All the Stars (Modern Ham AU / LAMS)

Chapter Fifteen: Halloween pt. 2

{A.N. I'll make it happy later, I swear}

John's pov:

"Hey, guys, Peggy got the right key! We can go in now!" I shout at Herc and Laf. The two of them walked off a little while ago to talk about something, but I don't know what. I do know that it's cold as balls and I can't wait to get inside. The two of them don't respond and we're all anxious to get out of the cold. Alex mutters a curse under his breath as he shifts from foot to food, his vampire cloak wrapped tightly around his shoulders.

I'm about to call out to them again, when Hercules suddenly turns and stalks back to the house, leaving Lafayette standing by himself. Peggy, Alex, and I share an alarmed look before rushing over to our friend.

"Hey, Laf, you okay?" I ask when we get to him. He turns to look at me and I see tears streaming from his eyes.

"Oh, shit," Alex swears softly behind me.

"What happened?" I ask. He opens his mouth to speak, but instead let's out a rough sob. Peggy takes his arm and leads everyone inside to the warmth of the house. Angelica and Eliza are waiting on the couch, chatting with bowls of hot popcorn. They rush over when they see Laf crying and usher him to the couch while Peggy gets a fuzzy blanket for him. Angelica runs off to make some cider and Eliza sits next to Laf and puts her arms around him while he cries. Hercules is nowhere to be seen.

By the time Angelica brings out a cup of hot cider, Laf has stopped sobbing and accepts the steaming mug gratefully.

"I- I am sorry for making your night bad," he sniffles quietly, which is greeted by all of us telling him not to apologize for anything.

"Do you want to tell us what happened?" Angie asks gently. He is silent for a moment before telling her.

"Um, well he noticed that I was not talking to him as much and asked me why. I could not tell him and he got upset and left."

I should have known. He has been avoiding Hercules since he met Tibby, and he must have caught on.

"Damn," Alex swears softly. "That's rough." The Schuyler sisters look confused and I realize that they don't know about Lafayette's feelings for Herc.

"Why couldn't you tell him?" Angelica asks.

"Because, um, well..." he stutters before finally spilling the beans. "I may have a tiny piece of a crush for him."

A sudden look of understanding covers the girls' faces as Laf blushes furiously and tries to make his blanket absorb him. Peggy gasps.

"Welcome to the gay squad!" She whisper-squeals. Angie punches her shoulder and shushes her, getting a death glare in response.

"How long have you known?" Angie asks him.

"Ever since the sleepover where we played truth or dare. It started before then, but that was when I realized it."

"And he's dating that Tibby girl."

"Oui. I could not make him have that decision. And he seems to really like her."

"Shit."

"I just, I do not know what to do. And now he is mad at me and he feels umm, not with us? Not like a piece of our group anymore probably. I just- I am sorry that he is so upset because me. I am sorry for my English as well, it is poor right now."

"Your English is fine, Laf," Eliza tells him. "Don't worry about it."

We sit in silence for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Angelica makes more cider for everyone, and then we think some more. In the end, we decide to watch Mean Girls 2 and eat candy. The candy part is awesome, unlike the movie, but I keep from criticizing it because Laf seems to like it so much.

Hercules's pov:

After I grab my stuff, I dump it into the passenger seat and drive away quickly. Well, as quickly as I can with people still trick-or-treating. When I finally get home, everyone is asleep except for my dad, who is humming to a song playing on his iPod as he washes dishes. The earbuds block any sound of my entrance, and I am able to make it to my room undetected, for which I am grateful. I shut the door and toss my things onto the floor, then walk over and flop onto my bed.

Why can't he tell me what's going on? Does he not trust me? If he talked to John about it, he would have known that I would never give away any secret he told me. I'm hurt that he wouldn't talk to me, but I still feel bad for making him so upset. He's so sweet and open usually. So why am I the only one who can't know what's going on? Why can't I be trusted?

I realize that even though I'm tired, I'm not going to sleep, so I decide to mess around on my phone for a while before a notification from Elizard pops up. She isn't using the group chat, which surprises me a little, so I decide to see what she wants.

Elizard: how are you doing?

NIET_130: meh

Elizard: im sorry about what happened earlier

Elizard: Laf told us about it

NIET_130: ok

Elizard: im really sorry

NIET_130: has he told you what's wrong?

She takes a moment to respond and I can tell she's reluctant.

Elizard: yes

I don't respond either, in hopes that she'll tell me something.

Elizard: i really want to tell you, I swear I do, but it's not my secret to tell

NIET_130: thats ok, i get it

Elizard: sorry

I remind myself that it's not her fault, and she's being a good friend to Laf at least by not telling his secrets. I just wish- I don't know. I guess wishing for stuff gets you nowhere. I pull up Castle Kingdom Conquerors again and work on building my north wall to ward off my neighbor, mrsquipinyobrain41087, who is expanding his barracks a little too close to mine for comfort. I guess I forgot to turn the volume completely down because a little while later, I hear a knock on my door. I turn the volume of my game down and ignore it, hoping whoever is there will go away. They don't though.

"Hey, are you still awake in there?" It's my dad, probably on his way to bed.

"Yeah, I was just about to go to sleep, though," I reply softly.

"Are you too tired to hang out for a little while?" This takes me off guard. My parents are usually fairly lenient about bedtimes and going out and such, but they still like me and my siblings to get a healthy amount of sleep. I thought for sure he would tell me to go right to sleep so I wouldn't be too tired tomorrow. I'm not really in a good mood for interacting with people, but he's been really busy lately, on top of his usual schedule, so I decide to see what he wants.

"Not really," I reply. I get up and open the door to my room to see my dad with a small smile on his face.

"Great, I made hot chocolate. Let's go."

I left my phone in my room, so I check the kitchen clock, which reads 1:07 AM. The hot chocolate and the talking take my mind off today's crappiness, and I start to feel better. More tired, but better. We chat about stuff, I tell him about this project I'm working on for my history class, and he tells me about living in Ireland when he was a kid. Then we watch youtube videos until we're practically falling asleep on the couch. I have no trouble sleeping after that.

{A.N. Okay, that wasn't super happy, but it wasn't 100% depressing. Yay for parents being nice! And now the Schuylers know, which wasn't the plan. Oh well, it'll be OK}