Work Text:
***
Washington's voice droned monotonously over the group of people in the 'mandatory' meeting at the end of the work day. Washington had handed around a draft of a bill for everyone to read, process, and make any further suggestions. He had been reading the beginning of the document outloud to the men, and Thomas, for one, wasn't really paying attention. He didn't ask to be there. It wasn't really even part of his responsibility. He just tagged along with James.
He had no clue why Alexander was there. Probably just to make some sad attempt to suck up to George and talk out of his ass.
However, Washington had stopped speaking in the middle of the document, and complained of a horrid migraine.
"I figure you boys can finish reading the rest. Just speak up when you're done." He mumbled.
And then, it was silent.
Thomas had already scanned over it quickly, so he propped his chin up onto the palm of his hand, and slightly tilted his head to examine Hamilton.
Hamilton looked absolutely terrified. He slowly turned to look down at the paper in his hands, and furrowed his eyebrows. His eyes were darting left and right rapidly, and it appeared as if he were mouthing the words to himself.
Thomas scoffed, gaining Alexander's attention. He was surprised the 'almighty' Hamilton was having such trouble reading the paper.
"Need a thesaurus?" Thomas jeered.
Hurt flashed in Alexander's eyes before he frowned. He clenched his hand in his hair and placed his elbow on the table, turning his head away from Thomas.
Thomas wondered why he didn't make a snappy remark.
"Is everyone finished?" Washington asked, and every head around the table nodded except one particular brunette.
"Something wrong Hamilton?" George asked.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just feeling a bit under the weather." He responded quietly.
"Something must be going around..." George said, before asking Madison's views on the bill.
Thomas tugged on Alexander's sleeve, but he ripped it away.
"Jefferson, please stop bothering me." He whispered, his voice laced with impending anger.
"What's actually wrong?" Thomas asked.
"Thomas, I just don't feel well."
"You're lying."
"Since when do you care?"
"Just tell me whats up!"
"For christ's sake, I'm fine!" Alexander shouted, springing up from his seat and smashing his hands onto the table.
Madison stopped talking. All eyes were on Hamilton. His face twisted in some sort of mixture between anger and embarrassment, before he pushed in his chair aggressively.
"I'm very sorry for interrupting. If you'll excuse me." His voice cracked, and he bowed his head in shame before spinning around on his heels towards the door.
Washington's eyes narrowed down at Jefferson.
"What? I didn't do anythi--" Thomas began, holding his hands up in defense, but George interfered.
"You better go after that boy and apologize for whatever you've done right this instant."
"I didn't do anything!"
"Right now, Jefferson! Get out of this room now. We're adults here, and you're arguing with me like a child!"
Thomas had so much to say, but he also didn't really enjoy the idea of being fired. He grabbed the draft off of the desk and shoved it in his pocket in some sort of way to release his frustration. Scrunching up his nose up in disgust, he sighed, following Hamilton out of the large double doors and into the hall way.
"Alexander!" He called out at the figure speed-walking down the hallway.
Once he caught up with the brunette, he tapped his shoulder, and then suddenly everything hit Thomas.
Figuratively and Literally.
Alexander turned to smack his hand away, and in that same moment, Thomas realized why Alexander was so upset.
He had been trying to read the document with such difficulty.
This was the first time Jefferson had ever seen Hamilton with a piece of paper.
Hamilton had always said what was on his mind, never one reading from a script or note.
Hamilton couldn't read.
There was no way, Thomas doubted. There was absolutely no way he couldn't do something so simple, and had advanced so far in his career. Thomas simply couldn't believe it.
"Alexander," Thomas began, pulling out the crumpled up paper from his pocket. "Can you tell me what this says?"
Alexander turned away. "Jefferson, stop being an ass. Just go away."
"Please read me what this says." Thomas repeated, pointing to the middle of one the sentences in the document.
Alexander squinted his eyes at the paper.
"I don't have my glasses with me--"
"Do not pull this shit on me. I know you're near-sighted."
"Jefferson, please stop this." Alexander whimpered.
"Just tell me what it says and I'll be out of your hair."
Alexander looked up at Thomas with the most hatred he could possibly muster up.
"I'll never forgive you." He growled.
"Go on."
Alexander's features contorted into a confused facial expression. He squinted with furrowed eyebrows at the text.
"the e-ensee-y-yuruhguha-me-mentuss.." Alexander choked out. His voice was watery and stopped between every letter, and honestly Thomas would've bursted out laughing if it weren't for how heart-broken Alexander sounded.
"Thomas, I can't." Alexander whispered. He looked up at the man with eyes rimmed with tears and for once in his life Thomas had some sympathy for him.
"The word was encouragements."
Hamilton opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it, shaking his head to himself.
"Alexander, can you come to my house for a bit?"
"Why on earth would I willingly enter your house after what you just did to me?" Alexander questioned.
"I want to help you out."
"Yeah, right."
"No, I really do. I used to want to be a preschool or kindergarten teacher when I was a teenager. I took a bunch of child study and language classes. I still have a lot of books from them." Thomas spoke. He was telling the truth, but it was apparent that Alexander did not appreciate basically being called a child.
"Alexander, please let me help." Thomas begged once more.
Alexander exhaled loudly, pushing the man out of his way. "Fine, fine. But if you tell a soul, I'll kill you."
Thomas stifled a laugh at the tiny man that stood so far below him. "Whatever you say."
•••
"Does anyone know?"
"Just Washington. He only wanted me in that meeting to see if I could make out any of the words on the bill. He's not a very good teacher."
'That must be why he scolded me so badly,'
Thomas pondered as he poked around in one of his bookcases. 'He must've thought I was making fun of Alex...'
"And did you know any of them?"
Alexander's mouth clamped shut and he adverted his gaze to the ground.
"Alex, I know this is some sappy shit I'm about to say, and that you probably won't ever take anything I say seriously, but you don't have to be ashamed of yourself for this. It's not your fault you had a rough childhood. I envy you for the amount of respect and power you've managed to gain with just the knowledge you've scavenged up. You're truly amazing." Thomas proclaimed from the bottom of his heart. He honestly never thought he'd ever confess these words to Hamilton out loud, but the man looked like he needed it.
Thomas turned to Hamilton with a few books piled in his arms and smiled sympathetically.
Hamilton was sitting with his hands folded on the sofa, absolutely red-faced and wide-eyed. He appeared to be quite stunned that Thomas would ever say such kind words to him.
Thomas motioned for him to come over to the desk next to him. Alex willingly complied, and sat down in the chair. The taller of the two placed "Where The Wild Things Are" down in front of him.
