Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Before she is anything else, Ellen is a mother.

She's been hit with accusations of being unfeeling or uncaring about her kids, of putting her career first, and more than once by June, of using her kids as political props. But before she was the President, before she was the Lometa Longshot, before she was the Speaker, before all of it, she was a mom.

And that's what keeps her up tonight,  even more than any geopolitical complications that might arise from this. Because all she knows is that her son left DC hellbent on a mission to London at 6 am yesterday and then at 6 pm she got a message that he was coming back. There was no information beyond that, but she's not stupid; Alex has been moping all week until today and now he's coming back within a couple of hours of when he got to London. So she waits, unable to sleep, flipping mindlessly through a book in the treaty room, keeping an ear out for Alex. 

It's approaching 7:30 am when she hears soft footfalls on the staircase and she jumps up out of her seat and flings open the door to see her son, blinking behind extremely smudged glasses, his curls askew – he's probably been tugging anxiously again , she thinks. The sound of the door has him looking up at her and she can see the puffiness and red rims of his eyes. "Sugar… " she whispers, holding her arms out. 

Alex's eyes fill with tears as he drops his bags and runs into her embrace. "Momma," he sobs, and Ellen's heart constricts even more, because Alex hasn't called her Momma in years – it's Mom normally, Ma when he's trying to be a little shit, occasionally Mother or even Madam President when he's annoyed with her. But the use of Momma brings Ellen to her knees as she lets Alex collapse on her, hiccuping and trying to catch his breath. "I got you, sugar," she croons softly in his ear. "Momma's right here."

Alex swallows and looks up at her. "He didn't want me, Momma. I was ready to fight and he just… fuck, " His voice breaks and he buries his face back into her shoulder, soaking her pajama top with his tears. She just barely hears the murmur of “It was only me who felt forever.” 

Oh my baby, she thinks sadly to herself. All the Secret Service in the world can't protect you from this. 

Alex turns away from him, falling back on his heels like he’s been slapped. “Fine,” he finally says. “You know what? Fucking fine. I’ll leave.” 

“Good.” 

“I’ll leave,” he says, and he turns back and leans in, “as soon as you tell me to leave.”

“Alex.” 

He’s in Henry’s face now. If he’s getting his heart broken tonight, he’s sure as hell going to make Henry have the guts to do it right. “Tell me you’re done with me. I’ll get back on the plane. That’s it. And you can live here in your tower and be miserable forever, write a whole book of sad fucking poems about it. Whatever. Just say it.”

Henry averts his face to the side, and Alex watches as his eyes catch sight of the signet ring. Taking a deep breath, Henry closes his eyes. When he opens them and turns to face Alex again, his eyes have a steely determinedness to them. “You should leave."

Shit. That's not what Alex wanted. He was hoping the ultimatum would force Henry to realize he loved Alex enough to fight. "That's not really what you want."

Henry takes a step back. "Yes actually. This is what I want. This… dalliance is no longer of value to either of us. It would be best for you to leave.” 

"Dalliance?!" Alex bursts out. "That's what you're going to call it, to make yourself feel better? A dalliance?!" 

Henry shrugs, though Alex can see the tension in his frame. "I suppose it doesn't matter what we call it. The only thing that's of consequence right now is the fact that it's over." He turns and picks his ring up from the mantle, sliding it back onto his finger. “You are dismissed.”

Alex feels his heart shatter. “Henry…” he whispers. Never once, even before this past year, has he heard Henry use such a cold tone towards him. “Please, don’t do this.”

Henry doesn’t even react; he simply walks over to the bedroom door and opens it, gesturing for Alex to go through. “I said, you are dismissed."

Alex tries one last time. "Henry… please. Baby."

Henry closes his eyes and shivers. Alex thinks he might have him. But again, a quick swallow and reset of his shoulders, then Henry is looking back at him. "Please have a safe trip back to America, Alexander."

Fuck.

Alex gathers what’s left of his pride and walks over, stopping by the door to take one last look at his Henry, before he shuts himself away to be a puppet for his family. He can feel his eyes filling with tears again. "For your sake," he whispers, "I hope you're able to find the strength to fight for yourself one day." He steps through the doorway and turns back to Henry, giving a perfunctory bow. “Your Royal Highness.” And leaving his heart on the floor of Henry’s bedroom, Alex walks out.

The day after he gets back from England, Alex wakes up and makes a to-do list. There are too many thoughts and emotions flowing in his brain and he needs to get them down on paper so he can make sense of all of it and come up with a game plan. 

1. Give himself exactly 48 hours to let himself feel things and process the heartbreak before getting back up and on with his life. Trying to force himself to get over this is unhealthy but he can't linger. There's too much to do. So two days to get out the emotions before getting back to work
2. Check his LSAT scores. He got the email that they're available but with the DNC and then the drama with the lake house, he hasn't had time to look. But it's time to check and then start thinking about if/where he wants to go.
3. Start doing campaign work again. He doesn't know if his mom can rehire him after the statement they already put out, but there's volunteer work to keep him occupied, and he can try to see if other Dems want his help.
4. Pending the results of step 3, specifically talk to organizers in Texas on how to support down ballot races across the state, as well as increase voter turnout. 

After Alex finishes writing down step 4, he reads back over the list. It seems sensible and doable for him, and should keep him occupied for the next month, at least. Ripping the piece of paper off the pad, he pins it above his desk and promptly sets about having a good mope.

His mom is surprisingly comforting and supportive during his 48 hour angst fest, making sure to check in on him at least 2-3 times, which, considering the election and also trying to run the country, is a pretty large feat. The breakdown he had in her arms when he got back seems to have really thrown her for a loop. He doesn’t mind though; it’s always good to get a little extra attention from his mom.

June is there the rest of the time, letting him cycle through the vast multitude of feelings that Henry's rejection has left in his core, doing her best to bring him down from his highest anger and up from his lowest despair. Alex is more comfortable than he realizes in letting her see all of the ugly processing, but once he thinks about it, he's not actually that surprised. She was there to see the worst of him working through the feelings around their parents' divorce, and she doesn’t need an explanation of how his current situation is bringing up some of those repressed emotions. She can follow him as he rambles through disjointed thoughts of how Henry has found his weakest point and twisted a knife so deeply in there that he’s unsure if it will ever come out, and he’ll just have to live with that pain as the top heals over.

In short, Alex screams a lot, punches a bunch of pillows, and eats an alarming amount of chocolate. 

On day 3, having completed step 1 of his list, he calls Nora for support on step 2.

“Odds on me actually having a good LSAT score?” he asks her without preamble.

“99.9 percent that it's good enough to get into a law school, 63 percent that it's top 14 worthy if you didn't study, 88 percent that it's top 14 worthy if you got some prep in,” she rattles back, unfazed. “When did you sneak off and do it?”

“July,” Alex admits. “Right before the DNC. I was just…Working for the campaign was pissing me off, and things were starting to get serious with – well, never mind that now, but yeah. I studied some, but I was coming back from En- England,” he only barely stumbles on the word, “so I was still a bit jet lagged.”

“In that case, I’ll say you at least got a 165.” Nora’s keyboard clicks away, a comforting rhythm in Alex’s ear as she quickly does some research. “That plus the First Son status should get you into a top 25 school, and possibly into the bottom end of the T14s.” 

Alex exhales a small sigh. As much as he doesn’t want to rely on First Son status, he knows it will be taken into account, and he also knows that it’s the competitive edge he’ll need to keep up with all of the WASPy legacy admits. “Ok. Cool. I can probably handle that.”

“So are you going to login to check with me on the phone or are you going to anxiously think about it for another two days?” Nora asks drily. “Because if it’s the former, I need you to hurry up and get on with it so I can finish this analysis of the voter registration campaign we’re launching in Georgia.”

Alex makes a face. Nora knows him too well. “Let me go get June.” He puts his phone down on the bed before walking out and tapping on June’s door. “Bug? You busy?”

June opens the door. “For you? Not at all. Everything okay?” 

“Yeah I just. Can you come into my room for a second?” Alex motions at his door. June furrows her brow in confusion but walks over. As Alex closes the door, he sees her look at the screen. “Law School Admission Council – Alex, are you registering for the LSAT?” 

“Already took it, actually.” Alex shoves his hands in his pockets. “Say hi to Nora by the way, she’s on the phone.” 

“Yes, hi hello June,” comes Nora’s voice through the speaker. “Seriously though, Alejandro, get this show on the road. Whatever you got, you got, right?”

“Easy for you to say,” mutters Alex, even as he grabs his computer and logs into his account. “Ok, here goes.” He clicks on the button that says “test results” and waits impatiently for the page to load. It finally does and flashes….173.

“173,” Alex whispers. “I got a ONE SEVENTY THREE!” he’s yelling in excitement by the end of it. Nora whoops over the phone, while June grabs him into a tight hug.

“Okay,” Nora says. “I really have to finish this project but as soon as I’m off today, I will head over and we can run numbers on law schools and figure out where you want to apply. Proud of you, little bit.”

Alex smirks at the familiar joke. “You are literally three inches shorter than me, calm down.”

“Never. Later!”

As Nora hangs up the phone, June turns Alex to face her. “Seriously, what made you think of law school?”

Alex shrugs. “I registered for the test out of spite, and then figured I might as well take it once the date came up. And while I had a good time working on Mom’s campaign, there was a tiny part of me that enjoyed the freedom of that month, not having to be nose to the grindstone. So now…” he trails off, thinking about how his fingers are itching to text Henry and tell him the results. He shakes his head and looks back at June. “I don’t think I can handle politics right now. Not without…not with these memories being so fresh.” 

June makes a sympathetic noise. “That makes sense. I’m sorry that part of your reasoning is coming out of hurt but, at the same time, I like the thought of you getting out of the hellhole that is American politics for a while.”

Alex pulls his knees up and rests his head on them while he looks at her. “You really think it’s a good plan?”

June pushes his curls back from his forehead. “I really really do. Just promise me one thing?” Alex tilts his head questioningly. “Go somewhere new. Don’t go to California, or Texas. Don’t stay in DC. You deserve to forge a life in a place where it’s all you from the beginning.”

Alex smiles. He likes the sound of that. “I promise.”

Chapter Text

5. Stop trying to contact Henry

Alex decides to spend the day working in an unoccupied corner of the West Wing. He's not officially back on the Claremont campaign, but he's been able to take some of the volunteer texting shifts. Between that, and his law school research, he's able to keep himself occupied enough to not reread the email from last night compulsively; he just leaves his phone face down on do not disturb. 

The plan is summarily ruined when Zahra storms in. "I've got bad news for you," she says, tossing a tablet at him. "I know we're still working through the heartbreak and all, but unfortunately you have to make some decisions on damage control."

Fuck , Alex thinks as he picks up the tablet, the headline flashing before his eyes. LEAKED SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE SHOWS PRINCE HENRY AT DNC HOTEL. Below that is a video clip of him and Henry walking out of the bar together, and then footage from the elevator where Henry has an arm around Alex's waist while they talk to Cash before they all get off on the third floor together. " Chingado ," he groans, rubbing a hand over his face. 

"Yep." Zahra makes a face that's a mix of exasperated and concerned. "And we've unfortunately already had reporters reach out asking about the nature of your relationship and whether this had anything to do with your leaving the campaign after. "

"Has anyone from Henry's team reached out yet?" Alex asks, opening up Twitter to see just how much it's trending – it hasn't gained a huge amount of attention yet, but it's definitely a sizable chunk. He breathes deeply, trying to remain calm. There's nothing damning in all this, just speculation based on circumstances. 

Zahra shakes her head. "Nothing yet. And I'm assuming Henry hasn't reached out to you personally?"

Alex snorts. "He blocked my email, so I'm assuming he's not going to be the one to initiate contact. Look, can we just… I dunno, blow this off as a casual touch between friends thing? Just like 'the First Son of the US is fucking tired of having some goddamned platonic affection with a friend be misinterpreted as some kind of controversial shit, especially since being queer shouldn't be a fucking issue.' Without, like, the cursing though." 

Zahra starts to say something, but then pulls back and considers. "You know… that's not the worst discussion point we could go with. So we put out a statement saying nothing romantic is occurring with you and Henry –"

" Which is the truth – "

"But then we can also remind people that LGBTQ rights are essential to the Claremont platform." Zahra taps her chin. "I'll talk to the PR team. We can work with this. Good work, kid."

Alex rolls his eyes but before he can make a snarky remark about the Henry situation he catches sight of Zahra's left hand. "Zahra holy fuck is that an engagement ring?!"

"Oh." Zahra looks down at the ring and shrugs but Alex can see the tiniest hint of pink flushing the top of her cheeks. “Yeah. I had the weekend off.” 

 “Again, _how_ are you dating someone when you're here 23 hours a day? And also are you ever going to tell us who you’re dating or will I find out when I get your wedding invitation?” Alex asks. 

Zahra points a pen at him. "You do not get to say a word to me about secret relationships, you little shit."

"Yeah, but I'm not in one now, am I?" Alex feels his heart flip a little as he says it, but he ignores it. "So tell me."

"No, and I'm too busy for this," Zahra snaps as she turns around to exit.

Alex gets up and follows her as she walks to her office. "Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me," he chants.

" Alex." Something about the tone of Zahra's voice makes him pull up short. He looks at her and she seems to be… almost nervous? It's an emotion that doesn't show on her often and he's not sure he likes it. "Listen to me, kid. You'll find out at some point but now is not the time, okay?" She waits for Alex to nod. "Now I really do have to go work on this statement with PR. Talk to you later." She doesn't wait for a response as she steps into her office and closes the door in his face.

Statement from President Claremont Regarding Recent News Coverage

First of all, I would like to address recent speculation in the media. The relationship between HRH Prince Henry of Wales and First Son of the United States Alexander Claremont-Diaz is that of mutual support and friendship due to their respective similarities as young world leaders. We remain committed to a strong alliance with Britain, and look forward to continuing our work together, but we have not and will not give them any kind of preferential treatment despite the closeness of Prince Henry and FSOTUS. 

Secondly, the Claremont-Holleran administration remains firmly in favor of equal protections for the LGBTQIA+ community, and are committed to making sure they live free from discrimination. The media has been reporting this event as if two men loving each other was a great scandal, when nothing could be further from the truth.  LGBTQIA+ individuals should be allowed to love who they love without it being made to feel as though it is something for which they should feel shame. Furthermore, while LGBTQIA+ individuals have increasingly been gaining equal rights under the law, the fact remains that the stigma of their gender identity and sexual orientation leads to discrimination against the community, often in violent and abusive ways. Attempting to forcibly out someone for the sole purpose of extra engagement is deeply unethical and I condemn those who used this story for their own personal and professional gain.

I remain committed to being a president for all Americans, with continued pushes toward clarity and accountability in all actions.

President Claremont's plan for continuing to expand LGBTQIA+ protections can be read here .

Alex closes his laptop, rubbing his eyes and flopping backwards into his pillows. The statement is good - very good, in fact. Multiple advocacy organizations are already retweeting and reposting it with messages of support. Tweets are flying in, cheering on the messaging around forcible outing and living without shame.

But it hurts like a bitch to read ' friendship.' No matter how many times he sees that sentence, it still makes him feel slightly sick and as if his heart is going to shatter right back out of his chest. Not to mention that it's lying by omission whispers a small voice in his head. So much for ethical transparency as a politician, huh?

He sighs deeply, thinking back to himself as a starry eyed 17 year old getting ready to take Washington by storm and reform it from the inside out. He remembers sitting on the floor with Raf in the Denver office that summer, eating pizza and listening to him talk about the kids he'd fought for and how he was going to fight for them just like that in the Senate. But Raf's not like that either, he thinks to himself. He sold out, too.

And maybe that's it, maybe that's the real crux of him deciding on law school. Because this whole mess in DC, the lies and deceit and backstabbing and negotiating and hiding – that part isn't him. He can't do that. He wants to read policy and meet his constituents and debate the best ways to move laws forward, but he can't do that, not without the negatives. And right now, those negatives far outweigh any positives he thinks he could accomplish. 

Before he can continue with his maudlin train of thought, his phone buzzes with a FaceTime request from one of the last people he was expecting. 

"Pez?" Alex bursts out as the video connects. "Are you okay? Is something wrong? Is it Henry, is he okay?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong, Alexander darling, I'm so sorry to frighten you," Pez reassures him. "I was actually calling to check in on you."

Alex blinks. "What?"

Pez sighs. "Look, Henry is my best mate. I love him to pieces and will always stand by his side, even when I think he's being an absolute bloody idiot – which he is. But Alex… you're my friend too. I wanted to make sure you were all right."

Alex stops and. Has to process that for a minute. " You're my friend too ." He hasn't had a guy friend really, since his other close male friendships ended up turning into some sort of weird sexual disaster. If I had a nickel for every time that happened to me, I'd have two nickels. It isn’t a lot, but it is weird that it happened twice.  

He realizes he's been silent for a longer amount of time than he should and clears his throat. "That means a lot to me, man. Thank you. I'm okay, though, I promise."

Pez obviously doesn't believe him at all. "I read the statement your mom put out, " he comments. "It was very well done, and I'm glad she put it out as herself."

"Yeah, I think the team decided it would look best coming from her since it's about her son and she wanted to show family solidarity. Plus, then she's on the record as personally being an ally. " Alex forces a grin on his face.

"It's gotta be hard though," Pez says softly. "Confirming the lack of romantic relationship."

"I don't know, Pez." Alex looks to the side. "I don't feel like I have the time now to let it be hard for me. There's so much to do here in preparation for the election and that can't wait for me to be sad and hurt over a 7 month relationship that always had an expiration date for the other person in it. I let myself grieve already, and now I just need to focus it all on –"

"Stop." Pez holds up a hand. "Honestly, I'm starting to see what Henry meant by the literal embodiment of Lin Manuel Miranda's version of Hamilton." 

Alex blinks. "I'm… not sure what that means." 

"' Every day you fight like you're running out of time ,'" Pez recites. "You're allowed to take time for yourself."

"I've taken enough already!" yells Alex, surprising even himself with the outburst. "I spent 7 months flying all over creation, rearranging my schedule and missing appearances all for the sake of some ill-advised hookups, and I don't get to be selfish about it anymore!"

There's a ringing silence after Alex's shouting. Alex finally just slumps. "I feel so guilty that I couldn't get him to fight. Because I wasted my time and resources, and my family's time and resources, and his time and resources. I thought I could make him see that there was a path forward where we could figure out how to love each other on our own terms. That he could have love and happiness and didn't have to be beholden to the demands of the Royal Family."

"Alex, you know as well as I do that you can't just waltz into the Royal Family and force Henry to stop feeling obligated to his duties," Pez says gently. "That's not your responsibility. Trust me, if it was possible, I would have kidnapped him long ago."

Alex lays down on his side, propping the phone up across him. "I'm so worried for him. For what Philip might make him do. For what his grandmother will make him do."

"I am, too, Alex," Pez says. "But I promise you I will do my best to take care of him and protect him as long as you promise me that you won't keep shouldering the burden of forcing progress into the staunchest traditions of the United Kingdom."

"Ha," Alex laughs softly. "It's kind of shocking how well you know me, to be honest."

"Well, Alexander, your auntie Pezza is very naturally observant," Pez smiles. "Plus, I have the luxury of also being friends with some of the people who love you most in the world."

"Fat lot of good that did for Henry, " grumbles Alex. "Loving me still isn't a good enough reason to fight."

"Not everyone has your backbone, Alex," Pez reminds him softly. "And Henry has also had a lot of people actively trying to snatch pieces of his spine away, while the majority of the people in your life have, at worst, accidentally chipped away at it, but for the most part, they've built you up and encouraged you to have that strong moral compass. That doesn't mean you can't be upset that he won't fight, but just try to give him grace with the years of expectations being drilled into his head. I don't know if I can think of a moment where he's been able to fight those expectations off completely before this."

"Well that's fucking depressing, thanks a lot Pez," snarks Alex, but in all honesty, the candor does make him feel better. 

"Happy to be of service! Now, enough discussion about that particular branch of stupid white people. Catch me up on anything I have missed," Pez says, propping his chin up in his hands in anticipation.

Alex laughs and tells Pez about WASPy Hunter being an annoying white boy and how that pushed him into taking the LSAT. Pez is a captive audience for the tale, gasping at the worst of Hunter's comments about red states and applauding as Alex talks about northern KKK chapters. When Alex mentions his LSAT score, Pez stands up and cheers, screaming something about Hispanic Elle Woods and how they should dye Alex's hair blonde before he goes to school as both a tribute and a disguise. The whole conversation is great, and Alex laughs harder than he had thought was possible this soon after his world collapsed. 

It's good to have a friend like Pez.

Alex knocks on the door of his dad's office in the Senate building, holding up a bag. "I come bearing gifts."

Oscar grins as he looks up from the briefs he's poring over. "Mijo, you know you don't have to bribe me to spend time with me, right?"

"I know," Alex smiles. "But I also know that you are significantly more functional as an adult when you have esquites. And Antonio was at the cart so you got your extra crema."  

"Well, you do make a point there." Oscar accepts the cup and spoon from Alex with a grateful nod before opening it up and taking a giant bite. "Ah, that hits the spot." He looks back at Alex, who has dragged over a chair to sit next to him. "So what do you need me in adult mode for? Does it have to do with the candy ass gringo who broke your heart when you went to England?"

Alex's head snaps up in surprise. "I… didn't know you knew about that last bit."

Oscar taps his temple. "Now you may not remember this, but I do have some brains up here. He left you at the lake house with just a note, you've been withdrawn for the past two weeks, and then your mom releases a statement equivocally denying the relationship between you two. I can do math. " He takes another bite of esquite and swallows quickly. "Also, I get the emergency credit card statements. So I saw the flight purchases."

"Oh." Alex had not considered that in his calculations, assuming that the only person who would see them is Adrien, the family CPA. "Well it's not like, completely related to that whole thing but it's not completely unrelated either." He takes a deep breath. "I think I'm going to go to law school. Next fall."

