Okay. First of all: This was written for a really good friend :D I'm a day late but I wanted this to be super good, so Happy Birthday, Rachel~! :D

Two: I kind of left the relationship between Arthur and Alfred to be up to the reader. Obviously, they are together, but you get to decide if they're just going out, married, whatever.

Three: Genevieve is Monaco. Yeah.

Four: I'll shut up. Enjoy~

The lights kind of created this dusty look. The inside of the smallish building was loud from the sound of many people speaking from every corner of it. A soft hand reached under the table and brushed against the hand of the man across. Another moment later and the soft hand found itself wrapped around Alfred's rougher hand. Above the table, bright blue eyes met soft green ones, and for a moment, the two of them forgot where they were.

But only for a moment.

A familiar French accented voice punctured their ears and broke their eye contact.

Arthur shook his head quickly in an attempt to regain himself. He kept his hand around Alfred's though.

His head turned towards Francis, who was sitting across the table from him as well, beside Alfred, "What'd you say, frog?" The nickname wasn't meant to be mean, as Francis quickly learned after first being called it. It was simply a name that Arthur had become fond of for Francis after hearing he actually liked the taste of frog legs.

A sigh passed from the lips of the Frenchman, 'Oh mon, were you so into each other that you couldn't hear me speaking to you? Is that even possible?"

Arthur caught Alfred rolling his eyes from the corner of his own. He found it much more difficult than it should've been to suppress a chuckle.

Ignoring this, Francis went on with repeating what he had earlier said. "Could you please stop having eye sex with each other while we're trying to have dinner? I did offer to pay, did I not?"

Blue eyes found themselves rolling once more as Alfred retorted, "Oh come on! You're one to talk, aren't ya? You've probably already mentally undressed your date multiple times, huh?"

Both Genevieve and Francis felt their faces light up.

Francis was about to speak and attempt to deny the accusations made against him, but Genevieve, being the quick thinker that she was, managed to start speaking first. "As it were, though I'm flattered, I'm not his date." She smiled, "He's much more like a brother to me, actually." Her blue eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she drew her hand up to her face to push her glasses back up.

Francis's face fell for just a moment before he cheered up again. It was such a quick change of emotions that no one had even caught it.

Arthur, back where he was sitting, began to mumble something about Francis doing a great job at putting together this "double date." Alfred, who had been sitting beside the Frenchman, pat Francis's back, "Oh man! That sucks! You just got brotherzoned on a date!"

A soft chuckle escaped from Francis's mouth, "Oh, it's alright, I suppose there are other fish in the sea, as you Americans say, oui? And being the older brother of this lovely woman isn't too bad at all!"

Even though the red had faded away from Francis's cheeks, Genevieve's blush began to return again. Clearing her throat she changed offered up a new topic to the dinner table. One that was, by her standards, much more dinner appropriate.

After dinner, the friends gave their goodbyes out in the cold night.

Genevieve had truly done her best at trying to convince her new "big brother" that she was entirely capable of walking home on her own. Francis, however, was as gentlemanly as ever and knew quite well that it wasn't the safest thing for a young woman as elegant as her to be on her own this late at night, even if she was just going to walk home.

So they were the first to leave, holding each other's hands as they walked off.

When the two were out of the sight, Arthur suddenly placed a quick kiss on Alfred's cheek. Just as soon as Alfred turned to look at Arthur, the other man was already walking away.

A pout took over the American's lips and he began running after him, "Don't just leave without saying anything! Wait up!" When he caught up, which didn't take long, he simply walked beside the other.

A slight smile crossed Arthur's lips. His hand reached for Alfred's hand. Alfred noticed and quickly complied. "I was just wondering if you'd even noticed if I walked away from you, my love."

When Alfred frowned with some adorable puppy eyes that stared up at Arthur, the Englishman couldn't help but laugh a little. The younger man was just too cute, after all.

"You just seemed to be really distracted, as if you were daydreaming. I wouldn't really leave you behind, of course. Honestly, have more faith in me."

The American moved himself closer to Arthur and allowed himself to rest his head on the shoulder of the other blonde as they walked, "I'm sorry."

"There's absolutely no need to apologize, love."

During the walk under the stars, they told each other sweet little things. Alfred's cheeks had managed to become a nice pink shade by the time the two of them had reached Arthur's car. It was a feat that Arthur had always excelled at.

