Requested by: Angelica-Schuyler12
OC: Frances Washington

Frances tried to convince herself she wasn't falling for a man. Nights passed by where it was just her and the moon streaming into her window, pacing back and forth in the beam, thinking about the encounter with the Marquis de Lafayette. Charming, with a clever smile, he had managed to capture her attention.

However, she couldn't let it impact her. No, I won't let love get in the way, Frances thought to herself one night. Restlessly flipping back and forth, all her mind kept wandering back to seemed to be that smile and classic wig. To that tailored suit and pair of shoes.

To- "Frances! Get ahold of yourself! Those aren't ladylike thoughts..." She shivered, physically pulling the covers up to her chest. It looked like a silly love interest was getting the best of her ever so quickly.

After nights upon nights of fantasies and endless possibilities, Frances forced herself uptown to see someone she knew would understand. To someone she hoped would understand her problem. He just had to.

"Hamilton. I do hope this isn't a bothersome time for us-" What she bumped into on her way to speak to her friend wasn't anything she'd been prepared for. It was far from that. Poised against the wall, Lafayette raised his head as she entered the room.

Frances let out a whimper at the sight. Her hand flew to her mouth and she stumbled backward. From across the room, Alexander finally recognized her entry. "Ah, dear Frances, lovely of you to join us. It's not a bother at all, please, take a seat."

Oh, how dare he. Alexander knew how weak in the knees his companion made her. He liked playing around with her crush on him, just as much as she loathed his every smirk in her general direction.

All the while she'd been thinking to herself, Frances hadn't noticed the gentleman, the exact one she was currently crushing on, offering her a place to sit.

"Madam." Uncomfortable but amused at the same time, the Marquis shoved the chair behind her. Something about the movement of the chair made Frances snap out of her fantasizes, for a second, enough for the young woman to almost fall over.

Grasping only air in her hands, a panicked gasp left her lips, moments before two secure hands wrapped around her waist. He's holding me.

Frances remained slumped in his arms, until she realized how improper it was becoming the longer they stayed that way. "T-tha-merci," she corrected herself, as he set her down in the chair gently. Gilbert's eyes brightened up.

"It's my pleasure. You're still as beautiful as I recall, Miss.Washington." He looked like there was something else on his mind, but instead of saying anything, he nodded and headed over to where Hamilton watched intently.

"Do you ever stop flirting? That goes for the both of you. Neither one of you can keep talk to each other without blushing." Alexander crossed his arms, looking at both of his friends. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, the door slammed open.

"Gentlemen, what have we got?" In stepped the man himself, George Washington, all done up in a blue and gold jacket. The moment he entered the room, he laid eyes on his step daughter. Out all the people to be in his study, one of those was not her. "Frances, I-"

"My sincere apologizes, father. I came to speak with Mr.Hamilton, but it seems that will have to wait. I'll escort myself out, as your plans mean priva-"

"No, that won't be necessary. Gilbert, why don't you show her the way out?" Washington turned back to the battlefield plans spread out on the tabletop, immediately immersed in the drawings and charts. Frances opened her mouth, looking back at the Marquis, who also looked flustered.

"Father, this is my house too. I'm well acquainted with the route by now. And besides, isn't he needed here?" Frances felt her voice go an octave higher. Sneaking a glance up at her step father, she noticed his smirk. Very similar to Hamilton's. He knew.

She couldn't admit she was in love with the Marquis de Lafayette. Never in her life had she been backed in corner like she was then and there. Independent and skilled, Frances was far for the head over heels woman. But she could see herself becoming that image.

Frances forced a smile, heading over to the door and down the hall. She heard the creaking of floorboards trail a distance behind her, until she was halfway down the hall. "I'm able to look after myself, Monsieur."

But she barely made it up the staircase before a hand grabbed her wrist. Oh no. Frances stumbled backward, bumping hips with the Marquis. Looking startled himself, Lafayette cleared his throat. "You're awfully uneasy around me. Have I done something to offend you or what is it?"

Far from it, she silently thought. Making an unmistakable whimper, biting her lip, Frances rapidly shook her head. "Nothing of the sort, sir. You have been too generous to me in the times we've come in contact with each other and I just..."

Tell him how you feel, a voice whispered.

"I'm probably just fidgety with the thought of war on the horizon and with my step father drifting so far away..." Her voice faltered and trailed off. Lafayette tilted his head, looking vaguely confused.

Frances suddenly sensed a wave of lust tangle it's way through her heart. She must have looked frightened in some way, for Lafayette reached out and took her hand in his. A voice in the back of her head started screaming and shouting no, no, no in a repetitious pattern.

Without any words, Frances leaned forward on her feet, not knowing what she was capable of doing, only to be pulled closer by the Marquis himself. Frozen in fear of being caught, the two of them kissed one another.

Immediately flooded by fear and worry, she pulled away, wiping her mouth. "I-I'm being completely foolish. You shouldn't have let me do that, sir." Except what she didn't say is what truly frightened her.

She recalled a time, far back when she couldn't even go out on her own as a child, saying, "You won't see me falling for a man. Women don't need men to succeed in life, right?" Frances remembered looking up at her mother, pleased with herself, but not so delighted upon seeing her mother's expression.

"Say that now, but in ten years time you'll be with someone. That's a woman's purpose in this world, dear."

Just like her mother had warned her, Frances found herself in that very situation. In a women's place in the revolution. She'd be tied down on her wrists, standing beside the Marquis with no control. No independence.

Lafayette clutched onto her arm, snapping her out of a fantasy she hadn't even lived. "But you have been looking at me and I feel something when you do. What happened between us wasn't wrong at all." He reached forward, but she leaned away from his touch.

How could he be so naive?

"No, no. I shouldn't have done that." Frances backed up and then headed down the staircase, holding her skirts in both hands. The Marquis watched her with interest, still pressing fingers against his lips, confused by his actions as well.

All her legs are able to do then and there is run as far away as possible. Skirts billowing out around her, Frances charged out the door of her step father's house, chasing only herself up the street. A carriage screeched to a halt as she sprinted across the road.

It could have hit her for all she cared. She had broken something that even her little seven year old self looked up to. That a woman could be independent without a man. Frances never wanted to fall that far down the hole for the Marquis. Obviously her seven year old self hadn't thought a man such as himself would come along in life.

Maybe it was for the better. Maybe it was time to open her eyes up. No. Frances knew she couldn't move that quickly away from what she believed in since she was old enough to understand the world around her.

So even if it meant running from the one person she ever loved, she would do whatever it took to stick true to her ideals.

. . . . . . . . . .
A/N: Thank you Angelica-Schuyler12 for the request for a second part to this! The first part to this was actually the first ever request I took in this book. So coming back to this character and the plot was really fun! Always intended Frances to be an independent woman, so I kept her that way, despite a love interest with the Marquis. Hope you enjoyed it! And I'll have more requests up soon!