"Mijo! That's amazing!" Oscar leans over to rub his arm. "I'm so proud of you. Have you looked at the dates for the LSATs?"

Alex grins, feeling the knot in his stomach loosen slightly. "Actually, I already took it. In July. Before the DNC. I got a 173."

Oscar whistles loudly. "You little shit, you were holding out on us - that's a fucking genius level score. You're going to get into any law school you want at that number! "

"You really think law school is a good idea?" Alex asks. "It's not going directly into campaigns but… "

"Alex. You know I've always wanted you to take the time and go to law school and work out in the real world for a while before you start tearing down the walls here." His dad takes another bite of his food, and sighs. "Honestly, after the security footage leak, I want to hide you in a bubble so no one can touch you again. You're too good for these assholes - you're kind and bighearted and care so much about others. DC would take all that out of you and stamp it out in an instant." 

"You're also here," Alex points out drily, but his heart is racing, hearing the confirmation of his own thoughts coming out of his dad's mouth. 

Oscar snorts. " Yeah, and I'm a pretty giant fuckin' asshole myself." He leans forward. " Chiquillo , you have such big dreams and plans. I want to support you through all of them because I think they're possible. But I can also tell you that I think it's extremely responsible and healthy to change these plans with the context of knowing what will be best for your own mental well being. So, if you think law school is the best option, I'll be behind you 100%." 

Alex nods slowly. "I'm just… I'm tired, Papi." 

Oscar squeezes Alex's shoulder again. "Once we finish this election cycle, I think you'll have more than earned a spring off from White House appearances. Plus, you can always tell your mom you're saving up sleep for the hell of 1L." He looks over Alex appraisingly. "What did she say when you told her about law school?" 

"Oh, um." Alex fidgets. "I haven't told her yet?" He sees his dad's eyebrows raise almost to his hairline. "I wanted to tell you first. Since you've always pushed it a little more." 

Oscar looks genuinely touched. "Thank you son." He clears his throat. "Do you know where you want to go yet? I still know some people at Berkeley."

"I have a list of schools and am gonna start doing tours slash Skyping places next week." Alex looks at his dad and decides, what the hell. "But just based on my research, I think if one of the New York schools lets me in, I'm gonna go there." 

Oscar looks at him appraisingly for a second. "Yeah," he says eventually. "I can see you in New York." 

Chapter Text

you were added to a group chat!

Cis White Gay Men Are The Worst

Auntie 🍬

Hello everyone!

👸🐝

This title feels rather dramatic

bug🪲

It's Pez, have you ever known him to be not dramatic

 Beeeeeeeaaaaaaa ❤️🥹

👸🐝

yep. you're not getting rid of me that easily.

I wasn't the one getting rid of me 🙃

Sorry, I'll try not to be too salty about it

irl chaos demon😈

no please be salty. I love petty Alejandro.

Auntie 🍬

Anyways I unfortunately didn't just create this text group to dunk on Henry, although there will be plenty of that allowed. Beatrice, would you like to do the honours of breaking the news?

👸🐝

I don't know if honour is the right word here, but yeah. Henry's enlisting.

bug🪲

what

Fuck

👸🐝

Yeah, he went and did his boards last week.

Didn’t tell either of us. Gran and Philip set it all up.

Wait, boards? Is that like basic training? How does this work?

Auntie 🍬

No, Sandhurst is the training bit. Boards are the interviews and fitness tests.

irl chaos demon😈

assuming this is very much against his will

👸🐝

Oh 10000%. This is a direct response to the leaked surveillance footage.

Ah yes, because queer people definitely don't exist in the military. 

Homosexuals? Shooting guns? Being strong manly men? Saving lives? That has never once happened in the history of the world. The LGBTQIA community has never dealt with violence.

bug🪲

Your soapbox is gonna have to wait until later, bitty bro. What's the timeline going to be? 

👸🐝

He has to report to Sandhurst in January. Sometime after the inauguration, no exact date yet.

irl chaos demon😈

I'm gonna hack the Royal servers 

(for legal purposes this is a joke)

Auntie 🍬

But yeah. We didn't want you three to be blindsided. It's getting announced tomorrow. 

irl chaos demon😈

oh shit Ellen needs to know so she doesn't get thrown off before the debate in case Richards comes up with some some shit

bug🪲

I'll tell Zahra, she'll figure out if Mom needs to know.

Or, and hear me out, we don't treat Henry getting fucked over by his shitty family (present company excluded) as a political talking point?

irl chaos demon😈

Or, and hear me out, we acknowledge that there's already been speculation with you two and there's a high probability of Richards trying to put Ellen on the spot and prepare for it. 

My apologies for being tired of having to constantly think about my former relationship because everyone has to frame it in the context of a political campaign

👸🐝

Look, no one knows more than us that this is a pile of bollocks. But I'm afraid that with the leak, we have been put in the position of having to think about international political consequences. I'd love nothing more than to leave you alone to heal, Alex, but I need to make sure you all have things handled over there so I can take care of my brother.

Aw, B, I didn't know you cared so much about Philip

bug🪲

Alex

UGH FINE TALK TO ZAHRA

Alex throws his phone down and grabs the Makers from underneath his bed. Twisting off the cap, he toasts to the air. Salud.

6. Stop sending drunk emails to your ex

“Are you sure I have to go to the debate tonight? Can’t we just claim I have food poisoning or something?” Alex whines, tugging at the collar of his shirt. He can’t tell if it feels tight because the tailor went heavy on the starch or if he’s just panicking slightly. Maybe both.

“Yes, and you need to stop complaining about it before I sew your mouth shut with Amy’s embroidery kit,” snaps Zahra. “This is a critical moment in the campaign and we cannot afford to have this family look anything less than 100000% united.”

“I’m just saying, sitting and watching Richards rip apart my mom and not being allowed to do anything but smile pleasantly is not my idea of a good time. Like, I would rather dig up the corpse of Winston Churchill and give him a necrophilic lap dance.”

June gags. “Please never say anything like that ever again. That was outlandishly disturbing, even for you.”

Alex sticks his tongue out, but before he can respond, Zahra flicks him lightly in the temple. “I swear to God you two act like you’re 2 and 4 instead of 22 and 24 – Alex, if you start singing Taylor Swift right now I will actually duct tape your mouth shut. Now stop fidgeting with your collar, car’s about to pull up.”

The hotel that they’re staying in is very close to the Case Western campus - close enough that they probably could have walked, but Secret Service was not a fan of that plan, so they opt to put them in cars – Ellen and Leo in one, June and Alex in the other – and drive the 4 minutes it takes to get over to the Health Education building. The family is quickly ushered into a holding room off to the side of the pavilion to wait while the audience gets settled in. Alex watches his mom quietly, getting her makeup and hair touched up, going over last minute talking points with her Deputy Chief of Policy Allison Sands, doing her meditative breathing exercises. Just a few weeks ago, he thinks, he would have loved to be in that seat, in the center of the action. It’s wild how outlooks can change so quickly.

It’s not long before the families are announced,  Leo, June and Alex for Ellen, and Stacy Richards, Senator Richards’ wife, an unassuming blonde woman. Alex has talked to her exactly once, and it was like conversing with a wet sponge. As they walk out and wave to the crowd, Alex side eyes Stacy to see if she is giving off any particular kind of vibes in regards to how Richards is going to act tonight, but she’s completely personality free, smiling and waving with no emotions behind her eyes.

When the candidates are introduced and come out, the crowd does applaud significantly more for Ellen than Richards, which is gratifying for Alex. He does clock Ellen’s extremely stiff handshake though – to most people, it wouldn’t be obvious, but he knows her tells. She is really nervous about this debate.

The moderator gives the introduction to the TV camera, and they get going with their opening statements. Ellen’s is strong, with her focus being on the infrastructure bill that’s been the backbone of her first term, pointing out the jobs created and the accessibility increases across the country for people of all income brackets. Richards is fairly generic, with the same talking points about trickle down economics and tax breaks that the Republicans have rolled out for years now. They tussle a bit over natural gas and oil versus renewables, before moving on to civil liberties and that’s when things go sideways.

“Madam President, this question comes to you from Katerina Fenlin in regards to your platform for LGBTQIA+ citizens. You say that continuing to expand rights for the LGBT community is an essential part of your platform. What other rights are needed in a post Obergefell society? And how are you making sure that Obergefell doesn’t infringe on religious liberties?”

“I’m glad you asked this question, actually,” Ellen says. “A lot of the issues that face the community today are intersectional in nature, and include other policy positions such as healthcare, education, and accessibility. We need laws that will help ensure that LGBTQIA+ individuals can live fulfilling lives without fear of discrimination. One such bill that my administration is backing H.R. 5, better known as the Equality Act. This will legally codify and expand federal civil rights laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in employment, housing, credit, jury service, and federally funded programs, such as those for health and education, as well as public places and spaces. Additionally, this act will also help with protection of religious freedoms. People of faith would, in fact, receive new protections from discrimination—for example, protections from faith-based discrimination in more public accommodations, such as prohibiting the use of “No Muslims allowed” signs in retail stores. Meanwhile, religious organizations would retain all the same exemptions they already have under civil rights laws such as Title VII and the FHA. They would still be allowed to favor people of the same religion, so long as they do not discriminate based on other protected characteristics.”

“Thank you, Madam President. Senator Richards, your response.”

“Well, my first concern here is the actual impact on religious liberty. Federally protecting a group of people who explicitly fight against traditional family values is extremely concerning to me and my constituents, who want to be able to live their faith without being legally forced to act in a way that is contrary to their beliefs.” Senator Richards then turns to face Ellen directly. “I also wonder if Ellen Claremont is the correct candidate to be leading this initiative, considering her inability to remain neutral on family values.”

Ellen narrows her eyes. “And what is that supposed to mean, Senator Richards?”

Senator Richards smirks, a bit of a cruel tinge around the corners. “You’ve already shown favoritism to your own children by hiring them on your campaign and putting them in positions of leadership. How can we trust that you have the best interests of the American public in mind when your own son, despite his elevated role in your campaign and the public eye, is engaging in acts so blatantly in opposition to the sacred values of our forefathers and the traditional family values of our country?”

The audience gasps and Ellen goes pale. Alex can feel people start to look at him and tries to keep his face neutral despite the fact that his heart feels like it is about to pound out of his chest and his hands are shaking.

When Ellen finally speaks, her tone is low and furious. “You keep my son out of this.”

“If you wanted to keep your son out of this, you would have kept him out of the limelight from the beginning,” Senator Richards parries. “It’s fine when he’s doing appearances for the campaign and researching talking points for your briefs and acting in your stead at international events, but when we try to ask how his work has affected your lawmaking, that’s when we’re supposed to keep him out of this?”

Alex can hear his pulse in his head. The back of his neck is sweating, and he’s holding onto June’s hand for dear life. 

“His personal life is not a part of this though,” Ellen barely manages to keep it from being a yell. “You are insinuating that I can’t keep impartial on the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community because my son - who, by the way, has not disclosed his sexuality to the public - is acting inappropriately? Is that what you think LGBTQIA+ people are? Inappropriate? Need to be kept in the margins? Something to be ashamed of? God forbid that I support the Equality Act simply because I believe in equal human rights; no, obviously, it’s because of some nefarious motive planted by my 22 year old son!” 

“So you admit your son has an alternative sexuality to disclose?” Senator Richards presses again, despite the moderator trying to call for order.

“I admit NOTHING!” Ellen finally yells. “Because it’s neither a crime nor is it the business of the American public!”

“Your emotional state shows that you cannot remain impartial on this, which is unfair to those members of America that stand for traditional family values –”

“I am emotional because I am a mother, and you are attacking my child, you absolute cretin!”

Alex sees Zahra wince out of the corner of his eye.

“There is certainly no need for name-calling, Madam President,” the moderator says sternly.

“Oh, name-calling is where we’re drawing the line tonight?” spits Ellen. “Not unnecessary mudslinging and personal attacks against private citizens?”

“He stopped being a private citizen when you turned him into a junior figurehead for the nation,” Senator Richard cuts in, a smug tone to his even sounding voice – and Alex, Alex can’t take it any longer. He jumps up from his seat and runs out the side door, despite the voices calling after him, running as fast as he can to the room where they were being held before, bursting in  and slumping down into a ball against the wall, shaking and breathing unevenly, hands gripping his hair, trying not to burst into tears. 

His thoughts come fast and hard. Oh god I did this I’ve ruined everything, my mom is going to hate me, she’s going to lose the campaign and this country is going to fall apart and it’s all going to be my fault. He feels hands circling his wrists, trying to get him to let go of his hair, but he just curls in tighter. Let me go, let me be here by myself, I deserve to be alone, it’s all my fault. Distantly, he can hear voices and he knows he should be paying attention to them, should be breathing, but he can’t focus, too busy with his internal dialogue. It’s all my fault it’s all my fault it’s all my fault I’ve ruined everything. His blood is rushing in his ears and his lungs feel like they can’t expand all the way and he can feel himself making tiny broken noises but he can’t stop it, he can’t do anything.

The next few hours come in small flashes.

Someone gently pulling him up onto his feet, half carrying him and half walking.

Getting out of the car and seeing flashes on flashes on flashes from photographers, all shouting indistinguishable nonsense.

A blanket being tucked over him, a kiss pressed to his forehead.

Fitful sleep interspersed with half dreams half anxious imagery- him laying on the dock at the lake house when suddenly reporters burst out of the water; his mom crying and watching the state after state turn red on the Electoral College map; Zahra staring at him, not saying a word, but he can feel her disappointment; a plane over the Atlantic going down, down before it had a chance to get to London on a rainy night. 

He manages to get a hold of his phone in one of his lucid spells and looks at his alerts.

A headline: If Alex Claremont-Diaz Can’t Handle The Heat, He Needs To Get Out Of The Kitchen (and DC) Forever

A tweet: lol did you see his face when richards said alternative sexuality, boy could not be more obvious about trying to hide it

A comment: Never been more ashamed of our President than now. What a horrific scene from her, yelling and throwing a temper tantrum because Richards called out her precious nepo baby

A tweet: if they’re covering up Alex’s sexuality what else are they covering up? 

A comment: we should have expected this when we let a divorcee take the White House, obviously Alex is fucked up after living with just his mother and no father figure

More comments. Slurs. Lies.

Alex throws his phone across the room and hears a satisfying _crack_.

Zahra gets the screen replaced the next day, then gives his phone to June.

When he finally opens his eyes and registers what's happening, he’s in a hotel room - not the one they got ready in on the night of the debates, but a smaller one, more utilitarian. June is sitting in the bed next to him, one hand gently brushing through his hair. “Bug?” he mumbles groggily, his throat raspy. “Time ‘zzit?”

June looks down at him. “Hey baby bro. It’s 6pm. Do you want some water?” 

At Alex’s nod, she passes him a bottle from the nightstand on her side. As he sits up and drinks it, he looks around the room a little more. “Where are we?”

“Still in Cleveland. Different hotel though, the other one was getting swarmed. It was crazy. We had to sneak you out through the employee garage.”

Alex closes his eyes. “God, I’m so so—”

June holds up a hand. “Absolutely not. You will not be apologizing for a single thing that has happened in the past 24 hours. What Richards did was horrific, and you’re already hurting. No one here blames you in the least for any of it.”

“But the debate –”

“Not your fault, sugar,” Ellen’s drawl comes through as she steps out from the bathroom. She sits down at the edge of the bed, grabbing onto Alex’s hands. “Listen to me, hon. I am always, always, going to be your mother first. I don’t care how many negative headlines or tweets or comments I get about it. I would much rather stand up in defeat knowing I fought for you in those debates than cower in my victory, thinking about how you were hurt.” She looks him over. “I want you to tell me how you’re feeling. All of it.”

Alex shakes his head. “Mom, you have to get back to DC, you don’t have any more time to waste with my shit, I’m fine.”

Ellen grabs his chin, forcing him to look up at her. “There is not a single thing you could tell me right now that would be a waste of my time. You’re hurting, baby. Let me be your mom. Please.”

Alex can feel the tears coming. “You’ve already taken so much time for this.”

“If you are hurting like this, I clearly haven’t taken enough time.” Ellen brushes his hair back from his forehead. “I’ve asked Zahra to clear my schedule for the next couple of days. I think it’s obvious that we need to spend some time as a family.”

“But the campaign…” Alex protests.

“Can wait,” June says firmly, putting an arm around his shoulders and squeezing. “The next debate isn’t for two weeks, and there aren’t any major State events that Uncle Mike can’t take care of. So we’re going to Vermont. Riley and Rebecca are visiting Nora, and they said we could use their cabin while they’re out.”

Alex takes a deep breath. Closes his eyes. Counts to four. As he exhales and opens his eyes, he nods. “Okay”

Vermont is honestly a god send. They all talk. About their ups and downs, their fears. 

Ellen talks about how much she regrets putting together the White House Trio, especially after the past two years, and how she worries that the pressures of that role will ruin her relationship with her kids forever. About how her relationship with her mom was fractured and she feels like she doesn’t know how to be an emotionally present parent correctly. She talks about how much she loves Leo and how much she worries he’ll run out of patience with her some day, the same way that Oscar did. She talks about how proud she is of the work that she’s managed to do as president, how much more she wants to do, and how terrified she is of the Republicans tearing it all apart if they get the Presidency. She reiterates to Alex how much she doesn’t regret tearing into Richards. About how she was so terrified when he ran during the debate, about how much she blamed herself for the breakdown, for exposing him to that. About how she wishes she would have just stopped the debate and gone after him instead of letting the moderator change the topic and move on as if nothing was wrong. About how she would do anything to protect him from that kind of vitriol again.

She cries with pride when Alex tells her about his LSAT score and that he’s applying to law school.

Alex finally tells them about how much it hurt to come home and have Oscar just be gone. About how he felt alone. About how Leo was great and he took care of him, but he wasn’t his dad and he didn’t have someone to talk to every day while in high school. About Liam, and how he didn’t think it was anything. He looks at the floor while he talks about sneaking the Adderall, sneaking the alcohol, trying to survive Ellen being the Speaker. He talks about falling for Henry, how the misunderstanding started, how they bonded over Star Wars and turkeys and stories of dysfunctional families. How he thought they were going to be forever, but they weren’t. About how Henry wouldn’t fight for him. How sometimes he feels like he isn’t worth fighting for, because all he does is mess things up for people. About how guilty he feels that he stressed out everyone, turned the campaign into chaos, made people have to scramble, just for his relationship. About how he feels so selfish for trying to have Henry, even though it would never have worked. June hugs him a little tighter when he briefly mentions that he thinks life would be easier for everyone if he just didn’t exist.

He didn’t realize how scared June was about losing him until then.

June talks about being caught between Ellen and Oscar, of having to take on the burden of parenting Alex and protecting him from the worst of the fights. She talks about going to UT mostly because it was a good school but also partially because she wanted to stay close to Alex, and while she doesn’t regret it, she wonders sometimes what life would be like if she hadn’t. She talks about the resentment she feels that her journalism career is at the mercy of her mother’s career, about being relegated to fluff pieces and short essays that don’t touch a single issue even remotely resembling a political opinion. She talks about Evan, and how she thinks every day about how different life would have been if they had moved to California together instead of her coming to watch Alex.

Ellen hugs her so tightly and apologizes over and over.

It’s good. They’re good.

They’re tired when they get back to DC on Friday afternoon. Ellen leaves them both with a kiss on their foreheads after receiving their blessing to go be President again instead of just mom.  June heads to her room, citing a need to lay down before she heads out to a donor event tonight with Nora.

Alex sits in his room, unsure of what to do right then. Diving back into campaign work seems too heavy, while law school applications aren’t interesting to him. Out of the places he's visited, most of them aren’t due until February. He’s got time.

His phone buzzes at that point. Alex flips it over to see who’s calling, and stares at the name on his screen. Call from HRH Prince Dickhead 💩

Chapter Text

Before he can think about it, he picks up. “What the fuck do you want?”

There’s a pause before Henry responds in a small voice. “I probably deserved that.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Alex growls. “You’ve got some goddamn nerve to be calling me after how you treated me that night. Not to mention you blocked my fucking email. So what’s so important that your Royal Highness could descend from his ivory tower and speak to the peasant boy?”

“I, er.” Henry stops and takes a breath. “Well, I was in a meeting and the issues from the presidential debate came up and…I suppose I just wanted to see how you were doing, after all that unpleasantness.”

Alex takes a deep breath and pinches his nose. “Unpleasantness. You mean the part where my mother’s opponent attempted to frame me as a perverse homosexual who is there to nefariously install the gay agenda."

“Er, yes?”

“Well, Henry, how the fuck do you think I’m doing?” Alex flops back against his pillows in frustration.

“Uh. Not…great? I guess?” Henry sounds very unsure.

Alex doesn’t know if it’s the emotions of the vacation or the tone of Henry’s voice, but for some godforsaken reason, he bursts into hysterical laughter. “Not great, he says. Not great! Well, here, let me give you a summary of my past month. I told my mom and my dad I was seeing you and it was serious, my mom kicked me off her campaign, I took you to one of my favorite places on the earth and tried to tell you I loved you, you ran away and ghosted me for a week, and then when I flew halfway across the world to see you again, you turned me down and called me a dalliance!”

“Alex, I–” Henry tries to interrupt.

“Oh fuck off I’m not even remotely close to finished yet!” Alex can feel the laughter bubbling harder towards mania now but keeps going. “After I flew back to America, licking my wounds, I had a goddamn breakdown in front of my mother, tried to email you and was promptly blocked, had to deal with a media scandal about a relationship I was no longer in, learned you were joining the military, and then had to watch my sexuality be used as a tool to break down my mother in a fucking presidential debate! All because you came to meet me at the DNC and we got papped! I only now just got back from a vacation where I finally was able to talk to my mom about my feelings and my fucking ex-dalliance calls me and asks me how I am in regards to something that happened three days ago. Yeah Henry, I would say I’m not doing fucking great! Thanks a lot, pendejo!”

