Hamilton One Shots

Worse Things

Crouched in the corner of her home, a place she once considered to be the safest, Maria glared at the papers surrounding her. Only a few minutes prior had her husband confronted her, threatening her with useless things. He had slammed his fists on her body, allowing muffled sobs to leave her lips.

After the affair had been publicly flaunted in newspapers, her life flipped upside down. She would have never expected to see people she loved and cared for turn on her. No longer was she greeted with smiles in the town. Instead, she received nothing of the sort.

Everyone acted like she had committed a sin that was not worthy of being forgiven. There was so much more she could have done than what she was guilty of. Maria knew she was in the wrong, but she never meant any harm.

Her hands shoved the parchment pieces farther away from her. The man she had slept with talked of her only as a whore. He never mentioned her reason for even coming to him in the first place. But it was pointless to him.

She gathered the parchment up in her arms, taking slow steps towards the fireplace. In protecting himself, he had ruined her. Lips pressed together, she furiously threw them into the empty fireplace. Her anger only grew by the second as she scrambled around.

Alexander. His name still stuck in her mind like a reminder of all she had done. Maria had been flirtatious with other men in the past, but she never expected to end up like this with one of them. And she certainly didn't expect one of them to end up hurting her in unimaginable ways.

Just as she lunged closer to the fireplace, to light up the pathetic lies he had written, her hands began trembling. Maria dropped to the ground. Dress sprawled out around her, she covered her face as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

It had been so long since she had let herself break down. She had dealt with months of torture for passion from both her husband and the man she had an affair with. And that was considered the worse thing ever?

Maria had only asked for help. All she asked for was money, to help her little girl and herself escape the wrath of an abusive man. In return, she received two years worth of ruthless demands for pleasure. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she remembered all the nights she had felt worthless because of them.

Of course this was the one thing people who throw at her for the rest of her life. She could have waited for the perfect man, like every other woman did. She could have let every other chance at love or passion pass her by.

Maria picked up the striker beside the fireplace and took a deep breath. There was no turning back. With a snap of her wrist, flames emerged from the wood and licked up the papers upon papers of writing.

At every crack of the fire, Maria watched her life twirl away. Instead of being a considerate mother, she would known as a whore. There would be whispers and insults against her, not one look of sympathy.

With one man, her life had completely changed. Alexander had possessed everything she ever wanted and everything she ever despised. He had sauntered into her life and back out again without even saying hello or goodbye. The man had gotten the satisfaction he desired. But Maria hadn't.

She let her sobs come to a stop. As much as it hurt her to, Maria couldn't afford to let anyone see her cry. Especially him. She was positive that Alexander would show up again. If he saw her crying, that would only make her more of a whore and fool.

Not even a pamphlet written against her could be considered the worst thing. Maria knew deep in her heart, somewhere where it hadn't been broken, that showing any sort of reaction to it was a sin of its own kind.

Alexander would never know what it felt like to be in her shoes. He would never know how many times she had held back tears as he took control of her life. He would never know of the feelings she once felt.

And he certainly wouldn't ever understand why crying in front of him was the worst thing she could ever do.

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A/N: SaccharineCyanide had a chapter in her rant book about how she needed a one shot based on There Are Worse Things I Could Do from Grease with Maria, so I decided to write it. I loved the idea and only got more inspired while listening to the song, so here you go!