The drive back to Arthur's home was unusually quiet. Yet, there is a reason behind everything that happens. Alfred had quickly noticed that Arthur had this tired look plastered onto his face. He was silently thankful for that fact. He was also really tired, and although he loved speaking with Arthur, he wanted nothing more than to collapse into Arthur's large bed and fall asleep.

Which was exactly what both men did the moment they returned to Arthur's home. Arthur's arms found themselves around Alfred, pulling him closer. They both easily fell asleep.

Arthur awoke the following morning to the feeling of soft lips against his neck. An involuntary groan managed to escape his mouth.

His emerald eyes blinked a few times to remove the rest of the sandman's magic that lingered in them still. He felt hands sliding up under his shirt before he could see it. Another soft groan left his mouth, "Alfred… Not now…" He needed to put a stop to this before it got too far.

Alfred stopped when Arthur spoke pretty quickly. He looked up at Arthur with his needy blue eyes.

That look almost caused Arthur to give in. Almost. Actually, if he didn't have a surprise planned for Alfred to mark their one year anniversary, he probably would've let Alfred continue doing whatever it was that he pleased.

With a chuckle, Arthur pulled Alfred's face to his and kissed him for a moment. "We'll have plenty of time for that later, seeing as how you actually managed to wake up before me, for once. I have something special planned for today though."

Alfred still looked a bit disappointed, but he didn't mind waiting. He had learned from experience that Arthur's surprises for him were always the best, except when it was food, although he'd never dare to say that to anyone.

He got off the Englishman and sat up in bed. Arthur swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. His arms were thrust into the air as he stretched. With a smile directed towards Alfred, he announced, "I'll make breakfast, okay?"

Alfred returned the smile and sluggishly got out of the bed as well. While the taste of Arthur's food hadn't been improving as of late, he did seem to have developed an immunity to it. He also knew very well that a good portion of Arthur's pride resided in his ability to cook. As someone who enjoyed being a hero, Alfred couldn't even imagine hurting Arthur's pride that way. (Although it might've also had something to do with his love for Arthur, but you'd never get him to admit that that was the real reason behind letting Arthur cook.)

Alfred was still very sluggish all through breakfast. Arthur had cooked some eggs and ham. (They weren't green, mind you, just burnt.)

After the dishes had been done, Arthur told Alfred a little bit about the surprise he had for him, "I want to take you somewhere important to me today. Is that alright?"

Alfred grinned widely, "Of course it's okay!" He swept Arthur off his feet suddenly and kissed his cheek, "So where're you gonna take me?"

Arthur felt his cheeks turn pink, "It's a surprise, Al. I'm not going to tell you. Now come on, put me down!"

A laugh echoed from Alfred's mouth, "No way! You know you like this!"

"I most certainly do not!"

"But you're bluuuuushiiiiiiing~!"

With a sigh, Arthur allowed himself to relax into the arms of the other man.

"Now pleeeeease tell me where you're gonna to take me?"

It was Arthur's turn to let out a soft laugh, "Not a chance! It won't be a surprise if I tell you now, you know."

A pout took over Alfred's expression, but he gave up, "You said it's somewhere important to you, can you at least tell me why?"

"Nope. It kind of gives away where we're going. You'll see soon, so relax."

"Oh come on! Give me something! Anything! This is torture, Artie!"

He smiled, "Okay, okay. You'll be the first person I've ever shown this place to. That's how important it is to me, got it?"

His cheeks turned red, "Seriously, dude?"

"Mhm."

The stronger American man put down the fragile Englishman, "I… Thanks in advanced then!"

A smile was flashed to Alfred, "Now come on. Let's get ready."

A shower and the time it took for Arthur to approve of both his appearance and Alfred's appearance later, the two of them were set to go. The hopped into Arthur's car and began driving away from civilization.

Alfred was personally starting to feel nervous. The setting that existed outside of the car was starting to look just like in a horror movie. Actually, everything about the situation was like a horror movie. The only difference was they skipped a few steps. Rather than starting out in a group, and the couple heading off later, the couple, being them, went away from civilization all alone. And that's how the first to die lose their lives. They get alone and have sex when…

"Can we go hooooome?"

Arthur looked away from the road for just a moment at his love, surprised at the sudden outburst, "What? Why? We're almost there!"

"Because we're going to have sex and die," The American man whined loudly.

Arthur stared at him, dumbfounded, "What on Earth are you going on about?"

"Dude! This is turning into a horror movie!"

"How did such a ridiculous idea even find its way into your head? You haven't seen a horror movie in at least a month!"

"Because you won't let me watch any!"

"With good reason too!"

