Laurens

"Alexander?" I say in astonishment.

He looks at me and I see those beautiful dark brown eyes. "Laurens?"

I smile. "I'm surprised you remember me."

Instead of saying anything, he rushes over and hugs me and I hug him back. We let go. "Damn. It's been way to long since I saw you guys." He glances at Lafayette's hand. "Wait. Are you guys married?"

Lafayette nods and holds Hercs hand tighter.

"What about you two?" Herc says and nudges Alex.

"Oh. We're just engaged," he says nervously and glances at me. "How long are you gonna be here?"

"We're buying a house soon and John's gonna find an apartment," Laf says.

Alex nods and holds Eliza's hand. "Hey, if you guys aren't doing anything tonight, wanna go get some drinks or something and catch up?"

I shrug. "I'm free tonight."

"Can't," Herc says. "Laf and I have plans."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, we all know what your plans are."

Lafayettes face goes red. "When are Peggy and Maria coming?" he says, trying to change the subject.

"About 10 minutes," I say and check the time on my phone.

Right after I say that though, Peggy and Maria come through the door and Peggy tackles me in a hug on the floor.

"Peggy chill out!"

"It's been forever since I've seen you!"

"Peggy, it's been two weeks," I say and roll my eyes.

"Yeah and?"

She finally gets off of me and helps me up. She hugs Herc, Laf, and Eliza but stops when she gets to Alexander. She glares at him. "Fuck you."

"Nice to see you too Peggy."

"Double fuck you just for that," she says, her voice full of hatred and stands beside Maria.

"Hey Peggs," I say, trying to lighten the mood. "We're all gonna get together tonight and talk and stuff. You wanna go?"

"Eh, why not," she says with a shrug. "Are you guys going?" she asks and looks at Herc and Laf.

"Oh no. We have plans tonight," Herc answers.

"Yeah. 'Plans'," Maria says with air quotes.

I smile at her smart-ass remark and look up and see Alex looking at me. "Hey, Laurens, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um sure," I say quickly as he pulls me aside.

We stop beside a window. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

He sighs. "What do you think?"

"Oh, yeah. That."

"Ever since I left, I couldn't stop thinking about you. After college, Eliza and I met up again and she helped me get over you but it wasn't enough. I wanted to forget you completely. So, in order to do that, I proposed to her. I felt like I could forget you, but I just couldn't."

"Alex, Eliza loves you. Don't do this to her, please. And trust me, I thought about you everyday after you left. I thought I would move on and I did, at least, until now. Why did you have to leave anyways?"

"I-I can't tell you.."

"Alright."

"So what did you do after high school?"

I shift on my feet. "Well, I moved out of my dads house and applied for Columbia University and I got in. Then after college I moved to Manhattan for about 5 months and here I am now."

He grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers. "I've missed you so much."
My first instinct is to pull away, but I don't.

"I missed you too." We hold each other's hands for a little bit longer until I break the silence. "We better go back to the others."

"Y-Yeah, we should."

He lets go of my hand and we walk back to everyone else.

"Hey Alex," Maria says as she puts her phone in her pocket. "I invited Burr and Theo, if that's okay."

"Yeah that's fine. Let's meet up here again in about an hour and we'll go."

*time skip brought to you by somebody who threw a paper whose mom is a hoe*

After meeting up at the hotel lobby, we go to a bar. We all walk in and I instantly regret it. Peggy notices my uneasiness and holds my hand (TOTALLY PLATONIC).
"You alright gay turtle buddy?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I say forcing a smile. She drops my hand and gives me a side hug then goes back over to Maria.

I sigh and walk over to bar. "Whiskey please." The girl behind the bar gets a glass and pours the whiskey into it and gives me the glass. I take a sip and put the glass down on the bar and take out my phone. I scroll through Instagram for a little while until I feel someone come up behind me.

"Heyyyyyyyyy babyyy," Alex says with a little laugh, obviously drunk off his ass. He nuzzles his face in my neck and hugs me.

"I looooooove youuuuuuu."

"No, Alexander."

"Yes I dooooo," he slurs and kisses my neck. I gently nudge him off.

"Alex, you're drunk as all hell."

"So? We could still have some fun~"

"Alexander. You're with Eliza and I swear to God if you screw it up I'll kill you."

"But you know you love me." He smirks then kisses me suddenly. I kiss back for a split second then pull away.

I sigh. "Alex. I know you won't remember any of this in the morning, but just listen to me. It's been almost five years since we've seen each other and you're with Eliza. If I come into your life again, I'll ruin everything."

He sits beside beside me and grabs my hand. "You make my life better though. Please give me another chance."

"Not while your with Eliza. I'm not gonna let you fuck it up again."

"Please..." There's an obvious sense of pain in his voice. I feel tears prick in my eyes. God, I'm absolutely helpless.

"I... I don't know Alex."

He pulls me off the barstool and wraps his arms around my waist. "I still love you." He kisses my cheek.

"Just, give me time. Okay?"

"Of course. Take all the time you need." He yawns.

"Tired?"

He nods. "A little bit."

"Want me to take you home?"

"Mhm.."

I text Eliza quickly and tell her about Alex then I lead him outside. I get a taxi to take us to the hotel. I pay the driver and help him out of the taxi and into the hotel.

We go in the elevator and up to my floor. I open the door and take Alex to the bed. He lays down and I cover him up with the blanket. "Goodnight Alexander."

"Wait. John."

"What?"

"Will you lay down with me for a little bit? Please?"

"I guess." I kick off my shoes and crawl into bed beside him. He hugs onto me almost instantly and snuggles against me. "Goodnight."