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In the aftermath of his mother winning the reelection and the fallout of the email leak, Alex had maybe been alone with Henry for about five minutes. It was incredibly frustrating, and whenever Alex is convinced that he’s finally going to have a clear schedule, something else comes up.
Things were supposed to be different after his mom won. He was meant to have more free time. Instead, he was in meeting after meeting whilst Henry was across the Atlantic, still engaged in damage control.
If Alex had the energy, he’d put the dots together that other forces were at play, keeping them apart on purpose.
It was now two days before Christmas, his parents were having some time to themselves, Zahra was officially on Christmas break, spending it with Shaan in England, Nora was visiting her parents in Upstate New York and Henry was trapped in Kensington Palace. Alex was all alone, which was why when the door to his bedroom knocked three times, he sat up in confusion.
Who the hell was knocking on his door at, he glanced down at his watch, one in the morning?
Alex pushed himself off the bed, not caring that he was barely dressed. It was probably just Amy, she was still working and most likely just wanted to check up on him.
Yet, when Alex opened the door, it was Amy standing on the other side ready to cheer him up with another photo of Jonathan in a Christmas jumper.
It was Henry.
Alex’s jaw dropped, his eyes widening as he tried to make sense of the scene unfolding in front of him. Henry, his boyfriend, the love of his life, wasn’t 3,600 miles across the Atlantic Ocean…he was standing right in front of him.
“Surprise?” Henry smiled that soft half crooked smile that made Alex’s insides turn to jelly and Alex finally snapped out of his state of shock, reaching forward to wrap his arms around Henry’s waist, pulling him closer closer closer and burying his nose into the crook of his neck.
“Baby,” Alex mumbled, lips pressed to the pulse point of Henry’s neck, his nose inhaling that all too familiar scent of home. “What’re you doing here?”
Henry chuckled and half shuffled them backwards so they were in Alex’s room. Faintly, Alex heard him kick the door shut before they were moving again, Alex’s legs hitting the back of the bed before he collapsed, dragging Henry with him with a laugh. “I wanted to see you. Things have been terribly dull without you.”
“Ugh,” Alex groaned. “Tell me about it.” He clung onto Henry a little tighter, his fingers gripping onto the fabric of his sweater. “I love you. I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Henry whispered. “But uh, I’m sort of trapped and I’m starting to lose feeling in my legs…”
Alex released his hold on Henry immediately, allowing his boyfriend to correct his position on the bed and pull his sweater over his head, tossing it to the floor. Alex moved so his back was against the headboard, watching Henry with fond eyes. “How long are you here for?” Alex asked, his voice cracking just slightly. He was aware it was two days before Christmas, and there was no way he’d be that lucky to have Henry over the holidays.
“Well, about that,” Henry smiled as though he had a secret and he crawled up the bed so he was between Alex’s legs and he settled into his lap. He brought his hands up to cup Alex’s cheeks, thumbs brushing ever so gently over the skin. “A few things have happened in the past weeks. Mum came back from Botswana…she’d been informed about the leak and it seemed to, I don’t know, give her a shock to the system?”
Alex’s eyes widened and let his hands settle against Henry’s waist, dipping under his shirt so he was touching skin on skin. He’d never met Henry’s mother, Princess Catherine, Duchess of Edinburgh, but he’d been told plenty. Henry had told him on one of their late night calls that after his father passed away, his mother folded into herself and in her grief, decided to travel, leaving the majority of her royal duties to Philip, her heir.
“What do you think of that, baby?” Alex asked, not sure exactly on what to say, but needing Henry to know that he was here…that he was listening.
“Well, she came and spoke to me privately. We had lunch and she asked me to tell her everything. I did, I told her about us, about keeping it a secret, about the email leak and how Grandpa wanted to make it go away by denying the allegations, regardless of the fact that you had already confirmed it in your speech,” Henry rested his forehead against Alex’s, breathing him in and for a moment, Alex got lost in the blue of his eyes. “She apologised and promised to be more present, and then she went to speak to Grandpa and Philip. I don’t know what they talked about, but when she came back she told me that there was a flight waiting to bring me to DC...and that I could stay as long as I wanted.”
Alex had the answer to his question and all the air left his lungs. Henry…could stay as long as he wanted. “So…you’re here for Christmas?” He asked, just to be sure. Alex’s brain had a tendency to speed up in these kind of scenarios, so he needed Henry to verbally confirm it.
