Fridays were a time to relax and spend time at the pub with friends such as their lesbian friends, Elizabeth and Amelia, and occasionally Alfred's brother. Friday was the night when Alfred and Arthur would drink, play pub games, eat greasy food, and then go home to have loud sex. It was a night they truly didn't care who saw they were a gay couple. It was a ritual.

Saturdays were days better spent outside, if the weather permitted it. The couple would scourge Greater London to find new places to shop and dine, or branch out to a day trip further south, closer to the Channel. At night they would snuggle up to watch movies on the couch or cuddle up in bed reading a few good books. It was tradition.

Sundays were afternoons only. Arthur had church in the morning, so he'd leave and Alfred would be left to his own devices for a few hours. Sometimes he would sleep in until shortly before Arthur returned, or he'd putz around the apartment, watching videos online or playing games he knew would normally annoy Arthur if he were home. Upon Arthur's return, though, they would spend the rest of the day in being lazy and keeping close for comfort.

It was all routine; even their spontaneity felt like they had planned it. Slowly, Alfred felt boredom creep over him.

It was the Sunday before Christmas, and Arthur was already dressed and ready for church. Alfred watched from the bed, pouting, and thinking of some way to pull his husband into his arms. Maybe he could recite lines from "Baby It's Cold Outside". Arthur was a sap so there was a good chance he'd like it.

"Artie, come back to bed," Alfred whined. It wasn't exactly romantic, but it could work. Maybe. "Don't go… You're going to church tomorrow and Tuesday too! There's no need to go today."

Arthur looked away from the mirror, smiling at Alfred over his shoulder. "Yes, but I want to go."

Alfred groaned. "More than you want to be with me?"

"I am with you every day." Arthur laughed lightly as he came to sit on the edge of the bed beside Alfred. "When I return, we shall be together some more."

"And then tomorrow and Tuesday you'll leave me too." Alfred knew he sounded like a child, but he couldn't stop. It was always difficult to get Arthur to stay home. He'd never accomplished such a feat, but that didn't meant he couldn't try.

Arthur frowned, although he wasn't truly upset. "This is one of the most important times of the religious community."

"Oh, just!" Alfred sat up suddenly and looped an arm around Arthur's neck to pull him into a hard kiss on the lips. When Arthur made no move to push away, Alfred lessened the kiss to be gentler.

Arthur put a hand on Alfred's cheek, tilting his head to the side slightly, and opened his mouth. However, when Alfred pushed his tongue inside and started to pull Arthur to lie atop him, the Englishman stopped him.

"No, no," he whispered. Alfred used his nose to push Arthur's neck up. He began to suck on his pale skin near his ear. "Darling… Love… It's dangerous enough as it is to be on the bed with you… I'm not being coy… I really do mean stop…"

Alfred removed himself from Arthur's neck. There was a small hickey coloring part of his skin. Alfred smiled proudly at having left a mark on his husband.

"Okay, okay. Go then."-

"I'll be back." Arthur kissed Alfred's forehead and rose from the bed. Alfred lay back in bed with another disgruntled sigh.

"Okay."

Alfred flopped around in bed for a while before he felt antsy. After a quick shower and shave he had breakfast and coffee. He called his brother, Matthew, to cement Christmas plans, and sent texts to Elizabeth and Amelia for Boxing Day plans. Mainly, he kept himself distracted until Arthur was to come home. What he did in his free time before marriage was beyond him, but now he couldn't imagine a life without Arthur.

It was strange to even consider waking up tomorrow and not doing something with Arthur. It wasn't that they had become dependent on Arthur, and they weren't always together, but looking back on their first year of marriage it was obvious they had both changed. They had both been the type of men who didn't rely on others, and didn't like needing people. After years of being alone, they had both sealed themselves away to no one.

It was funny how they both opened up to each other and now were so intricately linked together. Alfred chalked it up to the tumultuous start to their friendship. He had never fought so hard for one person before in his life, and it seemed the same could be applied to his partner.