He sighed and calmed down, "We're not going home, and we're not going to die, okay? You'll like it, I hope."

A grin covered Alfred's face, "You didn't say we're not having sex!" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Arthur felt himself grow red with embarrassment. He cleared his throat and stared straight ahead at the road, "Well…"

He laughed, "Score!"

Arthur's eyes rolled, and he pulled up to the side of the road. The car was put into park and he proudly announced, "We're here!"

Blue eyes peeked out of the window to see that they were basically nowhere. Outside of the window was nothing but a forest. They weren't even in some sort of parking place for hiking.

The forest was so dark. Alfred frowned when he found he couldn't even see that far into it. Now he was really starting to get scared, "But this is nowhere!"

Arthur, however, was already out of the car and walking over to Alfred's side. He opened the car door and smiled, "Come on. Don't you trust me?"

He squinted and stared up at Arthur, "You're not planning on trying to trick me into helping you summon a demon, right?"

"Of course not!" Although that's not a bad idea… "Come on!"

"Then yeah, I trust you." He jumped out of the car and onto the dirt beside it. "So, where is here, huh?"

"You'll see. Just follow me." Arthur began to walk into the dark forest.

Alfred frowned before he started following. "Stop being so mysterious! It's starting to scare me!"

Arthur let him catch up and kissed his cheek once he did, "Sorry."

It wasn't an especially long walk before Arthur stopped suddenly. Alfred bumped right into him from behind.

He looked around to see nothing but more trees. Now Alfred was even more confused than before, and the confusion only grew further when Arthur suddenly started groping at the air.

"What're you doing? You honestly just get creepier and creepier, don't you?"

"You'll see," he repeated once again. "You've just got to trust me."

And that was when something truly magnificent and breath taking happened. Arthur pushed on the air, though Arthur was actually seeing a door, and the space seemed to shift.

Through that one little space, or door, depending on whose perspective you were looking at it through, was an entirely different scene. Rather than the dark green and brown forest that surrounded them, Alfred and Arthur both now saw a bright, wide open, purple field.

Alfred couldn't keep himself from grinning, and this made Arthur grin as well. He was glad that the man he loved was very much interested in the place he was taking him.

"Dude, what is this place?"

"This is where the friends that I have that you can't see come from. If we go through this door-"

At which point Alfred felt compelled to interrupt, "What door?"

A short puff of air left his mouth. "It's a door that you can't see, but it's there. You'll be able to see everything soon though. There's a village just around the corner through the door. There's a tavern that's also an inn that's expecting us."

"Tavern? This sounds like a video game world!"

A soft chuckle came from Arthur, "Well, I suppose it does share it's similarities to your fictional video game worlds. Now go on."

The two of them went through the door. Once inside this new world, Arthur closed the door behind them to ensure that no humans accidentally stumbled into this world. Almost immediately, some fairies approached Arthur and greeted him with tiny little hugs.

He laughed happily and greeted them in return. Then he gestured to Alfred, "This is him. I guess you kind of knew that though, since you've seen him before, but now you guys can talk!"

They flew from Arthur to Alfred and gave him some tiny little fairy hugs as well.

Alfred was too surprised to do much else but awkwardly wave to the small, flying people. After they had gone, the shocked Alfred looked at Arthur, "So they're real! Like, you always said they were, but this is the first time I've seen them!"

Arthur frowned, "Did you think I was mad? Or perhaps a liar?"

"well no, but try to see it from my view…"

He thought for a moment, "Okay. I see your point. Now, let's go." He led Alfred from the fields and into the little village nearby.

Alfred followed quickly, "Where're we going to go now? What's there to eat here?"

He laughed, "I guess it is nearing lunch, isn't it?"

Alfred nodded eagerly, and his stomach growled in agreement.

Arthur led him to the tavern that was expecting them. They were seated a table and a short, rough looking woman came to their table. She had hints of what Alfred assumed was a Scottish accent. "Ah, Arthur. Good ter see ah agin. Ale's on tha house t'day. Want some?"

Arthur shook his head and smiled politely, "As wonderful as that sounds, I'll have to pass."

With a nod she turned to the American, "And would yah like some?"

He smiled happily, free alcohol, "Sure! Why not?"

She scribbled it down onto some parchment and without looking up, she asked if they'd like something to eat.

Arthur politely declined, "I'm not all that hungry, Hilda. Thank you, but I'll eat later."

Alfred had to ask what there was to eat. After a whole bunch of food items that Alfred didn't recognize were listed, Arthur felt the need to step in after he saw Alfred's confused face, "Just get him something with pork. Whatever is the most popular."

