Archive of Our Own

He's a gentleman okay? And more importantly, he's genuinly a good person.

He always explicitly asks for consent before he makes any move, and he takes boundaries and stop words, and visible signs of discomfort very seriously.

He knows all the important rules and swears by them;

No means no. Consent is sexy. People you're kissing or hugging or hooking up with are always allowed to change their minds.

You never hook up with someone or kiss them if they're clearly too drunk or high or anxious/upset to consent.

You don't catcall people, you don't grab someone's ass or bicep or any other body part, without their consent.

If someone turns down your invitation for a date, a drink, or anything else, you don't push.

You don't walk directly behind anyone that doesn't know you when it's dark outside.

You never leave a friend alone, unless you're sure they'll get home safe without you. Plus you still send a text message to make sure they arrived home (or elsewhere) safely.

You don't name-call people (without their consent).

Just because a cute guy makes eye contact with you, buys you a drink, or lets you buy him a drink doesn't mean he owes you anything. No one owes you anything period.

You don't take someone home if they don't or can't enthusiastically consent.

One more time: Consent isn't enough the consent has to be enthusiastic and the person has to be in a state where they can actually consent.

You don't stare at someone's crotch or ass.

You don't grind up to someone on the dance floor without their consent.

You don't film or photograph people without their consent.

So in conclussion, no, Henry is not a creepy guy.

And yet he feels like one tonight.

Not because he has broken any of the rules.

He would never.

But because he has been staring at a beautiful man for multiple minutes, without breaking his stare even once.

Alright fine, he has blinked, but that's really the only moment he's taken his eyes off this beautiful man..

And look, It's not like he's been disrespectfully staring at the man.

He's really only been staring at his face.

Which is honestly satisfying enough.

No matter how dramatic that sounds, Henry genuinely doesn't think he's ever seen a man this beautiful.

The man has beautiful brown eyes,  black bouncy curls, perfect red lips, impressively white teeth, a smile to die for (is that too dramatic? Henry doesn't care), and the longest eyelashes Henry has ever seen (they appear to be natural, which is just obscene if you ask him).

The man also has broad shoulders, muscular arms, a beautiful skin tone, and a devastatingly charming laugh.

And not unimportant; a little bisexual flag pin pinned on his costume. A costume that matches Henry's for crying out loud.

Okay maybe Henry wasn't just staring at his face, but looking at his upper body should be okay, right?

The man is surrounded by beautiful women and handsome men who are all seemingly offering him drinks and not-so-subtle hints that they'd like to take him home. 

Henry feels kind of guilty, for being one of the many people who can't seem to take their eyes off of him.

He hopes the man doesn't feel objectified. 

Luckily Henry's dream man doesn't look uncomfortable.

He does however turn down every single person that makes a move on him.

Henry wonders if he's doing that because he has a partner, he wouldn't blame this hypothetical mystery partner for securing the bag, if given the opportunity, he would have asked this man out too.

Henry has to actively remind himself that, no matter what his intrusive thoughts might tell him, he does in fact have the chance to ask the handsome stranger out.

So yes, he has, against all odds, been building up the courage to walk up to the man and ask him out.

Unfortunately, Pez abandoned him about five minutes ago, and ever since his thoughts have been nothing but unpleasant.

They're mostly a combination of "he's too good for you", and "you may have had a chance before you stared into his soul like a bloody serial killer for 5 minutes straight".

And then, right after Henry had officially convinced himself it would be impossible for a man that bloody perfect to agree to go on a date with him, the man shrugs off a girl that had practically been hanging on his arm (it's good to know Henry isn't the only one who feels like all logic abandoned him the second he laid his eyes on this masterpiece of a man),  shoots Henry a devastatingly charming smile and starts walking towards him.

Henry is honestly surprised that his heart doesn't give out on him right then and there because he swears he can feel the thing trying to beat out of his chest.

He tries to calm himself down and turns around to make sure the man isn't walking toward one of the beautiful ladies or gentlemen dancing behind him.

The closer the man gets to Henry, the clearer it becomes that he is, in fact, walking towards Henry.

Christ, it's times like this he really wishes he had the same amount of confidence as his best friend, who mind you ruthlessly abandoned  Henry while he is currently getting approached by (quite possibly) the most beautiful man to have ever walked the earth.

