Quick Authors Note Warning: I just need to let you know that in the chapter there will be a few minor sex-references (I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible and their adults so yeahhh…) but nothing too bad. But similarly during this chapter, things will get quite steamy but I promise there will be NO SMUT! I don't do that sort of thing. Besides, Lams is way too much of an innocent ship for that! Anyway, hope you enjoy!
He took my hand in his while we wondered back up the path to exit the white blanketed park. Penny came trotting back, wet on the underbelly. Each step we took back to the house was just as magical as when we traveling there in the first place. But also with each step we took towards the house, I couldn't push down the question buzzing about my mind...
What was he hiding?
Chapter 2- Christmas Day
(Alex's POV)
Something was humming beside me… and I knew it wasn't John. It couldn't have been him because my own warmth was cozied against him, with is arms tangled over me. This noise was constant and annoying yet my brain kept trying to push the irritation away. The thick sheets that trapped both of our heat, I made shove into my face to block out the noisy buzz pricking at my ear. But it was pointless.
"Go away." I managed to grumble against the duvet. All that was replied was a quiet laughter from… more than one person? Wait. More. Than. One. Person. Person.
Before the signals managed to completely control my limbs, I shot up in the bed knocking a massive lump to the top of my head. These people just laughed.
"My god, Alex!" One of them- a sweet female voice- chuckled.
"You two are unbelievable!" Another female, but much more firm voice called out.
"You owe me TWICE now!" A bouncy girls voice chirped from literally right beside my face.
"What's going on- Oh my god!" This last person was male but seemed to only come in at this very second. His ascent was thick with French but seemed to have an exaggerated joy in in his tone- like the third girl.
Now not only did those hums start to pain me, the alarm bell ricocheting around my skull played a part in that too. Eyelids still heavy with sleep, they fuzzed around the edges before opening up to gaze upon four of my best friends, crowded around the place I slept- all in very different states. Eliza had a hand clasped to her mouth trying to restrain the laughter building up around her eyes. Angelica however had no amusement in this situation at all. She had a plastered expression of complete unbelievable-disappointment. Her right eyebrow was completely raised while the other joined a displeased scowl across each muscle. The last two people were Peggy and Lafayette, who were crying in balls of laughter about the bedroom floor which I wanted to glare at but instead flushed my face as red as a tomato and sat completely embarrassingly wide-eyed. Thank goodness John and I decided to wear full pyjamas the night before or else they would have seen us both shirtless… snuggling… in bed together… Which then brought me to John who had the exact same expression drawn upon his face. We both sat up completely stunned, yet our fingers were still laced together underneath the sheets.
Why the hell were they up here? Where were the others then?
"What the hell guys?! What the HELL are you doing up here?!" I had to try to restrain myself from shouting.
"Err, more like what are YOU doing up here still? It's past twelve!" Angelica shook her head in disbelief but… she wasn't wrong…
My god! Why didn't the alarm go off!
"Alex! I thought you set an alarm!" John assumed, still as confused as I was.
"I did!" I retaliated. "But the batteries must have blown!" I indicated the blank screen of digital clock beside me.
"Okay! Okay! It doesn't matter what happened, we just need to figure out how to cook a Christmas dinner in under an hour…" Eliza's soft words calmed down the whole situation.
"Fine. But where are Herc, Aaron, Maria, Thomas and James?" John asked hopping out of bed to grab his clothes- me following on.
"I don't know. They didn't say." Laf chirped in wiping away an actual tear of laughter.
"Okay…" I ran towards the bathroom, changing as if I had an invisible timer on my back. My hair combed through quite easily but I just left it down again like the day before. I rushed the clothes over my head (a white buttoned shirt and dark blue jeans). Without any real recall on the mad dash in the bathroom, I remember I rushed out letting John go in to get changed himself, though as I did fully exit the bathroom, he wasn't waiting at the door… he was in the corner of the room looking really flushed at Lafayette who eyebrows were wiggling.
"Ahhemm!" I cleared my throat at them signalling to the open bathroom door. Without hesitation, the former sped towards the bathroom out of line of sight. I looked around the room to see that the girls had cleared out- most likely downstairs.
"Okay. What is going on between you two recently? I mean, he even stopped to talk to Dad yesterday! Please! I need to know what's going on!" I almost begged at his feet. He just smirked.
"You'll find out soon enough mon petit lion…" He strutted out into the hall leaving me gob smacked like an idiot.
"That's what everyone's saying!" I yelled after him gaining no response. "Come back here you Large Baguette!" I ran through the hall trying to tackle my taller brother at the bottom of the stairs. He simply placed a hand to my forehead easily restraining my movements.
"Are you two going to keep fooling about like children, or are you going to help fix the two lovebirds mess?" Ange's firm voice cut through our sibling-squabble.
"Yes Mam!" Both of us stood to attention, our arms signalling a salute. Angelica found an amusement in our fear of her and continued to give orders like a general.
How on earth did Burr get through each day without being brutally murdered?
"Right. Because Alex and John didn't bother to set an alarm,"
"It broke." I muttered underneath my breath.
"we all must help if we want to save Christmas! Now, none of us know where the boys and Maria have gone nor when they'll be coming back so I think we all just need to try and get everything done as quickly as possible! So Alex, what was your twos plan for today?"
"Erm…" I breathed wracking my mind, "John was meant to finish off the Meringue while I started with the veg and turkey's." I could see Peggy pushing down a smile at the mention of the turkey she saved me with yesterday. "After he finished the Meringue, I guess he would have helped me finish off the dinner. Then we would have cleaned up the house, set the table and did a run through on it all."
"Okay… So here's what we're going to do. When John's down, he will finish of the Meringue and after that will help out Alex and Laf with the dinner. Eliza and Pegs, you two will clean up and set the table and I will help out in all jobs just helping out- mainly supervising you children. Okay?"
"Okay Miss. Schuyler." We all chimed together mocking her use if 'children'.
