Original Publishing Date: 12-02-19
Author Note: This prompt was something I based on the astounding mamma_peggs drawing of historical Hamliza meeting, and poor Alexander being a blushing, adorable mess as his lady was charming and flustered in a more subtle way. God Bless this ship, honestly.
The lights and sounds of the party were all muffled to Alexander as he stumbled his way through the thick of it. His world was on fire and spinning, getting hotter and faster the longer he was subjected to such sensory overload with no chance of reprieving it. Tears stung in his eyes as he did him damndest to navigate around the people who seemed to multiple the more frantic he grew, his words all clogging his throat and all of his formalities completely vacating his mind as he focused on getting out as fast as his legs could carry him. This was too much, far too much, and being stable and comfortable was the furthest thing from his mind as the room seemed to close in around him.
"Alexandre!" And then Gilbert de Lafayette was there, too close to his face, too tightly holding his shoulders. "Slow down, mon ami! What is the big rush to leave, the night is yo-"
"I can't!" Alexander cried out sharply, his face a deep, shamed red as he looked everywhere but at one of his best friends. "I can't fucking- I can't- Damnit, Gil, I need to go outside! I need to go outside right fucking now!"
"O-oh!" Realization seemed to cast across his close friend's face, and Hamilton wasn't sure if that was a source of comfort or further mortification. "Okay, okay, we will…We will go, then! Let's step outside for a bit and calm down…"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Alexander mumbled, feeling lightheaded as he was pulled with haste through the pounding music and sweaty bodies and elaborate dances and fragment foods and booming laughter and tittering gossips and-
They burst into the cool, far more open area of the massive family garden with a grandiose swing of a set of heavy wooden doors. The fresh air filled Alex's still-heaving lungs and made him feel even more lightheaded as he was guided to sit on a bench, even as he sputtered out a mixture of broken apologies and curses and coughed openly. Gilbert stayed by his side silently, simply sitting nearby and lightly rubbing his back until some of the ringing in his ears had dulled and he could finally focus on his body in the present.
"Hey…" Alexander finally managed, his eyes lidded and face still colored from the cold as he gazed to his tremendously loyal companion. "Thanks, man. I felt like I was never going to get out of there."
"I understand the feeling well. I think it has happened to everyone at some point or another," Gilbert said sympathetically. "Do you want to stay out here for a bit longer?"
"Yeah man, for sure," Alex said with a sigh much too shaky for his liking.
It was not hard to tell that his close friend had been having a significantly better time at this whole affair than him. They'd barely been outside for ten minutes when a young woman, one with dark hair and eyes that were a striking grey, appeared just outside of the doors they'd come out of. She hovered near the massive pillars that supported the entryway, peeking over at them but trying to be subtle, and Alexander immediately understood. He looked over to his friend with a tight but sincere smile, placing his hand on his shoulder with a brotherly shake.
"Go on, man. Go get your girl," he encouraged. "She's waiting for you."
Gilbert glanced over and gave her a smile and a wave, causing her to blush and wave back with all the endearment of a small girl in love. "Are…are you sure you will be alright alone, mon frere?"
"Oui," Alexander assured. "Go dance the night away and sweep her off of her feet. I'll be back in eventually."
"…Merci, Alexandre. Adeiu!" And with that his friend was up and back to his lady, and even though the night felt a little too cold without someone else to talk to, Hamilton was more than happy to watch him go enjoy his night while he began to recover from his.
It was hard to say how long he was out there. Alexander eventually laid on his back, buttoning up his blazer and pulling his hair down from where it'd been pinned up in an uncomfortable, tight bun. The stars were difficult to see with all of the lights illuminating the pathways and plants, but they were there, and they were as beautiful as they'd always been. Even though he loved living in the grandest city in the universe, far, far away from his roots that constantly tried to ensnare him and trap him in his traumatic past, he could not help but miss the openness of the sky from his childhood. The world was wider then, all of it so much more promising than the poverty and misery he spent day after retched day in, but he knew that coming far did not mean coming away from hardships and sorrow. He was still the same peculiar kid from the Caribbean with deep, existential thoughts and fears and anxieties that bubbled up at the most inopportune times, and he was an outsider even when he was safe among friends and strangers were cordial if not polite.
