Chapter Text
While Henry could gladly stop thinking while Alex was kissing him, he can’t shut off his brain as he waits in the violently pink Queen’s Bedroom. It’s 10:31, and in less than half an hour he will be in Alex’s bedroom. Perhaps in his bed. In his arms.
He’s aimless, walking from the windows to the mirror to lying in the bed to digging through his suitcase. He changed shirts every five minutes, because what was the right thing to wear to something like this? Something easy to take off, that’s for sure. While an uncontrollable smile keeps sneaking onto his face, it also keeps fluttering off, replaced by furrowed brows.
Although Henry had obediently tried to stay five hundred feet away from Alex after snogging in the Red Room, the heat of Alex’s nearness still made him sweat. There was no ocean between them now, and no pretence of heterosexuality. Even now, he can feel Alex’s presence on the other side of the White House.
Henry stops pacing to stand in front of the mirror. He showered as soon as he had retired to his suite, trying to cool down and prepare for a life-changing night. The cold water calmed him down, but as his hair dries, his serenity dissipates.
Because, on one hand, Alex is not dating Nora, and he’s bisexual, and Henry had been right all along. Alex wants him, Of course, that fills Henry’s heart with a dreamlike joy. Alex is everything he has tried so hard not to want, and now he is allowed to want him. It’s like he’s sprouted wings.
On the other hand, the part of Henry that lives in perpetual self-doubt has Concerns. What does Alex really want? Sure, he wants Henry’s body, and he clearly respects him as a friend, but is Henry absolutely mental to consider that it could be anything more?
Is Alex willing to risk their public images? His career? To risk the heartbreak that inevitably comes alongside love? They would never see each other, victims to long distance. They’d never be able to come out. Could brave, bold Alex be okay with that? For all Henry knows, tonight could be a one-time thing, and he isn’t sure he’ll survive that and still stay Alex’s friend, much less his best friend. He is sure, however, that if he does not go to Alex’s room at 11 o’clock, he won’t survive at all. Besides, after the two life-altering kisses, it seems unlikely that they will ever be just friends again. Were they ever even friends, to begin with?
So of course Henry goes to Alex’s room. Because this felt like a dream, and Alex would put him on a no-fly list if he ghosted him again. It’s 10:45 and while it probably won’t take 15 minutes to find Alex’s room, Henry doesn’t want to make Alex wait for him for a single second.
Also, if Henry doesn’t leave his room immediately he might lose his nerve. Again, he would die if he passed up the chance to touch Alex’s body. To kiss him again.
Henry wraps a shaking hand around his bedroom doorknob, turns it, opens the door, and walks out to the empty hallway.
He wanders around the second-floor corridor, there are an infinite number of rooms here. Just as he is about to knock on one which looks somewhat used daily, a voice interrupts him, “Your Highness.”
Henry freezes on the spot but relaxes when he recognizes her as the same Secret Service Agent from earlier.
“Are you looking for Alex’s room?” she asks him with no judgement whatsoever.
“Erm...yes I actually am. Could you help me?” he asks. If they are to keep doing this, he might as well get acquainted with Alex’s security so he adds, “what’s your name, miss?”
“I’m Amy. Amy Chen. This way.” She proceeds towards the other side of the hallway. “That was June’s bedroom, the one you were about to knock on.”
“Oh, er thanks?” he says, feeling incredibly awkward. Amy gives a sharp nod but doesn't say anything else.
He tries to memorise the way so he can find his way back to his room quickly if need be, but it's all blurred out. All he can process are numerous identical doors and the loud pounding in his ears.
"We are here."
"Eh, what?" he says, suddenly coming out of the haze, “ Oh thanks.”
"By your leave, your Highness."
"Yes, thank you. Also please call me Henry." he frantically gestures that it's fine when Amy opens his mouth to protest.
Amy nods one more time, an amused smile on her face before she is gone. He takes a deep breath and checks the time. 10:54- shit, he is 6 minutes early. After the frotting and rutting, they had done in the Red Room, it was hardly necessary to hide his desperation to be in Alex's arms again. To press against his body, their lips hungrily devouring each other in the mutual thirst for release. So he lets himself enjoy the fluttering in his chest and the goofy smile spreading on his face. This was Alex.
He braces himself for a night that would change his life eternally, and in ways, he can’t possibly imagine. Then, he risks everything and knocks on the door.
……..
"Well … er." Henry attempts, he desperately wants to kiss Alex once again. God knows when they'll meet again and he wants a taste just one last time before leaving Alex’s room. He looks down at his feet, trying to make out the words but he just stands there feeling awkward.
"For fuck's sake man, you just had my dick I'm your mouth you can kiss me goodnight. " Alex says and Henry laughs, truly laughs. Alex and his way with words are what got him in this situation in the first case and here he is falling in love with the words all over again, even though he had just been said not to.
He kisses Alex deep and slow this time, revelling in the gentle way it makes his heartache. Before he is tempted to actually take up Alex's offer for another round, he turns around and leaves.
He wanders towards what he thinks might be the direction to the Queen's Bedroom. All the doors look the same to him, and he’s more than a little disoriented from his time with Alex. He finds a door that looks like the one of the Queen's Bedroom and stops. He starts to open it when a voice stops him in his tracks. He has an eerie case of Déjà vu.
"Your Highness, are you looking for something?" A handsomely dressed man asks him and Henry wonders if he had seen him before or not. Yes, he had seen him with Alex. God, his luck is down, or fate is having a laugh at his expense. In one night, he has managed to run into two of the security personnel of his friend-with-blowjobs, and both times he was either going or coming from Alex’s bedroom. And judging by his amused expression, this bloke knows pretty well what he had been doing just now.
"Uh, I was looking for my room actually."