"Or soon to be, Mrs Burr…" Eliza trailed off a smile lathering her tone. It was amazing that Aaron finally got up the courage to propose last May. Laf, Herc, John and I, had to stop him from having a panic attack before entering the restaurant he was so nervous! Yet he wasn't the only one… Maria had proposed to Eliza four years ago and they had been wed last year- at a lake actually! Out of all our friends, they were the first to be married. Then it was Ange and Aaron (though they were only engaged). The rest of us (John and I, Laf and Pegs and if I dare say, Thomas and James) just lived together, with nothing really confirmed. Me and Jack however, were the first of our friends to own a house together… just not one of the first to make anything official…
Ange chuckled at Eliza but soon clapped her hands to get us to work… We had under four hours to get this done… Originally, we would have only had one hour, but thankfully, the other boys and Maria called saying they needed more time for what they were up to… Strange…
In our kitchen, we had two large ovens, good enough to cook two large turkeys. Before Laf and I got to work, I googled how long it take to cook a turkey fortunately, it said it would take about four and a half hours. John came down about five minutes into the 'mad-house rush', but Angelica quickly ushered him to the Meringue as she began to help with the pastry base.
Laf and I began to place the one turkey into a tray (because Ange said we would only need one as to how big they were) with foil covered around it, placing it in the oven upside down draped with onions and red wine. Turns out, when cooking a Christmas dinner, there wasn't really much you could do until the very end. I do this every year, though every year I always forget what to do… Who knows why?!
After we finished prepping the bird, I went to help hoover the living room, picking up all the fallen pine needles and bits of fluff with it. Eliza had taken over Peggy's job of dusting while the latter went to help wash the Meringue pots. Laf cleared up the kitchen side, Angelica fed Penny and Squirt and John rearranged the furniture so the rooms where more spacious. Last of all in this hour of cleaning and hilarious madness, I helped John set the table with a deep red table cloth, eleven tall wineglasses all with a Christmas napkin wrapped on the inside. Each space had a silver, sparkling cracker in between the knives and forks on the tables and last of all, everyone who helped out that day, grabbed a handful of multi-coloured shining star sequins and threw them across the table. Of course, Laf took it to the next level by throwing the stars over the top of our heads- purposefully missing the clothed-surface. So, I showing some brotherly love, decided to aim another shot at him. Yes, I had just hoovered the floor but, what we were all throwing about the house made it even more magical. After we ran out of the packets of stars, around us were dancing patterns of the glistening sparkles scattered across the floor. It may have been a mess, but it was beautiful. And we all agreed.
"So what do we do until the turkey's ready?" John asked, still admiring the stars.
"Well its only 01:00," I said reaching into the cupboard, "I say we have a drink."
Everyone nodded in approval and copied my movement to the can of beers and wine displayed along the worktop (except for Eliza who just had water). Before moving to the sitting room, I looked at the kitchen clock and calculated the time that we would need the veg on- 16:30ish.
Once the conversations started they went on continuously. The main conversation topics was relationships, Ange's wedding plans and many side-splitting stories from Laf and Peggy. The others started to flood in at around four, each of them running towards their partners or (in one case) wife. James instantly ran to John to thank him for the invitation, whereas me and Jefferson had a stare-down at the door. He just would not give in. We could have kept going if both of our partners didn't break us away from trance.
Come on Alex. Just try to get along with them… For John. No other reason. You don't have to like them. You just have to act for a few hours… For John…
My god Jack. You're worth this.
"Hello there Thomas! Merry Christmas!" I said attempting to be nice. The friendliness like barbed wire to my throat.
"Hello there, Alex. Merry Christmas." He held out his hand to shake formally. His face was flooded with utter confusion- it was hilarious!
Hmm… Maybe I could get used to this…
John seemed satisfied with our interaction and offered for them to sit down with us. To my surprise, Thomas was friends with quite a few of my friends already… Like Laf, Angelica, Aaron and Maria. I already knew James was friends with us all… and, I guess he wasn't that bad. He was kind, quiet and caring but I guess that the fact he was with Thomas Jefferson put me off… a lot.
Unfortunately, Thomas was a hit with all the other people he didn't know (Eliza, Peggy and Herc). But I do admit, he was kinda… sorta… a 'nice' guy to other people than me.
Ew. Someone bleach my mind. I feel sick.
Me and Thomas met during collage as we were in the same major- Law. We were always competing on the opposite team, trying to top the other, bring the other down. We loathed each other from the very start and I would bet right 'till the end too.
"Jacky, what's the time?" I whispered so only he would hear.
He whipped out his phone, "16:37, Hun'"
"Thanks." I smiled and walked back through to the kitchen. "Come on you Baguette! Time to get the veg on!"
"Fine, petit lion!" He called back following into the kitchen.
"If you tackle the sprouts, carrots, stuffing and gravy, I'll do the roast potatoes, mash, peas, swede, cabbage and finishing the turkey?"
"You can't do all that! Let me help more mon frère."
I was about to decline again until my favourite, sweet persons' voice broke through. "There's no point Laf. You know he'll always win. Unless, I'm allowed to intervene…" John followed over to me completely ignoring Laf's presence. Not as wild as he does when we're alone, but he planted a kiss against my lips and looked back down to me, "So will you let me help you?"
"I…" I stuttered, "I…err… yes?"
There was no need to look at Lafayette's giddy expression. Whenever we did something romantic to each other- even a simple flirt- he would get over the top excited. I mean, he was probably more romantic than us two! But he acted as our number one shipper. Most likely because his brother and best friend had a solid relationship together. Though now I think about it, Laf was the reason we were together now…
In collage, I shared a dorm with Laf (who had a major in French) but he had known John for years (even though John was three years older than him). John had come round to the house a little bit in my teenage years but we barely even said "Hi" to each other. Laf introduced us properly in collage. John and I grew closer as if we'd know each other for years. Laf kept telling me to ask him out but I refused to because for one: back then I was really self-conscious about being bisexual and even though I knew John was gay, it still used to scare me: two, this would have been the first person I would have shown feelings towards so I was terrified of rejection. But Laf (being 'the best brother' he was), told me and John to go to this bar to meet him, Aaron and Herc but guess what? It was a set up. None of them ever showed! Instead they waited outside and kept peering through the window watching us! I had only even found that out last month! But anyway, John and I talked the night away until he asked me out to another date at the end of night. He walked me back to my dorm charming me all the way. Back in our collage years, he was an extremely charming, reckless, rebel who went by the term, "YOLO", quite a lot! These days, now we were settled, he had calmed quite a bit, though he would still always have his boisterous side… But who wouldn't like a bit of excitement now and again?