“I’m here for Christmas…and New Years and…for however long I can push being out here before I have to go back,” Henry whispered, their lips ghosting over one another. “If that’s alright with you, of course?”
Alex huffed out a breathless laugh, “Baby, this is the best news you could have given me,” he whispered. “I completely fucking love you.”
Instead of responding with words, Henry closed the remaining distance between them, sealing the deal with a kiss and Alex positively melted . It had been weeks since he’d had Henry in his arms, had his lips on his own and it was like coming home.
* * *
“Now I don’t have a museum that we can sneak into in the dead of night,” Alex laughed, tugging Henry by the hand down the street. It was freezing cold but neither of them seemed to care. “But there is this coffee place that sells the best bagels and coffee that I desperately need you to try.”
Henry just laughed, allowing Alex to pull him down Pennsylvania Avenue and Alex had to take a mental picture at how carefree and happy he was. How carefree and happy they both were.
Abruptly coming to a stop, Alex pulled Henry back, earning him a look of confusion in return. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” Henry breathed, taking a step closer to Alex. Around them, in the crisp early morning, people moved around them on their way to work, not caring that the First Son and the Prince of England were standing in the middle of the street.
“Did you ever think we’d be here?” Alex asked, reaching for Henry’s hand, to which he accepted without batting an eyelash. It was such a stark contrast to Paris and it made Alex’s heart leap into his throat. “Considering after that first time you told me that you couldn’t afford for me to fall in love with you.”
Henry blinked and Alex watched a flush make its way onto his cheeks, “Well uh,” Henry cleared his throat. “The thing is, Alex, that it was always going to be inevitable…at least for me, that I fell in love with you.”
“Wait, what?” Alex frowned, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Yes, well,” Henry shrugged, squeezing Alex’s hand tight. “I told you that I’d fancied you since the Climate Conference first night party and that part is true, but by the time I kissed you at New Years I was already in over my head. I knew I loved you then, so my only plan of action was making sure you didn’t fall in love with me. ”
Alex snorted and tugged Henry closer, “Baby, if you wanted to make me not fall in love with you, the last thing you should have done was tell me to make love to you and write me emails telling me how beautiful I am and how you dream of my body and my lips on yours.”
Another flush, “No, I suppose that didn’t help my case at all.” Henry loosened his grip on Alex’s hand for a second before lacing their fingers together. “Maybe my heart was just taking front and centre the entire time, it just took my brain a little longer to catch up.”
“I’m so glad it did,” Alex breathed and let his forehead rest gently on Henry’s. It was just a moment, a short one, where no-one else existed in the world but the two of them. “Come on, we better keep going or they’ll have sold all the good bagels in the morning rush.”
They kept on walking, fingers laced together, arms swinging between them as they weaved in and out of the people walking in the opposite direction. Alex couldn’t remember a time where he was this content with his life, this happy, this in love.
Which was why it felt like someone had dropped a bucket of freezing cold water over his head when he stepped into the cafe, hand in hand with Henry, only to see Miguel Ramos standing by the collection counter.
Alex felt his mood change instantly, the hand that was still holding Henry’s tightening and his entire body going rigid. Then he was immediately filled with dread.
When the emails had been leaked and Alex had discovered it was Miguel who had done it, even if he wouldn’t admit it, he had made the subconscious decision to keep his past…relations with the reporter to himself. The thought of Henry finding out that he’d hooked up with the man who had, in no uncertain terms, tried to ruin their lives, made him sick to his stomach. Not to mention what Henry’s family and the Crown would say.
It was never meant to be a problem. Alex was never going to see Miguel again. His mother’s administration had made sure to blacklist him from any political event they would be attending and he was certainly never allowed anywhere near the White House again whilst his mom was still in office.
Alex hadn’t accounted for random morning meetings in coffee shops.
Next to him, Henry had seemed to clock on to who they were staring at, and his posture too, had tightened. Gone was the carefree happy Henry that had been laughing with Alex on the walk to the cafe and in his place was His Royal Highness Prince Henry George Edward James Hanover-Stuart Fox.
Alex was going to throw up that early morning coffee he had chugged.
