Chapter Text
** Alex **
Henry always keeps a distance from Alex. A bigger distance than even tradition and his status as a royal really calls for.
It's infuriating.
They've shaken hands once, at the Climate Conference in Melbourne, and just thinking of that very first meeting is enough to make Alex grit his teeth and mutter low insults and curses under his breath.
"Oh, shut up!"
The magazine that hits him in the face tells him that maybe he was louder than he intended to be, as both June and Nora glare at him from where they are sitting on the other side of the aisle. He wishes he could ignore them as the plane glides smoothly over the Atlantic, taking him closer to yet another meeting with His Royal Rudeness, Prince Fucking Henry.
"I didn't say anything," Alex defends himself, even though he knows there's no way they will buy it.
"You most certainly did, and we still have three hours left of this flight. I will not listen to you complain about Henry the entire flight. Again." June responds, picking up another magazine to replace the one she just threw at Alex.
Nora doesn't even say a word, just shakes her head with a small eye roll and goes back to whatever she was doing. Knowing her, it's either a crossword puzzle, insane statistics or a plot for world domination. Alex does hope it's a crossword puzzle.
He picks up the magazine in question, looks at its glossy cover and isn't surprised to find Henry's face smiling up from the front page. Annoyed, but not surprised. The picture is him with his best friend, who Alex pretends he doesn't know too much about, because that would mean he had read up on Henry and he hasn't. There's just a lot written about the stuck up prince, for some reason. Alex understands why the magazine writes about him, his life is fascinating and it's not like he has bothered to hide his status as an alpha. Of course the papers are interested in him. But Henry? Henry would never be on the cover of any magazines if not for the fact that he's fourth in line to the throne. And even that isn't really a big enough reason.
Alex bristles at the fact that Henry and probably-Percy-but-Alex-is-not-sure stands closer than Henry has ever gotten to him, even has his arm thrown over possibly-Percy's shoulder. So he can touch people—it's just Alex that he steps away from and turns away from whenever they are in the same room. Something that keeps happening more and more now that Alex is out of college and starting to take on more responsibility in his mother's administration.
Like being sent to a royal wedding where Prince Philip, Henry's older brother, is getting married to a very nice noble British lady in what is probably going to be a very nice wedding that will lead to a very nice life. The royal family is very good at being nice. Apart from Henry, of course.
With a sigh Alex plugs in his headphones and decides to listen to a political podcast and decidedly not think about a certain royal for a few hours.
** Henry **
The myriad of scents assault Henry as soon as he steps into the huge room that has been set up for the wedding reception; the sweetness of the tiered wedding cake overlaid by too many perfumes and too many different kinds of alcohol.
It isn't the first time he’s hated being an omega, and it will not be the last, but the sensitivity to scent really does a number on him during the big formal events that he has to attend much too often. Henry straightens and makes sure that his camera-ready smile is in place as he smooths out a barely-there wrinkle on his sash and turns to look out over the room.
"Dear brother, get into the spirit of things," Bea says, coming up to stand beside him and handing over a glass of champagne. "We're supposed to be happy for our dearest brother."
His smile becomes more real as he takes a sip of his champagne and turns his focus on his sister who smiles that secret little turn of lips that tells him that she is about as impressed by the whole affair as he is.
"Yes," Henry agrees. "Of course, we wish our dearest brother all the best. And what better way to celebrate than spending £75,000 on a cake. We all know wedding cakes are only there to look pretty, not taste good. But it is very pretty."
"Ah yes, nothing says happily ever after quite like a mountain of frosting and fake flowers," Bea agrees, sipping at her own glass of sparkling water. "But oh, there is the White House Trio. I've been meaning to introduce myself."
Despite her trying to pull at his sleeve, Henry quickly makes an excuse to go talk to one of his former friends from Eton, planning to avoid Alexander Claremont-Diaz as much as he can. He carefully moves around the room, trading polite conversation with politicians, nobles, and fellow royals from the other European countries, but with every step he takes he is aware of a presence in the room, and a scent that cuts through all the others.
The scent of an alpha. The scent of Alex.
A part of Henry really wants to look around for Shaan, to ask for another pill, though he knows that doubling the dose of suppressants won’t do anything. Just the knowledge of them being there will soothe his frayed nerves.
~*~
Henry swirls his glass, watching as the now warm and fizz-free champagne sloshes inside it and he sighs as he wishes he dared to find relaxation inside a champagne flute. But that is not an option with an unmated alpha close by. He needs a clear mind, and to not get himself in trouble in any way.
"Henry. Henry!"
The voice cuts like a knife through the air and Henry clenches his teeth together before turning around to face the man calling out, begging his self-control to not give anything away.