“Alex, I’m sorry…”

“Oh, you’re sorry? Sorry for what? Sorry you hurt me, sorry you blocked me out, sorry you treated me like I was beneath you, sorry you’re too afraid to speak up against the Crown?” Alex knows this is getting out of control, but he can’t stop himself. “Or are you waiting to say sorry this happened but you were right, that this wasn’t going to work, that we would have been under this level of scrutiny forever, that all of the speculation and rumors and sneaking around would break us, that we should have never started this in the first place? Is that what you’re sorry about? For making me fall in love with you when you knew it was never going to be something we could follow through with?”

“Sweetheart –”

Alex can feel his voice go ice cold. “Don’t you dare. You lost all rights to that word the moment you told me to leave.”

"I miss you!" Henry's voice breaks a little. "I miss you and I miss talking to you and I just. I wanted to be there for you. Like it used to be."

"Yeah, see, here's the thing," Alex drawls. "You missed me last time. So forgive me if that's not enough for me to want to let you waltz right on back into my life and trust you with my heart and soul before you get spooked and run and upend everything again."

Henry inhales sharply. "That's unfair."

"No, what's unfair is that you started this whole damn thing by kissing me, and then I literally reevaluated and rearranged my entire life for you to be in it, and you weren't willing to even try to make concessions on your end. I am done, do you hear me? I am done relying on you for emotional validation and comfort because I can't trust you to always be there. So do me a favor. Lose my number and lose all ideas you have of anything beyond frosty civility at international gatherings. Get fucked, Henry." Alex hangs up with a hard poke to the screen, and throws his phone back down on his bed. After a moment, he picks it back up, and viciously hits the block button, before dropping it again and covering his face with his hands to scream a little.

7. Don't communicate with your ex in any format, actually

White House Trio

Tell me not to spite make out with a girl in front of a pap to piss off Henry and also the Richards campaign

irl chaos demon😈

I’d help you with this endeavor, but I just finished my makeup and I don’t want you smudging my lipstick

bug🪲

No the fuck you will not. Also, what’s going on, A? I heard yelling from your room

Tldr Henry called to “check up” on me and I told him to get fucked and blocked him

irl chaos demon😈

You’re joking

Not even a little

bug🪲

Honestly, good for you. I mean, I feel bad for him and his situation but stringing you along like this is some real bs.

That still doesn’t mean you can spite make out with a girl in front of a pap

Do not, I repeat, do NOT do anything stupid while I’m out here trying to schmooze with donors. We can reevaluate this plan in the morning when you’re less immediately pissed at Henry.

irl chaos demon😈

Unfortunately, June does have a point and we should probably engage in some self control. 

WHY MUST YOU BOTH BE REASONABLE

LET ME LEAN INTO MY DISASTER BISEXUAL ERA

bug🪲

no

Alex is going wild.

He went for a run with Cash, but his head still won’t shut up.

He asked Amy for self defense lessons but she was busy.

He checked in with Zahra to see if there was anything he could do for the campaign but there wasn’t.

The restless energy that’s been buzzing under his skin since Henry called is growing, almost vibrating through his veins. He needs to do something, needs to feel something, needs to make something happen that will release the pressure of the lightning thrumming behind his eyeballs.

He dials his father, no answer.

He texts the group chat with Pez and Bea, no answer (probably because it’s midnight in Britain, idiot, the voice in his mind whispers).

He flips on the TV just to see if there’s something interesting to watch, and Rafael Luna is on TV, speaking on behalf of the Richards campaign in an interview on MSNBC. He’s about to change the channel when Joy Reid drops his name.

“Senator Luna, as an openly gay man, what are your feelings on Richards’ attacks on Alex Claremont-Diaz and his sexuality during the debate?”

Alex leans forward, curious to see how this plays out.

Raf blinks. “I would hardly call it an attack. Senator Richards was asking a question in regards to President Claremont’s ability to act in a manner that represents the viewpoints of all Americans.”

“So you think what Senator Richards did is okay? You would have been fine had he gone after you like that?” Joy leans forward. “He called your sexuality an attack on traditional family values.”

“He called people who make their entire platform about forcing everyone to believe in gay rights a danger,” Raf says. “While I identify as gay, I would like to think that I do more work than just supporting the gay community, and have worked to fairly represent my constituents and their full diversity of beliefs. And to your first question, I have been openly gay the entire time I’ve campaigned and represented the people. They elected me with that knowledge – I didn’t attempt to hide it. And I think that’s an important piece of knowledge for the American voters.”

“Even though Alex isn’t a candidate?”

Raf shakes his head. “Alex was an intern for my first campaign, and I’ve worked closely with his father and mother before. I’m well aware of how much he puts into his work. He’s a bright young man, with lots of strong ideas and a persuasive method of argument. I think it’s doing him a disservice to say that he doesn’t influence President Claremont’s policy. In fact, I thi –”

The TV is shut off. “Hey!” Alex whips around to see who did it, and is shocked to see Leo standing there holding the other remote. “I was watching that,” he protests.

“And now you’re not,” Leo says sternly. “I’m not letting you sit there and listen to that bullshit after what happened earlier this week.”

“But I need to know,” argues Alex. “If we know what they’re saying about me, how they’re spinning it, what way they are trying to force it, then…”

“Then your mother will take care of it,” Leo cuts him off. “I know you’re not my kid biologically, Alex, but I care deeply about you and this will ruin your mental health far more than it will allow you to help the campaign. Leave it be. Please?”

Alex sighs. “Fine.” 

Leo distracts Alex with joking conversations about absolutely off the wall invention ideas (“teleportation is POSSIBLE, Alex, we just need to unlock a way for atoms to arrange themselves properly”) all the way until dinnertime, when he’s summoned to go eat with Ellen, just the two of them. Meanwhile, Alex gets a couple of sandwiches from the kitchen and a bottle of wine to take back to his room. He doesn’t even bother with a glass, chomping on sandwiches and chugging wine directly from the bottle while scrolling through Instagram. For the most part, he’s curated his feed here to be fairly innocuous stuff - fashion, skincare, attractive models, movies - but once in a while a political post or two will fly through, such as the one that pops up from PinkNews, accusing Rafael Luna of being a sellout. It’s nice to see the support for him in the comments, but the picture they use of Rafael is him from the DC Pride Parade and Alex just. Snaps

raf

so am i allowed to speak to you or will i turn you into a honking flamer who’s too gay to function

What are you talking about

Your interview on MSNBC you fucker, you basically told the world that LGBTQ people deserve to be outed if they work in politics

That’s not what I said. Also, you were watching?

I sure was. So tell me what you meant by “important piece of knowledge for American voters”

Look, I’m sorry you had to see that, but things are complicated at higher levels. You wouldn’t understand

I swear to god Raf if you fucking tell me I’m too young for this or just a kid I will actually toilet paper your office. 

Because that’s supposed to make me feel better about your maturity

Well I’m sorry if I’m not actually mature after watching you defend Richards!

Jesus fuck Raf, I worked for you! I TRUSTED you.

You sat me down on the floor and told me about the kids you had helped and how you were going to help your constituents the same way!

You don’t know a damn thing about me, Alex. Don’t make me out to be some sort of hero.

Obviously fucking not, considering it’s your bullshit that started this shit in the first place.

Henry only came to see me at the DNC because I was upset over you joining the Richards campaign, and now that mistake is plastered all over the media for everyone to analyze.

He’s a good friend to do that for you.

Ha. yeah. “Friend”

Alex, delete whatever shit you’re about to type to me. I’m on the opponent’s campaign, I can’t see this. You’ll never be able to be a politician if you can’t hide these things

Fuck that kind of politics! weren’t you the one who always said politics didn’t have to be about lying and hiding and being someone you’re not?

Yeah, well, things change Alex! You get here and you learn you can’t do that. Don’t try to be like me. It’ll only end up hurting you in the end.

I already am like you, you asshole.

Alex, please. Do not. 

You’ve always known though. I think to some extent you knew before I did

You’re luckier than me though, you have options. You can be palatable to the public.

so I should be miserable in a marriage to a woman instead of being with the man I love

FUCKING SHIT ALEX. Delete this entire text thread off your phone. And stop talking to me. I can’t be your fucking sherpa for this, not in the position I’m in. Find another guide.

Doesn’t matter anyways, he refuses to be with me because of shit like what Richards is pulling and you’re there supporting him and making it harder for the rest of us.

you’re a real piece of work, did you know that Luna

I’m blocking you.

Fine

message not delivered

8. Don’t have heroes.

bea and the nonhets

Saturday, October 3, 2020 10:14am

Auntie 🍬

Thinking about hitting up Brooklyn next Thursday (8 Oct) to check on some stuff with the shelter. Do you have any reason to be in the area? Would love to get together for dinner and a good hug fest.

irl chaos demon😈

Oooooh Alex - NY law school tour? Since we haven't made it there for data collection. 

Yesss I am a fan of this plan. Columbia/NYU are the only two I haven't been to in person that I really want to see.

irl chaos demon😈 

Sweet, I'll update the spreadsheet.

You get me, Nora

What I don't get this group name, Pez. 

Auntie 🍬

Nora, please tell me your darling Alexander has heard the song 

No I get that it's a Bennie and the Jets reference, it's just inaccurate in its description. Aro/Ace isn't het. and June is. 

why isn't it June and the nonhets.

irl chaos demon😈

Did you want an actual answer to that

bug🪲 

No he does NOT. 

But also checking calendar now, pretty sure there's nothing on there that can't be rearranged. 

👸🐝

He does make a point about ace/aro not being het though

Auntie 🍬

He very much does and I apologize for my ignorance.

Auntie 🍬 has changed the chat name to 'welcome to New York it's been waiting for you'

Ughhhhh I’m surrounded by Swifties

bug🪲

Since when are you not straight????

oh my fucking God Alex

Auntie 🍬

So Henry will be coming to check on the shelters with me. 

…Okay?

And Bea is also joining us, and she wants to see you all as well for dinner but I don't love the idea of leaving Henry by himself while we all go out.

On the other hand I also don't want to make things weird for you. What are your thoughts on him joining us? 

um

idk

I want to see you and Bea

and I don't want to make y'all pick sides

But… yeah. the call last week pissed me off

For the record I told him that was a terrible idea 

I believe you

ugh I just don't know if I can ignore him if it's just the six of us, you know?

And it'll be the first time I've seen him since the breakup. 

does it even count as a breakup when he refuses to acknowledge it was real

yeah I get it, and I understand if it's too much. Just know that no one's going to pressure you two to talk either and we can keep you on separate sides

actually you know what

This might actually be a good idea

If I'm wanting to fight him on sight, it's better to do it in front of y'all than at some, like, international summit, right? 

So yeah. bring him. let's do this shit

9. if you can't get over your ex, be a ball of spite instead

Alex, Nora, and June head up to New York Tuesday night of that week. The PR team has decided that they're not going to publicize this trip themselves, but not to suppress any natural engagement that may occur either. After all, as Zahra reasons in the meeting, Alex going to law school certainly supports the idea that he left the campaign to explore other options. 

The next morning, after much cajoling and negotiating with security, the trio hops on the 1 train up to 116th with some Secret Service agents tailing them in casual gear. Alex isn't sure if it's the lack of recognition with them out of context or that New Yorkers truly do not care, but they don't get a single look from a passerby. It's incredibly freeing, and makes Alex feel even more sure that New York City is the place for him. 

They pose for pictures at the gates into Columbia, and again in front of the sculpture of Bellerophon Taming Pegasus, before walking into the Greene building. One of the admissions directors meets them there, and escorts them around the building, pointing out the lecture halls and study areas. June is immediately taken with the adorable cafe on the third floor, while Nora and Alex both eyeball the library. It's a beautiful campus, much like Northwestern and Michigan both were, and it feels like it'll be academically stimulating, the same way Chicago felt. But something is missing and Alex can't quite put his finger on what. 

That evening, June manages to snag orchestra seats to Hamilton, which, for all that Alex is named after the man, he's never actually seen. He's not sure he can do it, not after the last series of emails he and Henry exchanged, but Nora insists, reminding him that the Hamilton and Laurens subplot is hinted at in the show, but isn't a major point. So off they go and.

Okay, look, Alex has listened to the soundtrack, multiple times. He's even watched pieces of the show that have come across his Twitter and Instagram feeds. But he wasn't ready for just how hard those lyrics were going to get to him.

You could never back down

You never learned to take your time

Alex can feel June's eyes on him, hearing her in his head – "fire under your ass for no goddamn reason." 

I’m past patiently waitin’. I’m passionately

Smashin’ every expectation

Every action’s an act of creation!

Hamilton standing center stage on a platform with the chorus surrounding him, pleading for everyone to hear his words and the problems he sees… Alex can feel that in his soul. He swears the actor makes direct eye contact with him while saying those lines. 

Why do you write like you’re running out of time?

Write day and night like you’re running out of time?

Ev’ry day you fight, like you’re running out of time

Are you running out of time?

Running out of time?

Pez's voice echoes in his head "literal embodiment of Lin Manuel Miranda's version of Hamilton."

And when my prayers to God were met with indifference

I picked up a pen, I wrote my own deliverance

He thinks about the first days after being fired from the campaign, of the only way to process being emails to Henry. How they went back and forth about those writings of Hamilton.

Legacy. What is a legacy?

It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see

Maybe he won't see the garden, as in the actual change in Congress and its laws. But he's doing law school, and he can put himself in a place to get people to have the best outcome under the law so they can go and change it. He can still do the work, just from the sideline.

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

Tweet: OMG THE WHITE HOUSE TRIO JUST WALKED INTO HAMILTON THEY'RE HERE TO WATCH THE SHOW TONIGHT

Tweet: yooooo AGCD at Hamilton tonight and looks so fucking hot???? It's giving devil may care English TA that will give you a good grade for being a good girl 😏

Tweet: I can see the trio from my seat and they have been FULLY into this first half

Tweet: every time I look over at them Nora is mouthing every single word and June is bobbing her head and Alex just looks entranced

Tweet: did anyone see AGCD at the end ugly crying? welcome to the emotionally changed by Hamilton club Alex

@agcd: just like our country, young scrappy and hungry (I'm young, Nora's scrappy, June's hungry) <picture of him, June, and Nora doing the Schuyler Sisters pose in front of the stage>

As soon as Alex walks into the law building at NYU, he feels a distinct sense of home. 

There's no one particular thing standing out to him, but there's a feeling of peace settling over him as they walk through the courtyard in front of Vanderbilt Hall and just grows as they look through the building. He can envision himself here, he thinks. There's a study carrel in the corner of the library among the legal encyclopedias where he can see himself reading late into the night. The multiple clinics, something that NYU is famous for, all sound interesting, and Alex loves that he'd be doing real world applications of his research from the get go. 

But the thing that seals the deal for him? When the director takes them over to the Center for Civil Justice and lets them hide in the back of a discussion panel about class action lawsuits and their lack of inclusivity with marginalized populations. Alex is immediately caught up with the discussions of classism and ableism and racism, and how people living in those intersectionalities are the most likely to need class action suits but also the least likely to find out about them. It's just supposed to be observation, but Alex finds himself stealing a notepad and pencil from Amy so that he can write down his observations and memos to himself about research threads to chase down. 

After finishing the tour, they wander through Washington Square Park, stopping to take pictures at the arch, before popping over to a nearby gelato shop and then walking up to the Strand to browse. As they’re standing in front of a case containing a rare 1st edition of Flannery O'Connor’s Wise Blood, June looks over at Alex. "You love NYU." It's not a question.

Alex nods. "Yeah. I love it." He turns to look at her with a lopsided grin. "It also doesn't hurt that I look fantastic in purple."

June hits his arm with a groan and Nora facepalms. But they're both smiling as well. They sit in silence for a couple of minutes before Nora rests her head on Alex's shoulder. "You're going to be a really good lawyer, you know that, right?"

Alex turns his head to press his forehead into her curls. "Well, if you say it, I've got no choice but to believe it."

Chapter Text

Alex is not panicking. He is definitely not panicking. No he's absolutely not having an existential crisis about what to wear. But honestly, what is he supposed to wear? 

He sighs. "Cash?" 

Cash pokes his head into the bedroom. "Yessir?"

Alex turns. "Ok, expert love guru. What do I wear to a dinner with my ex that says ‘don't talk to me I'm done with you’ and ‘look at what you're missing out on you fucking idiot’ at the same time? "

Cash blinks, then walks over to the closet to look at what Alex has brought with him, pondering closely. "How much do you want His Royal Highness to be staring at your ass?"

Alex breaks down laughing. "Are you some sort of expert in getting gay men to look at asses, too?"

"My ex boyfriend did seem to be quite into mine," Cash sasses right back. 

Alex blinks. "Oh. Um. Thank you for trusting me with that? That's what I'm supposed to say here, right?"

Cash rolls his eyes. "Don't break yourself thinking too hard. It's not a state secret that you're getting access to."

"Jeez, just trying to be supportive!" Alex shoves Cash when he laughs, but of course that does nothing. "So expert love guru and wooer of men, what makes you think Henry will be looking at my ass?" 

Cash gives him a Look. "Exactly how many times did I cover for you and the Prince? Speaking of, wear these." He tossed a pair of olive chinos at Alex. "The number of times you got pulled into a secluded space because you were wearing these pants is honestly kind of traumatizing." 

"Why were you counting?" Alex snarks, but he grabs them anyway. "Thanks."

Cash laughs and walks back out, while Alex quickly finishes getting ready. He's paired the pants with a chambray shirt and a dark brown leather jacket, and leaves his curls in a controlled tousle. Taking one last look in the mirror, he nods to himself. He can do this, he can be mature and controlled, and he can treat Henry like any other stranger. 

"Alejandro!" comes June's voice through the door. "Stop fussing with your hair, I'm sure you're plenty pretty! Let's go, we're going to be late!"

Alex rolls his eyes but dutifully walks out with Cash in tow, only to be met with an exaggerated wolf whistle from Nora. "damn, Alex, 100/10. Would definitely bang again." 

June wrinkles her nose. "How many times do I need to ask you to stop referencing your sex life with my baby brother?"

"At least one more." Nora gives him a salacious once over. "Thank the baby Moses for lacrosse thighs."

"Aaaaaand we're leaving now, bye!" June forcefully grabs Nora by the shoulders and marches her to the elevator while Alex follows behind, laughing but also thankful his darker skin is hiding his blush. 

Pez has texted them a name for a Mediterranean place in DUMBO; as they hop into the car to drive down, Alex tries to focus on his breathing, timing it with the movement of the car as they sit in traffic on FDR Drive, looking at the buildings as they pass by. June squeezes his hand from next to him. “Hey,” she says quietly. “For the record, I think it’s incredibly selfless of you to put up with Henry so that Pez can have time with both of you.”

“Least I can do, right?” Alex shrugs. “At least this time I’m not ruining a campaign appearance or something.”

June shakes her head. “I wish you’d stop guilt tripping yourself for that. You’re always giving and giving and giving. It’s okay to take things for yourself, especially things like love.” She leans her head against his shoulder. “You aren’t a terrible person for fighting to make things work. Even if they didn’t end up going the way you wanted them to.” 

Alex can feel a weird sort of half smile tugging at his lips. “Thanks, Bug.”

It’s only a few more minutes till they pull up to the restaurant, all bright wood and white linens and beautiful large windows overlooking the East River as the Manhattan Bridge rumbles right above them. The staff has clearly been forewarned about their guests tonight, as they are immediately ushered towards a corner table that is hidden by some half walls, giving them a small amount of privacy. Pez is already there waiting, and he stands up to initiate hugs. After kissing June’s knuckles and giving Nora a peck on the cheek, he turns to Alex, and with a softness and gentleness that Alex has never seen from Pez, he grips Alex’s hands tightly before pulling him into a warm embrace. Alex is definitely not tearing up at all.

As Pez lets him go, he grabs Alex by the shoulders and fixes a stare at him. “Listen, you know I appreciate this so much. But if it’s too much for you, if something goes wrong, you can walk out of this with no hard feelings, okay?”

Alex nods. “Thanks Pez.”

Nora claps her hands. “Okay, so the best option is going to be Alex and Henry at opposite corners. We’ll put Bea across from him and me across from you. Pez, you sit between me and Henry, and June can go between Bea and Alex.” She quickly ushers them into their seats. “How long before they get here, do you think?”

Pez checks his phone. “According to Bea’s location, 2 minutes.”

“Perfect.” Nora looks over at Alex. “Quick, don’t think of purple elephants.”

“Don’t think of…Nora, what?” Alex is so confused.

“If you tell yourself to not think about purple elephants, then the only thing you’ll think about is purple elephants.”

“But why elephants? And why are they purple?”

“Because elephants have a large presence and distinct animal characteristics and purple is a very unnatural color in melanin pigmentation of mammals so those two combined provide a strong internal vision for people with high levels of imagination, which we all know you have in spades.”

“Is that an insult? Because I’ll have you know that highly intelligent people actually –”

“Henry and Bea are here,” June cuts them off.

Nora grins. “And now Alex didn’t spend the last two minutes fretting about seeing Henry again.”

Alex’s eyes narrow. “You are evil. And now my brain is going to be filled with thoughts of purple elephants all night.”

“Mission accomplished.” Nora winks as she stands up. “Now give Henry a bitterly cold handshake and a fake smile before you resume ignoring him.”

Alex shakes his head but is grinning. Nora is helpful, even if it’s in a chaotic and unhinged way. He turns and greets Bea first, nodding politely and making it through “your royal –” before she swats his arm and pulls him into a hug. “Hi love,” she says. “You look great.”

“And you are as lovely as ever,” Alex smiles, kissing her on the cheek as he pulls away. Taking a deep breath, he turns to look at Henry, and oh.

