I know I said no ships, but this idea popped into my head, and I just had to do it. Also, this is set in a modern-medieval time? Or like, just a mix world between historical and modern.

The sun could be seen slowly dipping under the horizon. The two males simply watched, one smiling contently, happy to be here with his lover, watching the sun set. To him t’was a lovely day, and a lovely sight, everything had gone wonderfully, minus a few slip ups here and there.

The other had tried to look the same but could not stop the nervousness from seeping into his features. He had a plan. Not really a complicated one, but he didn’t know how the other would react. He hadn’t known how he would go about bringing it up either; doing this correctly would be a challenge.

He glanced down at their intertwined fingers, trying to remind himself that whatever happened, they would stay with him. He began going through all the events of that day, though most of it was a blur as it had gone by rather quickly. One of the more prominent events of the day just so happened to be when he took the other to a small hill for a picnic.  

Perhaps he was doing a bit much; he remembered how happy the other had been when they had first arrived there and just seeing his smile, made all his concerns slip away. His original plan was to go to the docks and have the picnic there, so as to have a better look at the sunset. Though admittedly he scraped that idea when he remembered how much the other hated water. Was a shame as well, he was looking forward to it.  

They had arrived a while before the sun had come remotely close to coming down and they had been there for a very long time.

Now here they were, sitting on a blanket, watching the sun slowly disappear behind the horizon. T’was a sight. A wonderful one at that, but it seemed as though he had been trapped in his thoughts for a bit too long.

“Jack?” The grip on his hand tightened and the concern that laced the other’s voice was enough to pull him out of his thoughts and back to reality. He looked at them, easily seeing the concern that laced his features. “Are you alright?” They turned their body to face him, placing their free hand onto his cheek. The ends of his lips turned up slightly as he leaned into the touch.

“Aye. Just thinking is all.”  He received a hum from the other as they moved their hand a bit, taking a bit of John’s hair and curling it round their finger. “What about?” He took a deep breath, staying quiet for a few moments. How was he to answer his question and not give anything away? “Nothing of import.” He answered, silently hoping the other would not question it. In hindsight he should have known better, it was Alexander he was talking about.   

“Surely it couldn’t have been nothing important, it took your attention away from me after all.” His eyes averted as he now stared at John, who in turn, looked towards the ground. He wasn’t entirely fond of lying to the other but, in this case, it was necessary. Even so, no lie came out of his mouth. “So, what is it?”  

He let out a breath, there was no way he could get out of this now. Though he should still try. “Ah, it’s silly but-” He cut himself off. Perhaps this was better due for another day. He looked back up to the other, only to see his head tilted slightly and a curious look in his eyes. He supposes it was all in due time.

“Do you… Love me?” He managed to get out, it was certainly the worst way to bring about this topic but, the damage has already been done. Alex, clearly surprised by the question, retracted his hands, and folded his arms. This action made John rather nervous, although he knew the answer, it didn’t stop a part of his mind from thinking otherwise.

He watched as Alex started to chuckle, shaking his head slightly. This confused John and he raised an eyebrow, giving a questioning look. What on earth could he be laughing at? “Oh, you old fool.” Ouch. “Of course, I do. Why would I be dating you if I hadn’t?” Alex offered a loving smile, which John instantly returned.

“I expect the same of you?” Alex questioned; an eyebrow raised. He didn’t hesitate to nod, before saying something. “It would be stupid of me not to.”

“Aye, it would be.” He agreed not missing a beat. John chuckled a bit, calming down rather quickly, a small smile on his face. Alex simply grinned, enjoying the time the two would spend together. Silence followed suit; it was nice. The two now looked at the stars, as the sun had completely disappeared a while ago. It didn’t last long, as it was broken by Alex.

“Why were you questioning that anyway? Surely there’s something else going on in that head of yours.” Seemingly surprised by the sudden question, John jumped a bit before calming back down, wondering how to answer him.

