-Dreaming With a Broken Heart-
Summary: Many people have childhood friends. I had one too. The only difference is that I was the only one who could see him. USUK O/S
A/N: I was watching the Smurfs on my TV one day and I remembered how the Smurfs replace some words with something similar to 'Smurf' and I'm like, "What if a child Alfred did that?" Then, I began thinking even more. And it eventually came to this long-ass one-shot. The title comes from John Mayer's 'Dreaming With a Broken Heart' you'll understand why I chose this song as the title later on. But as of now, the song is just so beautiful (to me) and fits the situation perfectly later on. I recommend you listening to it later C: and to those who know the song already, you will probably know why before that part of this story.
Lol Arthur POV again, well; sort of. xD I love writing through his thoughts for some reason. But anyways, Normal POV= Present time, Arthur POV= flashbacks. Oh and I'm going a bit off of my comfort zone of romance/humor. There will be humor, but I plan for this to be more of a drama fic.
Line breaks/ [#] = age change since this will go from age 8-present. I will do my usual scene change with the description. I don't know why, but I just like making the scene changes flow instead of using line breaks now... Oh and Artie is like, a bit older than 23 since I want him to already have a job in the present *shot* There's still the four-year difference between them, too.
Anyways, Enjoy!
ALSO, thank you to those that have read "That One Awkward Moment" so far 3 this one-shot is mark my 10th update of it, showing my improvement on commitment. You'll see another one-shot when I get to chapter 20!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, the Smurfs, Dreaming With a Broken Heart by John Mayer or anything else. I just own this plot.
Warning: Long fanfiction. Lol my one-shots seem to be long. *stares at 'The Present' fanfic.* and this is in AU
[8]
"Mornin'!"
"What the bloody-!"
I am Arthur Kirkland. Currently, I am at the age of twenty-eight and work in an office. But I will talk more about that part later. After I have told you my ordeal. Starting from the beginning. Which is here.
I was eight years old at the time when I woke up on that Monday morning, which was my first day of third grade. I was nervous since I had advanced to a new grade and the fact that I had moved to the city from a small village didn't help me either. I would be new to the school. Not knowing of anyone who was there since my few friends were at the other school. Not expecting of what it would be like; my classmates, the teachers, the food— anything.
I was already nervous enough for it and having some strange kid in my room- who I never met before, by the way, and greeting me a good morning as if he did so regularly really didn't help.
"What blood!" The boy asked frantically as his eyes began darting everywhere. I kept staring at him. Not only because he was in my room and was a stranger to me, but that he was floating. In mid air, I may add.
I had my blanket up to my chin as he was still floating above me. I was still shocked, so I was silent. But I managed to speak up. "W-who are you!"
He blinked before floating down so his feet can now touch the floor. He smiled before stretching his arm and gave a sign for a hand shake. "Alfred F. Jones, hero at your service!"
I kept silent, and he seemed to notice. "Aww, I won't bite! You can stop hiding."
At that, for some odd reason, I believed him. I slowly began getting out of my covers by taking one arm out as the other still held the blanket up so it could still cover me. "A-Arthur Kirkland."
Alfred beamed at me. "Well, Artie, I like your accent!"
Since I was so focused on my own well being, I didn't really bother to catch Alfred's accent. It didn't sound English at all, so I assumed that he was American.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "First of all, it's Arthur; not 'Artie', secondly... Thank you."
"No problem-o Arti- I mean Arthur!" Alfred saluted. I raised a brow before I gathered my clothing mum had set out the night before off of the edge of my bed and started to walk to the bathroom in my room, only for him to follow me.
When I entered the bathroom, I closed the door shut before placing my clothing where the water wouldn't reach before bruising my teeth. After I ran the toothbrush through the faucet water, I shook some of the water off as I reached for my toothpaste. "Do you use Colgate?"
My heart skipped a beat and I dropped my toothbrush in the sink. I groaned as I got it and began washing it again. "How did you even get in here?"
Alfred stared at me then through a glance at the door, after he did so, he faced me as he pointed to the door with his thumb. "The door."
I raised a brow before putting on a bit of toothpaste on my toothbrush. "I didn't see it open."
"I walked through it," Alfred stated, still smiling. "Pretty cool, huh?"
I didn't respond as I was brushing my teeth thoroughly. And talking while brushing your teeth is just like talking with your mouth full; it's just rude. After I finished doing so, I turned to Alfred and sighed. "Would you please get out so that I can get ready for school?"
"Oh! Bathroom... Privacy. That's right...! Well... Erm... I'll talk to ya later then!" At that, he headed for the door and walked through it, only for me to stare. But I shook it off so I could get ready for school. I could think about it another time.
I stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed in a white dress shirt, covered by a dark grey sweater vest along with dark brown trousers. All I needed to do now was put on my socks and shoes and eat breakfast before I had to catch the bus. As I closed the bathroom door, I turned around, only to face Alfred.
I jumped back and accidentally slammed the door shut. I growled as I walked to my desk chair to retrieve my messenger bag. "Don't scare me like that!"
Alfred held his arms up in defense. "Jeez... I'm sorry. Well... Um... Is this your first day or something?"
"Yes," I answered as I grabbed my bag and placed it on the floor beside me as I began putting my socks and shoes on. "It's actually my first day in this school too, actually."
"Wow," He whistled. "Why'd you move?"
I twitched at his grammar, but just shook it off. "Mum got a better job and dad wanted to get a fresh start, so he figured it would be in the city. Why did you show up in my room?"
Alfred snorted out a laugh before shrugging. "I don't know, actually. I just woke up here, saw you, so I figured, 'Why not greet him?' Until I get home, I guess I'm here with you."
"Tch. You may have to ask first," I scoffed.
"Fine; can I stay here?"
"You can, but you may not."
Alfred groaned. "Fine! May I stay here?"
My lips curled up a bit into a satisfied smile. "We'll see."
Alfred grinned as I stood up and headed for the door, where he had began to follow me. I walked downstairs to the dining room and sat down as I got a plate for my breakfast.
"Morning, Arthur," Mum greeted me with a smile as she pecked my lips.
"Morning mum," I replied.
"I heard you yelling a bit and the door slam from here," She said, worried. "Are you alright?"
Realising what she meant, I nodded. I should just tell her the truth, knowing my own mum, she would find out anyways.