At noon, however, Arthur hasn't returned home. Alfred brushed aside his initial curiosity and thought that he had simply stopped off to chat with friends instead. When one 'o clock rolled around, though, that curiosity turned to worry.

Their two cats stated at Alfred as he paced the living room. He waited impatiently for Matthew to answer his phone.

"Hey Al," he answered. "Why're you calling again?"

Alfred tried to remain calm as he quickly explained the situation, ending with, "So I thought he'd be at your place."

"No. You don't think he's missing do you?"

Alfred laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair. "N-naw! I thought he coulda gone to your place."

"What for?"

"I dunno!" Alfred bit lip, guilty for his outburst. Matthew seemed to ignore it.

"Go on down to his church. Maybe he's still there."

"Oh. Yeah. Why didn't I think of that?"

"You're really rattled, but I'm sure it's okay. Just keep calm, okay?"

"Thanks Matt. I'll call you if I find him."

Alfred was used to snow and generally liked it, but today he couldn't even stop to admire the fresh powder. Instead he headed further out of London to Arthur's church. His old one had been close to the Greater London area, so he was thankful he wouldn't have to head into the city. The church was quaint, but still housed quiet a lot of people. Alfred had been twice before and loved to admire the beautiful stained glass windows. Today, as with the snow, he ignored all of it.

Many of the patrons were gone and the parking lot was relatively empty. Arthur's Mini Cooper was nowhere to be seen. Alfred thought of just driving right back home, but he had to ask the priest when Arthur had left.

The priest smiled at Alfred when he saw him come up near the alter. "Hello dear boy. "

"Hey." Alfred smiled widely. "Mass good today?"

"Oh yes, especially so close to the Lord's birth." The priest, sensing Alfred's anxiety, asked, "Is something the matter? You look ill."

"Um. Well. I can't find Arthur. Did he leave late or…" Alfred trailed off after seeing the priest frown in confusion.

"Arthur never came to Mass today. I assumed he stayed home with you." Alfred swayed on the spot at the indication that Arthur actually hadn't arrived at church like he said. The priest put a comforting hand on Alfred's shoulder. "Have you tried his cell?"

Alfred shook his head, his voice dry as he replied, "N-no… He doesn't take it with him to church. He's afraid it'll go off in the middle. Um… Thanks… I'll call some others."

"I'll pray that you find him."

Alfred left the church in a gray bubble that doused the entirety of the world in a disgustingly thick and heavy colorless hue. He couldn't see through it to find anything worthwhile. He drove home slowly, checking every light for any car that might have broken down on the side of the road. Then, he thought that if Arthur's car had broken down he would be at a garage getting fixed. For the rest of the afternoon he drove to nearly every garage in the general London area to see if a red Mini Cooper was parked outside and a disgruntled, blond Englishman with thick eyebrows was sitting outside or in the lobby. He found neither.

Eventually he wound up at Arthur's nursery, Rainbow Veins, and headed inside. On the weekends Arthur's friend from church, George, would work behind the counter. He normally left flower arrangements for Arthur to deal with come Monday morning as he was much better at it than George was. Arthur always had a way with flowers, whether it be from the tiny potted plant on their kitchen table or the ones on the balcony outside or to the exquisite and crafted ones he sold to customers for gala events. The nursery had done well its first year, quickly gaining a good reputation, and was now in its third year. Arthur was always quite proud to tell others of his achievements, having left a company he knew he was going nowhere that stuck him in a cubicle and limited his creativity. Alfred sometimes wished he could do the same, but he didn't know where to start.

The bell over the door dinged, signaling Alfred's arrival. George looked up from the bush he was currently trimming. He was an older man with a kind smile and patient, hazel eyes. Alfred felt calmer just seeing him. Maybe it was going to be okay after all.

"Hello Alfred. What brings you here?" George smiled knowingly with a twinkle in his eye. "Buying flowers for Arthur? I think there's an arrangement Arthur made in case you two fought that he'd love for you to deliver."

Alfred laughed lightly, ignoring the small blush creep onto his face from embarrassment. Arthur made flowers for himself knowing Alfred would buy them in case they fought?

