strings attached ; firstprince

chapter one

Amber pulls on his shirt and takes him a bit further away from the crowd, Alex doesn't have much time to register before she quickly grabs his face and kisses him abruptly. He freezes from the shock of it at first but tries to ease into it, opening his mouth and letting her tongue slip. She's sloppy and feels their teeth clink a few times but pulls her in by her waist anyway. She tastes like gin, which possibly explains her extreme forwardness and the sloppiness of the kiss.

"Ugh, are you fucking kidding," June's voice says and Alex immediately pulls away from Amber, because his sister's voice is the last thing he wants to hear when kissing someone. June and Nora are looking at them with amused grins on their faces.

"Uh, and you are?" Amber rudely says to June, and at that moment, Alex realises she's definitely a lot drunker than he thought. His after-performance high definitely gives him poor judgement.

"I'm his sister and you just made me lose a bet," June matches her tone. Nora laughs outwardly, her head falling back.

"I take Venmo," Nora says, still catching her breath. Amber rolls her eyes and stumbles off.

"Enjoy the show?" Alex asks them, smiling proudly.

"Which one?" Nora asks, stifling more laughter. She's definitely drunk. "Because that was an atrocious hookup."

"Shut up, Nora. I won you 20 dollars," Alex says.

"Touché," Nora hums.

"You were good as always," June says begrudgingly. "We were just looking for you because Pez, Henry, Nora and I have a good spot near the fire that we're sitting at... Didn't mean to cockblock though."

Alex shrugs. "She wasn't a great kisser, honestly did me a favour."

Alex follows Nora and June through the crowd of people, a few people compliment him on his set on the way and Alex is high on the feeling, his cheeks aching from his permanent smile. Eventually, they spot Pez and Henry sitting on lawn chairs, a cooler full of drinks in front of them. Alex's eyes flicker to Henry, his blonde hair is slightly dishevelled and his jaw sharp. His cheeks are a rosy pink, probably from the cool bite of the air and his lips are red and very full. Alex is concerned about how much he noticed with such a short glance.

Alex leans down to grab a drink and as he raises his eyes up, Henry's eyes are on him and Alex's confidence dissipates for a moment, a blush crawling up his throat onto his cheeks. He had only seen Henry in magazines and tabloids before and he almost can't believe he looks better than he does in the pictures. 

"Alex!" Pez gets up from his lawn chair, Alex standing up tall as Pez daps him up. "Alex, this is my good mate, Henry."

Henry stands up, he has a few inches on Pez and the expression on his face remains solemn. He reaches for Alex's hand and gives him a firm shake.

"You've got a good voice," Henry says in a way that Alex isn't sure he means. His hand feels burning hot in Alex's, so much so, that Alex has to pull away.

"Thanks," Alex nods gravely. Henry just looks back at him, he feels like his eyes are carefully blank. It's slightly unnerving but Alex attempts small talk.

"So, what are you studying, Henry?" Alex asks. He can see his own breath waft in front of him as he speaks, the cool of the night settling in.

"English lit," Henry says bluntly. His tone wreaks of disinterest and Alex wants this conversation to end.

"Studying to be a teacher too?"

"Yup," Henry replies sharply. Alex wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He wasn't sure what he expected him to be like but cold and detached was definitely not his perception of the movie star's son.