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The rain started pouring. The droplets poured on the concreted streets and the grassy grounds. The air smelled of sweet cherry blossom but Alex's heart pinched a little.
He must be joking. He shouldn’t feel such jealousy for a trivial matter. It’s already an everyday thing that his roommate and best friend (who he also happens to be in love with) dates whoever he finds attractive and interesting.
He’s already an adult — a working, stable, grown-ass man who can meet (and fuck) people as he pleases. And besides, he’s nothing but a best friend who has no right whatsoever to stop him from going out and doing what his best friend likes. It’s not that he has a say in everything.
Well, except when he’s starting to go overboard which happens a little too often especially since their move to New York where his used-to-be introverted, conservative, regal white man friend turned into a wild, daring, playboy blondie.
Alex felt uncomfortable. His heart remained low. Finally, he found an excuse to throw a little tantrum that although he knows will not even make his friend bat an eye on, he’s still hoping it’ll do the trick to stop him from showing up on his date.
He took a deep breath, stood up from the couch, and walked to the shared bathroom near the small kitchen in their two-bedroom apartment.
The door was widely opened. A habit. Something that they’ve picked up after years of living together.
He could still remember the first time they fought over why he’d lock the door whenever he took a shower and the other was about to use the toilet.
He leaned against one side of the doorway as Henry stepped out of the shower. Towel around his waist, water dripping from his hair to his broad shoulders and all over his body. His skin is pale yet for some reason, it sparkles. Must be the shower gel that he uses. It could also be his healthy lifestyle — God knows how long he spends in the gym working out every day and all the greens he consumes.
Or it could also just be the added sparkly effect of his heart. No one, not even himself could tell.
But one thing is certain, he continues to wonder how it feels to trace his hands on those tapered waist, hardened abs, and strong obliques. There's an itch in him to do something about his curiosity.
Henry noticed him to be staring at a void. He couldn’t be sure if the curly, grumpy guy’s eyes were looking at nothingness or something else. But the gremlin that he is, he flipped his towel open exposing more of his lower body.
Alex almost immediately averted his gaze to the ceiling, giving away where he was looking.
Henry chuckled.
Alex crossed his arms and legs to mask both his embarrassment and surprise.
“It’s raining cats and dogs outside. Are you still going?” But oh, that V line! If he’s not careful he’ll droll all over the floor. Was it a good idea to talk to him while he’s getting dressed?
Henry responded with a ‘hm’ moving to the vanity to start his skincare routine.
“Why don’t you stay in and get cozy with me?” Still looking at Henry's toned body he wondered, how it'd feel like being nailed down on the floor by those hips.
"Hm." Not even surprised at the flirty tone that Alex had used, Henry went on with applying a moisturizer on his face. Probably unaware of the thirsty eyes of the other.
“Have coffee, hot cocoa, tea, or whatever it is that you, English people would drink in a weather like this.”
Henry didn’t respond. If he did, he probably replied with another hm that Alex didn’t hear.
He just continued with his after-shower routine. His pale skin revealed the snaking veins in his arms that Alex finds too sexy for his sanity. Which is why as much as possible, he won’t stare at those arms but oh good heavens, his eyes sometimes just couldn’t help it.
“Netflix?” He suggested, trying to bring his eyes back to his friend’s handsome face. The perfectly molded jaw, nose, forehead, lips — God, even his lashes seemed to have been carved very lovingly by Michelangelo. He’s not really into art but he could only think about Michelangelo’s sculptures whenever he looks at Henry.
He’s such a work of art. He sighed internally.
Henry looked at him, “And chill?” A smirk that made Alex blink faster.
“Literally,” he emphasized.
Another smirk and in his lowest registered voice, Henry retorted, “Figuratively, maybe?”
Oh, lord that sexy, fancy British accent that blurs Alex's vision!
Alex felt the heat coming all over his body crowding his head (and maybe the other head). His heart raced as he watched Henry put on his boxers and khaki pants.
Having used to these kinds of sudden needs to touch his friend, he walked over and sat on the marble countertop pushing that need to the very back of the burner.
“What time will you be back?”
“hmm-hm,” Henry shrugged.
“Where is he taking you anyway? Are you sure you’re safe?” Well, not that his best friend had any experiences that put his life in danger. It’s just that he gets paranoid every single time that he’ll be out with a stranger.
Henry could be dating men of any race but it is apparent that he leans towards the Americans, especially the blue-eyed brunettes. A far cry from his brown eyes and unruly curls. Well, maybe this is the part that makes him paranoid... or jealous.
“Hm,” Henry nodded. An indication that yes, he will be safe and no, he doesn’t know where the other man is taking him but they’ll meet somewhere else before heading to the place.
Annoyed, Alex pushed himself from the vanity and paced around the small space near Henry.“Don’t hm hm me! You’re basically abandoning your best friend of twenty years over some guy you just met on Grindr!”
"Fifteen years, Lexyboo," he corrected Alex.
Sometimes he could be adding extra years into their friendship for some unknown reasons. Which doesn't matter because it also felt like they've been friends longer than that.
