Chapter Text
It was a brisk day in September when John Laurens found himself humming contentedly as he pulled open the door to the local bookstore. The store wasn’t anything fancy, just a lovely little place with a coffee shop connected to it that he had discovered within his first few weeks of living in the area. He hadn’t lived there for very long, but John quickly became a regular at the tiny bookshop/coffeehouse, and acquainted himself well with the barista and owner Eliza. John learned that Eliza had two sisters, Angelica and Peggy, but Angelica was studying out of state and Peggy was somewhere out in the wide world as a freelance photographer. On rainy days, he would spend his hours talking with her over mugs of hot chocolate topped off with whipped cream until his university assignments demanded his attention, but Eliza loved to see him whenever he stopped by regardless. Today, however, John came in looking for a book to help him relax over the weekend before his parents visited the following week. Not that John minded his parents, he loved them to pieces, but he knew how overwhelmed he would be by the end of their visit. John waved at Eliza as he walked inside, shrugging his jacket off and setting it on one of the comfy chairs by the coffee bar.
“Hey, Betsy, how’ve you been?” he asked warmly, leaning across the counter to give her a brief kiss on the cheek. Eliza beamed.
“Pretty good, and yourself?”
“Fantastic as ever, especially now that I get to see your lovely face.” She threw her head back in laughter.
“You sure know how to charm a girl. Can I getcha anything?”
“Nah,” John shook his head. “Just lookin’ for a book today. Got any recommendations?” Eliza crinkled her nose in thought.
“Not off the top of my head. What kind of book are you looking for?”
“Just something short for the weekend, I wanna blow off some steam before Monday rolls around.”
“Oh, that’s right, your parents are flying in Monday! Are you excited?” Eliza’s eyes lit up. She had a kind of closeness with her family that John had never had, but it was sweet to see her get excited. He cracked a smile.
“I think a better word might be apprehensive.” Eliza’s brow furrowed before she reached across and gave John a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, along with her brightest smile.
“I’m sure everything will be fine. I can’t think of any books for you right now, but you’re welcome to have a look around.”
“Thanks, Liza.” The two shared another smile before John turned around and shifted his attention to perusing bookshelves. Fantasy might be a nice place to start, John thought to himself. He looked at the titles one by one, ignoring the ones he had already read and skimming the descriptions of the ones that piqued his interest, but nothing stood out. He was so focused on reading the spines in the long row of books that he stopped looking where he was going and tripped over something heavy on the ground next to him. John caught himself on the bookshelf just before falling over, but whatever he tripped over wasn’t quite as fortunate. John turned his head to see a young man about his age, if not a bit younger, sitting with his ass flat on one of the cozy rugs Eliza had placed on the floor between each of the bookshelves. He had long, dark hair that was in a low ponytail and a thin, worn-out hoodie that didn’t look like it offered very much protection from the autumn chill outside. John regained his balance and held his hand out to the boy next to him.
“You okay there? Sorry for tripping over you,” he said somewhat sheepishly. The young man took his hand and pulled himself up, rubbing the part of his butt that had hit the floor.
“I’m alright, no worries.” The boy flashed a grin and held out his own hand for a handshake. “Alexander Hamilton.”
“John Laurens.” John returned the grin and the handshake, noticing that Alexander’s hand felt warm against his palm, if only slightly damp from sweat.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, John. What are you looking for?” Alexander enquired politely.
“Just a light read for the weekend, nothing exciting. How about you?”
“The lovely barista over there-- Eliza, I believe-- was telling me about a play she saw recently, something about a dog getting murdered, and she said the book was worth reading, so I’m looking for that.”
John couldn’t help a small grin. Eliza was such a nerd. “Was she talking about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime?” Alexander nodded.
“I believe so,” he answered. “But I haven’t seen it anywhere.” John’s grin widened.
“I think you’re looking in the wrong place, my friend. You’re not gonna find Curious Incident in the Fantasy section.” Alexander’s head whipped up to the sign over the bookshelf and squinted his eyes in way that looked almost painful.
“Shit,” he murmured. “Is that what that says?” Alexander groaned and rubbed his eyes. “My glasses broke the other day and I’m completely helpless without them.”