Henry tries to convince himself that he can do this, he can have a conversation and flirt a little with the gorgeous men in front of him.

After all, it's not the first time he's going to flirt with a man and this handsome stranger is after all walking up to him, so he must have done something right already.

Or he's coming towards you to punch you in the jaw because you freaked him out by staring at him for 5 minutes straight, his brain adds, entirely unhelpful. 

But logically Henry can tell that the man doesn't seem annoyed or scared by the fact that Henry can't stop staring at him (it's really becoming a problem, because the closer the man comes, the more Henry is convinced that he's never seen such beauty before).

So Henry takes another deep breath and wonders what kind of selfless things he must have done in a prior life, to deserve to experience what it feels like to receive this man's undivided attention. 

The man comes to a stop in front of Henry, flashes him a beautiful smile, and says, "Hi, I'm Alex and I was wondering if I could buy you a drink? I don't want to assume so if you're not drinking alcohol that's cool too, I'd love to pay for your water or whatever you're drinking. Unless you're drinking like... insanely expensive champagne, I mean I'd love to have that kind of money, but I don't, or at least not yet anyway."

Christ, so he's not only bloody gorgeous, but he's also, funny, charming considerate, and respectful of the fact that not everyone drinks alcohol for varying reasons (health reasons, safety reasons, designated driver, past addiction, just not a fan of alcohol, sobriety etc.).

And here Henry thought the perfect man didn't exist.

But apparently, he does and he's patiently waiting for Henry's response.

Which obviously means has to say something back.

Henry knows that.

But his brain seems to have chosen this exact moment to go on vacation because no matter how loud Henry wants to scream, "Of course, you can buy me a drink, you could do anything really." No words actually come out of his suddenly very dry throat.

This might be for the best considering, "you can do anything really", is admittedly a very creepy thing to say to a stranger.

And Henry had previously established that he is in fact not a creep.

However, this silent treatment thing he's currently got going on is probably creepy too.

He clears his throat, takes a deep breath, and prepares himself to reply to the beautiful man in front of him.

All he has to say is a simple, "yes", how hard could that possibly be? 

The answer is, apparently, very.

Because when Henry clears his throat again, takes another deep breath, and gets ready to say "yes", he's suddenly hit by the realization that he's been silent for much longer than could possibly be considered socially acceptable.

Henry vaguely wonders how long you have to wait to reply to turn from sexy and mysterious to straight of giving off serial killer vibes.

Christ, I can't do this, he anxiously thinks to himself while still busy deciding on the least creepy way to break the silence and agree to the man's offer.

The man who had been patiently waiting with a soft smile on his face suddenly scoffs and glares at Henry, he mumbles something that sounds a lot like "dick" and walks away looking offended and disappointed.

It's then that Henry realizes, to his own horror, that he'd said "Christ I can't do this" out loud.

 

Alex's Pov 11:13 pm

"Come on, loosen up Alejandro, you get rejected all the time. This shouldn't be that much of a world-shattering experience for you", Nora teases.

"Fuck off"', Alex bites at her.

"Sorry I didn't know that getting rejected by Prince Charming would be this sensitive of a subject', Nora teases.

Alex sighs. "It's not."

And it's true, to an extent.

The thing is...he only recently came to the conclusion that he's bisexual, so the whole hitting on guys thing is still kind of terrifying.

Or new, let's just say it's new.

If a girl were to respond with "Christ I can't do this", after Alex asked her out, he'd just think Rude and move on.

But now he has to deal with the possibility that the guy may have had a problem with Alex's sexuality and that just sucks.

And look, as a biracial man Alex isn't new to discrimination by any means, but that doesn't mean it ever gets easier to deal with.

Getting judged for something you can't control like the color of your skin or your sexuality really fucking sucks.

And the fact that Alex's adhd brain had already come up with a fair amount of scenarios of good things that could come from Alex asking the hot guy in the matching costume out... well that just makes it that much more painful.

He doesn't believe in soulmates perse, but you have got to admit that wearing matching costumes with a handsome stranger is a fun story to tell people later. 

"It's the perfect meet-cute", as June would say.

His thoughts are interrupted by a voice shouting his name through a microphone.

