Chapter Text
Henry and Alex were in love. Deeply in love as the whole world knew for years now. These have been the most enjoyable and happy years Henry could say he ever had.
The prince had been through nothing but despair and sorrow ever since his father passed. He heard a simple song. Saw in black and white. Spoke in quotes rather than thoughts of his own. Until Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz tricked him into the red room and clashed their lips together. Until Henry gave Alex the chance to say “I love you”.
Sure there was homophobes they had to deal with on a constant basis but the overwhelming love of the community they were part of had their backs each time. It made Henry’s eyes glaze over even just thinking about how much support he had now, honestly sometimes he couldn’t believe it.
But things that have a start, always have an end. From oceans and the countless beaches, stories of war, hell even the Lego set on a child’s floor always has an end. Each end is dependent on humans. The oceans being corrupted by greedy humans, the stories ending from the actions of humans, and the Lego set ending on whether the child decides to finish it or not.
Unfortunately Henry wasn’t the one who was in control.
The beginning of the end started after Alex made his debut into the world of American law directly after graduating and passing the bar. He was new and needed to make a name for himself, not wanting to use the one that was made for him by his parents status’s. He wanted to prove he wasn’t a product of nepotism, prove he could do it on his own.
So he started from the bottom, he started his own law firm which in itself took a hell of a long time. Fox Law Group , naming it after the man he loved the most and who had his entire heart but also as a little surprise to memorialize the father of said man.
He spent days awake in his study, surviving on nothing but coffee and mini cheez-it bags he has stored in a drawer or whatever Henry, Nora, and June would force him to eat. In summary, he wasn’t taking care of himself nor his and Henry’s relationship which fell the most neglected. Henry still supported him the entire time despite his sadness of not having Alex to himself anymore; he repeated ‘It will all be better once he grows’ in his head every time that sadness would come up. All he had to do was wait.
Eventually all of the hard work pulled off, gallons of coffee, endless stomach pains from not eating, the company grew. Grew so large in fact Alex had to size up from working in his study to a rented studio apartment, to a larger apartment, to a little former mini corner store, to a larger store, to an even larger store, to an actual building on its own, and currently a multi-story building where he proudly showed off the team he built along the way.
Moving from the office made it harder for Henry to see Alex, when the former first son was home at least the prince could pop in whenever he could. It only made their relationship feel more neglected.
Henry of course had his own duties, being a prince and all. He lived in the states with Alex now but at minimum once a month had to fly over to England and do whatever Queen Mary forced on him. Because of this he didn’t put all of the neglect blame on Alex, he knew he had some part in it as well.
After the major reach in Fox Law Group Alex finally had more time to spend with Henry and gladly took it whenever he could. It made those past thoughts of ‘It will all be better once he grows’ feel like nothing more than just, well past thoughts.
Everything that has a start, must have an end.
Work was an addiction to Alex, he made that very clear from the moment he could even process information. Like Henry was wired to sit down, shut up, and look pretty, Alex was wired to work, both of his parents were workaholics and it was passed down to their two children.
That addiction grew the moment Alex realized he was getting somewhere in life without the help of anyone besides himself… and maybe google… and a few questions to people he knew who had law firms…
It was that politician side of him that he thought went away when he decided to go to law school. The politician side that once it had a taste of power, it wanted more until it was at the top in which the politician’s case would be the president but in his case was an even more successful law firm. The best law firm. He craved to be the best.
Henry was being neglected once again.
Endless dates cancelled, endless dinners missed, endless unread messages, endless missed calls, endless nights of Alex coming home when Henry was already in bed, endless mornings of Henry waking up alone. Alex didn’t even seem to realize what was happening to himself.
Henry tried so hard to talk to Alex about everything but every time he would be stopped with a gentle kiss and a “I’m tired, let’s talk in the morning”. He fell for it every time, thinking they would talk in the morning but instead waking up to the daily note Alex left on the kitchen counter.
The notes were the things that were keeping Henry going, despite the rest of what was happening, Alex never left their home without leaving a note talking about how much he loved Henry and wished him an amazing day. It was something Henry cherished and carefully put every single note into a box under their bed.
Even after fights there would be a note in the morning with Alex’s sloppy hand writing.
I love you to the moon and back - A
The fights were growing more frequent, Henry would wait for Alex to get home before going to bed and in Alex’s completely exhausted state would grow annoyed at Henry’s angry tone, not understanding what he was even angry about.
“It’s like you have cotton in your ears” Henry would say each time Alex wouldn’t listen.
Through some (what Henry thought was) divine intervention, Alex actually spent less time away from the office. Instead of waking up to a cold, empty bed alone, he woke up to the smell of breakfast wafting in the air that drew him to the kitchen like an old cartoon character floating while inhaling the visible scent.
He grew hopeful again.