Tango

You'll do great.

As time went on and the weekend rolled around, Hamilton found himself indeed in a better frame of mind, his thoughts no longer dreading the unknown, comfortable in the knowledge that things were under control. He spent less time stuck in his head and more spending it with Thomas. With the weather slowly getting warmer and warmer the Virginian revived his long-lost love for gardening, investing more of his time into making the back garden look nice with bountiful rose bushes, and making sure his vegetables were on the right path.

The hands on the clock had just passed one in the afternoon, the sun in the apogee of the sky was causing the temperature to rise, making this one of the warmest days of the year so far. Jefferson was on his knees, elbows deep in the dirt, transplanting one of his bushes because it wasn't getting enough sunlight, Alexander by his side handing him tools when needed. Despite his non-demanding involvement, the younger man was sporting about as much sweat on his brow as his kneeling, dirt-covered counterpart. The sun, high in the sky, was blinding him as he stood dutifully with tools either in his hands or within reach, to easily pass them to Thomas, like a nurse to a surgeon. The older man was nearly done when he noticed the tired, heavy breathing over his head.

"Is everything alright, Darling?"

"Hmm" The Caribbean man hummed, drawn out of his daze.

Jefferson stood up to look his lover in the face when Alex almost tripped, taking a lazy step back with his eyes closed. The darker man quickly reached for him before he could fall and held him steady.

"You should go inside and rest, you've been standing here long enough."

"But you're not done." The shorter man complained. "I have to help."

"It's alright, I'm just about finished, you can go inside."

"But I don't want to." His eyes were still closed - not because of the sun shining on his face but from exhaustion. He had never anticipated gardening would take so long.

"Alex, go inside. I don't want you getting a heat stroke just because you were too stubborn to rest when you clearly need it. You're barely standing as is." The taller man huffed.

Without another word, they set the tools aside and Thomas helped him walk back to the house, guiding him to the kitchen for a glass of water and later to the sofa where he could take a nap. Only once he was certain Alex wasn't going to walk somewhere when he turned his back, did he go back to pampering his garden.

Laying on the sofa, Alexander tried to unwind, letting his tired mind drift away from him far where he couldn't reach but the incessant movements of his daughter kept bringing him back to reality. They were by no means painful but, the constant flutter within him was too hard to ignore. He laid there hoping for the nuisance to subside and the hopefully, following sleep. Although it couldn't have passed more the twenty minutes when the doorbell rang at the front of the house, meaning Thomas couldn't have heard it, and it was now Hamilton's job to see who it was. Reluctantly he moved from the comfy couch and headed for the front door, his mind was still unsteady when he grabbed the handle and without a second thought, he pulled the door open. One, two, three seconds passed before he heard a sobering "Hi" in an all too familiar female voice. His eyes focused on his friend's face as he shut the door in terror, leaning against it as if his added weight would make it impossible to breach. He stood there, confused whether he had truly seen who he thinks he had seen when the voice was heard again through the door.

"Can I come in, Alex? I know you're there."

Her tone of voice was normal, without a drop of anger or offense.

"I'm sorry if this feels unannounced, I texted Thomas earlier, I thought he would've told you."

That could have very well been true, but Thomas hadn't seen his phone all day, choosing to leave it inside while his hands get dirty.