Midnight Chapter 1, a hamilton fanfic

AN: Pre-chapter note, cheating, I guess. It'll make more sense within the chapter and more notes at the end.

Midnight:

Chapter 1:

December 31st

6 P.M.

"There's a party tonight down at the student union, you coming?"

Blinking, John looked away from the neon green flyer that was pinned to the bulletin board in the first-floor corridor of the dorms. Standing behind him was the RA, Hercules. "Nah," he shook his head, turning away from the bulletin board. "Not my taste."

Despite the eyeroll that Hercules gave him, a small smile tugged at his lips. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know. Ellie mentioned she was bringing someone from one of her classes she wants you to meet. She thought the two of you might hit it off."

It was John's turn to roll his eyes. He knew that Ellie meant well but most of the time when she wanted to try and set John up it never ended very well. "Tell her thanks, but no thanks. I might spend the evening in my dorm and just call Martha or something."

Martha Manning, John's long-time girlfriend since high school. She was the last person that he had wanted to talk to and part of the only reason they were together was because of both of their father's long-standing political positions and both families were wealthy.

John had asked Martha to a school dance out of kindness when she stated she hadn't been asked yet. They had been friends since childhood and he could do her a favor and just ask her, right?

Before he knew it they were dating despite him not being physically attracted to her.

Hercules rose an eyebrow, looking over John before tilting his head to the side. "Right, well my sources tell me that you've been avoiding her calls since Thanksgiving break." John made a mental note not to tell Gilbert about his troubles. While Gilbert was a good friend and had good intentions, everything seemed to get back to Hercules and Ellie.

"Do you need another pamphlet on coming out to your parents?"

John let out an exasperated sigh. "No, and I'm done having this conversation." He turned away from Hercules, almost sprinting down the hall to his room. They've had this conversation at least twice since Hercules became the RA two semesters ago and right now, John wasn't in the mood to have another one.

He threw his bookbag on the chair across the from the bed. While most dorms could house two or more students, his father had paid to make sure he didn't have a roommate. He wanted John to get the best education he could a lot of times it could be lonely with no one to talk to.

It didn't help that most of the people had gone home.

As John laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, he closed his eyes.

His phone vibrated.

It was Martha, asking him to text or call her as soon as he could.

He threw the phone onto the bookbag.

Part of the reason he avoided going home over the holidays, besides wanting to avoid his father talking to him about his future, was to avoid whatever conversation she wanted to have. Over Thanksgiving break something had happened between the two of them and John wanted nothing more to do with it. As soon as he came back to school, he began ignoring all her calls, texts, emails, IMs. Whatever way she tried to contact him.

At this point, he was surprised she hadn't tried carrier pigeon. Even if she did, he was sure he could find someway to avoid even that.

He rolled over on his side away from his phone, drifting off to sleep.

7: 30 PM

John wasn't sure how long he slept but awoke to a pounding on his door.

"John Laurens! Open this door now!" He groaned as he pushed himself up and staggered over to the door. The dorm walls were thin.

Glaring, he turned the doorknob to find Ellie standing there with Hercules. "Sorry, John, I tried to tell her that you didn't want to go."

Ellie's arms were crossed in front of her chest, a less than pleased look across her face. "Seriously? What's this crap about you not going? I worked so hard to find someone for you to meet and you're not going? Like hell you're not going."

"Ellie I-."

She held up her hand to keep him front talking before it went to her hip. "Look, I don't want to hear any excuses and I know I set you up with a couple of duds in the past, but I think this guy would be good for you. Please?"

John stared at her, neither of them relenting until he sighed and shook his head. "Fine," he muttered as he turned to look over his shoulder. There was hardly any space to invite them inside the tiny room. "Just give me a minute."

John shut the door on them before opening the closet in the room. He changed into a nice sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. He didn't want to try too hard to impress someone that might end up not liking.

John shut the door on them before changing, opening the door to see Ellie and Hercules still there. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Ellie eyed him for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Fine, I suppose that's going to have to do. Now, let's go before we're late."

8 P.M.

The music was loud and blaring. John was also sure he saw a senior spike the punch. He made a mental note to just go for the water instead.

