Chapter 27

Note:

*The elections of 1800s*

So I was thinking that, since in my version of the story Alexander tells Eliza about Thomas and she's pretty upset about it, he (sadly) doesn't have the chance to spend so much quality time with his family... but also, this way Philip doesn't really feel the need to defend his father's legacy - so he lives, hurray!

If you liked the story so far, please consider giving a vote to your favorite chapters. I'd also love to know what you think about it - do you like the characters? Do you think that something could be improved? If you have any thoughts, please write them down! I swear I don't bite ;)

***

"G'morning beautiful!"

"Mmm... coffee."

"I'm happy to see you too."

Alexander threw a pillow to the figure who was happily walking around his kitchen, searching for all the ingredients he needed to make breakfast, and turned to the other side, hiding his face on the couch backrest to shield his eyes from the morning sun. Meanwhile, Thomas hummed a lovely tune that lulled Alexander back to sleep for some minutes – fortunately, when he opened his eyes again, a cup of coffee was already waiting for him.

"I most definitely love you," he smiled at the sight.

"Are you talking with me or with the coffee?"

"Both?" Alexander grinned and stamped a kiss on Thomas cheek before accepting the steaming mug of manna dew. "You know I love how you make coffee."

"That's because everything I do is perfectly made, love."

"Shut up, you charming smartass."

Thomas giggled and sipped his coffee, enjoying every moment of the domestic routine that Alexander made so special by only being there.

"Do you have plans for today?"

"How about going back to bed?"

"How can you possibly be tired, you literally woke up right now!"

"I wasn't thinking about sleeping." Alexander cast him a tantalizing smile. "You know, we could –

Knock, knock, knock.

"Shit!" Thomas hissed at once. "Were you waiting someone?" He whispered so low that Alexander had to read his lips to understand the question.

"No." Alex was so used to holler over other people's voices that whispering seemed completely unnatural to him, so he gestured broadly with his hands as if to help Thomas understand. "Whoever it is, I'll send him away. Go hide in the bedroom!"

Thomas grabbed his coat and walking stick from the ground and hurried to the other room, while Alexander opened the door with the most annoyed face of his collection.

"Who is – oh, Aaron," he said, genuinely surprised to see him so soon. "Good morning!"

"Good afternoon to you, Alexander!" Burr smiled, amused by Hamilton's confusion. "I didn't think you were the kind of person who oversleeps on Sundays."

"Shit, what time is it?"

"It's 2 p.m." Aaron cast a quick glance inside, waiting for Alexander to invite him in. "Are you busy right now? I'd like to talk about last night – I'm really sorry I misunderstood your intentions."

"I- I'm actually sort of busy right now, yes." Alexander shot a glance at the blanket on the floor and the two cups of coffee that were getting cold on the table before turning towards his friend again. "Look, I'll stop by before dinner ok?"

"But Alex, I –

"Bye!" Alexander closed the door right on Aaron's face and placed his ear on it for a minute, waiting for Burr to walk away. After some time, Burr's steps faded into the background noise of Philadelphia's streets and Alexander started to breathe again.

He headed to his room and carefully opened the door, almost yelling when Thomas appeared out of nowhere, lifted him with no efforts and threw him on his shoulder as if he was a bag of Scottish potatoes.

"Thomas, put me down!"He roared, half-laughing, while punching his boyfriend in the back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm bringing your ass to bed, isn't it what you were asking for two minutes ago?" Thomas joked, gently landing him on the bed. "What happened?" he added after noticing the look on his face.

"It was Burr. He wanted to talk about last night. I have to solve this thing today – Thomas wait!" Alex grabbed Thomas's sleeve to hold him back.

"How can you still look him in the eyes after what he tried to do?" Thomas was furious.

"He only tried to kiss me, Thomas, I can't stop being friend with him only for that! Look, I know you're jealous but you can trust me, okay?"

