The Coffee Shop (Hamilton Lams Modern AU) **IN EDITING**

Chapter 30

John's POV

5 Hours Later

"...We start with stars in our eyes, we start believing that we belong.." The muffled music had woken me up. Who the hell would be listening to my playlist at this hour? I bet it's past midnight. I sat up on my bed and looked around for the source of the dim light that appeared ten times brighter in the pitch black room. Of course. "Alex? What are you doing? I thought you said you had no work due any time soon," I mumbled, still half-asleep. Click. The music stopped. "I-I don't. I just wanted to get this done," he replied. Something's not right h- CRASH! Thunder echoed through the room and I noticed Alex flinch a little. "Alex, you're not telling me something. Why are you awake? It has to be past midnight by now." My eyes had adjusted, and I could see him better now. I could only see a little color in his face because of the light from his laptop, but he looked like he'd been crying. "I couldn't sleep.." he told me, sounding like he was gonna cry. "And I didn't wanna wake you because I-I knew you were still upset about having to act like a parent when we're barely even adults. So, when I woke up after a nightmare, I just put some music on and started working on a project that isn't due until the end of the year. It's around 2 or so. You should be asleep," he explained, very clearly holding back tears. "Alex, I've said this before and I'll say it again - if you ever need me, come and get me. I don't care what I'm doing or how you think I'll react. Call me, text me, wake me up, whatever needs to be done." I got up and went over to my desk, picking Alex up (we're the same size, this is very easily done) and setting him down on my bed. I curled up next to him, using him as my personal plushie. "I had another flashback.." he mumbled. "It's okay, they're normal. Well, for you, at least. Just relax." I tightened my grip around him, making sure he knew he was okay. After around ten minutes of whispering sweet nothings to him, I heard him start snoring. And he's out. I was about to fall asleep next to him when someone knocked on my door. "It's open," I told them, keeping my voice down a little. "Jackie..? I had a nightmare." Mary-Ellie was standing in the doorway, holding a small teddy bear close to her. I sat up, being careful not to wake Alex. She ran up to me and hugged me, and I heard her start to cry. "I know, I know. Dad can't hurt you anymore. You're safe here, okay?" She mumbled something which sounded like an "okay". "I-it's just.. Alex yelled at me earlier.." she explained. "He didn't yell. He was only a little upset with you. Alex is kinda stressed out right now. We're still figuring things out, like how we're gonna 'parent' three kids when we're barely even adults. Plus, any storm puts him on edge. I'll talk to him about being a little less tense, but you have to work on it too, okay?" She nodded. "You can stay with us, I'm sure Alex won't mind."

~

"Wake up! Wake up!" someone was yelling. I opened my eyes to see Mary-Ellie shaking me. "What happened?" I asked. "Alex is missing! He's not here, and he's not in the living room, kitchen, or any of the bedrooms! The apartment door was open, though. The boys are okay." I took a second to realize what had happened and smiled. "Mary-Ellie, he's fine. Alex just sleepwalks sometimes, although it's gonna be a task to find him." The light from the sunrise was streaming in, giving the room a warm glow. I got up, grabbed a hoodie, and ran to the door to slip my crocs on. I darted out the door, leaving Mary-Ellie trailing behind me. "You locked the door, right?" She nodded. "Okay, so this shouldn't take long." I jinxed it. It took us about 45 minutes to find him. He was curled up in the laundry room, slumped against a wall. "Aww, he's so cute," I cooed. "You're just saying that 'cause you're dating him," Mary-Ellie shot at me. "Which makes it ten times truer than it would be coming from someone else," I told her. "Let's go back upstairs, I have a feeling we have a bit of explaining to do."

A/N - anybody catch my DEH reference?