"We are pleased to announce that our jury has come to a decision. This year's winners of our famous couple-costume competition are; Alex Claremont-Diaz and.... sorry one second I swore I had written down the other name right here"

Alex almost chokes on his drink.

This is certainly not how he thought his night was going to go, but he'll take this over getting rejected by an, admittedly very beautiful, asshole.

It's obviously within his right to reject Alex, but again, he didn't have to be a dick about it.

Hell Alex has rejected people tonight too.

But in a respectful, polite way like one does when their not an obtuse fucking asshole or a fucking bigot.

This time his racing thoughts are interrupted by Nora and June.

"Oh my god, Alex, I can't believe your single ass won the couple costume competition, you know that I love you, but I really fucking hate you right now. Nora and I have worked so hard on these costumes", June complains.

Alex laughs. "Okay I'm going to ignore that because you're upset. But jealousy is not a good look on you fyi. Anyways... I wonder who the other person is. Oh fuck! I hope I'm not accidentally starting a fight between an actual couple. Can you imagine wearing a couple costumes to a Halloween party with your partner just for thr jury to mistake some asshole as your partner's boyfriend? What if a girl throws a drink in my face for stealing her partner? Or a guy punches me in the jaw? Or vice versa because fuck gender norms."

"Oh yes I'd totally punch the guy in the jaw if that happened to June and me", Nora adds helpfully.

Alex laughs only kind of convinced that she's joking.

"Sorry for the delay we are pleased to announce this year's couple costume competition has been won by a same-sex couple! We won't keep you guys waiting any longer, give it up for this year's winners: Alex Claremont-Diaz and Henry Fox!"

"It's kind of fucked up that they are assuming that you and this random guy are a couple, since assuming people's sexuality is messed up. But the same thing would have counted if you were coupled with a random girl or someone who is non-binary then their sexuality would have still be assumed", Nora says.

Alex nods.

She's obviously right but he's honestly just excited to meet this Henry person and check out the price they've won together.

 "Yes, exactly I get mistaking people who were like dancing together, or something, as a couple. But this is weird. You don't even know this Henry person. It would have made more sense if they assumed you and Nora were  a couple  at least y'all interacted tonight", June adds.

Alex shrugs. "Yeah, but Nora and I are not wearing matching costumes bug. Now let's find my supposed boyfriend, shall we? I wonder what we did that made them assume we were dating. Fuck... I hope it's not one of the guys I turned down tonight, that would  be awkward."

 

***Henry's POV 11:15 pm

"We need to get out of here! Now!" Henry all but yells hysterically.

Pez frowns. "What's gotten into you Hazza?"

Henry cringes. "I may have done something stupid when you were gone."

Pez laughs. "Oh? Do tell."

Henry sighs. "The most beautiful bloke I've ever seen, and no I'm not being dramatic, you should have seen his face, offered to buy me a drink and I told him to sod off, in the rudest way imaginable."

Pez gasps as if he feels personally offended by this news, knowing him he probably does.

"Haz, I left you alone for all of 5 minutes and you mean to tell me you were being a prick to a beautiful bloke? One who hadn't done anything to deserve this treatment? And who offered you a drink?"

Henry groans and nods. "I believe my exact words were "Christ I can't do this".

Pez grabs him by the shoulders. "Well, what are you waiting for babes? Go get your man! Go tell him it was all a big misunderstanding!"

Henry bites his lip.

"I could do that, or... I could go home, drown my sorrows in jaffa cakes and walks with David and an obscene amount of binge-watching British Bake Off and play an unhealthy amount of polo, all while spending the rest of my life wondering what could have happened, had I not screwed up  the only chance I'll likely ever have to go on a date with a bloke as devastatingly handsome as that man.'

Pez shakes him a little by his shoulders. "Get it together mate! You can still fix this!"

Henry cringes. "I don't know about that, he seemed genuinely offended."

As if on cue Henry's name is announced through the loudspeakers.

"Sorry for the delay we are pleased to announce this year's couple costume competition has been won by a same-sex couple! We won't keep you guys waiting any longer, give it up for this year's winners whom we identified as Alex Claremont-Diaz and Henry Fox!"

Henry doesn't faint, but it's a near thing.

"Oh, my Christ! That's him Pez!" He says sounding genuinely terrified, he'd laugh about how pathetic that probably came across if he wasn't a little preoccupied with freaking out.

