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“I’m hungry,” Thomas complained, tapping his fingers on the table.
“Well, Mrs. Washington is almost done with dinner, you’ll just have to wait a little longer,” Alexander replied.
Jefferson didn’t look happy about waiting. He went into the kitchen and came back with a whole tomato in his hands.
“Where did you find that?” Laurens asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Thomas Jefferson didn’t answer. Instead, he brought the tomato to his mouth.
“No!” Burr and Madison shouted at the same time.
Thomas stopped with his teeth very close to the vegetable. “Why not?”
“Come on, Jefferson, everyone knows tomatoes are poisonous. They’re from the Nightshade family” Burr gestured vaguely toward the other men, and they all nodded, except for Lafayette. “You can’t just eat one of those raw.”
“No? Watch me.” Thomas took a huge bite out of the tomato, as if it were an apple.
James lunged toward him to stop him from biting into it, but it was too late.
“Oh my God, Jefferson…” Hercules stood up, shocked.
“Doctor, doctor!” Madison shouted. “Come on, get a doctor!”
Aaron Burr and Mulligan ran out, looking for help. Lafayette remained seated in silence, with an amused look on his face, as if he heard a joke that no one else could hear.
John Laurens was not so discreet. He was a mix of shock and laughter, looking at Jefferson as if he couldn’t believe the man had the courage to die for any other reason than his gun.
Hamilton took advantage of the confusion to go to the kitchen.
“Jefferson, how are you feeling?” Madison stood in front of his friend, placing his hand on the other’s forehead and checking for any symptoms. “Dizziness? Nausea?”
“I’m fine!”
“Hallucinations, then...” He made Jefferson sit in one of the armchairs. “It’s worse than I thought.”
Alexander came back from the kitchen, holding as many tomatoes as he could carry.
“Please, Jefferson, don’t worry. Help yourself, as many as you want.” He started throwing some tomatoes in the boy's direction. “Come on, Madison, you can have one too.”
Lafayette pressed his lips together, as if holding back laughter. Americans were so funny sometimes, with their weird beliefs.
John was about to cry laughing and ended up affecting Hamilton, who also started laughing and dropping several tomatoes as a result.
“You idiots!” Madison shouted, with a murderous look in his eyes. “Get out of here, now! Or I'll kill you myself!”
“Are you going to make us eat tomatoes?” Hamilton asked as he left, just in time to avoid being hit by a tomato.
Thomas tried to hold Madison's hands, to try to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but the man wouldn't stop.
“Thomas... Thomas, dear, everything's going to be okay.” James hugged Thomas. “They'll come back with a doctor and everything's going to be alright.”
“James, I already told you I'm fine. It was just a tomato.”
It was like talking to the walls. Madison came closer, so close that Jefferson could see his face in detail.
“You can’t hurt yourself now, understand?” James, at this point, was practically sitting in Thomas’ lap. “We still have a lot to do together. If you get sick now I swear that…”
James buried his face in Thomas’ neck. He couldn’t even think about the possibility of losing his best friend. His partner.
“I love you,” he murmured. It was the first time he had said that to Jefferson. “Thomas, I love you. Please…”
He was prevented from speaking by Jefferson, who pulled him into a kiss right there. Both hands were holding James’ face, keeping him close. He could feel James’ body adjusting in his lap, as well as his hands quickly going to the back of his neck.
“Do you understand now that I’m okay?”
Madison felt his face heat up. Maybe there were a few tears on his face too, but he wouldn’t admit that.
“I mean… Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind you doing it again.”
Thomas laughed and caressed his cheek, his eyes full of affection towards his friend.
“James, I want you to know that…”
They both heard noise outside. It was just enough time for James to pull away and wipe his face, Hercules and Aaron pushed the door open, followed by a local doctor.
It was an awkward talk until they were able to explain what had happened and that Jefferson was more than fine. The doctor gave them a big lesson afterwards and left, laughing a bit.
“So, he’ll be fine?” Burr confirmed.
“Unfortunately…” murmured Hamilton.
Mrs. Washington had finished dinner already, so they were able to sit down and eat. A proper meal this time, not just a tomato.
“I knew the whole time, of course” said Lafayette, as they were retelling the story to Washington, who had not been present during the commotion.
“I told y’all there was no need to worry” he said, as they were finishing eating. “It’s like I’ve eaten any other vegetable.”
Madison heard this and looked up from his plate to correct him, mid bite.
“Actually, tomatoes are technically fruit.”
“Ugh, you two deserve each other.” Hamilton rolled his eyes and looked back at Laurens, as he always did when he told a joke. To see his laugh.
Jefferson ignored him and focused on Madison. Hw was not able to finish what he was going to say back then, but he didn’t have to anymore. He just held Madison's hand and smiled and the shorter one knew. They both had learned three important things that night.
Tomatoes are not poisonous;
A tomato is a fruit;
And they loved each other.