A/N warning sexual assault scene in italics, no rape only references

"Paine was brought into the laundry today," Lafayette sighed as he slumped onto the same table he and his cellmates had sat at for breakfast. John seemed to tense at the mention of Thomas Paine's name.
"Sweet jesus that's the second one this week." Hercules muttered, rubbing his temple.
"Today's Tuesday?" Alex spoke up with furrowed brows.
"Exactly." Hercules finished with a sigh of defeat, pushing his tray away. "A storm is coming. Thomas can't be top dog for much longer, his sentence ends this year, I'm worried a nut job like Levi is going to try and take over."

John shivered at that name again, and this time Alex noticed.
"Who is this Levi guy anyway?" Alex asked, looking around the table for any kind of reaction.
"I'm going to get seconds." John muttered, pokerfaced, as he stood up and grabbed his tray. His body was stiff as he walked over to the bar. John wanted to throw up being reminded of those two men. He suddenly remembered the incident in immaculate detail.

John walked into the bathroom alone, towel and pyjamas in hand, preparing to take his nightly shower after a long day of gardening and dealing with the bullshit he got from other inmates. He approached the bathroom mirrors and ran a hand through his hair, tugging out his hair-tie in the process and shaking his hair free.

John left the mirror and approached one of the shower cubicles, swinging his towel over the door. He was about to close it when he heard the bathroom door creak open. John pulled the shower door open a little to peek out and saw a group he had despised for the entire year he had served in this place.

Thomas Jefferson, Charles Lee and Levi Weeks all cautiously entered the bathroom, a broom wrapped in Lee's grasp.
"He came in here," Lee muttered, looking around.
"He certainly did." Jefferson confirmed as his eyes fell upon John peeking through the gap in his shower door. He squeaked and slammed the door shut, locking it and backing up against the wall. "Charles, the camera." Jefferson ordered.

John saw over the cubicle wall as the camera was pushed to face the wall by Lee's broom. He began to panic as the boys pushed up against the shower door.
"Aw c'mon Laurens, Levi's just a little lonely." Jefferson chuckled with a sinister tone, knocking on the door.
"He can jack himself off!" John shouted back, hoping a guard would hear the racket.
"Hey! Shut up! Just open the door." Levi's voice rung out in a snake-like hiss. John's breathing quickened and he got down on all fours, sliding under the cubicle wall and into the cubicle next door. He continued to slide until he got to the end, right next to the door. He jumped up to burst out of the cubicle but the boys had already caught on and pushed John back into the shower cubicle.

"NO! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" John yelled frantically, thrashing in Jefferson and Lee's grip. Lee reached up and shoved a piece of cloth into John's screaming mouth, gagging him. He tried to spit it out but Charles held it there.

Jefferson tugged at John's shirt and pulled it up over his head and arms, leaving it around his wrists and hooking the shirt over the shower nozzle. Levi emerged from the back of the group, spinning John around and slamming him face-first into the shower wall, his fists twisted and knotted in his shirt above him.

Lee grabbed a fist-full of John's hair and slammed his head against the wall. Immediately John began to feel horribly sick, his vision blurring and going spotty. His mind was spinning and he was frightened of what was about to happen.

"He's all yours, Weeks," Jefferson spoke triumphantly as he and Lee sauntered out of the bathroom, leaving John alone strung up against the wall with Levi looming over him.
John began to cry quietly, his sobs muffled by the cloth in his mouth, as he heard Levi's pants drop to the floor. He grabbed John around the neck and leant in, his disgusting breath hot against John's neck.
"I've wanted to fuck you since the day you got here," he laughed, digging his nails into John's flawless freckled skin. He nipped and kissed lightly at John's neck, before he got rougher, dragging his nails down John's body. John cried out in pain, his breath hitching when Levi pushed up against him.
Levi began fiercely tugging off John's pants until the door swung open again. He spun around and John tried desperately to look behind him.

