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There’s a small bulletin board above Henry’s bed, always has been.
A cork board , as he insists on calling it each time Alex brings it up. It’s wide, almost the width of the wall it occupies, littered with photographs, notes, post its, anything Henry has ever accumulated. It is the first thing Alex sees when he opens Henry’s bedroom door, where his eyes land before they find Henry, usually hunched over his desk, scribbling manically.
The board is what he sees now as he yanks the door open, poking his head inside with a grin. Despite the sheer amount of things on it, his eyes are immediately drawn to a photo slotted by a push pin, just off centre and to the left.
It’s years old at this point, from around when they first met. Alex is grinning like a fucking lunatic into the camera, an arm wound tightly around Henry’s shoulders as he leans in to ruffle his hair. Henry on the other hand is scrunching his face adorably, trying to push him away with a massive grin on his face.
It never fails to bring a similar grin to his own face, seeing how happy they were - still are.
Now, Henry is a lot less smiley, hunched entirely over his desk, pages fluttering as his wrist practically flies across the page. He takes a moment, leaning against the doorframe to just observe his best friend, entirely lost in a world of his own creation. His nose scrunched, his hair perfectly ruffled and a too big hoodie slung over him; the sight is too much for Alex to look at for more than a few seconds without getting that weird squirrely feeling in his stomach.
“Hen?”
He gets a low grunt in response and, instead of stopping, the writing seems to get even faster. Alex can’t help but smile at the sight, sneaking forward - though there’s no point - until he’s directly behind Henry, hands hovering over his shoulders.
In one swift move, he clamps his hands down and practically shouts in Henry’s ear, “ What are you doing?”
With an unholy yelp, Henry’s body lurches, his chair’s wheels going in the opposite direction until he falls down in a pile of absurdly long limbs. Alex ends up in this pile, clutching his side to try and subdue the stitch forming from his howling laughter.
“You bloody prick !” Henry huffs out, kicking his leg out to catch Alex in the shin, but he can hear the smile in his voice as he says it.
Alex, ignoring the sharp pain in his shin that is absolutely going to fucking bruise, tilts his head back with a teasing grin, “Hi.”
“Hello, Alex.”
“How are you?”
“What do you want?” Henry asks with a sigh, pushing himself up so he’s sitting rather than sprawled, his back against the desk, “I was in a flow.”
“Sorry to fuck with your flow ,” He says, rolling his eyes, “but you’re hermiting.”
“I am not hermiting.” Henry is absolutely hermitting.
“You are!” Alex grins, reaching up to grab Henry’s shoulder, the position making his arm bend awkwardly, but he couldn’t care less, “And we have plans.”
“Plans?”
“Plans.”
Henry sighs, covering Alex’s hand with his own, and Alex knows he’s won, “And what are these mystical plans?”
Alex shifts his body until he’s sprawled across the floor on his stomach, legs swinging idly through the air behind him. He props his chin up with his hand and grins at Henry, who looks his usual combination of fond and pained, “Drinks with our most wondrous friends.”
“I have-”
“No you don’t.”
“You didn’t even-”
This is too easy, riling Henry up this way. It never fails to bring a smile to his face, even when his friend looks about thirty seconds away from shoving him through a wall.
“Let you finish? Nope. You’re coming Fox, that’s final.”
Henry raises a singular eyebrow, a slow smile spreading across his face that Alex can’t help but match, the familiar tingling in his gut coming back with a vengeance, “Fine.”
“Fine?”
“Fine.”
“Parrot. Go get dressed. Wear something sexy!” It doesn’t seem to take very much, but Alex will do anything to make that smile appear on Henry’s face.
Said smile, though slightly strained, lights up his entire face, his nose scrunching up as he waves Alex away, climbing to his feet. Alex pulls himself up, glancing at the abandoned pages on the desk, filled with Henry’s loopy cursive that he can’t quite decipher.
“So, whatcha writing?”
“Things.” Henry says, pointedly not meeting his gaze as he turns to face his wardrobe, rifling through its contents.
“Ah,” Alex says understandingly, “Porn.”
He barely manages to duck before one of his own hoodies whacks him across the face.
📷📷📷
He looks hot. His shirt is half unbuttoned, his key glinting against his chest as he leans back in the booth. He’s drunk, young and hot and yet he’s sitting in a booth, a beer bottle clenched between his fingers and he’s frowning. He’s fucking frowning and he doesn’t fully understand why, his drunken brain is attempting to piece it together.
“What crawled up your ass and died?”
