officialdiegorodriguez

[officialdiegorodriguez]

@officialdiegorodriguez: Shameless excuse to post pics of me breasting boobily on the internet. I know your game, Bly.

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always great to have your bandmate’s full and undivided attention.

[officialdiegorodriguez]

TEXTING: SYLVIE

Diego: Happy birthday kiddo

[officialdiegorodriguez]

The second that Diego had realised that he loved Henry, it had also become apparent to him that it was the single most important thing he’d been put on this earth to do. Loving the man in front of him felt like a privilege he hadn’t quit earned, but he’d do all he could to be worthy of him, to make sure he never forgot just how special he was. Because Henry wasn’t only loved by Diego, but by so many people. He belonged, in some small part, to Chess and Hazel June Howard. To Poppy, Charlie, Ariadne and, he supposed, begrudgingly, Dante too. He belonged to his parents and his siblings, to Marmalade and Honey. A piece of him lived in the hearts of millions of fans across the globe.  

More than that, a small fraction of him had left this earth a long time ago, a time before Diego had gotten to know him. A piece of him that had weaved its way into the heart of another, much sadder boy, a boy who’d slipped away from Henry’s grasp and buried a piece of himself in Henry’s chest, too. Diego no longer minded sharing Henry, though. It didn’t frighten him to think of Stefan and what his boyfriend had lost. It ached deep in his own chest, it tore through the very fabric of his being to think of the man he loved hurting so astronomically, but he didn’t shy away from the truth anymore. He wanted Henry to know that it was okay, that he wasn’t alone in the world and never would be. Stefan’s memory could live on in the way that Diego loved him – different this time; braver and bolder, but just as fierce. 

As long as Diego lived, Henry Bly would never feel lost or unloved. He’d never let him stew in that hurt and grief, would be right beside him to remind him that his love wasn’t just enough, but that it had saved him. Diego didn’t need to know Stefan to know that he’d loved the other boy. It had never been the weight of Henry’s love that had driven Stefan to the lengths he’d gone to, but the fear of a world that saw their relationship as something to be ashamed of, saw something dirty instead of the beauty and strength that they sought in one another. If nothing else, he’d make it his life’s work to remind Henry of that, and to ensure he never has to go through anything even remotely similar ever again. 

“Te amo,” Diego breathed, soft against the other man’s lips as they echoed their declarations, trading one language for another, and another. 

His fingers wove their way into Henry’s hair, his other hand guiding the other man’s waist as he pulled him further into the room, a kiss parting Henry’s lips. He allowed himself that sweet luxury, seeking the other man’s tongue with his own, allowing Henry to swallow his needy, throaty moans. He wanted to savour each and every kiss, every touch. He felt deliriously drunk with the love he had for Henry, the heaviness of his heart gone, a sense of calm long since replacing it. Diego had never known a happiness quite like this. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long to see that this is all I need, baby,” he murmured, stealing lazy kisses even after pulling back. “I’ll never let you go, Hen. You’re mine, mine, mine. And nothing can break us, okay? Not now, not this time.” 

Henry had never been of the opinion that his love could make things easy. If anything his love was like a festering wound and he had to learn to leave it alone and not poke at it to prevent the infection from getting worse. Henry’s love had never been celebrated, not until he’d met Diego.

Even then, he had his reservations. Hadn’t loving Diego been the reason they broke up in the first place? He’d handed his affections over to the other man and they’d nearly ended Diego’s career. They’d been enough to end their relationship and then Henry had to wake up every morning to tweets and articles about Diego falling out of bars in the middle of the night. He’d sat at the kitchen table, white-knuckling his phone until Val had to forcibly take it off him. Like he was a demented iPad kid with too much screen time.

It didn’t feel like his love could make anyone feel safe, so he couldn’t help but stare at Diego uncomprehendingly.

“You have all of me,” he promised, the words mashed unromantically against Diego’s mouth as he kissed the other man. It felt like the only thing he could do to keep them both afloat right now was kiss Diego.

