Rumours Only Grow [Jamilton]

Chapter Sixteen [Alexander]

At least Thomas' crutches are gone now.

"You know what I said about pain always finding its way to me? I think that it's actually true now." Thomas entered the dorm, slamming the door behind him. Thomas held a few napkins up to his nose, before kneeling down and rolling under his bed. 

"What the hell happened to you?" I raised an eyebrow, looking over at him.

"What happened last time?" Thomas asked, rolling his eyes. 

"John?" I asked, rubbing my chin. It'd been a little odd that John chose to do such a thing, for the second time. 

"Yeah, I think he actually likes you or something." Thomas shrugged, rubbing his arms slightly. "Do you by chance have any more of those mac and cheese cups?" He asked.

"John doesn't like me." I laughed lightly. "You hungry? I'll make you one."

"Do you want to know the real reason he beat me up?" Thomas rose an eyebrow, watching me as I went to open up one of his cups. I poured the water into the fill line, before popping it in the microwave. "Also, I'm only eating because I don't want to be sent back to the emergency room for starving myself."

"Erm, sure." I nodded, grabbing a fork this time after remembering what Thomas said the time before. I sat down next to the bed, before handing the cup to him.

Thomas looked over at me, falling silent for a moment as I rolled under the bed. He took a deep breath. "I told him erm... a very close secret of mine. Yeah, and he didn't seem to like it."

"What exactly is the secret?" I asked. Thomas took a bite of his food. 

"It wouldn't really be one if I told you, you know?" Thomas nodded.

"Fine, Fine. I won't force you to tell just as yet." I sighed. "How are you feeling?"

"Dead." Thomas answered, mumbling something under his breath.

"Since you can actually walk now, why don't we sneak out again?" I suggested. 

"Sneak out?" Thomas asked. "We almost got caught the last time."

"No, we didn't. Last time, we were called into the office for your ankle." I explained, waving a finger to correct him. "I'll get my friends to form a distraction."

-=+=-

"So we're going to the park, huh?" Thomas asked, walking ahead of me on the sidewalk. He took a few moments to admire the view around him. 

"Yeah! It'll be fun." I smiled. "Afterwards we should go for coffee."

"Hercules told me you shouldn't have too much of that." Thomas hummed.

"One cup of coffee wouldn't kill me." I shrugged.

"Alright, coffee will be great then." Thomas stopped after noticing the swingset. "Want to see who can swing higher?" He grinned.

"Me." I shrugged, pulling myself up on the shorter swing. "Just don't hurt yourself."

"I won't." Thomas grinned, sitting on the swing next to mine. "You ready?"

"Ready!" The two of us began to swing. Thomas had a slight lead at the beginning since his feet were closer to the ground, but I gradually caught up to him.  I closed my eyes, grinning as the wind brushed past me. My facial expression quickly shifted after realization hit me. "I don't think this is such a good idea, you might fall."

"I won't fall, Alex." Thomas rolled his eyes, mockingly letting go of his swing for a second, and grabbing back on to it. 

"Fine." I nodded, looking forward as I'd been about to take my victory. I stopped in my tracks after noticing his unsteady movements. I got off just in time, and I was actually able to catch him.

Well... sort of. I fell back, before having him land on top of me. 

Thomas' face was bright red, and he quickly rolled away. He placed a hand in the sand and pulled himself up to his feet. "Sorry. You okay? I didn't kill you, did I?"

"No. I'm fine. You're not very heavy. I just don't make a very good prince charming." I mumbled, dusting off my clothes as I got up as well. "At least you didn't get hurt this time." I chuckled. 

"I guess I got a little overconfident there. I hang out around you too often." Thomas shrugged. "Let's try the slide next."

"Slide should be fun! Let's slide down at the same time." I nodded. 

"Alright." Thomas yawned, climbing atop the steps. "You have a lot of energy."

"I know." I grinned. 

"So how are we going to do this? You'll probably have to go in front." Thomas nodded. 

"Why can't I go in the back?" I asked, folding my arms. 

"Because you're tiny, Alexander." Thomas playfully rolled his eyes. "C'mon."

I nodded, before sitting down at the edge of the slide, my feet hung over it slightly. 

"Here." Thomas chuckled, quickly taking a seat behind me. "I think I'm actually a little too tall for this thing." He nodded, placing his chin on my shoulder. 

"You'll be fine. Are you ready?" I asked. 

"Yup!" Thomas nodded, sending the two of us down.

"That was awesome, can we go again?" I beamed, looking back at Thomas. 

"I'm tired." Thomas complained. "Let's just try the monkey bars and call it a day, so we can head to the coffee shop."

"You're no fun." I let out a groan, shaking my head. 

"Yeah, I know." Thomas shrugged. "Would you prefer the monkey bars or just the walk to the shop now?" 

"Monkey bars definitely. Those are great." I nodded.

The rest of the park visit was pretty fun. I actually convinced Thomas to get up on the swings with me once more. Thomas seemed to enjoy it as well. While at the coffee shop, I got myself a cup of coffee and some cinnamon rolls. 

"These taste great." Thomas grinned.

"I know, right?" I nodded. "I wish I had some chocolate sauce or something to pour on them."

"You two seem to be having a lot of fun." A stern voice called out from behind us, causing me to jump. That voice had been Mr. Washington.

End of Chapter Fifteen.