the way wille was freaking out just moments earlier but he welcomes the kiss readily and calmly, grounded by simon's encouraging words, mesmerized by his closeness (simon just soothes wille's anxiety, doesn't he?).
the way simon is painstakingly gentle yet steady, and he pushes against wille's lips a bit before breaking the kiss.
the way neither of them dared to voice just how out of their hands the situation truly was, desperately wanting to believe that their reassurances to each other were enough, but then pouring all that was left unsaid into the kiss. all the worry and all the care, right there unfiltered.
the way simon showed his love to wille way before he told him.
(and the tragedy of wille denying involvement in any emotional relationship being the very first thing simon heard of him after this).
So first, let me just say that ever since I first read that line, I was ruined for the scent of clean linens and fresh grass. I desperately want to know his brand of cologne, but until we do, I will be happy that in the movie we found out Alex's cologne and I can't be the only person who now owns it and wears it.
In this scene, I imagine Alex taking a lung-filling breath of Henry's scent and Henry doing the same with Alex's cent. They must feel desperate to keep what they could of one another with them, the other's scent being one of the most important when it comes to them accessing their memories and the feelings of being together and just thinking of the man they love. How the other's smell stays with them for a little while after they part. For Henry, it remains on his bedding but mostly on his pillows, which he tells the staff not to turn. For Alex, it's on the sweater he slipped into his carry-on. And they both held these items to their faces, their tears soaking into them after they were outed, their memories of what had been imprinted working like magic, giving them the illusion of scents that had truly already faded. They wanted the scents so badly to have to help comfort them.
Please be patient with me, and I promise I will try and be brave for us. Because when they write the history of my life, I want it to include you and my love for you.
NICHOLAS GALITZINE as PRINCE HENRY
Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) dir. Matthew López