Another Scottish Tragedy [LAMS AU]

44

A/N: Enjoy the typical "Alex is afraid of thunderstorms" chapter cuz I'm a basic bitch :)

Eventually, Alex decided that it was time to go back to New York.

And by “decided”, he means Angelica called him and yelled at him for 20 minutes about needing her car back and threatening to cut his dick off and mail it to him if he didn't bring it back as soon as possible.

“Farewell, my love.” Alex said, leaning through the open car window and kissing John on the mouth.

“Till we meet again, my darling.”

“Till we meet again.”

Alex pulled Angelica's car over to the side of the road, his hands shaking on the steering wheel.

He needed to pull over. He couldn't do this.

Couldn't drive. Couldn't think. Could barely breathe.

There was a thunderstorm.

The sky was ripping itself apart, nature at war with itself, unleashing its wrath upon the Earth and all of its inhabitants.

Each clap of thunder rattled Alex's bones.

Each bolt of lightning made him sick.

I can't do this I can't do this.

Alex hated thunderstorms.

They reminded him too much of hurricanes, of that horrible hurricane that had destroyed his town and killed his brother.

Alex was terrified of thunderstorms.

He could deal with it if he was inside, if he knew that there was a roof over his head to protect him, if he was surrounded by light and sound and signs of life.

But when he was outside it was a whole different story.

The raindrops seemed to burn when they landed on his skin.

He felt like he was dying, like he was drowning, like every breath would be his last.

He felt the way he imagined his brother had felt while he drowned.

The car wasn't enough to protect him, wasn't enough to calm his fear.

He stopped the car on the shoulder of the road and put his head down on the steering wheel.

His body was shaking. He forced himself to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down.

It's okay, Alex. It's okay.

You're okay.

You're okay.

He thought of John, of his freckles and beautiful eyes and adorable laugh, of the way he smiled and the sound of his voice.

The thought of John calmed him down, grounded him, pulled him out of the darkness and back towards the light.

“I'll be okay, my dearest, Laurens. I'll be okay.”

Alex took another deep breath. The thunderstorm was growing wilder by the second.

“C-Cold in my professions, warm in my friendships,”

BOOM

“I wish, my dear Laurens,it might be in my power, with actions rather than words,”

CRACK

“T-To convince you-” Alex's voice caught in his throat. It was too much. All too much. “To convince you that I love you.”

CRACK

“I shall only tell you that ‘till you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you. Indeed, my friend, it was not well done. You know the opinion I entertain of mankind…”

Alex eventually made it back to New York.

He parked Angelica's car and went up to her dorm so he could give her the keys back.

She opened the door and threw her arms around him before he could even lift his hand to knock.

“Wow, you really missed me, huh?” Alex laughed as he hugged her.

“I missed my car.” Angelica pulled away and patted Alex's head. “And to a much lesser extent, you.”

Alex handed her the keys.

“How's my car. You didn't get a scratch on it, did you?”

“Your car is in perfect condition.” Alex said. “Unlike my life.”

Angelica patted Alex's arm. “Aww, poor Alex. You're so damaged.”

“My Dearest, Angelica, if you look up ‘damaged’ in the dictionary, you will find a picture of me.”

“Alex, can you please stop calling me ‘my dearest?’ You accidentally put a comma after ‘dearest’ one time. ONE TIME! Let it go, Alex. Let it go! I know you suck at comma placement. We all know you suck at comma placement.”

“Your contact name in my phone is ‘My Dearest, Angelica.’”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too, my dearest, Angelica!”

Alex ducked as Angelica threw a potato at him.

Alex picked up the potato and took a bite.

“Where the fuck did you get a potato?”

Angelica smirked. “I stole it from Aaron Burr.”

“Fuck you, Angelica. Burr is my potato dealer. Get your own!”

“But Burr has the best potatoes! All the other peoples’ potatoes suck!”

“I KNOW RIGHT! Thomas Payne's potatoes taste like the dirt they were grown in!”

“And John Jay's potatoes are mushy and disgusting!”

“EXACTLY!”

Later that night, John called Alex.

“Hey, baby. Did you make it back to New York okay?”

“Yeah. I just got back a few hours ago.”

Alex decided not to mention the storm. He didn't want John to know how pathetic he was.

He tried so hard to pretend that he was alright, that Nevis was behind him and he'd moved on and in New York you can be a new man and all of that, but he knew that there were some wounds that time could never heal. No matter how long he was in America, he would always be terrified of thunderstorms.

“I can't thank you enough for coming down here to make me feel better.”

“No problem, my love. It's my pleasure to make you happy.”

“Before I met you, I didn't think that I would ever be happy. I thought that happiness wasn't meant for people like me. You proved me wrong. You proved that I do deserve happiness.”

“You deserve nothing less than heaven itself, my love.”

“I hope Charles Lee doesn't end up in Heaven. I don't wanna see him there.”

“Don't worry. There's a special place in Hell reserved for him. It's called the throne.”

“Charles doesn't deserve a throne. Even if it's in Hell.”

Alex laughed. “Okay, fine. There's a special place in Hell reserved for Charles Lee. It's called the Pit of Eternal Damnation.”

“Will Thomas Jefferson be joining him there?”

“You bet.”

“I'm so glad I met you, Alexander.”

“I'm so glad I met you too, John.”