Being used to this guilt-tripping antic, Henry continued to dress up, putting on a powder blue, striped shirt. “ And! It’s Tinder. Also, stop being jealous will you, Mr Diaz?”
“Whatever!" Alex rolled his eyes. "It’s the same gay thing. Besides, I’m only worried about your safety, Mr Fox!”
This is not the first and only time that Alex will act like a child. So Henry simply ignored the mini-meltdown.
“Perhaps,” he started as he tucked his shirt in, “if you stop being the paranoid bisexual, we could go on a double date next time.” He looked at Alex from his side, fixed his pants with a beige braided belt, and reached up to the shelf for his perfume.
“You’re suggesting an orgy. No, thanks.” Alex hissed.
Henry rolled his eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes on me!”
Henry sighed then grabbed Alex by the waistband of his grey sweatpants -- the other stumbled on his feet landing just a very few inches away from Henry's handsome face.
“Or what? You’ll roll over me?” Henry challenged, hands moving to wrap it around Alex's waist.
A pause of maybe 2 milliseconds before Alex's brain functioned again and pushed him away in irritation. “Stop flirting with me!”
The smile didn’t fade from Henry’s face, “what do you mean? I’m not even half flirting with you.”
“Whatever,” he only replied in surrender.
Henry snickered as he walked out of the bathroom.
Alex stood in disbelief mainly at himself for overreacting (yet again). And the perfume didn't help the tension that he was feeling. The notes of white pepper, dark amber, and oak made him want to run around the entire apartment screaming.
That very scent drives him crazy every time which thankfully, he won’t wear daily.
Another prickle in his chest. Because he’d only wear that perfume whenever he goes out on a date.
“It smells smoothly bold like an aged delicious bourbon. Makes people wanna drink from me.” He had said when asked about it.
When Alex finally decided that throwing a tantrum wouldn’t make THE Henry Fox stay, he walked out of the bathroom and found Henry looking out of the window.
He whistled in awe, “It is indeed raining cats and dogs!” He shook his head and clucked his tongue.
Alex smiled slyly, “toldcha!”
He sat on the couch and started browsing on Netflix.
Henry sat beside him, and put his arms around his best friend; space was nowhere to be found as his legs were on top of the other.
Alex didn’t flinch. He continued to scroll on the television not even acknowledging the warm breath in his ear when Henry asked if he had started heating the cocoa. Okay, maybe he acknowledged the warmness of the breath and his arms around him because his heart drummed and his stomach did a cartwheel.
“I haven’t,” he snapped. “Besides, you’re going out so there’s no use. I’ll probably have ice cream when you leave.”
Henry looked at him with a pout.
“Okay,” Henry said, slowly dragging the last syllable a little bit longer. A tendency that Alex finds adorable and annoying at the same time.
“What do you say about Tacos tonight when I get back?” Henry offered.
“It’s not Wednesday and as if you’re coming back early.”
“We’ll never know. It might not end well.”
“You don’t meet them outside of the damn app if you know it won’t end with a bang.” The last word, a sarcastic remark on how Henry would always end his dates. He could be having a boring date on the table but will always be surprised when his date takes him to bed, in the car, or in the men’s washroom wherever the sexual excitement starts and can’t be helped.
“What about pizza?” Henry tried suggesting. “I might have just a perfect excuse to go home early.” He said as he drew his hand from Alex’s shoulder to his neck, pausing on his nape for a moment before brushing his curls up with his long, slender fingers.
Alex quivered at the chills that ran down his spine. “I said, stop flirting with me!”
Tried as he might to push the other guy away, Henry’s hard muscles didn’t even pull back a bit — or maybe he didn’t push harder because…
Henry laughed indulgently.
He patted Alex’s head and stood up. “I’ll send an SOS if I’ll be home earlier than planned.”
Damn, nothing's working!
"Did you check if he had any criminal records?" He tried all over again. He wanted to spend this day with Henry but it seems that he won't get that today.
Henry laughed in response shaking his head.
Alex watched his friend walk to the front door looking as handsome as he was in casual wear and smelling sexy.
He groaned inwardly. Ice cream, it is.
Outside, it had grown dark. The rain remained drizzling sporadically leaving little puddles on the streets. The cars had piled up in the New York traffic jam. People walking with hats, umbrellas, or whatever that could shade them from the showers of Spring.
Alex has finished watching Purple Hearts. A large pint of cookies n’ cream ice cream almost empty. He eyed the digital clock by the TV wall: 7:30. Henry had been away for over an hour and as expected, hadn’t sent him any SOS.
Alex laughed bitterly because it’s funny how he was expecting Henry to get so bored and sick of his date that he would eventually go home after dinner.
Maybe he should fix himself some real food instead of waiting for his best friend (whom he wishes he could call the love of his life) to get home.
He was rummaging through the fridge for what he could eat when he heard the door open. The closing of the door was followed by Henry’s footsteps in perhaps a pair of expensive Italian leather shoes.
“This is surprising,” he commented as he stood up, arms hugging a load of vegetables and salad dressings that Henry had to furrow his brows finding the combination odd.
