OH SHIT

Alex' POV

Alex hadn’t really done much to help the work effort. He found himself distracted all too often by Johns presence near him, constantly stealing glances his way whenever he could. I mean, you couldn’t really blame him. John was gorgeous, and his attitude was even more contagious than his smile. Throughout the whole time they were cleaning, he didn’t once complain, smiling the whole time as he hummed some unknown tune to himself. It was oddly calming.

Despite Hercules’ incessant moaning that the tidy up job was going to literally take ages and Alex constantly insisting that ‘really, guys, you don’t have to help me!’, they had successfully managed to stuff all of Alex’s possessions back into his broken suitcase in minimal amount of time. Alex was already feeling immensely guilty that he had taken time out of the other threes day, and so when Lafayette went to pick up said suitcase, Alex immediately jumped in.

“Not a chance am I making you carry all of that after you’ve just helped to clean it up. I’m a strong independent man who doesn’t need no… man… to help me carry my shit. Now please?” Alex demanded, his pleading grimace dropping at the condescending look on Lafayette’s face as he conformed to Alex’s wishes and placed the suitcase back on the step.
“Are you sure, Alexander? You have been through quite a lot lately.” Lafayette’s face looked confused, as though he had never seen someone refuse his help. John and Hercules had already started walking, but John turned around and looked at them.

“C’mon Laf. Not everyone is in need of your help, so quit playing the night in shining armour and let our Alex prove his worth as a maaaan!” he laughed, showing the joke in his words, but Alex had never been one to take a challenge lightly, and so with a determined look on his face he picked up his suitcase bridal style, but soon realised that the task wasn’t going to be quite as easy as he’d originally envisioned. He couldn’t see over the top of it.

Blindly feeling around with his foot, he eventually felt the step in front of him, and upon stepping onto it grunted loudly with the effort of lifting the rest of his body up the step. Fuck. He gritted his teeth at the snort of laughter from the rest of them, face bright red and sweating with the immense effort it was taking to lift the suitcase (it easily matched his own body weight) up the never-ending staircase, as he soldiered on up at a snail’s pace.

An annoyed huff came from ahead of him and suddenly the extra weight was lifted from his arms by an exasperated Hercules. “Term would have been over by the time you reached the top. Laf, you know what to do.” Hercules gave a knowing look to Lafayette before heading up the stairs as though the extra weight from the suitcase was nothing. True to his name. Alex turned to Laf to query what Hercules had meant before stopping at the mischievous smirk on the taller boy’s face.

“Care to share?” he remarked, confused by the cat like grin on Lafs face. A wink later, Alex was left completely flustered as Laf called over at John.

“Johnathon, darling, I seem to have gravely injured my hand in saving our damsel in distress. Would you do me the honours of helping our poor Little lion?” he commented in a dramatic way, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Help him? How? What the…

A small shriek of shock made its way out of Alex’s mouth as he was hoisted over what could only be John Laurens shoulder. The boy in question laughed at the noise, and began walking. “Wait! What are you doing! Put me down, John Laurens, right now! I swear to god!” he shrieked, voice rising in pitch as they made their way up the stairs.
John responded only with a small “nope,” laughing underneath Alex at his squirming and complaining.

“At least let me have a piggy back instead? This is quite painful.” Alex tried, not expecting Laf to literally lift him off Johns shoulder and place him on the man’s back. How strong can one person be? He thought as he scrambled to keep hold of Johns back, blushing at the way Johns hands gripped his legs just above the knees.

“I swear to God I’m going to strangle you all once I get down.” He grumbled against Johns back, trying too hard not to bury his face in the curls on the man’s neck.

“Is that a threat or a promise?”

“That’s if you can reach shortie.”

“I dare you to try.”

Was the response that came from John, Lafayette and Hercules respectively. Alex’s eyes widened at Johns response, and his grip on Alex’s leg tightened slightly when he realised what he said. In what could only be described as his brain going into autopilot, Alex spoke directly to John.

“It’s whatever you want it to be darling.”

John gulped.

Lafayette’s eyes widened in surprise at Alex’s response, before he began giggling hysterically in a pitch of voice which should probably not be possible for a man of his size and stature. Hercules let out a snort of ‘kinky’, causing Lafayette to stop and stare at him. There was silence for a moment before both of them burst into full on fits of laughter. Alex decided to resort to the lion king for advice what to do next; hakuna matata. So, he joined in with their laughter as John continued to walk up the stairs, shaking his head as he went, causing the escaped curls from his bun to tickle Alex’s nose. He would say that it annoyed him, but honestly it didn’t in the slightest. He grasped the end of one particularly tight curl which reached Johns shoulder and pulled it straight, eyes widening in confusion when it kept going, almost reaching Johns elbow by the time it was completely straight.
“I need to braid your hair…” Alex whispered to himself in awe at the length of it.

