Chapter Text
“Baby, love of my life, husband, we need to get back out there before anyone notices we’re miss- fuck- missing” Alex breathes out, his voice catching on the last word.
They’re pressed up against the wall in the handicap bathroom at Saint George’s chapel. Henry currently has his hands in his hair and his mouth on his neck, not looking to stop anytime soon, it seems.
“In a minute”, Henry whispers against his skin before unbuttoning Alex’s suit jacket and pushing it off his shoulders and throwing it on the railing. Alex would do the same, but he doesn't really know where to start with what looks to be a very complicated uniform Henry is wearing. And Alex really shouldn’t let him do this anyway.
Alex lets him do this anyway.
Unbuttoning Alex’s dress shirt and trailing his lips down Alex’s stomach sets Alex on fire, his skin burning everywhere Henry kisses him, touches so gentle and loving Alex can’t imagine doing this with everyone else, can’t imagine there’s anyone out there who could even come close.
Which, to be fair, is not a new revelation to him. That’s why he proposed all those months ago. That’s why he’s got it in writing now, why he stood before all of their friends and family and the entire population of the United Kingdom, probably most of the United States as well, and said “I do” like they were the most important words he’ll ever say.
(It’s not. His most important words yet, he thinks, is every word he’s ever uttered to Henry when they’re alone in the early hours of the morning before the sun rises, whispered phrases like “I love you”, “you’re incredible, everything I could ever wish for yet more” and “come back to bed baby, work can wait until after breakfast”. Words only meant for Henry to hear. Those are the ones he’ll carry to the day he dies. But he guesses Henry’s soft “I do” and the blinding smile that accompanied it was pretty great too.)
It takes Henry starting to unbutton his pants for Alex to bring himself back to the present.
Alex summons all of his remaining willpower to tangle his hands into Henry’s and tug, bringing them up to his lips and kissing his knuckles softly, pulling him close enough to erase the space between their foreheads. Henry’s watching him curiously, want and desperation written all over his face. Fuck, Alex loves him.
“We’re not doing this here, baby. I want you spread out for me tonight, have you begging for me to fuck you before I even get you out of your suit. I want to kiss every inch of your body, take you apart piece by piece and put you back together. We can’t do this here baby. Please let me love you like you deserve.” Alex finishes, reveling in the full body shutter that goes through Henry. In the ways he has to close his eyes to get himself under control. In the deep breaths he has to take before he can speak.
“What if I tell you this is what I want? If I tell you I cannot wait another minute to have you, all of you, as your husband ?” Henry tries.
Alex pulls Henry’s hand up with both of his, placing it over the steady, although a bit sped up, beat of his heart and peers into his eyes.
“You have all of me. This beats for you, always. And even when it stops, history will know it did, ever since I laid eyes on you at the Olympics, probably. History will know that I belonged to you as you belonged to me. You are the absolute love of my life, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, and as such I need you to wait a few more hours and not fucking blow me in a public bathroom. I want to be able to tell the story of this day to our grandkids without blushing in the future, please. ” He feels Henry’s willpower slip by the sigh he lets out.
Henry lets his eyes slip back down to their intertwined hands before he resigns himself to wait a few more hours. Honestly, if Alex wasn’t as in love with him as he was, this desperation would be hilarious. As it is, it’s reciprocated.
“This is unfair,” he says, moving to button Alex’s dress shirt back up again and tucking it back into Alex’s pants. “You know future talk gets me all hot and bothered for you. Honestly Alexander, did you have to bring up our grandkids ?” He questions, sounding resigned as he looks up at Alex and hands him his discarded suit jacket.
He laughs, checking himself in the mirror and trying to tame his hair enough as to not make it glaringly obvious that they almost fucked in the bathroom of a fucking chapel. Jesus Christ, the sacrilege of it all.
His grandmother would never forgive him.
