CHAPTER 15:

Alex's stomach growled and reminded him he hadn't eaten much since that morning, and coffee was not as life sustaining as he thought it was. "I know, I know," Alex muttered as he finished preening in front of the bathroom mirror. Sure, he tended to lean toward a homeless bum look, but there were limits as to how far he'd take it. He found another hair tie and was able to throw his hair back up into a ponytail. Finally, he felt like Alex again, and that Lin was good and ready to sit down and keep quiet for a moment. Well, almost like he was Alex again...he was missing the hoodie he always wore, the green one that had to gone through the wash at Thomas's house. He thought to shoot John a text and ask him how he was doing.

Aaaaand then he realized he'd left his phone at Thomas's house and he hoped the guy had had enough sense to check the pockets of Alex's hoodie before throwing it in the washing machine. But then, given how much Thomas already seemed to hate him, Alex wasn't so sure he wouldn't have just put Alex's phone through the wash and dryer to spite him. Great. Alex slapped his hand to his forehead when he realized he'd also left his wallet in hoodie pocket as well, which means it too was also left at Thomas's house. Good job Alex, you're a dumbass.

He dug out another few twenties from his personal stash of money, the money he had socked away for the day he'd graduate and put it toward a house or some form of stability for himself, and decided he'd go take a walk down the street to get some dinner. There was a slew of restaurants and other shops catered toward the needs of students, bookshops and entertainment venues all meant to be exciting and enticing to the new student body. Since the school year hadn't started yet, the streets were lined with people meeting up with old friends from the previous years and plenty of students looking to have a great time before their studies began. Alex side stepped more then a few groups as he made his way down the sidewalk, looking at the bistros and cafes that passed as he tried to make a decision about what to eat based on names alone. He stopped in front of one place called the 1776 Bar and Grill, smelling the scent of fresh baking bread from inside and what might be the smell of charcoal cooked hamburgers. American cuisine sounded alright, and he pulled open the door and headed inside.

It was crowded with students and every table in the place was taken, with a few of them milling about in a small waiting area and chatting loudly. But that wasn't what caught his attention. Alex immediately froze, as did the hostess in mid greeting when they recognized one another. Alex let a smile grace his face. "Angelica," he greeted with a bow.

"Alex," she replied with a forced smile. "How good to see your face. How many are in your party?"

"Uhh, just me," he replied, stepping up to her podium. "Think you got room to squeeze me in somewhere soon?"

"There's a 15 minute wait," Angelica curtly told him. "At least. But you can have a menu to look over. Or would you like the children's menu and a pack of crayons?"

He nodded without so much as a snappy reply. "A regular menu will be fine, thanks."

"Something wrong?" Angelica asked. "You don't seem to be full of the pep I remember you had last night."

"It's...nothing," he said, wanting to avoid having to give details. If he indicated why he was upset, because he'd had a fight with a friend, then she may ask what the fight was about. Then if Alex told her what the fight was about, that said friend wanted Alex to run away with them, then she might ask why that friend wanted that. And if Alex told her why that friend wanted that, because apparently Alex was the only one good enough in bed for them, then Angelica would probably assume, correctly so, that this friend was female, and given how standoffish she was with his flirting she might become even colder toward him as a result. And she would probably have some choice things to say, about how he was leading her on or some such nonsense. And if Alex wanted to set her straight, he'd have to tell her what he did for a living. And that would be crossing the boxes. So he decided to just pretend he was playing hard to get with her and see what that did. "I just wanna be waited on and fed good food. Will you please take care of me, Angelica?"

She bapped him on the forehead with a menu. "I'll get you in as soon as a single table becomes available. Take this and go sit down." Alex sauntered away with the menu in hand, slowly making his way to an empty seat in the waiting area. He causally peeked over the menu as he sat down, catching Angelica eyeing him like she might actually have some pleasant feelings toward him, but she put on her best haughty look as she went to attend whatever other duties she had. Ah well, it wasn't really anything Alex was gunna worry about. If she wanted him she could certainly humble herself enough to ask him out or even just accept his own playful invitations. Or she could play hard to get with him and see how much Alex was far better at it then she was. Either or.