Pez beams. "This is your chance mate!"

Henry shakes his head furiously. "I love you to death Pez, but there is nothing you could possibly say or do that could convince me to go back to the man I ruthlessly and unintentionally rejected. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get out of here, before he finds me!"

Pez frowns. "You're really going home? It might not even be him mate!"

Henry laughs humourlessly.  "Right, it's just a coincidence that the man I'm talking about introduced himself as Alex and wore a costume that matched mine."

Pez smiles excitedly. "Okay, so maybe it's faith! Maybe this is your sign that you can't let that guy walk away without at the very least explaining to him that you weren't being a prick and that you'd loved to go out with him if the offer still stands."

Henry sighs. "It's not faith. The universe just loves to see me suffer!"

Pez rolls his eyes at him. "Quit being so dramatic Hazza! Out of all the things that have ever happened to you, this does not sound like it's something that is supposed to make you suffer!"

Henry sighs. "Neither does the idea of having an older brother and a grandmother and yet...."

Pez's expression visibly softens.

"Look Haz, I'll be the first person to admit that you've been dealt a shitty hand in life and that life hasn't always been fair to you. Your brother is a prick, your grandmother might actually be the devil and you lost your wonderful father way too soon, but that doesn't mean that everyone is out to get you and that everything is meant to hurt or destroy you! This could be a good thing if you gave it a real chance."

Henry stares at the ground for a second and then asks in a voice far too small for his own liking. "But what if he hates me now?"

Pez smiles sweetly. "Then he hates a version of you who doesn't actually exist, that he came up with based on an unfortunate first impression and lack of proper communication on your part. That doesn't make you a bad person H. But if I were you, I wouldn't let the fear of what could happen be the reason that nothing actually does happen. I'd swallow the fear and all the negative self-talk and self-doubt and walk up to him and apologize and have a good laugh about you being so far gone on this man that you, a literal English literature student, forgot half of your English vocabulary. And if that doesn't work, then at least you tried. Look, you can't do more than genuinely apologize and hope he gives you another chance, but you can sure as fuck do a whole lot less, which I would strongly advise against. But I can't and certainly won't force you to do anything you genuinely don't want to do. I can only hope that you take my advice and for once follow your heart instead of your brain. Because Haz, you're bloody brilliant, but your mind has never been exactly kind to you, and sure it might protect you against any possible danger, but there is danger in avoiding nerve-wracking things too, you know. You don't want to look back when you are old and grey and realize you let your anxiety stop you from living the life that was meant for you. You and I both know that you can be brave. You escaped London or more specifically your homophobic grandmother and brother for crying out loud, you were brave then and you can be brave now."

Henry sighs.

Pez smiles softly. "Haz, I know you want everyone to like you, but that is just simply not possible, and that's not a personal attack. That is just a universal rule that counts for all of us. And the faster you make peace with that, the easier life will get for you. You are a bloody amazing person and anybody would be lucky to be your friend or your partner in this case, but that doesn't mean everybody is going to realize that. I mean after all not everyone has excellent taste, which you would know if you'd watch literally any of the fashion tiktoks I daily spam you with. My point is, that it's okay if people fail to realize what a great company you are, that is their loss. But if you're not going to talk to him then take comfort in the fact that  we don't know anything about this mystery man, except that he is apparently very good-looking. For all you know, you ditched a bullet, he could have been a serial killer for crying out loud. Or worse; he could hate dogs."

Henry laughs. "Well you're right about one thing, David will always come first."

"See mate, you're loyal, you're handsome, you're kind and you're funny. Anybody would be lucky to be your partner, so to come back to what you said earlier, I'm sure this handsome bloke was in fact not your last chance to get a date with a beautiful man. But I still highly recommend that you give this particular one a shot. Go and collect the price the both of you won, flash him one of those famous Fox smiles, crack a joke, apologize, and live a little. You're a writer for crying out loud, tell the man some of those pretty words and make him swoon.  Let this be your reminder that you can do everything your anxiety tells you you can't. A wise man once told me that, the worst mistake anyone can make is being too afraid to make one."

Henry smiles softly. "I told you that, they were my father's words."

