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Alex isn't a jealous person. He really isn't; he's never been. He never cared when Nora would comment on other people's attractiveness — in fact, he would join her. But perhaps that was just the nature of their relationship: casual, fleeting, friendly. It was never meant to be anything serious.
And, to be honest, that's how it was supposed to be with Henry. But of course, Alex had to go and fall in love anyway. Thankfully, Henry loves him, too.
But not so thankfully, they're still a secret — a very, very big secret. Which means the public is allowed to do what the public does best: speculate.
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Alex should find it funny. Hilarious, even — and logically, he knows it is. He and Nora used to love milking the tabloids for crazy relationship speculations, but something inside him burns every time he reads these headlines.
And, much more embarrassingly, something inside him starts envying his own sister.
Alex sees the flash of cameras and the screams of reporters, and his hand tightens its hold on June's back. He cringes at all the lights and sound — he used to enjoy this a year ago. Now, he just wants to curl around Henry, who's on the other side of the room and has a scheduled meeting with June in 10 minutes. Henry will walk over here, shake her hand, kiss her cheek, and give Alex some sort of bro pat on the back, and Alex will not grab his lapels and kiss him.
"Are you okay?" June murmurs into his ear. "You've been off."
"I'm fine," Alex forces a smile, absolutely listening to the speaker welcoming everyone to the charity fundraiser and definitely not staring at Henry's perfectly groomed hair.
It's so unbelievably dumb, is the thing. June has always been his number one supporter, even when she disapproves. She always wants the best for him and knows that Henry is that.
But.
The rumors are messing with him, he supposes. He can't stop thinking about those news stories — so close to the truth, just with the wrong sibling. It's always June holding Henry's hand, June gazing at Henry, June being Henry's secret love affair.
It's just so unfair. It's wrong. He wants to scream it's me, you idiots! You have the wrong person!
He's jealous of a relationship that doesn't even exist.
When the speech ends and Henry arrives in front of the two siblings, Alex stuffs his hands in his pockets so he won't be tempted. When Henry finally touches him, though, he lingers. Alex whispers a soft hi into his ear, breathing in the scent of cologne, shampoo, and Henry.
As Alex watches him walk away, June breaks his gaze. "God, you two are so in love."
Alex faces her, and she has such a big, giddy grin. "Shut up."
"Missed you," Alex is as clingy as a baby koala the moment Henry steps into the hotel room.
Henry chuckles softly, trying (and failing) to undo his tie while Alex is glued to his front. "I missed you too, love."
"Wish we could stay like this forever."
"It'd be awfully difficult to get anything done. We'd get sick of each other eventually," Henry gives up at getting undressed and wraps his arms around Alex, and Alex is secretly in love with how tall this man is.
"Nah," Alex squeezes him, "I don't think I could ever get tired of this."
"Not that I don't adore you," Henry tries to pull away but doesn't get far, "but what's with all this...affection?"
Alex scoffs, "Why does there have to be a reason?"
"I never said there had to be. I could just tell there was something different about you today. What's on your mind?"
"Ugh, you and June know me too well," he finally pulls away from the embrace and tugs at Henry's tie. The loose knot easily comes undone, as do the blazer and shirt buttons. "It's dumb."
Henry guides Alex to the bed and frowns, "Your feelings are never dumb."
"Trust me," Alex says as he sits, "it's embarrassing."
"Tell me."
Alex is going to say no again, but then Henry's fingers trail down his cheek, to his neck, to his shoulder, and he's going to die.
"It's just—" he pauses, and Henry lowers himself on top of him, knees on either side of Alex's waist. Alex chuckles lightly. "I don't know. Sometimes, I just want people to know about us."
Henry stays quiet, fingers swirling patterns on Alex's skin. His eyes divert down, mouth pinching in the corner. "I'm sorry, love."
"Hey, no, don't apologize," Alex rubs his thumbs across Henry's cheeks. "It's not like either of us can do anything about it right now. It just makes me mad that everyone thinks you're dating June instead of me."
Henry's expression quickly morphs into a sly, curious one. "Are you jealous of your sister?"
Alex groans, "See? It's dumb. I'm just jealous that everyone has no problem talking about you and her, but the moment it's me, it's suddenly impossible."
"All of those fan-fictions you've sent me seem to disagree."
He smiles, "Hey, they might be fucking weird, but they're the only ones that are even close to the truth."
Henry presses a soft, slow kiss to Alex's lips, and it feels like heaven. "Someday. I promise."