"You two are too adorable!" He squealed. The two of us just rolled our eyes and continued to chop and boil up the veg. Laf finished first so he went to gather the others to the large, star-scattered dining table. John helped guide the turkey out to the table to be carved into steaming, moist slices which everyone dug into straight away. I told (or forced) John to sit while I gathered drinks for everyone. But when I did sit down (in between John and Eliza) the first thing I swallowed was a mixture between carrot, stuffing and turkey and it was so luxuriously tender! It was almost slipping down my throat without the need to chew. The roast potatoes were golden with crisp which went so well with the soft cabbage. Everyone adored it (especially Peggy who kept giving great reviews on the turkey… I wonder why (-_-)).
Though as soon as the Meringue came out, that's when everybody couldn't believe it! Jacky really out did himself this year! The zest from the lemon sprang and bounced around your mouth with flavour. The actual fluffy meringue crumbled with barely any pressure on the tip of your tongue. Plus the pastry base wasn't hard yet not soft. It was perfectly sweet with extra seasoning that I couldn't name. The flavour practically erupted and flowed with the saliva amongst different realms of your mouth.
"You are baking this more often!" Was all I could make out to describe how delectable this was! He shrugged modestly with a smile upon his face. But it wasn't just me who was handing out complements, everyone else agreed too!
The dinner (which was meant to be a lunch) was full of conversation and a merry atmosphere. Everything was perfect, just as you would expect it to be.
After we left the table to the living room we all sat in a pile on the couch (Jefferson on the other side thank god!). Limbs over limbs everybody crowded on one sofa- even Penny chose to join us, except with a rug in front of us. Beforehand, we all decided on Titanic. It wasn't a Christmas film, but was anything other than decorations, a dinner and presents we did traditional? We all shut off the lights, drew the blinds and cozied up with a beer or glass of wine each watching the heart-wrenching romance of the tragic love story. Johns light body was sat over my own with our heads locked together like a puzzle piece. The same could be said for the rest (except Herc who sat on the floor fussing Penny).
Authors Note: Warning! Titanic spoilers in this paragraph!
The film lasted for over three hours though was worth every second of it. Though Lafayette (who was sitting next to us) wouldn't stop elbowing John and I whenever a character 'Rose' mentioned the name 'Jack' (another star in the film). The two were lovers, so I guess Laf found amusement in the name 'Jack' because my cute nickname for John, was in fact, 'Jack' or 'Jacky'. The film ended in tears (like it always did) with Jack drowning to save his loves life. As soon as the credits began to role Aaron stood up and flicked back on the lights, collecting a box of tissues on the way. Every one of us accepted the paper to wash away the tears- especially John who I kissed his forehead in reassurance.
"Come on guys, it's already quarter to ten! Time to open presents!" Peggy squealed as we all cheered. All of us made our way to sit around the Christmas tree handing out the presents. I mainly received many notebooks and reading books- I was happy-, John got lots of funny gifts along with many turtle themed items- he was happy. On the last round of opening gifts, it was time for our presents to be handed out. Everybody loved their gifts and shared their thanks but Hercules had an interesting response to his… Me and John were very tedious last night while wrapping this… We got the equestrian book on the bottom but placed on top was a small picture frame with a really cruel message on the front… cruel
I remember it like I remembered my own voice… It was a brown, stallion stood elegantly in the field except with a twist… We had cut around a picture of Laf's head and stuck it to the image. Now, if you were to look at it, you would just think we were taking the micky out of Laf… It would be only until you read the dialog would you get it…
"Remember that drunk time you said you loved horses that much, you would (putting it lightly) 'make-love' to one? How'd this one look to ya?
Merry Christmas!
-Alex and John x"
"I'm going to kill you two." Herc muttered to us with his face completely flushed. Though it did arise some sort of unease inside me.
"You know he's going to get us back bad for this one, don't you?" John whispered to my ear, naming the nerves in my stomach.
In Herc's case, he was lucky that the others were gossiping away as he unwrapped it so he had chance to hide the picture in a rush.
We were so mean. I chuckled in my mind.
"Come on guys, what about a fun game of truth or dare?" Maria challenged, breaking the individual conversations.
"Really Maria?" Angie questioned unamused, "Don't you remember what happened last time? Laf got stuck on roof. And the time before that? Alex and John got lost in the woods during a snow storm."
It was true. Maria was an extremely daring girl… It was almost terrifying… Though… that last dare in the woods wasn't exactly that bad… We kept each other warm… in our own ways…
"Yeah, but I'm sure those two lovebirds, made good time out of it!" Maria backed up her argument and she couldn't be more right…
John and I exchanged a smirked glance to each other Laf picked up on. And being the 'shipper' he was, had to hold back a mountain of giddy laughs.
"So what?! Some of your dares have gone too far before!" Angelica sighed.
"Oh come on Angie! I promise I won't make the dares that bad this time! I'll just extend on the truths…" Maria pleaded again. "Surely you want to know some things that are going on around here!"
Ange contemplated this for a few seconds before nodding her head knowing she'd regret this… "… Fine… But I dibs going first!"
Maria looked a little disappointed but smiled. We all got closer together around the living room. Herc was sat on one end of the couch along with Peggy and Laf on the other side. Maria and Eliza shared a small armchair near the window while Thomas and James leant on the side of it. Me and John leant on each other in front of the crackling, fire place (Penny sat laid next to us). Which left Aaron and Angelica snuggled in front of the door. Angie started off…
"Okay…" She scanned the room looking for a target. "Eliza. Truth or Dare?"
"Truth." She replied with confidence.
"Are you and Maria, every planning on having kids?"
There was a really long pause. The married couple looked at each other with concern but settled it with a smiling nod. Eliza took a deep breath…
"Well… we were planning to tell you sooner… In fact, we were going to break the news tonight… But I guess this will have to do now… I… I'm pregnant…"
Everyone gasped.