“I brought dinner,” he said raising the box of pizza and two paper bags in both hands. “Put those back in the fridge. What are you gonna make with Thousand Islands, peanut butter, cabbage, and cucumber?”
Alex placed the food he had rummaged on the kitchen countertop. He tried opening his mouth to explain that the peanut butter was a mistake but Henry stopped him by shoving the paper bags on him.
“Lime chicken tenders from your favorite restaurant. Reheat them first.” He commanded as he walked to the living room.
Alex noticed the new beige boots he was wearing. “Are those suede?” He asked.
Henry looked down and replied, “Yes. Bontoni.”
Another expensive name, Alex thought and shook his head.
With his friend’s fashion sense, mixed with his elegant upbringing, it can be shocking — even controversial if he starts wearing thrift or department store clothes. But despite the luxury brands, Henry remains grounded. He insists on finding a career on his own away from his family’s wealth.
Being the middle child of a grandiosely rich family, and the rebel that he is (he continues to deny that he is what people would call the black sheep of the family), he has been granted the freedom to choose the life he wants. Not responsible for taking over any of the family businesses and even refusing to have any of the real state properties to be in his name.
“Give them to my future nieces and nephews,” he had insisted when his grandfather listed the properties he'd be inheriting in Essex and Somerset.
Even when they were in college, Henry refused to be financially helped. He had side jobs while studying in Georgetown. How on earth he convinced his parents that he’d study in a foreign country still bugs Alex to this day. And it doesn’t help that Henry remained tight lip about this part.
“Aren’t you curious about why I’m back this early?” Henry walked out of his room, still in the same clothes but already wearing the bedroom slippers he got him last Christmas.
He smiled at the fluffy poop shape on top of the slippers.
“Didn’t it end with a bang?” He asked, more sarcastic than curious.
“Nope.”
Alex found himself yelping against the island table when Henry stood too close in front of him.
"I had other plans."
Alex let out a slow soundless 'ha'.
Henry smiled widely, revealing his perfectly kept pearls. The movement of his tongue in his mouth made Alex think that he had different thoughts going on in that blondie head of his.
Unable to move an inch, he saw his best friend's hazel eyes now filled with fierceness as they stared deep into his soul.
Very slowly, Henry sits his fists on both sides of Alex's cheeks squishing them just lightly to disable him from moving away. He leans forward and lightly brushes his lips on the other. It was featherlight and quick yet it made Alex's lips scorching as he pulled back.
Biting his lower lip, he chuckled at Alex's fish-like flushed face.
He felt Alex's warm forced breath. His chest heaved as he leaned back to touch their lips again, this time vigorously. Unrolling his fists, he pulled him even closer for a deep long passionate kiss by the neck.
"Are we kissing?" Moments later Alex murmured against his rabbiting pulse.
Henry brings him forward again. Took a soft bite of the corner of his lips before putting his tongue inside the other's mouth, licking him all over until he could feel the backs of his teeth.
Alex felt dizzy. He's incapable of explaining the rushed sensation in his body. He feels euphoric and dazed as if the world was revolving at its unusual speed.
Lost in his sea of scattered thoughts, he sucked Heny's tongue unconsciously like he was drinking from it. Tasting something sweet and bitter.
"Is this kissing?" Henry asked back, his heart beating unbearably fast and loud.
How is it possible that only after fifteen years of friendship, five years of living together, the endless flirting and sexual banter, this was the first time they've ever taken some of their words into action?
Henry couldn't tell exactly when he started feeling all kinds of dangerous things for his best friend. It was as if on a random day long ago, his heart started racing like an F1 car every time Alex was within arm's length.
Alex, on the other hand, knows exactly when it all started. Since the day they met -- Henry's first day on campus as the new boy in town. But because he didn't know how to handle his feelings for the elegant English boy, he just tried to befriend him and eventually, slightly forgot his initial intentions.
Though, he must admit, the past couple of years of Henry flirting with him had been difficult for him. Most nights, he'd stare at the ceiling breaking a cold sweat while he listened to Henry's soft snores. And the pitter-patter of his heart whenever he gets a glimpse of the rising and falling of his chest as he sleeps soundly.
Despite the soft moans and heavy breathing, their kisses remained sweet and exploring.
The years of friendship, hidden feelings and desires, fireworks exploding in the skies, and petals of cherry blossoms being softly blown by the Spring air played like a montage. Making the cold air warm as their tongues danced on each other.
Breaking the kiss, mind and body overwhelmed by pleasure, Henry confessed.
"I dressed up today to watch Purple Hearts with you but I guess I'm already late."
Alex laughed heartily, bliss washing over him.
"There are still tons of movies to watch."
"In the mood for love?"
"The movie? Or..." Alex smirked.
Henry snatched another kiss on the mouth.
"Hmmm, maybe both?" Alex murmured between the kisses.
The microwave beeped, reminding them that they hadn't had any proper meal yet, but it seemed their hearts were already full.
Too full but there's still an extra space for dessert.