“Alex,” Miguel was the first to break the silence, his lips curling up in that sleek way that made Alex’s stomach churn unpleasantly. “And Henr-”
Miguel didn’t get the chance to finish speaking Henry’s name before Alex’s interrupted, his voice clipped and beyond pissed. “Don’t fucking speak to him. Don’t even look in his fucking direction.”
“It’s chill Alex, don’t need to get all worked up about it. I was just saying hello,” Miguel shrugged and Alex caught his fingers twitching, as though getting ready to reach for his phone. Absolutely fucking not.
“We don’t want you to say hello,” Alex spat. “In fact, we don’t want to speak to you at all, and the fact that you have the audacity to think we would? Insane behaviour.” Alex could feel that his nostrils were flared and his entire body was thrumming with rage for this man before him.
Miguel seemed unphased, and his nonchalance was only making Alex more and more furious by the second. Screw the bagels, he needed to get Henry out of here immediately. As quick as he could, Alex tugged on Henry’s hand, turning them back around to head out the way they arrived, pushing the doors open and barging back onto the street. He needed to put as much distance between them and Miguel as possible.
Turns out, Miguel had other ideas.
“Did Alex tell you about our rendezvous together on the campaign trail, Your Highness?” Miguel called out and as the words reached both of them, Henry came to an abrupt halt, dragging Alex back with him. Slowly, he turned around and Alex followed reluctantly. “My guess is he didn’t. Keeping secrets already? Not exactly great foundations to build a relationship on now, is it?”
The way Miguel had worded it was purposeful. The way he’d worded it was an attempt to make Henry believe that they’d hooked up during this campaign trail, not the initial one when his mother was running at first. Even after fucking up their lives and outing them to the world, Miguel was still trying to make things worse.
“There now Miguel, the green eyed monster is showing,” Alex hissed, desperately clinging to Henry’s hand which was, thankfully, still enclosed in his own. “Leave us alone. I won’t ask nicely again.” He tugged on Henry’s hand again in another attempt to get them moving, to get them away from here.
“¿Él ruega? Apuesto a que lo ruega. O ese es tu trabajo?”
Alex wasn’t sure exactly what happened next. All he knew for sure was that one moment he was trying to pull Henry away and the next Miguel was speaking in Spanish so only Alex would understand and Alex was curling his hand into a fist and watching as it met Miguel’s face with a resounding crack.
Behind him, the click of a camera went off.
* * *
“Thankfully, he’s chosen not to press charges,” Ellen sighed, resting her chin on her hands as he watched Alex from her side of the desk in the Oval Office. Alex was sure that Miguel would have pressed charges if he could, but something tells him his mother had made sure he wouldn’t and for that he was eternally thankful. “Sugar, what were you thinking?”
Tears burned behind Alex’s eyelids and he shuffled on the chair. Zahra was behind him on one of the couches and Alex was overcome with the sudden sense of Deja Vu. “I wasn’t thinking,” he exhaled. “He…I was walking away. He made a…comment about Henry.”
His mom raised an eyebrow and Alex could see her eyes soften just a fraction, “A comment, huh?”
“Please don’t make me repeat it,” Alex begged. He was tired, exhausted even. He’d been in this room since they’d been brought back to the White House and Henry had been sent to his room. It wouldn’t put it past Buckingham Palace to have him fast tracked back to England the moment they set eyes on yet another scandal.
Ellen shook her head, “I won’t sugar,” she rested on. “There isn’t much else we can do right now. Mr Ramos isn’t pressing charges, but the press are still having a field day and we can only imagine what the papers will say in the morning.” She sighed that heavy sigh that Alex hated. “Just- go get some rest, we can talk more later.”
It was a clear dismissal and Alex stood up, some bones cracking thanks to how long he’d been sitting in the chair for. Without a word, he made his way to the door before he paused and turned back to his mom, “Mom?”
“Yeah sugar?”
“Have Buckinham Palace asked Henry to go back to England?” Alex asked, his voice small and cracked and exhausted.
His mom’s eyes softened even more, “There was a request, yes. I’m sorry sugar.”
Alex turned and left the Oval Office without another word. He trudged up the stairs to the second floor of the residence and, knowing that he would be alone, kicked the door to his room open with a little more force than was probably necessary.
“Jesus Alex! Easy with the door!”