"Yes but, I woke up to find something peculiar," I responded.
Dad looked over from reading his newspaper and raised a brow. "What was it?"
"I saw this little boy, he looked four years younger than me," I replied. "He's sitting next to me, actually."
"That's me!" Alfred chirped on the seat next to me as he swayed his legs back and forth.
Mum and dad looked at each other for a bit, their faces blank before they smiled. Dad spoke up first. "What's his name?"
"Alfred. Alfred F. Jones," I answered.
Alfred nodded. "I'm from America!"
"He says he's from America," I added.
Mum nodded. "Oh, how did he get here?"
"He doesn't know either actually, Alfred said that he just showed up in my room," I told her before I sipped my tea.
"Son, I think you have an imaginary friend," Dad concluded.
My head shot up. "What's that?"
"Well, only you can see them," Mum explained. "As opposed to fairies or the like since on that matter, some people can see them. We can't see Alfred, or your brothers; only you can."
"Oh..." I muttered. I looked over my shoulder and saw Alfred frowning. I sighed and patted his back. "Stiff upper lip."
"Okay class, you might not have seen him before, well that's because he's new to this school!"
I was at school at that time. I walked in the class as Alfred sat down on an empty desk, only moving himself to somewhere else when he saw the seat get taken. My teacher had gotten me to introduce myself at the front of the class.
"Erm..." I mumbled. "My name is Arthur Kirkland."
"Say hello to Arthur, class!"
"Hello Arthur!" The class greeted in unison. They might have noticed, but I noticed that Alfred was the loudest, even if he did knew who I was already.
"Alright Arthur, you may sit down now," She informed me, and I nodded before I promptly walked over to my desk. As I did, she began talking about various things that would happen in 3rd grade such as us being older and that we get to have more privileges. The class was happy about that, but they became unamused when she mentioned things like long division being part of our lessons.
Alfred also grumbled in disappointment. I wondered why he did because the teacher wouldn't give him any work in the first place.
The class passed by with us introducing ourselves and the like by going through each student by row. It was kind of like what I did, but we were required to tell three major facts about ourselves. When my turn came up, my head shot up from my notebook, which I couldn't resist doodling on.
"Arthur, it's your turn," My teacher informed me, and I nodded.
"Well... Like I said before, my name is Arthur and I just moved here," I stated. My teacher nodded. "Well, I have three older brothers, but they're scattered around the United Kingdom; one of them is in Ireland."
"Thirdly?"
Alfred smiled and nudged my shoulder. I sighed deeply. "I seemed to make an imaginary friend this morning; his name is Alfred."
The class remained silent. I honestly didn't have a clue as to why they were, but I assumed that it was because they were asking themselves, 'Has he gone mad? Honestly, an imaginary friend at this age?'
Well that's one way to spend the first day.
The day had surprisingly had gone by fast. At lunch, I made friends with a boy named Lukas from Norway who believed in similar creatures as I did and a polite boy from Japan named Kiku.
When I got on my bus (mum and dad were far too busy to pick me up) it began to rain. Alfred took the liberty of running in the rain as much as he can before the bus driver started to depart from the school. When Alfred walked in, he sat on the seat beside me, I immediately moved my bag.
"Woo! That was fun!" He laughed.
"Watch, you might catch a cold later on," I scolded.
Alfred only beamed at me as he made his statement. "I won't! I'm the hero after all!"
I merely nodded, yet I still didn't believe him.
The bus stopped only a block away from my house, apparently, they thought it would be better for an eight-year-old to wander around on a rainy day just because some crossing guards were around. I rolled my eyes at that logic as I stepped out.
Only to find out that I forgot to bring my umbrella.
I sighed deeply as I began walking through the rain as Alfred ran around it. "Alfred," I said sternly. "You might slip; stop running around so much."
"I won't!" He pouted.
After three minutes, I was almost home. I smiled inwardly since I could take a shower and dry off as mum and dad would come home in about thirty minutes.
As I was walking towards the gate, I saw a lizard zip its way to the other side of the sidewalk. From surprise, I ran jumped over it and ran forward. I regretted it when I felt my foot slip as I landed. Quickly, I tried to grab a hold of the fence, but it didn't help me. So, I managed to slip forward and scrape my knee.
"Arthur!" Alfred cried as he dashed over to me. "Jeez! And you told me to be careful!"
"Belt up!" I winced as I tried to stand up. With it raining, I could feel the water hit the scrape on my knee as I walked through the rain.
As I was about to open the gate, I stopped and leaned on the gate. My knee felt as if it was being burnt. "Ow..."
"Artie..." Alfred sighed as he attempted to reach the latch to open the gate. "C'mon, we gotta get that boo-boo a bandage!"
He began helping me to get in the house, where he had led me to the bathroom. Alfred got a towel and tossed it to me while he began climbing on the sink counter, looking for the first aid kit. He careful got off and he pulled out alcohol and some bandages. "Go wash your scrape in the tub."
I rose a brow as I sat back down from doing so; it hurt, but it was nothing compared to what he was about to do next. "How do you know first aid? You're only four."
Alfred simply smiled as he got a cotton ball and opened up a bottle of alcohol. "I'm a hero! That's why! Hold on... This might hurt a bit..."
Alfred got the cotton ball and dabbed it over my scrape. I winced in pain, but I held it in for him not to worry much more that he already had.
After he had successfully bandaged my knee, he had guided me to my room, where he got a pillow for my leg to rest on and pulled up the covers by floating up.
He patted my head after I felt him kiss my forehead. "Get well soon, Artie!"
From then on, I would believe him when he said that he was a hero. It wasn't much, as anyone would have done so, but... It was slightly different. I wasn't so sure why. But I just knew it was. I never admitted though.
But still, three years later, Alfred had still remained with me.
[11]
For the past three years, I had become used to Alfred waking me up every morning like an alarm clock instead of my alarm clock itself.
I was now in sixth grade and I was eleven at the time while Alfred was now seven. School had started recently. Alfred, who had wanted to try some of my homework, asked me to do some of them. I had agreed, but I wasn't going to let him do my actual homework. Instead, he had to write one for himself and to avoid strange questions; we had both agreed that a friend of mine wanted to try the assignment out for him, so he asked me to give the teacher his work.
