A/N: Part one of my next multi-chapter fic! Think there’s going to be about 5 parts. This is incredibly short, but I wanted to get something up before I disappear for the week. Disclaimer. I do not speak Spanish and used (god forbid) Google translate for the majority of the phrases in here. Â
Modern AU in which Hamilton never makes it out of Nevis. He still meets and falls in love with Eliza. Life has a way of making things work.Â
Eliza had always felt like the odd one out. She was, in a way. She and her two sisters were attached at the hip from the moment they came into each other’s life at that girl’s home. Then, they were all adopted into the same family, the Schuyler’s. They all had that fact in common, luckily.
The difference was, her two sisters were okay with it.
Eliza herself had always struggled with being adopted. Perhaps it was because she looked so different from her parents- at least her sisters had their dark skin like their father. They perhaps didn’t look so out of place like she did. It’s always been obvious that she was adopted. People usually stared at her when she was out with her family. She had always hated being stared at. She hated attention. She would purposely fade into the background and had strived to do so her entire life.
Her sisters were the opposite.
Her older sister, her Angelica, was the top of her class. She was valedictorian and had recently got into Columbia Law School. Her youngest sister, little Peggy, was simply a natural born star. The lead in all her private performance high school productions, she was now studying at Julliard.
Eliza had attended NYU, an average school a mere ninety minutes away from her childhood home. She graduated with a degree in social work and a completely average GPA. She made friends, she’d spent a semester abroad. But so did a group of a few hundred other students. There was nothing special about her or her experience in university.
She wasn’t happy, simply.
Twenty-three and she had no idea who she was or who she wanted to be. So, when one of her old professors, her favorite professor, Martha Washington, offered her a spot on the board of her most recent project—building an orphanage of some kind in the Caribbean— she accepted without a second thought. Might as well dedicate herself to an important project to help children while she figured out what the fuck she was going to do with her life.
After plenty of hugs and kisses from her family, she found herself on a plane. She found herself a cruddy apartment, situated perfectly between the beach and the orphanage she would be working at and within walking distance of both. That was all she needed.
After a week of straight work, she finally got a blessed day off. She pulled her long dark hair into a messy ponytail, her slim figure clad in a pair of shorts with a tank top and a swimsuit underneath. With a towel on her arm, a book and sunscreen in a bag, she made her way to the beach.
She carefully made her way down the trail that was made up mostly of wet sand a sparse grass, a thick layer of Hibiscus and palm trees. There were a few spots under the thick layer of foliage that had muddy puddles from the rainstorm the night before. The sun was so hot that wherever it touched gave no indication of the storm that crushed the island a mere twelve hours ago.
The beach she had found herself on was evidently more of a local one. She had been given the same type of looks since she arrived, a few of the other tenants of her complex politely asking her if she was lost. Apparently, there weren’t many locals who looked like her. Everyone assumed she was a tourist. She was, of course, in a way. Just staying a bit longer than usual.
She smiled to herself when she hit the beach. She kicked off her sandals, immediately wiggling her toes into the warm sand. After a few moments of staring out into the seemingly endless blue ocean, she started to set up camp. She did so near the tree line so she could have a bit of shade if she wanted to, already feeling a bit hot under the burning sun. She tore off her tank top first, revealing the teal bikini she had on. After shoving her cover up back into her bag, she began to spread out the beach towel she had bought.
Not paying mind to her surroundings, somehow oblivious to the pounding footsteps behind her, she straightened up with her worn copy of the Bell Jar in her hands. She squeaked when she was suddenly knocked to her knees by some force behind her, her book of course landing in one of the muddy piles under the bushes.
She sighed and got to her feet, someone’s warm hands gripping her arm to help her. “Lo siento mucho, no estaba prestando atención, perder.”
Great. Another chance to embarrass herself with her lack of lingual skills (she had taken two years of Spanish in High School and one in college she assumed she’d be alright) and she forgot her dictionary. “Está bien, yo—“ she was cut off when she finally looked up to see this clumsy stranger’s face.