"Er, no, I'm not here for that, actually. I was wondering if Arthur was here or that he stopped by or said he was going somewhere." George shook his head. Alfred frowned, feeling his sour mood return. "Oh… He's been missing for a few hours and I have no idea where he is… He doesn't have his cell on him and his car didn't break down."

"He wasn't at church today, either," George said. He stroked the fuzz on his chin. "Well now, let's see. It's neither of your birthdays, so he's not off planning a party. Maybe he's shopping? It is almost Christmas."

"That doesn't make any sense," Alfred started. He looked to the ground in thought. "He said he was going to church. He was all dressed for it and said he'd be back. And we already got each other our gifts. There under the tree. We have plans for tomorrow and Tuesday and Boxing Day, so…"

George came over, looking even more worried. "That is unlike Arthur. Perhaps you should call the police?" Alfred's heart leapt up into his throat. George saw the frightened expression in his eyes and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't think the worst. You don't know what could have happened. But putting out a Missing Person call might not be such a bad thing. You never know, he might come home tonight with a perfectly logical explanation."

"Don't I have to wait twenty-four hours to do that, though?" Alfred asked.

George frowned in confusion. "What? No. Not in the UK. Maybe in America, but the minute someone goes missing, you can call the police."

Alfred nodded, trying to swallow or keeping standing upright. He seemed to keep leaning over to the left; or maybe that was the world doing that.

Going home was the worst idea. It was lonely and far too large for one man, and seeing two cats stare up at him expectantly made him nervous. He checked the answering machine. There was nothing. He asked the neighbors if they had seen Arthur. No one had. Alfred tried to put off calling the police as long as he could. He resorted to pacing and blasting music to drown out the fears that whirled around in his head like the snow outside. It didn't help.

The longer he put off calling them, the longer it would take for Arthur to come home.

"Hello? Um… Yes. I'd like to report a missing person."

Alfred imagined his reaction to when Arthur would come home. He saw his husband coming through the door looking bashful for his sudden absence and Alfred trying to be upset with him, but really he'd fall to his knees and cry, happy to see him return safely. He'd kiss him and tell him he loved him. There was a good chance he wouldn't let the man out of his sight for days. He might want to argue, but he wouldn't. He'd raise his voice and demand to know what happened, but he'd listen to everything Arthur said. Most likely, he'd believe him.

There was a full hour where he was convinced Arthur had lied about everything and was harboring a secret love affair somewhere, but that died after he talked to himself in the mirror about how wrong that was. They would not have gone through all of that heartbreak and stress all those years ago only to marry on two continents just so Arthur could have a secret life. The man was a devout Catholic, and Alfred was pretty sure it was somewhere in the big rule book that lying and having love affairs was bad in God's eyes.

Around two A.M. Alfred felt his legs itching to get up and walk around some more. Sleep was a foregone idea. The police had been over hours ago to get details about Arthur, borrow a recent photograph of him from back on his birthday, and ask all the usual questions. It occupied Alfred for only so long, and then when they left he wandered the apartment some more. He tried to coax the cats to come out from under the bed where they had fled when the police came over, but to no avail. He was left alone.

London was quiet. The air felt heavy and still. There were no clouds threatening to spill snow over the area, but that could quickly change. Alfred was grateful that it hadn't snowed all day. It might hide any tracks that could lead to Arthur.

Driving helped. Alfred felt he was contributing to the search for his husband. Calling people and asking the same questions over and over didn't seem to help. It was worse than sitting back and waiting for something to happen. All of this waiting and hoping made him think back to when he was in foster care with his brother.

Alfred tried hard to never think of those times. He wasn't physically abused, per say, but he never felt wanted or truly loved. He was jostled from one house hold to the next with little tolerance for what he wanted, and no one ever heard his cries. It felt like he was on the wrong side of a locked door, and all of that pushing against it led him nowhere. The long day of today and yesterday felt exactly the same.

