Speechless.

Drama.

Henry's car pulled up into the parking lot. The man got out of his car and called John. He stood there on the concrete, staring down at his phone. "Goddammit John, answer me."

After one try he answered. The sounds of fumbling made his eyes roll .

"AH SORRY DAD I WAS WATCHING A SHOW WITH ALEX-", he yelled over the phone. Henry jerked back. "Quiet down now... Where are you? I'm in the parking lot now."

"Uhhh-" John looked around for a moment, thinking about how to describe his location. "I can't really describe it but I'll meet you there with Alex, cya-"

John hung up.

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

Alex jumped up and got his things. "W-w-we finish th-this l-later?"

John nodded. "Of course! We should go now- my father is in the parking lot" He grabbed Alex's hand and hauled his backpack up, "Les go babey".

They headed down the gravel path, Alex pointing out different animals he spotted as he walked. At one point he even saw a squirrel which he called arnie for some reason.

John had noted to get him a squirrel toy from the National Geographic store.

They made it to the parking lot, their attention drawing to the family car and henry notedly standing in the middle, looking down at his phone. "DAD!" he yelled out, causing Alex to flinch back. "Oh sorry, bud-" Alex just shrugged and smiled.

John walked down hand-in-hand with Alex, who kinda skipped a bit. He skipped when he was happy.

Henry looked up at the sound of the gravel being shoveled around. Alex waved slightly, which in return the older Laurens promptly waved back.

John sighed and strengthened his grip on Alex's hand, slightly reassuring him. Even though he was happy, he was so sure Alex had more things going on in there than he had let on. Which is fine, he just wanted to let Alex know he was here to help.

Henry greeted them. He pulled John into a hug and signed Alex a hello (he didn't want to overwhelm the boy with his booming voice). He happily signed a 'hello' back. "Okay, so the plan is that you - I guess sign us out? I don't know, I know for sure that Peter won't be happy if he were to come out of work to sign Alex out. Do you think they'll let you?" John answered, kinda kicking the gravel.

"Mmm. It's a tricky situation. I can go check in the front office. I would've suggested you boys stay in the car but I believe you guys have to come with me so if that's fine with Alex, I need you guys to come with me." Henry suggested.

John looked over at Alex, his eyes asking 'are you okay with this?'. Alex got the memo and nodded. John gave his father who gave the thumbs up.

The small group collected themselves and headed up to the front office, Alex's grip strengthening and John's hand. John looked over at Alex, his eyes telling him everything he needed to know.

The front office was brightly decorated. There were copious amounts of floral designed patterns staining the room. It matched the school ideal of 'old merges with the new'. It smelt however. Maybe it was the mold problem the school had or the rotting of the old wood. One couldn't tell the difference; a major surprise it wasn't a designated health hazard.

Henry would remember this.

Henry motioned for the boys to sit down as he went to the front desk and knocked promptly on the wooden bench, waiting for one of the office workers to greet him.

A young woman spun around in her office chair, the sound of the rust making Alex immediately pull down his hat and John laughing as he watched Alex's reaction who quietly cursed at his boyfriend.