"Okay, can you just read me the title and I'll see what you need help with? From today in the office, it seems like you have a general grasp on the main sounds of letters, but you trouble mainly with a few consonants that have multiple ways of pronounciation, depending on the other letters around it. Sadly, English isn't a phonetic language so some letters are a lot more complicated than others."
Alexander looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow and a frown gracing his lips.
"You don't know when an 'e' is 'ee', 'eh', 'uh', 'ah' or 'ih', or 'ay'." Thomas sighed.
"Oh."
"Okay, just start here." Thomas said pointing to the large text on the front cover.
"I'm beginning to regret this decision now." Alexander mumbled.
"That's not what the title is."
Alexander groaned in annoyance, but Thomas persisted.
"Just try." Thomas pleaded, realizing that Alexander's extremely short temper was reaching it's limit.
"No. I changed my mind, I'm going home." Alexander protested, but Thomas slapped his hand on his shoulder to restrain him from standing up.
"Alexander, you're going to need to learn this shit sooner or later. Might as well do it right now." Thomas warned.
"Shut up!"
"Just sound it out--"
"No!"
"At least try!" Thomas begged, but when Alexander took one look at all of the children's books stacked on top of each other, he completely broke down.
"Thomas, I can't fucking read it!" He sobbed, as tears began to cascade down his cheeks.
Thomas had absolutely no idea how to handle Alexander in this situation. He knew Alexander had trouble dealing with his anger, but he never knew it got to this point.
He'd never seen Alexander with any emotion besides the dull, focused one he displayed so frequently at the office, and Thomas found himself believing that that was the only emotion that the man possessed.
Thomas didn't know what to do or say to make him feel better. He didn't know Alexander at all. He barely even communicated with Alexander unless they were at each other's throats during debates.
Thomas ripped his hand away from the brunettes shoulder in shock, knelt down, and caressed the side of his head instinctively.
"Hey, Alex, look at me. Calm down. Take a breather. Everything is okay." Thomas said shakily.
"It's not okay! I feel like a fucking 2 year old child." Hamilton hiccuped, frantically wiping the tears away with his tanned hands.
"I understand why you feel that way, but you shouldn't. It's honestly not a big deal. You've made it this far in your career without having to read a word, but I just really think this'll help you a lot in the future." Thomas comforted the brunette, subconsciously wiping one of his tears away with the pad of his thumb. Alexander sniffled.
"Please just try for me, okay? Just this once and if you hate it, then you don't ever have to come here again. But if you're up for the challenge, you can come over whenever you'd like, and I can teach you the basics."
Alexander eyed Thomas for a bit after he had stopped crying, but promptly nodded in agreement. He gently pulled Thomas's arm away. "Okay," he said, sitting up in his chair, "but if you laugh at me, I'll kill you."
Thomas cracked a smile.
Hamilton cleared his throat awkwardly and dug his elbows down onto the wood. He scanned over the title slowly, and his lips parted.
"wah-ehreh, the wih-luhda..."
Thomas gritted his teeth in order to contain the laughter bubbling in his chest.
'Do not laugh. He's trying his best. But why does it sound like a foreign language?'
"Tuh-huh-inagas areh."
Alexander turned to Thomas with a worried glance. Thomas replied with the same exact expression.
"Thomas!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to figure out what I need to work with you on." Thomas claimed.
"You need quite a bit of help with digraphs and I'm assuming diphthongs too...but honestly it could be a lot worse. Atleast you know the pronunciation of most of the letters..." Thomas explained.
Alexander let his head fall onto the desk.
"We haven't even gotten to writing yet."
"You can't write either?"
"Not well!"
"That's what autocorrect is for."
***
"Dog."
"Good"
"...Cat."
"Great."
"What the fuck does that say?"
"Guinea pig."
"Why would you throw this shit in here? I don't even know what that is."
"It's a pet, like a big hamster."
"Stop fucking with me."
They were now on their fourth lesson. The two would both become beyond frustrated with each other every now and then, but progressively, Alexander learned many words, and could even write a handful down.
Alexander enjoyed reading much more than writing, since writing involved many 'extra' letters, or letters that were silent.
"Shut up or I'll make you write instead."
"Please don't do this to me."
"Then get reading!"
Whenever Alexander would slip up on a word, Thomas would hunch over him and explain the correct pronunciation and why it was pronounced that way. He'd explain the significance of surrounding letters and the context of the sentence.
Now, Alexander could be quite stubborn, and really didn't like the idea of 'ch' being able to sound like 'chuh' or 'cuh', but he eventually got over it.
"This is bullshit."
"No, this is english."
However, contrary to the popular belief, It helped quite a bit that Alexander knew how to speak, since Thomas didn't have to explain sentence structure or any of the sort.
Frankly, Alexander was learning at an impressive rate, and Thomas was genuinely proud of him.
Except right now, Alexander was furiously erasing an entire sentence which Thomas had just corrected. The taller man grabbed his wrist in order to stop him.
"Alex, stop it."
"Let go!"
"Alexander, it was fine before."
"It needs to be perfect!" Hamilton hissed, and ripped his hand away, continuing to erase all of his hard work.
Thomas figured he could use some time to cool off before he lost his temper like the last time. He stepped back from the man and watched sadly as his paper crumpled and tore and eraser shavings drifted helplessly to the ground.
After Alexander put the pencil down, he put his elbows onto the desk and buried his fists in his hair.
"Alex, you're doing great, you know that right?" Thomas assured the man, softly placing a hand on his back.
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child." He replied.
"You're not going to get this all on the first try, and you're obviously not going to be perfect. Hell, even elderly, native english scholars aren't absolutely perfect at it. Stop worrying so much." Thomas vowed, and allowed the man to just breathe for a minute.
"Thomas, I'm sorry you have to deal with me." Hamilton mumbled. It seemed like he wasn't exactly fond of his short temper either.
"I don't have to deal with you. I choose to."
Then, the man smiled back at Thomas, and, if he can recall correctly, that was the exact moment that he realized he was in love with Alexander.
***
Surprisingly, Hamilton kept coming to these little lessons after work. Some times, Hamilton would just want to rant about people at work, or his personal life, and other times he would quiet down and just read or write for hours without speaking a word, besides questions on pronunciation. Jefferson never knew which attitude he was going to get, but he always secretly hoped it would be the more open, and outgoing one.
Thomas was getting a hang of how to handle Hamilton when he was angry with himself and everything around him. He wouldn't admit it, but he absolutely adored the fact that Alexander was crying on his shoulder, and no one else's.