He rolls his eyes, shoving his sister away as she pokes his cheek with a painfully long nail. Undeterred, she pinches his chin between two fingers and drags his face towards her, making him tear his gaze away from the bar where it had been completely focused.
“What?” He asks, entirely exasperated as his eyes attempt to dart back to where they had been looking.
Why can’t he look away?
“You’ve been sitting here pouting for the better part of an hour. We wanted fun Alex tonight.” June says with a sigh, pinching his chin for emphasis.
He brushes her hands away, scowling as she reaches out to ruffle his curls, ruining the perfectly effortless look that took him an hour in the bathroom mirror to create, “I’m not pouting , Bug. I’m just…”
“Staring?”
“No!” His eyes snap back to June, who is cheerily smirking at him over the rim of her margarita, before she places it back down on the table. She leans back against the plush seat of the booth, propping her elbow up and pressing her cheek into her palm as she observes him. Her eyes burn into his core in that particular way where he feels turned inside out, like she can feel his innermost thoughts, “I’m just making sure he’s alright.”
“Mhm.” June says, “He’s a big boy. I’m sure he doesn’t need your help.”
Involuntarily, his eyes trail back over to the bar where Henry’s head is thrown back in laughter, exposing the top row of his teeth that practically gleam in the dim light of the club. Alex doesn’t understand what could be so funny, or why Henry is so insistent on staying over there when Alex has been waiting for him to come back for an hour.
When he forces his eyes back to meet his sister’s, she’s smirking, far too wide, eyes wide and mischievous.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asks, skin jittery in that way he gets when he hasn’t stood up for a while. He thinks his life would be much simpler if he had a giant hamster wheel to run around in.
“I’m not looking at you like anything.” She’s still looking at him like that and it’s making him fucking antsy, “I’m the angel on your shoulder, here.”
“Right, and that makes the devil-”
“Honey, you called?” Pez slides into the booth, propping his chin on June’s shoulder and fixing Alex with a maniacal grin, “I was just about to search for my dearest but it appears he’s…occupied.”
Alex wants to throw himself head first into a woodchipper; it would likely be less painful than his conversation.
He doesn’t care that Henry is flirting with some guy, or that the guy’s hand is trailing across Henry’s toned forearm, sleeves of his stupid white button up rolled to his elbows. He has actually never cared about anything less, if he’s being honest.
He’s just annoyed that they were meant to come out as a group, have fun, get drunk and blow off steam yet Henry beelined away at the first opportunity. That’s all .
“Good for him.” Alex manages to say, taking another long swig of his beer.
He watches as Pez and June turn to face each other slightly, having a silent conversation with their eyes that Alex is dying to interrupt. When they’re satisfied, they both slowly turn back to look at Alex, who feels insanely judged by the looks in their eyes.
“You’re so lucky Nora’s busy tonight.” June says, as though she’s barely concealing a laugh, “She would have much to say.”
“Ah yes, lucky me that Nora is likely curled up in a ball on the floor with her laptop.” He snarks, pointedly ignoring the second half of that statement because he knows exactly what she means.
His eyes trail back to Henry, almost involuntarily, watching as he runs a hand through his hair before laying it flat on the bar, where it’s instantly covered by the jerk’s hand.
“Does he look uncomfortable to you?” Alex asks, watching Henry’s easy smile and how it lights up his entire face, “I think he looks uncomfortable.”
“Alex-”
“I better go see if he’s alright.” Alex puts his beer on the table with slightly too much force, the sound of it easily audible above the thumping bass. Everything feels muffled compared to the roaring of his own blood in his ears.
June’s hand grabs his arm, yanking him back into his seat when he tries to stand, “Alex-”
“No, no.” The little devil himself beams, prying her hand from Alex’s arm, patting it gently, “Let him go.”
Alex quickly stands as the pair have another conversation with their eyes that he isn’t even bothered to attempt to read into. He tries not to think about their friendship more than he has to.
The music thumps as he weaves his way through the crowd, the vibrations settling beneath his skin as he keeps his eyes trained on Henry, who is now leaning even closer into the jerk’s space. Alex’s hands twitch as he gently moves someone out of his way, the all too familiar feeling in his stomach ramping up with a vengeance.
He’s just annoyed because Henry ditched him - them .
“Henry!” He winces at the volume of his own voice, watching as Henry jerks back, head snapping around to face him head on, a light flush scattering across his cheeks as he does. He wonders what the hell the guy must be saying to him to make him blush like that, “There you are!”
