"Are you sure you can teach me?" Alex asked for literally the hundredth time that morning as Henry led him though the cavernous halls of Kensington.
Honest to God, if he even started just grabbing breath to ask again, he would pin him against a wall and kiss the question back out of him. Then they wouldn't get anywhere.
"Yes, dear." Henry sighed dramatically, turning to tilt his head in his direction. "Again, I was trained in ballroom for several /years/. You will be fine, if we can get to the eastern drawing room to practice. Unless you want to suddenly pivot once again to talk about one of the many paintings I have in the halls."
Of course, he knew due to his nerves (which were clearly on show) that Alex may get irritated, but there's a quiet huff next to him instead that makes him pause as his boyfriend leans against a rather ornate side table, staring at him with downcast eyes. "I just don't want to look like an asshole at your sister's wedding."
Henry just smiled sympathetically at him. Alex and Bea got on like a house on fire soon after he and Henry started dating, so he could understand why Alex was so pedantic about the issue. Then again, Alex was always pedantic about everything, which was exactly one of the reasons Henry adored him - one of very many, anyway.
Grabbing his hand again and bringing it to his lips, he chuckled when he saw Alex's eyes soften a little before he went in for the kill. "Darling, who ever said you weren't already one?"
Alex gasped and snatched his hand away, bringing it up to his chest in a fake show of clutching imaginary pearls, despite his grin. "Fox, you mean bastard! That was uncalled for!"
Henry just chuckled, rolling his eyes before he's tugging Alex's hand again and they're finally walking purposefully this time, Alex's nerves still present, but his shoulders were less tightly wound than they had been all day today. Thankfully, in a stroke of good fortune, the very drawing room that Henry was directing them to was free and furniture less due to some painting works happening on the floor they had come down the stairs to, which would assist in teaching someone as clumsy as Alex to…well, he shouldn't continue that thought now as Alex is looking at him expectantly and he's the teacher here after all.
He's also got the US on his side in that endeavour as well, as he's picked a special music piece for the occasion. Unlike when he was a young boy and taught with a cane and classical music that still gives him a major headache thinking about it, the surprise he's got up his sleeve comes courtesy of one Nora Holleren who while drunk and staying over on business (being she had come to see Pecry of course, Alex pretended that the wound of rejection for another man hadn't stung, though his flailing and tears were all in jest of course) had divulged some forbidden knowledge to him that he'd been patiently waiting to use in this moment.
Of course, it was worth seeing the look of utter confusion on Alex's face when he'd loaded up the CD that he'd selected for their dance lesson and suddenly, the familiar strains of Vanessa Hudgens's shockingly terrible vocals crowded the room, before Alex bursts out laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes, wiping them away as Henry's grin becomes Cheshire like.
"Oh my god, I'm so killing Nora next time I see her!" Alex gets between laughter, barely able to stand straight as he's doubled over so hard, Henry chuckling along with him as he remembers the particular conversation that had led to this.
"You know Alex /loved/ High School Musical growing up?"
"I've… never heard of it, honestly."
"...oh my god, pause, you need to come with me."
One very long insomnia session later and 5 hours' worth of teenage drama he didn't bank on knowing in his life, Henry is both equally horrified and wondering just how in the hell they managed to find the one movie where the gay person is the only one that's not annoying.
"Well, are you going to do as it says?" Henry asks, offering out its hand as Alex has laughed for so long, that somehow, the song's managed to restart and Alex rolls his eyes before he takes the hand gratefully, chest against Henry's and feet to the sides of eachother as he follows the music and Henry's instructions, almost mirroring the music's lyrics as they swayed in the middle of the room, eyes on eachother and environment blurred out.
" It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you -"
Eventually, they're actually dancing, feet somehow fitting together and not stepping on eachother (well, not anymore, the beginning was a little rough on Henry's toes) as they waltz around the floor, hands clasped together and shoulders straight. Henry can almost hear his old dance teacher complementing him in French, but it's a whisper compared to his heartbeat that floods his ears as his love for Alex overflows.
He can see that Alex is also in the same boat as he's smiling like a lunatic unlike before, actually having fun as Henry hoped he would and it's a sight Henry likes to see. He always likes to see his partner happy, as he's made him the same since he bombarded his way through Henry's walls and into every aspect of his life, despite their challenges as well as Henry's resistance at first to anything Alex had planned for them.
Closing his eyes as he leans his head down to rest on Alex's, Henry knows that he doesn't need to think about anything else right now other than how close Alex is to him. Of course, his fleeing thoughts, the ones that are foolish enough yo creep up on him when he's vulnerable like this, conjure up an image of him and Alex dancing on /their/ wedding day, but he shuts it out as best he can despite his heart practically being in it the moment he sees Alex wearing tan and white to Henry's blue.
Maybe one day, a hard maybe, but till then, he listens as the music starts to fade out and they just continue to sway, unaffected as the sun slowly starts to set from the windows outside.
Oh yes, Alex will be fine at Bea's wedding. Totally, perfectly, fine.