Thomas was also beginning to get less and less afraid to show his affection towards Hamilton, since he never seemed to mind a hug every once in a while. Thomas assumed it was because he lived alone, and hadn't had a partner in years, and he just simply craved contact with someone and anyone.
However, Thomas never failed to find himself praying that Alexander had genuine feelings for him.
Now, Alexander was bumbling through his door with a messy bun tangled in his hair, wearing a large grey sweatshirt and sweatpants. He hadn't been at work that day, and now Thomas could see why.
"What the hell happened to you? You look awful."
"I'm sick and bored." He replied with a nasally voice.
"Oh, that's just fantastic. I'm so excited to catch whatever you have."
"Shut up." He whined before leaning in and burying his face in Thomas's chest. Thomas subconsciously wrapped his arms around the soft fabric hanging loosely from Alexander's body.
"Poor baby." Thomas said sarcastically, pushing his weight back on his heels and swaying side to side with Alexander.
Alexander sneezed into Thomas's shirt.
"Ew, Alex!" Thomas groaned, lightly pushing the man away from him.
He intended to just joke around with Alexander, but the man clearly didn't take that rejection lightly. His eyebrows narrowed, his small smile drooped, and his gaze dropped to the floor.
"Sorry." Alexander spoke quietly, in a tone that reeked of sadness.
"Aw, Lexi, you know I'm just fucking with you. Do you want to practice reading today or what?" Thomas questioned, bringing his hand up to cup the side of Hamilton's stubbled cheek.
Alexander nodded and rubbed his eyes.
"Don't touch your eyes. With your luck, you'll probably contract pink eye."
"You're such a mom."
Thomas laughed and lead Hamilton to his study. For the entirety of the walk, Alexander was coughing into his cotton clad palms.
"Are you sure you want to be here? You should probably rest." Thomas suggested, but Alexander plopped down into the wooden chair in reply.
"Fine," Thomas sighed, grabbing a book from the stack. "but if you have to slow down for a second and take a break, you need to tell me. You really shouldn't blow up today. You should be taking it easy. Okay?" Thomas warned, but Alexander ripped the book out of his hands as soon as it was in his reach.
"I've told you a zillion times to stop talking to me like that. I'm not a kid." He argued.
Thomas shuffled behind him and rested his chin on the top of Alexander's head.
"I know, Alex. I just worry about you." Thomas hummed into his hair.
"Fine, I'll tell you when it's too much. Whatever."
Alexander began reading from 'Because of Winn Dixie', and sounded out every word slowly, but correctly for the most part. Some words he'd pronounce incorrectly, then he'd hear it, and realize what word was supposed to be and make the connection. Or, he would see a word he didn't know, and examine the letters surrounding the vowels in order to at least make a guess.
"Beh-cah-me--became awah-- aware of a very pe..." Hamilton looked up at Thomas anxiously.
"Peculiar."
"Oh."
However, when a library (which he pronounced quite incorrectly) was being described, Thomas noticed Alexander's grip tightening onto the corners of the pages.
Thomas didn't want to say anything, since he had just a bit of faith that Alexander himself would tell him that he needs to stop, and to Thomas's relief, the brunette exhaled loudly before throwing the book down onto the desk.
"This is so frustrating. It takes me hours to read two chapters from a kids book. I hate being so fucking slow." He ranted.
"It's alright."
"How do you have the patience to sit through all of this?"
"It's simply a gift I was born with."
Alexander huffed in annoyance, but was cut off by another fit of coughs.
"Okay! We're done. You need to lie down." Thomas ordered, lifting his arms from around his neck and grabbing the book off of the desk.
Alexander peered back at the taller man and opened his mouth, as if he was going to speak.
"What is it?"
"...Can I take the book with me?" He squeaked.
"No!" Thomas spat despite the laugher bubbling in his throat. He lightly whacked Hamilton on the head with the book's soft cover.
"Please?" Alexander whimpered.
Thomas took one glance at the man and just knew for a fact that he would throw a full-blown temper tantrum if he didn't get what he wanted. So, he sighed, and placed 'Because Of Winn Dixie' into Alexander's outstretched hands.
He hugged the book to his chest and beamed a toothy smile, and Thomas was almost certain that he would have a heart attack from the sudden amount of blood rushing to his face.
Thomas then led Alexander to his bedroom, and motioned for him to get under the covers of his poorly made bed. Alexander crawled onto the duvet and pulled the many layers sheets above his small frame.
"Do you need anything?" Thomas questioned, as the man got himself settled.
He shook his head mutely, looking up at Thomas with large, drooping eyes. He seemed so tiny, all alone in the queen-sized bed.
"What is it, then?" Thomas asked with a slight smirk tugged at his lips.
"Can you stay in here with me?"
Thomas exhaled dramatically.
"Fine."
"I won't even bother you." Alexander promised.
Thomas rolled his eyes, before opening his laptop onto the desk's hard surface.
"You better not. I have shit to do."
After what seemed like an hour of sitting in a noiseless room, besides the quiet taps of Thomas's fingers on the keyboard, Thomas stopped typing and looked back at Alexander to check if he had fallen asleep yet.
However, Alexander sat there with the book propped up on his chest. His tired eyes slowly drifting along the paragraphs, and every few minutes he'd flip the page.
"Hey, I've never asked you this, and I don't mean to sound rude, but what the hell have you been doing at work all day if you couldn't read or write." Thomas asked, breaking through the eerie film of silence that the room had been engulfed in.
Alexander kept his eyes glued to the book.
"I...um...don't want to tell you." He spoke shyly, turning another page.
"Please?"
"It's so embarrassing." He moaned.
"I can 100% guarantee you that I've seen you do something much more humiliating." Thomas chirped, and Alexander frowned.
"Okay...so, I go to Washington's office, and tell him what I'm trying thinking of writing, and he'll...type it for me."
"What! You could've started coming to me instead!" Thomas groaned in disbelief.
"I can't. It'd be much too awkward. Plus he's barely ever busy, unlike you."
"So you can just automatically put all of your trust into him? He's not teaching you anything but how to rely on him and only him. He's some teacher." He spat, starting to become conscious of the boiling heap of jealousy inside his stomach.
"Thomas, just drop it." He said weakly.
"Okay. I'm sorry." Thomas declared, figuring that tryinf his temper wasn't the brightest idea.
"It's fine. You asked a question and I answered it. It really doesn't matter."
"It matters to me that George is treating you like some mutt that he feeds once a day, then kicks it outside until it's hungry again. He does the bare minimum for you and it pisses me off. He should at least be making an effort to help you." He blurted, and instead of the furious reply he assumed he would be given, Alexander simply blinked.
