A/N: Oh my goodness, you guys, has it been forever or what?! Thank you all for being so patient for this one-my life's gotten a bit crazy lately, so writing this was put on the back burner for a while. I am back, however, so let's get to it: we're kind of switching perspectives in this chapter, and going back to right after George gives John some money to get some food. I hope y'all enjoy!


"One coffee, please. Two creams." John Laurens said to the hospital's café barista. He numbly held out the cash George had given him only a few moments before. She nodded, her dark curls bouncing as she punched his order into the cash register and slid the bill from his hand. John barely noticed as she did so, and it took a nudge from Hercules for him to put his hand down. His mind was too busy to notice, really—all those thoughts crammed in until there wasn't so much as a tiny gap in between each one. Yet, somehow, they still managed to crash into each other and jostle his mind until he felt sick. It was impossible to focus on just one.

The events of the last few hours were haunting him, steadily. There was no escaping from the splash of the water, his own scream as Alex fell, the gasping sounds of the younger boy's breaths as he struggled to take each one, as if he were fighting a constant battle, and yet losing the war. And every one of those things was his own fault. If only he hadn't helped pressure Alex to come on that boat ride, if only he hadn't distracted him, if only he was there to catch him on time. John squeezed his eyes shut against the thoughts. The voice hadn't bothered him for so long…until now.

Pathetic.

John squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

Disgusting.

He shook his head, hard.

Worthless.

"Stop!"

He felt a strong hand clasp over his shoulder. John jumped and opened his eyes. He hadn't even realized he had yelled out. He groaned and covered his face with his hand. The curly-haired barista was watching him, concern evident in her eyes. He felt a smaller hand tug at his own and looked up to see Laf. The Frenchman brushed away a stray lock of John's unruly hair and tucked it behind his ear, leaning in close.

"Are you okay, mon cher?" he whispered, his breath tickling John's ear lightly.

John nodded, his face burning. Lafayette patted his shoulder and pulled away with a sad smile. He caught Herc muttering something to the barista as she nodded, before flashing an unreadable smile at John and Laf.

"One coffee, two creams," she called over her shoulder. Another barista, her light brown hair tied back in a messy bun, sighed in a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"I heard them myself, Maria, no need to repeat it." Her voice, although annoyed and a bit sarcastic, seemed almost consistently quiet and soft.

The first barista, Maria, waved her hand in a dismissive wave. "Oh, come on, Smith. No need to be grumpy."

"Whatever." Smith, or whoever the second girl was, began making John's order as Hercules and Laf chimed in with theirs. Soon three steaming cups were slid over the counter towards them.

"Merci." Laf said with a weak smile. The second barista studied him carefully.

"Oh no, did something happen?" she asked softly, before shaking her head firmly. "No, of course something happened, you're at a hospital for God's sake." She paused again, studying each of the three boys' faces intently. "So what was it?"

John's heart sunk at the words. The last thing he wanted was to recount the details of his screw ups, of how his boyfriend nearly died because of him. He shook his head, but before he could change the subject Laf spoke up.

"It is our dear friend Alex. He got into an…accident on a boating with us. We are all heartbroken." A part of John scoffed. He was heartbroken, all right. He was more than heartbroken. It seemed as if every part of him had shattered.

"Oh," Maria was saying sympathetically. "That's terrible."

Hercules nodded. "Yeah. It's kinda got us all shaken up, to say the least." His voice was rough and scratchy as he cast a look towards John, who glanced away towards the floor quickly.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be up and running in no time flat," Maria said, her seemingly usual spunk overriding once more as she handed John his change. "In the meantime, why don't you sit with Abigail and I? We were just about to take our break anyways."

"Oh, no, we don't mean to—" John started, but Maria held up a hand.

"Nonsense. The tables in the break room are more quiet, anyways." She gestured a hand out to the fussing children and exhausted parents seated throughout the tiny café. "Come on." She pushed open the gate separating the employees' area from the customers and the three boys stepped in awkwardly. She and Abigail led them through the small work area and into a little room off to the side. It was small, with just enough room to fit a circular table and half a dozen chairs. An old, outdated TV hung in one corner on the wall, and a few of the classic "employee of the month" pictures were framed as well. A fridge and coffee maker were crammed alongside the wall next to a sink and a few cupboards.

John heard a snigger and turned. Hercules was laughing at one of the framed employee photos. It showed the second barista, Abigail, smiling at the camera serenely. That was not the problem, however. The real joke was the mustache and goatee scribbled over the glass frame in black sharpie.

"Ugh, that." Abigail groaned. "Bozo here did it when I won employee of the month instead of her." She jabbed a thumb at Maria, who giggled.

"I got my salary docked for that one. So worth it." She joined Laf and Herc in their laughing. John and Abigail exchanged a look that said "Finally—someone else who knows what it's like to deal with them, too."

"They're so unruly." Abigail said, starting up the coffee maker. It gurgled ominously.

"I know, right?" John replied wearily. "Sometimes I'm surprised I haven't murdered one of them yet." Abigail gave a small laugh.

"Hey," John said, looking her over for the first time. "Aren't you the girl dating John Adams?"

"The one and only." Abigail replied with soft smile. "Don't tell me you're another one of his so-called rivals."

"No. My boyfriend is, though," John said. He felt his stomach twist in on itself as he did. He hadn't meant to mention Alexander. Waiting hurt enough as it was without having to talk about it.

"Oh? Well, good, I guess. Lord knows John's got enough as there is." Abigail said. John laughed weakly.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm John Laurens, by the way," he said, extending his hand. He regretted it almost as soon as he did by the smile that spread across Abigail's face slowly. Just couldn't keep those aristocratic impulses in, could you, kid? Man, you've got your father's instincts stamped all over you. John locked his jaw at the voice, but couldn't give it any more thought as he felt a soft, cold hand slip into his.

