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The date has been circled on the calendar since January. Alex had taken a red marker and deftly circled June 16th, marring it only slightly when he kissed the paper for luck.
John's graduation is today.
John would be lying if he said he isn't nervous. But getting thrown into the real world, on his own - that's only half of it. The other half is tied up in the keeping of a very important promise.
"Mmmm, John?" Alex murmurs beside him, twisting in the sheets.
"Shhh, go back to bed." John smooths a hand over his boyfriend's hair. "You don't sleep enough." Not since he started university, anyway. John keeps telling him that overloading his classes is not a good plan, but Alex is determined to graduate in three years - at least. Two is preferable. He says he's got a lot of catching up to do.
Lately, John only sees Alex when he stumbles in at nine pm, muttering about case law and grabbing at whatever take-out's on the table. And weekends, of course, when they have a bad habit of discarding the outside world in favour of closing the door and going at it like rabbits.
"I love you, you know," He says, because it's true and it's something Alex will never tire of hearing.
Alex yawns. "You too. Big day today."
"It is. But I can't imagine anyone I'd like to share it with." He leans in for another kiss - maybe a little more than a kiss, okay, it's a good way of calming his nerves - when the phone rings.
Both men groan. "It's gonna be Laf," John sighs.
"It's gonna be Hercules," Alex counters, reaching for the phone. "Or both of them. Hello?" He's got John's phone against his ear, grinning like a maniac.
And then the grin slides right off his face. "He's here, Sir, this is his roommate Alex. He's just in the shower." A pause. "Yes Sir, I'll get him." He passes the phone to John, who feels vaguely queasy. There's only one person that can provoke that kind of reaction in Alex.
"Hello, sir," John says into the phone, trying not to sound sleepy. "I was in the shower."
"As I heard," Henry Laurens says. "You let your roommate answer your phone?"
John improvises quickly. "The answering machine has been unreliable lately," he says. "And I didn't want to miss your call."
"Good." His father is a man of few words when pleased. "Your graduation is at two pm?"
"Yes sir."
"I will be there. Your sister was very disappointed at not being permitting to come."
"They only gave out two tickets," John explains again. "And my roommate really wanted to go. He's my best friend, and he's done a lot for me in the past few years."
"Very well," his father says slowly, "the video will have to suffice. I will be there at two." And with that he hung up.
Alex kisses him as soon as he puts the phone down. "Hey. Last day you have to field any calls from him, right?"
"Last day I'm going to get any calls from him." John tries not to sigh. The knowledge doesn't help; he made this decision years ago, and now he's going to follow through. This is the life he wants, a life with Alexander, and he's going to make it happen.
They stumble out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where they’re greeted by their actual roommate and the resident of the apartment’s other bedroom.
“I made coffee,” Pierre says, flipping through a textbook in the kitchen. “Also, I hate you for being done two months before me.”
“Hey I had to go back to high school too,” Alex smirked, looking over the young man’s shoulder as he grabbed the coffeepot. “AP History? Nice.”
Pierre stuck out his tongue, retracting it only when Alex reached out to grab it. John has to laugh. “If you children are almost done…”
“Someone has a graduation to prepare for,” Alex nods. “Let’s go!”
Alex wears his nicest work suit. John’s outfit is hidden under his graduation robe, one of the regular robes that’s been altered by Hercules (having a tailor as a friend has many benefits).
The ceremony is boring. He spends most of it craning his neck backwards, cursing the fact that his two tickets are for seats beside each other. Thus, Alex and his father sit side by side.
Don’t say anything to my dad, he pleads as they all clap politely. Alex knows he’s planning to come out today, but there’s no way Alex would beat him to the punch. Right?
He sees Alex leaning over to talk to his dad, then Henry frowning. His heart clenches. Play it cool, John, play it cool. He can do this. Only a few more minutes.
The graduates are called up onto the stage one by one to receive their degrees. Finally, they called “John Laurens!” and he gets up with shaking hands.
Crosses over to climb the steps onto the stage, to shake the dean’s hand and receive his degree. “No need to be nervous,” the dean says. John just tries to keep his heart from trembling as badly as he hands.
He looked out into the audience, just in time for several camera flashes to go off. But as soon as the lights clear he sees Alex, sitting in the front row, beaming at him with pride. Suddenly he feels braver.
“I'm afraid I’m going to need the microphone for a minute.” He says to the dean.
“What?”
John doesn’t reply, only plucks the microphone from him before he can protest. “Hello!”
The clapping slows, the attention of the audience focusing on him. “Hello,” John says, quieter. He’d written out a speech - hell, he’s written a hundred, each time trying to imagine how this moment would go. But standing up here, looking at his thunderous father and the smiling love of his life, none of it seems to matter anymore. “I just wanted to, uh, thank the most important person in the world to me. That would be my boyfriend, Alexander.”
The dean reaches the the mic but John moves away, deftly avoiding him. “Yeah, I just said boyfriend,” He clarifies for the audience. “I, ah, haven’t really said that to a lot of people. I couldn’t say that to a lot of people, because I was afraid of what would happen. But now I have this-” he waves the degree around for them to see- “and I want nothing more than the world to know how much I care about this man, and how much he’s given me over the years of our relationship. Alexander Hamilton, I love you.”
There’s a long, drawn out pause that seems to last an eternity. And then like a wave, the entire audience stands and begins to clap. John hardly notices; he’s too busy running down the steps and over to where Alexander’s sitting with tears on his cheeks. Henry Laurens’ chair is empty.
“John…” Alex starts, then stops. It’s okay; John understands what he’s trying to say.
“Come on,” He holds out a hand. “I have one more surprise.”
Waiting just outside of the graduation area is Lafayette, playing games on his phone as he leans against a motorcycle.
“What?” Alex looks from one to the other.
“I told mon ami that a horse drawn carriage was a little impractical for Manhattan,” Lafayette drawls, not even looking up from his phone. “So I procured this instead. You have a maximum of three hours before I have to give it back to Adrianne’s girlfriend.”
On the seat there’s two pride flags - one bisexual, one gay. John picks up the bisexual one and ties it around Alex’s neck. Then he sheds his graduation robe.
“Oh my god,” Alex can’t help but let out a little giggle at the sight. Which should be insulting - one expects a little more than laughter if one is standing before their boyfriend wearing nothing but a rainbow cape and matching boxers.
Well. Maybe the boxers were a step too far.
Too late now. He climbs onto the motorcycle, offering Alex his hand. “Coming babe?”
“Do you even know how to ride this thing?” Alex asks, even as he climbs on. His arms wind around John’s waist.
John shrugs. “I figured I’d pick it up as we go.” Alex shifts behind him. “Hey! Just kidding. I grew up in the country, yes I know how to drive a motorcycle.”
“I’m going to see Hercules,” Lafayette says dryly. But his eyes are sparkling as he grips John’s shoulder. “Congratulations, mon ami. On everything.”
John kicks the engine to life as Lafayette steps back. And then they’re flying through the parking lot and onto the road, weaving between cars as John chases the sunset. The whole time he’s got Alex’s arms around him, keeping him safe.