Jefferson went into the bathroom as soon as he got back to the White House. He had to clear his hands of the now dry blood on his hands before anyone noticed. Once he was done, he went into his office, surprised to see Madison leaning against the wall.
"James? What are ya doin' in here?"
"Thomas, I think you know perfectly well why I'm in here." Jefferson started to speak, but Madison kept on talking, "Burr told me what happened earlier. Something about you worrying a little too much over something you've helped me with many times before and know perfectly well that it isn't life-threatening." Jefferson was slightly embarrassed.
"I have no idea what you're talkin' about!" he shot back, a small bit of anger in his voice when he did.
"Thomas, you were worrying over him like he was your son. And before you say otherwise, Burr also said that you carried him bridal style into the hospital and refused to let him out of your arms. Try to explain how you don't care about Hamilton after that."
Jefferson almost felt betrayed. He had specifically told Burr to tell no one about this, but he just went and did it anyway. He would talk to him about this later, but he didn't feel now was a good time. He tried to say something back, but couldn't think of anything.
"Look, Thomas, I worry about him too sometimes, I'm pretty sure everyone does every once and awhile, but, in your case, this has been getting out of hand. I know you haven't been getting enough sleep because you think about him at night, I can hear you mumbling to yourself. The walls are not soundproof."
"Yeah, well, what else do you have as 'proof' that I 'overreact' when it comes to Hamilton." Nervous sweat rolled down his face. He wiped it away before crossing his arms. Madison pulled a hand mirror out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket, clearly prepared to give him this speech. He shoved it into his face, as if telling him how he looked wasn't enough to get a point across.
"Seriously, look at yourself. Sorry to say, but you look.... different."
Jefferson did what Madison asked, shocked to see his own reflection and actually take it in. He had bags under his eyes that he would never expect himself to have, his entire complexion almost looking tired. He almost looked like a different person.
"Do you see what I mean?" Madison asked, seeming to notice the surprised look on Jefferson's face. All Jefferson could do to respond was nod.
"Good. Now, I want you to get some rest tonight. In fact, why don't you take a break right now? Burr can take care of your work for you, him being Vice President and all, and you can actually rest for the first time since about three months ago."
"B-But, my wor-"
"Like I said, Burr will take care of it. You, my dear Thomas, need to sleep before you literally become Hamilton." he interrupted as he practically pushed him out of his office and forced him into bed. He closed the curtains to block out the sun to trick Jefferson's eyes into thinking it was night.
"Goodnight, Thomas." he said as he was almost out the door.
"But I still know it's dayt-"
"Good night, Thomas." he repeated with a more annoyed tone as he closed the door forcefully, but not hard enough for it to make too much of a disturbance.
~~~~
Jefferson layed there in his bed, not able to fall asleep, hard as he tried. Eventually, his eyelids fell heavy over his eyes and when he opened them again, he had no clue what time it was, but it was darker than earlier. He sat up and got out of bed, opening the curtains and looking up at the dark night sky, staring at the moon as it illuminated his dark room. The door opened as Madison walked in.
"So, did you wake up worrying about Hamilton again, or did you actually get a good rest?" he asked with a tired yet slightly annoyed look on his face, which he usually never had.
"I just woke up a couple minutes ago. Why are you awake is the question." he retorted, pointing out Madison's hypocrisy.
Madison rolled his eyes. "I had a nightmare and I couldn't go back to bed." he said, some odd annoyance in his voice as he crossed his arms and leaned against Jefferson's bed frame. He must have been cranky from waking up so late in the night, because he never acted like this.
"What was it about?" Jefferson was genuinely concerned.
Madison just rolled his eyes again at that statement. "Why do you care? It's not necessary to know anyways."
"James, quit actin' like that, I don't like it. And I care because you never have a nightmare so bad that ya can't go back to sleep."
Madison seemed to calm down a little, his shoulders relaxing as he put his arms down by his sides. He sat down on Jefferson's bed as he explained what happened in his dream.
