Belong - an adopted by Hamilton fanfic [Hamilton]

78. To surprise: yourself

[A/N: Hello! So this is a very happy and sweet chapter for Rue, and I felt very happy writing it. Enjoy!]

I was sitting on the floor of my room, cutting the yellow fabric precisely; literally biting my tongue so that I wouldn't cut it wrong. I had my phone on speaker, as I was talking to Dominic at the same time.
"I'm on my way now", he said, the wind swooshing past the microphone; faster than if he were to walk over to mine.
"Wait, are you on a bike?", I said after I cut the final piece, scared to break concentration beforehand. He chuckled.
"Yeah, why?", he asked, a little confused.
"Well then you shouldn't talk to me on the phone. That's like a traffic hazard", I replied, trying to mask the fact that my head was already running towards the most horrible outcomes. "You could get run into- I'm hanging up, text me when you're outside...", but Dom just cut me off.
"I always listen to music or podcasts when I bike. And I bike, like, everywhere. So don't hang up, please?", he kindly asked. I forced myself not to protest, trying to push away my worries.
If he falls it's your fault.
I swallowed my anxiety.
Yet, the weight on my shoulder grew heavier.
Ignore it, I told myself.
"Okay. Still here", I unsurely said, really just staring at the pieces of fabric in front of me. Just feeling unable to do anything knowing that he was on a bike and that he could fall because he was talking to me.
Your fault.
"So I gotta tell you, the film club is hosting a viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey and I was thinking-", he began to say when Vanessa peaked inside my room and cut him off.
"Niñita, I'm taking Tobi for a walk. Are you coming?", she asked, beaming at me.
We both knew that I was indeed coming with - I wasn't allowed to be home alone. Not that I wanted to be home alone either, for that matter.
From the living room, you could hear that Tobi had already heard the magic words of going on a walk and was running towards the front door.
"Also hello Dominic!", she said, a little louder so that my Dom would catch it over the phone.
"Hey Vanessa!", Dom's voice said through the speakers.
They were on first name-basis now.
I wasn't sure how to feel about it.
"Dom's coming over, so we can take Tobi - i-if that's alright?", I suggested, and per usual I got more unsure per each word I said. Vanessa nodded, genuinely happy to see me initiate something.
"Alright with me", she said, as I stood up and stretched out my back from working, crouched over, on the floor. I began to repeat the information to Dom, but he cut me off - no questions asked, probably having heard the entire conversation.
"I'll be there in 5!", Dom announced, having heard the conversation, and hung up.
But, I was already going over every possible scenario of what could happen when walking Tobi.
And it wasn't pretty.

And he was, of course, there in 5.
I had - during those five minutes - managed to collect every possible thing I could ever need when walking your dog, put these things in my tote bag, get dressed, lock the door 7 times and slowly walk down the stairs.
All while Tobi just tagged along, excited to go on a walk.

"Hey!", Dom said, and quickly hugged me. The embrace left me feeling safe as I was standing on the sidewalk, exposed to the world, where anything bad could happen. I held a tight grip around Tobi's leash, scared that she would run off and I wouldn't catch her.
"Hey", I said back, as Dom let go of me. I looked him up and down. Before I could ask, he replied.
"Yes, I fell off my bike. I am fine. Don't laugh", but laughing was the last thing on my mind.

It's your fault.
Blink.
Tap.
Twitch.
And don't you dare step on a crack in the street.

"But-", I began.
"Shush! I wasn't on my phone, and I wasn't being reckless. I blame the dog that ran out on the street right in front of me", he said, sounding really carefree about it.
I wasn't convinced.
"The dog didn't get hurt, I didn't get hurt. You don't need to worry", he continued to take my hand, and we started walking.
Slowly, but surely.
I tried to push my anxious feelings away.
I avoided the cracks in the street.
"Did anything interesting happen at school?", I asked, my voice still quiet, as I tried to get my mind to think of something else.
In front of us, Tobi was inspecting every single thing from a fire hydrant to our neighbours stairs.
"Not really. But, as I said, the film club is hosting like a viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey tomorrow, if you'd like to come?", he said, sounding really excited about it.
No.
I instantly felt a weight over my shoulders.
No.
Just the thought of being in a room of people made me feel sick.
No.
"Sorry, um... I can't", I managed to say as I was literally hopscotching the cracks in the sidewalk, the anxiety slowly creeping in the further away we got from my home.
He didn't ask me why I couldn't go.
I felt an instant need to explain why.
"Okay", he casually replied, smiling a little at me and then looking at the street ahead. "So, I had maths, and...", but now it was my turn to cut him off.
"I mean, sorry Dom, I'd love to go with you, but like this is what I can handle at the moment, and I have so much to do because the trial's coming up and-", I stopped, slamming the brake on myself, realising I was rambling.
You mentioned the trial.
You wasn't supposed to mention that.
He's not going to like you if he knew.
He squeezed my hand.
"Yeah, I know", he earnestly said, looking at me as he smiled to the side.