Believe it or not, my teacher actually fell for it. When she did, Alfred snickered as I walked to my seat. I had tried to make it unnoticeable as I elbowed him by stretching my arm out. But Alfred only hit me back lightly at the back of my head. We paused before we laughed as he rubbed the side of his stomach while I rubbed the back of my head.
At the end of the class, she handed Alfred and I's homework as we exited out of her room. I held my homework by my right hand and Alfred's on my left.
I wasn't surprised at what either of us had received. I had an A while Alfred had a C. When he saw it, we turned a corner of an empty hallway; he grabbed his papers and slapped it with the back of his hand.
"C'mon! They have to be kidding me!" Alfred whined. "I totally didn't overuse the said words at all or any other words that we weren't supposed to use anyways!"
I cracked a small smile. "Alfred, I don't think the word 'smurfed' and the like count as actual replacements for the words."
"It counted for the Smurfs!" He cried.
"You aren't one of them," I had pointed out.
"Whatever," Alfred shrugged. "I still think it's a Grade A-plus paper!"
I rolled my eyes as a response. "Sure, sure..."
"Hey!" He huffed as he crossed his arms and began walking backwards so that he could face me. "If you believe in something so much, it might just come true!"
"You did not just quote the movie we watched yesterday," I sighed as we made another turn in the hallways.
"Shark Boy and Lava Girl was an awesome movie!" Alfred said defensively. "Why, I might even come true one day!"
I smiled a bit. "Truthfully, I would like that."
Alfred beamed at me before squeezing me into a tight hug. "Aw, Artie!"
"Off," I scolded and he backed off, still smiling as I opened the door, only to find my dad in the car, with a frantic look on his face.
I began walking to the car, surprised. "Dad, why aren't you with mum...?" I asked, but I only saw mummy in the front seat, panting heavily while having a tight grip on the arm rest and rubbing her stomach.
Then it came to me. It had already been about nine months since we found out that she was pregnant with a child; my little brother. Alfred however was still slightly confused. "Hey Artie, what happened to your mom?"
I ignored his question and asked mine. "H-her water broke?"
"Yes, your mother wanted me to pick you up first so that-" Dad began, but mum interjected.
"John! Just drive!" She cried. "Arthur, buckle up!"
I nodded as I got the seat belt and fastened up so that dad could start driving. Alfred tapped my shoulder. "Your mom's about to give birth?"
I nodded. And he looked at my parents, then back at me. "You're gonna have a little brother! Maybe if he can see me, we can all play together!"
"Alfred," I hissed underneath my breath. "We'll talk about this later, now is not the time."
We got to the hospital a few minutes later, where mum was placed on a gurney and was headed straight to when we arrived there. Dad and I had to change into these clothing when we entered mum's room first. When we got in there, dad rushed over to mum and began assuring her that everything will be fine, over and over again.
I was told to wait from a distance so that I wouldn't get in the way or anything, since they didn't want me to stray from the room. On the other side of the room, Alfred was trying to comfort me, but as he saw the blood around him, I needed to help him instead.
When I was nine, Alfred had confessed to me that he was really nervous that day when I scraped my knee. He answered that he had a fear of seeing blood when I asked him. After that, I began helping him get over his fear. So far he only got sick when he saw large amounts of blood. Such as this moment right now.
"Artie... I have a bad feeling... It's not just my stomach either..." Alfred groaned as he stopped vomiting and faced me.
"W-what is it?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"I dunno... But it's just bad," He answered before promptly resuming to vomit in the rubbish bin.
I heard a painful cry after that. "Mum!"
When I rushed over there, dad lifted me up before having a tight grip on mum's hand again. She tightened her grip on dad's hand again.
"I'm alright, love," She whispered before letting out another push.
"It's out!" One of the nurses cried before another nurse began to cut the umbilical cord off and got the baby washed. Mum sighed in relief as she heard those words.
After a few minutes, they brought in the baby back in the room, now washed off of the blood and covered with a blue blanket. The nurse held the baby gently before handing it over to mum. The nurse smiled as she did. "You have a very healthy boy, Mrs. Kirkland."
Mum smiled back, eyes half-lidded as she got the baby. She was still worn out from the labour. "Look, John, isn't he so cute?"
Dad nodded as he placed me down on the floor. "What should we name him?"
"Arthur, have any suggestions?" Mum asked me. My head shot up. I pondered for a moment before Alfred had tapped my shoulder and whispered a name in my ear. I stared at him with a confused look. "Why that?"
He shrugged. "I don't know; I just like how it sounds."
Mum smiled at me. "Did Alfred have any suggestions?"
I nodded. "He says he likes the name 'Peter'."
Dad nodded approvingly. "Peter... I like it."
"Yes... Peter Kirkland," Mum said as she stared into the baby as he opened his eyes for the first time. He had bright blue eyes. It had reminded me so much of Alfred. "Born on the second day of September..."
Mum looked as she was to drift asleep. "Mum?"
"No matter what happens, I will be watching over you all, remember that," She whispered as she closed her eyes.
Dad's eyes widened and he quickly took Peter under his arms as soon as he saw mum lose her grip. The nurses rushed into the room when they heard him. "Alice? Alice! No...no... Wake up!"
"Dad, calm down!" I told him. "Mum is just tired from the labour! She'll wake up!"
But she didn't.
We had remained in the hospital, waiting for the doctor to come in, smile and say that she would wake up in the morning.
But he didn't.
All he did was walk out of the room, and told us what happened to mum. That was the first time I saw dad cry so much. And not through tears of joy, but tears full of pain, hurt, and confusion. I had cried too, and Alfred had cried with us.
A week after mum's death and Peter's birth that mum's funeral had been held. Dad had a straight face on, but that sad aura still surrounded him.
It was at the end of the funeral that each of the guests would say their words to mum. I asked dad if I could go last, he simply agreed.
When he walked over to mum's casket, he left a single rose and said what he needed. When he was done, he motioned me indicating that it was my turn. I nodded as I walked towards the casket. As I did, I saw the engraving on the tombstone.
'Alice Kirkland
1976-2011
A loving friend, wife, and mother.'
I frowned at it. Mum deserved more than that.
When I had walked over to the casket, Alfred had come out of hiding (which I told him he didn't need to do) with a bouquet of roses. I got the bouquet and held it tightly as Alfred placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Can I go last?" Alfred asked. I had been so overwhelmed with sadness that I didn't even bother to correct him and just nodded. Alfred then motioned me to go.
