Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was Lafayette's fault.

It had to be.

Alex wasn't feeling magnanimous enough to shift any blame on himself; not only had he a headache to rival the gods, but his phone had suddenly opted to grow legs and walk away. He couldn't summon enough focus to decide on which fact irritated him more, but was able to acknowledge that last night was a mistake.

Besides, he never enjoyed drinking on a Friday, not when there were opportunities to work without Hercules and John complaining at him for being 'dull' and 'slightly worrying' and 'a medical wonder for having the ability to remain in the same position for hours on end, seriously, Alexander, you'll develop a vitamin deficiency.'

As though Alex had time to worry about vitamin deficiencies.

Trying to piece the night together would be entirely guesswork, and he was already far too agitated to attempt that. Alex was already finding difficulty in attempting to think past a cloudy, sluggish fog, and trying to remember the night before would only succeed in making him grit his teeth in vexation. The only thing that was definite was that he had gotten black-out drunk, and that if he didn't get some aspirin soon, there would be murder.

With the idea of getting up to retrieve aspirin, he exhaled forcefully. After a mental debate of whether he should go to his medicine cabinet or remain in a makeshift blanket cocoon (the pounding headache abruptly deciding for him), Alex shakily lifted himself up, leaning unsteadily on his desk for support. As soon as he had fully adjusted, he changed into clothing that didn't smell like half a liquor cabinet a had been tipped on him, and immediately felt better for it.

He then padded to his bathroom, eyes like lead and tiredly tugging at the cuff of his hoodie. Alex deeply regretted placing his medicine cabinet there, and not having the forethought to place aspirin on his desk, but settled his unease by muttering a few choice words under his breath that would make a sailor blush. He was on autopilot, automatically going to the cabinet without a second thought. As soon as Alex had swallowed the aspirin (and removed the chalky taste via mouthwash), he allowed himself to relax. A fraction of the pain had already worn away - most likely due to placebo - so he allowed himself a brief moment of revision, mostly questioning why the hell he had thought drinking with Lafayette was a good idea.

Hopefully, Lafayette would have an equally - if not, worse - hangover than he had, and Alex could get some semblance of petty revenge by spamming him with loud, early morning messages. Yet, in order to do so, he would have to find his phone. With a small sigh, he turned so that his back was resting against the sink.

It was then that he noticed the cravat.

He blinked, brows furrowed. It was unassuming enough; dark in color, oddly recognisable, and left Alex thinking of who still wore cravats. It was then - that exact moment - he realised that there was a body right besides it.

There was a second, a mere fraction of time, where Alex froze, mind cutting short at what he had just stumbled upon.

However, he was quick to recover.

Alex stumbled backwards, and promptly shrieked.

"Fuck!" The figure yelled, scrambling upright. Alex quickly backed away from the sudden movement, grabbing the nearest object and brandishing it like a knife, heart racing.

Wide, dark brown eyes met his own.

Alex narrowed his eyes.

"Jefferson?" He hissed. Jefferson blinked, glancing between him and the makeshift weapon he was wielding with a mixture of confusion and alarm. Alex sheepishly lowered the flourished toothbrush, feeling a dull flush of embarrassment but refusing to make it more evident.

"Good morning." Jefferson drawled, leaning back, recovering from the shock far quicker than Alex did. "Why are you in my house?"

"Your house?" Alex repeated, at least half an octave higher in his strained disbelief. "Fuck off."

"What?" Jefferson asked, glancing around him. Alex could pinpoint the precise moment Jefferson realised where he was; his entire body stilled, eyebrows raised and eyes focused on Alex's face.

"Ah." Jefferson stated intelligently, then cleared his throat. "It appears I am in a bathtub."

"Yeah." Alex said slowly, hand resting against his unsteadily beating heart. "You're in my bathtub."

"I see." Jefferson mused, casting his surroundings a relatively haughty look. He dropped his gaze to straightened out his blazer, before fixing Alex with a vaguely unimpressed look. "Right."

Alex spent several seconds staring at Jefferson, relieved to find that both of them seemed to be stuck in a heavy dose of confusion. Unfortunately, Jefferson seemed hardly phased by whatever had happened the night before - the only traces of discomfort was that his blazer (heinously colored, what the hell had possessed Jefferson to assume that it was a good choice?) appeared only slightly disheveled. Jefferson didn't seem to notice Alex watching him, as he frowned, retrieving his cravat from where it was draped against the bathtub.

"Why are you in my bathtub?" Alex asked, voice far more levelled after the initial shock died down, pinching the bridge of his nose. Jefferson didn't answer immediately.

Alex gritted his teeth and mentally counted to ten.

"Probably the same reason I have a headache." Jefferson finally answered, words dragged out lazily as though he couldn't be bothered to shorten his tone. At Alex's small frown, he elaborated with a terse, "I was drunk."

"So was I, and I didn't end up in a bathtub." Alex retorted, crossing his arms. Jefferson rolled his eyes at Alex's defensive posture, and thinned his lips, evidently holding back a reply.

"Did we get drunk together?" Jefferson asked, eyes briefly meeting Alex's before he glanced down to nimbly tie his cravat. Alex watched Jefferson's actions with a mild interest, before remembering that he had been asked a question.

"Dream on." He dismissed with his best sneer, one that barely left an impression on Jefferson. Jefferson didn't seem to pick up on his hesitation to answer, as he scowled.

"Oh, I'm sorry for trying to work out what happened last night." Jefferson muttered darkly, glaring at Alex's bathroom as though the entire room had personally insulted him, his mother, and his state.

The familiar note of exasperation made Alex grin, relieved to have found some line of normalcy. "Someone's in a pissy mood."

Jefferson's jaw clenched, and he glanced up to the ceiling. "It's not like I enjoy losing hours of my memory."

Alex raised an eyebrow, as Jefferson was being completely dramatic and unreasonable, as though Alex had done something to offend him. "Nor do I."

Jefferson stared at him searchingly for several seconds, eyes quickly glancing up and down Alex, before he sighed, seemingly defeated. "Where's my phone?"

"What am I? Designated phone keeper?" Alex quipped.

"Now who's the one in the pissy mood?" Jefferson asked, adopting a smirk, leaning back and looking far too comfortable considering the circumstances.

"Fuck off and get out of my bathtub, you twat." Alex snapped. Of course, this was Jefferson, so he didn't comply.

Jefferson shot him a fierce glare, a relatively impressive feat considering the fact that he was besides to a quartet of rubber ducks that Hercules had insisted on giving him. "Make me, midget."

Alex raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Without a word, he backed away towards the door, and, whilst maintaining eye contact, pressed a button.

The soft whirring sound was Jefferson's only warning, before water started to flow. This had Jefferson scrambling, hurrying to get by the sink, a scowl set on his face. He glowered at the now-running shower, then at Alex. "Son of a-"

"Whore, yes, I know." Alex finished off with a blithe smile, casting a reasonably proud look at the running water.

"That's cold." Jefferson gritted out, shouldering off his blazer with surprising grace. "Jesus. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I wasn't the one in a bathtub." Alex retorted, grin growing as Jefferson's scowl deepened.

"If this-" Jefferson began dryly, gesturing vaguely to the soaked blazer resting over his arm. "-is ruined, you're paying for it."

"Jefferson." Alex deadpanned, shooting him a glare. "It was ruined when you bought it."

In response, Jefferson raised an eyebrow, eyes calculating, a small smirk forming on his lips. Alarmed, Alex slowly backed away, towards the door. A calm and self-reassured Jefferson during an argument meant that there could only be trouble. Alex continued to watch him cautiously. "What're you-?"

Jefferson moved smoothly. In two quick movements, Jefferson was able to dislodge the shower head, before cool jet of water hit Alex.

"Fucker!" Alex shouted, mostly out of surprise, one hand placed out in defense from the aquatic onslaught. "Oh, I am going to kill you!"

"No, you're not." Jefferson replied, and Alex could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Yes, I am." Blindly, he attempted out to swat Jefferson's arm away, relieved when he succeeded on the second try. Alex shot him a glower after he turned the water supply off. "You're a bastard."

Jefferson, of course, wasn't threatened by the venom in Alex's voice, as he opted to smile cheerfully. "You look like a ruffled kitten."

"Fight me." Alex immediately replied, shoulders squaring.

"Hey, no need for that." Jefferson said, raising his hands in mock-placation as though he were calming a jilted animal. "At least I woke you up."

"Coffee would have achieved the same thing." Alex muttered, casting Jefferson an adequately threatening glare that was predictably ignored.

"Speaking of coffee." Jefferson mused, before nudging Alex out of the way and making his way over to his kitchenette. Alex was quick to follow, frowning.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Alex called after him, tone sharp. Jefferson sent him a quick glance.

"Coffee." He replied breezily, as though that was completely normal. Alex stared, eyebrows raised as he watched Jefferson dexterously rummage around his kitchenette as though he lived there.

"Yes, of course you can make yourself at home." Alex scowled under his breath, shooting Jefferson a look that suggested a very painful death. Jefferson didn't spare him a glace, busy retrieving two mugs. "You're welcome to treat my home like your own, you pretentious twat."

Jefferson was seemingly obvious to Alex's venomous mutterings, as he turned to face Alex with a small frown and asked, "Do you have any whipped cream?"

The random question briefly startled Alex out of his murderous mindset.

He blinked.

