what'd i miss? // jeffmads

t w e n t y - t h r e e

jefferson

They were dorming together. That was the problem. Now broken up and single, the two were having much bigger problems than a bad boyfriend. Now they were ex-boyfriends, and ex-best friends, living in this hellhole of a dorm room because they had to.

And Thomas had been so excited to room with him. A lot can change in a couple weeks.

Thomas went to his classes. James went to his. They didn't meet up for lunch anymore. Thomas went the first couple days, but James never showed. James never had to.

Thomas had begun flirting again. Alexander wasn't having it. John looked sad, smiling through a pathetic look in his eyes every time Thomas looked at Alex. Something was going on there.

James didn't flirt. He wasn't known for doing so. Peggy was his source of friendship. Angelica and Eliza barricaded James from Thomas every time Thomas tried to talk to him. "He doesn't want to see you," they'd say. "Isn't living with him enough?"

But it was never enough. Thomas still loved him. James was pissed. A melancholy anger, ignoring Thomas with no sense of regret.

Thomas had fallen to his old haunts. Aaron had become a friend of his again. Charles Lee, King George, and Samuel Seabury still stayed out of his way, but John Adams and James Reynolds didn't. They clung to him like he was their god. He hated them.

Thomas was not having a great time.

madison

James, on the other hand, could not say he was doing as terribly. The quiet man hung out with Peggy as much as he could. Every time Thomas entered their dorm, James would leave and hang out at Peggy's. Thomas seemed to be bringing home a lot of girls recently. James didn't need to be there anyway.

James ate with the girls too. It was different kind of popularity than he was used to, but he'd have to get used to it.

It wasn't like he and Thomas would ever reign together again.

Right?

this is a filler & a lead-up to chapter 24, so buckle your seatbelts, hold onto your hats, and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. good luck!