“Go for it.” John puffed over his shoulder, Alex’s weight clearly becoming too much for him as he neared the top of the stairwell.

“As long as you do mine too!” Lafayette demanded as he sprinted up the stairs beside them, and upon reaching the top sent a shit eating grin to the other two. “Last one up does the cleaning after the next squad night.”

John straightened up under Alex immediately, who luckily realised what was about to happen and jumped off Johns back just before he was about to be dropped. John turned to Alex to apologise, but changed his mind and began to run at the sight of Hercules bounding towards them (you wouldn’t need to look to know he was there, he made enough noise). Alex flung himself to the side as Hercules raced past, suitcase in hand, and began gaining on John. The two threw themselves onto the top step face first, determined to win, but neither succeeded as they faceplanted at the exact same time at Lafayette’s feet. Alex huffed out a laugh and finished climbing the stairs, hauling his suitcase up from underneath Hercules who was arguing with John about who would be doing the clean-up.

“I’m pretty sure my face touched the floor closer to Laf, you can see my spit right there, see, I win.” John concluded, pointing at a dark patch on the floor.

“Hercules wins.” Laf shrugged simply, walking to open the door for Alex who was struggling with the effort it was taking to open.

Johns mouth fell open, standing still as Hercules grinned smugly and walked under Lafayette’s arm out into the corridor where Alex was leaning on his suitcase. John began spluttering out his complaints as he walked under Lafs arm as well, the door shutting with a bang as he went through. His jumble of half words finished with a “Favouritism!” as he glared at Lafayette in mock anger.

Said man shrugged. “C’est la vie. Alexander, which room are you in?” He turned his attention to Alex, who tried again to decipher the smudged writing on his hand.

“24a I think it says…what?” Hercules let out a low whistle at the news, and John laughed. “What’s wrong with that room?”

“Have fun in Aaron Burrs swamp.” John sighed, shaking his head. “It was nice knowing ya buddy.”

At Alex’s questioning look, Hercules elaborated. “Aaron Burr will be your dorm mate. Comes from a rich family, very… cold, and John rooms with his girlfriend so he gets all the goss.” He explained, John nodded in agreement. Just my luck.

“Here’s your room, mon amie. Good luck, we’re just down the hall in 25 a and b if you need us.” Laf pointed out, doing a mock bow before the door.
“Before I forget, Alex, what’s your number so we can meet for lunch later?” John asks, and Alex’s cheeks flushed in response. He wants to meet for school lunch you moron, not a date! Alex told himself, and reeled off his number to John, who gave a small smile. “I’ll text you. Have fun with Burr.”

And with that the three boys left, Laf and Hercules going into one door and John into the next one down. Alex turned back to face the door. He can’t be that bad…can he? Taking a deep, calming breath, Alex turned the handle and was met by the faint smell of cooking and music coming from the back of the place. He put his suitcase down by the door, taking a quick look around. Everything seemed to be perfectly tidy, meticulously placed belongings the only sign someone actually lived there. Alex followed the sound of music, which became increasingly louder as he neared the source. He recognised the song, “Take me or leave me” from Rent. How bad could this Burr guy be, if he listened to Rent? Alex grinned as he heard the man’s voice along with the track, singing Maureen’s part with perfect emotions. However, as he rounded the corner to the kitchen, his eyes where met with a shock.

Whereas the rest of the house was clean and tidy, the kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off. There was flour across the counters, empty packets, bowls and utensils scattered everywhere, and the man himself. Holy Shit. Aaron Burr, the ‘cold’ man Hercules mentioned, was wearing a bright pink apron holding a frying pan with some sort of curry in it, and was singing at the top of his voice. Once he put the pan down, he began dancing around the kitchen, singing his heart out. Alex cleared his throat to get his attention, but Burr was too busy screaming out the chorus. After trying a few more times, Alex decided upon a new tactic.

“PARDON ME, ARE YOU AARON BURR, SIR?” he all but screamed, causing Burr to actually scream and cover his body as though he was naked. His cheeks turned bright red as Alex raised an eyebrow.

“Who the fuck are you!?”