tw: verbal abuse / gay slurs
alex wandered down the street with his tattered hoodie rapped around him, shivering profusely. after living here for a year, he still wasn't used to the drastic climate change from the carribean.
he was sent by peter to get alcohol from the store down the road. alex was 17, but the people at the liquor store all knew alex was related to peter and didn't really care. they sold alex whatever he wanted.
he bought the six pack of beer and headed out of the store back to his apartment, bumping into a taller kid on the way back. he had a backpack on, so alex assumed he was a college kid. the boy's curly hair jumped up as the two of them crashed into each other, the backpack slipping off one of the college boy's shoulders.
"watch where you're going!" the kid shouted before looking at alex and squinting his eyes. "you don't look old enough to have beer." he decided, crossing his arms. hamilton didn't know why the college kid cared. the college boy didn't either.
alex just fiddled with his hands and looked away awkwardly. he didn't know how to explain the fact that he didn't talk without, well... talking.
"you gonna talk or are you mute or something?" john asked impatiently, tapping his foot on the pavement.
and alex sat silent, staring at his scuffed shoes. he decided to try and save so he could buy some new ones. but he knew that, as always, peter would just take his money. he didn't mind though, as his shoes still fit anyways.
"wait, are you mute?" the college boy asked, tiling his head at alexander.
alex nodded, a dark blush staining his cheeks like paint was spilled on a canvas. he could practically hear the sympathy drip from the college boys voice, and alex despised sympathy.
"oh, i-i'm sorry! well, i'm john. um, i know my asl alphabet if you want to spell your name out for me?" john asked, this time coming across with empathy instead of the dreaded other. alex was pissed, knowing john wouldn't care if he wasn't mute. people always felt bad for him, and alex knew that empathy was covering the other choice.
alex knew he needed to get back to his cousin, but was intrigued by the boy in front of him. he set down the bag quickly and signed his name for the college boy.
"alex? nice name. anyways, here's my number. you seem nice. call me." he said after writing it down on a sticky note and handing it to the shorter kid.
alex stuffed it in his pocket and continued walking to his shared apartment at a quick pace after grabbing the bag with the beer inside. he wanted to call john, but he did not want to get the college boy mixed in his train wreck of a life.
once inside he shut the door quietly and set the beer on the counter, desperate to slip unnoticed throughout the apartment into his room. he failed miserably, and he heard his cousin's voice ring through the apartment.
"alex, bring me a beer. don't act like you can slip around this place doing whatever you want. i let you stay here so you'll be at least somewhat more of a grateful bitch and bring me my fucking beer," he shouted at alex, who recoiled immediately. alex stood still for a minute.
"hurry the fuck up alex!" peter screamed loud, his drunken state obviously not making him consider the fact that they were on the first floor of a thin-walled apartment building. alex practically ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of beer off the counter, careful not to leave fingerprints on the glass. he walked to the table besides the couch and set it down carefully, before quickly disappearing into his bedroom, not missing his cousins dismissing final words to him.
"that's right, run like you always do because you're a weak faggot," the words soaking like acid into alex's skin, pulling him apart.
-
as alexander walked away, john was concerned for the boy he had just met. he looked like he was 16 or 17. 'what in the world is a kid doing with alcohol? why did the store sell it to him?' he wondered, watching alex slip into a disgusting apartment building at the end of the street. it looked like it could break and fall apart any day, crumbling to the ground and leaving no one alive.
john hoped alex would text him. he liked alex. he seemed like a good kid. "too bad he's probably in high school," john muttered, disappointment laced in his voice.
john walked down the street past hamilton's apartment building. he was shocked to even be able to hear anything from the inside, but he heard a faint voice yell, "hurry the fuck up!" he had no idea who shouted it or who it was shouted to, but he was concerned nonetheless. he continued his way to lafayette's apartment though, pushing the thought of the anger in the voice of the person who yelled out of his mind.
lafayette had a small apartment for someone so rich. it was average, as lafayette had told john that he wished to be. it was a first world problem to john, which indeed was true, but it was a real struggle for the french boy as he only received his fortune from trauma.
john knocked on the door of the apartment, heard laf scream "merde!" and heard the lock on the door click undone. laf pushed the door open slightly, looking disshelved.
"oh, mon ami! entrez!" lafayette said, pushing the door open all the way. john then saw that his friend's hair was messed up, and he was simply in flannel pants and a gray t-shirt.
"didn't have time to get ready, huh laf?" john spoke, laughing hysterically. "classes start in 20 minutes. please tell me you ate breakfast so i don't have to listen to your annoying ass complain today." john was feeling at ease for once, relaxed despite the scary idea of a new semester starting. he knew new semesters meant a day of relaxation though, so he felt alright.
lafayette plastered a fake smile on his face and said, "of course i ate! had a nice oeuf brouillé."
"i don't know what that means, but you're a lying bitch french kid," john retorted.
lafayette thought for a moment before responding, "it means scrambled egg!" ignoring johns statement that laf had indeed not eaten.
lafayette then ran into his room to get dressed and tame his mess of hair. john sat on his friend's couch and checked his phone. "five minutes till you have to drive me french kid!"
"fight me john!" lafayette screamed, running out of the room with his hair nicer and normal clothes on instead of pajamas. "see mon ami? allons-y!"
john followed his friend out the door and they walked down the street to the college.
"so john, how are you?" laf asked, clearly worried about his friend.
"i'm great, laf! the world is just a sweet thing that makes me so happy!" john retorted, sarcasm laced in his voice.
"john, mon ami."
"i know, i know. um, i'm not bad right now. i ran into a cute kid on the way here and i-"
"what's his name? what does he look like?" laf said, immediately intrigued. he looked as if he would take out a note pad and scribble notes about alex once john described him.
"oh. his name's alex. he looks like... 17? he's shorter then me. probably in high school though, what a shame." john sighed.
"you're only 19! you could still date him," lafayette retorted, wiggling his eyebrows at john.
"yeah, ok," john said, entering the college building and heading into the calculus room, lafayette following behind.
a minute before the bell rang, a familiar face slipped in near john's desk.
the college kid tapped the younger boy's shoulder.
"hey alex!"
alex turned around eyes wide.
"hello laurens."
(a/n this took me three days to write? but i'm super proud of it! it's only like 1300 words tho. anyways, i love this story and have it all plotted out.
q: favorite musical besides hamilton? and have u seen it performed?
a: les miserables! and yes i saw it on broadway during august :)