Bea and Oscar 10
Not much was said. Not after that. Bea stayed at the brownstone, as planned and Oscar caught his returning flight, back to DC. To say things were strained, after Alex and Oscar returned was an understatement. Things weren't just strained between Oscar and Alex or Bea and Alex. Or even between Henry and Oscar or Bea and Henry. They were strained between Alex and Henry, and he could feel Alex pulling away from him.
The fact Alex was uncharacteristically quiet was unsettling to them all. Especially when as soon as dinner was done, Alex was excusing himself, feigning a headache and heading up to the room he shared with Henry to be alone.
Oscar hadn't even said goodbye to Alex before he left. That was hurtful to Henry. To see them at such odds. But he knew he couldn't intervene. He had his own skin in the game, with the woman in question being his sister. Plus, Henry wasn't sure if Alex was upset about Oscar wanting to date someone, or the fact that the someone in question, was Bea.
The following morning, Bea needed a distraction and Henry was hoping to talk to her further, so he invited her to accompany him to the shelter. Alex had opted to stay home from school, claiming he still had a headache. Of course, having a low-grade headache combined with the stress of the day and not sleeping a minute, the night before, it would not end well for Alex. Quickly sending a text message to his study partner, requesting the notes from the day, telling him that he was sick. With the prompt reply, Alex threw the covers back. Bea and Henry had left over forty minutes ago, and he had to move now.
A quick shower, and full proper shave later which included shaving off the gruff Henry had liked seeing him with, he had Cash drive him across town to the jewelers he had purchased the ring from in Manhattan. Sitting in the black SUV with tinted windows, Alex couldn't bring himself to move his body, in order to return it. He couldn't bring himself to get out of the car. "You don't have to return it today, Alex." Cash had told him. Cash and Amy had gone with Alex to purchase the ring. Amy had helped him with her knowledge of rare stones and fine jewelry to choose the best ring possible for Henry. They were the only two who knew about the ring, and Oscar made three.
"Maybe, just for today, we can go back home, and you lock the ring in your desk drawer. Out of sight, out of mind." Amy offered softly. "There's no shame in not returning it, if you're not ready. We don't mind."
Amy and Cash hadn't been able to help but overhear everything that had happened yesterday. Henry's PPO's, Oscar's and Bea's too had been present and they'd all grimaced when the showdown had occurred.
The small voice of OK, from the back seat had Cash and Amy sharing a concerned look, as Cash pulled out of the parking spot and maneuvered the car to point it back towards Brooklyn. Pulling back in the garage of their brownstone, Cash patted Alex's shoulder in support. "Just don't go making any hasty decisions right now."
Back inside the brownstone, Alex found himself in the room he shared with Henry. He sat on the end of the bed; he had made hastily that morning. He could see the stack of books waiting to be read on Henry's nightstand. The empty bottle of lube on the sofa on the opposite wall to their bed, waiting to be taken into the trashcan downstairs. The almost full bottle on Alex's nightstand. Alongside, his reading glasses and his textbook on family law. Their bedroom was always their oasis. Their retreat away from the world. A place where they were just Alex and Henry, not the First Son of the President and His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales. A place where they shared their love and made love.
Alex felt like he was spiraling and there was nothing he could do to stop it. David pushed his way into the room, nosing open the closed over bedroom door and was immediately by Alex's side, as he let his body slide to the floor. He felt the room closing in on him and the oxygen felt like it was being sucked out of the room. As the wall closed in and the oxygen disintegrated, Alex could feel his breath coming in short bursts. David was making the most awful noises and nudging at his hands.
Suddenly Amy was in front of him, tangling her fingers through his hair in an attempt at a calming manner. She was trying to coax a response out of him, to no avail. "Alex. Alex, can you hear me?"
Alex looked at her but didn't say anything. His eyes were glassy, his skin was clammy, and he knew that his heart was racing so fast, he was surprised that Amy couldn't hear it. "I need to go." Alex whispered into the void. If Alex had of made eye contact, Amy would have known he was speaking to her. But Alex had spoken into nothing. "I've got to get out of here. I can't stay here."
Alex was up on his feet, his heart racing, his vision blurred with tears. He was in the closet, the one he shared with Henry. he pulled his silver hard shell case sown from the top shelve and begun to shove as much clothes as possible into it. As Alex was packing, Amy was trying to unpack it. She was trying to stop him from leaving. She knew he was having some kind of panic attack, but it wasn't like one she had ever seen before. "Alex. Stop!" She tried again. "Why don't we talk about this? We can call Henry."