“I didn’t think that way. Didn’t know that was how you felt,” he admitted, forehead creasing when he thought about the last time he had loved someone and told them.

He closed his eyes abruptly, trying to shut out the image of Stefan’s pained expression before it morphed quickly into anger. It was painted so clearly in his mind’s eye that he couldn’t unsee it, however. Instead, he closed his fist in the material of Diego’s shirt, pushing his face into the taller man’s neck so he could breathe him in. Diego’s skin was smooth and warm and he pressed his lips to the hollow of the other man’s throat, ascertaining that he was still there and that somehow Henry hadn’t scared him off just yet.

“I want you to feel safe,” he murmured into the crook of Diego’s neck. “That’s important to me.”

Diego’s safety always ranked higher than Henry’s feelings. It was why he’d allowed the other man to push him away last year when things got bad, because he knew that his feelings weren’t making Diego feel safe. If anything, they left him feeling too exposed and vulnerable and Henry knew he couldn’t ask the other man to endure that just because Henry wanted to love him.

His heart swelled with Diego’s declaration and he pulled back so he could look at the other man. He knew his eyes were watering but he’d allow himself that. Henry didn’t mind crying when they were happy tears.

When Diego nudged his nose with his own, it startled a laugh out of Henry as he stared up at the beautiful man he couldn’t believe loved him back. Henry had never been loved back before and even though he’d forgiven himself for daydreaming about it on more than one occasion, his imagination had never been able to capture the reality of how happy it made him.

“Je t’aime,” he breathed before kissing Diego soundly again. He let his lips linger there before pulling back so he could beam up at the other man. As moved as he was by Diego’s speech, Henry was a man of few words himself so he hoped it sufficed when he said, “I love you. On purpose.”

[officialdiegorodriguez]

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Had a surprise visit from @camilarod and the kids. Ana and Hen hit it off so now I guess my niece likes him more than me.

[officialdiegorodriguez]

taylor zakhar perez at the lacma gala 2024 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

[officialdiegorodriguez]

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Turned 30 yesterday with all my favorite people around me. Not bad.

[officialdiegorodriguez]

"I am a very creative person by nature. Looking at the sea and the movement of the sea, it's never really the same. That helps me to get inspired. Baby blue is a color I've been surrounded of since childhood. Obviously, my friends and I would go to the beach after school whenever we could… I think it just reminds me of home." – Charles Leclerc, for his Bang & Olufsen collab

[officialdiegorodriguez]

@officialdiegorodriguez: Stop being cool, it’s weird.

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calling this one the andie anderson

[officialdiegorodriguez]

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“I give you my heart,

a safe house.

I give you promises other than

milk, honey, liberty.

I assume you will always

be a free man with a dream.

In america.”

- Essex Hemphill

[officialdiegorodriguez]

It felt like a cruel twist of fate that the very man he’d been defending, the one person in this world that Diego genuinely felt calm around, was now staring at him with wide, terrified eyes. He only had himself to blame. Lashing out at Henry, snapping and pulling away — both physically and emotionally — probably seemed like an overreaction to most. Henry was only trying to help.

But hadn’t he been through this before? Hadn’t Henry already seen this play out years prior, a wounded dog lashing out because the world got too heavy. Diego couldn’t put him through it again, not now, not after Stefan. He felt dizzy with the realisation. In whatever sick and perverse way that seemed to make sense to his anxious, addled brain, he genuinely believed it was his job to protect Henry further. To go the distance and shut down completely. If the press wanted to eat Diego alive for how he’d just behaved, he wouldn’t bring Henry down with him.

The silent acknowledgement seemed to finally be enough to still his mind, just for long enough to obey. He felt drained of everything that made him Diego Rodriguez.