“Alex!” Henry hisses quietly, eyes darting down to Alex’s hand that has somehow clamped down onto his shoulder, “What are you doing?”
Alex feels loopy as he stares into Henry’s eyes. Have they always been this blue? Almost like the ocean, he thinks as he sways on his feet, a dopey smile on his face. He loves Henry’s eyes, even when they’re glaring at him with the intensity that they currently are.
“You were gone forever .” He can feel the pout forming on his lips as he stares at his bestest friend, “You ditched m- us.”
“I ditched you.” Henry repeats slowly, as though speaking to a child and the beginnings of irritation bubble up beneath Alex’s skin at the tone in his voice.
“Yes, actually. What the fuck, Hen? Who even is-” He cuts himself off, casting a distasteful glare at the man that is staring at them in silence like a freak.
“I didn’t realise you were taken.” The man says snippily, removing his hand from where it still fucking sits on Henry’s hand, letting it fall limply to his side, “I didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes.”
“He’s not-”
“It’s fine, man.” Alex cuts over Henry’s protests, plastering a smile on his face, “Sorry, vodka makes him a bit...” He winks, “You know.”
Henry’s face is positively scarlet at this point and on a normal day, Alex would feel fucking horrible, but the alcohol in his system mixed with sheer annoyance is making it a tomorrow Alex problem. And fuck that guy.
The guy nods awkwardly, giving Henry an awkward smile before sliding off his barstool and disappearing into the crowd, Henry watching him as he walks away. Before Alex can turn around and smile at Henry, see how thankful he is for being saved, the other man yanks his arm away with a glare.
“What on earth was that?” Henry snaps, smacking Alex’s hand away when it reaches out for him again.
“I…I thought…” Shame washes over him like a tsunami as he stares at Henry, feeling oddly like a chastised child.
“You thought what ?” Henry’s hands are shaking, he realises when he glances at them.
Oh. Oh . He did a bad thing. He did a really bad thing.
Fuck, he’s crying. He doesn’t mean to but he can feel the wet patches on his cheeks as he opens his mouth, no sounds able to escape his throat. Henry’s eyes widen, his jaw dropping slightly as he stares at Alex in complete silence.
“I’m sorry.” He manages to get out eventually, voice cracking on the final syllable, “I didn’t mean…I don’t…”
“Alex-”
While Alex’s drunken brain usually isn’t the most reasonable, one thought manages to break through the fog and drown him. This is what you do , he thinks, you ruin things . And of all fucking things to ruin, this is the one he usually puts serious effort into not ruining.
“I’m so sorry.” He says again, taking a wide step back and ignoring the annoyed groan of whoever he backs into, “ Fuck .”
He turns away, shoving the dude in front of him to the side.
“Gonna be sick.” He groans as a shaky feeling washes over him, from the roots of his hair to the tips of his toes. What the fuck is wrong with him?
He makes it out of the crowd, the music slightly muffled the further away he gets from the dance floor. His hand slaps against the wall as he leans into it, exhaling sharply as he tries to ground himself and fight the wave of nausea working its way through his system.
He can’t think, can’t understand what’s going through his brain - can’t understand why he did what he did. Why it bothered him so much. Can he?
“Alex.”
The sound of Henry’s voice is enough to send a shudder through his entire system and, even through the haze of alcohol, Alex knows that’s new.
He turns slowly, plastering a grin on his face, withholding a sigh, “Hey, buddy!”
Henry doesn’t look impressed as he folds his arms, looking down at Alex with a look he can’t figure out, “What’s wrong, Alex?”
The words cut through him entirely and he deflates, slumping entirely against the wall, allowing it to take the brunt of his weight entirely, “I don’t know.”
“Are you sure?”
He allows himself to look at Henry, and the pure concern in his eyes only makes the squirrely feeling worse somehow. What the fuck is wrong with him?
“No.”
Henry nods understandingly, moving in a step closer, “Do you want to go home?”
“No, it’s fine.” He clears his throat, “I’m sorry about…”
“Justin.”
“...Justin.” The word feels like cloth in his mouth and he swallows, “You should go find him, explain.”
“It’s alright.” Henry brushes a cool hand against his forehead and Alex almost stumbles into the touch, “I’d rather stay here.”
Alex’s voice is painfully small as he asks, “With me?”
It’s enough to bring a smile to the other man’s face, “With you, Alex.”
They stare at each other for a few moments, Alex’s skin cold where Henry’s hand no longer lies. There’s something on the tip of his tongue, something he wants to say but he can’t bring the words to the surface, can’t figure out what they are . But they feel important, more than his brain can fully grasp right now.
