Chapter Text
June
“Alex. Alex! ALEX!” His eyes flew open, hands trembling against the keys on the jet black laptop. His eyes were glassy, unfocused. All eyes were on him in that small classroom, set up like the New York Times office. Newspaper. That was a... newspaper. He was in newspaper and oh holy shit; Angelica was right in front of him, and she was definitely angry. Angry, why was she angry? The paper, the article about gay pride. Fuck, my job, my job, where? James. It’s with James. He took it… oh holy fuck I’m gonna get hurt oh my god oh my god oh my-
“Hamilton. Broom closet. Now.” Angelica looked… sad? Regretful? Shit.
Alex got up, seeing the dozens of eyes on him, ranging from confused to concerned to smug… well, that part was just Thomas. Alex grabbed his computer, hissing in pain when his stupid fucking leg cut at his amputation spot. He limped to the broom closet with his laptop in hand, trying to ignore the stares of all of his classmates. Of Herc, of Laf… of John. Angelica opened the door for him, and the sound of it closing behind her was one of the worst sounds he had ever heard. It sickened him, down to his very soul.
Alex slowly sat opposite the large, wooden desk, in what used to be a loveseat, but now was just two seats. The loveseat was cut in half by the punk student who first found the broom closet. Well, the closet wasn’t a closet, everyone just called it that. It was really a small, personal office, for a counselor who worked at the school years ago. The office had been boarded up by a janitor, who just thought it was some empty room that wasn’t in use anymore. Well, some junkie found it and smoked in it during lunch, then the junkie graduated and told the GSA, being a part of the LGBT community, he thought it would be a safe place. That was Angelica’s sophomore year, and through a lot of searching, she found a better, larger space for the GSA to meet, and moved the school paper into the smaller, yet more efficient, classroom. By doing this, she got major props, and soon became the president of the newspaper.
Here they were, now. She was behind the desk, and he was in front of it. She was beautiful, and he was… worn down. A mess, held together by ratty clothes and greasy hair. Opposite of Angelica, who was in a knee length dress, hair pulled up, and as always, very fashionable. She looked… tired. Pitiful. Oh god, that was never good. He had seen the look so many times before, from foster parents, from teachers…
“Alex, you know that I love you, right? You’re like a brother of mine, and we’ve only known each other about six months. I wanted you to be the first to know, but I’m going really far when I graduate. New York, actually. I was accepted to NYU, and I just landed an internship at the Times... “
Alex grinned, standing up on shaky legs to give her a hug. “Angelica! That’s wonderful! Congratulations!”
Angelica accepted the hug, patting Alex’s back. She sat after a moment, sighing softly. “Unfortunately, that means I leave the week after graduation. They want me over the summer. What that means is, I can’t be here for summer prep… and I know that you’ll be busy getting your credits squared away for Junior year, but… I want you to be Vice President. Thomas is going to be President… I would give you the role, but I know you’re going to be so busy next year, and frankly, I’ve known him longer. Eliza will be Secretary, but… if you don’t make the meetings, she’ll replace you. She knows that, too. I told her. This is not an easy position, but it’s yours. I’ll be inducting you next Friday, if that’s alright…”
Alex grinned. He knew it would be hard, but this would be so great to put on his college application! He jumped up and hugged Angelica, paying no attention to how dizzy he got. “Thank you, thank you so much!”
She hugged him, sighing softly while she had her arms wrapped around him. “You just need to be healthier, and make your due dates, okay? I know how stressed you are, but luckily the paper isn’t being sent to the editors until tomorrow. Please send me the article soon.”
Alex nodded, jumping to his feet and grabbing his laptop. “Of course! It’s on my flashdrive at home, Jam- I-I mean… Just left it home by accident. I’ll send it tonight!” He rushed out of the room, excited energy quickly plummeting into nervous energy when he saw Maria standing in the doorway. She had seemingly just arrived, as everyone in the room was looking at her. When Alexander came out of the closet, though, all attention was turned on him. He looked down at the ground and got to his backpack as fast as possible, stuffing all his materials inside the ratty blue bag. He quickly stumbled to the door, not liking to worried look on Maria’s face.
She took his hand, whispering so no one else would hear. “James… he came home from work. He’s angry. Just got demoted… started drinking, asked where you were… I said you were in the bathroom… he wants you. Wouldn’t give me a second glance…”
Alex went pale in what seemed like seconds. He nodded and left, pulling Maria with him, not even stopping to utter a goodbye to any of his friends. Everyone else turned back to their work once they had left, all except Thomas. He watched the doorway, then opened a private tab on his computer. Alexander Hamilton was hiding something, and Thomas could easily find out what.
TW for rape, molestation. Not very detailed, but it’s there.
James was drunk… James was drunk out of his mind. Alex should have guessed, really. He wasn’t surprised when James pulled him onto his lap, that had happened before. James touching him didn’t come as much as a surprise either. James getting him something to drink, though… that was strange. New. James was never that nice. Alexander should have guessed, he should have known goddammit … but it was too late. He had drank the bottle of water James gave him in a few, fast gulps as he worked on the math homework in his lap.
When he started to get dizzy, he didn’t question it. That had been happening lately, a side affect of not sleeping and being dehydrated. But when his math work had gotten fuzzy, and everything around him sounded like it was happening underwater…? Yeah, he started to freak out. James was there though, pet his back, told him he was a good boy and that James would take care of him… whatever that meant…
He felt the math homework slide off his lap when James picked him up. Alex groaned in confusion, moments passing in a blur. One second, he was sitting in James’ lap, the next, he was being carried up the stairs. Then, he was being thrown on the bed next to Maria, who seemed to be in the same state as he was. Moments blurred together, time moving as fast and slow at the same time. James forced Maria to ride him, laughing. Then, he felt James behind him, touching him…
Alex blocked it out. Went limp. 'Floated away' while laying across from Maria…
He saw Maria do the same.
Alex woke up the next morning, pained from his head down to his feet. Everything hurt. He was laying against James, just… laying there. Maria was on the ground next to the bed, still asleep. He turned, groaning softly. James looked at him, and he looked back, scared beyond belief. He whimpered when James grabbed his arm, spitting in his face. “If you tell anyone this, I’ll kill John, then Maria, then your friends, then George and dear old Martha… I’ll make you watch. Finally, after making you see all your loved ones die, I’ll kill you.