Can't Stop Me From Loving You // Mullette

The NYC Fashion Show (Pt. 1)

This chapter is kind of a meme (accidentally) and VERY irrelevant, like you should still read it but kinda all that really matters is that the fashion show is happening in the next chapter and that Laff met a super nice trans woman who he swapped phone numbers with.

HERCULES POV

Laff and I spent all of Sunday binge watching Disney movies and eating raw cookie dough, which was fine with both of us. As we were eating dinner, I told Laff I had a surprise.

He looked up from his food, an excited gleam in his eyes. "What is it, mon ami?" He asked.

I pulled a plane ticket out of my pocket. He looked confused for a moment, before he realized what it was. 

"I'm coming to New York with you?!" He squealed. "I've always wanted to go back to New York!"

I smiled back at him, glad he was excited to come with me.

THE NEXT DAY

We woke up early and got to the airport. It was a semi-long flight, going all the way from California to New York. Laff fell asleep on my shoulder, and I had to fight the urge to put my arm around him.

Finally, we arrived. Today was a dress rehearsal, and tomorrow was the actual fashion show. We got to the hotel, and I had to go almost immediately to get the dress rehearsal on time. We agreed to meet back at the hotel at 7:00 to go to dinner together.

I got to the place where the runway was, and first I met the models.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie." Said a shorter girl with light brown hair and bangs.

"I'm Sara." Said a tall girl who had short brown hair.

"Hiii! I'm Addy." Said a blonde girl the same height as Sara.

"I'm Merve." Said a slightly shorter girl with black hair.

"And I'm Zoe." Added the last girl, who was an average height and had brown hair slightly past her shoulders.

"Hi, I'm Hercules Mulligan, but you can call me Herc." I introduced myself. "So I have--" I was cut off as a short Asian girl that suddenly burst through the door.

"I am JULIANA!" She yelled as we all stared at her blankly. The smile on her face was replaced with a disappointed frown. "Guys, I'm your host?"

"Ohhhh." We all said at once. A couple of the models snickered.

"Anyways," She rolled her eyes and gave a sad smile. "I'll see you later, I'm gonna go watch some slime videos on instagram 'cause I'm v bored." She paused. "And 'cause y'all are v annoying." She finished in the worst country accent we'd ever heard.

She left the room and we all burst out laughing.

"She's going to be a fun host!" Laughed Sara.

"Yeah, she's been my friend since middle school, she loves musicals and is very extra." Giggled Zoe.

"Ok." I clapped my hands together excitedly, and to get everyone's attention. "Let's get started!"

The next few hours went past in a blur. Everyone tried on their dresses, I made some last minute adjustments. Everybody practiced walking down the runway as I told them when to turn and which hip to put their hands on. To most people, it would be boring, but I was so thrilled to see my dresses on the runway that I was having a great time, and so were the models.

Stephanie was funny and talked about music all the time, Sara was constantly talking about her many boyfriends, Merve was a bit stuck up but made a few jokes, Addy was sort of quiet but I noticed she talked to Sara and Zoe a lot, and Zoe was the funniest of them all, constantly making sarcastic jokes that everyone laughed at. 

Soon it was 6:30, time to leave the runway. I got to the hotel before Laff, so I decided to take a quick shower. Apparently I had forgotten to lock the door though, because without warning, Laff walked straight into the bathroom, shirtless. We made very awkward eye contact for what seemed like an eternity, then he rushed out yelling, SORRY! SORRY!

LAFAYETE'S POV

(Going back to where Herc and Laff split up for the day)

Since I was going to be alone all day, I decided to go around and do some touristy things. I ended up having a three hour conversation with a random woman at a coffee shop, which left me only two hours to go to the Statue of Liberty and Central Park, but that was fine. It was nice to have someone to talk to that I could say anything to since I'd never see her again. Or so I thought. 

It turned out she half French and was also trans, and that got us both so excited that we swapped phone numbers and promised to stay in touch.

I got back to the hotel room, very exhausted. I walked in and realized there were two beds. I guess I wasn't going to be able to sleep with Hercules tonight, unless I used the "too cold" excuse again.

He didn't seem to be back yet, so I decided to take a quick shower. I pulled off my shirt as I walked in, then realized too late the water was running. I tried desperately to look only at Hercules' face, but I couldn't help but notice his very large...

Abs! He was very muscular. I stared for what seemed like an awkward eternity, then ran out yelling "SORRY! SORRY!" 

When he came back in, fully clothed, we silently agreed to never talk about that moment again. Dinner was a bit awkward, but we ended up having a hilarious conversation about how boring Aaron Burr was. We agreed if he was a spice, he'd be flour. (Just like Jack, for those of you who know me)

HERCULES' POV - Tuesday (The fashion show)

The next day I woke up at 6:00 a.m, too excited to sleep. I didn't need to leave the hotel until 8, so I decided to quietly watch some Netflix, but when I turned to grab my phone off of my night stand, I saw Laff on the other bed looking at his phone, wide awake.

"Laff?" I said quietly, but he still jumped.

"I thought you were asleep Hunkules--- Hercules!" Even in the low light I could tell he was blushing.

"No, I'm too excited. This is my second fashion show, my first was a much smaller one back in L.A. Why aren't you asleep?" 

He mumbled something.

"What?" I asked.

"I- I got used to sleeping in the same bed as you, Herc." He said quietly.

Without even questioning him, I immediately got up and went to his bed. 

"No point in keeping you awake, even if I can't sleep." I murmured, as I snuggled closer to him.

Soon, he was breathing slowly and deeply. Weirdly, I also fell asleep quickly, even though I had been wide awake when I had been lying on my own bed.

When it was 7:30, my alarm went off and I turned it off as quickly as possible. Luckily, it hadn't woken up Laff. 

I quickly got ready for the day, and walked out the door.

-----------------------------

Sorry this is kind of a weird chapter, but it's even weirder if you keep in mind the models and host are named after (and look like) people I know, and I'm Zoe haha. I was really tired when I wrote this, but I promise future chapters will be MUCH better.