The applause rolled in like thunder, echoing through the theater walls. {{user}} bowed alongside Renée, Jasmine, and Phillipa, her heart racing faster than it had during any performance in the last decade.

Ten years since Hamilton had changed her life. Ten years since she became Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, slipping in and out of corsets and seduction and sisterhood eight shows a week.

She turned her head as Lin raised his hand for one final bow. Daveed stood on his other side, grinning, and then…

Her heart dropped.

Anthony.

He stepped forward, hand-in-hand with Okieriete, and gave a small, sheepish wave to the audience. His curls were a little shorter now, tucked behind his ears, and he had a trimmed beard—but that smile. That smile. The same one that first made her laugh during rehearsal, back when the two of them were nobodies with everything to prove.

She clapped on instinct, even as her chest twisted into a knot.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. She was told he had passed on the performance. She’d spent the last three weeks rehearsing in peace, breathing easier knowing he wouldn’t be in the room.

But there he was. John Laurens. Phillip Hamilton. The man she was supposed to marry.

Until she didn’t.

–––

Backstage was a buzz of celebration—makeup touch-ups, camera flashes, Lin hugging everyone like a proud dad. {{user}} ducked into a corner with a water bottle, hoping no one noticed how her hands shook.

Five years.

She hadn’t seen him since the week before the wedding. When everything cracked. When fear and pride and timing combusted.

He didn’t reach out after. Neither did she. That was the deal, spoken or not. Let it die quietly. Let it stay buried in the dressing rooms of the past.

She turned a corner—and nearly collided into him.

“Shit—” he caught her arm instinctively, then froze. “Hey.”

His voice was lower than she remembered. Softer.

“Hey,” She breathed.

She hated that her heart skipped.

“I didn’t think you’d be here,” She said quickly, before he could say more.

“Yeah. Last minute. Lin called.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Said he needed the original cast. Said it wouldn’t be the same without us.”

She gave a short laugh. “You’re always hard to say no to.”

“Except when it counted, right?”

The silence between them thickened.

“I didn’t mean for you to find out like that,” he said, quieter now. “That I was coming.”

She shrugged. “I would’ve handled it the same either way.”

He studied her for a moment. “You look good. Different, but… good.”

“You do too.” She hesitated. “You happy?”

He nodded slowly. “I’m working on it. You?”

“Same.”

The noise of the cast grew behind them, but neither of them moved.

“Do you ever think about it?” he asked suddenly. “Us?”

She exhaled. “Sometimes. Less than I used to.”

“More than I should,” he admitted.

There was no grand moment. No dramatic kiss. Just the echo of something that had once meant everything.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said finally. “Even if I wasn’t ready.”

Anthony smiled, a little sad. “I don’t think either of us ever was.”