"No. Who the fuck has enough money for whipped cream?" Alex frowned. Jefferson paused in what he was doing to send Alex a supremely unimpressed look. "Right, of course, stupid question."

Jefferson adopted a deeply painted expression, glancing up at the ceiling as though he was summoning all the patience he had and more. "Do you at least have mint?"

"Yeah, in the fridge." Alex said slowly. "Why the hell do you want mint?"

"You'll see." Jefferson retorted, retrieving the packet. To Alex's absolute horror, he added a leaf into one of the mugs. Alex blinked, staring, not fully understanding what just happened. At Alex's compete lack of verbal reaction, Jefferson glanced over his shoulder. This finally snapped Alex out of his startled reverie.

"Holy shit." Alex whispered, eyes wide. He continued to stare at the mug, horrified. "You terrify me."

Jefferson smirked. "Just because you're afraid of good taste."

"Hysterical." Alex deadpanned, because Jefferson was hardly the one to talk about good taste was. There were a few seconds of silence, and Alex watched as Jefferson added warm water to the two mugs. "Do you know how you ended up in my bathtub? I thought vampires needed an invitation."

Jefferson glanced up, a tiny quirk to his lips that he didn't even try to hide. "I don't think I'm a vampire, Hamilton."

Alex rolled his eyes, biting back the retort that he had prepared. "The question still stands."

Another few seconds of quiet, where Jefferson pushed a mug into his hands that Alex automatically accepted, before answering. "I don't remember much. Loud music, drinks, the usual, but definitely not ending up in a bathtub."

Alex briefly considered asking what else Jefferson remembered - there had to be something, a link of some description, between two events. However, it was highly unlikely that, if Jefferson did know something, he wouldn't share.

"Great. At least you've got that. I'm stuck with nothing." Alex sighed before taking a cautious sip of coffee, mildly surprised that not only did it not taste awful, but it also wasn't poisoned.

"Hamilton." Jefferson began slowly, dragging out his syllables in a low drawl that caused Alex to glance quickly up at him.

Alex blinked, before remembering to answer. "Yeah?"

"What's that say?" He asked, gesturing vaguely to his left forearm with a free hand. "On your arm."

Alex didn't even need to glance at his arm to know what the sprawled script would say. He spoke as though he was following an invisible script. "In event of drunken shenanigans, return to designated mom, Hercules Momigan."

"Is he?"

"What?"

Jefferson rolled his eyes. "Your designated mom."

"Shut up." Alex snapped, narrowing his eyes. Jefferson merely smiled in response, raising his mug in mock salute. Without a word, Alex flopped onto his couch, then turned on the TV - and was mildly surprised to see that it resumed play on a movie he didn't even remember watching. This appeared to get Jefferson's attention, as he froze in his actions, turning quickly as though he had been burned.

"What exactly happened last night?" Jefferson asked slowly, voice levelled, focus directed unwaveringly on the screen.

"Right, like I'd have any idea." Alex muttered muleishly, shooting Jefferson a glare that was promptly disregarded. Jefferson spent a few more seconds staring at the movie, before fixing Alex a look that expressed a lifetime of frustration.

"Hamilton." Jefferson sighed, tone clipped as though he had spent the last few years explaining one thing. "That is my drunk movie. I watch this movie whilst I am drunk."

Alex quirked an eyebrow. "So?"

Jefferson looked at Alex as though he was an absolute idiot. "Is it a habit for you to regularly watch The Lion King?"

"Ah." Alex said simply. "I see."

"Exactly." Jefferson replied, mirroring Alex's tone of voice. Frustratingly, Alex found that he still couldn't recall anything - let alone watching a movie with Thomas Jefferson.

"We need to work this out." Alex sighed. "You need to try and remember more, and I'll - do something, I don't know."

"Look for our phones." 

Alex was about to say good idea before he caught himself. He cleared his throat. "Right."

The search didn't last nearly as long as Alex had expected - especially since last time he had gotten this drunk, he had received a very confused email from John questioning why exactly his phone was in John's fridge.

His coffee table was a significant step down of originality from someone else's fridge, though. He quickly pocketed his own phone, the pad of this thumb swiping across the familiar scratches. With a quick, sidelong glance at Jefferson, he grabbed the other phone, quickly entering random numbers into the pin code. Alex turned, holding up his own phone. "Found them."

Jefferson looked up from staring morosely into his mug, a small frown on his face. "Where were they?"

"Coffee table." Alex said as he mentally evaluated the distance and appropriate method for successfully passing Jefferson's phone. He paused, wondering what type of throw would be best.

"If you throw my phone, I will throw you out the window." Jefferson stated lightly, eyes carefully regarding him. Alex rolled his eyes since Jefferson was being completely unreasonable because Alex had an excellent aim, but regardless, Alex crossed the threshold to daintily hand Jefferson his phone. The point, however, seemed completely lost on Jefferson, as he looked deeply unimpressed with Alex's dramatics.

"Thanks." There was a pause, in which Alex stared directly at Jefferson, hands tucked behind his back, trying to suppress his grin. Jefferson frowned, obviously sending that something was amiss, before he scowled. "Oh, for fucks sake, you've locked me out of my phone."

"Wasn't me." Alex automatically lied. Judging by Jefferson's glare, he wasn't quite successful in getting away with it. Surprisingly, however, Alex noticed Jefferson fail to hide a tiny smile. After the temporary block of two minutes had worn off, they spent a few minutes in surprisingly amiable silence; Jefferson was searching through his phone with a small frown, whereas Alex was staring into space, sipping coffee.

Alex began tapping his foot.

Jefferson shot him a look.

Alex sighed, glaring at Jefferson, but nonetheless stopped irritating him. He created a mental note to inform Washington at his spontaneous display of generosity.

The (bewilderingly domestic) stillness was disrupted by a sharp tap at the door. 

Alex jumped, startling at the sudden noise. A quick glance at Jefferson informed him that he was going to have to answer the door himself, as Jefferson had suddenly developed an intense fascination with pointedly not looking at Alex or the door.

Alex sighed, staring at Jefferson. He sighed again when he felt that his point hadn't been adequately made. When Jefferson merely raised an eyebrow, Alex huffed loudly.

"Stop sighing and answer the stupid door." Jefferson replied to his only-slightly-exaggerated sighing, barely sparing Alex a glance. Alex scowled, his lips thinning when the door was knocked louder. After sending Jefferson a rather rude hand gesture (and getting one back in response), he got to his feet, and - with great reluctance - answered the door.

"Alexander Hamilton?" A man asked, blinking owlishly at him as he clutched a wooden clipboard to his chest.

"Yeah?" Alex frowned, glancing down at the clipboard then back up at the man with a growing sense of tripadation. The man glanced up warily at him, before his features awkwardly morphed into a smile.

"Here's your delivery." He announced.

"My delivery." Alex repeated blankly.

"Yes." The man said, gesturing to something obscured by his doorframe. "Of thirty garden gnomes."

"Thirty..." Alex trailed off, shuffling forward slightly so he could wearily stare the three boxes neatly stacked in a column. Alex felt himself age at least seven years, mentally considering if this was how it felt to be Burr.

"Gnomes." The man finished off, nodding, completely unfazed. Alex took a few seconds to marvel at the calmness in his tone, wondering what sort of deliveries he had to give to be unaffected by a rather unusual orders - which, now that Alex thought of it, looked worse since he didn't have a garden.

"What the hell?" Jefferson called over from where he was slouched, tone hinting at amusement and something close to fondness. "Why did you order thirty gnomes?"

"I don't remember ordering these." Alex sighed, still fixing the stack of boxes a tired look, wanting nothing more than to knock them over from their neat column and pretend that they weren't his.

"Well, you definitely did it." The man replied, pushing rectangular glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Christ." Alex glanced up at the ceiling, willing for him to find a trace of calmness or patience. The man blinked, offering him the clipboard, which, after a second of hesitation, he signed. 

"Thanks." The man said, glancing once more at the boxes besides him, before turning smartly on his heel and walked down the corridor. Alex didn't watch him go, busy staring at the stack of boxes.

"Oh my god." Jefferson drawled, putting all of his confusion in three words. "You ordered thirty gnomes. Who the hell does that?"

"I do." Alex retorted, crossing his arms, lifting his chin up. "Problem?"

"I'm not the one with the problem, Alexander." Jefferson stated simply, giving Alex a significant look.

Alex couldn't think of any intelligent comebacks that didn't involve swearing or challenging Jefferson to a duel, so instead he huffed. "Are you going to help?"

"Fuck off." Jefferson scoffed derisively, as though Alex was being completely ridiculous for merely asking. "None of them are mine."

"Evil little shit." Alex said, with no real heat behind his words. He fixed the column of boxes with a slightly evaluating edge.

"I'm not the short one." Jefferson immediately replied, sounding as though he were reciting something said many times before.

Alex sent Jefferson a glower. "Oh, fuck off."

"Quite comfortable here, thanks." Jefferson said, giving Alex a completely insincere smile. Alex sighed, casting the boxes another glare, before grimacing. He carefully picked up the first box, leaning up so he could reach it. The box was surprisingly light yet awkward to carry, and Alex decided that now was a good time re-evaluate some of his past decisions.

"If you're not going to do anything, help me with these boxes or make more coffee." Alex called over his shoulder, settling the box with less grace than he had hoped for on his counter.

"I'm busy investigating." Jefferson pronounced the last word with overemphasized care. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Sure." He deadpanned, voice saturated in deep disbelief.