Thomas silently stared at Alexander for a very long moment. He'd almost forgotten Alex didn't know anything about Burr's plan to have him arrested for sodomy – should he tell Alex the truth? Knowing his stubbornness, Hamilton wouldn't listen a word, and Burr would deny everything anyway. Thomas took a couple of deep breaths to calm down and held Alexander's hand, kissing it on the palm and then placing it on his cheek with a lovingly gaze.

"I trust you, love." He kissed him lightly and turned to the door. "I have to talk with a couple of people as well – I'll see you tomorrow at work?"

"You can come and sleep here tonight, if you want."

"I'd love to." Thomas put his coat on and cast a last smile to Hamilton before leaving in a rush.

***

The following months, things seemed to be perfectly balanced and Alexander grew anxious that something could go wrong any moment: he wasn't used to that peaceful happiness anymore. He and Thomas had no problems remembering how to enjoy each other's company – it was even better now because they could finally spend every night together and, except for those days when Thomas had to host some late meeting and couldn't go back home to Alexander, they were always comforted by the thought of a hot cup of tea and each other's embrace at the end of a rough day at work.

Alexander and Burr were still campaigning together every day, but Alex politely declined to dine with Aaron most of the times, claiming that he'd discovered a new passion for cooking, and heading home as soon as he could, waiting for Thomas. The day Burr had talked to him about their dinner night, he'd justified the kiss as a moment of weakness of a widowed man who'd spent the past years all alone, and Alexander had been the most understanding person in the world ("No big deal Burr, I would flirt with me too – I mean, have you noticed how cool I look today?"). In the end, they'd returned to be simple friends again. And Thomas didn't like it a bit.

"You used to hate him – you tried to beat him out once just because he was acting friendly with me!"

"And you've been complaining about it forever!" Alexander retorted. "You should be happy that I've got at least a friend in here, everyone avoids me after what I said about Adams."

"I'm not avoiding you."

"Let's see if you'll still want me tomorrow, after Timothy Pickering will kick your Democratic-Republican ass in the ballot."

"Ha! You wish, love, but I'm sorry to inform you that your Timmy doesn't stand a chance against me!" Thomas cockily winked at Alexander, before turning suddenly serious. "But, listen, I can promise you one thing – even if I were to lose the election because of you, I wouldn't leave you Alexander. Is that clear?"

"Would you be mad at me?"

"I can't promise I wouldn't be a little vexed, but if you were to be super nice with me for a couple of months, maybe –

"A couple of months?!"

"Just kidding, love. I think I've already used all my strength to be mad at you these past years."

"Does it mean that you won't be mad at me ever again?"

"Don't be too hopeful about that," Thomas sighed, holding him tight under the blankets and stamping a light kiss on his head. "Tomorrow's the day – I may become the next president-elected of the United States."

"Are you nervous?"

"Honestly? I would be honoured to be chosen as president," Thomas said slowly, "but, you know, I wouldn't turn into a different person so – no, I'm not really nervous about it."

"I can't believe you had a panic attack when your best friend found us kissing, but you're not even nervous about becoming president."

"It may have something to do with the fact that we're not risking our lives this time," Thomas laughed and Alexander rolled his eyes. "But maybe I should bring you with me tomorrow, it calms me to hug you."

"Imagine what would happen if you were pronounced president-elected and, out of a sudden, you went and hugged the head of the opposite party!" Alexander shook with laughter at the thought. "I think Jay would have a heart attack."

They speculated about all the possible outcomes of the following day's ballot until they eventually fell asleep – or, at least, until Alexander fell asleep. Thomas simply lied there, half-reclined on his elbow, caressing Alexander's hair with his free hand and wondering about what would wait for him the following day. When Alexander woke up the following morning, the bed was empty – he was starting to get used to it, Thomas always got up at dawn, even when he had not a single thing to do; that day, however, he would be quite busy counting the votes.

