Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everyone has secrets.

It’s healthy, Henry thinks. Everyone has a few of them, it’s completely normal.

Henry’s secrets aren’t earthshattering. They’re not the-presidents-son-is-gay-for-the-prince-of-England secrets or the-nuclear-codes-for-the-bombs-that-are-going-to-go-off-in-ten-minutes-and-only-David-Tennant-can-stop-it-from-happening. No. Just simple, everyday secrets.

Like, for example, a few that he can think of from the top of his head:

1. He may have dreamed of his grandmother’s death a few times.
2. He loves tequila but doesn’t drink it because it makes him way too horny.
3. He has no idea what Brexit was, and never understood it really.
4. He’s so very gay.
5. He lost his virginity to one of Philip’s best friends, Jamie Mulligan, while Philip and their other friend, Winston, were playing FIFA. Obviously, it didn’t last long.
6. He can’t help it, but sometimes he laughs when he orgasms.
7. His brother’s goldfish, Teddy, died when he was in Greece, and Henry just replaced him instead of telling him.
8. He had a dirty dream about Pez, and it was actually terrible sex.
9. He really needs to readjust right now, but he can’t.
10. He has no idea what this guy in front of him with the heather blue suit is talking about right now.
11. Oh shit, he forgot his name.

And he only met him like 10 minutes ago.

“I just believe that he is a really important figure that we should write about, right? I mean, a biracial, bilingual man in the senate for Texas? That’s history right there.” He’s saying, in a nasal, monotone American accent, that is really starting to get on Henry’s nerves. But he’s English, so he will power through.

“Oh, definitely.” Henry agrees, nodding as he takes a sip of his tea. It’s a little cooler than he likes it, but he’ll power through. “Absolutely incredible.”

What the fuck is he on about? Henry thinks. Maybe he shouldn’t have zoned out so much.

God, this is not what he signed up for when he joined this business. He thought he could just write what he wanted, and then they would edit it, and send it back and then he could give it to the publisher.

Yet right now, he’s sat in the dreary gray office of Miguel Ramos’ London headquarters. And he realizes that he actually across from the very man himself, and God he’s so boring. The only reason Henry is here is because this is simply a steppingstone in his writing career. He wants ideas for future books and novels so he thought this job would help out. It also sends him to the U.S, which is equally scary as it is exciting.

“So, you’re on board then? To do this biography on the senator?” Mr. Ramos asks, leaning back in his big, black, probably made out of clouds, CEO chair. Henry shifts uncomfortably in the cheap chair he’s sitting in that has a seat so thin he feels like he’s sitting on the frame. You’d think this big shot would get better seats.

Henry smiles, albeit fake. “I would love to.”

Just a steppingstone, remember.

“Great!” Mr. Ramos claps, standing up. “I’m so glad! Okay, we’ll send you to Austin on Wednesday morning, I’ll send you the details of your flight and where you will be staying for the next year. You can drive in America, right?”

Henry just stares at him, his smile dropping and his mouth going dry. He nods stiffly. He can feel his heartbeat picking up, like it’s thumping against his rib cage.

“Alright, I’ll get you a rental as well. Austin is pretty big, though you can walk, sort of, I’d like to help you out with a car. Any questions? Concerns?”

Henry keeps his eyes locked on him, before shaking his head slowly.

“Perfect,” He smiles, and Henry stands up. He wipes his hands on his slacks and reaches out to shake his hand, but Mr. Ramos just walks over and opens his office door, holding his arm up to show him out. “We’ll be in touch within the week. Thanks so much Harry.”

Henry drops his hand to his side, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s Henry,” he corrects, but Mr. Ramos just continues smiling and glancing back and forth between him and the door.

Henry just shakes his head and slaps a fake grin on his face. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll speak with you in week, thanks again Mr. Ramos.” He grits through his teeth, before walking out of the office. He hears the door close behind him and he drops his smile and huffs.

“Wanker.”

--

The pub Henry and Pez always meet at is hidden away from the main streets of London. It’s down a skinny alley, where you knock on a red, scratched, flat-looking door that has seen better days. The number 287 in rusting silver shine from the one dim, yellow, light that flickers above it. As soon as you walk in, you are hit with the scent of stale beer and old cigarettes as you step down the three wooden steps that creak every time you put any weight on them.

The pub is obviously old when you first glanced at it. The bar top is an old wood that you get splinters from when you set your hands on it, and it wraps around one side of the pub. The stools along it are round and felt, or were felt at one point, but now, they have slowly been picked away and you are stuck sitting on a puke yellow cushion that has also been started to be picked away. The tables are sticky to the touch and have old yellow rings throughout the entirety of it from the condensation that slips down the sides of the beer and pools at the bottom of the glass. The chairs are old wooden chairs that you would see in a child’s tea party, even though the gray paint has been chipped completely away. It has its beauty, to Henry. The history to it, the faces that may have wondered through here, makes Henry love it. Even if he can’t put his hands anywhere.

He sits down on one of the mustard cushions, the chair squeaking as he turns to face the bar. He places his blazer on the chair beside him to save it. He sighs and puts his elbows on the bar, even though they stick, and places his head in his hands while squeezing his eyes shut.

“Rough day?” He hears a strong northern female voice from above him. He looks up and sees his favorite bartender, Olivia, standing in front of him as she cleans a glass. He just huffs out a laugh and shakes his head.

“You could say that.” Henry shrugs, placing his chin on his fists, “shitty publishers, can be real twats.”

Olivia just laughs, as she throws the towel over her shoulder. She pulls out a glass from below her before turning and grabbing a gin bottle from the display of liquor behind her. She grabs a clean glass and pours it before cracking open a tonic and pouring it in as well. She slides it over to him before she leans over and puts a lime on the rim.

“I believe it. What happened?” she asks, leaning on the bar.

Henry removes his elbows from the bar, his shirt sticking slightly to the beer-covered top, so he has to pull them apart before he takes a long pull of his drink. The first sip burns his throat as it goes down. “God, he just… he was an arsehole. He called me Harry and didn’t even shake my hand. And the tea he poured was cold and not Earl Grey.”

Olivia grins. “Thought your name was Harry?”

Henry rolls his eyes, setting his glass back down. “And I thought you knew how to make a G&T but guess we both thought wrong.”

Olivia throws a lime at him, making him laugh as it bounces off his shirt, leaving a faint wet spot.

“You changed your hair again.” He points out as he notices her hair that is now split blonde/black instead of the black hair with red streaks she had 2 weeks before.

Olivia shrugs, looking down at her well-manicured red nails.

“Another break up?”

Olivia shrugs again, grabbing a wet glass from beside her and taking the towel from her shoulder before cleaning it.

He frowns as he goes to take another drink, but his teeth clink the rim loudly before he can take a sip when someone slaps him on the back. He groans a little, pressing his finger against the bottom of his front teeth.

“Hey Hen.” He hears in his ear when his best friend, Percy Okonjo leans into whisper. He feels him pat him on the back again, hard, before he passes Henry his coat and slides onto the stool next to him. “Hey Liv.”

“Hey gorgeous.” Olivia replies with a bright smile before she turns to start making him his regular.

“You alright H?” Pez asks as Henry finally drops his hand from his mouth.

“Yeah, just checking if you broke my bloody front teeth.” Henry replies, grinning over at him. Pez grins back.

“Still look like your regular teeth to me.” Pez says leaning over to grab Henry’s chin with his pointer finger and thumb, moving his head to inspect his teeth.

“Ah, so, still shit.” Henry jokes, shaking his head to make Pez release him. He takes the sip of his drink that he meant to take before. “Alright?”

Pez thanks Olivia with a tilt of his glass after she passes it to him then he takes a sip of his drink that is an unnatural bright teal. “Yeah, busy day. Lots of driving around today to check my shelters.” Pez replies after swallowing, “You?”

Henry shrugs, “Miguel Ramos is a wanker.”

Pez hums in response as he looks at him over the rim of his glass.

“And I have to fly to the U.S on Wednesday.” Henry mumbles into his drink when he takes another drink. The alcohol is cool as it slides down his tight throat before it warms up his insides. He feels his stomach twist as he thinks about the flight.

“Hm?” Pez hums again, leaning into Henry.

Henry sighs, setting down his glass and looking at Pez. He repeats himself, louder. “I have to fly, on a plane, to the United States, Wednesday morning.”

Pez’s eyebrows raise before they furrow together in confusion. “But you hate flying?”

Henry rolls his eyes. “Yes, I am well aware of that.”

“You won’t even fly to Ireland. All the way to America? Where in the U.S?”

“Texas.”

“Fuck, mate.” Pez huffs shaking his head as a small giggle leaves his lips. “You are fucked.”

That’s as much sympathy as he usually gets from Pez when it comes to certain things. Like, his fears or his relationships or when Henry is being a complete and utter arse. He prefers it that way, he doesn’t actively enjoy getting sympathy. He doesn’t like being pitied; it makes him feel so small. That’s why he loves Pez. Pez has always been there for him through everything ever since he waltzed into Henry’s life when they were 12.

Pez has never judged Henry. Not when Henry came out to him, teary eyed and snot dripping from his nose as he shakily told Pez that he was in fact gay, and he doesn’t know what to do. He was never disappointed or upset when Henry would disappear within himself due to his anxiety or depression. The only time Pez really gave Henry any sympathy, or any pity, was when his father died. That was when Pez sat and cried with him on his bed, holding Henry as he sobbed heavily into his shoulder. Pez has always been there for him, and Henry would be completely lost without him.

Henry waves his empty glass over to Olivia when he finally comes back to the present. She nods with a small smile and turns to make another drink for him. He stares forward, his eyes scanning over the liquor on the wall as he hears Pez sigh.

“So, what are you going to do?” Pez asks as he downs the rest of his drink before grabbing Olivia’s attention and also waving his glass towards Olivia. She rolls her eyes as her smile threatens to break to a grin but grabs another glass and sets it beside Henry’s.

“Get drunk then stare out the window and panic probably.” Henry shrugs.

“Ah, right, the usual.” Pez nods in agreement, before his shoulders shake in laughter and he hangs his head. “You’re a mess mate.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Alexander Hamilton was rumored to be gay.”

Henry pauses, furrowing his eyebrows before he looks over at Pez with a confused look. “What?”

“Alexander Ham-“

“No, I heard you. I meant,” Henry huffs, “why did you just tell me that?”

“Oh,” Pez huffs out a laugh, “You said tell you something you didn’t know.”

“I really don’t want to be friends with you anymore.” Henry groans, shoving Pez with his shoulder, making him throw his head back and laugh.
“You love me.”

---

Henry’s dress shoes click against the ceramic tile as he weaves in and out through the other travelers in the airport. He wipes his wet hands on his pants, refusing to use the air dryers in the men’s bathroom. He read something about the germs from it and he hasn’t used them since he learned it. He thanks the air hostess that’s sat beside him for watching his bag. He slides back into his seat, huffing as he tries to catch his breath.

“Flight 409 to Austin, Texas will be boarding soon.”

Henry sucks in a breath at the announcement, his leg starting to bounce up and down again as he rolls his glass of gin and tonic between his hands. He’s sat in a pub that’s perfectly placed across from his gate and trying to calm his nerves with a bit of alcohol. He stares absently at the bar top, downing the last of the drink.

12. He’s afraid of flying.

See, Pez said he hates it, but in reality, he has a fear of it. Pez just, doesn’t know that. Because it’s his secret and he is sort of embarrassed by it. He can get on a plane, he has no struggles with that, but he just prefers to stay on the ground. He hasn’t always been afraid, but it just slowly got more and more nerve racking as he thought more about it.

When he was thinking of taking this job, he was so excited that he just forgot that he was going to have to fly until Miguel said something. Now that he’s here, waiting to board, he realizes his mistake. He had to breath through his panic in the Uber multiple times on the way to Heathrow.

He realizes he’s completely irrational. He’s well aware he has a better chance of meeting the love of his life on the goddamn plane than the plane actually crashing.

He has terrible anxiety, in general, but flying…

A closed, pressurized aircraft that is way too high in the air and could plummet into the earth at any moment, killing them all? His family couldn’t bury him if that happened, his body might never be found, or it could be in pieces and they’d have to sow his body together just to put him in a casket.

Yeah, that’s fucking terrifying.

So, he calms it with a drunk or three, and when he gets on the plane, he will pop one of his anxiety pills.

“Flight 409 to Austin, Texas, is now boarding. We are now asking for passengers in group 1 to board.” He hears the woman say over the intercom at the gate. He pulls out his wallet and leaves a 20-pound note on the bar top before standing up and throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

He wheels his carry-on suitcase behind him, hiking up his backpack higher on his shoulder as he looks down at his boarding pass. Group 2, it says in big letters at the bottom. He sighs, feeling a bit better as he watches the first passengers scan their boarding passes and walk through the glass door toward the plane.

“Group 2, now boarding group 2.”

Henry steps in line behind a younger woman and a small girl who can’t be older than 6. She holds her mum’s hand as she stares up at Henry. Her big brown eyes lock on his blue ones, and he smiles. The third Gin and Tonic has him feeling more positive, like he can sense all the positivity around him or maybe he’s just tipsy.

He watches as the girl tugs on her mother’s hand, making her turn around. She catches Henry’s eye before her eyes drop and she blushes, turning around and facing forward and pulling her daughter closer to her. Henry furrows his eyebrows before he just shrugs it off.

He scans his boarding pass with the gate attendant, thanking her quietly before stepping through the glass door and walking down toward the plane. He steps on the plane and smiles at the airhostess who is greeting the passengers.

“Good morning”

“Good morning.” She smiles back before something catches her eye. She looks down before going red and looking everywhere else except his eyes. “Sir?” She squeaks out.

Henry knots his eyebrows together in confusion, his smile dropping before turning into a small frown. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry, I just….” She leans in toward him, making him lean forward, her eyes still not on his. “You might want to check your trousers.” She whispers.

Henry’s eyes widen, his head snapping to look down. Sure enough, his fly is all the way down and his pants that have David on them are poking out slightly, showing part of the beagle’s face. He went to the loo an hour and a half ago. He feels his face heat up and go all the way up to the top of his ears in humiliation as he tucks his pants back in and zips up his fly. He smiles sheepishly at her with a quiet thanks as he turns and walks down the aisle. Luckily, he is in business and only has to walk a little bit before he finds his seat.

“Would you like a champagne sir?” He hears an air hostess say from beside him while he’s putting up his carry-on.

Henry nods as he closes the overhead bin. “Yes, please.”

“And you, sir? Some champagne also?” He hears her again.

There’s a man in the seat next to his and he hasn’t looked up as he stares out the window. He is wearing dark wash jeans and a white shirt under his short sleeve unbuttoned shirt. The sleeves are rolled up, and Henry takes a second to look at his toned arms that are light brown and covered in dark hair. He wears an orange hat with a white horned animal embroidered in it. The man finally looks up and Henry gets a good look at his face. The man has deep brown eyes that make it almost impossible to see his pupils. They are framed by long; gorgeous eyelashes and he has a well chiseled jaw. He has a chin dimple that Henry didn’t realize could be so damn attractive. He has an easy, charming smirk on his lips as he replies.

“Just a whiskey for me, thanks.” The man says in a thick, American country accent. Henry opens his mouth to ask him where he’s originally from, but the man turns away the moment she walks away, his smile drops quickly as he stares out the window again.

That’s okay, Henry thinks as he sits down in his seat, I didn’t feel like talking either.

--

Henry really doesn’t like this.

They’re about 3 hours in to their 10-hour flight and he’s feeling incredibly fidgety. His stomach is in knots, and he feels like he’s about to throw up any second.

During takeoff, he shut his eyes and counted his breaths as the plane gained speed and lifted off the ground, making his stomach drop. He hates takeoff the most, but he got through that okay.

Henry has tried to read his book, but he can’t seem to concentrate on it. He read the same paragraph 6 times before he all but slammed the book shut and placed it in his lap, tapping on the cover of it. He leans forward and pulls out the safety instructions from the seat pocket in front of him and reads over it again for the 5th time.

Safety exits. Brace position. If life jackets are required, please assist the elderly and children first- Oh God.

What am I even looking at this? How is looking at little stick figures jumping into the ocean while the plane explodes going to help me? He thinks before stuffing the instructions back into the pocket and taking a gulp of his 3rd champagne glass.

He tries to distract himself by looking around the cabin. He sees a man with a laptop typing incredibly fast and quick, his fingers tapping loudly, and Henry is pretty sure he’s going to break his keyboard. He glances around again notices two elderly women cuddled close and crying as they watch a movie. Behind them, a small two-year-old girl with blonde hair sits beside a man with dark brown curls and tired eyes. As Henry watches, the girl throws her teddy bear down the aisle and she starts to cry loudly, making everyone look at them, even the quiet man beside Henry.

“Is everything okay?” An air hostess asks after rushing to the toddler’s seat.

“Oh, yeah, no worries.” The man waves his hand dismissively, “She’ll calm down in a second.”

“Are you, her father?” The air hostess asks as smiles at him.

“Yeah,” He smiles back tiredly, before reaching down into his bag below his feet and pulling out a lollypop from the front zip and begins unwrapping it. “This will keep her quiet, my apologies.”

“Excuse me.” Henry speaks up, leaning over his armrest, “She dropped her toy.”

He watches as everyone’s eyes fall onto him, and he flushes before shifting awkwardly. “That may be why she is crying.”

“She’ll calm down in a second, it’s just a bear.” The dad replies, smiling a very fake smile towards him before he turns back to his daughter and hands her the lollypop. She puts it in her mouth, but her tears still roll in fat drops down her chubby, red cheeks.

Henry sighs, shaking his head to himself before unbuckling his seat belt. He thinks, this won’t affect the safety of the plane right, before he stands up and walks down the aisle a little, grabbing the bear from where it’s laying. He bangs his elbow on the seat beside him when he stands back up, mumbling a quick 'fuck' but ignores the funny feeling that runs down his forearm as he hands the teddy bear back to the girl.

“Here.” He says in his most heroic voice, “I think you dropped this, little one.”

The girl giggles as she hugs it closely to her chest.

Henry smiles softly as he sits back down, clasping his seatbelt. A moment later, the girl throws the teddy bear down the aisle again and Henry hears her dad stifle a laugh and he hears the man in the seat next to him snort.

“Right…” Henry says after a momentary pause. “Right. Well, enjoy your flight.”

“Nice try.” He hears the American joke beside him. Henry looks over at his suspiciously, and the man just simply looks away.

“Oh.” Henry hesitates, “Thank you.”

Henry pulls his seatbelt tighter, and reaches for his book, opening it. That’s it. I’m not moving from this seat again.

After another 4 hours of restlessness, opening and closing his book, trying to watch a movie, eating his lunch and closing his eyes for a nap, Henry is ready to get off this plane. He gets up to use the loo and makes sure that he zips up his fly this time. Once he gets back to his seat, he hears a strange noise coming from the wing of the plane.

“Pretzel sir?” One of the hostesses asks, making him look at her with wide eyes.