It was supposed to be a sober event since it was school sponsored but even John knew that was a joke. Someone always seemingly spiking the punch one way or another. He was leaning against the wall; left hand in his pocket of the jeans he was wearing and right hand on the red solo cup with the unspiked punch.

"Bonsoir, mon ami," a voice greeted him, and John gave a half smile as Gilbert approached him.

"Hey, Gil," he nodded. He brought the punch to his lips, taking a sip of it.

"I see Ellie dragged you to the party as well," Gilbert's French accent was a welcome sound to his ears, better than the music that the party was blaring.

John nodded as he let out a hum. "Well, she said she had someone for me to meet. I don't know. The last time she set me up, it didn't end up very well and I ended up getting burned pretty badly from that."

Gilbert let out a small sigh as he took a sip of his own punch. "I know, but Ellie does mean well, you know that, right?"

John sighed. "I know, I just…" He shook his head. "I don't know. I want someone but it's more complicated than what everyone is making it out to be."

"You mean because of Martha?"

John nodded as he glanced down to his shoes.

"Look, John, we can tell Ellie you don't want to meet this person but the party is full of people. You should try and meet someone still."

John gave Gilbert a half smile. "Do I have a choice?"

Gilbert flashed him a grin, "None what so ever."

John rolled his eyes, grin still on his face. "Fine, who do you think I should go flirt with?"

The two men stood there against the back wall and scanned the area for anyone that they thought might have been good to talk to. Finally, Gilbert nudged John and pointed over at a man standing on the other side of the room in his own corner, staring at his phone. "What about him?"

John blinked as he studied him, a small blush creeping onto his cheeks as he looked over at Gilbert. "I don't know, I mean, he's good looking but that doesn't mean he's into men."

Gilbert rolled his eyes, taking John by the shoulders before making him face the other man. "You'll never know if you don't try. Now go."

John nearly tripped over his own feet as he looked over his shoulder, glaring over at Gilbert. He glanced down at his red solo cup before pounding the rest of the alcoholic punch that was in there. He set the empty cup on the fooze ball table next to other abandoned cups and made his way over as he took in a deep breath. "Hey."

That seemed to draw the man's attention away from his phone as he looked up and saw John standing over him. "Oh, hey." He offered a small smile. "Did you get dragged here too?"

John let out a small laugh, nodding his head. "Yeah, how can you tell?"

The man shrugged, grin on his face. "Well, I figured if you came on your own you'd be out there dancing on the floor with everyone else."

John glanced out on the dance floor to see people drunkly dancing and tripping over one another. The stranger had a point. He probably would have been out there dancing like that, but he was here standing against the wall talking. "Well, you're not wrong. I'm John, by the way."

The stranger nodded his head, a pleasant smile on his lips. "Nice to meet you, John. I'm Alexander."

10:30 P.M.

A couple hours had passed since the party had started and John was sitting outside for some fresh air with Alexander. There was a spot of grass next to the student union. John was sitting cross-legged on the grass as he stared down at his lap for a moment before glancing over at Alexander. They had been talking for a while and everything they were talking about was natural and not forced.

"So," John began as he pressed his lips together before glancing down at Alexander. "You said you were dragged here too. My RA and his girlfriend dragged me here. Who dragged you here?"

Alexander pushed himself up, so he was sitting cross-legged next to John as he glanced up at the sky. It was cold, but they were too far into their own little world to notice. "Ah, a classmate of mine. I'm Prelaw and there's a woman in my classes named Elizabeth Sanders, she dragged me here saying that she had someone for me to meet." Alexander paused as he noticed John sort of staring at him with an open mouth. "You okay?"

It took a moment or two before John broke out laughing, trying not to fall over. "Well, funny you should say that. Ellie—err, Elizabeth dragged me here as well. Her boyfriend is my RA and he tried to get me to come and when that failed Ellie herself came upstairs and dragged me here."

Alexander laughed, shaking his head. "Well, I'm glad I got to meet you then. And I have to say, she has excellent taste. You're pretty good looking," he added with a wink.