The dwarf woman named Hilda took down the note and left the table.

Alfred looked across at Arthur, "Are you sure you're not hungry?"

He just chuckled, "Trust me, you won't be hungry soon either. The ale's good though. The dwarves excel at that."

Before Alfred could even ask what he meant by that, a blood curdling scream from outside was heard. Arthur quickly jumped up and knocked his chair backwards.

A small fairy came rushing in, "Arthur! Help! The goblin's have returned!"

Without another word from anyone, Arthur and the tiny fairy had ran outside.

Alfred shot up from his seat and chased after the two shortly after, refusing to be left behind.

Outside, the blue sky was now orange from flames that were eating now eating buildings. Elves, dwarves, and fairies were all evacuating the small village.

Just on the edge of the village was a small group of slimy green creatures. They were small, but they had a few larger features about them, like their noses and ears. On their belts they had little daggers, which to them might've been swords. Behind them were large catapults that were releasing fireballs onto the village.

Arthur quickly turned to look at Alfred, "Go find somewhere safe to stay right now."

The younger man shook his head in defiance, "No way! I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to help you!"

"Then help me by finding a safe place to hide so I don't have to worry about you!"

"But-!"

"No. Buts."

The harshness that rang from Arthur's voice compelled Alfred to listen. He quickly planted a kiss on Arthur's lips, pivoted on his heel, and ran off in the opposite direction.

Arthur on the other hand, began to chant magical spells to attack the goblins with.

He had known they were a growing problem for this village recently, but he hadn't thought they'd show up while he was with Alfred. Now, they were not only going to pay for harming the village and its people, but also for ruining his time with Alfred.

Alfred was a bit in the fields of purple again when he stopped to regain his breath. Almost as soon as he stopped to think, he realized something.

He was a hero! He needed to go back and help Arthur. Although Arthur didn't want to worry about him being hurt, he was now worried about Arthur's wellbeing.

He quickly forgot about this fatigue and began running back to the village that now appeared to be almost entirely in flames.

The smoke was getting pretty thick. He pulled up his shirt to cover his mouth and nose, just to help him out a bit.

He had done very well at managing to avoid the goblin attackers when he nearly tripped over something. Looking down near his feet, he saw Arthur lying in a puddle of red liquid. Instantly, his eyes widened and he dropped down to his knees. Now that he was closer, he could see that there was a dagger sticking out of Arthur's chest.

He could barely get Arthur's name out of his dry mouth. When he did, it was scratchy sound that made his throat burn.

Arthur's eyes shot open quickly at the sound of Alfred's voice saying his name. Tears filled his eyes as he managed to choke out, "You fool!" Smoke filled his lungs. "I thought I told you to get away! I thought you were safe!"

"Idiot!" Alfred threw back quickly, "I couldn't just leave you to fight alone! Look what I did by leaving you... I'm supposed to be the hero, Artie. I never should've left you to be hurt."

Arthur's lips twisted into a frown, "You can't be the hero. I won't allow it."

"And why not?! Why can't I be the hero?!"

Arthur's green eyes softened, "Because, my love, the heroes are the ones that hurt the most."

Alfred leaned down and gave Arthur a long kiss, "But that's why I have to be the hero. So no one else has to."

Arthur's eyes teared up as Alfred stood up once more, "I'll come back for you. I'll be your hero. I'll protect you, okay?"

Arthur saw his fist clench before he ran off.

His eyes began to drift shut and he let out his last breaths, "I love you. Come back."

Alfred ran towards where he remembered first seeing the goblins and their catapults. Now that most of the buildings were burning and everyone was either dead or gone, they stood in a circle, cheering and drinking ale that they'd stolen.

Seeing them like that, just enjoying themselves, it tormented Alfred. His face twisted with anger. They saw him running up to them, and they weren't afraid. They actually seemed pleased at the chance to kill some more.

As they grabbed the daggers they carried, Alfred unclenched his fists before clenching them again. This was the only weapon he needed.

One goblin charged at him quickly with an outstretched arm. The dagger, however, missed its mark as Alfred grabbed the goblin's wrist and twisted it until it broke. There was a strange obviously inhuman cry that escaped from its mouth. He picked up the slime dripping creature and easily tossed him to the side without any hesitation.

The goblins were much smarter than they initially appeared though. They changed their attack approach. Rather than attacking one at a time, they surrounded Alfred and pointed their daggers at him.