"Abigail Smith. But you already knew that," she said. "It's nice to meet you, John Laurens. You don't meet many fellows with actual manners very often anymore." She grinned before being yanked out of John's grip by Maria.

"Maria Lewis. Very pleased to meet you." She shook his hand hard in mock eloquence. "Yes, I'm the chick who dated James Reynolds, and yes, I dumped his sorry ass two months ago. Abigail here helped with that."

"O-oh, I didn't even know—"

"Don't worry, she says that to everyone," Abigail cut in with a blush. She turned to Maria. "Maria, sweetie? Remember what we talked about?" The taller girl nodded with a sigh, her cheeks just barely tinted red.

"Yeah."

"What was it?"

"James doesn't define me," Maria muttered quietly. "He was an abusive prick who can never determine my worth."

"Perfect." Abigail said softly. She cupped Maria's face in her hands, kissing her nose lightly. "And don't you forget it."

John smiled. Abigail reminded him a lot of Eliza—quiet, kind, although a bit more shy. She seemed like someone you could trust. And the way she was acting around Maria…

"Hey, man, take a seat." Herc said. He and Laf were already sipping their coffees at the table—Laf's was an espresso, Herc's straight black. John pulled up a chair and sipped his now lukewarm coffee half-heartedly, listening as Maria and Laf kept up a constant stream of chatter. Meanwhile, his mind took the moment to greedily meander back into hell.

Stupid, arrogant, disgrace of a son…

"Hey," Herc said, motioning towards the cups Abigail was pouring seemingly black, cold coffee into from the coffee pot. "Why aren't you guys just grabbing some from the front?"

"Can't," Maria replied. "Some dumb rule about employees drinking all the inventory or whatever." She grabbed one of the Styrofoam cups and sipped from it with a frown. "So we're stuck with this garbage."

"Keeps you awake though, that's for sure." Abigail chimed in, tearing open a tiny paper pack of sugar and dumping it in. Maria snorted.

"How could you not stay awake with that disgusting taste in your mouth?"

Abigail only rolled her eyes. "You know, a little sugar could fix that problem right up for you." She waved another packet in the other girl's face.

"No, no, I prefer to suffer through the bitterness," Maria responded, nose stuck in the air. "You're just too weak to handle it."

John smiled slightly as Abigail snorted and threatened to dump her cup over the other's head. It was fun watching their antics, and it almost made him forget about the real reason he was here. Before he knew it, the girls were suggesting they stay with them for dinner, and this time John didn't hesitate to agree. Besides, he thought, he was sure George and Martha would be glad to have them out of the way for a while. Soon the baristas were hanging a "Sorry, we're closed" sign at the front counter.

"Won't your boss be mad you're not working?" John asked nervously. "I mean, I don't want you guys to get in trouble or anything."

"Naw, no worries," Maria replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "She likes Abby's 'fantastic work ethic' so much that she won't mind. Here," she tossed the boys several wrapped sandwiches.

"Oh, mon ami, this is too kind," Laf said, pushing his sandwich away. He pulled out his wallet. "Here, let me pay for these—"

"Oh my gosh, you guys, lighten up!"

"She's right," Abigail chimed in. "Seriously, Laf, it's fine."

"Non, non, I insist—"

Laf was interrupted by Abigail's soft laughter. "See? I told you they have excellent manners!"

"No kidding," Maria replied, laughing just as hard. "But honestly, Laf? You need to relax. Our boss loves us—" Abigail coughed sharply. "—Abby. Our boss loves Abby." That got all five of them to laugh.

"There," Abigail said once they had all caught their breath. She shoved the sandwich back in Laf's face. "We win. Now eat."

And they did. They ate, and laughed, and talked so much that their reason for coming completely slipped John's mind for an hour. Well, maybe not completely. There was still a tiny whisper in his head reminding him every time he smiled that he doesn't deserve to, that he should be in that hospital bed instead of Alex. But it was easier to push it away here.

Another hour passed.


"Oh, shoot, what time is it?" Hercules asked, glancing around for a clock.

"What happened to the watch I gave you?" Laf asked, his voice sounding a little hurt.

"Not waterproof, remember babe?" Understanding dawned over Laf's face and he nodded, blushing slightly.

"It's 5:30." Abigail chimed in. She swatted at Maria's feet, which were propped up on the table.

"Oh, man, we've been gone a while." John muttered.

"No problem, mon ami, do not worry."

John nodded, but just then Abigail shot up out of her seat.

"What is it?" John asked, sitting up as well.

"I heard the customer bell ringing," Abigail replied, snatching her apron from a hook and tying it hastily. "Arghh!" and she was out the door.

"I should probably go help her." Maria said, pulling her feet off the table. "You guys just sit tight and don't steal anything. Oh, who am I kidding, you're too polite for that anyways." She grinned. And then she, too, had disappeared.

It felt weird to be sitting in the employees' break room with no employees, but after only a minute Maria ducked her head back in the doorway.

"Uh, guys? There's a bald dude here asking for you?"

All three boys leapt to their feet.

"George?"

"It must be about Alex!"


A/N: Ahh! Okay, so Maria and Abigail (aka Abigail Adams) are just so, so much fun to write together! (And okay, technically she wasn't in the play, but she was one of the founding mothers, per se, and so all-around-amazing I had to include her.) Am I way too excited over adding new characters? Maybe. But we're just getting started. Thank you all so very much for being so patient for this chapter's release, and don't worry-the next one should be up sooner than this one was.

If you did enjoy this chapter, please leave a review and let me know what you think! What's your opinion on Abigail and Maria, or John's insecurities? Thanks again for reading, and I'll see y'all next time!