Hamilton was facing Burr in a field by the water, both with guns in their hands. Hamilton's eyes were stuck in a glare behind his glasses, his dark brown eyes glowing with a reddish tint to them, his mouth in a devilish smirk. Burr was a different story. He had a sorrowful look on his face, eyes already wet with newly formed tears, his hands shaking from even the thought of shooting Hamilton again. He thought of throwing away his shot and dying in Hamilton's place. His daughter would already have Philip to take care of her, and she was a grown woman with responsibilities of her own. Even if she didn't have the young Hamilton by her side, she could take care of herself. They counted their paces and, once they were done counting, they both turned around. Hamilton pulled the trigger without hesitation. Burr didn't shoot until he felt the bullet go straight into his left arm. He clenched his other arm in pain, then a loud BANG was heard. Burr looked up and saw where the bullet was going. Hamilton's condescending smirk gradually faded into a look of terror as the bullet came closer. Burr saw how close the bullet was to his previous wound as it-
"And that's all I saw before I woke up." Madison concluded, clearly trying to choke back tears as they slowly rolled down his face. Jefferson felt the same happen to him, but he didn't wipe them away. He had a habit of doing that, just leaving his tears on his face to gradually dry up. He sat down next to Madison to try and comfort him.
"Madison, don't worry. It wasn't real. It never will be. Now calm down and go back to bed. Sleep is probably the most important thing you can get right now."
Madison looked up at him, tears rolling down his face as his eyes shimmered in the moonlight that came from the window. "C-can I sleep with you tonight?"
Jefferson had half a mind to raise an eyebrow at the odd question. He thought of sending him back to his room instead of bending to his childlike will, but then he saw the almost desperate look in his eyes and finally gave in.
"Fine, but only for tonight." Jefferson's voice was stern, but Madison didn't seem to mind as he went under Jefferson's comforter and quickly fell asleep, Jefferson doing the same.
~~~~
When Madison woke up, he was in a bed more comfortable than his own. He soon realized that it wasn't his. He felt something wrapped around his arm, looking to his left to see Jefferson hugging his arm tightly. He was clearly deep in sleep, which was a good thing, but he could be easily disturbed if Madison moved his arm too much. He saw the dark magenta curtains open with a beautiful sunrise coming through the window. He figured now would be a good time to wake Jefferson up.
"Thomas, wake up. I want to show you something." He freed his arm, waking up Jefferson, as expected.
"James? What is it ya need to show me? I'm tired."
"Look out the window."
He did as Madison asked, squinting for a little while before his eyes widened back up, sparkling in the sunlight. He looked at Madison and smiled, seeming to not care that his face was glowing pink.
"It's almost as beautiful as you, James." he said, clearly still tired from just waking up, for he would never say that if he were awake enough to make sense of himself, right?
"I would say the same to you if you hadn't said so first." Madison flirted back before he could stop himself.
I am really not thinking today, am I?
Jefferson got out of the bed, Madison doing the same.
"Want me to get your clothes from your room or somethin'?" Jefferson asked once he was dressed. Madison agreed to the offer when he realized he brought no clothes in with him last night. And if he was to do anything in this situation, he would rather stay in Jefferson's room than go out into the hall in nothing but a nightshirt covering his underwear.
As soon as Jefferson walked out of the room, Madison sat down on the bed the two men shared to the previous night. He was glad Jefferson finally got some sleep. If one thing was certain, it was that he did not need two paranoid insomniacs to worry about, one was already too much.
Jefferson came back into the room with Madison's blue suit draped over his arm, quickly shielding his eyes once the smaller man started to dress himself.
"How about we get to work, Mr. President." Madison said once he got his suit on.
"Yeah, maybe we should. Alexander's cane is still in my office, so he's probably gonna expect me there to give it to him."
"Since when were you two on a first name basis?" Madison asked, noticing how Jefferson called Hamilton by his first name.
"We aren't."
"Then why did you refer to him as Alexander instead of Hamilton?"
"I-I didn't say that, did I?"
"Yes, yes you did."
Jefferson's face went noticeably red with embarrassment.
"Let's just go to work."
"Fine, Thomas." Madison opened the door and let Thomas walk through first, following close behind once he was out of the room.
~~~~
Jefferson heard the door open to his office, not very surprised to see Hamilton in the doorway.
"Hamilton, sit down or lean against somethin' while I go get your cane." he said as he grabbed Hamilton's cane and traded it out for his own newly cleaned one.
"Eliza cleaned it for you, the doll." He stood up, ready to leave the room.
"Tell her I said thanks." Jefferson requested as Hamilton was about to go out the door.
Hamilton looked back at him, slightly smiling.
"Consider it done, Thomas."
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