"We went to see a doctor a few months ago." Maria continued. "And we found a man who looked like me to donate so Eliza could have the operation… And it worked!"
"Oh my gosh, Lizzy!" Angelica rushed over embracing her in a hug. "I'm so happy for you!"
Everybody agreed and rushed over into a massive group hug. We were all so proud that those two could now start a proper family together. They both deserved all this happiness.
"How many months are you into the pregnancy?" I buzzed with a smile erupting my face.
"Three months!" She replied with liquid joy dropping down her face.
"Congratulations!" Herc cheered and Penny even ran up to lick Eliza's face.
"Okay… So my turn? Hmm… Aaron. Truth or Dare?"
"Truth."
"Okay, so we all know how nervous you were to propose, so something must have gone wrong somewhere… Care to share." She didn't ask this as a question.
"Well… I may or may not have forgotten to pay the food bill…"
"Oh my gosh!" Eliza exclaimed.
"It's true!" Angie laughed. "He was so nervous about proposing at the park, he completely forgot to pay!"
"Well what happened?" Peggy asked inquisitively.
"He proposed, I obviously said yes we went home and the next morning I caught him running back to the restaurant to pay up! There thankfully understood though!"
The room filled with heavy mountains laughter- Laf and Pegs taking it too far (like usual).
"Right… So let's embarrass someone else shall we?" Burr's eyes locked on Jefferson. "Thomas, Truth or Dare?"
"Dare."
"Now we're getting into it!" Maria laughed.
"You are going to hate me so much…" Aaron mumbled underneath his breath. "I dare you to give a heart-felt complement to Alex!"
"HAHAH! YES AARON!" John cried next to my gobsmacked face.
Thomas's face was red with rage you could almost see the puffs of steam shoot from his ears. I could bet that if the room was silent from the laughs, you would be able to hear his boiling whistle. But me being me, I took advantage of this situation…
"Come on then Thomas!" I spoke with a smug look across my face. "Tell me how amazing I am." Everybody split their sides. Even though the whole room were friends with us both, they all knew how much we loathed each other.
"I will so get you back for this Burr." He huffed and took a deep grimacing breath. "I guess you have really smart brains and could probably win any debate with words…" Something else was mumbled to the end of that.
"Oh okay? What did you say at the end of that?" I prodded.
He shot daggers at me. "I said that you were better than me in collage."
Everybody gasped, cheered and laughed hysterically in massive waves. I knew all this myself, though hearing it from Thomas Freaking Jefferson was something completely new. He buried his face to James arms before continuing his go. And to my surprise, he never chose me…
"Lafayette. Truth or Dare."
"Dare, mon amie."
"Yes! We're on a roll!" Maria blurted excitedly.
"I dare you to call Charles Lee on loudspeaker and give him the 'BFF' tone." Thomas smirked but Laf retaliated,
"You see, I would but I don't have that jerks number."
"Oh my friend, but I do." Thomas grinned waving his phone about.
"Wait how do you have his number?" James responded.
"I actually don't know… Ew. Remind me to delete this after the dare."
"Fine." Laf added extra pronunciation on the 'f'.
Thomas dialled the number and handed the phone to Laf. The phone rung about ten times before answering.
"Thomas Jefferson." Lee spat from the other end of the line. "What the hell do you want?"
Laf took a deep breath realising he could use this dare against Thomas himself. He put on his best southern accent and began to rant.
"OMG! Lee-zies. My BFF! Haven't talked in like FOREVER! How are you! Missed you so much babes! Hope you're doing okay! I know I'm totally not! My nails are so broken and my skin is like so like oily like I could fry chips with it! I mean like, how gross is that! Hang on! We totally need to like catch up Hun! How'd like a movie night sound to you! Ooohh! We should TOTALLY do that! You bring the popcorn, like sweet obviously and I'll bring facemasks! Saturday sound good? Good! See ya babes!"
Everybody tried to swallow down the laughs. Lee never had a chance to talk because of how fast Laf spoke in a voice IDENTICAL to Thomas's.
"Thomas, what the f-" He was cut off by the end of the call where everyone burst from laughter. Not was Laf's impression of a girls talk with a 'BFF' stereotypically on point, but the fact that Lee thought it was Thomas made it even more side-splitting.
"Call him back now and tell him it was you!" Thomas raged above the laughter.
"Oooh… Sorry babes but I may have accidentally deleted his contact and the call history… Oops? But you did say that was what you wanted, right? As soon as the call ended? Oh, I'm so sorry Tom-zies!" Laf said continuing his 'girly voice'.
From this point my cheeks ached and I actually thought I would have thrown up laughing too hard. Jefferson's face was priceless! And Laf seemed so proud of himself.
"You are dead Marquis!" Jefferson spat.
After we all finally calmed down Laf's turn came up.
"Okay, so James, Truth or Dare?"
"Truth, thanks."
"Hmm… You're too innocent for anything drastic… I know! Do you and Thomas have any cute nicknames for each other? And if so, what are they?"
"Well… He calls me Jemmy and I sometimes call him Tommy…" He blushed hard at this.
"Aww! That's adorable!" Eliza sweetly said in a coat of thick honey.
"Okay then…" James said changing the subject. "Maria. Truth or Dare?"
"I always choose Dare so… Truth!"
"Okay… Have you ever had any One-Night Stands?"
"Wow. Remind me not to take it so innocently on you next time!" Laf chuckled.
And for the first time in history, Maria was taken back by a truth or dare game. Her face paled so much you could barely see its original colour.
"So? Have you?" James asked again.
"I… err… only once…"
"Oh really? And when was this?" Eliza asked mischievously.
"Years and years ago…"
"And who was it?" Peggy smirked.
"Do we know them?" Angelica actually looked amused
"Well this was really strange because I only liked girls and he only liked guys… We were very drunk… If that's an understatement…" Maria trailed off.
"Yeah, but you didn't answer the question." I pointed out extremely intrigued at this point.
"Well… yes… we know them…" Maria made no eye contact with anyone and we dropped into silence for a while.
