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“There’s just no reason for me to have to go all the way back to London just for this,” Alex mutters, reclining his seat once the plane is in the air. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You caused an international incident, Alex,” Zahra says sharply. “There are articles being written as we speak about how you pushed the Prince of England into a cake that costs more than the average American makes in a year.”
“I didn’t push him!”
Zahra holds her hand up. “Regardless. We have to fix this before the campaign takes off.”
“He’s the one with the issue that needs fixing,” Alex mumbles, pulling a blanket over himself. He tries to get some sleep, but the plane seat isn’t comfortable enough. He falls into a restless sleep after an hour.
“Alex, we have to hide,” Liam whispers, gripping Alex’s hand as he’s dragged to the locker room.
“I know, Liam, there’s just- everybody is fucking in here,” Alex mumbles. He finds them a small place tucked behind the lockers and a shelf. They both jump when a gunshot echoes through the gym. “Just- stay quiet, don’t make a sound. Don’t move. Whoever it is-”
Alex snaps his mouth shut when he hears the locker room door slam open. He and Liam both cover their mouths. There’s screaming, more shots, loud thuds. Liam is shaking like a leaf next to Alex, who is squeezing his hand tightly.
“Alex- Alex, wake up,” Zahra murmurs, gently rubbing Alex’s arm. “It’s just a nightmare, Alex, open your eyes!”
Alex wakes up with a loud gasp, sitting up quickly in the chair. His curls are sticking to his forehead from sweat. “Wh-what happened?”
“You were screaming,” Zahra says quietly. “Are you okay? Do you need your meds?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Alex clears his throat and accepts the bottle of water Zahra offers him. “The flight isn’t long enough for me to take any meds. I don’t want to be groggy when we land. It was just a bad dream.”
Zahra eyes him carefully. “You’re still seeing your therapist, right?”
“I mean… sometimes, yes.” Alex clears his throat.
“Alex, seriously. It’s only been a few years. I’m surprised you’re even able to be in large groups by this point, you experienced a serious tragedy-”
“I know, Zahra, I know. I’ll email her whenever we land to see when she can get me in. You know the nightmares always get worse around the anniversary of it.” He forces a fake smile. “I’ll be fine. I’ll take some meds before I go to sleep.”
Zahra gives him a look that tells him she doesn’t believe a word he’s saying. She stays quiet either way, turning her attention back to her phone.
Alex tries to distract himself. He doesn’t have these flashbacks often anymore, years of therapy and medication helping him, the tragedy of his senior year is in the back of his mind. He doesn’t like to think about it. He lost three friends that day- three funerals in the first month of school, five empty seats at graduation in the Spring. Alex opted out of college, for obvious reasons, and Ellen used the incident as a platform on her campaign. Alex doesn’t remember much from that time. His therapist tells him he was most likely in a dissociative episode to protect his mind. He remembers bits and pieces of that day, but he’s not able to provide a full story. Liam has blocked the entire day out. They don’t talk much these days.
Alex is exhausted by the time the plane lands. Zahra convinces him to take his meds an hour before they land, so Alex is beyond ready to face plant into bed as soon as he arrives. Shaan shows him to his room. He mumbles a thank you before immediately crawling into bed. He hears Zahra whispering to Shaan as they leave the room. She’s probably apologizing for Alex’s rude behavior, covering for him yet again, but Alex can’t bring himself to care. He’s still tired when Zahra comes to wake him up in the morning.
“Sorry, kid, you’ve got a long day,” Zahra says quietly. “If you need to step back, Amy can get you out of there. Once you get through today, I can have you on a plane back to DC by sundown.”
“Thanks, Z.” Alex smiles softly, slipping his phone into his back pocket. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. It’s okay.”
The day goes… alright, to put it simply. Henry is more irritating than normal, but Alex brushes it off to his exhaustion. They’re at the hospital when shit hits the fan. He overhears a conversation between Henry and a patient that gives him an entirely new view on Henry. Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought, Alex thinks to himself. He’s about to say as much when a loud pop echoes through the hall. Alex freezes, more pops echoing around him. Amy opens the closest door to them and shoves Alex inside, then Henry, and they hit the floor with a thud.
“Shit, were those gunshots?” Henry whispers, trying to settle himself. His eyebrows furrow when Alex doesn’t respond. “Alex? Are you okay?”
Alex is shaking. He leans against the wall, knees pulled to his chest, his breathing ragged. His eyes are distant. His lips are parted slightly, but no words are leaving his mouth, only loud panting.
“Alex, what’s going on?” Henry frowns, adjusting himself till he’s on his knees next to Alex. “You’re scaring me, what’s happening? Are you okay?”
“I-I-” Alex stammers, shaking his head, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants. He can’t get a full sentence out.
“Shit, Alex.” Henry looks around the small supply closet, trying to find something, anything, he can use to help bring Alex out of this. He knows they need to stay as quiet as they can, and Alex’s breathing is getting louder. Henry grabs Alex’s cheeks and presses their lips together roughly. It’s reckless, he knows this, but he knows Alex would never break the NDA.
Alex’s body stays tense for a few seconds before he immediately relaxes, leaning into the kiss. He blinks slowly when Henry pulls back. “Um. What was that?” he whispers. “Y-you kissed me?”
“You were panicking, I didn’t know what else to do,” Henry murmurs, a bright blush dusting across his cheeks. “I’m sorry, I just- I wanted to get you to stop panicking. If I had water, I would’ve thrown it on you. Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine, yeah, I just don’t do good with gunshots,” Alex mumbles. “I-”
“Shh, Alex, don’t talk. Just breathe, it’s alright.” Henry rubs Alex’s arms gently. “Catch your breath, love, we’ll talk later. Just relax.”
