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Pez set their cups of tea on the table with a clang, nodding toward the guy behind the counter at their favorite coffee shop (though being Brits, they always frequented it for studying and tea). Alex . As always, the place was packed, which Henry sometimes hated when he really needed to get his next paper finished, but he was very grateful for it when he heard his best mate’s next words. “You need to go ask him out.”
Henry flushed, his cheeks likely an embarrassing shade of crimson. “ No, Pez. He’ll think I’m being impertinent. He probably doesn’t even know my name!”
“Are you sure about that? Need I remind you that you have been coming to this coffee shop for two years, and for all that time, Alex has been working here- and every time the baristas take your order, no matter who it is, they always ask for your name to put on the cup so they can tell you when your order’s ready? Trust me, mate, he knows your name- probably has for a long time now.”
“That’s an awful lot of assumptions you’re making.”
“Am I? Are you sure? You’ve never seen it, but I’ve caught him staring at you on numerous occasions when your back was turned. He’s into you, trust me.”
Henry took the last sip of his tea. “I think I want some hot chocolate now, or maybe a tea with caffeine. I need energy to get through the rest of this paper.”
He went up to the counter slowly, admiring Alex more the closer he got. His complexion was the exact color of the wood of the tables here, and his smile… Well, it was safe to say that Henry could look at Alex’s smile for days on end and never grow tired of it. The way his head would duck shyly whenever anyone thanked him for his service, always being humble and pointing out that he only took orders, his slender fingers, how broad his shoulders were… He was just a bit shorter than Henry too, and thanks to that, there had been more than one occasion when Henry had lie in bed picturing Alex lying next to him, Henry’s arm around his waist, protecting him from any night terrors that might come his way, unbidden.
The line in front of him had dissipated without him noticing- he had been too busy staring at Alex, much to his embarrassment. Cheeks flushed, he quickly stepped forward, more eager than he’d like to admit to be as close to Alex as possible.
“Hey! What can I get you? Another English Breakfast?” Alex asked.
Henry’s heart skipped a beat when Alex assumed he wanted a second cup of his usual order. Staring into Alex’s dark eyes, though, there was only one thing he wanted. “Actually, no. I’d like a hot chocolate, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Coming right up. Henry, right?”
Henry’s mind was reeling. Not only did Alex remember his usual order, but he remembered his name too? Then he remembered his first warm, delicious cup of Earl Gray earlier, and he figured Alex only remembered from his order earlier that afternoon. “Yes.”
With a grin, Alex walked over to the coffee machine, writing Henry's name on the cup as he went.
Henry followed him over, waiting in the area where customers picked up their drinks. He couldn't look away from Alex's curls, and those eyelashes that went on for days. He could imagine how those locks would feel beneath his fingers: tangled most likely, but soft to the touch.
“Henry?”
Henry took the cup and when he got back to the table he shared with Pez, his best mate was laughing. “What is it?”
“Looks like he took matters into his own hands.”
Sure enough, when Henry turned the cup around, he saw Alex 301-867-5309.
********
Henry honestly had no idea how they'd gotten here. How had things gotten out of control so fast?
All he knew was that their collective insomnia had gotten the best of them again. Alex had been up late studying for the bar exam again, so Henry, of course, hadn't been able to sleep at all. Now they were shouting at each other, flinging words at each other like missiles.
“You need to come to bed, Alex. You can study for the bar all you want, but you need to get some sleep too. I feel like we never sleep together anymore.”
“Why am I the one who does all the chores and pays all the bills around here? You're not in your mansion anymore, Your Majesty! Sleeping together means nothing if we can't even live in our apartment or worse, we get kicked out because we didn’t pay the rent! Not all of us can live off of Daddy’s money. Some of us have to work for a living.”
Henry stilled as the words hit their mark. “Fine. If that's really how you feel, I'll be out of your hair within 24 hours.”
He walked over to the couch, pulling the blanket down from where it was hanging over the back and covering himself. He knew now more than ever that tonight was going to be a sleepless one.
********
Henry did as he'd promised, packing his things the following morning, tears in his eyes the whole time.
Eventually, it was all too much, and he left, making his way to the dock not far from their apartment. It hurt, being here, considering how many times they'd sat by the water’s edge and talked for hours, sharing their hopes and dreams. At the same time, though, it had been Henry's place long before he and Alex had started dating. Nowhere else in town was peaceful enough for some good old-fashioned deep thinking. No other location had that peaceful atmosphere he craved.
He slipped off his shoes and dangled his feet over the edge, his toes dipped in the water thanks to the high tide. He stared out at the horizon, catching sight of a few sailboats going by, likely taking advantage of the calm waters and breeze, which was just prevalent enough to be good for sailing (or being on any boat, for that matter).
As tranquil as the setting was, though, it wasn’t enough to calm him, which was unusual. The loss of Alex was still too fresh, the memories of their fight the night before tainting the usual serenity of his current surroundings.
He couldn’t believe that just like that, things with Alex had ended. Henry had made arrangements to move in with his best mate Pez, of course, but the thought of making even a temporary home with Pez when he had once thought he would have forever with Alex was abhorrent, honestly. Alex had completely uprooted Henry’s life, taken the insecurities Henry had had ingrained in him by his gran and completely tossed them aside to make room for a version of himself that Henry actually liked. Henry knew himself and his family, so he had every confidence that without Alex, his life would go right back to where it had been before, and he really wasn’t looking forward to it.
“H?”
Hardly daring to comprehend what he was hearing, Henry looked up.
It seemed almost impossible to believe, but Alex was standing there, his hands in his pockets, a sheepish expression on his face. “Can we talk?”
His heart simultaneously aching and practically bursting out of his chest at the sight of the man he loved, Henry gestured to the space between him and the nearest post holding the dock out of the water. “Of course.”
Alex sat beside him, and Henry's heart broke even more when he noticed the distance Alex had put between them. “Look, Henry, I-I'm so, so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, I- please come back. I knew your stuff was with Pez, so I went and got it back.”
“I'm a little surprised he even let you through the door,” Henry replied, hurt that his best friend would betray him like that.
Alex laughed. “He tried to beat me away with a Swiffer until I told him what I was going to do.”
“Which is…?” Henry asked softly, hardly daring to hope.
“Henry, these years with you… Well, I was an idiot earlier, let's start there. But I intend to more than make it up to you, if you'll let me.”
Henry waited, his mouth falling open when Alex started to get up from where he’d been sitting, only to kneel in front of him a minute later.
“This isn't how I planned to do this, but you moving your stuff out, having you gone, showed me that I didn't want you out of my life for another minute. Henry, will you marry me?”
Henry stared at him for a second, his mouth agape. “i- yes, but- Alex, what happened to thinking I'm a prick?”
“I never meant it. I was just tired and needed to get away from my work. Forgive me, sweetheart? You're the best thing that's ever been mine, lindo . I don't know what I'd do without you.”
“Always, love.”
As Alex slipped the ring on Henry's finger, he knew with every fiber of his being that this was truly the beginning of forever, and he couldn't wait to see what life had in store for them.