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John Laurens had never really been big on dating. Between struggling to raise his four younger siblings, and having to maintain two full time jobs in order to afford basic necessities, he was left with no time for dating.Even in his younger years, he had never really considered a relationship. Sure, as a teen he had his fair share of crushes, but he had never really acted upon them. Not that he hadn’t wanted to, he sure as hell had wanted to at the time, but, much to his fathers dismay, most of his crushes had been boys.Now the thing with John's father, absolutely nothing could be hidden from him. And that wasn’t for lack of trying on John’s part. Once during his early years of highschool, he had tried to do the whole ‘dating in secret’ thing, with a boy, Francis Kinloch. It had lasted no more than a month, as not only was their relationship quite unstable, but despite John's best efforts, his father had somehow caught on to his little secret. Thus, ending John’s first, and what he thought would be his last relationship.After his parents’ nasty divorce, John had been even more discouraged in the dating scene, seeing his parents constantly fight and seemingly have no`real love for eachother wasn’t exactly the best example.Following his mothers death, any possible relationship was out of the question. His father, Henry Laurens, had barely even wanted to get custody of his kids, and whatever efforts he had made were quickly subsided once John was able to prove that he was unfit to care for them.Therefore leaving John, who had luckily been of age, as his siblings legal guardian. Now, his only focus is providing the best life he possibly can for his siblings. And that doesn’t leave time for himself.
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Alexander Hamilton had always been an impulsive man, making decisions without so much as a second thought, seemingly never considering what could go wrong. And this applied to almost every area of his life, his friendships, education, career choices, and most prominently, his marriage.He had met his future wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, when he was seventeen, it was an instant spark, the two got along great. And after a mere 2-3 years of dating, they decided that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Both had been sure this was the right choice, and were eager to start their perfect family. And that they did, no more than a year after they had gotten married, Philip Hamilton was born. They were both ecstatic to be parents, Eliza had always dreamed of being a mother, and Alexander felt like he finally had the chance to be a better father than his own dad had been to him all those years ago. He finally had a family, and could leave behind his past in Nevis, and all the pity that had usually come with that, behind.Unfortunately for them, their marriage didn’t exactly work out. It was an impulsive decision that neither of them had really thought out. They were caught up in the moment and didn't realize the reality of their choices until they were having disagreements constantly, and trying to balance everything while raising their son. All this taken into account, the two decided a divorce was the best idea, for both their sakes, but mostly for their young son. The last thing they wanted was to give him a bad example, seeing his parents being in an unhappy marriage wouldn't instill the best ideas in him.It was a mutual agreement; they ended things on a good note and are still on good terms to this day. Both having equally shared custody of the now soon to be 5 year old Philip.Seeing as his first relationship didn't exactly turn out how he, nor his partner, had expected, Alexander decided it'd be better for him to just focus on raising his son and advancing his career. And swore that, if he did ever try relationships again, he'd take it slow.
What both men didn't expect was to one day run into each other, and in turn completely change the course of both their lives.
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“John! Harry stole my phone again.” Martha angrily yelled from her room. However typical it was for her younger brother to steal her things, it never failed to annoy her.“No I didn't! And if I did, it was Jemmy’s idea, not mine.” Harry yelled back from the living room, where he lay on the couch. He had indeed stolen his older sister's phone, but wasn’t about to take the blame.“I don’t care who’s idea it was Harry, I just want my fucking phone back. I can’t step out of this house for one second without you stealing my stuff.”“Oooo John! Martha swore!” Harry called out in a teasingly accusing voice, slightly sitting up to look for his eldest brother. He glanced around for a while, before spotting John, who appeared to be making breakfast.“Guys, it is way too early to be fighting. Harry, give Martha her phone back, and Martha watch the language I don't want Mary here swearing at the bright age of six.” John tiredly told his siblings, who seemed to have a thing for picking fights at 7 in the fucking morning.“But I'm in the middle of a game! She can wait.”“Yeah, the game you’re playing on my phone, Harry.”“Harry. It’s your sister's phone, just give it back to her and please stop with the yelling. Both of you.” John said, trying his best to not yell himself.“Fine. Here Martha.” Harry grudgingly gave his sister phone back, returning to the living room to watch TV, while Martha happily retreated back to her room.From there, they remained relatively quiet until John was done with breakfast. Martha scrolling her phone in her room, Harry just watching TV, and James doing his best to keep his younger sister, Mary, entertained.John managed to finish making their breakfast rather quickly, being able to concentrate better without the constant bickering.“Alright guys, breakfasts done, c’mon” He called out to his siblings.“Oooo pancakes! Thank you Jack!” James happily said, giving John a quick hug, as he ran over to the kitchen table, dragging Mary behind him.