"Who was it?" Laf asked on the edge of his seat.
She didn't say anything. Except look directly across the room at someone I would never have guessed.
Oh my god.
"I… It's okay… You can tell them…" John whispered with a crack of fear in his voice.
Oh my god.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! You two? Oh my god." Was all I could make out. The whole room filled with gasps except for Maria, John and… and Laf?
"You knew about this too?!" I directed at Laf who shied away into Peggy's side.
"I'm so sorry, Alex… But I promise this was a year before I met you! I promise! We both went to a party got hammered and it went from there… We were so drunk that we couldn't even remember what happened!" John reassured me looking so terrified.
"If you don't remember what happened, then how are you so sure?" Angelica spoke trying to keep calm.
"Well the fact that we woke up in the same bed… without clothes… Plus that Laf had seen us two leave the party together kinda suggested what happened that night…" Maria said with a hoarse voice.
"Please, Alex, Eliza, understand this was just a terrible mistake we made and we would never ever try it again. Besides, we're both either lesbian or gay. Liza, I love you." Maria stated holding Eliza's hand closer to herself.
"Mari, I don't care what happened years before you met me. It doesn't make you any less trustable than the day I chose to marry you. I love you too." Eliza smiled placing a hand to her cheek.
"Maria means that, Alex. And I'm so sorry for what happened… But I do mean it when I love you Alexander." Before he could reach up to stroke my face I thrusted our lips smacking together, not caring that everybody's eyes were glued to us. He tensed a little shocked how I forgave him so quickly- but the thing is, he didn't need forgiving when he'd done nothing wrong in the first place.
"You have nothing to apologise for, when you've done nothing wrong in the first place. It was a year before we truly met, so there's no point in dwelling on the past. I love you too John Laurens."
We both smiled deep into the others eyes treasuring the moment close to our hearts… But someone had to ruin it…
Click.
"Dammit!" Laf muttered realising he never turned his phone on silent.
"Did you actually just take a picture?" I said unamused.
"Would you believe me if I said no?" He questioned slightly high-pitched.
"No." Me and John both said bluntly.
"Didn't think so." He sighed and everyone just burst out in laughs making the situation less awkward.
"Well I guess it's my turn!" Maria stared. "John, Truth or Dare!"
"Dare."
"Oooh… being a little brave aren't we?" She challenged.
"Not really, because Angie told you not to make them too extreme." He retaliated.
"Hmm… Fine… I dare you to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with Alex!"
"You do realise that they'll do it without hesitation?" Laf chuckled.
"Yeah, but they deserve Seven Minutes to themselves after what has just happened." Maria smiled.
"I guess…" Laf agreed, "Okay then you two! Off you pop!"
"Gladly!" John said reaching out his hand.
"Oh, and you two, keep it PG!" Angie called up the stairs as we ran to our room, hand in hand.
"Thanks for the reminder!" I called back down to her.
As soon as the door closed tight, John shoved me to the wall and placed him forehead down to mine.
"You know this was a game played in High School, right?" I whispered.
"Yeah, but who's to say we can't still enjoy it?" He laughed in his adorable way.
"I know I'm not…" My mouth greedily latched to his own, starving for the taste. He shoved harder against my own mouth with large force. Our tongues tackled for dominance in the others mouth, getting out deep, heavy sighs of joy. My hands rubbed down at his waist while he laced through my hair, squeezing the back of my head. My hands began to massage around his shoulders blades making him moan into my mouth in delight- that was one of his weak spots. Each time I pressed down into his shoulders with my thumbs he squeezed me tighter- his hands now around my waist. We carried out like this for minutes, letting the air fill pleasuring, muffled moans of pure delight. Soon though I took it to the next level. On instinct I pulled up on his shoulders, helping me up higher to wrap my legs around the taller, older man's waist. He knew what to do.
Our mouths still sucking constantly at the others, he walked over to the bed dropping me down upon its soft sheets that we awoke in this morning. Like we had done in the kitchen yesterday, he fitted between my open legs except now, stroking up and down my thighs. Every time my hands pulled at his hair, he would squeeze the skin on my legs tighter making even more moans breathe to the others throat. When he realised this was a constant noise he decided to hit my main weak spot… His kissed trailed to my neck, every now and then licking around a particular spot. Though he wasn't done yet… Against my pure, now, unmuffled moans that I tried to supress, he met the collar of my shirt where I felt a smirk glisten against my chest. He brought his hands up from my thighs towards the buttons he hastily undid. With every button that was clicked out of place a new mark was left underneath them. Hitting a personal weakness, I moaned louder than I should have, clasping a hand to my mouth. Obviously, he looked back up at me with his glamourous eyes, realising I had to remove a hand from his head (which I was subconsciously pressing down on). He made his way back towards my mouth placing hands to my thighs again and rubbing at a continuous pattern. He also nuzzled himself in between my loose arm making me grip down to his root-drench curls. Every so often, he would use my legs to thrust my body closer into him or he would crawl over me stroking my tanned cheeks. His mouth slowly started to nibble my bottom lip vigorously while I worked along his top lip, occasionally, gently stoking my tongue along it. Softly, we made our way back to the full-mouth until I flipped him over to dominate the upper position.
"Getting a little eager, are we?" He chuckled completely breathless (not that my state was any different). This time instead of lunging back down to his throbbing lips, I just gazed at him through love-drunk eyes. My hands started to begin caressing his cheek with slow motions and with this he followed up my arms to catch my stare. As soon as our eyes locked all of his stunning looks came flooding past at once. He was so defenceless with his arms sprawled above his head along with his deep quick breaths. He was hot and sweating droplets around his forehead where just above, his thick, brown curls were completely messed into a scattered maze of knots. His pupils were fully widened which stared long and hard into my own.
"You're absolutely stunning." I sighed lowering my forehead down on top of his own. We both relaxed into each other, into a tight embrace.
"You're not too bad yourself, Lexi." He sighed back to me.
"You do know Laf will storm in here exactly when the time is up?" I grave a breathy chuckle down to his defenceless body.
