A/N TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY YOU CAN THANK MY SICKNESS AND LYING IN BED DOING NOTHING ALL DAY heh this chapter is so pure ✨
And shoutout to sanial0vesyah FOR THE LIT SONG ✨

After sitting patiently for almost an hour the group was back on the road, and very very hungry.
"Well it's not my fault you lot didn't eat dinner," Eliza groaned as everyone else in the car pleaded for food. "Whine whine whine, all night! That's all I've heard from any of you!"

"Pleeease Eliza," Alex sang, leaning onto John tiredly.
"We have our own money back here!" Thomas exclaimed, holding up his wallet. "We just need someone to buy it!"
Eliza let out an exasperated sigh.
"Fiiine." She moaned, earning a myriad of cheers to errupt from the back of the car, with the exception of Samuel. Samuel was not in a cheering mood.

Eliza pulled up across the road from a practically deserted McDonalds, everyone ducking down below the windows.
"I'm getting 3 family burger boxes, you get what you get and you don't get upset." Eliza spoke firmly, taking a $50 note that had been passed up from Jefferson and shoveling through her own purse to retrieve an extra $10. "You don't leave this car unless it's on fire, six out of eight of you are still in your prison clothes, people will notice you," Eliza lectured.

"Yes mom," Alex snickered under his breath as she slammed her car door shut, earning a light hum of laughter to travel through the car.
"So, where to from here?" John sighed, tilting his head back a little.
"Well where do you need to strike your revenge Maria?" Hercules asked from the boot, leaning over the seat lazily so he could see her as he spoke.
"If he's still where I left him, New York." She informed smoothly.
"That works, so far, Herc and Laf where were you headed?" Alex asked quietly.

"Well we can all go to 'The Place to Be', pick up some gear and decent clothes," Lafayette shrugged, wincing in pain at the small gesture. "And I need to get this bullet dislodged from my collarbone at some point, our friend Pendleton-" Lafayette paused and held back a laugh. "He's a doctor," he scoffed, earning a chuckle from Hercules.
"No Lafayette, he's a nurse," Hercules corrected him sarcastically as Lafayette threw his head back in laughter.

The rest of the car watched their little conversion of inside jokes with either bored or confused expressions.
"Okayyy, where is this 'Place to Be' or whatever?" John asked suspiciously.
"East Chicago, we're heading in the right direction, we can stay the night there and continue driving to the coast, hitting New York," Hercules offered, a hum of agreement falling over the car.
"What comes next?" Jefferson spoke up for the first time in a while. "We can't just stop in New York, we're wanted criminals,"

"France." Lafayette smiled. Everyone's heads shot to Lafayette in interest. "The birthplace of the Revolts," Lafayette whispered to Hercules who smiled warmly.
"What are-" Alex began to ask but was cut off when Eliza swung the door open, 3 over grown happy meals balanced in her arms.
"I'll be back, don't start eating." She spoke quickly, leaving the boxes on Maria's lap before walking back out again, back into McDonalds.

Maria smirked and opened one of the boxes, the delicious scent of diabetes wafting through the car. She quickly grabbed a few chips and ate them before closing the box again with a cheeky grin.
"Hey not fair! She said don't start eating!" Thomas yelped from the boot.
"I possibly killed over 10 people today, do ya honestly think I would listen?" Maria scoffed with a smirk.

Eliza returned with a green satchel with a red cross on it.
"Maria ate some chips!" Thomas dobbed in as soon as Eliza sat down.
"Did not!" Maria protested, scowling at Thomas.
"Did too!" Thomas hissed childishly.
"Hey! Maria's allowed to eat chips." Eliza scolded before turning on the engine.
"Why?" Thomas began to smirk. "Is it because you like her,"

Just like a class of mischievous grade schoolers the car erupted in 'oooh's as Eliza's cheeks flushed pink.
"I- Thomas Jefferson fuck off," Eliza growled, pulling out of the parking lot. Now it was a class of hyped up freshmen as the car shook with hollers and yelps of 'ROASTED'. Maria giggled gently and glanced at Eliza for a second before shifting her gaze back out the front window. She retrieved a piece of bubblegum from her pocket and popped it in her mouth, smirking at how cute Eliza was when she was flustered.