It also dawned on him that if Angelica worked here, then so did John. Huh, so this was the part time job he'd have over the school year. Alex wondered what exactly he'd be doing in the restaurant and if he'd get a shot at visiting John while he was on shift to see. He tried to picture John in the prim and neat hostess attire Angelica wore, black slacks and tie, with a white button up shirt, little red flower pin over his left breast. The splash of red on white reminded Alex of blood, and for a brief terrifying moment Alex thought he saw a bullet wound on Angelica's shirt, before an invasive memory flashed into his mind before he could stop it and he turned back to the words swimming around on the menu in an attempt to shake them away. His eyes chased the letters all around but couldn't make them make any sense. His mind evicted the thought almost as quickly as it had come, but that did little to ease the feeling of reeling his mind had in the empty space left in it's wake. He set the menu down and rubbed at his eyes, as if that might get them to work again.

"Angelica?" he called, hating how for a single moment his voice sounded too young and small. She looked up from where she was writing something down at her podium. "Is there a bathroom I can use?"

"Around the corner," Angelica said and pointed with her hands. "Then straight back. You can't miss the sign. Come right back when you're done."

He saluted her and made his escape, leaving the menu on his seat. Her directions were hard to mess up and Alex was grateful for a moment that men's bathrooms where hardly ever crowded. He rubbed at his face and tried to shake off the uncomfortable feeling the invasive thought had left him with. "I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory," he whispered to himself, almost laughing at the irony that this time he had imagined death and it was a memory. "Intrusive thoughts inside need to leave me, I'm not the scared little boy I used to be." It had been a while since he'd experienced one of these, and he paced slowly in a circle, speaking only to himself, until his head felt like it sat in a better place. He wondered for a moment if he should make an appointment to see his shrink again, but then thought better of it. Nothing was really wrong in his life right then, and he knew it would be silly to call the woman up just to say what? That a sudden thought had briefly attacked him and made him uncomfortable? He'd rather not spend eighty dollars to just go over such a minuscule detail in his life such as that for an hour. But he made a mental note to record it's happening when he got back to the dorm, in case something came up later.

As he exited the bathroom and was making his way back toward the waiting area, his eyes caught sight of a woman eating alone at a table and he stopped for a moment. He wondered how he hadn't noticed her before on his way to the bathroom. She sat by herself at a table meant for two and picked absently at a salad while looking over a book. With a pale blue cashmere button up sweater over her shoulders and a string of pearls draped across her neck to match her pearl studded earrings, she looked the exact picture of elegance and grace. He thought about how much he wanted to make a friend outside of work and found himself slipping into the seat across from her. At first she didn't seem to notice, too engrossed in her book to see anything around her, but when she glanced over to get another bite of her salad, Alex's form came into her peripheral and she looked up at him with a start. "Hi," he said with a soft smile. "I'm sorry, I just came around to wash my hands in the bathroom, but I saw what you were eating and it looked really good. Can I just ask what you got so I can try one?"

"Oh," she replied, a pink tint to her cheeks. "Uh, sure. It's...just their cobb salad. Nothing fancy."

"It looks better then any kind of salad I could put together. What dressing did you get?"

"Oh, well, it came with ranch but..." She reached into the purse she had hanging on the side of her chair and pulled out a bottle of salad dressing. "I...brought my own..."

"Green Goddess," Alex read the label then smiled charmingly. "Well, I didn't know I was in the presence of such divinity, though your beauty should have given you away." She giggled at him. "I'm Alexander Hamilton, by the way."

"Eliza Schuyler."

Alex perked at hearing her last name. "Schuyler?"

"MY Sister." Alex looked up into the narrowed eyes of Angelica as she loomed over him and smiled sheepishly. "I told you to come right back to the waiting area," she said.

"I was," Alex said as he started to rise. "But Eliza's food just looked so good, I had to know what she was having!"

"She's having a salad. And you're having a seat in the waiting area."

"Oh, ummm, I don't mind if Alexander sits with me," Eliza spoke up.

"Really?" Alex said, smiling happily at her. "I mean, if I'm not a bother."

"No, no, of course not," Eliza said. "It's my pleasure."

"As it would be my pleasure to dine with such a lovely lady."

"You better tip well," Angelica said to Alex then. "On your own tab."

"Oh no, I'll pick up the tab for us both. It's least I could do if Eliza would share some of her personal salad dressing with me."

"Can you even afford it?"

"Angelica..."

Alex pretended the question didn't phase him, "I know I look young and scrappy but believe me, I make enough." He smiled for a minute as if he'd won the debate, then pretended to looked panicked. "Wait, how much IS your salad dressing worth, Eliza?"

"Ten thousand dollars a drop," she replied, with a smile. "Still think you can afford it?"

"Hmmm, that is pretty steep. Guess I'll just have to go with boring ol' ranch after all..."

"Well, you seem pretty nice," Eliza told him. "Maybe just this once I can wave the fee."

Alex grinned at her. "Really?"

"Really, really."

