Alexander Hamilton was lactose intolerant. It wasn't a pity point, it was a fact. John Laurens being cute was another fact, and he worked at a coffee shop 30 seconds away from Alexander Hamilton's studio apartment. Unfortunately, he hated his coffee black. Yes, the Manhattan Mocha has lactose intolerant milk, but he much preferred almond milk. LI milk wasn't the same. So, in response to his major crush on John Laurens, he memorized John's barista schedule (5-9 weekdays) and, everyday, paid $3.99 to see John Laurens's smiling face (oh, and coffee).
"John. 1 dark roast with almond milk at 187 degrees." His usual. Laurens, done with Hamilton and his stubbornness upon the milk, merely shook his head and used the normal lactose-intolerant milk. Usually, you are supposed to acknowledge your customer and explain the dilemma, but Laurens had explained one too many times. When John gave Hamilton his drink, he smiled gratefully and drank his dairy-free coffee. He then rushed to his poli-sci class at NYU, and the process repeated. Every day. He stopped paying attention to the taste (which was okay) and started staring at Laurens, not so discreetly. One particularly bad day, he sulked into the shop.
"Rough morning?" Laurens asked. Hamilton only nodded. "All-nighter. Finals today. Normal with an extra shot of caffeine. Laurens nodded, and Hamilton settled down on the leather seat. He woke up 5 minutes later to Laurens gently shaking him.
"Here you go." Hamilton took a sip gratefully. As soon as the warm liquid hit his tongue, he knew something was different, and it wasn't just the caffeine.
"Hey, John? Is there… almond milk in this?"
Laurens turned around shyly.
"I..I bought it with my own money."
Hamilton grinned. "So, do you want to hang out later tonight?"
Laurens smiled. "I'd like that."
This is how adorable, freckle-faced John Laurens ended up on Alexander Hamilton's floor at 4 in the morning. Hamilton's roommate had long left him, due to the insane amount of all-nighters he had pulled. Hamilton had no classes until 8, so he woke up with a start at John's 4:45 alarm.
Hamilton grinned nervously.
"I thought you left."
Laurens smiled back. "No. Mario Kart tires you out." Hamilton laughed. An awkward silence fell over the room until Laurens broke it with. "Do you label your relationships?" Hamilton stopped his dance of wiggling out of his sweatpants.
"Honestly, never been in one. I'm too focused on school. Ever since I left the island…" His eyes glazed, and John swore he saw small tears forming.
"What's wrong?" He asked, with as much gentleness as he could muster. Hamilton regained his composure.
"Nothing. It just reminds me of my mom. She sacrificed everything for me. When she died, she left me everything. I just want to start a life here, to repay her in a way. I can never visit her again, because… because." He stopped talking and resumed his dressing. Laurens decided not to pry. He had learned the hard way to give people their space. Hamilton walked into the living room, only to fall dramatically.
"Sorry, sorry," Hamilton muttered, He had tripped over a small book, and was scraping up pieces of a vase he broke. He walked into the living room, where he found a pile of blankets, empty pizza boxes, and Sprite cans.
"John? What on earth did we do last night?"
John walked into the room, trailing the blankets he has slept in. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the mess of the room.
"We, uh, played Mario Kart until 3, and ate like 5 pizzas?" Hamilton looked skeptically.
"I don't know, I can barely finish 1 pizza, let alone the 5 that are here." Laurens nodded in agreement. "We are probably so tired that we forgot what happened. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to class. You are welcome to stay here. You can crash in Michael's old room."
"Yeah, that sound nice. I'll call in sick." Laurens made a quick call and walked into Michael's room. He was pretty sure he was out cold before his head hit the mattress.
"Afternoon, sleepyhead." Hamilton greeted. "Nice hair." Laurens, who had noticed the lack of mirrors in the house, pulled out his phone. He turned his camera around and saw the insane bedhead that had collected over the course of a couple hours. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 1:30.
"We slept," he commented. Hamilton nodded.
"Do you remember what happened?" John shook his head. "We invited over Hercules Mulligan and that foreign exchange student Lafayette. We played intense Wii until the hall monitors made us shut up. Laurens nodded along. He looked at the clock again.
"I have to go. Thanks for everything." He waved and ran out the door, only to run into another college kid. "Sorry." He kept running and didn't stop until he reached his apartment. He had just had a date with the Alexander Hamilton. The kid everyone at Manhatten Mocha crushed on. And John Lauren's boyfriend.
Hey, guys. Eliza here. FIRST FANFIC asdfghjkl;! Thanks for reading the short little thing. Still figuring out A/N! I know, noob Lia. Taylor's not helping. I'm writing another fanfic but in historical times. Multi-chapter. Peggy...
Thanks. Happy summer!