By The Pond - A Lams Story

Chapter 13

-Alex's Perspective-

  On Monday morning,  Alex walks into the office with his medium black, no cream, no sugar. He smiles absentmindedly at his coffee, looking forward to going to the park later. Saturday was amazing. I wish all days could be like that, even with the friend zone still in place. It's wouldn't matter, not as long as I got to spend time with Freckles.
   "Alexander Hamilton, why are you smiling so much?" Thomas asks, stepping in front of Alex. "You never smile like that."
   "Freckles." He smiles widely at Thomas, who looks both disturbed and frustrated. Alex disappears into his office, and Thomas looks at everyone else, all of them varying degrees of confused, except for Angelica.
   "Angie, what do you think?" Thomas asks.
   "I think I have an idea of what's going on, but I'm not going to say until I know for sure." She responds, thinking.
   George walks past all of them and goes into Alex's office. "Hey, son."
   "Notcha son," he answers automatically, not entirely meaning it.
   "I know, but I wanted to warn you that there's a storm on the way." George watches him.
   Alex nods absentmindedly, still lots in Freckles Land. "Okay, thanks."
   George sighs and walks out.

~~ Time Skip (brought to you by rare smiles) ~~

   Alex sits down on the bench and starts to write like always. He doesn't notice the dark storm clouds rolling in until the rain starts to hit him and almost instantly starts pouring like mad. He closes his journal and gets it under his shirt as quickly as possible and flinches when the thunder sounds. No.... why.... not now! He flinches again at the next crash and curls into a ball, shivering. No no no no no no no no no no! His breathing becomes ragged, and he closes his eyes. Somewhere in his panic, the thought registers that he should call someone, but he's frozen, too caught up in the memories of the hurricane. No!
   "No!" He shouts, his voice cracking. Somehow- he's not entirely sure how he did it; his mind is swirling too much for him to focus on anything- he manages to call John.
   "Lex?" Alex hears John ask. "Lex? You there?"
   "Fr-Freckles..." He chokes out, his voice continuing to crack. I need to get out of here... No! He does his best to block out the memories as they come, but to no avail.
   "Alex. Where are you?" John's voice is steady and calm, albeit urgent. "Tell me where you are so I can come get you."
   "P-park." Alex gets out.
   "Don't worry. I'll be right there. And don't hang up, okay?"
   "O-okay." Alex sits there for what seems like hours, shivering in the rain and flinching at the thunder. "Don't die . Please don't die." He whispers worriedly. "I don't think I could take it if you died. Please."
   "I won't." John tells Alex. "Pinky promise. I'm in the car now, and coming to get you."
   "Mmkay."
   John continues to talk to him as he drives there, and he almost sobs in relief when he sees John fighting the rain to get to him. Freckles. He hadn't even realized he was crying.
   "Hey, Lex." John grabs his hand. "You gotta follow me to the car, okay? You think you can do that for me?" Alex nods and grips John's hand as tightly as possible, using his other hand to keep his notebook and his phone safe under his shirt.
   John holds an umbrella over both of them as he leads Alex to the car. Alex climbs into the passenger seat, which he has discovered is lined with towels, along with a towel on the dash in front of him.
   "Dry off the best you can. You can take a shower when we get to my apartment." John instructs Alex, starting the car and heading to his apartment.
   "It's fine. I can just go back to mine.." Alex protests weakly, but he flinches when the thunder crashes not a moment later.
   "I don't want to leave you alone. Not when you're in the middle of a panic attack." John replies, and they sit in silence for the rest of the drive.
   When they arrive, John ushers Alex out of the passenger's side and holds the umbrella over both of them and leads him to his apartment. He unlocks the door, and Alex steps inside, shivering from his wet clothes. John looks him over and lets out a breath before nodding.
   "Lex, do you think you can handle a shower right now?"
   Alex thinks for a moment before shaking his head.
   "Okay. I'll be right back, I promise." John darts off, and Alex waits awkwardly, dripping in the middle of his apartment.
   John reappears, holding a bundle of clothes. He hands them to Alex, along with a fresh towel.
   "Go dry off in the bathroom, and when you're done, change into these. I grabbed the smallest, comfiest ones I could find. They might be a bit big, but here." Alex takes them, and John leads him to the bathroom. "In there. I'll be on the sofa when you're done."
   Alex nods and does what he's told, putting on the slightly oversized t-shirt and shorts. He also slips on the hoodie John gave him, which he kinda just stares at in awe. So soft.... And then he flinches at the storm again and does his best to regulate his breathing, but then another, louder crash hits, and his heart pounds wildly.
   He returns to the sofa and sits next to John, who hands him a glass of water and some tissues. Alex silently takes them both, drinking the water and setting the glass down, next to the tissues. And when John gently wraps his arms around him, Alex can only sink into it, feeling his breathing steady out. He flinches whenever the next crash hits, but he just buries his face in John's shoulder and focuses on what he can feel like John's heartbeat and John's hoodie. Both of these things cause his eyes to flutter shut, and Alex is lulled to sleep.