How the Leaves Fall Down

9

The room became dead silent.

Lafayette looked at Alex pleadingly. "Say something. Say anything! Please..." he said. The other boy could barely form a proper sentence; for one of the first times in his life, he was rendered speechless.

"Alex...?" John said softly.

"So it is true..." he muttered. His lips curled into a sad smile, and he let out a weak, disbelieving laugh. He didn't know what to think.

"You... You remember..." Laf realized.

Alex looked at him with guilt and grief. "Yeah... I do." he muttered, walking over to the kitchen table and sitting down. "I didn't even have the chance to tell you goodbye,
o-or that I was sorry or even that it wasn't your fault." He sighed shakily, "After all these years..." His hand rubbed the back of his neck habitually, one of his many nervous tics he's acquired over the years.

Lafayette quietly walked over and sat down in front of him. He wanted to talk to him, but the other boy wouldn't even look him in the eyes. Both were barely holding back tears.

"Everything will be okay, mon petit lion..." he smiled sadly, "I know I wasn't able to protect you back then, but... I will never let anyone hurt you ever again. I promise." Alexander's eyes slowly looked up to meet his.

He hasn't heard him call him that in years. He hasn't been comforted like that in years.

He just... broke.

Lafayette held him close as the small boy's heaving sobs shook his entire body. He himself was trying not to cry too heavily, but tears still fell rapidly down his cheeks and dripped into Alex's hair. They weren't of sadness, but of relief that his brother was safe and back in his reach.

No one will ever separate them. Never again.

~~~

Alexander was slow to get ready after waking up. After that whole fiasco last night, he was absolutely exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

He took a long shower, brushed his teeth, and threw his long, shaggy hair up into a messy bun. "I need a haircut..." he sighed, glancing at himself in the mirror.

After getting dressed, which was just a pair of black jeans, red sneakers, and that same white hoodie from last night, he grabbed his bag and trudged down the long hallway. This is gonna be a long day...

He was about to begin descending the stairs when Lafayette and John rounded the corner.

"Hey Alex, wait up!" John called, grinning when he saw him. He had his hair thrown up into a frizzy ponytail, and he was wearing a big, dark grey jacket that swallowed up his frame, and a deep blue bandana was tied around his neck. Cute.

Alexander blushed slightly. God, that smile... he thought, feeling the butterflies flutter in his stomach. But he quickly shoved them down. He can not and will not fall for some random guy he just met. That's fucking weird, and he probably wouldn't even like him in the same way anyways. Who could possibly love somebody like him?

"How did you sleep, mon ami?" Lafayette asked, following after John.

"Fine." he lied.

Lafayette smiled. "That's good" he said, beginning to descend the staircase. Alexander didn't see it, but his smile quickly dropped into a look of concern as soon as he turned his back towards them. He always had a knack for picking up things like this...

He knows he's lying.

But it was no matter. It's not really his business, and he decided not to push it for Alex's sake. He just hoped that in the future, he'll come to trust him again.