A/N: Ahh the smell of a new update, fresh off the press! This took me foreVER TO WRITE OH MY GOD! I kept having writer's block and then I had to do all these errands today, ugh I can't even believe I actually made it to publishing. Okay, so we FINALLY have some Lams in this one, I'm so sorry I took so long, I hope you guys still want to read it:) Even if I did the previous chapters sooo slowly and we haven't had any good Lams moments:( Alright, on with the story!

Sunlight poured through the thin curtains draped over the window. I cracked an eye open, golden light filling my sight.

"Didn't I close those last night?" I muttered.

"Yes, you did." The opened drapes answered. Wait, what?

I whipped my head around the room, seeking the source of the voice. A bleary figure, shaped almost like a dress, was leaning against the closed bedroom door. Squinting, I realized it was Eliza, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Laurens." She greeted. Afternoon? I slept in? Oh, Christ, Alexander's going to be pissed.

"Mrs. Hamilton." I tipped my head, wrapping the blanket around me to preserve some dignity. I quickly rose from the bed, the sheets surrounding me like a cocoon. She raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Are you not dressed, Mr. Laurens?" She questioned.

"Are you not a close friend, Mrs. Hamilton?" I shot back, annoyed with her formalities. She laughed, lifting her hands in surrender.

"Sorry, John, Alexander insists on formalities when we have guests over." She explained with a chuckle. We both sighed, meeting the other's eyes at the unintended imitation. With raised brows, we looked on another over.

"What are you sighing about, Liza?" I inquired. She shook her head, dusting invisible dirt off her pale blue gown.

"My husband." She started. "Or, rather, my former husband. We signed the papers this morning."

She stared at me, with curious eyes and a suspiciously knowing grin.

"What are you sighing about?" She crossed her arms, becoming the mirror image of Angelica's favorite stance.

I gave a shrug, "My nonexistent love life." Her face went blank.

"Nonexistent? What are you on about, John?" Her eyes had widened. "Haven't you talked to Alexander?"

I fidgeted under her gaze. "Um, yeah, I talked to him last night and, uh…It didn't go too well."

She crossed the room, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Didn't go too well? That's rather vague." She lifted a hand to my shoulder. "Did he not tell you about his female friend, Maria something? She broke it off with her husband, and Alex thought you could cheer her up with a date."

Oh, my God, Alex was going to set me up with a date? But he never said anything! We worked for a couple hours, ate, worked for a couple hours, ate, worked a few more hours, and then I blurted out my stupid feelings. Not once over the course of the day did he bring up a "female friend, Maria". Though, I probably would have said no, so no use thinking about it now.

"No, no… he never said anything." I said to her. She gave a slight nod.

"Well, there's been a lot going on, he most likely forgot." She whispered, fiddling with her hair. "Did he, uhm…" She broke off.

"Did he what?"

I saw her take a deep breath. "Did he tell you why we're… why we got a divorce?"

"Yes. Hercules is a good man, I hope you guys are happy." I sincerely told her.

She nodded, swallowing. "Am I a bad person? For not staying true to him?"

I laughed, really laughed, at her question. Does she not understand that Alexander just wants her to be happy? Even if it's with another man? Instead of answering her, I sat down next to her. I wrapped my arms around her, releasing my blankets onto the floor. She tucked her head into the crook of my neck, quietly giggling. Eventually, lighthearted laughter turned to comfortable silence. At some point during our giggle session, I had rested my head on-top of hers. We had gotten closer over the course of my friendship with Alexander, gossiping about our friends through hundreds of letters. It turns out we both have a knack for falling in love with people we can't have. After a moment, she spoke.

"Do you miss the days where it was just you and him?"

Me and him? Just me and Alexander, starving in brisk winds, dodging bullets and battles? Yes.

"Yes. Not the starving, or the bloody fights with blood-hungry revolutionaries," I assured. "but the days where we would speak of our futures, how we would go as far as we could to live in peace again. To let our loved ones live in peace again."

She nodded into my neck, "I miss our honeymoon, even though he wrote most of the time like there was no time to write after our honeymoon." She confessed.

Wow, Alex, not even a young, intelligent woman can drag you from your writings.

"Yeah, he really does write like he's running out of time."

"He makes it seem like his life blood," She agreed. "He writes like he needs it to survive."

We both harrumphed, thinking of all the times Alex canceled plans with one of us because he'd have to finish this piece quick, I'll just be a moment.

"John?" Her voice was muffled from my nightshirt. I hummed in response.

"I'm going to fall asleep now," She announced. "please, don't wake me up."

Grinning, I whispered an okay into her hair. She would always fall asleep in the oddest places. I found her once in the garden, curled up next to the carnations, her favorites. A soft snore woke me from my memories.