Henry is in a charcoal gray suit that fits him like a glove, with a crisp white shirt, the first couple of buttons undone. He’s unnervingly gorgeous, and Alex would feel underdressed, except for the fact that he can see Henry doing the same scan of his body and watches him swallow before speaking. “Alexander. Good to see you as always.”

Alex inclines his head politely. “And you as well, Your Highness.”

Henry flinches. “Can we at least go back to Henry for the evening?”

“Well, considering that would mean me talking to you for more than the bare minimum, no, Your Highness, I don’t think that will be necessary,” Alex says, trying not to sound too snappy while letting his frustration seep through his tone ever so slightly. He turns back to his seat and tries to lower himself with some semblance of grace and aloofness, but he’s pretty sure he just flops like a petulant toddler instead. To distract from the moment, he quickly picks up the drink menu. He’s going to need it to get through the night.

Overall, the dinner isn’t terribly awkward. Pez does the lion’s share of the work in directing conversations away from anything that might be fraught or bring up bad feelings, Bea and June work in perfect tandem to keep both Henry and Alex engaged without making them speak to each other, and Nora fills in any gaps with sly remarks and outrageous commentary to keep everyone laughing. Alex can feel Henry’s eyes on him throughout the night, though, burning a metaphorical hole into his cheek. He tries to ignore it, but he’s never been able to fully shut Henry out and they catch each other’s eyes every so often.

The thing is, Alex knows Henry’s body almost as well as his own, and he can hear the bone deep tiredness inside his voice. Henry’s walls are up and while he’s polite and speaks to everyone like it’s a normal evening out, Alex can feel the wariness and unwillingness to fully let the others in. He’s not quite back to Media Henry in front of them, but he’s definitely more careful and measured and Alex hates it. Usually, it would be up to Alex to make a snarky comment or a crucial joke to lower Henry’s defenses a bit and get him to act like a normal guy in his early 20s instead of His Royal Highness, but that’s not his place anymore, and Alex kind of hates himself for caring about it so much.

God, Alex is an idiot for thinking he could just get over Henry. Even without talking to him, just hearing him laugh, listening to him discuss a newly released book with June, watching his eyes light up a little bit as he talks about the kids he surprised on a trip to Buckingham last week – it all makes Alex remember just how in love he is with him in the first place, and how very little it has receded. 

After they finish up, Bea and June decide they want to walk along the river a bit, so they gamely head out. It's a warm night for October in New York, and there's only the faintest nip of a breeze.  Bea and June run ahead arm in arm, while Nora chases after them, followed closely by Henry, leaving Pez and Alex to bring up the rear. Alex can feel Pez staring at the side of his head, gearing up to say something, but Alex just holds a hand up. “Don’t. Please. I know it’s pathetic.”

Pez frowns and shakes his head. “It’s not pathetic to be in love, Alex.”

“It is when he’s made his choice, and there’s nothing I can do to stop him. I have to accept it and move on with my life.” Alex looks at Pez. “I’m really scared for him. He seems really broken down now.”

Pez doesn’t have to answer out loud, but the squeeze of Alex’s shoulder lets him know that he gets it, fully.

They catch up to the others at a broad set of stone steps looking out over the water. Everyone is sitting and talking quietly, but Alex still feels restless so he heads over to a larger outcrop of stones with a handful of pebbles in his pocket to skip out over the water and give himself something to do with his hands. It was something he saw on YouTube while in his 48 hours angst and feels fest when he first got back from England. Breathe in with each skip, breath out negativities and let them flow down the river.

He feels him before he even sees him. “You know, when we talked on the phone, I said frosty civility between us. Somehow, a one on one conversation on a rocky shore in Brooklyn doesn't seem like it qualifies.”

“I know, I just.” Henry comes up to stand next to him. “I needed to say something to you. I know you don't wish to speak to me anymore and I will respect those wishes as soon as I say this one thing.”

“And what is it that’s so important that you need me to hear?” Alex looks over at him.

Henry swallows. “Even though this has been one of the hardest experiences of my life - falling in love with you, having you love me back, having to give you up - I want you to know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You were never the problem, the way you loved was never a problem, and I am so incredibly sorry that I made you feel like that. Being the recipient of the warmth and sweetness and affection you bring in a relationship has been indescribable and – I just wish there was a way for all of this to have happened without my breaking your heart in the end. That’s the only part I regret - having to hurt you.”

“Do you really have to, though?” Alex asks quietly, turning to face him fully, because yes, he's still furious with Henry, but also he just can’t let this go, he can’t not fight. “I just don’t understand why you think you have to, why you’re so committed to this idea of duty when all that it has brought you is pain.”

“What would you have me do, Alex?” Henry looks at him sorrowfully. “I may not want the life that being royal demands of me, but I can’t not have it, I can’t just walk away from it.”

“I wish you would,” says Alex, and he didn’t realize it until that moment but. “I wish, for once in my life, someone who professes to love me would choose to fight for me instead of making my love secondary to the call of duty.”

Henry’s face crumples. “I wish that for you too, but….I can’t be that person, Alex. I really can’t. And I’m sorry to be the latest one in a line of people who have hurt you, but the only thing I've ever known is my duty and I don't think I have the strength to do what I need to do to have the life I live with you in my dreams. You want someone who can stand shoulder to shoulder with you and face the public without fear, and I just can’t.”

“But you can,” insists Alex. “I know you have it in you, you have the capability. And I could be there for you and support you through it and we’d be okay because we’d have each other.”

Henry steps forward a little, and brushes the back of his hand against Alex’s. ”I love so much that you want to fight everything and everyone to build the world that you want, but you have not had to go up against The Firm and the British tabloids working in tandem. They are a juggernaut unlike anything you have ever faced.”

“I like challenges,” retorts Alex. “‘Never tell me the odds,’ you know?”

Henry gives him a smile. “You are rather scruffy looking.” He sighs and looks down. “When you say stuff like this, that you’re willing to fight, you want to support me as I figure things out, that you’re willing to love me through all of that…It’s almost unbelievable you know? I don’t think I’ve had someone who loves and supports me unconditionally and with that much dedication since Dad passed away. And it sounds so easy when you say it, and God knows I want to, but. I’ve lived this life forever, Alex.”

“So be with me and we can make a plan to fix it, Henry. I’m not saying we boldly declare ourselves as a couple tomorrow and tell the Crown to shove it – although if that's an option I am so fucking down – but, we can come up with a plan for whenever you are ready, I’m willing to wait.”  Alex takes another step closer to Henry. “I love you. I want to be with you. Whatever it takes, baby. Please just…let’s try.”

Henry huffs a wet sounding laugh, pressing his forehead into Alex’s as he fully tangles their fingers together. “I should have known I never had a chance of winning this argument with you once you had time to prepare talking points. Maybe that's why I came over here. Because I wanted you to talk me into it.”

"Debate club champion, baby." Alex squeezes Henry's hand tightly.

"Well, consider this yet another victory, I suppose." Henry picks up their entwined hands to kiss Alex's knuckles. 

“Wait…is that a yes?” Alex brings his free hand up to stroke at Henry’s jawline.

Henry nods. “I’m bloody terrified and I don’t know how we’re going to do all this but….you love me and you’re willing to fight for me and you make me believe that I can fight too, and you're willing to be patient with me, so…"

“I will be as patient as you need." Alex runs his fingers through Henry's hair, letting himself get reacquainted with their soft texture. "Anything for you."

"I love you" murmurs Henry. "I love you and I'm so sorry."

And that phrase, those three words. Henry's never said that to him directly, and Alex can't help but to push his face up and for the first time in over a month - too, too long - he’s met with Henry’s lips against his, soft and sweet, moving slowly over his in a way that somehow feels more intimate than anything they’ve ever done.

As they stand there, making out slowly, it hits Alex, this is the first time they’ve kissed knowing that they’re both in love, knowing that this is going to be a forever thing if things go the way they should, and it’s a moment that feels like it should be accompanied by fireworks and dramatic music because it’s history making, but somehow the quiet rush of the water, the background noise of the city, and the feeling of Henry in his arms - it’s more than enough.

After quickly saying goodbye to the rest of the friend group, who pointedly don't mention them leaving together or their entangled hands, Henry and Alex head back up to Manhattan and Alex's hotel room. The ride itself is fairly quiet, the two of them content to simply hold each other in the backseat. Once they get up to the room and close the door behind them, they look at the bed before looking at each other nervously and then bursting into laughter.

"I don't think we've ever been so frightfully awkward about rolling into bed with each other before," remarks Henry as he gets his last few chuckles out.

Alex reaches out for him again, tucking himself against Henry's warm chest. "Honestly, I'm not even thinking about sex right now. I just want to be here with you for a while, enjoying the fact that you came back to me."

Henry drops a kiss to Alex's curls. "Like I told Zahra the last time we were in New York, I do think this was fairly inevitable."

Alex shakes his head. "I didn't know that." He looks up at Henry. "Henry… I know we've talked a bit about this and we are back together and we're going to make a plan but… part of that plan is also going to be me having to learn to trust you again. What you did hurt. A lot. I can't just ignore that."

Henry's eyes droop a bit. "I know I did. I regret it more than you can imagine. However, " he picks up one of Alex's hands and kisses the back of it, "I intend to spend the rest of my life making up for it."

Alex's heart is pounding. "The rest of your life?"

Henry nods. "After all I've put us through, I want to make it clear. There is no longer any sort of hypothetical shadowy future that I'm anticipating where we are no longer together. When they write the history of my life, I want it to include you, and the love I have for you."

And that, of all things, is what finally gets Alex to break. Ugly, wretched tears pour out of him as he buries his face back into Henry's chest. "When I told my mom about you, when I got kicked off… she asked if I felt forever about you, " he hiccups. "And that was what I wanted to tell you that night in the lake. Not just that I loved you but that you were a forever decision, that you were worth everything, that there was no part of me that didn't want it. And I know I haven't always been the best about making that clear, that I tried to brush it off when we first started that night, that I dismissed your concerns post DNC, and I know you also don't have the best track record with people telling you that you are enough and you are worth it but I will tell you that over and over and over again. You are the one I choose, you are my forever, I love you and want to make history with you and…" Alex isn't even sure if this jumble of words and verbal diarrhea coming out of his mouth is making any sense but judging by the way Henry is squeezing him even tighter, he understands. 

Eventually they make their way to the bed and just lay side by side, looking at each other. Alex brings his hand up to trace Henry's cheekbone with one light finger. "So. Can we talk short term next steps?"

Henry takes a deep breath. "Yes. I think I can do that."

"Stop me at any time if it gets to be too much, okay?" At Henry's nod, Alex continues. "So I don't want to push anything too hard until after the election next month. But on your end… is there a way you think you can like, unenlist without causing any suspicions?"

Henry swallows and looks down. "I'm not sure. Obviously sitting the exams was planned as a response to the DNC article. When that came out, I was given two paths with which the Firm would allow me to move forward. I'm sure you can deduce that the other path was a courtship announcement but I didn't think I could do that convincingly. Plus, then I would be bringing another innocent person into the web of lies that we created around me. The only way that didn't involve someone else getting hurt was, er, enlistment. And Philip especially seemed to be quite the fan of the idea of me serving instead of sitting and wasting away moping over the boyfriend I couldn't have… so I let him push me. "

"So what now? Are you going to have to serve?" Alex can feel his heart pounding.

"I don't know what I'll have to do to get out of it, but I can find a plan. We have until January." Henry gives Alex a hesitant smile. "I won't rest until I figure out a way to be with you."

Alex grins a little at the reassurance that Henry wants this, wants to go public. But as he's thinking back over things he realizes: "hey wait a sec. You said Philip was a fan of the military enrollment because it would help you get over the boyfriend you couldn't have. Does Philip know that you're gay now? Or at least, like the implication that you're gay." 

Henry sighs."I may or may not have screamed it at him in a fit of pique in the week after you left. He was pushing for an appearance at the hospital – the one we'd gone to together – and I told him… actually, I'm not sure what I truly said but Shaan said it was something to the effect of I'm being haunted by the specter of my ex enough that I don't need to do a tour of every place I went with him."

"You overdramatic little shit," Alex grins. "Was there door slamming? Did your knees give out, did you lay out on the nearest couch? Did you fling your hand across your forehead like a Victorian maiden become overfull with angst?"

"It has suddenly occurred to me that I literally just signed up to be subjected to this disrespect for the rest of my life, " Henry says drily, but with a barest hint of a smile peeking through. "But yes, I'm assuming Pip is now well aware of what my sexual proclivities are. I don't think he realized the ex I dramatically whined about to him had the possibility of being you until those headlines were published."

"And… did he seem to have a problem with that?" Alex asks, a little apprehensive.

Henry pauses to think about it. "You know, I don't know that he had a problem with you specifically, or even my being gay. His concern only seemed to be that the Crown controlled the narrative rather than the tabloids. The only thing he said to me directly in that meeting was that it was rather short sighted of me to not have some sort of plan in place in case something like this occurred. The rest of the meeting was rather controlled by Gran."

Alex can tell Henry is getting into his head again so he playfully pokes his side. "I really don't like your grandmother. 0/10, no warm abuela vibes."

That does the trick as Henry laughs out loud, rich and loud, throwing his head back in the way Alex loves, exposing his long throat, and suddenly Alex can't take it any longer, he has to nuzzle into that neck, nip at his skin, kiss up the side to Henry's ear and lightly graze his teeth over the lobe, relishing in the tiny broken nose that Henry makes. 

He takes advantage of his position to whisper directly into Henry's ear, asking for permission for more, waiting for Henry's verbal confirmation before rolling them over and pinning Henry down. He gets to peel Henry out of his suit, slowly, sensually, giving himself time to reacquaint himself with all the curves and lines of Henry's body, of the best places to touch him so that he shudders and moans, whispering nonsense and "sweetheart" and "fuck" over and over, the secret places to kiss that have Henry arching up into his touch. He takes his time with it, treating this reunion like the sacred thing that it is.

It's not long before Henry starts pulling at his hair, warning him, before Alex swallows him all the way down and lets him finish releasing in the back of his throat. Henry has barely finished when he starts pulling at Alex, trying to get his clothes off. Alex instead detangles himself and sits back to shrug off his jacket and then pulls his shirt over his head, attempting to be graceful with it. By the look in Henry's eyes, he certainly succeeded. Henry sits up to meet him slightly, hands coming up to tug at his Alex's belt. "When I walked into the restaurant and saw you in these pants and the leather jacket, I honestly almost dropped to my knees in front of God and country," he mumbles into Alex's neck as he greedily kisses and leaves over the pulse point right above his collarbone. 

Alex laughs, a little shakily. "Giving everyone else dinner and a show for free? Seems rather dramatic even for you, I don't think Byronic heroes drop to their knees in the middle of modern restaurants in DUMBO…"

Henry nips at the skin above Alex's nipple. "Byronic heroes didn't have to deal with the living personification of a supernova blinding them to everyone in the world around them." He licks his palm and then wraps that hand around Alex, and Jesus Christ that is so fucking hot Alex might actually combust.

It doesn't take long for him to finish: after being deprived of Henry for over a month, the feeling of Henry filthily kissing him while firmly jerking him off makes Alex spill quickly. A quick wipe with the hem of Alex's chambray shirt is plenty of cleanup, and Alex curls up with Henry laying on his chest, drifting off to one of the best sleeps he's had in a long time.

10. Maybe just get under your ex instead

Chapter Text

The phone rings entirely too early the next morning. Alex buries his head into Henry's warm chest to try and ignore it. 

"Love," Henry whispers, stretching his head up and squinting at the screen. "Love, that's Zahra, you might want to get that."

Alex groans and stretches out a tired arm to pick up the phone."Zahra? What's up? "

"You absolutely idiotic miscreant you are the stupidest fucking person I have ever had the displeasure of knowing!" Zahra's shriek registers over the phone. "You just had to have a fucking romantic ass reunion in the most photogenic part of Brooklyn!" 

Alex sits up abruptly. "How do you know about that?" He can feel his heart dropping into his stomach and sees Henry go still as a corpse. 

"Everyone knows now, you dumbass. Check the fucking news!"

Oh no. Alex pulls the phone away from his face, switching Zahra to speaker, and pulls up his news notifications, Henry scrambling to sit up next to him. 

BREAKING NEWS: Leaked Photos and Emails from FSOTUS Reveal Secret Relationship With Prince Henry of Wales

Alex is going to vomit. He clicks on one and is met with an extremely clear photo of him and Henry kissing last night, the Brooklyn Bridge in the background lighting up their faces so there's no mistaking them.  

A sound comes out of his throat that is some unholy combination of a sob, a laugh, and a scream.

Zahra, apparently taking this as confirmation that he's read it, barrels on. "All of the emails between you and Henry were uploaded to WikiLeaks, along with all of the photos confirming you meeting up in those locations. You're coming back to the White House immediately. Turn your phone off, you're on full communications lockdown."

"I'm coming with you," Henry says, already getting out of bed and scrambling into his clothes. "I'll text Pez and… "

"You need to turn your phone off too, Highness, we don't know where the leak came from," snaps Zahra. "And I'm sure you need to get back to England and coordinate with them."

Alex feels his heart drop at the prospect of being separated. "No, I have to… we just…" He takes a deep breath and tries again. "Is having Henry in the air for 6 hours while trying to deal with a PR emergency really the move? We can come up with a plan and coordinate with the Palace from DC, right?" he asks.

Zahra exhales a sharp breath. "You know what? Fine. Fine. Whatever. I actually don't care. If it gets you to DC faster, bring the damn prince. Tell Srivastava to call me, and y'all get your asses down here ASAP. Move." And with that pronouncement the line goes dead. 

Alex looks up at Henry. "Baby… " he says, feeling himself start to shake.

Henry drops back onto the bed to cup his face. "Love, I know this is scary. I'm terrified too. But we're going to figure this out together, okay? I promised you last night I'd fight and I'm going to prove it to you now. And while this isn’t how I wanted everyone to find out, I’m not ashamed. I’m not scared of what I feel for you." He kisses Alex on the forehead. "I will let you have a meltdown in my arms as soon as we get out of here, but sweetheart, we have got to get moving now."

Alex reaches his hands up to squeeze Henry's wrists, getting what strength he can from that before hauling out of bed to pack and change.

Cash ushers them out to the hallway where they're met with the somber faces of Nora, Bea, June, and Pez. Henry blinks. "Pez, Bea, what are you doing here?"

"Coming with you," Bea says firmly, Pez nodding alongside her. "At this point it's just easier to stick together as a group and keep all the security team together instead of splitting us up."

"All of this has been cleared with the White House," comes Shaan's smooth voice from behind them. "However, Your Highness, the Palace is extremely angry that you are refusing to come back to London. There are going to be steep consequences for this."

Alex looks at Henry in a panic. He doesn't want Henry to be thrown at the mercy of the Firm again. But Henry has his chin stuck out in that determined way that he loves, and Alex can't find it in himself to tell Henry to go. "I will be staying with Alex so we can present a united front."

Shaan nods, not letting his face show any emotion. "Very well, Your Highness." He turns to the PPOs and Secret Service agents assembled in the hallway. "The hotel has given us permission to exit through a back alley. There are two cars already on the way. Ms. Holleran, Mr. Okonjo, and Ms. Claremont-Diaz will be in the first car, and Princess Beatrice, Prince Henry and Mr. Claremont-Diaz will be in the second car. Agents Chen, Sudman, and Ball, you will work with Sergeant Morgan and Officers Locke and Singh to create a safe path to the cars. Mr. Okonjo and Ms. Holleran, you'll go out first, accompanied by Officer Nelson. Their Royal Highnesses will go next with Sergeant McShane, and then we’ll end with Mr. Claremont Diaz and Ms. Claremont Diaz, accompanied by Agent Woodland. We want to get them in the cars without any incidents and get out as quickly as possible. Any questions?" When everyone shakes their head, Shaan nods. "The six of you, sunglasses and baseball caps on."

As they're ushered downstairs, Henry takes Alex's hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. Alex isn't sure how they ended up with this kind of role reversal happening, with him falling apart and Henry calmly keeping himself and Alex together and functional. In any case, he’s thankful for it, because he’s pretty sure he would have fallen over without it. He actually can hear himself making the tiniest noise of protest in his throat when they have to let go so they can get ready to run to the car, but no one seems to notice.

When the doors open for the agents to start setting up the perimeter, the blinding flashes of multiple photographers and shouting voices freeze Alex for a moment. It’s too much, it’s too overwhelming, and it takes Cash actually physically forcing him forward to get him to the car. Once the car gets away from the curb, surrounded by the police escort, Alex just collapses into Henry’s side, hyperventilating a bit. “How are you so calm? Why are you so calm? Why aren’t you having a panic attack or something?”

Henry brushes Alex’s curls back softly. “Because right now, I have to focus on caring for you. It’s a rather interesting feature of my anxiety – all of my feelings go on mute when I have an external focus who demands more of my emotional usage.”

Bea turns around. “Yeah, but you’re going to crash eventually, so make sure you keep an eye out for those signs.”

Henry nods. “I will, Bea. Promise.”

Alex just sort of chokes out a weird noise and curls back into Henry’s shoulder, trying not to completely come apart.

They make it to the West 30th Heliport in record time, and they all tumble out of the car and by some strange hive mind thought, they all sprint for the helicopter as if the extra seconds will help them gain the upper hand on the story. As Alex hops up into the helicopter, though, he can’t help but look back over his shoulder at the city. He’s going to miss it here, he realizes. I’ll see you again, he promises to whatever saint keeps watch over NYC, and then climbs in.

The ride to DC is short, and mercifully quiet. There seems to be a tacit agreement to leave Henry and Alex alone, which is fine by them as they just sit in silence, holding hands for dear life.

As soon as they drop onto the South Lawn, they are greeted by Zahra. “Alex, Prince Henry, Srivastava, with me. We’re going to meet up with the President in the Situation Room.” she says, not even bothering with a greeting. “Nora, June, you take the Princess and Mr. Okonjo with you to the Vice President’s office for a bit.”

“Wait, I should be there for Henry,” objects Bea, June nodding alongside her.

