"The man right there has a good job and a girlfriend, but at night, he sneaks out to work as a stripper in a gay strip club downtown," Alexander grinned, pointing out a man walking by on the sidewalk. Laughter from the boy across the table filled the air, causing Alexander's grin to widen into a beaming smile as he quietly giggle through his teeth.

"How do you just make these up off the top of your head?" John asked after a moment.

"Oh, I didn't make that one up. I really have seen that man working at a gay strip club before. I remember that empowerment quote he had tattooed on his arm. He has another tattoo on his ass, but we don't really need to talk about that," Alex shrugged, sipping his coffee, his tone completely serious. John laughed so hard at Alexander's antics that laughter didn't even come out of the huge smile on his face, his shaking shoulders and teary eyes the only telltale signs of the laughter. Alexander waited for John to calm down and take a sip of his drink before saying, "You think I'm joking, but, I assure you, I'm really not." Iced caramel latte almost came out of John's nose.

The two boys were sitting at a small metal table on the sidewalk in front of a cafe that had become a favorite of theirs. A awning protruding from the building offered them much welcomed shade from the harsh mid-July sun beating down on the city. It had been over two months since Alexander's stolen drunken kiss, and those months had been filled with many sweet, sober kisses. Laurens and Hamilton were absolutely infatuated with one another, spending every waking moment of free time with one another. Granted, they didn't have much free time due to summer internships - Alexander's at Congressman George Washington's Manhattan office and John's as a lab assistant for a cancer research facility at as hospital in Brooklyn - but they were extremely good at making every second count. Both of the boys were undoubtedly the happiest they had ever been in their lives. It was inexplicably nice to just be in one another's presence. Two months wasn't a lot of time, in the grand scheme of things, but the boys felt as though they had known each other for their entire lives, something that John never neglected to tell Alexander during late night cuddles on the navy blue couch.

Today was a Sunday – both boys had Sundays off. The late afternoon air was thick, the humidity wreaking havoc on John's curls, and great fluffy thunderheads were beginning to form in the bright blue sky, signaling yet another summer thunderstorm would soon open up above the city. Typically, the two boys would finish their coffees quickly and stay at the cafe together for another hour or so, just talking or playing their new favorite game of making up backstories for strangers that passed them on the street. For Alexander, the game usually turned into a game with himself to see how quickly he could make John cry of laughter.

"Wanna go back to mine or just go home?" John asked Alexander, picking up their empty cardboard cups to toss into the trashcan. He decided it was probably best to wrap up their little extrusion, weary of the clouds forming overhead. John knew Alexander had some sort of anxiety related to storms, he had seen it once or twice, but couldn't seem to get Alex to talk about it. It didn't seem to be too bad, just shutters at thunder and the need to be surrounded by John's arms when the rain started pounding on the windows outside, but John really didn't want to find out what happened when Alexander was caught outside in one.

"Yours," Alexander grinned, rising to join the younger boy. He interlocked their fingers as they began to walk back to John's apartment.

One of the reasons they frequented that certain cafe as much as they did was it was only a few blocks from John's place, and they were there in no time. Alexander went back to the small extra room that had been converted into an office, and opened up his laptop from where it sat on John's desk. He spent so much time there that it had basically become his desk; any work John needed to do, he did on the everything counter/ breakfast bar. Alexander's laptop was his prized possession; it had taken many picked up shifts in Usnavi's stores and numerous odd jobs around the barrio to earn enough money to purchase it. It was definitely miles better than the public computers in Columbia's library that had gotten him through his freshman and sophomore years of school. He pulled a packet of papers out of his leather satchel, his second prized possession, that was leaning up against the base of the desk and got to work on editing a draft of a letter Congressman Washington intended to send out to other members of Congress to implore them to put their support behind a bill allowing Puerto Rico to restructure their debt. As he went on, Alexander was finding it more and more difficult to keep hotheaded language out of the letter; he felt very strongly about the issue, being from a Caribbean island himself and because of the fact that he lived among many Puerto Rican immigrants in Washington Heights – all of whom were amazing people. Washington had obviously known what he was doing when he assigned this to Alexander; he always commented how Alexander needed to learn to keep his emotions in check, and this was how Washington planned to teach him to do so.

While Alexander worked, John made dinner. John loved having someone else to make dinner for; making dinner for two was a lot better than making it for one. Back home, he frequently helped his mother and housekeeper, Julia, make dinner for his family before his mother died, and he was shipped off to Europe by his father. Any how, it was never anything too fancy, tonight was salmon and mashed potatoes, but it was nice to be making dinner for someone again.

They ate in relative silence, like they usually did, and after dinner they sprawled out on the couch, Alexander sitting and John laying down with his head in Alex's lap. "What movie you wanna watch?" John sat up momentarily to flip through movies on Amazon Prime. When Alexander only shrugged, John decided to pick for them. He turned on one of his all-time favorite movies.

