I Have Nowhere Else to Turn

Chapter Five

Jefferson's POV

It was 1:03 in the morning.

And he wasn't asleep.

Or happy.

The picture he had...borrowed from Hamilton a few hours early was shifting in his hands to make it easier for him to study.

There were two females and one little boy in the picture, looking a year or two older than Alexandra.

He had to be her brother, just like the woman had to be her mother. That was common sense, which, contrary to her Alex's belief, he did have.

There was a body of water in the background - like the water commercials show of Caribbean cruises. Tropical flowers grew and decorated the surrounding landscape, matching the dress her mother was wearing.

She - the mother without a name - was beautiful; the bright smile, big, dark eyes, long dark hair, and tan skin were radiant in the sun-shiney world. Her son had her big eyes and brown hair, but his skin was way lighter and his eyes lighter. His smile belonged to another person, too.

Alexandra, on the other hand, was different than her brother.

She was like a miniature version of her mother. As if someone had all her mother's features copied and pasted on Alex. Even the smile was the same.

The same as it was when she was nineteen years old; way too mature for her age. Just like her smiles now, the touch of cynicism was all too easy to find.

The fighting and determined set of her body was all too familiar for it not to bring a smile to his lips. A tired and annoyed smile, but a smile all the same.

Sighing quietly - so he didn't wake up Jamie or Alexandra - Thomas put the photo in the front page of his pocket-book copy of the Declaration of Independence that laid on the bedside table above him.

Hopefully the tossing and turning some more on the rock hard ground might entice sleep.

...Yeah, he didn't think so either.

xxoOoxx

Jefferson's POV

While Hamilton was still in bed when he got up, she was awake and smiling.

Wow.

That was new. At least for him to see it. Usually it was a glower he got, though he could easily admit that she should smile more often given how nice it looked on her.

Not that he would tell her that.

Alexandra would cut his throat out.

That was, if he didn't die of hunger first. A growl forced it's way through him, grabbing her attention to the man on the ground. Silently, she raised her eyebrows in a slightly amused but arrogant expression.

Was there anyone else on the whole entire planet who could pull that off the same way she could?

"What?" He groused, too tired to deal with Hamilton like a fully functioning adult would.

"Nothing," She stated, definitely not meaning it. Thomas didn't care.

Well, mostly. "Yeah, that's totally it." There was a pause that wasn't awkward, but it wasn't comfortable. "I'm going to go make some breakfast now. Do you want some?" Alexandra would've smiled at the way he stated the obvious if it wasn't for the fact that she was feeling like she was in the same boat as he was.

"Sure," Not knowing what else to say. Even after taking her to the hospital, Alex still had a hard time believing the man who had been a pain in her arse for as long as she could remember could be a decent human being.