Serendipity
(Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, it is property of Hidekaz Himaruya and Funimation, please support the official release.)
"Shit," Arthur Kirkland hissed to himself as he ran along the hallway, "Shit, bollocks, damn, hell, crap…" The list of profanities that came spilling from his mouth just continued as he rounded a corner quickly. He had never been late to a meeting before and he was damned if he was going to let today be the first! He checked his watch; he had one minute before it started, he looked at the plaques outside each door.
"Conference room D, E, F…" he said the names as he ran past "Conference room H! Yes!" he shouted and he quickly stopped.
He took a second to catch his breath, re-adjust his tie and check that he hadn't dropped any papers in the rush to get here, then he calmly opened the door. He surveyed the room, almost everyone was already there. "Guten morgen Arthur, nice for you to join us" a voice said from across the room. It was Ludwig Beilschmidt (Germany). Arthur quickly walked to his seat at the large desk and sat down.
"I apologize for my lateness gentlemen" he said, he heard a low laugh come from his left, it was Francis (France).
"It is not like you to be so un-organized Angleterre, are you feeling unwell?" Arthur rolled his eyes,
"None of your bloody business," he growled. Before Francis could make a scathing comeback a loud and obnoxious voice interrupted rang out,
"Ok is everyone here? No? Never mind because you should all be focusing on me anyway!" Alfred Jones (America) was standing and addressing the occupants of the room in his self proclaimed 'hero voice'. Arthur's attention quickly diverted to him, as much as he openly proclaimed his dislike for the irritating American, deep down his feelings were very different, even though he had hurt him so badly in the past…
He tried to stay focused during the speech but it was impossible, it seemed that every word Alfred said had something to do with being a hero. Arthur patiently sat through every speech and made notes, including Feliciano's (Italy)…which consisted of nothing more than a poem he had written about pasta. By the end of the meeting he was feeling fairly irritated, he had almost had a panic attack for this? Barely anyone was paying attention; Heracles (Greece) had fallen asleep, Feliks (Poland) and Toris (Lithuania) were playing snap and Elizaveta (Hungary) was doing her nails.
He sighed, why did they even bother having these meetings? They were finally dismissed and the occupants of the room began to leave, excluding Arthur, who just slumped over in his chair in defeat, god, he was getting too old for this. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around; there stood Feliciano, looking bright and bubbly as usual.
"Arthur? Are you okay? The meeting is over, are you ill?" He asked. Arthur shook his head.
"I'm fine, just a little tired" he responded. Arthur saw Ludwig approaching them, and as soon as he had drawn close enough Feliciano jumped up and down excitedly
"Ludwig! Did you like my poem ve?" Feliciano squealed. The German smiled.
"I liked it very much, now come on, we have to get back…I don't like leaving Gilbert alone at the hotel for too long" he put an arm around Feliciano's shoulders and nodded at Arthur, "Lebewohl Arthur" and the two walked away. "Oh that's right", Arthur remembered "those two are dating aren't they"
We watched them leave and slowly gathered up his papers, he was the only one in the conference room now, he began to leave "interesting" he mumbled to himself "alone again". He trudged outside and called for his car, once inside he slumped down in the back seat, feeling depressed.
"Anywhere in particular you would like to go sir?" his chauffeur asked.
"A bar…any bar" Arthur groaned.
The chauffeur raised an eyebrow, "sir, do you really think that is a good idea?" he had personal experience in dealing with an intoxicated Arthur and was not eager to have to do it again.
Arthur shrugged, "probably not the smartest idea, but I honestly don't care at the moment", the chauffeur sighed defeated and began to drive. They stopped at the closest bar to the building where the meetings were held, Arthur thanked the concerned looking chauffeur and walked inside.
He had just stepped inside when he was met by a loud chorus of shouts from one corner of the bar. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he finally saw the people that had yelled. "Oh crap" he muttered under his breath. It was the bad touch trio.
Antonio (Spain), Francis and Gilbert (Prussia) were sitting at a table in the corner and were motioning for him to join them. Arthur had half a mind to just leave; off all the people to run into this was the worst possible group. He took a hesitant step backwards but was forced to keep moving forward as more people walked through the door, he made a sudden decision to keep moving towards the trio, as he didn't want to look like a loner.
"Arthur! Long time no see!" Gilbert said loudly as he clapped Arthur on the back, "You have the best timing, who knew that you would run into the most awesome people in the world tonight?"