Thomas Paine stood in the door way with a look of pure horror swept across his face. Before Levi could speak Paine's hand slammed into the panic button on the wall. A screeching siren rung out through the bathroom and Levi screamed in anger.
"You asshole! You just fucking dogged me!" Levi roared, launching at Thomas. Paine managed to dodge one punch before Levi's fist smashed into his jaw. Levi jumped up and sprinted out of the bathroom, leaving John strung against the shower nozzle half-naked and Thomas strewn on the floor holding the side of his head and groaning in pain.

Thomas shakily stood up and made his way over to John. He ripped the cloth from his mouth and John gasped with relief. When Thomas unhooked John from the shower nozzle he fell into Thomas' arms. John stayed in Paine's arms and wept until security burst into the bathroom and whisked him away.

John felt tears prick at his eyes but he couldn't cry, not in front of everyone. He left his tray at the bar and exited the cafeteria all together. John ran down the winding hallways to his cell, slamming the door shut when he got there. He fell into the bed and buried his head in his pillow.

"Don't cry don't cry don't cry," John chanted to himself as he balled his fists under his pillow. He coughed out a small sob, still feeling Levi's slow breaths tickling the back of his neck. John was snapped out of his daze when a light knock echoed through his room. John didn't bother looking up.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" He yelled in a fit of rage before throwing his face back into the pillow.
"No." Hamilton's voice replied sternly.
Oh god anyone but him.
John didn't want Alex to see him like this. He was meant to be getting Alex to open up to him, not the other way around.
"Laurens, open the door," Alex ordered before his voice softened. "Please."

John looked up from his pillow with glossy, red eyes. Alex had his face pressed up against the glass slit in his door, begging him to just come over and open it. John gave in and sluggishly walked over to the door, throwing it open. As soon as it was open Alex threw himself at John in a tight hug.
"I don't know what happened but please don't cry." Alex said quietly, pulling away from John. He awkwardly removed his hands and shoved them in his pockets.
Aren't murderers meant to be emotionless-psychopaths? Or maybe he murdered because of his emotions, did someone hurt him? Why would anyone hurt Alex he's beautiful, wait what.

"Laurens," Alex muttered, trying to wake John from his train of thought.
"John, please." John replied, snapping out of it.
"John," Alex smiled softly. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
John shook his head no, moving backwards and sitting down.
"I just need to get my mind off it." John said as he fell backwards into his tear-soaked pillow.
"Do you want me to talk?" Alex proposed, shuffling closer to John.
"Yes." John answered shortly, now being able to pump some info out of Alex and get his mind off... that.

"Well I'll tell you a funny story from when my cousin was... alive," Alex started with a small grin, sitting beside John in the bed. John nodded eagerly, the story was about his victim, more intel.
"So this one time (at band camp) I went out to a bar and hooked up with this beautiful girl, Eliza Schuyler, stunning, kind, we stayed in contact after this by the way," Alex laughed. "I brought her back to mine and my cousin's place, now I'm warning you I kind of dropped in on my cousin during a rocky time in his life so this was a one-bedroom apartment we were living in."
John nodded, listening intently to the story.

"Peter wasn't home, so Eliza and I got it on y'know," Alex chuckled uneasily for a moment, earning a laugh from John. "But then, WHILE Eliza and I are doing it, Peter walks into the bedroom, and he just stands there with that 'what the fuck' expression," Alex laughs along with John. "And he's all like 'ah shit sorry I'll leave you guys to it', but I guess we took too long because 10 minutes later the door opens again and Peter just walks in and gets into his bed beside us and says 'I don't care you guys can keep going, I'm super tired I'm going to bed'." Alex finished, John clutching his stomach with laughter.
"Of course Eliza was like 'what the shit' and she gave me her phone number and left," Alex chuckled as they quietened down.

"You and your cousin must've had a great relationship," John laughed quietly. Alex sat for a moment, his smile falling a little.
"Yeah, well, all we had was each other, he was the only family I had left. When he turned to suicide, I died a little too." Alex spoke in a hushed tone. John reached out and rest a supportive hand on Alex's shoulder.

"It kills me that I'm being charged with his murder, because I'm innocent." Alexander spoke, mainly to himself.
"I know," John lied, rubbing small circles in his shoulder his his thumb. Alex looked up at John with a small smile.

"Life is shit," He shrugged.
"Agreed," John laughed in honest reply this time. Honest.