Instead, his eyes flit to something behind Henry’s head and a small smile spreads across his face.
“Hey,” He says, “wanna try the photo booth?”
Part of him expects Henry to say no, to shake him off, maybe roll his eyes at the stupidity of the request. Instead, Henry smiles softly, glancing at the booth before back at Alex.
“That sounds nice.” The smile that crosses his face is enough to make Alex’s heart soar, “Shall we?”
“I am gonna pull the ugliest fucking faces.” Alex finally grins, reaching out to grab Henry’s hand and drag him towards the booth.
Henry stumbles forward with a laugh, letting Alex keep their hands held as they practically fall through the curtain. The space inside is fucking tiny, their thighs pressed together on the small bench.
“Very modern photobooth.” Henry snorts as Alex taps his phone against the screen to pay.
Alex runs a hand through his curls, not even wanting to know how messed up they are, “Do I look okay?”
He turns to face Henry, his body awkwardly craned to bring himself face to face with the other man. He smiles gently, hoping he doesn’t look horrifically hideous.
“You look…” Henry takes a sharp breath as Alex continues to smile dopily at him.
Once again, the squirrely feeling returns to his system, but this time he doesn’t look away. He lets it run rampant, taking over him entirely as he looks into Henry’s eyes.
“I look?” He teases when Henry doesn’t continue his sentence, tilting his head to the side with a grin.
“You look beautiful, Alex.” Henry says softly, so quiet that Alex isn’t even sure he heard him correctly.
Henry’s face is warm and open, his lips curved up in a little smile that Alex can’t help but stare at. Has he ever taken the time to look at Henry’s lips before? Why is he now?
“Thank you.” Alex responds, turning back and pressing the start button, “Ready?”
“Ready.” Henry’s hand lands on his thigh, which is so close to Alex’s that his pinky brushes it. Alex’s leg twitches under the contact.
Three!
“Alex?”
Two!
“Yeah?” He cranes his neck to smile at Henry, who is staring at him with wide eyes, his lips slightly parted.
One!
“I love you.”
Click !
Alex’s entire being freezes. His mind, maybe for the first time ever, goes entirely silent. All he can do is sit there as the flash goes off and stare at his best friend. The words run through his blank mind like a hamster on a wheel.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
He’s never heard those words before. Not in this context. June has said it, Pez has said it, even Nora has said it.
But never in this context.
Click!
“Hen…”
No one has ever known the parts of him that Henry does. The mess, the chaos, the burnout. He knows him, inside and out.
And he loves it. Loves him .
“I…I don’t…”
Click!
It’s as though Henry has reached inside of his chest, wrapped his hand around Alex’s heart and squeezed.
It feels like it’s beating for the first time.
Everything finally makes sense.
The confusion, the pain, the not wanting Henry to smile at anyone else. Only for him . He finally has a reason for it.
He loves him.
His body finally catches up to his mind and he reaches out, but Henry is already standing up, ducking out of the booth without a backwards glance, just a muttered apology.
And he’s gone, Alex’s hand clutching air where he had once been standing.
Click.
He doesn’t know how long he sits there, staring blankly at his reflection in the darkened screen. All he knows is that Henry’s gone, likely home.
“Fuck.” He mutters, scrubbing a hand down his face. How had he been so fucking blind ?
Because, thinking back on it, everything makes sense .
He thinks of Henry’s easy smile, of him ruffled from sleep drearily dragging himself to the kitchen table. He thinks of countless movie nights curled up together on the couch despite the space they had.
He thinks of the feeling, the whoosh in his stomach when he looks at Henry for too long.
And it all makes sense.
A thunk noise brings him back to attention and a glance down shows the strip of photos sitting in a small slot. He grabs it.
The first photo shows Alex staring at Henry, eyes wide while Henry looks fucking terrified. In the second, Alex’s head is tilted closer, lips parted as they say his name. Henry is plastered against the wall of the booth. For the third, Alex’s hand is hovering above his lap, not yet reaching for Henry.
And in the final photo, he sees himself look absolutely shattered as he sits alone in the booth, hand hovering midair.
Time trickles by as he stares at them, at himself more than anything. The look in his eyes, perfectly captured in the tiny square. The pure longing in them.
It’s an easy decision to make, he thinks as he turns back to the machine, pressing the big red button and tapping his phone.
He doesn’t know if he’s completely ruined his chances, but fuck it if he isn’t going to try .
