The Head Tie - Hamilton

Philip - Chapter Six

When they heard that a Hamilton was coming, they expected Alexander. Maybe Eliza, it was a cold winter and it was highly possible that she'd fall ill. What they weren't expecting was this. 

A grown Philip Hamilton stood in front of them and slowly blinked as he took in his surroundings. He spotted Hercules and immediately charged into him, holding him tight. "U-Uncle Herc, it was terrible! I was...Dad was...I just..." 

"I know, I know, shh..." He said, patting the man on the back. He pulled back, holding Philip at arm's length and looking him up and down. Truthfully, he didn't know, but Philip didn't need questions right now with the state he was in. "Jesus, you've grown, haven't you? Last time I saw you, you were tiny." He laughed, and the teen laughed along, smiling at his surrogate Uncle sunnily. Hercules remembered Alexander saying his smile outshines the morning sun, and he couldn't agree more.

"Wait, if you're here..." He pointed at John. "You're Mr Laurens, and you're Mr Lafayette!" He said happily. They grinned at him as he shook their hands with rigour. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"A pleasure, Philip." Laurens responded. Hercules let his grin widen at how similar they looked. Lafayette slapped the boy on the back with his signature grin. "Bonjour, Philip." He replied. 

"So..." He turned around, and they saw an unfamiliar woman who's complexion mirrored Alexander's exactly...His mother, they guessed. Philip hugged her. "Grandmother." They'd seen her before, the woman who was a picture of her son. Most people were left in the peak of their life after they died, and she was quite the beauty, completely respectfully of course.

She'd never introduced herself, so they'd just accepted she was there sometimes. 

She had everything Alex, from the glasses perched on the end of the nose to the dark hair splaying over her shoulders, and to the gentle, tired smile that was on her face as she took in her grandson. They whispered quietly to each other, and then Philip turned back to the group. 

Hercules spoke up suddenly. "Philip, what happened? You're only 19...you shouldn't be here yet." He said it gently so as not to upset the teen, but he looked to the side and took a deep breath. "W-well, in short, uh...Someone spoke badly of my father. And I couldn't stand for it, so I challenged him to a duel, except, well...Dad was right. I don't have it in me to, uh, to kill anyone, haha." The laugh was awkward, and Mulligan noticed that Philip seemed to have pick up his mother's nervous habit of picking the skin off the side of his fingers. 

He smiled encouragingly, but it didn't seem to help the boy's nerves. "So, well, Dad said if he was a man of honour and I shot my gun in the air...He'd be spooked and...But I was stupid assuming any man insulting me on the level of my father was a man of honour. He even shot before ten. " Laurens looked pissed.

"I mean, I've been in a fair share of stupid duels, but come on-- before ten?! What are the youth of today coming to!" He grumbled, staring firmly at the ground beside him. He didn't want to spook Philip, but Herc and Laf knew how much he held himself to the rules about duels. They were specific and made for men of honour. 

"So, yeah, I was, I was shot. By this guy. And Mom and Dad were next to me when I..." He teared up, and Mrs Hamilton stroked his hair gently. This seemed to make the boy calm slightly, and then Hercules realised something. That was...exactly what Eliza did when Alex got panicked or upset. He smiled slightly...Now he knew why it calmed Alexander down. 

"Jesus," He said quietly, crying now. "I was gone, I was gone but I heard them crying and I...I'm..." Hercules didn't know what to do, and he knew the Hamiltons weren't the type to hug, although Alex's mother continued, whispering words of comfort to the child. They were all surprised when John rushed forward, pulling the boy into a tight hug.

Lafayette had talked to him already about the connection John had with the child, saying that he'd even been able to manifest to little Philip as an 'imaginary' friend. Nobody knew why, maybe because it was soon after he died that Philip was born. Nonetheless, Philip only now seemed to recognise the hug. 

"W-wait...you...were..." He sniffled, and John smiled, rubbing circles in the boy's back. He coughed, and Lafayette smiled slightly at how upset Laurens seemed about Philip's upset. "You were my friend..." The boy whispered, and John nodded, pulling back with a grin.

"I wanted to keep you safe. You were everything to Alex...the least I could do was keep you safe from harm, but...it didn't matter you started ignoring me, I expected that...I just feel like I've failed you. And that I've failed your parents." He said quietly. Philip shook his head, going back into the hug with a newfound intensity.

Mrs Hamilton spoke up suddenly. They'd never heard her speak louder than a whisper, so everyone in the room turned to listen. "My name is Rachel...Sorry for not telling you." Her accent seemed more casual and thicker than Alexander's. "But...Considering how much he's nearly gone, I can't thank any of you more for protecting my son and his family..." She paused and sighed, looking to the side.

"I never really forgave myself for leaving. I know I couldn't change it, that it wasn't my fault, but...And then my bastard of a husband took the money I left Alexander and his brother... I thought they'd be fine but then...Then they told me David was dead, that James disappeared... And I couldn't bring myself to watch Alexander for so long because I was so afraid of what I'd see..." She took a breath and fiddled guiltily. "So I left it and waited, and someone told me that my son's friends were here, so I... I came, but I felt...so bad, and you all..." She shook her head.

"No. You gave my son something amazing. You gave him a new family that wasn't going to leave or die left right and centre as soon as he knew them...And you let him grow that family how ever he saw fit. You were there for him whether or not he was there for you, and that's..." She looked up at them now with a smile that perfectly mimicked that of a 19-year-old Alexander, and the smile of the grandson in front of her, full of happiness, pride and hope. "That's more than anyone else ever did for him. Thank you so much." She said.

Philip grinned and looked around. "Well, can we do something fun now?"

Hercules was unsurprised by how easily the boy's mood changed.