strings attached ; firstprince

chapter five

Alex sits, then scrubs a hand over his face with a sigh. "What?"

"What about a public gesture? Like you could sing to him?" June suggests.

Alex thinks about it for a moment. "Henry would hate that."

"Okay, Mister Henry expert. If you know him so well, what do you think you should do?" Nora asks.

"I don't know," Alex sighs defeatedly. "I just don't know how to make it up to him. I get he's not super trusting right now... You know... For obvious reasons but I want him to know I'm genuine."

"Does he know that Pez asked you to-"

"No," Alex interrupts her. "I think that would make it so much worse right now."

"So what? You're not going to tell him?" June asks.

"I will but like," Alex sighs. "He kinda needs to not ignore me for me to tell him, you know?"

"Okay..." June says, her brows furrowed in thought. She leans forward, placing her hand on his knee and says, very seriously. "You have to speak to him in a way that he can hear you."

Alex frowns. "What the fuck does that even mean?"

"It means go with your gut, Alejandro," Nora pipes in, shrugging and plonking down next to Alex, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Figure out his love language."

Alex looks between the girls and groans, running a hand down his face. He needs to make a list.

—

Turns out, Alex knows more about Henry than he originally thought. He starts by creating a mental list of all the things Henry likes, realised there was too much to memorize, and has now ended up with three separate, handwritten lists categorised by Henry's likes, dislikes and things he's noticed make Henry smile. He didn't realise just how smitten he was.

Looking across the notes he circles the common denominators: hates big, public gestures, loves reading and is a secret romantic. That's when an idea dawns on Alex. He flips back to the list of Henry's favourite things, and grabs a highlighter, pulling the cap off with his teeth. He circles his favourite novels, highlights his favourite author and begins researching Jane Austen as though he was about to write a thesis on her himself. This was it. This was how he would get through to Henry.

—

He paces out the front of Henry's flat for about 10 minutes, rethinking this entire plan. What if it's stupid, and does more harm than good? What if he's about to finish digging the grave of his barely existing love life? What if he thinks Alex is just humouring him, just brushing aside what happened in the hopes of getting next to another warm body? He shrugs off those thoughts, a look of determination blaring holes through the door. He grips onto the copy of 'Sense & Sensibility' in his hands, knocking once before placing the book on the floor and fleeing down the corridor. To his surprise, he watches Henry yank open the door, looking down the corridor confused. Alex quickly ducks behind the wall before Henry looks his way.

After a few moments, he slowly pokes his head around the corner again just in time to watch those blue eyes notice the book at his feet with an inquisitive look on his face. Alex holds his breath to not make a sound as he watches Henry's brows furrow in confusion and step inside, book in hand. Alex grins to himself and strides out of the dorm hall. His plan is officially in action.

He returns to his room and slumps onto his desk chair, looking at the pile of books neatly stacked on his desk. He consults his notes, looking over the drafts of little poems, jokes and phrases he had been conjuring up to place inside each of the novels. Affirmations to show that he cares, words that prove to Henry this means more to him than he's let on. His first note, inside one of Henry's favourite books, was perhaps a bit too far on the joking side. But yet, he wanted to keep it light, not bombard him with apologies right off the bat.