"That's what you're for, Thomas."
Thomas's angered expression dropped. He glared at Alexander with eyes that practically screamed, 'this isnt over'. Alexander grinned back at him.
"Now I know just how to shut you up." He announced cockily.
Thomas twisted his body into his initial position rolled his eyes down at his laptop's screen.
"I'm still mad at him."
***
These sessions became frequent occurrences after work. As the days droned on, they had been around each other so much that Alexander and Thomas began to feel less and less of a personal space boundary, or any boundary in general. Thomas would stand behind Alex while he worked, sometimes braiding his hair, and other times allowing Alex to sit between his legs on the couch. And, Thomas wouldn't lie: He may or may not have already fallen waist deep in love with the intolerant asshole, and he wasn't talking about himself.
At this point, Thomas would flat out flirt with Alexander, but the brunette just wasn't detecting it. There wasn't the slightest indication that Hamilton acknowledged his feelings.
They had learned a lot about each other in the month or so Thomas had been conducting these lessons. But, Thomas never once heard of a past relationship. It was almost as if Hamilton had never been in one.
"...'but that exposed the skin of his lower back and the...the...'" Hamilton paused. He squinted down at the unknown word in "The Hatchet".
"Thats a tough one." Thomas laughed.
"Mozquitoo--oh. Mosquitoes. What the hell are all those extra letters for?" Alexander groaned, covering his face with his hands.
"It's okay. You're doing really well. Continue."
Thomas chuckled from above him.
"'The mosquitoes and flies...attacked the new soft flesh of his back so...' I don't know what that says."
"Viciously."
As he read more from the book, a lot of the vocabulary frustrated him, since the narrator would describe devices inside planes and Alexander barely knew what they were even if he saw a picture of them.
Thomas didn't want the man to have another temper tantrum, so he slowly grabbed ahold of the book, and tried to pull it away from him, but Alexander's hand smashed down onto the cover.
"Alex, you should take a break. I don't think this is a good ide--"
"No!" Alexander whined. "I want to read."
"Alexander, you're going to end up very angry and I don't think either of us want that--"
"Please, Thomas. I just want to read the rest of it!"
"Not right now. I know that you need to cool it for a bit--"
"Fuck you! You don't know shit!"
"Alexander!" Thomas boomed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before regaining his composure.
'He just wants to show you what he's learned', Thomas told himself, and as he realized that this was true, he immediately felt bad for yelling.
Thomas opened his eyes and Alexander's mouth hung open slightly, and his eyes were wide and clouded with pure fear.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice." Thomas apologized, outstretching his hand to Alexander's face.
At first, Alexander flinched back, and the taller man would've been absolutely heartbroken if he hadn't eventually leaned into Thomas's touch. Thomas sighed in relief as he rubbed his thumb in circles on Alexander's skin.
"I'm sorry for saying what I said." Alexander whispered, hanging his head in shame.
Thomas smiled. "It's okay. But please think before you do something like that next time. I know that you just want to show me that you can read quite well now, but you need to acknowledge when it's time to stop pushing yourself so hard. I'd hate to see you break down again."
***alex's POV?***
"Thomas, what does this say?"
They had recently relocated into Thomas's bedroom, where there was another desk, so Thomas could have easy access to the books in that room.
Alexander's spelling had become quite impeccable, and he was reading quite fluently lately.
However, Alexander did get stuck on many long, complex words in historical books or lengthy novels. He knew what the words meant, he just didn't recognize them immediately.
"Just give me a second, Alex. Try sounding it out." Thomas suggested from his bed.
He had his phone up to his ear and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I already tried that." Alexander whined from the floor, throwing the book beside him.
"What is it? Yes. All right. Yes. Of course. Yeah, yeah. It's fine." Thomas's voice dragged on.
"Thomas." Alexander whimpered, literally rolling around on the carpet, but Thomas didn't seem to be getting the memo.
"Yeah, don't mind him. Yes. Uh huh. No, of course not!"
Alexander stood up with tussled hair and clenched fists. Thomas wasn't even looking at him as he giggled into the phone.
"Fine, I'll just go, if whoever you're talking to is such a priority." Alexander dared. He gathered up 'The Catcher in The Rye' and his coat from the floor, taking a few steps towards the door.
However, Thomas slid to the foot of the bed quickly, and wrapped his right arm around Hamilton's torso before he could escape.
"Thomas, let go of me!"
Alexander wriggled in his arms in some sad attempt to break free, but Thomas was much too strong. He even tried biting the arm that was restraining him, but it just squeezed tighter and dragged him onto Thomas's lap.
"Yeah, no problem. Ow, Alex! Yes. No, everything's fine." Thomas spat through gritted teeth, and adjusted his grip on the man in his lap.
"Who on earth could be more important than me to you right now--"
"Okay, Mr. President. All right. Thank you. I'll get those papers in by Tuesday. See you tomorrow." Thomas clarified.
Then, he hung up the phone.
"Oh. I-I'm sorry. I didn't know..." Hamilton spluttered, but Thomas seemed to loom far above him now.
He could feel tears welling up in his eyes as Thomas continued to stay silent.
"Thomas, you're scaring me." He choked out. He was so used to Thomas immediately forgiving him after he did something stupid.
Suddenly, Thomas flipped him over onto the comforter and straddled his waist.
"What the fu--" Alexander began, but he was cut off by his own laughter.
Thomas was ferociously wiggling his fingers down his sides and beaming.
Alexander tried to contort his body into inhumane positions in order to escape Thomas's hands, but he failed and fell right back onto the bed.
"Thomas!" Alexander managed to cry out between fits of his and Thomas's giggles.
Thomas lurched forwards and all Alexander could feel was Jefferson's lips mere millimeters away from his ear.
"You almost got me fucking fired." Thomas breathed, which sent shivers down Alexander's spine.
"I'm sorry, I was..." Alexander trailed off mid sentence and his face grew red.
Thomas sat up and examined his features.
"You were what?" He asked snidely, putting his hands on Alexander's sides just in case he wouldn't spill his answer, and he'd have to tickle it out of him.
"...Jealous."
Thomas smirked and Alexander turned his head to the side in order to avoid eye contact with the man.
The older man climbed off of the latter, and picked up the book from the floor where Alexander had dropped it.
"Okay, so what's the problem?"
And as soon as it happened, the whole entire event disappeared. Thomas acted as if it never happened. Alexander had literally directly told him he was jealous of other people talking to him, yet Thomas didn't seem to get the hint.
***
"I can't do this. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this!" Alexander declared as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.
