(Y/N) POV
Before I knew it, it was already the night of the ball. And, was I nervous? Of course. Why was I nervous? Well, first of all, I definitely wasn't a huge fan of big, fancy, poofy dresses. Casual dresses that you can wear basically anywhere? Sure. But fancy dresses? Um... No thanks. Second of all, Lafayette asked me. Lafayette. The tall, handsome French man. Third of all, everybody there will be wearing a fancy dress, which, did I mention I'm not a fan of, and I didn't have one. I probably could still get one today, if I got lucky and it fit perfectly, but there was also another problem. See, I was never really considered the "rich" type. I wouldn't even be able to afford a dress, anyways. So, I basically just sat on my bed for hours until finally, Eliza came barging into the room in the dress that I had picked out for her. Her hair was how she usually had it: In a half up-half down style.
"(Y/N)! Why are you just sitting there? We're leaving soon and you're not even ready!" She rushed over to me and grabbed my hand, attempting to pull me off the bed.
"Eliza, I can't go. I don't even have a dress. And I'll probably just die of a panic attack before I even have a chance to dance with anyone, which, also isn't one of my strengths." I sighed, on the verge of tears for some reason.
Eliza stared at me, her eyes round with sympathy, before snapping her fingers and smiling.
"I can't solve all of those problems, but I can solve one of them! Be right back." She spun around and bustled out of the room. A few minutes later, she came back in.
"What is that?" I noticed she was holding something under her arm.
"Ta-da!" She unfolded the cloth and revealed a very beautiful (F/C) dress that was similar to hers.
"Eliza!" I gasped, immediately standing up and limping over to her. "It's... It's perfect! I love it! And it's my favorite color!"
"I knew you would like it. I bought it the day we were at the store to pick up my dress."
"Oh, so that's what you were doing. You did look suspicious." I laughed, grabbing the dress from Eliza. "Um, I've n ever put on a fancy dress like this before... Can you help me?"
"Of course! But can we wait a few minutes? Angelica and Peggy are going with us, and they can help, too."
"Sure." I smiled.
About 15 minutes later, Angelica and Peggy came over in their fancy dresses, Angelica in a fancy pink one and Peggy in a very pretty yellow one, and agreed to help me with the dress, my hair, and my makeup.
Once they got the dress on, matching it with some white heels, they did my (H/C) hair in a half-up, half-down French-braid hairstyle, and put on light makeup. When they finished, they covered my eyes and brought me over to the mirror, revealing what I looked like. When Angelica removed her hands from my face, I gasped and covered my mouth.
"Wow..." I breathed. "I don't know what to say."
"Thank you?" Peggy put her hands on her hips.
"Peggy!" Eliza glared at her sister. "You look beautiful, (Y/N)."
"Thank you..." I murmured.
"There we go." Peggy smiled.
"Peggy!" Angelica said it this time.
"Be honest, do you think Lafayette will like it?" I folded my hands over each other, looking down.
"Ooh, she's going with Lafayette?" Peggy smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.
"I think he'll love it." Eliza glared at Peggy again, before turning to me and smiling.
"I agree." Angelica also smiled.
"Me too!" Peggy chimed in, raising her hand.
"Great! Then let's go!" Eliza squealed, leading us out of the room.
Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy all insisted that we didn't wear any cloaks or shawls on our way to the ball, which I thought wasn't very smart, but I just followed their lead anyway. So, we took a carriage to the ball. I, of course, was freezing basically the entire ride there, and the fact that it started to snow on the way there didn't help at all. Somehow, Eliza, Angelica, and Peggy managed to stay perfectly fine, giggling with each other. That was when I realized something.
"Hey, guys?" I chirped in, but they kept on giggling loudly. "Guys!"
They all turned to me.
"Oh, sorry. What's up, (Y/N)?" Angelica tilted her head slightly.
"I just realized that I'll probably look stupid, considering I'll be limping. I also won't be able to dance without falling and most likely hurting myself even more." I frowned.
"Oh, that's right." Eliza looked disappointed. "I'm sure Lafayette will understand though."
"OOH!" Peggy screeched, staring at me with a huge smile and wide eyes. "What if... What if he lets her stand on his feet while he dances? That would be sooooo cute!"
"Aw, that would be cute." Angelica nodded.
Eliza also nodded, smiling. I just shrugged.
Once we arrived at the place the ball was being held, we all stepped out of the carriage in a singe-file line. Angelica was in the front, Eliza in the middle, Peggy behind Eliza, and I was all the way in the back. They all held their heads high, their chins up and their hands behind the backs. Before I knew it, they were in the building already, and I remained outside, trying to catch up to them. I was slouched over, note that that's not very "lady-like", limping into the ballroom.
"Where did they go?" I whispered, standing up taller and straining my neck to see if I could spot them over the heads of the other people.
