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Alex wakes up disoriented, slowly blinking out the morning sun. He rolls to face Henry’s side of the bed, only to find it cold and empty. He hates waking up alone, but he’s grateful Henry didn’t wake him up for their usual morning run.
He’s about to go back to sleep, when something catches his eye. There’s a small slimy pink creature on Henry’s pillow. A worm.
He gets up and heads to the bathroom to get some toilet paper to grab the worm and flush it away. When he comes back out, he sees David sitting right in front of the bug. He must have brought the worm in with him last night after playing in the backyard all afternoon.
“David, down.” Alex says with the most commanding voice he can find. He doesn’t need worm parts all over the bed. He grabs David and places him on the floor.
He’s about to pick up the squiggly bug with the toilet paper, when David jumps to the bed again and starts growling at Alex, bearing his teeth for the first time since he met him.
“David,” Alex says again, exasperated. “You can play with your worm friends outside, Henry’s going to freak out if he finds a worm on his pillow.”
At the sound of his owner’s name, David starts crying. He lays down next to the worm and looks at Alex, desperately trying to make him understand something . Alex takes a closer look at the worm and his stomach drops.
The worm has short sandy blond hair, and the upper part of its body is a little bit wider than the rest. It is also looking in Alex’s direction, even with no eyes.
“Henry?!” Alex exclaims, and the worm wriggles desperately, nodding. “ What the actual fuck. ”
Alex suddenly becomes aware of his surroundings, Henry’s phone is still plugged in on his bedside table, his pajamas are laid on the bed under the sheets, and his running shoes are still next to the closet door with the rest of his running gear.
Alex starts panicking, there’s no way this is happening. “Can you hear me?” He has a faint memory of learning in Biology class that worms can feel sound through their body.
The worm -Henry?- wriggles again, and Alex gasps, bringing a hand to cover his mouth.
“Okay, can you move to the left if you can hear me?” The worm moves to the right, and Alex rolls his eyes. “My left, Henry,” and the worm wiggles to the other direction.
Alex fists his hair in desperation. “Fuck.”
He doesn’t know what the hell he is supposed to do now. So he makes a list.
- Henry is a worm
- Need backup - call mom?
- Definitely call June
- Most definitely call Nora, she’ll know what to do
- Research basic worm care
And after much consideration.
- Henry looks good, even as a worm
Alex decides that taking care of Henry is his number one priority. He unlocks his phone and googles how to take care of a worm. The first result is a page from The University of Maine, outlining how to keep a worm happy. Perfect. If Alex knows one thing is how to make his boyfriend happy.
He starts by asking Cash to get some materials after explaining the situation, and making him promise he won’t say anything to anyone for now. After what feels like hours, but is surely just about 30 minutes, Cash comes back with the bags of goods.
Alex got Henry a small room humidifier and a sponge, so that he’s always moisturized and comfortable. He spent an hour doing research on different types of worm enclosures. He then decided that Henry is not an animal and deserves better than a glass jail. So, he bought him the prettiest, most comfortable dollhouse.
The three-story Barbie DreamHouse dollhouse comes fully furnished, and has everything Henry needs: a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom with a bed and a hammock, a bathroom, a rooftop, and a pool. Henry can either use the slide or the elevator to go up and down the house.
Alex starts setting everything up; he carefully places food and water in the small kitchen. He places some privacy screens made out of cardboard in front of the bathroom, knowing that Henry wouldn’t like Alex to see him do his business out in the open. Alex even fills out the pool for him, in case he wants to go for a swim.
After everything is ready, Alex places Henry in the dollhouse and gives him the tour. Henry wiggles slowly, admiring all the little details Alex has incorporated into his new living arrangement.
“And of course, you will sleep next to me on my bedside table. I will be there right next to you”. Alex says, knowing that they both have trouble sleeping when they’re not next to each other.
—
June, Nora, Pez, and Alex are all huddled around the dollhouse, where Henry’s hanging out on the rooftop.
He can see shock in all of their faces. June turns to Alex, “and you’re one hundred percent sure it’s him?”
Alex nods and lays his hand on the miniature rooftop. Henry immediately crawls to him and curls around his index finger. “Positive.”
Alex brings his worm-full hand to his chest, and caresses his invertebrate boyfriend with the other. Henry wriggles lazily in his hand.
“It does look like Henry,” Pez comments, and Nora nods in agreement.
“He’s cute, isn’t he?” Alex says, smiling dreamily. Even as a worm, Henry is beautiful. “You’re the most beautiful, most handsome worm there is, baby”. He gives Henry a small kiss on the head.
