Belong - an adopted by Hamilton fanfic [Hamilton]

90. To go: out

[A/N: Long time, no see! But I have reasons. So, stay for the author's note at the end to read about my last few weeks of summer, going to New York and seeing Hamilton, and then moving and starting a new life, in a new city, at a new University!☀️
TW: mentions of self h*rm]

It was Tuesday, and time was going too fast.
Lin was doing his last performance on Saturday.
The days were literally slipping between my fingers, and I was soon going to leave this city for another across the sea.

I was standing in Dom's room, as he were going through his closet with an unsure look on his face.
"I feel like I should dress up", Dom said, standing behind me. "I mean, aren't you supposed to be all dressed up at a Broadway show? I've never been to one"
He looked at me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't think there's a dress code, Dom. Sure, people tend to dress up slightly...", I said. "It's not like in the movies, really-"
He laughed.
"Well, I at least want to match with you", he said, making me blush as he referred to the blue dress that I was wearing. I had seen it in a shop the other day when I had been out with Vanessa and Sebastian, but I hadn't had the courage or energy to walk in and try it. The next day Vanessa had bought it for me.
The only thing about it was that it had short sleeves.
"I think I have a blue suit jacket here somewhere-", he said, pulling it out. "Here", he said, holding it out to see that it matched the blue on my dress; which it did. "Good, I'll just put this over my white t-shirt. Are jeans okay to wear?"
I smiled, nodding.
"I think so, Dom", I said, smiling to the side and physically pointing to the fact that I was wearing a jean jacket over a cardigan and over my dress, despite the fact that it was a really hot summer's day out.
"Oh, you can take off your jean jacket if you want, isn't it like really hot?", Dom asked me as he put on the suit jacket.
"Oh, um, a little-", I replied, taking it off and putting it on his armchair.
"Hey, you guys, dinner's ready", Dom's mom announced as she walked past his room, holding a sleeping Ariel in her arms.
I had needed to cancel on Sunday dinner because of obvious reasons, but instead it had been moved to Tuesday before the show.

Lin and Vanessa weren't thrilled with it, but I had convinced them I could do it.
But now, I was here.
And, to be honest, my mind wasn't too happy about it either.
I think Dom had sensed that, because for the little time it had been since I had walked into the apartment, I had been blinking and tapping.
He walked up to me, and put his arms around me.
"Hey...", he said. "You'll be okay. You'll just eat a little"
As I nuzzled into his shoulder, I replied.
"A little"

As we sat down at the table in the kitchen, I smiled at Dom's mom, Agnés.
"Thanks for inviting me to dinner, Agnés", I said, as she put down the salad. I knew I would have to put up a façade if I wanted to get away with eating just a little, and so I thought talking might do the trick.
"Oh, love, it was nothing. We're just excited to have you", she said, as Dom's dad, David, put down the lasagna.
"And I'm the one cooking, so it's a great deal for her", he said, with a smirk on his face. She laughed.
"Well then, bon appétit", she replied, and I hesitantly took a small piece, hoping that they wouldn't notice.
"So, um, you met in New York?", I said, trying to start a conversation as Agnés plated a portion for Flo.
"Yeah. I was here for work, and David here was working the desk of the hotel where I was staying", Agnés happily told me, her French accent strongly shining through. Dom looked at me with a face that said told you so.
"And I'm still working there. Though thankfully not at the desk", David pointed out, and continued to say, "Plus, she's still here. So there must be something about New York"
I took a first bite and forced it down.
Agnés smiled at me.
"Are your parents from NYC too?", she asked me.
"Um, yeah. They met in high school, but only got together later. I think", I said, taking another bite. Though the food was delicious, every bite made the next one harder.
"Right, Dom said you used to be a foster kid. You just got adopted if I remember correctly?", David asked me, genuinely interested in knowing.
"Yeah, in May", I replied.
"What's a foster kid?", Flo asked at the end of the table. The question caught the other people off guard. So, I replied before anyone else could.
"My Dad couldn't take care of me, so I was put in a system where other people could take care of me, which is called fostering", I said, trying to sound casual, even though it was hard to talk about.
Dom took my hand under the table and squeezed because he knew that I didn't like to talk about it.
"Why couldn't he take care of you?", she asked me.
"Flo-", Dom said, seemingly a little annoyed with his younger sister. I replied.
"He wasn't feeling very well", I kindly said, sugar-coating the reality so that the explanation would be child friendly.
"What about your mom?", she asked, her curiosity shining brightly at me.
Far away, in the back of my mind, I could head a thought pop up.
Yeah, what about your mom?
"Florence, that's enough", Agnés told her off, giving her a look that made Flo look down on her food.
"It's fine", I said, looking at Dom's parents' apologetic faces. I turned to Flo again, who's face lit up. "She just couldn't take care of me"
"So you were an orphan? Like Cinderella? Or or... or Anne of Green Gables?", she asked me, with big eyes.
"Yeah, I guess", I replied, realising that I had started to blink a little faster than normal in response to the trauma that was flashing by in my memories.
"Cool", she said, and went back to her food.
I went back to mine too, and forced down another bite.
Dom looked at me, looking worried.
I smiled at him, though Flo's questions had shaken me up.
Agnés switched the topic.
"So, we heard you're moving to London?"