Inescapable History, Inescapable Fates

The chapter that ends in London somehow???

Alex went out Friday night because Henry was gone. He wished he had said something, had stopped Henry from leaving, but he hadn't. At midnight Alex got sick of pretending he cared about anyone at the party and left. He was sober by the time he got home, but tired and clumsy. He stumbled into his dorm and there was Henry, on his side of the room, eyes puffy from crying. Alex stared at him dumbly.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah," Henry sighed and flopped onto his bed, "I just went to see my mother."

Alex stared at him for a moment, jaw-dropping, "Oh!"

"What?"

"I thought..." Alex looked at the ceiling and bit his lip, "You kissed me and disappeared. Again . Two times. I thought you didn't like me."

"Oh, Alex. It had nothing to do with you," Henry soothed, "I just needed to see me mum." It actually had everything to do with Alex; Henry had thought he could learn more about what his father had done in Guatemala. His mom had given him years of photos and Henry had only found one of any use, a picture of his father with Alex's mom and a member of the US CIA. The CIA man had his arm around Alex's mom's waist. They were laughing. Alex's father was laughing too. They were young, it was a photo from the 1980s. Arthur was Henry's age. They looked like the same person. Henry was relieved Alex would never see this photo, and he hated himself for being relieved. It felt like he was putting the petty grievances of this strange boy he had kissed twice over his father's legacy. Whatever Arthur Fox had done in Guatemala was for the good of England. Henry's father was a fallen hero. And Alex... Who was Alex to make Henry question that?

"I... assume it didn't go well," Alex said, pulling Henry back into the moment.

Henry twiddled his thumbs, "My mum, she just hasn't been well since dad died."

Alex didn't meet Henry's eyes, but Henry could still see a flash of his anger. "That's really hard." Alex choked out. And Henry knew how hard it was for Alex to say those words instead of starting a fight about colonialism. He hoped Alex said them because he wanted to be a good friend, not a good spy.

"Yeah. Thanks for saying that."

"Well, it's true."

They were silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry about your mom." Alex stared at him with dark eyes and Henry regretted saying it.

Alex turned off the light and laid down. He was so angry. At Henry? At the world? He rolled over. He tried counting articles of different Constitutions in his mind, starting with the US. Preamble. Article one, the legislative. Article two, the executive, Article three. He rolled over again. The judicial, Article four. He stared across the room at Henry. He rolled over again. Finally, he got up, turned on the light, and put on a coat.

"Are you planning on sleeping?" He asked Henry.

Henry blinked. "Ermmm....Probably not?"

"I want IHop," Alex stated like the nearest IHop was next door, not in Cawthorne.

"The nearest Ihop is in Cawthorne." Henry pointed out.

"The bus takes an hour." Alex threw Henry his coat. It landed on his head. "C'mon."

Henry sighed and sat up. "Alex..."

"Henry. IHop." Alex gave him puppy eyes, "Please."

So two hours later Henry was in IHop, stupid tired, eating Swedish pancakes with a spy he wanted to kiss. And on the way home, Alex did kiss him.

Henry was talking about one of the gay kings, probably James the first. Alex was staring at his lips and probably not listening, but he waited until Henry was done with his rant to whisper, "I'm glad you didn't leave because of me." And then they kissed again. And again. Until they were a few breaths of fabric away from sex and a woman across the aisle let out a few pointed coughs.