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Contrary to what most people thought, James Madison hated studying. Sure, he looked like he was smart, and he was, absolutely. But he hated exams as much as the next person.
Which was why he was currently lying on his bed in his shared dorm, text book on his face, moaning. He was, however interrupted by a quick succession of knocks on the door. Kicking his legs over the side of his bed, he went to answer it.
“Oh.”
“Yo, is Burr here?”
James gawked up at the man standing in his doorway. He was tall, broad shouldered, attractive to say the least. He stood a good head taller than James, and was casually examining his nails, leaning up against the frame of the door.
“Uh, pardon?” James managed to stutter out, his eyes wandering to the muscles which peaked out beneath the man’s sleeves.
“Burr. Aaron Burr.” he repeated, but there was no annoyance in his voice, only disinterest, “This is his room, isn’t it?”
James shook himself out of his stupor, his brain processing the words. He felt his cheeks grow hot and he stared down at his feet.
“Yeah, yeah, of course it is.” he laughed awkwardly, missing how the man’s eyebrows shot up, “He’s out, um, studying I think. You’ll probably be able to find him in the library.”
Biting his lip, he prayed that the guy would just say thanks and leave so he could be embarrassed in peace. Unfortunately, James Madison was never very lucky when it came to...well anything.
“You know when he’ll be back?” the guy asked, and James finally looked up.
He was staring down at James with a grin he could only compare to a shark.
“I’m...not sure.” Was it hot in here or was it just this guy.
He hummed, his eyes wandering around the room, before landing back on James. His grin was back in an instant and he pushed himself off the doorframe.
“I’ll just come in and wait for him then.”
“Hey, wait-”
But it was too late. The man swished into the room, past James and over to Aaron’s bed. He sat down heavily on it and leaned back, watching Madison with a twinkle in his eye. When it looked like he wasn’t about to get up and leave anytime soon, James huffed and shut the door.
“Listen, I don’t know when Aaron’ll be back. He could take all night. I can tell him you were here.”
“I can tell him myself.” the man raised an eyebrow, “Unless I’m... bothering you.”
James took a breath.
“Actually, you are. I’m gonna be studying, so-”
“Oh I won’t make a sound, darlin’. Don’t mind me.”
If James face could go any redder, it did in that moment. The man’s grin only seemed to widen when he noticed this, it finally became clear.
He was laughing at him.
“Fine.” James’ mouth twisted into a scowl and he spun on his heel, marching back to his own bed and pulling his books into his lap.
What he didn’t notice was how the man’s smile faltered for a second, or how he rearranged himself on Aaron’s bed, adopting the maximum flirting position.
“The name’s Thomas, by the way. Thomas Jefferson...if you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.” James muttered, but he couldn’t help letting his eyes wander to where the man, Thomas, was now lying, head propped up in his hand, staring at James.
“Snippy.” he remarked, and Madison’s eyes immediately snapped back to his textbook, “And to think, Burr told me that you were pleasant company.”
“Well, he’s never mentioned you.” James allowed himself a small smirk when Jefferson’s face fell into a glare.
With a muttered whatever , Jefferson turned, lying on his back, his hands crossed behind his head, staring at the ceiling. James went back to studying, shuffling through his notes, while trying not to notice how Jefferson’s shirt rode up, exposing a small strip of skin just at his hips.
There was a few minutes of uninterrupted, and incredibly awkward silence, in which Madison read the same line in his book about ten times. So when Thomas spoke again, he held back a sigh of relief.
“What’re you studying, anyway?” his voice sounded delicately uninterested, as if he regularly schooled it to be that way.
James held up his music history textbook and Thomas squinted at it from the bed. Humming gently, he sat up, turning to face James.
“You need any… help or anything?”
James tilted his head, searching Jefferson’s face for sincerity. Of course, looking at him, he got distracted by his sharp and elegant features, the way his beard was neatly trimmed to the point of perfection, how his shirt was pulled tight against his muscles-
“Just pass it over.” Jefferson said finally, reaching his hand out, and James finally snapped out of his thoughts.
He hoped that Thomas didn’t see how he blushed, but threw the textbook at him anyway. Jefferson caught it easily, and flipped through it, making a noise of wonder.
“You have to study this stuff!? Booooring! ”
“I didn’t ask for your help!” James snapped, hopping off the bed and snatching the book back from Jefferson, “And I didn’t ask for your opinion either!”
With his book in hand, he crossed back over to his bed and sat down again, facing pointedly away from Thomas. For his part, Jefferson looked surprised, then his shoulders slumped and he stared down at his shoes.
“Sorry.” he muttered and James almost didn’t hear it.
He turned and, when he saw Jefferson’s dejected form slumped over on Aaron’s bed, he sighed.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Aaron says I act out because of my need for attention.” Thomas looked up with a small smile. James thought it looked much better than his arrogant smirk, but what did he know, he only just met the guy.
“Well, Aaron would know. Does he psychoanalyse you too?”
“There’s a lot of material for him to work with when it comes to me.”
The room fell into a silence which James wouldn’t exactly categorize as comfortable. Thomas refused to meet his eyes, and for the first time, James wondered what it was that brought him looking for Aaron in the first place.
“You wanna … talk about it?”
The taller man barked out a laugh, swinging his legs back over Aaron’s bed so he was sitting up. Quirking an eyebrow, Jefferson laughed again, softer this time, before shaking his head.
“I think I’ve distracted you enough for one night.”
James watched as Thomas got up, heading for the door. He looked over his shoulder and at James.
“Sorry… again.”
Madison was about to open his mouth to say something, when the door opened, revealing a tired looking Aaron Burr. His face went from drawn to surprised at the sight of Thomas in front of him.
“Tom,” he said, “are you okay? What’re you doing here? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Jefferson responded quickly, casting a wary eye at James, “I was… uh just keeping…”
Thomas looked to him for help and Madison responded immediately.
“James.”
“James.” he repeated, almost in a sigh, “I was just keeping James here company.”
They stood like that for a few minutes, simply staring at each other. Aaron looked between them with a critical brow, before shrugging and entering the room. Jefferson blinked, shaking his head and sent James a small smile and a silent nod.
“I’ll see you tomorrow in class, Burr.” he said and stepped through the door, out into the hallway.
“See ya, Thomas.” Aaron called, throwing his bag by the bed and falling onto the mattress.
James continued to watch the door. Even as Jefferson was gone, his eyes were locked on the doorway. He didn’t notice how Aaron’s eyebrow quirked up.
“James, you alright? Did Thomas say something to you?”
“Hm? Oh, no no, it’s fine.”
“He can be a bit of an ass.”
“Yeah… an ass.”
“I can give you his number, if you want.”
“Yes please.”