He turns to do the same Henry’s hair, matting it down before cradling his head in his hands, kissing him softly and tracing his fingers along the curves of Henry’s cheekbones.
“Just you wait, baby. The things I have planned for you,” he trails off, smirking as he sees the deep breath Henry has to take, “I’ll make it worth the wait, I promise.” He says before letting Henry go completely.
“Christ, I need a few minutes.” Henry says before moving to lean back against the wall, putting some much needed distance between them.
“That’s probably for the best.” Alex laughs. “Take five, I’ll be waiting out there for you.”
He’ll be waiting for Henry for the rest of time.
He unlocks the door slowly, throwing one last look at Henry before he leaves to find the rest of his family.
They’d agreed to write two different speeches, one for the very public and televised wedding where they had to watch what they said and what they did so as to not cause a second international incident. When Henry had proposed the idea, Alex had argued that it had worked out for them pretty well last time. Henry, while agreeing, did not change his mind.
And so they wrote second speeches, which they would use in the intimate ceremony they would have next week. Alex could only speak for himself, of course, but that one was a banger. Not that his first one wasn’t as fucking romantic as the second one, it just didn’t have as many dirty jokes or queer history references. Oh well.
Another thing he was sure of was this: however romantic and well written his speech was, he knew as soon as Henry opened his pretty mouth that it could never compare to his husband’s.
When it’s Henry’s turn, he rises slowly and grabs the microphone he is presented with, the eyes of at least two nations trained on him, and he has never looked more ethereal to Alex. He looks like the royalty he is in his uniform, medals and all, the very epitome of a prince. He’s not next in line for the throne, but goddamnit, Alex would go as far as to claim he looks like he’s a king.
Okay so maybe he’s a bit biased.
For the sake of royal traditions, in the story the public has been led to believe, Henry was the one who proposed. Only a select few, the ones invited to their next ceremony, know the truth. The necessity to lie for the sake of the crown had been one of Henry’s reasons for the second speeches and ultimately his admission of “Alexander, I just want to be able to tell people what your proposal meant to me in front of our friends and family without concern for the whole country. Please .”
Alex hadn’t been able to say no after that, not that he had wanted to.
And here he stands, the man Alex gets to love on purpose. God bless the Queen and all that. Now that it was Queen Catherine anyway.
“When I first met Alexander Claremont-Diaz, he came into my life at a time when I was hurting the most, feeling lost in a world I believed I had no place in,” Henry starts, and while while his eyes keep going between Alex’s own and the guests, he reaches down for Alex’s hand and meets it halfway, Alex himself already grasping for Henry’s himself.
Afterwards, Alex won’t be able to recount most of what his husband said. He pretty much blacks out after the first sentence. Henry will have to retell it to him before they go to sleep.
“And I knew, from the second I laid my eyes on him, that this boy, this whirlwind of a man who had accepted this new role as one of the most prominent figures in American politics, thrown into a world of chaos at such a young age, could derail my entire existence with his mere presence. I knew that he could upend the carefully constructed walls I had built around myself if I gave him a chance to. So I refrained, and I let him go before he barely even got to say hello.”
Oh god, Alex loves him.
“I knew,” Henry continues. “I knew people compared him to me, portraying him as the closest thing the U.S had to royalty, but to me he was a species of his own. He was bright and self assured and so secure in who he was as a person, everything I believed I would never be strong enough, brave enough, to be, and so I watched for years from afar, in awe of this boy, this man who inspired me in ways he does not even know. To this day, I am not sure he will ever know what that meant to me.”
I know, Alex wants to tell him. You have done the same to me.
“When we became friends, after years of me admiring him from across the world, keeping up to date with American politics with perhaps too keen of an interest in the First Son rather than the actual President,” he says before shooting an apology to Alex’s mom and continuing, “I quickly came to realise that whatever idea of him I had constructed in my head over the years paled in comparison to the real Alexander Claremont-Diaz. When I kissed him for the first time, well, safe to say my entire existence was derailed. It was perhaps the greatest gamble of my life, and at the time, I did not think it would actually work.”
