(Vent drawing are the best aren't they? I've been doing them a lot lately. Ugh. People are stupid sometimes...)
James' POV [indirect]
"J-James? I don't think this is a good idea.." Mae says to James, who is pushing him down the hall. James was trying to get Mae and Eliza to get together, but they can't when Eliza doesn't even know him!
"She'll Love you Mae! I know it! Give it a chance." James argues as they go through the open doors of the cafeteria room. Mae was shaking slightly, nervously gripping his book. Mae took a deep breath and walked with James to their lunch table.
"Hey guys!" James greets with a smile. He's also greeted with mixed greeting.
"This is my friend Mae." James introduced, moving away so he could be seen. Mae tenses up and gave a small wave. Mae's eyes went wide when he realized the only available seat besides the one next to Thomas was next to Eliza. He took in a shaky breath and sat down. James sat next to Mae and Thomas. Thomas leans over and kisses James' temple gently.
"How have your classes been baby?" He asks James politely. James' cheeks heated up as he giggled. Ignoring the tiny squeals from Peggy and Lafayette.
"They've been good." James tells him. James leans his head on Thomas, holding his sketch pad to his chest rather tightly.
"Awww..." Alex gushes from across the table. James and Thomas roll their eyes. John smiled and lightly punched his boyfriend. James ignored most conversation and looked around the table. He looked over to his sisters. Angelica and Peggy chatting amongst themselves. James could practically see the hearts in Eliza's eyes while she talked to Mae. Mae making gestures with her hands as she talked. James smiles and nuzzles into Thomas' arm more. Thomas chuckles and holds James' hand under the table. James smiled softly.
"Jasmine!" James hears a voice call from behind him. James tenses up and squeezes Thomas' hand gently. Thomas gives a gentle squeeze back.
"Go away Reynolds." John demands, standing up from the table. James turns his head and sees Reynolds there with a smirk. Reynolds laughs.
"Or what?" He asks John. John takes a deep breath and walks to the wall next to the lunch line. He leans on the wall and crosses his arms. Reynolds scoffs and pushes Mae off the seat. Mae falls, and Eliza catches her. They're both left with red faces. Thomas growls and wraps an arm protectively around his boyfriend. James leaned into Thomas for more protection, nearly falling off his seat.
"So, Jamey, how did you enjoy what I gave to you? Wasn't it grand?" He says, smirking. I shake my head and look away from him.
"Awe, c'mon baby, don't be like that.." he purrs smoothly, rubbing James arm as I he was comforting him. James cheeks heated up but he hid it in Thomas' shirt. Thomas smacked Reynolds' hand away. A cold rush runs up James' arm, making him shiver.
"Call him that again, and you're dead." Thomas growls.
"Thomas don't..!" John starts, while trying to come over to the table, but he cuts himself off and resists. Going back to lean on the wall.
"Oh yeah?" Reynolds taunts. James squeezed Thomas' hand again. James felt weak, the arm Reynolds had touched felt numb and cold. James never like fighting, but he did know it had to be done sometimes. He disliked verbal fights even more. Reynolds pulls a dagger from his arm and twiddles it around his fingers. The table goes silent. James could feel the tension and could sense that Thomas' eyes were black with fury. Reynolds start to point at people with his knife. That glowed a bright yellowish-white.
"Let's see.."
He points at Laf then shakes his head.
"Who should I.."
He points to Alex, then shakes his head again. Red and purple tears ran down Alex's face.
"You." Reynolds says, pointing to John who was leaning against the wall. Reynolds got up and went to stroll over to John.
"Don't touch him!" Alex basically screams, standing up. Drawing attention to the table.
"It's fine Alex." John says, keeping his cool. James shot up quickly.
"Reynolds stop!" He demanded in a shaky voice. Reynolds ignored him. Hercules held Lafayette down and Thomas pulled on my arm. Peggy was huddled towards Angelica, looking away and covering her ears. Mae was also covering her ears. James threw is hand out in attempt to use his magic, but his tattoo and hand just flickered again. The burning sensation filling his body and gut. He hissed in pain and sat down, holding his arm. Thomas held James tightly in his arms.
"Hello Laurens." Reynolds greets with fake happiness.
"Hello Reynolds." John mocked slickly. Spitting his last name like venom. Reynolds moved his hand in a swift movement, bringing the knife up to his neck. Everyone in the table gasped. James felt weak and it was hard to breath.
"What would you do if I just slid this across your neck?" Reynolds asks. Alex gets up in anger and marches his way to Reynolds. John holds up a finger, telling Alex to stop. Alex obeyed hesitantly. A deadly silence was between the friends. John chuckled and shrugged.
"Nothing." He states like he wasn't even talking to Reynolds. Reynolds growls at the false reaction and goes to press the knife to John's neck. No so fast, someone came along to resist him. None other than Samuel Seabury grabs Reynolds arm and yanks it away. Reynolds knife slides across Samuels upper arm, cutting it. Samuel hissed in pain but shrugged it off.