“The President wishes to speak to the boys alone first. We will come get you when it’s time to move towards more strategic planning,” Zahra says, her tone as close to an order as it will get with a foreign diplomat. 

Bea looks unhappy, but nods her head. June glares, but doesn’t say anything more.

“Come on,” Zahra jerks her head. Shaan falls into step besides her while Henry and Alex quickly follow along, Cash tailing behind them. As Zahra taps away on one of her many phones, she accidentally drops one of the folders from under her arm. Before it can fall all the way though, Shaan easily catches it and hands it back to her. Zahra turns and smiles at him, a very stressed smile, but there’s something soft in it, and Shaan bumps her shoulder lightly with his own. 

Alex stops dead, a million points connecting in his head at once. “Oh my god, Shaan. Shaan. Zahra. He is the secret fiance?”

The look of absolute exasperation that both of them give him would be hilarious if it wasn’t kind of scary to see them mirrored. “Is now really the time for questions about secret relationships?” Zahra growls at him. “Think about how you answer this carefully, because I have no problem handing you off to Walter Reed to use as an experimental specimen.”

Alex swallows and shakes his head, quickly catching back up and grabbing Henry’s hand for strength. He keeps running through the possibilities in his mind - Henry said yes to being open but would the Crown let them? Would his mom let them? What were they going to do, going to say? How do they make people believe the veracity of the statement from last time? How was this going to affect the next debate, the election, his mom’s entire career? His career?

He's so caught up in his head that he runs right into Zahra's back as she stops in front of the door of the briefing room. As she pushes the door open, everyone in there goes silent. Alex can't focus on any of them because he's looking at his mom.

Ellen very deliberately takes her glasses off. "If your name is not Alexander Claremont-Diaz or Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, you are dismissed from this room." She looks around when no one moves. "Was I not clear? Get out."

As everyone scrambles to leave, Ellen gestures to the two seats next to her at the conference table, wordlessly telling the boys to sit down. Once everyone has left, she looks directly at Henry. "Your Highness, forgive me, but I'm about to dispense with all formalities, if that's alright with you."

Henry nods. "Yes, I'm amenable to that."

"Good." Ellen leans over, and when she speaks, her tone is pure ice. "You've got a lot of goddamn nerve showing up now and acting like you care about my son after the bullshit you pulled last month. "

"Mom!" Alex protests, but Ellen just holds up a hand to quiet him and keeps going.

"Now when I had met you in the past, you seemed like a perfectly respectable young man who was a little more reserved maybe, but certainly not worth the vitriol my son kept spouting about you. And when we built the PR relationship from it, I assumed you were at least acting in a tolerable manner. But I have to say, I don't know a single person who professes to be a kind human being that would take the heart of someone that they claim to love, and stomp on it so thoroughly."

"Ma'am, if I could," Henry starts to interject.

"No, you can not," Ellen says, standing up and leaning fully into Henry's space. "You left my son with his heart in pieces, and now, when he's finally starting to get a handle on things again, you come waltzing on back and think that a few pretty words in your posh accent are going to make everything right between you two?"

"Mom! Lecture later, photo leak now?!" Alex tries to get the conversation back on the rails.

"We wouldn't have to deal with a photo leak if Prince Charming here could have not acted like a selfish coward for two seconds!" 

"Don't call him that! And the leak could have still happened regardless!" Alex is standing up now, pushing his way in between Ellen and Henry.

"Really? Because if he'd just listened to you at Kensington that night, there would have been reunion kissing in his fancy fucking palace and not out in the open in Brooklyn!"

"They'd still have the emails! Those were there before the fight and who knows how many more would have been added afterwards!"

"E-mails would have meant nothing without the photo, Alex. You know that as well as I do!" Ellen nudges him aside so she can sit on the table next to Henry. "So let me ask you this, Henry. What's the plan now for hiding? Because I know the Crown and have met Queen Mary plenty of times. I know she's not about to let you break centuries of her precious tradition."

Alex realizes, abruptly, that he has never once seen Ellen openly disrespect another country's rulers or governors so blatantly before. Actually, he has never seen her this mad at anyone except his father. 

It's actually a tiny bit gratifying, watching her fight for him this fiercely. 

And she's still going. "Is this some kind of sick game to you? String along the loving trusting boy who's just figuring himself out, use him for the physical outlet, but keep quiet and marry a woman because God forbid the Prince of England date a man, let alone a half-Mexican one!"

"Is that really what you think of me?" Henry looks wounded.

"I didn't used to think of you like that," spits Ellen. "But I also didn't think that you could hurt my son so badly that having to hide his feelings for you contributed to a panic attack on national television."

And that pushes Alex back towards needing to protect Henry. "Mom, that was a lot of stuff and blaming it on Henry is really unfair." 

Ellen rolls her eyes. "I said ‘contributed’, not that he was the sole cause. I'm aware there was more going on, but you were already mentally fragile with having to deny the relationship and His Royal Highness deciding to go off and play soldier to forget about you!" 

"Mom, stop!" Alex pleads. "This isn't helping anyone or anything! Him being here now instead of giving into the Crown's demands that he return home should prove to you that he's serious this time."

"Madam, erm, Ms. Claremont, ma'am, if I may," Henry says. "I am fully aware that my previous behavior hasn't inspired much confidence and I don't expect to change your mind immediately, considering how much I did hurt Alex. However, I am committed to righting the wrongs. And," Henry straightens his spine slightly. "Whatever the Crown tries to do, they can't physically stop me from loving Alex."

Ellen narrows her eyes, looking like she's trying to read his body language, and Henry meets her gaze without an ounce of fear. Alex holds his breath, waiting for one side to break.

Finally, Ellen nods. "Fine. Truce for now." She turns back to Alex, holding her arms out for a hug. And Alex might be a little frustrated with the shovel talk, but he's tired and stressed and really needs a hug from his momma, so he curls into her arms gratefully. "Ok hon. I know better than to ask you if you're okay, because I know you're not at all. So instead let me ask you this: what do you need from me right now?"

"I… " Alex starts, but can't finish. He thinks about how it could have been, if he was able to introduce Henry as a normal boyfriend instead of a political nightmare, how his mom would have learned about his journey from him instead of through the leaked contents of an email server spread on the table of the Situation Room. "I don't know, Momma. I just… this isn't how I wanted to do it. I wanted to talk about it when I was ready… when we were ready," he gestures back at Henry. "We barely got to talk about moving forward from all this as a couple and now we're expected to make life altering decisions about how to present it to the world."

Ellen's face softens slightly. "Well, just know, whatever you two decide, I will back your play."

Alex laughs wetly, tears filling his eyes at his mom's unquestionable support. "But the debates and the election and the… "

"You let me handle those," Ellen says. "This is about you and your life. What is it that you want to do?"

Alex looks back at Henry and receives a nod of confirmation before looking back at his mom. "I want everyone to know I feel forever about him. "

Ellen grins, like she knew that would be the answer. "Then, to quote your dad, let's fuck it up, vatos."

The next few hours speed by in a blur. Most of the work is dedicated to finding out where the leak came from, who the source was. But there's statements and releases and graphs and projections on when and where and how to do it and Alex would rather not have to look at any of this, but he has to. It's enough that his mother is giving him this freedom – he can't let her down by not coming out as strategically as possible.

Henry has been a godsend, holding Alex's hand tightly and keeping him grounded instead of flying into a full manic episode. Alex would be suspicious of him being replaced by a pod person if it wasn't for the minor crying session in the middle where Henry finds the emails Alex sent while he was blocked. He takes a moment there to hug Alex tightly and tell him how proud he is of him for his LSAT scores, and that he will always care about his accomplishments. 

After too many hours to count, Henry and Alex are given their phones back and released from the advisors, then sent to relax in the VPOTUS office with the other four members of their group. Nora is in full frantic computer genius mode, headphones on and typing at a speed that could rival professional pianists, while June has her head in Pez's lap as they converse quietly. Bea has a Kindle in her hands but immediately puts it down when Alex and Henry enter, scrambling up to hug them. "Are you two all right?"

And that's when Henry cracks a little. "Bea," he croaks, "Bea I'm so sorry. The stories about you…  they confirm everything. I'm so sorry I didn't think… "

"Hush, love," Bea chides, putting her hand over his mouth. "The rumors were already out there, it's only confirmed now. They were always going to follow me, you know? At least now they have both the confirmation that it happened as well as the follow up of sobriety." 

Henry puts his head on her shoulder and collapses down, letting her hug him close. Alex quickly joins the hug as well, rubbing Henry's back in what he hopes are soothing motions and letting him have his moment to break. June and Pez also join the pile, surrounding Henry and letting him cry it out. Even Nora puts down her computer and headphones and carefully tucks herself between Henry and Alex's legs, resting her head on Henry's hip. 

As Henry's sobs start to even out, he looks up at Alex. "Please don't take these tears as anything but a pure emotional outlet. I'm still okay with moving forward with us being out as a couple."

"Shhhh, you're okay, baby," Alex reassures him, cupping his cheek. "You cry all you need to until we have a better sense of the plan."

 "Still no concrete plan?" Pez asks. 

Alex sighs. "We still have no idea who leaked them or why. And Buckingham isn't responding to us at all so we can't move forward with any statements without their permission in case they try to press it as a violation of the NDA."

"But NDAs can't cover any information that becomes public knowledge if it's not made public by the recipient." June looks at Alex questioningly.

"Without a lead on who the hacker is, we don't want to risk the Crown trying to pin the leak on Alex," Henry explains. "Which is absolutely something the Firm might try." 

"Especially because Gran is probably furious that this is out," says Bea. "Not that I've heard from her, or Mum, or Pip. Sure would be nice to get at least something from them."

Right on cue, as if Bea's words were from a cursed oracle, Zahra and Shaan barge in. Well, Zahra barges and Shaan sweeps in elegantly afterwards. "Her Majesty the Queen is on her way here."

"What?" yell Bea, Alex, Henry, and Pez in unison, as the entire group scrambles to their feet. 

"Gran hasn't done an overseas trip since 2015," Henry says, wide-eyed. "She's claimed she's too old to travel long distances now, so she does all her diplomacy work in Great Britain while sending other working Royals abroad."

"Oh, I've got a bad feeling about this," groans Pez. 

"It's okay. It's fine. We've got a few hours," rationalizes Bea. "We'll have a plan."

"You have one hour till she lands, Your Highness," corrects Shaan. "It seems that Her Majesty left very shortly after being informed that Prince Henry and yourself were going to be staying here. Her equerry only just now reached out to let me know."

Henry inhales sharply. "Trying to catch us off guard to try and force her way."

Alex drops his head in his hands. "She's going to staple my dick to the walls of the Tower of London."

"She can't take you away from a building full of Secret Service agents," reasons Nora. "That would probably qualify as an incitement to war."

"It won't matter anyway." Henry tilts his chin up defiantly. "If she refuses to acquiesce to our demands, I'll renounce my place in the line of succession and remove myself as a working Royal."

Everyone in the room gasps. "Baby, no," Alex says. "You can't do that. Not for me."

Henry shakes his head. "It wouldn't be for you. Well not just for you. It would be for me too. I won't let the burdens of this family keep me from being open about who I am and who I love."

"But your security, and your inheritance, and…" Alex babbles.

"Those things aren't even a drop in the bucket compared to you," Henry says firmly. "And remember, this is only a fallback plan… though I imagine Gran will probably try to call my bluff on it."

Bea grins, a rebellious crooked smile that reminds Alex of his mother. "How do you think a double dip would affect that bluff call?"

Henry whips his head over to look at her. "You'd do that?"

"Are you kidding?" Bea snorts. "If you leave then I move up to third in line of succession which means I'm depending on Pip to have kids to keep me off the throne, and I'd rather not leave that to chance. Uncle Charles is welcome to it." 

Henry laughs, a loud and joyful noise that Alex wasn't expecting to hear. "Oh, wouldn't that piss Gran off so badly?" He turns to explain to everyone else. "Uncle Charles is Gran's oldest nephew, and has delusions of grandeur about restoring the British Empire, and is constantly trying to get appointments with her to discuss them. She'll go mad if that's pointed out to her." 

Bea nods. "And if she refuses to sign off on the official abdication, you convert to Catholicism."

June starts cackling. "Wait, no, actually, can you skip over the other steps and just do that? I'll be your Confirmation sponsor."

Henry cocks his head. "It certainly would make things easier for marriage in the future."

Alex has to sit down at that because like. 24 hours ago he was sure Henry would never come back to him, and now he's talking about renunciation and marriage and all these plans for a permanent future and he's just. Really overwhelmed. Henry, when he notices, just comes to stand next to him quietly, dropping a hand to his head to scratch lightly at his scalp. 

The spell is broken by Zahra clearing her throat. "Okay, I've revised my opinion on you, Highness," she says, pointing at Henry. "You are still a giant pain in the ass and your shit with Alex literally almost ruined my life… but you've got some nerve in you. I like that." She turns to Shaan. "I'm going to email the notes from this conversation I just took to you. Can you and Henry hammer out whatever paperwork or forms or letters you need to have ready within the next 30ish minutes? I'd like to see it before we go into this meeting with her." 

Shaan nods and swiftly kisses her cheek before looking at Henry. "Come on, Your Highness." Henry presses a softer kiss to Alex's curls before dutifully following.

Zahra points at Alex. "You. Go shower and get yourself put together. You have to look Queen level presentable. Do you have a clean suit available?" She waits for Alex to nod before continuing. "You've got 30 minutes to come back here looking like the American royalty you are supposed to be. And then we are going to come up with one hell of an attack to make sure that the Queen can't break you two apart."

Chapter Text

1 hour and 52 minutes later, the conference room they used earlier is occupied by Henry, Bea, the First Family, Zahra, Shaan, Amy, Cash, and a couple of PPOs. They've decided to keep this initial meeting relatively small (much to Nora and Pez's chagrin) to try and get the Queen to see reason before they bring the rest of the White House team in. Alex isn't feeling great about their chances to be honest, but knowing what Henry and Bea are planning means that he's not completely through the roof nervous.

The Queen is in Washington DC already; upon landing about 45 minutes ago, she was escorted to a nearby hotel to "rest and refresh," which Alex takes to mean "purposefully delayed in order to give the White House some more time to prepare." Once she's announced to have arrived at the White House, Ellen stands to go meet her in the Diplomatic Reception Hall. They'll do the expected formalities there and get them out of the way before the real drama begins. Before she heads out, she squeezes Alex's shoulder. "On your side, sugar. Don't forget that." She then looks at Henry and nods. Zahra has already briefed her on the plans that Henry has, and it seems to have thawed her towards him significantly.  She gives them both a small smile before walking through the doors. 

Waiting for Ellen to return with the Queen feels like it both takes forever but also is gone in a split second. Everyone rises silently when Queen Mary  enters alongside her equerry Jameson and a veritable swath of PPOs. She is a vision of royalty in an extremely expensive looking midnight blue suit, and a small but exquisite diamond studded bandeau tiara.

And look, Alex might kind of hate the Queen for what she's doing to Henry, but he can't help but give her a modicum of respect for the aesthetic. He knows for a fact that she doesn't need to wear the tiara – in fact, she rarely wears them except for major events. But having it on here reminds everyone of who she is and what powers she has. 

As Queen Mary sits down and surveys the table, Henry reaches for Alex's hand under the table and grips tightly. Neither of them make a sound, waiting for the kitchen staff to hand Mary her tea. The whole room watches as she takes a dainty sip. 

The silence stretches for what feels like hours, but is actually closer to three minutes,but finally Queen Mary clears her throat. "Well, I was hoping that this could be a private family manner that was handled internally, but seeing as Prince Henry and Princess Bea chose to stay here instead of returning to their duties, I suppose we'll have to make do with an audience." 

"This affects more than just myself, Gran," Henry says, and Alex can feel him grip even tighter. "People here needed to stay in the loop." 

"Did they though?" asks the Queen. "You know, I've heard the most fascinating story from the Prime Minister of China when he last came to England. He was telling me of these new artificial intelligence models that could create complete photos in 1-3 hours that show any number of people doing any number of actions. From anywhere, all over the world. There is certainly no shortage of people who would be willing to manipulate photos in such a way to push a narrative detrimental to the Crown, in which case there's no need for the U.S. to even get involved. "

"They're all real. Nothing fake about them."  Henry immediately responds. "Alex and I are in a relationship and are committed to each other deeply. No one here manipulated myself or any images."

Mary's nostrils flare. "Hm. Well, unfortunately Henry, this doesn't change anything from our earlier conversations in regards to this topic. Your duty to this family is to perpetuate the bloodline and maintain British excellency. I thought I made it very clear to you that any unnatural proclivities could have been dealt with in an appropriate manner. Instead you have chosen to undermine the hard work I have put in to maintain the Crown's standing, all for some… " she pauses here to look at Alex and he can hear the racial and sexual epithets she wishes to put there, but instead she just finishes with "boy".

"I'll thank you to not come into my house and talk about my son in that tone," Ellen breaks in sharply. "And in case you forgot, he is in those photos, so we would have to be involved. "

The queen sighs and turns to Ellen. "President Claremont, wouldn't it be better overall to sweep this under the rug? After all, it is an election year for you, is it not? From what I've heard, the situation in the United States is fraught and something like this could tip the election away from you."

Ellen scowls and crosses her arms. "Why don't you leave the concerns and ramifications about the effects of this leak to me? I am fully aware of the political climate of the country I lead. Meanwhile, the Crown is supposed to remain politically neutral, are they not? You'll forgive me if that doesn't inspire much confidence in me to take your advice on anything involving the election here."

"Of course, President Claremont," the Queen nods in a facsimile of acquiescence. "This does not, however, change the opinion of the majority of British people. They will not accept a prince of such… proclivities. I'm sorry my dear but it's simply perverse."

"Perverse to them, or to you, Gran?" Bea cuts in bitterly. 

"I don't remember granting you permission to speak, Beatrice," Mary says coldly.

"Well, luckily we're in America and no one needs permission to speak," hisses June.

"That is certainly no way to treat a foreign dignitary.” The Queen glares at her.

"And this is certainly no way to treat your grandson, you absolute –" 

"Do not speak to her Majesty the Queen like that, girl," Jameson interrupts. 

"Her name is June and you don't get to use that tone of voice with her – " Ellen's voice is venomous. 

"Don't you see, Henry, this is ridiculous, this hullabaloo is exactly the kind of thing we're trying to prevent – " Queen Mary tries again. 

"Stop!" Henry yells, standing up from his chair, silencing everyone. He points at the queen. "I won't let you control me any longer. This is my life and I will do with it as I wish. I deserve to be happy; Alex makes me happy."

"Henry, please," Queen Mary says in an utterly condescending tone. "Do you truly think you can be happy with him? You're opening yourself up for scrutiny and criticism and harassment for the rest of your life. You must understand, I'm only trying to protect you."

"You're not protecting him, you're keeping him in a prison," Alex spits, unable to contain himself any longer, standing up next to Henry. "Forcing him to serve in the military, making him live in a loveless marriage, keeping him isolated from his support system? What on earth makes you think any of that is protection for anyone or anything except your precious legacy?" 

"And what would you have us do then, Alexander?" The Queen's eyes bore into him. "Make you an official suitor, announce you to the world? Do you know that if you become a Royal, according to British law, you can no longer pursue political office in a foreign country? I know that's something you want to do in the future, but as your mother reminded us earlier, the Crown remains politically neutral. There is simply no way for this to work in a way that makes everyone happier in the end."

Alex opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by the buzzing of the emergency pager of Amy, Cash, and Zahra all going off in unison. Zahra pulls hers out and looks at the screen, blinking in confusion before looking up. "Um. Prince Philip and Princess Catherine are here."

Bea and Henry exchange a startled glance. "Princess Catherine… our mother?” Henry says carefully.

Zahra rolls her eyes. "Unless there's a different Princess Catherine I don't know about, yes your mother."

Alex steals a look at Queen Mary. Her face tries to give away nothing, but her eyes are furious. She was definitely not expecting this. 

Ellen nods decisively. "Let them in. They're just as much a part of this meeting as everyone else."

Amy heads out to collect them while the table lapses into silence. No one seems to be willing to pick up the conversation from earlier so there's a tacit agreement to wait for Catherine and Philip. 

When Amy returns with the other two Fox-Mountchristen-Windsors in tow, they surprise Alex by coming around to give hugs and air cheek kisses and handshakes to everyone. Philip pulls Bea into a swift hug and holds his hand out to Alex to shake before turning to Henry, clasping him on the shoulder. "How’re you holding up, Henry?" he asks softly.

Henry shakes his head, still reticent. "Um. Not great, but you know us. Stiff upper lip and all, right?"

Philip shakes his head. "It would be rather arduous to stiff upper lip your way through something this large. But if that's what you need to do right now, we'll support you, okay?" Philip squeezes his shoulder one more time, leaving Alex to wonder if they've stepped into an alternative dimension because that was so far removed from any interaction he'd ever had with Philip.

Catherine makes her way to Henry and pulls him into a hug. "Hi sweetheart."

"Mum, what are you doing here?" Henry asks softly. "You haven't left the Palace in years."

"I'm here for you, baby," she replied. "Philip showed me the headlines about the leak and said I needed to be there for you. As soon as we heard Mum was leaving for the States, we chartered another jet right behind her and came straight here from the airstrip." 

Henry blinks. "He said that? You did that?"

"Yeah, he did. That and a whole lot of other things." Catherine smooths his hair back from his forehead. "I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't tell me about it. That you couldn't tell me about anything. I was so in my own head and own feelings that I didn't realize how selfish I'd become in not taking care of my children." She looks over at Alex. "And Alexander. I owe you so much gratitude and love as well. Thank you for taking care of my son and being a support for him in times when I should have."

Alex nods his head. "He's easy to do it for." 

She turns back to Henry. "Why don't you two take a few minutes to just sit and breathe, and Philip and I will take the lead on negotiating for now." 

