#hercham

He shoved his phone into his pocket. His eyes widened as he got up from his chair. All he could see was people dead on the shore of the island he was born in. And he thought that maybe it wouldn’t hit New York, but it didn’t matter, it didn’t matter because he’d still have to hear about people dying. Something was pressing at his throat and he couldn’t breathe. He sprinted to the bathroom— it smelled like vomit, and the odor made him dizzy. He headed to one of the stalls and shut the door. He gritted his teeth as he tried to calm his racing thoughts, because God, he wasn’t seventeen anymore, he should just get over this. But he couldn’t breathe and there were dots in his vision and he wanted to go somewhere where there were no hurricanes to be afraid of. “Alexander!” someone called. It sounded a lot like John. “Alexander, are you okay?” He let out a sob in response. He had been crying silently for a few minutes, but he sniffled anyway. “What’s wrong?”Footsteps came and he let himself open the door. It was Hercules— his eyes were wide and he took him into his arms. The smell of his cologne overwhelmed him. “Why are you crying, Alex? You alright?”He let out another sob. He was going to die on this island, there was going to be another hurricane and no way to stop it. His head hurt and Laurens and Lafayette and Hercules— they all would die and he’d die too, washed up onto the shore — “I’m —” he hiccuped, he knew he sounded ridiculous— “I’m sorry!”He hugged him closer. “It’s okay, Alex, just tell us what’s wrong.”“You’re going —” the words hurt to get out. His entire body was fuzzy like he wasn’t really there but in Nevis, water all across his sight. “You’re going to die —”Hercules pat his head and kissed his forehead. He kissed his forehead. He didn’t fully realize this, but his heart still swelled among his panic. “You’ve been drinking tonight, haven’t you?”“Yes, but that’s not— that’s not the point!” he sobbed harder. “You’re going to die just like my town did, and fuck, I don’t want you to, I love you too much to…” he left the sentence hanging. He realized he fucked up— he told Hercules he was into him while panicking. Oh, this was fucking marvelous. God. “Oh,” Hercules said, dumbly, realizing what was happening and almost not noticing the love confession in between. “Hurricane Irma won’t get anywhere close to NYC, Alex,” he said, pushing his fingers through his hair. “It’s just the Caribbean and Florida. We’ll be alright. None of us will die.”His mind still flashed scenes of them at the coastline, none breathing. Hercules kept talking to him, about the weather, and about how Lafayette kept muttering about how beautiful John was, and about how much he loved him and cared for him and — “Hold — hold the fuck up.”He said that out loud, didn’t he? Hercules was looking at him expectantly so he guessed he did. He buried his face into Hercules’ shirt and smiled against it. God, this was ridiculous. His heart was growing to be at a slower pace, and he could make out noise other than Hercules’ voice. “I love you,” Hercules muttered. His vision swam. But it didn’t matter, he had Hercules (and Lafayette and John) and they could— he could get through this. He didn’t feel there quite yet, but he still said, “I love you too.”Hercules helped him up (how long had he been in the floor?) and then took him out of the stall. “So, hurricane-related?” John asked, Lafayette at his side. They were holding hands, and Lafayette’s brows were furrowed with worry. “Mhm,” Hercules nodded. Alexander held his hand. The hurricane couldn’t hit them. They’d be alright. He took a deep breath and hugged John, to then have Lafayette and Hercules join in. The group hug was bone-crushing, and Alexander smiled. “Well, I’m glad you finally told me you like me,” he told him, smiling. “I don’t think…” he sucked in a breath, not knowing how to form words. He loved Hercules so much, but he had broken up with his last girlfriend not too long ago. He didn’t want to mess up his relationship with him, too. “I don’t think I’m ready to go steady with you, though.”“That’s alright,” Hercules said before kissing his hair. “Can I kiss you?” Alexander found himself clinging to him, his nails digging into Hercules’ shirt. He nodded vigorously like he’d never wanted anything more. And it was true, somewhat. Their noses bumped before Alexander moved his neck just right. He closed his eyes tight and let Hercules’ cologne, Hercules’ lips against his, Hercules’ hands on his lower back overwhelm him. He loved every part of Hercules, from how beefy he was to how kind he was. When they pulled away, Alexander’s heart rate wasn’t steady anymore. His love for Hercules overwhelmed him. “Can we post this on Snapchat?” Lafayette asked, an arm slung over John’s shoulder. “We got some really cute photos.”“Of course!” Hercules said at the same time Alexander went, “Maybe.” He turned to him and grinned. “Well?” Hercules asked. “Yeah, post it, I don’t care,” he muttered. He opened Lafayette’s Snapchat story to see a picture of them both kissing with the caption ‘congrats to these two lovebirds !!!’. Soon after, Eliza messaged Alexander with a bunch of heart emojis and just one word: ‘congratulations’. He smiled and pushed his phone back into his pocket. He threw an arm around Hercules’ shoulder and kissed his cheek. “Should we go back to the bar?” There was a man on the urinals looking at them, but he didn’t care right now. Two gay couples were being gay in his sight, and well, he’d have to just fucking deal with it.