"So, a salad then, Alex?" Angelica cut in. "Sure that's gunna satisfy you?"

"If the food doesn't, I'm sure the company I get to spend my evening with will," he replied causing Eliza to giggle.

"Right." Angelica looked between the two of them, especially the way her sister leaned across the table and smiled at this silly boy with a dreamy look. "I'll go...tell your server..." she said and turned to walk away.

"So Alex, tell me about yourself," Eliza said. "You...do prefer to be called Alex, right?"

"Eh, Alex, Alexander, Li—" He caught himself before he finished. "It's all the same to me."

"Li?" Eliza questioned, and Alex fidgeted nervously, trying to keep his causal smile in place.

"Well, Lin is my middle name, and I guess you could call me that, if you wanted. But you're right, I prefer just Alex!"

"Alexander Lin Hamilton," she said slowly, as if sounding out the each syllable intimately. He never knew the sound of his full name could be so sensual until it came from her mouth. Then she smiled up at him almost impishly. "Well, now I have power over you to make you do whatever I want!"

"Wha?"

"Oh!" She suddenly looked embarrassed. "I-it's nothing, just fairy lore, and one of the reasons we have middle names."

"Tell me about it."

If possible Eliza blushed harder. "Umm, in fairy lore, if you know a fairy's full name then you have power over them. You could give them any command and they'd have to find a way to fulfill it for you. Likewise, it's believed witches could also curse you if they know your full name, so back when that was a thing people wanted to protect against they would give their children three names; the family name, their first name, and finally a middle name that was meant to be kept secret except to those whom you trusted weren't witches."

"Huh, so what about people with like super long names?"

"How long?"

Alex held his hands out as far as they would go on either side of himself. "Thiiiiiiiis long!" he said and earned another giggle. "My, uh, roommate has a friend whose got like 10 names, and when he introduces himself he says it all really fast in this thick French accent, cuz he's from France, and then he says, 'oh but that is too much for you to say like I do, so here, just call me—'"

"You mean Lafayette?" Eliza said, tilting her head. It was in that moment that Alex remembered he'd met Angelica when she'd come to pick Lafayette up from his dorm last night. "Don't worry," she said seeing his flustered 'oh shit' face, "I know what he's like. I live with him after all."

"You...live with him?" Alex said. "Is he...Angelica's boyfriend or something?"

Eliza laughed, and then covered her face as if she was doing something naughty. "No, no, nothing like that!" she said. "Angelica is very picky; I don't think she'd ever go for a guy like Laf."

"Well, what about you?"

She shook her head shyly. "I don't think he's the right kind of guy for me. I'm...boring. And, well, he's very colorful, isn't he?"

"Very," Alex agreed. "but I don't think you're boring. You know things I don't. Like that fairy bit, where'd you find that out?"

"Oh, I just have an interest in fairy tales, that's all. It's silly, a grown woman reading children's stories, don't you think?"

Alex leaned forward on the table, smiling at her. "Not in the least. What's your favorite story?"

"Umm, it's not a common one."

"Oh, good! Then you can tell me the whole thing!"

Eliza giggled nervously, uncomfortable in the spotlight he was shining on her, but she sheepishly pushed her hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. "It's the story of All Fur."

"All Fur?" Alex asked.

"Do you want to hear it or not?" Alex nodded with enthusiasm and so Eliza went on, "Once upon a time a young princess lived with her father in their castle, in a far away kingdom. The poor king's wife had passed when the princess was very little, but every day the princess grew more lovely, looking more and more like her mother every day." Eliza looked a little embarrassed. "One day, the king called the princess into his throne room and announced that she was to wed him and be his wife, because her resemblance to her mother was too much for the king to stand."

"Ew," Alex interjected. "Sorry, sorry, go on."

"The princess, thinking quickly, said she would not wed her father unless he could first produce three dresses. One that glowed like the moon, one that glittered like the stars and one that shined as bright as the sun. And that they could be made of nothing less then the actual glowing light these celestial bodies produced."

"A reasonable request. I mean, I'd marry my father if he gave me dresses like those. Quick question, did she also get shoes to match?"

Eliza laughed. "It never said. Well, to her dismay he was able to produce exactly what she asked for, and when he gifted them to her he also gave her an engagement ring and said that they were to be wed the following morning. So she took the dresses up to her bedroom where she folded them all very carefully and stored them in the shell of a walnut."

"A walnut?"

"A walnut," she nodded. "Remember, these dresses are made only from the light of the sun, moon and stars."