June and Nora make gagging sounds, and Alex gives them his deadliest glare.
“What are you going to do?” June asks, with a frown on her face and her typical big sister voice.
Alex sights deeply, absentmindedly petting Henry’s back with his knuckle. “I called Mom and explained the situation, she agreed that we can’t let the world know. I don’t want him to become a CIA experiment, and she doesn’t want to cause global panic. She’ll reach out to some biological scientist who apparently owes her a favor. Until then, I’m going to take care of him.”
“Have you told Catherine and Bea?” Pez asks.
“Not yet,” Alex says looking at Henry, “he starts rolling and writhing everytime I try to call them. I think he doesn’t want them to worry about him.” Pez nods. “I’ll definitely tell them once we have more information.” Alex places Henry back in the dollhouse, where he sits in the orange plastic hammock.
“I want my own orange hammock,” June cries, looking with jealous eyes at Henry. Nora turns to look at her with a sly smile. “Not that type of hammock, oh my god! Henry just looks so comfortable in his hammock throne.”
“Speaking of which,” Pez says with his bright wide smile, “I’m sure the world would be delighted to learn that a gay worm is fourth in line for the throne,” and Henry might not have a mouth -or a middle finger- , but even Pez can hear the ‘ Fuck you’ emanating from His Royal Worm.
“Alejandro, please tell me…” Nora starts saying.
“Way ahead of you,” Alex interrupts, opening the doors of the dollhouse closet and getting out a tiny crown, and a very small rainbow flag. Immediately, Henry bolts out of the hammock and starts going down the slide, trying to escape. He’s not fast enough, because Pez catches him, and Alex puts the small crown on his little blond head, and the worm sized cape around what he supposes is his neck.
“Perfect,” Alex says proudly. June and Nora are on the ground howling with laughter, and Pez almost drops Henry twice from shaking.
Defeated, Henry goes back into his hammock and sits with his crown and cape still on, every inch -all eight of them- a prince.
His sister and her partners finally leave, so Alex gets started on dinner.
“Time for dinner,” Alex says, and picks up Henry and places him next to his plate on the kitchen table, where he had placed a cloth napkin and some of Barbie’s miniature plates and silverware for Henry. He’s having pasta, and he made a miniature salad for Henry.
Alex lights up some candles, and plays romantic music on the dinner room speakers. He wants to enjoy a romantic evening with his boyfriend. Alex tells him about his last test, about how he’s enjoying law school, and about the different internships he’s considering for the summer.
Henry looks worried and scared listening to Alex talk about his future. He tries to reassure Henry that they’re going to figure out the worm situation. Henry only nods slowly, his body tense.
“You know I would still love you, right?” He says in a confident voice, trying to convey how much he means it. “If- if this was a forever situation, if you stayed a worm forever? I would still take care of you, and love you. I would upgrade your house and buy you the best worm care products. I would read to you every night, and figure out a communication system so that you can still write your stories.”
And… Can worms cry? He can definitely tell there’s more moisture on Henry’s head.
“What I’m trying to say,” Alex continues, drying some of Henry’s tears with his fingers. “Is that, I love you so fucking much and nothing can change that, okay?”
Henry crawls to his hand and wraps himself around Alex’s ring finger. He can’t hear it, but he knows Henry’s saying ‘I love you too’. He always says it back.
“Anyways, I have a surprise for you,” Alex says, trying to lighten the mood. Henry lifts up his head from where he’s nuzzling Alex’s knuckle. Alex reveals another small plate, with a perfectly cut up piece of Jaffa Cake.
“I hope your worm taste glands can still enjoy this,” he says.
Henry sprints towards the Jaffa Cake and finishes it in seconds, he then proceeds to crawl back to Alex, caressing his hands. He definitely knows how to make his worm boyfriend happy.
“I love you too,” Alex says smiling. “I love you so much.”
When they’re finally upstairs, Alex lays down Henry next to the sink while he brushes his teeth and applies his 10-step skincare routine. He opens his eyes after finishing washing his face, and can see Henry wrapped around his moisturizer.
“Are you really that upset that we can't do our skincare together?”
Henry nods.
“Fine,” Alex says with a chuckle. He takes Henry’s face moisturizer, dabs a small drop and massages it into Henry’s body. “Better?” Henry wags the bottom half of his body.
Alex places the dollhouse on top of his bedside table, and lays Henry in his bed. It must have been an exhausting day, because Henry is asleep in seconds. He watches him sleep, and discovers that even as a worm, Henry sleeps curled up on his side. His spineless back poking out, soft to the touch.
