I can't believe I'm returning to this fandom, but here y'all go. XD I needed a good enemies-to-friends Office AU.
It started as a phantom pain, a low pulse in the very back of his head. Like a darkened sky ushering in a storm, Thomas recognized it instantly.
With the trip to D.C. mere hours away, the ache couldn't have come at a worse time. If it wasn't a conference that he had advocated so strongly for, he might have considered backing out. Enough of his co-workers were going, why did they need him?
Thomas stifled a groan as he zipped his suitcase. He could already picture Hamilton's reaction.
"You forced us all to go on this trip just so you can back out at the last minute? Are you insane? Typical Jefferson maneuver..."
For the record, he hadn't forced anyone. He'd simply… made sure the flyer with the conference info came across Washington's desk more than once… And made certain his boss knew all the good a company conference like this could do for overall morale and business.
James and Angelica had thought the trip was a great idea, too, so it wasn't just him.
Take that, Hamilton…
Maybe this pulsing wasn't what he thought it was... Maybe it's a false alarm.
The wave of dizziness that washed over him as he descended the stairs threw that idea out the window.
Thomas paused and took a long, slow breath.
It couldn't be anything else.
All that was left to do was load his suitcase into the car and hope upon hope that this migraine wouldn't hit as hard as the last one…
Last time, he'd had less than an hour of warning symptoms before the pain started. And it was a four hour drive to D.C. Doing a quick round of mental math, Thomas pulled out his phone and shot out a single, unassuming text.
James responded within seconds.
Thomas: Long drive. Wanna carpool?
James: Yours or mine?
Thomas couldn't help but grin. Trust James to always have his back.
Thomas: Your car's more fuel efficient.
James: Since when do you care so much about the environment?
Thomas: Since I decided I don't wanna be the first one to drive XD
James: Well played. Be there in fifteen.
The charade wouldn't last long, Thomas knew. It was only a matter of time before James sensed that something was wrong, but by then, the ibuprofen would already be working its way through his system. Maybe even enough for him to drive.
Maybe not, the more cynical part of his mind whispered. Last time, he had been in bed for almost three days battling the pain… Ignoring that thought, he grabbed a bottle of painkillers from the kitchen and steeled himself against the oncoming attack.
If it gets bad, you don't even have to go to the sessions. Just hole up in your hotel room under a few blankets and—
He rolled his eyes. Yeah, because that will go over real well…
By the time James arrived, Thomas was fighting off sporadic bouts of dizziness and nausea, but he swallowed it all down enough to smile.
"Thanks," he said, loading his suitcase. "Four hours by myself in a car is a special kind of torture."
James rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you would've survived somehow."
"Yeah. Barely."
The most surprising part of the drive was that the migraine seemed to be holding off indefinitely. An hour and a half in had Thomas wondering if he'd imagined the whole thing.
The flickering in the corner of his vision told him that his optimism was a delusion.
There's no avoiding this.
Right…
"Try not to sit next to Hamilton during any of the sessions."
Thomas shot his friend a look. What typically would have been casual banter sent a prickle of irritation down his spine. "Believe me, sitting anywhere in Hamilton's general vicinity is something I actively try to avoid."
"I don't know… Remember that one office safety workshop? When you and he accidentally managed to end up next to each other?"
"Ugh, don't remind me. I think that no one switched with us on purpose, if the look on Angelica's face was anything to go by."
Thomas would never forget that satisfied smirk. If she would just quit trying to make them stop hating each other and be friends, that would be great.
The office isn't a preschool playground. Not everyone can be best friends, Angelica.
"I'm just saying," James went on, "you've been looking forward to this, don't let any mixups ruin it for you."
Looking forward to this… Thomas almost scoffed but managed to bite his tongue. Right…
"Why are we even talking about Hamilton right now?" Thomas forced an eye roll, a distraction for James—and for himself. If the calm before the storm was lasting this long… how bad was the storm going to be? "He's not even here."