John felt heat rise to his cheeks as he stared at the frosty ground in front of them. He nudged Alexander with his shoulders before glancing up at the other man. "Yeah, well, you're not so bad looking yourself."

A moment of silence passed between the two of them. "Do you think we would have met?"

"What do you mean?" Alexander asked as he studied John for a long moment.

"If we weren't dragged to this party."

Alexander shrugged. "It's a big campus but maybe." Alexander sat up and glanced around a moment before turning his head to the door. "Let's head back inside? We're freezing our asses off out here."

11:50 PM

"I would suggest that we try and play a game of fooze ball, but…" Alexander spoke as he nodded his head over to where a couple was making out against the table.

"'s okay," John said as he shrugged his shoulders at him, smile on his lips. "It's almost midnight anyways." He gestured to the room and the two of them could see couples starting to pair off for the night.

Alexander nodded as he picked up the cup that he had set down, taking a sip of the liquid that was inside. "Right, how much longer do we got?"

John looked at his watch. "Uh, about seven minutes."

"Any New Years resolutions?"

John sat in thought for a moment as he thought back over the past year, sipping a bit at the drink in his cup. "To be more honest."

"With yourself or with others around you?"

John gave him a half smile. While he didn't tell Alexander everything, he had certainly told him enough. Sometimes it was easier to tell your problems to strangers than the people close to you, but he didn't want to pile everything onto Alexander. "Both, actually. You?"

Alexander took in a deep breath as he seemed to be mulling in his mind for something to say. "I want to leave my mark, somewhere. It's one that I make every year and every year I'm determined to fulfill it. I never do though."

John smiled a tiny bit. "Well, I believe you will this year."

Alexander grinned. "Thanks."

John felt heat rise to his cheeks. Normally, he would have just looked away and brushed it off. This time, however, he let his eyes drift down to study Alexander's lips. He felt his own suddenly dry and licked his lips to wet them.

He barely registered what was going on around them. The countdown to New Year's had begun.

"Happy New Year!" The room shouted, and couples found their lips meeting one another. Their lips found one another's like moths drawn to a flame. Alexander's hands found their way to John's waist and John's arms found their way around their way around Alexander's neck. Moments later the two of them parted, staring into each other's eyes when John's widened suddenly, pushing Alexander away.

"I'm sorry. I-I have to go!" John jumped up and began to head towards the door back to his dorm.

"Wait," Alexander called as he stood up following him.

John could hear Gilbert's voice in his head telling him that he must've been Cinderella or something with a hot guy chasing him. He shook his head and made a beeline for the door. "I really have to go."

He had to get out of there.

"John." He could hear Alexander's voice, but he simply ignored it and kept on running.

He pushed open the door and ran down the hall to his dorm room, hiding inside. His back was pressed up against the door as he sank to the floor, taking in a couple of deep breaths as he tried his best to calm himself. A hand came up and he could feel that his face was wet with tears, phone vibrating widely in his pockets with texts.

A hand reached up, brushing away whatever tears were still there on his face as he opened them.

First, there was a text from Ellie: Where'd you go? You okay?

John stared at it a moment before pressing the reply button; I'm fine. I had to get back.

The next text was from his sister Martha or Marta as was her nickname; Happy New Year, John.

The next text was one that he was dreading. It was from his fiancée and he knew that she wasn't happy with him; John Laurens, please answer me. You're beginning to scare me. If you don't answer me by the time your classes start again, I'm coming up there to see you. We really need to talk.

Every fiber of his being was telling him to text Martha back and just see what she wanted. This campus was his place away from her. A place where he was free to be himself and be happy, he didn't need her here too.

He took a deep breath, turning away from his phone.

He shut his eyes tightly, taking another deep breath and promptly falling asleep.

AN: I've been sitting on this fic for about a year now. This was supposed to be a one-shot and has spanned into a fifteen chapter fic. Now, not all the chapters are written but I have them all planned out. I put a warning for cheating at the beginning of the chapter because while I don't think of it as cheating, someone else might I guess. Now, I'm posting this chapter now and the rest well be posted starting in February because that's my brand for 2020 apparently, posting a first chapter and the rest being posted later. If I can update early, I will. Anyways

Happy New Year, everyone! Love you all!