I continued to limp, casting glances and nervously smiling at the people who would stare at me. I realized that I probably looked like a homeless person, so I straightened up, lifting my chin, and put my hands behind my back like Eliza, Angelica, and Peggy had done, and tried not to limp as much.
After a while, I spotted Eliza dancing with Alexander, and Angelica and Peggy were sitting a table nearby, laughing. I limped over, but suddenly a man stepped in front of me. He wasn't tall, not as tall as Lafayette, anyways, but he wasn't quite as short as Alexander. He had hair that was similar to Alexander's, though. Brown, not really long, but not that short. It was also tied back into a low ponytail like Alexander's, too.
"Why hello, there." He grabbed my hand and bent down to kiss it.
I stayed silent, and averted my eyes from his, trying to find anybody I knew. I spotted Lafayette standing at the other side of the room with John Laurens and Hercules, laughing with each other. That was when Lafayette locked eyes with me. They narrowed as soon as he spotted the man with me.
"Hello? Did you hear me?" I turned back to the man, my eyes wide.
"S-Sorry. No. I'm just out of it today. What did you say?" I smiled awkwardly.
"I asked what your name was?"
"O-Oh..." I glanced at Lafayette again who was setting down his drink and started walking over, but kept on getting bumped into by dancing couples. "My name is (Y/N). (Y/N) Hamilton."
"Nice to meet you, (Y/N) Hamilton. Say, that name rings a bell."
"It probably does. May I ask what your name is?"
What are you doing? You shouldn't be getting involved. Lafayette asked you here.
"Would you like to dance?" He held out his hand and smirked, completely avoiding the question.
"But... Your name?" I narrowed my eyes and gave him a small smile.
"I'm afraid you won't be catching my name tonight." He smirked, holding his hand out.
"But that's not very fair. I told you my name, so you tell me yours." My smile turned into a frown.
He simply took a step forward and wrapped his arm around my waist, trying to pull me to the spot where everyone was dancing. I spun in a circle in an attempt to get away from him, but he kept his grip.
"Let go of me." I said.
I was trying to choke back tears. Last time a man tried to take advantage of me, I almost got kidnapped. I was still thankful that John showed up when he did.
"I said, let. Go." I growled, stopping in my tracks.
"Come on, darling. We're going to go dance." He whispered in my ear, which sent a shiver down my spine.
Without even thinking, I clenched my fists and swung at the man's face, punching him right in the nose. He took a step back, placing his hands on his now-bleeding nose.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry... I wasn't thinking, I-"
"(Y/N)! (Y/N), are you OK?" I recognized Lafayette's voice and he came running over.
"Y-Yeah." I nodded, keeping my gaze on the man.
Lafayette glared at him.
"What happened?" He turned back to me, searching my face. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No... He just asked me what my name was and then he didn't tell me his name. And then he just grabbed me and tried pulling me to the dance floor."
"OK... Good."
The man was still standing there, and people began surrounding him. I was assuming they were his friends because they were comforting him.
"Just... Give me a sec." I held up a finger and limped over to the man, who narrowed his eyes at me, Lafayette was following close behind me.
"Hey, I'm sorry for punching you." I stared down at the ground.
"What? Why are you apologizing?" Lafayette glanced at me with wide eyes, and I noticed John, Hercules, Alex, Eliza, Angelica, and Peggy all came over, too.
I glanced at Lafayette to silence him and looked back at the man.
"Yeah. Why are you apologizing?" The man still held his hand close to his nose.
"Because." I shrugged. "I never liked hurting people."
"I guess I accept your apology." He scoffed.
"You 'guess'?" I suddenly got defensive. "OK, well, I apologized, so now it's your turn." I leaned forward to get in his face.
"I'm not apologizing." He grinned.
"You basically dragged me to the dance floor when I clearly didn't want to dance with you. So yeah, you should definitely apologize." I crossed my arms.
"You did want to dance with me. I could see it in your eyes." He was still smiling.
"Did not!" I practically screamed.
"OK, (Y/N)? Calm down..." I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder and turned to see Eliza.
Honestly, if it was anybody besides Eliza, I probably would've screamed in their face. But something about Eliza's face and smile made me calm. I guess that's why she's my best friend.
"Sorry. It's just... Last time a man tried to take me he almost got away with it." I glanced at John who had narrowed eyes and was standing close to Lafayette, looking as if he was getting ready to fight.
"I understand." Eliza hugged me, but I just stood there.
"I guess I'm just going to have to stay close to you guys for the rest of the night." I whispered quietly.
"You can stay close to Lafayette." Eliza whispered back, close to my ear, and I instantly felt my face heat up.
She pulled away and smirked when she saw my face, gently pushing me over to Lafayette.
"You'll have to keep an eye on her, Lafayette." She grinned at him, and I glanced up at him just to see that his face was also red.