"He doesn't love me anymore." Alex snapped, this time making eye contact with her. "Just, let me leave."
His big brown eyes were filled with tears and Amy could see his heart literally breaking behind them. Her heart could feel his pain and she wondered what was going on inside his brain in that moment that had made him think that Henry didn't love him anymore. "OK." She conceded softly. "You pack your case, leave a note. We'll grab Cash and we'll go somewhere. Just the three of us."
"I need to be by myself." Alex sobbed, not bothering to wipe the now falling tears.
"We can't let you do that." She said gently. "But we can take you somewhere safe, let you be alone there." She looked at him carefully, as she tried to formulate a plan in her head. "What about going to see your mom and Leo?"
"No." Alex snapped. "I need to be alone. Let me wallow in my own misery."
"Alex honey, what misery?" Amy tried softly. She was willing to concede the point to her wife when she had told her just the other morning that she was too close to Alex to be objective. But her wife didn't understand, she and Cash had been with him and June for a long time now. They had grown attached to him.
"Bea and my Pa." Alex cried and tried to make his body breathe in deep breathes, failing spectacularly. "Henry's always going to choose Bea, she's his big sister. When my friends get involved with my dad, I am always end up the one hurt and in pain. Best I leave now, protect my heart from all that pain."
"Oh Alex," Amy hugged him and he gripped onto her like a drowning man in need of a life raft. "You're not going to get dumped and I am not letting you leave Henry. You are stepping back to regroup. You and Henry are too good to let this come between you." But even as she said the words, she wasn't entirely sure if her own words. He was right about one thing, Henry would always choose his sister. "Ok, not your mom's. Obviously Texas and California is out. What about my place? It's nearby and it's cosy. You could play with Jonathan. Maybe we could bring David too and Cash can run him home tonight, when Henry gets home."
"No, he's Henry's boy." Alex sobbed and David climbed up in his lap. Alex held him close to his chest and kissed the fur atop his head. "I'm gonna miss you boy, so much. I love you; do you know that? Take care of Henry for me. Be a good boy. Make sure you remind your dad that I love him."
"I'll go talk to Cash." Amy offered. "I'll give you a minute to leave Henry a note before we leave. Is that ok?" Alex nodded. He looked over and saw that Amy had packed him a case. A small one and she had neatened the rest of the things he had pulled out, putting them away.
He looked at his notepad and stared at the page. Words wouldn't come to him. He packed up his messenger bag with his laptop and his textbooks. Making his way downstairs, he fed David and gave him fresh water. Left Henry a note on the whiteboard in their kitchen, telling him to check his emails. With his law school bag on his shoulder and laptop bag, and his carry-on case behind him, he met Cash and Amy at the door that led to the garage from inside the house. "I'm ready." He told them.
Cash took his bags, leaving him his phone. Amy gave him a small, sad smile and held the door open for him. He climbed in the back seat and they took their positions in the car. Cash was driving and Amy was in the back seat with him, as they left the brownstone.
Alex didn't look back, as he opened a blank email on his phone. He could barely see the screen through his tears, as he began to type.
Dear Henry,
...
Work at the shelter had kept Henry busy for most of the day. Bea was trained as a counsellor for her own drug rehab charity, and as such was working with a small group who were all former addicts within the shelter, trying to workshop some ideas for Henry to make former addicts feel more supported. Mostly, it was a task he assigned her because he wanted to gather his thoughts and collate them, before he tried to talk to Bea again and to do that, he needed her to be away from him. He had also been thinking about Alex. Wondering if it would be too needy to check in with him.
Seeing it was almost lunchtime, Henry called Alex to indeed 'check in' with him. His first lecture let out ten minutes ago and he had felt he couldn't ignore it any longer. He had been worried and reluctant to leave but leaving Bea and Alex in the house seemed like a pressure cooker explosion waiting to happen. He didn't check in everyday, but he did on occasion and today definitely qualified as an occasion. Alex's phone went straight to voicemail, which wasn't unusual if he was talking to someone about his mom or talking to his mom about politics. Sometimes, he called his mom on his lunch break.
