That night at the lake... it was the first time I let myself think you might actually say it. I panicked, and it was daft and unfair, and I won't do it again.
Dead! Why is Nicholas Galitzine wearing a shirt that says "Bucky"?!?! What does it mean?!?!? Why does it have that "retro varsity sweater, classic American, apple pie" type vibe? The color and style screams Captain America to me. I really hope it means he is a Stucky Stan....
Distantly, through a slowly clearing fog, through a messy kiss, Alex can't help but marvel at the knowledge that he's crossed some kind of Rubicon, here in this room that's almost as old as the country it's in, like Washington crossing the Delaware. He laughs into Henry's mouth, instantly caught up in his own dramatic mental portrait of the two of them painted in oils, young icons of their nations, naked and shining wet in the lamplight. He wishes Henry could see it, wonders if he'd find the image as funny.
-- Red, White & Royal Blue, chapter 6
Do you ever think about how important and significant Alex's action to give his key to Henry was?
Alex had brought the key with him everywhere throughout his life since he got it.
Then, the first moment he's quietly alone with Henry, Alex gets to explain what it means to him: it's the key to his family's house in Austin.
But it means much more to him: it's from the times when his family was still all together (book), it's his childhood, his time growing up in Texas, it's his mixed blood, and the quiet life he left behind to follow his mother in something bigger than him.
That key is his comfort and reminder of what he was and the memories he will treasure forever.
Alex doesn't tell all of this to Henry, but Mr. HRH Prince Dickhead knows there's more about it underneath, just like how he had always known Alex wasn't just a peasant boy.
Alex brings his keychain everywhere and Henry is always there to admire it.
The key to Henry means something completely different: it's the reminder of his unusual life, the fact that he can't have such normal things as possessing a simple key, it represents all the things he can only admire from afar but he'll never be able to posses.
And then Alex breaks the wall that Henry thought would suffocate him forever, that seemed impossible to destroy.
Alex starts to remove the key when he's in the most intimate moments with Henry. He decides to leave the thoughts and worries related to his family for another time. He decides to be fully Henry's, even during just brief rendezvous.
And Henry takes everything he can, as far as he can. Till the moment, he's sure will come, when the magic breaks and the key will return to be something to admire and desire from afar, but never possess.
But Alex isn't just a peasant boy.
He hands over his childhood, his memories and his whole being to Henry, with just a simple gesture. Alex says "Henry, I'm yours." by giving him the object of his desires, by breaking the illusion that Henry can't be a normal boy, simply owning the key of someone's heart.
And Henry is reluctant to accept it, cause he knows (just like he had always known that Alex wasn't just a peasant boy) that the key means so much to him. But Henry accepts, cause he wants to believe that the wall between them can break, Alex made him believe it. And he grips and holds onto that hope like his life depends on it, cause it does.