Philip ran down the stairs to greet his father. He saw that his dad was actually smiling, a glimmer in his eyes that rarely ever had ever since the incident. That meant he was truly happy to see him. Angelica was also there, leaning against the wall with a smug look on her face. Philip kept smiling, but he really wanted to punch her in the face right now, but he restrained the urge to do so. He knew she was stronger than she looked and a heel to the crotch was not what he needed right now.
He quickly went towards his father and hugged him tightly, but not too tightly. Even Angelica knew not to do so as it would badly affect his bullet wound. His dad hugged him with one hand, keeping the other on a slightly bloody cane that Philip could tell wasn't his so he could actually stand up. The amount of affection in that hug was felt greatly, though.
"Hey, Dad. Glad to see you home so early from work. Why did Mr. Jefferson send you home so early, though? Did something happen?"
"Your mother will explain later what happened, right Eliza"
Eliza nodded her head in agreement and left him to talk to his kids. He never really had time to do so, considering how long he stayed at work.
"Hey Dad, Philip told me that he wanted to tell you something. Right, Philip?" Angelica said, looking at Philip with an evil grin.
"Oh, what is it, son?" Hamilton was generally interested.
Philip grabbed his sister by the arm, genuinely angered.
"I'll tell you later, Dad. First, I need to talk to my sister. In private." he said as he dragged Angelica into the other room, closing the door behind him.
~~~~
Philip inhaled sharply putting his hands together and bringing them close to his face. He pointed his hands in her direction and let his hands fall to his sides afterward.
"Are you trying to get me KILLED?!"
Angelica looked at him with mock surprise.
"But Father said to never tell him anything false. Is that not true, brother dearest?"
"Yeah, but this is different. He will impale me with that cane if he finds out." He was clearly aggravated, letting Angelica know full on. She went back to her usual smug look, but she knew well enough that he was starting to develop a bad temper, like their father. She honestly found it adorable when he was mad. The way his cheeks went red, bringing out the freckles that scattered all across that area. And he always stood on his toes to try and look intimidating, but never succeeded in that feat. He always looked like a small child compared to her.
"Philip, you look cute when you're mad, you know that. It doesn't work when you try to be intimidating."
"Stop with the false flattery. It doesn't suit you."
"It doesn't suit you to be formal twenty-four/seven." she missed the days when he wasn't like that and always hoped it was a phase. However, she also had a feeling that it wasn't.
"Can we just get back to what we were talking about earlier?"
"No thank you. Is it ok if we leave know, I think Dad's starting to get suspicious."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"No."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart." she drew an X over her heart with her finger, sealing the deal.
"Alright, but I still need to tell him something, do you have any ideas?"
"'I love you?'"
"No, too simple."
"How about 'Me and Angelica are still virgins'" she giggled a little at her joke, and saw Philip do the same. It was cute as well.
"No, of course not!" he said through stifled laughter.
"Ok, I'm actually gonna be serious about this. How about 'I'm gonna go back to college and get a PhD.' You do only have a Master's, after all. Plus, I know you were planning on doing that in the first place." she knew Philip well. Almost all of his goals, dreams, and ambitions. She always tried to keep up with them, for they were one of the only ways she could mock him.
"You know, Angel, that's actually a good idea. But keep in mind that, if I do follow through with this, you won't see me for a pretty long time."
"Ok. I have other siblings to tease anyways, so it won't be all bad."
"Asshole."
"Ok, but seriously, let's get out before Dad gets the wrong idea." she chuckled when she saw a look of disgust on Philip's face.
"Ew, Angel no!"
~~~~
Philip opened the door and saw his dad on the couch trying to answer the questions of his youngest children, all of them tiring him out purely with their rambunctious nature. He looked over at him and Angelica and politely sent away the young children as they all went to their mother.
"So, what were you going to tell me before you unexpectedly left with your sister?"
"Ok, I was going to say that I'm going to go back to college to get a PhD. I've wanted to do it ever since I got a Master's degree, but I decided not to because of... you know what, and I wanted to help Mom take care of you. But now that you're well enough, I thought I would be able to do so. If you're ok with me doing so, that is." Angelica noticed Philip looked nervous telling this to their father.
"Now why would I be disapproving of this? Honestly, this is possibly the best thing you could ever do for yourself." Hamilton said, seemingly confused as to why Philip was even asking.
