Plastic Promises // Leerens

11

I stood at the edge of the woods. Burr agreed to distract Hamilton while Laurens and I met up. I tapped my foot worriedly and glanced around. Finally, Laurens came running up. I released a sigh and turned to begin our walk.

I felt Laurens hook his arm over my shoulders. I relaxed into the feeling.

"Is this all you wanted? I'm here and on time," Laurens said. I shook my head and laughed a little. Hilarious how he thought this fixed everything.

"Nope, it takes more to regain my trust," I said.

"What else do I need to do?" Laurens asked. I grabbed his hand as it hung over my shoulder and shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm going to need to be able to trust you," I said. Laurens sighed and I laughed a bit more. I realized if we kept going, we were going to end up near the battlefield, which was a place that two unarmed soldiers shouldn't be. I turned and led Laurens towards the lake. Laurens wasn't ready and stumbled a little. I was determined to get to the lake. Laurens followed along, probably very confused.

After almost 15 minutes of walking, we got to the lake, near the diving cliff. I wasn't one for diving. Hell, I could barely swim, so I stood back. Laurens removed his arm from around me and began to take off his coat and shirt. I climbed down and took my boots off. I waded my legs into the water and glanced up at Laurens. He waved down at me and walked back on the cliff. I got a little confused until I saw him running off and jumping into the lake. I laughed and shielded my face from the splash. I swirled the water around my feet and kicked away a few dead leaves. Laurens swam right in front of me and used my legs to hold himself up.

"Hey," I said, looking down.

"Why aren't you swimming? It's just right," Laurens asked.

"I don't know how to swim," I said with a shrug, "Also, keep an eye on your clothes. Someone stole Washington's once- don't ask how I know that." I glanced at my boots then back at Laurens.

"No way, now I have to know how you know that," Laurens laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"He came back to camp in the middle of the night and I was walking Spada. It was pretty... awkward," I said, remembering the encounter. I scrunched my face, that was something I never wanted to see again or have Spada witness.

"Really Burr? You can't have Lee rubbing off on you and making you into a coward," I heard someone say. Laurens heard them too as he looked in that direction.

"I thought you said Burr would keep Alex away," Laurens said quietly.

"I-I did too," I said, trying to find them. Laurens also looked around a bit. I saw them, and pushed Laurens off my legs. I got up, trying to shake the water off my feet as I put on my boots. I ran around the lake, and tugged Burr away from Hamilton.

"My best friend, fuck off," I said, walking away.

"Lee? Was that you over there? Who was with you?" Hamilton asked me. I ignored him and walked away with Burr right next to me.

"Lee, what happened? What's going on?" Burr asked me once we were out of ear shot.

"I told you that I was going to be at the lake, why'd you take Hamilton here?" I asked.

"Because I saw you walk into the woods, sorry," Burr said. I couldn't stay mad at my best friend.

"It's... fine, just get him away," I said, softly. I yet again heard Hamilton's voice speaking. I rolled my eyes and waited for him to walk past us. Along side him was Laurens. Of fucking course.

"Oh, hey Burr! Oh, and Lee. We were just talking about you guys," Hamilton said. I rolled my eyes. First stealing my best friend, and now my boyfriend who really isn't my boyfriend but I'm going to call him that because there's no better word.

"I hope it was about how we're better friends that don't fuck each other," I said sarcastically. It was more of a jab at Hamilton, but a bit was for Laurens and, based on how he looked when I said it, he knew it too.

"Hey- You guys know that?!" Hamilton said. I let Burr answer because mine would've probably ended in another duel.

"You guys are, one, loud, and two, obvious. You can still see John's hickey," Burr said. Laurens moved his hand over his collarbone and looked right at me. How does Hamilton not notice this?

"We're not loud- Are we loud?" Hamilton turned to Laurens. Laurens shook his head and I could almost feel Burr rolling his eyes. I could be a proud father over his sarcasm, but I dont think I could be a dad.

"I literally have to go to Lee's a few nights because I can hear you in my tent," Burr said. I decided to add on to that to.

"Was that the other reason you came to my tent last week?" I asked. We both know it was about Theodosia, but I remember Laurens and Hamilton were doing something alone.

"Part of it, yes," Burr said.

"Okay, we get it, just go," Hamilton said. Laurens helped him shove us away. Something hurt about that. I don't know what, maybe it was the fact he was clearly choosing Hamilton over me just after trying to get my trust back. I don't think I could give any back if he ever asked again. It stung badly.

"Charles, are you alright?" Burr asked me. I felt like crying, but there were no tears to be lost. I just leaned into Burr's awaiting hug and sighed softly.

"You liked him, huh?" Burr said softly. I nodded into his shoulder and held tighter. There was no hiding it from Burr. No wonder he was a great lawyer.

"Don't let this ruin your experience. Trust me, love is so much better than broken hearts and broken promises," he said. I nodded again, but it was more hesitant. I knew it could be better, but if Laurens was like that, there was no telling who else could be like that.