"Oh it's this way," he replies and signals to the room three doors ahead. For once he thanks Staff NDAs, and follows the bloke to his own door.
Just as he is going to close his door he finds himself saying, "Er do you think you could find me some Jaffa Cakes or maybe even cornettos?"
"Well, I'm not sure about the Jabba Cakes but I think we do have Cornettos. I'll get them for you in a jiffy, your Highness."
Henry winces at the butchering of his favourite snack's name but says nothing about it. "Also, er, Mr….?"
"Evans. Cassius Jackson."
"Yes, Mr Jackson, please call me Henry. And cornettos would be lovely."
"Of course, Henry, and please refer to me as Cash from now as well. I'm sure we will be meeting quite many times in the future." He gives a pointed look to Henry and goes to find the cornettos and Henry is doomed. As he goes into the garish pink bedroom he counts the people that know about them. Amy and Cash just found out, and Shaan has known since Henry rushed them home from D.C. on New Years. Then there’s also Bea and Pez from his side and Nora and June from Alex's side.
That's seven whole people who know about this, not the specifics of their arrangement, but that there is something between them. He doesn't want it to spread anymore. He wouldn't be able to take any more people knowing, just not yet. He spends most of the night eating cornettos. He doesn't know how but Cash brings him Pims at three in the morning. He says it's like Jaffa Cakes although Henry disagrees. They do the job, but he is craving badly for his beloved Jaffa Cakes. Longing for something you can’t have is a familiar feeling for Henry.
He doesn't ask how Cash knows that he'll be awake, and just thanks him for going to such lengths for him in the middle of the night. Cash shrugs it off with a casual 'just my job' and goes on his way.
He feels eternally thankful to him as he sees the sun peek out from the sky. It's beautiful, not as beautiful as the sunrise from his apartments but just as peaceful. His haywire mind calms down even if it's for just a few minutes. Giving up on any hopes of sleep, he mechanically packs up his trunk. He thanks President Claremonte when she sends them off, and they get to the airport before it's even 8 am. Shaan looks annoyingly happy and well-rested for some reason.
"Why so happy this morning?" Henry asks.
"Just glad that we are not going back hours before schedule and not at two am after somebody’s Big Gay Freak Out." Shaan gives him a blinding smile and gets up on the plane. “For once, I travelled with you and still got a good night's sleep.”
Henry can’t say with certainty that he isn’t having another ‘Big Gay Freak Out,’ but perhaps he should follow Shaan’s example and be grateful to hold onto even a tiny piece of Alex. Because even though it can never be as much as Henry wants, it’s better than the oblivious flirtations from before. Better still, Alex is no longer untouchable. In fact, Henry is allowed to touch him all he wants.
When he finally lands at Heathrow airport, his phone instantly pings and he opens it to find a selfie of Alex in bed. It's similar to the ones Alex has been sending him for months, but today, today there's a blissed-out look on his face that Henry hasn't seen before. He likes to think it's his doing. His heart flutters as he imagines that Alex is all content and relaxed because of him.
But no. He’s getting ahead of himself and imagining things that aren't real. That train of thought is dangerous, probably deadly.
Nevertheless, he sends back a picture of himself in his pale blue shirt, sunglasses hiding the circles under his eyes.
you already reached the mother country?! or you are still in DC
Back in my homeland. Phillip is already on me for being "late"
tough luck, sweetheart
He closes his phone and gets out of the car. Bea is there, waiting for him in front of his apartment with a small smile and open arms. An immense feeling washes over him without warning, so Henry falls into her arms and holds her close. Inexplicably, he wants to cry. Something is getting crushed, he can feel it. He wants to hide in Bea’s arms but that's not what is expected of HRH Prince Henry of Wales, Third in Line to the Queen of England. So after five minutes, he lets go of Bea and smiles at her. They both know it's forced but he has to do it anyway.
He can have a physical relationship with Alex because that's easy and simple and not as complicated as a romantic relationship would be. He tries to convince his heart all day, through meetings and Polo practice but when he gets back to his apartment that night, Pez is there armed with Jaffa Cakes in a neon crop top and sweats. He smiles ruefully at him and Henry lets go.
He feels better, and it’s like old times again. Moping about the Claremont Diaz siblings and cursing their fates. Pez reminds him that he is at least getting a taste and that is exactly what Henry needs to hear.
"But -"
"No buts, Hen. You have enough drama in your life as in. Add the most eligible guy in America to the mess in it, you have mayhem. Adding said bloke in the jumble but this time with romance. Oh no, honey! That would be perfect for absolute catastrophe. As for me, I would do anything for such a disaster. Maybe even add some Holleran to that mix."
"You are insane. One out of the world vision is not enough, you're adding two into it. Both of them are impossible to attain. Pass me the beer, would you?" Henry takes a sip from the beer he is just handed and shakes his head. Both of them are insane.
"Darling I'm telling you, this is going to be a reality soon." Pez makes a show of being the theatrical arse he is, making obscene situations on how things will click soon, adding in going to clubs and hooking up or the girls inviting him over to their room someday during Alex and Henry's wedding. Henry snorts at that one, here he can't even get a romantic relationship out of it and Pez is over there making hypothetical situations of their bloody wedding.
But then, the thought decides to stay in his mind, name a small corner to itself and make it its home.
It stays there, with no care whatsoever. It comes to Henry on gloomy nights and sleepless mornings. He starts being his old self with Alex again but the thought comes and haunts him up and leaves him spellbound, trying to decipher imaginary double meanings in Alex's words and pictures and their video calls. Everything is normal, they are mates and nothing more; until they are not. Until his traitorous mind starts playing games again and he finds himself trying to distance himself from Alex again. But Alex, bless him, is always there to get him back.
Henry doesn't know anymore but he can sure as hell hope.