When Stars Align || G. Lafayette

Chapter 14

Still, I couldn't look at him without wincing. Lafayette lay slumped against the horse's next, his body limp and unconscious as blood dried on his arm, though it had been seeping from the deep gash in his bicep. His head had been wounded as well, likely hit against something as blood dripped from his hairline, smeared into his hair.

I swallowed hard, turning away. The sight of it was too much, the possibility of losing him loomed over camp, and even more so, over me. I couldn't comprehend how very real it was, that he was quite literally inches from death as the blood flow didn't stop.

That was when Alex came.

I was ready to cry with relief when I saw him walking with a medic, talking animatedly as he likely filled him in on the situation at hand. And it was a big one, at that.

I could only watch helplessly as they hauled Lafayette's body from the horse, his head lolling to the side as they hoisted him onto their shoulders and began carrying him to the medical tent. We hadn't been in one place for long enough to them to have set up a building for it, so there they were, laying him on the cold ground, just where his arm could get infected at any moment.

The sight made me sick to my stomach, the blood still pouring from the wound as the medic shooed everyone away from his tent, and I could only stand there, frozen to my spot, unable to act, to move, to even cry. I was stunned.

"Levi?" Nael's hand clapped me on the shoulder, and I turned my head to see him looking at me with concern in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

I swallowed hard, before opening my mouth to speak and closing it again. I didn't trust my voice. So instead, casting my gaze downward, I nodded.

"Hey, I am need you to talk to me." He jabbed the side of my head, wearing a teasing grin, and I just deadpanned as I looked at him. He raised his eyebrows expectantly, and I shook my head.

"I'm fine, Nael." My tone was hard as I shrugged his hand from my shoulder, before stalking off to go literally anywhere that wasn't there. As I walked, I wanted less than anything to glance back at him, but curiosity got the better of me, and as I looked over my shoulder, all I could see was the hurt in my brother's eyes as mine locked with his.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Alex's POV (haven't been here in a while)

I'd just left the medical tent, helping the medics with Lafayette however they were willing to let me. The only thing that surprised me was that Y/N wasn't there. I'd expected her to want to do everything she could to help, as she was closer to Lafayette than anyone.

But she was nowhere to be found.

I crossed the middle of camp, scanning for a familiar face, or really anyone with news. I didn't care what kind of news at that point. Anything would take my mind off Lafayette.

It wasn't until several minutes of wandering through camp later that I heard her.

It wasn't quiet, but it was hardly audible over the loud buzz of activity everywhere you looked, especially with the crisis of the day.

But still, her sobs could be heard.

My brows furrowed as I stopped in front of her tent, waiting to make sure I hadn't imagined it. And sure enough, there it was again.

I crept towards the tent before quietly opening the tent flap, biting my lip as I looked in to see her. Y/N was sobbing, a ball of anguish shaken by the violent sobs that tore through her body as she lay on the thin canvas hardly covering the hard ground.

"Y/N?" I asked softly, and it wasn't long before she stilled, almost as though when she stopped crying she believed I would just go. As though she wanted to be invisible. "Hey, Y/N."

I climbed into the tent, and she glanced back over her shoulder to see me, and that was when I got a good look at her face.

Her face was bright red, soaked with tears, screwed up in the most miserable expression I've seen. Her hair was a tangled mess, despite how short it was. It stuck out in all directions, and she didn't seem to care one bit.

"Leave." Her voice was shaking, not unlike the rest of her body, but the command was firm.

"I don't think you should be alone." I scooted closer to her, resting an arm on her shoulder as I could see the tears continuing to pour down her face.

"I'm fine." That time, it sounded more like a complaint. And anyone, anyone
could see that Y/N was, at that moment the furthest thing from fine.

"Hey, no you're not, I understand that--"

"No you don't," she snapped, her lip curled at my words as she shot me the most hateful glare she could muster. I furrowed my brow, biting my lip.

"Y/N, I know that you were close to him, but this hurts me too. You're not alone."

"It's not the same," she grumbled, turning away from me, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, it kind of--"

"It isn't!" She shot up, jabbing a finger into my chest with a fire in her eyes I'd never seen before. My eyes instantly went wide. "It's not the same, it's not even close! You don't understand what I'm feeling, you never will. You never even could, Alex!" she roared.

"Hold on, now--"

"You will never understand, because yes, he was your friend, but you didn't know him like I did. You didn't love him like I did," she spat, and if looks could kill, I'd have been six feet under. "I loved him, Alex!" Her voice began to break at the end of her sentence, as did her facade. "I loved him." It was softer that time, her gaze cast again downward as the sadness glazed over her eyes, quenching the fire of her anger, and it was only moments before she was again sobbing. She collapsed forward into me, shaking slightly, her only words a choked out mantra of "I loved him."

So I just held her. It was all I could do. I held her and whispered affirmations to her and rubbed circles into her back. And I just stayed with her.

Of course, we'd known she loved Lafayette. We teased her about it, but at the end of the day, the purpose of the teasing was just a bit of fun. There was nothing behind it.

But that was the moment I learned how deep it truly ran.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BOOK!!! precise to the minute :))

Remember how my life was so great when i published the last update?? Yeah that's totally fallen apart.

Anyway, 1 year anniversary!! Yay!!!!!!

Spoiler alert: Laf isnt dead. My plans for this book are too detailed to kill him off