Broken English • Lafayette x Reader

~6: Smoke~

~(Y/N) POV~

As I laid on my bed absentmindedly staring out my window, my phones' ringer went off. I picked it up from where it was laying on the blanket face down and saw Angelica was calling me.

"Hello?" I asked, wondering what could be so important she wouldn't just message me. 

"(Y/N)? Thank God. A friend of mine on your floor texted me earlier and said he saw a blackish smoke from under your room door. Is everything okay?" 

"Um, I'll go find out right now. Laff was baking...cookies." I hung up mid-sentence and threw my phone on the couch. 

~Angelica's POV~

"I'll go find out right now. Laff was baking-" (Y/N) hung up halfway through talking. Lafayette near a stove or even is not a good idea... ever. I quickly scribbled a note to Elizabeth explaining where I'd gone, threw on my shoes, and began towards their dorm. 

~Lafayette's POV~

Oh. My. God. I pulled the cookie rack out of the oven only to see every single one of them burnt to a crisp. Thick black smoke wafted out and into the kitchen. I closed the oven, put the rack on the stovetop, grabbed a spare pan, and began attempting to fan the smoke away from the kitchen fire-alarm. 'Please don't go off, for the love of all things holy do not go off.'  I mentally pleaded. Just then, (Y/N) walked into the kitchen with her mouth agape. Great.

~(Y/N) POV~ 

I stepped into the kitchen to be greeted with a cloud of smoke and a crimson red Lafayette. He was furiously waving at the fire-alarm with a pan. I immediately knew what was going on and my brain clicked into action-mode. I swiped another cookie-pan off the counter and went to wave off smoke from the fire-alarm I noticed in the hall. It began an infuriated, obnoxious beeping just as I walked up, but stopped when I began waving. Angelica barged in and screamed, 

"DO NOT LET LAFF NEAR THE STOVE." She coughed a few times due to the sheer amount of smoke those few cookies gave off. "Too late I see."  She slipped off her boot and propped open the door. I handed her the pan and went to the rooms to open the two windows. 

Stepping into Lafayette's room, I found it to be already full of smoke. I ran over to the window and a sudden realization hit me: I have no idea how to open these windows. After examining it for a few moments, I unlocked a small latch near the frame and it slid sideways easily. Satisfied with how quickly I figured it out, I jogged to my room to do the same. I saw John just sliding open my window. He smiled at me and said 

"I gotchu. Don't worry about it." And returned to the main apartment. I followed behind him and bumped into a rather impatient looking Alex standing in the hall. 

"I'm tired, cold, and angry because you made me pause my movie for a situation which was very clearly being handled." He scowled. John wrapped his arm around Alexander's slim shoulders and lead him out the door, giving us all a wave before slipping out. I wonder when they arrived; Angelica probably called them. I glanced around to see the scene was completely taken care of, like it never happened. Well, the alarm in the hallway was still chirping periodically, but I assumed that was it still recovering from the affair that had just occurred. 

"Does this happen often?" I inquired from Angelica.

"We all learned pretty quickly that Laff is terrible in the kitchen, and to not let him near the stove or oven because it usually ends in smoke, or worse, flames." 

I shook my head, "Note taken." I made a checkmark motion with my forefinger. Angelica smiled,

"Just don't let it happen again. Because he keeps trying...a very persistent man." And with that, she left. 

"Thanks again!" I called as the door closed. I stepped into the kitchen, but this time I was greeted with Lafayette on the floor, head in his hands.

"You told me one thing: 'Don't burn down the hall.' And guess what I did. I almost burned down the hall."  He didn't even bother to look up at me. I sat down next to him,

"Hey. Hey, don't worry about it. We're both still alive, which is a plus, and the hall is still standing. To me, it seems like everything is fine." I gingerly put my arm around his shoulders. 

"I'm hopeless. I literally only wanted to make cookies but instead, the fire-brigade was nearly called."  He motioned to the pan of cookies, or what was supposed to be cookies, still sitting on the stove. I was silent; who was going to call the firemen? It was under total control, and no real flames ever appeared. "Those alarms send a message to the station if they go off for longer than like fifteen seconds."  Ah. Fancy new fire-alarms, I should've guessed.

"It's the thought that counts. But I think we've learned something very important here today." Lafayette just looked at me curiously, his eyes were bloodshot from smoke exposure. "It's best to leave the baking to the professionals." 

"I don't see any professionals!"

"Sure you do! Well, I'm not professional, but my grandmother ran a bakery back in France and I was her finest employee. Not to brag, though." I inspected my nails and Lafayette just laughed.

"You're very right, (Y/N). I'll just stick to what I'm good at." He sighed.

"And what would that be?"

"Literally anything else." He swung his arms around for emphasis, making me laugh. Then, I noticed something strange. I snatched his hand from the air and stared at his sleeve cuff.

"Laff! You're on fire!" His arm had an ember on it, causing the fabric to smoke slightly. He glanced down at his sleeve, and hurriedly stripped off his sweatshirt. I laughed because he had on a shirt that very fittingly said 'Qui est le Meilleur? Je Suis.' (Who is the best? I am.)

"I owe Peggy ten bucks now. Damn." He groaned. Now was my turn to look at him curiously. "Oh, she bet me that I would burn at least one more shirt trying to cook this semester." I hummed to tell him I was listening. 

"Well," I began, "You weren't technically 'cooking,' per-say, you were baking. If she didn't define her terms-" 

"I can bend the bet to my favor!" He finished and shook his forefinger at me in thought. "Thanks, (Y/N)! You just saved me ten bucks." He stood up and offered me his hand so I took it and stood as well. He smiled at me and left the kitchen, shirt over his arm. 

I stood there for a moment, but heard a scream soon after. I ran to where I heard it come from and saw Lafayette coming towards me. 

"It's cold as FRICK in there." He said, exasperated.

"That's because someone decided to burn cookies and fill the dorm with smoke. Just close the windows and put on another sweatshirt. Woman up, buttercup." I flicked his nose and flopped on the couch, scrolling through my phone which I had thrown down earlier. "Don't forget mine! It's open, too." I heard him scoff loudly and then two windows slam shut.

"Happy?" He questioned,  standing over me with his arms out. 

"Very. Now, what should we do?" 

"I have an idea~" He stepped closer and winked. 

I took my feet to his gut pretty hard, "HELL NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" He landed on the floor heavily. Sitting up, he was rubbing his lower back and coughing. 

"It was a joke! Take a chill... geez." He stood slowly, eyeing me suspiciously.  "I gotta be careful around you." 

"Yeah, you do!"