strings attached ; firstprince

chapter two

Alex nods his head, turning his head to look at the water instead of having painfully awkward eye contact with Henry. This is going to be harder than he initially thought.
"I'm sorry, by the way," Henry breaks the silence.

Alex's head swiftly turns back to look at him. He blinks several times, not expecting to hear those words come out of his mouth. "For?"

"Well, for spilling my drink on you..." Henry says. "And for acting like an asshole."

Alex almost gapes at him. "Oh, so I wasn't imagining that?"

Henry smiles sheepishly. "Yeah, I think I was just hating everything that night," Henry explains timidly. "It's no excuse, but I do apologise. For that."

Alex smiles, pleasantly surprised. "It's fine, we all have days like that. I didn't mean to blow up at you, I just think I was nervous."

"Nervous?" Henry repeats, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, um. I've just seen you before, like, because you know," Alex stammers. He knows he looks like an idiot right now and he wants to melt into the sand.

"Because of my dad?" Henry offers, his eyes slightly crinkled from his smile.

"Yeah," Alex exhales. "Didn't want to sound like a fan."

"Definitely didn't think that, I mean, I thought you hated me," Henry says.

Alex laughs. "Well..."

"Wow."

"You two coming in?" Nora asks, water dripping off of her. Alex realises Pez and June are already in the water. Alex looks to Henry, expecting him to answer for the both of them.

"I need sunscreen, you two go ahead," Henry tells them as he pulls his shirt off, the muscles in his arms and shoulder flexing. Nora is already heading back to the water while Alex lingers a little longer, watching Henry lather himself in sunscreen.

"Any reason you're watching me put on sunscreen?" Henry asks while he struggles to reach for a spot on his back.

"You want me to get that?"

Henry turns a deep red. "Wh- oh, no it's okay."

"Whatever you say, sweetheart."

With that, Alex is running into the water. The water is shockingly cold but the moment his body submerges, he feels his heart beat louder and not a single thought can enter his head. He feels his skin tingle as his head resurfaces and Nora, June and Pez are all cheering.

"Bit chilly," Alex says with his horrible British accent.

"Freezing, innit?" Pez plays along.

"Fair dinkum!"

"Wrong country," Nora corrects. Alex makes a fart noise and then ducks underwater once again. His head feels light, probably from the cold of the water but he feels so alive. It's as if he can feel everything all at once. Shortly after, his body adjusts to the cold and he feels a warmth surge through his body.

He resurfaces once again and notices Henry has joined them in the water. Alex watches as Henry talks with Pez, his wet hair is now flat on his head and forms a fringe on his forehead. His torso remains above water and his skin glistens under the sunshine, drops of water racing down his chest and abdomen. Alex feels his breath hitch when Henry laughs at something Pez said and crinkles form by his eyes. Alex tries not to think too deeply about how much he's noticing about him right now and blames it on the coldness getting to his head.

"Alex?" Pez is saying, both Henry and Pez looking at him expectantly.

"Huh?"

"We were asking if you want to do a game of football on the sand?" Pez says, trying to hide a smirk.