"Really." Jefferson confirmed in the same tone of voice.

Alex rolled his eyes, again picking up the last two boxes, grimacing at the fact that the boxes were roughly an uncomfortable meter in height each, but Alex was too stubborn to put one down.

"Oh no." Jefferson said loudly. Alex wasn't able to look at him as he was preoccupied with balancing two boxes with one hand and propping open his door with the other. Judging by Jefferson's tone, however, he would be wearing the tiny frown he always wore whenever Alex would stand on a table to complain at someone.

"What have you done now?" Alex asked, finally kicking the door shut as he passed with more force than needed.

"Last night. I called a number twenty seven times." Jefferson answered, sounding rather distracted.

"Did you drunk call an ex or something?" Alex offered, finally placing the last two of the boxes on his counter. He felt a vague sense of victory in what he had just done in two trips instead of three. Take that, delivery service, with your awkward boxes.

"No." Jefferson said flatly. Alex sighed, turning to face him and watch Jefferson's expression vary between tiredness and frustration. "This number is unknown."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Ring it, then."

There was a pause in which Jefferson hesitated before complying. Alex's phone buzzed loudly on his counter for a second, before The Imperial March started to drone.

Alex exchanged looks with Jefferson.

"Why do you have my phone number?" Jefferson asked slowly, glancing at his phone, then at Alex, as though Alex would have any idea.

"Why is your contact under the name of Tommy?" Alex retorted defensively, crossing his arms and matching Jefferson's stare equally.

"Tommy?" Jefferson repeated with a sneer, as though the name had personally offended him. "You better fucking change that."

"No, thanks. I think I'll keep it like this." Alex said, biting back a grin at the wrathful force of Jefferson's glare. He was evidently unsuccessful, as Jefferson's eyes narrowed.

"Fine." Jefferson said in a voice that simply spelled out trouble. "Your contact will be put down as Xander."

"Okay." Alex shrugged, trying to make his voice sound as uncaring and dismissive as possible whilst internally cringing. "I'm fine with that."

Jefferson merely glanced at him before arching an eyebrow. "No, you're not."

"Fuck you and fuck your stupid ass nickname." Alex snapped. With a grin, Jefferson made his way over to the counter, peering at the boxes with mild interest.

"You've ordered thirty gnomes." He stated with a tiny smile, as though this was somehow endearing to him.

"Don't remind me." Alex muttered, opening the closest box equipped with nothing but willpower and the valuable ability to work out what direction the duct tape had been applied. Alex finally peeled the nearest box then sighed when he saw them, wondering what had inexplicably drawn his drunken self to them. The only notable trait - if it could be considered a trait - was how spectacularly unappealing they all looked.

"Hey, this one looks like you!" Jefferson exclaimed, looking far too cheerful, arm brushing against Alex's as he reached over to pick one out of the box. 

"No, it doesn't." Alex snapped, crossing his arms and valiantly attempting to ignore the warmth from Jefferson as he stood close besides him.

"It's short and has terrible style." Jefferson continued as if he didn't hear him, even though the small smirk told Alex that he definitely had. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, you twat."

"Admittedly, it is quieter than you." Jefferson mused, seemingly in mock-thought, as though the idea of a gnome-Alex genuinely intrigued him.

"Fuck off." Alex scowled. "Go back to investigating or something."

Jefferson sighed, as though Alex was asking for something that was completely unreasonable. After a few seconds of Jefferson trying to calculate whether he would get away with staying there and continuing to frustrate the fuck out of Alex (with Alex's glare answering in the negative), he rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Alex glared at the offending boxes, resisting the petty urge to push them off his counter. Knowing his luck, he'd somehow end up breaking his hand. Instead, he brusquely placed the gnome that Jefferson had insisted appeared like him (and ignored the fact that it was, for some reason, wearing a green blazer almost identical to his own), wondering if he glared at the boxes enough they would combust.

"Fucking hell." Jefferson muttered.

"What now?" Alex asked, turning to face Jefferson his voice far less exasperated and far more interested than he had intended it to sound.

"My camera roll." Jefferson frowned, holding up his phone. From his short distance, Alex could see over twenty images and videos under the category of recent, the rest being obscured by a notification.

Alex quirked an eyebrow, walking over to Jefferson. He leaned on the back of his couch, arms crossed. "Let's see, then."

Jefferson looked at him for several seconds, seemingly assessing him, before he conceded with a sigh and a quick, quiet insult muttered under his breath that Alex graciously ignored. The video played.

The first thing Alex noticed about the video was the sound. At first he thought someone was being injured - a cat, perhaps - but at a glance, he realised that this was not quite the case. With dawning horror, Alex watched as he - a rather drunken he - was attempting to sing along to a song (Hakuna Matata, his inner seven-year-old reminded him), if singing also meant tuneless shrieking. The clip only lasted a few seconds, but the horror that Alex was developing increased significantly by the end of the video.

He was silent, staring in shock. His eyes darted across the dark, unassuming screen, torn between pure embarrassment and an odd desire to laugh. Jefferson seemed to have the same reaction, glancing between his phone and back at Alex, as if to confirm that Alex was actually the person on the video.

"Oh no." Alex whispered, the dread cheerfully increasing as he replayed the video - with the rather alarming soundtrack that Alex had drunkenly provided - in his mind.

"Oh my god." Jefferson said, a slow smile building. This finally snapped Alex out of his shocked stupor, and his eyes widened.

"Delete that." Alex demanded, lunging for the phone, and was completely unsurprised when Jefferson used his ridiculous height to his advantage.

"I should send this to Burr." Jefferson mused, the genuine smile throwing Alex for a brief second before he fully comprehended the words spoken.

"Don't you dare!" Alex snapped, holding eye contact in an attempt to find out if Jefferson was serious - and, knowing him, he was.

"You're adorable." Jefferson grinned, holding the phone over Alex's head, just out of his reach, because Jefferson was a complete bastard.

"No, I am not!" Alex seethed, making vicious jabbing motions with his index to underline his point. "I am a formidable political opponent and you should fear me!"

Jefferson snorted, looking down at Alex with a smirk. "How can I fear you when you sing so beautifully?"

"Oh my fucking God." Alex hissed, trying to convey all of his feelings of discontentment into short, clipped words. "You better fucking run."

"You're literally the cutest person I've ever met." Jefferson smirked down at him in a rather condescending response. 

"I will throw this gnome at you." Alex threatened, holding one up. He tried to look as serious as possible, squaring his shoulders and jaw. Jefferson looked at the gnome, then at Alex, with one skeptically raised eyebrow.

"No, you won't."

"Fuck you." Alex scowled, knowing full well that Jefferson was right. Instead, he opted to throw a nearby cushion at Jefferson and was caught slightly off guard when Jefferson caught it and threw it back in his face. He recovered quick enough from the brief distraction to witness the grin Jefferson was wearing.

"This-" Jefferson insisted cheerfully, gesturing at his phone. "-is perfection."

"Smug, Virginian twat." Alex muttered under his breath, not caring if Jefferson could overhear him.

"Short, annoying bastard." Jefferson retorted easily, lips still quirked up at the corners despite being insulted.

"Fight me." Alex immediately challenged, though mostly on auto-pilot.

Jefferson grimaced, glancing up and down Alex as though he was dismissing the idea that Alex could ever pose as a threat. "I'd rather not."

Alex glowered at Jefferson, before he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with thinly veiled frustration. He cast a tired look at the tiny cluster of cardboard boxes. "Christ."

"How drunk were we?" Jefferson asked with a small smile, one that almost looked fond, his eyes soft. Alex paused, regarding Jefferson with a matching smile adorned with what could only be described as affection, before quickly glancing at the floor, biting his lip.

He decided to pretend that that never happened.

"Drunk enough to wake up in someone else's bathtub." Alex murmured, trying to recover from his awkwardness.

Jefferson raised a deeply unimpressed eyebrow. "And drunk sing Hakuna Matata."

"Shut up." Alex scowled, feeling the dull flush of embarrassment color his face.

"And order thirty garden gnomes." Jefferson continued, ignoring Alex's request.

"Shut up." Alex repeated, wondering if he should follow through with a threat to throw a gnome at him.

Jefferson, of course, smiled blithely and continued to disregard what Alex said. "This is amazing."

"Go and choke." Alex retorted, crossing his arms.

"That requires too much effort." Jefferson replied, bored. Thankfully, Jefferson also seemed to have dubbed sending the video to Burr too much effort, as he placed his phone facedown on the counter (well within Alex's reach), before switching on the TV. Surprisingly, Jefferson acting as though he lived in Alex's apartment didn't bother him as much as he knew it should.

"What are you going to watch?" Alex asked, keeping a watchful eye on Jefferson. He briefly entertained the idea of locking Jefferson out of his phone again, before maturely deciding against it.

"Mulan." Jefferson replied, voice carefully levelled, as though this was more significant than Alex knew. "Do you want to watch with me?"

"Why Mulan?" Alex questioned, even as he settled down besides Jefferson. He pretended that there wasn't several seconds of debate at what proximity was appropriate to be next to Jefferson before deciding that he was significantly overthinking it.

Jefferson paused in browsing Alex's collection of movies to shot him a deeply unimpressed look, as though Alex was asking something incredibly stupid. "It's my hangover movie."

"Obviously." Alex muttered, alarmingly aware of how close he was to Jefferson. They were close enough for Alex to be able to pick up on the discinct aftershave (masculine, expensive - probably costs more than Alex's apartment) that Jefferson wore, admittedly rather faded but still there. He cleared his throat, glancing away from Jefferson. "You do know it's a kids movie, right?"

