Favorable (Jamilton)

17. Jefferson

"Just answer the question, Laurens. It's an emergency and I sort of need to talk to him." 

"Fine, here." 

Thomas heard shuffling as the phone was passed around until finally, it settled at Alex.

"What do you want, Jefferson?"

"What is up with you people and greeting me like that!" Thomas groaned. Since he got ahold of Alex, he started walking back to the dorm. "You left your phone in my pocket and your cousin called and interrupted my well-needed and well-deserved nap."

"What did he say?" Hamilton's voice took an anxious tone. 

"He said that it was your mom. Is something wrong with her or. . .?" 

It was quiet for a second before Alex muttered something and hung up the phone. Thomas rolled his eyes and picked up his pace to get back to the dorm. 

"It's not like I want to know what message I just gave you anyway," he muttered.

Surprisingly, when Thomas got inside the room, Alex was already aggressively packing a backpack of clothes. 

"So," Thomas said, dragging out the O sound. "What exactly is going on?"

"I need to get back home for a little bit." Alex threw another shirt into the case. "Do me a favor and call me a cab while I do this. Maybe e-mail my professors if you can, that'd be great." 

"Do you even have enough money for a cab?" Thomas asked. "Realistically, I mean. Like, can you afford to take a taxi there and back, presumably everywhere in between, and still have enough money to take care of yourself while you're there?"

"I'll be fine."

"Because of those jobs, right?" Thomas still wasn't too accepting of the jobs and he figured that Alex couldn't really care less. That didn't stop him from making insulting comments about them, though.

"Jefferson, I don't have time for this." Hamilton stood and threw the bag over his shoulder. "'Those jobs' aren't your concern and neither am I, so if you could just move, stop worrying about how I make money, and call me a cab, that'd be great." 

"As my roommate, you are my concern, and I'm not calling a taxi for you." Thomas crossed his arms. 

"I just told you that I don't have time for your shit!" 

"Exactly, which is why I'm driving you. You don't have time to wait around. Plus, if you don't have time for my shit, you don't have time to argue." 

"Fine, whatever, just hurry up and get a bag ready." 

Thomas did just that, throwing sweaters and clothes and a toothbrush into his bag. As they walked out of the building, he texted Jane telling her what was happening since they all shared a car. Jane, of course, said it was more than okay and that she and Mary could use more walking. After he was done with that, he followed a nervous Alex into the hall and out of the building. 

"I'm driving," Alex offered once they got to Thomas's car. 

"Yeah, that's not happening." 

"What, why not? You don't even know where it is!" 

"If I put you behind the wheel, you'll probably ignore every traffic law ever created. That and you aren't driving my car, I'll just use GPS." 

"Whatever, just don't get us lost." 

The few-hour-long car ride was mostly quiet, except for the occasional comment from Alex about how Thomas drives like a grandma and has no regard for time-sensitive emergencies.