📸📸📸
The apartment is entirely silent as he quietly closes the door. David perks up from his bed beneath the window, tail wagging as he makes no moves to come towards Alex. He blows him a kiss, miming a shush motion with his finger as he slowly makes his way down the hallway.
Thankfully, the walk in the freezing streets managed to sober him up, his mind finally clear as he stands outside Henry’s bedroom door, strips of photos clutched in his hand.
A strip of light peeks out from beneath the door, but even as he strains to listen, he can’t even make out so much as a pen scratching across paper.
“Hen?” He says softly, knocking twice, “Are you awake?”
No response, but he can hear a slight shuffling sound.
“Please, let me in.”
Still nothing.
Alex sighs, awkwardly contorting himself until he’s sitting cross legged on the floor, fingers tracing the gap between the door and the carpet.
“Fine, then I guess you can listen.” He takes the first strip of photos, taking a brief moment to once again look at the pain on his face, before sliding it under the door, “That’s the photos, if you were curious.”
As quiet as Henry is trying to be, he can hear the soft padding of his slippers against the carpeted floor. A shadow appears in the crack of the door.
“Exhibit A, my face after you said you loved me for the first time.” He snorts a quiet laugh, “B, you can see my brain stop working. C, I try to actually fucking say something. And D, you can actually see my heart break in real time when you duck out of the booth.”
He strains his ears to hear anything, but Henry is utterly silent. It’s killing him to sit here and not know what’s going through the other man’s head.
“And uh…” He looks at the second strip of photos, and wonders if this is an entirely insane idea, if he’s going to regret this entirely, “This one's for you.” And he slides it under the door.
This time, he hears a soft gasp, not much more than an inhale, as Henry likely reaches down to pick it up. He waits, fingers fidgeting in his lap as his eyes hone in on the swirls of the wooden door. He counts the lines, trying to trace where they begin with his gaze until they disappear and he finds himself staring at Henry’s crotch.
“Oh,” He says to Henry, but also his crotch, “hey.”
He forces himself to look up to see Henry staring down at him, eyes red rimmed in a way that makes his heart clench painfully in his chest.
“Do you mean it?” Henry asks, arms folded. His hair is still somehow perfect and for some reason that is the first thing Alex notices. He’s in plaid pyjamas, light blue slippers on his feet and Alex wants to do nothing more than just hold him - never let him go, if that’s an option.
Alex pulls himself to his feet, tilting his chin up to meet Henry’s eyes. He doesn’t need to think about it, not anymore.
“Of course I did.”
Henry’s face crumples and Alex wonders if he’s gone about this all wrong, if he somehow misinterpreted Henry saying I love you .
“Alex.” He breathes, and the tone wraps around Alex like a blanket, warming him from the inside out.
He takes a step forward, “Hen…”
Henry exhales, his shoulders slumping entirely as he finally smiles, lighting up his whole face as he does. It’s the exact smile he wants directed at him, “You’re a fool.”
“Hey, you’re no prize either, Fox.” Alex teases, his hand reaching up to cup Henry’s cheek. The skin is soft, so fucking soft.
Henry nuzzles into it, eyes fluttering shut and Alex can’t do anything other than lean in and kiss him.
The groan he lets out at the first press of their lips surprises even him, but the sound seems to spur Henry on, his hands flying up to clutch at Alex’s shoulders, nails digging in enough that he can feel them through his shirt.
Kissing Henry is somehow everything and nothing like he had been expecting all at once; not that he had much time to be thinking about it amidst the complete crisis he’s been going through. It’s nice, the warmth of Henry pressed against him, wrapped around him entirely. He wants to bottle the feeling, wear it in a vial cast around his neck, directly over his heart.
“So,” Alex murmurs against Henry’s lips, pressing another firm kiss to them. He tugs the lower one between his teeth sharply, making Henry gasp, “are you going to invite me in?”
“What are you?” Henry asks as they pull back, pressing their foreheads together, “A vampire?”
“No, a gentleman .” Alex corrects with a grin, darting up on his tiptoes to press a quick kiss to the tip of Henry’s nose, “I can’t just invite myself into your bed, sweetheart.”
He can feel the shudder that goes through Henry at the words and that knowledge is hastily added to the filing cabinet in his brain, wedged directly between the fact that Henry’s favourite tea is Earl Grey and the image of his nose crinkling adorably when he smiles wide enough.
“Who says I want you in my bed?” Henry murmurs, doe-eyed and the picture of innocence, save for the smirk curling his lips up. Alex is obsessed with it.
“You, hopefully.”