Sitting at a stop light that was green with no one around, Alfred leaned over his steering wheel. He peered up at the cloudy sky and thought. Then, "Hey… it's me… I don't know if you remember me… I just…"

Alfred ran his hands over his face, pushing his glasses up into his hair. His skin felt old and worn, almost like leather. He should take better care of himself; Arthur would scold him if he were here. Thinking of his husband, Alfred continued with his prayer. "I know…that Arthur is an amazing guy. He's…incredible, beautiful, smart, and so kind. I know, and I know that you know this because you made him into who he is. You gave him to me and… Please…don't take him away just yet. If he's hurt or alone or scared, just let me find him. Don't take him away. I know you want him back and he'll make a great angel, but… I want him to stay here…with me… Please don't take him away…"

He closed his eyes and whispered, "Amen" before looking back out at the street. The snow from yesterday that fell in the early morning shortly before Arthur left was dirty and no longer a pure white. It had turned brown, even black in some places from the cars. Most of it had melted away and tracks from wheels made crisscross patterns every which way. Alfred followed the trail of one crisscross and saw that it veered off to the side.

The path continued for a foot, and then became sloppy, as if the wheels turned too sharply. Alfred sat up in his seat and looked up ahead. The guardrail across the street had been snapped, and black streaks were against the gray metal. Slowly, Alfred eased his car over to the side and grabbed his cell phone. He began to call for an ambulance.

Looking over the edge there was a car still down the cliff. It had landed on its face right at the bottom. If Alfred were to climb down, he'd guess it was at least ten feet down. Some of the trees had been broken, but it would make it easier for Alfred to climb down on their bent forms.

"Yes, hello. Um. I'm at the corner of Masten and Post and someone's driven off the road. …No, I didn't see it happen. I think it happened a while ago. …Um, lemme see, I think it's a red…Mini Cooper?!" Alfred began frantically climbing down the side of the cliff. "Hold on, I think I found my husband! He went missing yesterday and, hold on!"

Alfred shoved his cell phone into his jacket pocket as he used both hands to maneuver down. His heart was pounding in his ears from the adrenaline he felt. Could his luck really be that good? He only hoped Arthur wasn't inside and had already wandered to a hospital.

"Arthur!" he screamed as he reached the car. He struggled with the passenger door, but managed to finally wrench it open. There, in the driver's seat, was Arthur, leaning over his steering wheel with his arm at an odd angle and blood caked onto his pale face. "Arthur! Arthur, baby! Oh God, hold on! I'm here!"

Alfred wiggled his body in through the small opening and climbed inside. He grabbed Arthur's body. It was cold. For a brief moment, the world ended. Alfred was a widower and he was going to be alone for the rest of his life. There could be no one else. God had taken Arthur away from him.

Then, "Al…fred…"

Alfred unzipped his jacket without saying a word and covered Arthur in it. Then, he collected him in his arms and started to rub at his arms. "It's me. I'm here. It's okay. You're still here. Haha! You're still here! Help's on its way. Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm here. Thank you, God."

The hospital agreed to let Alfred stay the night by Arthur's bedside after the operations to implant metal rods in Arthur's legs had been complete. Arthur had suffered from a minor concussion that knocked him out, a broken arm, and a hairline fracture in both of his legs, although the left was worse than the right due to the impact of his body hitting the dashboard. It was Christmas morning when Alfred woke to hear Arthur saying his name.

His eyes were open, but they were glazed over. He had a temporary neck brace on and was heavily sedated. His hair stuck out at odd ends and was still dirty from the dirt and blood that had mixed in when the windshield broke. Worse still was the lack of color in his face. If he wasn't hooked up to a heart monitor anyone would think he was dead.

"Hey baby," Alfred whispered as he sat up. He took Arthur's good hand in his. He watched as Arthur's eyes slowly looked from Alfred to his legs and then to his arm. "You broke your legs and your arm. And don't worry about the brace. It's until they do more X-rays to see if your neck and back are damaged, but they doubt it."

Arthur groaned, closing his eyes. "Brilliant… I'm just like that bloke in the book with two broken legs…"

Alfred chuckled. "It works. I'm totally your hero that pulled you out of the car."