“Uh, um, y-yes.” He stutters out and takes the small bag she passes to him. He looks down at it, before looking back up at her, “is-is the plane supposed to making that noise?”

She gives him a funny look. “What noise?”

“You-You don’t hear that?” He asks fearfully, “It’s kind of- of like, a whining noise... coming from the wing.”

She shakes her head no, which makes him feel more panicky for some reason.

“Nervous flier?”

“N-no! Just,” He swallows, “just was curious.”

She laughs. “I’ll see if I can find out what that is, okay? No need to worry.” She assures him before looking over to the man next to him.

“Pretzel’s sir?” She asks him. The American looks up from his binder he’s been reading for a while and nods, taking the pretzels, and placing them in between his thighs before going back to his reading. She smiles at both of them before walking off to the passengers behind them. She bumps into his chair with her hip when the plane bounces slightly.

Oh god, why is the plane bouncing?

An avalanche of fears washes over him like a cold bucket of water was thrown on his head with no warning. He feels his anxiety increasing but knows he can’t take another anxiety pill for 2 hours.

Pez, I can call Pez.

His hands shake as he fishes in his pocket for his phone. He shakily goes into his contacts and presses the call button, bringing up the phone to his ear.

“Sir, do you have the Wi-Fi?” He hears the airhostess ask from behind him. He looks back at her before shaking his head ‘no’ slowly. “Then I’m afraid you can’t make a call. Please turn your phone onto airplane mode.”

Twat, they only tell us that 10 billion times before takeoff and during it. He thinks as he pockets his phone again.

Henry looks at his watch, seeing only 10 minutes have passed since the last time he checked. He can do this, he thinks as he leans his head back and breaths slowly, in and out.

His head jolts up as another bump hits, harder this time, his eyes wide as they look around the cabin.

Oh god, oh no no no, please no, God please, if you can hear me I’m sor-

He hears screams from other passengers wash over him as he feels his stomach gets caught in his throat.

They’re falling, they’re falling through the air. They’re plummeting like a stone through the air. Henry feels his arse lift slightly from the seat and notices a younger man sitting in front of him hit his head on the roof above him and start to bleed.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” comes a voice over the intercom making everyone look up, “This is your captain speaking.”

Henry’s heart is hammering against his chest, and he grabs onto the arm rests. Except, one is not an arm rest. It’s the Americans arm. They both almost break their necks when they look at each other, both with wide eyes, yet neither of them pulls away.

“We are currently hitting some turbulence,” The captain continues, “and things may be a little unsteady for a while. I have switched on the seat belt signs and would ask that you return to your seats as quickly as-“

There’s another huge lurch, and his voice is drowned out by screams and cries all around the plane.

The cabin crew are all strapping themselves into their seats, one of them wiping blood from her face as she tightens her seatbelt.

“We need to keep calm!” One of the elderly women he saw earlier is saying. “Everyone, keep calm!”

Keep calm? How the hell do I keep calm?

Henry hears someone from behind him start saying, “Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed-“ and a fresh, choking panic sweeps through his body.

I’m going to die. This is it. We’re going to die. We’re all going to die.

“uh, what?” The American looks at him, his face tense and paled. Henry realizes he has said that aloud.

“We’re going to die.” Henry repeats in a low voice, staring into his brown eyes. Henry takes in his face just in case this is the last person he sees alive. He takes in the cinnamon-colored freckles that are scattered around his nose and cheeks and the shadow of a stubble that covers his jaw.

The plane suddenly drops again and a very unmanly, involuntary shriek escapes from Henry.

“I don’t think we’re going to die,” The American says calmly in his southern drawl, “They said it was just turbulence-“

“Of course, they would say that!” Henry cries with hysteria laced in his voice, “They wouldn’t exactly say ‘Alright folks, that’s it- you’re all goners!’ now, would they?”

The plane gives another terrifying swoop, cries coming from the cabin, and Henry grabs the man’s hand in a panic.

“We’re not going to make it; I know we’re not. This is it. I’m only twenty-eight for Christ’s sake, I’m not ready. I haven’t achieved anything. I-I’ve never been married. I’ve never saved a life. The one time I tried to do the Heimlich on a man, he pushed me off because he thought I was hitting on him…” Henry clutches tightly on the man’s hand, probably cutting off his blood circulation. “I’ve never climbed a mountain o-or gotten a tattoo, I’ve never bottomed during sex…”

“I- bottomed? Sorry?” says the American, sounding taken aback. Henry doesn’t really hear him through his panic.

“My career is a complete and utter joke. I’m not even writing what I want to write, but what a wanker wants me to. I tell myself it’s a steppingstone, but I’m just too afraid to fail after what my Gran told me when I decided to take up writing.” Henry cries out, “I haven’t published anything! I’ve never actually been in love or had a serious relationship…”

The plane levels off again, and Henry draws in a quick breath. “I’m sorry,” Henry says and exhales sharply, “You don’t want to hear all this.”

“It’s chill, man.” The American says with a quick laugh, "but, I gotta ask, what's a wanker?"

Henry doesn't mean to ignore him but he feels like he’s losing it. He’s flustered as he runs his free hand through his dusty blonde hair and tries to get ahold of himself. He counts his breaths again and-

Oh, God. Oh, God. No please.

The plane lurches again, before plummeting some more.

“I never got to tell my family who I really am.” The words spill out of his mouth before he can stop them. “Never.”

“I’m sure you're gonna be able to.” The American tries to reassure him.

“No! We're not going to make it. N-not that I care about telling my Gran, but definitely my mum. And my dad. But he’s gone and I never got to tell him what I really wanted to. I was so afraid I was going to disappoint him, or lose him, then I did lose him! I lost him and now... Now I will never be able to… and I can’t tell my mum. She’s so shut off from the world since he died that I feel like telling her will just send her over the edge… only my sister knows, and I will never see her again…”

Henry can’t stop talking, he just can’t shut the fuck up. Every time the plane jolts or bumps, more words spill from his mouth like he's vomiting them.

“…he’s her little pet and I'm just the family disappointment…”

“…tried to sit in on meetings because I genuinely thought it was going to be what I wanted…”

“…and I told her I would definitely take her up on it at some point, but I didn't like her that way and…”

“…she’s great and I don’t see what she possibly sees in him, and the wedding cake was just obscene…”

“…I definitely put orange juice in her plant everyday to kill it, just to spite her…”

“…he was a nice guy, Jamie. He taught me the ropes and the way to do it. He was friends with my brother and I think it's hilarious that he was the one to take it plus he was really attractive and…”

“…and I never told him it was David kissing him instead of me, but he was so fucked up that I thought it was funny and…”

Henry has no idea what is happening to him. He usually has a filter that stops him from blurting out everything he is thinking, but it has somehow stopped working. Everything spilling out in a big, random, stream and he can’t stop it.

“I want to believe in God, I mean I grew up in the church, because how else are we on this earth? But then I think, what about war? And famine? And…”

“…I told him no; I wouldn’t wear the maid outfit and he went to grab his stuff and I gave in. Surprisingly it wasn’t as bad as I thought, even though…”

“…I swear I was telling the truth but he was making me laugh and when I laugh he thinks I’m lying but...”

“…spicy food, even though I can’t handle it all the time, it’s my favorite thing to…”

“…joined a book group but I was the only man, and I wasn’t out to anyone at the time so I pretended to like a girl in the club except she tried to kiss me and…”

“…I gave him all his goldfish food; I honestly don’t know what happened…”

“…just have to read Sense and Sensibility, which reminds me, I …”

“… Perfect date would start off with champagne just appearing on the table, as if by magic…”

Henry is unaware of anything going on around the two of them. The worlds has narrowed to just Henry and the stranger, and his mouth, spewing out all of his innermost thoughts and secrets.

“…lie on my stomach with my leg up to make my arse look bigger…”

"...It's not that I cant drink tequila, I just get horny and then..."

“…and it’s not that the sex was bad, but it was too slippery, and he broke like 3 condoms and…”

“… I'm aware of what it is, just never truly understood what it meant and-“

“Excuse me sir?”

“What?” Henry looks up dazedly. “What is it?” The air hostess with a tight bun that is kind of pulling her faced back smiles down at him.

“We’ve landed.”

“we’ve landed?”

Henry looks around and sees a glimpse of the airport terminal through the window. The planes still. They’re on the ground.

Henry is confused, he feels like he’s woken up from a very terrifying dream and everything is flat, quiet, and normal again.

“We- We aren’t bumping anymore.” Henry says dumbly.

“We stopped bumping for quite a while now.” The American says, obviously hold back a laugh as he speaks.

“We’re… we’re not going to die.”

“We are not going to die.” The American agrees, a smug smile on his lips.

Henry looks at him as though for the first time and it suddenly hits him. He has been talking nonstop the entire time to a complete stranger.

“Oh god,” Henry groans, finally letting go of the man’s hand and hiding his face in hands, “Why didn’t you stop me?”

“You were on a roll man,” The American laughs, his smug smile turning into a grin, “I wouldn’t have been able to get a single word in.”

Henry groans again into his hands, his face hot with horror. “I’m so embarrassed.” He drops his hands and throws his head back onto the seat.

I told him I’ve never bottomed. Oh god, I told him about the maid outfit.

“Don’t worry about it, man,” The American reassures him, patting him on his shoulder before leaving it there, “It was definitely a wild ride, we were all pretty stressed.”

Henry smiles weakly over at him before undoing the seat belt that has been digging into his stomach and standing up as the plane empties out. He shakes out his body and hangs his head between his shoulders as he tries to regain himself.

“You going to be okay getting to wherever it is your 're going?” The man asks as he steps into the aisle as well.

“Yes!” Henry says, his voice high, “I’ll be fine, thanks.” He starts to scramble, opening the overhead bin. He needs to get out of here, now.

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Fine. Thanks.” He says as he grabs his suitcase, nearly dropping it on himself as he pulls It out of the bin. “Have wonderful day, and uh, get home safe.”

“Thanks!” The American says cheerfully, smiling widely as Henry throws a small smile over his shoulder.

Henry quickly walks toward the plane door, his suitcase banging against almost every chair as he drags it behind him through the narrow aisle. He steps off the plane and speed walks into the airport. He feels better when he steps onto solid ground, almost kissing the floor as he sighs in relief. He feels panic buzz through him as he thinks of the stranger on the plane but shakes it off.

Thank God I never have to see him again.

Chapter Text

“Um, Henry Fox?”

Henry nods, his fingers tapping against the counter as the secretary, an older blonde woman who could possibly be a Karen (which is actually her name, funny enough), types on her computer slowly.

It’s the Monday after the flight and Henry is in the Senator’s office. Or well, the lobby of the senator’s office. Henry had already forgotten about the flight and the stranger (or so he tells himself) and managed to calm his anxiety over the weekend. He’s here for his work, and he won’t let anything get in his way.

Austin was a nightmare when it came to traffic and construction, but Henry managed to find the senator’s office quite easily. He left extra early to make sure he wasn’t late and found a parking spot across the street from the senators’ office.

The office is as simple as it gets. It’s just a tall building with large windows, the morning sun shining off them. The lobby is standard, black leather couches surround a glass table across from the secretary desk that sits in the middle of the room. It’s a circular, gray desk that has three secretaries an equal distance from each other with a large MacBook computer in front of them. Two younger woman, maybe in their thirty’s and Karen, who must be in her late 50’s type away on the computers or transfer calls as he waits. The elevators are across from the desk on the other side, a tall green plant sits between the two silver doors. He’s watched many men and woman in suits and skirts come in and out, briefcases in one hand and phones in the other.

“I don’t see a Henry Fox in here.” Karen says in her monotone American accent as Henry’s attention falls back on her as he stops drumming his fingers.

He furrows his eyebrows, before sighing. “Is there a Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor?”

“Oh! Yes.” She smiles brightly and Henry watches as her eyes scan the computer before looking back at him. “Here to see Senator Claremont-Diaz, right?”

Henry fights the urge to roll his eyes and nods stiffly, with his lips in a thin line as he smiles. Karen nods back, turning away slightly and opening a drawer beside her, using her perfectly manicured nails to look through the folders in it.

“Ah ha! Here is your badge and parking pass, you need to put this on your dashboard, and you can park in the parking garage behind the building,” She explains as she slides the badge with his name on it and the pass over to him on the desk, “4th floor, take a left as soon as you exit the elevator and Senator Claremont-Diaz’s office will be at the end of the hall.”

Henry nods, pinning his badge to his slacks and slipping the pass into his leather bag he has on his hip. He smiles politely before heading over to the elevator.

Once the elevator opens to the 4th floor, Henry steps out and turns left and walks down the long hallway. He reads the names on the doors before stopping at the door that reads ‘The Texas State Senate – Senator Alex Claremont-Diaz: District 14’ and knocking quietly.

“Come in.” He hears from inside the door and grabs the handle, turning it and opening the large wood door. The senator’s head is down as he reads a paper that’s in front of his on his large, dark mahogany desk, and Henry closes and leans on the door, his hand still on the handle.

Henry clears his throat. “Hello. Senator Claremont-Diaz?”

When the Senator looks up, all the air in Henry’s lungs seems to disappear in a wheeze.

The same eyes that Henry stared into when he thought he was dying, the long lashes that frame the dark brown. The same chiseled jaw and chin dimple that Henry memorized in his peril, as well as the same smug look he saw after they had landed. His stubble is shaved off, leaving a 5 o’clock shadow around his pink lips and on his chin.

Henry thinks he might have died and gone to hell.

“Oh, I didn’t know we had maids.”

Yep, Henry is definitely in hell.

“I-I’m- How- What- You,” Henry sputters, his blue eyes wide as he feels his mouth go dry.

Senator Claremont-Diaz grins, his teeth white and contrasting against his darker skin. “I thought you were good with words? Aren’t you here to write my biography?”

“You- I thought I’d never see you again, this is- I can’t-“ Henry stutters, his hand tightening on the handle of the door.

“Well, I’m as surprised as you.” the senator says, standing up and gesturing Henry to come toward his desk. “This is great! Oh man, we don’t have to do the awkward hellos and shit. I’m Alex Claremont-Diaz, nice to actually meet you.” Alex says, holding out his hand for Henry to shake.

The same hand Henry had a death grip on during their terrifying flight.

Henry swallows, wiping his sweaty palms on his slacks as he steps forward with shaky legs. He shakes Alex’s hand, trying to ignore that it’s still as warm and soft as it was when Henry laced their fingers together and told Alex all his secrets.

“Henry Fox.” Henry wheezes, before pulling his hand away. Alex gestures for him to sit in the chair across from his chair, and Henry does, legs almost giving out as he sits and his stomach flips constantly like he’s on a roller coaster. He takes off his leather bag and sets beside him, lacing his hands together as he sits straight backed on the seat and places them in his lap.

He lets out a long sigh as Alex sits in his own chair. “I thought it was Fox-Mounterchisten-Windsor?”

“Oh, er, it is, but I only go by my first surname, Fox.” Henry shakes his head, trying to focus on the man in front of him and not disappear into his head and anxiety.

“Three last names? and I thought I had a long last name.” Alex jokes, a small laugh leaving his lips, “So it’s Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor?”

Henry hums in agreement, as he runs his fingers through his sandy blonde hair before rubbing his neck. He doesn’t know what to say, his eyes looking everywhere but Alex.

Alex sighs, making Henry look at him. He has a small frown on his face and his eyebrows are knotted together. “Look, there’s no reason to be awkward with me.”

Henry laughs dryly. “Senator-“

“Alex.”

“No, I don’t think I can-“

“Please call me Alex, I prefer it. I only go by senator with the other senators and like, the media.” Alex shrugs, lacing his fingers together and placing them on the desk as he leans forward.

“Okay, er, Alex.” Henry huffs out a small laugh as he shifts in his seat, “I apologize for being uncomfortable but you know everything about me, and not even my best mate knows me like that. I told you stuff I don’t tell anyone, and now you are my boss, and honestly,” Henry sighs before squeezing his eyes shut and running his hand down his face, “I feel like I’m paying for my sins.”

“There’s no reason to be uncomfortable Henry,” Alex smiles brightly, making Henry’s stomach swoop, “Look, we don’t have to talk about anything that was said. You are here to write about me, so that can be our focus.”

Henry smiles back and nods, unlacing his fingers and shaking out his hands before pulling out his laptop from his bag. “Thank you, Senator, let’s begin, shall we? No need to stop working, just talk as you work.”

“My favorite thing to do.”

---

Henry drops his bag at his bedroom door and flops on his bed after a long day, his fight to keep his anxiety at bay exhausted him. He feels his phone vibrate in his slacks pocket, and he maneuvered his body to pull it out all while keeping his face down in the mattress. He picks his head up slightly to look at who is calling, seeing the flash of a picture of Pez across the screen and slides to answer it, holding it to his ear.

“Hezza!” Pez yells loudly through the small speaker of the phone. Music plays loudly in the background and he hears a high pitch laugh.

“Pez.” Henry grumbles as he rolls onto his back, setting his phone on his chest and hitting the speaker button.

“How was your first day? It was your first day, right?”

“It was fine. You’ll never guess who Senator Claremont-Diaz is.” Henry laughs, closing his eyes and covering them with his hands.

“I mean, I might,” Pez jokes, “He’s the senator.”

“No Pez I-“ Henry opens and rolls his eyes, “Where are you?”

He hears a quiet ‘hold on love’ before the background noise quiets down. “Sorry mate, found a little bar and it’s loud inside because it’s drag show Monday.”

“Drag show Monday? Where on earth did you find that in London?”

“Oh, no, its not in London. I’m on sixth street in Austin.” Pez says nonchalantly. Henry sits up quickly.

“You are in Austin?” Henry asks, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline. “Where? I’ll come meet you.”

“See you soon then! Kisses babe.” Pez says quickly, making a kissy noise and hanging up. After a moment, Henry’s phone pings with a dropped pin and he quickly heads out of his flat door.

The music is loud when he gets there, he can feel the base from the small bar as he walks up to it. He pushes the door open and is hit with the smell of fruity smoke and stale alcohol. He looks around, his eyes stopping on a drag queen dancing and stuffing dollar bills in her corset as she lip-synchs to a rendition of ‘Woman Like Me’ by Little Mix on the make-shift stage. Once she finishes her set, she walks off stage, concluding ‘Drag Night Monday’s’ according to the guy on the mic.

He hears his name and looks over, seeing Pez waving his hand widely above him. Henry is surprised he didn’t see him, his hair dyed platinum blonde and has a neon pink kimono on. Henry shakes his head and makes his way over to him.

“Hezza!” Pez exclaims, pulling Henry into a hug. Henry hugs him back, squeezing him tightly as he closes his eyes. Pez holds onto him until Henry lets go. Henry loves that Pez just knows him.

“H, I’d like you to meet the lovely Nora Holleran, and her girlfriend June. I met them at the airport, and we decided to get a drink.” Pez grins and gives him a look that he can’t seem to read.