Henry laughs quietly, shaking his head as much as he can with Alex completely plastered against him, “You’re a plague.”
“Uh huh?”
“A menace.”
Alex’s mouth hurts from smiling, “Sounds horrible.”
“The worst.” Henry lets out a long suffering sigh, pulling back entirely but letting one hand fall to Alex’s wrist, circling it, “Come in.”
“Don’t mind if I do .” He allows himself to be dragged inside, door closing behind him.
Sorry, David .
“You know,” Alex says as he unbuttons his shirt, fingers slowly making their way downward, “very fun of you to drop that bomb on me after making me watch you flirt with some guy all night.”
“If I didn’t know any better,” Henry begins, unbuttoning his own shirt without breaking eye contact, “I would think you were jealous .”
Alex scoffs at the notion - the entirely true one, now that he thinks about it - and shakes his head, “Me? Jealous? Pshaw.”
“Pshaw?” Henry teases, draping his shirt over the back of his deck chair, “Really?”
“Yeah. Why would I be jealous of you sitting and laughing and smiling and letting some guy put his hands on you?” He can feel something coil in his gut at the memory, something hot and uncomfortable, tendrils licking their way up his spine as his fists involuntarily clench.
Henry looks positively gleeful, head tilted to the side as he regards Alex, “Mhm. So you didn’t mind? The fact that I would have gone home with him?”
Alex’s teeth clench almost painfully, “No.” The vision is clear in his mind; Justin’s stupid hands trailing up Henry’s arm, the way Henry threw his head back in laughter, “Couldn’t care less.”
“Alright.” Henry looks far too smug, his thumbs trailing beneath the waistline of his pants, pulling them slowly down, “Just making sure.”
Alex’s brain has officially gone downhill, all higher function lost to the sight of Henry’s thighs, “Uhhh…”
“Everything alright, Jus- Alex?” He corrects himself quickly, too quickly. Alex is a smart guy, he knows Henry is just fucking with him but the word spilling from his lips is enough to make the more primitive part of his brain see red .
“Not funny, sweetheart.” He grits out, shucking off his jeans and stepping out of the pool of fabric, “Is this how you wanna play it?”
“Maybe.” Henry says sweetly, hands clasped behind his back, picture of innocence in nothing but grey boxers, “Do you like it?”
“No.” He takes a step forward until their chests are almost pressed together, briefly biting down on his own tongue to stabilise himself, “I don’t.”
“Why’s that?”
His hand falls to Henry’s waist, fitting perfectly in the dip, fingers pressing into the skin, “Because you’re mine.”
His eyes are trained on his hand pressed to the pale skin, but he can hear the smile in Henry’s voice as he says, “What was that?”
His eyes flit up, meeting Henry’s and he can see the teasing light in them, “Because you’re mine .” Goosebumps visibly rise across Henry’s skin and Alex knows he’s got him, “But you already knew that, baby, didn’t you?”
Henry nods, something close to a whimper escaping his parted lips as his eyes grow wider, pupils practically blown as he stares back at him.
Alex’s free hand trails up, cupping Henry’s chin and using his thumb to pull Henry’s lower lip gently down before releasing it. Henry’s breath comes out in soft pants, hot against his skin.
“You like that?” Alex asks softly, reaching up to gently nip at Henry’s jaw, the man turning further into putty in his hands at the action, “You like being mine?”
“ Yes .” Henry gasps as Alex bites down where his jaw meets his throat, tilting his head back. One of his hands flies up, splaying across the spot between Alex’s shoulder blades, palm practically burning a mark into his skin.
“Good.” Alex exhales, pulling back slightly with a smirk, “Get on the bed.”
He didn’t expect Henry to argue but he also did not expect him to practically fly across the room in his haste to sprawl across the mattress. He’s propped up on his elbows, one foot planted against the bedspread while his other leg lies flat by the time Alex turns to face him.
“Eager.” Alex says, making his way over to stand beside the bed, reaching down to squeeze Henry’s knee.
“Can you blame me?”
“No,” Alex says as he hooks his thumbs into his boxers, “I guess not.”
Henry’s eyes immediately hone in on his dick, dragging his lower lip into his mouth as he stares unabashedly at it. He can feel it twitch at the attention and his own eyes fall to Henry, still hidden beneath his boxers.
“Your turn.”
Henry glances down, as though realising he’s not entirely naked, before lifting his hips and shimmying his boxers down, discarding them - in a very not Henry move - in a pile on the floor. Alex can feel the saliva pooling in his mouth as he just stares .