"Ah yes," Alex replied, nodding as if this explained everything. "It makes much more sense now. See I was imagining them being made of fabric."

"No, they were a conscious manifestation of light. So anyway, she tucks the ring inside the shell as well as a set of her mother's pearl earrings, ties it around her neck with a ribbon then steals a fur coat her father had made years ago from the pelts of every animal in their kingdom—"

"Wait, so they have no animals, like at all?"

"No, no, like they hunted one of each animal. And then used their fur to make a big coat."

"Ah, okay."

"So she runs away."

"Naturally."

"All the way to another kingdom far away, where she lives in the wilds, and sleeps in a hallowed out tree for several years. Then one day the hunting dogs of that kingdom's prince find her."

"Oh no."

"At first they think she's some kind of strange beast—"

"Because of the coat?"

"Yes, because of the coat, very good,"

"See? I do pay attention!" Alex chuckled. Movement to his side made him look up as a waitress brought out a plate of food.

"Angelica said this was for you?" the woman said holding out a large salad plate and glancing between him and Eliza as if she wasn't sure.

"Oh, yes of course," Alex said and leaned back from the table so she could set it down. "Thank you...Nala," he added, reading her name tag. She smiled guardedly at him and then set down a drink as well. Alex noticed everything he was given was exactly what Eliza ordered. Well, he really couldn't complain, as he hadn't really given anyone an order. Besides, to his starving stomach it would be fine.

"Everything tasting okay?" Nala asked, looking to Eliza. She nodded and smiled happily back, about to reply when Alex, mouth stuffed full of lettuce, yelled, "Oh! This IS Good!" and his table mate giggled.

"I'll check back on you two in a little bit, okay?" Nala said and bowed out. Alex was already stabbing another forkful as Eliza pushed her dressing bottle toward him.

"Oh right!" he said, spotting the bottle. He twisted off the cap and was careful not to pour too much out, just what looked like it would be enough to cover his meal. "Thank you, for both the dressing and suggesting this, you have great tastes."

"It's...just a salad," Eliza giggled.

"It's wonderful, just like you," Alex told her. "So! Our princess was just found out by the dashing prince's hunting hounds, right? Do they fall in love as soon as their eyes meet for the first time?"

Eliza shook her head. "'Fraid not. So they were about to kill her, before they heard her begging for her life and realized she was a person under that big mess of fur coat and all the dirt that she had on her face. They asked her what she was doing on the royal hunting grounds and she replied that she wasn't aware she was trespassing, and so the prince decided to take pity on her. So he takes her back to the castle, and she's put to work in the kitchen. She works there for several weeks and learns that the king is very distraught that his son hasn't married yet. And so one day the king announces he will host a ball which all the eligible women in the land are to attend and his son has to pick one to marry. And of course, this is a huuuuge deal, there's so much work to be done, so much prep to do, and the kitchen has to cook a lot of food."

Alex weakly smiled at that, imagining a fictional banquet fit for a king and the end result of any leftovers in a world that, presumably, didn't have refrigeration. He carefully picked out a bigger bite then usual and put the whole thing in his mouth as he listened to Eliza tell her story.

"They put All Fur, that's what the rest of the kitchen staff had started calling our princess by the way, because she refused to tell them who she was or where she was from, and she never took off her fur coat. So they put All Fur on soup duty, and she was to cook up this big pot of soup and pour it all out into bowls for the servers to take out to the guests at dinner. So she's doing that, but of course there's a bit of time where all the ingredients are simmering in the pot and there's nothing she can do, so she begs, begs, begs the head chef if she can just go and see all the guests that are starting to show up. The head chef says okay, but minds her not to be seen because, of course, she's wearing nothing but a filthy fur coat she refuses to take off. So All Fur sneaks out back and away to a little river where she'd fetch the palace's water in the morning, and under the cover of darkness she cleans herself off and dresses herself in the starlight dress. Then she sneaks around to the front and sneaks her way inside to the ball. Well, of course she knows no one there, so she's not going to socialize, she just wants to dance and have a little bit of fun, right? But who else should spot her but the prince himself."

"Oh snap," Alex commented. "And did he recognize her?"