"Oui... I guess so." He glanced down at me.
"I'll leave you to it." Eliza smiled and waved her hand for the others to follow her.
Lafayette instantly turned back to me. "You sure you're OK?"
"Lafayette, I'm fine." I glanced at the man once more who was being led away by his friends. I turned back to him and he was still staring at me, his eyes narrowed with concern. I rolled my eyes and hugged him.
I could tell he was shocked at first because I felt him stiffen up, but then he eventually wrapped his arms around me as well. After about ten seconds or so, we released each other.
"Would you like to dance, mon amour?" He held out his hand.
I wasn't that fluent in French, but I'm pretty sure he just said 'my love'. I instantly blushed and turned away.
"I'm afraid I can't. My ankle." I frowned.
"Oh, right. I forgot." He slowly pulled his hand back.
I nodded.
"But, that won't stop us from having a good time!" I smiled a toothy smile and he seemed to brighten up.
"That's right. Also, I forgot to say, you look beautiful." He commented as we started walking over to John and Hercules.
"Oh... Th-Thank you." I looked down, embarrassed, and smiled. "You don't look too bad yourself."
"Merci." He was also smiling at the ground until we reached John and Hercules.
"Hey, lovebirds." Hercules walked over to Lafayette, nudging him in the side with his elbow and wiggling his eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes and looked over at John who was smiling. It was pretty obvious it was one of those fake smiles. You know, the one you do when you're sad and you're trying to trick people into thinking you're happy. I glanced over at Lafayette and Hercules who were talking, and walked over to John, grinning.
"Hey, (Y/N)." He bowed.
"John." I did a small curtsy and we both laughed.
"You look great tonight, by the way." He said awkwardly.
"Are you saying that I don't look great every night?" I put my hands on my hips and leaned forward.
"No! I mean, you do-" He began.
"I'm kidding, John. Thank you." I thought I saw him let out a little sigh of relief.
"So, are you here with anyone...?" John asked.
"Actually, Lafayette asked me here. It's quite a bummer, though, that we can't dance 'cause of my stupid ankle." I wiggled my injured foot from under my dress.
"That is a bummer." John sighed.
"How about you? Did you come here with anyone?"
"Well, I was going to ask y-" He began. "No. No, I didn't."
Was he about to say he was going to ask me? I thought. No.
"That's perfectly fine. The point of these balls is to either 'bring your soulmate, or meet your soulmate'. As Eliza put it."
"That's true. But I probably won't be finding my soulmate tonight, anyways." He laughed.
"Don't say that! Anything could happen."
John's POV
When I heard that (Y/N) punched someone, I immediately raced over to where she was. She was acting all shaky and nervous. She even apologized to the man and explained why she did so. That is, until she started yelling at him when he refused to apologize to her. Eliza had to calm her down. I saw Eliza whispering in (Y/N)'s ear, and I noticed (Y/N) tensed up at one point. Eliza pushed (Y/N) over to Lafayette, which I thought was a bit odd, and then Eliza waved us away. I shrugged and followed Hercules over to where we were before. We were just talking about random things when Lafayette and (Y/N) came over, both of their faces red.
"Hey, lovebirds." Hercules chuckled, walking over to Lafayette.
I felt my heart break into pieces.
Lovebirds?
I noticed (Y/N) was standing in front of me, a cute smile on her face.
"Hey, (Y/N)." I laughed, bowing.
"John." She did a small curtsy, and we both ended up laughing.
God, I love her laugh.
"You look great tonight, by the way." I said nervously.
"Are you saying that I don't look great every night?" She rested her hands on her hips and leaned forward.
I knew that she was just joking, but I freaked out.
"No! I mean, you do-" I stuttered.
"I'm kidding, John. Thank you."
I let out a sigh of relief.
"So... Are you here with anyone?" I asked.
I knew she was here with Lafayette, but I was just hoping she'd say no.
She didn't.
"Actually, Lafayette asked me here. It's quite a bummer, though, that we can't dance 'cause of my stupid ankle."
"That is a bummer." I agreed.
"How about you? Did you come here with anyone?"
"Well, I was going to ask y-" I cut myself off.
Don't scare her away!
"No. No, I didn't."
"That's perfectly fine. The point of these balls is to either 'bring your soulmate, or meet your soulmate'. As Eliza put it."
"That's true. But I probably won't meet my soulmate tonight, anyways." I shrugged.
"Don't say that! Anything could happen!" She smiled warmly.
Lafayette came over and led her over to a table so they could just dine and talk, which broke my heart. I loved seeing (Y/N) happy, but I wanted to come here with her.
I love her.
A/N
Happy Valentines Day, people! :D
Will John win you over, or with (Y/N) end up falling for America's favorite fighting Frenchman? Find out on the next episode of... Dragon Ball Z!
But seriously, thanks for reading! ;)
-Red ^^