This is it.  It’s Chapter Six. This is what we’ve been training for. When we last left off, Alex was realizing that he just might be bi and that he just might definitely have a crush on Henry. They’re about to come face to face again for the first time since ~the kiss~ so LET’S GO!

Entry 10!

-Pg 128:

“England has a relatively new prime minister, and Ellen wants to meet him.”

NOT Boris Johnson.

-Pg. 129:

“Alex is not above a flying tackle.”

I want to see this cover of US Weekly.

-Pg. 129:

“How dare Henry come into Alex’s house looking like the goddamn James Bond offspring that he is.”

My favorite oft- forgotten Henry detail! He has SO MUCH 007 merch.

-Pg. 130:

“June is off chatting with an actress from Doctor Who.“

This is a reference to Jenna Coleman, who I always pictured as Bea.

-Pg. 130:

“The slightest of expressions crosses over Amy’s face.”

Cash is the indulgent one but Amy, the fellow queer, is the real MVP.

-Pg. 131:

“She opens the door just enough to let through and Alex hauls Henry into the Red Room with him.”

I took a White House tour in high school that included the Red Room so I knew I had to set an important scene there, since it’s one of the only rooms I can describe firsthand.

-Pg. 132:

“Stop thinking.”

Henry has been waiting his whole life for someone to tell him this. 

-Pg. 132:

“Alex looks up and almost breaks into deranged laughter–a portrait of Alexander Hamilton.”

His namesake would be so proud!

-Pg. 133:

“I’m going to die,” Henry says helplessly.
“I’m going to kill you,” Alex tells him.
“Yes, you are.” Henry agrees.

Their dynamic in a nutshell.

-Pg. 134:

“It’s definitely a terrible idea. But it’s fine.
He’s not sure if he should take anything else off. He’s unsure of the dress code for inviting your sworn-enemy-turned-fake-best-friend to your room to have sex with you, especially when that room is in the White House, and especially when that person is a guy, and especially when that guy is a prince of England.”

That’s it that’s the whole book.

-Pg. 135:

“God, if any ghosts of Founding Fathers are hanging around the White House tonight, they must really be suffering.”

One of the first lines ever conceived for this book.

-Pg. 135:

“Henry, the prince. Henry, the boy in the garden. Henry, the boy in his bed.
He doesn’t, he reminds himself, even have feelings for this guy. Really.”

Two of my favorite lines. 

-Pg. 136:

“There’s something different about the way he’s kissing now–it’s measured, deliberate. Soft. Alex isn’t sure why, or what to do with it.”

Because he’s been in love with you for 200 years you ass!

-Pg. 137:

“I’m gay,” Henry tells him flatly.

A lot of the development of Henry’s character was figuring out his own relationship with his queerness. Unlike Alex, he has never questioned it. He’s always known, he says it readily and without shame. 

Pg. 139:

“Henry looks up into his eyes, speechless.”

Henry: [having feelings]
Alex: y’all hear something?

-Pg. 140:

“Do you ever stop talking?” Henry says. “Such a mouth on you.”

TBH this is the sexiest Henry line. 

-Pg. 141:

“Hi,” he says, when he reaches Henry’s eye level.
“Hello,” Henry says back.
“I’m gonna take your pants off now,” Alex tells him.
“Yes, good, carry on.”

♥

-Pg. 141:

“Alex thinks, dizzily, that it’s been nearly five years of foreplay, and enough is enough.”

Finally we admit it. 

-Pg. 142:

“Not awful?” Alex says between kisses, resting his head on the pillow next to Henry’s to catch his breath.

Alex is NEVER self-conscious except when he wants to impress Henry. 

-Pg. 143:

“Alex doesn’t know or care what words come out of his mouth. He thinks one of them is “sweetheart” and another is “motherfucker.” Henry is one talented bastard, a man of many hidden gifts, Alex muses half-hysterically. A true prodigy. God Save the Queen.”

I love this terrible horny nightmare. 

-Pg. 144:

“We’re still…whatever we were before, just, you know. With blowjobs.”

😦

-Pg. 144:

He says as much to himself as to Alex, “I am very, very gay.”

I knew from the jump Henry had no angst about being openly gay with people he trusts. I didn’t want him to be ashamed. So that’s why every time he says it he does it so emphatically.

-Pg. 145:

“They’re not going to spoon all night or wake up in each others’ arms or eat breakfast together.”

He directly contradicts this in literally 12 pages.

-Pg. 145:

“Even if he did want that, there are a million reasons why this will never, ever be possible.”

LMAO

-Pg. 146:

“That is obscene, what are you raising money for, monocles for babies?”

One of my favorite jokes.

-Pg. 147:

“It’s February in Connecticut, and Alex is sweating under his coat.”

TBH the greatest creative liberty I took in this book is hosting a polo match in February.

-Pg. 148:

“Enjoy your summit with the English delegation,” she tells him flatly, and Alex sends up a vague prayer of thanks for staff NDAs.

AMY the stallion

-Pg. 149:

“He whips a thick leather strap off a hook on the wall, and Alex almost blacks out.”

People have read this as Alex demonstrating BDSM tendencies but honestly it was pure panic.

-Pg. 150:

“Should I–” He steps back and puts a foot up on a nearby bench, moving to undo his kneepads.

Henry having no idea how hot he really is is one of my favorite things.

-Pg. 151:

“They kiss for an amount of time he decides not to count or think about.”

You in danger, girl.

-Pg. 151:

“Oi,” Henry says. He’s grinning now.

Some brits have given me shit for making Henry say “oi” but he went to uni with normals! He speaks informally sometimes!

-Pg. 153:

“Huge Raging Headache Prince Henry of Who Cares,”

This running joke is one of the first things I came up with for their emails.

-Pg. 155:

So much thought went into choosing their email icons. Henry’s is the V&A. 

-Pg. 156:

“x”

THIS X KILLS ME
He drops the formality in favor of a kiss!!!

PHEW this was a long one but I couldn’t bear breaking it up, it’s one of my favorite chapters! Chapter Seven is about 50 pages, so I should split that one in half BUT THE KARAOKE SCENE IS IN THE SECOND HALF so I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist. Stop by next Wednesday to see what I decide! (Spoiler: I will definitely not be able to hold out, it’s going to be another long one.)