“I call dibs on any leftovers!” Harry yelled, quickly shutting off the TV and dashing towards the kitchen.“Shut the fuck up Harry, I can literally hear your yelling through my headphones.” Martha said as she came out of her room, taking her earbuds out as she walked over to them.“Martha! Language.” John scolded, as he looked over to Mary, hoping she hadn’t heard. The young girl had developed a habit of copying any new words she’d hear, and John didn’t want her repeating swear words in 1st grade.“Oh, right, sorry.” Martha said as she grabbed her plate. “I left the mail on the counter by the way. There was a letter for you.”“A letter for- Did you see from who?” John asked, genuinely confused. No one would ever send him letters, whatever friends he had would just send a text, and most of the mail he received was just junk mail, advertisements and such.“Nope, didn’t look through anything.” Martha said, though her attention was mostly focused on whatever video she was watching on her phone.“I'll just check–” John said, standing up and beginning to make his way over to where Martha had set the mail.Looking through it, he saw mostly advertisements, magazines from whatever companies, the usual. But one envelope caught his eye. It was sealed in a way that only one person he knew would do it.His father.Sure enough, as he pulled the envelope out from the pile of mail, he was met with the oh so familiar handwriting of Henry Laurens. Part of him wanted to throw it away, maybe burn it, or tear it to fucking shreds. He didn’t want anything to do with that man. Not ever again.Plus, it’s not like Henry was fond of his son either. What reason could he have for writing to him?“Hey, who’s it from? You’ve been here for a while now John–” Martha asked as she walked towards where her older brother stood. She glanced over his shoulder, and instantly her eye was drawn towards the familiar sight of their father's signature.“Is he– I mean, why did- are you gonna open it?”“Later. Not with the others here. You never know what it'll be with him." John whispered, not wanting the rest of his siblings to hear. The poor kids had been through enough. He didn’t need them stressing over this on top of everything else. Martha only nodded in response, being the second eldest she was the only one aside from John to really know how their father had been. Harry had been too young, and their father had never so much as batted an eye towards James. And Mary had been, well, not born yet.“Don’t tell them anything– please.” John said as he shoved the envelope back in between the pile of junk mail.“I won’t, don’t worry.” she smiled and headed back towards the table, true to her word she acted as though nothing had happened. John took a second to compose himself, before joining her.“So! You guys up for ice cream?” John asked, deciding it'd be better for him to get out of the house. And if he has to get out, might as well treat his siblings to something."Hell yeah! I'll get my coat." Harry yelled, running off to him and James' shared room."Can we go to the park too? Pleasee Jacky!" Mary asked.“Yeah sure, you guys just get ready and then we’ll go ‘kay?” John said as he began getting ready himself, hearing the rest of his siblings run off to get ready as well.
A while later John sat on an uncomfortable park bench, scrolling his phone while also making sure to keep an eye on all his siblings. James and Harry sat next to him, chatting while eating their ice cream, which they had agreed to get along the way. Martha was talking with some friends from school, who she happened to run into, and Mary appeared to be playing with another kid.
"Hi!" Mary smiled at a young boy, who was calmly sitting on a swing and appeared to be writing something."Oh– Hi!" He responded, slightly caught off guard by the sudden presence next to him."Whatcha writing?" She asked, climbing onto the swing next to, what she already considered, her new friend."It's a poem! For my daddy!" The boy smiled, shifting his paper so Mary could see."Oooo! I should do that for Jacky.. How do you write a po–am?" Mary asked, struggling to pronounce the newly learned word."I dunno," the boy shrugged. "Pop's just said to write from your heart! But make sure it sounds good too.""Could you teach me? I dunno how to write that well." Mary confessed, whilst reading over the boy's paper."I could try..?" he responded, sounding unsure."Oh! Maybe you could come over to my house and teach me there!" Mary said, her face brightening at the idea of potentially having a friend over."Sure! I'd just have to ask my dad..""I'll go with you!" She volunteered, getting up and dragging her new friend with her.
"Daaad! Dad! Pop's!" The boy tapped his fathers arm to get his attention, though his attention seemed to be solely focused on the book he was reading."What's up Philip?" His father asked. That's when Mary remembered she had forgotten to ask her friend's name, and had forgotten to introduce herself as well."Can I go over to my friend–""Mary!" She chimed in."—s house!" The boy finished."Uh– Yeah, sure 'slong as her parents are alright with it." The boy's father responded, his attention now more focused on his son."Jacky will probably say yes! He lets Patsy have her friends over all the time! C'mon let's go ask him!" Mary said, running off towards where her brother sat while dragging her new friend along. Subsequently, the boy's father followed.
"Jaaack? Can my friend come over pleaseee? Philip's really nice!" She asked, shoving a very nervous Philip in front of her, who resorted to awkwardly waving at John."Sure Polly! Just make sure his parents are cool with it." John responded, offering a kind smile to the nervous boy which Mary had shoved in front of him."Oh yeah! His daddy said it's 'kay as long as you're okay with it! He's right there actually!" Mary said, pointing towards where Philip's father stood rather awkwardly."O-oh sorry I didn't see you." John apologized."No no, you're fine. No worries." The other man said."I'm John, by the way. John Laurens." He said, offering the other man his hand to shake."Alexander, Alexander Hamilton. Pleased to meet you John."