Chapter 20: A Winter's Ball

"So you're the famous Alexander Hamilton that everybody's been talking about."

Alex had been sitting at a table in a kitchen. Of course, the kitchen he was in had multiple tables, and the mansion obviously had multiple kitchens.

The course of the past two hours had been interesting, to say the least. His friends had all split up. "Left him to it," they said. Left him to find a single person in a crowd of hundreds, it seemed.

He discovered that he was actually a bit overdressed for the occasion, so that was a bit embarrassing. He discovered that he somehow was able to dance adequately, so that was good. His charm made up for any ridiculous clothing he might be wearing. And he discovered that there were apparently no alcoholic beverages in the mansion, so that was a bit of a bummer. He was currently nursing a Pepsi and trying to remember where the nearest bathroom was for future reference when he heard someone calling his name.

He turned to look at the origin of the voice. An unfamiliar young girl who most certainly couldn't have been out of high school was on the other side of the table, smiling cheerfully at him. She wore a yellow blouse and sweatpants. Literally sweatpants.

"That's me," he confirmed. "And you are?"

"The one who runs this house, of course. Peggy Schyuler."

Alex grinned. What a nice bonus for attending tonight, getting to meet the third Schyuler sister. "What happened to your parents?"

"I tied 'em up in the basement. Shh, don't tell anyone," she asked with a conspiratorial wink.

Alex laughed. He already loved this girl in the most platonic way imaginable.

"A Winter's Ball, and the Schyuler sisters are the envy of all," Aaron muttered to himself.

"Hey, Burr!" Alex sat down next to his friend. Friend? Aaron was better than nothing, at least. "What's up? What'd you just say?"

Aaron turned to face Alex. "Hey. If you could get with a sister, you're rich, son."

There he went again, always being odd. Alex would indulge him, just as he always did.

"Is it a question of 'if', Burr, or 'which one'?"

"For as long as I've known you, Alex, you've always been so quick-witted."

"Er." Alex had just spotted Eliza across the room, sitting alone. He'd been waiting for hours for this moment, practicing the words that he would say over and over, and yet now he found himself markedly incapable of doing anything at all.

Burr smirked. "Go, man. Go."

Aaron's words snapped him out of it. Alex got up from his seat, straightened his shirt, and made his way over to his destiny.

"Eliza! Hello. Thank you so much for inviting me."

"Alex!" The middle Schyuler sister seemed to brighten. "I've been looking all over for you. Here, here, this way."

Tugging on his sleeve with surprising force, Eliza pulled him away. Alex just let himself get dragged down the maze of hallways, not quite believing his luck.

The bedroom the pair ended up in was nicer than any bedroom Alex had ever seen in his entire life. And judging from the seamless, unworn look of the place, it didn't even look slept in at all.

Alex only vaguely registered the luxury that he found himself in, the vast majority of his attention on the other person in the room with him. She never tried to lord her wealth over anyone, and it wasn't as thought she needed expensive clothes - she was already beautiful.

She took a strand of her hair and began to fiddle with it, almost nervously. Alex stared at the action before coming to the realization that he was staring, and that was probably what was causing all the nervous tension between them.

This time, Alex did literally pinch himself to get back to reality. At a party in a mansion, sitting on a bed next to the girl of his dreams.

"Eliza," he blurted out. "I love you."

She gave him a bit of a teasing smile, a pair of dimples forming on her cheeks. "I know. You already told me, remember?"

"Well, I love you so much that I thought I'd remind you. It's been a few months since the first time I said those words, right?" Alex tried for a smile weakly before dropping it for a more earnest expression. Screw that. He couldn't do that, not while his insides were roiling and his mind was going on the fritz.

Eliza responded by wrapping her arms around the now-shaking boy. Her embrace felt so warm, and damn, she smelled nice. Like mint. How on earth did she smell so good, even after hours of partying?

"Alex. You're a great guy. One of the most wonderful people I've ever met."

Alexander Hamilton felt tears well up in his eyes suddenly in a fit of emotion. No. This wasn't right.

"I… I shouldn't be doing this." The moisture in his eyes threatened to spill over. He weakly tugged at Eliza's arms, trying to get her off him.

She let him go, turning to look at him inquisitively.

"You don't know me. You don't even know me." John's words from a while ago echoed back. He was right all along.

He didn't know what came over him, but there the words were, tumbling out of his mouth. His entire story. Born a bastard in the Caribbean, orphaned. The lowest on the totem pole of society. Every excruciating detail he spilled while Eliza sat and listened.

Once his speech was over, Alex kept his eyes firmly planted on the floor. He did not want to see the consequences of his rash actions.

A sad, strangled sort of sound broke the silence Alex left, and he looked up to see tears rolling down Eliza's cheeks.

The boy sat there in shock as she closed the distance and embraced him once again.

"Alex. It's alright," she said once she'd managed to put herself back together again. "I love you just the way you are."

Alex hugged her back fiercely, the words piercing his numbness. She loved him. Somehow, this beautiful, perfect girl who was much too good for him loved him back.

The two of them stayed together like that, pressed up against one another.

For about three seconds.

The door to the room slammed open, causing both Alex and Eliza to jump away from one another in shock. There in the doorway stood Angelica Schyuler.

Her face flashed through several unidentifiable emotions before quickly settling on a smirk.

"Well, well, well. Hey, guys. Come look what we got here."

A dozen different people crowded in to see, people Alex all recognized. It appeared as though his friends had not forgotten about him after all.

"Hey." Peggy pointed up at the ceiling. Everyone looked upwards to see a strand of mistletoe hung above the couple.

"Now you gotta do it. C'mon." She grinned and bounced from foot to foot in excitement.

The two people - the two lovers, now, didn't resist. Eliza leaned into him, and their lips met.

Now this… this was heaven. Alex never wanted to stop kissing her.