"Excuse me? Excuse me…sir? Are you alright?" A female voice, one he was sure he'd heard before but didn't quite recognize, called out. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I just…I wanted to make you you're not dead or something."
"Nope, not dead," he called back with a tight smile. "Not yet, anyway. I have far too much to do to die now, ma'am. Do I need to move?"
"No no, you're alright!" The voice assured gently. "Ah…I'm sorry to bother you, sir. Have a good night."
As he sat up, he was not sure who he was expecting to see, or what she would look like, but she far surpassed any mental image he'd paired with her gentle, even voice. Her hair was nearly as black as the night, braided intricately into a much more attractive bun than his had once been, and her dark eyes were sad and a little bit red. She wore an eloquent baby blue dress that billowed out in ruffles beneath the wide-split base of her gown and trailed up her upper body and down her arms in matching lace on the sides and sleeves that weren't covered with black fabric. She was breathing taking, even more so than any night sky or sparkling stars, and now she was blushing from embarrassment and turning away with shame because of his unreliability with women.
"W-wait!" Alexander practically yelped, feeling foolish as the word left his lips with no grace, but it did make her pause. "I…You…Shit. You don't have to leave, ma'am. At the risk of sounding even more creepy than I'm probably already coming across to you…I'd love for you to join me if it so compels you…ma'am."
Thankfully, she giggled rather than cringing, and he felt relief insecurely settle over him as she turned back to him. "You don't have to me ma'am, sir, but thank you for your offer. I believe I will."
As she delicately made her way over and settled beside him, her gown bundled and gathered both in her lap and off to her opposite side, he was struck that she smelled like honey and…something else that he couldn't identify immediately, but it was sweet. She smiled to him and he felt his heart positively explode inside his chest. She was captivated, and kind. The thought of anybody or anything at all being the source for her swollen eyes and sniffling nose made a rage bubble at the base of his throat, and he could not help himself but to talk.
"Are you alright yourself, ma'am?" He asked, trying to sound concerned but more than likely coming across as slightly aggressive. "Sorry, sorry…I just hate to think of anyone making you upset."
"I appreciate the kindness, but you know…you don't have to be nice to be just because of my family. I am my own person, and I have never understood my parents' belief that we ought to be hailed highly simply because of our economic status and lineage," the woman said with a sad, reluctant smile.
"Ma- I mean, Miss. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not certain of who you are, much less your family," Alexander admitted with a tinge of shyness. "I apologize."
At first, she didn't respond, and he worried he'd struck a nerve until she laughed. As a matter of fact, she laughed and laughed until tears came to her eyes, and he had to fumble to get his handkerchief out when she began to worry with her smudging eyeliner. Once she'd calmed herself back down, she turned him with a smile that was full of perfect teeth, her eyes sparkling like the stars above, and he had to wonder yet again how his panicked episode had let him to being in such close proximity with the most gorgeous woman to ever grace the Earth.
"I am glad to hear you say that," she finally admitted. "But I suppose I can't hide it forever. My name is Elizabeth Schuyler, but please, call me Eliza."
Elizabeth Schuyler. Of course she was the daughter of the man and woman who were hosting this prestigious party! He had been lucky to be invited, even as a trusted confidante and second of one of the most influential war generals in the country, and here he was talking carelessly to one of the fair maidens who'd been raised by the hosts! He was a fool, a damn fool, and he would have wished to evaporate all together if he weren't so entranced by her beauty and oh-so charming wit.