“Oh.” All the air leaves his lungs in a rush, “Nice.”
Henry snorts, “Nice?”
“Give me a break, okay? Last dick I’ve seen is my own.”
Henry’s face softens, as if he said something sweet rather than vaguely crude, “Do you want to keep going?”
“Of course I fucking do.” Alex practically flies onto the bed, straddling Henry’s hips in an action that makes their cocks press together, “ Fuck. ”
Henry’s hands reach out to grab Alex’s hips, squeezing tight enough to drag a whimper out of him, “Christ, love.”
The word makes him smile, despite everything he can’t help the sappy grin that spreads across his face. He leans down to press their matching smiles together, hands planting on either side of Henry’s head.
“I love you.” He says, entirely muffled against Henry’s lips because he really fucking does , and when he’s less occupied he will be able to sit back and wonder how he had been so fucking oblivious this entire time.
Henry nods, “I love you too.”
“Good.” Alex pecks his forehead, “Now, how do you want to do this?”
It’s not a conversation he’s ever found himself having during sex before, more often than not just getting down to it . But this is different - it’s more and he wants to do it fucking right.
Henry’s legs spread wider, pulling Alex’s apart as he says, “Fuck me?”
It’s a wonder he doesn’t come on the spot, barely able to force himself to nod, “Okay.”
It starts slow, Henry moving him so that he’s kneeling between his legs. A bottle of half empty lube is pressed into his hands along with a small gold wrapper and he sees white for a few seconds. He lets Henry grab his wrist, slowly guiding his hand downward and he knows the sound that leaves his lips is practically pitiful as one of his fingers presses to Henry’s rim for the first time.
Henry’s voice washes over him like a soothing wave as he gently guides Alex in, the praise that leaves his lips enough to make Alex’s brain melt and leak from his ears.
“That’s it,” Henry breathes as Alex slides in a second lubed finger alongside his first, “so good, love.”
It scratches an itch he didn’t even know he had until now.
“Another.” Henry pants, back arching slightly off the bed as he instructs Alex to crook his fingers. The moan that leaves Henry’s lips is sinful as he presses in with a third finger, “ Christ , yes .”
Alex’s cock aches at the sound, at the sight of Henry splayed so beautifully, just for him and he knows he’s leaking pathetically onto the sheets.
“Okay,” Henry says after a long groan, “I’m… Christ , I’m ready.”
“Are you sure?” Alex says, stilling his movements, eyes fixated on the point where his fingers are inside of Henry.
“Positive. Please, love.”
And Alex is a weak, weak man who loves to follow instructions. Especially when they’re said in that fucking accent.
He pulls his fingers out slowly, pressing a kiss to Henry’s stomach as he hisses quietly, hips lifting off the bed.
“Okay,” He says as he settles between Henry’s legs, lining himself up. He’s only slightly panicking because what if he fucks this up, what if he’s so fucking bad that Henry falls entirely out of love with him? What if he is so shit in bed that-
“Love, breathe.” He blinks as a hand covers his own where it lies on Henry’s knee, “Look at me.”
He does, eyes meeting Henry’s and all he can see is love and it makes his heart clench in his chest, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We don’t have to-”
Alex rolls his eyes at the fucking chivalry of it all, and decides to use this moment to slowly press inside of him, immediately letting out a swear at how fucking tight Henry is around his cock.
“Fuck.” He moans, tilting his head back as he continues to slowly press inside,”You okay?”
“Uh huh.” Henry grits out, one of his hands flying up to clench his own hair, biting down on his lower lip, “Keep going.”
“Cool, cool, cool,” Alex repeats, now staring down at the sight of his cock disappearing inside of Henry, “Holy shit.”
He lets out a loud groan as he finally bottoms out, Henry’s legs wound tight around his waist, clenching tightly. Henry’s eyes are squeezed shut, his lip indented with the marks of his teeth. Alex thrusts experimentally, sending him deeper inside and Henry’s eyes fly open, meeting his own as he lets out a sound Alex has never heard before.
“God, I can’t believe this,” Alex murmurs as he pulls halfway out before pressing back in, Henry whimpering at the motion, “all mine.” His hands trail down Henry’s chest to his stomach, lightly scraping his nails against the skin.
“Yours.” Henry says, head lolling to the side as he smiles, eyes clouded, “Just yours.”
“ Just , huh?” Alex says, moving his hips faster just to see the way Henry’s muscles twitch beneath his hands, “Is this what you would have done? With him ?”
