"You've gotta stop doing that."

John jumped at the sudden voice of his friend, Alexander. They had been silently writing for almost four hours now, the sun gradually erasing itself from the darkening sky.

His brows furrowed. "Doing what, Alex?"

Alex peered over his stack of papers, most harboring sassy remarks for Burr, and sighed. It wasn't one of his usual 'Lets-get-this-over-with-I-want-to-go-home' sighs, it was much too soft. The only other time he had given such a quiet sigh was at his wedding. Often, he would be sighing loudly and irritatingly due to morons (cough, Jefferson, cough) he gave at his wedding, when John had asked if he was happy.

"Yeah, Laurens, I'm happy." He had replied, giving Laurens a boyish grin. He glanced over at Eliza and Hercules dancing together. He let out a soft sigh, "I'm happy. What about you?"

He looked back to Laurens and looked straight into his eyes, brown-speckled chartreuse staring back at him. Laurens gave a slight frown before spreading a wide smile across his freckled features.

"I'm happy if you're happy, Ham."

"That thing you're doing with your quill." John broke from the memory, lifting his head to face Alexander. He glanced down at his hand, cringing at the sight of ink splattering across his hand. Had he been twirling the quill around, again? He really couldn't remember, he'd been daydreaming too much to notice. Usually he only did it when he was nervous, but it'd become a habit around Alex. That man just always seemed to make him feel skittish. He brought his eyes back up to Alex, trying to form a response.

"Oh, I, uh, do it when I, uhm, when I'm nervous." He stuttered. Alex raised his eyebrows, looking surprised.

"Nervous? Why would you be nervous?" He started. "John, you're not scared of anything. In fact, I've seen you redefine bravery several times!" He laughed aloud, filling the small room with a symphonic joy. John blinked a few times, forgetting how blunt Alex could be. He slightly shook his head, a grin slowly creeping onto his face. He chuckled as Alex began to sober.

"Really, Laurens, what's got you nervous?" Alex questioned, leaning forward at his desk. He tilted his head at the slight smile on Laurens' face.

"I don't know, the war?" John supplied. He inwardly winced at his own answer, knowing Alex wouldn't believe it was that.

"I don't believe you." Yeah, that was expected. "You're never this nervous when we're on the battlefield." Alex stood up, squinting at Laurens as he walked around his desk towards the other man. "Alex, what are you doing?" John muttered as Alexander held his hands behind him as he scrutinized his friend.

"Trying to read your mind." Alex whispered, inching closer to John. All at once, his eyes widened, he straightened up, and he dramatically gasped.

"Oh, my god. You're in love." He pointed his right index finger at me in accusation. I dropped my quill in shock. How could he tell? Was I that obvious? Was I not hiding it as well as I thought I was? A million thoughts raced through my mind. Did he have an idea of who I was in love with? I did a quick prayer, praying that Hamilton was more oblivious than he seemed.

I steadily raised my head, not high enough to meet Alexander's eye, but enough to not look like a coward. His face scrunched up for a moment, no doubt thinking of who my secret crush could be. I swear to God a lightbulb went off over him, and he got the proudest look slapped on his handsome face.

"I know who you love." He announced, dragging on the word love. He crossed his arms and smirked, raising his chin higher than before.

Oh, no. He couldn't, could he? Had he figured it out or was he bluffing? Or, just maybe, he knew it was him. No, stop it, John, that's ridiculous. If he knew who it was, he'd probably never bring it up and live a happy life with Eliza. I snapped back to reality when I heard Alexander speak.

"Is it Peggy?" He had this stupid grin across his chapped lips. "I saw you dancing with her at my wedding, don't think I didn't see the looks you gave each other."

Deep breath, John, he doesn't know. I shook my head, standing up in the process.

"No, Alex, it isn't Peggy." I answered. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I don't like her like that, or any woman like that, really." His deep brown eyes searched mine, hoping for more information.

"What do you mean, 'any woman like that'?" He asked. "Peggy's smart and she comes from an amazing family, what's not to like?"

It was starting to get harder and harder to breath. I was having an internal battle on whether to divulge my deepest secret or not. Alexander was a close friend, the closest friend I've got, to be honest.

But, I have no right to his heart.

He had gotten closer to me while I had submerged myself in my thoughts. He was now leaning his back against my wooden desk, armed with a deep frown. At least he wasn't looking at me with those piercing eyes, always full of questions. Though now, he was kind of glaring at the oil painting of the Chesapeake Bay. He kept creasing his forehead, something he did a lot when he was thinking of arguments against slavery. He suddenly slumped against the desk, pouting like a small child. He rolled his head to the right, facing me once again.

"John Laurens, if you don't give me more information right now," He warned. "I will write to Washington and tell him you're withholding very important information."

My eyes became saucers, my lips parting in shock. He would bring Washington into a personal matter? Oh, wait a minute, this is Alexander Hamilton, of course he would.

I pushed my chair back and turned around, mirroring Alex's position. I held my head high, staring him right in the eye. Deep breath, John, you got this.

"Alex, can I confide in you?" I whispered, my hopes of sounding confident dashed by his puppy-dog look. He furiously nodded, "Of course." He declared.

My eyes fluttered shut. My heart began to speed. My palms sweat as they gripped the cool surface of the table. I heard him slide closer, and felt his warm hand press onto my left shoulder. I swallowed my fears, all the doubts that have kept me from telling him.

"It's you, Alex." I mumbled, screwing my eyes tighter.

A/N: Howdy hey, folks! Thanks for reading and please, please, please leave a review! I'd love to hear what you want to see in the next chapter or if there's a prompt you want me to try on Lams:D Also, if they seem out of character, y'all can totally tell me and I'll try to fix it. I'm not very good at characterizing so any feedback is much appreciated!