"Yeah, so let's give them a show…" He winked and without giving me chance to reply before grappling for a firm hold in my mouth. My legs were clenching around his waist while he again started to lace his fingers desperately through my hair. My god I loved this man.
Though, just as we predicted, Laf came storming up the stairs to fling open the doors wide open, with Peggy, Maria and Herc balling out laughter with him.
"Times up lovebirds!" Laf shouter at our smirking faces. Sure, we were a bit embarrassed, but it wasn't like we weren't expecting it.
"Aww, are sure the times up?" John pouted, slipping out from underneath me.
"Yep! In fact, we were nice and added a few extra seconds to your time!" Peggy winked.
"I think my dare went pretty well…" Maria admitted to herself.
"Come on guys! Let's get down!" Herc laughed running back down the stairs, the others in tow.
I shifted my weight to lean off John before pulling him back for a firm but quick kiss. We both giggled to each other, before running after the other four, hand in hand.
"Okay so my turn…" John said regaining his seat against me. "Herc. Truth or Dare?"
"Truth, I guess."
"Hmm. Have you actually lost your virginity yet?"
"I…I… err… Once…"
"Oh? And who was this with?" John asked extremely intrigued.
At this point Herc was a mixture between pure white, and beat red. He began to shuffle uncomfortably… though he wasn't the only one… Laf started to look as guilty as ever…
Oh my god.
A huge smile erupted upon my face which Laf picked up on, though no one saw, their eyes glued to Herc. I kept darting my eyes between the two not actually believing it. I felt like I was going to burst with joy and scream to the rest in the room what I now knew as fact. But Laf cut me of… His expression sent a clear message,
"Don't push anymore or say anything."
And the finger to his lips confirmed it. So they actually did hook up once… Wow.
"Can… Can we skip this one?" Herc made out completely uncomfortable in this situation. If this was anyone else, I knew John would have kept pushing forward but there was something in Herc's tone that might have sent him to tears… This tone now pushing away the thought to prod at Laf too.
"Alright then. Your turn." John said quickly changing the subject.
"Okay then… Pegs. Truth or Dare?"
"Oh come on! You know me, Dare all the way!" She giggled
"Okay then, I dare you to go outside and roll in the snow."
"Easy!" She said getting up towards the door.
"There's a catch though… You can only do this in your T-shirt and jeans with no socks or shoes either. For thirty seconds." Herc grinned.
"You have got to be joking!" She exclaimed.
"Nope. Get your ass out there!" He laughed pointing to the door.
She made her way to the front door, taking off her socks and jumper. When she opened the wall to the outside world, gales and frozen air came gushing through the house… I actually felt sorry for her…
"You are dead Mulligan…" She muttered before taking a step out into the snow. The door crashed behind her as we all crowded at the window to watch her leap into the snow. Though before she did, she held up her middle finger to us all where we all laughed.
After her thirty seconds were up, she reappeared in the living room- blue! Instantly I ran up the stairs to get a pile of warm towels and threw them back down at her once retrieved. I then ran to the kitchen to put on a hot chocolate for her. She must be freezing.
I returned with the steaming cup a few minutes later to find Laf restrain her from attacking Herc who was balling with laughter.
"Hey! Hey! Calm down!" I laughed handing her the cup.
"It seems like I'm not the one Angie needs to tell to calm sown with the dares!" Maria mocked a smug look on her face.
"Oh shut u-" Herc was cut off by a raging Peggy.
"NO! NO! DON'T TELL HER TO SHUT UP BECAUSE YOU WERE'NT THE ONE FREEZING HERE!"
We all just laughed at her shivering body curled up next to Laf in a mountain of towels.
Thank god we lit a fire. I thought to myself.
"Okay…" Pegs started sipping a few more gulps of her warm drink, "My turn…"
But then the realisation hit me. It was either Angie or me.
"A…" She carried on the first letter of both our names for a long time before finishing it off. "..lex!"
Crap.
"Truth or Dare?" She smirked.
"Dare."
No! No! No! Why on earth did I chose Dare with PEGGY?!
"Okay…" She had a smug look plastered over her face. I gulped. "We all know how much of a light-weight you are Alex…"
Oh crap.
"So…" She was teasing with her words, "I dare you to chug down two shots of Tequila!"
"Not another one of these dares again!" I called out. Whenever I chose dare, the people most likely chose something to do with alcohol. It makes me question why I never chose truth…
"Fine." I spat with laughter behind my voice. "Only if I'm aloud to chug down some milk after!"
Don't ask me why but, whenever I got one of these dares, drinking milk afterwards helped me to: one keep it down and two: stop me from actually becoming drunk. I was a light-weight.
"Deal!" She smirked.
I made my way to the kitchen and found two shot glasses, an unopened bottle of Tequila and a glass of milk. With these items, I made my way back into the living room, full of laughter and… and a really flustered looking John…
What the hell was happening with him?
"Ah! There you are!" Pegs bounded up to me still wrapped in towels. "Now let me pour the shots!" She took the glasses and bottle from my grip, setting them down on the table where she poured both shots- fuller than they should do.
"Now on three you have to do both with only a gulp apart, yes?" She said while everyone gathered around the table.
"S." I replied.
"Okay… Then…"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Time to take a…"
"SHOT!"
And with that I did as commanded with the liquid burning my throat. My taste buds tingled on fire while my face scrunched in on its self. I started to cough vigorously and the room began to spin. My hands fumbled for the glass of milk perched on the side of the table while everyone laughed intensely. The milk somehow managed to clear the fuzz from my vision and a sat gasping against my breathy splutters.
"You… guys… are… TERRIBLE!" I exclaimed between breaths.
"Oh, we know." Maria laughed.
"Why do you always do this to me?" I asked sitting back up off John's lap- something I must have done in the struggle.
"Because you're SUCH a lightweight!" Aaron burst.
"Shut up!" I was now laughing too.
After this we kinda forgot about the game. We chatted and talked for a long while until Angie called the time.9876up0987
"Guys, it's eleven fifteen. I think we should head back…"
"Really? Already?" John's eyes wide with… panic?
What on earth?
