Bea and Oscar 11


"Cash! Tell me he's with you." Henry rushed out desperately, as soon as Cash answered, before the Secret Service Agent could get a word in, edgewise. Henry was panicked. He was kicking himself. He should have known that Alex wasn't ok and sent Bea on ahead. But he had been wanting to make sure Bea actually left and he had neglected to check in with his boyfriend. Alex wasn't usually a runner and the fact that he had 'run' was concerning.

"He's with us, but he isn't in a good place to talk, Henry." Cash admitted softly. Cash knew from past experience that voices travelled well in Amy's town house, and he didn't want to wake Alex up. Reaching over, he tapped the speaker key, turned the volume down slightly and he and Amy moved into the kitchen for more privacy. "You're on speaker now, Henry, and Amy is here too."

"What the hell happened?" Henry asked. His voice was as panicked as he felt, and right now, he didn't care too much about hurt feelings for his tone. Alex was the only thing that mattered to him. Amy gave Cash a sympathetic look. She could hear how Henry was trying to remain calm, but at the beginnings of panicking. "He had a headache and stayed home from school and what else?"

"We don't know." Amy partially lied. She wanted to protect Alex. She wasn't going to betray his trust about the ring to Henry. That was Alex's secret to share, not hers. Both her and Cash had seen firsthand how much Alex loved Henry, she didn't think he'd be crazy enough to give up on Henry. Especially after how hard they both fought to be together. "He was in your bedroom and David started howling. I went to investigate what was causing David that much distress. Henry, when I found Alex, he was in the middle of a panic attack. It looked like it was a severe one. By the time he came to, he wanted to leave. We convinced him to stay in New York, but he wanted to be gone, gone."

"Shit." Henry cursed to himself. Cash and Amy heard him, nonetheless. Cash bit back his amusement because he didn't know the prince could actually swear. "Where are you? I'll come to you. Let me talk to him."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now." Cash interjected. "He is resting. The panic attack took a fair bit out of him. Just give him some space. He has had a really rough morning."

"Henry, finish out the day at the office." Amy added. She wasn't entirely sure that Alex would go back to him tonight. Of his own accord, at least. Not without serious argument. "Tell your PPO, Cash is collecting you and he will take you to Alex."

"Amy ..." Henry's voice cracked and Amy could imagine the heartbreak on his face. The pain. Henry's eyes were always so expressive of how he felt. "I can't lose him, I just can't."

"I know, Henry." Amy consoled him. "He does love you. I think all of this is a knee-jerk reaction to yesterday."

"Do you think I should see if he'll talk to his therapist? Would it help?"

"That's something only you can answer." Cash provided gently. "We might know him well, but you know him better than us."


"Is he ok?" Pez asked, as soon as Henry had disconnected the call. "Alex doesn't usually bolt. For as long as we've known him, he has always been a fighter, Haz."

"Pez, I'm worried about him. About us." Henry confided in his best friend. "This mess with Bea and Oscar might just mean the end of us."

Suddenly, Henry was openly crying, sobbing. He realised his heart hurt in a way he couldn't articulate. He didn't want to lose Alex. He couldn't lose Alex. He knows Bea loves and cares for him, and he knows how much Alex really loves him. How can he choose between his sister's happiness and his own.

"Breathe, Haz, breathe." Pez instructed him. This was far from the first time that Henry had ever had a panic attack in his presence, and he'd bet his last dollar it wouldn't be the last. That being said, Henry's anxiety had been low grade since he had made the move to New York to live with Alex, full time. "That's it, Haz."

"Pez...?" Henry looked at him, his crystal blue eyes, watery and wet. "What if I lose him? What am I going to do?"

"For what it's worth, I don't think you're gonna lose him, mate." Percy told him truthfully. "And if you do, then we'll get you through it. But right now, I think it's just the opposite. I think Alexander is the one who is scared and uncertain. He doesn't know what move to make. Maybe he's feeling lost and alone. I think that perhaps this is something he might have been through before and I think he feels he barely survived it the first time. It is possible he might think that it's a fight he can't win. Not when it's Bea, whose happiness is on the line. Alex loves Bea, he'd do anything to make her happy and she is your sister, he knows you love her even more than he does. I think it's possible he knows that when it comes to Bea, he can't win."

