Comfort --RWRB College AU

12. Home

"Welcome back to London, Mr. Fox. I'm Robert." A man in a black suit comes to Henry at the arrival hall, taking over his suitcase. The tired-looking boy nods. "Thank you, Robert. Please call me Henry. I'll take care of the backpack." Robert doesn't insist, motioning Henry to follow him to the car.

The walk to the parking lot is eerily silent: the professional driver is trained to talk only when necessary. Can't stand the silence, Henry clears his throat. "Emm. So you are the new driver here? Where's Jeff?" Robert slows down hearing Henry's words, turning to him. "Jeffery retired when you were in America. I'm here to take over the job."

Henry nods, his heart sinking a little. "What about, Shaan? He's not gone, is he?" He is afraid of the answer. "No." Thank God. Robert says with his calm, nonchalant tone. "Mr. Shrivastava became the personal assistant of Mrs. Fox in the company. They were very busy lately. Mr. Shrivastava has stayed in the company for days now, so he was not able to be here for you."

Henry nods again, staying quiet for the rest of the walk. He clenches tightly to the straps of his backpack, feeling the box against the small of his back in the bag. It hurts. But Henry can't tell if it is his back or his heart.

He is in the car in no time. The temperature in the car is just right, artificial fragrance floating in the air. Henry frowns slightly at the smell, he never found the smell in the car unpleasant before. Alex is spoiling him indeed. Alex. Henry takes out his phone and contented to find the notifications of Alex's messages.

A: babe ur in London now right?

A: i love ur present!!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️

A: u can call me when u r home and get comfy

A: im free all the time, as long as ur not tired we can facetime

The mixed feelings of anxiety and sadness fade away at that moment, Henry feels the warmth all over his body. He closes the blinder between the back seats and the passenger seat and Facetimes Alex. Alex picks up within two seconds. His smiling face pops up on Henry's screen, radiating his charm.

"Hi baby! How's the 12-hour VIP trip? You tired? Anything fun? Who picked you up from the airport? Private driver? You billionaire." He goes quiet after shooting the dozen of questions, looking into the camera sweetly, blinking at Henry. He is lying on his stomach on his bed, Henry guesses. The close distance to the camera makes it possible to see every single eyelash of him. Like a pair of butterflies' wings, fluttering, casting grey shadows on his eyes. His warm brown eyes looking at him so intensely, that Henry feels like he is Alex's whole world.

"Well." Henry's voice cracks, he can hear the tremble in his words. The camera is shaking due to the tremble of his whole body. He turns his phone slightly to the left to hide most of his face from Alex's view, leaving only a small part of his face on the screen.

He takes a deep breath, trying his best to suppress the gush of emotions in his heart. He exhales shakily, looking up at the car's ceiling, his eyes already shining with tears. "I miss you, Alex." Finally making the sentence out, he closes his eyes, a single tear glides down his cheek.

"Henry- Henry baby. Hey, listen, I'm always here. I'm just a call away." It's four in the afternoon in London, the rare sunlight on a winter afternoon looks pale. Henry looks small in the weak white light, fragile even. They are only away from each other for twelve hours or so, but Henry looks much more vulnerable in Alex's eyes. His heart shatters into a million pieces seeing his baby sad. He just wants to go to the other side of the screen, hold his baby tight to his chest, kiss away the tears.

There are a dozen questions Alex wants to ask, a dozen things he wants to say, but he just takes a deep breath. "Anything I can help, honey? You can tell me whatever you feel like. I'm all ears."