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There are things about being with a prince that Alex sometimes forgets.
There are some traditions like events for the holidays or coronations or announcements that have to be done a certain way. Certain rules that he never once imagined that he’d have to adhere to.
Some of them, he doesn’t mind.
But there’s one that he does mind.
One that he’d forgotten about.
That is until Henry’s sister, Bea, reminds him of it when he shows her the ring that he’d bought Henry to propose. He’d been thinking about it for ages and he really, really, wants to be married to Henry.
After everything they’ve been through and knowing that he wants nothing more than to be Henry’s husband, he just… he’s ready. He found the perfect ring and he’d taken advantage of Bea’s visit to show it to her.
“Oh, Alex, it’s perfect, but –” she starts, eyes going from excited to hesitant quite quickly.
“But nothing, right? Why the but?” Alex asks, suddenly anxious. She was supposed to love it, supposed to tell him it was everything Henry would want in a ring and ask how he’s going to propose. Not be giving him a concerned look over a ring. “What’s wrong with it?”
“There’s nothing wrong with the ring. Henry’s going to love it,” she assures him.
“Then, why –?”
She closes the ring box and slides it across the coffee table in their living room.
“You know there are… traditions, right? That as part of the royal family, Henry is expected to follow them, right?”
Alex shrugs. “Uh, yeah, I mean, I know he’ll have to propose, too, but I always kinda figured we’d both propose, so I mean … not a big deal if we both have rings.”
She shakes her head, her blonde hair falling loose from her ponytail.
“I mean, you can’t propose –”
“Of course I can!”
She holds up a hand and says, “No, listen. You can, but you can’t just invite yourself into the royal family. There are traditions and expectations and you – you haven’t followed them, have you?”
Alex blinks and shakes his head. “I’m not sure I know what you mean. Everyone basically knows that we’re going to end up married, I mean, I declared my love for him years ago.”
She hums. “I am aware. Believe me the world has been eagerly awaiting this announcement for some time. It’s just – there are rules. Essentially, you can’t propose until you have permission to propose, but you also cannot petition the Queen to propose because you are not a member of the royal family.”
Alex frowns. “I have to petition the Queen, but I can’t petition the Queen? So, what does that mean?”
“It means that Henry has to get permission from the Queen, and once he has then, he would propose as the tradition states. Once he’s invited you into the family, you can propose all you like,” Bea says, giving him a small smile.
Alex deflates a bit. “Kinda sucks the fun out of proposing.”
She laughs and reaches across the table to squeeze his hand. “If it helps, Henry’s already petitioned the Queen, she’s still deciding but if it takes too long, mum’ll step in and then you both can plan your perfect proposals. Although, there is a bit of a tradition that the proposal is in front of the family, after the Queen gives permission.”
Alex feels a warmth fill him. Henry’s already petitioned the Queen. That’s a good sign (as if he really needed one).
“At least I know Henry and I are on the same page.”
“Was that ever really in doubt?”
Alex flushes. “No, not really, but it’s nice to know for certain.”
Bea gives him a soft, reassuring smile. “Worry not, Alex, someday soon you’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“Good.”
***
It takes a few weeks, but Bea texts him one day when Henry’s in London. You are officially allowed to propose.
And he immediately gets to planning.
He wants to make this the best proposal ever.
He wants to wow Henry to make up for the fact that he had to wait due to some outdated tradition.
It’s easy enough to convince Bea and Shaan to help him get Henry’s boat to New York so that he could propose on Henry’s boat since he knows how much loves it. He knows Henry may be a bit suspicious, especially when he convinces Henry to invite Bea and June out on the boat in the middle of August after the official permission to propose had been given.
He had considered proposing on one of their anniversaries, and in a way, this could be considered one of them, but he’s not sure that he should technically count their first meeting as an anniversary considering that he spent years hating him, he’s not sure that’s a good omen for their marriage. It’s not like he planned for it to be today, but they’d finally gotten both Bea and June to be able to come out on the boat with them.
So, today’s the day.
He waits until they’re far enough away from shore that no stray camera could catch this before goes to get the ring locked safely away in his bag. By the time he surfaces from the depths of this gorgeous yacht that Henry loves to entice him out on as much as possible since it made the trip to New York, he can see a nervously smiling Henry, looking as gorgeous as always with the sun shining in his hair, and their sisters in sundresses and sipping some summery drink through straws with sun hats on, and chuckling at whatever Henry has said.
“What’s so funny,” he questions as he joins them.
“Oh, nothing, little bit,” June teases. “Just how hopelessly in love the two of you are.”
She kisses his cheek and distracts him just enough that he misses Henry grabbing his hand and falling to one knee.
“She’s quite right, love,” Henry says, drawing his attention to him.
His jaw drops as he sees Henry down before him, holding out an absolutely perfect for him engagement ring.
“Love, I know this can’t quite be a shock, but I have found that my love for you has grown every day since the moment I met you at the Diving Finals of the Rio Olympics in 2016. While I completely managed to muck things up at the time, I, somehow, set us on the path to fall in love years later, and now, I cannot imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Alex assures him, as he quickly slips the ring on his finger and stands to kiss him.
Alex pulls him close at the waist as he enjoys the taste of whatever fruity thing that he’d been drinking, relishing their first kiss as an engaged couple for far less time than he’d like, but he doesn’t want to make their sisters uncomfortable.
He breaks the kiss, smiling as he looks into Henry’s sparkling blue eyes. “But you better say yes, too.”
Before Henry can question what he means, he sinks down on his left knee, opening the ring box he’s had for nearly six months and asks, “Henry, I love you. You’ve been the man of my dreams since I before I even realized that I was bi, and I’d apologize for antagonizing you for years, but frankly without that, we never would’ve ended up in cake and I never would’ve ended up here… and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be, so will you –”
“Yes!” Henry nearly yells to laughter from their sisters.
“I didn’t get to finish –” Alex starts with a laugh.
Henry’s too busy pulling him to his feet and kisses him so hard their teeth clash, but frankly, he doesn’t mind. His laughter at Henry’s eagerness is swallowed by Henry’s kiss and honestly, he doesn’t care.
He’s always happiest kissing Henry.
It’s not until June coughs. “Alright, alright, you can make out later, you didn’t invite us to your proposals to not let us in on the celebrations.”
They break apart with Henry blushing, furiously. “Yes, well, yes.”
Alex slips his ring on Henry’s finger with a grin before turning to the smiling Bea and June, and asking, “Wait a second, you two helped to make sure it happened like this, didn’t you?”
“Of course we did, Alex,” Bea offers with a mischievous smile. “How did you actually think I managed to get Henry’s boat here without explaining anything? It was due his own request, not yours.”
“It’s actually kinda funny you both wanted a proposal out in the middle of the ocean,” June states. “But yes, we both knew and helped in our own ways.”
Henry smiles and wraps an arm around Alex’s waist. “Well, as long as it all worked out, I can’t complain.”
“Me either,” Alex assures him, and kissing his cheek.
“Good because the wedding will be even more fun to plan than the proposals,” Bea offers. “Would you like to get started?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.”