Red, White, And Royal TWO

Chapter 4

Alex hops out of the black Chevy Tahoe with glee and out onto the driveway of the Naval Observatory, or where Vice President Holleran and his wife live, instantly searching for Henry's car. The door on the other side of the car opens and out comes the President of the United States, otherwise known as Alex's mom. She's wearing a commanding, Hillary Clinton-esque red pantsuit with the political fashion statement of the century sitting atop her head: a sleek black derby hat with a bright white feather poking out of the top. Zahra begged on her knees for her not to wear it, but President Claremont persisted. "It's a fun hat for a fun day!" she was saying in the Oval Office just a half an hour before.

"Don't look so disappointed. You knew he was going to run late," she says to Alex, who is not trying to hide his impatience, "He lives in England for God's sake."

"I know. I was just texting him. He'll be here any second."

As if Alex were a psychic telling the future, Henry's security detail rolls in through the gates and pulls up, Henry's side of the car in Alex's direction. Henry was back in London last weekend, so Alex didn't get to see him. The second the car slows to a stop, Alex opens the door of the car and out comes Henry, practically jumping into his arms.

"I love you I love you I love you!" Henry says enthusiastically, taking the time between each 'I love you' to kiss Alex.

"I missed you so much!" Alex is surprised at how little he worried about discretion when Henry jumped in his arms.

"Happy Thanksgiving, too. First one, right?" Alex asks, trying to tone down the level of affection in front of the Cabinet members.

"Yes, it is! Very excited to take part in this American tradition!" Henry says, camera-ready as ever. Jesus, he's good at code switching.

As Alex and Henry lock hands to walk into the Vice President's house, Henry says to Alex under his breath, "I didn't think you'd be a fan of Thanksgiving. Basically a day celebrating the first case of American colonialism, isn't it?"

"The pilgrims were British, babe. And the landing at Plymouth Rock wasn't exactly their first case of colonialism, was it?"

"No matter, as long as your Mayflower lands at my Plymouth Rock tonight," An awkward pause between the two. "That wasn't as sexy out loud as it was in my head, was it?"

"No, it most certainly was not. Message came across loud and clear, though." Alex says.

As unsexy as Henry's analogy was, all Alex could think about through dinner was landing at Henry's Plymouth Rock. Thanksgiving was the usual bore of the Secretaries of their respective departments talking about budget management and complaining about the press. That is, until the Secretary of Education, Karla Ringer, makes her way over to Alex.

"I heard you just graduated from Georgetown," she starts.

"You heard correctly, Secretary Ringer." Alex is actually a bit of a fangirl of Karla; she's the youngest Cabinet Secretary in history, but she was also the youngest Governor of Ohio in history, being elected at just 25. She completely revitalized public education in Ohio in just 4 years, which is why Alex's mom tapped her to head the Education department. She also happens to be the hottest Cabinet Secretary in the room, if he's being honest.

"Congrats!" she snaps him back into reality. "You know I was actually wondering if you could help me out. We over at the Department of Education are trying to find new ways to encourage young people like you to pursue higher education, and we were wondering if you might be interested in collaborating with us on some resolutions. It builds great experience, too." She added that last part knowing I have congressional aspirations, Alex thinks.

"Yeah, I'll have to see about that. I'd love to help out in any way I can."

"That's amazing! Here's my business card. Call me when you have time so we can set something up!" And with that, she disappears. He looks down at the business card, and not only is the number of her office on there, but her personal number is written in pen as well. Holy shit! Was the youngest Secretary of Education in history just hitting on me? He looks down at the number again. Probably not. She probably just gave me her personal number because I'm the President's son. Nonetheless, when Henry walks over to Alex, he hastily shoves the business card into his pocket.

"You know, when you invited me to Thanksgiving at the VP's, you didn't tell me the other guests would be the dullest bloody people on Earth. And this is coming from someone whose mother lives down the street from Boris Johnson."

"You mean you didn't think that the Secretary of Commerce's speech about tax hikes on major corporations was riveting?" Alex responds.

"Oh, that's what he was talking about when he said 'government sponsored blasphemy.' I thought he was talking about us!" Alex and Henry both laugh hysterically.

A couple hours later, after all the Cabinet Secretaries leave, it's just Henry, Alex, Nora, June, the President and the Vice President sitting around the island in the kitchen, a glass of champagne in each of their hands.

"Let's raise a toast, to a successful day!" the President says, raising her glass.

"What were we successful in, exactly?" asks June, hesitantly raising her own glass.

"We succeeded in not ripping each other's hair out. Outside of running the fucking country, they're a goddamn chore to be around as a group." Everyone cheers, half jokingly, and they all drink.

Once Henry makes sure that everyone else in the Residence is asleep, he motions to Alex to light the candles and turn out the lights. Once that's done, they both start to remove their shirts and pants, keeping their underwear on, for now. Laying Alex on his stomach down on the bed, Henry slowly, delicately traces the tip of his pointer finger from the back of Alex's neck down his spine, to the elastic band of his underwear. He shudders from Henry's touch. As sudden as the goosebumps spurred across his back, Henry is flipping Alex on his back, swinging his leg over his chest, and mounting Alex, both of them with underwear still on. Henry leans his upper body down into Alex, putting his full weight on his chest. He passionately kisses Alex on the lips and starts gently grinding his torso into Alex's. A sensual moan escapes Alex's lips, and Henry silences him with another kiss. He bends his face into Alex's neck and whispers into his ear, already working up a sweat, "Speed up." Henry then moves his lips down to Alex's neck, gently biting into Alex's skin, careful not to break the skin. He continues the process slowly back up to Alex's ear, where he says, more forcefully this time, "Speed. Up." With that, Alex whips Henry on his back, and removes his underwear with his teeth. As Alex's lips glide over Henry's hair and skin trying to take off his underwear, he uses his hands to remove his own underwear. Once they're both completely in the nude, Alex returns to the position that Henry was just in, and makes the same movement with his torso that Henry was making, this time with... penetration. Alex looks away from Henry for a moment and sees the flame of the candles dancing back and forth. Back and forth, the same way his body moved into Henry, and the same way Henry's body was receiving him. Their bodies move with the candles, back and forth, for a time, until finally, the candle wax starts to create a pool in the jar. Release. Alex removes himself from Henry, and flops down on the bed next to him, his chest heaving up and down, slick with sweat. Henry wasn't any less of a sweaty mess. Alex turns his head to Henry, Henry turns to Alex, they grin in mutual satisfaction, and just stare at each other for a good long while. He lifts his hand to Henry, using his thumb to wipe the sweat off his brow. He blows out the candles, and darkness sweeps through the room.