"Mum..." I began. "Why did you have to leave us already? Peter was just born and you chose now to leave?"
"Knowing you, right now you would be scolding me ," I said as I rubbed my eyes to prevent the tears from flowing again. I tried to smile. "I'm gonna he strong mum. For dad, Peter, and Alfred."
I stepped back after I placed the bouquet of roses on her casket. Alfred stepped up and began speaking.
"Hey Mrs. Kirkland," He greeted to the casket. "First off, I wanna say that they forgot to add on your tomb-thing that you were an awesome cook."
Alfred rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... I haven't ever been to one of these things before; I'm only eight and Arthur's the only one able to see me so far. Hey, maybe I can see you another time!" He confessed. "The people here looked sad, and I don't wanna make you feel all guilty for leaving them; you didn't even choose to go. But at least it was peaceful and stuff."
I looked up and stared at Alfred, not knowing that he could speak like that. Alfred coughed and continued. "Anyways, you and Mr. Kirkland are so nice for letting me stay with you guys. And I wanna pay you guys back for letting me stay. So, I'll be a hero like you were to us and help them out!"
Even with what he said and how it lifted me up a bit, my chest still felt tight. "Thank you Mrs. Kirkland and I promise that I'll keep my promise!"
[13]
It had been two years since mum's death and I was now thirteen and starting eighth grade. Ever since, dad tried his best to cooperate with mum's death. But by doing so, we had to move to a small apartment because of the low pay he received, even with the later hours he had to work.
So, for that time, I had attempted to teach myself how to cook. The first time I tried to, I was reminded that mum had promised me that she would have taught me how to by the time I was old enough, more specifically, when I was thirteen. She would have begun teaching me when school started four months ago. When Alfred noticed that, he simply climbed the kitchen counter and got a can of ravioli before getting a bowl, spoon and handing the three over to me.
That was a daily thing, as I never learnt how to cook.
It was now Christmas Eve and dad wasn't allowed to have a day off, even though it was the holidays. The day before, he had left me some Christmas cookies after he came back home after work. It was when he told me that he couldn't be with me for Christmas and where he had promised me that he would try to get something for me.
As I have mentioned before, dad wasn't paid a lot of money, and he tried his best to pay the monthly rent. Because of that, a year ago, he was informed that he couldn't keep both Peter and I. So Peter was adopted by a couple from Scandinavia. They were a nice people, and spoke English quite well. When they talked about which child they wanted to adopt, they wanted the youngest since they wanted to raise the child as soon as they can.
Dad had no choice but to agree, so he gave Peter to them. Mr. Tino, seeing how heart broken he was, said that they would like to keep in contact so that Peter would know his real father, and his husband, Mr. Brewald seemed to agree. Neither dad nor I could tell since his response was a simple grunt.
Dad at first skeptical about letting a homosexual couple adopting his son, but he had later let it go, finding out how nice people they were.
Unfortunately, the pair had to go back up north, but we still kept contact with them. They weren't rich, but they were paid more than enough money to live on, so they had kindly gave us some money each month, where dad had used it to pay the rent while he used his own salary to pay for our food. The extra money would go to my collage fund. Even so, dad had told me to get good grades so I could get a scholarship. So, naturally, I studied hard.
Anyways, it was Christmas Eve and I was alone in the flat, with the exception of Alfred. I stared at the poorly decorated room. It wasn't very festive, as there were only pictures that Alfred and I drew.
I looked at the picture of a Christmas tree and the very few presents below it. Two came from Alfred to give to me and dad, the other two from me to give to dad and Alfred. Dad still wasn't able to get a present yet and the only reason why Alfred and I were able to get any was because we earned some money ourselves by helping our neighbours do their chores. With that, the two of us bought small presents.
It was now around eleven in the evening and dad still hadn't arrived from work yet. But by the time he did, I had smelled the scent of alcohol on him. He was drunk.
"Arthur," I heard his voice call when the door opened. "I'm-" He hiccupped. "Home!"
I stopped reading my book when I heard him. "Dad, you're drunk."
He gasped then giggled. "I know son! I know!"
I rolled my eyes. "How was work?"
"It went by-" Another hiccup and giggle. "Well! Guess what I got you?"
My ears perked up. He managed to get something? "What is it?"
"Booze!" Dad exclaimed. I stared at him with confusion in my eyes.
"I'm too young, dad," I informed him. He shook it off and tore open the wrapping paper.
"Oh well! More for me," Dad concluded as he went in the kitchen to look for something to open the bottle of vodka. I sighed deeply, disappointed and began walking towards my room, where Alfred had greeted me. He was now nine, by the way.
"Hey Artie! Did your dad get home?" Alfred asked as he jumped off of the chair and floated over to me.
"Yes, but he's rather drunk," I stated, only for him to have a blank look on his face. "He's not himself."
"Oh," Alfred nodded. But he still didn't understand.
"You'll understand sooner or later," I assured him, and he nodded more eagerly.
I then heard some knocking from the other side of the door. "Arthur! Leave your 'friend' and spend some time with your father!"
"Leave?" At times like these, I forget how naive Alfred was.
"No dad," I replied. "You're drunk and I won't leave Alfred behind."
"Arthur, Alfred's gonna leave you some day and don't say I didn't warn you," Dad reprimanded. "He's just a figment of your imagination and you're gonna forget all about him or he'll leave you in the end."
"No! I won't forget about him and he won't leave me!" I shouted. "He won't leave like mum did!"
At that moment, I heard nothing but silence. A few minutes later, Alfred ran to me.
"You're not going to forget me are you?" He asked.
"As long as you don't leave me, I won't," I replied as I rubbed his back. I never did noticed that dad was leaning against the wall next to my door, covering his eyes and silently weeping.
The next day, it was Christmas and when I exited out of my room and saw dad outside, setting down two boxes of presents, there was an awkward silence between the three of us.
"What are those?" I asked, looking at the presents.
"Actual presents for you and Alfred," He answered. I looked at him with a confused look. "I'm so sorry about last night, Arthur, I was drunk. I lost my self control."
