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

Chapter 36

John's POV

The Next Morning

"The world turned upside down.. the world turned upside down..." Once again, I'd been woken up to the sound of one of my favorite songs. I was about to take my headphones off when pain rushed through my right arm. Right.. I broke my arm. I took my headphones off with my left hand and paused my music. I put my phone to charge (it was being used all throughout last night, it's almost dead) and tried to put my arm back in the sling I was supposed to wear. Good enough. Alex can fix it, I thought as I left my room. I left my room and noticed that the apartment was quiet. Too quiet for me. "Morning, Jackie! Did you sleep well?" Alex asked. "Yeah, I did. And you're in a good mood. Lemme guess, you actually took your meds last night and got some sleep?" He eagerly nodded. Aww, I forgot what he's like when he actually sleeps. "Also, I was making you breakfast in bed, but you woke up before I could finish," he told me. "Aww, Alex, you didn't have to do that!" He just grinned at me. "I didn't have to, but I wanted to," he explained. "Okay, maybe you should sleep more often, I like you better like this," I joked. "Watch it, Laurens," he shot back playfully. I smiled and sat down on top of the counter so I could watch him cook. "I didn't know you could actually cook. You live off of instant coffee and fast food most of the time." He laughed and shot me another grin. Why is he so cute? "Anyways, are you up for having people over tonight?" he asked. "Sure. What's the occasion?" Alex looked at me like a confused toddler. "Does there have to be an occasion? I just thought you could do with a day off to just relax. The kids are at school, I'm not going into class today, you are not going into work under any circumstances, so we have until three or so to do whatever we want. And, I talked to Mr. and Mrs. Schuyler, and they'd be glad to watch the kids tonight." I was stunned, but not too much, as I'm used to having Alex plan everything out. "Sounds good to me. Also, could you maybe fix my sling? I couldn't do it myself.." I mumbled. He quickly fixed it back to how it should be. "Thanks, Alex," I told him with a smile. "What can I say except you're welcome?" he joked. "Can you seriously stop being cute for five seconds?" I asked him. "I'll try it if you do," he shot back with a smirk (jackie.exe has shut down). "Aww, is someone flustered?" he teased, only making me blush even more. "You're lucky you're cute. Otherwise, I would've pulverized you. Well, tried to, at least, seeing as one of my arms is in a sling." He just laughed a little before turning his focus back to his cooking. "Crap, I burnt one of the pancakes.." he muttered. "You'll just take another, I'll have this one," he told me. "Alex, you don't have to-" he cut me off. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. I wanna be the one taking care of you for once. You're always looking after me, making sure I don't overwork myself, making sure I take my meds, making sure I don't have a severe panic attack every time there's a thunderstorm. I know you're just trying to be nice, and I know it's what you're used to, considering you're the oldest of your siblings and took care of them more than your lousy excuse for a dad, but just let me do this for you, okay?" Alex was getting kinda choked up. I was speechless. I nodded, still unsure of how to respond. He grabbed my free hand and pulled me into the seat next to where he was now sitting. Alex pushed the plate of pancakes (surprisingly not burnt, maybe he can cook) in front of me. I attempted to use my left hand to eat, but I ended up making a bit of a mess. "Stupid left hand.." I huffed. "You need help?" he asked me. "No, it's fine. If you could just take this dumb sling off, I'd be able to use my hand a bit better." He carefully took it off, and I could tell he was being as gentle as he could be. "Thanks.." I told him, stifling a yawn. Now I could eat, but it hurt like hell to move my arm. "You need help?" I shook my head. "If you say so. Just say the word and I'll help you out, okay?" I nodded a little. I rested my head on his shoulder, pushing the rest of my food away. "Are you sure you're done?" I nodded again. I didn't have the energy to speak. "Your choice." Alex quickly grabbed my leftovers and devoured them within 2 minutes. "Slow down! You're gonna choke." He just laughed a little. "I'm not gonna choke. Nothing bad is gonna happen to either one of us. And if it does, I'll make sure to punch the smart-aleck who did it right where it'll hurt the most," he told me. I smiled and started laughing at how violent he could be, despite the fact that he's adorable. "There's what I've been waiting for! A smile from you. You're adorable. You should smile more often, it makes you look ten times more cute than normal." I nuzzled my face into his neck, already tired when I haven't even been up for an hour. "Thanks, Alex.." I mumbled. "Don't mention it."

~

Alex and I had been watching Friends reruns on the TV for the past two hours. It was nice to have the place to ourselves and just be able to relax. I was drowsy, and I was about to fall asleep when- "HOLY CRAP JACKIE CHECK THE GROUP CHAT!" Alex screeched. "Calm down, Alex. I told you I have a headache.." I mumbled, pulling my phone out. "Sorry, Jack. I just got excited," he told me. "It's okay," I replied. I unlocked my phone and went on to Messages, only to find two group chats: one that looked dead, and one that was blowing up. I clicked on the one that was blowing up and read the messages.

Group Chat Name: the squad (minus laf)

nointroneeded: okay guys i've decided

nointroneeded: i'm gonna propose to laf

andpeggy: waIT WHAT?

middlecinnamonroll: that's great! when are you planning on popping the question?

oldestsinnamonroll: yeah what liza said

cinnamonrollsgf: that's good news, but tbh i thought john and alex would go first

trademarkbi: i've only known him for a few months! how am i supposed to propose off of so little info?

trademarkgay: so ur saying u wouldn't if given the chance?

trademarkbi: no, i would, but after more time

I looked up from my phone, turning to Alex with a grin. "Seriously? Texting when I'm right here?" I jokingly asked him. "Haha, you're doing it too," he shot back. "Why are we doing that, though? It's stupid." I rolled my eyes. "I don't care if it's stupid, just continue."

Group Chat Name: the squad

trademarkbi: hey guys so john and i were planning on maybe doing something tonight with you guys? we, well, i was thinking something like truth or dare

largebaguette: sounds great, mes amies! what time?

middlecinnamonroll: and what about the kids?

trademarkgay: alex, you do the honors

trademarkbi: for time, somewhere around seven and eight. i talked with mr and mrs schuyler and they're okay with watching james, henry, and mary-ellie tonight, so that's covered

trademarkgay: he planned this all out before i woke up

nointroneeded: wow

largebaguette: mon amour and i will be there!

middlecinnamonroll: mari and i will be too!

andpeggy: i'm coming and i'm dragging angie with me

trademarkgay: okay now that that's settled alex and i are gonna go cuddle some more bye

I set my phone down and curled up next to Alex. "You wanna watch the recorded version of Miranda for the millionth time on Disney+?" he asked. I nodded and he put Disney+ on the TV, quickly finding what we were looking for and restarting it.