Ignited || John Laurens .1

thirty-four

Grief is most definitely not what George was feeling right now as he stood at the altar. No, definitely not grief, having lost his wife and queen just a couple of weeks ago. What George was feeling right now was success.

The priest was talking, but George didn't listen. His only focus was lying on Y/N now, who stood beside him in a ridiculous gown but still managed to look like a gorgeous queen.

A queen. His queen.

Finally he had her right where had wanted her all along. It took years and years of waiting and patience, but now she stood here at the altar and was about to become his wife, his queen. Of course he pitied the deaths of his brothers and of his former wife, but oh well. They would've been gone sooner or later.

The vows were spoken, the rings exchanged and finally the words he has been waiting for came.

"You may now kiss the bride."

And George didn't need to be told twice.

Word spread fast across the world. 

The atmosphere in the bar that Alexander, John and Hercules visited hadn't changed a bit - it was as cheery as always, but those three in particular had a glum aura about them that just told others to stay away.

John was probably the most depressed out of the three. After all, Y/N was the love of his life and she just sacrificed herself like that to secure herself peace. It was ridiculous, how she just stormed in there to kill George, but now ended up his wife. John had no clue what was going on in her head.

Alex didn't have an answer for her behavior as well. Of course, she was his twin sister, but they've been apart for god knows how many years and even though they've had each other back for four years, he still couldn't seem to figure out how her mind works.

Hercules was worried to death. Of course, she was in safe hands for now. As his queen, George wouldn't dare kill her off, now that he had what he wanted, but that did not prohibit him from doing...whatever he wished to her behind closed doors. And that scared him.

The doors opened and a familiar face moved over to join the three gloomy men.

At first no words were exchanged, until George Washington finally said "I am terribly sorry for what happened." He didn't know if the words were appropriate, but they were better than nothing.

A nod went through the round and Alex answered "There's no can do to change it...no need to be sorry." Hercules added "But it's appreciated. Thank you, sir."

The round got silent again, the occasional lifting and setting down of a mug of beer filling the silence between the men. Even though it was so loud in this bar, the four men could still feel their silence.

"How is your daughter?", George asked and glanced at John, trying to grab his attention and to maybe get his thoughts off of the loss of his lover. Well, you couldn't quite call it a loss, since she wasn't dead, but...

John glanced up at George and nodded slowly "Frances is doing fine. Eliza is taking care of her a lot, raising her with Philip. It's like the two of them are siblings." A small smile found its way to John's lips. 

"Well, they do look quite alike. They have the amazing Hamilton genes, that's why," Alex says and a round of chuckles followed.

John sighed lowly but smiled and glanced over at Alex. The resemblance of Y/N in him shocked him every time anew. Even Eliza wouldn't be able to tell the two of them apart if they got into the same clothes and Alex had gotten a clean shave.

Speaking of a shave, John knew he'd need one soon. His face was already so stubbly that Frances wouldn't even give him a smooch on the cheek anymore.

"I think John is a little sad that his daughter doesn't show him her love as much as she used to," Alex all of a sudden said and John frowned at him "Can you read my mind?" Alex laughed at that, Hercules choking on his beer and George hid his snicker behind his mug.

"You should really get rid of that stubble. I bet Y/N would never let you share her bed with her as long as you've got that stubble. I know she doesn't like it," Alex snickered.

John blushed in embarrassment and groaned, hiding his face in his hands at the memory. It's true. When Y/N had lain sick, he had grown a stubble, and after all the joy and happiness had been over, of her being awake again, she had frowned at him and had said "What is that?"

"What is what?"

"That what on your face," was her reply and when John had moved his hand to his face to find out what she was talking about, she had said "I prefer you without the stubble, turtle boy. Get that out of your face or Mr Turtle goes sailing out of the window."

Of course John had immediately run to the bathroom to get rid of it.

"I will, I will...", John mumbled to himself and took another sip of his beer. For now, he just wanted to drown in his sorrows. Even if only for a short while.

"What is on your mind, my queen?", George asked, looking up at Y/N who stood beside him at his desk and glanced down at the papers he was currently working on. Y/N had actually gotten him to continue working on his papers more, which was quite a success. In general, Y/N had brought a lot of changes into this castle, which a lot of servants were astonished by.

"I admire your focus on transporting convicts to their exile in Australia," Y/N began dryly "But I think you should move your focus elsewhere."

"And where, precisely, do you want me to put it?", George replied and raised a brow at his wife.

"On the end of slavery."