Bet We Could Make Some MORE (History Huh?)

13: A Democratic Rally (Henry)

A/N: Hey Guys! Sorry no chapter last week, I had a V day date, plus I didn't think the tone of this chapter was good for V day. Thank you for your patience! 

Henry sits in the chair as one person tends to his hair, another to his make-up. He stares at himself in the mirror, wearing his fuzzy robe monogrammed with his and Alex's initials. Bea and Pez are with him in the dressing room of the building on the venue property. Alex is somewhere else in the building, but Henry hasn't seen him since last night. After they had practiced their final dance and sat to listen to the band for a bit, hand in hand but without saying a word, Alex hugged Henry close.

"I love you," Alex had whispered in his ear, tightly holding onto him. Henry still had this inkling deep inside him that something was off with Alex, but he never doubted his love.

"I love you too," he had answered before getting in the car to take him to the hotel.

He had his own suite next to his sister and mother. The rest of his family was also staying here, but as the door closed behind him to the big room that was just for him, he suddenly felt very alone. Breathing felt difficult again. His brain seemed to be on a short circuit. Find pills. Find pills. And then a knock was at the door.

"Hen?" It was Bea. "Can I come in?" Henry wasn't sure how he made it to the door and unlocked it, but then his sister was there, in the room.

"Do you want me to sleep here with you tonight?" She asked him, "Pez is in my room practicing for tomorrow with my husband. And... I figured, maybe, you didn't want to be alone? And I brought these just in case." She held up a bottle of melatonin gummies. He had never been so grateful for his sister than in that moment. They shared a bed that night for the first time since they were kids. Bea woke him in the morning; he had actually slept in a bit, but not too late. He had taken a quick shower before heading to the venue in a car with his mother and sister and Pez.

Alex had likely come around the same time, but it had all been organized so they didn't see each other until the ceremony. Henry is now regretting following all these traditions. He wants to see Alex. He wants to know Alex was ready for today. He wants Alex to reassure him that it was all going to go swimmingly. Right now it's all swimming around in his head and not in the good way.

And there's so much movement around him. The hair guy. The make-up girl. The sponge dabbing his cheek over and over. The bush running through his hair again and again. Bea having some coffee and a muffin next to him while someone curled her hair. Pez pacing in his robe as he practiced his lines– he was officiating the wedding. Just beyond him, Henry could see out the window that cars were starting to pull up, guests in lavish outfits would get out and the valet takes the car away. More and more people arrive outside the window, heading towards the tent for the pre-ceremony hors d'oeuvres. They each wear a shade of red or blue, as requested. Their color scheme for the venue was a simple white. It had all looked so pure and heavenly the other day at the rehearsal, but today, with all the guests filling up the space, it looks exactly as they had imagined it: like stars, stripes, and the union jack spit up over everything.

Henry watches as more and more cars arrive. More and more people get out. There is press beyond the gates trying to sneak in every time a new car arrives and the security has to hold them back. The official camera crews are set up around the property with huge cameras like the ones on the sets of his dad's movies he visited as a kid. He wishes his dad were here. He wishes Alex were here.

Bea is speaking– is it to him? The words sound as though he is underwater. There is sound, he can see her lips moving, but he can't ascertain what she's saying. His eyes are glued to her lips. Is he breathing? Did his heart stop? Everything around him is fuzzy.