"That's a lot of 'I thinks...' in there." Henry whispered.

"Because I just don't know, mate." Pez sighed. "This isn't Alex's usual play and frankly, it's scaring me, too."

He certainly took what his best friend was saying on board. For the most part, what he said made a lot of sense. Bea was everything to him. She was his lighthouse in a stormy sea. She was his everything, and he was hers, after their father died. Naturally he would try and do everything he could to ensure her happiness. But could he do it at the expense of his own.

He loved Alex. He had loved Alex from the very first moment he had laid eyes on him. He was smiling, bright, effervescent. Never in his lifetime could Henry have ever thought that someone like Alex, so jovial and passionate, could ever have the strength and the audacity to love him back. But Alex does; and Henry feels it in everything Alex does. When Alex makes him tea in the morning. When Alex packs him a lunch, alongside his own, when Alex puts all of love and passion into cooking them dinner. Whether it's a soup and grilled cheese after a hard day, or one of his father's or Abuela's recipes. Whether it's ordering take out when he's having a rough day, or forcing him to eat, drink and shower on his most depressive days. Henry feels his love when Alex holds him close. When they're tucked up in bed, cocooned away from the outside world.

Henry ponders everything and from every angle. "The annoying thing is," He starts, catching Percy's attention. "The thing is, he is right. Bea is my everything. She has been there for me through everything and if I can help make her happy..."

"Are you insane?!" Bea snapped from the doorway, she had been working past with Sienna, one of the addiction counsellors here at the shelter when she had heard her name from Henry's lips and stopped in her tracks. "NO, Henry, no! I will not allow you to sacrifice your happiness for mine. Alex loves you and you love Alex. That shit doesn't come along every day. I won't let you give up on Alex. He fought like hell to have you. The least you can do now is fight for him."

"Bea?"

"Jesus Christ, Hen! I love you, but God you really are oblivious." Bea huffed out. "This whole thing is about an idea. Nothing has happened and nothing is set in stone. If it's going to cause that many problems, I won't let it happen. I am not worth coming between Oscar and Alex. I'm not worth coming between the two of you.

Hen, that man loves you. Wholeheartedly and unconditionally. He loves you to a standard that not very men in this world do. He literally worships you and not in the creepy way of those royalists back home. But in a way that you are the air he needs to live. Don't let a potential relationship I might be interested in pursuing be the reason you don't go for it. Hell Hen, before all of this shit went down, you wanted to marry the man.

What the hell are you still doing here? Fight for him. When you got scared and left him in Texas, at the lake house, what happened? He came to London, willing to fight for you, he was not backing down at any cost. When you were both outed by the media and Gran was keeping us in lockdown, what happened? Alex came storming the palace and was willing to fight anyone and everyone, just to be with you. A love like that doesn't come along every day. Hell, for most of us, it never comes along.

But you have it. You need to grab it with both hands and don't let go. You need to wrestle with it and keep it safe. Alex fought for you, now it's your turn to fight for him. Don't give it all up, for me. I won't let you."

"Bea's right, poppet." Percy told him. "You can't give up, now. Giving up now is ridiculous."

"Beatrice, honey, you like Oscar a lot, though. What about your happiness?" Henry asked, tears were clouding his vision again.

"I don't think that we're there yet. Oscar and I need some more time." She admitted in a small voice. "And I won't date him, if it comes between him and his children. Clearly, he and Alex have some things that need to be addressed first. And we weren't going to date unless June was ok with it too. We haven't even spoken to her yet."

"I just want you to be happy." Henry whispered. Bea hugged him tight to her chest and held him there a moment.

"Henry, you're my brother and I love you. But don't you know your happiness is mine. You're the reason I am standing here, I owe you everything. Now, what are you waiting for? Stop doubting yourself. Go and get Alex. Tell him you love him and you're not letting him go without a fight and sort him out."


