Walter x Henry - a secret love story

Chapter 1 - Why are you so pretty?

Walter's pov

I never really thought about Henry like that. I mean, he's been my best friend since the first week at Hillerska. We clicked right away, and it's been me and him ever since. Henry's the kind of guy who makes everything fun—always cracking jokes, always finding some way to lighten the mood, no matter how stressful school gets. But lately... I don't know. Something feels different, though I can't put my finger on it.

We were sitting in our room, like we always do after class. Henry was lying on his bed, scrolling through his phone, while I tried to focus on my math homework. I wasn't doing a great job of it, though. My eyes kept drifting over to him. He had his headphones on, humming along to some song, tapping his fingers on his stomach. The sunlight came through the window and hit his face just right, making his red hair look brighter than usual. His pale skin seemed to almost glow in the light, and his blue eyes, whenever they peeked out from under his eyelashes, looked like they could see right through me.

I didn't even know I was staring until Henry looked up and caught me. I quickly turned back to my homework, hoping he hadn't noticed.

"Everything okay, Walter?" he asked, sitting up. He looked concerned, his head tilting to the side like he was trying to figure me out.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," I mumbled, scribbling random numbers in my notebook to make it look like I was working. "Just trying to figure out this equation."

Henry grinned and swung his legs off the bed, coming over to sit next to me. "Let me see." He leaned in close, his arm brushing against mine as he looked at the problem. "Oh, come on, this one's easy. You just have to move the x over here, like this."

I barely registered what he was saying. I could feel his breath on my neck, and his hair fell into his eyes as he focused on my notebook. For some reason, I couldn't stop looking at his freckles—tiny dots scattered across his nose and cheeks. They looked almost perfect, like someone had painted them there on purpose.

Henry solved the equation and handed me back the pen, grinning as if he'd just saved my life. "See? No problem."

"Yeah, thanks," I said quietly, feeling my face heat up for no reason. Why was I acting like this? It's just Henry. I've seen his face a thousand times, but now it's like... I don't know. Like I'm seeing him differently. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

Henry flopped back onto his bed, sighing. "I swear, if I have to sit through one more of Mr. Svensson's lectures, I'm going to lose my mind." He kicked off his shoes and pulled his blanket up to his chin. "Why is history so boring?"

I laughed, thankful for the distraction. "You're the only person I know who can sleep through a whole class and still pass the exams."

"It's a talent," Henry said with a smirk, closing his eyes. "What can I say?"

We always joked around like this. It was easy with him. But lately, I kept finding myself watching him more, noticing things I hadn't paid attention to before. Like the way his hair curls at the ends, or how his eyes light up when he's about to say something sarcastic. And those eyes... they're so blue. I don't think I've ever seen eyes that blue on anyone else.

I shook my head again, annoyed with myself. What was going on with me? I shouldn't be thinking about Henry like this. He's my best friend. We've been friends forever. I should be thinking about other things, like school or sports or... I don't know, girls? That's what most of the guys around here are talking about.

But whenever we're in the same room, I can't help but focus on him. It's like my brain is stuck on Henry, and I don't know why.

I tried to distract myself by pulling out my phone and scrolling through Instagram. As usual, everyone was talking about Prince Wilhelm. He's kind of the biggest deal at Hillerska. I don't really get why people care so much about him, though. Sure, he's the crown prince and all, but to me, he's just another guy. I saw him once in the cafeteria, and he looked like he didn't want to be there any more than the rest of us.

Henry sat up again, yawning. "Hey, did you hear about Wilhelm and Felice?"

"What about them?"

"Apparently, they were seen together at that party last weekend. You know, the one we weren't cool enough to get invited to." Henry rolled his eyes dramatically. "Everyone's saying they might be a thing now."

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, but who knows? People love to gossip about him." Henry paused, then smirked at me. "Speaking of gossip... you've been acting weird lately, you know that?"

I froze. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, man. You're quieter than usual, and you keep zoning out. Like, right now." Henry nudged my arm playfully. "What's going on in that big brain of yours?"

I felt my face getting hot again. "Nothing. I'm fine. Just stressed about school, I guess."

Henry stared at me for a second, his blue eyes searching mine, but then he just shrugged and lay back down. "Alright, whatever you say. Just don't burn yourself out, okay?"

I nodded, but inside, I was panicking. Was I being that obvious? Did he know what was going on in my head? Hell, I didn't even know what was going on in my head.

That night, as I lay in bed, I stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out why I felt so... strange around Henry. It wasn't like anything had changed between us, but at the same time, everything felt different. I kept replaying the moments in my head—how close he was when he helped me with my homework, how his hair fell into his eyes, how I couldn't stop staring at him.

Maybe it was just a phase. Maybe I was just overthinking everything. But deep down, I knew something had shifted between us, even if I didn't fully understand what it was yet.

I turned over and glanced at Henry, who was already asleep. His face was relaxed, his breathing steady. He looked so peaceful, like nothing could bother him. I sighed and closed my eyes, hoping that tomorrow, things would go back to normal.

But part of me wasn't sure if I wanted them to.

***

Author's note

This is the first chapter and I hope you liked it. I got inspired by artforjacob to write this story, she also wrote a very good one so check it out!