"Yeah, she's right." Aaron commented looking back down to his phone. "We should get going…"
"I think we should head off too…" Eliza nodded at Maria.
"Sounds right…" Herc chimed glancing at John… Actually, everyone seemed to stare his way at this point…
"Yeah, I don't think Thomas can bare this anymore!" James laughed. "But thanks for the invite!"
"T… That's fine… Laf? W… What are you doing?" John stuttered in desperation.
"I think we'll stay for another drink." He winked back at him making Peggy give out a giddy giggle.
What was up with them?
"S… Sure!" John sighed in relief but everybody chuckled again. This was getting ridiculous.
"What is happening with all of you?! And why don't I know what's happening?!" I almost yelled.
"You'll find out soon enough!" Everyone else laughed in sync. I just sighed in disbelief.
"Well anyway, I think we should go." Maria winked. I opened my mouth to comment on her actions, but closed it again knowing words were pointless.
"Okay then… See you soon…! I said in complete confusion. Everybody (other than Peggy and Laf) left with goodbyes and good memories until just the four of us stood in the kitchen with less intense but calming chatter, mainly discussing the events of the night.
"So how on earth did you learn to speak like Jefferson?!" John was still laughing from the previous subject.
"Well we did both live in France for a while plus his southern accent is really easy to mimic." Laf chuckled with an almost empty beer bottle in his hand.
"Wow! That's some skill!" I laughed, recalling the dare.
"Hey, I could most likely mimic you!" Laf challenged.
"Prove it!" I said on the edge of my seat.
He cleared his throat and began a perfect match…
"I'm 'a get a scholarship to King's College, I prob'ly shouldn't brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish! The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish- I gotta holler just to be heard! With every word! I drop knowledge! I'm a-"
"Okay! Okay! We don't need to bring that awful rap out again…" I said with my face completely blushed in embarrassment.
"What are you talking about! That was amazing!" Peggy exclaimed and almost cheered. "You really can rap Alex! I don't know why you don't pursue in it!"
"Come on Pegs, you know why…" I trailed off.
"Stage fright?" She questioned through it wasn't really a question.
"Y... Yeah…" I stuttered.
"I don't understand how you stand to the side! For one, you're epic at it! And two you can stand on stage to rant about politics for six hours!" She complained again.
"That's-" She cut me off.
"What? Different? How? You speak that fast during debates, you may as well be rapping!"
I sighed actually questioned my own reasons… "Well for starters, you're doing it to a beat and a script. Plus, everybody's expecting somethings of you whereas in a debate, you are always going to get different opinions."
"I guess you make a good point…" She trailed off.
"Don't I always? Besides, that is my job, isn't it?" I smirked and we all laugh (something we had done a lot that night…)
"Well I think this should be our departure, mon amies." Laf stretched.
"Yeah, it's been fun!" Pegs giggled reaching for coat.
"Okay…" I could see John force a smile.
"Hey…" Laf reached over and embraced him in a hug, I could see his jaw move like he was whispering something inaudible, which made me wonder me wonder… dearly…
"We'll see you soon… Yeah?" John sad to them both.
"Yeah." Peggy giggled.
The goodbyes were shared until they both left, leaving John and I truly alone for the first time today. The clock swung slowly throughout the quiet of the house. Penny had shuffled a bit on the carpet though other than those two things, the silence rang against our ears… It wasn't awkward at all, especially when I leant my head in the crook of his neck which took an advantage to fiddle with ends of my hair, arm draped around me.
"What did you think of that?" His words softly tickled my ear.
"Well, I think Eliza and Maria are going to be very happy, Herc now hates us both, never over sleep when Angie's around, Burr was even more nervous than we thought, Peggy will most likely set fire to Herc's house while he's sleeping, Laf is an absolutely legend, I still hate Thomas, we shouldn't take James so innocently and you're hiding something from me." I said looking back up at him on the last point.
"He breathed a small chuckle, "And what makes you think that?"
"The way you were talking to Laf and my father in private! The way everybody else seems to know something and most of all, your blushing! I haven't seen you blush in years!"
He gave out the same breathy chuckle but didn't respond to my points. "Why don't we take a walk?"
"Huh?" I asked with a confused smile.
"A late night, Christmas walk?" He stood up picking me up with him. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and gazed down into my eyes. "Just you and I. No Penny. Just a lovely. Midnight walk to the park? What'd y' say?"
I smiled. "I'd love to Jacky."
"Good answer." He led me to the coat rack and we picked out the warmest winter gear we had. Penny was thankfully asleep so I didn't have to deal with her irresistible puppy dog eyes as we stood out the door.
Wow. This was even colder than last night. If cold was even the appropriate word. Even though he was curled around me, the chill still managed prick goose bumps along my spine. Every time we shivered, we tightly gripped around the bodies of each of our pacing beings. For what seemed like a lifetime, we had had a White Christmas so the ground crunched underneath our feet, leaving perfect footprints in the snow. Along the way, I stared up towards the sky to watch the stars fall out of the clear, cloud-cloudless sky as snowflakes, crisping our walk. The wind only slightly blew the chilly air towards our faces, making them as cold as ice. The air that was released from our mouths wasn't even transparent or foggy in any way, it seemed as if we breathed a solid cloud to the atmosphere. Little petals of snow only sprinkled atop our covered heads yet some latched onto loose hairs brushing against our padded shoulders. Every so often, one of us would slip on the ice road but was caught by a chuckling body of another under the moon shone sky.
We approached the high, metal gates of the park about fifteen minutes later as soon as the church bell signalled the arrival of midnight. In the park, it was crowded with towering, luscious trees- yet not with people… It was completely still.
Perfect.
The tall oak that had greeted us many times before, still swung with its thick branches, brushing against the night's sky. And also like many times before, we made our way towards the tree…
The snow kept falling calmly down on us both… the moon still stared… The solid iced pond glistened… and the stars still shone… In his eyes, he sparkled… but that wasn't the only thing that twinkled that night…
Oh my lord...
He removed his gloves revealing his red-warm hands but took them in my own, a passion burning through his ember flecks…
Oh. My lord…
It all made sense. The secrets. The laughs. The blushing. How did I not see it before?