"You found me?" Arthur asked, opening his eyes again. Alfred nodded. "What happened…?"

"I should be asking you that," Alfred said. He frowned slightly, thinking of all of the scenarios that replayed in his head of what he would say when he confronted Arthur about why he was so far away from home. "Why were you way out there?"

"You wanted me to come home... So I went out to buy donuts and then I was going to..."

Alfred ducked his head at hearing the truth. He coughed to hide the emotion that welled up in his throat and bubbled just under his eyes. "Um, from what the police and firemen could tell, you lost control of your car, it slid around in the snow, and you went right over this cliff. You hit your head, probably against the steering wheel, broke your arm from the impact, and then your legs."

"Oh God…"

Alfred squeezed Arthur's hand. "Yeah, it's thanks to God I found you. I prayed for you to be safe and look, you didn't freeze to death or even get frostbite. It's a real Christmas miracle."

Arthur hesitated as he stared at Alfred. "You…prayed? You?"

Blushing, Alfred nodded. "W-well, I was scared…"

Tears pooled at the bottom of Arthur's eyes as he began to smile. "Oh, love… I think I need some more pain medicine."

Alfred laughed, but called for a nurse. It wasn't long before the room became a hub of activity as the doctor and nurses checked everything out with Arthur. He was eventually taken for more examinations, allowing Alfred a chance to eat and freshen up in the bathroom. When Arthur returned from his X-ray, the neck brace was off, but he seemed rather sour.

"Are you okay?" Alfred asked. He took his seat right next to Arthur's bed again and instantly took his hand.

"All things considered, physically I am, but… It's Christmas." Alfred nodded. Arthur looked at him, exasperated. "It's bloody Christmas and we're spending it here in the hospital."

"Rather here than a graveyard," Alfred said seriously. Arthur bit his lip. "And don't worry about it being Christmas. I don't care where we celebrate it. We're together and that's all that matters."

"You're impossible…," Arthur muttered.

"You manage somehow."

Arthur took a nap a short while later, and when he awoke he was shocked to find a Christmas tree at the foot of his bed. On the nightstand next to him was a large vase of poinsettia flowers. On the table near the window was Alfred's iPod hooked up to speakers. It was softly playing Christmas music.

"Alfred…?" Arthur looked to him with his mouth agape.

"Not done yet." Alfred opened the door.

One by one, people from Arthur's church began to come inside. They rushed to Arthur with presents, wide smiles, and encouraging words of love and support. They placed the gifts under the tree as they mingled around the room. Their laughter filled the small space. Arthur had no idea how the hospital allowed so many visitors for one patient, but he supposed it was another Christmas miracle.

"Arthur!" Matthew called as he came by his bed. "Oh man, you look terrible! Alfred called everyone and told them and he didn't have to say anything else. Just that you were hurt and we all came running."

"Matthew…," Arthur choked. He felt his tears drowning his words.

"Don't forget about us," Amelia piped up from behind the Canadian. She was wearing an ugly green and red sweater and a reindeer antler headband. "We came too!"

"Bessie… Amelia…" Arthur held out his good hand to the three friends, smiling at each of them in turn. "Oh, it's so wonderful to see you here…"

"Now, don't ever think you're unloved," Elizabeth said. She was smirking as she nodded to the people milling around. "It's not every day someone gets a 'It's a Wonderful Life' scenario."

Arthur chuckled. "Oh, from the minute I met Alfred, I knew I was blessed." The trio raised their eyebrows in disbelief at this. Arthur blushed. "All right, perhaps not right away, but I do know he's not someone that can ever be taken from me."

Alfred kissed Arthur's forehead suddenly. He was on the other side of Arthur and beaming brightly. "You bet, sweetheart! Not even death can separate us! Merry Christmas!"

"And a Happy Christmas to you, my darling."

Hoshiko2's cents: Welp, this is rather late. Happy Holidays everyone! :D

Oh, for those who didn't know, I have created a Farewell FST. Please direct yourself to my writing livejournal to see the post. Thank you!