At Henry’s words, he simply nodded and followed suit. No more fighting, no more yelling. The word could see how gentle and compassionate Henry was, how his immediate response had been to protect Diego, and how Diego was the broken, disjointed one. The one who didn’t belong. His legs seemed to carry him of their own accord, trudging silently beside his… what? Boyfriend? He had no idea anymore. The elevator doors pinged open, thankfully revealing an otherwise empty space beyond. Their security detail seemed to swarm the hallway, ensuring nobody else joined them inside as Henry’s fingers fumbled to hit the button for their floor.

The second the door shut, the dam broke. Diego’s back hit the far end of the lift as he slid down, body folding beneath him as he hit the floor, his head dropping against his knees as a wave of sobs racked his body. It overwhelmed him, his hands trembling as he sought to ground himself, the sting of heat against his knuckles sharper than ever before as he fisted a hand in his own hair.

“I shouldn’t have— I didn’t mean to…” he choked out, shoulders heaving as he fought to catch his breath.

He wanted to apologise. He wanted to explain to Henry just what was running through his mind right now, to make it right, make it better. Diego was a broken thing, unfixable and past saving, but he needed Henry to know that he wasn’t. That none of this was his fault.

Instead, his mind went blank, and he said the first thing he could think of.

“I don’t wanna do this anymore.”

Diego stared at Henry, suddenly incensed at the way his boyfriend was looking at him. He wasn’t grateful that he’d stepped in, nor was he worried about the threat of blood spilling from his knuckles. No. Instead, he was looking at Diego as though he were this fragile, breakable thing that could shatter any second now. Then again, maybe he was right, how could he even be sure that he wasn’t? 

His words were gentle before they turned pleading, his eyes were wide and desperate as though he could barely get through to Diego. It didn’t make any sense to him. Henry’s words were reassuring, his insistence that he knew Diego had only been defending him, but his body language did nothing to comfort him. How could the boy in front of him dispel any of his fears and concerns when he was shooting furtive glances over his shoulder, voice dropped down to a whisper as though he believed anything might set Diego off again. 

“I don’t fucking care what they think, Hen,” Diego protested, shaking his head in frustration. 

It was a bare faced lie, even if he didn’t recognise it as such. His words were proven disingenuous the second Henry combed his fingers through his hair, the touch so tender – so familiar – that there was no mistaking the intent behind it, the intimacy of it. He jerked back in surprise, recoiling from his boyfriend’s touch as he stared over his shoulder at the gaggle of photographers fighting to get in. Cameras were pushed up against glass windows, security bodily barricading the revolving door they’d just entered through. 

“What the fuck are you– Don't touch me!” Diego found himself snapping, the harsh nature of his tone ripping through the back of his throat, an ache building in his chest. He felt nauseous as his gaze panned the room around them, the few hotel guests that still remained shooting him horrified glances, straggling away towards their rooms.  

He winced openly as Henry tried to reach for his arm, the insistence that they needed to find Ciara soon dying on his tongue as Diego stumbled backwards, out of his reach. 

“Don’t you fucking get it, Hen?” he asked, wild and terrified. 

He gestured towards the window, and then in turn to the onlookers just a few short feet away. His voice was raised now, loud and yelling, whatever remained of his composure soon lost. His hands were trembling as he balled them up into fists, pain simmering in the knuckles of his right hand as it remained untended to. 

“They just watched me pummel some jackass for using the word– for calling you a... And you think you can fucking stand there, hands all over me, and think they won’t label me the same way?” his voice cracked, a lump forming in his throat. 

He lifted his uninjured hand and pressed the heel of his palm to his eyes, desperately trying to stave off tears that were threatening to fall. His eyes were red rimmed by the time he dropped his hand, and he stumbled backwards, losing his footing momentarily as he glanced over his shoulder in search of the elevators. They needed to get out of there. He needed to get out of there. 

“I can’t be here. I need... I’m gonna be sick,” he blinked, eyes glazing over as he seemed to lose his grip on reality. The room seemed to spin around him, his stomach lurching as he desperately fought to keep the contents of it firmly inside. 