Alex stopped in the doorway, his eyes finding Henry instantly, sitting on his bed with a book in his lap. “Hen? Wait- you’re still here?”
Henry frowned, “Well yes, where else would I be?” He pushed the book away. “I’m not expected to sleep somewhere else am I?”
In a second, Alex was across the room and on the bed, taking Henry’s face in his hands. “My mom said you were called back to England. I thought you’d gone.”
“Oh,” Henry’s eyes softened under Alex’s touch, under Alex’s gaze and he leaned forward so their foreheads pressed together. “I did get a call, but afterwards my mum called and asked if we were both alright. I, of course, told her that we had a run in with the person who leaked our emails and honestly, she was more surprised you didn’t do more than just punch him.”
Alex snorted and moved to rest his head on Henry’s shoulder, nuzzling his nose into his sweater, inhaling Henry’s scent. “So you’re not going anywhere?” He mumbled, hands moving up and under Henry’s sweater and t-shirt, feeling skin on skin.
“Not going anywhere,” Henry confirmed, shuffling down on the bed so he was laying on his back and Alex rested his head on his chest. A sigh escaped Alex’s lips as Henry’s fingers ran through his hair, soothing. “I told you, I’m here until you get bored of me.”
“Yeah, that’s never going to happen,” Alex sighed. “Like, I don’t think I can ever let you leave if I get to have you all to myself for weeks.”
They settled into a comfortable silence, Henry’s fingers still moving through his hair in that soothing motion that would soon put Alex to sleep if it continued for much longer. Suddenly, it all came to a stop and Henry straightened up just a little. “Darling?”
“Hmm?” Alex hummed, looking up to find Henry already looking down at him.
“What did he say?” Henry asked and Alex frowned before he continued. “Miguel. At the coffee shop? He said something in Spanish and it was like…something flashed in your eyes before you punched him. What did he say?”
Alex froze up and he moved upright, running a hand through his hair. “It’s nothing, baby. He was just being crude.”
“Alex,” Henry whispered, following Alex and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “Please tell me.”
A part of Alex wanted to lie to Henry, to tell him that Miguel said something awful about him, but it was Henry and Alex didn’t lie to Henry. “He uh,” Alex exhaled and pinched his nose. “He asked me if you begged, or if that was my job.”
Henry stilled behind him and Alex was quick to turn around, taking his face into his hands, “Baby-”
“You should have punched him harder,” Henry muttered darkly. “I can’t believe-”
Alex shut him up with a kiss, drowning out any further comments about Miguel. Alex didn’t want to think about him, or talk about him or have anything to do with Miguel anywhere near Henry. Especially not in their bed.
“I actually have something for you,” Alex breathed as their lips parted, still remaining close enough to breathe each other in. “I uh, I thought about sending it in an email but I changed my mind last minute…god am I glad I did.”
Henry tilted his head to the side in curiosity, “What is it?”
“It’s uh,” Alex laughed breathlessly. “It’s a list.”
“A list?” Henry asked, a glint of amusement in his voice. “A list of what?”
Alex reached up to brush his thumb over Henry’s cheeks. “It’s uh, an incomplete list of things I love about you.”
Henry inhaled sharply and Alex watched his eyes water just barely, “Oh?”
“An Incomplete List of things I love about HRH Prince Henry of Wales,” Alex started. He had the list memorised in his head. “1. The sound of your laugh when I piss you off.”
Right on cue, Henry laughed and Alex felt his insides turn to mush. He kept going, his eyes never once leaving Henry’s as he spoke, not even for a second.
“20. The fact that when you kissed me it made me realise the difference between rugby and football.
21. The fact that I was so, and most likely continue to be, wrong about you.
22. How you look in your goddamn polo uniform.
23. The way your brow furrows when you’re worried. I swear it's the cutest thing.”
By this point Alex had his back against the headboard, Henry settled in his lap, their foreheads pressed together. “24,” Alex breathed. “The fact that you loved me all along.”
Henry swiftly shut Alex up with a kiss at that, and even if Alex had more items on his list, with the way Henry was kissing him, there was no way he’d have been able to finish.
It still wasn’t going to be easy, and the fallout of him punching Miguel was most likely going to drag him through the mud, but as long as Alex got to come home and be with Henry like this…open and free and happy, he was sure everything would be fine.
He’d survive.