Nora is a shorter black woman with short, curly hair. She has a wicked smile on her face as she takes his hand to shake it. She is wearing a white crop top under a large red flannel and a pair of ripped short jeans. Her legs are long, even though she is short. June is beside her, her hand wrapped around Nora’s waist. She has long, curly brown hair and brown eyes, as well as a chin dimple, reminding him of Alex. They could be siblings. She’s only an inch taller than Nora and has a lazy smile on her lips.

“Henry,” He introduces himself as he shakes their hands, before turning to Pez, “when you say meet at the airport…?” Henry trails off.

“We met at border control, and he wouldn’t leave us alone until we said yes to a drink, so we came right here.” June jokes in her southern drawl.

“You sound like you are from here, where were you guys coming back from, if I may ask?” Henry questions, smiling at June.

“Oh, we were on our way back from a vacation in London actually, thought we’d stop in Austin and meet up with her brother before heading back to California. Still have a couple days’ vacation time so we wanted to annoy him some more after the week long vacation together.” Nora explains, leaning over and kissing June on the cheek.

“Ah, I see. Well, I’m going to grab a quick drink then we can talk more about how annoying Pez is.” Henry grins as Pez pouts, “Anyone want anything?”

They all shake their heads ‘no’, so Henry heads off to the bar. He slips through the crowd before leaning on the bar and orders a gin and tonic. Henry turns around and leans against the bar as he waits for his drink. He looks back over at the table and sees another man talking to Pez, his back turned to Henry. The man has an orange hat on, covering his hair and a black t-shirt. Henry furrows his eyebrows but turns back to grab his drink and heads to the table.

“-just don’t think y’all understand that we kicked y’all out in 1776 and you weren’t supposed to come back.” Henry hears the familiar laugh and southern drawl of a certain senator. He sighs exasperated.

“Alex.” Henry smiles, making Alex turn and look at him.

“Fox! Fancy seeing you here. Have you met Pez?” Alex grins, patting Henry on the shoulder before nodding toward Pez.

“Yeah,” Henry nods, “In 2009.”

Alex laughs. “Right, all brit’s know each other I forgot. I’m gonna go grab a beer, save me a seat.” He grins before excusing himself and going over to the bar.

Henry sits down and looks at June, “Brother?”

“Figured that out, have you?” June laughs into her glass before taking a sip. “Yeah, he’s my baby brother.”

Oh, now I get why Pez looked at me like that. Henry fights to scoff at himself.

“You’re writing his biography, right?” Nora asks, leaning into June’s space to talk to Henry.

“Yeah, yeah,” Henry nods as he takes a sip of his G&T, “My wanker of a boss wants me to write about him. I apologize for not recognizing you June, we haven’t gotten into his childhood yet. Just started today, honestly.”

June waves her hand dismissively. “No problem, Henry, but good luck on writing about him. He’s super shy.” She says sarcastically.

“Oh, I can tell.” Henry laughs, shaking his head.

Alex finds his way back to the table and sits down beside Henry. With the five of them around the small table, Alex has his arm beside Henry’s. Henry tries to ignore the heat radiating off Alex’s arm, taking a gulp of his drink as he feels his stomach flip as Alex shifts, pressing his arm firmly against Henry’s. He tries to listen to the conversation in front of him, but his mind is other places.

He’d be lying if he said Alex wasn’t attractive. He’s a good- no, great looking guy. He’s Henry’s type on paper; not so tall, dark, and handsome.

Straight, senator of a state, in the public eye. Henry reminds himself, trying hard to concentrate on the people in front of him and ignore the sense that he is developing a small, tiny crush on the Senator.

“Are you allowed to be in a bar?” Henry turns and asks Alex. Alex looks at him, nodding as he swallows the sip of Shiner he just took.

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine.” Alex shrugs, “Though I prefer to be out of the public eye, I’ll sometimes come out to a bar or something to join society like a normal person. You think I wear this hat because I want to go out in it?”

Henry furrows his eyebrows, “Why else would you wear it?”

“No, you’re right, I love this hat and want to show my support for the longhorns, but I also wear it to hide my face a little so people don’t notice me.”

“I feel like it’s hard not to notice you.” Henry says before he can stop the words from coming out of his mouth. Damn liquor and his inability to hold his tongue around attractive men.

“Right? That’s what I always say but June swears people don’t when I wear the hat.” Alex says and Henry thanks the lord for Alex not understanding what he really meant.

---

On Thursday, after lunch with Alex, Pez, Nora, and June in Alex’s office, Henry sits down on the couch in Alex’s office as Alex sits back down at his desk and pulls out a couple of papers to read over. They sit silently for a moment as Henry opens his laptop to his word document to start writing again.

“Alright,” Henry sighs, cracking his knuckles and hovers his hands over the keyboard, “We left on with-“

Alex groans loudly, cutting Henry off. “We never stop talking about me, I’m tired of it.”

“I doubt that.” Henry mumbles but looks up at Alex.

“Let’s talk about you.” Alex grins as he leans his forearms on his desk. Henry averts his eyes, definitely notwanting to check out Alex’s strong arms, again.

“I’d rather not. And this isn’t about me, this is your biography.”

Alex gets up, walking over to where Henry is sitting and sits beside him on the long, black leather couch. He grabs Henry’s laptop and closes it, setting it beside him. He shuffles and pulls his leg up, facing Henry with a lazy smile toying at his lips.

“What’s your middle name?” Alex asks, his brown eyes locked on Henry’s blue ones.

“Senator-“

“You only call me that when I’m annoying you, or pissing you off, or- well, almost always unless you are happy.” Alex chuckles, shaking his head as the smile reaches the corners of his eyes, creasing them. Henry definitely does not find that adorable.

“Fine.” Henry sighs in defeat, “Which one are you curious in?”

"Which one? What do you mean which one? All of them?"

"George Edward James."

“George Edw- Jesus, you have a lot of names.” Alex verifies, leaning his shoulder onto the couch. Henry shifts, making himself more comfortable as he also pulls his leg up and rests his elbow on the couch, placing his head onto his fist.

“It’s a family thing.” Henry shrugs.

“So, wait, your full name is Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor?” Alex confirms, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline.

“Yes.” Henry agreed.

“Wow, and I thought Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz was a mouthful.” Alex laughed.

I bet he is. Henry thinks before shaking the thought out of his head.

“Right,” Henry coughs, “Well now that you know that, let’s get back to the task at hand.” He says, leaning over to grab his laptop without touching Alex. Alex grabs his wrist and Henry tries not to shiver at the contact and the warmth of his hand. He really needs to stop touching him because he wants to forget how warm Alex’s skin is.

“Ah!” Alex grins, pushing Henry’s wrist away, “We are not done. I have more questions.”

“I will give you 5 questions, then we are going to get back to work. I’m sure your laws can’t wait.” Henry resigns with a sigh.

“10.”

“5.”

“8”

“Senator.”

“Okay 7, take it or leave it.”

“Leave it.” Henry smirks as Alex groans.

“Henry.” Alex moans, and Henry shuffles his legs so he can cover the growing problem in his slacks.

“5 questions, ask away.” Henry agrees in a slightly strained voice before clearing his throat. Alex rolls his eyes before smiling.

“You’re from London, but like, what part?” Alex grins.

“Er, London.” Henry answers, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

“Like, London London? Not Chelsea or Slough or even like, West?” Alex quizzes, his grin growing impossibly wider.

“Just London, next.”

“You impressed I knew those places?”

“Not entirely, by the way, that’s three questions you just asked.”

"What? No!." Alex sputters before shaking his head aggressively. “That was one question, expanded.” He argues, making Henry laugh lowly and roll his eyes.

Alex sits for a second, pondering what to ask next. “Do you have any pets?”

“I have a dog back home in England, staying with my sister. His name is David and he is a beagle.” Henry shrugs, pulling out his phone to show his background which is David sitting on Henry’s messed up bed, his brown eyes staring at the camera.

“David? What is he, a middle-aged white man who works in taxes?” Alex asks after cooing at the photo.

“Well,” Henry sways his head back and forth on his shoulders, “He’s named after Bowie.”

Alex snorts. “That’s way cooler. Why not just name him Bowie then?”

Henry shrugs. He doesn’t like to be obvious about his sexuality, so he doesn’t explain that it’s because Bowie was a queer icon.

“Okay,” Alex hums, “Why did you take this job?”

Henry furrows his eyebrows, he could’ve sworn he told Alex on the plane but he really doesn’t remember everything he said. “Well because it’s a step-“

“No, I know you said it was a steppingstone, but what’s the real reason? You’re obviously terrified of flying, so why did you take a job that would take you across the pond?” Alex interjects.

Henry sits back for a second, surprised by the question before laughing. “Well, I said yes without knowing what I was saying yes to. I was in my head while my boss was talking, and so I just said yes. Then when he told me about flying over, I felt like I couldn’t back out. So, here I am. All because I wasn’t listening.”

Alex nods. “Not because of me huh? Didn’t look me up or anything?” He teases, making Henry’s cheeks feel warm with a blush.

“If I did, I would’ve known who you were on the plane and wouldn’t have told you my secrets, now would I?” Henry grins as he leans forward into Alex’s space. He swears for a second that he sees Alex’s eye flicker to his lips, but he could be making things up.

“that’s-" Alex clears his throat, "that’s true.” Alex's voice sounds slightly strained, “um, why did you decide to be a writer and how did you end up writing for Ramos?”

Henry smile drops as ponders for a moment, his eyes moving back and forth as he searches for his answer, before he sighs. “I’ve always been in love with literature. Got my English degree at Oxford the moment I could leave home. I told you about my grandmother, right?”

“You mentioned something about having dreams about her death.”

“Right,” Henry huffs, “Well, she’s had control of my life for years. She’s a high power in the publishing industry, and for a long time I wanted her to be my publisher, until she told me I couldn’t write what I wanted. What I want to write is Queer romance novels, plus maybe poetry, but she’s old and traditional so she wouldn’t allow it. Homophobic, she is. Anyway, I ended up at the bottom of the totem pole because my grandmother told other companies not to take me on, and then I found Ramos. As much as that guy is a giant prick, he was willing to take me on, but I had to do a favor for him before I could write what I wanted.

“So here I am, writing your biography as the favor for him before I can give him my stories to read over and publish. I have one ready to go, but it’s been collecting dust in my computer until I finish this. Not that I don’t want to, you are truly a wonder to behold Senator, but like I said, this is a steppingstone toward my future as a published writer.”

Alex nods, sitting quietly (for once) as he takes in what Henry has just rambled on.

“How long are you in Austin for?” Alex asks after a few seconds of silence.

Henry shrugs, “As long as it takes me to write about you, but probably 6 months minimum, 10 months max.”

Alex nods slowly, before sighing loudly and standing up, holding Henry’s laptop for him to take. “Alright, now I know more about you, lets talk about me yeah?” He grins down at Henry as he takes his laptop before heading over to his desk again.

Henry tries to hide his fond eye roll before scolding himself in his head.

I simply cannot have feelings this man, that's a recipe for disaster.

Chapter Text

Two weeks into working, on a dreary Wednesday in Austin, it was a bad day.

Henry didn’t really sleep, tossing and turning all night, unable to shut his brain off. He knew what day it was; he was well aware and prepared for it two months ago. Yet, it still feels like it crept up on him, punching him in the gut and kicking him while he was on the ground.

He was laying in bed at 8:23 am. He had to be at work at 8:30, but he couldn’t get out of bed. His body felt like it wouldn’t move, held down by the weight of anxiety and depression. He was on his side, staring at the wall, his eyes red rimmed and swollen, his nose still running and making him sniffle every few moments. He could hear his phone dinging with texts, probably from his family, probably from Pez. He couldn’t get himself to move and pick it up.

When he heard the familiar ringtone of a Rihanna song, he moved his heavy limbs and unplugged his phone, clicking the answer button.

“Hey.” He whispers, his throat dry. He clears his throat and tries again. “Hey Bea.”

“Hey Hen,” Bea says softly, “How you holding up?”

“As good as you would expect.” He whispers, wiping his nose with the back of his hand then wiping the snot onto his comforter. “You?”

“I’m-“ She sighs, “I’m hanging in there. Going over to mum’s in about an hour, Pip, Martha and the kids are meeting us there.”

“I wish I could be there.” Henry says, closing his eyes and thinking about how closed off his mum is going to be today.

He can’t imagine how disconnected she is today. He’s aware how disconnected he is, and he’s sure his siblings are the same. He just knows his mum is going to be quiet, her eyes glazed over as she stays in her head, not willing to say more than a one worded answer. He wishes he was there to hold her hand and make her tea.

“It’ll be the same as always. You aren’t missing much.”

“It’s been 10 years Bea. I should be there.” Henry squeezes his eyes shut as he feels the familiar burn in his nose before the tears fall. He opens them again after the burn goes away, his eyes focusing on his plain apartment wall again.

“You are here Hen; we’ll call you later and chat. So you’ll be there with us.” Bea assures him, “Are you going work today? What time do you get off?”

“I’m not going in. You can call whenever.” Henry tells her, shrugging even though he knows she can’t see him.

“Okay, well please call if you need anything. We’re all here, me, Pez, we’re here. Please don’t be completely alone today. Go out, get tea or something. I’ve got to go get ready, I love you Hen.” Bea sighs, her voice full of concern.

Henry nods, before answering “Okay. Love you too.” And clicking off the call. He looks at the time, seeing it’s now 8:34, and he wonders if he should go to work.

He rolls back onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. His body feels heavy again, and he feels a few tears roll down his face and onto his ears. He sniffles again, before shutting his eyes and digging the heels of his hands into them.

He hears his phone ring again, except it’s the basic ringtone and he knows it’s an unknown caller. He rolls over, picking up his phone again and reading the number. It’s a number he doesn’t know, with the words “Austin, Texas” underneath it. He assumes it’s work as he slides and answers it, clearing his throat.

“Hello, Henry Fox speaking.” Henry says, trying to keep his voice steady but it shakes at the end.

“Fox!” He hears loudly from the other side of the line, making him wince a little and pull the phone from his ear.

“Alex, um, hello.” Henry clears his throat.

“Running late are we, Foxy? Tsk, Tsk" Alex tuts, but Henry can hear his smile. "Just messing with ya H. just wanted to know when you’d be here.” Alex drawls in his southern accent.

“Oh, Er.” Henry says, slapping himself mentally for not calling in. He’s been so wrapped up in his head, he completely forgot. “I’m not going to be able to make it today.”

“Oh.” Alex replies, Henry swears he sounds disappointed, but he’s not thinking straight. “Is everything okay?”

Henry feels tears prickle at the corners, he hates that question. He takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly. “Yes, everything is fine.” He lies through his teeth while his voice shakes, giving him away. He hopes Alex doesn’t notice.

“Henry.” Alex responds, his voice laced in seriousness, “What’s wrong?”

Henry laughs wetly, bringing his hand up to wipe his tears from his eyes. “It’s nothing Alex. I’ll just see you tomorrow, okay?” He sniffs, before hanging up.

He probably shouldn’t have hung up on his boss, he thinks, but he was one more question away from sobbing. He pulls his covers up to right under his nose, shuffling down in the bed and curling into himself. He quickly sends a message off to Pez saying he’s okay and he won’t do anything stupid, before closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

His mind reels with memories of his father. Arthur teaching him Shakespeare and showing him how to act out the scenes, the way Shakespeare intended. Arthur holding him as he cried when he fell off his bike after riding it for the first time without stabilizers. Arthur giving him a warm smile and hugging him tightly after Henry showed him that he memorized the entirety of the ‘to be or not to be’ speech from Hamlet. All of them, his mum and dad, Phillip, Bea, and him sat around the table at Christmas dinner, laughing at the dumb jokes that come out the Christmas crackers, each with the silly paper crowns on their heads.

Then the memories change. Arthur, his hair thin and missing chunks, hooked up to his chemotherapy, promising everyone he can beat this and that it doesn’t scare him, his mum’s silent tears dripping onto the floor. Arthur lying on his hospital bed, holding Henry’s hand, and telling him “I’m so proud of who you are,” over and over as Henry cried. The call that made his heart break for the first time. The funeral, the following days, the stupid things he had done. Yelling at his mum stay with them and be a mum, Phillip becoming a complete dick and being taken under his gran’s wing, everything that happened with Bea.

He feels like he can’t breathe. His throat tight as his breaths are shallow and quick, his eyes squeezed shut as he tries to ground himself. His blood is rushing in his ears loudly, and he feels incredibly nauseous.

Okay, five things I can see, He thinks as he opens his eyes and looks around the room. The gray walls, the white covers, the green plant in the corner of the room, the white bookshelf holding my books, the picture of David on my bedside table.

Okay, four things I can hear: my phone vibrating, the sound of cars honking, a siren from a ambulance, my doorbell ringing

Okay three things- wait, my doorbell ringing?

He looks up at his bedroom door, the doorbell ringing over and over again. He hears loud banging like someone is using their fist on the door. He gets up slowly, slipping on plain white shirt and grey sweatpants before opening his bedroom door, and walking over to the front door. The person is still banging on his door, and he swings it open, narrowly missing a fist coming at him.

“Oh good, you’re alive.” Alex stands in front of him, panting heavily. He leans his hand on the wall beside Henry’s door, putting his other hand on his waist and trying to take in a deep breath.

"Alex? What-“ Henry says, leaning to look out left and right down the hall before grabbing Alex’s wrist and pulling him inside. He closes the door behind him, letting go and turning to look at him. “What are you doing here? How did you get my address?”

"You sounded messed up on the phone, then you hung up on me, which I didn’t enjoy by the way.” Alex says in between pants, “I texted you over and over, but you weren’t answering. I got your address from Pez and drove over here but couldn’t find parking close, so I ran like half a mile. In this god damn suit, which is so hard to run in. I’m surprised I didn’t rip my pants. Can you check?”

Alex spins around and looks back at his ass. Henry makes a point not to look at Alex’s ass and shakes his head and grab his shoulders, spinning Alex back round to face him. He drops his hands and sighs, running his hand down his face.

“No, Alex. I mean, What are you doing here? You should be at work.” Henry asks again, his eyes locked on Alex’s.

“Oh.” Alex shrugs, “I’m the senator. I can do what I want. Now, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“I highly doubt you can ‘do what you want’ Alex.” Henry points out, frowning. “You didn’t need to take off and come here. I’m fine.”

“fine my ass.” Alex says, copying Henry’s frown, “You were a second away from breaking down on the phone. And I’ve been knocking for like ten minutes, so either you didn’t hear because of something, or you were ignoring me, either way, not a good sign. Tell me what’s going on, H.”

Henry bites at the dead skin on his bottom lip, feeling tears threatening to fall again. His nose burns, and he sniffles. Alex gives him a soft look before putting his arms around Henry’s shoulders and pulling him into a hug. Henry sinks into it, wrapping his arms around his waist and gripping hard onto the back of his white button-down. He drops his head on Alex’s shoulder and chokes out a sob, squeezing his eyes shut as tears fall onto Alex’s jacket.

