Red, White & Royal Blue(16)
He knows a few things about this stuff. It’s not like his parents’ divorce was a pleasant time for him, or like he runs himself ragged about grades for fun. He’s been aware for too long that most people don’t navigate thoughts of whether they’ll ever be good enough or if they’re disappointing the entire world. He’s never considered Henry might feel any of the same things.
Henry clears his throat again, and something like panic catches Alex. He opens his mouth and says, “Well, good to know you’re not perfect.”
He can almost hear Henry roll his eyes, and he’s thankful for it, the familiar comfort of antagonism.
They’re silent again, the dust of the conversation settling. Alex can’t hear anything outside the door or any sirens on the street, but nobody has come to get them yet.
Then, unprompted, Henry says into the stretching stillness, “Return of the Jedi.”
A beat. “What?”
“To answer your question,” Henry says. “Yes, I do like Star Wars, and my favorite is Return of the Jedi.”
“Oh,” Alex says. “Wow, you’re wrong.”
Henry huffs out the tiniest, most poshly indignant puff of air. It smells minty. Alex resists the urge to throw another elbow. “How can I be wrong about my own favorite? It’s a personal truth.”
“It’s a personal truth that is wrong and bad.”
“Which do you prefer, then? Please show me the error of my ways.”
“Okay, Empire.”
Henry sniffs. “So dark, though.”
“Yeah, which is what makes it good,” Alex says. “It’s the most thematically complex. It’s got the Han and Leia kiss in it, you meet Yoda, Han is at the top of his game, fucking Lando Calrissian, and the best twist in cinematic history. What does Jedi have? Fuckin’ Ewoks.”
“Ewoks are iconic.”
“Ewoks are stupid.”
“But Endor.”
“But Hoth. There’s a reason people always call the best, grittiest installment of a trilogy the Empire of the series.”
“And I can appreciate that. But isn’t there something to be valued in a happy ending as well?”
“Spoken like a true Prince Charming.”
“I’m only saying, I like the resolution of Jedi. It ties everything up nicely. And the overall theme you’re intended to take away from the films is hope and love and … er, you know, all that. Which is what Jedi leaves you with a sense of most of all.”
Henry coughs, and Alex is turning to look at him again when the door opens and Cash’s giant silhouette reappears.
“False alarm,” he says, breathing heavily. “Some dumbass kids brought fireworks for their friend.” He looks down at them, flat on their backs and blinking up in the sudden, harsh light of the hallway. “This looks cozy.”
“Yep, we’re really bonding,” Alex says. He reaches a hand out and lets Cash haul him to his feet.
* * *
Outside Kensington Palace, Alex takes Henry’s phone out of his hand and swiftly opens a blank contact page before he can protest or sic a PPO on him for violating royal property. The car is waiting to take him back to the royals’ private airstrip.
“Here,” Alex says. “That’s my number. If we’re gonna keep this up, it’s going to get annoying to keep going through handlers. Just text me. We’ll figure it out.”
Henry stares at him, expression blankly bewildered, and Alex wonders how this guy has any friends.
“Right,” Henry says finally. “Thank you.”
“No booty calls,” Alex tells him, and Henry chokes on a laugh.
THREE
FROM AMERICA, WITH LOVE: Henry and Alex Flaunt Friendship
NEW BROMANCE ALERT? Pics of FSOTUS and Prince Henry
PHOTOS: Alex’s Weekend in London
For the first time in a week, Alex isn’t pissed off scrolling through his Google alerts. It helps they’ve given People an exclusive—a few generic quotes about how much Alex “cherishes” his friendship with Henry and their “shared life experience” as sons of world leaders. Alex thinks their main shared life experience is probably wishing they could set that quote adrift on the ocean between them and watch it drown.
His mother doesn’t want him fake-dead anymore, though, and he’s stopped getting a thousand vitriolic tweets an hour, so he counts it as a win.
He dodges a starstruck freshman gawking at him and exits the hall onto the east side of campus, draining the last cold sip of his coffee. First class today was an elective he’s taking out of a combination of morbid fascination and academic curiosity: The Press and the Presidency. He’s currently jet-lagged to all hell from trying to keep the press from ruining the presidency, and the irony isn’t lost on him.
Today’s lecture was on presidential sex scandals through history, and he texts Nora: numbers on one of us getting involved in a sex scandal before the end of second term?
Her response comes within seconds: 94% probability of your dick becoming a recurring personality on face the nation. btw, have you seen this?
There’s a link attached: a blog post full of images, animated GIFs of himself and Henry on This Morning. The fist bump. Shared smiles that pass for genuine. Conspiratorial glances. Underneath are hundreds of comments about how handsome they are, how nice they look together.