Casual chatter followed as Eliza drove, pulling over a few streets up into a secluded park. She parked the car under a patch of tall trees and everyone climbed out, stretching their legs before all sitting in a circle on the grass. The park was illuminated by two stray street lights, a small lake off to the side where a staircase to the moon was built with its reflection.

Eliza distributed burgers and chips between everyone, most people snagging a big mac and a miniature water bottle. When Eliza was passing Thomas she gave him a hearty slap across the face. Everyone burst into laughter at Thomas' shocked expression, even earning a weak giggle out of Seabury.

"What wa-" he began to exclaim before Eliza cut him off.
"That was long overdue. For Peggy," she muttered, the laughter abruptly dying. Sam lost his appetite at the mention of her name, being reminded of Charles too, he only picked at James' chips every now and then for the rest of the night.

John and Alex sat side by side, eating their big macs hungrily. John shovelled through his chips and found an abnormally long one and began to laugh.
"H-ha-hey, open," he giggled, holding one end of the chip up to Alex's mouth. Alex grinned and bit one end while John bit the other. Their lips met in the middle and they pulled away laughing to finish chewing and swallowing before slipping back in to peck each other on the lips.

Eliza only had a quarter pounder, finishing quickly and slipping back up to the car to retrieve the green bag from before.
"What's that?" Hercules asked as she brought it down.
"First aid kit," Eliza replied casually, bringing it over to Laf. He just finished eating when she came over. He pulled off his shirt with a bit of help from Herc to reveal his blood stained skin, the tiny bullet visible still lodged into the bone.
"I say we wait until we see your doctor friend to get it out, but we should disinfect and cover it up for now," she spoke gently. Lafayette nodded great fully and Eliza opened the bag.

She began to shovel through but wasn't too sure of what she needed to use for what.
"Need some help?" Maria laughed gently, her usual sass disappearing to a sweet tone, surprising everyone.
"Uh yeah, do you know which-" Eliza began to ask before Maria dove her hand into the bag, shuffling through before retrieving a small bottle of antibacterial cream.
"This is the best they'll have in a first aid kit," she sighed, passing it to Eliza.
"Thank you," Eliza smiled warmly, taking the bottle and unscrewing the cap to dab some of its substance onto a cotton medical swab.

Lafayette hissed a little at first but Hercules rubbed his back soothingly and he relaxed. Eliza stuck a patch over the bullet and went to bandage him up but she wasn't quite sure how to wrap him and ended up making a cocoon of bandages around her own hands. Maria laughed a little and held Eliza's hands, guiding them to wrap around Lafayette's torso and hold the patch in place.

"I ship it," John whispered to Alex with a grin. Alex giggled and slipped into John's lap.
"Yeah, but I ship us more," he smirked, raising his brows at John.
"Me too," John giggled before attacking his cheek and neck with fluttery butterfly kisses, causing Alex to laugh and squirm in John's arms.

Samuel ripped his eyes away from Alex and John with a gentle sigh, glancing at the group Maria was with but looking away from there too. Everything was just a constant reminder that he had nothing. He had nothing.

"I'm going to sleep in the boot guys, please, don't disturb me, I need some time to think," he gulped, standing up slowly.
"We'll come," James offered, standing up too and tugging Thomas with him.
"Oh you don't-" Samuel began to protest but James gave him the look. Thomas knew the look all too well and snickered because he finally wasn't on the receiving end for once.

"So how did you know how to use the medical kit so well, Maria?" Eliza asked curiously, tilting her head in an intrigued fashion with a small smile, her dark hair framing her face. Maria bit her lip and her eyes grew wide for a moment.
"I uh, have a lot of experience with um, injuries, and... stuff." She muttered sheepishly, crossing his arms defensively.
"Oh, have you ever worked in the medical force before or...?" Eliza hummed curiously, everyone else listening in tiredly.
"No, it's um, look, my boyfriend was abusive," she sighed. "I've had to fix myself up enough, bandages are a homecoming for me now," she cringed, keeping her eyes down cast.

Eliza's eyes went wide and she shifted to sit beside Maria, wrapping an arm around her supportively.
"I'm so sorry," she frowned, now wishing she could take back her questions.
"What a dick," John growled, shaking his head.
"Psh tell me about it," Maria chuckled gently, rolling her eyes. "But, I haven't told people about this, back in the court room I was too shaken to say anything, but he raped me on, on numerous occasions, and peddled me off as a prostitute, against my will," she sighed, not an ounce of sorrow or fear in her voice, it was either nervousness about how the group was going to react or anger towards the topic.