Pez smiles back. "I know, now babes, remember that you get in life what you have the courage to ask for, so go and walk your single self over to the handsome bloke with whom you've won a couple-costume competitions. Because I still think that was the universe's way of screaming to you to, "Go get your man". I'm telling you this is faith. The universe realized you were about to let one awkward first meeting screw up your chances with this guy, who very well might be your future husband and they couldn't let that happen, so they made y'all the winners of this year's competition, which I honestly think is some next level matchmaking. And to be frank with you, I'm kind of pissed I didn't come up with this myself."

Henry laughs. "Oh so now he's suddenly my future husband but 30 seconds ago he was a serial killer who hated dogs?"

Pez grins. "I'm simply making suggestions. Now go find out for yourself, and try to keep in mind that we'd rather you end up engaged to this stranger than in a body bag, so we are going to go for the future husband option because I like that one better.'

Henry rolls his eyes at his best friend but does what he's told and makes his way over to the little desk where they were supposed to pick up their price.

***Pov Alex 11:20 pm

The woman looks at Alex annoyed.

"Do you have any idea where Henry is? Or should I just hand you the money, so you can go find your man yourself?"

Alex shakes his head because if he leaves this specific place he's probably not going to find this Henry guy and he's honestly kind of excited to meet him.

After all, it's not every day that you win a couple-costume competition with a stranger, because you look like a couple from an outsider's perspective.

And if Alex gets lucky this might be a really cute story to tell when people, in the future, ask him where he met his boyfriend.

Plus it's only fair that he makes sure that the guy gets his half of the money.

Pov Henry 11:21 pm

Henry takes a deep breath.

Alex is standing right in front of him, with his back facing towards him.

If they hadn't had an unfortunate first meeting, he might have thrown his arm over Alex's shoulders as a greeting, but now he's not sure if it would be appreciated.

So he just takes another deep breath and goes to stand next to Alex.

"Hi love, sorry for making you wait", he says sincerely.

Pov alex

Alex smiles, ooh the guy is British, he can work with that.

His smile falls when he turns to his right and is faced with the asshole that so ruthlessly rejected him earlier tonight.

Fucking fantastic.

That would be his luck.

He forces a smile and mumbles something like, "No problem, baby", and tries not to think about the pretty blush that spreads onto the guy's cheeks because of the name of endearment.

"Congratulations on winning, you guys make a lovely couple", the woman says before handing Alex a golden envelope.

The asshole, Henry, if Alex remembers the announcement correctly, thanks the woman politely and seems to not have any problem with Alex gatekeeping their money, which would have been a red flag, but to Alex's annoyance, the guy seems like the perfect gentleman.

Fucking great.

So his rudeness is just reserved for when Alex asked him out then? 

He shakes himself out of it and turns his attention back to the jury.

"I was wondering how you guys found out that we're a couple? Because I spent the majority of the night drinking and dancing with my sister and her girlfriend and Henry spent the majority of the night with..-" he trails off realizing he has no idea who the gorgeous black man Henry had been talking to is to him.

The man had come up to Henry a few minutes after Alex left, (he was not staring, he just happened to notice alright) and he hadn't left his side since, until now.

Alex didn't feel any sort of jealousy over that, okay? That would be insane.

Henry is just some stranger who refused to let Alex buy a drink for him.

Now that he thinks about it, the other man may have been Henry's partner.

That would explain why he turned Alex down in such a rude way, but in that case, he could have just said, "I already have a partner', which would have been a much nicer way to get rejected.

Alex is broken out of his thoughts by Henry answering his silent question with a simple, "My best mate Percey".

But Alex has no way of knowing if that is actually true.

Henry could just be saying that, because he doesn't want the jury to find out they're not actually together. 

Alex is still annoyed with the guy, but he does think it's kind of funny that they both came to the conclusion that they were going to pretend to be an actual couple without ever discussing this.

The woman shrugs. "We thought you guys might be in an open relationship."

Alex has to bite back a laugh.

Again with the assumptions, they very easily could have just picked an actual couple.

June and Nora for example made it very hard not to catch the fact that their girlfriends.

Yet they picked two guys who interacted exactly one time, which wasn't even a positive experience, of course, not every couple likes PDA, and not every couple kisses in general, but Alex is pretty sure that most couples don't look like they would like to fight the other, which is probably what Alex looked like at some point tonight.

