Stuck In A Moment

Well... he's still here.

It was a bit awkward that they all thought Henry attacked Laurens, especially since they were now snowed in and he couldn't leave. Washingdad, I mean Washington... no I don't, kept Henry away from Laurens, Alexander, and Eliza and wouldn't even let him be in the same room as Laurens.

Laurens came close to death on many occasions, but the two that Washington had to worry about the most was when he got pneumonia, and when he was abducted.

Eliza was helping Laurens warm up, but couldn't do anything about the fact that he felt like he was completely betrayed other then to let him talk.

"Maybe he's telling the truth?" Eliza suggested.

"I want to believe that, but when a man is on trial and all the evidence points against him, he's going to jail." Laurens stated.

"I know. I'm sorry." Eliza frowned. "My father, in my opinion, is one of the best men in the world. When I lost my mother, he was always there for me and helped us get through it. If people can look at that and say I'm strong for getting through it, then you've got to be the strongest person alive."

"Well, you wouldn't be able to tell by my skin and bone noodle arms, but thanks." Laurens smiled.

Meanwhile, in another part of the house....

Alexander was just about to drink from the milk carton (😞) when this happened.

"Alexander?" Henry asked, resulting in Alex spilling pretty much all the milk all over himself.

"What the heck!?!?!?!" He exclaimed.

"I need to talk to you." Henry continued, ignoring what just happened.

"If this is about us believing you just found Laurens like that, then you're wasting your time." Alexander sighed as he grabbed some towels from a drawer. "Need I remind you that you tried to kill me too? On multiple occasions?"

"I wasn't trying to kill you. I was just trying to get Laurens not to leave the apartment." Henry said.

"Does grabbing me from the hall, cupping your hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream, and trying to slit my throat with a knife while your kidnapped son tried to escape and grab the gun that you were also trying to kill me with, ring a bell to you!" Alexander ranted.

"Right. There's that." Henry sighed.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Alexander turned back. "You're guilty until proven innocent!"

"Is that how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart?" Henry asked. (YOU HAVE TORN IT ALL APART!!!)

Alexander stopped what he was doing and looked over at Henry.

"Please, I'm not asking for forgiveness of what I've done. I'm asking for a second chance to make things right. And right now, I just need a tiny fraction of you to actually believe me. Please?" Henry begged.

Alexander thought for a moment. He could be making a huge mistake, or help Laurens through a big problem in his life and find out if Henry is innocent.

"Fine. But if I end up tied up in the back of your truck, or dead, I will kill you." Alexander stated.

"How would you do that if you were dead?" Henry laughed.

"You underestimate me."

Martha was trying to get Washington to calm down. He wanted Henry to go back to prison as soon as the police could get to their house. And being an ex convict, the police would believe Washington over Henry.

"We don't know what happened. Yes, the most likely reason is Henry's fault. But sometimes the most likely reason is the farthest thing from the truth." Martha explained.

"Martha, let's say he is telling the truth. If we have him arrested, the police will eventually find evidence that he's innocent and let him go. But what if he's lying?" Washington ranted. "If we let him go, and something happened to Laurens, I would never be able to forgive myself."

"Ok. If he can't change our minds by the time the storm clears up, then we'll call the police and have him arrested." Martha agreed. "He's going to be ok, George. He's grown up now and he's a smart kid."

"He's always been a smart kid, and Henry took him anyway." Washington stated.

"So you think I'm helpless?" Laurens asked as both Washingtons turned to see that he was standing in the doorway.

"No. I just think..." Washington began but was interrupted.

"It's fine. You were right about Henry, so you're probably right about that too." Laurens sighed.

"You're not helpless. You're smart, resourceful, mischievous." Washington laughed. "At least when around Alexander."

"I couldn't stop him from getting to me. Not then, and if he's lying, not now." Laurens whimpered.

"I promise. We'll take care of the Henry situation." Washington stood up and gave Laurens a hug. "I promise."

Laurens nodded and left the room. He went back to the living room with Eliza and sat on the couch with a grand *sigh*.

"You feeling better?" Eliza asked.

"I can feel my feet again." Laurens joked. "I don't really know though."

"I heard your conversation." Eliza admitted.

"How?" Laurens questioned.

"The air vents. The one in here leads to the one in there." Eliza explained. "You wanna talk about it?"

"I get that most people only need to be a certain level of strong. You said that I'm the strongest person you've met, but that's mentally and perusingly, if that's even a word." Laurens said. "But with Henry, and with Stephen... I couldn't protect myself from them when they tried to kill me."

"Maybe you start carrying pepper spary." Eliza laughed.

"No. What if I'm in a situation where I don't have pepper spray or a weapon? I need to be able to do something more then just almost dying again." Laurens continued.

"If you want to learn self defense, you should talk to Peggy. She did martial arts training for like six or seven years." Eliza said.

"You're kidding." Laurens stated. "She has never once mentioned it."

"She tries not to. She had a best friend that did it with her, and it ruined their relationship." Eliza replied. "At the time, it was really painful for her. But I'm sure she remembers enough to help."

"Good to know."