Thomas knelt down beside him. He had been trying to teach Hamilton the spelling of many common words used in bills and amendments, but Alexander couldn't seem to grasp them.
"Lexi, it's okay. They're hard words to spell out. Everyone has trouble writing them--"
"Thomas, just stop. No one in that office has trouble but me. I'm just too stupid to get any of it, and honestly Washington should just fire me already. I'm useless." Alexander spilled, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks.
Thomas turned the chair towards him and held Alexander's head to his chest until he felt the mans small hands ball his shirt into his fists.
"No, no. Alexander, that's not true, you know that's not true. You're not useless. You work ten times harder than anyone else there and you deserve the position you have. You're so smart, Alex. So smart." Thomas cooed and ran his slender fingers through Hamilton's dark locks.
"Thomas, I hate this. I feel so slow." Alexander mumbled into his shirt.
"You've made such great progress, though. You can read and write pretty much fluently now." Thomas cooed, rubbing soothing circles onto the shorter man's back.
"Yeah, but everybody else could do that when they were children."
"Well, you're not everybody else."
Alexander pulled away from Thomas's grasp.
"Thank you. I think I'm all right now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Let's just get on with this."
***
3 months into the lessons, Alexander could read and write perfectly, and truly, Jefferson was scrambling to find any possible excuse for the man to come to his house after work. Sure, Alexander still read at a torturously slow rate, but he could process the material. He never expected Hamilton to learn all of it so quickly, and now everything he managed to scrape up in his bookcases were old news.
But despite this, Hamilton always followed him home everyday after work, and departed at 9.
"Why do you look so nervous?" Alexander said, poking his Jefferson's arm.
"Alex..." Thomas began, stopping in the doorway of his home. "You have no reason to be coming here anymore. I've taught you everything I can."
Alexander smile dropped. He eyed Thomas suspiciously, shutting the door behind him. "So, I can't come over anymore?"
"Well, I don't see why you would want to, now that I can't help you anymore."
"You're so..." Alexander closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "oblivious."
"What?"
"You really think I was coming here just to fucking read a few books and sing the A, B, Cs?"
"Well...yes?"
Alexander let a laugh, dripping with immense hurt, bubble out from his throat.
"Thomas all I wanted to do was impress you! Are you blind? Why do you think I got so fucking mad at myself for slipping up?"
"I don't understand--"
"Of course you don't." Alexander's voice cracked. He sniffled and turned away from Thomas.
Thomas immediately started panicking. He always had the small hope in the back of his mind that craved for Alexander to like him, and now that idea was turning out to be true. He never once actually expected to get what he wanted so dearly, and he didn't know what to do about it.
"A-Alex, please calm down. You're going to--"
Thomas internally punched himself in the gut. He had learned from many trial and errors with Alexander that he wasn't ever supposed to tell a person with anger issues to calm down, but in his rush to get words out of his mouth he had slipped, and Alexander was livid.
"I'm not going to fucking calm down. I just wanted to get close to you. At this point, I was just coming here to show you that I'm not some short-tempered toddler who'll cry everytime they don't get what they want anymore, and now look at me. I'm such a mess." He sobbed.
Thomas had so much to say in such little time. All the information Alex had just bombed on him was confusing to Thomas, but it also made him feel quite relieved. He tried to construct many different sentences in his head to tell Alexander how he felt, but all the words jumbled together weren't making any sense. He was worried if he didn't find something to say quickly, Alexander would take it as a rejection.
"I love you too." He blurted out.
Thomas nearly fainted. Alexander never said anything about love, and Thomas just threw it out there like fucking candy.
"Stop fucking with me." Alex whispered. His breathing was still irregular and it seemed like he was having a great deal of trouble trying not to hyperventilate.
"No Alex, I'm serious," Thomas admitted, reaching his hand out to grab Alexander's shoulder, and spun him around to face him. "But please, just focus on breathing right now. We can talk after."
Alexander opened his mouth to speak, but a sob bubbling in his throat cut him off.
Thomas lifted his right hand up to the side of Alexander's head, as he always did in these situations, but the brunette ripped away, covering his face with his own palms.
"You're not supposed to give me what I want all the time." He objected, but Thomas laughed softly.
"Well, what about what I want?" He asked.
Alexander's hands slid off of his damp face and clenched by his sides. He sniffled softly and glued his gaze to the floor.
"You're so adorable." Thomas cooed, bringing his hand up to caress Alexander's cheek once again.
This time, Alexander relaxed into it, and began nibbling on his bottom lip nervously.
"You really love me?" Alexander queried, finally locking his reddened eyes with the older man's.
"I may be a pompous dickhead, but I'm not a liar."
Alexander quickly pushed himself away to sweep his sleeve across his face in order to wipe off the tears streaking his cheeks.
"You look fine." Thomas giggled.
"Shut up. I look like I just crawled out of a swamp. This is not the way I envisioned you professing your undying love for me." Alexander argued, but he soon gave up on trying to fix his face without a mirror.
"Whatever, I'll grab a book for you." Thomas chuckled, leading the man into the bedroom where one of the walls was completely covered by a large mahogany bookcase.
"I thought you said you couldn't help me anymore...?" Alexander questioned.
"That may be true, but I still want you to read to me. You can ask questions if you have any, and I'm sure you'll still have quite a few." Thomas replied, running his finger through the row of literature by Leo Tolstoy.
"Please don't make me read an adult book." Alexander begged. Thomas laughed.
"I'm making you read an adult book."
"Tommy!" Alexander whined, punching Thomas's back lightly.
"I'm sorry, but you have to get used to long, boring, and downright terrible books." Thomas spoke, yanking out a copy of 'Anna Karenina' from the shelf.
"I already know enough to get by, and I can read amendments and important documents now. I can even write whatever I want! Why are you making me read boring old Russian novels!"
"Cool it. One day you'll thank me for this." Thomas pushed, shoving the book into Alexander's hands.
Alexander angrily squinted up at him and pushed it away.
"No I won't." He huffed, throwing himself chest-first onto Thomas's bed.
Thomas rolled his eyes at the boy who had his face buried deep into his duvet. He playfully smacked the hardcover onto the brunette's bum, before sitting down onto the bed next to his startled body.
"Hey!"
"Get up."
"No."
"Fine. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do." He said sadly.
Alexander hesitantly peeked up from the blankets with a quirked brow and worried eyes.
Thomas knew that he was pulling out the old 'you dont have to do anything, but you probably should' tone on him, and truly he wasn't even the slightest bit sorry about it. He knew very well that Alexander would be prying the book out of his hands soon. He knew that Alexander's urge to please him was much greater than the hold he had on his remaining dignity.
