When Stars Align || G. Lafayette

Chapter 20

They all filed in, and I ran a hand through my hair before following Lafayette through the front door. Nael immediately made a beeline for a couch toward the back corner, and Hercules began to head toward the bar.

"What do you all want?" he called to us, and the moment the word 'nothing' passed my lips, he was grinning and running his mouth at the bartender. He was almost definitely getting me something anyway.

"Shall we?" Lafayette asked with a teasing smile, having noted my pausing right in the middle of the pub. Not that my face had at any point gone back to its normal color, but it flushed once again as I nodded, and his hand ghosted over the small of my back as he lightly guided me with him toward the couch with Nael.

I took a seat on one end, leaning into the cushioned corner of the couch, and he didn't hesitate to sit down only inches to my left, his leg pressing into the side of mine. I quirked an eyebrow at him, but he didn't acknowledge my expression, instead glancing around the bar, not quite as though he was looking for something.

"It feels so strange to 'ave some time off from the war, non? I cannot believe zat we 'ave negotiated a truce with Britain for now," he said, a small smile resting on his lips as he finally began to relax back into the couch.

"Yeah, it's... a bit of a change." I forced a smile, struggling to think about much other than the warmth radiating from his body despite the cold air still rushing in through the door. He chuckled.

"'A bit of a change' is an understatement," he said, leaning slightly closer to me, resting his side against the back of the couch. "It is nice 'aving all my friends at my camp during ze only time we 'ave off, though." He nodded to Nael at this, who smiled, and I absentmindedly chewed my bottom lip.

"Yeah... I, um," --I swallowed hard, having trouble focusing on anything but the heat of the side of his thigh pressed against mine and the sparks flying from his fingers as he seemed to absentmindedly trace circles into my knee-- "it... really--"

Seeming to notice my difficulty forming a coherent sentence, he looked at me with curious concern, an eyebrow raised. "Are you alright, King?"

"Yeah," I answered, almost too quickly, and he furrowed his brow. Fuck, I wasn't sure why I was all nerves today, but I absolutely couldn't say I liked it. Did it have something to do with what I heard Lafayette say at Jefferson's?

"Are you sure?" Nael asked, sitting up where he was and looking at me with an (obviously fake) expression of concern. "Your face is... quite red. Are you feeling feverish? Laf, feel his forehead," he said, nodding to me with pursed lips.

"Are you cold at all? Do you feeling sick?" Lafayette asked, his concern genuine as he pressed the back of a hand to my forehead. I felt my face flush a deeper shade of red, pulling slightly away from Lafayette's touch, and narrowed my eyes at Nael where he sat, a smug smirk resting on his lips.

"Laf, I feel fine. I think I'm just... a little out of it. I've been traveling for the past few days; I'm probably just tired," I said, removing his hand from my face, and while that mostly seemed to satiate him, his frown only hardly faded.

"Are you sure? You feel a bit warm." He was closer to me now even than he had been before, after trying to take my temperature, and I could feel my heart rate rising as I hoped he wouldn't touch my face again. I didn't think my pulse could handle it.

"I promise you; I'm doing fine," I said with a small smile, and he pursed his lips.

"At least take my jacket; I do not wanting you catching a cold." I opened my mouth to argue, but that was the perfect time Hercules decided to return. But Lafayette was already taking his coat off; I wasn't sure if I could call it having been saved by the bell or fucked over by it.