Alexander decided against going out, and opted to work from home – he didn't feel like talking with other people, and he wouldn't know the result of the ballot before that night anyway, so he would better get to work. It eventually turned out to be the worst choice ever, since the time seemed never to tick by and he found himself looking at the clock every ten minutes. After writing all his letters, fixing a report about foreign affairs, working on a particularly difficult legal case and drinking four cups of coffee, it was no later than noon. He waited another interminable hour and finally decided to go for a walk, pacing back and forth from his house to Congress Hall, were a little crowd of journalists and curious passers-by had gathered to know the results of the ballot.

He'd already returned home and was reading the original Latin edition of Ovid's metamorphoses to divert his attention from the elections, when a knock at the door made him jump on his feet at once and throw himself at the door. He held the door open for Thomas – it'd started raining and his hair was adorned by millions of tiny droplets of water. His expression was blank and he didn't say anything until he'd took off his coat and tiredly sat on the couch.

"Adams is third, he received sixty-five votes," he announced, looking askance at Alexander, who'd curled next to him and was hanging to his words, his eyes widened by curiosity. "And sixty-four votes has been given to Pickering."

"Does it mean that...?"

"Burr and I received seventy-three votes – each."

"Oh. Oh!" Alexander realized the meaning of Thomas's words after a couple of second. "Holy shit!"

"The House of Representative will vote tomorrow." Thomas rubbed his temples and got up, heading to the kitchen. "It's full of Federalists – I have a feeling that Burr will be their favourite."

Alexander didn't know what to say. Thomas was his boyfriend but Aaron was a friend and he felt strangely attracted by both their personalities as much as he was outraged by their political views.

"Do you want me to make dinner today?" He resolved that the best thing to do was to let Thomas get some rest.

"Did you learn how to cook?"

"Hell no, but it can't be too difficult, can it?"

"What if we cook together? You can start by chopping some onions and carrots," Thomas negotiated, smiling. He appreciated Alexander's efforts to cheer him up, but was also responsible enough not to let him burn the whole house down.

"Whatever," Alex snorted and started to roughly cut the carrots under Thomas's concerned gaze.

"You should mince them, love. This way." He placed his hand on Alexander's and helped him handle the knife in the right way. "If you put your hand like this – yeah, mind the fingertips – you won't risk to cut yourself, see?" He whispered to his ear and Alexander shivered slightly, but continued to carefully mince the carrots, completely absorbed by his task.

After Thomas was satisfied with Alex's work, he added some logs to the fire to heat the stove before pouring some water into the pot, together with a couple of potatoes, a peeled tomato and some salt. When they finally ate, Alexander declared it the most delicious stew ever and was so happy that Thomas couldn't bring himself to remind him that he'd only chopped some vegetables.

The following day, the House of Representative voted. Six times. But neither Jefferson nor Burr received the absolute majority of nine, and Thomas returned home far more stressed than the night before. Alexander played piano for him and helped him to bed when he fell asleep without having dinner yet.

After two other days, the House had already voted seventeen times, but the results hadn't changed a bit. Thomas was completely exausted and the situation only worsened when Alexander informed him that he would dine with Burr that night.

"Why didn't you tell him right away?" Madison couldn't believe that Thomas had been so stupid. "Burr will use him to gain the votes he needs now! Goddamn it, Thomas, he's your boyfriend and you're being either too noble or too proud to ask for his help."

"I can't ask him something like that, James, I'm not being noble nor proud – I'm just too scared. I've done this mistake once and I'll be damned if I lose Alexander because of this."

"At least tell him about Burr!"

"I can't do it now, can't you see?" Thomas sighed and nervously ran his fingers through his hair, "If I'd told him earlier he wouldn't have believed me, and if I tell him now he'll think I'm trying to set him against Burr. I am so fucked."

Madison anxiously tapped his fingers on the table for a while and, right when Thomas was about to tell him to stop, he looked up at him with his usual calm face and a hint of a smile on his lips. Thomas instantly eased up – when James gave him that look it meant that he had a plan.

"Let's go pay a visit to William Duane."

***

"Mr Burr!" Thomas armed himself with a great deal of patience and one of his I'm-obviously-only-pretending-to-tolerate-you smiles, while entering Burr's study. "Thanks for having me."