Alex is going to have this man for the rest of his life. This man, whose mere existence had made Alex question everything he thought he knew. Alex can’t fucking wait. Henry continues.
“Our relationship ever since has been the most sure thing in my life. Even when it felt unstable and uncertain, when I thought I had lost you or ruined us, the idea that I would always have had you kept me from insanity.” Henry addresses him directly now, and Alex is unsure if he’ll be able to handle whatever comes next.
“And then, when the world got to read our most intimate correspondences, when the ground we built our lives upon vanished from underneath us, you refused to let it change anything. You were there when I needed you the absolute most, and you stood your ground when I was unable to. I will never be able to thank you enough, but God knows I’ll try.”
Alex is not entirely sure how he is supposed to be expected to survive this.
“Being able to grow beside you is a great gift bestowed on me and I vow to you, Alexander darling, to never take that for granted. I believe we have made each other stronger, made each other better. I vow to always be a pillar for you to fall back on, to always make you coffee in the mornings and tea before bed. I vow to you that whenever we must be apart with an ocean between us, my heart will still beat for you. As it always will. And after we have gone, I am comforted by the assurance that history will remember us. History will know that I belonged to you as you belonged to me.”
Henry smiles, and it is not lost on Alex that he’s parroting Alex’s own words from earlier in the bathroom back to him. Luckily for him, Alex loves him enough to let him get away with it.
“I feel the need to thank a few people who got Alexander and I to where we are today. I want to thank Pez Okonjo for being there for me before I knew I was worth his love, and for sticking by me when I was figuring out who I was”. Pez is seated on Henry’s side of the table, and he briefly turns to look at him when he speaks. Alex still can’t take his eyes away from Henry.
“I want to thank Nora Holleran, for doing the same with Alexander on the other side of the ocean. He’s spoken highly of you since the day we properly met, and you are very dear to the both of us. Now, Alexander does not know that I have read parts of his speech already,” Henry says, and Alex squawks,
“You have what? How? When?” He asks, voice shrill while the hall practically shakes with laughter. Henry looks back at him amused before taking pity on him and replying.
“You accidentally emailed it to me a few weeks ago and I read some parts of it before I realized what it was. I do apologize dear, but we do email each other quite a lot, enough for me to not think it as anything out of the ordinary. Now darling, will you let me continue? He asks, looking for the agreement he knows he already has.
“Yeah yeah, I suppose I should be happy I’ve made a lot of changes since then” Alex replies before relaxing again, squeezing Henry’s hand a silent go-ahead
“Nora. From what I read in his speech, and from everything he’s ever told me about you, I know we would not be here today if not for your genius. You have my undying gratitude for bringing Alexander to me.”
Alex turns to look at Nora himself, and she’s already crying and smiling up at Henry, gaze locked with him for a brief moment before he continues.
“I want to thank our sisters Bea and June, who have had to deal with our messes around the clock for years now and barely complain about it. They have helped raise us since we were both kids, and have been in our corner ever since. To my own sister, you have been an inspiration to me since I was old enough to know what inspiration meant. Alexander and I love you both greatly”. Bea and June are both crying, which comes as a surprise to absolutely no one in their family.
Before he continues, Henry looks back down at him with pure unadulterated adoration and love in his eyes and Alex, for probably the hundredth time today, thanks whatever entity out there that made this happen for him, for them . Then Henry focuses his eyes past Alex, and he realises Henry’s looking at his parents .
“Oscar Diaz and Ellen Claremont. When writing this speech, I was unsure of where to begin, and it felt as if all my years of schooling at the most prestigious schools in the world had not given me the words to which I could use to describe how thankful I am for your interest in politics”, Henry starts, and both of his parents laugh before wiping away stray tears. Alex watches both of them, watches them look at Henry the same way they look at him and Bea, and the realization settles something in Alex he did not know needed to be settled. He’s known Henry is family to him for a long time now, but now, Henry gets to be family period.