I remained silent for him to continue. "At times I forget that ever since you were eight, Alfred had been the only one that remained with you," Dad continued. "Not counting your mother and I because we were busy. I forget that he had been helping you like your mother and I never did. He made you happier than anything. Even though no one but you could see him, he acts as your only light to happiness, right?"
I nodded in response while Alfred was still eyeing him carefully. "So even though I can't see him, I want you to believe in him if it makes you happy. No matter what I or anyone says."
"Thank you," I smiled.
"But, remember that he might not last forever, so you have to cherish every moment you have with him," Dad added as he picked up a photo of mum eyes filled with sadness.
I nodded. "I will."
Dad nodded as he placed the photo of mum down. After he did, he flashed a smile at us. "Let's open our presents now, shall we?"
Alfred and I nodded. "Dad, you go first."
Alfred frowned. "Why does he go first?"
"Alfred, hush, the best for last remember?" I scolded him. Dad chuckled.
In the end, we took individual turns. First me, then Alfred, dad, then repeat. I opened Alfred's present first since he told me to do so and dad just let him. I opened it to see a unicorn.
"Because I woke up one day and you were talking to thin air and stuff," Alfred explained. "And you mentioned a unicorn."
"Git! I wasn't talking to thin air!" I hissed. "Dad, tell Alfred that they're real!"
"Unicorns and fairies?" Dad asked and I nodded in response. "Of course they are- oh look there's Flying Mint Bunny; I haven't seen him in a while!"
"I still don't see them," Alfred huffed as he crossed his arms.
I rolled my eyes. "It's your turn."
Alfred dropped his arms and grinned as he ran over to get my present first. When he tore it open, I saw wrapping paper flying as he did. When he saw a case for glasses, he frowned.
"Glasses?" Alfred asked.
"I saw you running into things, idiot," I answered him and he responded by saying a simple, "Oh."
"My turn," Dad said as he got Alfred's gift. He began opening it and saw a notebook and a pen.
"Because I was bored one day and saw some parts of this story!" Alfred chirped. "I want you to finish it."
"He says that he found some of your writing and he wants you to finish it," I told dad.
"Thank you, Alfred," He smiled.
"No problem!"
After that, it was my turn again and this time I opened my present from dad. It was a book. A spell book, to be exact.
"Woah," Alfred mumbled. "What does it say? There's weird words on them!"
"It's a spell book," Dad told me. "I won't have any time to teach you these, but maybe you're going to be self taught like your grandfather."
Our family was a special one. We could see and do things that others couldn't. But those abilities were merely hobbies of ours. I've seen mum and dad perform magic before, but they were just small amounts of magic.
"There's also a spell in there where Alfred can make use of his present," Dad added as he motioned Alfred to open his present.
"My turn! My turn!" Alfred laughed as he got his present and tore it open. From it, he pulled out a brown bomber jacket. He frowned. "It's too big."
"I know it may be big on you, but you'll grow into it," Dad told Alfred, smiling. "Plus, when you get older and have a girlfriend, maybe you can share this or give this to her."
Alfred blinked before nodding and smiling happily before running around the room, pretending as if the jacket were to be a cape. As he did, I got my small present and gave it to dad.
He looked at me. "It's fragile, so be careful."
Dad nodded as he set the present down on the floor and opened the wrapper, which revealed a music box, and a letter. "What's this?"
"Remember when we began moving?" I asked and he nodded. "Well, I found this, along with the letter attached to it and it said that if anything happened, I would give this to you."
"I see," Dad replied as he opened the letter and began reading it. After he looked through it, tears began streaming down his face and he stood up and walked to his room, only to return with a key. He took the key and opened the music box. "Alice… it's like she expected it…"
I blinked with confusion. "What about mum?"
Dad wiped away his tears and hugged me. "I'll tell you later. Let's just enjoy this."
Alfred looked over his shoulder and grumbled as he ran over to us. When he got to us, he hugged us. "Hey! Don't forget about me!"
And for some reason, despite the fact that our heater was broken; the room felt warmer.
We felt happier.
At times, I wondered if mum was joining us too.
[14]
A year had passed by, and the school year was about to start again. This time, I had moved on to high school. And I was sitting in the optometrist's office. Apparently, I needed glasses.
They thought I needed glasses, when I really didn't.
"Dad," I began as I looked at him from my chair. He lowered his newspaper and looked up. "Why do I need glasses?"
"Because son, you can't read quite well without them now," Dad answered. "I don't know why either."
I sighed deeply as I sank in my seat and crossed my arms. "I don't need glasses."
"Why not?" Alfred asked as he took a seat beside me.
"I'll look… weird," I replied.
"So? People with glasses are awesome! Like me or that Estonian kid down the street that fixed your computer!" Alfred grinned as he began swinging his feet. I should remind you that he's ten-years-old at this time. "Or even better, Superman!"
"Your point is…?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow.
"People with glasses are awesome!" Alfred beamed as he touched his black framed glasses. "Look at this!"
"Non-hero," He said as he had his glasses on. Then he took them off and smiled. "Superhero!" He repeated doing so before stopping and he pushed his glasses up. "Wait… oh."
I nodded sarcastically. "Yes, oh."
"Whatever! Only people with glasses can pull it off," Alfred replied as he waved it off. "You can do it too!"
"I still don't see why I need to wear glasses," I huffed. "My eyesight is perfectly fine."
"You were doing great until you just had to wave to that mint bunny of yours," Alfred sighed. "Then the doctor was like, "Who?" Which is pretty funny since, well, you know, Doctor Who and… and…"
"You're not really helping," I replied.
"But I'm the hero, so I am helping!" Alfred stated. "And this hero says that you'll look awesome in glasses. Besides, they're just reading glasses; it's not like you'll have to wear them all the time like me!"
I ended up wearing the glasses after that. When school resumed, when I purposely left the glasses at home, Alfred would run and slip it into my bag without me looking. And when I wore them, I had realised something.
I was worried over nothing.
But that was only for a little time.
[17]
Three years into high-school, I had realised something. And when I found that out, everyone eventually did too. They were not happy.
Every day when I returned home from school, I always came back either bruised, or my bag was a mess. Dad was still working late, so I had time to clean myself up and hide my injuries. Alfred, who was now thirteen, began sleeping more lately, so he never saw me in a mess when I came back home.
But one day, he had caught me tending to my own injuries. "Artie…"
I stopped and placed the cotton ball and alcohol down and looked back. "Alfred, you should have knocked on the door; I thought I taught you better."