Alexander fidgeted with his hands before saying, “Can any of you check if they’re still talking about hurricanes?”

“Sure,” Lafayette said. He went out of the bathroom and for a few seconds, they heard pacing. He came back later with a smile, “Nah, we’re good,” he said, a smile covering his factions.

“Thank you!” Alexander exclaimed, getting out of the bathroom and settling into one of the chairs. Lafayette took his jacket off, letting his shirt rumple up and the scars from bottom surgery are visible for a few seconds. He pushed the shirt down and smiled. “Well! Do you want another beer, Alex?”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind,” he replied. He was still sweaty from his panic attack, and his top surgery scars itched a little, but what could he do? Lafayette handed him a pint of beer and he downed it gratefully. “Thank you all.”

Putting his best Southern accent on, Hercules went, “It’s no problem, darlin’.”

“You sound like Jefferson, Herc.”

John eyed Alexander with a raised eyebrow. “Have you ever had Jefferson call you darlin’ before?”

“No!”

~

Herc woke up to the sound of rapid knocking on his apartment door. He groaned and shoved his face back into his pillow. Until his phone started vibrating so much that it almost fell off the nightstand. He reached for it and was immediately blinded by the bright screen. He squinted and read the texts that were still scrolling by on his screen.

From: Alex <3herc can you please answer the door its importantplease im injuredim actually bleeding can you please open the doorwait are you asleepnvm wake up and answer metheres blood on your doorknob i hope thats okhercules fucking mulligan im gonna bleed out in the hallway please babebabeim gonna spam you until you answersghrkjaghkdjwegacuaerwijkircdsgreskjaeinhwetu4ihbgnjtrewrehawijngrieujskefrpleasemy beautiful face is suffering from this trauma

Herc sighed. Knowing Alex and his tendency to be overdramatic, he definitely wasn’t bleeding out. Because if he was, he’d be at the hospital instead of his boyfriend’s apartment at… god, what time was it? 2am. Of course.

Herc got out of bed, throwing on an old t-shirt, and opened the door. Alex stood there, still in his work clothes.

“Hi babe,” Alex said quietly.

“Your cheek is bleeding,” Herc said, gesturing to it. There was a large cut right on his cheekbone, leaking a fair amount of blood.

“I was in a fight… n’ I got punched,” Alex muttered. Herc decided to leave the discussion about Alex’s tendency to instigate and provoke fights until the morning.

“C’mere,” Herc wrapped a hand around his boyfriend’s wrist and pulled him inside. He led Alex to the bathroom. “Put the lid down and sit on the toilet. I’ve got a first aid kit in here somewhere.”

Alex was silent as Herc dug through the cabinet under the sink. He lightly touched the cut and hissed when a spark of pain shot through his face.

“Don’t touch it,” Herc warned. Alex rolled his eyes. Yeah, I got that, thanks, he thought sarcastically. Herc stood up. “Alright. Let’s get this ‘pretty face’ cleaned up.”

~

“Done,” Herc said, stepping back. Alex nodded, moving a hand to touch his face again. Herc raised his eyebrows. “What have I been telling you this whole time? Don’t touch it.”

Alex huffed and pulled at his shirt collar. When he looked down, he saw the drops of blood on his shirt and jacket.

“Oh, I got blood…” he trailed off, pointing at it.

“I can help you get it out.” Herc watched as Alex took off his jacket.

“Why do you know how to get bloodstains out?” he said quietly, unbuttoning his shirt.