Henry startles. "You and… Philip?"

Catherine frowns. "Well, what do you think we're here for?"

"Honestly? I hadn't a clue." Henry tries to look casual but Alex can tell his little shrug is anything but.

Catherine can probably tell, because she leans in a little closer, and softly says, "You want to fight, right?" Henry nods." Ok, then let's do it. "

Alex let out a strangled half laugh."You're telling me Philip is about to fight Queen Mary to let his brother live as an openly gay man?"

Catherine smiles, and in it, Alex sees the wicked smirk that Henry has when he's about to unleash something absolutely devastating on the world. "I'm telling you Philip is about to pull off some big brother protective magic." With one last squeeze to Henry's neck, they all go back to the table and sit. 

Well, not all. Queen Mary hasn't moved, not even to say hello to her daughter. Alex internally rolls his eyes and thanks any deities listening that his mom is not like that. 

"Well, Catherine, Philip, while this is a surprise, I do think having you here will be of some use to all of us," Queen Mary finally starts. "You see, Henry is operating under the delusion that he can still be a working Royal who has a good relationship with our people while living openly in a homosexual relationship. I've been trying to make him and his… Alexander see reason. However they simply refuse to admit that the population will not accept what they see as perversions."

Catherine chews her lip. "And… we are putting the prejudices of the population in front of Henry's happiness… why?"

The Queen blinks. "So you believe this too, then? That he should be allowed to live like this?"

"Well, it's the only one that is honest." Catherine leans forward. "This is still relatively early in the tabloid cycle for this level of intrusion. We can get ahead of it by telling the truth of what happened - that two young men are having their personal laundry aired simply because of their public status."

"And you think that will be sufficient?" Queen Mary shakes her head. "Catherine, don't be naive. The people of Britain will not accept this. We have to come up with a narrative that allows us to retreat from this scandal gracefully."

"A narrative like whipping the British tabloids into a racist and homophobic frenzy by placing the blame on Alexander?"

Everyone in the room turns to look at Philip, who is pulling a sheaf of papers from his briefcase, passing a few to Ellen. "You should really look at getting better locks for the drawers in your study, Gran," he continues. "No point in keeping everything on paper and offline if I can still make my way into the hard copies of the Henry file." 

"I beg your pardon?" demands Mary. " Breaking into those files could be considered treason!"

Ellen looks up from the paper she has begun reading, her eyes deadly. "And painting my son as a deranged stalker who tricked Henry to be photographed with him is absolutely grounds for libel. I'd be happy to take that to an international court with you."

Alex's jaw is so far open that he's probably letting in flies. "A deranged stalker? How would that even work? Henry was the one who came to the Beekman!"

"I'm going to assume that they would have come up with some story that you lured Henry there under false pretenses." Phillip's voice is even and steady but his eyes betray just how much anger is behind that neutral sentence. 

"I think I'm starting to understand your hesitancy with the press coverage a bit better." Alex mutters as an aside to Henry. "The Firm does not mess around."

"They truly do not," Henry says faintly. "Philip, what are you doing?" 

Philip holds up a placating hand as he turns back to Queen Mary. "You see, Gran, when Henry mentioned that he didn't have any backup plans for the leak of him in New York City, I started becoming suspicious. Because you have been in this business too long for you not to have made plans. And when I saw your eyes light up during that meeting with the Clarence House PR team, I knew you had something in mind." He finishes organizing the papers in front of him. "So Gran, want to tell everyone about the Way Ahead Group and how many plans they have in place for Henry?"

Alex blinks and looks around. Most everyone in the room looks confused, except for Queen Mary, Jameson, Philip, Catherine… and Henry? He reassesses and yep, that's not confusion, that's abject horror on his face as he stares at Philip. 

Queen Mary is shaking. "How dare you expose Royal Family secrets in front of the leader of another nation?"

"I dare, Gran, because I refuse to let you smear Alexander's name and reputation. I refuse to let you start rumors about Martha having multiple miscarriages to evoke sympathy. I refuse to let you send my little brother to conversion therapy under the guise of military training!" By the end of his rant, Philip is standing and yelling at Queen Mary. 

Everyone else in the room is silent. Alex looks around and sees the various looks of shock from all of the Presidential side, from Bea, from Shaan. He also realizes that Catherine isn't shocked at all, but is sitting, looking at her mother in a way that manages to be both extremely smug and extremely pissed.

Finally, Bea breaks the silence. "You were going to send Henry where? Also, pardon my language, but what the fuck is the Way Ahead Group?"

Catherine answers glibly. "Oh just the top working Royals and senior advisors secretly meeting once a month to look at the personal lives of every single member of the Mountchristen-Windsor family and predict what scandals may befall them and come up with a variety of tactics to deter and derail them to project a very specific image of the Royal Family. Most of the time their plans are successful. With a few exceptions." She raises an eyebrow at Mary. "I bet you were furious when Arthur beat you at your own game, weren’t you?"

Queen Mary is opening and closing her mouth, not making a sound.

Philip picks it up from there. "They had a plan to stop Mom and Dad from getting married, but Dad was able to figure the plan and the group out and promised to keep its existence a secret in exchange for permission to marry Mum." He smiles softly at Catherine from across the table. "I unfortunately can't claim to be nearly as smart as him, but my lovely wife Martha can. She says hello by the way, Haz, she'd have been here as emotional support but… well," Philip's lips quirk. "Her morning sickness has been rather wretched, and we couldn't risk her being offered another round of 'special' tea to help soothe it."

Henry gasps softly and Bea's eyes fill with tears. Mary looks rather furious. The miscarriage narrative, Alex thinks to himself, his brain firing rapidly as he makes more and more connections. The strange meetings Henry was in at odd hours and the weird mood he'd be in afterwards. His anguish upon finding out Alex's true feelings for him. The weird phone conversation they had when Alex got back from Vermont. 

Philip continues. "Anyways, Martha had come up with her suspicions that Gran was targeting Henry in particular for some reason, but we couldn't quite figure out the why until Henry came out to me. But from there, the pieces clicked into place. I kept quiet for a little while so as to not arouse suspicions, but once the leak happened, I knew I just had to take what I had, especially once I found the conversion therapy part." He looks at Henry sorrowfully. "Henry, you have to know I wasn't aware of it. I would never. I thought the military could help give you a sense of focus after what happened with Alex. I didn't realize it was a cover for the plan."

"What plan?" growls Bea.

"They were going to take my phone and drop me at a conversion therapy home instead of basic, and then announce I had to take a wellness retreat and would be putting off entering Sandhurst until later that year," Henry narrates in an almost monotonous tone as everyone else gasps. 

Alex can feel his heart about to beat out of his chest as he clings to Henry's hand for dear life. "So when you told me yesterday that enlisting was your best option…" he asks quietly, not even able to finish the sentence when he sees Henry nod.  He was so bound and determined to keep me safe that he was willing to subject himself to psychological torture. Alex lets out a tiny broken noise and buries his face in Henry's shoulder. "Please don't ever do something so stupidly self sacrificial again."

"No promises when it comes to you, love," Henry whispers to him. 

"Philip, I'm surprised that you're so upset about this." Mary has calmed down slightly and regained her cool imperious tone. "You've borne the brunt of having to be responsible for the public image while your mother and siblings shirk their duties. Don't you think it's time one of them stepped up?"

"This isn't duty," snaps Philip. "This is malicious harm to your own family due to your inability to accept that people are gay. As for maintaining the Royal image… I find I grow rather tired of parroting your lines about proper conduct when they're only there to disguise bigotry, especially when its purpose is to take away Henry's support system, like Percy and Alex." He shakes his head.  "But to continue my story. Once I had the proof of Henry's enrollment into the therapy in my hands… I went straight to Mum with the evidence."

Catherine nods. "He came to me this… morning? Afternoon? With the jet lag and time difference, I'm not fully sure what to count it as. But he told me the bare basics of the story, enough to get me to come with him. He filled me in over the Atlantic, and so now, Mum, I am going to come to you with an ultimatum."

Everyone is looking back and forth between Queen Mary on one side and Catherine and Philip on the other like it's a particularly competitive tennis match. No one wants to break the silence between them – it feels important for them to have this conversation themselves.

Finally Queen Mary sighs. "So it's to be this again? You'll keep your silence on the Way Ahead Group and I'll allow Henry to live as he wishes?"

"Oh no, Mum, we're going for much more than that." Catherine leans into the Queen's space, maintaining direct eye contact. "You announce you're vacating the throne or I will take every last thing I have on you to the press with my name attached, not just the existence of the Way Ahead Group and its nefarious plans, but also the names of politicians and foreign dignitaries you keep forgetting, your casual remarks about the kitchen staff at the palace, and the falsified paperwork regarding you pretending to pay income tax. You tell everyone you've grown tired of ruling and will be stepping away or I will convince every last member of the Labour Party and at least half of the Tories to start an Act of Parliament, and burn our entire legacy to the ground."

Ellen's mouth is wide open. Zahra’s eyes are bugging out of her head. June looks ready to commit crimes. All of the PPOs and Secret Service agents in the room look deeply uncomfortable. Even Shaan and Jamison are openly shaken, and their roles require emotionless faces.

Queen Mary narrows her eyes at Catherine. "You wouldn't dare."

"Would you like to try?" Catherine challenges. "You can call my bluff if you'd like. I happen to know that there is a very talented journalist sitting in this room who would do a fantastic job with this bombshell. Or if she didn't want to, she does have more than a few contacts that would die for this information."

Behind her, June blushes. 

Catherine continues. "Or would you rather watch every single one of us pull out of the line of succession? I will. I know Philip will. Henry and Bea… "

"Already talked about it, definitely will," Bea chimes in. "I'm sure you're super excited for Uncle Charles to take the throne, right Gran?" 

"You want to threaten me over this? Really?” Mary scowls. “None of you have any idea what I have done for this family. The image of the Royal Family was in shambles after 2015. You, Catherine, withdrew so far, doing the bare minimum for appearances, barely interacting with our people. You couldn't even be bothered to be disturbed from your grief when Beatrice had her little problem later that year…”

"Addiction is a disease, not a problem,” June mutters mutinously under her breath.

Queen Mary continues on as if there was no interruption. "These plans were needed steps in order to secure the image and propriety of the Royal Family. Philip, Beatrice, and Henry needed to be prepared and focused, especially with the whispers about you being unfit to rule following your retreat into yourself.”

“And where did those whispers come from, exactly?" Catherine asks cooly. “I'm not denying that I was derelict in my duties to my family and my throne, but I'm sure you were thrilled that the obstinate headstrong daughter was out of the picture so you could scare your grandkids back into the image that you wanted to portray."

“I'm ashamed to say it almost worked with me," Philip adds. “It took hearing Martha's observations from the past year of marriage for me to realize just how much of a puppet I had become for Gran." 

Alex risks a quick glance at Henry, and on the edges of Henry's stunned eyes, he sees an emotion that he hasn't seen before and it takes a minute for him to place it.

Hope. 

Catherine continues. “There is nothing that prevents Henry from keeping up with his duties as a Royal Family member while being in a relationship with a man, aside from the prejudices of the public – and open acceptance from the Queen would do a fine job of soothing quite a lot of it. Really, it’s your own prejudice that’s aligning traditional values with homophobia. I think more than a few people are ready to see something out of Buckingham that more closely reflects the views of the general population.” 

Queen Mary looks around at the various faces, none of which are looking at her with particularly friendly emotions. "If you play this game, Catherine…" she starts slowly. "You don't think you can possibly deal with all of the fallout that Henry's perverse lifestyle will cause, and the anger you will earn for pushing me off the throne."

"Won't have much to deal with on the Henry and Alex front, actually," June chimes in. "The rest of the world seems to be caught up to the 21st century." She swivels around the tablet that she's been typing on during the meeting to show off what she’s been organizing.

WORLDWIDE SUPPORT POURS IN FOR FSOTUS AND PRINCE HENRY

A picture: a massive crowd in front of Buckingham Palace waving rainbow Union Jacks.

OPINION: The Royal Family Needs to Embrace Progress

A picture: several young people in front of the White House wearing yellow t-shirts  with "History, Huh?" written on them in sharpie. 

PRESIDENT MOM: How FSOTUS’s Emails Show President Claremont’s Ability To Balance Presidency and Parenthood

A picture: a mural of Alex in Mexico City with the bi pride colors behind him. 

THE QUEEN IN THE HIGH TOWER: What Prince Henry’s Leaked Emails Reveal About The Queen’s Tyrannical Control of the Royal Family

A picture: the rainbow over Niagara Falls with multiple people under it holding signs that say "We Love Prince Henry!"

Catherine looks vindicated. "You see that, Mum? There’s plenty of acceptance, and plenty of people ready to withdraw their support for you. Listen to me, and listen to me well. These are my kids. My legacy. Mine and Arthur's. And I will not let you break them down, hide themselves behind walls, become someone that they're not, just to fit your own ideals of what a Royal Family looks like. So either get on board, or get out of my way."

Mary carefully pushes her teacup away from her and sighs."You don't leave me any choice, do you Catherine?"

Catherine smiles. "There's always a choice. It's just time to add some encouragement so you make the right one."

There's a couple of more moments of silence before Ellen claps her hands together. "Well, now that we've got that out of the way." She gets up and walks over to Queen Mary, leaning over her slightly. "Get the fuck out of my house, you bitch, or I'll have Amy throw you and your prissy-ass tiara into a mud patch."

"Can we go for the second option anyway?" Philip asks.

Henry puts his head down on the table between his arms to muffle his somewhat hysterical laughter.

Mary looks around for allies, realizes she sees none, and gets up with a sneer. "My condolences to you, Catherine," and with that, she sweeps out of the room with her entourage.

There's a few moments of silence before Zahra snorts. "I'd say bless her heart but I don't know if she's got enough of one in there for a blessing."

The entire room cracks up.

11. Embarrass your boyfriend's homophobic grandmother instead

They decide that they've done enough tonight and can release official statements from both camps tomorrow. Catherine and Philip are physically struggling with jet lag, and the rest of them are emotionally exhausted. 

Zahra mobilizes quickly to put all of the guests into the different bedrooms of the Residence. Alex protests when she puts Henry in one of the third floor guest rooms - "Zahra, the entire fucking world knows we're having sex!" but nothing he can say will sway Zahra or his mother, and Henry is put in the same bedroom he stayed in during the State dinner, with Pez and Bea in the rooms next to and across from him. They put Catherine in the Queen's room - "clearly it's her room anyways," June says with some satisfaction – and Philip in the Lincoln Bedroom, and the White House staff works quickly to get luggage to the proper rooms.

June sends a message to the Super Six to change into comfy clothes and meet up in the Yellow Oval Room with blankets and pillows, and the 5 members that are staying in the Residence arrive pretty quickly.. However… 

"Pez, where's Nora?" asks June. "Weren't you with her?"

Pez shakes his head. "No, actually, she got a notification, went wide eyed, and said she had to leave and just… ran." 

Alex frowns. "That's weird." He shoots her a quick private text hey you okay? and it pops up pretty quickly as read, but no response comes. "Ugh, that's not a good sign. She might be in one of her hyperfixation rabbit holes."

"Well, she'll miss out then. We're having a sleepover!" June pulls out baskets full of face masks, nail polish, and snacks. "We have literally every streaming service available, and I think Alex and Henry should get to pick what we watch, with one stipulation of no fucking Star Wars " 

"What if I need Ewoks to relax?" demands Henry.

"Then I think we've all learned why you're dating Alexander, babes," Pez quips, as he grabs a nail polish from the basket. 

Alex and Henry look at each other, both clearly thinking back to that first text message, and burst into laughter.

After some arguments about who sits where and a near brawl between June and Alex for the dried mango con chile ("I'm the one who was violated today June, I need to eat my bodyweight in mango!"), they manage to get themselves into a comfortable enough pile to watch Schitt's Creek. Alex has settled himself against Henry when June turns around to ask a question but pauses. "Oh my god. Wait, no, don't move." She pulls out her phone and takes a quick picture of the two of them snuggling, then sends it to Alex. "You should post that."

"Right now?" Alex asks. "Don't we have to… I dunno, wait for official statements?" As he does, he clicks open the photo and, oh gosh. It's an incredibly sweet photo, Alex tucked under Henry's arm and resting his head on his chest, grinning up at him, and Henry sweetly smiling back down with love in his eyes, a cozy blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "Oh my god, Bug, this is so cute."

"Exactly. Trust me, people are waiting for at least some small confirmation from you. I don't think posting this will ruin the fact that y'all are going to officially come out tomorrow." June smiles. "And I think it would be good for you to get to control at least this part of your narrative a little.”

Alex looks at Henry. "What do you think, baby?"

Henry takes Alex's phone from his hand to look closer. "It's a lovely photo, June, thank you." He looks at Alex, a bit bashfully. "Actually… would you mind terribly if I posted it? I just… want to be able to say it myself."

And Alex has to kiss him for that because Henry is so brave and good, and he's finally getting to be as happy as he deserves. "Go for it."

An Instagram post:

@hrhprincehenryuk I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun. #historyhuh 

Liked by agcd and 612,582 others

Comments

@agcd 💖

@fdotusjune love love love but also where is my 📷 credit

@pezokonjo love looks great on you, mate

@potus love you both and support you always

@hrhprincessbea couldn't be more proud of you, love. Mum says she loves you too

@hrhprincephilip Congratulations! Your bravery in the face of an unprecedented event is commendable. 

Private message

@agcd to  @hrhprincephilip is that Philip speak for "I love my little bro with all my heart and if any of you homophobes try me, I'll kick your butt"

@hrhprincephilip to @agcd :-)

@agcd to @hrhprincephilip WAIT WHAT DID THAT EMOJI MEAN 

Chapter Text

After the interview with People is published, the entire British contingent heads back to London, much to Alex’s displeasure.

“Can’t Henry stay a few more days?” he whines at Catherine. “I just got him back, I need to make up for extra time.”

Catherine laughs and ruffles his curls. “You’ll have him back soon enough, love, I promise. I need him for paperwork and royal appearances and such. We have a lot to do now in finalizing the timeline for Mum stepping down."

Alex sighs playfully but takes a step back. “Well, I suppose I better practice for the next time I see you.” He drops into a deep bow. “Your Majesty.” 

Catherine laughs and kisses the top of his head, then walks away before he can egg her on even more. Getting to know her this weekend has been a delight, and Alex and Catherine have very quickly developed a loving relationship full of banter and jokes made at Henry’s expense. Henry pretends to be mad about it, but Alex can see just how much it helps his spirits to see his boyfriend and mom laughing together.

Pez and Bea both give him tight hugs, and when Philip offers a hand to shake, Alex rolls his eyes and pulls him into a hug as well. “I can’t thank you enough for everything you did to help Henry,” he says seriously. “I don’t know that we could have taken on Queen Mary without you.”

“You could have,” Philip says matter-of-factly. “You two are too strong to break. All I did was offer you some support to make it easier to stand up.”

“You did so much more than that, Philip. You saved him. Conversion therapy camps like that…” Alex shudders. “It would not be a place Henry would survive.”

“I think he would have,” replies Philip. “You give him something worth fighting for.” He claps Alex on the shoulder. “I promise to take care of him while we’re in England and I’ll return him to you in one piece.” 

“You better,” warns Alex threateningly. “Otherwise I’ll knock a cake onto you this time.”

“Not my preferred method of seduction,” Philip says drily and Henry chokes from behind him. “See you soon Alexander.”

Finally it’s Henry’s turn to say his farewells to Alex. He looks so forlorn that Alex just. Has to wrap him up in the tightest hug. “It won’t be too long, baby,” he promises him. “Just a couple of weeks and then I'll be there with you.”

Henry nods, pressing his forehead into Alex’s shoulder and inhaling deeply, as if the scent of Alex is the only thing he needs to survive. When he pulls back, he grabs Alex’s hand and opens it. “Remember, you’re it for me, okay? No more hiding, no more running, no more fear. I am, and always will be, forever yours.” With those words, he drops something heavy and metallic into Alex’s palm.

Alex looks down and sees Henry’s signet ring. “Baby…” he whispers, overcome with emotion.

“Keep it safe for me, love. The same way you keep my heart safe.” Henry pulls him in and kisses him on the forehead softly, before pulling him in for a slow kiss. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too. So much.” Alex forces himself to step back and let go of Henry as they walk to the awaiting helicopter that will take them out to the plane. As Henry steps onto the copter, he turns and blows a kiss to Alex, who catches it in his hand. He takes the chain from around his neck and slides the ring onto it next to the key, pressing the kiss into both of them, feeling his heart and his home together.

12. Recommit yourself to your boyfriend and plan your life together

Ellen, June, Zahra, and Alex all end up retiring to the Oval Office for a while. Ellen is in the middle of working on some policy drafts that she really needs to get back to, and Zahra comes to assist her, while Alex and June just don’t really want to be alone. Each of the kids takes a couch, Alex pulling up a book on his phone, and June opening her laptop to work on an article, while Ellen and Allison and Zahra gather around the desk to discuss things quietly.

They manage to get a solid 45 minutes of peaceful work in before Nora comes barging through the door, carrying a giant folder full of paper and running towards Ellen’s desk.

June stands up immediately. “Where the fuck have you been?” They haven’t seen Nora since that day when she ran out on Pez, and she’s only been responding to texts with one syllable words. 

“Richards,” wheezes Nora, who looks like she hasn’t slept since Friday, her eyebags dark and her hair everywhere. “The emails. It was Richards.”

Ellen looks up, going completely still. “What?”

Nora jumps into a long rambling explanation about a server and a dump and coding and Richard’s campaign manager going through multiple third parties to hide the evidence, but from what Alex can gather, basically Richards had him and Henry stalked and outed in order to run public sentiment against his mother.

What.

The. 

Fuck.

Alex dissociates into an internal fit of rage, thinking of all the ways he can deface Senator Richards's office in Dierksen. It’s not until they’re discussing the signature on the email that Alex snaps back in. “What did you say the signature was?”

