A/N: Everything important in the summary. Just something I wrote at an airport, nothing big, nothing dramatic, simple drabble.
If you know Arthur Kirkland -you don't even have to know him that well- , you know that he's not used to things being different. Sure, he accepts change, but he doesn't really like it that much.
But sometimes, change is good - hence we actually have the word "improve" in our dictionaries. That said, Arthur, being the cynic (or at least, he acts like one) that he is, doesn't really use that word very often.
This is one of those times where change is good. But Arthur can't help but feel weird about all of this. He wasn't used to feeling this...free. He used to feel so absolutely shit during these times- the pounding headache, the urge to kill himself, the unstoppable flow of tears and helpless whines...and those were all gone. Instead, it was now just this unease feeling of uncertainty.
His boss still gave him the holidays as usual, "Just in case,"he had said. So, Arthur spent the days catching up on the telly he missed, as well as reading a few of his favourite books. The weird feeling did tingle him, but he wasn't bothered much.
And before he knew it, July 4th came. On Arthur's desk was an invitation that had been sitting there since June 27th. A smartly dressed Arthur picked it up and studied it for a bit, then carefully slipped it into his pocket, before leaving his house for America.
"Time to see how these parties are like," he murmured to himself. "Bet it's shit."
Arthur had been in the know of the existence of such parties for over two centuries. But he could not bear to go to a single one of them, due to his physical and mental condition. Last year, however, a very noisy American appeared at Arthur's doorstep on July 4th, and things changed. Actually that was an understatement. Arthur's world had simply turned upside-down. Long story short: He is now in a steady long-distance relationship. To be frank, Arthur couldn't believe that so much has changed within a year.
Arthur groaned at the decorations in front of Alfred's house. Music was blasting from within the house. The intense lighting blazed with various colours to the extent they almost lit up the night sky, and seriously? That many banners and flags? That American just likes to over-do stuff.
Sighing, he pressed the doorbell, and the music stopped abruptly. The door immediately swung open, and Alfred was standing there, beaming at Arthur. "Hey," Alfred grinned, looking slightly nervous. And that made Arthur a bit nervous as well, especially when it became so quiet all of a sudden. "Hi," he replied. "May I come in?"
"Yeah, sure. Ya ready for the most AWESOME party ever? This way." Arthur followed him. The unease crept on him after walking for a few steps in silence. "Er, Alfred? It's weird if you stop the music every time someone arrives, you know."
"I know." And at that exact moment, they stepped into Alfred's living room, and Alfred shifted himself so that Arthur's view is not blocked.
It was not what Arthur expected. Judging from the decorations outside, and what he had been hearing for the past two centuries, this is definitely not Alfred's birthday party. Alfred's birthday party was supposed to be loud and flashy with all the countries mulling around. Before his eyes was only Alfred's living room as usual, with no one else in the room but them. "Huh?" He couldn't help but ask.
"I realized, now that we're, you know, together, I didn't want a party anymore," began Alfred. "I just wanna spend my birthday with you, just the two of us, chilling, and stuff. Tony is staying with his alien friends, so it's really just me and you."
Arthur chuckled. Seems like he's not the only one with a change in July 4th routines. "And you thought you'd just blast some music and decorate your front door as a disguise of all this, eh?" Alfred shrugged.
"It sounded like a good plan in my head. Like, surprising you and all that." He gestured towards a couple of DVDs. "Do you wanna cuddle and watch a film? Ooh, the Titanic! Maybe that one, eh? You just came from England to America! That's a good reason to watch it!"
As if the two of them hadn't watched that bloody movie a couple hundred times already. At the thought of spending Independence Days in the future like this, with Alfred, content with each other's company, Arthur smiled. "Sounds splendid."