And Peggy

Chapter 38

"Fuck those guys!" Alex exclaimed, and everyone cheered, despite the swear and the small child running around. 

Lafayette cheered alongside Peggy, his arm wrapped around her waist, his hand holding a celebratory beer. Peggy leaned against his chest, and savored the moment like a Hershey's Kiss. Took everything in. 

Alex was standing on top of the table in the Schuyler's dining room, an alcoholic beverage in one hand, making a toast to the guys who kidnapped them and was going to hold them for ransom. ("I'm toasting these guys because if it weren't for them, I would never have realized how important my family means to me.")

Eliza was grinning up at him, awestruck. She was so in love. They did it. They won they case, and everything is falling into place perfectly. She was so caught up in those passionate eyes that she didn't even notice Philip giggling and crawling around on the floor.

Angelica looked up at Alex once, caught up in the way he spoke, the sound of his voice, the way his eyes scanned the audience, looking for a reaction. When their eyes met, she looked down at her feet and tightened her grip around her smart, emotionless boyfriend. 

All the others were already wasted, and by others, it means John and Hercules, snickering behind their hands, whispering jokes into the other's ears.

"So that's why I'm doing this now." Alex announced, and held out a hand to Eliza. "My dearest, Eliza, join me up here?" Her eyes widened at his outstretched hand, and gingerly took it. He pulled up up on the table with her, and smiled. "Elizabeth Schuyler-" He took a deep breath before stooping down on one knee.

The whole room collectively gasped. 

"My darling , we met in high school. I remember the day clearly." He said. He went on to tell the tale of how they met, and Eliza remembered ever moment of it.

"Angelica!" A voice called, and Eliza clutched onto her sister's sleeve as Angelica turned to the person waving. It was Eliza's first day of high school- a freshman. Her sister was a sophomore, and, apparently, made some friends the year before.

The person waving Angelica down was a short, brunette, brown-eyed boy, dressed in jeans with a deep green polo. He had a backpack on, one strap on his shoulder,  a couple of books tucked in his arm. His gaze went from Angelica to Eliza, and their eyes locked. Eliza felt her insides flutter. High school might not be so bad, she thought as he smiled at her. This is it. This is the man she's going to fall in love with.

"I knew right then we were going to be together. I knew the moment we first talked, I knew you were who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was always only you."

Peggy shifted uncomfortably on her feet, Lafayette tightening his grip on her waist. Angelica looked at her feet again. John started snorting in the back of the crowd.

"We've been through so much, so fucking much, and you've been with me the whole time. I want to go through everything else with you." Alex continued, ignoring John's relentless giggles. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. Everyone's eyes grew at the sight. 

"So, Elizabeth Schuyler, my love, my one and only, will you marry me?" He asked, his voice clear and hopeful, opening the box to reveal an impressive ring for their financial state. 

Eliza wiped her eyes, and paused, smiling, biting down on her bottom lip, before nodding. "Yes." She whispered, and everyone started cheering. Alex slid the engagement ring onto Eliza's ring finger, discarding the box and jumping up to wrap his arms around the sobbing girl.

As everyone was taking pictures and chatting with the newly betrothed, Peggy stood up on her tippy toes and asked Lafayette, "You knew about this, didn't you?" He smiled wickedly.

"How long?" She asked, jealous he got to know about this before she did. 

He shrugged. "Not very long-"

"Don't lie to me." Peggy reminded.

He sighed, and smiled at her. "Uh, Christmas day." He muttered.

"What?" Peggy asked, knitting her eyebrows together.

"That night. Told me he didn't want to lose Eliza." Lafayette explained. "He got the ring a couple days after. But he was waiting. He told me he wanted the perfect moment."

"I applaud him. Not like Alexander Hamilton to wait." Peggy mused.

Lafayette laughed. "Very true."

---

Sorry that update sucked. But hey. You wanted an update. Um, I'm really excited the way this story is going now. The wedding is coming up! I love writing weddings so so so much! Argh I'm terrible. 117 days since my last update, holy crap. Apologizes. I was going to post this yesterday but hated it so I rewrote the whole thing. But expect many more updates because I love weddings.