"You had no trouble with that last night." Jefferson retorted.

"Don't say that." Alex grimaced at the reminder. "I'd prefer to pretend that that never happened."

There was several seconds of comfortable silence as they both waited for the movie to load.

"Alexander?" Jefferson drawled lazily, interrupting the silence. A quick glance at Jefferson told him that it was best Alex ignored him.

"What?" Alex answered cautiously, going against his observations. The smile on Jefferson's lips spelled out trouble, yet Alex was far too curious for his own good.

"You're adorable when you're angry." Jefferson smirked. Alex shot him a sharp look, only to get more frustrated when Jefferson didn't even spare him a glance.

"No, I'm not." Alex scowled, crossing his arms defensively and tilting his chin up a bit.

"See? Adorable." This time, Jefferson met his glare with a smile.

"Fight me." Alex replied quickly, sitting up straighter and squaring his shoulders.

Jefferson watched him with a raised eyebrow. "Too tired for that shit."

"Because you know I'd win." Alex added quickly, trying not to grin at the exasperation that flashed across Jefferson's expression.

"You've challenged me to a fight about three times today." Jefferson mused, sounding rather unfazed by Alex's witty retort. "The only thing shorter than you are is your temper."

Alex glowered at Jefferson. "Then-"

"Shut up, it's starting." Jefferson interrupted, holding up one hand to mute him. Alex blinked, completely taken aback, before he scowled. He was about to retort, using as many profanities as possible, but at Jefferson's 'just-try-it' look, chose to bite his lip instead.

Around halfway through the movie, Alex had made several witty quips that Thomas insisted were very, very stupid and that Alex didn't get the plot. Regardless, Thomas had the ability to recite next to all of the words - which Alex found to be both impressive and (endearing) mildly worrying. However, by the end of the movie, Thomas had decided that coffee was of upmost importance.

"No mint leaves?" Alex asked, watching Thomas return from his kitchenette and settle besides Alex, voice far quieter than usual.

Thomas lifted an eyebrow, glancing at Alex. "I've scared you enough for today."

"I'm not scared." Alex scoffed.

"Keep on telling yourself that, captain denial." Thomas replied, raising his mug in mock salute. Alex scowled when he saw the annotation on it - I'm with an idiot - and, judging by Thomas's knowing smirk, he knew full well what he was doing. Regardless of how offended Alex was, he accepted the mug passed to him.

"Just put that stupid mug down before you hurt somebody." Alex rolled his eyes, even though, despite of himself, the corner of his lips quirked upwards. Surprisingly, Thomas complied with a grin.

There were a few moments of relaxed silence, in which Alex picked up in the fact that his arm was almost touching Thomas's.

"Alexander." Thomas began, startling him out of his thoughts. Thomas paused as he evidently chose his words carefully, state focused on Alex's table. Alex followed his gaze, before sighing. "Is that a-"

"-pentagram made out of glitter on the coffee table?" Alex finished off, before taking a slow sip of coffee as he stared vaguely into space. "Yeah."

Thomas frowned. "What exactly does it mean?"

"Lafayette." Alex said simply, which was enough explanation for both of them. Thomas's lips quirked up, and they settled into a companionable lapse of quiet for a few seconds, before Alex broke the silence.

"I have no idea how Lafayette got into my apartment." Alex frowned, tilting his head to get a better look at the pink glitter. "I'm going to call him."

"Put it on speaker."

"Intrusive fucker." Alex replied, no heat whatsoever in his voice. By the first ring, Alex wondered if he had made a mistake, calling Lafayette so early on a weekend morning. After three rings, Lafayette answered.

"Lafayette-" Alex began.

"Alex!" The ungodly shriek startled him. He jumped holding the phone out at an arm's length with a grimace as though he had been burned.

"Jesus." Alex said flatly, already deeply regretting his choice. Thomas smirked, but didn't vocalise his obvious amusement.

"Alex!" Lafayette repeated loudly, although he had mercifully calmed in a few seconds. "You've called! Is Thomas with you?"

"Unfortunately." Thomas replied, completely unbothered by the sheer force of energy ingrained in Lafayette's voice.

"Ah, of course!" Lafayette had a wide grin in his voice, sounding as though he hadn't expected any less. "How are you two doing?"

"Terribly." Alex offered half-heartedly, still fixing the phone a cautious look in case it were to spontaneously combust.

Knowing Lafayette, somehow, it would.

"Sure, terribly." Lafayette said that word in such a tone that Alex got the odd feeling that Lafayette didn't actually believe him - in fact, Alex could clearly imagine the airquotes, and Hercules in the background unsubtly whispering that Lafayette wasn't quite convinced.

"Do you know what happened last night?" Thomas asked, sounding rather entertained instead of completely perplexed like Alex felt.

"What do you mean? You don't remember?" Lafayette asked, voice a bewildering blend of offended and cheerful. "I had a house party!"

Now that Alex took this fact into adequate consideration, it explained everything. When he spoke, he did so vehemently, putting as much of his grieved expression into two words as possible. "Oh no." 

"Oui." Lafayette said, and Alex could hear the smug grin in Lafayette's voice.

Alex sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He wanted to hang up, just to regroup and focus on something instead of exasperation, before calling back. "I thought I swore off your house parties."

"Oh, you did." Lafayette said lightly, in a calm tone, as though they weren't discussing Alex's worst nightmare.

"You did?" Thomas asked, glancing between him and the phone.

"Of course I did." Alex sighed, before adopting a much more accusatory tone as he directed his words at his phone. "Especially after what happened last time."

"Still? With this again?" Lafayette questioned, sounding more inquisitive than accusing. "It wasn't John's fault you ate that soap, Alex."

"Soap." Thomas repeated blankly.

"Don't ask." Alex quickly replied, shooting Thomas a warning glare. Of course, Thomas's confusion sent Lafayette into an overdramatic tirade.

"We all told you it wouldn't taste as good as it smelled, but non! Alexander Hamilton, gourmet chef and drunk extraordinaire knew best." Lafayette snapped, all whilst somehow holding a prim and indignant front.

"John was encouraging." Alex argued, crossing his arms defensively as he repeated what he had said many times before.

"Oui, and I was recording. Really, Alex, you make these things too easy." Lafayette retorted, a small smile in his voice.

"Oh my God." Thomas whispered, grinning as though varied seasonal holidays had come early.

"Thomas, that's blasphemous." Alex said with a reasonable and pragmatic tone, despite the fact that he was rather strongly an atheist. "You know, every time you use the lord's name in vain, baby Jesus cries."

"That's why we have rain." Lafayette added importantly, and Alex could picture the informative nodding accompanying his words.

"Great." Thomas said, staring sullenly at the glitter pentagram. "Now I feel hungover. Thank you, Alexander."

"You're welcome." Alex replied cheerfully.

"So, what's up?" Lafayette asked, voice suddenly quieter and more conspiring. On instinct, Alex paid far more attention to the sudden shift in tone. "Did... anything happen?"

"What the hell?" Alex felt his face heat up as he stared, wide-eyed at the phone. Lafayette couldn't see his expression, and all Alex could do was hope that Lafayette knew him well enough to know that he was caught completely unprepared.

"I think I'd remember that." Thomas mused, almost completely unfazed. Lafayette hummed in noncommittal agreement.

"I remember nothing." Alex sighed, feeling the frustration he had from earlier this morning come back with a vengeance. "Literally nothing."

"Nothing?" Lafayette repeated loudly, before letting out a world weary sigh. He sighed again, louder and more dramatic than before when his point was evidently not put across. "God. Alex, take me off loudspeaker."

Alex exchanged confused looks with Thomas, which he redirected to his phone, before he complied. Alex's voice was lowered, because Lafayette tended not to care about things like embarrassment or awkwardness. "Laf, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing." Lafayette said breezily.

He frowned. "Then why-"

"I'm going to send you a video." Lafayette announced, voice suspiciously light. "Of last night."

"Right..." Alex said slowly, sending a glance at Thomas, who was looking over at Alex with mild curiosity. 

"And I want you to be prepared." Lafayette added, maintaining that light tone that suggested he was up to something and Alex probably wouldn't like it.

Alex sighed, taking a tired hand through his hair. "If it's me singing again-"

"What?" Lafayette asked sharply, leaving Alex with the morbid sense that he had created a grave, unredeemable mistake. "No. What? Why haven't I seen this?"

"Don't worry." Alex said quickly, far too quickly to sound remotely reasuring. 

"I'm going to see that video after I send in mine." Lafayette warned rather ominously. Alex blinked, about to reply in the negative, but a soft click answered before he could. A quick glance at the cracked screen of his phone told him that Lafayette had promptly hung up. Alex blinked, staying completely still for a few seconds before sighing deeply.

"What was that?" Thomas's eyes were fixed on Alex, hands resting casually in pockets.

"I'm not quite sure." Alex muttered, srubbing the back of his hand across his face, the exasperation melting down into exhaustion. The aspirin he had taken earlier had done its job in the respect that it had taken away most of the pain, but Alex was left with a small headache.

"Still hungover?" Thomas asked, picking up on Alex's frustration faster than expected.

The corner of Alex's lips quirked up at the observation. "Slightly."

"Coffee?"

Alex shot Thomas a look, one that quite simply said that Thomas knew better than to ask. "I'm never going to say no to coffee."