James' smirk was subtle as he pulled onto the next highway. "I was just saying…"
"Yeah, well if it has anything to do with Hamilton, don't." He didn't need thoughts of his rival adding to his headache. The time would come soon enough when Hamilton wouldn't be able to be avoided.
Maybe the migraine would be gone by then…
Hasn't even started yet, genius.
When the radio began to pulse a bit too loudly, Thomas pursed his lips and worked on his breathing. There was no way to turn it down without alerting James—not when Thomas had blasted music through the roof and beyond during their car rides more times than he could count.
Inhale, exhale…
The low throb that had been hit and miss for much of the morning decided to make itself more apparent about halfway through the trip.
Right when it was Thomas' turn to drive.
You can do this.
It was just like driving home from work with a small headache. Not too bad yet.
Not too bad…
The sparks at the edge of his vision said otherwise. The dizziness and nausea told him to pull over. And why was the road spasming like that…?
He tightened his grip on the wheel.
"Thomas?"
Blinking, he shot James a brief glance. "What?"
"Do you think she'll take notes?"
What? "Who'll take notes?"
"Angelica. Did you even hear a word I said?"
Thomas scrunched his nose. "Take notes for what?"
"For the breakout session I'll miss, but I don't think that's relevant anymore. You okay?"
If he spared his friend another glance, Thomas knew what he'd see. Furrowed brows, concerned brown eyes…
He loosened his grip on the wheel, trying to settle into his seat and relax his muscles. "Fine, just distracted."
"Next time, don't tell me that while you're behind the wheel," James said with a slight chuckle. "I feel so safe now."
"Hey, you asked."
Two hours. He could do two more hours, right?
Right...?
"Thomas!"
"What?" he shot back, jolting and jerking the wheel as he matched James' raised voice.
"Are you sure you're good to drive? You almost drifted into the next lane over."
Fine, I'm fine. I'm—
"It's nothing," he heard himself say. It felt like an out-of-body experience to listen to his lips betray him, or maybe that was just the dizzy spells… "I just… have this headache, is all. I don't think the pain killers are working yet."
James made no comment about the fact that they'd already had the whole morning to work, he simply gave a nod. "Here. I'll drive, then."
"You already drove two hours," Thomas began, heaving a sigh.
"And I would've driven all four anyway if I'd have gone by myself." Even as James argued the point, Thomas felt himself caving rapidly. His usually firm resolve cracked a little more with each new throb of his head. "Also, I'd like to get to this conference without dying, if that's all right with you."
Thomas couldn't help but chuckle. "Fine, fine. You can take it for another hour. I'll bring us into D.C. or something, save you from having to screw around with all that traffic."
Something in James' eyes told Thomas he'd have to fight for it if he wanted another chance at the wheel, but that was just as well.
The minute he settled back into the passenger seat, the pain exploded in bursts. Just small ones at least, something manageable. Maybe the ibuprofen would fend off the mini attacks…
Closing his eyes helped, if only a bit, and Thomas worked on breathing through the pain.
James didn't make any more conversation, seeming to sense that it would only add to the problem. Now, if he would only turn off the music—
Throb! Throb.
Pulse, pulse, pul—
The sun was too bright, the music too loud, and every time he felt himself drifting off, a fresh pulse would jab him awake.
It was going to be a long two hours.
When he'd received that initial text, James hadn't thought anything of it. Driving together made sense—the trek to D.C. never failed to be positively boring alone, even for someone like him, who enjoyed the quiet.
When Thomas had offered up front to take the last half of the drive, that had also seemed right. Ever since high school, his friend had always preferred to ride shotgun and play DJ over being the driver. Especially if drinks were at all involved.
When Thomas zoned out, James had passed it off as a single instance of distraction. Everyone got that way at one point or another.
When he began fading into the left lane and nearly clipped another vehicle, James felt the first spike of concern.
