Radio Friendly Pop Song --jamilton--

2.

The next morning, Alexander was gone before Thomas even woke up. He wondered what time the other man must have gotten up because when he looked at the clock, it was only nine in the morning. Despite the earliness, Jefferson glanced up to see his childhood best friend turned manager glaring at him.

"How long have you been standing there?" Thomas asked as he rolled over to face away from James. James let out an exasperated sigh (one that Thomas learned to nearly mimic from how many times he'd heard it).

"Not long," Madison muttered. He made his way over to Thomas's closet and threw a pair of pants, then a shirt and jacket, onto the oversized bed. Jefferson sat up and finally accepted that he wasn't going to go back to sleep. "You need to wake up," he continued. "You have some stuff to get done today."

"Like?"

James glared like Jefferson should have known what he was talking about. Thomas couldn't have had less of a clue, though, so he just stared at James until he finally explained it to Thomas. Madison rolled his eyes.

"You have some shooting to get done today, then after that, you have an interview--"

"With who?"

"Thomas," he warned.

"Kidding! I'm kidding. It's with. . ."

James groaned and reminded that the interview was with some sort of teenage magazine that Jefferson couldn't care enough to remember. Obviously, he cared about his fans and how they viewed him (which is reason number one that his sexuality is reserved for females, according to the public) so he would spend at least some time working on what to say and how to say it, but overall, it wasn't something he was too worried about.

Thomas pulled himself out of bed when James power walked his way out of the way-too-large room. Jefferson put on some clothes and dragged himself into the too-spacious entanglement of hallways that led to the too-echo-y foyer and that was only an eighth of the tour of his house. Sure, it was a little much for one person, but if he ever needed a change of scenery, all he needed to do was walk to the other side of the house and it's almost like a whole new building altogether. The one thing that he didn't like was the fact that he didn't have an attic, so he was stuck assigning a room to act as a basement/attic/shed/anything that holds junk he didn't want to get rid of.

"Up already?" James asked sarcastically like he didn't just wake his friend up and yell the schedule at him.

"Only for you, sunshine," Thomas replied, consciously turning up the volume on his accent.

James only glared. "Speaking of, who were you with last night?"

"Does it matter? How did you even know about that, they were gone when I woke up."

"I know. I told him how to leave without getting caught by whatever stalkers you have this week."

Thomas hated how James emphasized the pronouns because he knew that no matter how he played it he was getting the vaguely homophobic but still a little acceptable lecture.

"Thomas, you know we can't play that right now--"

"Gay people exist, James, were you aware of that?"

"You have fans that could end you just for looking a guy, were you aware of that?"

"But I also have fans that would like the representation that comes along with a gay person of color in the mainstream media. I'm not exactly low on the fame scale, so it might actually take more than a few idiots obsessed with what I do with my--"

"Alright, I get it," James sighed exasperatedly. "But I'm still your main advisor here and I'm advising you to just. . . Keep it between us."

"Between us," he repeated. "And Alexander."

"Don't name him, you'll get attached."

"I'm not the one that named him, but okay."

Madison glared at his friend. "Don't be a toddler." He threw a wallet (which he probably picked up from the nightstand so he could be as dramatic as possible) on the counter. "Go get coffee or something, go to the studio, and get your shit done. I don't want you being too late, it--"

"Makes both of us look bad," Jefferson finished with him. He nodded slightly and headed out the door, leaving the celebrity alone in the house for a few minutes. Thomas made sure to wait a little longer, mostly to spite Madison.

Once Thomas was outside, he felt himself relaxing as he listened to the beat of his newest work in progress. For the most part, he had every note memorized and could put words to it easily. He bobbed his head and ignored the stares as he walked down the street and into the local coffee shop. He always made a point to avoid Starbucks. It seemed too popular for him. Not in the way that he only liked underground companies, but he figured that they could survive without one person avoiding going in. Local and smaller businesses needed as much business as they could get, so he always chose those when he could.

"The usual, Mr. Jefferson?" The barista asked. She was just a teenager, maybe seventeen at most, so her getting excited every time he walked in wasn't actually that annoying to Thomas.

"You know it, Peggy," he replied. She smiled wider and went off to make the coffee. Jefferson stepped out of the line and waited for the name to be called. As he did, his phone pinged in his pocket. He rolled my eyes, expecting an impatient text from James, but instead, he saw:

Unknown: either you're pretending you don't know me for image purposes or your peripheral vision is terrible

Thomas looked up and scanned the shop, which was near empty other than a few people in line and a man sitting alone in the corner. As he looked closer at the man in the corner, he recognized the blue-as-can-be eyes. They looked different without the multicolored party lights reflecting off of them.

Jefferson was going to walk over and say hi but in an act of fate, Peggy called his name and handed him his drink. James would have killed him if he wasn't punctual, so he settled for an apologetic smile that Thomas hoped made up for ignoring him. Just to be sure Alexander didn't get the wrong impression, Thomas messaged him.

Me: you know you aren't supposed to have my number right

Alexander: well dont use your birthday as your phone password.
maybe then I wouldnt have added my number

Me: so its my fault you broke into my phone, went to my contacts, added your number, and decided to text me.?

Alexander: exactly
save the lecture though, you can tell me over dinner ;)

Me: sorry, you aren't getting me that easy
try again some other time
;)

He didn't reply back, but Thomas couldn't help but smile slightly. It wasn't cautious in the slightest to let Alexander keep his number, but it was a fun idea to have someone to talk to that wasn't completely full of themselves. Then again, Alex could be so full of himself that it's worse than a celebrity. Either way, Thomas was drawn into him. He wanted to keep the one-night-stand around for a bit, if not to spite James, then because he couldn't keep his mind off the self assured, blue-eyed, Alexander.