Raise a Glass to Freedom

And the rest of the world falls away

Yes that title is a Dear Evan Hansen reference

Historical Lams! Honestly, historical Lams is my favorite...

Alex's POV
Boyfriend. Boyfriend. I had to admit, the word had a nice ring to it. I looked over at Laurens, peacefully sleeping in the bed next to mine. His blankets were pulled all the way up to his chin, his hair was spread out over his pillow. I longed to be closer to him. My boyfriend. I liked that phrase. My boyfriend.

Laurens rolled over, muttering something sleepily. Do I want Laurens to be my boyfriend? I thought. I did. I wanted to hold his hand, to kiss him, to have him on dark, cold nights like these. I wanted to feel his arms wrapped around me when we marched. I wanted to spend the hot summer nights with him, sitting outside I wanted to tell him how much I loved him and have him do the same. But that's not going to happen, I thought, looking over at Laurens again. He rolled over again. It must be nearly morning. It was still dark and I had been up for hours, unable to fall back asleep. Is Laurens awake? I coughed, only somewhat unintentionally. He didn't move. I coughed again. He sat up a little, looking at me sleepily.

Laurens POV:
I woke up to Hamilton staring at me. It would have been creepy if he wasn't so cute. "Hey..." I said, propping myself up on my elbows, "What time is it?" There was a little bit of light coming in through the walls of our tent. He shrugged.

At that moment I remembered exactly what I needed to do that morning- something I had been putting off for a while. I had to tell Hamilton. "Alex..." I said, sitting on the edge of his bed. "You never call me that," he said, sounding slightly alarmed. "Yeah... I have to tell you something." He took my hand in his. "I... I've been," I struggled to get the words out. "I've been transferred to South Carolina." He didn't say anything. "I'm leaving in a month." Hamilton looked defeated and shocked. My heart ached for him. "Alex..." He leaned into me, hiding tears. He put his arms around me and nestled his face into my shoulder. "Alex..." I said again, resting my head on his shoulder. "I don't want to lose you," he said. His voice was muffled. "You won't. I'll write every day." He said nothing. Time seems to slow to a crawl and the pressing silence was only broken by his occasional sobs. "John..." He whispered after a while. "You never call me that," I replied quietly. "It's just..." He seemed to struggle for the right words. "I love you so much." I held him tighter. "I love you too." He buried his head in my jacket. "No, no, you don't understand- I love you more than that, whatever you're thinking, I love you more than that. I love you, I want you." I was silent, lost in thought. It seemed like a dream come true- Hamilton really did want me. I'd loved him ever since we'd met. But I had to leave. "I want to be with you too," I said. He lifted his head up, looking into my eyes. "Really?" "Really," I confirmed. A smile broke out across his face, momentarily forgetting my impending departure. Hamilton pulled me closer to him. "I wish you could stay with me," He said. "We've got a month," I replied. He frowned. "Staaaaaayyyyyyy..." I smiled, he looked so cute at that moment. He looked into my eyes again, "Would it be totally ridiculous if I kissed you right now?" I smiled, biting my lip, "Someone'll find out." He put his arm over my shoulder, draping his hand around the back of my neck. I had to admit, that was something I'd wanted him to do for a long time. "Nobody needs to know," Hamilton whispered. "Well in that case," I whispered back. And then he kissed me.

Hamilton POV:
I'm kissing John Laurens. I never thought I'd get to say that. But here I am, sitting on my bed, kissing him. My arms are over his shoulders, wrapped around the back of his neck and his arms are wrapped around my waist. It feels as if the rest of the world has fallen away and we're the only ones left. Eventually he pulls away, still holding me.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he said, breathlessly. "Me too," I said, equally breathless. By now, the sun had risen, filling the tent with dim morning light. "Washington needs us," I said. He moved his hands to my messy hair, threading his fingers through my ponytail. "He can wait," Laurens said, leaning in towards me. I leaned towards him for another kiss. The rest of the world can wait.

Haha wow I wrote that really fast. I'm probably going to publish a cute Valentines Day thing soon even though it's already passed...

Comment story requests/ships!

~Cather