Alex's phone made a clean, clicking noise. Thomas glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, but didn't ask. Alex didn't sigh, but he did roll his eyes as he read the message from Lafayette (one that included far more emojis than letters), and, a few moments later, a twenty-second clip was downloaded.

Alex sent a quick glance at Thomas, before lowering the volume. It was more pragmatic to assess the damage and work out who he had to apologize to before risking extreme embarrassment.

Knowing him, however, it was either a drunken Alex proclaiming his undying love for his friends, or various dogs (or Thomas, as John never ceased to remind him). That, or it was a video of Alex punching someone in the face.

Alex really hoped it was a video of him punching Charles Lee in the face again.

With one last, quick glance at Thomas, he pressed play.

It was quite late in the night, judging by how dark it was outside and how much glitter was strewn about the room via a drunk Lafayette and 'tipsy-not-drunk' John. However, with a growing anxiety, Alex noticed that the disheveled appearance of Lafayette and Hercules's apartment wasn't the focus of the video - Alex was. Hercules had said something, and Alex saw his eyes light up, suddenly far more alert.

"Oh no." Alex muttered under his breath as he watched himself approach Thomas - who was stood next to Madison and completely ignoring the rest of the world - with a tiny grin. The grin grew broader when Thomas paid him some attention, turning to face him with a raised eyebrow. Even when drunk, there was a quick flash of apprehension behind the blatant drunkenness, before Alex grabbed Thomas by his cravat and pressed their mouths together.

Even whilst muted, Alex could see that the following cheers was loud and raucous, but neither Alex or Thomas paid it any attention. The video was quickly directed to Peggy and John executing a surprisingly co-ordinated high five, before cutting to a blank screen.

"Shit." Alex whispered, staring, eyes wide. The video automatically replayed, put on a loop, yet he was to shocked to pause it.

"Shit." Alex repeated quietly. He had kissed Thomas. Watching the video didn't suddenly bring back memories, but that was definitely him, definitely kissing Thomas Jefferson.

Alex wasn't surprised with the fact that he was not upset about kissing Thomas - it was impossible not to notice that he was stupidly, frustratingly attractive - especially since they spent most of the day together at work. What was annoying him was the fact that he couldn't even remember.

He glanced at Thomas, who was regarding him with a bemused look.

"Shit." Alex said for a third and final time, and felt more color rise to his face as he tried to shake the feeling of being caught out.

"What was it?" Thomas asked, leaning against the counter, besides two novelty mugs.

"Nothing." Alex said, far too quickly to sound truthful, but crossed his arms protectively, challenging Thomas to call him out on his lie.

"Right." Thomas drawled, glancing up and down Alex, looking deeply unconvinced despite Alex's amazing lying skills. "Doesn't seem like nothing."

Somehow, it was possible for Alex to get more embarrassed. He barely resisted the urge to take a step back or sheild his face with his hands. Alex didn't reply, but he did briefly entertain the idea of throwing his phone out a window and somehow getting his - and whoever was also at that party - memories erased.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you've ever blushed this much."

Which, of course, made things worse. Alex glanced to the floor, before returning Thomas's frown with one of his own. "Yeah, well, your ideas are stupid."

"That was..." Thomas trailed off, sighing empathetically. Alex privately admittedthat his comeback wasn't up to his usual standard.

"Coffee." Alex announced. If anything, Thomas seemed more alarmed by the sudden change in subjuct, even though Alex had been amazing subtle in doing so. Alex picked the least offensive mug - one that read 'weird is a side effect of awesome' - and took a small sip. He immediately regretted his, as it was practically scalding, but he refused to appear nervous in front of Thomas, so he kept his face impassive, save for his lips forming a thin line.

Thomas watched Alex with a steadily deepening frown. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Alex insisted, inwardly cringing at the overly protective lilt to his voice.

"That's why you look like you want to slink off the face of the earth?" Thomas questioned, not even bothering to try hide the disbelief in his tone.

"Go and step on Lego." Alex snapped.

For a brief second, Thomas looked genuinely offended, but then the corner of his lips quirked up. "That's a significant step up from insulting my ideas."

"Your ideas are stupid." Alex reasoned, ignoring the exasperated sigh he was given in response. Instead of taking the obvious bait, as Alex expected him to, Thomas picked up his mug.

Thomas watched him for a few more seconds, before he redirected his gaze to his own coffee mug. "You look cute when you blush."

Alex choked on thin air.

Thomas raised an eyebrow, looking completely unaffected by his own words. He spared Alex a relatively condescending look. "Don't die on me, Alex. We both know it'll look like a homicide."

Alex immediately balked at the order. "Don't tell me what to do, I'll die whenever I goddamn please."

"Then die quietly." Thomas rolled his eyes. Alex huffed, muttering something biting under his breath that even he wasn't entirely sure actually was but hoped that his tone of voice would indicate his distaste. Alex took another sip of coffee, forgetting that it was too warm, and was unable to hide the grimace this time. He sheepishly placed the mug on the closest box of gnomes.

"Did James go to the party?" Alex asked, breaking the silence, even though he knew full well that Madison was there.

Thomas frowned in consideration, picking up his phone from where he had left it before on the countertop. "I've called him four times, so I think so."

"Let me speak to him?" Alex asked, watching Thomas's actions very carefully.

"No." Thomas said quickly, grimacing as though it Alex was going to be so careless as to accidentally throw his phone out of a window.

Alex paused, mildly taken aback from Thomas's monosyllabic yet strongly expressed disagreement. "Why?"

"The James you know at the office is not the James I know as a hungover lightweight." Thomas deadpanned, betraying no signs of joke or mockery. There was a tightening to his jaw - one that, surprisingly, didn't indicate annoyance. Rather, it spoke of grim experience.

Alex blinked, before raising his hands in mock placation, backing away. "Fine."

The few seconds that followed were in silence, with Thomas occasionally glancing up to meet Alex's eyes, as though he was questioning his sanity, before sighing and glancing back down. Alex pretended that he wasn't questioning his sanity, too.

Madison picked up on the second call, on the fifth ring.

"James." Thomas greeted lightly, conspicuous in his caution, as though he was testing unsteady waters. Alex had never seen a trace of being unsure in Thomas before. His concern must have shown, because Thomas gave a tightly lipped smile before mouthing what suspiciously looked like, 'James loves me really.'

There was a pause.

"What." Madison seethed. Alex tried not to take a step or two back; he had never heard Madison's voice sound so blatantly venomous before. Thomas sent him a significant look, one that smugly stated 'I told you so.' Alex gestured rudely to Thomas, who rolled his eyes in response.

"Morning, sunshine." Thomas said cheerfully, seemingly at ease now that he had assessed how bad a temperament Madison was in.

Madison's voice was almost a snarl. "Fuck you and fuck your sunshine."

"How are you?" Thomas continued as though he hadn't heard Madison's demonic tone of voice. Alex wondered whether Thomas was brave or stupid - then decided that he was unquestionably stupid.

There was a pause. Then, a very blunt, "Death warmed over."

"Delightful." Thomas said blithely. There was a pause, then a deep sigh from Madison. When he spoke, his tone was worn with exhaustion.

"So, how's your new boyfriend?"

Alex's brows furrowed.

What new boyfriend?

That was new.

Absent-mindedly, his shoulders tensed until they were as taut as a bowstring. He wasn't aware of his posture changing, only focusing on new information.

It took him a long time to remember that it wasn't Alex's business to know if Thomas was actively dating.

It took him even longer to remember that he wasn't supposed to care.

Alex decided that he was acting stupid, but unfortunately, he didn't seem to mind that much - the majority was still buzzing with overwhelming curiosity. 

(If that curiosity seemed a little more aggressive than usual, Alex decided that it was because of a hangover).

Thomas cast Alex a quick glance, which caused him to startle out of his internal monologue. An eyebrow was quirked. "He seems like he's a bit annoyed."

"Already?"

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked quickly, because he wanted to know. "What new boyfriend?"

All Alex could hear was Madison sighing again. Alex could even picture Madison rolling his eyes, an expression reserved for only the most stupid of Charles Lee's comments.

"What?" Alex crossed his arms.

"Your new boyfriend appears to have no idea that he's your new boyfriend." Madison sighed.

"You know, James." Thomas began, picking his words with an exaggerated caution. "We aren't actually-"

"Don't even lie to me, Thomas Jefferson." Madison interrupted, and, surprisingly, Thomas had enough sense to fall quiet. "You could've been an old married couple for years, but both of you are too stubborn to propose."

"Do you have a boyfriend or something?" Alex asked, feeling completely bewildered, as though he had overlooked a key, contributing factor.

Thomas shot him a glare, though the heat of said glare was tampered down by the fact that Madison had chosen that moment to give a loud snort of laughter. Thomas glowered at his phone, then looked at Alex. "You're not helping."

"I'm not here to help." Alex replied immediately, before hastily adding, "If you have a boyfriend, I wouldn't mind - or care. I wouldn't care, either. Definitely wouldn't care."

There was a pause, in which Thomas stared at him as though he was completely oblivious, and if James were there, he would likely be doing the same. Alex shuffled his feet awkwardly, but didn't break the eye contact.

It struck Alex how dark Thomas's eyes really were - impossiblely deep, and captivating in its intensity. The type of eyes that could fix you a stare that would be difficult to look away from.