They stay like that, Alex’s hand rubbing up and down on Henry’s back, poking at the bones that stick out from his spine. It’s soothing to Henry, pulling his focus from his crying, his tears slowly drying out. He doesn’t know how long they stay like that, a minute, a day, maybe an entire moon cycle. He finally pulls out of Alex’s arms, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

“Sorry for getting your shoulder wet.” Henry mutters, sniffling a few more times. Alex shrugs, looking at his shoulder then back at Henry with a small smile.

“It’s okay, it was about to rain anyways, nothing wrong with getting ahead of the curve.” Alex jokes, making Henry laugh wetly. After a moment of silence, Henry nods his head toward his room, queuing Alex to follow.

They both walk into the room, Alex shucking off his suit jacket and placing it on the bed as Henry sits down. He focuses on his hands when he feels the bed dip beside him. He twists his dad’s ring that’s on his middle finger, the silver scratched up from years of wear.

“Do you want to tell me what’s up? I’ve never seen you like this.” Alex asks quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, “I know we’ve only known each other for a little bit, but you’re always so… bright. You light up a room when you walk in, and this is completely different.”

Henry sighs, looking up and over at Alex, his eyes meeting Alex’s soft ones, his eyes caramel brown as the sunlight from the window catches them. They’re beautiful, so soft and warm compared to Henry’s piercing blue ones. He makes himself look away; his eyes locked on the books on the bookshelf across from him.

“When I was younger, I had a dream to be like my dad. He was this, strong, brave, unapologetically himself kind of man. He never let anything bother him. My mum fell in love with him when he was playing Henry VIII in the Shakespeare play. They fell in love immediately. My gran wouldn’t let her marry him because he was ‘beneath them in social class’ and a ‘low class actor’ but-“

“Man, I see why you have those dreams.” Alex interrupts, making Henry huff out a laugh before continuing.

“Anyway, they ran off to Wales, got married with borrowed clothes, and then told my gran. Obviously, she wasn’t happy, but they didn’t care, theywere happy. After a bit, along came my brother, Phillip, then my sister Bea, then me, the baby. My parents were both incredible parents, raising us as a team. I was closest to my dad, I felt like he just understood me. We’d do everything together, he would read me stories, or act out Shakespeare, or even just sit together and read books in silence, enjoying the company of one another. He was my rock; he was all of my family’s rock.

“I used to go to sets with him while he was doing his movies. There are great memories that I remember from the James Bond set. Anyway, when I was 17, he was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer. It was like slowly watching him wither away. He promised he would fight and win, swore on it. He would always be laughing and smiling, even hooked up to chemo, even when he was lying in his hospital bed.

“He told me that he was ‘proud of who I was’ on his bed and held me with weak hands as I cried and told him he couldn’t leave. He died two months later.”

“Oh, Henry.” Alex whispers, covering Henry’s shaking hands with one of his and squeezing softly.

“It’s the 10-year anniversary of his death today and I feel guilty that I should be with my family. Except, my family hasn’t been the same since. My mum wasn’t really around after he died, mentally I mean. She would just sit quietly in her chair, a cold tea in her hand as she would be in her head for hours. She stopped being a mum for us. I remember yelling at her, begging her to be our mum again, to come back to us. She’s better now, but I know she has shut down today.

Phillip turned and became Gran’s pet after Dad was gone, turning into a giant arsehole that only cared about being the best for Gran. He’s still a dick, but his kids help him be less of a tosser.” Henry rolls his eyes.

“and Bea, well Bea got into some rough stuff after he died, mixing with the wrong crowd, and started snorting cocaine and drinking too much. I remember Phillip forcing her into rehab that she left after 6 hours, and she called me and told me that she was at some bar. I could tell she was high off her arse when I got there, that’s when I came out to her, telling her that she needed to get better because I was gay, and I needed her to live and be around because I didn’t think anyone else would be.” Alex squeezes his hands again, making Henry look at him. He had a soft, sad look on his face. His eyes were wet with unshed tears, his bottom lip trembling a little.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rant. I just,” Henry sighs with a quick shrug.

“Don’t say sorry.” Alex replies, his voice thick with unshed tears. He quickly clears his throat. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Thank you for telling me.”

“Thank you for listening.” Henry smiles a little, nudging Alex with his shoulder.

“Hey, what are friends for?” Alex grins, pulling his hand from Henry’s. Henry feels the absence of heat immediately.

“Oh, we’re friends now?” Henry jokes, smiling more.

“Oh, Shut it Fox.” Alex rolls his eyes, “Wait-“ Alex pauses for a second. Henry can almost see the gears turning in his head. Alex’s face then changes, his eyebrows raising slowly and his mouth falling open in an ‘o’ like he just put two and two together.

“Fox? Arthur Fox? James Bond is your dad?” Alex gasps, making Henry laugh quietly.

“The one and only.” Henry nods, feeling a sense of pride swell in his chest.

“Those movies were my childhood!” Alex exclaims, almost blinding Henry with an incredibly bright smile.

“Would you,” Henry stops for second, chewing on his bottom lip, “Would you want to watch them?”

Alex jumps from the bed, holding out his hand for Henry to take. Henry rolls his eyes but takes it, following Alex out into the living room. They settle onto the couch, sitting with a bit of a distance between them, but also kind of close. Alex unbuttons his first two buttons of his shirt, and kicks off his shoes, pulling one of his legs underneath him and leaning his shoulder on the cushion behind him. Henry mirrors him, making sure their hands don’t meet in the middle as his eyes focus on the TV. He clicks over to his downloaded movies and pauses as he hovers over the cover, his eyes focused on his father’s face.

Alex notices. “We don’t have to, if you can’t.” He reassures him.

Henry shakes his head, taking in a shaky breath as he hits play on it. He feels Alex's fingers intertwine with his and squeeze in a reassuring way, making Henry smile softly as the opening credits roll.

---

Henry has no idea when he fell asleep. He hears the familiar sound of the James Bond theme song playing as he slowly opens his eyes.

He hears a faint snore from above him and turns to look, seeing Alex sleeping with his head to the side, almost laying on Henry’s body. His lips are slightly open as he puffs out slow, sleepy breaths. Henry suddenly realizes that he’s been sleeping on Alex’s slack-covered thigh. He moves a little, seeing the dark wet patch of drool of his drool on Alex’s pants and quickly wipes at the side of his mouth.

He blinks a few more times trying to wake up, notices that it’s still light outside, meaning it’s probably around 2 or 3. He shuffles a little, feeling Alex’s arm over his stomach, his fingers still holding on to Henry’s. Henry can’t feel his hand from where he has been laying on it, so he pushes himself up and let’s go of Alex’s hand. He sits up, Alex’s arm falling behind his back as he’s dead to the world.

Henry huffs out a laugh, shaking his head and he pushes himself up, slowly standing up. He shakes out his hand, opening and closing it to get some blood back into it. He walks into the kitchen, turning on the tea kettle, and lets his head fall down between his shoulders as he leans against the counter.

“You’re thinking too hard, it woke me up.” A voice says from behind him, making him jump and almost hang from the ceiling.

“Christ!” Henry exclaims, holding his hand over his heart and turning around to look at Alex. “You almost gave me a bleedin’-heart attack! You need a bloody bell.”

Alex giggles, actually giggles and Henry tries to ignore the swarm of butterflies in his stomach. “You turn very British when you get scared. I’ve got to scare you more often.”

“You absolutely should not, you menace.” Henry protests, only making Alex grin.

“What time is it?” Alex asks, stretching with a bit of a groan.

The swarm of butterflies seemed to have flown slightly south.

“Also, did you drool on me?” he adds, looking down at his pants and running his hand over the wet spot before grimacing.

“It’s about 2ish, and no, you pissed yourself.” Henry replies, grinning as he turns around when the kettle clicks off, the water bubbling.

Alex laughs loudly. “Didn’t realize my dick reached that far down.” He jokes, “Guess it’s bigger than I thought.”

Okay, the butterflies are now completely south.

Henry feels his face and ears warm up, making a point not to turn around before his red cheeks go back to their natural color. He grabs two mugs and two tea bags before Alex speaks up again.

“Oh, no tea for me man. That shit tastes like wet leaves.”

Henry turns and looks at him in disgust. “You did not just call tea ‘wet leaves.’” He cringes.

“I did. And I’ll do it again, boyo.” Alex muses as he jumps up and sits on the island, swinging his legs back and forth.

Henry rolls his eyes. “Boyo? And get off my bloody counter, I don’t need your arse near where I eat.”

Alex grins. “I’m sure you actually like my ass,” He pauses before leaning toward Henry, “On your counter.”

Is he… flirting? Henry thinks, furrowing his eyebrows before turning around and putting his tea bag into the mug and pouring water over it. He keeps his back toward Alex as he steeps it, his mind reeling.

Henry is well aware that Alex is straight. Or well, he thought he was. But he replays the events of today, besides the sad bits. Alex has been incredibly touchy and understanding. He listened the entire time Henry ranted, he grabbed his hand and squeezed it to keep Henry grounded, he intertwined their fingers during the movie. He made sure Henry was sure he wanted to watch the movie. Is Henry reading the signs correctly? Maybe, just maybe...

Before he can overthink it, Henry turns around, leaving the tea. He takes a few long strides and slots himself between Alex’s thighs. Alex looks down at him, a confused look on his face, but Henry doesn’t stop. He takes Alex’s face in his hands, swiping his thumbs over his cheekbones and pulls Alex toward him, placing his lips softly on Alex’s. Henry kisses him softly, but pulls away quickly when he feels Alex completely frozen under the touch. When he opens his eyes, he sees Alex’s eyes are open wide, staring down at Henry, his mouth oepning and closing like he doesn't know if he should say something or not. Henry stares at him, dropping his hands quickly and taking a step back. There is a long pause of silence, Henry waits for Alex to say something, anything, as his stomach twists intself into a tight knot.

“I-I’m not-“ Alex stutters after another few seconds and Henry feels his heart sink into his stomach. He read the signs completely wrong and he wishes the floor would swallow him whole.

“I’m uh, I’m straight Henry. I-I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.” Alex tells him, and Henry feels sick.

Henry takes in a shaky breath. "I’m sorry, I just, er, I wasn’t thinking. I am- I'm so sorry.” Henry apologizes quickly as he steps back again, his face warm with embarrassment. His hands shake as he begins to play with his fathers ring again.

Alex nods and slides off the counter, stepping back slowly from Henry. He looks panicked, and Henry feels like he could die. Henry stays where he is as he watches Alex retreat from the kitchen into his room and reemerges with his suit jacket. He quickly slides on his shoes and smiles. It looks wrong as it doesn't go up to his eyes.

Henry’s mouth is incredibly dry and he tries to swallow around a huge lump in his throat. He actually believes he's been killed, and this is what his own personal hell looks like.

“I-I should, um, probably get going. Take all the time you need and-and come back to work whenever you are ready. Um, See- see you later.” Alex stutters quickly as he struggles to open the door.

“You er,” Henry starts, Alex head snapping over to him with a bewildered look on his face.

“Huh?”

“You have to- um- unlock it." Henry explains quietly, "Here I can-“ Henry steps forward.

“Oh!” Alex laughs almost hysterically before unlocking the door and swinging it open. “Got it! Er, See you- y’know, whenever you are ready.” And the door shuts behind him with a bang, and Henry’s knees finally give out.

Chapter Text

Henry doesn’t show up to work until the following Monday. He tells himself it’s fine, he just has to add extra time in Austin before he can go home, he’s working on his own schedule technically.

He barely sleeps Sunday night, tossing and turning as he replays Wednesday in his head. Alex’s touches, the way he looked at Henry, the signs that Henry read wrong. The way Alex looked after Henry pulled away, his wide eyes and panicked look trying to get out of Henry’s front door. It’s a shitty movie that makes him want to claw his eyes out stuck on repeat and he is tied to his seat.

He parks his rental car in a spot on the third floor of the parking garage, sliding out of the Toyota and wiping his sweaty hands on his slacks. He feels a ball of constant anxiety sitting heavy on his stomach as he heads down the stairs of the garage, running his hand through his hair before quickly smoothing it down again.

Henry has no idea what to expect when he finally swipes his badge and walks into the building. He slowly  makes his way over to the elevators, inhaling and exhaling slowly. He stops and waits until the silver doors open. A few businessmen walk out when it does, one bumping into Henry’s shoulder as all they he asks the other man if he ‘caught the game last night’. Henry fights the urge to roll his eyes and snap at the man, closing his eyes as he takes a slow breath in to calm himself.

He steps into the small space once it’s completely empty and presses the ‘four’ button on the wall, making it light up brightly. He glares it, the way it shines yellow and mocks his sour mood and the dark cloud of anxiety that hangs over his head. He takes a couple deep breaths as the elevator lurches and takes him up slowly to his own personal hell (a.k.a the fourth floor). Once it dings, he steps out, smoothing down his tie and shirt as he makes his way slowly down the hallway.

His stomach is twisting in knots, his anxiety tightening his throat as he gets closer and closer to Alex’s office. Henry holds in his breath as he knocks his knuckles against the door three times. He sees Alex’s back turned toward him while he stares out the window over to the capitol building. He stands in the doorway silently, waiting for Alex to yell at him, or fire him, or come and punch him in the teeth. He closes his eyes and waits for whatever is coming. After a long, torturous moment, he feels arms wrap around his shoulders. He freezes and opens his eyes, breathing out slowly then in shakily. The familiar smell of Alex’s Santal 33 fills his nose as Alex keeps his arms around Henry. Henry slowly wraps his arms around Alex, trying not to melt into the touch.

“Henry, I’m so glad you’re here.” Alex says, pulling away from the hug but keeping a tight grip on Henry’s biceps, squeezing them once. He searches Henry’s eyes for some sort of answer to an unasked question. “How are you feeling? Better, I hope. We got work to do buddy!”

Henry gapes like a fish, opening and closing his mouth. Alex keeps staring into his eyes and Henry shifts uncomfortably, averting his eyes to the wall behind Alex.

“H?” Alex asks, causing Henry to look back at him just in time to catch him raising one of his eyebrows while the corners of his lips twitch, forming into a smirk.

“Y-yeah,” Henry stutters after a second, ”a lot better, you?” He asks, while trying to understand what the fuck is happening.

Are they not going to talk about the incident? (That's Henry's name for what happened Wednesday)

“Me? You know me, I’m always great.” Alex shrugs with a bright smile that reaches his eyes. Henry gets a flashback to the way his smile didn’t back at his apartment.

“You sure?” Henry says in a small voice.

“Of course. Anyway, we need to get to work. Please, sit, I’ve got a shit load of work to do.” Alex chuckles, squeezing his arms twice before letting go and going to sit behind his desk.

Henry makes a strained noise in his throat as he feels the urge to scream.

Seriously? He thinks.

He wants to talk about the elephant in the room. The big, pregnant, rainbow elephant that is filling the entire fourth floor. He wants to bring it up, to apologize profusely and get on his knees and beg for forgiveness.

But if Alex isn’t going to say anything, neither will he.

It has been a week and two days since the incident and Henry feels like he’s going to rip his hair out. Alex hasn’t said a single thing about it. He hasn’t even brought it up, and Henry thinks he might actually go insane.

They’ve fallen back into their original routine of Alex talking about himself for a while before turning it on Henry and asking him questions.

“Did you wear knee highs and high heels in your maid outfit?” or “Is it like a full-blown, head back laugh or just a breathy chuckle?” As well as “Is it just top shelf tequila or all tequila?” (Henry never answers these questions).

Sometimes they’re less invasive, simple questions about his life. His favorite movie (“Pride and Prejudice or In The Mood For Love”) or his favorite book (“Anything Jane Austen really”) or if he’s ever had his heart broken (“yes”) or how old he was when he had his first kiss(“13, and it was tragic really”).

Henry won’t admit it out loud, but he does enjoy getting to talk about his life and getting to know Alex, the real one and not the senator.

Even if it doesn’t help him push down his feelings for Alex or the fact that he wants to twist Alex’s arm until he talks about Wednesday.

Henry finds himself at a bar on sixth street that Friday, per Alex’s request. They’re at the the same one that has Drag Show Monday’s. They’re both sat at the bar, Henry’s hands resting on the top of it, wishing his sleeves would stick like his pub back home.

God, he misses home.

Alex is chatting happily with the bartender. Actually, no, he’s flirting with her.

He’s telling her some story, his hands moving wildly as he talks about something “hilarious” that happened with his sister while they were both helping his mum campaign for Governor. She’s laughing way too much (the story is not that funny), biting her lip and looking at him through her long, fake lashes, as well as flipping her hair over her shoulder every two minutes. Henry even watches how she tries to be slick and brushes her fingers over his every time she takes his glass to refill it.

Henry is seriously considering throwing himself out the bar window.

He’s already chugged 4 drinks; one vodka martini, two gin and tonics, and a margarita. He probably should’ve thought about the consequences of the tequila in it, but honestly, he’s just trying to get as drunk as possible so that he can forget the gruesome flirting he’s witnessing.

He’s starting to feel loose and warm as he almost finishes his second margarita, playing with the straw with his tongue as he watches the cringey heterosexuals flirt back and forth. He rolls his eyes (they might roll out of his head by the time they leave the bar) and turns around, leaning his back against the bar, keeping the straw in his mouth as he surveys the room.

He slurps the last of his drink when his eyes catch a man from across the room staring at him. He smirks around the straw before turning to set his drink down. He misses the bar a few times before he finally puts the glass down on the top. He looks back and catches the guy’s eyes again. The guy nods his head to beckon him over, so Henry gets up. He quickly whispers to Alex that he’ll be right back, and Alex gives him a distracted thumbs up.

He takes a few steps forward, stumbling slightly over his own feet before steadying himself. Okay, he’s a little drunker than he thought, but hey, who cares?

He makes his way over to the other side of the room, tripping again once he gets closer to the guy but this time the guy catches him, and Henry smiles sheepishly.

“I apologize, I am not usually this clumsy.” Henry giggles as he straightens himself up. The guy has a similar facial structure to Alex, the same dark completion, but hazel eyes instead of brown and he’s a few inches shorter than Henry, whereas Alex is the same height as him. His hair is dark, but it’s short and only curls around his ears.

Henry realizes in the moment he might have a type.

“Don’t worry about it, darlin’” The guy’s southern drawl wraps around each vowel and Henry feels his face heat up in a blush as he shivers.

God bless Texas.

“Noticed you were staring; you know a picture lasts longer, right?” Henry grins. His flirting always lacks when he’s intoxicated.

“I would’ve come over, but I wasn’t sure if the guy next to you was your boyfriend or somethin’.” The guy tilts his head towards Alex, making Henry look back. He watches as Alex moves a hair from the bartender’s face and puts it behind her ear. Henry fights the urge to frown or gag, or go over there and kiss him in front of her. 

Just to be a cockblock, of course.

“No. Just a friend of mine. He’s straight, if you couldn’t tell.” Henry shrugs, waving his hand in Alex's general direction as he turns back to look at the shorter man.

“Bisexual's exist honey.”

