Hope for Our Ass After All

t h i r t y - t w o

unknown

All was quiet inside the Revolutionaries' dorm. Too quiet. At eight at night they were usually up playing an invigorating game of Monopoly or Wii Sports Resort.

Exactly as planned. Alexander and Lafayette refused to speak to John and Hercules, Alexander out of anger and Lafayette out of fear.

And because they couldn't speak, Hercules and John couldn't speak back. The group was split.

It was payback time, and it had only just begun.

hercules mulligan

The group sat uncomfortably on the couch, John and Hercules on one end and Alex and Laf on the other. They talked in hushed tones to each-other, discussing the day with regret and shifty looks.

"John, this just... doesn't make sense. First Alexander cheats, and then Lafayette just... stops talking to me?" Hercules murmured, head spinning. John shrugged. "Maybe Lafayette cheated too," he suggested, glancing up at Herc.

Hercules flinched at the possibility. "No, Laf— he wouldn't do that—"

He swallowed.

"Would he?"

John faced him. "Hey, I don't know, dude. Lafayette doesn't seem like that type, but why else would he be actually scared to speak to you?"

Hercules sighed. Maybe John was right. But if he was, why hadn't Hercules received a call disclosing that information to him?

lafayette

"Fuck."

Lafayette glanced over at Alexander, who'd just proclaimed the word "fuck" like it would save them. "Mon ami, there needs to be a reason John got that call! Maybe it was a wrong number?"

Alex huffed. "A wrong number wouldn't have that kind of information. The person knew they were calling John."

Lafayette glanced back over at Hercules, unsatisfied with Alex's answer but unable to change it. Why had Herc left him that note? And then tried to call him, from a payphone no less?

Lafayette was scared. Did Hercules seriously hate him? Herc looked genuinely worried when they got home, but maybe it was a facade. A show.

Lafayette felt his world crumbling. Herc hated him, John wouldn't speak to him, he was scared of someone he loved, Alexander refused to talk to either of them, and everything was going to hell.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Laf stood and went to get it, desperate to leave this tension behind.

It opened. On the other side?

Elizabeth Schuyler. "Hey, guys!" She exclaimed, cheery and upbeat. The gang looked almost confused and distraught. "Can I steal Alex for a sec?"

John looked salty. "Go ahead," he snapped. Eliza was oblivious to his tone. "Awesome, I'll bring him right back!" She glanced expectantly toward Alex. "I just wanted to ask you something."

He stood slowly. "What is it?"

"It's... a private matter."