S T U D Y [Hamilton AU] (LAMS)

7

"It's okay. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault. C'mon, let's enjoy the rain." He took my hand and placed it on his forearm. I wrapped my other hand around it too. We walked over to the three boys sitting on a bench. Burr bracing it under a hood of a raincoat, and the other two huddled under a bright yellow umbrella. Lafayette smiled at John.

"So what now?" I asked.

"We usually go to the park when it's like this," Burr stated. "They'll run around and I make sure no one dies."

I chuckled but some part of me felt like he wasn't joking. "So let's go," I smiled. John gave me a weird look.

"In a taxi," he said. I just shrugged.

So we waited for a taxi and took one to the nearest park. I didn't know what to do, So I just sat on the bench next to Aaron. "Must be fun," I muttered.

"Surprised you're not with them. Everything okay?"

"I don't really like rain," I admitted.

"Then why'd you agree to come?"

"Because I like John." I think he was waiting for me to correct myself, deny that the feelings were romantic, but I didn't.

"Really?"

"Last night we went to go see Phantom of the Opera. We were really open. Um... He... Well when the storm was really close, we were both in my bed. He was trying to keep me calm. And this morning I was awake but I didn't want to move so I just laid there and... He kissed the top of my head."

Aaron stayed in silence. "I think you should go over there with them." I looked at him.

"What? Why?"

"Just go."

I stood up, he smiled at me, and I jogged over to them. They were messing around like little kids. I laughed. "Alexander!" Lafayette shouted. I walked over to them.

"Thought you were going to be the new mom friend," John teased. I chuckled.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Just throwing a ball someone left here."

"Can I join?"

"Can you catch?"

"Maybe not with this jacket on, but without it, probably better than you," I said.

"Oh, is that a challenge?" John laughed.

"You bet." I took the jacket off and handed it to Laf. John have the ball to Hercules and he took steps back.

"First one to 15 wins! Laf, keep track!"

Hercules gripped the football and chunked it. John and I ran, and I caught it. We kept going until we were both tied at 14. We both were drenched and had mud covering our pants. Hercules threw the ball one last time and it went farther than any one before. We both ran at full speed and I was able to outrun John just enough to stick my hands out and catch it. John slipped, and because he was so close to me, he took me down with him. He towered over me as we were both laughing hard and trying to catch our breath. I looked up at him and wiped some mud off his face.

"I won," I said breathlessly. He chuckled and wiped the mud off my cheek. We laid there, breathing heavily and staring at each other.

Then he leaned down and kissed me. I wrapped my hand around his neck and kissed back. The kissed tasted sweet, like rain and sugar. Like a candy you could eat for days on end. I pulled back slowly. He got off me and sat next to me. I looked over at him. His hair was socking wet and slick down to his shoulders. Mine was probably the same. I reached out for his hand. He looked back at me and smiled, putting my hand on his forearm, making me slid a little. I moved a little closer. I kissed his cheek swiftly. He turned red. "Alex," he started. Oh no. Was he going to say he didn't really like me? I mean he just kissed me but... Maybe it was a one time deal. An in-the-moment thing. "I really like you," he said softly. I could barely hear him over the rain pounding against the mud puddles.