John chuckled. Alexander was endearing, he decided. “I can help you look for it if you want, I’m not having very much luck finding a book myself.” Alexander looked up at him gratefully.
“I’d really appreciate that.”
He followed John down a few aisles of bookshelves before they stopped in the middle of one and John crouched, murmuring author names quietly to himself until he found a paperback with a bright blue cover.
“Here you are,” John announced as he pulled the book out and stood up straight, handing it to the other young man, who grinned.
“Thanks, John. You didn’t have to.” But as John opened his mouth to reply, Alexander’s and his eyes squinted and his gaze shifted to something behind John’s shoulder before his face crumpled.
“Alexander-?” He was quickly shushed and ushered behind a bookshelf so that they were both obscured from the view of the door. “What are you doing?”
“My ex-boyfriend just walked in and, like... this is the last place I want to see him, especially alone. This might sound crazy but could you do me a gigantic favor?”
John was still confused, but he nodded, not breaking eye contact with the nervous-looking boy in front of him. Alexander took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“Could you pretend to be dating me, just until he leaves? It would mean so much.”
John’s knee jerk reaction was to say no, no way, why would he be comfortable with this? But the look in Alexander’s eyes made him think twice. There wasn’t really any harm in playing along, was there? And it would only be for a few minutes…
“Okay,” John answered hesitantly. Alexander sighed in relief.
“Oh, thank god. You are an angel, Laurens. We don’t have to do anything crazy, maybe you could just hold my hand, and I might kiss your cheek or something, if that’s okay with you?”
“Um, yeah. Sure.” John was in way over his head. He had never been in a relationship before (something he promised himself he would do once he got to college, but so far, no dice) and he was way out of his depth, so he let this young man he met hardly ten minutes ago lead the way. Alexander grinned.
“Great. I owe you one,” he whispered as he took hold of John’s hand and led him back to the Fantasy section. John let Alexander intertwine their fingers and fought the color rising to his cheeks. They stood looking at books for about half a minute before Alexander squeezed John’s hand gently as someone else walked into the aisle. The shorter man’s demeanor immediately changed. Suddenly he was clinging to John’s arm, whispering things like “I can’t believe you still haven’t read Harry Potter, John” (false), “We could read it together if you want, I don’t mind rereading it” (something John decided he wouldn’t mind either), and “Do you wanna grab some coffee before we head back to my dorm?” (something that made John’s head spin just thinking about).
John was trying to be a good fake boyfriend, he really was, but he could feel himself being overly stiff and awkward. So he took a deep breath and tried to relax, leaning into Alexander’s touch and responding with an easy “Yeah, that sounds nice, babe.” Another gentle squeeze of the hand from Alexander told him that that was the perfect thing to do. The other person in the aisle, however, a tall young man who looked a couple years older than John and had wilder hair, was visibly uneasy the entire time, and his eyes narrowed when he heard John refer to Alexander as “babe”. He coughed and stepped closer to the pair, not tearing his eyes away from the bookshelf.
“Alex Hamilton.”
“Alexander,” the boy holding John’s hand swiftly and cheerfully corrected. “You lost that privilege, Thomas Jefferson.” The taller man grunted. “So what brings you here?” he pressed. It became very clear to John at that moment that Alexander intended on shoving as much shit as he could into Jefferson’s face now that he had the opportunity.
“I’m looking for a book, same as you,” Thomas replied grudgingly. It was evident that this was not a conversation he wanted to be having.
“You know, it’s funny you phrase it that way, Thomas, because I’m not actually here looking for a book. I happen to be on a date,” Alexander dug, with the most delightful tone of voice he had ever used in his life, before turning his head and beaming sweetly up at John. John swallowed thickly and felt his face heat up. He knew it was fake, he knew it, but he’d be damned if anyone had ever looked at him like that before. The only thought he allowed himself was, The kid’s a natural actor, I’ll give him that. Instead of standing there like a stone-faced idiot, though, John settled for smiling back at Alexander, wondering if kissing him on the forehead would earn him any brownie points, until the shorter boy went on his tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to John’s cheek. John turned his head away discretely, hoping to hide his increasingly red face, when he caught sight of Eliza with her elbows resting on the counter and her chin in her hands. She wore the most mischievous grin John had ever seen as she watched the whole ordeal play out. His expression of embarrassment quickly turned into one of horror as he desperately tried to communicate with his eyes, Elizabeth Catherine Schuyler, I swear to God, when I get out of this I will murder you with my bare hands, but his attempts were lost on Eliza as she hid a snicker behind her hand. John’s attention was pulled back to the task in front of him, though, when Alexander’s ex-boyfriend spoke up.