"You kinda left it open," Alfred replied before pointing at me and the first-aid kit. "What's with all of those bruises and cuts?"
"Nothing," I assured him. "I just… I just fell from the stairs, that's all."
Alfred raised a brow and looked as if he was going to say something, but he quickly stopped himself before walking off. I sighed deeply before returning to my business. I was lucky this time. Alfred didn't need to worry about me. This would all blow over soon, and if it didn't… I can just deal with it.
The day after, I was bandaged up and was thankful that today was Friday and also that it was before Spring Break was to start. Because of that, I wouldn't have to worry about being beaten up for a week. When the day ended, I was walking down the stairs and when I stepped out of school grounds, I was a bit surprised that at least one punch wasn't thrown at me. But I didn't question it, so I resumed walking home.
After crossing a few blocks, I paused at the stoplight as I felt it raining. I sighed as I took out my umbrella and began heading towards the shortcut. I deeply regretted that.
When walking half-way through the alley, I paused when I felt myself being shoved down onto the pavement. When I tried to stand up, I felt myself being kicked over and over before someone grabbed my collar and threw me against the wall. As I was against the wall, I saw another person grabbing my bag and emptying the contents of my bag before throwing it aside.
"You're lucky that we have somewhere to go to, or we might have treated you worse," They spat. "Hope we don't see you next week, fag."
When I saw them left, I crawled to gather my things and placed all of it in my bag before getting my umbrella and began to stand up so I could limp back home.
"Artie," I turned my head and saw Alfred staring at me. "What was that all about?"
I remained silent as I began limping, but Alfred didn't stand for it, so he appeared in front of me. "Alfred, move over."
"Stop avoiding my question!" Alfred cried as he began following me. "Why did they do that? Why you? And what's a—"
"Alfred," I sighed as I stopped and turned to face him. "They did that because they think what I do is wrong, it shouldn't be done, it…"
"—Hey, you put up with me telling that I don't see your magical creatures running around!" Alfred interjected. "What's the difference between me and them?"
"It's not that," I continued. "Alfred, I'm gay."
"You're what?" He asked.
"I'm gay," I repeated. "As in, I'm into men and—"
"Since when?" Alfred questioned.
"Why? Do you have a problem with that?" I replied as I began walking faster, despite the pain. "Because you can—"
"Artie—no, Arthur," Alfred corrected himself. "Why didn't you tell me? I'm like your best friend! I could care less to what gender you're into! All I care is that if you're safe and stuff!"
"Well—"
"I'm the hero, Arthur, I save all those who need help," Alfred continued. "Why didn't you tell me that you were being beaten up? I could have done something! They can't see me, so it'll be a full advantage!"
"Alfred," I interrupted him and he promptly stopped talking. "I'm fine. I just need to get home and rest."
"I'll lead the way then," Alfred grinned as he ran beside me and began helping me the way.
When we returned home, he had instructed me to take a shower and go to sleep, which I did. When I woke up, I saw him grinning. "What are you so happy about?"
"Guess who won't be bothering you anymore?" He asked. My eyes widened.
"What did you do?" I asked as I sat up on my bed.
"I scared the crap outta them!" He laughed as he took out his camera that I had given him after winning a raffle during my sophomore year. "Do you know how much fun it was seeing their faces?"
"Like I asked, what did you do?" I repeated.
"You know that 'A Christmas Carol' story?" Alfred asked. I nodded. "Well, I did something like that and showed them what would happen if they kept on beating you up!"
"Why did you do that?" I sighed as I lied down on my bed again.
"Because I didn't want them to bother you anymore," Alfred replied simply.
I pulled the covers up. "T-thank you…"
"Any day!" Alfred grinned. "Oh and, you should tell your dad about this. When you're ready."
[18]
Another year had passed by and I was now staring at an empty room, minus some of the furniture. I was now eighteen at the time and after a few weeks, I was ready to move. And not even to another city, but another country; in another continent. Namely, it would be America. When Alfred had found out that I earned a scholarship at one of New York's universities, he lit up like Christmas tree and began helping me pack up. He was finally returning to his homeland. Dad was staying though and he planned to rent my room out so he can earn more money. I had agreed on that, only if my personal belongings that I couldn't take with me would be hidden and stored.
"Arthur!" I heard dad call from the other room before he had walked into mine. "It's time to go—"
When he had entered my room, he whistled while staring at it. "It feels so weird seeing this room empty, isn't it?"
"Yes…" Dad replied. He smiled while patting my back. "Your mother would have been so proud of you. I bet she is right now."
I nodded. "If Peter would still be here and we shared a room, I bet he would've been so excited that he would have this all to himself."
Dad nodded and laughed. "I bet he would; if he didn't have his own room in Scandinavia right now…"
I scratched the back of my neck and laughed along with him. "Right…"
"Artie!" I heard Alfred call. "The taxi's here!"
"Dad, the cab,"
Dad nodded as he walked downstairs as I stared at the room and Alfred placed his hand on my shoulder. "Gonna tell him today?"
"Before I leave," I answered as I stepped out of the room and closed the door.
"I'll be right beside you!" Alfred assured as we both walked out of the apartment and locked the door before going downstairs.
After a cab ride to the airport, before I had to go through customs dad began inspecting me. "Got your suit case?"
"Yes,"
"Luggage?"
"Right here; on carry on, like you suggested,"
"Alfred?"
"Right here!" He laughed.
"Next to me,"
"Now, after you give your old man a big hug, you're all set," Dad nodded approvingly as he stretched his arms out. I sighed and gave him a hug.
After pulling back, I began walking away, but paused. "Dad, I have something to tell you…"
"What is it son?" Dad asked. "Make it quick or you'll miss your flight! Going through customs takes a lot of time."
"I know," I told him. "Dad… I'm… I'm gay."
Dad blinked and sighed before pulling me into another hug and rubbing my back. "Arthur, I don't care. I never cared. If I did, I wouldn't have allowed that Scandinavian couple adopt Peter now did I?"
"Yes but—" I began, but he interrupted me.
"Your choice of people to date is men, I don't mind," Dad continued. "You will always be my son and all I want you to do is to be happy despite what you have been through. Understood?"
I nodded, smiling a bit. "One hundred percent."
