Hey guys! In honor of 50k (HOLY SHIT!) reads on Legacy, I'm doing something like a giveaway. But instead of giving out cool stuff people want, I'm giving away....my friendship??
If you instant message me any of your social media, I'll give you a follow and we'll become internet friends 😂 I know it's an awful gift but I just really want to reach out to you guys and be more of just an author. I love you all
Also: someone comes back in this chapter. You've probably noticed that I'm slowly pulling the hamilsquad back in to this fic. Pay attention. They become important.
(This chapter jumps around POVs a bit. It isn't a filler-like, a lot of important stuff goes down, but I'm trying to cram plot into chapters because I don't want to end up finishing this book with like 70 chapters. Rn we're about halfway through. Love ya!)
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Jefferson's POV
"Tommy....Thomas. Can't you stay? Please."
"No." I sat stiffly on his bed, staring out the window with blank eyes. What have I done? "No, I have to go. I never called Peggy back."
"Please." James begged, tears in his eyes.
His hand brushed against my bare back, but I scooted away quickly. "I can't." I told him again.
"Why not?"
"Because, James. Sometimes it's better to take the safe road. The easy way out. I'm sorry...for not being brave enough to love you." I stood up off his bed and reached for my clothes. "I'm so, so sorry."
******
Alex's POV
"Eliza, seeing you stressed out makes me stressed out. Can you sit down or something?" I begged, watching her pace with alert eyes.
John squeezed my hand. "Eliza, sit down before you give Alex a seizure or something. Jesus. The man is dying, Liza, even the slightest thing could trigger him."
I narrowed my eyes. "You trigger me."
John laughed warmly and placed a soft kiss on my mouth. I started plopping hurried kisses all over his face. "One....two....three..." I counted, trying to count his freckles as I kissed them.
John pushed me off. "Nuh uh, mister." He teased, wagging his finger. "Stop trying to count my freckles. You'll never know how many I have. Never." His brown eyes seemed to be lit up from the inside, the sun making them the color of melted chocolate.
"Ugh." Peggy huffed, crossing her arms. "Can you two stop being so cute and couple-y? It's insensitive. I'm going through a breakup over here."
"This is exactly what I'm talking about." Eliza groaned and flopped into the chair across from me. "I've ruined the household. Angelica's been gone for barely six years, and I've gotten Alex to lose his memory, let Peggy date Thomas Jefferson then watched as her heart was broken by him, and.... and... and, our house is a disaster!" Eliza's eyes settled over the unkempt living room, which John and I had kind of destroyed during our Friends marathon.
Eliza took a deep breath. "Before Angie left for college, she told me that I had to be the big sister now. I had to take care of everything. Now she's coming back to utter shit!" She dropped her head and flung her arms.
"You're being extremely overdramatic." John noted. I turned toward him and gave him a cute little Eskimo kiss that got cut short when Peggy threw a pillow at us.
"Peggy, just call him already." I groaned, throwing the pillow back. "Stop sulking. Talk it out."
"He won't return my calls." Peggy huffed and dropped to the floor at Eliza's feet. Eliza sat up from her sprawled position to comfortingly smooth Peggy's curls back from her face.
"I think it's time I tell you guys the truth about Thomas Jefferson." Eliza mumbled so quietly I had to lean in a little to hear her.
Peggy looked up at her. "Liza, what do you mean? John and I already know."
She shook her head. "Not...all of it."
Eliza played with the hem of her pastel blue skirt before looking up, her eyes locking with mine. "Freshman year, I dated Thomas Jefferson." She started her story. "I'd had a crush on him for forever, and one of my friends, probably Angelica, convinced him to give me a chance. Thomas asked me to freshman homecoming, and then we dated for the rest of the year."
Peggy took her hand. "Eliza, you don't have to talk about it-"
"No, Peggy, I need to get this off my chest." Eliza took a very deep breath. "At the end of the year, we went to this bonfire at George Washington's house. Jefferson convinced me to sneak away...up into one of the guest rooms...and he..."