“A date, hm?” said Thomas, sounding a little strained.
“Mhm,” Alexander nodded as he leaned his head on John’s shoulder and began tracing patterns on his bicep with his finger. An enraged glance from Thomas told John that Alexander had made a habit of this when the two were still together, and he tried not to snort with laughter. Instead, John put on a smile and looked at Alexander as lovingly as he could. If the goal was to piss Jefferson off as much as possible, why not have a little fun with it? He even went to the extent of rubbing Alexander’s hand back and forth with the pad of his thumb, which made the shorter man blush unexpectedly.
“What about you, Thomas, are you seeing anyone?” Alexander put forth casually, but the question was laced with venom. He’s vile, John thought in amusement. Thomas cleared his throat.
“Ah, no. No, I am not.”
The response caused Alexander to bury his face in John’s shoulder briefly to hide his grin, but when he turned back to Thomas, he simply offered an unsympathetic “Oh, pity.”
At that point, Thomas Jefferson looked thoroughly ruffled. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shoved past the two of them, managing to bite out, “See you around, Hamilton.”
Alexander smiled and called out, “Bye, Jefferson!” before turning back to John and touching his cheek, asking, “Now, what were you saying, sweetheart?” just loud enough for Thomas to hear before the door shut behind him. When he was finally out of sight, Alexander’s face split into a grin and he pulled away from John, doing a little victory dance.
“That was perfect! You were perfect! Did you see how uncomfortable he was? It was hilarious. He’s still insanely attracted to me, it’s going to drive him crazy! That was the absolute best. Thank you so much, John, I could never thank you enough, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Alexander’s mouth was going a mile a minute due to his excitement, and he punctuated his thank you to John with a swift kiss on the lips before pulling away in shock.
“Ah, shit, sorry,” Alexander laughed nervously. “Guess I got caught up in the moment there,” he said sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. John was stunned.
“No, yeah, it- it’s fine, I did, too,” he eventually responded. He didn’t bother mentioning that that had been his first kiss. John touched two fingers to his lips briefly before smiling at Alexander. “So are you headed to your dorm now?”
Alexander’s shoulders slumped. “I guess so…” He went to turn away, but looked hesitant.
John took advantage of his reluctance to ask what they both wanted to ask: “Unless you wanted to, I dunno, get some coffee or something?”
Alexander grinned. “That would be amazing.”
Eliza, who had been watching intently, decided at that moment to call out, “Did someone say coffee?”
John whipped around and glared at her. “Elizabeth Schuyler, you are the most despicable, eavesdropping, literature-reading, bookstore-managing barista I have ever had the misfortune of meeting.” Eliza grinned.
“Oh, John, you flatter me. Coffee’s on the house,” she added, with a wink to Alexander.
“You’re too kind,” Alexander responded with a grin of his own.
They ended up staying at the shop for another two hours, discussing anything and everything from Harry Potter theories to oddly-acquired childhood injuries, until Alexander had to get back to his dorm and Eliza had to close up. Alexander ended up giving them both his number, though, before letting John stay behind to help Eliza.
“So,” she began with a cheeky grin.
“Don’t even start.”
“He was all over you, how am I supposed to not start?!”
“He was putting up an act for his ex-boyfriend, Liza, it’s different.”
“I dunno,” she mused. “If I had an Alexander Hamilton hanging from my arm I certainly wouldn’t let him go.”
John rolled his eyes. “You want me to walk you home? It’s getting pretty dark out there.”
“I would appreciate that, thank you,” Eliza said sincerely as she shrugged her coat on and grabbed her bag and keys. The pair walked out the door and Eliza locked up behind them, letting John put an arm around her shoulders and leaning into him for extra warmth as they began the walk to Eliza’s apartment. John kissed her cheek in farewell and made sure she was safely inside before turning around and starting the walk back to campus, contemplating the events of the day and those of the week to come-
Shit! I forgot to get a book!