Bless Your Orphan Heart (LamsAU)

Chapter 1

"Its been too long.."  Laurens hummed happily as he walked towards the opera hall. It had been almost 4 months since his last act, and he had missed working. It wasn't as if he was broke, he made plenty, so even if he didn't work this job, he would be fine. He just wanted too, his jobs were his life, his fun, and he enjoyed them to much to pass up an opportunity. He stretched his arms, cracking his back and neck before pulling the door open and slipping inside. 

 "Ah bonjour mon ami! Quel est ton nom?" Someone called as soon as he was inside. He turned and saw a curly haired french person waving to him from the entrance to back stage. "Oh hello there, My names John Laurens, this is the set for Madam Belle right?" The french person nodded, smiling and waving their hands as they began to speak again. "Effectivement il est ! Qui êtes-vous jouer?" John Blinked a few times before shaking his head and laughing quietly. "Sorry man, I don't speak french." He explained. The french person blinked before laughing as well. "Oh My, I'm sorry Mon ami! Im just used to Hamilton, he speaks fluently. Anyway, who is it you're playing?"  They asked, their heavy french accent doing nothing to cover the flawless english. "Oh! I'm Actually playing Madam Belle." John said, a soft pink spreading across his freckled face. No matter how many times he explained he was a cross dresser, he still got embarrassed. They didn't seem fazed, just smiled even wider. "Oh! So you've finally arrived! Its nice to meet you, My name is Lafayette! I go by They/Them if you don't mind." He explained, throwing an arm around John's shoulders and beginning to lead him towards the stage. "I don't mind at all." John said, smiling warmly. He wouldn't be a proper human if he judged someone for their preferred pronouns, he himself was gay, so he understood discrimination about things like that. 

Once they had led John to the stage, he noticed how many people were milling around. Before he got the chance to observe anyone, a clearly disheveled woman rushed over. "Lafayette! What were you doing? It shouldn't take that long to grab water!" The woman huffed unhappily. "I was greeting Mr.Laurens Tanner! I told you he would be coming!" They said with a cheeky grin, moving John forward with the arm still wrapped about his shoulder. "H-hey there." John stuttered, slightly confused. As soon as the woman saw him, she relaxed immediately and smiled at him, smoothing her tight red dress down. "Oh thank the lord, I was worried you wouldn't be coming Mr.Laurens, My stage hand sent you the wrong time in the email." She explained, sticking her hand out to shake his. He took her hand, nodding along to what she said. "Sorry for not arriving on time then, I assume rehearsals are staring soon?" He asked curiously. She nodded again, gesturing for him to follow her as she began to walk to what could only be the dressing rooms. "Good luck Mon amie!" Laf called, moving off to talk to a well built man wearing a a bandana on his head. 

John followed the woman into the room and turned towards where she was standing.                                                               "This is what you'll be wearing for the majority of the play." She hummed, grabbing a dress off the rack and showing it to him. The dress was a soft yellow, with frills covering the skirt. The top was relatively simple, not covering the shoulders and having one simple frill with a black bow in the middle. "Oh its lovely!" Laurens hummed appreciatively, moving forward to take the dress in his hands and examine it. "I'm glad you think so, we also made sure it was made to your exact measurements, so it should fit perfectly." Tanner explained, smiling at him. "Now if you could change into it, and the hat that goes with it-" She said hurriedly, reaching over and grabbing a soft salmon colored hat with a pink rose on it and handing it to him. "-I'll meet you on stage and introduce everyone!"  Laurens nodded, Smiling and waving as she hurried out of the room. 

"What a nice lady." He chuckled, pulling his sweater over his head and moving to undo his jean zipper before he heard someone walk in. "O-oh gosh! I'm so sorry!" The man stuttered as John spun around in surprise. The man was beautiful. He was slightly shorter than Laurens, probably about 5'8 to his own 6' and had big chocolate brown eyes. His shoulder length reddish brown hair pulled up in a pony tail. He was dressed in his costume, a revolutionary era outfit, but was obviously missing the overcoat that would go with it, which was probably why he was here. " s'alright." Laurens said with a soft giggle, holding his sweater to his chest as the man blushed darkly. "I, Uh, Just came in to grab my coat.." The man groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, causing John to laugh again. "Its ok, go ahead and grab it, I can wait." John said, moving to the side and grabbing a clothes hanger to put his sweater on.

  "I uh-" He groaned again before chuckling. "Thank you, My names Alexander by the way, whats yours?" He questioned, moving to sift through the clothes. "Names John Laurens, Everyone normally calls me by my last name though." John explained easily, shamelessly checking Alexander out while he was turned around. "Good to know, Who ya playing Laurens?" Alexander asked, Finally finding his coat and turning around, causing John to quickly flick his eyes away. "O-oh, I'm playing Madam Belle, how about you?" He asked, a slight blush involuntarily creeping up his cheeks. Alexander blinked in surprise before brushing it off. "I'm actually playing Sardonic, so it looks as if I'm your partner for this play." Alexander said with a chuckle, slipping the bright green jacket he had grabbed over his shoulders. John did his best to hide the excitement spreading through his body. This guy was gonna be his partner? Oh gosh, and if he remembered correctly, he'd get to kiss the guy! Score! "Well, It was definitely a pleasure meeting you Laurens, But I think I should let you finish getting changed." Alexander chuckled, finishing the last button of his coat. "A-ah? Yes of course, I guess I'll see you soon Alexander." Laurens said, waving to him as he walked out