The Unspoken Introduction of Hercules Mulligan

Chapter 7

A/N: I'M BACK! I have successfully survived the wilderness. So, I wrote this chapter on a train to Paris... It's not the best, and I'm writing more now, but I hope y'all will enjoy it. Your feedback has been absolutely amazing. I appreciate all the kind things you guys have said so much. Enjoy! 💕

Angelica's POV:

     Sometimes, seeing Eliza and Alex made my day. They were adorable. They were in love. Eliza was happiest when she was with him, and Eliza was my whole world. Peggy too, but she had always been a more independent spirit.

      But sometimes, seeing them made me feel sick.

      Today was one of those times.

      Eliza leapt up, and practically threw herself into Alex's arms. My head pounded. They beamed at each other, and Alex ran a thumb sweetly down her cheek, as if they hadn't seen each other in a month, as opposed to a couple of hours. My stomach turned. They kissed, and I turned away, feeling cold, clutching my phone so hard it hurt. I looked around, searching for something, anything but Alex and my sister. There. Laf and Herc. Thank god.

      "Herc! You taking me somewhere?"

      Herc's face split into a grin, and he said something to Laf, who looked disappointed, then loped towards me. He stopped in front of me, and fiddled awkwardly with his beanie. "Umm... Yeah! Where do you want to go?"

      I nodded at the lovebirds. "Anywhere without those two."

      He laughed, a little uncomfortably. "Sounds like a plan. You don't have a car, right?"

      "Nope."

      "Alright, um. Okay." He looked over his shoulder. "Laf, you going to use your car?"

      Laf shook his head, corkscrew curls bouncing. "I will wait for Alex. Do you want it?"

      "I'll drop it by your house later, bro."

      Laf tossed him the keys. "Do not trash it, or I will shove a glitter glue poster down your sorry throat."

     Herc laughed and shook his head. "Agreed. Okay, Ange, we can go."

     We walked out together. Herc was his usual awkward-sweet self. A lot of people who didn't know him were afraid of him, but the guy wouldn't hurt a fly. Unless the fly messed with one of his friends, which I found admirable. Every time I hung out with Herc, I was reminded how little I knew about him. I knew he had a couple of twin sisters, because he talked about them occasionally, and that his mom was out of the picture, which I knew from Eliza who knew it from Alex. I didn't know why, though. I had tried to ask Herc personal questions before, but he always managed to avoid them and change the conversation back to me.

     He held the door open for me, which was nice. The car was impeccably clean, and smelled like Laf's Frenchy cologne and lemon leather cleaner.

     Herc slid into the drivers seat, and pulled off his beanie, kneading it between his large hands. "Uh. Are you hungry?"

     I nodded. "I could eat."

     "We could go to Louie's? It's quiet enough that we could do homework or something, if you needed to. Or not. Whatever you want."

     "Louie's sounds great."

     He nodded, a few too many times, shoved the knit beanie back on his head, and started the car. I turned on the radio, and let an upbeat jazz song take the place of conversation. As we drove, he seemed more at ease. I wasn't entirely sure why he was always so nervous around me. People, being mostly my sisters, had mentioned that they had heard over the years that he had a bit of a crush on me... it would certainly explain why he was always eager to talk/hang out with me, but seemed to develop chronic fidgety-blushy syndrome every time he did. But still...we had been friends for years, and it must be obvious to him by now that I couldn't seem to get over Alex, no matter how hard I tried. And, as sweet as Herc was, he wasn't my type.