"...Really?"
"Yep, I don't care. Rip the pages out if you want." Thomas sighed, waving the book in front of Hamilton's face.
Alexander snatched the book out of Thomas's hands and slowly, but surely, began reading from the first chapter.
Thomas couldn't hide the grin that was creeping onto his face like ivy.
Soon enough, however, Alexander looked up from the sentence he was on, and saw Thomas's evil smirk.
"What? Wait...hey! You were fucking with me!" Alexander exclaimed before chucking the book at Thomas's face.
The corner smashed against Thomas's forehead, which sent a sudden jolt of pain through his body.
"Ow, Alex! What the hell!" Thomas shouted, holding a hand to his head instinctively.
Alexander beamed at the older man. He reached forewords to wrap his arms around his neck, then began rubbing his cheek against Thomas's.
"Aw, poor baby. Want me to kiss it better?" He cooed.
"Fuck you." Thomas hissed, placing his palm on Alexander's face and shoving him away lightly.
"Don't be mad at me. I'm sorry." Alexander whined. Though Thomas was trying to push him away, Hamilton's arms and legs proceeded to cling onto his lean frame.
"Get off of me."
"Not until you forgive me." He replied before nuzzling his face into the crook of Jefferson's neck.
"Okay, fine. I guess this calls for drastic measures." Thomas sighed.
Alexander immediately distanced himself from Jefferson.
"No. No, no, no. Please don't." He begged, wrapping his arms around his own stomach in order to protect himself.
Thomas grinned and shot out his arms towards the man.
"It's far too late."
Alexander tried to crawl away but Thomas grabbed him by the leg and dragged him backwards. His slender fingers slid up and down his sides as Alexander scream-giggled.
"Thomas, I'm going to get a stomach ache from laughing." He cried out.
Thomas re-positioned himself in between Alexander's legs and tickled under his arms as Alexander squirmed beneath him.
"Well, I'm going to get a migraine because of you. I guess we all have issues."
Alexander continued to laugh hysterically, craning his neck back into the mattress.
As soon as Thomas noticed his neck was vulnerable, he leaned forwards and attacked with small pecks to his sensitive skin.
"Thomas!" Alexander giggled. Thomas felt the subtle presence of Alexander's thighs hovering around his torso.
Thomas pressed his lips all around Alexander's face as the man laughed. Thomas finally slid his hands from Alexander's sides to the back of his head.
"May I?" Thomas whispered, his lips ghosting against Alexander's.
"How polite." Alexander sneered. His tanned hands gripped Thomas's shirt collar and tugged him downwards, causing their lips to collide forcefully.
Thomas never truly knew how much he loved Alexander until he tasted him.
His almost feminine, honey scent overpowered Thomas in an instant. He couldn't believe he had never acknowledged such a lovely fragrance before.
His lips were soft, wet, and tasted of sugar, and had Thomas locked onto him in seconds.
Thomas tangled his fingers in Alexander's chestnut locks to pull the man impossibly closer. As he attempted to soak in as much of the moment he could, he began slowly coming to the conclusion that he absolutely craved Alexander's taste, and he'd be begging for more in the future.
Alexander's tongue tentatively dragged across his bottom lip, and Thomas allowed the man's entrance. Alexander was demanding and possessive with Thomas, and Thomas didn't mind one bit.
Eventually the room echoed with the sound of wet lips crashing into each other, and breathy moans. Alexander was fisting his hands into Thomas's shirt, and his legs were now wrapped tighly around Thomas's waist.
Thomas was the first to break away, but only to catch a quick breathe, and to leave many more chaste kisses on Alexander's plump lips. He decided he didn't want to take it any further, since Alexander had just confessed to him mere hours ago.
Alexander tried to open his mouth wider in an attempt to pull Thomas in again and make the moment last longer, but Thomas simply chuckled, and sat up.
Alexander lay flat on his back with his arms crossed against his chest. His face was flushed and his expression was twisted into an angry pout.
"Now you're mad at me?" Thomas asked, pressing a few more hasty pecks to Alexander's frowning lips.
"Hell yes I'm mad! You don't kiss a guy like that, then decide not to fuck him!" He groaned, and kicked Thomas's chest.
"Oh, stop it." Thomas bubbled, pressing one last kiss to his forehead before standing up. He bent down to pick up the book that Alexander had thrown at his head prior to their little make out session, and waved it in front of the younger man's face.
Alexander huffed in annoyance, but he still ripped the book out of Thomas's hands and picked up right where he left off.
***
"Thomas, I'm so scared. I feel like I'm about to throw up." Alexander whispered, eyeing the door to where a large meeting was being held.
After Thomas had told Washington about Alexander's recent success with his English studies, the man immediately ordered for Hamilton to come and participate in an analysis of an impending bill.
Washington also suggested that Hamilton would be the one to read the bill aloud to the others in the meeting to get things started.
So, in other words, Alexander was absolutely terrified.
"You studied hard, Lexi. You got this." Thomas reassured whilst straightening out Alexander's collar, making sure every hickey on his neck was no longer visible. He then wrapped his hand around the brunette's waist. His thumb rubbed against his hipbone soothingly.
From the quiet, empty hallway the two were stationed in, Thomas heard the shuffling of shoes against tile.
People around the office were flooding into the conference room, and Alexander peered up at Thomas with anxious eyes.
"Can you please come with me?" Alexander asked.
"I'm sorry, Baby, I can't. I have a shitload of work to do." Thomas apologized, hugging the man into his side.
Alexander groaned, but soon pulled away.
"I have to go." He fretted. He began to turn away from Thomas, but the older man stopped him in his tracks.
"Wait, Alex. Come here." He called out.
"Thomas, I'm going to be late--"
"Give me a kiss."
Alexander turned to him with an expression mixed of confusion and embarrassment.
"Really? There's people around." He argued, looking around the corner to see if any onlookers were near.
Thomas's hands snaked around Alexander's waist once again. He poked his stomach with his fingers.
"And? Are you embarrassed of me? Huh? Huh?" He snorted in between jabs.
"You know thats not true." Alexander giggled, craning his neck around to press their lips together. The kiss was short, but sweet, and Thomas couldn't help but grin over how lucky he was.
Alexander spotted George Washington peering around, most likely looking for him. So, he pulled away.
Yanking two strands of his ponytail apart in order to tighten the hair tie's hold on his thin locks, he smiled sadly. He made a dash towards the door, but looked back to wave at Thomas.
"Goodluck, Love." Thomas mouthed to him, and Alexander blew him a kiss in reply.
