Today's the seventeenth year since the terrorist attack on 9/11. I wrote a oneshot thingy at the end of this but it doesn't really contribute to this story but read it if you'd like. I put a lot of work into it so if anyone reads it, that'd be awesome! :)
The chapter itself is pretty small but the oneshot is like 2,000+ words.

John Pov
I saw sprawled out on the couch, scrolling through memes that I've seen millions of times. Y'all need new memes this shit is old.

Alex burst through the front door, causing my head to look up in surprise. "I'm so fucking pissed." He said angrily.

"Why so?" I asked.
"Oh god, don't get me started. My mouth already hurts from running it nonstop for god knows how long before I had to get punched so I'd shut the fuck up." Alex said, moving my legs and sitting down next to me.

I glared at him momentarily before pointing my feet on his lap.
Alex sighed.

"And I haven't took my pills in forever so maybe that has a factor in..
what happened but whatever."
Alex muttered, rubbing his face.

I gave a short nod, turning off my phone and putting it in my pocket. "What happened?" I asked.

"Why do I even take math class? I hate it. I hate it all and I want to die."
He said.

I furrowed my eyebrows, saying,
"You need it to graduate. And for credits. But anyway..You okay?"

"I'm fine. I mean I'm not fine but whatever, doesn't matter. Yes it does but you don't want to hear it. I think. God I'm so fucking-"

"Yo, rant to me and I'll be angry with you." I said.

He sighed, wiping, his face again.
"Everyone's an asshole and they all hate me and you're the only one that gets me and I'm pouting." Alex said, crossing his arms, and slinking down.

"What's the most stupid thing you've done?" Alex asked.

Well shit.
That's never a good way to start a rant.

"One time I was running a fever and I climbed on top of a house because I saw a fire a few blocks down." I said with a shrug.

Alex snorted, snickering.
"How old were you?"

"Not old enough to climb into a house by myself." I replied.

Alex laughed again, nodding.
"I want to rant but I don't want to be reminded at the same time."
Alex muttered, moving closer to me and snuggling into me slightly.

I tensed forced myself to relax.
"You're really hot." Alex said, muffled when he put his head on- or practically into my shoulder.

"You're cute..
for a twink."
I said, with a cocky smirk.

"Should I even try to fight you on that?" Alex asked.

"No."
I replied quickly.

Alex rubbed my thigh, kissing my cheek then hoping over the back of the couch and going to his room. I was stunned. That..
was pretty nice.

Huh.
Alex went from my best friend to my boyfriend.

That's kind of hot, not going to lie.

~•~•~•~

So today is 9/11, marking the 17th anniversary of a terrorist attack on the twin towers, killing around 3,000 people. 1,000 of those people were police officers and firefighters.

There's also this really cool movie called 'The 102 Minutes That Changed America' and its amazing. All of it is live and it's astonishing and so, so terrifying.

If you're going to watch it I'm telling you now, it's quite vivid and because it's live I'd say viewer discretion advised.

There's also a trigger warning on this one shot because..well I wrote this based on terrorist attack.
It's not happy and it's the day that America really opened its eyes.

So yes, trigger warning.

Also one last thing I'm not an expert on the events in 9/11 but I have a very strong grasp of what happened, why it happened, and everything that went down because I was interested in the attack and did some research.

But still, not an expert, just a twelve year old kid so cut me some slack if it ain't perfect.

Oh yeah and it's Lams cuz why not.
And again
Trigger Warning.

~•~•~•~

John shifted in his bed, getting up to turn off his alarm. He glanced to Alex's side of the bed realizing he was gone. He quickly remembered Alex had a meeting in Manhattan today at the World Trade Center.

He'd been looking forward to it for weeks. John smiled to himself, happy for his husband.

Laurens turned off his alarm, wiping his eyes as he got out of bed. John walked to the kitchen, trudging slightly after just waking up.

"Morning," Alex said, drinking his coffee and looking to John with a smile.

"You're really excited, aren't you?" John asked, leaning on the counter and grinning.

"Extremely. I'm supposed to be there at seven thirty so I've got more than an hour to get myself Lower Manhattan."

John gave a slight nod.

"I'm proud of you,"
He hummed.

Alex blushed lightly, biting his lip. "God I'm so excited," Hamilton said.