The door opens quickly, causing Alex to jump. “Hey, it’s okay, it was a false alarm,” Amy says gently, kneeling in front of Alex. “Are you okay? They’re pulling the car around now so we can go back to Kensington immediately.
“I’m okay. Henry helped,” Alex smiles softly, carefully standing up. He turns to face Henry. “We can talk when we get back, yeah?”
“Yes, Alex, of course,” Henry nods.
Amy wraps her arm around Alex and keeps him close, leading him out to the car as quickly as she can. She helps Alex take his medicine and takes him up to his room once they arrive back at Kensington. He’s not sure how long he sleeps, but he wakes up to a quiet knock and the smell of soup floating in from the opening door.
“Hi,” Henry smiles softly. “I brought dinner. Can I come in?”
“Yeah, course.” Alex clears the sleep from his throat. “I’m not even sure how long I was asleep. My medicine knocks me out sometimes.”
“It’s just before six,” Henry murmurs. He sits down on the bed next to Alex and hands him the bowl of soup. “I’ve checked on you a couple times. Are you feeling better?”
“A bit, yeah. The meds just make me feel very… muted. We were originally gonna leave tonight, but we’ll probably have to leave tomorrow. I’m not in the mood to get on a plane for eight hours.”
Henry nods slightly. “Right. Um- we should probably talk about the kiss. I’m sure that caught you pretty off guard, and I’m sorry about that. I just needed to snap you out of it since you weren’t breathing properly.”
“It’s alright,” Alex promises. “I just- I guess I’m a little confused about why you did it. Or how easy it was for you to kiss me.”
“About that.” Henry wrings his hands gently. “Um- I’m, well, I’m gay,” he finally spits out. “Very, deeply, gay.”
“Oh.” Alex blinks slowly as his mind tries to process what Henry says. “I have PTSD. That’s why I was panicking.”
Henry furrows his eyebrows slightly. “Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”
“It was a couple years ago, before my mom was President.” Alex exhales slowly. “I was in gym class with my friend Liam when we heard the gunshots. We went into the locker room and hid behind some lockers and a shelf, but… the kid came into the locker room. He came so close to us. Three of my friends died. We had five memorials at graduation. Eight students total were killed that day. That’s why I don’t do many public events like June and Nora do.”
“Alex, that…” Henry trails off, reaching out to hold Alex’s hand gently. “You can talk to me whenever you need, okay? I haven’t gone through anything like that, but I’ve been told I’m a really good listener.”
Alex smiles a little. “All of that happened, and yet all I can focus on is how it felt to have you kissing me, and… the fact that I think I liked it.”
“Oh,” Henry breathes, his eyes flickering down to Alex’s lips for half a second. “I felt horribly guilty that I kissed you like that to help you, because it felt wrong to do that when I have feelings for you. I think you’re quite beautiful, Alex.”
“I- you think I’m beautiful? You like me?” Alex’s eyes widen slightly. He can’t deny that he likes the idea of it. “That’s… wow. I never would’ve thought.”
“That’s the idea, love,” Henry smiles softly, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I can’t be publicly out, not now- maybe not ever. Not while my grandma is queen, at least. Plus, I thought you hated me.”
“I did- well, I thought I did. I think… I was upset. The first time we met, I thought we’d be able to get along- bond over our trauma, or whatever, but you totally brushed me off when I tried to introduce myself. It was my first big event I went to after the shooting, so it was hard for me.” Alex clears his throat. “It really upset me that you rushed away like you couldn’t stand to be anywhere near me.”
“Oh, Alex, that wasn’t the case at all,” Henry promises. He reaches over, grabbing Alex’s hand. “That was my first event after my father had passed. I wasn’t in the mood, but Philip had the flu and Bea- well, Bea was in rehab by that point. I didn’t want to be around anybody, let alone the guy I had been crushing on since the first time I saw him on the TV.” He blushes softly. “I was worried I would make a fool of myself, with all those cameras around… I would’ve been in so much trouble.”
Alex blinks slowly. “I guess it was just a big misunderstanding, huh?” he smiles a little, turning his hand so he can lace their fingers together. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick to you. I got defensive, so I felt like I couldn’t let my guard down around you. But… I’d really like it if you kissed me again, without me being in the middle of a panic attack.”
“I think I can arrange that, my love.” Henry leans forward and presses their lips together gently, his hand cupping Alex’s cheek. He doesn’t let it get far- just enough to keep Alex wanting more, the boy trying to follow Henry’s lips as he pulls back. “I hate that you have to leave so soon.”
“I have school Monday, but I can try to plan something to be back. And you’re officially invited to my New Year’s party- we can sneak away and have a midnight kiss,” Alex grins. “Start the new year off right.”
“Mhmm. I’d love that, darling.”
When Alex leaves the next morning, Henry holds his hand as they walk to the front door. They bump into Philip along the way. Alex immediately tenses, but Henry stays calm. Philip looks between them, his eyes glancing back and forth from their faces to their intertwined hands.
“Well it’s about bloody time,” he sighs. “Does this mean I don’t have to hear about your massive crush on him anymore?”
“Uh- rude,” Henry huffs, swatting at Alex’s arm when he starts laughing. “I don’t talk about him that much-”
“You do. All the time.” Philip rolls his eyes fondly, a small smile on his lips. “I’m just glad you’re happy, Hen. Good to see you Alex.”
“Good to see you, too.” Alex raises his eyebrow at Henry once they’re alone again. “You talk about me, huh?”
Henry shuts him up with another kiss.