My eyes roamed from her straight black hair to the door, which was cracked open a bit. Cracked open? Didn't Eliza close that when she came in earlier? The scuff of a shoe outside the door alerted me to an eavesdropper. It's probably a messenger, those bastards just mosey into anybody's house at any time.

I gently lifted Eliza's head off my shoulder and laid her down on my pillow. Standing, I lifted her feet onto the bed, covering her with my blanket before turning towards the door. I debated crossing the room and popping out, just to scare the shit out of some young boy. Then again, that'd probably wake Eliza, which would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. I settled on just furiously whispering for him to come into the room and give me whatever message he brought.

"I can hear your shoes, boy," I stage whispered. "Get in here and tell me what you need to say."

More scuffing noise, as if the person were pacing. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, wanting to get this over with. I soundlessly strode the length of the room, pushing the door open fully with my bare foot. I halted in surprise, coming face-to-face with Alexander. He looked just as surprised as me, glancing past me at the figure lying in my bed. He looked back at me, staring into my eyes with interest.

"How long have you been standing there?" I whispered. He parted his lips, only to purse them shut.

"How long, Alexander?" I pressed.

"Longer than you'd like." He mumbled, head down. He was drawing little circles on the floor with his foot, a habit he picked up from Lafayette.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you had her over." He muttered, dragging his eyes down to his feet. "I can come back later…"

I softly chuckled at his nervousness, "It's fine, Eliza just wanted to talk. We talked for a bit and she ended up falling asleep."

Realization fell upon his face.

"Oh, I forgot you guys are so close…" He rubbed the back of his neck, displacing his loose hair. "I just, uhm… I wanted to talk to you. In private."

I raised my eyebrows. In private? I don't think I can handle being in such an awkward position like last time. But, if he wants to talk to me, that means he doesn't completely resent me, right? Or… he wants me to leave his home. He wants me to go back to South Carolina. Oh, Goddamn you, conscience.

"Do you want to go to your office?" I inquired. He nodded.

The walk to his office was short and silent. It was at the end of the hall, two or three doors down from our rooms. I say two or three because I was too focused on his a… for God's sake, man, don't finish that sentence.

We stepped into the large room, stopping briefly as I quietly shut the door behind me. He took a spot behind the oak desk, settling into his chair. I edged my way over to the opposite side, lowering myself into the other chair. He cleared his throat, straightening his back in the process.

"Laurens... uh, John." He began. "I'd like to speak to you about yesterday."

Oh, kill me now. He was going to try to have a "feelings" talk in a professional, business-y way? No, no way, he's making a mistake. I shook my head and put a hand up to stop him from going any further.

"Alexander, no." I interrupted. "If we're going to do this, we might as well do it in the touchy-feely way, not the stoic, I-don't-have-feelings way."

His bright brown eyes gazed at me, his mouth partly open. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment.

"You're right, John." He tucked a stray hair behind his ear. "We've known each-other for years, we can have a simple conversation without acting as serious co-workers." He sighed.

"John, I have to admit, yesterday was… unexpected."

I bobbed my head in agreement. "Yeah, I'm sorry for that... whole thing, I guess I've been holding it back for so long, that it just… bubbled over."

"John, I've known you for a while now," Alex began. "and when you know someone for that long, you learn little things about them, things that are so simple they don't mean much to other people. But, to me... they're important. Like, how you saw a turtle in that brook that we were camped near in Philadelphia and ended up naming it after Washington? You were so happy to have a friend who couldn't talk back…" He chuckled at the memory.

I remember that day well. Hamilton and Hercules had been arguing about who would get the flatter, drier ground for their tent. I had come up and suggested that they just share a tent, that way they're both comfortable. They had turned on me, yelling about their personal space and how they couldn't possibly share a tent without killing each other. Their voices rose, and soon enough they were shouting at me about how if that was such a good idea, then why don't I share a tent with one of the other soldiers and see how fun it is then? I had gotten so flustered, I ran away—literally, ran away—and found a little brook and ended up sitting there until they cooled down. Washington jr. had been stuck under a small pile of rocks at the edge of the water, trying to push himself to safety. I had rescued him and placed him on the muddy water's edge. He apparently had no intention of leaving me, as he crawled back towards me and situated himself on my foot.

"We were entirely inseparable, until the very end." I sobered. Alexander stopped chuckling.

"He was a good man…turtle, man-turtle." He commented. He was a good turtle, living with me for a few days, until one of the soldiers had gotten sick of having stale bread and slimy water. Washington jr. was murdered in cold blood, all for a pot of stew.

