What We Know | John Laurens x Reader

6. I'm Elijah Truman

Hey guys! In case you haven't already, please go check out my Lams story 'Helpless'!
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Y/N's POV

Izze and I were awake before the sun had even risen the next morning. "Do you think he's up yet?" Izze asked worriedly.

"Hopefully not," I sighed, quickly throwing on my dress and stepping outside of the room. My sister followed me quietly, both of us careful to make as little noise as possible.

"Where do you think he keeps his money?" I whispered to her.

"Probably in his room."

We snuck down the hall to the makeshift room Alex made for himself after our arrival. I pushed the door open slowly, wincing at the loud creak it gave off. My eyes widened as Alex turned onto his side to face me. He was definitely awake.

"What are you doing?" he yawned, giving me a confused look. His hair was down for once, falling around his face messily. He looked exhausted, to say the least.

"I— uh," I stuttered, scanning the room for money. There it was, sitting just a few feet away in a small box by the door. "I just w-wanted to tell you that Izze and I are going to meet the Schuylers uptown."

He nodded tiredly, letting his eyes close again. I took the opportunity to reach down and grab a dollar's worth of money before stepping out of his room, closing the door softly behind me.

"Did you get it?" Izze whispered, fidgeting slightly with the sleeve of her dress.

"Yep!" I smiled, tucking the money under my sleeve. She jumped excitedly, rushing off towards the front door. I chuckled softly at her eagerness, following her outside.

By the time we made it uptown, the sun was up and shining brightly. We hurriedly made our way over to Mulligans, both of us humming 'Dear Theodosia' under our breath. Mr. Mulligan approached us as soon as we entered the shop.

"How may I help you two?" he smiled, kissing us both on our knuckles softly.

"Our friend Alex needs a new uniform," Izze lied, flashing him a bright smile. "His old one is far too battered to be of any use."

"Then it's a good thing I have a few extras!" Mr. Mulligan beamed, "I'm assuming he needs one of the smaller ones, right?"

I nodded eagerly and he handed me a blue uniform from behind the counter in exchange for the stolen money. Izze and I shared a triumphant look and we exited the shop with a quick 'goodbye'.

"I'm pretty sure Alex is out with Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette right now," I muttered, leading her in the direction of his house.

Sure enough, I was right. As soon as we stepped inside the empty house we went straight into our room and placed the uniform under a loose floorboard.

"Well," Izze sighed, taking a seat on the bed. "What now?"

"Now I need a backstory," I groaned, "I can't just go around as Y/N Owens in a camp full of men."

"Elijah. You should call yourself Elijah," Izze smiled, "I've always liked that name."

"Elijah... Truman!" I chirped, causing us both to desplace in giggles. I stood in front of her and dramatically and kissed her knuckles. "My name is Truman. Elijah Truman. Nice to meet you!"

"Where might you be from, Mr. Truman?" she giggled.

"I'm an... orphan! From Georgia!" I improvised, only making her laugh harder.

"Please don't sound so happy when you say that to your fellow soldiers," she chuckled.

"Like Alex was in 'Aaron Burr, sir'?"

"Exactly like Alex," she groaned laying back on the bed with a small smile. We laid there for a while in silence, both of us slowly growing anxious about the situation. "What are you going to use to bind your chest?"

"There's some scrap cloth laying behind the sofa," I told her, "That's probably my best option."

We went and grabbed some of the cloth before heading back into our room where I practiced wrapping myself. It definitely wasn't a fun experience.

But then again, I wasn't sure any of this would be a 'fun experience'.

—————timeskip——————

"Come back home safe!" Izze yelled, wiping a tear from her eye as we waved goodbye to Alex from the front porch.

"I will!" he promised, turning away and running off towards the gathering of soldiers across town. They would all be leaving soon.

As soon as Alex was out of sight, Izze and I rushed inside and into our room. I pulled off my dress and corset while Izze grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

She grabbed a section of my h/c hair in her hands after having me take a seat on the bed. I took a deep breath and signaled for her to do it. She moved the knife swiftly and I watched my h/c locks fall to the floor. She continued this all the way around until my hair sat neatly on my shoulders.

I let out a breath I had been holding and tired my hair back using a piece of the shirt I arrived here in. My sister pulled the loose floorboard open and handed me the blue uniform with tears in her eyes. I threw it on quickly before pulling her into a hug, letting her cry onto my shoulder.

"I swear to freakin Lin-Manuel Miranda that if you die again, I'm going to freakin revive you so that I can kill you myself!" she sobbed.

I chuckled lightly, rubbing her back like mom used to do for us. "I promise, I'll come back to you," I said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

I turned away from her and looked at myself in the mirror. I definitely still looked feminine, but not too much. "Elijah Truman," I said firmly, "My name is Elijah Truman."

I turned back to Izze and gave her one final hug before rushing out of the house to join the crowd of soldiers on the other side of town. "BE SAFE!" yelled a voice from behind me. I turned around and gave my sister a tearful wave goodbye.

When I arrived in the square I pushed my way through the crowd to the man with standing on a podium with a sheet of parchment and a quill. "Name?" he said gruffly.

"My name is Elijah Truman, sir!" I said confidently. This was definitely going to be an interesting experience.

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4/20/2020

Wow, that was odd to write! Big thanks to my friend AngelicxStories for talking to me while I wrote this chapter! She writes amazing Lams stories and y'all should definitely check them out!

QOTD: Would you feel more comfortable in the dress or the uniform?

Thanks for reading! -SunkissedChild5