Arthur forced a smile "yes, well…I was just going to pop in for a second, I don't think I will be staying long..." a sound of protest came from the trio, Arthur sighed, "I guess I could stay a little longer" he inwardly cringed at the idea of spending time with the notorious trio, it was safe to say he wasn't very happy.
Five beers, two scotches and half a bottle of rum later, Arthur was feeling much happier. He had to admit that the last three hours he had spent with the bad touch trio had been pretty awesome. Gilbert was currently on stage trying to beat another bar patron in karaoke, Francis and Antonio were swapping stories of their sexual exploits and Arthur had just returned from the dance floor, tie wrapped around his head, shirt half unbuttoned and wearing a pair of fluro pink sunglasses. He sat down next to Antonio, he felt awesome! He had even forgotten why he was feeling like shit in the first place! Oh wait…now he remembered.
He slumped down in his seat, losing that buzzed feeling that he had been enjoying so much. "Arthur! What's happening mi hermano?" Antonio asked when he finally noticed that Arthur had returned.
Arthur took the sunglasses off, "just not feeling to great, I think is should go…" he made to get up but Francis sat down next to him, blocking his exit.
"What's got you down mon ami? A woman?" Arthur shook his head; Francis raised an eyebrow "a man?" Arthur nodded and took a swig from a random glass in front of him. He heard the trademark "honhonhonhon" laugh come from his side.
"Well this is a development!" the French man exclaimed "what has this fellow done to upset you so?"
Arthur slammed the glass back onto the table "it's more like what he hasn't done!" he snapped "I loved him more than anyone I had loved before, and then he goes and breaks my heart! Not only that, he barely bloody notices that I exist! After everything I have done for him!" he laid his head on the table "and to make it worse, he probably thinks I hate him…" It took a moment but it finally dawned on them who Arthur was talking about.
Just then Gilbert slid into the conversation "hey guys did you see me? I totally kicked ass on eye of the tiger…" he saw Arthur slumped over the table and Antonio and Francis grinning at each other "…did I miss something?"
Francis pulled Gilbert to sit down next to them "Arthur is having a romantic crisis, what should he do?" Gilbert shrugged "call her, just tell them, if they doesn't feel the same way then tell them it was a drunken dare, it's worked for me" Arthur then sat up and pulled Gilbert into a hug " you…are a bloody genius Gilbert" he slurred then pulled out his phone. Francis couldn't help giggling to himself as he watched the drunken Brit dial in Alfred's number; he knew it off by heart?
Arthur listened carefully, it wasn't long before the phone was answered "Yo Arthur! You never call me, what's up?" being drunk gave him the courage to finally say what he had been holding in for centuries, "I love you Alfred" he blurted out. He heard Antonio spluttering into his drink next to him.
"What?" said the confused voice of Alfred on the other end of the line.
Arthur continued "I love you so much and I've loved you for ages, you have no idea how much you mean to me. I just want to run my fingers through your hair…it's like…sunshine! And you're like sunshine, you always brighten up the room, I know it sounds cheesy but you really do, and your glasses! Oh my god they really bring out your eyes, they are like…the ocean! So beautiful…" the line was silent for a moment.
"Arthur, are you drunk?" Alfred asked, but Arthur didn't answer, instead he kept rambling.
"Oh my god Alfred, you have no idea how much I want you…you know that time when we were at the Christmas party and you were wearing that tux! You looked so bloody good, I wanted to tear it off you with my teeth…" he took a breath "sorry…uh…what I wanted to say was, I love you and…if you…like…love me too, then lets get together sometime, call me tomorrow? Okay…bye." And he hung up; Arthur looked up at the trio with big sad eyes "did I sound too desperate?" he asked shyly, the group then burst out laughing.
*The morning after*
"Oh…crap…" Arthur groaned, wincing slightly at the sound of his own voice, he head felt like hell, what happened last night? The memories from the previous night came back in a big, loud blur. He remembered he had gone to the bar, he had run into the bad touch trio…and…crap, he must have gotten really plastered because he couldn't remember the rest of the night. He slowly opened his eyes, the sunlight creeping through the curtains seemed so bloody bright for some reason. He crawled back under his blankets, only in his pirate days; could Arthur remember having a hangover as bad as this before. He got comfortable, he was going to be here for a while…
Alfred Jones was currently onto his eleventh lap of the sporting track; even though his singlet was drenched in sweat and panting heavily he refused to stop. "Just one more, just one more" he chanted to himself as he ran, his legs were screaming at him to stop and his lunges were on fire but he forced himself to keep going, the finishing point was just up ahead. "YES!" he shouted as he crossed the line and threw his hands in the air "How did I go Matt?" his brother Matthew (Canada) who was sitting on the side of the track checked his stop watch.
