An Adventure of a Lifetime (Nonbinary Version)

On Our Way

"Do you want me to kiss it better?" Lafayette wrapped both arms around me from my left and looked into my eyes.

I blinked at him.

Is he joking, or...?

"I—,"

"Désolé," he cleared his throat and moved away, "I was just trying to help."

"D-don't sweat it," I laughed nervously.

I looked down into my lap and sat in silence. I wished things were back to the way they were just a minute ago. Now it's completely awkward. I could feel eyes on me, waiting for my next move, but I stayed how I was.

I looked up for a split second to see John angrily mouthing something to Laf, but I didn't stare long enough to make out any real words, as I didn't want him to catch that.

I didn't mean to start all of this. Now they must all hate me for ruining the ride.

I felt my eyes become moist, and a tear almost slipped out, but the coach came to a halt, and the driver announced we had arrived at the camp. We all grabbed our bags, and John and Laf exited first since they were closest to the door, then Herc and I, and finally Alexander. Hercules held my hand as I carefully stepped out of the carriage. John and Laf were a few meters ahead of us, discussing something I couldn't understand. We began walking down the path through the forest leading into the camp.

"Hey," Alex whispered, "everything will work out between them, don't worry."

"It's just," I sighed, "I wanted us to enjoy ourselves, especially since we might not see each other again for a while, but of course, I ended up ruining everything for all of us."

"What? No! I promise you didn't do anything wrong. We all know it wasn't you. Honestly, no one did anything wrong. Lafayette was just being a caring friend. You know how the French are; they turn everything into flirting. He didn't mean anything by it."

"But it seems it made John really upset," I shot back.

"John... well, I think it might just be because he didn't want Laf to make you uncomfortable. Even though we haven't known you for long, I think it's safe to say we got attached pretty quickly. We just all want the best for you, you know?" He looked away.

As sincere as that was, it still seems there is something else he wanted to say.

Our group finally reached a large clearing filled with hundreds of huge tents.

It must've taken a while to set up all of these.

We made our way to the general's tent, where he mentioned in the letter to visit to receive your assigned tent. Since you couldn't really knock on a tent wall, Alexander just called from the outside. General Washington invited us inside.

As soon as he saw me, he exclaimed, "Wow.... ok..... you're pretty short!"

"Sir, my name is Y/N L/N. I am here for the same reason these other men are here," I looked him in the eye confidently.

He stood there before sliding a hand down his face and replying, "L/N, I'm afraid I'm going to have to send you home; I apologize. Our soldiers just have to be capable and-"

"Sir!" I cut him off. "I am as capable as anyone else in this room to fight. How can you evaluate me just from looking at me? My father trained me how to shoot when I was young. If anything, I could be more experienced than some of these people will be. You are going to need any soldier you can get to fight against the British, and—"

Alex placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me down, and it worked.

Washington sighed, "Very well, but the moment you screw up, I will send you home."

Oh, now I was mad.

"Excuse me, sir, but what right do you have to assume that I will be the one to mess something up over any of your other men! Some of these guys are only going to be around 15! You can't possibly say they are stronger than me!" I raised my voice.

Whoops, that was wayyy too much.

"Y/N, let's go." John pulled on my arm. I huffed and turned around to exit the tent.

Alexander stayed back to get the information on our tents, and the rest of the group began walking back to the camping area.

It was silent for a few moments until Hercules bursted out laughing, "Ahahahaha, you really showed him!"

"I thought he deserved it," John smiled.

"I believe you are going to make a fine soldier, Y/N," Laf hummed.

We took a seat around a dead fire pit before Alexander came walking back to us.

"Good news guys, the general said we could all be in the same tent. Apparently, he thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on the mischievous Y/N," he looked at me.

"Mischievous? Where'd he get that from?" I scoffed.

"Yeah, not really the correct word, but the guy's a soldier, not an English major. Anyway, he said he's doing it also because we already know you, and he doesn't want to place you in a tent with some random guys in case they want to pick a fight, so yeah..." he trailed off.

"So it seems he does give a care about me, or maybe he just doesn't want to get in trouble, but it doesn't really matter to me," I thought out loud.

"Ok, let's go find a suitable tent. Good thing we came early, or else only single spots might have been open in each one." John said as he stood up.