I glanced at Alexander. He was so scruffy-looking, his hair was falling loose over his slender shoulders. It looked like he hadn't shaved in weeks, stubble peppered his unusually haggard face. He coughed, because it was too quiet in here or he was sick, I couldn't tell.

"As I was saying, I know a lot of odd facts about you." He continued. "And I'm sure you know a fair amount about me, too."

"Mhm, like how you wore a dress once to get free drinks in a bar?" I smirked. His face went red.

"I forgot I told you about that…" He stuttered. "An..anyways, we're close, okay?"

I slowly nodded, "Yes, we are. What's your point?"

"Well, over time, people… develop certain feelings for other…people who…" He stammered. "they are in close quarters with and, uh… have close friendships with."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Was he trying to explain how I got my feelings for him, to me? Really?

"They might, if they enjoy being around that person that much." I added. His gaze darted around my face for a moment, only to revert to the ground.

"John, I am trying to tell you…" I leaned closer. He took a gulp of air. "that I…have developed feelings, as you have, uhm... for you."

My jaw dropped. Complete and utter silence suffocated the room. I couldn't breathe, either due to that or the fact that my closest friend, my main man, my long-term crush… had just admitted to liking me.

My mind stopped working; I couldn't move at all. I couldn't think at all. I'm sure I looked like an idiot, but screw off, he just told me he likes me! Would it be weird to hug him? Of course it would, stop being such a simpleton, John.

Oh, my God, he had inched closer while I was frozen. He was less than a foot away from me, so close I could feel his warm breath on my face. His eyes were roaming my face again, but this time he seemed focused on my lips. Good Lord, is he thinking what I think he's thinking?

He stepped forward, a hair's breadth away now. My breath caught in my throat, I felt my ears heat up. He steadily raised his hand, cupping my face, while his other one wrapped around my waist. He pulled me flush against him, heat radiating from both of us. He swallowed, licking his lips, while his eyes slowed to a stop at my eyes.

His bright brown eyes had darkened, almost black now. He was so astonishingly close, I could see little freckles dotting his nose. He had stopped advancing, seemingly mesmerized by my face.

"You have so many freckles, John." He murmured. "I've never seen them this close before."

My body ached with anticipation, adrenaline rushing through me.

"I… I want to kiss you." He whispered. I smiled widely, I never thought I'd hear him utter those words to me.

"I want to kiss you, too," I mumbled. My voice was so raspy, I didn't even recognize myself. He grinned, wrapping his hand around the back of my head. He leaned in, fluttering his dimmed eyes shut. I swallowed, tilting my head to meet him.

Our lips met in a slow-motion wave. I know it sounds cliché, but I swear on my mother's grave, explosions went off when we kissed. Everything around us melted away, until it was just us standing together in the tangible bliss. His hand writhed around in my curls, tugging on tendrils when I pressed my lips against his. I had grasped onto the front of his shirt, unknowingly undoing the top button.

I bit his lower lip, teasing him, before pulling back. His eyes stayed closed for a moment, before registering the loss of warmth and opening them again. We stared into each other's eyes, lost in the remaining euphoria of the kiss. I slightly shook my head, I had pulled away for a reason, what was the reason?

Oh, right. "Alex, we can't. Not here, not while your ex-wife is a few rooms down." I pressed my forehead against his, feeling the sweat lining his eyebrows. He gave a small nod, loosening his grip on my hair.

"Sorry, I… I got kind of carried away," My, God, he looked like a teenager who just had his first kiss. "You're right, we should stop."

He tilted his head up, planting a kiss in the center of my forehead. Jesus, he's sappy.

I love it.

"We should finish up some work today, I've got some new ideas I wanted to share with you." He smiled, taking a step back from me. He stood with confidence, standing taller and smugger than I've ever seen. Hell, He could probably beat out Jefferson's smug grin with that stance.

I bit my lip, glancing over to my desk, filled with half-assed papers from yesterday's writing session. I nodded, walking over and falling into my chair.

"Yeah, I should look these over again, I'm sure they're not very… good." I agreed. I picked up a pencil that was hidden under some other papers and got to work. Not hearing Alexander's pen, I glanced up.

There he was, leaning his back against his desk, arms crossed, grin in place. He hadn't made any move to sit down at his table. I squinted at him.

"What?" I asked, noticing he was watching me work. He shook his head and chuckled.

"You've gotta stop doing that."

My head tilted, wondering what he meant.

"Doing things that make me want to kiss you." He answered my unspoken question. "You're pretty damn attractive when you get down to business."

I grinned so hard the rest of the day, my mouth is stuck in permanent happy mode.

A/N: Please, please leave a review! They give me so much motivation, it's kinda depressing how dependent I am on reviews if I'm being honest but seriously thEY MAKE ME SOO HAPPY!:D