"You beat your last time by thirty five seconds" he said quietly.
Alfred collapsed on the grass happily, leaning against his brother he took a massive drink from his water bottle "now that sort of result is what makes me a hero!"
Matthew just nodded and held his stuffed bear closer to his chest "um, Al…you're kinda sweaty, can you not lean on me" he mumbled.
Alfred Laughed and stood up "sorry Matt, my bad" he then took his singlet off and took another sip of water "do you want to spot me while I do weights?" he asked.
Matthew shrugged "do I have a choice?" Alfred Laughed and dragged his brother into the gym. After a while, Matthew was getting bored so he tried to start up a conversation with his older brother.
"Hey Al, if it's not to rude of me to ask…who was it that called you up last night? You seemed really distracted afterwards…"
Alfred frowned slightly, "dude, were you eavesdropping?" Matthew stepped back from his brother, even though he was lying down and concentrating on lifting weights you could never be too careful.
"Um, I couldn't help overhearing…we're sharing the same hotel room…and you always speak really loudly I…I'm sorry" he spluttered.
Alfred sighed, "its ok Matt, I'm not mad with you…it was Arthur who rang me last night" Matthew noticed that his brother had started to lift a little faster.
"Did you guys have a fight?" he asked softly.
Alfred shook his head. "Nah, I think he was drunk…he just started…whatever, it's not important…so that was forty right?" he placed the bar back and sat up, Matthew looked at his brother for a moment, with concern in his eyes "…forty eight" he said finally.
Alfred grinned, "Awesome! Let's go Matt, the rowing machine is calling!" and he took off. Matthew adjusted his glasses and picked up the singlet he brother had forgotten to take with him. He didn't want to pry into his brother's personal life, but he was still curious. There was something between Alfred and Arthur that he just couldn't put his finger on…
It was four in the afternoon when Arthur was finally able to leave the sanctuary of his bed; he gingerly made his way to the kitchenette of his hotel room and got himself a glass of water. He had just lifted the glass to his lips when his phone started ringing; he shuddered violently at the shrill sound and quickly stumbled back to his room to answer the damn thing.
"H…hello? Arthur Kirkland speaking" there was a loud metallic clanging noise on the other end and he wrenched the phone away from his ear.
"Bonjour Arthur!" shouted the voice of Francis Bonnefoy from the phone "how is your head?" Arthur cringed; this was the last thing he needed…
"It would feel a lot better if you weren't making such a bloody racket!" he shouted into the phone.
The clanging noise stopped and he heard a faint chuckle, "I'm sorry Arthur, but how could I resist? I apologize if I got your hopes up; I am not the person you were hoping to hear from at all…especially after how desperate you were last night."
Arthur raised a bushy eyebrow, "what are you talking about?" Francis didn't respond, "What do you mean Francis? Did I do something stupid last night?" Arthur asked, his voice growing more worried.
Francis laughed nervously "ha-ha, no more than usual my friend…I shall leave you to rest, au revoir" and he quickly hung up.
Arthur stood there for a moment, "ok, either nothing happened and that frog is just trying to mess with me or something happened last night and he refuses to tell me so he can watch me suffer" he thought to himself. He walked back to his water, "but right now I am too hung over to play his stupid mind games and I have a plane to catch tomorrow so I need to feel better soon" he downed his water and made his way back to his room. "If something happened, I hope it had nothing to do with Alfred…"
It was another a busy morning at the airport and Alfred and Matthew Jones were jogging their way through the crowd to get to their terminal.
"I told you there would be traffic, why didn't you listen?" whined Matthew as he ran behind his brother.
Alfred pouted and sped up "okay, okay I'm sorry I slept late…but complaining isn't gonna get us there any faster so catch up!" a couple of minutes later they arrived at the desk near the terminal, they showed their boarding passes and made their way to their seats.
"Um… Al, my seat is here" Matthew said quietly and pointed to the seat with 15B above it "where are you?"
Alfred glanced down at his ticket. "24E…sorry bro" and he continued along the aisle.
Alfred checked the row of seats he had been assigned to…no…way. Sitting in the window seat, calmly reading a newspaper was Arthur! Alfred cleared his throat; Arthur looked up and appeared surprised.
"Alfred? What are you doing here?"