“I know,” Henry nods, “but he’s so bloody straight.” He grumbles to himself.

“And you?”

“Oh, I’m so incredibly gay.” Henry assures him.

“Dallas.” The guy, Dallas, introduces himself with a smirk and holds out his hand for Henry to shake.

“Like the city?” Henry asks, taking his hand and shaking it. He notices it’s not warm to the touch like Alex’s but quickly dismisses the thought.

“The one and only.” Dallas grins, pulling up Henry’s hand and kissing his knuckles.

It should be cringey, but the alcohol in Henry’s system tells him that it’s charming.

“Henry.” Henry replies.

Slowly they dissolve into familiar small talk, “You’re not from here, where you from?”, “What are you doing in Austin?”, “Why are you single?”

“I need a quick smoke, wanna come with?” Dallas asks after they go silent as they start to run out of questions.

“Let me just tell my friend.” Henry nods, looking back at Alex. Alex is now leaning over the bar and whispering in the girl’s ear and Henry frowns and turns back at Dallas. “You know what, I’ll just send him a text.”

Henry follows Dallas out of the bar and sits down beside him on the bench that’s in the front of it. Henry watches as Dallas pulls out and lights up a cigarette. He takes a long, slow drag from it before pulling it from his lips and exhaling the smoke into the chilly Austin air. They sit quietly, making more small talk as Dallas continues to smoke. Once he finally finishes it and puts it out, Henry surges forward and grabs his face, kissing him hard. Dallas makes a small noise of surprise before kissing back with the same force, bringing his hand up to hold the back of Henry’s neck and keep him close. Henry sighs in relief at the feeling of finally being kissed back.

Henry doesn’t remember when they decided to go into the alleyway beside the building, but he’s glad they did.

Dallas has him pinned against the wall and kisses Henry hungrily. Henry kisses back with the same force, slipping his tongue in and licking at the cigarette taste in his mouth. Henry breaths deeply out of his nose, trying to catch his breath between kisses but not pulling away from Dallas’ soft lips. He feels Dallas’ stubble rubbing his chin raw and feels himself getting harder at the feeling. Henry grips at the hem of his shirt and pushes it up, moaning at the friction of Dallas’ thigh rubbing up against his crotch.

Suddenly Henry loses his grip on Dallas’ shirt and feels a loss of heat as Dallas is being pulled away, yelping as he is flung back. Henry eyes open quickly as he watches Dallas almost fall to the ground, catching himself on the wall on the other side of the alley. Henry’s eyes shift to the body that steps between them and see’s Alex staring at him with a fire in his eyes.

“What the hell? Henry, you said he wasn’t your boyfriend!” Dallas yells, panting heavily, before straightening up and readjusting himself.

“He’s not!” Henry replies quickly, his voice strained as he looks past Alex at Dallas, “What the hell are you doing Alex?” 

Man, they do look kind of similar, huh?  He thinks, unhelpfully as his gaze shifts between the two of them.

“What are you doing Henry?” Alex snarls, causing Henry’s gaze to snap back to him, “You’re drunk and just disappear on me? You could’ve been dead!” He snaps.

He keeps his face turned away from Dallas and his head slightly down so his hat casts a shadow over his face in the dimly lit alleyway. Something clicks in his brain and Henry realizes that Alex doesn’t want Dallas to recognize him, which makes his blood boil for some reason.

“I am fully aware of what I’m doing.” Henry retorts, narrowing his eyes at him.

“Man fuck this.” Dallas grumbles before walking away, leaving Henry and Alex in the alley all by themselves. Neither of them watches him leave; their eyes locked on each other in an intense stare down.

“No, you don’t. You’ve had five drinks, two of which were tequila margaritas,” Alex points out in a growl, “so I know you are thinking with the wrong fucking head.”

Henry laughs dryly, getting angrier by the second. “I’m surprised you even noticed I’d left.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means you were too busy trying to fuck the bartender to even notice I was even there.” Henry raises his voice at the end, “I mean, when did you even notice I was gone? When she had to help another customer? I’m not your bloody puppy Alex. I’m not going to sit and wait until you fucking remember I’m there. And I’m definitely not going to fucking watch as you try to get into some pretty girls trousers.”

Alex doesn’t reply, just breathes heavily through his nose. His mouth is closed in a tight, thin line as he watches Henry carefully.

“So maybe I wanted some action too. But I guess your homophobic Spidey senses started tingling when two guys started making out outside and you came out here to stop it.”

“Homophobic? Do you-“ Alex steps back and laughs in disbelief, “Do you seriously think I’m homophobic?”

“Why else would you run out of my apartment like you did?” Henry retorts, “You looked completely disgusted!”

“That’s what this is about? You wanted to make out with some guy to get back at me?” Alex asks and Henry can see his hands curl into fists by his sides.

“Get back at you?” Henry almost shrieks in disbelief, “Why would I want to get back at you? How is me making out with some guy about you at all? You’re straight aren’t you? I mean,” Henry laughs dryly, “That’s what you told me before you ran out of my apartment, looking like you were about to throw up."

Alex opens his mouth to speak but Henry doesn't let him.

“Do you even believe what you stand for? You claim you want to fight for the LGBTQ+ citizens of Texas but you almost vomit when a guy kisses you!”” Henry continues, “I read the signs wrong, okay? I am fully aware, and I am truly, truly sorry for making you uncomfortable, but you left so fast that we couldn't even talk about it and I couldn't even apologize.”

“Henr-“

“And,“ Henry keeps going, ignoring Alex as his voice continues to raise, “I’m surprised you even remember the thing I told you about the tequila, that I told you over a month ago, but miraculously you can’t even remember last Wednesday.”

“Do you know how fucking insane you sound?” Alex finally cuts in with a yell. 

Henry closes his mouth as the words stab him in the chest and his heart starts to physically hurt as it thumps hard against his chest and loudly in his ears. He feels like he’s been broken in two, those words, those god damn words he's heard over and over from his own grandmother.

“You know what?” He growls lowly after a long pause between them. Both of them are breathing heavily, their faces so close that Henry almost has to cross his eyes to keep his gaze locked on Alex’s.

“Fuck you, Senator.” He spits before pushing past Alex, making sure to bump his shoulder against Alex’s, hard. He ignores the electricity that shoots through his veins when he hits his shoulder and takes off down the street, ordering an Uber to get home.

He feels like his body has steam coming out of his pores from his boiling blood. His breathing stays heavy all the way back to his complex, his hands curled into a tight fist that make his knuckles go white. He finally gets to his apartment, his hands shaking as he tries to put his key in the lock and his eyes blurry with tears.

He leans his throbbing shoulder heavily against the door after he gets inside and slams it. He furiously rubs at the angry tears that are creeping down his face and walks into his room. He slams the door shut and digs the heels of his hands into his eyes. He see’s stars behind his eyelids at the pressure as he tries to stop the tears. He empties his pockets and throws the contents across the room. He hears a loud bang of something hitting the wall but can’t find the will to care as he crawls into bed, not bothering to take off his clothes. He curls into himself under the covers and begs for sleep to take over.

It doesn’t, and he lays awake for hours, furiously wiping away his tears and screaming into his pillow.

It’s unusually quiet on the fourth floor the following Monday. Henry’s heart races as he shakes with anxiety at the thought of Alex in his office, pacing as he thinks of ways to fire Henry, or email Miguel, or even call the cops and get Henry kicked out the country.

He approaches the room, and notices the lights are off and the door is wide open. He furrows his eyebrows as he steps in and sees Alex is nowhere to be found. His desk is clean, all of the papers that are usually scattered around his desk probably locked away in the locked filing cabinet behind his desk and against the wall. The big blue binder Alex is always reading from is not in its usual place, Alex’s hands.

Henry checks his watch, seeing it’s 8:43 and bile burns in his throat.

Did I make the Senator fucking quit? He thinks in a panic.

He rushes out of the room and back to the elevator, almost breaking the button with how hard he’s pushing it over and over. It finally dings and the doors open slowly. The elevator is packed to the brim with businessmen and women who stare at him with bored looks on their face and suddenly, Henry doesn’t have the urge to die today when the elevator inevitably plummets into the concrete from the weight.

“I’ll take the stairs.” Henry quickly mutters before taking off back down the hallway to the stairs. He pushes the door open with a force that causes it to slam against the wall, the sound echoing throughout the stairway. He rushes down them, feeling sweat start build up at the bottom of his back as he runs down four flights of stairs. He pushes open the door, making it bang loudly against the wall again and all the eyes of the room fall on him. He smiles awkwardly, straightening himself up and pulling at his tie to loosen it while he pants and points to the front desk. As he fast-walks over there, he feels everyone’s eyes continue to follow him before the conversations start back up in the lobby.

He finally gets over to the desk and places his hand down harder than he wanted to, making Karen jump. He puts his hand on his hip and sucks in a few deep breaths before trying to speak.

“Hello Mr. Fox-Mountchristen, how can I help you today?” Karen asks as he wheezes a little, her eyes wide as she watches him from her chair.

“Is ale-“ He pauses, shaking his head and taking in a deep breath, “Is Senator Claremont-Diaz here today? I went to his office, and he’s not there and neither is his stuff. I wasn’t aware he wasn’t going to be in today, no one emailed me. Is he okay? Is he sick? Did he quit? Did he get eaten by a lion? I- I know there’s no lion in Austin but you never know when they might turn up.” Henry rants until he runs out of breath again.

Karen is just staring at him, before she clears her throat. “Wow,” She says, “That’s a lot of questions in 10 seconds. Um,” She pauses as she looks at her computer.

Henry wheezes out a laugh, before leaning back and inhaling deeply.

“Senator Claremont-Diaz had a family emergency and will be out for the rest of the week.” Karen explains, “So no, he wasn’t eaten by lions.”

Henry finally feels in control of his breathing and gives her a polite smile. “So, I’m not needed for the week?”

“No sir, you have the week to yourself, go crazy.” Karen says dryly. Henry nods and gives her a quick thanks before leaving, his cracked phone already in his hand.

I’ve got the entire week off.

Auntie Pez: I’ll be there by 7

Bring David please.

Auntie Pez: And I thought it was me you wanted.

                                                                                      ---

“How are you pups?” Henry says, his voice muffled as his face is nuzzled into David’s soft fur. He doesn’t know who is more excited to see the other, David or him. David’s body wiggles as his tail wags at an earthshattering speed. He’s trying to lick Henry’s face, but he’s taken to licking Henry’s hands and making small whining noises.

“Do I need to leave you two alone?” Pez asks, one eyebrow quirked and a smirk on his face when Henry looks at him. Henry quickly picks up the very squirmy beagle and stands.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Henry sighs as he wraps his free arm around Pez’s shoulder and brings him in. He hides his face in crook of Pez’s neck, inhaling slightly and taking in the familiar scent of his cologne. Pez wraps his arms lazily around Henry’s waist, making sure they don’t squish the whining dog between them.

They pull away a moment later and Henry sets David down who decides to start jumping at Henry’s leg. Pez turns around, producing a bottle of red wine and a bottle of vodka from his backpack. He turns back to Henry and wiggles them with a bright grin on his face.

“Let’s get drunk.”

A bottle of wine and two drinks of Vodka Soda’s later, Henry is pacing back and forth in his living room, running his hands through his hair as he mutters to himself. Pez is sat on the sofa, his legs crossed and sipping slowly his Vodka Soda, the ice clinking against the glass. David is snoring on the floor beside Pez’s feet, his paws twitching.

“So, are you going to tell Auntie Pez what’s going on? You have been pacing for 15 minutes and mumbling to yourself. The only word I’ve heard, numerous times mind you, is Alex.” Pez finally says, his glass in his hand and balanced on his knee.

“Right. Yes, right. Okay.” Henry runs his hands down his face and groans.

“Okay, you’re starting to freak me out babes.” Pez chuckles, leaning forward and setting his glass down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

David grumbles as Pez’s feet nudge him on accident. Pez whispers a quick apology, leaning down and rubbing behind his ears before he leans back against the cushions. Henry can feel Pez watching him, making him feel jumpy and unsettled.

“Okay. I just,” Henry hesitates before sighing, “I did something so stupid Pez.”

“Oh,” Pez grins, “Do tell.”

“I kissed Alex.” Henry says, his voice barely audible as he looks down and picks at his nails.

“Little louder love, I can’t hear you.” Pez urges. Henry looks up at the ceiling, groaning loudly before looking at Pez with worried eyes.

“I kissed Alex!” Henry confesses with a moan.

“As in, Claremont-Diaz?”

Henry nods stiffly.

“The senator?”

Henry nods again.

“of Texas?”

“Get there faster Pez!” Henry snaps. Pez’s mouth forms into an ‘o’ shape as his eyebrows disappear into his hairline.

“Holy shit Hen!” Pez shouts finally, standing up quickly.

David grunts and stands up, walking over to the other side of the room and flopping down. He starts snoring almost immediately.

“Yes! I know!” Henry groans.

“Tell me everything.”

So, Henry does. He runs through it all. From everything that happened on the plane, to him being his boss. He tells Pez about how Alex acted when he came over that Wednesday, how supportive he was and how he listened, how he flirted with Henry, or at least that’s what he thought, and the week after. He explains what went down at the bar, the argument, all of it. He flops onto the couch after, grabbing his drink and taking a long pull. Pez sits beside him, grabbing his drink too.

“I just,” Henry sighs, “I hate him.”

“You love him.” Pez translates as he looks down and runs his finger around the rim of his drink.

“And I just think that maybe I should email Miguel.”

“You want his babies.” Pez sings.

“Plus,” Henry continues, “He’s straight and has the audacity to say I’m getting back at him? After he flirts with a girl in front of me?”

“He’s not straight.” Pez sings again.

“Maybe I should just go home.”

“You’re never coming home.”

“Would you stop that?” Henry snaps as he enunciates each word. He glares hard at Pez who is entirely too happy with himself.

“Henry, my dear boy, do you even hear what you are saying?” Pez asks, looking at him curiously. “You don’t actually believe anything you just said, do you?”

“Of course, I do.” Henry furrows his eyebrows while shaking his head.

“Okay,” Pez says, taking a sip of his drink before setting it down. He scoots closer to Henry and places his hand on Henry’s knee. “Let me spell it out for you, extrapolate as you please.”

“Okay?” Henry replies cautiously, his eyes looking at Pez’s hand, then back up at his eyes.

“You said you hated Jamie Mulligan, then you let him take your virginity and went out with him for a while. You said you hated your ex-boyfriend, Aaron; you fell in love with him. You said you hated Roy, then you dated him for like, 10 months and moved in with him for a while. Now, you’ve said you hate Alex. You have a pattern love.

“Plus, you won’t email Miguel or come back to England because if you really wanted to, you would’ve done it right after the argument.”

“Pez.” Henry interrupts but Pez puts up his hand.

“I’m on a roll darling, don’t interrupt.” Pez glares at him before continuing, “If that man was straight, he wouldn’t have went looking for you and pulled that guy off you. Read between the lines Hezza, he thought you ‘wanted to get back at him’ by making out with some random dude, so what do you think that means?” Pez asks, leaning into him with one of his eyebrows quirked.

“I…” Henry hesitates as he thinks before shaking his head, “I don’t know.”

Pez groans as he throws his head back onto the back of the couch. “How did you finish college?”

“With flying colours arsehole.” Henry grins.

“I’m just going to help you out, my dear Watson. He was jealous Hen.” Pez explains after picking up his head, his eyes staring into Henry’s soul.

Henry snorts. “Jealous? Okay, right, and I’m the bloody queen of England.”

“You’re definitely a queen honey.” Pez jokes with a snap of his fingers, making Henry laugh loudly. “but in all seriousness, he was absolutely jealous.”

“No, I don't think that's it. He's just a protective person, I'm sure of it. Plus, I was drunk and-“

“Ah, Ah, no.” Pez interrupts, “Look at the facts Hen, he didn’t like you kissing another dude and pulled him off of you. So aggressively that the guy almost fell on his arse.”

“He’s homophobic Pez.” Henry points out.

“No, no baby,” Pez shakes his head furiously, “He’s going through a sexuality crisis! He ran, not because he’s homophobic, because he has feelings for you and doesn’t understand them! He's probably terrified because he's a goddamn senator and has only dated girls.”

“You’re talking bollocks.” Henry chuckles as he looks down at his hands.

“Henry, his sister is dating his best friend!" Pez protests.

“Oh.”

oh.

“And he’s fighting for LGBTQ+ citizens.” Pez stresses.

OH.

“Pez.”

“Hm?” Pez hums with a smile on his face, like he knows Henry put it all together.

After a long pause, Henry looks up at him with wide eyes.

“I’m a fucking idiot.”

Chapter Text

Henry wakes up to the feeling of a cold wet spot on across his forehead. With his eyes closed, he reaches up and wipes it, feeling that his forehead is actually wet and the fan against the wet spot is making it feel cold. When he doesn’t feel himself overheating or sweating, he drops his hand and feels around for David. He doesn’t feel him, so he wiggles his legs, looking for a lump in the bed. He cracks an eye open eventually and sees Pez staring down at him, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

Henry moans, sitting up and wiping his forehead with the hem of his shirt. “Pez, did you lick me?” He asks, grimacing as he looks up and makes eye contact with him.

“What? Darling! Of course, not! It was obviously David.” Pez says, fluttering his eyes innocently as he waves his hand over in a general direction behind him. Henry follows his hand and sees David fast asleep on his dog bed, snoring loudly and huffing as he twitches his paws. Henry looks back at Pez with an unimpressed look. “Besides, I tried waking you with a simple shove, but you just gave me two lovely fingers.”

“And you thought licking me was the solution?” Henry shakes his head before moaning at his headache that he just realized he had. His mouth is incredibly dry and tastes like death. Pez passes over some water he pulled out of somewhere, as well as two pills and Henry pops them in his mouth before he guzzles down the water as Pez drops himself onto the bed, sitting on Henry’s leg. Henry huffs out a low chuckle before moving his leg out from under Pez.

Pez shrugs. “What else was I going to do?” Henry opens his mouth to answer but Pez carries on, “Anyway, what’s the plan, Sam?”

“Sam?”

“I was trying something out; it won’t happen again.” Pez waves his hand dismissively, “The plan! The get-the-senator-to-admit-he-loves-you plan!”

“What? Pez, no.” Henry sighs, throwing his legs over Pez’s head and setting them on the ground, standing up and scrubbing his face with his hand. “I’ll just wait until he comes to me.” He throws his hand out and shrugs, a small frown on his lips.

Pez makes a series of protest noises in his throat. Henry rolls his eyes and quickly pets David, waking him up, before leaving the room. Pez follows closely behind.

“Come to you? Hen, that man is so far in the closet, he is on the other side of Narnia!” Pez flails his arms, “You have to go to him. You have to call him out!”

“And out him?” Henry questions with a little ice in his voice, flicking on the kettle and putting a teabag into a mug. “Pez, seriously. He has to go through this and figure it out himself. I can’t just go and tell him he’s gay. Or bisexual. Or whatever he is. He can tell me when he’s ready. Plus, I can wait as long as he needs. Or I can move on if he doesn’t before I go back home.”

