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That is surely one well-tailored costume, Henry thinks when he opens the door.
The next thing he thinks is that this... Spiderman is only a few inches shorter than him, and is built presumably like an adult man and not a child.
"Are you trick-or-treating?" he asks beyond himself.
"Well, you didn't even let me ask, sweetheart," Spiderman answers, a light Southern accent muffled by the mask.
"Apologies. It's just that children often scream it at me before I've even cracked the door," Henry replies.
Spiderman laughs at that. "Right. I'm not actually trick-or-treating, though. I mean, how ridiculous would that be?"
"You tell me, Spiderman," Henry says amusedly. "If you're not trick-or-treating, then what is some grown, adult stranger doing knocking on my door in a superhero costume?"
"I--" Spiderman hesitates. "Henry, it's me--"
Spiderman cuts himself off suddenly, tensing up.
How does he know Henry's name?
"Wait, stay there," Spiderman tells him before sprinting away.
Henry stands there confusedly, watching Spiderman take long strides towards the dark alleyway. Then his jaw drops to the ground when Spiderman jumps and a web shoots out to the wall, which he then uses to swing himself to the next wall he shoots a web to.
Fucking Christ. He was talking to the actual Spiderman.
Who somehow knows Henry's name.
Oh, dear. Has Henry done something to upset his... group, or whatever? Is that why Spiderman knows him?
Bloody hell, he thinks, reaching into his bucket to stress-eat a candy bar.
He closes his front door and leans his back against it, waiting until Spiderman comes back a-knocking to hopefully explain everything.
It takes a Snicker, a Twix, three Jaffa Cakes, and Mr. Darcy's coat coming off before his doorbell finally rings again.
"Fuck, sorry, I--" Spiderman says, panting. "Someone was being jumped. Anyway, uh--" he says, reaching for the bottom of his mask. He stops himself when he realizes the eyes of Henry's neighbors that are on them. "Oh, I-- They're watching, so-- Okay, I'm sorry for this."
It's all the warning Henry gets before there are gloved palms on his chest shoving him backwards, Spiderman entering his home with no permission whatsoever. He's about to burst with outrage at the audacity of this so-called "superhero" as his front door slams shut, but then Spiderman's yanking his mask off his head, freeing a head of brown curls that fall messily across caramel skin and--
Oh.
"Alex?" Henry breathes out.
It's been eight months since they broke up; It just-- I just have too many things that I can't tell you, Henry, and I don't want to be lying to you while I'm your boyfriend, Alex had said to him, and now the very same man who tended to his wounded heart, filled it to the brim with love, broke it, and lived inside its walls long after his departure, is standing right in front of him, his beautiful human head a stark contrast from the smooth red and blue of the suit encasing his body.
"I've missed you, H," he admits, then he suddenly looks surprised at what he said. "Shit, fuck, sorry, I meant-- I mean, I do, but-- Fuck, I didn't mean to--"
"Where have you-- Where have you been?" Henry decides to deflect, feeling his eyes get misty and his chest go tight.
"Still in law school, but. You know," Alex gestures up and down at his body, laughing nervously. "Saving lives and all that, I guess."
"Is this... what you couldn't tell me before?" Henry asks, not knowing what to do with his hands. They're both just standing awkwardly in front of each other.
"Yeah," Alex says, and it's filled with so much remorse that Henry wants to bundle him up in his arms. (He doesn't, of course.) "Actually, I, uh--" Alex starts nervously, the hesitation definitely a weird thing to see on a superhero. "I came here because I..." Alex looks at Henry through his eyelashes, and Henry hates how hope begins crawling up his chest. "I really do miss you, Henry. And I-- I'm putting you in danger, telling you the truth, but I-- I don't know. I need you," Alex says, shrugging. As if he's helpless to needing Henry. "And I don't know if you hate me now, or if you've moved on, or if you still love me back, but I just-- I couldn't not try. And if you tell me to leave, then I'll go. Just-- no promises I won't be looking out for your pretty face when I'm swinging around town," he says, smiling.