***
"I'm such a fucking idiot!" Alexander hissed, slamming the door shut.
They had just walked back from the meeting in silence, and now Hamilton was about to take his fury out on Thomas. Hamilton apparently had forgotten what 'fundamental' looked like on paper, and he allegedly 'made a fool of himself' in front of a few people, including George Washington. Thomas didn't think it was a big deal, but Alexander thought otherwise.
"No you aren't." He objected, but Alex merely scoffed.
"I stood there like a dumbass for a solid minute trying to sound it out, Thomas." Alexander choked, throwing his bag at the foot of the bed.
"At least you tried?" He said, sitting down on the mattress.
"You don't know how it feels to practice something for months, and then screw it up when you finally need it to be useful."
Thomas figured it wasn't the best idea to deny that statement, and start a full blown debate in the bedroom, so he decided on agreeing with the man through gritted teeth.
"You're right, and I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"And of c-course everyone laughed." Alexander's voice began to crack. The brunette held a hand over his mouth as a sob bubbled from his throat.
Thomas knew that he couldn't control the oncoming mental breakdown that Alexander was about to have, so he took a deep breath, and prepared himself for the worst. He couldn't simply prevent him from having his fits of anger or sadness, so he figured that letting Alexander vent to him would help in the long-run.
"I'm sorry, Baby." He said, pulling the man in close.
"I'm so stupid." Alexander whispered. He wrapped his legs around Jefferson's torso, and clung tightly to the fabric of his shirt.
"I know that you're just going to throw my opinion out the window, but I, for one, disagree with that statement."
"Whatever." Alexander sighed, snuggling his face into Thomas's chest.
"You shouldn't be mad at yourself for slipping up on one word. You nailed the rest if it, right? You should be proud of yourself for learning so much in such little time. I'm proud of you."
Alexander cried into Thomas's button-down for what seemed like hours, but the gloomy mood lifted when Thomas tried to cheer him up.
"You know I've never been able to pronounce a certain fruit correctly?" Thomas chimed, rubbing a hand up and down Alexander's back.
His goal was to shy Alexander's attention away from the current, depressing subject-matter, and it seemed to be working. Alexander's face emerged from Thomas's chest with a quirked eyebrow and a small smirk.
"What fruit?" He asked.
"Coocumber."
Alexander snorted.
"Why not?" He laughed.
"Don't know," Thomas shrugged. "But don't even get me started on the Sahlmon (salmon) in my rohm (room)."
Alexander threw his head back in a fit of giggles.
"Hey, I never laugh at you!" Thomas defended, playfully shoving Hamilton chest.
"Oh fuck off. Yes you do."
"Eat ass."
"Gladly."
"I guess you're feeling better." Thomas sneered, before standing up with Alexander still attached to him by the waist.
"I'm still never showing my face in that office ever again." He mumbled into Jefferson's collarbone.
"Yeah, right. Imagine you without that job. You'd sit at home and argue with a potted plant all day."
Alexander huffed.
Thomas hummed happily as he strode over to the bookcase. He removed one of his arms from Alexander's torso, and danced his finger tips along the covers until he found the longest, most boring book that he possessed. He'd read it once, and never again, but anything to keep Alexander at his place for weeks on end was a blessing.
He tugged the dusty book from it's permanent location, and dropped it down on his desk, emitting a ear-piercing echo of paper against wood.
"Please tell me you dropped a fucking hippopotamus on the floor."
"Wrong. I have a new book for you!" Thomas squealed, hugging Alexander tightly.
Hamilton turned his head to the side, took one look at the book's thickness, and his jaw immediately dropped to his chest.
"War and Peace!"
"You can't do this to me." Alexander gaped.
"Sure I can." He concluded, pressing quick pecks all over the side of Hamilton's face.
"Don't kiss me, you asshole." He hissed, trying to squirm out of Thomas's grasp.
"I love you." Thomas chirped happily, proceeding to give tiny kisses Alexander's neck.
"Shut up." Hamilton
"Lexi, I love you." Thomas urged oncemore.
Alexander let out a long, powerless sigh.
"I love you too." He muttered.
"Huh? What was that?"
"I love you too!" Alexander shouted with a light blush tinting his cheeks.
"Wow! How passionate you are!" Thomas laughed.
"You're such a dick."
"I know." He agreed, loosening his grip on the man, and allowing his feet to touch the hardwood floor.
Alexander steadied himself to a stance, and rubbed his arms. He hesitantly glanced up at Thomas.
"Um, but seriously...can we not start the book today? I really don't feel like getting angry at it, after what happened in the office." He said shyly.
"Of course, Sweetheart. Don't be embarrassed." Thomas cooed.
The taller of the two men slid his finger under Alexander's chin and tilted his head upwards. He leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss onto the latter's lips while Alexander hummed in relief.
"Thank god," Alexander breathed against Thomas's lips. "because if you guilt tripped me into reading it, I would've burnt your house down."
Thomas let out a small giggle, before biting Alexander's bottom lip lightly. The brunette dragged his tongue along Thomas's top lip, and Thomas immediately let go, finally initiating a proper kiss.
Alexander moaned softly into Thomas's mouth, and fisted his hands into his hair. Though it took an immense amount of self-control, Thomas was the first to break the kiss.
"You're no fun." Hamilton pouted. He was already trying to yank Thomas's head back down.
"It's been a long day for you, Lovely. I'll run you a bath."
Hamilton frowned at first, but soon began chewing on inside of his cheek. Thomas knew that this subtle gesture meant that Alexander was scared of asking him something. So, Thomas questioned it.
"What is it?"
Alexander adverted his gaze to the floor.
"Can you...come in with me?"
Thomas was a bit taken back by Hamilton's request. From all the times Hamilton has stayed over, he has never once let Thomas set foot inside the bathroom with him. He would literally lock the door, just incase Jefferson got any ideas.
"I thought you hated bathing with me?" Thomas asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Alexander began fiddling with his hands, still refusing to meet his partner's gaze.
"I never said I hated it...I just get uncomfortable."
"I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"You won't this time. I promise."
"Okay but if you ever feel the slightest bit grossed out, just tell me and I'll leave."
Alexander nodded slowly, and then began to walk towards the bathroom. Thomas followed suit, and upon entering, twisted the faucet to the tub on. The sound of heavy water splashing against cast-iron echoed against the tiled walls of the space.
Thomas looked back, and saw that Alexander appeared to be extremely worried. He was holding his arms around stomach, clearly jittering.
"Lexi, seriously. I can go--"
"Shut up." He barked.