Headache. Sure. That was plausible… Unfortunate, but possible.
It was only when Thomas leaned back and squeezed his eyes shut that James started to wonder—and to worry. Thomas got on and off headaches sometimes, who didn't? But nothing too serious. Nothing like this.
The worst of it was, James didn't really know what this meant. It seemed like a normal, annoying headache, like Thomas had said, but that didn't account for the distractedness, the irritability, the...
Well, James mused as he pulled into the parking lot, maybe it did. Headaches hurt and he knew he would be a bit touchy if he was suffering one.
He couldn't tell if Thomas had fallen asleep or not, but he didn't bother asking to switch. Four hours was nothing compared to the drives he used to make around Virginia to visit relatives.
When James woke Thomas up, his friend was irritated at not being woken up sooner. Then, the heartfelt thanks for doing most of the driving stood in stark contrast to Thomas' previous complaints about not getting a turn to take the wheel.
As they dragged their suitcases into the lobby, James felt like he just couldn't seem to win.
"It's about time you two got here." Angelica's smiling features greeted them at the front desk. "Lafayette's already up there and he says the rooms are amazing."
"Well," James replied, "from the look of the building outside, that's not surprising. This place is fancy as hell."
Thomas, he noted, didn't say much, simply stepping up to check himself in.
"Washington and Hamilton should be arriving soon," Angelica explained.
Instead of a quip about beating Hamilton in a race that no one even cared about but those two, Thomas remained unusually reticent on the subject.
Okay…
"When does the first session start, again?" James asked no one in particular. He knew Thomas had the entire schedule memorized already, but it was Angelica who answered.
Pulling out her phone, she took a few minutes to scroll to the right email. "Looks like it's at four o'clock. Plenty of time to peruse the vendor hall."
Behind her, Thomas made a noise as he joined the group. "I totally forgot about that."
Though James didn't comment, he raised a brow.
Just check in, then worry about it. He's probably still waking up or something.
Sure…
That excuse would have to suffice for the time being. As they all took the elevator together, Angelica made most of the conversation, thinking out loud while she reviewed the map of the hall. By floor six, James knew just about every booth she planned on visiting. Though Thomas chimed in a few times, even going so far as to study her phone over her shoulder, something in his expression twitched… pulling him back into his previous silence.
"All right," James asked when they arrived at their rooms. Angelica had already disappeared into hers, promising to meet up with them later. "What's wrong?"
Thomas swiped his room key and had the gall to shoot James a pacifying smile. "Nothing, I'm fine. Just battling this headache. It'll go away soon enough."
"Do you need some more ibuprofen?"
"Already have some, thanks. Hey," Thomas went on, slipping into his room before James could press the issue further, "I'll see you at the session."
This shattered whatever reassurance that had been seeping into James' skin. "Wait, what about the hall?"
Thomas hesitated only a second or two before flashing an apologetic smile. "Gotta unpack. I'll have plenty of time over the weekend to see it."
"But—"
"You go ahead. Let me know if there's anything worth seeing down there." With that, he shut the door.
James blinked, half tempted to knock. To tell Thomas that he would wait. They could both unpack together, then they could both go see the hall together.
Anything worth seeing… James sucked in a breath. Thomas knew the entire conference itinerary like the back of his hand. He knew what was down there; he knew all there was to see.
And he'd been excited about it before.
So… what happened?
Heaving a sigh, he opened his door one room over and ditched his suitcase in the corner. Maybe he could scope things out with Angelica, then come back and see if Thomas was up for venturing out before the first session.
He's probably right. It's nothing. Just a headache.
James pursed his lips, shooting a quick text to Angelica asking to be her tag-along.
He'll be fine.
If he told himself that enough times, he might start to believe it.
Eventually.
I'm thinking this will have around 4ish chapters, so stay tuned! If you enjoyed reading, I'd love to hear from you. 3