Suddenly, it dawned on me. "No." I said, shocked. "Oh my god. I'm going to beat the shit out of him."
"Alex, I'm not done! Can everyone stop interrupting me? Anyways, we went upstairs, and....I'm the one who wanted to do it. It was my decision to take that step."
Peggy looked up, startled. "What?"
Eliza ignored her and kept going. "After we started, I realized the magnitude of what was going on. I wanted to stop but it was...it was too late. The deed was done."
"Are you telling me Jefferson only lasted, like, three minutes?" John raised a brow. "Huh."
Eliza and Peggy sent him identical, Schuyler-sister-feminist-power glares that caused him to shut up immediately.
"Thankfully, Angie's friend Maria hooked me up with a morning after pill." Eliza shook her head. "Thank God. I don't know how Dad would have reacted...anyways, Thomas broke up with me a week after the incident. He didn't have the decency to give me closure! He just had his friend Madison call me and tell me the relationship was over."
"What an asshole." I groaned.
Eliza shrugged. "We were only freshmen. No one knew how to act like an adult yet. I wanted to fix things with Jefferson, stay friends at least. I gave him the summer to calm down and get his thoughts together, but when we returned to school that fall, he was gone. Become a foreign exchange student. We got Laf in his place, remember?"
John nodded. "Pretty good trade, if you're asking me."
Suddenly, there was a jangle of keys from outside the front door, and we heard the front door open. Eliza shot out of her chair.
"Angie!" She whispered, face going white. Peggy scrambled up, grabbed Eliza's hand, and pulled her to the entranceway to greet their sister.
"You're home!" Peggy screeched.
John and I got up and tip-toed to the entranceway to spy on the family reunion.
I didn't remember Angelica very well- I barely remembered her at all, honestly. But when I saw her, standing with her arms around her sisters and a wild smile on her face, it sparked something in me.
I grinned at John. "The Schuyler sisters are back in business."
Angelica's eyes met mine. "Hello, Alex." She beamed. "How're you doing?"
"Not too bad." I returned her smile.
Angelica gave her sisters one more squeezing hug. "So...what did I miss?"
"Uhh......" Eliza shook her head slightly. "Um, nothing. Same old, same old. You know... dad being annoying, Peggy being annoying, everyone making it their mission to be annoying. Typical."
"Why do you hate me, Liz?" Peggy pouted.
"I feel like we're intruding." John whispered in my ear,his breath tickling my neck. "Wanna go in the basement and watch some Netflix?"
"American Horror Story?" I offered.
John wrinkled up his nose, cringing. "Absolutely not."
"Asshole." I grumbled. "Sometimes I feel like I should go live in Laf and Herc's new house. They'd let me watch American Horror Story."
John laughed. "Yeah, but you'd also have to put up with their constant making out."
"Good point. I'll stay here with you."
"Thank God."
*****
Aaron Burr's POV
"I don't know, mom." Thee whispered into the phone. She was trying not to wake me. Little did she know, I barely slept anymore. I knew she was up at 3 am on the phone with police officers every night. Always calling her mom when she thought I wasn't around. Searching for answers, then hiding what she found. The more Thee tried to keep me from getting worried, the more worried I became.
She was getting close.
I peeked around the corner, watching Thee as she sat on the kitchen counter, twisting the sparkling engagement ring on her finger anxiously. The phone was pressed so tightly between her cheek and shoulder it was a miracle she didn't snap it.
"Mom, I know...but who sent me the money?" Pause. "I know it was a blessing, but I want to know who. Who the hell just sends someone they don't know 96,000 dollars?" Pause. She kept twisting the ring. My ring. "Exactly. That's why I'm starting to think the transaction wasn't legal. Something's up." Pause. "I'm getting close. The police won't stop until they found out where the money came from."
Stop looking, Theodosia. My dear, dear Theodosia. I'm just trying to protect you. So stop looking.