Don't Need Them - John Laurens x Reader {DISCONTINUED}

- 46 -

Day One...

~ 11:13 AM ~

Your POV

I had been up for a couple hours, but our life already felt like hell. We had already checked what seemed to be everywhere in Manhattan. But no Frances. None of the trio.

John had already declined the idea of police. "I wanna find those b*stards myself. They're gonna regret takin' one step into this house."

Currently, we were upstairs on our bed, and I was trying to maintain my emotions. I knew my cheeks were tear-stained, and even when I looked at John there were faint tear-tracks down his freckled cheeks. But I couldn't pinpoint the emotions in his hazel eyes.

John held me securely in his arms, gently swaying back and forth. My eyes landed on a decent sized bruise by his wrist. From what he had said, when Hercules had grabbed him, that started to leave a mark, and when he got pushed to the ground he practically landed on it, bruising it even further.

I sighed, falling back farther into John's arms. "I can't believe th-they... I-I miss her.."

John pressed a gentle kiss to my temple. "I know, chickadee.. But we'll get her back, I promise you. They'll see."

~ later ~

Alexander's POV

I thought Frances would be a lot harder to care for, but she just seemed to be asleep most of the time. To be fair, she was probably a bit traumatized..

"D-Dada?"

I looked up from my laptop to see Frances sitting up. I was sat in the main room on the sofa, Frances near the coffee table a few feet away.

"Dada!" Frances tried again.

What did I do? Does she even know what's going on? Could she even understand? I had zero idea, but decided to try something.

"Dada's over here, Frances!" I spoke happily.

She looked up at me with big hazel eyes. It was silent for a few moments. "N-Na Dada."

I was confused. "What, Fran?"

"Na Dada!" Frances exclaimed, waving her little arms.

It hit me. 'Not Dada... She does understand...'

"Of course I'm your dada, Fran! You're so silly!"

Frances shook her head briefly, or whatever could be considered that. "Na Dada! Na!" She looked around a moment. "M-Mama?"

"Mama's... not home right now, Fran.."

~

Later that night, while we were trying to get Frances to sleep, she started crying. My main thought was because John and (Y/N) weren't here, but wouldn't she have been crying all day?

Laf was rocking her as he walked, muttering calming things in French (that didn't seem to be working). I was trying to think. But then it hit me.

Flashback -

Upon silently entering the nursery, I was met with a rather simple room. I wouldn't usually say it, but it was cute.

Silently walking over to the crib, Frances was asleep. There were three stuffed animals in her crib. An elephant and a bear were by the end of the crib, and there was a small turtle tucked under her arm.

It was a vivid reminder of John, and for a split second I thought about why were there. Shaking away the thought, I picked up Frances, her eyes opening as she dropped the turtle in surprise.

She started crying, making me look at Laf in rising anxiety. He shrugged helplessly, and I could only turn back and start bouncing Frances in weak attempts to keep her calm.

-

That was it. We had forgotten to bring one of the stuffed animals with us. Particularly the turtle one from the looks of it. Frances knew in a way the turtle meant John, and she didn't have that. Nor did she have something that meant (Y/N).

"Damnit!" I groaned.

Both boyfriends looked up.

"Quoi?" Laf asked.

I sighed. "We forgot to take one of the stuffed animals with us. She had a turtle one under her arm when I went in there and I forgot to take it with us."

"I'm not really sure-- Oh... because John and... okay.." Herc muttered.

"What're we gonna do?" Laf spoke, looking down at Frances. She was calming down, but it was a very slow process.

"Well, we can't just get a new plush. I doubt that'll work," Herc responded, leaning against the door frame.

"Well, we can't just break back into their house, can we?" I countered. "It's almost the middle of the evening, they're bound to be home by now if they were searching all day."

"We have nearly everything but the thing needed to calm her down," Herc groaned quietly (curtsy of the Washingtons... even if we had to lie a bit).

"I think we have two options here. One, we either do nothing and hope she'll figure out there's no stuffed animals, or two, we manage to get back into their house and take one of the animals," I suggested.

"The second option seems more... dangereux. If even one of us gets 'eld back by John then... jeu terminé," Laf responded. (...game over.)

"Laf's right, Alex. We might just have to sit it out and hope for the best," Herc responded.

I shrugged as Laf set Frances in the small crib. "It'll be worth it in the end though."