"Not without all the dirt from before. But he dances with her and when the song ends she knows she's gotta get back to the kitchen or else the head chef is going to be mad. So she excuses herself and sneaks out back again to where she'd hid her coat. She takes off her dress, carefully folds it up and puts it back with it's sisters, then takes out a single pearl earring from her walnut. She puts on her fur coat again and dirties her face with mud from the creek. Then she heads back inside to tend the soup and pour it for the guests. Well, the prince has a special bowl meant only for him, and into the bottom of it she drops the pearl earring. So the servers take the soup out and everyone is enjoying it except for the prince, who's too preoccupied with wondering where that girl he just danced with went because as he asked around trying to find her he realized that yes everyone saw her, but no one had any idea who she was. Then he finds the earring in the soup, and he knows it belongs to her. He demands at once that the head chef be brought out and he asks her who made the soup. The head chef, said it was All Fur, so they bring her out and then the prince demands to know if she put the earring in his soup. She swears up down and sideways it wasn't her, so he asks her if she saw who did, and All Fur tells him it was a girl who dress glittered like the moonlight. So that seals it, the prince has to see this girl again. But he doesn't know who she is, he doesn't even know how she got into the party without an invitation. So naturally, the only thing he can do is hold another ball and hope she turns up again, right?"

"And this time Miss All Fur wore the sun dress, yes?" Alex asked.

"Moon dress," Eliza said. "And she does exactly as she did before, sneaks out to wash up and change, sneaks in to the ball, is seen by everyone including the prince who approaches her and asks for a dance, but as they dance now he asks her who she is and where is she from? Only All Fur gives him vague answers, she's from very far away, but is staying somewhere close by in his kingdom and when she heard the announcement that all eligible ladies were supposed to attend this ball she felt like she had to come to or else she'd make him very mad somehow. When the song ends, again, she excuses herself and sneaks away to change back into her coat. Again she returns to tend the soup, and again she drops the other pearl earring into the bottom of the bowl meant for the prince. Again he demands the kitchen brings out All Fur, and again he asks her if she saw who put the earring in the soup. When she says she saw the woman who wore the dress of moonlight put the earring into the bowl he demanded to know where she went, but poor All Fur had to tell him she didn't know. He was very distraught. He told his father, the king, that this mystery woman that showed up only for one song and then vanished was the woman he wanted to marry, but of course he didn't know how he was going to do that if she kept disappearing and he didn't know how to call on her. So the king decided they would have one more ball, but he told the prince that this time he had to find out who this girl was, or else he would have to pick someone else at the end of the night. And the prince agreed, determined to find out who his future wife would be one way or another.

"So they hold another ball, and All Fur is once more in charge of soup duty. So when everything is again in the pot and simmering, she asks the head cook if she can take a break to go and see the guests arrive. And just like before she sneaks out to the creek to change and sneaks back in to the ball itself. The prince, of course sees her right away—"

"Because of the sun dress!"

Eliza laughed. "Because of the sun dress, yes, very good Alex. And again they dance, but this time the song seems to go on and on. It goes on much, much longer then the songs of the previous two nights and the prince tells her that he has given his minstrels distinct orders to not stop playing until she tells him exactly who she is and how he could call on her. This panics poor All Fur as she knows she has kitchen duties she has to get back too, and if the prince doesn't let her go then she'll be in trouble with the head chef. So even though it's against protocol, she shoves him away and makes a break for it through the castle. He pursues her, but it's no use, because she knows where all the hiding spots are as she's been told every day since she started working at the castle not to be seen by the royal family, and she easily loses him. She then sneaks back to the creek, but since she's been gone for so long she can't properly change, so she throws on her fur coat and runs back to the kitchen without dirtying up her face again. The head chef is, of course, very cross with her, but has a lot of other things to do and so lets All Fur off with a berating and nothing else. Once more, All Fur pours the soups and this time she puts in the ring her father gave her into the prince's bowl. The prince is very upset this night, because once more the mystery woman has eluded him. When he finds a ring in his soup he calls immediately for All Fur to come out, but he never gets a chance to question her because as soon as he looks at her he sees the same woman he'd danced with moments before. Her fur coat fell away revealing the dress made of sunlight and at once he takes the ring she'd snuck to him and asks her to marry him."

"And she says yes, and they live happily ever after?" Alex asked.

"Well, in some versions. There's one where she takes out a sword and kills everyone at the banquet and then crowns herself queen and goes to war with her father's kingdom to dethrone him and take back the land and rule over both of them with an iron fist," Eliza smiled sweetly as Alex sat in a shocked silence with his mouth poised to take another bite of food. "But I suppose you're the kind of guy that would like the sweet happy ending, wouldn't you?"

"I very much would," Alex said a little nervously. "Dare I be bold enough to ask you which version you prefer?"

"There is one version where she married the prince but returned to her land as a queen to take it back from her father. I rather like that one. Also, depending on how it's told, you can generally figure out which way the end will go."

"How so?"

"If she wears the sun dress last she's going to marry the prince. If she wears the moon dress last, she'll kill everyone there."