"Good," Dad nodded as he patted my back and guided me to the tunnel. "All I ask for is for you to have a good man take care of you and maybe make me a grandfather…"
"Dad! That's not possible! How can men even—" I cried. If the airport wasn't full of people and loud, I would have regretted what I just said.
"Surrogate or adoption," Dad shrugged. "But live your life, enjoy yourself, and be happy! Go!"
I stopped walking for a second and turned back before continuing to walk. "Dad, I love you and be safe."
Dad smiled and waved. "I love you too son, be safe as possible too."
I waved back and turned around and started walking through the tunnel with Alfred patting my back. "See? Like I said, he would understand! Now let's get to the customs thing before we miss our flight!"
I nodded as I began walking faster. Faster to a new part of my life.
[23]
College was a bit difficult, yet at the same time, it was fun. There, I had met Kiku and Lukas again, and a year after that, I had met a Romanian student named Andrei. Together with Lukas and I, we formed a Black Magic club. But, we were the only members. We could have cared less though. Alfred had taken the liberty of walking around the campus, but on the terms that he wouldn't bother anyone.
Today, I was walking back to my dorm after a meeting with Lukas and Andrei. After waving bye to them, before I knew it, Alfred had popped out of a tree I was passing by. I stepped back in shock and he pressed his finger to his lips and grinned. "Shh!"
I grumbled and pushed up my reading glasses, as I did, I took out the case for my glasses and placed them in there before walking again. As I did, Alfred was floating beside me. "Git, what is it?"
"So, I heard that you're gonna graduate soon," Alfred grinned. "When are you gonna apply for that job?"
"Job?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah! For that one company in book publishing and stuff!" Alfred beamed as he floated down and started walking. "You should be the editor since you like pointing out grammatical errors!"
"Alfred, I'm going to graduate in a year," I pointed out. "When I'm twenty-four, I'm only twenty-three."
"It doesn't hurt to start soon, right?" Alfred shrugged. "You're gonna do awesome."
I rolled my eyes as we entered my building. "Thank you, and just so you know, I already sent an application a month ago and I don't expect to get a reply any time soon."
"Oh I dunno, I saw this one file in the mail today…" Alfred grinned as we walked up the stairs. "In a manila file too, actually; looked official."
I took out my key and opened the door to my dorm. On my desk, I saw a manila file and gave Alfred a questioning look when I saw it open. He just shrugged in response and urged me to look in it. I sighed and took out the papers and began to read them. "See! Told ya it was good news! Now you're gonna edit stories for the world to read!"
[24]
I was now twenty four and finished college. Because of that, I had begun renting a flat using the money I earned through the publishing company. It turned out that it was run by Ludwig's family and his older brother, Gilbert was the current boss. I was still moving into my apartment, so the boxes were still there. After setting down a box, Alfred walked in and placed a radio on a box. "Music helps!"
After that, we began setting up a new desk. After a couple of hours, Alfred and I managed to build it without it collapsing. Satisfied with our work, I placed a desk lamp on it and plugged it in as Alfred had set down my paper work. He pulled a chair for me to sit in and pushed me into the desk so I could start working.
For a while, the papers they had given me were easy to edit and proof-read, but one day they decided to challenge me and gave me a paper to not only to check grammar, but to also translate. French was a language I never bothered in learning, and I questioned why they didn't let my cousin, Victoria, translate it instead. She stated that the company had done this to every one of their workers, so it wasn't a big deal. Victoria had also added that Gilbert did this to see how awesome his workers were, so he always gave them a challenge.
I growled as I had a French to English dictionary in front of me, at the same time, piles of paper cluttering my desk as I tapped my pencil on the desk, irritated. It wasn't because it was in French. Well, maybe. Even though I didn't bother in learning it, I had to learn French as a foreign language in high school as a default since the Italian and German classes were full. Even so, it was years ago, and I could only recognise so many words. After sipping my cup of tea, I had set it down and began rubbing my temples. All I had to do was focus. Focusing always helps—
"Yoo! Artie!" But it's very hard to do so when you live with your loud imaginary best friend. "Guess what day it is?"
"Alfred, please be quiet, I have work to do," I sighed as I turned my head to face him.
"But Artie!" Alfred whined. "Can't you take a break? After all it's—"
"It's Arthur," I corrected. "And no, I have no time for that! I have to translate this bloody French paper and it's due by the time summer ends!"
"That's like in a month!" Alfred cried. "Can't it wait? Just one day, heck, just one hour or something. I want to tell you something."
"Why can't that wait?" I asked him. "I'm busy right now, so it would help if you didn't bother me."
After that, silence had entered the room before Alfred had spoken up again. "Did I always bother you?"
At that time, I was irritated and grumpy from my failed attempts in translating the bloody French paper, and I had no sleep since I woke up at eight in the morning. I only had tea as a drink and some pastries as food. I was hungry, tired, upset, so I didn't really know what I was doing or saying. "Yes, yes you always did Alfred. Now is the time that you had realised it? Bloody hell, you really can't read the atmosphere can you?"
He had remained silent, but I had continued talking. "Why don't you do us both a favor and leave so that we can both move on? I should have done this a long time ago, but, I should do so now."
"But you said that—" Alfred began but, he stopped. "You know what? Fine! I'll leave! See if I care. Bye Arthur, I hope that you can move on with your life too."
I said nothing in return, but I only resumed working as I saw him leave. I began tapping my pencil on my desk again before pushing the table back and falling on my bed to take a nap.
I hadn't realised what I had done before I awoke from my short nap. It was about nine o'clock when I began my nap and it was eleven thirty when I woke up. It was eleven forty five when I realised what I had done. It was eleven fifty five when I decided to turn the radio on to clear my thoughts. I had soon regretted that when I heard what played on the radio.
When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
You roll outta bed and down on your knees
And for the moment you can hardly breathe
Wondering was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?
No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone...
Alfred wasn't a woman. He was a man. He was my best friend ever since I was at the age of eight. He helped me move on after mum had died. He had kept me company when I was alone at the flat while dad was off working and Peter was living his own life up north. He had taught me to accept my need of glasses. He had accepted me when I told him I was gay. He had supported me through the ups and downs of what I had went through in life and had promised my mum that he would look over me and had promised me that he would never leave me. What hurts the most is that I promised that I would never turn my back against him.
