Thomas twirled Alex around the rooftop, his swift footsteps avoiding the delicately placed flowers on the ground. Alexander giggled with delight every time he was spun around and a pink blush scattered across his light skin every time Thomas pulled him back into his arms with a smile on his handsome face. As the last keys of the song played out, Thomas spun Alex under his arm one more time before dipping him down on the final note. In the post-song silence, they stared at each other without straightening back up. Both boys were breathing a little heavier than normal, either from the dance or each other (although it was most likely both). Alex awkwardly giggled and broke the silence, his face flushed.

"Where'd you learn to dance like that, Thomas?" He asked softly, searching the other boy's chocolate eyes with his own.

Thomas cleared his throat and put Alex back on his feet, releasing him and taking a step back.

He looked off to the side before saying, "unimportant." His answer was almost a whisper.

Alex stepped closer to him and reached up to grasp his chin in in his small hand, turning Thomas' face back towards him. Thomas looked down into the smaller boy's eyes, his expression unreadable.

"Hey," Alex said softly. "Anything about you is important to me." The corner of his mouth tilted up into a comforting smile.

Thomas smiled and closed his eyes, leaning his face into Alexander's hand that had moved from his chin to cup his cheek. He then reached up to wrap his hand around the one on his face, deeply sighing before opening his eyes and removing it.

"Come sit with me, darlin', I'll tell you anything you want to know." Still holding his hand, Thomas led Alex over to the bench. Sitting down, he pulled the smaller male across his lap and wrapped one arm around his waist to keep him against his chest. Threading the fingers of his other hand through Alex's hair, he took a deep breath of the chill morning air and released it slowly.

"So you wanna know how I learned to ballroom dance, huh?" He felt Alex nod his head against his chest in response.

"Okay. My family is very wealthy- and no I'm not bragging- it's just old money, passed down through generations of Jeffersons. You'd think a rich kid wouldn't have any problems right? Big ass estate to live in and eight siblings for company. Not to mention more money than I'd ever need. But I did have problems, more than you'd think. I have two older sisters, I'm the third kid, and six younger siblings- four girls and two boys. One of my younger sisters and one of my brothers are twins too, Anna Scott and Randolph, they're the youngest. Randolph is my only brother still alive anyway, Peter Field Jefferson, Jr. died at only six weeks old." His voice became a bit strained at this point, so he cleared his throat before continuing. "My God, he was a beautiful baby. I loved him immediately. He was my first and only brother at the time, the twins were born seven years later." He continued weaving his fingers through Alex's hair as he spoke. "My older sisters and I were close enough, being only a few years apart. Jane is three years older than me, Mary is two. The bonds between sisters and brothers are different though, I couldn't play dress up or talk about boys with them and they couldn't play soccer or wrestle with me. I couldn't look to my younger siblings either. Elizabeth, she's only a year younger than me- the closest to my age- but she...she's mentally handicapped... I love her, but we just never really connected. Martha and Lucy were always closer to each other than me, and Anna and Rudolph are inseparable being twins and all. The twins are also twelve years younger than me so I can't really hang with them, you know?" He gave a little laugh at that. "So poor Tommy was all alone. Who did he turn to, then? Why, daddy Jefferson of course. My only male role model. My dad took a lot of pride in me as his oldest son. I wanted to make him proud. So when he forced me into ballroom dancing lessons, I didn't complain. When he forced me into piano lessons, I didn't complain. I didn't complain about the violin lessons or etiquette classes either, or when he forced me into stuffy suits and made me attend fancy parties with a bunch of hoity-toity upperclassmen and old white cougars looking for a sugar baby behind their hsubands' backs." His fingers stopped their ministrations and Alex looked up at him with sad, dark brown eyes. Thomas tucked the silky black strands behind his ear and kissed his forehead before looking away. He could still feel Alex's gaze on the side of his face but he continued to stare straight ahead.

"And I sure as hell didn't complain when he beat me either."