Madison's cheerful voice cut through his thoughts. "And that, Thomas Jefferson, is the sound of a liar."

"That is the sound of a straight man." Thomas retorted dryly. "You're merely confused because they sound so similar."

"Thomas." Madison deadpanned, not even expressing his frustration through a sigh. "Literally everyone we know is somewhat gay."

"He has a point." Alex mused, nodding his head once in easy agreement.

"I know I have a point." Madison agreed.

"You always have a point." Thomas said flatly, sounding as though he was re-evaluating most of his life decisions. "Thank you, James."

"You're welcome." Madison replied, sounding significantly more cheerful. "So, what's up?"

Alex bit back his automatic response of "the sky.' He uncrossed his arms, before crossing them again, feeling rather shut out of the conversation but not enough so that he could quietly back away without seeming impolite.

"I called you to ask about what you remembered from last night." Thomas said, thinly veiled frustration neatly punctuating his words.

"Drinking." Madison began, ignoring the dry mutter of 'shocker' under Thomas's breath. "John Laurens waltzing around in a pride flag. Lafayette with a glittered fedora and a stupid feather boa."

"I thought I imagined that." Thomas frowned, head tilted slightly to the right like a confused puppy."

"Unfortunately not." James said, and Alex could hear the slight grimace coloring his voice.

Thomas's lips quirked up in surprise. "Do you remember anything else?"

There was a pause. Alex could hear Madison impatiently tapping his fingers against something, before there was a sharp, clicking noise, as though Madison had suddenly remembered something.

"Oh!" Madison said loudly. "I remember you and Alex kissing."

Alex froze, heart beating too rapid and not at all at once.

Damn it.

He didn't control the grimace that had distorted his small smile. A loaded silence sweeped the room, thicker than brush strokes and more heavy than metal.

Alex didn't meet Thomas's eyes, deeply thankful that he could angle his body so that Thomas would be unable to read the expressions that would give him away.

"Thomas?" Madison's voice was very quiet. "What just happened? Holy shit, did I kill you?"

"I'll call you back." Thomas said, in an equally hushed tone. Alex grimaced. He wanted to look at Thomas, just to tell how he was feeling, and the blankness in his voice only proved to alarm him.

"No, I want to know what hap-" James's complaint was cut short with a small beep.

"So." Alex offered, voice sounding too loud in the stillness of the room. His hands were resting in pockets so that he didn't anxiously rake a hand through his hair, but he couldn't stop himself from biting the inside of his cheeks.

"I did remember that happening." Thomas's frown carried across into his voice, almost too quiet to pick up on. "I just thought..."

Alex blinked, surprised at the hurt feeling he had received from his words - it felt as though Thomas hadn't trusted him with this, as though Alex couldn't deal with that information. There was a pause, in which Alex risked a fleeting glance at Thomas, surprised to see an equal - if not, moreso - expression of nervousness. This was oddly comforting, to know that they were both in the same placement, despite Alex's knowledge beforehand.

"I suppose James is going to be unbearably smug about this." Thomas said offhandedly, almost sounding completely uninterested in the entire situation, but giving himself away by the tension in his voice.

"How can you be so casual about this?" Alex asked, frowning deeply. This earned him a sharp, almost offended look, before Thomas sighed, a quick expression flashing across his eyes, too quick for Alex to fully observe.

Flatly, "We were both drunk. It doesn't mean a thing."

"Right." Alex agreed slowly, ignoring the tightening in his chest, biting his lip. He felt lightheaded and heavy all at once - he tried to convince himself that his rather lackluster answer was due to the disorientation.

There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the calm ease that had come so easy a few hours ago now gone. Alex shuffled his feet. He glanced down to the corner of the room. He frowned, bit his lip again, before directing his eyes to his ceiling.

"Alex." Thomas began with a small grimace. The entire situation read for an awkward conversation ahead, one that Alex would rather not have relatively early in the morning. Especially not an 'I'm-not-interested-in-you' talk, as though Alex was blind and couldn't see how uninterested Thomas was in him.

"Alex." Thomas repeated, voice far more demanding. Alex developed an intense, unequivocal facination in something on the floor.

His phone blared.

Of course, Alex startled, scrambling to find his phone and willing the full flush of embarrassment to go away. He was going to kill John for replacing his ring tone - a slow clap which never ceased to amuse him - with what sounded like fifty cats. Yet, right now, he was thankful for a distraction from the conversation Thomas was trying to have.

"John?" Alex offered as soon as he had located his phone and pressed answer. He quickly glanced at Thomas, unsurprised but a little unnerved to see that Thomas seemed completely impassive.

Quickly, almost too quick for Alex to pick up words, "Alexander, yesterday, at that party, you-"

"I know." Alex said quickly, before John could finish explaining and underline the tension in his room. Thomas quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing at the tone that Alex had used.

There was a pause. "You don't sound happy." John stated, a puzzled frown in his voice. "Why don't you sound happy?"

"John-" Alex began, thankful that he hadn't put John in speaker, only to be interrupted.

"Holy shit, he's upset you." John exclaimed, and Alex could hear him sitting straighter, eyes wide and indignant.

"John-" Alex repeated, pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling part of his patience slowly die.

"I'm going to fucking kill him." John announced, almost cheerfully, as though this was something he did every odd weekend. His words held no room for debate.

"John, we've talked about this." Alex reminded, forcing some calmness into his voice. "No killing him."

"What?" Thomas asked sharply, brows furrowed, picking up on the fact that Alex had been talking about him.

Alex rolled his eyes, lowering his voice so that Thomas wouldn't be able to pick up all of his words. "Besides, I'll know if you kill him, since he's in my house."

There was a stunned pause from John, and Alex briefly wondered if he had accidentally given him a heart attack. His hypothesis was dismissed when he heard a small, frustrated huff from John.

"What happened, though?" He asked, sounding both grieved and insistent. "I thought you guys finally sorted it out. I was going to throw the greatest celebration party."

"No more parties." Alex said in a sharper pitch than expected, and Alex could imagine the disappointed pout that John would wear.

"But - you two kissed." John was frowning, still evidently confused, and Alex related strongly to the befuddlement. "Doesn't that mean something?"

Alex grimaced and he shuffled his feet. He risked a quick glance at Thomas, before returning his gaze to the floor. "That's what I thought."

"That bastard." John said softly. Alex almost immediately tried to contradict John before remembering that he had called Thomas a bastard more times than he cared to remember. There was a sigh, and John continued to speak. "He's in your house, yeah?"

"Yeah." Alex answered slowly with growing trepidation at John's soft, thoughtful tone. "Why?"

"You genuinely just let him stay there instead of kicking him out?" John said, surprise evident in his voice. Alex blinked. The thought of kicking Thomas out of his apartment hadn't even occured to him.

He decided not to read too deeply into that.

"Yeah." Alex eventually repeated, hesitation clear in his voice. Alex hoped that this would caution John into whatever he was about to suggest.

"Right. Here's what we're going to do." John began, grim resolute laced with iron in his voice and Alex almost hung up, already knowing what was going to be said next. "We'll call Aaron; he's strong as hell, doesn't ask questions and can keep a secret, and then we'll get Angelica - she knows good places to hide bodies-"

"I'm going to hang up." Alex interrupted what was going to be an undoubtedly descriptive and thoroughly planned murder involving at least two Schuylers. Alex could hear John's disappointed sigh, but ignored it in favour of hanging up.

"We're going to have to sort it out." Thomas mused, preventing the awkward silence from forming but at the same time preventing Alex a cover from awkward conversations.

"What?" Alex asked blankly, eyes quickly darting around the room as though there would be some sort of hidden clue.

"The gnome situation." Thomas elaborated slowly, eyes flicking to the neat boxes, before frowning. "Unless you want thirty of them in your apartment."

Alex blinked, an embarrassed rush of color rising to his face. "Oh."

Thomas didn't reply, merely shrugging, which meant that it was Alex's turn to speak, yet he found that words didn't come easily. Alex sighed. "This is awkward."

"Astute observation." Thomas replied, lips set in a thin line.

"If you remembered-" Alex paused, paying close attention to his phrasing whilst refusing to let a mild note of offence shape his words. "-what happened, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because you would take the news so well?" Thomas asked dryly, and Alex briefly admitted that Thomas had a point.

"I'd think you were making fun of me." Alex said quietly. There was a few seconds pause, in which Alex almost thought Thomas didn't hear him.

"I wouldn't make fun of you." Thomas frowned, equally hushed. He wasn't quite offended, since he didn't display any signs of annoyance, which meant that the expression Alex was given in response was hurt and didn't that make Alex feel terrible. "Not about this sort of thing."

"Why not?" Alex asked sharply and with clipped words, punctuating his disbelief by crossing his arms. A quick expression passed across Thomas's face - one that almost looked like he was tired, that he couldn't believe Alex's supposed ignorance.

"I just wouldn't." Thomas said, though his voice held the worn tones that indicated a deeper meaning beyond Alex's comprehension.

Alex had no idea what Thomas fully meant, so he frowned, arms still crossed. "Right."

This was evidently not the response that Thomas wanted, as Alex felt Thomas's state be directed at him. Alex met his eyes with a challenging stare, only to be matched with almost painful earnestness. Alex couldn't look away, even as Thomas spoke. "I'm serious."

Crossed arms tightened, and Alex bit his lip. Thomas's eyes briefly flicked downwards, following the movement, before meeting Alex's eyes again. Alex swallowed, cheeks heating up and ignoring the spike of frustration that followed, and covering his nervousness by speaking. "I know." 

