History, huh?

Ten

As soon as Henry got upstairs and into their room, he shut the door and put his back against it. He let himself sink down to the floor as he let Alex's words race through his mind, playing on a mind-numbing loop. They hadn't fought before, unless that time Henry ghosted Alex after the lake house counted as a fight, so he had no idea what to expect. Alex always had fire in his eyes and heart, but it had been a long time since Henry had been on the receiving end of it. Even back in the day, when Alex hated him, it never seemed real. Now it was burning Henry alive. He knew that there was something else going on (at least, he hoped there was something else going on) because he couldn't believe that Alex actually thought all of those things. In this relationship, Alex was the one who could have been seen as clingy or obsessive, not Henry. In his mind he was, but he never really knew how to express that in words and actions like Alex did. 

His best chance of cracking the code was, he figured, June. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed her number, holding it up to his ear as he leaned against the door. As it rang, his head swam with what-ifs. What if this fight was the fight that ended everything between them? What if Alex didn't love him anymore? What if he left the room and found that Alex had walked out on his own into the night?

June's voice came through on the other end after a few rings. "Henry?"

He sighed in relief. "Hi, June." If he and Alex broke up, would he still be allowed to talk to June and Nora?

"What's wrong?"

He thanked his lucky stars that she picked up on it so he didn't have to explain that he was upset. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to put his feelings into words. "I––I don't know. Alex and I were having a perfectly nice evening and then he..." he didn't want to be too graphic since this was Alex's sister. "I tried––I wanted to––he––"

"What, sex? Is this about sex?"

He groaned and pulled at his hair in frustration. "No. Sort of. Not sex, just...we were kissing and he wouldn't let me...then he wanted to take a shower so I offered to go with him. I'm worried about him passing out with all the steam and standing that long and I know how he adores it when I wash his hair but...Just, what did I do? Where did I go wrong? Does he...does he not––"

"Henry, no. No. Are you saying you think he doesn't love you anymore?"

There's a lump in his throat and he can't speak. He sobs into the phone instead. 

"Oh, you perfect, royal idiot," June sighs.

"Hang on––"

"It's not that he doesn't love you. Of course he loves you. And I don't think I should be the one to tell you this because it's not really my place but––"

"Please," he begs, not caring how pathetic or desperate it sounds. He is desperate. He doesn't want to lose the one person he loves more than anything in the world. If there's something, anything, he can do to fix things between them, he wants to try it. He'll leave Alex alone for a while if that's what he wants. He'll go back to London and help Bea with charity stuff.

June sighs, giving in. "He talked to me about it the other day. I mean, at least I'm pretty sure that this is the same thing." She takes a breath. It sounds like she's moving somewhere. A door thuds closed. "He was in a coma for eight days, not working his muscles and not eating anything, and I know that he was really anxious about the youth shelter opening and so he probably wasn't eating much of anything for at least a week before he was shot. And he's...he's been having trouble keeping things down."

"I don't––I'm afraid I don't quite understand."

"Before he was discharged, when the doctor evaluated him, he saw himself, his body, for the first time since before he was injured."