"You don't have a tie." John pointed out, an eyebrow raised.

"Like I said, I have time. But I do have a couple in mind, though if you want to choose for me that's okay,"
Alex shrugged.

John nodded.
"I'm gonna take a shower,"
He said, walking to Alex and kissing his forehead lightly.

"I love you," Hamilton hummed.
"Love you too." John replied, walking back to their room.

He opened a dresser, which Alex heard from the kitchen, snickering lightly because he knew John was choosing a tie for him. Hamilton knew Johns schedule. He'd wake up, talk to Alex momentarily, take a shower than pick out clothes.

It warmed Alex's heart to know John would change what he did for Alex, no matter how small.

John could choose the ugliest tie in the world and Hamilton would wear it even if he looked ridiculous because then John would have to stand next to the dork with a strange tie.

It was his own way of loving type payback.

John tossed two ties on the bed, leaving Alex with a choice and went off to take his shower. Hamilton heard the sound of the shower and got up, finishing his coffee and happily walking back to his room.

First meeting in the World Trade Center! He was beyond exhilarated to be going there.

He'd been looking forward to September eleventh since about three months earlier when his boss told him that Hamilton would be allowed to be one of the representatives of their company.

He grabbed the navy blue tie knowing full well John put it out because it was Laurens' favorite color. He walked into the bathroom grabbing his toothbrush and listened to Johns shower run.

There was a clatter and Alex heard John muttered, "Oh fuck I dropped that damn thing."

Alex snickered, spitting out the tooth paste.

"Could ya hand me a towel please?" John asked, turning off the shower.

"'Course." Alex replied, grabbing a towel off the rack and tossing it up onto the bar where the shower curtain held.

"Thanks Lex,"
John hummed.

"No problem," Alex said, trying not to smile but failing.

John came from the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Nice tie," He hummed with a smile. Alex rolled his eyes but said thanks anyway. Hamilton started to tie his tie while Laurens grinned.

John tilted Alex's head up, kissing him lightly.

"You look great,"
He said quietly after parting.

"So do you," Alex hummed with a small smirk, tracing Johns bare chest.

"Aw shucks,"
John said, only slightly mockingly.

"You're going to do great today." John said, walking back to the bedroom. Alex stayed in the bathroom, fixing his tie.

"God I hope so. If I mess up in front of those people I will jump off a building." Alex muttered.

"Guess you'll just have to be amazing. Per usual," John said, changing into work clothes.

Alex smiled at the praise, even though it was slightly vague. Hamilton and Laurens walked side by side, venturing into Lower Manhattan.

"There it is. World Trade Center."
Alex said, slightly giddy, slightly nervous.

John sighed, kissing Alex's cheek and whispering, "You'll be great but if you're not you're still great to me." John said.

Alex nodded a bit.

"Aight, Imma go get coffee now. Love you Lex," John said, letting go of Alex's hand.

"Love you too," Hamilton said watching Laurens jog across the street and into a Dutch Bros.

Alex smiled, fixing his tie and walking into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He walked into a lobby, smelling that smell of cleaned floor, metal and ink.

He spotted his boss, walking over to him. "Hello sir," Hamilton greeted.

"Alexander, hello! You must be excited," His boss said sounding almost as happy as Alexander.

"I am! Very much so."
Alex replied, nodding.

"Well it's seven forty eight right now. Meeting starts at-"

"Eight. Yeah."
Alex finished with another short nod.
His boss, Mr.Williams, chuckled, happy to see Alex's enthusiasm.

The two got on an elevator going up not exactly at the top because there was a field trip with middle schoolers at the very top. If the building were a person then the two men would be going into the gut of the building.

Alex felt his hands shaking, not with fear, with excitement. He'd never been in such a tall, such an important building. He felt so proud of himself, wearing his suit in a building full of important, smart people.

He walked into a room, sitting down at a long rectangular table. Hamilton checked his watch.
Seven fifty.

— — — —

John walked out of the Dutch Bros, checking his phone. He didn't have work until around twelve but Laurens found the peak and best part of his day was walking Hamilton to work.

He leaned on the wall, looking to the twin towers. John smiled, thinking about how his husband was one of the most important people in his company.

One of the most important people in Manhattan right now.
John was sure that everyone, one day, would know Alex's name.

