and I care about them, I may be a little rough around the edges b-"

"Stop it."Lafayette whispered.

"Stop what?"John said.

"Stop putting yourself down, you are perfect"They said.

John smiled.

"I L-o-v-e you Lafayette"John said.

"I L-o-v-e you too ma faiblesse"Laf said.

John grinned and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"mi reina"he said. The R rolled perfectly off his tongue and Lafayette watched in amazement.

"What does that mean?"They breathed out.

"It's fuckin beautiful and all I can tell you is it means a lot to me because you're different"he said.

Lafayette smiled at the play on their own words.

"When will you tell me?"They asked

"The right time will come and it will be magnificent"