Work Text:
William storms into Henry's and his shared office, spooking the latter, who was sitting down doing some of the business' finances. William slows down drastically as he gets closer to his desk, before falling back into his swivel chair.
Henry raised a brow, "What's the problem today? Trouble with customers, Mikey, or the Misses?"
William put his head down, "All of them. At once."
"Well," Henry sheds his glasses and looks at his frustrated counterpart, "maybe we should talk about it instead of moping." This was becoming much more frequent for the engineering genius. Henry's sure he's under a lot of stress that he just won't talk about, no matter how much Henry's urged him to discuss it.
William groaned and not-so-gracefully set his forehead on the edge of the table. "Hen, I'm alright. Stressed sure, but I am ultimately alright."
Henry was not satisfied with that answer. He was even more dissatisfied at how much William seemed to avoid talking about it all. "No, William. I'm tired of you being stressed and upset over the same three fuckin' things."
William hunched in on himself when he realized that his friend swore. He never swore, especially not in their diner.
Henry took a deep breath, trying to contain some of the frustration. After a minute or two of sitting in silence, Henry swiveled over to his (business) partner's adjacent desk. "Will, can you look at me?"
William shook his head, partly because he felt too overwhelmed and "heavy" to look at him, and partly because he simply did not want to.
Henry lightly rubbed his back. "That's okay, can I ask yes or no questions to help me understand what's going on?"
William nods, "I still have a functioning mouth though, Hen."
"Sometimes you don't want to use that functioning mouth." Henry rubs Wills back, "That's not meant to be a negative thing, by the way."
William hums, "I never took it as one."
Henry nods slightly, "Good. Now let's start with the customer issue. Was it frustrating?"
William shakes his head.
"Did it make you upset?"
He nods.
Henry hums, "Did they call you something?"
He nods.
"Well whatever they called you I'm sure it's not true-"
" 'Fag'." William blurted out.
Henry stops rubbing his back. "Oh."
William hums in response, "It added on to the awful things that happened already. Being called.. that.. would not have hurt on its own." He sat up slightly, "Especially since they don't actually know me and whether or not I like sucking a man's dick." He sat up even more, still not looking Henry in the eye.
"Yeah, I suppose only you would know that."
"Yes. Back to the questions, please." William's face was cold, and at least for Henry, utterly unreadable.
Henry tried keeping a similar tone, "Onto Michael. I'm assuming he was picking on Evan again?"
William nods.
"And, like any good father, you tried to stop him?"
William doesn't move.
"Will."
Nothing.
"William."
"My wife handled the boys," he finally said, "I got in trouble for tending to the customer." William sighs, putting his head down on the desk again. "Hen, I'm so tired." The sudden change made Henry worry ever-so-slightly.
Henry began rubbing his back again, "What kind of tired?"
"The 'I'm sick of being awake' tired."
Henry nodded as he processed this. He wanted to help out his friend but he needed to figure out how. After a bit of consideration, he finally came up with a good enough idea.
William could have missed it if he wasn't paying attention, Henry hugged him from the side and lightly kissed his neck. It was so delicate and sweet, William never would have expected receiving such tender love.
"Hen?"
Henry presses his head against William's and hums. "What do you need, Will?”
“Did..” at first, he couldn’t quite find the words to say (or maybe he doesn’t have the strength to say them). Henry takes his head off of William’s as William looks him in the eyes for the first time since he’s sat down. Henry looks right back at him with an innocent smile in his eyes. “Henry, did you kiss me?”
He danced around the question a bit, "did it make you feel better?"
William further sat up once more and looked down at his friend. Regardless of how the enjoyment of that could very well make him a homosexual, he nods. He nods with a sudden certainty that despite what he may have just admitted, he'll be alright. Henry will still love him.
That's all he'd ever need.
"I figured you'd like that, and I'm glad it made you feel better. I'm like-" Henry looks around the room as he thinks, "Think of me as your wife."
William's face dropped a tad at the mention of his wife. She wasn't a bad woman, no. But she wasn't what William wanted anymore. Not after today, at least.
"No? Not your wife?" William doesn't know whether to be upset that Henry noticed, or bitterly laugh at how dense he was being. "How about.." Henry thinks once more, "one of the playboy bunnies?"
I want you to be you. William almost finds himself saying. I wish you could be more than a business partner, I wish I married you, I wish things went differently for the both of us, Hen.
Things go silent for a bit. Henry's studying William's stone-cold face as he's lost in his own thoughts.
William suddenly snaps out of his thoughts. Henry had the back of his hand placed on William's forehead, with his face twisted into one of concern. "Will, is there anything else going on?" He slowly took his hand back as he spoke.
"No, I'm quite alright." Of course something else is going on, you idiot.
Henry put his hand on William's heart, "Well you just seem.. not.. alright. I'm worried—Are you sure you don't have one of those stress migraines you get?" Henry finally stops touching him.
"Put your hand back on me."
Henry was taken aback, but he complies, placing his hand on William's heart once more.
William's face lit up in horror, "Did I say that out loud?"
Henry nods.
"Hen, I'm sorry, I swear I'm not like that!" William pleaded.
"It's okay, Will, you need support. Pretend I'm someone you love," Henry softly says.
He didn't need to pretend Henry was anyone else because he loved Henry. This sparked something new in him. Sure, Henry didn't feel the same as William did. They never could feel the same. William was burning with a kind of passion he had never felt. Someone loved him. It truly felt like someone loved him. It may not be the same kind of love he felt in response, but it was love. And as long as he had Henry—his best friend, his business partner, the man who he was head-over-heels for—he'd be alright.