Pez nods. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“Of course, I am.” Henry tries to lighten the mood, rolling his shoulders back to loosen the tension in his body.

The rest of the day goes by quickly, between them lounging on the couch and chatting, Henry doesn’t think of Alex at all. Okay, he doesn’t think about Alex for most of the day. Some of the day.

Okay he thinks about Alex a lot.

He thinks back to all their conversations over the course of the last month, before everything went sideways.

”Okay, you said I could ask 6 questions yesterday, today.” Alex whines, a small pout on his lips. Henry finds it incredibly endearing.

“Yes, I did. But your first three were about things I don’t want to talk about, things I told you we can not talk about. Seriously Alex, I’m not going to tell you what the difference between being a top and a bottom.”

“No, no,” Alex looks up from his paperwork, his brown eyes shining caramel as the afternoon sun shines through the window of his office, “I simply asked if you are on a bunk bed, are you still a top if you are on the bottom bunk.”

“Yes,” Henry rolls his eyes, knowing full well that was not the question asked. “And you would still be a bottom if you are on the top.”

“So, what did you mean about bottoming on the plane?” Alex asks, the corner of his lip twitching like it wants to form into a smirk.

“Senator.” Henry warns.

“Fine, fine.” Alex puts his hands up in surrender, before turning back to his paperwork. “If we continue on me, can I please ask 6 questions. Not relating to the plane conversation, I promise.” His eyes flick back up after he signs his name, a small smile on his face.

“Alright.” Henry agrees. “Back to your childhood. We were talking about you growing up in Austin.”

“Right,” Alex nods, his smile disappearing as he takes another paper from his stack and reads it over, “It was a pretty simple childhood, I mean, as simple as it can be for a kid with divorced parents. I can always remember the yelling, but I mean, that’s what happens when your parents both work in congress.” Alex shrugs, sighing softly.

The room goes quiet for a second, the only thing breaking the silent tension is the sound of Henry’s fingers on his keyboard. He finishes typing out his sentence and looks up, noticing that Alex has gone still, his eyes on the paper but definitely not actually looking at it.

“Alex, we don’t have to-“

Alex blinks. “Oh, no, it’s okay. I mean it’s been years.” He waves his hand dismissively before continuing, “I remember being attached to June’s side during that time, she would always come into my room and distract me, showing me new songs that just came out at the time, or watching a movie with me. After a while, the yelling subsided, and everything became quiet. All Dinners as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas was just full of small talk between them. It beat the yelling, but I just wanted my family to be whole again.

“That summer, I had a boy scouts thing, so I was gone for a week, and I remember coming home and all of my dad’s stuff was just,” He pauses, “gone. He moved to California without saying goodbye to me. I was devastated.”

“How old were you at the time?” Henry asks in a small voice. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Alex shrugs, his eyes still glued to his paperwork as he shifts a couple of the papers around. “I think I was 10? No, 11.”

“Christ.” Henry whispers, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.

“It got easier, my mom met Leo, my stepdad, when I was 14, got married shortly after. She’s much happier, the man is a living legend. Calls her sunshine, treats her well, I mean, the man is rich as can be,” Alex continues, sighing contently.

He continues for a while, Henry mindlessly typing away as Alex tells him more and more about his childhood. Henry feels for him, his eyes welling up at a few of the stories, but he mostly manages to keep his emotions at bay.

As Alex opens up more and more, Henry feels himself falling harder for the senator.

Henry blinks a few times, coming out of his mind and back into the present. He sniffs, shifting a little in his spot on the couch. Pez looks over at him, his eyebrow quirking in a silent question. Henry gives him a weak smile, his eyes staying focused on the TV. Pez doesn’t say anything, just shifts as well and lets out a long sigh.

Okay, Okay.” Henry laughs, shoving Alex by the shoulder as he takes a small sip of his beer. They’re sitting on the couch in Alex’s office, the sun setting behind them. After he finally gave up on his work for the day, Alex grabbed two beers from his minifridge (the guy acts like a frat boy) and handed one over to Henry. That was 4 beers ago. “I will tell you this once, and then you will never talk about it again.”

“Scouts honor.” Alex agrees with a grin, crossing his heart with his finger. Henry giggles, almost spitting out his beer. He quickly swallows the mouthful, and throws his head back and laughs, loud, unguarded, and real.

“You’re a bloody idiot.” Henry shakes his head before resting his beer on his knee, the rest of his leg settled comfortably under his other thigh. “Okay, ask the question again, I forgot what you asked.”

“You said you lie on your stomach with your leg up and it makes your ass look bigger, how the fuck does that work?” Alex’s grin somehow gets wider when he sees Henry flush red again.

“Okay, basically,” Henry starts, gesticulating with his free hand, “You’ve obviously had sex.”

“Obviously.” Alex agrees, bringing his drink to his lips.

“You’re a menace. Anyway, have you ever like, done it while she,” Henry tries to not shiver, “was on her stomach.”

Alex nods as he swallows his beer.

“Okay, now imagine her putting her leg up.”

Alex makes a long ‘oh’ sound, nodding slowly. “Now I get it.”

“Of course, you do.” Henry mumbles under his breath. Alex leans in, getting so close Henry can smell his cologne.

“What did you say?” Alex asks, his face is so close that Henry nearly has to cross his eyes.

Henry’s eyes flick down to Alex’s soft-looking, light pink lips, before they look back at his eyes. He clears his throat as he leans back against the arm of the sofa.

“I just said that I’m glad you understand now.” Henry tries to smile, but it probably looks like a grimace.

Alex scoots over again, his knee knocking against Henry’s. A zip of electricity shoots up his spine, and he holds back a shiver. Alex gives him an unconvinced look before he shrugs.

“So, the first date thing you said,” Alex starts, making Henry groan and hang his head between his shoulders. “You didn’t really elaborate. I want to know what exactly you’d want on a first date.”

“Why?” Henry asks as he lifts his head.

He might die.

“Y’know, so I can tell your next boyfriend or something.” Alex shrugs, taking a long pull of his beer.

Actually, he’s already in hell.

“oh,” Henry says, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. “Right, okay.”

Why do I always fall for the straight ones? He thinks unhelpfully.

Alex gestures for him to go on and Henry sighs.

“Well, I said I wanted the champagne to just /appear/ on the table. I think what I’d truly want is a candlelit dinner, fairy lights maybe? In a Gazebo. We could look for Orion after, or just the stars in general. I don’t know. I’ve never been asked this.” Henry shrugs as he stumbles over his words.

Alex furrows his eyebrows as he pulls his head back in surprise. “Never?”

Henry shakes his head ‘no’. Alex seems to sit for a second, Henry can almost hear the gears turning his head.

“You said you’ve never been in love or had a serious relationship before.” Alex thinks out loud, trying to connect the dots. Henry sits there in silence, looking down and picking at the label of his beer. “Have you ever actually been on a real date?” Alex finally asks.

Henry looks up again and meets Alex’s eyes. “No, I have not.”

Alex sits back with a huff. “Wow,” he sighs, “You deserve so much more than that H. I’ve only known you for what? Two weeks. I can already tell you that /anybody/ would be truly lucky to have even a sliver of your heart.”

Henry looks down again, unable to meet the fond look in Alex’s eyes.

Lucky for you, you have it all.                                                             

“Hen?” A voice interrupts his thoughts, making Henry blink twice and look up to Pez standing over him.

“Huh?” Henry says, blinking a few more times and meeting Pez’s questioning eyes.

“What is going on with you?” Pez asks, kneeling down in front of Henry and placing his hands on Henry’s knees as reassurance.

Henry keeps his eyes locked on Pez’s, feeling the familiar sting in his noise as tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about him.” He says, his voice small and weak.

“Alex?”

“I- I,” Henry stammers, feeling his bottom lip tremble slightly. He sniffles, his hand coming up and wiping both of his eyes. “I’m in love with him.”

“I know.” Pez whispers, before putting his arms around Henry’s shoulders and Henry buries his head into the place where Pez’s collarbone meets his neck. He sniffles loudly, squeezing his eyes shut and letting a few tears fall.

After a long moment, Henry pulls back from him, and Pez keeps his hands on his shoulders. He claps him on the shoulder twice before smiling softly.

“We need alcohol, stat,”

Henry grins.

Henry sits beside Pez in the back of the Uber, looking out the window as Pez taps furiously at his phone. After a long silence, Pez’s fingers making the only noise in the car, Henry furrows his eyebrows and finally faces Pez.

“Who are you texting so intensely?” Henry asks, leaning over to read the texts. Pez quickly turns off his phone and shoves it into his pocket.

“No one important.” Pez says nonchalantly, shrugging one of his shoulders.

Henry rolls his eyes and turns back to face out the window. His mind replaying his confession.

He hadn’t said it out loud until now. He only thought it was a silly crush. The more he thinks about it, the more Henry’s heart aches. Aches for Alex’s touch, his bright smile, his contagious laugh. He would kill to be made fun of again, Alex calling him a ‘limey’ or a ‘dickhead’ and making Henry laugh his real laugh that he has hidden away from everyone. The laugh that only comes out with Bea and Pez, but ever so rarely.

He thinks back, he thinks of the late nights of them just talking. Talking about everything and nothing. The things he opened up about, the things Alex opened up about, the bullshit inside jokes they managed to make without knowing each other for very long.

He can still feel the tingle of the kiss on his lips if he thinks hard enough. He knows Alex didn’t kiss back. He can’t stop replaying that part of the day the most, but Henry still thinks about the one millisecond of happiness. How soft Alex’s lips were, soft like Henry thought they would be. He can only imagine what it feels like when he does kiss back eventually. If he ever does. If Henry ever gets the chance to kiss him again.

The bar is pretty empty, considering it’s a Tuesday night. Henry is sat at the bar while Pez is in the bathroom, nursing a vodka soda and watching a replay of the Arsenal-Man City game that was on the Sunday before. He knows how it ends, considering he watched it Sunday, 2-1 to Arsenal (of course) but it’s the only entertainment he has right now.

“Henry Fox.” He hears a sweet voice say from somewhere behind him. He looks over his shoulder and sees the familiar face of one, Nora Holleran. He smiles brightly, before his face slowly transforms into a confused look. He slowly turns on the barstool to face her.

“Nora? What are you doing here?” Henry asks, his nose scrunched up as his eyebrows are furrowed.

“Glad to see you too young Harold.” Nora rolls her eyes with a smile, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a friendly hug. He wraps one arm around her, patting her on the back. She lets go, making a small cooing sound as she cups his jaw before sitting down on the barstool next to him. He continues to look at her confused as he swivels around.

“Not my name,” Henry scoffs lightly without any anger in it, “Why are you here?”

“Pez invited me.” Nora shrugs, trying to get the bartender’s attention. “Why else?”

“Because I thought Alex was in California with you. Work said he had a family emergency so I assumed he would be with you and June?” He asks, taking a sip of his vodka soda.

Nora’s eyes shift to somewhere behind his head before shifting back to Henry. “Oh, right. Well, we all came here to Ellen’s in Austin, to deal with said emergency.” Nora says, her voice sounding unsure. Henry narrows his eyes.

“What was the emergency?” Henry wonders.

Nora clears her throat, waving her hand quickly at the bartender. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, I promise Alex will explain everything once he’s back.”

Henry opens his mouth to reply but gets interrupted. “My favorite girl!” Pez says from behind Henry.

Nora grins, standing up from her stool and almost jumping into Pez’s arms. She wraps her arms tightly around his shoulders, standing slightly on her toes. Pez wraps his arms around her waist, squeezing twice before letting go.

“Percy Okonjo. My favorite Brit!”

“Hey.” Henry whines, drawing out the vowel as he watches them. Pez kisses Nora wetly on the cheek, making her swat him on the arm before sitting back in her seat. Pez sits beside her, squeezing her hand.

They all slowly get to talking about random things; Nora and June’s new cat, Chandler, Pez’s new shelter opening up in New York, Henry’s editing on the book, etc. The conversation flows easily, but a small part of Henry’s brain is nagging him to ask Nora about Alex.

“Is Alex alright?” Henry blurts out before he can register it. He cut Nora off mid-sentence and feels heat rise on his cheeks as she looks over at him, her face neutral before breaking out into a small, soft, smile. He can see Pez lean forward and look at him, his face unreadable.

Henry continues. “I-I just, I haven’t heard anything from him, and I don’t know if it was something I did or it really was a family emergency. I’m not trying to pry, if it was an emergency, just say yes. I just, I feel like I really messed up and I- I miss him.” He rants, running out of breath as his eyes widen at the fact that he really said he misses Alex to Nora.

Nora snorts, patting him on the arm and waving to the bartender to get Henry another drink. “You’re fun when you have alcohol.”

“That’s the only time he is fun.” Pez jokes, nudging her with his shoulder. She giggles, glancing at Pez before looking back at Henry.

“Alex is fine, Hen.” Nora assures him, “It has nothing to do with you, I promise. It was an emergency, but I promise everything is okay.”

Henry swallows, pushing out his chin and nodding slowly. She squeezes his forearm, her gaze softening as she watches him carefully.

“You really care about him, don’t you?” Nora asks softly, making him drop his chin and look down at his hands that feel like they are freezing from the cold condensation of his empty glass.

Henry shrugs, his eyes trained on a few water droplets that race each other down the side of his glass. “I really do.” He whispers, his voice barely audible.

“I didn’t mean to; it just was so easy. Too easy. Talking to him was like coming up for a breath of fresh air after I had been drowning for so long. It was like…” He pauses, “we were supposed to meet. As friends, as boyfriends, as soulmates, I don’t know. But it feels like I’m supposed to meet him. In this universe. In any and every universe.

“I know it’s so daft. It sounds so silly as I say it out loud. I’m honored to be his friend, but I can’t lie and say I don’t wish for something more. It’s like there’s a rope attached to my chest, and it aches when he’s gone. And he’s gone, and  I feel like it’s completely my fault. I didn’t mean to fall in love with him, I mean, Christ,” Henry huffs out a small laugh, “It would’ve been easier to have said no to that twat who wants me to write this bloody book.”

“Can I get two shots over here?” He hears Pez call over to the bartender. Nora is watching him, her chin resting on her hand as she listens, her eyes incredibly soft.

The bartender quickly brings over two vodka shots and Henry downs them, one after the other. He winces as the alcohol burns his throat and warms up his stomach almost instantly. He lets out a small cough before he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. He feels Nora put her hand on his back and rub it in small circles, comforting him.

“Have you told Alex any of this?” Nora asks after a long pregnant pause.

“Yeah Hen, you should tell him this.” Pez agrees.

A laugh bursts out of Henry and he quickly shakes his head. “Tell him?” Henry laughs again in disbelief, “Christ, you guys are funny.”

Nora glances at Pez, who looks back at her, before they both turn and look at him again. Nora’s eyebrows are knit together, and Pez has his lips in a thin line.

“We aren’t joking Haz.” Pez finally says. “You should really tell him!”

“You do remember when I kissed him right? Sent him running for the hills? And then yelled at him?” Henry says incredulously.

“Yes, yes, I thought we already made a decision on what that meant.” Pez reminds him.

Henry rolls his eyes, waving his hand at him as if to say, ‘doesn’t matter.’

Nora and Pez remain quiet, and Henry keeps his head down. After a long while, Nora and Pez start to converse again, their voices low. Henry ignores them, his mind racing a million miles an hour until it finally lands on one final thought.

I think I need to tell him.

Friday

Unknown Number [8:31 am]: Hello. Is this the number of Henry Fox?

 Hello, yes this is Henry, who is this?

Unknown Number [8:55 am]: Hello Mr. Fox. This is Cynthia with Ramos Publishing. I wanted to let you know that Mr. Ramos has requested your presence at his Dallas office this afternoon at 4:30 pm. We have sent your boarding pass to your email. Thank you, see you at 4:30.

Thank you Cynthia. I will be there.

Henry finds himself at the airport, yet again, worrying himself over his flight. His leg bounces as he waits at the gate, watching people walk back and forth through the airport. He took a shot before he left, trying to calm his nerves as Pez drove him to the airport. Pez passed him a small shot bottle of vodka, winking at him as he shot it before he got out. Pez told him ‘Everything is going to be okay’ before he closed the door. Henry gave him a smile that was probably actually a grimace.

So here he sits, the seats incredibly uncomfortable under his ass. He sits back, then forward, tapping his fingers on his knees then picking at the skin beside his thumb nail. He sits back again, huffing out a long breath to sooth himself.

He picks up his worn-out copy of Pride and Prejudice and begins to read it. He gets three pages in before he hears an announcement over the speaker.

“Flight AA14 to Dallas, Texas, is now boarding. Passengers, please make your way to the gate and have your ticket waiting to be scanned.”

Henry closes his book, sliding his book into the front pocket before zipping it back up. He throws it over his shoulder and holds out his ticket as he makes his way up to the gate attendant who is scanning the boarding passes. The line moves slow but he finally makes it to the front and gets his boarding pass scanned.

He breathes in deeply, letting out a shaky breath as he boards the plane. He smiles weakly at the air hostess, turning his body and shuffling sideways down the small, narrow aisle.

“12a, 13a, 14a…” He whispers as he continues, before finally stopping at his seat, 17a. He shuffles into the small space behind the chair in front and sits heavily into the window seat. He breathes slowly again, counting his breathes as he does.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” A familiar voice says from beside him. Henry’s head whips over to where the voice came from.

Alex.

Chapter Text

“Alex.” Henry almost whispers, his eyes staring up at the man he loves. “Wh-what are you doing here?” He stutters out in shock.

I’m going to wake up. This is a wonderful, beautiful dream and I’m going to wake up with a terrible hangover and pray Alex is at work on Monday.

Henry keeps his eyes trained on Alex as he moves slowly, sitting down and placing his backpack under the chair in front of him. Alex shifts and sits back, putting on his seatbelt and pulling it to make it flush against his waist. Henry takes a deep breath, feeling his own belt tighten as he does, when a lazy smile forms on Alex’s lips.

Alex continues to look forward and laces his fingers together in his lap. Henry looks him over as Alex remains silent for a long second. He notices Alex isn’t wearing his signature UT hat. He notices his curls sit softly on his forehead, his obscenely long lashes brushing against his cheekbones as he blinks slowly. He notices he’s wearing an old UT shirt that’s grey, the fabric tight against his chest and the collar stretched out from wear. He notices he’s in black sweatpants and sneakers.

Henry notices…

Well, Henry notices Alex looks like any normal bloke on his way to Dallas.

Not the senator Henry has come to know. Not the public figure.

Just Alex. A native Texan who never knows when to shut up and drinks way too much shiner.  Alex, who loves his sister and wants to make a difference in the world.

Alex. The man Henry fell in love with.

“You know,” Alex finally breaks the silence between them with a small chuckle, “The last time I was on a flight, there was this crazy turbulence.”

There is an announcement over the speakers in the plane, but Henry is so focused on Alex that he doesn’t actually hear any of the words. The plane lurches after a minute or year or century, henry isn’t really paying attention, and they both jerk forward.