— — — —

Hamilton furrowed his eyebrows listening intently, and looking through his own papers and making occasional comments on how he thought the company would be able improve its numbers, and making paychecks higher for those who put more effort in.

He glanced at his watch.
Eight forty five.

Alex thought he heard a whizzing in the air but thought it must be a weird thing happening with the air conditioning.

It was less then a minute before he heard an explosion.

Everyone at the desk jumped to their feet, in utter fear.

"What was that?!"
A man at the table exclaimed.

"I-I don't know.."
Alex said, his breath hitching.

The people in the room ran to the window seeing the North Tower on fire.

"Oh my god..was..was it a bomb?" Someone asked.

"No, it had to be something else. Bombs don't just appear out of thin air!" A woman exclaimed.

"Is everyone okay?"
Alex asked, his eyes stuck on the fire.

"Please tell me everyone in the building is alright." Hamilton said, scared out of his wits.

"It's probably just a fluke or something. Maybe a plane got off track and crashed," A man offered.

"I hope it's not terrorists or anything." Someone muttered.

"There aren't terrorists!" Hamilton's boss exclaimed. "Yeah..yeah it's probably a fluke. We should just wait here until someone on the inter com tells us to evacuate." Alex said slowly, trying to force his voice to not shake.

The groups muttered in agreement.
A few minutes later, the inter com told everyone in the lower floors of the building (floor fifty or below) to evacuate.

Hamilton was a bit confused to why not everyone should evacuate but decided if he didn't need to, he was safe.

— — — —

John yelped in surprise at the sound of- what seemed to sound like a bomb.

"What the fuck?"
He said, realizing the fire in The World Trade Center.

His first thought was,
"Alex."

John slowly started to panic, not sure if he was dreaming or not.
Could he be dreaming?
When he realized Alex wasn't in that building, he calmed ever so slightly.

"What was that?"
He asked a man beside him, staring at the building.

"I..I don't know."
The man said slowly. Johns furrowed his eyebrows.

"You think it was a bomb?"
Laurens asked.

"I don't know what it was but it sure as hell wasn't a good thing." The man said.

John put his coffee on a ledge, putting his hands just above his eyebrows to block the sun.
"I hope everyone is okay." He said.

"Yeah..my sister is in that building.." The man trailed off.

"My husband is in the South one.." John trailed off. "I think they'll be okay though," Laurens said after seeing police cars and fire trucks rushing to the scene.

"It was a plane!" Someone exclaimed. "A plane?" John asked.

"Yeah! A USA one too!"
The lady exclaimed.

"Oh dear god."
John said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You think it was a mistake?"
Laurens asked.

"I sure hope so because if not..
then New York is going to be in terror real quick." The woman said.

John didn't like that answer whatsoever.

— — — —

Everyone in the South Tower let out screams of horror as they saw someone from the North Tower jump from the building. An act of suicide.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!"
Alex shouted, stumbling back into the desk, tears filling his eyes.

He watched a man commit suicide. Sure, he didn't know he but that..
that was real. Hamilton watched people jumping from the North Tower as dark black smoke heavily pushed from the building.

He closed his eyes, curling his hands into balls trying to calm down and waiting for the inter com to tell them they could evacuate.

Hamilton could only wonder in extreme discomfort what the middle schoolers above him were thinking and or going through.

Alex checked his watch, feeling tears roll down his face. Nine o'clock. He prayed and prayed it would end. He grabbed his phone, calling John.

"I'm so scared."
Alex said, wiping his face as John picked up.

"I know Alex, I know. Please tell me you're safe." John said, trying not to pace.

"I'm fine. I think it was just a fluke." Alex said.

Johns eyes widened and he almost dropped his phone, watching in only fear as he saw another plane headed straight for the South Tower.

"Get out of the building Alexander!" John exclaimed almost in a shout.

"..What?"
Alex asked.

It was seconds before he heard a loud crash, falling from his feet, dropping his phone. His head his the floor. Hamilton opened his eyes, feeling dazed as his head pounded angrily.

He wondered what had happened and then he felt the heat. His eyes widened and he saw a plane wing in side of the room he was in.

The wall was on fire.
It was so hot.

Alex screamed, along with the rest of the people in the building. They all screamed in terror and watched the roof start to collapse, dropping large pieces of debris.

