Who: Henry and Alex When: November 1 Where: The hospital What: Henry wakes up and has no idea why he is in the hospital Status/Rating: Ongoing/PG-13ish MAYBE R Warnings: Language and MIGHT be emotional as well (who knows)
Henry was in a dream state, seeing what his could have been if he just would have accepted himself and not giving a damn what people thought of him. He would be with Alex, they were happy together. Henry had told his grandfather off and chose Alex instead of his country, he basically told his grandfather that he chose happiness instead of pretending who he was.
Every now and then he heard the sounds of beeping and looked up to the sky because he didn’t know where the sound was coming from. When him and Alex were laying on a hammock together reading stories, the sky went from blue and sunny to dark and gray and all of a sudden everything started to disappear. Henry being afraid because Alex was going backwards and Henry could not reach him. “Alex….” was all that he could say as he tried to chase after him but he could not get to him. Meanwhile at the hospital subconsciously Henry was indeed saying Alex’s name and was shaking his head back and forth and saying, “No…No…No!”
This made Henry shoot up, sweat covering his face. He had looked around and noticed that he was dreaming all along. He was in the hospital, with IV tubes going through his arm and one of his arm was wrapped up in a cast. He could feel pain shooting through his body. He was wearing his Halloween costume. He was so confused as to what had happened. He just sat there silently looking at the wall breathing heavy.
============================================================== It was the way he was talking in his sleep that had woken Alex, sitting in a visitor chair across the room off to the side of where Henry was sitting up in bed.
He’d tried not to come, he’d said he wasn’t going to come and yet here he was. He rubbed a hand over his face, when he’d heard about the unidentified blonde man in the hospital he’d needed to see if it was Henry, and that he was okay.
He would roll his eyes at the choice of costume later when he was alone, but Peter Pan really? The boy prince of running away.
“You’re okay.” he was reassuring as he stood up and moved tot he side of the bed. “Fell from a height, broke your arm. Probably a concussion.”
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Henry was really confused as how he got to the hospital. He remembered all that he did. Oh crap, he was treating people like lost boys and Wendy. And he remembered jumping out of the window thinking he could fly and then that’s all he remembered before going into that happy then dark place which was a nightmare.
Hearing a certain voice he looked over and saw Alex. What was he doing here? Was he the one that brought him here? All he wanted to do was hug him because of that awful nightmare but he didn’t. He held his composure. “What…what are you doing here?” Okay that sounded rude but the last time they saw it each other it didn’t go so well.
“Yeah, I remember all of that. I just don’t recall how I ended up here.” He sighed as tried to sit up even further but he was in pain. His back, neck and arm were really hurting him. Wincing he closed his eyes to distract himself from the pain. “I….i didn’t actually think you’d show up because you would be on another drinking binge.”
======================================== “Guy saw you jump, peeled you off the ground brought you here. Description sounded familiar and I figured someone should be here to tell them who you were.” And now that Henry was awake, he could leave. He should leave. But he didn’t move to get up yet.
“And its the same drinking binge,” Alex couldn’t help but snark back at Henry. “Nice low level buzz and you can keep that up for days.” ======================================== “I can’t believe that I was actually that foolish to jump out a window. Next time I’ll just be a prince and leave it at that.” That would be safer than something like Peter Pan. “I was told this place does things to you but I didn’t know I could eat injured from it. And accusing people of being lost boys and Captain Hook.” That was embarrassing.
“So is this seriously your plan forever? Just drink because you don’t want to remember that I’m here?” He said looking at him. He then looked down at his own hand and didn’t make eye contact with him. “Do you really hate me that much?” =========================================
“If I hated you I wouldn’t need to drink,” and he didn’t really have a plan. But he had work and would need to be sober for that.
“Next time, maybe dress up like someone who stays on the ground.” =========================================
“So why are you drinking? know that you are wanting to avoid me at all costs. But I can still worry about you. I don’t want to see you getting hurt or anything. I think I did that enough for the both of us.” He had said.
He then let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, or I may just avoid dressing up at all.” He then stopped laughing because his whole body ached.
“Look I’m just going to be honest with you. And if you choose to leave I will completely understand and I will leave you alone. So if you’re willing to stay and hear me out I would be utterly grateful. Give me 5 minutes.” He said looking at him. “Even though I probably don’t even deserve a second.” =========================================
He should leave. He wanted to want to leave. But he didn’t. Or maybe he couldn’t. He just sat there watching Henry warily unwilling to think too closely about why he didn’t just get up and go. Or why he was here in the first place.
“Five minutes.”
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Sighing he looked at Alex. “Thank you.” He wanted to get everything out in the open. “I know that what I did hurt you. I realize now that I was being selfish but I didn’t know what else to do. Instead of facing everything I ran from it. Honestly, I have never had someone love me or shown me those kinds of things before like you showed me.” This was hard to even say considering that there was a possibility that Alex wouldn’t believe him.