"What about the starlight dress?"

"That's always the first dress she wears. But I imagine if she wears that one last it's the one where she marries the prince, then kills him, then takes back her land from her father and rules them both as evenly and justly as she's able."

"Hmm. Well, I didn't know fairytales could be so dark."

"A lot of the originals were. You know in Cinderella the stepsisters cut off their own feet to fit the slipper and it's the birds that sing about how bloody their feet are that tips the prince off that they aren't the right girl, right?"

"What? No, I didn't! How did he not catch that? Also, yes, of course, take the advice of the talking animals, seems legit."

"In The Little Mermaid, she makes the choice to kill herself in the end, because she can't stand to hurt the man she loved."

"Aww, but that one is still sweet."

"And in Sleeping Beauty, she slept for 100 or 1,000 years depending on which version of it you can find."

"Man, I never knew any of this. That's wild."

"Yeah, most people think all the stories are the happy washed out versions that Disney tells them about. They forget that back in the day these tales and fables were meant to be stories parents told their kids to warn them of dangers in the world and how to be smart enough to avoid them."

"Yeah, like that one that says don't eat a witches house or else she can eat you, right?"

"Hansel and Gretel," Eliza nodded. "Oh, did you see the Witch Hunters movie that came out a few years ago?"

Alex shook his head and Eliza looked disappointed. "Oh, but, I probably would have if...uh...if I had had the...money...at the time..." He waved his hands as if to dismiss her increasingly worried look. "I mean, I'm more financially stable now, with a great job and even tho I'm in college I'm studying law! Sooo, you know, soon money won't be an issue at all for me! And, well, I grew up really, really poor, so even when money is tight I know how to stretch it as far as it will go, and those habits are hard to break you know. Because why waste money on useless things or stuff you don't need? But don't worry, I can pay for my dinner!"

"How..." Eliza started, but bit her lip to stop herself.

"How, what?" Alex prompted.

"How poor were you?"

Alex fidgeted in his seat. "Ummm...have you ever had to choose between keeping food in your stomach or a roof over your head?"

"Noo..."

"Lucky...that's how poor I was...Was being the keyword here, tho, heh."

"Which did you choose? Roof or food?"

"Food," Alex replied right away. "A roof is no good to you if you starve to death under it. There are places on the streets where you can take shelter if you know where to look, but you need food to survive. So yeah, I was poor enough to be homeless once. Poor enough to beg, steal, borrow or barter for anything I could get. And I'm not scared to go back to living like that if I have too, I just...don't want too, ya know?"

"Well, yeah," Eliza said sympathetically. "I've never been in a situation like that, but I can't imagine it being easy."

Alex shrugged as if it didn't matter. "You do what it takes to survive. Can we talk about something else, please? Sorry, it's just...that part of my life.."

"Oh! Right! I'm sorry, and I was prying too, oh you stupid dummy!" She lightly slapped at her own cheeks but Alex reached across the table to still her hands with a chuckle.

"Hey, it's okay, if you let me ask you something next," he told her.

"Okay, what?"

"Would you like to get ice cream with me after this?"

"Sooo, if you'd rather just stay home all the time, what brings you out and about the club tonight?" John asked, leaning toward the other.

"Business, I'm afraid. I own this place."

John scoffed. "Boy, do I look stupid to you?"

Aaron stood up then and walked away. John followed him with his eyes, momentarily feeling like an idiot for chasing off the only guy who was willing to talk to him, but was surprised when Aaron pushed open the little door at the end of the bar and stepped behind the counter, walking back toward John. "What are you drinking?" he said with a smile as he leaned over the bar in front of him.

"Sam Adams," John replied, glancing down the line at the bartender. Before he could say anything else tho, the man slipped past Aaron with little more then a "excuse me, sir," to reach for something just above his head before he resumed waiting on other customers. Aaron held his knowing smile. "That...doesn't make you a boss," John tried. "You could just be another employee."

Aaron produced a ring of keys and flipped through them til he reached a small one in particular. John watched as he moved over to the cash register and with a twist of the little key opened the machine and started looking through inside. "Hey Kevin," he called down the line. The bartender glanced their way. "You have way too much cash up here, you need to drop your till more often."

"I've been non-stop since 10. Hire another guy if you want that till micro-managed."

"I'm dropping your excess. Leave the reports with Steve tonight and I'll do the books later."

"Whatever you say, sir."

Aaron chuckled some as he counted off money. "Still don't think I own this place?" he asked John.

