‘this guy came up from behind and kissed the back of my head because he thought i was his girlfriend but i am not his girlfriend and his girlfriend is sitting next to me’ [x]
henry has been dating josh for about a month when alex suggests it. and because henry is a masochist apparently, and doesn’t know how to say no to his best friend (the two things are not unrelated), he ends up spending his friday night at a ball game, sandwiched between alex and josh, on quite possibly the most awkward date of his life.
alex and josh have a lot in common. parents that split when they were young. a law degree. even their taste in star wars movies, which leads to alex teasing henry for the better part of the fourth inning. this makes josh laugh, so they seem to share a sense of humor as well.
they even look similar from behind.
henry learns this the hard way when he comes back with refreshments and, feeling spontaneous, kisses the back of his boyfriend’s head, underneath his baseball cap, where his dark hair curls over his neck.
only, his boyfriend freezes like henry’s just electrified him, and it is not josh at all but alex who turns, alex who’s been trying on josh’s hat for some reason, alex whom henry’s just kissed, alex who’s looking at henry a bit like he’s just been walloped quite hard on the head.
oh. oh god.
josh to his credit finds it all very funny. it’s his turn to tease henry, but this time, alex doesn’t join in. alex has gone very quiet, his hands very still in his lap. henry’s lips burn. all of him is burning in fact. all he can think about is how different alex is from josh. the way he feels and smells and tastes and the way henry’s heart won’t stop trying to beat all the way out of his chest.
kissing josh has never felt even remotely like this.
henry ought to apologize. to alex, for kissing him. to josh, for knowing that it’s always been alex. it will only ever be alex to henry.
.
alex has him over for dinner the night henry breaks up with josh. he wonders if it’s not too soon to tell alex why.
alex for some reason is wearing a ball cap not dissimilar to the one josh owns.
and then alex turns to henry and says, 'i know i’m no josh. and i know you only just broke up. but when you’re ready, i will be throwing my hat in the—’
'take it off.’
alex blinks. 'oh. like right now?’
'i don’t want josh or josh’s hat,’ henry says. 'all i want, all i’ll ever want, is you.’
his heart skips a beat in the way it only does with alex, who tosses the cap aside and grins.
it’s alex that he gets to reach for. it’s alex’s hair that henry breathes in and weaves his hands through and kisses. it’s alex’s smile that henry feels pressed up against his own.
it’s alex, and there’s no mistaking this feeling for anything other than henry’s wildest dreams come true.