“Well, uh, I suppose it’s because I’ve realized that I would be lost without you; that I wouldn’t know what to do with myself or with the rest of my life if you weren’t in it. I know it’s cheesy but, t’is true.” He looked back at Alex, another small smile present and a small shrug. He looked, less than impressed, had an eyebrow raised and was looking at him sceptically.

“What?” John questioned, a bit of confusion lacing his tone. He shook his head a bit, looking straight into the other’s eyes. “Nothing. This just feels like your typical speech before a proposal. If that is the case, I suggest you try a little harder.” He was stunned, staring at him for a few moments before opening his mouth to say something. He sputtered a bit, before actually saying anything.

“I- You- Are you-? Damn, okay.” John thought about what to say, not quite sure how to word it so that it didn’t sound straight from some T.V show. After a while he turned back to Alex, who seemed to have been staring at him the whole time. He took a deep breath before talking.

“Do you remember that one time when I was dying my hair?” He began. This only received a confused look from Alex. He nodded, smiling fondly at the memory. “Indeed. You stained the counter, then said you wished you’d kept the blonde when you failed to do it properly. You had so many blonde patches left untouched.”  He chuckled, shaking his head.

John let out a puff of air and folded his arms, pouting a bit. “It was hard.”

“It wasn’t hard, you were just inexperienced.” Alex commented, the memories of that day coming back to him, it had been about a year or two since then, and he had long forgotten about it. “Mhm, I don’t believe the brown suits me as well as the blonde did.”

“Well, I disagree, I believe you look wonderful with the brown.” There was a smile on his face after he said this, he needed to ensure the other didn’t believe he was lying. When John didn’t say anything and his face and mood seemed to drop, he quickly revisited what he had said before backtracking.

 “Not to say you didn’t look good when your hair was blonde, you looked great! I’m just saying the brown looks really good as well-” To this John’s mood raised and he chuckled a bit, cutting the other off. “T’is fine, I falsely interpreted your words, I should be the one apologizing.”

Alex’s eyebrows were now scrunched together, and his eyes narrowed a bit. “That’s absurd, why on earth would you have to apologize? I made the comment.”

“Out of the belief that I was in the wrong, plus, you have nothing to be sorry for-” He was immediately cut off. “Neither do you.”

“So, no apologizing then?”

“No apologizing.”

“Alright.”

The two stared at each other, or John stared at Alex. He was certain that the other wasn’t looking at his face. No, it was rather his hair. Likely due to them just having a brief trip down memory lane. He shuffled a bit closer to John, once again reaching a hand over and playing with the loose chunks of hair. “Mind if I did something with your hair?”  

John, yet again, let a small smile rest on his face. Alex hadn’t requested that for a long time. “Not at all. Be my guest.” With that, he turned around, his back now facing the other. Alex fiddled with the ribbon for a couple seconds, eventually getting it out and throwing it to the side. He began to comb his fingers through John’s hair, not doing anything with it just yet.

“I would have said I was proud of myself for dying it for you but…. I haven’t exactly done that in a while.” Alex muttered; in any other situation he would’ve assumed he was speaking to himself, but this clearly wasn’t the case. “Are you referring to the fact that my hair has grown out since you’ve last done it?”

“Yes, actually. Though did you even attempt to dye it on your own?” John shook his head a bit, not too much that he’ll feel like his hair is being pulled out by the roots but enough for Alex to notice. “I suppose you will just have to live with the multi-coloured hair until I have the time to do it for you.” He mentioned to John’s hair, which had grown out since the last time it was dyed. Causing it to be an odd mixture of both colours. Not ugly, per say, but odd.

“And I am certain you’d do a wonderful job. For you have been doing your own rather well.”

“Rather well? I’ve been doing this excellently, mind you.” John let out a bit of a chuckle, nodding in agreement. “Ah, yes you have been. How could I have forgotten?” He smiled a bit to himself, before adding, “Though you do have the added bonus of rarely leaving your office, you don’t have to do it as often as I have to.”

