"Wakey wakey!"

Eliza let out a loud groan, her head was pounding, and she couldn't quite bring herself to open her eyes. She felt something tighten around her waist, and she opened her eyes to see Alex's arms wrapped around he, with his head resting on her hip. She blushed and shook his shoulder,

"Noo," Alex moaned.

John let out a snort and Eliza turned to see him sitting on one of the cots watching the two of them, "That sight almost makes the hangover worth it,"

"No, nothing makes this hangover worth it," Herc said, slowly pushing himself up from where he'd been curled up on the floor.

Eliza looked around until she spotted Laf standing by the tent entrance grinning, he'd clearly been the one to wake them all up, "Alex you're going to be late,"

"I'm awake," Alex slowly pushed himself up. He too blushed when he realised, he'd been sleeping half on top of Eliza.

"How are you so put together?" John asked Laf,

"Magic," Laf replied.

Eliza looked around and took in all of their appearances. John, Herc and Alex all looked very dishevelled, their hair was all sticking up at odd angles and their clothes were very rumpled. Lafayette on the other hand, looked just as he did on any other day; his clothes were as neatly pressed as they had been the night before, and not a single hair was out of place.

"I hate you," Alex said as he stood up and adjusted his uniform.

Laf didn't seem put off by Alex's comment and just grinned at him, "Love you too. Now come on, you're all going to be late."

They all collected themselves up and made themselves look as presentable as possible before trapsing out of Alex and John's tent.

Eliza, John and Alex all walked quietly into HQ and made their way over to their desks.

Washington looked up as they walked in and smiled to himself as he took the three of them in, "Rough night?" He asked.

Eliza let out a squeak and tried to stand up straighter, John however, just grunted and flopped down into his chair.

"Well, it's nice to see that you weren't here at the crack of dawn,"

"It won't happen again, Sir," Alex said as he too flopped down into his chair,

"See that it does," Washington said with a smile.

Alex glared half-heartedly at him before turning to the stack of papers on his desk.

By the time midday rolled around, they'd all accepted that today just wasn't going to be productive, and even Alex didn't put up a fight when John announced that they should go to lunch.

Herc and Laf were already at the table when John, Alex and Eliza showed up.

"How are you all feeling?" Laf asked, unable to keep the note of smugness out of his voice,

"Like death," Herc snapped,

"I'm never drinking again," Eliza announced.

Laf smirked at the four of them, "You know what would help?"

Alex sighed, "What?"

"A swim,"

"A what‽"

"A swim! We should go down to the lake and go swimming this evening,"

"That's not a bad idea actually," John said thoughtfully,

"Yes, it is!" Herc exclaimed,

"Excellent!" Laf cried, clapping Herc on the shoulder, "That settles it, we shall all go swimming this evening,"

Eliza's eyes widened in panic, "I can't go swimming!"

"Why not?"

"Because…" Because if she went swimming they'd all find out her secret,

"Because he has plans with me," Alex said. Eliza looked at him in shock.

Laf scoffed, "Shooting lessons don't count as proper plans, I know you missed it yesterday but one more day won't hurt,"

"It's not shooting," Alex said, "It's something else,"

Eliza smiled gratefully at him.

"Fine, myself, Laurens and Mulligan will go swimming,"

Herc groaned, "Fine but if I drown because I'm hungover I'm blaming you,"

Laf grinned, "That's the spirit!"

-x-

The evening, just as Eliza was finishing up her work, Alex walked in front of her desk and grinned at her,

"May I have the pleasure of your company for the evening?" he asked, offering her his arm,

Eliza beamed at him, "You may," she said, taking hold of his arm and walking out from behind her desk.

The two of them walked arm in arm out of HQ but Alex let go of her the moment they were outside.

"Thank you for saving me earlier,"

"It's my pleasure,"

"But you don't need to spend your evening with me,"

"I promised a none shooting event and I intend to deliver,"

Eliza smiled at him, "So what's the plan?"

"I thought we could walk up the cliff and watch the sunset,"

"That sounds wonderful,"

Alex smiled at her, "Shall we go then?"

The two of them walked in comfortable silence through the camp. Once they were out of sight of the other soldiers, Alex offered Eliza his arm once more.

"It's a lovely night for a walk," Eliza said, looking up at the clear sky, "We never seem to appreciate things like this in the camp,"

"No, we don't," Alex agreed,

"Lovely weather for swimming too, the sun will have been heating the water all day,"

"I'm sure they're all having fun, even Herc seemed to have warmed to the idea by the time they left,"

"It's a shame," Eliza mused, "I would have liked to have gone swimming. My sisters and I would always go swimming in the lake when we'd go visit our grandparents,"

"That sounds nice," Alex smiled, "My brother and I used to swim in the sea when we were kids,"

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah, James, I haven't seen him in years,"

"Do you write to him?"

Alex shrugged, "Sometimes. Not very often. He knows where I am, I know what he's doing. That's about it,"

Eliza glanced down at her feet, "I couldn't imagine not constantly writing to my sisters. I just need to know that they're OK,"

"Tell me about them, what are they like?"

"Peggy's really funny, she used to play tricks on our nurses when we were children. She got three of them to quit, much to our father's annoyance. And she always used to want to join in with whatever me and Angelica were doing, especially when we'd tell her she was too young. I remember her insisting on a big horse like us when we went riding once and she fell straight off. The moment she stopped crying she demanded to be let back on," Eliza smiled wistfully at the memory.

"And what Angelica?"

"Angelica…Angelica's just always been there. She's always looked out for me and Peggy. She's got endless ambition and she…She's a lot like you actually,"

Alex raised an eyebrow and Eliza, "I've got endless ambition, have I?"

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't,"

"Is that so?"

The two of them turned a corner and found themselves at the top of a cliff. They walked to the edge and sat down next to each other.

"It's not a bad thing," Eliza said, "I think you're destined for great things Alexander Hamilton,"

"If Washington would just give me a command,"

Eliza shook her head, "No, I think you'll achieve something impressive no matter what you do here,"

Alex smiled somewhat bashfully, "That's very kind of you to say,"

Eliza turned to look out over the cliff, the sun was now sitting just above the horizon. "Thank you," she said after a moment.

Alex turned to look at her, "For what?"

"Everything. For keeping my secret, for being friend, for teaching me how to shoot, for tonight, for…everything,"

Alex turned back to the sunset, a small smile upon his lips, "You're more than welcome Eliza Schuyler."