Back in DC, Oscar was going through the motions of his day. Not really feeling anything, but a long-drawn-out heartache at how he had left things with Alex. He couldn't help but think how heartless he had been? How could he have forgotten how upset Alex had been when he had lost Sarah as a friend? He was an idiot.

"Are you going to do anything today? Beside stare out the window and get lost inside your head?" Raf asked from the seat opposite Oscar's desk. how long Raf had been sitting there, he had no idea. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Oscar tried and went back to staring into space.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Oscar. We know each other better than that." Rafael Luna hissed out in response. His friend looked pale and truly pre-occupied. He couldn't recall ever seeing Oscar look this bad. "Come on, tell me."

"Did I ever tell you how I met Sarah?" Oscar asked him, out of nowhere.

"She was a journalist, so probably at some press event." Raf guessed. Raf was sure that his friend had mentioned it at some point, but right now, he couldn't recall.

"I knew her before she was a journalist." He sighed. "Met her when she was still a journalism student. She was Alex's roommate when he was at Georgetown in pre-law."

"Okay ... and this is relevant because?" Raf was confused. This whole conversation had taken a bizarre turn, and he wasn't sure if his friend had a point or not.

"I made a mess of things with Alex." Oscar admitted in a small voice. "We got into it yesterday. About Sarah, about Bea. About his relationship with Henry. I think I messed up. What was I thinking, Raf? Bea is his friend. She is Henry's sister. Henry is Alex's forever person. The man is like another son to me. Can I really throw away the strained relationship I have with Alex for Bea? Alex is my kid. Even if he isn't actually a kid anymore."

"True."

"Alex ... He knew about Sarah." Oscar tried again. At Raf's shocked look, he nodded. "He knew the whole time. He had kept my secret from everyone, including me and when Sarah ran, Alex lost her friendship, as a result. No, he didn't just lose her friendship. He copped the blame for the entire thing. She blamed him because I broke her fucking heart, Raf!"

"I know how much you care for Bea, and you want to start something with her..." Raf started and looked at his friend. Oscar's thoughts were in turmoil, and he was clearly in agony with them. He knew what he had to do, but he needed to wrestle his head into wrangling his heart into line. He could see that Oscar was wrestling with his feelings about the consequences of what his relationship with Sarah had done to Alex. He could see that Oscar was wracked with guilt, too. But he knew well enough to know that nothing could come of it, until Oscar was ready to deal with it. Alex was a lot like his father in that respect. "You and Bea might need some more time. That time apart might help bring Alex around, but for now, talk to Bea and tell her. I know you're a great father Oscar. Sure, you and Alex have had your ups and downs. But you can't keep letting Alex bear the brunt of your actions. It's not fair. He and June cop enough of that from Ellen and her job, just for being her children. They don't need it from you, as well."

"He said he couldn't stop me...Th-" Raf cut him off.

"Oscar, I say this because you're my best friend, my brother, my family and I love you." Raf sighed, sort of frustrated with Oscar. "Alex is your son. Your only son and he needs to be your priority, right now. Whether he is still a kid or not; is irrelevant. If he cuts you out of his life, then things with Bea will never eventuate. It will always hang over your heads. You've said it yourself, time and time again, no one is more important to Bea, than Henry. Do you think Henry is going to be happy with you and Bea, if Alex leaves him over this? I gather not. If I was in Henry's shoes, I'd be royally pissed off. He's already royal, so he's half-way there. Give it some more time, be sure this is what you want. I am sure Alex will come round."

"But ..." Oscar protested.

"You couldn't have honestly expected that you and Bea could drop this in their laps. Have both of them be perfectly fine with it and you ride off into the sunset with Bea by your side?" Raf questioned him. "Life doesn't work like that, Oscar. Put yourself in Alex's shoes. How would you have felt if your own father, suddenly took up with Ellen's sister. Well, a hypothetical sister, but still? Man, you would have been pissed fucking off. Give Alex some space, and a little credit."

"I owe him an apology." Oscar admitted softly. "I've never been good at those. Especially when it comes to him. I accused him of acting like a fucking child. Who does that?"