"Baby, you're shaking," Thomas said with a sigh, walking over to Alexander with outstretched arms. "Why are you so nervous?"
Alexander stiffly accepted the taller man's hug. Thomas could feel the brunettes rapid heart rate against his skin.
"I guess I'm just kind of self-conscious." The man
"Kind of?" Thomas laughed, referring to how the man was acting as if he were preparing for something absolutely petrifying.
"Whatever."
"But you're so cute and small and squish." Thomas interjected, poking the side of Alexander's stomach.
"Thanks." The latter replied sarcastically.
Thomas noticed the water has risen to suitable amount, so he turned the faucet off. He then began to strip his shirt off, revealing his smooth skin and sharply toned muscles.
Alexander frowned.
"What?" Thomas questioned.
"I look so fat compared to you."
Thomas gasped dramatically.
"Okay, A.) You are not fat, and B.) Do not compare yourself to other people! You are unique and beautiful just the way you are." He promised with a smile.
"You're so cheesy, oh my god." Alexander snickered, rolling his eyes.
Thomas shrugged and tugged his partner's t-shirt over his head before Alexander could protest.
"Hey!"
"I'm tired and I want to go to bed. Chop chop." Thomas groaned, looping his fingers around the waistline of his pants and boxers, and tugging them to his ankles in one swift motion.
The older man then stepped into the water cautiously, and adjusted into a postion where Alexander could lay in between his splayed legs. He rested both of his elbows on the side of the bath and inspected Hamilton with a callous expression gracing his face.
"You coming in, or what?"
Alexander nodded his head promptly. He copied Thomas's prior movements, and hurried himself into the tub. Instead of laying where he was clearly supposed to, he sat with his legs up to his chin, as far away from Thomas as he could physically manage.
"It's amazing how someone so cocky can be so awkward at the same time."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm just fucking with you, Sugar." he claimed, sitting up a bit in order to open his arms invitingly. "Can I get a kiss?"
Alexander darted his tongue out, and quickly swept it along his bottom lip. However, he stayed glued to the opposite side of the bath.
Thomas was about to pull out the classic 'I've seen you naked like twelve times', but he felt as if he shouldn't push Alexander to do anything he didn't want to do.
Thomas let his arms fall into the water, and let out a small sigh of defeat.
"I'm sorry I suck at all the things couples are supposed to do." Alexander mumbled into his skin.
Thomas felt his heart crack. He hated seeing Alexander get embarrassed of himself or his wonderful personality. He had dated a few people in the past, and each one acted far too normal. Thomas enjoyed the challenge of dating Alexander. He loved striving for Hamilton's affection, instead of automatically having it handed to him on a silver platter. Alexander was different. Alexander wasn't easy, and Thomas absolutely adored that about him.
"Couples aren't 'supposed' to do anything. If you just held my hand once a year I'd be the happiest man alive." Thomas objected.
The brunette smiled weakly before taking a deep breath.
"I just feel like I'm the worst boyfriend ever. You practically have to force me to do anything. I can barely tell you that I love you without feeling nauseous." He explained.
"You're just not used to being in a relationship. You also have barely had any experience with anyone prior to me. Especially not with a...guy." Thomas spoke casually. He tried to tip toe around the topic of Alexander's ex-girlfriend as much as possible, since it ended in disaster.
Alexander flushed slightly at the mention of a man, almost as if he was embarrassed to be attracted to one.
Thomas figured Alexander was used to being the dominant one in a relationship, even though he always seemed extremely submissive in his opinion. He couldn't imagine Alexander being dominant at all. All Thomas could imagine was the man crying, whining, and shrieking.
Eliza must've been in for quite a trip.
"I-is that kiss still up for offer?" He questioned shyly.
Thomas bit back a grin.
"Nope, it's not." Thomas declined, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head to the side in mock-disappointment.
Alexander rolled his eyes, sending a small splash of water towards Thomas's face.
"Come here. I'll wash your hair." Thomas ordered, trying desperately to get Hamilton out of his shell and into his arms.
The brunnete surprisingly complied. He turned his back to Jefferson, and scooted backwards until he felt the older man's thighs against his sides.
"There's my Lexi." Thomas sang, wrapping his biceps loosely against Alexander's neck.
"Stop calling me that. It's so embarrassing."
"Oh, so you'd rather Ally, Alexa, Z, or Al?"
"Nevermind."
"Thought so." Thomas chimed, grabbing the shampoo bottle from the side of the bath, and squirting a dollop of its contents into his palm. He then scooped handfuls of water into his other hand in order to wet Alexander's head.
"I'm surprised you're letting me do this." Thomas chuckled, lathering the shampoo into his partner's chesnut locks.
Alexander arched his back slightly when Thomas brushed against the nape of his neck. He leaned back ever so slightly into Thomas's touch, and Thomas grinned.
"Thought you hated when I touched your neck?" Thomas questioned cockily.
"Just shut your big mouth for once."
When Thomas had moved onto conditioning Alexander's hair, his slender fingers briefly stopped scrubbing into his scalp.
"Hey, Lex?" Thomas cracked. He winced at the sound of his own shakey voice. He had promised himself he wouldn't get emotional over it, but it clearly didn't appear to be heading in the right direction.
Alexander hummed in reply, obviously a bit confused about the limp hand on his head.
"I'm sorry for not teaching you enough. If I had tried harder you wouldn't have messed up today." His voice wavered. He cleared his throat awkwardly, then proceeded to rub the conditioner into Alexander's smooth hair.
"You're stupid if you think that's the case. All you ever do is help me. A few months ago I couldn't even read a title of a children's book. You've taught me more than anyone I've ever known, and I'm really thankful for that. It's not your fault I messed up on one tiny word. I blanked. I'll do better next time." Alexander spoke nonchalantly, as if this knowledge didn't mean the entire world to Thomas.
Thomas washed his palms off in the bath water, then slowly wrapped his arms around Alexanders torso. Alexander went rigid at the sudden contact, but soon melted into Thomas, as he always did. The taller man embraced him in some sort of backwards hug, and Thomas made the most of listening to Alexander's heartbeat through his spine. Thomas placed a few tiny kisses to his back before full out nuzzling his wet cheek into his shoulder. After every kiss, he'd mumble little 'i love you's onto his skin.
Thomas decided right then that he wanted to live the rest of his life with Alexander. Though he was a challenge, Thomas loved every single bit of him. From being shouted at to cried on, there was never a dull moment when Alexander was around.
Then, he heard Alexander breath out a single phrase, barely above a whisper, that made Thomas stomach churn, and his heart flutter.
"What did I do to deserve you, Tommy."
***