Henry clears his throat, smiles awkwardly, and says, "With all due respect, I have nothing against open relationships, I think everyone should be allowed and able to love who they love, in whatever way makes them feel the most comfortable, safe, and happy. But for me personally,  an open relationship is not something I'd ever want to be a part of."

Alex doesn't skip a beat, playfully punches Henry's shoulder, and says, "Yeah, because you're a jealous asshole, huh babe?'

This is admittedly, a very rude thing to say and do, but Alex has wanted to call the guy an asshole all night, so sue him for taking the opportunity to do so when it's presented to him.

Henry laughs, which as much as it pains Alex to admit, sounds pretty fucking cute, and says; "It's not that, I'm afraid that I'm just too much of a hopeless romantic for that. Which is probably inescapable when you reread pride and prejudice multiple times a year."

This is actually a pretty sweet answer.

Alex still doesn't like the guy, but he doesn't currently come across as an asshole.

Maybe he's just in a  committed relationship with the pretty black guy, so maybe getting hit on just made him uncomfortable.

Or maybe he's a homophobic asshole who just happens to be a good actor.

It's too bad Alex won't get to find out which one of those options is the truth.

Or if there is a completely different explanation for Henry's rude remark.

"Well sounds like you're a lucky man", the woman says to Alex, who fakes another smile and then he thanks her again and politely walks away, with Henry on his heels.

After a few seconds Henry gently taps his shoulder and takes a deep breath, before he says, " Alex, I was wondering if-"

Alex cuts him off before he has a chance to finish his sentence.

Look Henry seemed nice enough when they were talking to that lady, but Alex's mind is racing with all sorts of unhelpful thoughts that all come to the conclusion that Henry must be an asshole.

The thoughts all go something like this; He's only talking to you because you're holding the prize money. He's only talking to you, because he doesn't want people to find out he's actually homophobic. He's only talking to you because his best friend is a better person and made him talk to you. 

Logically Alex can tell Henry seems nervous to talk to him.

And ge's not blind, he'd noticed Henry staring from across the room, which is honestly how he'd be able to convince himself to ask Henry out and why he was so disappointed when he got ruthlessy rejected

But his intrusive thoughts tell him that Henry was only staring at him for biphobic reasons and that this explains why he was so rude when Alex asked him out.

He's not stupid, he knows there are also other explanations for Henry's behavior that don't include him being a dickhead.

He could have felt guilty towards his supposed boyfriend for staring at Alex and that could be why he lashed out at Alex.

And then there is the non-dooshy baggy option that Henry could have genuinely been interested in him (it certainly looked that way from across the room) and simply freaked out when Alex walked towards him because he got nervous.

This would explain why Henry seemed so down to earth and kind when they were talking to that lady and why he seems so nervous right now.

But Alex decides not to give him the benefit of the doubt because he's not in high school anymore and he's in no way forced to tolerate disrespect.

So he clears his throat and glares at Henry, who is still nervously staring at him.

"Right of course, now that it's convenient for you, because I am holding the money we won, you suddenly want to talk to me. But when I came up to you earlier, you said and I quote; "Christ I can't do this."

Henry cringes. "Look, I owe you an apology, I-

Alex cuts him off. "Oh, so you admit that, Christ I can't do this, Is a dooshbaggy thing to say?"

Henry chuckles softly. "Of course I do, but if you'll just allow me to explain myself-"

Alex sighs. "Look dude, I get it, you're not comfortable with men hitting on you, that's fine, but you could have just politely declined, like you would have if a girl you weren't interested in asked you if she could buy you a drink. You didn't have to go all homophobe or in my case biphobe on me."

Alex expects the man to either get embarrassed, offended, or shrug and walk away.

What he doesn't expect is for the man to start laughing.

He'd be offended, but it doesn't come across as mean or rude, if anything the man's laugh takes away some of Alex's discomfort and annoyance.

Not that he'll admit that to anyone but himself though.

The man clears his throat. "I am genuinely sorry if I came across as disrespectful or disgusted, I can assure you that was never my intention. And for what it's worth I don't have any problems with the LBTQIA+ community. As a matter of fact, I am a very proud member of the community."

Alex blinks at that. "So what? You don't have a problem with me being bi, but just with me as a person?"