"Samuel??" Alex asks amazed. Samuel shrugs and gives them a small wave. Reynolds growls furious.
"WHAT THE HELL SAM??"
"Stop it Reynolds!"
"Oh.. you're going to regret that.. I'm going to.—.." Samuel cuts him off the a gasp.
"Reynolds what's on your shoes!?" He exclaims, pointing down at his shoes. Reynolds looks down at his feet and shrieks in fear, frantically kicking his feet. Peggy and Sam burst out in laughter. A red snake laid across the floor, chasing Reynolds. Reynolds ran down the hallway screaming like a 5-year old girl. Everyone in the table burst out in laughter.
"Samuel! Thank you!" Alex exclaims, as he went over to his boyfriend. John smirked at Alex. James still felt off. His breathing wasn't regular, and he felt weak. Everyone was talking in all the excitement but everything seemed like a blur to him. Everything mumbled, he held his arms in his hands. Thomas nudged his arm,
"You okay babe?" He asked. James just nods. The same red snake comes over and glows a bright red. It turns into none other than Maria Reynolds.
"Surprisseeee!" She drags out. Everyone giggles and laugh at her. James felt like he was going to vomit when he saw her. Memories of the other day flooding into his mind like a tsunami.
"Can we leave?" James mumbles to Thomas, his vision still blurred slightly. Thomas said something that James didn't understand. It just sounded muffled to him. Thomas says something to the others and takes James' hand in his, dragging him out of the school. James took in unsteady breaths. He blinked a few times and he was walking down the sidewalk, leaning on Thomas. James covered his mouth quickly, and ran over into an Alleyway and started to vomit. Dropping his sketch pad in the process on the sidewalk. James held his weight up on his knees as the foul fluid came from his mouth. Thomas rubbed James' back soothingly. James finished and his legs felt like jello. He was shaking wildly as a few stray tears fell down his face. His throat burned and felt clogged. James spit to the side and pulled himself up, not resting himself on his knees anymore. James had a cold sweat and chills. He felt something wrap around his shoulders. He looks over to Thomas, who had draped his coat around James shoulders.
"T-Thomas.. y-you'll get *cough* sick... a-and it's cold out." James stuttered, going into a small coughing fit after. Thomas shook his head and wrapped an arm around James.
"It's okay baby... I'm not cold anyway. And don't worry, my immune system is good." He reassures James. James felt too weak to argue. He rested his head against Thomas as he shakily walked with him to the dorm. They took the elevator up to their level. Thomas helped James to the dorm with how weak he was. Thomas just decided to just pick James up bridal style, and carry him down the hallway. James laid limply in Thomas' arms. Not having enough strength to argue. His arms felt numb and his throat scratchy. Thomas gets to the door,
"Baby? Can you hold onto me so I can unlock the door?" He asked quietly. James winces as he wraps his arms around Thomas' neck and his legs around Thomas' waist. Holding on as tight as he could in his weak state. His legs shook because of how much energy he was using, just by doing that. Thomas grabbed the key from his back pocket, and unlocks the door, kicking it open. He walks inside and kicks the door shut. James falls to the ground, stumbling on his feet. Thomas picks James up again, making James go limp in the touch. James let out a raspy cough. He apologized silently. Thomas set James down on his bed, the put the back of his hand against James' forehead.
"You're burning up..." Thomas mumbled worriedly. James eyes kept drifting off, falling slowly. He felt tired, but he would make himself stay awake. James sat under the blankets. He slowly slides into the comfortable bed. Thomas sighs, and kisses James' forehead. Thomas said something but it came out muffled through James' ears. In one ear, out the other. James starts to cough again. He sits up and covers his mouth. He shakes as he coughs, from the cold sweat and the cough that made him feel weak. Thomas rubs and pats James' back lightly in effort to help. James eyes suddenly go wide and he gasps his throat, gasping for air. His leg shook violently. James wheezed.
"James? What do you need??" Thomas asked him panicked. James pointed to the bedside drawer that held his blue inhaler. Thomas seemed to get the message, and opened it. He moved some papers and other objects, until he found the dark blue inhaler. He gave it to James and James snatched it up. He opens it messily and takes a puff of it. James let's out his breath and takes deep breaths. His breathing still felt contracted. He took another puff, holding it, before releasing his breath. James glanced at the worried Thomas, who was bending down on his knees beside Thomas' bed. James reached behind him, pretending to scratch his back, but he listened his binder. James took in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh of relief. Thomas got up to leave, but James grabbed his hand quickly. He looked at Thomas with tired eyes.
"Stay..?" James asked shyly, in a raspy voice. Thomas smiled and nodded. He slid himself under the covers with James. James cuddling up to his chest. James sighed contently and almost immediately was fast asleep.