Thomas stared at him for a few more seconds, before sighing. "James is going to kill me."

For once, Alex agreed with Thomas, because he had discovered a new side of James that he had never expected. "Yeah, he really is."

"Comforting." Thomas said flatly, though his lips were quirked up. "I have a lot of explaining to do."

"So do I. John is going to have a field trip with this level of ammunition." Alex replied, relieved at feeling a degree of normalcy finally enter back into the conversation.

Thomas looked like he was about to scoff at Alex, but was able to prevent himself by a thin margin. "At least you don't have to answer to the Schuylers."

Alex huffed. Dryly, "Do you think Peggy is going to shrug this off or something?"

"You get to have Peggy shout at you." Thomas deadpanned. "I'm going to have to deal with Angelica."

Alex grimaced, feeling a rush of sympathy at this. "Thomas, I'm not trained to be a funeral organizer, but I'll try my best."

"Thanks." Thomas said, words a bewildering mixture of confusion and amusement. Alex waved him off as though he would do the same for anyone else. 

"I really do have to sort out them gnomes." Alex mused, glaring at the three boxes on the counter. There was a pause, and Alex gave Thomas an expectant look.

"Don't look at me, I'm not going to help." Thomas replied, crossing his arms. "It's your problem, not mine."

"Thomas." Alex complained loudly, bordering in over dramatic. "I don't want to sort it out."

"It'll be good for you." Thomas mock-encouraged, cheerfully ignoring the dark glare he was given in response. "Room for growth, you know."

Alex sighed loudly, but was ignored. Alex sighed again, louder, and this time Thomas's lips quirked up. "Stop being so dramatic."

"I'm being dramatic?" Alex asked, quirking an eyebrow, glancing down at himself in confusion. "What can I say? It comes naturally."

Thomas looked deeply unimpressed, his expression a marriage between 'you're an idiot' and 'please shut up', before finally settling 'bullshit.'

Alex decided to look vaguely affronted at Thomas's disbelief, and he continued. "It's a gift."

An eyebrow was raised in response.

"I'm gifted." Alex added earnestly, eyes wide and hand splayed over his heart.

The response was quick and sharp. "Yeah, gifted in stupidity."

"Fight me." Alex challenged, standing up to all 5'2 of his height. Thomas looked at him for several moments, causing Alex to get the vague realisation that he might not look that intimidating compared to Thomas's absolutely ridiculous height.

Thomas didn't take much time to form his reply. "I don't think you should be fighting me if you're probably not allowed to go on some of the rides in a theme park."

Alex scowled, refusing to admit that Thomas had found a weak spot, but he knew that Thomas would know regardless. "You know I'd win."

Thomas sent Alex a saccharine smile that uncomfortably boarded on condescending. "It's cute that you think that."

"Asshole." Alex retorted, ignoring his pulse stutter at being called cute (again, seriously, how is Thomas able to make endearments sound like insults?)

Thomas rolled his eyes, not verbally acknowledging or replying to Alex's good comeback. There was a pause, in which Thomas's gaze was directed at his phone, which had seemingly randomly decided to turn itself on. He frowned, picking up his phone.

"What's happening?" Alex asked.

"Unknown number." Thomas replied, lowering his phone so that Alex could see it. Alex immediately recognised the number.

"Do not answer that." Alex hissed, and when Thomas didn't immediately comply, he repeated himself. "Do not answer that phone call."

Whilst maintaining eye contact, Thomas answered the phone.

The voice was rushed, hurried, but still distinct. "Fucking-Jefferson-you've-hurt-my-best-friend-you-bastard-"

Thomas hung up. Still staring at his phone, as though it contained trivial information about today's forecast, he asked, "Was that Laurens or Mulligan?"

"John." Alex replied, trying to match Thomas's light tone.

"Right." Thomas agreed, setting his phone in the counter. Alex grimaced, know full well that John wasn't one to give up on the first try.

Alex was proven right when Thomas's  phone rang again.

There was a pause.

Thomas met Alex's eyes.

"No." Alex said firmly. "Learn from your mistakes, damn it!"

Thomas raised his eyebrows. "You don't tell me what to do."

It appears that John hadn't paused in his tangent, and merely continued. "-difficult-to-find-ass-phone-number-from-James-god-damn-Madison-"

"That traitor." Thomas said flatly, obviously intent on frustrating John as much as possible.

John seemed not to have heard Jefferson, as he continued. "-to-rant-at-because-you're-a-bastard-"

"My parents are married." Thomas interrupted, but was ignored.

John continued, gaining speed and vigor as he continued to rant. "-and-you-can't-be-arsed-to-take-me-seriously-because-you-are-a-bastard-"

Thomas hung up.

The phone rang again.

They exchanged glances, and, without a word, Thomas shut down his phone. "Alex." He said slowly. "What was that about?"

Alex shrugged, noncommittal. "John's being an idiot."

Alex's phone rung, and Alex didn't need to read the caller ID to know it was John. He also shut down his phone, but nearly answered John instead of pressing the power off notification.

"Damn, now I know where you get your insufferable stubbornness from." Thomas said flatly, sounding distantly impressed. Alex shot him an overly-sweet smile in response.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Why is Laurens being more of an idiot than usual?"

"I am offended on John's behalf." Alex retorted, crossing his arms.

Thomas frowned, maintaining eye contact for several seconds. "Everyone is acting weird today."

"By everyone, do you actually mean Madison?" Alex asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"And you." Thomas added, nodding. "You're being all - friendly."

Alex blinked, adopting a mildly offended look. "I'm always friendly."

Thomas shot him a look.

"Always." Alex insisted, eyes widened in attempts to convey his honesty. "I'm a delight to be around."

"Before or after you swore to a life-long oath of hatred against me?" Thomas qupped.

"How did you know about that oath?" Alex asked sharply.

Thomas looked at him blankly, and Alex realised that Thomas hadn't been entirely serious. Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Exactly."

"I've never hated you." Alex insisted, mentally adding that he never could, though not through lack of trying. "You'd know if I hated you. I'd be stubborn and argumentive."

"Wait..." Thomas held up a hand, equipped with a look of dawning horror. "This is you being easygoing?"

"Yeah." Alex said slowly, because it was obvious that Alex was as easygoing as he could be. "What did you think it was?"

Thomas looked at him with something akin to pure, unadulterated alarm. "Remind me to never earn your hatred."

"Don't worry, you won't." Alex said lightly, hoping that he was quiet enough to not be overheard. 

There was a pause.

"You really don't hate me, huh?" Thomas asked with a small frown.

"Of course not." Alex scoffed. "You're annoying, painful to look at due to your questionable style-"

"Questionable?" Thomas repeated, arching an eyebrow.

"-loud, frustrating and arrogant, but unfortunately, you're too cute to hate." Alex paused at the end of his sentence, clearing his throat before meeting Thomas's stare. His words were dangerous, close to how he actually felt, but the danger was far too intoxicating to shy away from.

He hadn't meant to say that much, but Alex decided to pretend that he hadn't said the last part at all, focusing on his impressive insults.

The corner of Thomas's lips quirked up. "Damn right I'm cute. You're not too bad yourself, Hamilton."

Alex didn't respond, merely lifting his coffee mug in response. It had gone slightly too cold, but he refused to show any more outward signs of embarrassment.

Thomas looked at him. "Stop drinking so much coffee."

"I will once you stop wearing purple." Alex retorted, deeply regretting his choice to drink cold coffee, refusing to grimace.

"It's not purple." Thomas retorted with a sneer worthy of the stupidest of Charles Lee's comments. "It's magenta."

"Wow." Alex said loudly. "Literally could not care less."

Thomas shot him a sharp look, the corners of his lips quirking up into a smirk. "Fight me, then."

Alex grinned. "I'm too gay for that shit."

"You're gay?" Thomas asked immediately. Alex frowned, looking at Thomas as though to question Thomas's sanity.

"Very." Alex said.

"You're interested in guys." Thomas elaborated redundantly, as though that had somehow changed things. "As in, guys."

"Didn't you know?"

"No. If I'd know, I would've - Jesus, that's not the point." Thomas sighed, glancing quickly at the floor, before he stared down at Alex. "Why are we suddenly the most popular people on Earth? Over four separate phone calls in the span of three morning hours."

"I'm so goddamn likeable?" Alex offered, head tilted with a grin. His obvious charm seemed to hardly phase Thomas.

"Maybe it's because they've all heard about your amazing singing skills." Thomas quipped. "Knowing you, you probably have something more incriminating on your own camera roll."

Alex froze, because unfortunately, Thomas was right. The video Lafayette had sent immediately came to mind, and he almost glanced to the floor but was narrowly able to refrain from doing so.

"You do, don't you?" Thomas mused, sounding vaguely interested. Alex blinked, deciding to try and lie his way out of this one.

"No?" Alex said, trying to ignore the unsure lilt that colored his voice. He tried to maintain a blank expression, but unfortunately, Thomas knew him far better than he had expected.

"Incredible." Thomas deadpanned. "You lie even worse than I do."

Damn it. Unfortunately, Thomas knew him enough to accurately guess when Alex want being quite truthful, and the only upside to that was the fact that Alex could do the same with Thomas. He grimaced. "I'm going to have to show you, aren't I?" 

An eyebrow was raised. "Unless you want me to get James on you."