"Hello, Mr. Claremont-Diaz," Henry says, forcing his voice to sound calm.
"When you have one of these," Alex responds, while waving his hand to encompass the entire reception, "You should do two champagne fountains instead of one."
Henry grits his teeth together, trying not to pull in a deep breath, to keep the warm scent of alpha away for as long as possible.
"Really embarrassing to be at a wedding with only one champagne fountain," Alex continues.
For a moment, Henry wonders if there was a curse put on him as a babe. That’s the only reason that Alexander Claremont-Diaz could be moving into his personal space, close enough that Henry can smell the personal scent underneath the overpowering scent of alpha. But there is another scent there as well, one that Henry knows is the real reason that Alex is here.
"Oh. You're drunk," he says, holding out his stale glass of champagne to a server passing by before turning around to face the man beside him.
"Yes. So what?" Alex protests. "It's a wedding reception. Some of us know how to have fun."
He leans in even closer, and Henry feels his breath stutter in his chest when he sees Alex pull in a too-deep breath, his nostrils flaring for a moment and his eyes turning darker. Even though no one else in the room would know, Henry can feel the alpha scent getting thicker in the air, something that should not be possible because Henry is on suppressants, dammit, and Alex should not be able to react to his scent in any way. That shouldn't be happening, not with the strength of suppressants that Henry is taking, but not even the strongest kind can block out his response to Alex.
"Fun," Henry forces out. "Your idea of fun is stalking me?"
"What?" Alex says with a frown, taking half a step back. "I'm not… It's not…. I just figured I'd say hi. Preferably without you being a condescending ass. Clearly that didn't work, Your Royal Stuckupness."
"It's Your Royal Highness," Henry says, pulling himself up to his full height and cursing the fact that the alpha has a solid inch on him, if not more.
"Thank you for the etiquette lesson," Alex responds with an eye roll that sets Henry's blood on fire and should notbe as hot as it is.
"You're desperately in need of one," Henry bites out, before turning his back on Alex, hoping to get away and stop scenting the alpha that clearly has no idea what he’s doing to Henry's senses or his libido.
Before he gets more than five steps away, he feels a hand grabbing his elbow, pulling him around and the feelings and hormones spinning around inside are enough for Henry to lose his balance and stumble forward.
"Henry, just-."
Alex doesn't get further before Henry manages to tip them both over and he barely has time to realize what is happening before he tries to catch himself on the edge of a table and Alex does the same. It takes a few too-long moments before they both realize that the table that they tried to balance themselves on is the same table that holds the eight-tier wedding cake. Henry has an instant where he feels Alex's hand on him, hot enough to feel through his clothes, and then the realization of what is about to happen.
"Alex," he starts, not knowing where the sentence is going but he doesn't have the time to really think it over before he's sliding on the polished wooden floor and in his attempt to not put more weight on the cake table he grabs the closest thing to him - which happens to be Alex - and his momentum pulls the both of them to the ground.
Henry is expecting the pain of his head hitting the floor, but instead he finds himself landing on something soft and yet firm and even though he sees the cake falling down on the both of them he is surprised to realize that very little of it lands on his face. It takes him a few moments to realize why that is.
He has landed on Alex's arm, stretched out to cushion his head from the fall, while another arm is arched above him, keeping his face mostly free from the avalanche of sugary sweets coming down on the both of them. Alex's hand even comes up to brush some of the cake away from Henry's face and he tries to not think about the feel of the alpha's touch against his face and for a moment a silk-soft touch against his lips.
Even in the downpour of sponge cake, fondant and buttercream, Henry can't help but realize that Alex's instinct is to protect him, the hardwired response of an alpha to an omega in any form of distress. Something that should not be able to happen, Alex should not have a reaction to him with the suppressants in effect, he has no way of knowing what Henry is. But even through the sugary-sweet scent of the cake, and the thick scent of the alpha next to him, Henry is all too aware of his own scent, already turning sweeter with every second, a response to the man beside him.
"Oh my fucking Christ," he manages to get out just as he hears the flash of a camera going off and he tries to ignore the scent too close beside him.
Henry isn't surprised that it's Shaan that gets to him first, even before the security team has time to react and he finds himself getting pulled up and out of the mess on the floor, away from the warm body beside him. As he stands up, he feels his legs wobble slightly beneath him and he has to grip Shaan's arm to keep himself standing. It's not the shock of the entire craziness around them, not the sounds of cameras or his brother's angry voice that makes panic creep up on him. It's the fact that his body is reacting to Alex' scent, to their recent closeness, in a way that it should not be able to do, not with the heavy dose of suppressants.
"Shaan," Henry barely manages to get out, trying to keep from breathing in more of alpha warmth so close by. "I need to get out of here."