"Alright, say that you do," John replied. "I'm literally a college student and you seem to have way more of your life figured out then I do. What are you doing talking to me?"

"I like to know people, John. I just think they're interesting. I run a bar because it's a place that lots of people from all kinds of places like to visit. Sure, there's a very particular crowd it will always generate, but once you know what the standard looks like it makes it far easier to pick out the unusual." Aaron put a cup down in front of himself and filled it with a darker liquid. "Would you like some of this or do you have your heart set on another Adams?"

"What is it?" John asked, nodding at the drink Aaron had finished pouring.

"Tennessee Honey Whiskey."

"Strong stuff."

"You're not a fan of liquor?"

John shrugged. "Beer does the same job."

"I disagree. Beer does a terrible job of warming a guy up to the idea of dancing with a stranger they just met who pours them a glass, at least not without a lot of it. Liquor will get you there quicker."

"Beers are cheaper."

Aaron smiled and slid John the glass of whiskey. "On the house," he told him. "So, you said you were a college student? Where and what are you studying?"

John scoffed and rolled his eyes some. "Harvard law."

"Harvard?!" the man repeated, his face looking surprised. "Laaaw? That would mean you're cute and smart."

"Oh yeah," he laughed, looking down into his first drink, "and daddy dearests perfect little son, you know if I wasn't a secret faggot." John felt his face grow red again, his clutch on the glass in his hands tightening as the silence between them grew heavy with tension. John peeked up shyly, relieved and yet worried to find the stranger still standing there beside him. "Sorry, that was..." he struggled to find the right words, but wasn't sure what he even needed to say. "I—I shouldn't have used that word...sorry..."

"Not the most supportive family, I take it."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"At all, or just in public?"

Again John looked up but held Aaron's gaze this time. "It's not an interesting tale. I have a southern family, they think God told them not to let dudes kiss other dudes, and I got an aunt who swears up, down and sideways that lesbians just don't exist because the only reason women kiss each other is to lure guys like me back to bed with them."

Aaron laughed low and easy. "Does it work at all?"

"Not in the slightest," John replied. "I see two girls kissing and I just think, 'ahh, good for them,' and then hope the other males in the area nearby are as gay as I am." He nearly jumped when he felt something brush the back of his hand but found it to just be Aaron's hand, carefully removing the empty cup he'd been holding onto like it was a security blanket. The glass of whiskey was slid right into his now empty grip, yet Aaron didn't pull away; he kept his hand lighting brushing over John's, running soft fingertips over the back and knuckles of his hand.

"Well, I think you came to the right place for that. Lot's of folks here are queer," Aaron told him.

"I gathered that," John said. "My...friend I came out with said this place was the best nightclub for that kind of stuff, soo...here we are..."

"Here we are, indeed." He leaned in closer and John felt his cheeks growing hot. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever feel lonely, even in a crowd of people?"

"Yeah."

"Crowds are kind of noisy...wanna go someplace a little more quiet to talk, maybe get to know each other better?"

John tried to process the words, but they felt surreal in his head. "Is this a...a 'your place or mine' kind of thing?"

Aaron smiled. "I was hoping you'd want to come back to my place, yes. Unless you feel comfortable staying here and giving me that dance I'd like?"

John downed the whiskey in his hand, feeling the alcohol burn as it went down. He turned to get off the stool a little suddenly, then whirled back around to Aaron. "Let me just tell my friend not to look for me when he wants to go home, okay? I'll be back, just give me a minute, okay?"

"Okay," Aaron said, smiling like the Cheshire cat. John grinned back and giddily whirled back into the crowd of people, looking for Laf. He wandered first back to the spot where they'd met Oak, but found the couch empty of both his friend and the stranger he'd first talked too. The area was elevated just a few steps from an outdoor dance floor, so John squinted into the crowd until he spotted where he was dancing with some random guy and then made his way over to them. The music was far too loud in the middle of the sea of people grinding on one another, so when John tapped his friend on the shoulder Lafayette quickly disentangled himself from his current engagement, ignoring the nasty look the guy shot at John, and walked them over to a quieter corner where they could speak.

"How are you doing, mon amour?" Lafayette asked him with a kiss to his neck. "Have you talked to anyone else or am I kidnapping Oak for you?"

"You missed your chance with Oak," John said. "He's gone off somewhere."

"You do not know I did not put him in Thomas's tru~uck," Lafayette said, his voice adapting a sing-song quality to it at the end.

"Well, go cut him loose," John said, not believing Laf for a second. "I found someone else and he's invited me back to his place!" He glanced back where Aaron was watching them with an amused smile and for a split second John thought to shove Lafayette off of him, but there was no need and the French man instantly sat up.

