"Why do we have to be here?" I whine to Eliza, who was playing some games on her phone as we waited for our reserved table.

"Because, Alex. I don't know what you did last year, but this year you have friends who want to celebrate your birthday with you." She says, not looking up from her game once.

I sign dramatically and lean my head against John's shoulder. "John, help me get out of this." I beg him.

"Hell no, I don't want Eliza to be mad at me." He chuckles. "Besides, she's got a point." He kisses my forehead and I blush in frustration.

"Stop being cute!" I complain, sitting up straight and crossing my arms.

Suddenly, the door opens and the rest of our group walks in. "Hey, hey, hey, the rest of the party is here!" Hercules shouts as he walks in.

"Jesus Christ, Hercules, shut up." Burr says, trying to calm him down.

Hercules just rolls his eyes. "Whatever, Burr, don't be boring."

Theodosia giggles as Aaron rolls his eyes and then Eliza hugs the two other girls there. I had briefly met Angelica and Peggy at Eliza's charity party she had at her mansion last month. I had barely any money to donate, but she still invited me.

"Alright, a couple of you know each other, but everyone's going to introduce themselves anyway." Eliza states, smiling brightly. She then points to herself. "I'll start, I'm Elizabeth Schuyler, but you all can call me Eliza."

Peggy rolls her eyes and chuckles. "You're so formal, Liz. Anyway, I'm Peggy Schuyler."

"My name is Angelica Schuyler." Angelica waves before sticking her hands in her pockets.

"I'm Hercules Mulligan!" Hercules says boldly, laughing right after.

"Theodosia Prevost!" Theodosia giggles lightly.

"Aaron Burr." Aaron nods.

"Alexander Hamilton, or just Alex." I shrug.

"John Laurens." John says, holding my hand and gently rubbing circles on my knuckles.

"Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette." Laf says seriously. We all look at him in confusion and he laughs. "What? That's my full name. You guys can call me Lafayette or Laf, though."

We all nod, not realizing he had such a long name. That must be why he never says his last name.

"Reservation for Elizabeth Schuyler?" A waitress calls out and Eliza jumps up immediately.

"Right here, that's us!" Eliza says excitedly before we all stand up and follow the waitress to our tables. I sat in between John and Eliza, and then across from Angelica.

"So, Alex. How old exactly are you turning?" Angelica asks, looking down at her menu.

"Yeah, you look short!" Peggy says, leaning in.

I chuckle lightly. "Uh, I'm actually officially eighteen now."

Everyone except Eliza, John, and Lafayette look at me in shock. "You mean to tell me that yesterday you were not an adult?" Angelica asks.

I nod slowly. "I mean, technically, but-"

"So you could be rich right now for suing people over child abuse!" Peggy gasps.

John breaks into a fit of laughter as he holds my hand. "Oh my God, Peggy, no. That's not how that works."

Peggy pouts and Hercules looks at Lafayette. "Are you not shocked, Laf?"

Lafayette just shakes his head. "Nah, I knew he was too short to be an adult, plus Eliza texted me this morning."

Hercules frowns. "Wow, okay why didn't I get a text?"

"Wait wait wait," Burr says, looking as if he couldn't comprehend what we were saying. "Going back to what Peggy said, Thomas beat up a kid? That's low."

I groan. "I wasn't a kid technically, I was two months away from being an official adult." I say using finger quotation marks on the last two words.

Theodosia just nods. "I think if he was mature enough to come to college and pick fights with people, he was mature enough to get into physical fights with people. No offense." She says the last phrase quickly and I shrug.

"I mean, that's the way I see it." I respond and she smiles.

"Hello, I'm your waitress today. Can I get you guys started off with something to drink?" A pretty blonde asks us.

We all order and have a fun time, despite the fact that I hate birthday celebrations. I guess it was nice not thinking my life was in danger and spending it with more than three people.

Time skip brought to you by our children telling our story.

"Alright, alright, bye guys!" John slurs at absolutely no one before closing the door and turning towards me.

After dinner, the guys had convinced me somehow to go to the bar with them, and while John, Laf, and Herc got drunk, I sat and watched Aaron and Theodosia flirt the whole time. The Schuylers had decided not to come, as bars weren't exactly their scene.

"Jesus, John. You said you wouldn't get wasted." I say, chuckling a little bit.

He laughs and walks over to me, smiling goofily at me. "Oh, come on! I went to a bar and had fun!" He says.

I roll my eyes and then walk into the bedroom, grabbing my pajamas. "Yeah, whatever." I chuckle.

"Aleeeeexxx don't be booooring! Even Buurr had a couple drinks." John whines.

"Yeah, well Burr is responsible. And he probably likes alcohol." I respond, turning away from him to change. "I can't even stand the smell of it." I say.

It's true, my dad had come home smelling that horrid smell almost every night for a year before he left. That's when I realized there was no way I could let myself be like him and drink alcohol, it just disgusts me.

I turn around and see John passed out on my bed and I chuckle lightly. I climb into my bed next to him and throw the covers over the both of us. I then cuddle up to him and close my eyes, feeling more relaxed than ever, despite the alcohol smell.

Timeskip brought to you by the smartest in the room.

I wake up, expecting arms to be around me, and I frown when my expectations weren't met. I open my eyes and see the other half of my bed is empty, along with John's bed. I sigh and sit up, stretching my arms.

I then get out of bed and walk into the livingroom/kitchen area. I look around and frown even more when I see John isn't there. I look across the room to see the bathroom door wide open with nobody in the room.

Where did he go?

I then go back into the room and grab my phone, looking through my text messages. There were no messages at all and I look around the room to see a neatly folded paper on my desk. I tilt my head and then walk over and unfold the paper, reading through it.

My dearest, Alexander,
I don't have much time to write this, so I'm going to explain it as simply as possible. I'm going away for a little while on a little...trip. I don't know when I'll be back, but I've officially dropped out of college and am moving far, far away. I'm so sorry to do this to you on such short notice, just know that I love you and can't wait to see you again.
Sincerely,
John

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