Frat Boys (Lams) [COMPLETE]

Chapter 4

Alex awoke to a stream of sunshine peeking through the curtains. He opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them, then sat up. Laf and Herc were still asleep in their beds. Alex glanced over at John to see that he had fallen asleep with his sketchbook and his earbuds still in. He smiled at the sight. John was too adorable for his own good!

Alex yawned and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He decided to go on a morning walk and tried to find a place that sold halfway decent coffee. He grabbed his wallet, put his hair up, and headed out the door.

Alex loved how beautiful the campus was. It was one of the reasons he chose King's College. He was looking forward to how gorgeous it would look once the leaves started falling.

"Hey!"

Alex looked back to see two of the girls from the previous day, Eliza and Peggy.

"Alex, right?" Eliza asked. Alex smiled and nodded.

"Eliza and Peggy?"

Peggy smiled. "Correct!" she said.

"What're you doing out this early?" Eliza asked.

"I wanted to take a little tour of the campus, I guess," Alex responded. "Also, I wanted to find some coffee."

"We were just gonna go get some too!" Eliza responded. "We've tried every place on campus."

"The best coffee is at the Rise Up Cafe," Peggy said. "Come on, we'll take you!"

Alex smiled and walked with the two girls to the cafe. They chatted about their classes and hometowns. Eliza was majoring in creative writing and Peggy was majoring in nursing.

"So, is it true that all of you went to high school together?" Peggy laughed.

"Oh yes," she said. "You couldn't find a tighter group anywhere."

"All of us were in everything together," Eliza continued. "Band, chorus, drama club, art shows. Herc and Maria were on the football team so we always went on Friday nights." She smiled at the memories. "How'd you hear about that?"

"John told me," Alex said, blushing as he pictured how cute John was while he was sleeping that morning.

Eliza smiled. "I love that human so much."

Peggy nodded. "God really blessed us by making John Laurens," she agreed. "Oh, we're here!"

Alex looked up to see the Rise Up Cafe in front of him. They walked in and he admired the cute architecture of the small inside. It might've been little, but it was adorable. They walked up to the counter and a college student with a name tag that said Aaron greeted them.

"Peggy! Eliza!" he said, smiling. "My favorite customers! What can I get for you?"

Peggy smiled. "Hi Aaron! I'll have a caramel mocha and a blueberry muffin, please."

"I'll get a glazed donut and a hot chocolate," Eliza said.

Aaron put their orders into the cash register and turned to Alex. "Hey, I'm Aaron Burr," he said. "What can I get you?"

"I'm Alexander Hamilton," Alex responded, shaking Aaron's hand. "I'll get a black coffee."

Aaron rung everything up on the cash register. Alex handed him his card paid for their orders.

"Aaron, when's your next break?" Peggy asked. "Want to sit down with us?"

"Actually, it's just in a few minutes here!" Aaron said. "Let me get your orders and I'll join you."

Aaron got them all their food and drinks and sat down with them at a small booth.

"So, how do you know each other?" Alex asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Aaron graduated a few years before us," Eliza explained.

"Yep, I'm a junior now," Aaron said. "Studying law. What about you, Alexander?"

"I'm studying law too!" Alex exclaimed. "Got any advice for my first year?"

Aaron thought for a second. "Yes," he said slowly. "Don't become one of those jerks in class who won't shut up. Those are the ones who become annoying lawyers," he said, smiling.

Alex laughed. "Noted!"

After another 15 minutes, Aaron had to go back to work, and Alex and the Schuylers bid him goodbye as they headed back to their dorms.

"Hey, I've got a question," Alex said. "What's with Jefferson? I mean, you guys were all a big friend group. I imagine he was a decent person at one point. What happened?"

Peggy and Eliza exchanged glances.

"He was nice. A long, long time ago, he was nice," Peggy said.

"Then he asked out John. They were a good couple for a while," Eliza continued. "Then Jefferson got kinda popular. Hung out with the wrong crowd."

"John is unfortunately very easy to push around," Peggy said grimly. "Jefferson got meaner and meaner and left the entire group, and John just kept giving him more and more chances."

"He doesn't really talk about his relationship at all, anymore," Eliza said. "We know it's hard for him. But we all protect him as best as we can. And we know he'll get out of it someday. Hopefully."

The three of them walked in a somber silence until they split paths. Alex waved goodbye to the girls and headed back to his dorm.
When he walked in, Laf and Herc were still asleep, but John was up, drawing in his sketchpad. He turned when he heard the door.

"Hi Alex," he said, smiling. "Where'd you go?"

"I got coffee with Eliza and Peggy," Alex responded. He tried not to think about how much he wanted to kiss John and hold him and keep him safe.

"That's cool," John said. "Rise Up Cafe?" Alex nodded. "I love that place!" John said.

"Me too," Alex said, plopping down on his bunk. "This campus is really great!"

John was about to respond, but there was a knock on the door. Alex went to open the door, and clenched his teeth when he saw that it was Jefferson.

"John. Come on."

John looked up and quickly got out of bed, gathering everything he had brought over.

"Thanks for having me, Alex," he said, smiling. "See you la-"

"Come on!"

"Later," John finished, his smile faltering a little. He headed out the door after Thomas, leaving Alex alone with his thoughts.