Eliza cupped a hand to her mouth, speechless, and pulled Maria closer while everyone else's eyes widened in shock.
"One day, he went too far, I tried to kill him but, as you can tell by my charge of 'attempted murder' it didn't quite work out. I know I wasn't the only victim, and there's no changing him back to a normal human anymore, the best solution is to kill him." She spoke with an exasperated sigh.
"One more asshole to add to the hit list," Alex chuckled nervously and John nodded and rest his chin on Alex's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, nobody- you especially, you don't deserve that," Eliza frowned. "If you ever need someone to talk to, or just for some support, I'm here," she smiled gently, brushing Maria's hair behind her ear.
"Th-thanks Eliza," Maria stammered with a weak blush, smiling up at Eliza before shifting her gaze down to her lap.

Maria leaned up and whispered in Eliza's ear, to which she nodded in agreement and they both helped each other up.
"We're going to get some sleep, don't stay up too late," Eliza warned with a gentle smile.
"Yes mom," Alex hummed teasingly, swivelling in John's lap to lie sideways, like a seated bridal hold.

"Thank you son," she smirked, taking Maria's hand in hers.
"I'm notcha' son!" Alex called after Eliza as she walked away. "John's already my daddy," he grinned under his breath, winking at John.
"You're a kinky little shit tonight aren't you," John laughed quietly, cocking a brow at Alex. "You know what?"
"What?" Alex asked eagerly.
"We should go for a swim." John grinned, glancing at the water.
"Will you be shirtless?" Alex smirked hopefully.
"Uhm, you know what, sure," he gave in. Alex pumped his fist triumphantly.

The only times John went shirtless was to shower in the morning, otherwise he was extremely uncomfortable. He figured it was about time though to let loose a little, break out of the mental chains Levi left him locked up in.
"You guys wanna tag along for a quick swim?" John offered to Laf and Herc, standing up and pulling Alex with him.

They shared a look and met a mutual understanding in seconds.
"We're okay, you two have some couple time, savour it," Hercules smiled gently, leaning back with a curt nod.
"Thanks," John grinned softly, leading Alex up to the water's edge.

Alex slipped off his shoes and stripped off his shirt , flinging it all into a pile on the grass. John did the same, sighing gently as his shirt came off. Alex advanced forward and John tensed up a little, causing Alex to step back wearily.
"If you're not comfortable you can put it back on John," Alex frowned.

"Nono, I'm fine, come here," he smiled cautiously, holding his hands out. Alex stepped up and placed his hands in John's, gazing up at him with the moon and stars glowing in his eyes. John pulled Alex's hands forward, splaying them out on his chest and shivering a little before trailing them back around him to rest on the small of his back, so now they were practically chest to chest, Alex grinning and John's cheeks burning.

Alex leaned up and pressed his lips to John's in a gentle kiss, John returning it just as delicately with one hand now on Alex's hip and the other grazing his jaw. Alex pulled away with a grin and cocked a brow at John.
"So are we actually gonna swim?" He giggled. John laughed and took Alex's hand, walking up to the very edge.

Alex dipped his foot in and a sharp shiver sparked up his spine.
"Cold?" John pouted, earning a nod from Alex. "Too bad for you," he grinned, shoving Alex into the water, but Alex was quick to grab John's arm and tug him down too.
They squealed and splashed into the water in a tangle of limbs, surfacing in the waist deep water and whipping their hair out of their faces. Immediately Alex burst into laughter.
"HA- HAHAH YOUR FACE WHEN I GRABBED YOU!" He laughed, throwing his head back. John started at a chuckle, adoring Alex's laugh, but soon he was laughing hysterically too purely because of Alex's laugh. John splashed Alex playfully and he giggled, splashing back.

Alex waded over to John who pulled him into a gentle hug, kissing the top of his head. John leaned down and scooped his arms under Alex's thighs, pulling him up to carry him in a standing straddle. 
"I love you," John smiled, his lips hovering just under Alex's. 
"I love you too," Alex whispered lovingly, leaning forward and kissing John like there was no tomorrow.