Raise a glass

Chapter 29 - Rings and things

(A/N: I want to finish my book, so I can move on to the sequel and stuff, so you're getting lots of chapters)

Monday 17th September

John pov

When we got back to the house, it was lunch time, so we packed a picnic and went out to the poolside to eat. There was a small, grassy hill by the beach loungers, that we spread a blanket on. It looked beautiful in the midday sun.

Jefferson made up all his own mac n' cheese recipe, and Eliza baked some cinnamon rolls. Peggy and Maria made lemonade and Laf made tiny sandwiches.

Herc tried to help Laf, but he kept crushing the bread.

"Making tiny sandwiches is a delicate art" Laf kept telling him "You can't just hulk smash them!"

"I give up!" I threw his hands up and went to help Angie raid the fridge for snacks. Alex and I were assigned the simple job of taking Eliza's apple pie out of the oven, when the timer went off.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!

"Oh! That's the timer" I rushed over. I pressed a fork into the top of the pie to let out some steam, like my Mother taught me.

"What do we do now?" Asked Alex who had obviously never done this before.

"Put on some oven mittens"

"Okay" He pulled them on.

"Now, pull out the tray and take the pie out. Be careful it's hot and it's a lot heavier than you expect it to be"

"Okay..." He mumbled nervously. He slowly lifted the pie out of the oven and placed it on a cooling rack. "I DID IT!!" He screamed, overjoyed

I giggled and hugged him as he jumped up and down. "Well done" I smiled and kissed his forehead.

I turned to see everyone watching, including Laf. Shoot.

"No homo" I spluttered

"O-oh yeah! Ew no" He tried to sound convincing, whilst glancing at Laf to see his reaction.

"Okay, let's eat our picnic!" Thomas cried, shattering the tension.

Laf was glaring daggers at Alex. I worried for his safety. I worried even more when Laf said:

"Alex, can I talk to you for a second?"

"U-um...okay...?"

Laf lead a terrified Alex into the hall.

Alex pov

This was it. This was the moment I was going to die.

I was gonna get brutally murdered by my best friend for dating his gay son.

"Alex, can I ask you a question" Laf stared intensely

"U-um okay"

He took a deep breath. 

I winced.

"Do you think Hercules is going to propose to me?" He blurted anxiously

"Wh-what?" I stuttered, taken aback

"So, basically, I was on his phone and I found him looking at pictures of engagement rings and he saved one - a really nice one- do you think he's gonna propose? I mean, has he said anything to you? I don't know what I'd say! I want to marry him, but don't you think it's a little soon?" He rambled.

He was a mess. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. His forehead was creased with worry and his eyes were lost.

"Laf" I took his shaking hands in mine "Do you love him?"