He was literally the most handsome man Eliza had ever seen. His skin was glowing, his hair nearly as dark as her own, the length shaggy enough to brush just below his shoulders. His eyes were big, almost childlike and the most beautiful shade of brown. She blinked when she realized she had been staring too long, but then nearly died of happiness when she realized he was checking her out too. Her cheeks flushed while he just smirked.
“Los siento, linda. DeberĂa haberlo observado más de cerca.” He apologized again, his smirk softening.
He spoke too fast and her brain was working a too slow. All she could reply was, “What?”
The stranger grinned and laughed, the most beautiful sound Eliza had ever heard. “I’m sorry, linda. On two counts, now. You are clearly lost and not only did I rudely bump into you, but I probably scared you by babbling Spanish at you.” His accent was distinguishable, but his English strong and clear, much to Eliza’s surprise.
“Oh. I, It’s alright, you didn’t scare me. I’m actually not lost? I’m staying just down that road.” Eliza shyly gestured to the right with her head.
Confusion flashed in his dark eyes. “There is no hotels there.”
“I know. I’m… It’s my apartment. I’m helping rebuild the children’s home, so I’m going to be around for a while.” She smiled a bit, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.
The man nodded in understanding, the handsome smile finding its way back on his lips. “I see. I used to spend a lot of time at the old Windham back in the day.”
“Mhm. Glad to see it is finally getting taken care of. Especially if it brings us company as lovely as you.”
Eliza laughed and shook her head, hoping her blush wasn’t that obvious. “Are you always that kind to strangers you knock into?” She headed over to the puddle her book had fallen into, sinking to her knees to examine it.
“Only the ones I like.”  He followed her. “Oh no. I ruined your book, have I not? I am so sorry, linda.” He knelt down on the other side of the puddle across from her.
“It’s fine,” Eliza waved him off. “It was getting old, high time I replaced it anyways. Um. I’m Eliza, by the way.” She held out her hand, unaware how he got linda.
“Alexander,” he beamed at her, shaking her hand. “Alejandro, technically, but I will let your English slide again.”
“I actually do know a bit of Spanish.” Eliza corrected, tugging her hand back when he let it linger. She looked down to examine her ruined book. “You just… you talk fast.”
He let another one of those pretty laughs out. “So I have been told. But I am not sure if I believe that you know Espanol.”
She glared at him lightly, no real malice behind it. “And why do you think that?”
“Perhaps I am just hoping that you do not. So that I may use teaching you as an excuse to see you again.” The blatant honesty in his eyes and the certainty of his voice frightened her the tiniest bit, but she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was because she had never been that confident before in her life… this had to be a joke.
“Oh. I… Well, you don’t have to do that, really. I know enough to get around and I have a dictionary.” Eliza rose to her feet, her muddy book in hand. “I’m sure you’re busy. You must have been in a hurry if you couldn’t look to see where you were going.” She smiled.
“Unfortunately,” he said, mispronouncing the word slightly. “You are right. I do have to get to work. But I also have to get your book replaced— my backup excuse to see you.” His eyes twinkled.
“You really don’t—“
“I really do, though. Are you free this evening?” she nodded hesitantly. “Then I shall meet you here at nine. See you soon, linda,” he smiled kindly, moving towards the tree line once more.
She wasn’t sure what just happened. She took a step forward. “It’s Eliza.”
He paused, turning to look at her again. “¿Qué?”
“I think you misheard me earlier. My name isn’t Linda, it’s Eliza.” She corrected him, her cheeks flushing as he walked towards her again.
His eyes sparkled with amusement and he clearly held back a laugh. He tilted his head at her before he plucked one of the pink flowers from the tree beside them. “I thought you said you knew Spanish.”
“No, you do not.” He laughed. “Do you not know what linda means?”
She shook her head, entranced by how close he was to her.
Smoothly, he slid the flower behind her ear, the hot pink standing out against her raven hair. Her cheeks became nearly as the pink flower.
“It means pretty woman.” He beamed at her, dropping his hand. He took a step back, his eyes still on her. “Nine o clock, linda.” With that, he took off in a hurry.
Eliza stood still for a moment, staring towards the direction he ran off in. She touched the flower gingerly, a small smile on her face. Linda.
Perhaps this escape was going to be a lot more than she thought it was.
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