"Mr vice president," Burr was way more skilled in faking his smiles. "Well, you said it was important."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is." Thomas left the door ajar, waiting for Burr to invite him to sit, and eventually took a seat without being urged to. "I'm here to demand you to withdraw from the elections and accept the second position, as we agreed."

"Dear Mr Jefferson," Burr grinned arrogantly, "why should I? We both know that I'm favoured among the Federalists, you're never going to win."

"I'm warning you one last time." Thomas's smile had already turned into a more threatening one. "Let's put an end to this nonsense right now."

"I won't."

They looked at each other with no pretension of sympathy at last. For a very long moment, no one talked nor moved.

"Very well," Thomas uttered low. "I suppose I'll have to schedule a friendly chat with my long-term enemy then – let him know that you tried to have him hanged for sodomy."

"What are you talking about, I've never –

"Your dear friend William Duane told me something really interesting about you and Hamilton. You know, I think that, after knowing what you tried to do to him, he'll hate you even more than he hates me."

"Why would he believe you?"

"I happen to have a paper signed by Duane himself, who testified what you asked him to do and what he really witnessed – are you sure that you weren't trying to take a bite of Hamilton? You seemed pretty desperate to kiss him, and he – our country's greatest example of sexual depravity – rejected you."

"You son of a –

"I'd be careful if I were you, Senator Burr." Thomas got up; now it was his moment to be cocky. "I'll expect your resignation by tomorrow morning."

"You know what?" Burr stood up, his eyes burning with anger. "Fuck you. I won't resign!"

"Are you sure this is the wisest answer?"

"Hamilton will never believe neither you nor Duane. He won't doubt my friendship!" he hissed. "But I can promise you that the first thing I'll do after becoming president will be to destroy both of you – your names will be fucking forgotten!"

Thomas took a step towards Burr, his hands itching to slap him, but stopped. No, that was exactly what Burr wanted; instead, he took a deep breath and slammed his hands on Burr's desk.

"Tell me, how did you manage to have Hamilton wrapped around your finger?" Thomas spat. "Are you really so arrogant to believe that he won't find out your true intentions?"

"It'll be too late then." Burr sneered. "You know, I'm honestly shocked you're so interested in him – you seem almost to care about Hamilton."

Thomas's heart missed a beat and he felt his blood run cold. Had Alexander told Aaron about their relationship?

"I'm a good observer, Jefferson, and I've noticed that every time Hamilton and I talked about you, Alexander would grow slightly upset – sad, not angry as he'd always felt before towards you," Burr continued, trying to read Thomas's reactions. "Also, you and Madison didn't want those check stubs published when I first found them, so I've come to the realization that you three made some sort of secret agreement the night of the dinner bargain. Something that made you and Hamilton grow closer for a while, but somehow ended badly... I've never found any proofs but I will, sooner or later."

"You're raving," Thomas denied, feeling extremely relieved that Burr's guess was completely wrong, regardless being still very dangerous for both him and Hamilton.

"Tell me what happened in that room, the night of the bargain."

"You know what Burr?" Thomas headed to the door and gripped the handle. "Hamilton and I are political enemies, but we both have the dignity never to cross certain boundaries – differently from you, who tried to sell him out for your personal benefit. We are not like you. Smile!"

Thomas opened the door, disclosing a very satisfied James Madison and a furious Hamilton right behind it.

"You motherfucker son of a bitch!" Alexander almost threw himself on Burr, who was so taken aback by the shock of being caught that cowardly used a chair to distance himself from Alexander's deathly rage.

"Alexander, wait – Jefferson was threatening me, I don't really mean the things I said!"

That was Burr's last attempt to lie before facing the truth – Alexander was done being played by him.

"You're so fucked Burr! You were right fearing me – your useless career is over!"

Alexander turned away and walked out of the room, followed by Madison, who hadn't uttered a single word, and Thomas, who addressed Burr one last time before closing the door.

"Your vice presidency will be your personal hell, Burr," he vowed.