"Oh, did you now?"

"Uh-huh," John said, forcing himself to turn his back to Aaron so Lafayette could peek over his shoulder with out being so goddamn conspicuous. "Behind the bar, leather jacket."

"The one smiling and checking out your cute butt?" Lafayette asked.

"He is not checking out my butt!"

"Oh, but he is mon amour. I think he likes very much what he sees!" Lafayette smiled as John blushed. "Ooo! Here! Take this, you will need it!" and before John could ask what he was talking about Lafayette had pulled out a train of condoms from lord only knew where on his person and handed them to John. "Call me when you want a ride home, I will get you a Lyft." He kissed John's cheek but John just stood there staring at his full hands. After a moment the French man tilted his head and asked, "What is wrong, John?"

"I'm...I'm really gunna do this...I'm going back to his place..." John looked up at Lafayette. "What if I don't want to? What if I change my mind? What if I'm leading him on?!"

Lafayette waved his hands and shook his head. "Mon amour, you do not have to do anything you do not want to. If you change your mind you can simply call me and I will come pick you up. You have your phone, oui? Should I be checking mine every ten minutes or every five?"

"I want to do this..." John muttered. "Am I doing the right thing?"

"Oh thank God," Thomas said, coming up behind them. "Listen, Mary is here—"

"Who?" John interrupted.

"Mary!" Thomas said frantically "Mary Field! The Big Ex! The one that I can never show my face to again or she will eat me alive AFTER she rips my balls and dick off to keep as souvenirs and a warning to all other men!"

"Thomas left her at the alter," Lafayette supplied.

"Oh, that's never good," John said.

"I Know! So Can We Go—"

"Wait, you were almost married?" John asked. "You're like our age tho."

"I'm 25, John. I'm older then both of you."

"You almost married her when you were 18, non? Thomas, that was seven years ago, I am sure she does not care anymore."

"You don't know Mary," Thomas hissed back. "Seriously, I am a dead man walking if she spots me, so it is time to go. Sorry John, you'll have to whore yourself out on Tinder or Grinder like the rest of us."

"I've actually found a date," John said. "So you can go if you need too, I'm going home with someone else."

"You are not," Thomas said, but followed it immediately with, "Who?" as he scanned the crowd.

"The handsome one at the bar," Lafayette said, pointing back toward Aaron.

"Laf, don't look so obvious!"

"A bartender?" Thomas said. "Really, John?"

"He doesn't tend the bar," John snapped. "And what's wrong with having a steady job, huh?"

"Nothing. Which one is he? The polo wearing shirt one or—"

"The one in the leather jacket that Laf said was checking out my ass."

"Ew," Thomas said. He flinched as John slapped his arm after rolling his eyes. "John, c'mon you can do better then that."

"And what's wrong with him?" John asked. "Hmmm? Name me one thing. Go on, I'll wait." Thomas stared at Aaron for a moment, who upon noticing the trio staring only raised a hand and gave them a little wave and smile. But when Thomas couldn't think of anything else to say, John rolled his eyes again, tucked the condoms into his back pocket and said, "Right, well then, if you'll excuse me, I got a one night stand to go have so you two naysayers can suck it."

"And you're sure?" Thomas said. "That is what you want?"

"If you're trying to dissuade me it's not going to work, Thomas," John replied. He noticed the worried look the other gave him and felt off about it, but only added, "Ears, nose, eyes, right? I'll remember what you said."

"They have to grow up sometime," Lafayette said, patting Thomas on the back. "Come here, we have to go untie someone from your truck anyway."

"What?" Thomas and John said in unison.

"Ha, I made you believe me," Lafayette said as he kissed John's cheek. "Go, you have made your boy wait long enough, he is likely to be wondering if you are changing your mind."

"Right," John said, feeling the jittery energy of excitement starting to fill his system. "Well, here I go." he stepped back and turned to navigate through the crowd again, moving back toward the bar where the man he'd been talking to had stepped from behind to text on his phone.

John took deep breaths to steady himself as he approached, mentally walking himself through what he wanted to do. This was it, a one night stand, a rebound to get over his ex and the roommate he'd never thought he'd see anywhere else except on a screen. He smiled as he stepped up to stand next to the man who looked up when John approached. "Ready to get out of here and go someplace where we can be alone?" Aaron asked him.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Leslie," John replied. He chuckled as the man offered him an arm, but John simply took hold of his hand.

"Just so you know, I'm about to change your life."

"Oh, by all means, lead the way."

END CHAPTER