Holy shit.
Before Alex can lose himself in this new revelation fully, he brings his focus back to Henry and catches the last part of the speech.
“And to you, Ellen, when you became the President of the United States you not only made history for yourself, but you ensured the chain of events that afforded Alexander and I the same opportunity. Both you and Oscar created this boy, this other half of my soul, and then had the absolute audacity to bring him into my life. And when we were lost, when we were scared we had wreaked havoc and international politics, you stood by us even when it came with a great potential loss for you and your career. You stood by us when many would not. I will never, not during my lifetime, be able to thank you enough Ellen, but I promise I will try”.
Alex was crying, there was no point in hiding it now. His mother’s “the things we do for our sons” comment decidedly does not help. Henry turns back to the guests, microphone in his slightly shaking hands, and finally addresses his nation. Their nation.
“Lastly, to the people of the Commonwealth, your acceptance and love that day on the steps of Buckingham Palace was a manifestation of something I had never dared to hope for. I struggled my entire childhood to try to be enough for you, to make sure I was worthy of the title I was born with, that I was worthy of your reverence and support. I hope I have made you proud”.
Henry turns back to Alex then, leaning down to press their foreheads together briefly before standing back up again, speaking into the mic for the last time this fine evening.
“There have been many great love stories before us, ones that did not make it into the history books. If there is anything, any aspect of my life that I want documented and preserved, it is what I am about to say next. When I saw you, Alexander, that first time at the Olympics, I was feeling lost in a world I believed I had no place in. I have found it now, right beside you. You are the absolute love of my life, Alexander Claremont-Diaz, and the notion that I get to be yours for the rest of time is one I will never take for granted. I love you. On purpose.”
Alex considers it a small mercy that he doesn't pass out right there in front of the entire world. Although, he thinks, he could hardly be blamed if he did.
Henry hands the microphone to one of the servers before sitting back down again and finally, finally, it’s just them again. Well, the cameras are still on, but he’s got his Henry back, not a prince. Just Henry.
Alex fucking loves Just Henry.
“Did you like it?” Henry asks with a grin, the absolute bastard, like he can’t see the tears in Alex’s eyes. Alex opens his mouth to answer but words fail him, and he can’t find any words that describe how he’s feeling right now, the immense love he has for this man, the excitement he has for their future together. So he does what he always does to flip the tables on Henry, to make him the flustered one.
He leans in close, makes sure no one is close enough to hear him, and places his hand on Henry’s chest before putting his lips close to his ear.
“You are going to be so happy I didn’t let you blow me in the bathroom. You’re going to be rewarded for that tonight, I promise you. You won’t be able to walk for days.”
Nobody else catches how Henry’s breath hitches, how his body goes rigid for just a second before he’s able to reign in his emotions. Years of media training has prepared him for this, Alex knows. To make it easier on Henry, Alex leans back and squeezes his hand again, smiling innocently at him before turning and starting a conversation with his mother in an attempt to bring his own nerves down before it’s his turn to hold a speech.
Later, it’s Alex’s turn to stand in front of the entire world and declare his love for Henry for ten minutes straight. Henry, the absolute bastard, mouths along to the parts of the speech he’s read because of course he’s memorised it. By the end of it, however, he’s crying, the Queen is crying, even Phillip is crying because Alex took pity on him and thanked him in his speech. To Phillip’s credit, his and Henry’s relationship had greatly improved since Queen Catherine took the throne.
They dance and mingle and don’t leave each other for the rest of the night. They don’t even stumble into the wedding cake, even though Alex suggests it. And when they get home, they fall into each other as soon as Henry carries Alex over the threshold because “it’s tradition, Alex” and they don’t fall asleep until they hear the sound of London waking up for a new day.
Their first day together as husbands.
Alex can’t fucking wait for all of the rest of them.