Alex still isn’t looking at him.

“I wasn’t afraid, of course,” Alex continues, “I’m not afraid of flying, obviously.”

“Alex-“

“And this man,” Henry feels Alex reach over and place his hand on top of Henry’s. His palm is warm against the top of Henry’s hands and Alex slots his fingers between Henry’s.

The plane rattles and picks up speed, lifting off the ground and making Henry’s swoop. Or maybe that’s because Alex gently rubs his thumb over the top of Henry’s. Henry squeezes his eyes shut for a second but feels Alex squeeze his hand reassuringly. Henry opens his eyes again to look at Alex, who is still staring froward at the chair behind him.

“This devastatingly gorgeous dude with a velvety British accent that makes every vowel sound sexy and dazzling blue eyes. He whispered something about us going to die, catching my attention, and then he stared at me and shared a couple of very interesting things in his time of peril.

“At first I thought, man this dude is nuts,” Alex jokes, “but then I realized, after he grabbed my hand, that he wasn’t actually crazy, he trusted me. He stared at me, almost like he was trying to memorize my face before he died. He trusted me.

“This stranger, this beautiful stranger that I had never met before, he trusted me with these secrets. Secrets that he had never told anyone before. And I thought, ‘wow, I wish I could trust someone to tell all my secrets to like this,’ then I realized, after way to long, that this person was someone I could truly trust.” Alex finally looks over at Henry, his eyes shining with something that Henry couldn’t place.

After a moment, Alex shifts to face his body toward Henry, his hand still firmly grasping Henry’s. There’s a long silence between them, Alex’s eyes roaming slowly over every feature on Henry’s face, like he’s trying to memorize it.

The same way Henry did.

“When I was 16, I almost beat up my sister because she kept putting olives on my pizza. I had this rage inside me that only my stepdad could hold back.

“I secretly love Hallmark Christmas movies but will never admit it and always complain when someone puts one on

“I will always cry when Michael leaves and the whole office started singing him the song. The Office holds a dear place in my heart.” Alex rambles.

Henry stares at him, his heart stuttering in his chest. He flips over his hand, lacing their fingers together tightly and soaking in the feeling of Alex’s palm against his. The truth of his words was over Henry in a way that makes him feel so incredibly alive. The fond look in Alex’s eyes as he stares in Henry’s and the smile on his lips that makes Henry want to melt into a heart shaped puddle on the plane floor.

The plane bounces, throwing them around a little, but Henry is too in love to care.

“I once bet a friend of mine that if he licked dog poop, I’d give him $10. He did it and then broke my nose when I didn’t actually have the money. We stopped being friends after that.

“Vodka makes me incredibly horny, make me start to undress and move my hips that probably do lie.

“I lost my virginity in a car; shit was tight, and I do mean the car.

“I gaslit my professor into giving me points on an answer that was completely wrong. I feel no shame.

”I looked up maid outfits for men once. Just to get an idea of what it looks like.” Alex looks down, Henry can sense the embarrassment, but Henry squeezes his hand as he lets out a breathy laugh. Alex looks up through his eyelashes and Henry’s breath catches in his throat.

He’s so in love he could die.

“I may or may not have broken my lacrosse co-captains’ foot. Definitely got me to be captain for a while so I’m not exactly complaining.

“I caught a pigeon once, not really a secret, just a really fucking cool fun fact about me.” Alex grins, making Henry laugh loudly, unapologetically.

“And I realized a week or so again that I’m bisexual.” Henry’s heart stutters when Alex lifts Henry’s hand and kisses his knuckles, “and I’m in love with you.”

“I’m-“

“Not finished sweetheart.” Alex winks at him, “I’m sorry Hen. I’m sorry I ran off, I’m sorry I stopped you with that guy, I’m sorry I ran off to be with my family. The emergency was, well, my sexuality crisis. Nora called me a complete fucking idiot and said I should’ve seen it sooner.

“And she’s right. I think I felt something for you when you snapped back at me about the pilot not telling us straight out that we were going to die. At the time I was unsure what it was. Then we met, and I learned more about you, and I opened up to you and it was just… so easy.

“I wasn’t sure why, but the day you didn’t show I was so worried. It was so unlike you, and seeing you like that at your apartment broke my heart. And I didn’t know why or what to do but I knew I never wanted you to be alone during those times. I didn’t know why I just wanted to be the one to hold you during those times.

“I’m so sorry I ran out.” Alex furrows his eyebrows as his eyes look down at their hands.

“Alex, it’s okay-“

“No, it’s not Henry.” Alex gives him a pointed look, “I should’ve been a big boy and talked to you. But, truthfully, I didn’t know what I could’ve said. I was so confused by the way I was feeling. You kissed me, and my god H, I knew when you pulled away, that I never wanted you to pull away from any other kiss with me. I wanted to kiss you forever. And that was confusing.

“Then that night at the bar,” Alex frowns, “I was so in denial with my sexuality and feelings that I flirted with that bartender to just get you out of my head, even if you were right beside me. Maybe it was my ego,”

“Probably was,” Henry teases making Alex huff.

“Shut it Fox,” He retorts with a grin, “Then you disappeared from my peripheral, and I panicked. I looked around the bar, every corner to find you, then I went outside and saw that guy kissing you. A guy that wasn’t me. I was so jealous.

“I didn’t even know what I was doing when I pulled him off you. You had every right to say what you said. I was in the wrong there, but I couldn’t stand seeing you with someone else. And when you left, and I realized I never wanted to see you with any else beside me ever again. I panicked, and called Nora and June, making them fly here and disappeared into my house until now.”

Alex finally took a breath, his eyes searching Henry’s. Henry stayed silent, so many thoughts racing through his mind, making his unable to make a coherent sentence.

“Okay, please say something,” Alex laughs nervously, “Negative or positive, anything. I don’t mind. I feel like if you don’t, I might have to jump out of the plane.” Alex jokes but it falls flat as he starts to pull his hand out of Henry’s, avoiding his eyes.

“Wait, no,” Henry quickly blurts, making Alex look back at him as he grabs Alex’s wrist to keep their hands locked together. “I- I’m sorry. I’m just processing.”

“Oh,” Alex sighs, “Right.”

“Okay,” Henry finally breathes after a pregnant pause, “Alright, yes, okay,”

“Those are all way to say yes, just doesn’t help me understand.” Alex laughs again, just as nervous as the first time.

“Do you truly think I’m going to reject you, Alex?” Is what Henry finally lands on after another long moment. “Alex, I kissed you. Alex when have ever given you the feeling that don’t have feelings for you?”

“I mean, you did go off on me in an alley in downtown.” Alex shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

Henry shakes his head. “Because I was just as jealous Alex. I had kissed you a week before, wrestled with my feelings for you for weeks, then had to watch as you flirted with a woman. I was frustrated that we hadn’t talked about our kiss and that I couldn’t do it again.

“Christ, Alex, I’ve had feelings for you the first day we worked together. I want to be with you. I want to be with you so badly that I’ve been losing my mind all week because I was scared you were going to fire me and kick me out of the country.” Henry explains, both hands holding Alex’s.

“We are both fucking idiots.” Alex laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. Henry laughs with a nod.

“We really are.” Henry sighs.

Alex grabs Henry by the belt loop and drags him inside the hotel room he reserved. The door slams behind them and Alex shoves Henry against it roughly, his head hitting the door. He doesn’t even care about the throb in the back of his head as Alex stands just a breath away from him. Alex’s hands stay on his hips, his thumbs digging into his waist.

His breath fans over Henry’s face and his eyes are locked on Henry’s. The fondness that had been there since the plane dissolved into something else. Hunger, desire, want. Alex’s soft lips are less than an inch from Henry’s, and Henry holds back everything in him that is screaming to close the gap between them.

“Can I kiss you, sweetheart?” Alex whispers into the silence between them, his eyes flicking down to Henry’s lips. Henry’s eyes almost roll back at the name.

“Please.” Henry whispers.

Alex leans forward, placing his lips softly against Henry’s. Henry’s eyes flutter close at the feeling, his brain screaming finally before it goes static as he feels Alex’s tongue swipe across his bottom lip. He opens his mouth and feels a zip of electricity go down his spine as he feels Alex’s tongue against his.

Henry’s hand reaches up and grabs the back of Alex’s head, grabbing his curls at the base of them. Alex makes a small noise that Henry swallows down before the soft kisses turn into something rougher. Alex’s body becomes flush against his, chest pressed against chest, hips pressed hard against hips. Alex’s hands roam up his sides and over his back as their kiss gets sloppier, dirtier.

Teeth clink and the obscene sound of wet kisses fills the hotel as Henry walks Alex backwards toward the bed. His hands touching Alex anywhere he can because he finally can.

Alex’s knees hit the bed and he drops into a sitting position, Henry climbing onto him and straddling his thighs as he moves his hands up and holds onto Alex’s face. Henry feels like he can’t breath but he refuses to pull away from Alex’s soft, addicting lips. He moves and grabs his hair again, craving that sound Alex made before as he tugs on Alex’s curls.

After almost passing out, they finally pull away from the kiss to catch their breath. Alex places a kiss onto the underside of Henry’s jaw before nipping at the skin there. He continues to kiss down Henry’s neck, holding him there with a hand on the back of Henry’s neck. A noise escapes from Henry’s throat as Alex’s nips at the skin under his ear, making him grind his hips down against Alex’s.

They both let out a small gasp at the friction of their hard dick’s press hard against each other. Alex’s hands slide to the top button Henry’s shirt. He pulls away for a second, looking up at Henry.

He looks beautiful. His lips swollen and red, wet with spit. His pupils blown wide with need, only small sliver of his true eye color showing around the edges. He has a soft look on his face that makes Henry’s stomach flip.

Henry is so in love.

“May I?” Alex asks, his voice small, and Henry wants to moan at the idea that Alex wants his consent.

Henry nods eagerly. “Yes.”

Alex slowly unbuttons each button before pushing the shirt off of Henry’s shoulder. Alex pauses, his fingers glide against Henry’s skin tentatively, his eyes roaming over Henry’s chest and stomach.

“Gorgeous.” Alex whispers as his fingers glide against Henry’s collarbones.

“Alex.” Henry whispers back.

“Hm?” Alex hums, his eyes meeting Henry’s again.

“Kiss me.”

Alex immediately obeys, leaning and catching Henry’s lips. His teeth sink into Henry’s bottom lip as his large hands up and down henry’s back.

After a while, henry takes off alex’s shirt, only breaking the kiss when he has to pull it over his head. He runs his hands down Alex’s chest and abs, groaning as they flex under his fingers. He grinds down again, making Alex moan into his mouth.

Alex wraps his arm around Henry’s waist and flips them. Henry bounces against the mattress as Alex presses him down against the mattress with his body weight. His thigh comes up between Henry’s leg and Henry’s hip jerk up against the friction.

His cock is uncomfortably hard and he’s sure Alex feels the same. His hands move quick and he dips his finger into the front of Alex’s sweatpants. He can feel the coarse hair that trails down from Alex’s navel into the front of his pants, and he revels at the feeling.

Alex makes a noise into Henry’s mouth and starts to pull off his pants without breaking their kiss. Henry helps him, pushing them down his body. Alex pulls away and rolls onto his back to get them off his legs.

Henry watches him, seeing Alex’s cock hard in his boxers. There is a wet spot on them from where his dick has been leaking pre come.

Henry wants to taste him.

“Waiting on you, baby.” Alex grins as he looks at Henry. A shiver shoots up Henry’s spine and he feels like he could come from Alex just purring that pet name over and over in his ear. Alex notices, because he nips and kisses below Henry’s ear and whispers, “you like that, baby?”

Henry pops the top button on his pants and Alex laughs hotly in his ear before helping Henry out of his pants. Alex pauses when he sees how hard Henry is and looks up at him like his mouth is watering.

Alex starts kissing his neck again before slowly making his way down Henry’s body. His tongue flicks over Henry’s nipple and Henry’s hips jerk up as a moan escapes Henry’s lips.

Alex keeps going, but now has his hands on Henry’s hips, holding them against the bed with his fingers under the waistband of Henry’s boxers.

“Can I?” Alex asks, his voice muffled as he continues to kiss down Henry’s happy trail.

“Christ,” Henry says breathlessly, “please love.”

Alex chuckles deeply against Henry’s skin before pulling off his boxers, his cock slapping obscenely against his stomach. Henry’s hips roll at the feeling of the cold air against it.

“Fuck.” Alex groans, his eyes locked on Henry’s dick. Henry squirms a little under Alex’s thumbs digging into his hip and his gaze. “I need to taste you H, can I taste you?”

Alex sounds so desperate that Henry might come on the spot.

Henry nods, but Alex still isn’t looking at him. “Yes.” Henry says, his voice already sounding fucked even though he hasn’t been touched.

Alex swallows thickly. “I haven’t done this before so,” Alex’s eyes flick up at him, “so let me know if it’s fucking shit yeah?”

“I’m sure it won’t be-“ Alex wraps his lips around the head of Henry’s cock before he can finish his sentence, “Christ Alex,” Henry moans, “W-warn me next time- fuck.”

Alex’s pulls his lips off with a loud pop and smiles lazily, a string of spit attached to his lips and Henry’s dick, “I did baby, you just weren’t listening.”

Henry is so fucking turned on he might actually go insane.

Alex wraps his lips around the head of Henry’s dick again and hallows his cheeks as he swallows him down, bobbing his head and using his hand to get the part he can’t reach. His eyes are closed as he focuses on making Henry feel incredible.

“Fucking Christ, shit Alex, fuck-“ Henry moans loudly, his hand grabbing the back on Alex’s head and pulling at the curls. Alex groans around his cock and Henry’s hip buck at the sound.

“Fuck- sorry,” Henry quickly apologizes when Alex grabs his hips. Alex looks up at him through wet eyelashes before pulling his head back so just Henry’s head is in his mouth. Henry pauses as his mouth drops open, “Did you- did you like that?”

Alex nods, and Henry’s eyes roll back at the thought of fucking Alex’s mouth. He keeps his hand holding Alex’s curls tightly as he moves his hips, fucking into Alex’s mouth slowly as he moans obscenities and revels in the warmth and wetness of Alex’s mouth. Alex gags only once when Henry gets a little carried away and pushes in deeper than he intended.

Henry feels his stomach curling with his orgasm building up and he stops. He pulls at Alex’s hair to pull him off of him and Alex does with a confused look.

“If we keep going, I’m going to come, and I really want you to…” Henry trails off as Alex climbs up his body and hovers over him. He closes his eyes as Alex leans in, but he never kisses Henry.

“Want to what, baby?” Alex whispers, his lips brushing against Henry’s.

“I really want you to fuck me.” Henry whispers as he opens his eyes. “And I want to come with you inside me.”

Alex freezes. “A-are you sure?”

“I’m positive.” Henry nods, watching Alex carefully.

“I- I’ve never done that with a…” Alex trails off, swallowing.

“I can guide you.” Henry assures him. Alex nods slowly, before quickly nodding again.

“Okay,” Alex says, “Okay, yes, I really want to fuck you.”

Henry grins into the kiss Alex gives him. The kiss is soft, intimate, and nothing like Henry has ever had before. This whole experience is something Henry has never experienced before.

The kiss picks back up into something filthy and at some point Alex’s boxers are off and hanging on his ankle as their cocks rub against each other, their pre-come making it wet and loud.

After a while of making out, Henry has to pull away because he feels like he may come just from Alex’s lips on his. He walks and grabs his backpack, zipping it open and rummaging through it for his travel lube and condoms.

“You always prepared?” Alex laughs when Henry throws them onto the bed.

“You never know when you get to have sex with the love of your life.” Henry jokes, shrugging as he straddles Alex. Alex runs his hands up Henry’s thighs as he stares up at him.

“How do you want to do this?” Alex asks, his voice slightly shaky. Henry leans down and kisses him softly, trying to calm his nerves.

“Hey, it’s okay, we don’t have to.” Henry whispers as he pulls away only slightly.

“no-“ Alex interjects quickly, “I want to. Just, tell me what to do.”

Henry nods and kisses him gently. He grabs the lube and opens it, squeezing a bit onto his fingers. He rubs them together before reaching behind himself and presses the pad of his finger against his hole. He gasps softly, dropping his head back as he slides just the tip of his finger inside himself, his eyes rolling back as he feels the familiar sting.

“Fuck, baby you look absolutely stunning.” Alex groans from below him. Henry smiles before his mouth drops open, his eyebrows furrowed as he pushes further into himself. The sound of his finger moving in and out fills the silence, his quick breathes and moans breaking through the quiet of the hotel.

He hears the cap of the lube pop open and Henry pauses, picking up his head and looking down at Alex who is rubbing his lube covered fingers together. Henry grinds down at the sight, Alex’s eyelids low as he stares up at Henry’s flushed body.

“Let me.” Alex whispers, sitting up. His free arm wraps around Henry’s waist as his other reaches behind Henry, pushing his own hand out of the way and teasing Henry’s hole with his long fingers.

“just- slow.” Henry gasps out as Alex presses the first knuckle of his finger in.

Alex fingers him slowly, only pushing in another knuckle when Henry begs him to, then his finger is moving in and out of Henry’s ass fully as Henry groans and grinds down.

“Another, p-please.” Henry begs, and Alex pushes another finger in, and Henry feels on fire.

The burn of being stretched open makes Henry grind hard down on Alex’s fingers. “S-shit. Fuck.” He moans when Alex curls them slightly, pressing against his bundle of nerves and making Henry’s hips stutter.

Alex’s eyes have been locked on his face the entire time, his mouth hanging open in awe as he pulls Henry apart with just his fingers.

“One more, please Alex.”

Henry cries out as Alex presses in a third finger, scissoring them slightly when Henry tells him to. He cries out every time Alex’s fingers brush the spot and then he’s ready.

“O-okay. Please, I need you inside me.” Henry begs. “Now.”

Alex nods quickly, pulling his fingers out slowly and wiping them on the bed. Henry shivers at the feeling of the loss. Alex blindly grabs beside them, his eyes locked on Henry’s as he tries to find the condom. He finally grabs it and opens it with his teeth, making Henry laugh breathlessly.

He passes the condom to Henry and moans when Henry rolls it onto his leaking cock.

Alex squeezes his dick at the base once it’s all the way on, and Henry shuffles forward. He reaches behind him and replaces Alex’s hand, lining up his cock with his hole.

“Okay?” Henry asks, pausing as he watches Alex.

“Okay.” Alex agrees with a small nod.

Henry sinks onto Alex’s cock slowly, making them both groan loudly when Henry’s finally sits completely on Alex’s lap. Henry pauses, breathing slowly through the burn and watches Alex’s face. Henry watches as multiple facial expressions cross Alex’ face before it settles on his eyes squeezed shut tightly with his mouth in an ‘o’ and his head hanging back. He holds tightly on Henry’s hips and Henry prays that he has bruises on them tomorrow.