—
“Okay baby, are you ready?” Henry starts crawling away from him at an impressive speed. “Come on, the internet said you need to wriggle your body. It’s good for you." Henry keeps crawling.
Alex scoops Henry and places him back on the rooftop of the dollhouse, sitting on the coffee table. Henry stops resisting, and Alex swears he can see him sigh in resignation.
“I know you're as stiff as a door in your human form, but you have curves now!”
He turns around and turns on the speakers. A pop song starts playing. “Come on, move with me.” Alex starts dancing, and Henry starts bopping his long head to the rhythm. As the song progresses, Alex can feel Henry loosen up. When the song finishes, cumbia starts playing.
“Fuck yeah, the gusanito song. Your song, baby!” He says laughing and wiggling his whole body. He bends down and gives Henry a kiss on his slimy back, and it’s Henry’s turn to wriggle in content.
Alex starts dancing to “El baile del gusanito”, he jumps in all directions and moves his body to the song. He can see Henry finally letting go and moving his hips, -hips?- wiggling out of rhythm.
“Follow my moves, menea pa’la izquierda, ” Henry’s wiggling happily to the left. “ Menea pa’la derecha, ” and Henry wiggles to the right.
Alex drops to the ground and starts doing The Worm, when he looks up Henry has stopped dancing and is looking at him in annoyance. Even without facial expressions, worm Henry has been able to convey his feelings to Alex. Alex can practically hear him say ‘You’re a menace’.
After they finish their movement session, Alex makes some lemonade and takes Henry outside so that he can play in the dirt.
He places Henry on a soil patch in the garden, and Henry disappears into the dirt for a few seconds before reappearing again and laying leisurely in the dirt, while Alex sits on his patio chair and basks in the sun.
When Alex looks down to check on Henry, he realizes that he’s not alone any more. Three other worms have approached Henry and they seem to be chatting. “Aw Hen, you made new friends. I’m so proud.” He wipes a fake tear as he watches Henry turn a darker shade of pink.
Alex goes back to the kitchen and collects some more food scraps. When he comes back out, he lays the food on the soil. “Here Henry, for your new friends. Ask them if they have any dietary restrictions.” Henry pretends not to listen to him, and continues hanging out with the other worms. Alex looks at him in adoration. He’s definitely, objectively, cuter than the other worms.
He sips on his lemonade and checks his messages to see if his mom has figured anything out. When he looks back down, one of the worms is suspiciously close to Henry, its tail trailing up and down Henry’s own. Henry doesn’t seem to notice.
He knows another worm is no competition. But how can someone blatantly flirt with his boyfriend in front of him? “Okay, we’re done. Thank you for hanging out with Henry, we’ll see you. Bye.” Alex scoops Henry up and takes him to another patch of soil, far away from the sleazy worm. He can practically feel Henry’s eyes rolling back, but he doesn’t care. He makes sure there are no more worms, lays Henry down, and sits back on his chair.
After an hour, Alex stands up and is about to ask Henry if he wants to go back inside. But Henry’s not in the patch of dirt. “Henry?” He calls calmly. He must be under the dirt.
Minutes pass and Henry doesn’t reappear. “Henry?” He says loudly. And fuck. Did the other worm take him? Did a bird pick him up? Why was he stupid enough to take his eyes away from him.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He starts carefully examining the grass that surrounds the patch of dirt, but finds nothing. He digs out some of the soil, to try and see if he’s there. He finds another worm, but it’s not his boyfriend.
He walks with extreme caution through the garden. Trying to find Henry.
“Henry!” And he’s shouting now, not caring if the neighbors think he’s crazy. “Henry!” He screams again, hoping that wherever Henry is he’ll listen. “Fuck Henry, don’t do this to me! Where are you?” He can feel tears streaming down his face.
“Henry!!!”
Alex wakes up gasping, covered in sweat. His heart is racing and he feels a knot in his throat.
“Love, are you okay?” He hears a raspy voice next to him say. He whips his head and sees his very human boyfriend next to him.
“Henry,” Alex says relieved. He moves his whole body so that he’s on top of Henry. “I’m sorry I lost you.”
“What?” Henry looks confused. “Did you have a nightmare?”
Alex nods and nuzzles his head in Henry’s neck, while Henry trails a hand up and down Alex’s back. His breathing is now steady and he doesn’t feel the knot in his throat anymore.
“I love you, you know that?” Alex asks, Henry needs to know.
“I do. I love you too.” Alex kisses him.
“I would love you even if you were a worm.” Because it’s true.