He wanted to call June or call Nora. To see if Alex had reached out to either of them, but it wasn't exactly his news to share and he had no idea if Oscar and Bea told June and Nora, if they were even planning to tell June and Nora. Closing his phone again, he went in search of Pez to discuss their options for food today. Finding Bea in Pez's office with him, made Henry feel like they had been conspiring behind his back. But the stern, serious look on Pez's face told him that Bea had confided in him about the idea of her and Oscar getting together, and that Percy had very strong feelings about it too.
"I love you like a sister, my little buzzing Bea." Pez cooed to her. "But are you sure? I am sure that Oscar Diaz is as scrumptious as the delectable Alexander, but he is an older man. Not to mention, you just ended things with what's his face, my love? Maybe you should have a bit of time, just being you. Before you rush into anything in the heat of whatever heat you might be in."
"We're not against you being happy, love. But less than a week ago, you were still with that last bozo." Henry added softly. "Bea, you're my big sister and I love you. But take a step back for a minute."
"Do you think he'll ever stop hating me?" She asked them in a small voice. She didn't have to say Alex's name. All three of them knew who she was talking about. "Hen?"
Henry's personal email buzzed and chimed with an incoming email notification. Opening up, he was relieved to see it was from Alex. "I am sure he will." He smiled at Bea.
Pez begun to say something else to Bea about Alex and his ability to forgive those he loves, when Henry 's face changed. Pez instantly stopped talking and looked over at his best friend. "What is it, Haz?"
"Al...Alex." A sob escaped Henry's mouth. He closed his eyes tightly to stave off his own tears. "He's gone."
"What?!" Bea screeched. "He left? He left you? By email? That prick!"
"Something isn't right, Bea." Henry told her. "I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't work out what this morning. He was too quiet. He said he had a headache, and he didn't go to school. Alex had the flu and a temperature of 105 and still went to law school last semester. I wanted to stay and get him to talk to me, but..."
"You were too busy trying to heard me out of the brownstone, to avoid the morning turning into another argument."
"Call Cash, Call Amy." Pez ordered her brother. "Hell, call June or Nora!"
"Do you really think having more people panicking is a good idea right now?" Henry asked him, rhetorically. Pez's mouth made a perfect 'o' shape in understanding. "I'll check in with Cash."
Amy and Cash managed to get Alex inside Amy's townhouse and up the stairs. By the time, they had gotten him inside and seated at the table, Cash was in Amy's kitchen making Alex a sandwich. The poor kid was so wrung out and confused, mentally exhausted, he was struggling to stay awake. For once, Cash was grateful Alex had decided to spend the day at home. There was no way that Alex would have been able to calm his mind enough to focus today.
"Eat." Cash ordered him, placing the ham and cheese sandwich in front of him. As he took his first bite, Cash handed over a bottle of water too. "Drink. The whole bottle."
By the time Alex had finished his sandwich and water, Amy and Cash were hauling him into the guest room and into bed. Amy swore Alex was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Hearing the commotion, Jonathan ventured out of his little hobbit hole where he hides because her fur baby isn't used to people being in his home in the middle of the day. "Jonathan, up on the bed." Amy ordered in a low whisper. "Snuggle Alex."
Jonathan happily obliged because his mistress was telling him he could get on the bed, and he liked Alex when Amy had taken him to their brownstone and the park to play with David. Before they left, Cash pocketed his cell. Alex had forgotten it in his extreme fatigue to fall into bed and Cash didn't want anyone disturbing him. He was sure Alex would be able to see things clearer once he had some sleep.
Back out in the living room, Cash was helping himself to a sandwich and coffee, making Amy on in the process. "Is it just me that sees the irony of Alex leaving Henry with nothing but a note?" Cash rhetorically asked and Amy sighed.
"I don't want to get involved, but I am not entirely sure that Henry knows what's been happening today." Amy sighed, as she rested her head on Cash's shoulder, once he was seated beside her on the love seat. "Cash, Alex had a panic attack. David was howling for help. It was a bad one. Almost as bad as the day Richards outed him and Henry. He didn't recognise me. He was frantic, thinking the worst. He was struggling to get enough air in his lungs, his eyes were glazed over."
"It's like with Sarah all over again." Cash murmured and Amy looked at him quizzically. The question of who hung in the air. "Before your time. Friend of Alex's that Oscar slept with. She left and ghosted Alex when it ended."
"No wonder the poor kid's afraid of losing Henry. He's lost everything."