“It scared me a little bit because I wouldn’t have been able to be out and in line for the crown.” He then sighed again. “And I should have said goodbye but I couldn’t. Every time I would pick up my phone, I couldn’t bare it.” Looking around the hospital room and then back at his broken arm he cleared his throat.
“After being here, I was able to get some much needed advice. Here I can have a second chance and being able to do what I want. What I really wanted to say is that I’m sorry and if there is even a slight chance that I could go back, I would pick you and not the crown. I mean I am just the spare. You…you broke down my walls and I don’t have to have a shield up when I’m around you.” He looked at Alex once again. “That is what I wanted to say. I know that I messed things up so if you don’t want to see me ever again I’ll understand. But I do want a shot to prove that things can be different, I’d like to take you on a proper date sometime if you’d let me.” =========================================
He didn’t say anything for a long moment, wasn’t sure right away what he wanted to say.
“I understood why you needed to stay in the closet, I see now that I wasn’t real good at not pushing you about that. It hurt more that you left without saying anything than it did that you didn’t want to be out.”
But he did now, and that made Alex pause for another moment as he wondered if he’d be saying the same thing if they were still at home.
“I’m glad you talked to someone, I sort of wish it had been me before you left but it’s still a good thing. Feels, easy for you to say you’re ready to be out since your family isn’t here but I’ll take what I can get.”
The smile was small, but it reached his eyes. He was scared that Henry would change his mind or something else would happen but he also loved the guy. He was monumentally screwed.
“So… we’ve never really been on a date. I’m willing to take it slow. See if we can figure this out.” =========================================
He almost didn’t want to look him in the eye because he himself was nervous. He had never opened up his own heart like this. But, there was something about Alex that made him want to be a better person and someone he grew to love but again, he was afraid of getting hurt himself. “I know and if I could have someone take me back to that point, I would have talked to you. I’m not good at this because I’m used to just having flings and not actually falling for the person because I would eventually have to go back and my family finding me a suitable wife.” He put into quotation marks.
“I think that taking it slow will be good. I want to reconnect with you and being able to share with you all the parts of my life. I want to be honest with you, even if it will upset you. And no running away, I kind of figured out why I wanted to dress as Peter Pan. Because I related to him in a way because he ran away from his problems.” He had told him. “And I promise, any questions that are asked, I will answer them honestly.”
He then began to think about their first official date. “So if you could have the perfect date. What would it be?” He asked with a small smirk on his face. This was a good starting point at least. ================================================
“I should make you surprise me,” see if he could figure it out without Alex telling him but he wasn’t quite that cruel.
“Drinks and a quiet dinner somewhere nice, somewhere we can talk.”
Because that was how they’d fallen in love originally wasn’t it? Through words. IF they were going to figure this out and if it was forever, they would have to talk.
“I am so glad you’re self aware enough to see why you picked Peter Pan,” he laughed, because that had been literally his first thought when he’d heard about it.
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“Duly noted, although to tell you the truth, I’m terrible at surprises.” He said scrunching his nose. And he was and knew that he couldn’t do anything to surprise Alex.
“Oh I can work with that. In fact I know the perfect setting and everything. So I’ll keep that a surprise.” Looking over at him with a smirk. He was glad they were actually getting along.
“I figured that out before I picked it out. I’m just glad that you didn’t witness everything. At least I hope that you didn’t see anything.” Laughing, “going back to it though it was quite funny, except for the ending part.”
========================================= “I saw nothing,” though he privately thought Henry in tights might be worth the price of admission.
“Wasn’t even sure it was you when the guy who found you sent the message out, description sounded familiar. Basically said you looked like British royalty. Had to have been the moles. Complete give away to the inbreeding.”
He’s teasing, feeling weirdly lighter, suddenly realizing that he’d been carrying around a tightness in his chest that he hadn’t been fully aware of.
“Just, get better and then we can talk about this date.” =========================================
He laughed, “I’m glad. Even if I did pull off the entire outfit, including the tights.” He said as he did take a picture of himself to give to Kol and he showed it to Alex.
“At least by the clues you knew it was me. And here you are, still here and even though it gave me a little bit of a shock. I’m glad that you are still here.” He looked over at him nervously. He then threw a small pillow at him. “Hey now, my moles define who I am and I happen to like them.” Laughing.
“Oh I intend to plan this whole date once I get out of the hospital. Which I hope is soon. I hate being cooped up here.” =========================================
He was right, the picture proved that Henry could make tights work.
“I tried to leave,” he admitted wryly. “After I knew it was you, and that you’d be okay. I tried.”
