Chapter 6: The Sun Shines Bright

"Evan! Hello!" Heidi's voice on the other side of the phone seemed just a bit too excited and happy to be completely genuine.

"Mom. Hi." came the somewhat disinterested response.

"How have things been? Has it been an amazing day?" Her voice sounded much less strained than he'd heard in a while.

Because she doesn't have to support you now, he thought, before mentally shoving the idea away.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Evan forced a smile onto his face on instinct, despite the fact that no one was around to see it. "Today was an amazing day."

"I'm so glad to hear that!" came the enthusiastic response from the other side. "I'll bet you're appreciating all those hours you spent working at Pottery Barn now, am I right?"

"Yeah. You bet."

"Are the counselors over there good? You're getting the help you need, right?"

"Of course."

"How's that letter to yourself coming along? I know Dr. Sherman isn't your therapist anymore, but you should still be continuing to do that."

Evan stared at his blank computer screen in abject panic.

"Yeah. I… I have it done, actually. I'm in a computer lab, printing it out."

"I'm proud of you. Still my boy." Heidi's voice was full of warmth.

"Heh. That's me."

A click, and the phone call ended.

Evan hurriedly turned to the keyboard and began to rapidly type, saying the words aloud as he went.

"Dear Evan Hansen…" he began. Due to one arm being stuck in a cast, he found it somewhat difficult to type, but he carried on.

"Turns out that today was not an amazing day. It's not going to be an amazing day, or an amazing week, or an amazing year, because… why would it be? Why would it be any different?"

"Oh, I know. Because there's Zoe, and all my hope is pinned on Zoe, who I don't even know, and… who doesn't know me."

"If only I could just talk to her, then maybe everything could be different. Or… maybe nothing would be different at all. I… I wish everything was different, I wish I was part of something. I wish that something I said mattered, at all, to anyone."

He paused for a moment, unhappily chuckling for one moment before returning to conclude his letter.

"Face it, if I disappeared tomorrow, would anyone even notice? Would anyone even… care?"

"Sincerely, your best and most dearest friend, me. And, print."

Evan leaned back in his chair while the school's printer slowly chugged. The chair was one of those nice ones that you can lean back on, and so he relaxed.

Which lasted for about one second.

"So," said an unfamiliar voice.

Evan spun around, and there was Connor Murphy, standing there as though he'd appeared in.

"What… happened to your arm?" Connor asked, almost shyly.

"Oh. Well… uh, I fell out of a tree."

"You… fell out of a tree."

"Yeah…"

"Well, that has got to be the saddest fucking thing I've ever heard."

"It… kinda is…" Evan said, trailing off.

The silence between the two boys in the computer lab stretched on for an uncomfortable length.

"I see that nobody's signed your cast," Connor broke in.

Evan instinctively looked down at it, despite knowing exactly what it looked like. "I guess."

"Well, here. Let me sign it for you."

Evan looked up. Connor suddenly seemed hopefully, friendly.

"Oh, no. You don't… you don't need to…"

"But I do want to. You got a pen?"

Evan hurriedly pulled out a pen that he conveniently had in his pocket and handed it over, almost dropping it in the process.

"And… there." Connor's name was written in such a large script that it practically covered the cast. "Now we can… now we can both pretend that we have friends."

"Uh… thanks," Evan said, hurriedly picking up his backpack and trying to leave the room.

"Hold on," Connor mentioned right as Evan was at the door. "Is this yours?"

He spun around to see Connor holding a sheet of paper. A paper that was definitely his letter.

"Dear… Evan Hansen. That's your name, isn't it. Right here."

"Yeah, ah, ah," Evan stumbled. "That's… that's just a stupid assignment, you can just -"

"Because there's Zoe."

There was a certain nasty churning in Evan's chest. An emotion by the name of fear.

"Is this about my sister?"

"No, no." Damn sweaty palms again. Evan reached to grab the paper, but Connor pulled it away.

"You wrote this… because you knew that I would find it."

"What? No! I didn't even-"

"No, you saw that I was the only other one in the computer lab, so you printed this out so I could find it." Connor's voice was eerily calm.

"What… why would I even do that?!"

"So I could read some creepy shit that you wrote about my sister, and then freak out, right? So you can tell everyone, THAT I'M CRAZY!"

Connor stormed right out, the paper still in his hand.

"No, no wait!" Evan practically begged, chasing after him. "I need that back, can you please just give that back?"

Later that day.

"A letter to yourself? What is it, some kinda sex thing?"

"Ok, Jared, enough with the joking around. This isn't funny, this isn't good, this isn't-"

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're my only… family… friend, alright? Just please, don't tell anyone -"

"Ey! Jeremy, Michael! Get in here!"

"What on earth?"

"We were playing some video games, man."

"Evan? What's this all about?" Jeremey's hesitant voice asked.

"His sex letter got stolen by Connor Murphy," Jared explained, nearly on the verge of total laughter.

"Have you tried drinking a slushie? Take your mind off it? There's a 7-11 right off of campus," Michael suggested hopefully.

"That's… that's not going to help," Evan said worriedly, rubbing his temples. "Like… what's he going to do with it? It's been three days."

"Dude. He's going to ruin your life with it."

Evan placed his head in his hands. Deep shit. He was in some deep shit.

Oh. You came here for a Hamilton fanfiction, and here I am, spewing on and on and on and on about Dear Evan Hansen.

I'm sorry. Here, next chapter will be all about HammyHam. I promise. Alright? Just stick around with me.

Since you're reading Hamilton fanfiction and are most likely a Hamilton fan, and therefore have most likely read many of the other fics in this section, but I'd still like to take a moment to highlight some other fictions here that are worth you time.

First, "The Hamiltons Go To Camp Half-Blood", by weirdtheaterchild. Believe it or not, it's not just a lame AU where they go to Camp Half-Blood. Nor does the OC that it features the same tired Mary Sue that she usually is. It's actually original. And good. So you should read it.

Second, I'd like to mentioned "(They All Know) What You Did Last Summer" by AvatarNia. My God. This fic is Beautiful, and that is Beautiful with a capital B, and yes, that's a Heather reference, just like how it drops a Heather reference. Besides that, the prose is excellent, and the plotline is constantly exciting. It's a High School AU with all your returning favorites, as well as a bunch of other characters who aren't ordinarily seen, well-developed and wonderfully done.

Finally, I'd like to mention "The Plot Against Hamilton", by AlexanderHamHam1804. I mean, hey. I endorsed the usage of my own good name in it. It'd be criminal if I didn't support it. Personal stakes aside, it's shaping up to be quite the impressive crossover. Since you're reading this, you clearly enjoy crossovers between musicals, and therefore you might also be interested in another musical crossover.

And that's all for now! Congratulations on getting through these exhaustively long Author's notes. I wish you all the best. Stay safe, stay healthy, and until next time, Readers!