Henry’s eyes meet his and he can see the spark in them, “And what if I did?”
The noise that rips from Alex’s chest is practically a growl as he pulls Henry’s legs away from him, pressing one of his knees up until it’s almost level with his chest. The movement sends him even deeper and it makes a wail spill from Henry’s lips. He feels fucking feral as he presses in harder , deeper , anything to keep Henry moaning the way that he is.
“He couldn’t fuck you like I do, could he baby?”
Henry, beyond words, lets out a garbled noise that feels like an affirmative.
“He wouldn’t get this deep.” His hand presses Henry’s thigh further, practically stretching him, “Wouldn’t make you scream .”
“Al…A…” Henry’s hands cover his face and that just won’t do.
He reaches up with his free hand, practically yanking them away and gripping Henry’s chin between his fingers, “Keep looking at me, baby.”
“I… mm !”
His grin feels wicked as he leans down to press a kiss to Henry’s lips, moaning against them at the change of angle, “Fuck you feel amazing.”
“I’m so…I…”
“You close?” Alex leans back, slowing his thrusts slightly but still pressing in hard, “You want to come?”
“ Yes .”
“What are you?” He asks idly, tracing a pattern in Henry’s skin.
Henry glares at him through wet lashes before mumbling, “Yours.”
“What was that?” He begins to speed up his thrusts again, reaching for Henry’s other leg and pressing it further up until they’re both practically cradled to his chest, bending him in half.
“ Yours !” Henry screams, the sound sending the familiar sparks up Alex’s spine. He’s fucking close but he needs to get Henry there first, to feel him clench down around him as he reaches his peak.
“All. Fucking. Mine.” He moans, and he can see the moment Henry loses it.
His eyes are clenched shut, his mouth open in a silent scream as his body vibrates with pleasure, the muscles in his abdomen twitching before he’s spilling between them, coming completely untouched. The sight, combined with the way Henry grips him like a fucking vice, is enough to send him over the edge with a few more thrusts, groaning loudly as he spills into the condom.
Henry’s body flops entirely back into the mattress as Alex slowly releases his legs, rubbing soothing circles into them as he gingerly pulls out, shuffling back as they fall flat against the mattress. He disposes of the condom, wiping them down with the box of tissues on Henry’s bedside table before turning to face him fully.
He’s a vision, blonde hair splayed across the pillow like a halo, cheeks flushed and eyes, while barely open, intently trained on Alex as he slowly moves. Alex lies on his side, propped up on his hand as he stares, free hand trailing carefully along the lines of Henry’s collarbone.
“Hey,” He whispers, terrified to break the peaceful silence between them, “are you okay?”
Henry’s head falls to the side, smile on his lips as he stares at Alex through hooded lids, “Wonderful. Are you?”
“Yeah. I think so.” The itch beneath his skin has returned but he can’t figure out why .
One of Henry’s hands reaches out to cover Alex’s, squeezing gently, “What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know. Nothing. Everything.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He shakes his head, “I want to hold you.”
Henry nods, shuffling over until there’s space for Alex to fall onto his chest, nestling himself in close, “We can talk tomorrow, love. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Pressed against Henry’s chest, strong arm around his shoulders, something in him settles, the itch lowering to a low hum in the background. A smile falls on his lips as he nods, pressing a kiss to Henry’s chest.
“Never been better.” He says - and it’s the truth.
Tomorrow will come a slight crisis, where he manages to overthink the entire thing and wonder if Henry will regret it entirely. Where he will wonder how he went his entire life without knowing this key part of who he is. How he managed to go so long without realising what was right in front of him.
But Henry will hold him through it all, soothing words on his lips and hands pressed to his skin and they will get through it.
Together.
And that knowledge is enough to send Alex into a dreamless sleep, smile on his lips.
🖼️🖼️🖼️
Alex lets himself into the room, closing the door quietly behind him as not to wake the sleeping mounds on the bed. Henry is on his back, one arm above his head, breathing quietly through his parted lips. David is curled up on his chest, snoring gently, the sound filling the room.
Alex grins, whipping out his phone to take a quick picture before leaving it on the bedside table. As he changes, his eyes are drawn to the corkboard above their bed, filled with countless mementos and memories of Henry’s life up until now.
Right in the middle, pinned with a blue pushpin, is the strip of photos from the photo booth.
Alex points to himself with a timid smile .
Click!
Alex makes a heart symbol with his hands .
Click!
Alex points at the camera, struggling to keep his hand steady.
Click!
Alex puts up a peace sign,
Click.