He saw papers flying out of the building. Alex felt like if he got to close, he'd fall out of the building.

He grabbed his bosses shoulder, repeating, "Im so scared,"
Over and over, crying nearly uncontrollably as the fire went to the ceiling and dark smoke pushed out of the building.

He watched one of his coworkers break a window and jump.

Alex shouted, running to the window, looking down and seeing the back of the mans head, and his suit jacket flapping in the wind.

Hamilton heard people below scream in fear.

"P-Please,"
He said, stumbling back and trying to breathe. It felt like he couldn't though he wasn't dying.

Not yet.

He amongst others broke windows, sticking their heads out in a desperate attempt to get clear air. Alex coughed and fell back into the room, starting to retch.

"Oh god, oh god," Hamilton whispered, trying to wipe his face.

He pulled off his tie, dropping it and taking off his shirt, trying to get cool. All the men were stripping, trying to stop feeling so hot.

— — — —

John shouted in fear as he saw a man jump. He knew it wasn't Alex. Alex has auburn hair, not dark hair. John wiped his face, crying softly.

He hadn't cried in years.

"Please Alex. You're going to be okay,
I promise." John said, gripping the wall of a building.

— — — —

Alex coughed as soot got on his face. He considered undoing his belt and taking off his pants. He felt himself start to lose consciousness. Alexander's boss noticed, grabbing Alex and holding him up.

"Stay with me kid," Mr.Williams said. "W-water," Alex said, feeling sweat fall down his face.

He wiped his face again.
Hamilton's hand slowed when he felt something rushing. He brought his hand down, seeing it covered in blood.

He pressed his hand to the back of his head again, feeling blood pour into his hand. Alex's hair matted, blood covering it and pressing it down like a gel almost.

He coughed again.
"I-I don't want to die." Alex choked out.

— — — —

John was on the verge of a nervous break down as he watched people continue to jump from the building. Some people were sticking their heads out windows, trying to breathe.

John couldn't identify Alex.
Laurens realized it had been nearly a thirty minutes since the building had been struck.

He felt a wave of relief, thinking Alex would be okay.

"Go! Go,you have to leave!"
An Officer shouted. John furrowed his eyebrows, running inside of a building like the majority of people.

He watched the buildings through a window in the store. Debris filled the street, firefighters and police officers sprinting by, with ambulances with them.

John was so scared.
He was pretty sure Alex would make it. But he was still scared.

— — — —

Alex screamed clawing at his chest, the smoke starting to pollute his lungs. "Help!" He screamed out the window, sobbing frantically.

His chest was sticky, covered in soot, dirt, sweat and blood. The same went for the rest of his body.

"Oh God," Alex said, crying and trying to catch his breath.

"P-please! Help!"
He shouted again.

He clawed at his chest, starting to fall back into the ablaze room.

— — — —

John looked at his watch. He was proud of Alex. He's so brave.

Nine forty eight.
"Come on Alex. You've got this. Just hold on a little longer." John muttered.

— — — —

Alex sobbed uncontrollably, blubbering incoherently. He felt someone grab him, dragging Alex back to window. Mr.Williams.

His boss didn't look too much better than Alex but he was older, his lungs were stronger, his courage was large.

"S-sir,"
Alex managed to choke out.

He groaned, sticking his head back out the window. Alex felt his eyes start to droop. He started to loose his footing. Hamilton started to fall but quickly fixed himself, coughing violently.

— — — —

Johns eyes caught a man covered in black dirt, blood all over him.
He couldn't make out the face. Johns eyes widened as the man started to fall out the window. The man adjusted himself and fell back inside of the building.

John didn't know which was worse, falling to death or burning to death.

Either way, fucking terrifying.

He checked his watch again.
Nine fifty nine.
Huh.
Just a minute before ten.
Laurens noticed the building shaking. Was it shaking before? The building began to collapse.

Everyone inside the shop screamed in terror. John covered his mouth, trying to stifle his sobs.

He knew Alex was in that building. Kids were in that building.
So many lives.

John tried to control himself but just..
couldn't.

— — — —

Alex couldn't see anything anymore except fire. Everywhere was fire.
He heard a loud crack and began to pray for his life. The roof collapsed and Alex was crushed.

— — — —

That was the day New York was terrorized. The day New York was turned upside down.