Critical (Jamilton)

2. Sure, You Can Raid My Fridge

Jefferson

Later that night, Thomas woke up to the sound of the sliding door opening. He sat for a second until he heard a man muttering to himself. He silently hopped over the side of the couch and noticed Eliza at the foot of the stairs. He motioned for her to stay quiet while he picked up Philip's foam baseball bat that was sitting on the stairs. He heard the fridge open and stealthily walked to the kitchen, foam bat raised and ready for attack.

He got to the kitchen and stopped to listen to what was happening. Someone was digging through the fridge, so Thomas assumed it was a pothead that had the munchies or something. He rounded the corner.

"You have ten seconds to be out of here before I call the cops!" He yelled. He dropped the bat to the floor when the person turned around. "Alex?"

"Great, so I do have the right house. That would have been an awkward conversation to have," Hamilton said before going back to the fridge. "I'm starving what do you have to eat?"

Eliza came running into the kitchen a few seconds later with a hand vacuum raised above her head and a murderous look on her face. Thomas just turned slowly to face her, silently asking if he was going crazy.

"Oh, my stars. . ."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back, but seriously, what do you have to eat? You have no idea how long it took me to actually find this place and I could really use some food." 

Eliza and Thomas got Alexander settled with three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and milk. They watched with nothing less than horror as he shoved an entire sandwich in his mouth. No bites, the entire sandwich just disappeared. 

"So," Thomas said awkwardly. "you're back." 

Hamilton swallowed the sandwich after a minute of chewing. "Don't sound so surprised, Tommy, ain't nothing killing me." 

"They tried to kill you!?" Eliza screeched. Then she hushed her voice, remembering that she had a kid sleeping upstairs. "They tried to kill you?"

Alex shook his head. "It was a joke, Liza, calm down. It actually wasn't so bad, if that makes sense."

Thomas and Eliza stared at him like he was crazy. 

"It was more like getting grounded, you know? It wasn't that bad." 

Thomas watched as his. . . something moved on to the third sandwich. As impressing as it was, now that Alexander was sitting in front of him, Jefferson had no clue what to call him. For the last six years, Hamilton was dead, and even if he wasn't missing for all that time, there was no telling if their relationship would have survived or if they were even going to be friends throughout all of college. 

Then again, maybe that's why Alex came back, maybe he wanted to pick up where they left off. That was a possibility too, Thomas figured. Then he had to add in that there was probably something that Alex wasn't letting on about. He was gone for six years, there was no way that it was "like being grounded", something had to have happened. And he probably knew what happened to John and Sam. 

John and Sam. Thomas wondered if they were alive too. If it was possible for Hamilton to get out, maybe they could too, they just went to find their own people. 

Jefferson didn't realize that Alexander was still talking until he waved his hand in front of Thomas's face. 

"You okay?" he said. "I get that this is probably surprising, but I expected a little more of a happy reaction." 

Thomas looked at Eliza and she nodded. The baby monitor on the counter started buzzing and Philip started calling for his mom as if he knew what was happening and wanted to help her get out of the situation. 

"That's my cue," she said. She held out her arms for a hug from Alexander. He stood up and delivered. "I am definitely going to want to talk to you later, though." 

"Of course." He smiled as Eliza walked away. 

Alex turned to Thomas, who was still taking in the fact that after so many years of being sure that this person was dead, there Alexander, sitting at the table right in front of him. 

"So, you and Eliza, huh?"

"What?" 

"Baby monitor, kid talking on the other line, you here in the middle of the night. . ." Alex moved his hand in a circular motion like he was waiting for Thomas to understand. "You and Eliza?"

"Oh. Oh. No, no, I was just staying the night. We aren't together." 

"So why are you staying the night then?" 

"One, she's my friend and I can. Two, Philip likes me so he asks if I can stay for sleepovers a lot. Three, do I really owe you an explanation?"

Hamilton sighed. "I know that I should have found some way to contact you before just showing up, you know, so we could avoid. . . this, but I couldn't find anything. You're pretty much dead online."

"You were pretty much dead offline." 

Alex flinched and looked at his now empty plate. He tapped on it with one finger absentmindedly. 

"Look," he said quietly, keeping his eyes down on the plate. "I know that this is probably really weird for you. I know that I was technically dead for the majority of the time that I was gone, and I know that I probably shouldn't have broken into your-- sorry, Eliza's house, but please can I just enjoy being back before we talk about this?"

Thomas sighed and pulled his hair back, then he realized he didn't have anything to hold it with so he let it fall again. 

"I'm sorry for snapping, just, like you said, it's weird for me. I can't imagine how it is for you, but it's weird seeing my. . ." 

"Your?"

"Never mind. Let's just figure everything out in the morning, alright? I'll call Lafayette and Hercules, and tell my sisters and the Schuylers, but for now, you're probably exhausted from whatever you did to get here, so let's get some sleep. Sound good?" 

"Yeah, one more thing, though." 

"Hm?"

"Were you seriously going to beat me with a foam bat?" 

Thomas only laughed as he stood up and motioned for Alex to follow him into the living room. He turned on the light and grabbed some extra blankets from a closet. Alexander sat down on the couch while Jefferson through the blankets down strategically to make a bed on the floor. Thomas couldn't help but steal glances at the end of the couch where Hamilton was sitting, just to make sure he was actually there. 

"There you go," he said when he was done. "one makeshift blanket bed." 

"A truly wonderful creation," Hamilton laughed. He moved from the couch and flopped down onto the bed. Thomas didn't think it would be very comfortable, but Alexander was acting like it was a five-star hotel's queen sized bed. 

"Well, goodnight, I guess." Thomas shut off the light and went to go back to lay on the couch when he felt someone grab onto his wrist. He looked down to see Alex looking beyond pitiful. 

"Do you. . . Do you think maybe you could sleep down here?" Alexander asked, barely raising his voice above a whisper.

"Like, with you or are you trying to kick me off the couch so you can take it?" Thomas joked. Alex gave him a look and he raised his hands innocently. "Alright, yeah, if you're okay with it I can sleep down there with you."

Thomas got comfortable on the blanket bed, being sure to leave enough room for him and the other man to have some wiggle room, just in case Alex didn't want to be too close. As soon as he stopped getting comfortable though, Hamilton had his head on Thomas's shoulder and his arm over Thomas's torso. 

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," Alexander muttered. 

"Believe me, I have an idea."