Nora looks over at him. “Uh. ‘2021 SCB. BAC CHZ GR ON A1.’ Why?” She holds out the paper with the signature on it for him to see.

Alex walks over to look at it. Squints closely. “2021 South Colorado Blvd. Bacon, cheese, grilled onions, A1,” he murmurs quietly. “Oh my god.” He can feel a laugh start to bubble up. “Oh my god.”

“Uh, Alex? Do you want to clue the rest of us in?” asks June.

Alex looks at his mom. “You should probably use an extra secure line and call Rafael Luna.”

“Hey!” Alex turns around in annoyance as Cash takes the tablet out of his hands. “I was reading that!”

“And you’re not supposed to be,” Cash says sternly. “I believe your mother told you the whole point of sending you to England right now was to get you to stop hyperfocusing on how this is going to affect the campaign.”

Alex flops back in his seat, annoyed. “Isn’t it bad enough that I’m stuck on a plane specifically during the debate with no access to livestreams?” 

Cash raises an eyebrow. “So you want to watch a debate where one of the main topics is supposed to be domestic and international security after,” he gestures broadly, “all of this?”

“I don’t want to but I should. I need to know what’s happening,” Alex argues, knowing it’s pointless because Cash was in the Oval Office for the yelling match he had gotten into with his mom, Zahra, and June, and has heard all of his debate points already.

“You don’t, and you know that.” Cash sits down across from him. “Look, kid, even with your safety literally being my job, you know I actually actively care that you’re okay, right?” He leans back, his tie pin catching the light, reflecting the pink, yellow, and blue gems in it. “And after being the go-to agent for your bullshit for the past 4 years, I think I know you well enough to tell you when you need to disengage because you are taking too much on personally. And right now, you are trying to prove that you can single handedly win this race for your mom despite being the target of the right wing ire.”

“Wow, Cash, tell me your honest opinion,” deadpans Alex. 

“Hey, you’re the one who has always said to me that you prefer when agents have personality,” snarks Cash right back. 

Alex laughs. “Fine, fine.” He turns to the pile of books next to him, finally selecting one and putting in his music so that he can zone out and try to escape for the next 5 hours. 

They land pretty early in the morning London time, and Alex forgets all about his jet lag when he remembers that he’s allowed to basically jump Henry right on the tarmac, which he does fairly happily. From how tightly Henry’s squeezing him back, the excited feeling of being seen together publicly seems to be mutual. 

“Hello love,” Henry greets him as he pulls back before pecking Alex on the nose. “Did you happen to sleep on the plane at all?”

“Me? Sleep? Who do you think you’re talking to?” laughs Alex. He shoulders his backpack again and then laces his fingers through Henry’s. It’s a little nippy out, but Alex will be damned if he puts on gloves right now when he’s got the opportunity to hold Henry's hand in public.

Henry shakes his head. “I was hoping you would prove me wrong about your abominable sleep hygiene.”

Alex shakes his head before stretching up to peck him on the cheek. “Pot, meet kettle.” They slide into the waiting car and Alex immediately tucks himself as tightly in Henry’s side as possible. “So what’s the plan for today?” 

“I believe that’s my cue.” Shaan slides in across from them. “It’s good to see you again, Mr. Claremont-Diaz.”

“Are you ever going to call me by my first name?” Alex grins brightly. “Your fiancée doesn’t seem to have that problem.  She also refers to me as ‘miscreant’, ‘idiot’, ‘pain in the ass’, and ‘bane of her existence’.”

“I believe I will leave the informal language to Ms. Bankston,” Shaan looks down, but Alex can see the smile tugging on his lips. “As for your schedule today, it’s fairly light. We gave you a few hours to relax before a family luncheon with Princess Catherine, Prince Philip, Princess Martha, and Princess Beatrice. Then this evening, you will be attending a gala dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum in celebration of the closing of their exhibition on the history and fashion of the kimono.”

“I’m actually rather excited to take you to the V&A,” Henry says. “It’s one of my favorite places in London.”

“Well, then, I’m excited to see it.” Alex smiles at Henry. God, he is so in love with this man that he can physically feel it in his chest. “And then tomorrow is the official courtship photos. How does that work? Are we going to get cooler ones than Philip and Martha?”

“Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine has directed the photographers to find locations that you find comfortable,” says Shaan. “I believe she has told them that Buckingham is not an option, as the risk of running into Her Majesty the Queen is elevated there. So you will not be using the library, as Prince Philip and Princess Martha did.”

“Sweet,” says Alex. “Hey can we take some really out of character ones too? Ones where we’re showing real affection? Maybe holding a pair of pride flags?”

Henry groans, but is also laughing so Alex doesn’t feel too bad. “I am going to regret asking this, but….what is your idea of real affection?”

“Relax, baby,” laughs Alex. “I’m not going to say anything inappropriate in front of Mr. Bankston.”

That, of all things, gets Shaan to break his facade and start laughing. “Please don’t give my fiancée any more ideas in regards to our personal and professional names.”

“I make no promises,” Alex grins back.

Despite the early morning mists, Kensington is a welcoming sight as they pull up. “Definitely better weather than the last time I rolled up here, huh?” Alex nudges Henry in the side before he notices his face fall. “Hey. Hen. Hey no. None of that. We’re here now, right?” He turns Henry to face him. “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”

Henry sighs and lets his head fall onto Alex’s shoulder. “God, I was so close to saying fuck it and letting you stay that night. I sometimes wish I had.”

“I know, baby.” Alex runs a hand through his hair. “Let’s get you inside and get you some tea. And I need, like, as much coffee as humanly possible.”

Henry perks up a bit at that. “Actually, we got a Nespresso machine for the kitchen. Since you’ll be over here more often, I figured you’d need to be obscenely caffeinated between your sleep patterns and the time change.”

“I love you so much.” Alex presses a kiss to his temple. “Lead the way.”

They head to the kitchen where Alex is pleased to find not just the Nespresso machine, but cinnamon sticks and a spice grinder next to the sugar. He happily makes himself a triple Americano and sits down next to Henry, who is staring into his tea like it might answer the secrets of the universe. “Penny for your thoughts?” he asks, taking a giant gulp of his coffee, sighing in happiness with the extra kick that comes from the good cinnamon.

Henry looks at him and gives him a small smile. “I think they’re worth a bit more than that, love.”

“Depends on what they are,” Alex teases back lightly, before sobering back up. “Really though. What’s up?”

Henry sighs. “Just thinking. I was in such a bad headspace when you came that night. I was already panicking over the fact that you were about to tell me you loved me, and then when I got back, I ended up in a meeting with Gran and the Way Ahead Group. And I just…I felt so scared and alone but also that I couldn’t do anything about it without putting everyone in danger. And I just…wish Philip had found his spine earlier, or Mum had pulled herself out of her grief before this, and we could have been spared so much heartache.”

Alex reaches out to squeeze his hand. “You’re not alone now though. You have all of us. You’ve always had Bea and Pez, and now you’ve got me and June and Nora, and Philip and your mom are coming back to you. And I’m your boyfriend, sweetheart. You can tell me anything and I’ll be here for you to just listen, or give advice, or to combat the dark thoughts. Anything. I mean it.”

Henry turns his palm so he can tangle his fingers with Alex. “I don’t even know where to start. You know more than everyone else in my life, but there’s still so much I haven’t told you. So many awful memories and dark places that were dredged up by this entire debacle, and it feels like I'm drowning in them."

“Do you want to talk about some of those awful memories with me?” Alex offers. “It helped when we talked about it before.” 

Henry takes a fortifying sip of tea. “There's one specific thought that's been on my mind. I feel like it might help to talk through it with you but…I’m also scared that saying it out loud will cement its truth.”

“That’s okay.” Alex squeezes his hand. “Be scared with me.”

Henry sighs deeply. "In that meeting when I returned from Texas, Gran told me that she knew about us, knew what was going on, and what expectations she had for me going forward. She told me she had your email blocked from the Kensington servers and that I was forbidden from contacting you. And then the rest of it was almost exactly the same talk that she gave me after A-Levels. The one I told you about, the deviant desires and proper channels. It just made me realize how much she knew about me. How much of my life she was keeping track of. How early she had plans to control me. And… she may be Queen, but she's also my grandmother and I thought… I thought she cared a little. But she'll never love me for who I am. Not as someone who won't obey her. Not as an openly gay man."

"Oh baby." Alex can feel his heart breaking. "I know there's nothing I can say to make up for her actions, but I do know this - your grandmother doesn't know what she's missing out on by refusing to accept you fully. Her prejudice and obsession with her image have lost her something so precious. If she can't love you without controlling you to be exactly who she wants, that's her problem, not yours."

"I know, but it still hurts," Henry sighs. "All of this just makes me wonder how much influence she's had over other things that have happened to me. How many of those NDAs she was aware of, how many people she threatened out of my life. How many things she got away with because I didn't have my mum or Philip to fight for me then."

“And they absolutely owe you apologies for that,” Alex agrees. “Yes, you were eventually able to fight for yourself, and you started defying your grandmother. I mean, you even reached out to me after the breakup despite her express command not to. But also, you were grieving and alone and dealing with multiple types of trauma at once and had no one to really support you through it, leaving you vulnerable to your grandmother. Who is kind of a raging bitch, not gonna lie.”

“Oy,” protests Henry, but he’s laughing. “That’s disrespect to the Crown.”

Alex grins. “Listen, the Crown can have the respect it earns. Which means I will be giving absolutely no respect to anyone referred to as Your Majesty until we officially have Queen Catherine.” 

Henry picks up Alex's free hand and kisses the back of it. "I’d scold you for that, but unfortunately, your blatant lack of respect for authority is incredibly sexy.” His face softens. “Really though, thank you for listening. And I’m sorry for being so maudlin when you've flown all the way here to spend time together."

Alex quickly moves to reassure him. "No, it's okay. Like I said, I want to hear this stuff from you. But if you want to stop, that’s fine too. Up to you. It’s your choice.” 

“I think I’m rather done with emotional breakdowns for the day,” says Henry. "Shall we go curl up and look for entertainment on the laptop? Oh, I watched highlights from the debate while waiting for you to land – do you want to see if we can find a YouTube compilation of your mom making Richards look rather foolish? I'm sure there are some good ones already, she did a rather marvelous job of skewering him."

Alex laughs and is about to say yes when Cash's words from the plane come back to him. You need to disengage. "Actually," he says carefully. "I wanted to rewatch season 1 of the Mandalorian before season 2 drops. Wanna do that instead?"

Henry smiles softly and proudly. "That would be perfectly fine with me."

Chapter Text

When Henry and Alex show up for lunch after showering and changing, they are met with just Philip and Martha at first. Alex surprises possibly everyone in the room when the first thing that he does at lunch is hug Martha. "First of all, congratulations. Second of all, you are the smartest member of this entire family and I aspire to your level of brilliance."

Martha waves him off, blushing. "Stop it, you flatterer. There's no need to make me sound like a MENSA member."

"But you figured out Henry was in trouble, and for that I'm eternally grateful," Alex says seriously. "I really thought you'd hate both of us forever after the wedding cake debacle."

"Was I angry? Yes. But mistakes happen, and destroying my wedding cake certainly isn't reason enough for me to look away when Henry is being punished for something that should be celebrated." Martha reaches out to Henry, who's standing behind Alex slightly. "I'm ever so sorry for everything you've been through with your grandmother. I only wish I'd been able to figure out just how duplicitous and villainous she was sooner. "

"Martha, no one could have expected it of you," protests Henry. "You've been a member of the Royal Family for just over a year. How were you supposed to know it more than any of us? Anyways what matters is that it's all handled now, and we're happy."

“I’m glad,” Martha says softly. “You deserve happiness, after all this. And I’m here to listen and support, whatever you need.”

“I really appreciate that, Martha, thanks so much.” Henry beams at her.

"And… you know you have us too, right?" Alex says cautiously. He and Henry haven't discussed Philip's comment about "special" tea a whole lot, and he's not sure how to support Martha and Philip in this. "Like, if you want to talk about what she did to you as well. Obviously neither of us know what it's like to have that particular trauma but…"

Martha looks down. "I don't know that I'm ready to talk about it with anyone, really. But thank you Alex. Truly." She lifts her head and straightens up. "I hope that we can become good friends, and if you ever have questions or need support on being a Royal partner, I'm here."

"I'm excited to talk more." Alex gives her hand a short squeeze. 

"Hello my darlings," Catherine trills as she breezes in, Bea on her heels. "Our apologies for being late, we were actually on the phone with the White House."

Alex whips his head to her. "What? What for?"

"Oh nothing terrible Alex dear, just trying to figure out when exactly to have the announcement of Mum stepping down and me taking over as it pertains to the election and the inauguration." Catherine sits down and gestures for everyone else to join her. "Your mother wasn't even on the call - just the press secretary and some of the public relations team. Since the Crown does still remain politically neutral, the relationship between you two means that we have to announce things carefully lest we be accused of influencing an election in a foreign country. And we also have to consider that we will, fortuitously, be announcing Martha's pregnancy in the coming months as well." 

"Has there been a decision made?" Philip asks.

"Actually yes," says Catherine. "We're having Mum make the announcement that she's stepping down at the end of her coronation anniversary weekend in December. It can be all beautiful and ceremonial and symbolic, but more importantly, it's 6 weeks after the U.S. election. The formal abdication and coronation ceremonies are to be held from February 12th to 14th. It's going to be a big deal - since it's the first abdication in over 300 years, they're making a ceremonial signing of the Act. Once the Act is signed, we're waiting another 6 weeks until Martha's pregnancy is announced. Be prepared for a lot of interviews and appearances dealing with questions about the abdication between the announcement and the ceremonies." 

"Understatement of the century," says Henry. "How much are we expecting me to have to play damage control about the leak and if it contributed to her decision?"

"Quite a bit, unfortunately." Catherine says, before looking at Alex. "I spoke with your mother about this as well, but we would absolutely love to have you be with Henry as he does some of his Royal appearances during this time so that we can present a united front from all sides. Plus, it will ease the burden on Martha, and with the previous issues, I want her getting as much rest as possible."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Martha says demurely.

"Pish posh, it's Catherine. You too, Alex. None of that formal nonsense with me when it's just us."

"Aw, but you're the only Royal that I want to address with their title," Alex whines playfully. "But I guess I can live with Catherine. And yeah, appearances should be fine. I can be here as soon as the election is officially over." 

"Actually, you're not going to be free for the first two weeks after the election," Bea pipes up. "Super Six vacation. Mandatory attendance. Zahra and Shaan have already been informed and cleared everything for you."

“Oh really?” Alex asks with a grin. “And where exactly am I supposed to report to?”

“My family has a vacation house in Majorca,” says Martha. “I convinced them to let you all use it.”

Alex tries. He tries so hard not to laugh. But then Henry, with the faintest hint of laughter in his voice asks “Will there be any turkeys?” and Alex loses it completely. The rest of the family stares in confusion as both Henry and Alex collapse onto each other in laughter.

13. Heal your relationship with your boyfriend by reminding each other of inside jokes

Alex doesn't remember much of the actual gala at the V&A. He does remember sneaking out and running through the back hallways with Henry, finding the statue of Samson, listening to Henry talk about his dreams, dancing with Henry in front of Santa Chiara. And there's something about Henry saying he loves him in the soft light of the chapel that feels sacred. As the sweet notes of Elton John play around them, Alex also sends up a prayer of thanks. Muchas gracias, Santa Maria, as he presses soft kisses to Henry's mouth. Te amo te amo te amo. 

An Instagram post

October 22, 2020

@agcd you know I love a London boy #firstprince

Liked by hrhprincehenryuk and 898,673 others

Comments

@fdotusjune THE HASHTAG I'M OBSESSED. but also I’m never letting you forget that you used a TSwift caption

@pezokonjo definitely not crying it's just raining on my face

@holleranora shoutout to the copy of Hamilton’s biography in that book pile, whoever picked the titles had taste

@hrhduchessmartha I wish I’d thought of outdoor photos! You two look lovely. I might have to steal this idea for Christmas cards.

They're sitting on a couch in the music room, Alex on his phone and Henry reading a book, when suddenly Henry puts his book down. "Darling, you know what we haven't discussed?"

Alex looks over at him. "What?"

"Where you're going to law school. I know you visited Columbia and NYU when we met in the city, and you'd mentioned some other visits, but I could not tell you for the life of me what they are." Henry runs his hand through his hair a little sheepishly. "I was rather distracted by how good you looked that night." 

"Mission accomplished then, because I was definitely trying to make you look," laughs Alex. "So the list of places I'm applying to is: Columbia, NYU, Chicago, Northwestern, Penn, Duke, Michigan, Virginia, and UT. UT is mostly a backup though, I want to try a new place instead of going back to Austin."

Henry blinks. "I'll admit I'm not entirely familiar with the geography of the United States. How close are the non-New York ones to New York? For example, is Chicago nearby?"

"By car or plane?" asks Alex. "Most of them are within a couple of hours of New York by plane, but schools like Northwestern and Chicago are a solid 12 hours away by car. Penn would be the closest that's not in the city itself."

"Oh." Henry looks down. "Stupid idea from me, then."

"Hey, no, don't shut yourself down before you even say anything. " Alex lifts his chin up. "Is New York going to be easier for you?"

"Well, it's just." Henry looks to the side. "My new charity is taking over the running of the shelter in Brooklyn. A few other places too, but yeah. Pez signed all of the LGBTQIA focused ones over to the Henry Foundation."

"Baby, oh my god!" Alex tackles him into the couch. "Does that mean you'll be in Brooklyn more? So you can be more hands on?"

"Actually, I was thinking…if you decide to go to one of the New York schools, we could just… get a place? Together?" Henry looks up at him nervously. "But I don't want you to go to those schools just for me, I can still use a home base in New York and then fly to visit you when I don't have other responsibilities and… "

Alex claps a hand over his mouth. "First of all, you're an idiot if you think that you being in New York wouldn't be a factor. Henry, you're my boyfriend. I want to be near you. We've been doing long distance for 10 months now. If my choice of school helps us minimize having to do that for any longer, that means something. Second of all," he adds hurriedly, noticing Henry about to interrupt. "NYU was already my top choice. And if you don't believe me, ask Nora to show you the spreadsheet. "

Henry slowly breaks out into a smile, a wide dazzling grin that makes Alex's heart jump because of how gorgeous he is. "You want to go to NYU?"

"I really really do. And now with you in Brooklyn I want it even more." Alex presses a soft kiss to his lips. "I don't care who I have to talk to in order to get into NYU. I'll stand in front of their office and filibuster until they have no choice but to let me in. Hell, I'll sic Zahra on them and they'll be so terrified they won't dare not admit me."

"I'm not sure that's the best use of Zahra's time, considering she's the Principal Deputy Chief of Staff," Henry says drily, but he's smiling. "So that's the plan then? You to NYU, me to the shelters? Move in together?"

"That's the plan. You'll buy a big house where we both can live." Alex sings the last few words in tune, relishing in Henry's tiny giggle as he recognizes it. 

"How wonderful life is while you're in my world," Henry murmurs back to him.

"I need a favor," Alex says without preamble, walking into Rafael Luna's office. 

"Hello Alex, it's nice to see you too," Raf snarks as he catches the bag of Skittles tossed at his head. "Please, enlighten me as to what has blessed me with your illustrious presence this afternoon."

(After Raf had sent the server contents to them and helped kickstart the ethics investigation, he and Alex sat down for a multiple hour conversation discussing everything that Richards had done in the past to Raf and other interns, and how Raf was trying to find the evidence of the assaults and missed the signs that they were going after Alex. How he heard about the leak and immediately knew he had to get all the information out and fast, before the campaign tried to cover their tracks, and so he dumped all the files to Nora. It was a long and hard conversation, with a lot of yelling and apologizing from both sides – for the MSNBC interview, for the angry texts, for the secrecy around joining the campaign. But they're back to normal now. Or whatever constitutes as normal between the two of them.)

"Are you still in touch with that con law professor at NYU?"  Alex prods. "The one that you swear you're not trying to pull?"

"Alex, for the last time, Oliver is a friendly acquaintance and I am a 40 year old senator that does not have time to 'pull,'" Raf says wearily. "But yes, actually, he and I spoke last week for his podcast, about the renewed push for the Equality Act. Why?"

"Does he have any influence with the admissions office?" Alex tries to look wide eyed and innocent and not at all like he's nervous about blowing up every single plan he told Raf over the years. "Also, related second favor. Will you write me a recommendation letter for my application? For, uh, NYU Law? And maybe some other schools?"

Raf's jaw has dropped. "You're doing it? Going to law school?" When Alex nods cautiously, he stands up from behind the desk and pulls Alex into a hug. "I'm so proud of you, chiquillo."

Alex definitely does not tear up into Raf's chest. Not at all. It's just a little dusty in here. Raf needs to clean.  "What's there to be proud of? It's just law school."

Raf pulls back, holding Alex by the shoulders. "You and I both know that it's not 'just' anything. You're so fucking brave, did you know that? Leaping into a completely new direction when you had your life so meticulously planned out."

"Raf, stop it," protests Alex, blushing slightly. 

"I will not stop it. You're going to be an amazing lawyer, and you'll be an even better Senator than me for it, if that's what you still want to do."

Alex laughs, a little wetly. "I'm… not sure that's what I want to do. But I think… I think I'm going to wait. And figure out what happens next during law school." 

"Look at you. Learning from my mistakes. Taking time away from trauma to heal. Not rushing into things without a solid foundation." Raf squeezes Alex's shoulders one last time before letting go. "What about Henry?"

Alex couldn't stop the grin on his face if he tried, so he just lets it happen. "He's moving to Brooklyn. That's why I need to get into NYU."

Raf cackles. "So you ARE into fairy tale princes then. Are you willing to admit that you were perhaps staring at that magazine in more than just hatred now?"

"Fuck you," Alex says cheerfully. "But yes, fine, I will admit he has a nice face. And I would like to wake up to that face a lot more often."

