Alexander liked the feeling of having no jobs to do.
He'd obviously have to find a new one soon, just to keep him alive and all that, but he was enjoying not having other people hire him to do their dirty work. For the first time since before his mother got sick, Alex could say that he was really happy and not stressed. He was on top of his classes, he had a kickass boyfriend, he had great friends, and no illegal job ring to worry about.
As soon as he was back on the campus, he dropped the phone in the mail slot of King's house and walked away without another thought. He didn't even knock or go inside, he just dropped it and went to avoid any conflict that he could, for once. Thomas insisted that they celebrate with something because apparently he really didn't expect his siblings to be a turning point for Alex's moral compass.
Whatever worked, though.
Thomas's idea of a celebration, Alex figured out, was actually a first date, which he wanted to spend ice skating. Hamilton didn't see what was so great about sliding with blades strapped to your feet on solid water, but Jefferson seemed excited about it.
"We used to go all the time when I was a kid! Well, whenever they were doing the dollar-skate days at the closest rink," Thomas explained as the walked up to the rink. "Trust me, you'll love it."
"Yeah, no offense but I trust you about as much as I trust a rabid squirrel. It's just a disaster waiting to happen!"
"You'll be fine," Thomas assured one last time before opening the door to the building.
They strapped their skates on and made their way to the actual rink. As soon as Alex saw the sheet of ice, he wanted to sit out. Thomas insisted that it was easier than it looked and helped him onto the ice. Alex gripped Thomas's arms for balance when he almost fell as soon as both feet were on the ice.
"Okay, now you have to relax. You can't skate if you can't move your legs."
"'You can't skate if you can't move your legs'," Hamilton mocked. "Yeah, well, I can't skate if I'm dead either but here you are forcing me to do this!"
"How could you possibly die from this? Worst case scenario, you get a cut on your fingers."
"Can't they get cut off if I fall?!"
"Not if you bring 'em in quick enough!" Thomas laughed as Alex nervously tightened his grip. "I'm just kiddin', that finger thing is just a myth, the blades aren't sharp enough to cut a finger off."
"Are you sure about that?"
Thomas pulled slightly on Alexander's arms and started slowly skating backward, steering and letting Alex gain some balance as they went.
"Positive," he said.
Eventually, Hamilton got himself balanced enough to skate mostly on his own. He still had a tight hold on one of Thomas's hands, partially to keep himself balanced and partially because he wanted to.
They skated together for around an hour, lightly bickering about whether or not the blades were sharp enough to cut off a finger. Alex still insisted that it was possible and a rational fear, even though by that point he was having more fun than he expected.
"You think you can skate on your own now?" Thomas laughed after a while of skating hand-in-hand.
"I probably could. Doesn't mean I want to, though," Alex smiled and shrugged like it was nothing, but a man skating past them thought that his opinion was the most important thing that he could have possibly contributed to the conversation. Of course, it wasn't the most polite comment in the world.
The first time around, the couple just ignored the comment, but after he came around a second and third time, each with a new comment, Hamilton was getting fed up. It was after the fourth comment that Thomas pulled his hand away.
He skated ahead and left the rink, leaving Alex on his own. Alexander scanned the rink for the man with the obnoxious opinion and noticed him heading for the exit as well.
"Oh hell no," Alex muttered.
He turned and skated the opposite way since it was closer to the exit, dodging other skaters as he approached the cut-off. He caught up to the man and, since it was easier to do on the hard floor, picked up his feet to jog next to him.
"So, you wanna tell me why you chased off my boyfriend with your unnecessary opinion?" Hamilton said as soon as he was next to the guy.
"Because unless you're a really ugly lady, it's wrong."
"Oh, I've never heard this before! How's it wrong?"
"I don't owe creatures like you an explanation," the man growled. "Now leave before I catch whatever it is you have."
Alexander clicked his tongue in a disapproving way. "See, you actually do owe me an explanation. . . What's your name? Harold? You look like a Harold. Anyway, Harold, it's only 'wrong' because you read a book that's probably been processed by the government that said an almighty god said so. Really, there isn't any real law that says it's wrong, in fact, I could go and propose to my super hot boyfriend right now!"
"The law of God is real, and that's what it goes against. Country laws are below the Bible, always."
"They aren't, though. You have a choice to follow God's laws. Country laws aren't exactly optional. And anyway, doesn't it say in the Bible that women should obey their husbands when it comes to sex? You know, like a man can take what he wants when he wants it. So, by the law of God, rape is okay. By country laws, it isn't. Which one will you listen to Harold? And before you decide, there is a right answer to that."
The man looked ready to argue but he closed his mouth and stormed away. Or at least he tried to, he looked more like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum in his skates. Hamilton had to stop himself from laughing as he looked for Thomas, who he found sitting at one of the benches taking his skates off.
"You forgot something, you know," Alexander said, joining Jefferson in taking his skates off and trading them for actual shoes.
"Sorry, that guy was just getting on my nerves," Thomas muttered.
"I can tell, but he's just one of those people blindly following the Bible without giving it any real thought."
"Please tell me you didn't go talk to him."
"I would never!" Hamilton threw a hand over his heart and faked a gasp. "Why would you think I would do that!"
Thomas didn't even have to say anything because the look on his face was enough to say "really?" in the most sarcastic way possible.
"So maybe I talked to him a little, no harm in that. His name's probably Harold."
"I swear you're going to get us kicked out of every place we go," Thomas laughed as he got up.
Alex followed him out the door, checking his phone as they walked. It was still somewhat new to him to not have to worry about how illegal the next job was going to be, so getting a text from John was a wonderful relief. He told Thomas that he was going to spend the night there and after five reminders to call, the couple went their separate ways.
Alex was almost to the apartment building when two people came up next to him. John Adams and James Reynolds.
"Hey! Look what we have here James!" Adams said, throwing his arm aggressively around Hamilton's shoulders. "Haven't seen you in a minute, where you been, Al?"
"Don't call me that." Alex tried shrugging his arm off but his grip was too tight. Adams redirected the group away from the original destination.
"Adams! You know he's still sensitive about his cousin!" James gasped. "The poor guy just found him dead on the couch, show some respect."
Alexander froze. "There's no way you could know about that."
"Right, and there's no way we could know that you found him the day after your mom died. Honestly, Ham, you should know by now that King has his ways of getting his hands on important information."
Once he realized where they were, Alex tried to duck back and run away, but someone else was behind him, already pushing him up the stairs and into the house. The same house that he'd been avoiding.
"Welcome back, Alexander!" King shouted in the same obnoxiously happy voice as always. Alex noticed a couple new faces sitting with the rest of the group, one of which stood out like a sore thumb.
"John. . ." he breathed.
Laurens shrunk back into the couch, a guilty look glued to his face. Alex scowled at him as he felt a new kind of betrayal.
"Oh, yes, he's been such a help here." Hamilton's attention was turned back to King. "Now, I'm a man of my word, and if I remember correctly, I told you to watch your back."
He took a few steps forward and roughly grabbed Alexander's face between his thumb and index finger.
"You should have listened."