“You are correct in that regard. I will admit.”

“I know I am; you don’t like people enough to have the will to leave your office unless you must.”

“Sad but true.”

Silence soon followed; At this point, John had found himself curious as to what Alex was doing with his hair, there wasn’t much that could be done, so he had the right to be curious. “Alex what is it that you are doing?” He got a questioning hum from the other, so he decided to be a bit more specific. “To my hair. What are you doing with it?”

“Braiding it. I don’t know much in regard to hair. It’s lucky I know how to do this.” This confused him a bit, he hadn’t thought his hair was long enough to braid. Though, tis but a braid, does the length of the hair really matter? He’s not quite sure anymore. “Ah, makes sense.”

It was then that a thought popped into John’s head. He had remembered something. “Remember when you duelled Burr that one time?”

“I duelled Burr? I do not recall such a thing taking place.” He could hear the confusion that laced his tone and could only imagine that adorable, confused expression that would find its way onto his face in moments like this. A smile crept on his face at the thought.

“Paintball.” He eventually clarified. He understood the confusion, duelling was yet to be outlawed but even so, it wasn’t very common anyway.  

“I see. Why would you word it in such a way to have it sound like an actual duel?”

“It just seemed like the right way to put it. You two would actually go about with that.” Alex scoffed, not believing the words coming out of John’s mouth. “How dare you believe I am foolish enough to engage in such... such, childish behaviour.” He could hear how offended the other was. Feel it too, as in that moment, Alex had tugged on his hair, causing him to wince.

“A duel? Childish? How so?” He questioned, gritting his teeth as he said it. “Not particularly childish but it was the best word I could come up with at the moment. Plus, most people that engage in such are likely being petty. It’s usually sparked by some silly little argument.”

“Well, that wasn’t your reaction when I told you I challenged Lee to a duel.”

“That’s different.”

“Different how?”

“Lee needed to answer for his words.”

“Why? Because they were against your father?” This caused Alex to go quiet, John was left to believe he had made his point, but the other seemed to be figuring out who was speaking of. He thought it would’ve been obvious, apparently not. “You’re talking about Washington, right?”

John resisted the urge to roll his eyes, before remembering that Alex couldn’t see him, then proceed to do so. “Obviously.”

“He’s not my father…” John didn’t buy it. Alex’s unsure tone had pretty much confirmed it. “Then why did you get so mad when you heard of what he had said?” This had gotten Alex to go quiet once more, and this time he was sure it was simply because he was at a loss for words. If Washington was a general or something, it might’ve made sense. Though that hadn’t been the case. “I-… I don’t… know.”    

“Now you have something to think about.”

“Yes, I believe I do.”

John honestly didn’t mean for it to cause any sort of tension, but it happened and now he felt bad about it. He wasn’t certain if there was actually any tension, or if he was just making that up. It took him a couple minutes, but he had indeed made it up. He decided to continue in the direction he had originally tried to lead the conversation.

“The reason I brought this up was because I really like spending time with you, and I wanted to ensure that we could make a lot more of those memories together.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Alex questioned, finishing up on John’s hair. He removed his hands and let them sit on his lap, observing the braid in the other’s hair. It was messy, it wasn’t really that good, but it’ll do for now.

“Well-” He started, digging into his jacket pocket only to find something he didn’t expect. Instead of the small black box he expected, he was met with a folded-up sheet of paper. He then opened it, discovering it was a note before scanning it over.     

‘I took the liberty of making your proposal as terrible as possible. By terrible I mean funny. So, I stoleborrowed misplaced your actual ring. Do not worry I made sure it was easy to find. You just have to give it to him after. The replacement is in the other pocket. Try not to ditch the whole proposing thing, yeah?

-Lafayette’

John’s eyes widened a bit, he was in a state of disbelief. What on earth made Laf think that this would be a good idea? “The bastard.” He crumpled up the paper and stuffed it back into his pocket. “Who are you referring to?” A voice behind him asked. His head snapped up, but he didn’t turn around to face the other. He inhaled deeply then proceeded. “I’ll tell you later, alright? You’ll understand after what’s about to happen. For that I apologise for in advance.”