“Multiple reasons,” Herc said lightly, putting the first aid kit away. “One, periods suck. And two, hanging around John as long as I have. That dude’s a mess. I think he’s the only one I know who gets into fights more than you.”

Alex nodded and handed his clothes to Herc, who tossed them into a laundry basket.

“Um… can I stay tonight?” he asked, facial expression giving away his uncertainty.

“Yeah, of course, honey,” Herc said. He glanced at his phone. “It’s almost 3 and I’m tired as fuck. C’mon. Let’s go to bed.”

Alex smiled softly and crawled into bed next to Herc, who wrapped his arms around him. Alex kissed his cheek.

“G’night. Love you,” he whispered.

Oh.

Did Alex know?

He couldn’t. But then again… Herc was always drawing in class. Maybe Alex saw it.

“Fine,” he said, trying to hide his shaky hands as he sat up. He peered over Alex’s shoulder, ignoring the warm, fluttery feeling in his stomach when Alex’s arm brushed his.

They flipped through the book together, admiring Herc’s talent despite the cheap mechanical pencils he always used. Alex’s mouth was left open slightly in awe as he gazed at the art, and Herc eventually found his gaze drifting from the sketchbook to his friend.

Which is why, when the page turned, he didn’t see what drawing it was.

“Oh,” Alex said quietly, blush immediately spreading across his face. Herc’s eyebrows furrowed, and he wondered what caused that reaction, so he looked down—

A light, soft portrait of Alex filled the paper, marked with the date of around two weeks ago. It was from English class, when Alex had his glasses on. He was turned to the side, a perfect profile, a hand curled on his cheek, the other holding a pen, and… his eyes. It captured them like no camera could. Glinting with a look of ambition one could only describe as Alexander-Hamilton-esque.

Alex’s fingertips touched the title, written in Herc’s tiny but neat handwriting.

He’s so close, yet so far away.

“Shit!” Herc yelled suddenly, frantically snatching the sketchbook out of Alex’s grasp and covering the image with his hands. “I, uh, fuck, sorry, I didn’t mean for you to—”

“Herc?” Alex whispered. Herc stopped in his panicked rambling and looked up. Alex’s lips were turned upwards in a smile. “I think I already know what it is, but… do you have something you wanna tell me?”

Herc felt like his entire body was on fire. His eyes widened and he was panicking now, because oh god what if Alex didn’t feel the same, what if Herc confessed and it ruined their friendship, what if Alex wanted him to throw out the drawing because it was too embarrassing when they were only friends—

“I might have a tiny… little… years-long… giant… crush on you,” Herc said, his face as hot as the sun.

“Same,” was all Alex said back.

“Wait, what?” his mouth dropped open.

“Dude, have you read any of those love poems I’ve written in English class?” Alex smirked, inching closer to Herc on the bed. “And you were at that event the art club put on, right? The one where I performed an original song, written by me, titled, Fashionably Late? The song I wrote about wanting to impress a crush? The song I wrote about you!?”

“Oh!” Herc said loudly, all of the pieces finally clicking into place. Alex groaned but it turned into a laugh as he dropped his head to rest on Herc’s shoulder. “I’m… I’m so stupid.”

Alex giggled and moved Herc’s hands off the drawing.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said lightly, nuzzling into Herc’s side. Herc grinned and wrapped an arm around him. “I’m the one that wrote a whole fuckin’ song about you.”

Herc laughed and nodded at his dad’s old guitar. It had been sitting in the corner of his room for years, but now it might finally have a use.

“Now that I know what it’s really about…” Herc trailed off. Alex looked up at him expectantly. “…You wanna play it for me?”

“I don’t have it memorized!” Alex complained, moving out of Herc’s arms and rolling around on the bed. “Besides, I can’t sing under pressure.”

“You sang it in front of the whole school, dude.” Herc raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah! The whole school! Not alone with my crush!” Alex paused, lying on his back, his arms stretched to the ceiling, mid-hand-gesture. “…Boyfriend? Is that what we are now?”

“I like boyfriends,” Herc said immediately. He stared at the floor and picked a thread on his blanket. Huh. Boyfriends.

“Me too.” Alex flipped over and rested his head in his hands, kicking his legs back and forth. He turned to Herc and opened his mouth to talk, but was interrupted.

“I have another song request, then,” Herc said casually.

“Yeah?”

“Alex…a play Wonderwall.”