Oh. My. Lord…
"Alexander," He started with a word that fuzzed out everything around him… except him… "I never thought that I would say this but… I thank Lafayette. But I did know I'd say this… I thank him for setting us up at that bar, on that Friday night, seven years ago."
Is this what I think it is?
"Ever since I lay my eyes upon you, before that night, my life was flipped into a new perspective. You wouldn't stop talking! You never stopped caring! You wouldn't stop protecting… You were so relentless to make things right- not admitting I was right." He smirked with the passion inside his eyes growing even hotter by the second.
"You were so loyal and respectful in every form I could think and even through all the hard times we pushed through together… along with a coffee in the morning…" The cold air around us began to swirl and aided a breathy chuckle from my throat with a smile aching my cheeks.
"At the start, we were shaky… and my family didn't help… But you still stood by my side and we both pulled through in the end. It was a long, terrifying climb but we reached the horizon... Together… And I wouldn't have it any other way… You made my life compete. You made me see good in everything around. You changed me into someone I could feel proud of… My love has never burned out for you once… I never stopped loving you… You never stopped loving me… You have already made me the happiest man alive… Now I hope to return the favour…"
My heart beat faster than it had ever done before in my chest. His eyes were on fire, I could almost see the love hearts forming in them… or was that my own? His freckle dotted face became more vibrant in this moment, along with his hair traveling amongst the gusts of wind. Those same snowflakes kept dancing to us both, landing on our entwined hands… But soon those hands broke free… His little steps backwards made an almost inaudible crunch of the snow compared to my racing heartbeat. His figure began to bend towards the crisping, white ground until he was perched down before me… on one limb… one leg… He was perched down before me on one knee…
Oh my lord…
"Will you be mine forever more?"
The snow kept falling calmly down on us both… the moon still stared… The solid iced pond glistened… and the stars still shone… In his eyes, he sparkled… but that wasn't the only thing that twinkled that night… A black box was placed before my eyes… both his arms extended… Inside was a silver ring that shimmered brighter than the moon and stars did above me… His eyes gleamed with an irresistible blaze of fire adding more light to the dark, yet, stunning sky above… My eyes couldn't stop darting between him and the mentally-heavy box, finally settling on the former.
My mouth just wouldn't close…
"Will you, Alexander Hamilton… Will you marry me?"
And. My. Heart. Went. "BOOM".
No words were enough. No gaze could tell the story. My hands clasped around my mouth was barely the tip of the iceberg. Not even the tears of pure happiness could express what I wanted to say. The impossible couldn't be said. Nothing could express what my answer truly meant. It was only as if everything I thought my heart could contain was doubled at the brim and spilled across my vision. It was pumping buckets full of completely new emotion around my body- to many to process logically. I could only do one thing. A thing we both new all too well.
My body dropped down before him and before he had a chance to respond for a moment. The cold from our faces scattered elsewhere only feeling warmth from then on. I rammed my lips to his in falling snow. He swung his arms weight over my shoulders and pressed firm to my lips in return.
No words were enough. No gaze could tell the story. My lips clasped around his mouth was only the tip of the iceberg. Not even the tears of pure happiness steaming down both our faces could express what we wanted to say.
"I love you." Was what all I could say.
I used to stand alone before he brought colour to my life, the reason I was who I am today. From this point, he had just opened a new spectrum of opportunities. A future. The butterfly that was captivated in my chest had fully flown towards the sky freeing an array of beauty- of love- to the world above. My flower had blossomed from a dainty bud seven years ago, to who I was today all because of you, John. We had matched up every single emotion together despite all differences and struggles… We had stood together against tsunamis and meteorites life had thrown our way. And those disasters soon had to crash… Even if that rock hurtling from the sky would be aiming for me, he'd jump in line of shot with me… And I would do the same… Even if those dilemmas blocked out the sun, our love saw us through to the end… Even if we got out damaged… You still stuck by… And I would still stick by, still deep in love with you.
Because, John Laurens, I Love You. Not 'loved'… Love… Because for eternity my heart belonged to you…
That's what I wanted to say. But it was too much to but past the gates of my lips.
"So, is that a yes?" He had a smile erupting a beacon from his face.
"Yes! It's a yes! Yes I'll marry you John Laurens! I wouldn't have it any other way!"
Our foreheads pressed together in a rush, with our tears of joy painting the others cheek. He removed my right glove to slip the silver ring to a perfect fit on my finger. I gazed down upon it with the smile not planning to depart anytime soon, planting another firm kiss to his chilled lips. The white clouds between us merged when we ended its short but just as (or even more so) meaningful message, in love-struck laughs. I left my glove off while he pulled me from the floor kissing again as soon as we were stable from the ice.
"Shall we head home, Mr. A. Laurens?" He smirked offering his hand for me to pleasurably grip onto.
"We shall, Mr. J. Laurens." I returned the goofy grin.
Our arms linked back up the path, our heads in the crook of each other's neck.
The tall oak waved goodbye, still swinging with its thick branches, brushing against the night's sky.
The snow kept falling calmly down on us both- none the same as what they were before… the moon still stared- except stared down upon a new kind of love… The solid iced pond glistened- ending up in the distance… And the stars still shone… Lighting up his eyes that sparkled, and the new twinkling, silver ring around my finger… his hands clasped around them in the comforting winters chills of the night…
My Jack.
Authors Note:You have NO idea how much time I have spent on this! That proposal scene? OVER THREE FREAKING HOURS! The Truth or Dare scenes? OVER TWO! FOR JUST A SCCCEEENNNEE! (scene).
Annnyyywwayyy…. I did love writing this! It was just too fluffy for this world! Alex and John are waayyy too adorable for this world!
I really want to thank the only reviewer on my story 'Pluvia-Drop14'! I guess you were right ;)!
So I'm not saying this is the end. I might do an epilogue and some behind the scenes work but this was only meant to be a one off! My main story I'm focussing on is 'I'm Throwing Away My Shot' if you want to check out that one :D
But anyway… PLEASE REVIEW THIS! Constructive if you can xx
Well I hope to update soon!
-L.E-Rae _x_