(Flashback: Rachel admitted to Alexander what she does for a living, and Alexander ran out of the house, Rachel stayed up waiting for him)

      •••

It was about two o'clock that same morning, and Alexander was sitting at his work desk. No one knew he was there, but the factory door lock was broken, and if you shook the handle even slightly, the door would swing wide open.

 Alexander found himself going there more and more as he got older. He came here when he needed to think. He tended to frequent it when his mother was "out" at night. There were books in his boss's office, and he had read them all at least twice.

He ran his fingers across the surface of the desk, thinking out loud to himself, itching to write everything down.

 He should've brought his journal.

 It wouldn't have helped, he soon concluded. His journal didn't change the fact that his mother was a prostitute. 

It wouldn't change the fact that his beloved hero and role model sold herself to pleasure strangers. 

It wouldn't change the fact that the reason his dad wasn't in the picture was probably because Alexander himself was the result of a complete accident with a complete stranger. His father probably didn't even knew he existed. 

Tears ran freely down the boy's face as he continued to connect the dots with lines that had been missing from his life for far to long.

He was upset at his mother. Upset she had to do something like that to provide for him. Provide for the kid she probably didn't want in the first place. He was mad that he didn't tell him sooner. He would've tried to understand. He would've understood. 

Alexander hated the fact that the scales were ripped off of his eyes by a complete stranger. He wanted to forgive his mother, he really did. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

 He tried to see the situation from her point of view. All he saw were the stares, he heard the whispers. She can't find a job, can she? Alexander gasped as he realized. She couldn't get another job. The whole town seemed to know, he concluded as he looked back in his memory. Of course, no one would hire her.

He let his head fall to the table, which wasn't a wise idea, now there was going to be a bruise on his forehead to go with the ones on his eye and nose. 

He left his mother alone. He left her alone and upset. What kind of son does that to their mother? He knew what he needed to do. He pushed himself back in his chair, and didn't even bother to lock the factory door as he ran out.

      •••

He paused, wheezing slightly, because his nose was swollen to the point where it was difficult to breath. He was standing in front of his front door. He could do this. He just needed to apologize and hope his mother forgave him. He'd explain, and apologize and everything would be okay again.

Or so he hoped.

He pushed the door open slowly, cringing when it squeaked ominously. The light was still on. That meant she was home. He closed the door and he same way he opened it, and walked slowly toward the kitchen. 

He saw a silhouette at the kitchen table, and assumed it was his mother. She had her head on the table, and her back rose and fell slightly as she breathed. As he came closer to her, he heard soft snores that indicated that she was asleep. Alexander, not wanting to disturb his mother, draped a thin blanket from his bed over her sleeping frame. 

He walked to his room and sat down on the bed, thinking things over once again. He curled into a ball, and whimpering softly, trying to keep the tears from falling from his eyes, the boy fell into a fitful slumber. 

Alexander was awoken early that morning be the squeak of his bed frame, and the sinking feeling of the old mattress. He lifted his hands to rub his eyes, and yelled slightly as he remembered the black eye and broken nose he was sure to have.

"Oh Alexander," his mother sobbed, hugging her child tightly. 

Kind of a short one... but I felt it was the best place for the chapter to end. 

Anyway, updates will probably start getting farther and father apart, because I go back to school after winter break tomorrow. Going back to school also means finals (augh) and lots of homework piled on top of my job and softball and all this other junk. But I will TRY as hard as I can to get a chapter to you once a week. 

Even though no one answered last time, I'm still gonna do a QOTD. 

QOTD: Who is your favorite CAST member of Hamilton?

My Answer: it's a tie between Lin Manuel Miranda, Chris Jackson and Anthony Ramos.

And after that incredibly long authors note, 

Stay fiery guys, 

aaron_burrn