Alfred stopped moving and looked around himself. With a grin on his face and an unusual bright light from his eyes, he easily said, "Let's play."

At that, as if they could understand English, they all rushed at him. Though he could feel the sharp pain of the daggers penetrating his skin, the adrenaline that had built up kept him from paying much attention to it.

Easily, seeing as how the creatures weren't as skilled as he thought they should've been to get Arthur down, he managed to get a dagger from one of them. Things proceeded in a blur from that point on. He felt like he lost control of his own actions.

It was only when the goblins all lay in a puddle of green blood that things began to slow down again and he felt pain. He choked out a gasp and fell roughly onto his knees.

The physical pain hurt, a lot, but it didn't compare to the emotional pain he felt when he remembered that he left Arthur again. He got caught up in the moment of revenge, and now Arthur was all alone.

That thought struck enough pain through him that he forced himself up onto his feet once more. Slowly, Alfred limped back to where Arthur lay motionless.

He whispered quietly, "Bad time and place to be sleeping, Artie…"

He collapsed once more, this time on his stomach. He felt his life draining out of him and out into the world. Without realizing it, he found himself saying, "We were supposed to have sex before we died. How'd you manage to screw this up, love? Haven't you seen a horror movie before?"

He drifted out of consciousness.

Francis kissed Genevieve's cheek. Or, he tried, at least. Genevieve shifted away from him, "Come on, Francis. This isn't really the best place for those kinds of gestures."

"But there's nothing to do. I mean, I am sad about those two, but thins will turn out okay, won't they?"

"I repeat myself. Even if those things are true, here's not the right place."

Francis was about to say something in return when they both heard a groan.

They looked over at the hospital beds and were surprised to find that not only had one of the men woken up, but both of them were waking up.

Arthur quietly took in his surroundings and recalled the last events he could. Alfred, on the other hand, opted to ask many questions out loud that were directed to no one in particular. "Where am I? Why am I here? What happened?"

Francis, once again, had tried to speak only to be interrupted by Arthur, "So you're okay. Good."

Alfred looked over to his left, ignoring the pain that came with it. His face lit up, "Artie! Ack!" His throat was still feeling very scratchy from all the smoke he'd inhaled. "You're okay! Man, I was so worried!"

Francis took Genevieve's hand, which she allowed, and walked over to the beds with her.

"How wonderful! You've both awoken at the same time. You two really are meant for each other."

Arthur broke his eyes away from Alfred, "Can you tell me how we got here?" These hospitals were much different from the infirmaries that existed in the other world. These ones were much more advanced and used technology rather than potions. He also realized that if he had still been in the other infirmaries, Francis and Genevieve wouldn't be there.

Genevieve was the one to explain the situation, "Everyone knew you were taking a trip, but Matthew had been worried when he was on his way to visit Feliciano and saw your car just parked on the side of the road. He got some people together and they went searching for you. They found you and Alfred lying on the ground in the forest very seriously injured. What were you even doing out there?"

Arthur took no time in coming up with an excuse, "Hiking. We were hiking."

"You got my brother to go hiking?" The four in the room turned to the door to find Matthew standing in the doorframe. Matthew walked in with a tray carrying several glasses waters. "That's an amazing thing to do. How'd you convince him?"

Alfred smiled weakly, "Hey, bro."

Genevieve looked back at the injured men, "Anyways, do you know who your attackers were? Or at least got a look at them? The police want to speak with you as soon as they can."

Arthur lifted an eyebrow, "Attacker?"

"You honestly don't remember? You had to have been attack, or that's what the doctors said. You both inhaled something similar to smoke and were covered in stab wounds. Those don't just happen in the forest for no reason. There wasn't even traces of a fire."

Alfred frowned, "I don't remember being attacked." From the corner of his eye, Alfred saw Arthur glare at him. No one else noticed though.

"I just remember hiking. I don't even remember blacking out."

Arthur sighed from relief inwardly. He was worried that Alfred might say something about the other world.

When they were released from the hospital, the first thing that Alfred bugged Arthur about was returning to visit that other world.

"You really want to go back after what happened? I was a bit afraid that you'd be traumatized and wouldn't want to go back, truthfully."

He laughed, "Of course I wanna go back, dude! That place was super amazing! And I never got to try the food!"

Arthur's eyes rolled before he looked at Alfred carefully, "I suppose we can go back, but Al…"

Alfred looked back into Arthur's eyes, "Yeah?"

His lips pressed against Alfred's for a moment. He smiled, "Thanks for being my hero."