"Brokeback Mountain? That's some gay shit," Alexander crinkled his nose at John's selection.

John whipped his head to glare at Alexander. "You're some gay shit too, honey."

"I know, I was joking," Alex laughed at John, who was now pouting on the other end of the couch.

"Oh, yeah! Before the movie, there's something I have to give you," John paused the opening titles of the movie and shot up, rushing back to his bedroom. He reemerged moments later, one hand holding something behind his back and a grin on his face.

Alexander stood up, making his way to John, regarding him suspiciously. "What is it?"

"Close your eyes, Alex," John instructed the other boy. Alexander hesitantly complied, and John laughed at the confused look on his face. He moved so that Alexander was only an arm lengths away and held the box in front of him. "Okay, now open them," John's tone was giddy and matched the smile on his face.

Alexander did so, and they grew wide as he regarded the box in John's outstretched hands. It was the small white box containing the newest model of the Apple iPhone. "John, I can't take that," Alexander said, almost instantly.

"I figured you'd say something like that," John huffed, only a little crestfallen. He opened the box and pulled the sleek phone out. "Now look, I already set it all up, and I put my number in it and all the contact information for the important people you work with at Washington's office," He unlocked the phone and shoved it into Alexander's hand. Alexander swiped through the pages and clicked a few apps, testing it out.

"No, I don't want your pity," he shook his head and handed the phone back to the other boy.

"This isn't my pity, Alexander! I'm actually doing this for me, mostly, cause I don't want to have to keep going through Usnavi every time I want to talk to you," John explained.

"Obviously you have money, John, you probably grew up with it. But I've never had money. When you never have money, you don't like people buying you extremely expensive things for no reason. Or at least that's how it is for me. So, thank you, but I really can't take it," Alex took a tiny step backwards, unconsciously, and crossed him arms.

"Honestly, Alexander, suck it up. I get you have that 'I have to work hard for everything and don't want anything handed to me' complex, but sometimes its nice to be spoiled so please let me spoil you," John pleaded, trying to keep any hint of annoyance out of his voice.

"Can't you just-" Alexander started to argue but was cut off when John closed the distance between them and kissed him hard on the mouth. When the kiss was over, John had found a way to slip the phone into Alex's hand again.

"I even downloaded that game you always play on my phone for you," John snaked his arms around Alexander's waist and put on his best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine."

"You're infuriating, you know that?"

"I think I've been told one or twice," Alexander laughed, pulling John in for another kiss.

-

"Alex, are you crying?" John questioned, lifting his head from the boy's shoulder to look at his face. "Aw, you are," he giggled quietly and unwrapped an arm from Alexander's stomach to wipe away a stray tear.

"You didn't tell me this movie was this sad," Alexander murmured.

"You're just a wimp," John smiled, shifting them so Alexander's head was resting on his chest. He pressed a kiss to the boy's dark hair. They stayed like this well through the scrolling credits, until the Amazon Prime timed out. John dozed off and Alexander was well on his way, until he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Oh shit, I have to finish that thing for Washington," Alexander shot off the couch, waking John up in the process.

"You leaving?" John yawned, blinking a few times.

"No, it's a lot later than I thought it was. I'll just spend the night here, if that's alright with you."

"Of course that's alright," John laughed a little at Alexander's politeness. "I'm going to bed. Have fun finishing your thingy," John stood up and kissed Alex's cheek before making his way back to his bedroom.

John decided to stay up and wait for Alexander to come to bed; he grabbed a book off his nightstand, propped himself up on his pillows and tried to stay awake. Thankfully, the book was half interesting, and it was easier to keep his heavy eyelids from closing when he thought of a simple goodnight kiss from Alexander. Eventually, he heard a door shut, presumably the guest bedroom. Oh hell no.

John pulled back his fluffy white comforter and climb out of his bed, which was just starting to get so extremely comfortable he didn't think he could get out. He strode through the bathroom to the guest bedroom, where Alexander was already passed out on the bed. He was only half under the navy blanket, but at least he had remembered to change into the spare set of sweats and an old t-shirt that he kept at John's place for nights like this. John walked right up to the bed and slid his arms under Alexander's sleeping body. Hiking him up to his chest, he took Alex back to his bed. "You thought you were sleeping in that bed tonight," John chuckled when Alexander groaned into his chest.

"I didn't want to wake you up," Alexander mumbled as John laid him down on the bed.

"I give you permission to wake me up anytime you want," John climbed into bed next to him and pulled the blanket over them. Alex snuggled into John's chest, an arm lazily thrown around the younger boy's waist. "See, isn't this much better?" John kissed the top of Alexander's head. Alexander responded with a small nod, the best he could muster in his sleepy state. John smiled and closed his eyes and soon both boys were sound asleep.

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I AM SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE AND THIS IS SO SHORT SORRY AAAHHHH im about to write the next part right now so i will update very soon i promise

also i jumped like 2 months so it's July now