[officialdiegorodriguez]

@officialdiegorodriguez: Cuties. Nobody's doing it like #honry

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alexa play honey, honey.

[officialdiegorodriguez]

TEXTING: KEEGAN

Diego: Happy birthday, Poppy's little Irish pet x

[officialdiegorodriguez]

With each word that Henry uttered, his throat hoarse from the choked-out sobs that racked his body, it became all too clear to Diego just how much he’d fucked up by hopping on that plane. He hadn’t been thinking – not about Henry, not about anybody. He’d just known he was angry and needed to clear his head, to get the fuck out of there and be alone with his thoughts. It hadn’t ever occurred to him that Henry might be afraid. That Diego’s actions could have caused such an outwards spiral was incomprehensible to him and yet there he sat next to the boy he’d grown so fond of, watching as his hands trembled, eyes bloodshot, looking as though he’d just endured the worst few hours of his life. 

Yet even all that concern and fear that Henry had felt in the last twelve hours, it didn’t even begin to touch upon the truth. He’d suffered through far worse than Diego dipping out on him. He’d been through the unimaginable and Diego had forced him to relive it. 

“No, Hen, you can’t think like that,” Diego gasped, eyes blown wide by Henry’s honesty. As awful as what had happened to Stefan was, he couldn’t imagine having to carry the weight of what Henry had just told him. All that guilt must have been eating him up this entire time and Diego had no idea. 

Carding a hand through his hair, Diego felt helpless. Nothing he could say right now would bring Stefan back, and there wasn’t anything he could do to mend that wound for Henry. The only thing he could do was remind Henry that he was there, and he wasn’t going anywhere, that they’d be able to get through whatever shitstorm life threw at them. Maybe it was an empty promise – hell, he’d just hopped on a flight mid-tour over the slightest inconvenience – but he wasn’t so desperately for it true. He wanted to see this through with him. 

“Whatever Stefan was dealing with... Whatever shit’s going on in my head? That’s not you, babe. That’s the rest of them, the rest of this stupid, shitty world...” he shook his head, edging closer to the other boy on the sofa. He pressed his hand to Henry’s shoulder, squeezing gently in some dumb, misguided attempt to offer sympathy. He had no idea what to do with his hands, no clue what the right thing to say was. All he wanted was to offer him the comfort he needed, to prove to him that he wasn’t alone and that none of this was his fault. “You’re my number one fucking reason why all this shit is worth it, you hear me?” 

He could see Henry working to protest, a look of indignation settling onto his features as he shook his head, muttered Diego’s name in protest. But he meant what he said, and he’d spend the rest of his pathetic life trying to prove it to him if he had to. He wasn’t always brave, nor was he always honest with himself or the people he loved, but Henry Bly was the surest thing in his life. 

For the briefest moment, he thought he’d gotten through to him. Before he knew it, Henry’s mouth was against his, the taste of him that Diego had grown so used to mingled with damp, salty tears. He moved in to press a hand to the other man’s waist as he parted his lips, desperate and ready to accept the other man’s affection, to let him seek comfort in whatever way he needed it right now. But then Henry was pushing him away, features screwed up in frustration as he apologised repeatedly. 

“Hen, no, c’mon. It’s okay, honey. It’s alright,” he reassured him, free hand moving to cup the nape of his neck.  

His fingers tickled his skin, thumb gently tracing his jawline as he dipped his head carefully, pressing their foreheads together. He held him there, firm and unwavering as he pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to the corner of Henry’s mouth, a reminder that he was there and that everything was okay. That he still wanted him more desperately than either of them could begin to imagine. 

“I’m safe, okay? We’re safe. And you’re gonna stop apologising and you’re gonna let me hold you for the rest of the night, alright? I won’t hear any arguments, baby,” he whispered, gently scolding him. 