Henry smiles back, the familiar feeling of butterflies returning like it hasn't been gone for months.
"Love you back?" Henry asks, heart pounding in his chest.
Alex, for all his bumbling, doesn't have an ounce of hesitation confirming it. "You're hard to forget, Henry. Even more difficult to unlearn loving you when it's the easiest thing in the world to do," he says.
"Darling, I--" Henry doesn't know what to say. Every day, for eight whole months, Henry's been trying to remember how life was before he'd known what it was like loving Alex. He didn't know Alex had been doing the exact same.
Alex smiles, looking defeated. "I should go, shouldn't I?" he nods to himself, as if he'd been expecting this. "Yeah. Well. At least I can't say I didn't try. I'll, uh, I'll see you around, Henry," Alex says, putting the mask back on. He turns around and reaches for the doorknob.
"Eight months," Henry blurts out.
Alex--or, Spiderman whips his head around. "What?"
"Eight whole months, Alex. And all I did in those days was miss you," Henry says.
Alex stares at him wordlessly, his emotions hidden under the mask. "What are you saying?" he asks cautiously.
"What I'm saying, Alex--and please remove that bloody mask because I want to see your face--is that I love you, and I never stopped. And if-- If you want me to, then I might never will," Henry says, feeling light-headed as Alex once again pulls the mask off.
Henry hears his heart beating in his ears as he waits for Alex to respond.
"Baby, I fucking love you," Alex exhales, crossing the small distance between them and taking Henry's face into his hands and kissing him.
Henry catches him in his arms, kissing him back just as fervently. It feels a lot like coming home.
"You taste like oranges," Alex murmurs in the middle of their kisses. "Fuck, I missed you," he adds, diving back in.
"Me too, darling. So much," Henry replies, letting his mouth fall open as Alex's tongue moves inside his mouth.
Henry runs his hands up Alex's sides, making him shiver. Alex then breaks away from the kiss, looking troubled.
"I-- I'm sorry, Alex. Did you not like that?" Henry says, heart dropping.
"No. No, baby, oh my god, no. I just-- The Spidey Sense, or whatever," Alex explains, pulling on the mask quickly. "I'll be back. Promise," he says, shoving the door open and flying off.
Henry's left alone and breathless by his front door.
He closes it and falls down to his knees, laughing to himself at how surreal the turn of events are. Alex is back. Alex is fucking Spiderman. But more importantly, Alex is back.
Henry takes out his phone from his pocket and texts Pez about it, the two of them having a juicy chat.
He says goodbye momentarily when the doorbell rings, pocketing his phone.
Henry opens his door to-- Nothing.
He looks around, looking for Alex, then wondering if he was being pranked by a few kids. He prepares himself for a jumpscare, but doesn't prepare himself for Alex-as-Spiderman slowly descending from above, upside-down, and appearing in front of him.
He yelps in surprise, hearing Alex chuckle despite being muffled by the mask.
"You bastard," he reprimands. "Where'd you go?"
"Kid got lost. Started panicking and everything so I took him home. Showed him a few tricks as well. That stuff. Anyway. I believe we were in the middle of something," he says mischievously.
"That we were," Henry replies, unable to keep the smile off his face. "You gonna come down from there, love?"
"Wanna lay one on me out here?" Alex suggests, and Henry can hear the smirk in his tone.
"Here, outside?"
"Yeah. Just pull the mask down a bit and do whatever you want with me," Alex says.
"Oh, darling. I'll do whatever I want with you, but not in front of all these people," Henry says, pulling the mask up to Alex's nose. He comes closer and brings their lips together.
The angle is strange, definitely, but the thrill of knowing he's kissing Spiderman, of knowing people are watching them, is worth it.
He caresses Alex's cheek when they part, whispering, "Now come down, love. I've missed holding you."
Alex does come down, following Henry inside. He takes off the suit and changes into regular clothes, brushing his teeth next to Henry then lying in bed with him.
They promise to talk more about it tomorrow, but tonight, they drift off in the comfort of each other's embrace.