like a son

by Adverb Slut

When Hamilton reveals all the details of his affair in "The Reynolds Pamphlet," Eliza divulges unto him her own secret: Philip Hamilton isn't his son, but rather the son of John Laurens. This secret, along with Hamilton's own infidelity, shakes the family to its core, and even worse, the presumed dead John Laurens returns, very much alive and with no clue that Philip is his son.

9. challenge

John—who possessed an impulsive and chaotic temperament—started twitching with nervous excitement upon seeing the pistol, and Alexander was glad of it, for it showed that not a particle of John's anarchic soul had been lost in the fifteen years that had passed since his "death."

"Jack," he began, clenching the handle tighter, "I demand satisfaction: did you or did you not sleep with Eliza fifteen years ago?"

John's raised eyebrow only flew higher. "We see each other for the first time in fifteen years and that's the first thing you want to ask?" When Alexander didn't answer except with a glare that dripped with derision, he sighed and said, "I really thought you already knew."

"Is that a yes?"

A gulp followed by an honest "It is," from John, whose gaze teleported to the ground at the words, sealed Alexander's heart with a thick cloud of anxiety.

Precipitately, he put down the pistol and adjusted his collar. "Well, then." Hellbent on keeping his composure and not becoming lost in John's eyes, Alexander returned his attention back to the adorable curl and declared, "On behalf of your bastard son, Philip, whose name you have so ruined, I demand that you stand, John Laurens, in a duel."

"Philip? Isn't that your son—" John's eyes flew open at the realization. "No."

Alexander's lips formed a thin line. "Yes."

"No, no, no," chanted John, his eyes widening to a degree that they looked as if they were to pop out of his head, as he raked a hand through his hair. "She would've told me—no, no, no —she would've said something—no, no, no." He looked at Alexander straight in the eye with such a magnetizing stare that he could not avoid it. "Alex, I'm so sorry."

Every fiber in Alexander's being yearned to accept the apology, but Philip's face appeared in his mind, and he hardened his heart until the boy's honor could thoroughly be revitalized. "Weehawken. Now. We duel."