"Bastard." Alex retorted, knowing full well that Thomas would, and that a scary, hungover-James would discover the video Lafayette had sent to him in seconds.

"Just send it to me." Thomas said, and after a few seconds of hesitation, Alex turned in his phone. Thomas did the same. 

Alex sighed as he read all of the notifications he had received - most of them from an all-caps level of frustration John, and a cheerfully explosion of emojis from both Lafayette and Peggy. He quickly sent Thomas the video, cheeks heating up as he did so, before trying to quickly preoccupy himself with spamming Lafayette back in hopes to appear like he was more in control than he actually was. He cringed when the audio immediately droned, loud and invasive, before there was a quick lowering of volume.

"Wow." Thomas said lightly, still staring at his phone. "That's different than I remember."

Alex's grip on his phone tightened. "What do you remember?"

"You." Thomas quickly elaborated, eyes directed at the ceiling. "I don't remember seeing Peggy and Laurens high five, or Lafayette recording. You're all I can remember."

"At least the only person you remember is a total badass." Alex offered, trying to keep his tone light and completely failing. Thomas raised an eyebrow, putting how deeply unimpressed in one expression.

"God, how drunk were we?" Alex asked.

"Drunk enough to do that."

"Not that drunk, then." Alex muttered under his breath.

Thomas looked at him dryly. "You ordered-"

"Thirty garden gnomes, yes, I'm aware." Alex snapped, casting the boxes a dark look. "Do not bring that up again.

"James is going to kill me."

"Before or after John does?" Alex asked helpfully.

"Comforting."

"I can't believe that happened."

"I can." Thomas said quietly.

Alex paused. "I can too, I'm just confused 'cause I can't remember anything about it. You'd think something that important would be unforgettable."

"Important." Thomas repeated, and Alex inwardly grimaced. "That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said about me."

"Very important." Alex added, before his brain could catch up with his mouth. He was left feeling particularly stupid at the small frown he was given.

"You're strange." Thomas eventually settled in saying, eyes fixed unwaveringly in Alex's.

"I try." Alex replied, heart uncomfortably quick. His nervousness didn't carry across in his voice, which was only a small mercy.

"I'm serious." Thomas said, and Alex hated the honest note in his voice, hated that he wasn't sure how to interact with Thomas being Thomas instead of Jefferson. Thomas frowned. "You're far calmer than I expected."

"What did you expect?" Alex asked, because it was all he could think of saying without giving anything away.

"At least three death threats and more than ten broken plates." Thomas sighed and, punctuating his point, cast a cautious look to two cups on the coffee table.

"The thing I'm most pissed at is not remembering." Alex reminded him, hoping that Thomas wasn't able to read too deeply into his tone.

"See? You keep on saying shit like this and I can't help but hope-" Thomas frowned, cutting himself off. He grimaced, but was able to meet Alex's eyes.

"Hope about what?" Alex asked.

Thomas looked deeply hesitant, almost vulnerable. This lasted for a split second, before Thomas's expression closed off. Nonetheless, Thomas answered him, in a carefully guarded tone. "That you want me, too."

The world seemed to stop, then speed up, and Alex felt greatly disorientated. He tried to speak, but no words would come.

"It's nothing." Thomas shrugged, though the thinning of his lips indicated otherwise. Alex knew - he just knew - that if he said nothing, he would fuck everything up and Thomas probably wouldn't talk to him because he fucked it up.

Oh hell no.

Thomas looked at him sharply, and Alex realised that he had said that out loud. Alex paused, trying to hold eye contact with Thomas but finding it more difficult than usual. Yet, Alex had to ask, had to make sure that he hadn't suddenly hallucinated. "You want me?"

Thomas glared at him, though his eyes were softer and less sharp than Alex would have expected. "Do not make me repeat myself, Hamilton."

"Holy shit." Alex expressed, eyes wide. Thomas's words were slowly connecting, slowly making sense. Yet, judging by Thomas's grimace, it wasn't fast enough.

Thomas moved to turn his back on Alex.

Alex reached out, fingers closing over Thomas's arm. "Don't go."

Thomas looked sharply at him, lips set in a thin line and Alex could feel his own heartbeat, louder than anything else. Quietly, "I want you, too."

It took Alex a few moments to gain the ability to meet Thomas's gaze, but when he did, he saw the surprise written across Thomas's face.

"Ah." Thomas blinked, then cleared his throat. "Thank you."

Alex was mildly taken aback. "Thank you?" He repeated blankly.

"I'm sorry I don't have a speech planned out. I didn't really expect you to reciprocate." Thomas retorted, crossing his arms in an oddly defensive gesture, the flush on his face darkening as it spread even moreso against his cheeks.

"Yeah, but thank you?" Alex asked, a tiny grin building, because holy shit, Thomas had just said he liked him. It required all of Alex's self control, but he was able to refrain from spinning in a giddy circle. Thomas looked in mock frustration, but his smile gave him away.

"Shut up, you nerd." Thomas replied, eyes softer than Alex had ever seen them be before.

"If anyone's the nerd, it's you, you nerd." Alex retorted, grin widening as he nudged Thomas gently with a shoulder.

Thomas rolled his eyes. There was a moment, and but he frowned at Alex with a relatively calculating stare. "Are you sure you're serious?"

Alex gave him a glare, trying to mask how flustered he felt with a mock angerzxhu. "You know how cute you are."

Thomas blinked. His shoulders relaxed - just slightly - but he still looked serious. "Well, yeah, but I thought you wouldn't notice."

"It's difficult not to notice when you're so loud with your stupid ass clothing and your stupid voice." Alex reasoned.

"You like my accent." He said slowly, dragging out his words. Alex pretended that the tone of voice didn't affect him at all - lower, deeper, the type of voice that made it sound as though the subject was better left in the bedroom.

"No?" Alex hastily replied, a few seconds too late, and phrasing it like a question he already knew the answer to.

"You should work on your lying, Alexander." Thomas mused, moving a little closer to Alex with the corners of his lips curling into a self-satisfied smirk. Alex promptly forgot what he was about to say, but was sure that it was equally, if not moreso, insulting than his first comment.

"It'd help you at work." Thomas added, moving his hand to rest against Alex's cheek, eyes dark.

"Fuck you." Alex breathed, even as he leaned into the warm touch, strongly aware of his rapid pulse. Alex bit his lip, knowing full well that Thomas would trace that movement with his eyes.

"I would like to kiss you." Thomas paused, voice dropping an octave that settled heavily in Alex's chest. "If that's okay."

"Yeah, no issues here." Alex hurried to say, a little breathless. His face flushed, and he felt the odd urge to elaborate. "None at all. As long as there are no issues with you, I'm fine. Well, better than fine, since-"

"You talk too much." Thomas mused with a small, shy smile that made Alex's heart beat that much quicker. With a split second of hesitation, Thomas moved his hand from Alex's cheek to gently rest against his waist.

"Kinda." Alex admitted in a whisper, leaning up slightly so that he could wrap his arms around Thomas's neck. The change in position sent Alex's mind on haywire. This close, he could see the flicks of hazel - barely there against dark brown. He could feel the warmth from Thomas, a reminder of being held against Thomas.

"Make sure you don't forget this time." Thomas said quietly, voice low, lips a few inches from his own.

The first kiss was soft, hesitant - they were both tense, cautious enough so that it would be easy if the other person wanted to lean back, they could. The heat against Alex's lips was dizzyingly there - barely chapped, yet softer than Alex had imagined. His eyes fluttered closed, wanting to commit the feeling of Thomas's lips against his own to memory.

They separated, and Alex was still left feeling dazed, reeling from the sparks of electricity in his veins. He kept his eyes shut, heart racing in his ears. 

The next kiss desplayed less hesitation, and Alex allowed himself to melt against Thomas's warm touch with what was almost a sigh. Lips gently moved against his own, a soft pressure that Alex automatically matched. He felt too warm, Thomas's touch both amazing and burning all at once, and Alex was unable to think clearly.

When they parted for air, Thomas took half a step back, one hand raising from Alex's waist to cup his face.

"That was okay?" He asked, flush high in his cheeks and pupils dark.

"Yeah." Alex was quick to agree, and he blushed, biting his lip. "Better than okay."

"For once, you're agreeable." Thomas said with a small smile, the slightly rough pad of his thumb moving gently against Alex's cheek. "Maybe I should kiss you more often."

"There are still no complaints from me." Alex said quickly, before allowing a small smile to form. "Well, apart from your height."

Thomas quirked an eyebrow. "My height?"

"Yeah." Alex nodded. "You're ridiculously tall."

"That, or you're ridiculously short." Thomas retorted, smirking down at Alex. "Seriously, you have to lean up to kiss me."

Alex huffed in response, trying to bite back a smile as he lightly pushed Thomas's shoulder in response. Thomas laughed, nudging him gently in response, before pulling him close, allowing Alex to rest his head against Thomas's chest.

"Portable pillow." Alex mumbled against his chest.

"Good to know I'm of use." Thomas replied dryly,

"Always are." Alex replied. It's a realisation that he could get used to this, used to the light teasing areading and gentle touches. They would still argue fiercely in cabinet meetings - there would be no arguement about that - but the thought of being able to share his life with Thomas was enough to calm his restlessness.

"I could get used to this." Alex said softly, because he could.

"Me, too." Thomas replied. At this, Alex's heart fluttered a little, and he was glad that he was able to hide the color rising to his face.

He made a mental note to send a thank-you text message to Lafayette.