Alexander furiously typed, taking breaks only for sips of water. As his fingers flew across the keyboard, he glanced and the multitude of scars on his right arm. Reminders of past mistakes and lapses. Like tonight. He sighed quietly and reluctantly closed his laptop. He could take a break.

According to his phone, it was 2:36 AM. He had class in about 8 and a half hours. He flung himself onto the unmade bed and managed to shift the blankets onto himself. The essay was due in three weeks, but he had almost finished it.

Just a few more revisions to finalize it. he thought as he yawned heavily. His eyelids drooped and he was asleep before he knew it.

AXA

Class was monotone and boring. Professor Washington was good enough, almost like a father to the orphaned Alex. Professors Lee and Adams on the other hand...Alex could live without his math professor. However, he found all of his subjects fascinating, something that his newfound friends seemed to tease him endlessly about.

"Mom ami, you are, how to say, obsessed with your writing," Lafayette laughed, as the four ate on the front lawn of campus.

"Laf's right y'know," Hercules commented, snatching fries from his boyfriend. Laf slapped his hand, and Herc grabbed Laf's hand and pressed it to his mouth. Alex let out a roar of laughter as Laf pretended to faint from the kiss.

"Where's John?" Alex asked, looking around for his best friend.

"Here!" a voice called. John Laurens was jogging across the field, holding a bag of greasy take-out. "Sorry I'm late."

Alex felt his heart skip a beat or two as he watched John sit down next to him. As John began to pull out his food, his eyes slid to the scars littering Alex's left arm. Alex, blushing, pulled the sleeve of his jacket down. John grabbed his hand.

"Alex. You promised," John said, a mixture of worry and pain in his eyes.

Alex averted his gaze from the others as John slowly exposed the rest of his arm. His stomach gave a jolt of fear and shame as he felt their eyes on his scarred arm.

"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely.

"Oh, Alex. Y-You. Alex...please...for me. For Laf and John" Herc said in a strained voice.

"Mon petit lion..." Laf began, his eyes bright.

"I know. I know. I'm so, so sorry," Alex choked out before bursting into tears. He hid his face in his hands. The next thing he felt was John's warm arms around him.

"We'll work through it together. You're not alone, Alex," John murmured. "You will never be alone. You've never been alone, and I'm sorry if we ever made you feel that way."

Alex buried his face into John's shoulder and Laf and Herc joined the embrace until Alex was hidden under them. John gently held Alex's face in his hands.

"Talk to us, Alex. Please?" John pleaded.

Alex nodded and threw his arms around John and the others. He knew that they would always be there for him. As he quietly sobbed, John's steady arms wrapped tighter around him as if to reassure Alex that he was there.

I love you, Alex thought. Little did he know, Laurens was thinking the same thing...

Hey there! I haven't written in a while, and I forgot the password to my old account. So I made a new one! Hopefully my stories are a lot better now. Sorry if it's not up to standard haha. I'll try to update once a week, and I'm thinking of doing a MCU fanfic. See you next week! Leave a review if you like (or dislike). Tell me what to fix!