But, I did.
After what we had did for each other; after all we went through; the laughing, the crying, having been told that I should have given him up years ago, and having to give him up a couple of hours ago. From the moment we had met, to this one moment right now. I was filled with regret of ever yelling at him at those times. Especially this one moment. I blamed myself. I blamed my work. And guess what? I never even bothered to check the calendar to see that it was his twentieth birthday today.
I had always thought that Alfred was the best friend I could have ever gotten, as he remained with me throughout all those years, and I was right. What I was wrong about was that I thought that I had been a good friend to him as well. Compared to everything he had done for me, what I ever done to him look like nothing and I had been the worst friend ever. Adding this moment doesn't help either.
Knowing the fact that I had promised him that I would never give him up, knowing the fact that we had promised each other that we would never leave each other no matter what the circumstances were, and having to live the moment that we did leave each other voluntarily, it felt as if I couldn't live my life any more.
Like I had a piece—no, an enormous chunk of my existence had been taken away, only for a hole to take its place.
I felt like nothing.
I was nothing; nothing without him.
Do you remember that saying, "You never know what you had until it's gone?"
Well, I never knew how much I had fallen for Alfred until he had left me. How much I loved him. And what made me break down the most was that he probably never even existed as he was only a figment of my imagination.
And nothing else.
[28]
"Arthur!"
A dirty-blond man shot his head up from his desk as he heard a female voice call his name. He straightened his tie and fixed his hair a bit. Looking at the time through the computer screen, he sighed deeply. "I'm sorry."
"Arthur," She repeated. "If you knew that you were going to be like this, then why did you come anyways? Gilbert is a self-proclaimed 'awesome boss' so I think he would have let you off for the day…"
"But I need to get some work done, Victoria," Arthur replied as he opened up his presentation and resumed working on it.
Victoria crossed her arms and gave him a look. "Arthur, what's the difference. Work or at home, you're going to be sulking all day."
"I'm working right now," Arthur snorted.
"After you were sulking," She stated. "Arthur, as your cousin, I demand you to take a day off."
"Younger cousin," Arthur pointed out.
Victoria rolled her eyes as she began walking out of his office. "Whatever. Oh, and you're getting a new assistant."
Arthur's eyes widened. "Someone finally had the requirements?"
"Surprisingly," Victoria snickered. "Adieu, cousin!"
Arthur leaned back on his black leather chair and stared at the computer screen as he tried to think of ideas for his presentation. He sat up moments later and rolled closer to his desk and looked at his calendar.
Four years. He thought. It must be why he dreamt of that day years ago. Arthur always did on this day for some reason, and it was why he couldn't ever forget about him if he tried. He sighed deeply and began packing his things and headed downstairs to go home. Might as well do so. Like Victoria had said, I won't get any work done. I won't admit it though.
As he walked downstairs, he went through the doors outside of the book company and walked through the streets of New York. He was twenty-eight, had no love life, and only had work to fill his life. Even so, it never helped. Nothing ever did. Even after four years, he had tried to move on like he had promised himself in his apartment all those years ago. Arthur had tried to remind himself that Alfred didn't exist, but that didn't help much either, as it only brought him down more.
He began remembering what had happened since that day. Towards the end of summer, he had managed to finish translating the French book, and then he was given more English papers to edit. After a year or two in his job, he had been promoted as the head editor. Any man would have felt accomplished, but not him.
Hell, he even wondered why he had remained in New York anyways.
Maybe it was because something in his subconscious had told him that something was going to happen. That something was going to change his life. Maybe even lift him up a bit.
Maybe.
It was a 50/50 chance, but he decided to take the chance.
As his green eyes flickered around the streets, he took sight of the people who resided there. As he was waiting for the stop light to change, he spotted a man darting out of a Starbucks, coffee in one hand, his briefcase in another as he attempted to dart through the crowd. For a moment there, he had looked similar to Alfred.
No. Arthur thought, shaking his head. He doesn't exist. He never should have. Just stop thinking about him.
As he shoved his hands into his pocket (as he had stuck with a messenger bag through these years), he had realized that he had left his phone back at his office. Arthur sighed deeply as he turned around and began walking back to the office building.
When he opened the doors open, Victoria smiled at him. "I see that you came back, good! Your assistant's upstairs. He seemed really eager, so good luck!"
Arthur nodded as he began walking up the stairs again. Well, since his assistant was already here, he might as well stay and begin showing how things were to be done. When he took his keys out of his pocket, he felt a hand tap his shoulder. "Yes? What is it?"
"Well, I'm looking for an Arthur Kirkland," The person told him. "I'm his new assistant."
Arthur took the keys out of the lock and placed them back in his pocket before closing his eyes and turning around and shaking hands with the man. "I'm Arthur Kirkland, and you are—"
His eyes widened and his mouth was left open as he saw blue eyes hidden by glasses, messy blond hair with a stubborn strand sticking up.
"The name's Alfred F. Jones!" Alfred beamed as he shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."
end.
A/N: SO. UM. YEAH. WANTED TO POST THIS UP ON 9-10-10 BECAUSE IT'S LIKE A ONCE-IN- A-LIFETIME CHANCE TO DO SO. That and I feel really awkward if I were to post this on 9/11. Which is why I won't update "That One Awkward Moment" tomorrow, even if I do finish chapter 11, I still won't publish it. It just doesn't feel right for me to post a humor fanfic on 9/11. Please understand. And since I posted this up on 9/10/11: midnight, I think this will come up in 9/11... argh. I missed my deadline. Oh well. But seriously; if I were to post something on 9/11, it would have to be related to it. Which I'm contemplating on actually doing or not, since I find it a sensitive matter to deal with, and I don't want to do anything that'll make it sound as if it was a joke. That's the last thing I want to do.
Also, Victoria is Seychelles; I hope I portrayed her well enough. If I didn't well… I did my best. It's my first time writing her. Soooo… Yeaaahhh…
And again, thank you for reading this and "That One Awkward Moment"! If you haven't well, you can always have the chance to do so! It's right on my profile, and it's still in progress. Also, if there are enough reviews, I will make an epilogue for this. And since I have realized that I didn't explain what Arthur's mom had mentioned in the letter; I will include that in the epilouge!
Before I finish, once again, because I love saying it;
thank you.
[review, if you want!]