He heard Diego’s faint warning and nodded numbly. As much as he appreciated the effort that Diego was putting into being gentle right now, he didn’t want him to think it was necessary. He didn’t want the other man to treat him like he was something fragile and easy to break. Henry was meant to be the dependable one, the one that people came to when they needed someone to lean against, a shoulder to cry on. He wasn’t the one that usually needed comfort.

Saying that, he didn’t shy away when Diego wrapped his hand around his. His breath caught in the back of his throat when he felt Diego’s lips against his knuckles and he lifted his gaze to stare at the other man.

He was sure that he looked a sight right now, especially after catching a flight from the other side of the country. His hair was sticking up in all directions, he knew that to be true, and he could only imagine the mess of his face. Flushed with red-rimmed, watery eyes, his eyelashes most likely clumped together. He’d never been a particularly beautiful crier, not like his sister, Val, was. She had movie star tears, their mother used to say. When Val cried, the sight was so beautifully heartbreaking and tragic that it inspired tears in the onlooker’s eyes as well. When Henry cried, it just made people uncomfortable. Probably because he didn’t do it very often and when he did, it felt like he shouldn’t. A sobbing Henry Bly? There were few people in the world that knew quite what to do with that.

Amongst his eldest sister though, and then Sylvie who had found him locked in the under-the-stairs closet on the day of Stefan’s funeral, Diego Rodriguez was a wildcard in that category. He seemed to be doing everything he could to calm Henry down at that moment and Henry directed all of his attention to the other man listening with a pained chest to his words.

“I keep thinking I pushed him to do it. That he couldn’t see another way out because he thought I expected something from him that he couldn’t give me, but I never - D, I swear, I’d never…” A trembling breath left him again as he pressed his knuckles harshly into his lips.

He wanted to make it clear to Diego that whatever the two of them were right now, whatever they might end up possibly being, Henry wasn’t the kind of person to drag someone out of the closet. He liked to think that he had never pressured Stefan into coming out, would never dream of it. But what if how much he’d loved the other boy had been pressure enough? Stefan had thought it was a burden, something heavy to carry. He was surprised that that particular realisation hadn’t scared Diego off yet.

“Diego…” he said softly, shaking his head. He knew that the other man meant well with his words, and he appreciated them, he really did. However, he couldn’t help but think that Diego didn’t really know what he was talking about. He’d only seen the good parts of Henry’s love, the parts that playfully wrestled with him underneath tangled hotel room bedsheets and left hidden bells on Poppy’s Animal Crossing island to surprise her. He hadn’t seen the jagged parts of Henry’s love, the parts that spilled over like slivers of glass because of the muchness of it. 

Henry’s parents had always praised him for how he regulated his emotions, even from a young age. Sitting on Diego’s couch right now though, he thought that was a woefully inaccurate assessment of his feelings. He didn’t feel like he was skilled at holding them at bay. Some days, Henry felt incapable of holding any feeling back at all, although he made sure to dampen them down out of necessity. 

Today, after a cross-country flight and a burst of fear that he hadn’t felt in years, he wasn’t sure that he could hold any of it back any longer.

He leaned in and quickly pressed his lips to Diego’s. A warm mouth against a warm mouth. He screwed his eyes shut, salty tears falling from them and spilling down his cheeks as his hands came up to gently push the other man’s shoulders back, as if they had a different brain than his mouth did.

Pulling back with a soft, agonised groan, Henry shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I didn’t… Fuck,” he cursed.

[officialdiegorodriguez]

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It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to.

[officialdiegorodriguez]

@officialdiegorodriguez: @notteddyswims @.talkvalentina Kinky @henrybly

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Came to pick up Olly from work way too early. Quite literally in the dog house.

[officialdiegorodriguez]

TEXTING: ARIADNE

Diego: Hen says it's your birthday? Have a good one! x

[officialdiegorodriguez]

TEXTING: MARLEY Diego: Yeah... Diego: Always here if you need anything, babe. x

TEXTING: DIEGO Marley: cool! glad we had this really great non-weird talk