“F-fuck,” Alex moans, “Y-you, fuck, Hen you’re so fucking tight.”

Henry bites his lip at the sound of Alex’s voice raspy, rough, and completely wrecked. He stays still, even though every nerve in his body is screaming at him to move.

After another long moment, Alex’s hip jerk up, making them both gasp at the feeling. Henry can’t stop himself now, lifting up slightly before dropping back down onto Alex’s lap. They both moan loudly, and Henry keeps going, bouncing up and down on Alex’s dick.

Alex’s fingers continue to dig into Henry’s hips as he whispers, “fuck, shit hen, motherfucker. God, you feel so fucking good baby.”

Henry drops onto his lap harder at the name, throwing his head back and moaning loudly when Alex hits his prostate.

“R-right there. Fucking shit- Ple- please.” Henry cries out, his orgasm slowly curling in his stomach. “fu- fuck me.”

“Such a dirty mouth on you baby,” Alex laughs breathlessly, his hips snapping up and meeting Henry’s in the middle, “You would talk- fuck- to a senator like that?”

“f-fuck.” Henry replies in a low voice. Alex chuckles deeply as he keeps thrusting up into Henry. “I- I’m, fuck, Alex, I’m going to come- please.”

Alex’s hips stutter as he continues to thrust up, “Come for me baby.” Alex groans out. He lets go out one of Henry’s hips and grabs his cock, moving his hand at the same speed of his hips.

Henry sees stars behind his eye lids when he squeezes them shut and his orgasm washes over him, moaning Alex’s name and making him laugh breathlessly as he spurts white, hot, and sticky come over Alex’s chest. Alex pushes into him, once, twice, before he follows Henry and groans lowly, spurting into the condom. Henry feels his cock pulse inside him as he comes, Alex’s eyebrows furrowed and his mouth wide open as he breaths heavy and moans through it.

Henry pulls off his dick slowly after a minute, wincing at the slight sting before he flops down beside Alex trying to catch his breath.

They breathe heavily beside each other for a minute or so before Alex pulls off the condom, tying it and getting up to throw it into the trash can in the bathroom. He comes back out, wiping down his chest with a wet hand towel before he wipes Henry softly, making him squirm at his sensitivity.

Alex throws it somewhere in the room before flopping back down beside Henry. He raises his hands and folds them behind his head. Henry looks at him and smiles, leaning and kissing his bicep softly before scooting closer to him and feeling the heat coming off of him.

“So,” Alex huffs, turning his head and peering at Henry with heavy eyelids.

“So,” Henry mimics him with a smile on his face.

“That’s the laugh you do when you come.” Alex grins.

“Oh, piss off, you menace.” Henry laughs, shoving Alex before sitting up, “We should really shower.”

“In a couple minutes sweetheart,” Alex moans, grabbing Henry and pulling him down to his chest.

After twenty minutes of getting their bearings and lazily making out with hand jobs in the shower, they curl up under the hotel covers.

“So, what’s the plan? I leave first in the morning, then you later?” Henry asks, shifting to his side to face Alex.

“What? What do you mean?” Alex asks when he rolls over to look at Henry, furrowing his eyebrows.

“I mean, you probably don’t want people seeing us leave together so-“

“What? Hen, no.” Alex interrupts him, “I don’t care if people see us. I talked to my mom about how I could come out when I realized I was bisexual. I’m not going to hide it. I’m not going to hide you. You deserve more than that.”

“Oh.” Henry says because it’s the only thing he can think of.

“I’ve already got my statement ready. I just had to talk to you first.” Alex tells him, reaching up his hand and sweeping Henry’s hair from his forehead.

“Thank god I was coming to Dallas then, huh?” Henry laughs before panic sets in, “shit I was supposed to see Miguel, what time is it?” Henry asks, sitting up quickly.

Alex grabs his arm, pulling him back down and into a soft kiss.

“Yeah, uh,” Alex chuckles, “that was actually me.”

Henry furrows his eyebrows and pulls his head back to meet Alex’s eyes without going cross-eyed. “What? No, it wasn’t. I got a text from a woman. I have your number.”

“You don’t have my moms though.” Alex points out, smirking.

“So it was your idea to get me to come to Dallas? On a plane.” Henry asks, trying to connect the dots.

“Yes.”

“So, you could confess your secrets like I did and tell me you love me?” Henry wonders aloud.

“Yup.” Alex pops the ‘p’.

“That’s so sappy Alex. Oh my god!” Henry laughs, earning himself a smack with a pillow from Alex.

“Shut up!” Alex laughs, covering his face with his hands. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“oh, sure,” Henry drags out the vows, “it was ‘June’s’” He says with air quotes.

“It was!”

Henry grins and grabs Alex’s hands to pull from his face. He leans down and kisses Alex softly, breathing out when he kisses back.

“I love it. And I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“I think we both know that’s not true, love.” Henry replies with another kiss.

“Good luck trying to one-up my idea of confessing on a plane.” Alex says against his lips.

“The truth comes out, finally. Thank you, senator.”

“I love it when you call me that.” Alex grins and kisses him hard.

And Henry…

Henry has never been more grateful for air travel.

Chapter Text

6 months later.

Senator Alex Claremont-Diaz issued a statement last night, via Twitter. The statement read:

“I am and have always been an American. A Texan at that. I have always been proud of who I am as a bi-racial, bi-lingual man who has the heart of every Texan like you, in my mind when I do my job as a senator. When I help pass a bill that affects you, and every American.

I am proud of the bills I’ve passed that have helped the minorities of our nation. Those who have come to our shores and wanted safety, those who have come here seeking a better life, those who want to marry the same sex, those who realize gender is a spectrum or identify with no gender, and those who identify with their heart and not the sex they were born with. I support human rights.

I will always support human rights.

But, America, there is another truth I have not told you. A truth that took me way too long to realize. A truth that may change your mind about me, but something I want you to know.

I have fallen in love with a person, and that person happens to be a man. A man that has taken my heart and my life and made it a thousand times better. He has changed my life in an incredible way, and I am glad to be able to tell you on my own terms, and on my own timeline. Many others don’t get that privilege.

I will fight for everyone, no matter what, and this does not change anything for me. And I truly hope this does not change anything for you.

Thank you.”

Senator Alex Claremont-Diaz, after his statement, posted a picture with him and his boyfriend, and his autobiography author (We are obsessed!), on Instagram with the most Alex Claremont-Diaz caption.

[Picture: Alex behind a sitting Henry, Alex’s arms wrapped around his shoulders, and kissing Henry on the cheek. Henry blushing hard and has a soft smile on his face. Both lit up by pink and purple lights.]

Caption: “If you think I was going to hide this man away, you were severely mistaken. He is the most beautiful thing on this earth. Besides me, of course.”

We ship them!

Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor is a first-time writer from England, coming all the way across the pond to write about Senator Claremont-Diaz in his Autobiography “The Senator America needed” that comes out later this year.

Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor is the grandson of Mary Mountchristen-Windsor, the infamous writer of “My Dearest”, the murder mystery/dystopian love story from the 70’s that is a Oscar nominated movie and has 3 cast members that went on to win numerous Oscars.

Mr. Fox has since dropped the last two names and is currently writing for Miguel Ramos, and has already announced that he is planning to release his own book that is a LGBTQ+ rom-com.

We 100% believe that it will be a New York best seller, and we can’t wait to read what he’s says, “has been waiting in my computer and is ready to see the light of day.”

These two are truly the pinnacle of romance and love and we are already planning their wedding in our heads!

 

 

1 year later

A book flops down on the coffee table in front of him, some of the corners of the pages bent.

“That is a sin to all authors, you do realize that, right?” Henry asks incredulously, moving his laptop and grabbing the book. He unfolds the pages with a shake of his head and a small smile on his face.

“Sweetheart,” Alex huffs, flopping down beside him on the couch and leaning his head on Henry’s shoulder with a grin, “how am I going to remember my favorite pages if you unfold all of them?”

“You’ll manage dear,” Henry replies, smoothing out the pages with nimble fingers.

Alex plucks the book from his hands and Henry makes a protesting noise. Alex laughs and holds it away from Henry’s reach when he goes to grab it.

“Nope.” Alex grins, popping the ‘p’ as he leans close to Henry’s face, keeping an inch between them. His eyes flick down to Henry’s lips and Henry’s heart jumps.

“You know,” Henry whispers, his breath fanning over Alex’s lips, “If you want to date an author, you have to learn the right etiquette for books,” He leans closer so his lips brush Alex’s, “And respect them.”

“I love when you talk sexy to me.” Alex chuckles before closing the distance between them.

Henry’s eyes flutter closed as he leans into the kiss, his hand coming up and cupping Alex’s cheek, holding him close. He opens his mouth when he feels Alex’s tongue swipe against his bottom lip. Alex’s tongue slides against his and he lets out a low moan. He moves, straddling Alex on the couch and holding his face with both hands. Alex’s head is back as he kisses him, and he wraps his arms around Henry’s waist as he grins into the kiss.

Henry lets go of his face with one hand and quickly grabs the book in Alex’s hand before jumping off his lap and moving to the other side of the room, laughing loudly.

“You played me?” Alex asks, his mouth hanging open.

“Don’t ruin my books!” Henry replies through a laugh.

Alex pouts. “Baby, please come back here.” Alex whines and Henry hesitates, “leave the goddamn book Henry. I just want you.”

Henry laughs again but drops the book on the coffee table as he walks back over to Alex. He drops onto his lap and puts his hand through Alex’s curls, tugging a little and making Alex gasp quietly.

Henry grins. “How much do you want me?” He asks before he leans in and presses a soft kiss to his lips, pulling away and making Alex chase his lips.

Alex looks up at him through his lashes and grabs his ass, giving it a rough squeeze. He bucks his hips and Henry moans softly at the feeling of Alex’s hard cock.

“That tell you?” Alex asks in a low, raspy voice.

Henry nods quickly and kisses him hard, tasting a little bit of blood in his mouth from the force. Alex wraps one hand around the underside of his thigh and one around his waist and picks him up, not breaking their kiss. Henry wraps his legs around Alex and moans loudly. Alex swallows it, smiling into their kiss. He walks them toward their room and drops Henry on the bed but keeps their lips connected as he hovers above him.

He pulls away a little and Henry chases his lips. Alex puts one hand on his shoulder and pushes him back against the bed.

“Stay there.” Alex commands, and Henry agrees with a small whimper as Alex kisses, licks and bites his neck.

Henry comes so hard that night that he sees stars behind his eyelids and Alex coaxes the shivers out of him for an hour after.

2 years later.

“Henry Fox Everybody!” Rafael Luna, infamous late-night host, introduces him. Henry smiles weakly as he walks out from behind the curtains, waving toward the cheering and whistling crowd. He sees a sign that says ‘Henry, get in me’ before it is promptly torn from the hands of the blue-haired girl.

Henry sits down on the red couch, unbuttoning his blazer which earns him a louder cheer. He feels his face heat up and he shakes his head with a light chuckle. Rafael sits in his chair behind the long, shiny, wooden desk and the crowd starts to settle.

“Mr. Fox. What a pleasure.” Rafael says once the studio is quiet, and Henry smiles gratefully.

“Thank you for having me Mr. Luna.” Henry replies.

Rafael laughs. “Please, call me Raf.”

“Only if you call me Henry.” Henry shoots back, earning a light laugh from the audience.

“Alright, Henry. Welcome on. We’re here to talk about your new book, Of Ink and Pen. This book reached the number one spot within a matter of days and is a New York best seller already. This is one of the first LGBTQ+ books I’ve read where it feels real and authentic, with sex scenes that are more than just sex and a love story that makes me, and everybody else, melt.” Raf explains, “And if you haven’t read it, you are truly missing out. Tell me, Henry, what was the inspiration behind this?”

Henry shrugs. “Well, it truly started just because I was being forced into the closet and this was a way to escape,” He starts, “That’s where the idea of the main character, Frances, comes from. In the book he’s hidden in the closet, writing a book about a heterosexual couple to not draw any eyes,

“I think the idea of Adrian came from this dream guy I had made up in my head back when I was younger, he was the guy I dreamed of marrying. The way he looked, the way he acted, he was this perfect man that I would never be able to be with.”

“But you are with him, aren’t you?” Raf interrupts, looking at him with a wide grin.

“What do you mean?” Henry asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

Raf points at him and looks at the crowd with a laugh before looking back at Henry. “How sweet. You didn’t have a certain someone in your mind, a certain senator?”

“Oh,” Henry replies before chuckling, “I did make Adrian before meeting Alex, but I did get lucky.” Henry replies with red cheeks.

“So, tell me Henry, this love story is set in 90’s New York. Why?”

“I’ve always love New York. And I think the reason I set it in the 90’s because it wasn’t as talked about, being gay. I think it gives the angst and the journey I was looking for within this relationship between Adrian and Frances. I think Adrian’s discovery of his sexuality and what that meant was an important part of the novel.

Plus, the reaction he got from his family, friends, and the internalized homophobia was an incredibly significant to the dynamic of their relationship. I don’t know, I just, felt compelled to tell this story that had come from situations in my life and hopefully help reach out to those going through similar situations and writing it in the 90’s opened eyes to how much the LGBTQ+ movement hasn’t come that far and yet it also has.” Henry finally takes a breath.

Raf is watching him carefully, his eyes slightly wet and a soft look on his face. “Beautiful.”

Henry smiles shyly. “Thank you.”

“So, now Henry…”
                                                                  

“Alex?” Henry calls out into the quiet apartment after he shut the door behind him, “Love?”

He doesn’t hear any movement from any rooms, and he furrows his eyebrows as he sets down his overnight bag onto the couch. He walks toward their bedroom and opens the door, seeing it’s covered in rose petals and the lights are dimmed.

“What the hell?” Henry whispers as he steps into the room. There are balloons connected to the back of the bed, spelling out ‘congrats’ and rose petals on the bed that write ‘I love you’. He looks around and sees a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice on the dresser, with two champagne glasses next to it.

“Surprise!” A voice shouts as the closet door swings open.

“Christ!” Henry yelps, spinning around while grabbing his chest, his heart beats rapidly, “Alex! You scared the hell out of me! Don’t do that!”

Alex laughs with his head thrown back. “Aw baby! Did I scare you?” He asks innocently as he walks over toward Henry and wraps his arms around his waist when he gets to him. He gives him a kiss on the forehead. “I just wanted to surprise you.”

“You did a bloody good job at that.” Henry huffs out, his arms snaking around Alex’s neck. “What is all this?”

“I’m so proud of you.”

“For what?” Henry blushes.

“The book. The tv interview. For letting me love you for over two years.” Alex shrugs, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

“God, I love you.” Henry sighs, leaning in and kissing him softly on the lips. His breath fanning against Henry’s cheek as he sighs out of his nose.

“Surprise!” A few more voices yell into the room, making Henry jump back from Alex with another unmanly scream.

“Christ!” Henry huffs, whirling around to see June, Pez, Nora, and Bea standing in the doorway, “Where were you all bloody hiding!?”

“Well, I was under the table with Pez, Bea was in the storage closet and Nora was under your bag that you set on the couch.” June explains, trying to hide a giggle behind her hand.

“Yeah, thanks for setting it on my face.” Nora chuckles, “How you didn’t see me, I will never know. You must be blind.”

“Well, he is dating Alex.” June adds, getting a soft ‘hey’ from Alex.

Henry kisses Alex on the cheek before they all walk to them and pull them into a hug. Henry feels his heart flip and feels a lump in his throat.

He’s never felt so loved before.

3 years later.

“Alex?” Henry asks, making Alex turn around and look at him, “What’s all this? I got your note, ‘Meet me below bat bridge and wear something sexy ;)”

“And you wore something very sexy.” Alex grins, pulling Henry into a long, deep kiss. Henry melts into the touch. “I rented this canoe thing for us, hop in.”

“Not sure I understand what’s going on.” Henry looks at him skeptically but takes his hand and steps on the boat. It rocks slightly but he sits down.

“We hadn’t been on a date in a while, I thought watching the bats from below would be romantic.” Alex shrugs as he steps on the boat, making it rock some more and Henry white knuckles the sides of it.

“Oh,” Henry smiles softly, looking at him so fondly, “I love it.”

Alex hums and pushes off the riverbed, looking behind him as he rows both paddles.

“You know, I think the first thing I remember saying to you was ‘I didn’t know we had a maid.’” Alex starts and Henry chuckles.

“Among other things, yes.” Henry agrees, earning him a fond eye roll from Alex.

“Don’t interrupt me sweetheart,” Alex shakes his head, his eyes look somewhere above Henry’s head then move down to meet his eyes. “Turns out we do have a maid, but only for my house.”

Henry blushes and puts his head in his hands with a groan. Alex stops rowing and grabs his hands, pulling them away from his face.

“It was hot. I promise.” Alex assures him, “and I remember thinking when you I saw you again after the plane that day, ‘wow, this guy is going to be a big problem for me’ and he was. Is. But in the best way possible,

Henry, when you kissed me, I knew I wanted you. I wanted to be with you. I wanted to be yours forever. I wanted to be with you through it all, up and downs, bad days and good days, everything. I knew I wanted you forever when you yelled at me in an alley because I cockblocked you,” Alex laughs, “I knew I wanted to be yours forever when I saw how much your dad meant to you, and how much writing meant to you.”

“Alex…”

“Not done baby.” Alex winks, “Henry, I knew I loved you when you bantered with me in my office over Shiners. I have loved you continuously for 3 years. And I want to love you for the rest of my years.”

The sound of hundreds of bats flying makes Henry looks over his shoulder towards the bridge. On it, a large sign is being held over the railing by Nora, June, Pez, and Bea.

‘WILL YOU MARRY ME’ is displayed on the banner in large black letters. Henry feels tears welling up in his eyes before he looks back at Alex with wide eyes.

Alex is holding open a red velvet box with a silver ring that glistens in the sunset. Henry covers his mouth with a shaky hand, a few tears slowly trickling down his cheeks.

“Alex…” He whispers.

“Henry Fox. I want to love you and make you happy for the rest of our days. Please, can I? Will you marry me sweetheart?”

Henry nods slowly, biting his bottom lip. “Yes,” He whispers, before rushing forward and wrapping his arms around Alex’s neck. The boat rocks and flips, both of them tumbling into the water. Henry doesn’t let go of Alex as they both emerge, coughing up a little water.

“What was that sweetheart?” Alex asks with a grin, holding up the box and opening it again. Henry thanks god the ring didn’t fall out.

“Oh my god, 1000% Yes.” Henry laughs, before leaning in and giving Alex a deep, passionate kiss.

Cheers are heard from the bridge and other people on the river as Alex slides the ring onto Henry’s finger. Henry stares down at it before looking back up at Alex and laughs wetly, pulling him into a long hug.

8 months later, Henry and Alex have the most talked about wedding of the year.

2 years later, Henry and Alex adopt a little girl that they name Maeve.

3 years later, Henry releases another book, which is later turned into a movie that wins an Oscar.

But for right now, Henry is completely, and perfectly, and incandescently happy.