"Yo, Yo,

Check it.

My name is Lin-Manuel Miranda.

'Bout to wreck it,

Put your hands up.

My main man Tommy on the drums,

Yo boy on the vocals,

My lover (y/n) here

Just wants to go to

Barns and Nobles!

Spitting fire with these bars,

Cuz I can.

Tommy Kail popping beats,

On trash cans.

Leaving my makers mark on

this scene,

Making rap music in a

park of green,

We don't need snare drums

Or a microphone, yo.

All I needs a sick beat

And some time, yo

To Formulate some rhymes, so I can

Shoot this track up like Vicodin

Oh!"

Suddenly, the table has flipped and Tommy takes the 'mic':

"Oh!

My name is Tommy Kail.

Lyrics so ill, wind up in jail.

But that ain't no problem

Cuz I

I got those washingtons for

the bail.

I've been rapping alone in

this park,

From dust,

until dark.

Never heard a boy come round

Like Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lin-Miranda Manuel, man well,

The boy can rap but can he beat real.

This beat real.

This beat will,

Steal your rhyme schemes and your treasury bill."

"What?" Yells Lin. Tommy stops the beat and fist bumps Lin saying, "So you can spit?" Lin shrugs, animatedly, "I guess I can." Tommy laughs, "Get outta here man, your girl looks half frozen. But hey," He slips Lin a business card, "You should come by our place. I might even hand you a mic."

Red as a beet, you pull Lin away from the man as they laugh. Lin waves goodbye to the percussionist freestyler and hands you the card, which reads:

FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME:

LIVE AT KOOL KATZ ON KAMPUS TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS, AND SATURDAY NIGHTS

Despite your blushing, you really are amazed at Lin's free styling abilities. "Where'd you learn how to do that?" You say, your breath billowing.

Lin smiles and looks into the distance, as if he sees things other than the college campus, "Oh just a little place called Washington Heights, New York City." "New York City?" You say, surprised, "You'd said you moved here from a city, but I didn't know you lived in NewYork City! Why would you ever leave?" Lin smiles sadly and shrugs, "I didn't really have a choice."

You are about to say something else, but then you realize you've arrived at the large book store. "Hey," You say. "There's-" Lin is already bounding forward towards the doors. "Come on!" He says, grabbing your hand and sprinting through the doors.

Once inside, Lin stands very still, taking in the sights of the two-story multimedia literature collection. "Oh wow!" He says, before releasing your hand and hopping towards the nearest set of shelves. He bounces from section to section, scouring the book backs for titles he deems "Interesting enough to tell (y/n) about".

Every few minutes you hear an excited: "(Y/N)! (Y/N)! (Y/N)!"

"Yes Lin?" You say, looking up from whatever text you're thumbing through, and he'll show you a new manga, or something Harry Potter related or- "Sailing for Dummies? Lin, you realize we don't live anywhere near the ocean." "Awe, but (y/nnnnnnn)!" "No! We are not buying this." You put the book down as Lin pouts for 2.5 secs before racing upstairs.

You follow him up, and find him thumbing through some boxes of records. "(Y/n), looks at these!" Lin says, holding up a couple of records, "Biggie, Eminem, Ja Rule... all the goodies, man!"

You smile and shake your head as he beams, holding the records close to his chest. "Let's buy 'em." You say, holding up the $100 gift card. Lin takes the gift card out of your hand, wide eyed, "One-Hundred bucks? Whats it for?" You shrug, "Birthday gift from my parents. They sent it so I could buy a textbook but I already have the ones I need to finish out this semester." "Oh," Says Lin, "But what about next semester?"

You sigh, adjust your back pack and say, "I'm not staying here for another semester. This is my last one." Lin's mouth drops open, his face falls. "Oh."

You both stand there, conscious of the space between you, not sure whether to close it in an embrace or let it stay. Lin opens his mouth to say, "But, I don't-" You cut him off with, "Pick a few records, we'll add them to the books we've got, and we can go check out."

You walk downstairs and avoid Lin's eyes through the check-out line. When you step outside, you walk quickly, as Lin trails behind.

Wrestling with your thoughts you make your way to the park and take a wrong turn on a path, one that leads to a red bridge overlooking a pond. Silhouettes of koi move lazily in the depths of the brown water. You pause for a moment at the top the bridge, and let the wind whip at your hair.

You feel a shaking hand grasp your arm and you see Lin next to you, in distress. You want to comfort him, but you know nothing you can say could make this better. "I," Lin starts, he looks down, "I know you've got a plan but... where do I fit into it?" You feel tears brimming in your eyes, "I, I don't know." Lin blinks tears out of his own eyes, "We don't have to know, right now. All I need to know is, do you want to be with me?"

Your throat goes dry, you're tongue is tied, you know the words you'd say if you could speak but you can't do you don't. You thrust yourself into his arms and you sob. He holds you. An arm around your waist and another around your head. He holds you, and supports you as the wind picks up around you.

When you can, you say, "I love you."

He squeezes you tighter, and whispers in the most beautiful voice:

"I love you too."