(time skip, Christmas break is over)

(Angelica P.O.V)

The ride home was so boring. We'd put the stuff in the backseat and charged all our devices. Alex was sitting in the backseat, finishing his book. I was sitting in the passenger seat, my girlfriend driving beside me. With Theo driving,  she couldn't pay enough attention to me for me to have an excuse to ignore Alex, so I felt obliged to talk to him.

Don't get me wrong, we're friends and we both appreciate each other's company, but god that little gremlin could talk. Theo called it a reluctant friendship, Alex said he just needed someone to listen to him, and I was an unwilling victim. His description sounded more accurate. He rambled on and on and on and on and on and on and honestly I didn't mind it, it was nice to know that Alex was there, and him talking was reassuring somehow. I could sink into thought, but still be in the car, half of my brain listening to him talk.

It had been really nice to see my sisters again, even if it wasn't for as long as I would have liked, and I don't know why I'd resisted when Alex had proposed it the first time. I'd noticed that some way through the vacation, Theo had started acting different, she seemed more worried and jumpy. I didn't want my girlfriend to feel negative emotions, but I'm well aware that they exist and are inevitable, so I would rather Theo felt a minimum of them.

Sadly I have little control over that, so I contented myself with listening to Alex and plotting how I'd talk to her later. She's the psychologist, she's supposed to know these things! I sighed as Alex rambled about god knows what.

At some point I noticed him break off, and I looked over at the back seat to see why. I was getting ready to tell him not to read while we were driving, but he was just staring out a window, legs pulled against his chest, eyes blurred like he was somewhere else.

"Alex?" I asked softly, drawing his attention.

"Hmm?" He hummed, not looking at me.

"You've gone quiet." I informed him.

"You're quote the detective." He muttered, turning to meet my gaze. "I was just thinking."

"Yeah, but if there's anything Alexander does on road trips, it's ramble." I noted.

"I don't only talk Angie, I can think."

"We've just grown accustomed to your rambling, that's all." Theo spoke up.

"She speaks!" Alex exclaimed, smiling.

"Of course I speak idiot." She snapped and I looked at my girlfriend, slightly concerned. She never snapped at anyone, and certainly not Alex, who she'd adopted as her patient and honorary sibling.

Alex squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side, eyeing Theo suspiciously. "All good?"

"Of course! I'm fine, now shut up while I drive."

"Theo?" I questioned.

"I'm sorry it's just..." She blanked.

"It's fine baby, you have all the right to be upset." I smiled at her and her face lifted slightly.

We sat in silence for a while, until Alex decided he'd had enough of that and started playing Rent, so we all sang along. Alex had introduced me and Theo to that musical one night, and it's now one of our favorites.

(Alex P.O.V)

I was bored. What makes me not bored? Talking. I had nothing left to say, so that wasn't a choice. HMMMMMMMM.

Rent.

Sounds good.

I'd only just watched the movie adaptation of Rent, and then promptly shared it with Angie and Theo, who'd fallen in love with it too. I feel like I'm their source of musicals, they honestly need to do their own research, but I was fine with it. I'd downloaded the playlist, so I could play it anytime, which I proceeded to do.

I listened to my friends sing and lowered my voice, feeling a bit ashamed. Angelica had an amazing and, dare I say, angelic singing voice. I was pretty self conscious about my own singing and I'm pretty sure that I just can't. No singing for Alex. I listened to Angie as she sang along to Joanne's lines.

She and Theo sang for a while, not realizing I'd gone pretty quite.

"Hey Alex come back, we need our Mark!" Angie scolded once she'd noticed.

I looked away, not exactly wanting to sing, I listened to the music from my phone and my friends, smiling. I was very glad the people I could tolerate were so great, I loved them all so much. Especially John.

Obviously.

My heart sank as I realized that it would probably be a while until I saw him again. I rested my head on my fists, sighing. I really wanted to keep in touch with John, I needed to talk to him regularly or I'd probably start hyperventilating. But I had John's number, so we could call too, which would definitely ease my worries. And then I remembered James. We'd had to say goodbye and it really hurt a part of me that I didn't know existed. It just broke me to leave him willingly this time, and I was pretty sure I'd call him incessantly just to make sure he wasn't dead. You would too if you were in my position... I think.

(Time skip to when they got back because car trips are boring to write about, prove me wrong)

I got out of Theo's car, waving to the two girls. I had my backpack over my shoulders and was clutching a bag with all my Christmas-acquired objects. I walked over to my dorm, pulling my keys out of my pocket after a while of searching. I opened the door and stepped in, not expecting to see Aaron sitting on the couch, watching a movie.

"What're you watching?" I asked, going to my bed and trowing my stuff down on the mattress.

"Just some documentary on a law case." He shrugged.

"Hmm, ok." I sat down on my bed and pulled out my new stuff.

"Oh yeah, how was your Christmas?" He asked.

"It was fun, I got a boyfriend." I told him nonchalantly.

"Ok coo-- wait what?" He whipped his head around.

"I got a boyfriend." I shrugged.

"I want to know everything." That didn't mean he wanted the tea, that meant he wanted every single detail about John so he could decide whether or not he was mildly ok about his existence or not.

"Jesus, Burr." I sighed. "His name's John Laurens, he's from South Carolina."

"More...?"

"Maybe later." I sighed. "Wanna watch a musical?"

"What is it with you and musicals?"

"What is it with you and watching documentaries on law cases?"

"Point taken."

"How about we do both? You can choose, Legally Blonde or Chicago." I offered.

"I feel like in either of these choices, you get more than me." He sighed.

"I do, but I'm trying to be fair."

"How about I sleep and you do whatever the hell you do all night."

"I write and drink coffee. Oh, speaking of, did you get a new coffeemaker?"

"Yes I did. Merry Christmas Alex." He waved his hand towards the kitchen and I smiled.

"Why thank you Burr, I'm glad you've gained braincells over the break." I walked into the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee. "I would have gone insane if you didn't get me some way to make coffee rapidly at 3AM."

"Of course you would." He sighed.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and decided to call my brother. I was about to hit the call button when someone knocked at the door. There was no way Burr was going to leave movie, so I had to go answer it. I saw Theo standing in the doorway and she looked absolutely terrified. So I held out my arms and she fell into a hug, crying softly.

"Hey. It's ok, it's ok, what's the matter?" I pulled back and smiled at her kindly.

"A-Alex, I-I..." She stuttered through her tears. "I'm p-pregnant."

"Wait what?"