Okay first he’d had to tell the nurse that he was Henry’s partner so he could get any sort of information on the man’s status. But he wouldn’t share that bit of information.
“But I needed… I don’t know, to hear you were okay from your mouth before I left.”
Which probably said more about how he felt about the other man than anything else.
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“I am glad that you didn’t and that you are still here.” He didn’t really know what he would do if he woke up and was alone in this room.
“I’m going to be okay. I mean it’s going to be difficult for me to use my dominant arm but I’ll figure it out.” He said with a smile. “Just glad that it was just this and nothing worse.”
He then started to tear up a bit but ended up rubbing the tears away. “I had the most terrible nightmare too. I wanted to tell you during that movie marathon about everything but I chickened out.”
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“Hey, hey…” he moved on instinct without thinking to sit on the edge of the bed, bothered seeing Henry hurt, and even more bothered seeing him upset like he was.
“You are going to be okay, and I’ll help you with things you need your dominant hand for.” A wicked smile and impulsively he dropped a light brief kiss on Henry’s lips. “Okay some things.”
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“I know. I’m just being a little highly emotional. Just cause I really thought I had lost you forever. I was a total Git for just up and leaving you without saying goodbye.” And he knew that. “When I was knocked unconscious, I had a dream that we were happy. In love, living a nice life than all of a sudden a dark cloud came over us and you were being pushed further and further away and I couldn’t get to you. It’s why I woke up the way I did.” He started breathing heavy again.
He returned the kiss, even if he wasn’t expecting it. It felt nice. Shaking his head he looked at him. “I don’t want to have to rely on you. Especially since we are starting over and getting to know each other again.” He then laughed, “But, how about if I need help with big tasks, I will seek you out.”
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“You don’t have me yet,” he brushed hair off Henry’s forehead gently. “But I’ve decided I might still like you. A little.”
He smiled and tangled his fingers with those on Henry’s good hand.
“You call for the big stuff, I’ll come help. I do have a job, so it may not be immediately. But I’ll come.” =========================================
“I wasn’t meaning it like that. I meant that even just as an acquaintance. I know that we have a lot of work before we can be together again. But to me, it is worth it. Courting you and simply being honest with you.” He said giving a slight smile.
Letting Alex tangle fingers with his own he smiled down at both of their hands.
“I will. Granted, I have a job interview once I get out of the hospital. But to know that you’re willing to help me out when needed, means the world to me.” He sighed. “I hope I’ll be able to get out tomorrow. I can’t stand being confined to a space for so long.”
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“Courting me huh,” he smirked. It was a ludicrous word but it warmed something in Alex’s chest even as he mocked Henry slightly. “Is that what you call what we were doing before? Or should I be prepared for the Princess treatment?” =========================================
“I wouldn’t call it courting. Because we had to sneak around and we didn’t really get much time to date each other. This will be different.” He said as he looked at Alex. “I mean flowers, gifts, the works. I want to be able to show you that I’m ready to be a different person and whatever questions you will or would have I will answer them truthfully.” He had told him. “I want this to be a fresh start. And if we don’t work out after all of this then I will accept that. But, I do want to try.”
========================================= Technically, they hadn’t gotten any time to date each other. Not in the traditional sense.
“I don’t need flowers, or gifts.” But he’d take the time. The honesty. The normalcy of dating outside the expectations of Henry’s family and his own.
“But I’m willing to try.” He bent to brush a light kiss across Henry’s lips and felt that same electric spark he’d always felt when they kissed. “For now I should probably let you get some rest so they actually do let you out tomorrow.” =========================================
“I wasn’t saying that it would pertain to you in that sense. I’m just saying, that’s what courting means. But it also means taking you out in public and holding your hand.” He said looking at him.
Smiling over at him when he mentioned that he would be willing to try. He closed his eyes when Alex gave him a small kiss. “That is true. I’ll message you when I figure out that first date.” He said as he laid his head back on the pillow and looked at him. ========================================= “And if you need help getting home,” he pushed to his feet, glancing at the doorway before bending to kiss Henry again, a little firmer, a little deeper this time.
Yeah, he was willing to try this and see where it went. He could hear his mom telling him to figure out if he felt forever about Henry. He’d thought he did had back on that dock in Texas, but they would see how things went here.He was almost out of the room when he glanced back with a smirk.
“Get some rest, Your Majesty.” ========================================= “I’ll let you know.” He said nodding his head. He was hesitant to say or do anything else beciase right now in this moment they were getting along and he didn’t want to ruin anything.
Returning the kiss, he wanted to put his fingers of his good arm in his hair but he didn’t. He liked this moment though. He watched as Alex was leaving and just gave a happy sigh. This was better and what he wanted for the both of them.
Laughing as Alex smirked. “It’s your Royal highness. Now let me rest and I’ll see you soon.” =========================================