Henry shakes his head furiously. "Certainly not, I don't have a problem with you, you just took me by surprise, that is all"

Alex sighs. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Henry smiles softly. "It means, that I could hardly believe my luck when the most beautiful man walking around in this room, and quite possibly on the whole bloody planet, came up to me of all people. I couldn't help but notice your bisexuality pin, and the hoards of beautiful women and handsome men who tried their luck with you tonight. So I was simply taken aback by the fact that instead of buying a drink for any of the ladies and gentlemen that came up to you tonight, you offered to buy me a drink. When there were so many other people you could have chosen. I'm genuinely sorry that I made you feel like I was disgusted by your offer. I was simply trying to convince myself this was real life and not some drunken fantasy of mine."

Oh.

Alex grins at that because fuck that is actually really cute.

"Wait does that mean that you not only noticed me before I walked up to you but that you were staring at me for what sounds like quite some time?" He asks teasingly and secretly a little excited to hear the answer.

Henry gently takes his hand and places a kiss on it, "Love, what makes you think I could have possibly taken my eyes off of you? I have excellent vision and I'm only human."

Alex laughs and hopes it's not obvious that he's blushing. "Calling me love with a fucking British accent? And placing a kiss on my hand? Really? Have we teleportated to a Jane Austin novel or something?" he jokes.

This whole thing should not be doing it for him, but oh god it really is.

Can you really blame Alex though?

The man in front of him is showering him with compliments and praise and he's quite devastatingly handsome too.

Or as Alex would say if right now he were asked to describe Henry to any of his friends; "Hot as fuck, with legs for days, porny blonde hair, and an annoyingly charming British accent."

Henry raises a teasing eyebrow at him, "Be careful there, if you mention my favorite author of all time again, I might just have to drop onto my knee."

Alex smirks at him. "I'm not usually one to decline a blowjob, but I'm pretty sure you could get arrested for doing that sort of thing in public, sweetheart".

Henry laughs and fuck does he look good like that.

"I said knee, you menace, as in singular. I was referring to a proposal."

Alex smiles at Henry, he might be a little obsessed with this man, which should probably concern him, given he's known him for less than an hour and swore he hated him up until 30 seconds ago, but he finds himself not giving a single fuck. 

Now that he knows Henry isn't a biphobic asshole he really doesn't want to waste any more time of their night.

So he smirks at him and jokingly says, "It might be a little early for marriage baby, how about we start with that drink?'

Henry grins. "I'd quite like that."

Alex grins back.

"Fucking sweet, I'd love to get to know you better over drinks. Maybe you can start off by telling me all about the eyefucking you did before I walked over to you and got ruthlessly rejected. Only for you to come crawling back to me after we won a ridiculous amount of money for a couple-costume competition neither of us knew we were participating in."

Henry throws his head back laughing and Alex can't help but stare, fuck he really is beautiful.

"Oh sod off", Henry chokes out between laughter.

Alex grins. "You know now that I think about it, I should have known you'd have good taste, I mean look at the costume you picked out!"

Henry smiles softly. "Indeed."

They eventually make their way over to the bar, after chatting with June, Nora, and Pez for a while.

Alex orders an espresso martini for himself and a vodka for Henry, after overhearing Henry's friend, who is currently showering June and Nora with compliments, that vodka makes him fun.

Henry takes it with a sassy little eye roll and a fond "thank you".

Alex grins at Henry. "So sweetheart, I assume that you've been single for a while? Given the fact that all your British manners and quite literally every polite, kind, nice, friendly word in your vocabulary ruthlessly abandon you as soon as a handsome stranger comes into view."

Henry laughs. "I suppose this is probably not the right moment to tell you that I'm a writer with a degree in English literature?"

Alex snorts. "You're a whole ass writer but as soon as a cute guy comes into view every word you've ever written just simply vanishes from your brain?"

"I'm afraid only you have that effect on me, love", Henry teases.

And fuck he could get used to this.

Alex smirks. "Well I guess that's for the best, I wouldn't want my boyfriend to get beat up by every handsome man he comes across in his lifetime, because he automatically turns into an obtuse asshole when they try to talk to him."

Henry all but chokes on his drink but somehow manages to recover rather quickly.

"Confident now, are we?" He asks teasingly, but he looks entirely too fond to really sell the point.