All the Stars (Modern Ham AU / LAMS)

Chapter Six: Goats Make Terrible Houseguests

[a Friday some time in mid-October]

Alex's pov:

"Alex, where's JP?" Maddie is standing behind me, clutching a Spiderman action figure. I turn from my laptop, I can spare a few minutes for her.

"Why?" I ask. "Oh, wait, are you playing hide and seek?"

"No!" she exclaims defensively.

"Really?" I'm not convinced at all.

"Yes... but he's really good at hiding, and I can't find him!" She pouts. "Wait, how did you know I was lying? I've gotten better!" I laugh.

"I'm magical, I can hear everything you're thinking."

She gasps and covers her ears. "NOW CAN YOU HEAR WHAT I'M THINKING?" I laugh again and move her hands gently.

"I'm just kidding. Usually when people lie, they have a tell," I explain. "It's something they do without thinking, and it lets other people know when they're lying. For example: a person might twitch a certain finger or lick their lips or something."

"Oh. What's my tell?" She asks me.

"Your left eye blinks a lot."

"Oh."

"So, why do you need my help finding JP? Aren't you better at hide and seek than him?"

"I'm better at hiding because I'm little. I'm not good at finding, though. Can you help me? Please???"

"What about Thomas? Is he here?"

"Yes, but he's hiding too. Please can you help me find them?"

I'm about to refuse, I mean, she's cute and I would love to help her, but I really have to work on this paper. It's due in three days and I only have half of it written. But then she makes puppy dog eyes at me and I can't say no to her. If I said no, she would be super disappointed and I would feel guilty. Damn her puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, fine. But after we find them, I have to do more homework."

"Yayyy!!!!!" She squeals and hugs me tightly. "You're the best big brother ever! Well, aside from JP and Thomas. They're the best too."

"Heh, well, I couldn't really expect to be ranked higher than them, could I?"

"Nope! Let's go!"

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"HA! We found you JP!!!" We had found him in the laundry hamper in his closet, covered in dirty clothes.

"Finally!" He gasps, tipping himself over and wriggling out of the pile of laundry. "It was really hard to breathe in there!"

"You can help us find Thomas now!" She grabs both of our hands and practically drags us down the stairs. "Thomas, where are you?"

"I'm not just going to tell you!" A very annoying voice comes from under the table. I look discreetly and see that he has pushed in a row of chairs and is laying on top of them, so he's under the table but not on the floor. The tablecloth only hangs a few inches off the sides, but it is enough to make an effective barrier. I've got to admit, it's a pretty good hiding place. He's lucky the table is so long, or else his feet would be sticking out, but Martha loves having people over, so his height isn't a problem.

"Was that you, Thomas?" Maddie asks.

"What? No! Nobody here but us termites!" This makes her and JP laugh.