Speak Up | Lams DISCONTINUED

eighteen

The next morning, both Alex and John woke up late, cuddled up on the couch with the TV still on quietly. They'd meant to actually go to bed, but it got to the point where both were just too tired to care anymore.
After taking a moment to wake up, Alex glances at the clock, seeing it read 10:32. He sat up gently as not to disturb John, who'd fallen back asleep, and began to pack what little John has brought with him back into the backpack he had. After he was finished with that, he turned on the coffee machine and texted Eliza to apologize for being late and let her know they'd be around her place before noon.

As he leaned against the countertop waiting for the coffee to finish, Alex began to let his mind wander to what a possible future with John could be like. He knew there was still so much he didn't know about him, but none of that mattered; Alex imagined the home they'd have together on the edge of Manhattan where it's not too busy and they wouldn't have to worry about kids getting hit by cars or being kidnapped... He imagined the cute little brown and white dog they'd have, whose name would be Biscuit and the wonderful times they'd have together. He imagined waking up beside John every morning and possibly getting to hear a husky morning voice from the mainly-silent man now asleep on his couch. Alex smiled and scratched at his cheeks in an attempt to make his blush look more like redness from his nails. Not that it really mattered, since the only other person in his apartment was asleep.
The coffee maker dinged quietly, pulling him away from his thoughts.

Alex absentmindedly prepared two cups of coffee, already knowing exactly how John liked it. He sat on the foot of the couch after setting he mugs on the coffee table and gently shook John awake.
"Hey," He said softly. "You gotta get up, okay? I made you some coffee and already packed your stuff. We're going to Eliza's today,"
John sat up slowly, tapping his wrist, still too tired to use actual ASL or fingerspell anything for Alex. He knew he'd get what he was trying to say, anyways.
"Around eleven thirty, so you've got about forty five minutes to wake up,"
John nodded, grabbing the mug closest to him, gently sipping the hot liquid.

~~~

Alex knocked on the door and waited, John trying to look anywhere but the door or Alex, still not happy with his set up. Alex sighed and reached to grab John's hand, gently squeezing it. "It'll be okay," He whispered.
John rolled his eyes, but gently squeezed Alex's hand in return.

A few moment later, Eliza swung open the door with a wide smile on her face. She happily greeted the boys and led them inside.
"Where's Peggy?" Alex asked, sitting down on the futon. John sat beside him, immediately grabbing his hand.
"Class right now. She's done at two,"
Both boys nodded in response.
"Well, I've gotta run, but have fun! I'll come see you guys in a couple days, okay?" Alex said, looking at John as he said the last bit.
John nodded as Alex stood up to leave, but not before John could pull him back down for a quick kiss. Alex smiled before leaving.

An awkward silence filled the room. Both John and Eliza realized soon after Alex's departure that his leaving before Peggy got back wasn't really the smartest move as Eliza didn't remember any of the sign language they learned as kids and John sure as hell wasn't going to speak to her.

"So, John," Eliza spoke up, her friendly smile always present. "I don't think you ever told me what you're studying?"
He took out his phone and typed out, "ecology".
"Oh, cool! I have a friends who's studying that too; she says it's really interesting stuff. Though, I'm not even going to pretend I know what it is," She laughed.
John nodded, cracking a small smile. He hated to admit it, but she was really nice and easy to like. Which made him hate her more.
"Is it just, like, advanced biology?"
John shook his head and proceeded to type out what he was studying. The two went back and forth getting to know each other better, happy to have found some kind of solution to their "language barrier".

By the time Peggy came home, there was basically no need for her translations as the two had been getting along so well. John, despite wanting to hate her with all his being, was starting to warm up to the idea of being her friend somewhere down the road. It would take some time, but he figured, eventually, for Alex's sake of nothing else, he could learn to tolerate her.