"I…I am very sorry!" He exclaimed hurriedly, which caused her to sigh softly and made him all the more desperate to fix it. "I mean! You did say you tire of people giving you their adoration for your status and notoriety, but I would like to give you mine based solely on the personality you have shown me! It would seem to me that you are incredibly kind, and you are obviously the most gorgeous individual in the known world and beyond, and I cannot lie to you and not admit that I am positively charmed by you. I know I should not speak boldly but I am banking on your not minding, but I have always been hopeless at contain myself and not over speaking as I am doing now, but frankly I cannot seem to stop on my own accord-"
"Sir, sir, it's alright!" Elizabeth- Eliza- finally interjected, not unkindly. "Please, relax. I am…simply a girl meeting a boy. Status and formalities be damned."
He was not expecting a single crude word to come from her sweet lips, but it only contributed to his absolute delight in her company. "Yes…yes, of course! And if that is the case, and I am simply a boy meeting a lovely lady…May I have this dance with you, Miss Schy- Eliza?"
The music from within the mansion flooded out even into this garden area, though not nearly as loudly, and he let the beat guide him to his feet and bow formally while extending his hand. There was a moment of hesitation, and she took it, her gown untangling with seeming effortlessness as she kicked off the pearly slippers she'd been adorning all night. Together, they began to dance, their eyes meeting in brief, shy glances as he focused all of his energy in leading properly and not stepping on her toes.
Eventually, she twirled away from him, and he was devastated at the thought of having offended her. But just as quickly as she'd gone, she pranced back toward him in a ridiculous, silly fashion, her skirts hiked up in her hands as she began to spin in playful circles, and he could not help but laugh and begin to freestyle his own movements to accompany her. The two of them giggled like small children, their moves awkward and improvised, gliding and twirling and dancing in entirely new ways toward each other and apart, not quite touching for at least three verses. He finally gathered the courage to come toward her quickly, picking her up from her waist and bringing her up above his head in a stumbling but successful lift. She drew her head back and posed effortlessly in the moonlight, and he was sure he'd met an angel on Earth as they both laughed and fell all over themselves as he brought her back down and the song finally ended.
"I haven't had that much fun dancing in years!" Eliza exclaimed breathlessly, her arms finding their way around his neck as they both fell back onto the bench they'd began on. "We really must do this again sometime!"
"I would be delighted to," he said quickly, more than likely too hasty to not sound a little desperate, but this made her giggle and he commanded himself to relax.
"As would I," she agreed as they finally caught their breath, the two of them savoring each other's touch as they both gazed across the garden and to the sky. "I hate to leave you so soon, but I really must get back to attending to the other guests, and to my family. I would be honored to receive your number and social media details, though, if you'd like to reprise this fun sometime soon~"
"Absolutely!" Alexander shamelessly stumbled for his phone, his face flush and his grin unashamed and wide as she tapped and scrolled until she'd successfully added herself into his life in more than one place.
As she rose and pushed her feet back into her shoes, he thought to ask again of what made her cry. He wondered if she noticed how his own eyes had undoubtedly still been puffy when she first came across him, and if they felt the same sense of dread and boredom of such a sophisticated event. He wondered if she were truly alike the rest of her family, who seemed untouchable in their beauty and grace, and if she felt like an outsider when she was where she was meant to be longed. He asked himself all of these things as he watched her smooth out her dress and ready herself to re-enter this strange and dazzling society, and he nearly reached out to touch and comfort her before she turned back around suddenly and gave him a genuine smile full of playful undertones and flirtatious appreciation that even he could not deny.
"It was fancy to meet you…" She began, then paused. A silent question. Had he truly forgotten to introduce himself in all this banter?
"Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton," he hurriedly said, face growing more crimson, but then her smile returned, and he felt more at home than he had in a long, long time.
"Lieutenant Alexander Hamilton," Eliza mused before turning back around, her eyes and smile meeting him from just over her shoulder. "Well. It was very fancy meeting you, dear Hamilton."
As she walked away from their first meeting and encounter, Alexander was certain of two things: He was positively, helplessly smitten with her, and there would be time later for him to learn more of her.