"Then I will pull every single possible string at my disposal to get you into NYU, although I highly doubt you need much of an assist, boy genius." Raf grins at him. "Going to law school, moving in all domestic with your boyfriend…you're going to be too respectable for me to hang out with soon. You'll ruin my anti-establishment image."

"Ah, yes, the anti-establishment activist who," Alex pretends to search on his phone, "joined the chamber of the United States Congress that disproportionately gives advantage to less populous states so the rule of the majority is watered down. Ruined your own image already, my guy."

"Well, we can debate the pros and cons of tearing down establishments from the inside vs. the outside later. For now, why don't you actually go enjoy one of your last free nights before this election hits critical week?"

Alex laughs. "Not a free night. I have a call with Texas Young Democrats in an hour to talk election day mobilization. Apparently a lot of undecided voters are suddenly looking at the Democratic ticket after some rumors have started to float around about Richards's past sexual assault allegations. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Ay, vete con tus chingaderas," Raf throws a Skittle at Alex. "I'll talk to you later, kid."

"Can't call me a kid anymore, I was part of an international sex scandal!" Alex calls over his shoulder as he walks out the door. 

Chapter Text

Election Day is here.

Alex is going to vomit. He doesn't know what to think. In a sane and fair world, people would immediately drop Richards after everything that's started to come out about him, but the die hard right wingers refuse to acknowledge any of his problems, and his mother has apparently been just controversial enough that the polls are ridiculously tight.

The Claremont camp has taken over a 2 story penthouse suite of a condo tower next to Zilker Park, returning to the site of the election night rally from 4 years earlier. Alex has had hope that it's meant to be an opportunity to rewrite history - despite Ellen winning in 2016, they failed to take Texas, and it was bittersweet to stand there for the rally. So Alex crosses his fingers and says a few Hail Marys that they're able to win the state this time.

Luckily, Catherine pulled strings to get Henry to Austin by the early evening, before polls start closing, and he takes one look at an over caffeinated, overwhelmed, and overstimulated Alex and immediately finds a back bedroom that's blissfully quiet where they can lay down and be alone for a while.

Henry lets Alex decompress in silence for a few minutes before cautiously broaching the subject. "Are you all right to start talking, my love?"  Alex nods his head yes, but snuggles in closer to Henry's shoulder to bury his face there.

Henry doesn't say anything about it, merely presses a kiss to his temple. "Whatever the outcome is tonight, you know it's not your fault, right?"

Alex looks up at Henry. "Maybe not my fault, but a loss would be because of me."

"No," Henry says firmly. "It would be because people are more concerned with the power and security that being under a Richards presidency would give them than they are in giving the White House to a sexual predator and violent stalker. Remember - you and I didn't do anything wrong. We fell in love and are making it work while maintaining the highest of ethical standards for our positions in our society. Any shame you feel over this is a result of societal pressure about the shame of queer relationships."

"Oh, look who's talking, Mr. 'I broke up with you for a month because princes can't be gay!' Like pot, meet fucking kettle much?"

"And, as we've established, I was also dealing with internalized homophobia and shame as a result of my Gran insisting that I had to hide it away." Henry rubs a thumb over Alex's cheekbones. "What I did back then was wrong, just as much as your assigning any blame to yourself is wrong." 

Alex blows out a breath. "I know that logically. I just… I hate that stuff like this affects political outcomes on this level. And that something like this can affect the presidency so intensely because the people most likely to be offended by my sexuality are the ones who have more power in the Electoral College than they should."

"You know," Henry starts casually. "I'm still not 100% sure I understand the Electoral College. Could you explain it to me again please?"

Alex narrows his eyes at Henry. "You're trying to distract me by getting me to go on a political rant about the Electoral College, aren't you?"

Henry holds his hands up in surrender. "Guilty as charged. I do think you need to get out of your own brain, though. How can I help you turn that overthinking voice off? In a way," he hastily adds, as Alex can feel his face turn mischievous, "that doesn't involve us risking getting caught in flagrante delicto by one of the 75,000 staffers roaming around."

“Honestly? I just want to get out of here for a little bit,” Alex admits. “But I can’t leave while we’re waiting for results.”

Henry checks his phone. “It’s 7:45. How long will it take for results to come back? From what I recall, elections don’t get called for a couple more hours.”

“The majority of the Eastern and Central time zone states are closed so those results are coming back now, the rest of Central and New York close in 15 minutes,” Alex says after wracking his brain for a minute.

“So…more than half of the states are left?” Henry asks. At Alex’s nod, he stands up decisively. “Right. I’ll talk to Shaan and have him work something out with Ms. Bankston, and we’ll take a couple of my PPOs and head out on a walk. No,” he holds a hand up at Alex’s protest. “They need to realize that you are on the edge of a full burnout and I won’t hear otherwise.”

Alex opens his mouth to deny the burnout, but then pauses and closes it again. “A walk sounds lovely, baby. Thank you.”

He watches as Henry pulls out his phone and calls Shaan, but he’s only half listening to the conversation between them. His brain is still whirring, thinking what happens if his mom loses the election, if she’ll always blame him in the back of her mind. Sure, there’s a million other reasons she could lose - her climate change initiatives have not been popular with the oil lobby, more hawkish members of Congress have called her soft on the Middle East, and of course the economic regulations she’s been pushing have really pissed off the billionaire class - but a personal scandal within the First Family has a way of taking precedence over any of those. The average every day American is much more concerned with a perceived lack of morality over any policy point; Alex has seen the data proving all of that up close and personal during the hours after the leak.

His thoughts are interrupted by Henry rubbing his back. “The Secret Service and Zahra have cleared us to go out for about a half hour. Want to get moving?”

Alex nods. “Yeah, let's go.” He stretches all the way out before getting out of the bed. 

As they make their way out of the suite, he notices Henry slip over to where June and Nora are sitting and whisper in their ears, probably telling them about the walk. June smiles softly at him and ruffles his hair slightly, making Henry’s cheeks turn pink. That moment helps Alex breathe again - there’s nothing like seeing his two favorite people in the world get along.

Outside, the air is the perfect temperature. Austin in November has always been Alex’s favorite time; the temperatures aren’t too cold yet, but the intense summer heat has broken so it’s a nice balmy 68 as they head towards the trail along Barton Creek. There’s next to no one on the trail right now, what with everything going on, so they’re able to walk with no interruptions. 

Across the way, Alex can hear the noise of the gathering crowd in the main area for the election night rally. Before he realizes it, he’s speaking out loud. “All those people are going to hate me if we lose.”

“No, they won’t,” Henry responds immediately. “Alex, you saw how much love and support we got across the country. Across the world, even. Anyone who wants to act as if you are somehow the sole cause of this election result is honestly just victim blaming. No one important will blame you.”

“My mom might,” mutters Alex.

“She will not,” Henry insists. “If she was worried about that, she would have gone along with Gran’s plan to make the entire leak seem like it was fake. She wouldn’t have fought to let us be public if she thought her being President was more important than your happiness.”

Alex is still silent. Henry stops and turns Alex to face him, cradling his cheek gently. “Darling, talk to me.”

“It’s just,” Alex starts, then stops. How can he put it into words? “My whole life, I’ve been too much. Too loud, too talkative, too intense, too passionate. The past few years, with my mom in the White House, I knew the best way for me to help her would be if I corralled it. Made it something palatable. You know, the golden boy, the charming rogue. Universal appeal. And this is just. It feels like I’ve broken that image that I’m supposed to have and now people are seeing the too muchness of me.”

“Oh, love,” Henry says sadly. “Who ever told you you were too much?”

Alex snorts. “The shorter list would be who hasn’t.”

Henry draws back. “I certainly haven’t.”

“Not in words, no,” Alex agrees. 

“But in other ways?” 

Alex sighs. “Babe, please know I’ve forgiven you for all of this but… you ran away from me when I was trying to be my most honest self, in the place where I feel the most free to drop the whole golden boy act. When I came after you and put my heart on the line, you told me no and called it a dalliance. To me, we were serious, we were building something, and you just –” his voice cracks and he can feel the tears coming.

Henry wastes no time in pulling him into his arms, squeezing him tight, letting Alex cry into his chest. It’s not heaving sobs or heavy crying or anything. Just nonstop tears that flow down his face as he grieves for the little boy who struggled to make friends, the preteen who came home to find his father gone, the teenager who was given an assignment from the PR team on how to behave. 

As the tears dry up, Alex presses his forehead firmly into Henry’s sternum once before pulling back. Before he can even open his mouth to apologize, Henry is holding a hand up. “Don’t you dare say sorry. That’s what I am here for. I’m the one who should be apologizing, for ever letting you think you were something to be fixed. I’ll tell you this for the rest of my life - you are never too much, and you are always enough.”

Alex nods. “Thanks.” After the cry and the talk, he can feel the internal spiral calming, his thoughts slowing and settling down. He’s still worried - he doesn’t think he’ll be able to stop worrying until the election is over - but it’s definitely less doom and gloom in his head.

Henry checks his watch. “We should probably get back relatively soon so Zahra doesn’t think I’ve stolen you away to England or anything.”

Alex laughs. “I think she might actually commit murder if you did that right now. She’s more tense than the entire Claremont-Diaz family put together tonight.” 

“Hopefully, having Shaan here will help her too.” Henry holds out his hand. “Let’s go.”

The first results have started coming in by the time they get back into the suite. It’s currently 

sitting at 71 for Richards and 63 for Ellen, but there are some big states left on the map, and one big surprise in Georgia being too close to call at the moment. Alex eyes one of the smaller screens, his gaze immediately going to Texas, still gray because polls have barely closed. Please, he thinks to himself. Please, for her.

A big cheer goes up in the next half hour when both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are called blue - Alex leans over to high five Sadie, who had been one of the campaign members dedicated to organizing in the outer part of Pennsylvania. That puts Ellen on top for now, which helps calm Alex’s nerves by a lot.

Richards comes creeping back, as Ohio and Iowa decide to go red, and Alex finds himself gripping Henry’s hand even tighter as Georgia sadly ends up going red, albeit by an even tighter margin than Obama in 2008. 

At some point during the night, Alex is wandering over to the drinks table when he feels a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he’s pleased to see Liam. “Dude, you made it!” He had sent Liam an invite after Liam had reached out, letting Alex know that reporters were pressing him about their relationship in high school. Liam had responded with a “most likely will be there” but it’s good to get the confirmation in person. 

“Good to see you too,” Liam says, pulling him into the normal back-slapping bro hug they had shared all throughout high school lacrosse. Suddenly, the years have disappeared, and Alex has his best friend back. He can’t stop grinning.

As Liam pulls back, he gestures over his shoulder to a handsome man with dark hair smiling behind him. “Meet my boyfriend Spencer. Spencer, this is Alex, who so rudely interrupted our lovely brunch date back in January with his identity crisis.” Liam reaches out to ruffle Alex’s hair, as Alex squawks and ducks. 

“Be nice, babe,” chides Spencer. “You should feel honored that he thought of you as a safe person to discuss his feelings with.” He reaches out a hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. My mom canvassed for your mom when she first ran for Congress, so she’s like, an icon in our house. She was the first president I ever voted for. I nearly lost my shit when Liam mentioned you two were friends.”

“And if we hadn’t been dating for a couple of months by that point, I probably would have been very insecure about that,” Liam says drily. “Where’s your knight in shining armor or whatever?”

“Henry? He’s…somewhere.” Alex searches around the main room trying to catch a glimpse of his boyfriend. He finally spots him next to his dad, and from the looks of it, he needs a rescue from a patented Oscar Diaz Political Explanation. “Hen! Babe! Over here!” 

Henry throws Alex a look of relief as he escapes from Oscar and speed walks to Alex. “Hello, what’s this then?”

Alex introduces Liam and Spencer and they start chatting away. Alex learns Liam is getting his master’s degree in engineering, and Spencer has gotten a job with the Texas Civil Rights Project doing voter outreach, which gives Alex plenty to talk to him about. They’re in the middle of a discussion on how to mobilize more voters in the Rio Grande Valley when Zahra comes up to tap on his shoulder, June right behind her. “Your mom wants to see you and your sister.”

Alex follows Zahra nervously to the back room. As if she can sense his nerves (she probably can, she always has), June rubs his arm in a soothing motion. 

His mom looks up from the couch as they enter. “Hey kiddos.” She waits for them to respond with their own “heys” before sitting up straight and putting on her Serious Business face. “Ok, I need one favor from each of you. June…the numbers are tight. We don’t know what’s going to happen.” Ellen takes a deep breath and picks up a folder from the table. “These are the points I want to hit in a concession speech. Can you go through them and make it into something cohesive? Just in case.”

“Mom, what the fuck?” Alex is shocked to hear how angry June sounds. “Absolutely not. You are in the lead, you are going to win. I am not writing you a concession speech. Not now, not ever.”

Ellen smiles, but it’s tinged with exhaustion. “Sweetheart, I understand you don’t want to but we have to be realistic–”

“You never won on realistic,” Alex butts in. “People voted for you because they liked that you were idealistic.”

Ellen looks at both of them, just as stubborn as she is, then sighs. “All right. No opening the concession speech unless Richards goes over 270.” She looks at Alex. “Do you have the capacity to record something? The comms team wants to play a message at the screens in Zilker.”

“I can do that for sure,” nods Alex. “June, do you want to help me write a script?”

“No time for that, honestly,” says Ellen. “We want something relatively raw and authentic that we can get over there as quickly as possible. You can wing it. Just be yourself, okay sweetie? No need to put on any kind of performance. Just talk like Alex.”

And there it is, another call to just be himself. No requests to hide, no pressure to perform. Alex takes a deep breath and nods decisively. “Okay, let’s do this.” He turns to Zahra. “What’s important in terms of the electoral map right now?”

Zahra’s eyes twinkle a bit. “Texas hasn’t been called yet.”

“Wait, really?” Alex looks over at the TV and sure enough, Texas is still gray, sticking out starkly among the sea of mostly red around it.

“Really,” confirms Zahra. “Let’s go record that video.”

14. Use your newly found platform as a queer icon to bring life back to your mom's Election Day rally 

Alex drags Henry out onto the balcony of the condo after the video is sent over. They can’t hear anything clearly, but the timbre of Alex’s voice carries through the air. The roar from the crowd hits a new level of excitement after his speech is finished, and Alex can feel a grin taking over his face. 

Henry kisses his temple. “Incredible job.” 

“Thanks,” Alex says as he turns to beam at him. For the first time that night, he allows himself the freedom to admire his boyfriend in his well cut gray suit, crisp white shirt, and…

“Wait a minute. Henry, your tie. Is that…”

Henry looks down. “Oh yes, I meant to point that out to you earlier but it must have slipped my mind. Yellow rose of Texas, right? I read that it’s supposed to bring good luck.”

Alex can’t help it. He pulls Henry in by the lapels and kisses him thoroughly. “I love you so much.”

Henry smiles back at him, soft. “I love you too.”

Just then, there’s a large cheer from inside. Alex grins, turning around to head back in to see what happened. Before he can go in, Henry tugs him back to face him. “Everything is going to be okay.”

Alex nods then enters the room. Oscar spots him first and pulls him in for a hug. “You missed the call for California. Put us very comfortably in the lead.” 

“Nice,” Alex says. He looks around and sees Nora gesturing to him from one of the couches. He plops down next to her and drops his head on her shoulder so he can look at her laptop screen. “What’s it looking like out there, boss?”

“Florida is probably going Richards,” she says, making a face. “There was a decent chance of us flipping it back, but exit polling shows that the Palm Beach assholes made a point of voting for him.”

“Gross.” Alex makes a face. “So what are your odds on Texas?”

Nora shakes her head. “Data was literally showing a tossup. We have no idea which direction it’ll go.”

Alex sighs. “I’d hoped the work we put in would have pushed it in our direction.”

“Oh it did!” Nora says, turning to face him fully. “The rallies and the election day mobilization and your constant tweeting about Texas are the reason we’re so close.”

“And then I ruined all that work with a sex scandal?” Alex says wryly.

Nora looks at him in confusion. “Nobody talked to you about that data?”

Alex shakes his head. “I haven’t exactly asked for the information.”

“Well, for the most part - people are pissed that Richards messed with you.”

“Wait, really?” Alex is shocked. 

“Yeah, they see you as theirs, you know? A child of Texas. There’s a lot of very protective feelings.”

“Huh.” Alex doesn’t really know what to do with that.

Nora places a hand on his arm. “A lot of people care about you, you know. And not just the Alex Claremont-Diaz of the White House Trio. The messy real you. What you’re doing, how you’re representing people… it means a lot to so many people.”

“Thanks Nora,” Alex says softly. He pulls her into his side and they curl up together, watching her screen in contented silence for a while.

They’re eventually interrupted by June leaning over the back of the couch to prop her chin on Alex’s head. “Everything going good here?” 

“Yeah, just waiting for…” Nora’s explanation is cut off by the breaking news banner flashing on screen, followed by Anderson Cooper calling Florida for Richards. “That. Dammit.”

Alex’s eyes flick over the screen, adding probabilities together and trying to figure out the internal math. “Ok. This is fine. Nevada shouldn’t be called for a while, Colorado and Virginia are likely blue, and then we just have to wait for Texas. We can do this.” He tilts his head back to look at June. “We’re going to do this. We can’t let Richards and his bland ass family take over Christmas decor. Leo’s is so much better.”

“So much better,” agrees June. “We can do this.”

They cling to those words over the next hour; Henry ends up coming to sit down on Alex’s other side while June ends up perched on the arm next to Nora, glued to the screen. Just after 11:30pm, Colorado and Virginia turn blue as expected, leaving Ellen at 259. 

“This is like political edging, but worse,” sighs Nora. “I did not enthusiastically consent to this.”

“Come on, Nevada, come on Nevada,” mutters Zahra from nearby. Shaan is behind her, rubbing her upper arms in a soothing gesture. “I need your casino loving asses to give us the win.”

“We won Nevada in 2016,” June says soothingly. “Stay positive.”

June’s positivity is for naught, when Nevada is called for Richards about 20 minutes later.

Alex might pass out. He wants to lay down face first in the plush rug in front of him and scream until he has no more air in his lungs. In all his time and all his work and all his pushing for Texas, he never thought that it would end up being the state that would decide the presidency.

Hawai’i and Alaska get called blue and red respectively, but no one has hit 270 yet, and there's still no call from Texas. Alex can feel his heartbeat in his ears. He’s probably leaving bruises on Henry’s hand with how tightly he’s gripping him.

Just before 1:00 am, June’s college roommate Molly comes rushing into the room. “The Harris County votes,” she gasps. “There was a big final push. People stayed in line forever. But they’re in and we think she has it.”

Nora sits up straight. “How many ballots?”

“A little over 10,000 –”

“Oh my god–”

“Look!” Henry points to the screen. The breaking news banner has appeared. They’re calling it now.

Anderson Cooper’s voice booms out over the room. “CNN has projected that Ellen Claremont will win Texas and its 38 electoral votes. That puts her at 301 electoral votes, and she will clinch her second term as President of the United States.”

The room bursts into cheers and whoops, people hugging and crying and throwing things in joy. Alex’s eyes stay glued to the screen where Texas has been flooded with blue for the first time since 1976. He stands up slowly and walks towards the screen, his fingers tracing over the edges of the state as he lets out the biggest exhale of his life. Texas for the Lometa Longshot. His mom has finally won her home state.

“Blue Texas! Never thought we’d see it, huh, mijo?” Oscar comes up and slaps him on the back. “You should pat yourself on the back. You’re a big part of this win.”

Alex turns to his dad, grinning. “Just another day in the life of work for Los Bastardos, am I right?”

Oscar cackles and pulls him into a full hug before pushing back and turning Alex around to face Ellen, who has come barrelling towards him. “My baby,” she murmurs, pulling him in close and kissing his forehead. “I love you so much. You were so wonderfully brave this past month. I can’t thank you enough.”

Alex feels the tears start. “I love you too, Mom. Thank you. For everything.”

Ellen cups his face in his hands. “Let’s go celebrate and show everyone that we’re still the First Family of the nation’s dreams, shall we? Especially my beautiful bisexual baby boy.”

"Mooooom," groans Alex, as she laughs and loops her arm through his. Behind her, Zahra is barking orders to the team. Anyone who isn’t Secret Service protected is exiting and heading over to the rally across the bridge, while the First Family and some other key administration members are gathering in a corner preparing to drive over. Alex spots Henry and his PPOs getting ready to exit, and wrenches himself free of his mom. “Hey! No! Henry comes with us! He’s family!”

Henry looks startled. “Oh, Alex, I couldn’t possibly intrude on this –”

“No way.” Alex grabs his hand. “I’m not going up there without you.”

Henry looks at Shaan, who nods almost imperceptibly before softening and stepping towards Alex. “If you want me there, then who am I to say no?”

Alex pulls him into the tightest possible hug. “I love you. I’m so fucking glad you’re here.”

He doesn’t let go of Henry’s hand once. Not in the elevator, not as they get in the cars, not as they drive over, and definitely not once they stand up on stage for Ellen’s acceptance speech. Listening to Ellen address the audience while feeling the warmth of Henry’s hand in his, Alex is sure - this is everything he’s ever dreamed of in life.

Time to start a new list, he thinks.

One.

One.

One.

Huh. He can’t think of anything right now to start this new list with.

As if he can sense the thoughts swirling through Alex’s brain, Henry squeezes his hand tightly. Alex flicks his eyes to the side to see Henry smiling at him.

Ellen finishes her speech to thunderous applause and Henry pulls Alex closer for a hug as they get off stage. “You did it.”

“We did it,” Alex smiles.

Henry lifts Alex’s hands to his lips. “So. What now?”

Alex knows Henry means his words to refer to this specific moment, but he can’t help but ponder them in the grand scheme of things, and comes to a conclusion.

“No plans,” he says. “I don’t have anything else on my list of things to do.”