"Really! You don't mind at all?" Philip tried to hide it, but he was ecstatic. One of his lifelong dreams was finally coming true.
"Not at all, son. You could have gone while I was still recovering and I wouldn't have minded in the slightest."
Angelica smiled at him with a light-hearted kindness that Philip had rarely seen from her. It was a nice change from her usual taunting look.
"Thank you, Father." he said with a smile that outshined the morning sun.
"You're welcome." Hamilton said as he walked off, being bombarded with his youngest children once more as they asked even more questions. He had an annoyed look on his face, but the small kids didn't seem to notice. He looked over to Eliza with a look that said help me, but she just chuckled and left him with the little annoyances.
Philip ran upstairs to his room, giving Angelica a small wink before he turned the corner. He had to write to Theodosia about this.
~~~~
Theodosia was not your normal run-of-the-mill female. In fact, you could even call her one of America's first tomboys. She cut he dark, messy hair and put it in a short ponytail, a style not uncommon for men to wear at the time. She wore a light green suit, not worried about anyone pointing out her naturally flat chest. Doing this, she fooled the public into thinking she was a boy. She went under the name Theodore. She went to school under this persona, getting exceptional grades while there. She planned on going to college under the same persona, but she never thought of when she would.
Though this was the truth, this wasn't what she told her father or Philip. To her father, she was in Georgia with a boyfriend that she said was still dating, but really she broke up with him only a couple months after the Weehawken incident. She was still a proper young lady to him. To Philip, she was still in downtown New York with her father, still a young lady who wore a dress and all that, but not as ladylike as she fooled her father into believing. If anything, she was able to tell him that she had just about the same amount of intelligence as him, which really wasn't a lie. She was even smarter than most actual men her age, thanks to her dad's teachings from a young age and the schools she attended once she reached high school, about the same time she started cross-dressing.
One day, while reading Shakespeare's Hamlet on her bed, she heard a knock at the door. She was already wearing a suit, so she felt no need to change. She tied her hair up and went to the door. The postman quickly gave her two letters and went off, clearly having a tight schedule. Theodosia simply just closed the door, picking out one of the letters from the two and opening it. Of course, it was from Philip. She wasn't disappointed at all, she just expected it.
It read as such:
My Dearest, Theodosia
I am glad that we share the same standpoint on our fathers' views, though I feel that my dad's hatred towards yours is the cause of more than political standpoints. While on the topic of my dad, Mr. Jefferson sent him home early for a reason my mom will explain later, but for now is unknown.
Angelica almost told Father of our forbidden relationship. Luckily, I talked some sense into her thick skull. On the bright side, I have decided to go back to King's College to continue my education and achieve a PhD. That does not mean that I will stop sending you my letters, far from it. I will continue writing to you even if it means gaining my father's insomnia to do so while trying to do my work.
While parting is such sweet sorrow, I am afraid that this is where my writings have to end. Until I write again, my fair Juliet.
Ever yours,
Philip Hamilton
Theodosia blushed, but, then again, she always did when she got a letter from him. She was happy that he acknowledged her Romeo & Juliet comparison and seemed to agree, having referenced the famous play and even calling her his "fair Juliet." She decided to see the other letter. What she saw in it was unexpected:
Dear Theodore Burr,
We here at King's College have noticed your intellectual skill and have decided we want you here if you are deciding to get an education. We already have you on our list of students coming to obtain a PhD, but if you want to deny our offer, send us a letter and we will be completely fine with it. If you accept, however, a form for classes is in the en
We hope to see you next semester!
~Prof. James Scott
She couldn't believe what she just read. Theodosia looked through the beginning one more time to make sure she wasn't just seeing things, but, sure enough, King's College was written there in dark blue ink. That meant Philip was going to be in the same school as her. But then, she realized something.
Oh God! If Philip finds out that I've been secretly cross-dressing the whole time, he might break up with me. Or worse, tell other people and those people will tell other people and then they might have me han-
She stopped thinking about it. She knew as long as no one in the facility found out, that wouldn't happen. Plus, if Philip did find out, he probably wouldn't do any of that. She had nothing to worry about as long as she kept her wits upon her.
Life could be so ironic, but that wasn't really a bad thing. She thought that as she began filling out the form and a letter to Philip right afterwards.
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