“Okayyyy?” He answered, stretching out the word. John put his hand in his other pocket and pulled out something he’d least expected.

A ring pop.

A goddamn ring pop.

He simply glared at the packaging as though that would do anything. He opened it, and just contemplated what to do next. He could propose with it and show him the note as an explanation, or he could just put it back into the packaging, stuff it into his pocket and forget about it.

The second one seemed like a much better choice until the realization hit him that Laf wouldn’t shut up about it and would blame it on him ‘chickening out’. Washington also knew about it and would likely be disappointed as well. He let out an irritated sigh, letting his head hang for a moment before talking a glance back at the green ring pop in his hand. At least he got the colour right.

John then took a deep breath in and turned to face Alex; a strained smile present on his face and a hand hidden behind his back.

“Are you alright? You seem tense.” Alex took John’s free hand in his own and gave it a slight squeeze, waiting for a response. Although it wasn’t by much, John relaxed at the touch, looking at the other. “Yeah, yeah. Though I do have a question.” He started, feeling rather nervous for the third time today. His cheeks were dusted a light pink. Was he actually going to do this?

Alex raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

“I was wondering if, maybe you would consider, uhm marrying me?”

The question alone made Alex smile. Some people would complain due to the lack of a ring. But Alex didn’t mind, the only thing that mattered is that John had asked in the most uncharacteristic way possible. He didn’t do it traditionally; he had no confidence in his tone whatsoever. He also wore this cute nervous smile afterwards. He found it all adorable.

He did however have to hold back a laugh when John pulled out a ring pop. “Uhm, I was originally going to use an actual ring, but it had gotten misplaced, so I had to use what I had.” He started to laugh after saying that half out of nervousness, half out of how ridiculous the situation was.

Alex, seeing this as an invitation started to laugh as well, it was truly funny. “You can say no, you know, that’s a very fair response to all this-” John tried to say in between laughs.

“No, No. My answer's yes. How can I say no to this?” Alex cut him off, eventually calming himself down.

“Are you serious? Like actually serious?”

Alex smiled at him, “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” He leant over and placed a short, sweet kiss on John’s lips. Who, in the moment, didn’t have any time to respond. After seemingly registering everything, John gave Alex a quick kiss to repay him from earlier.

The two smiled at each other before Alex’s eyes flickered down the ‘ring’ then back up at John again. Within a moment took it from John’s grasp and put it on his own finger. John was a bit surprised by this and just watched as Alex stared at it. “How am I meant to preserve this again?”  

He looked back up at John, who simply shrugged. “I am not sure, just keep it intact till tomorrow. I should have the actual one with you by then.” He nodded before asking another question. “Why did you have this on you anyway?”

“Lafayette.”

“Huh?”

“He swapped them out and left a note.” He dug in his pocket a bit, eventually pulling out a crumpled-up piece of paper. He opened It up then handed it to Alex, who took it before reading it. “What is there to gain from this? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

Alex thought about it for a moment longer, eventually just throwing it back John’s way. “I think we should go home, yeah?” He leaned over again and kissed the other’s cheek. They simply nodded. “Yeah, yeah we should.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”     

AHHH- THIS TOOK SO LONG TO FINISH IM SORRY- IT’S NOT EVEN GOOD EITHER LIKE- THE END SUCKS. Ahem. Sorry about that.

If you wanted another scenario like this Marigold_7 made one as well and posted it on their Hamilton one-shot book. I asked them to do it because I wanted someone else’s perspective and to see how they write it. It came out last night, I think. I haven’t read it yet, but I will the second this is out. I was actually planning on reading it but then I realized that it would mess with how I wrote this one. So, I’m sorry I haven’t read it yet!

I hope you enjoyed this!              

Also the crossing out didn't work and now I'm sad-