Alfred rolled his eyes and sat down in the seat next to him, "catching a plane duh, but doesn't this flight go to New York?"
Arthur folded up his paper "It happens to make a stop over in London, quite a coincidence meeting you here…where is Matthew?"
Alfred shifted in his seat "he's further up…so we are going to be sitting next to each other for the next eleven hours huh?"
Arthur cocked his head slightly "why are you looking at me like that? Do I make you uncomfortable?" Alfred opened his mouth to reply, but the plane started to move and a voice over the inter com asked them to buckle their seatbelts. They didn't resume talking until they were in the air and cruising.
The voice told them that they could now remove their seatbelts and were free to move about the cabin. Alfred twiddled his thumbs and his eyes shifted to the empty seat on his other side. That was lucky! He really didn't want any one over hearing what he was about to say.
"…So…do you want to talk about it?" he mumbled.
Arthur looked confused "talk about what?"
Alfred refused to make eye contact. "You know…a couple of nights ago when you…you said those things over the phone."
Arthur froze, "What…did I say? Refresh my memory…"
Alfred took off his glasses and started cleaning them (something he did when things got awkward) "ah jeez dude, are you gonna make me say it?" the serious look on Arthur's face was answer enough. "Well…I'm going to presume that you were drunk, because there would be no way you say things like that sober…"
Arthur held up his hand to stop the rambling ".?" he asked dangerously.
Alfred put his glasses back on but screwed his eyes shut; crap this was going to be embarrassing… "You said that you loved me and that my hair was like sunshine and I had beautiful eyes and…something about wanting to tear my tux off with your teeth…oh and you asked that if I felt the same way we should "get together" um…yeah that was it".
Arthur stared into space for a moment, his face going slightly red. After about a minute he came back to Earth and spoke very slowly and softly "well…do you feel the same way?" Alfred had not expected that response! He tried to say something, anything! But all that came out of his mouth was a strange croaking noise. Arthur quickly turned his body and pulled his newspaper in front of his face, "o…of course you don't…a…and I don't expect you to. Blame Gilbert if you want, it was all his idea" the words sounded as if they were being said through gritted teeth.
Alfred leaned back in his seat "shit! What have I done? What am I going to do?" he sneaked a peek at Arthur from the corner of his eye. If the Englishman got his way, they wouldn't speak for the rest of the trip, but he had to do something to get him to talk! He had to think of a plan…
"Bloody stupid git!" Arthur inwardly screamed at himself "what have I done? I know! I've screwed up what little chance I had in the first place!" the moment Alfred had mentioned the drunken phone call, the memories from that night came flooding back to him.
What an idiot he was, to have placed his deepest secret in the hands of the bad touch trio. He turned the page of his news paper, he wasn't actually reading, he just didn't want to face the beautiful and probably disgusted American that sat right next to him.
Once he had finished with the newspaper he took to staring out of the window, keeping his eyes focused on the ocean below him. After 25 minutes of staring into space Arthur decided to give his eyes a rest and turned around he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled from his seat.
Alfred had grabbed him and was now pulling him towards the back of the plane, where the toilets were located. "What the hell are you doing?" Arthur hissed as he was dragged along. "We need to talk and we need to do it in private, somewhere you can't run away. And this is my only plan" Alfred whispered back.
They stopped outside the toilets and just as Alfred was about to force Arthur into the cubicle an air hostess appeared next to them. She cleared her throat and gave them a stern look, both men froze, "It's not what it looks like!" Alfred said quickly "we just wanted to discuss something in private".
She gave a slight smile "sure you were" she checked her watch "well…I will give you 10 minutes, so "discuss" as fast as you can ok?" and she walked away. They stood there confused for a moment then Alfred shoved Arthur in.
Outside, the hostess sat back down and picked up her copy of Junjou Romantica "they are so lucky I was on duty today" she muttered to herself.
Inside the cubicle it was cramped and both Arthur and Alfred were trying to get comfortable, finally when they had stopped squirming Alfred spoke "Arthur…I know this isn't the best time but…how do you feel about me?"
Arthur looked down at his shoes, "damn it! Why did he have to go straight to the point? What was he supposed to say? Then again, he had already made a fool of himself, so he couldn't that much more damage now could he? Before he could stop himself he was pressed up against Alfred and was kissing him, his hands gripped tightly onto his bomber jacket and pushed him against the wall of the cubicle.
He had expected Alfred to push him away and storm out or at least look surprised, but he was wrong. Alfred had closed his eyes and had his hands on Arthur's back, holding him close and was fully participating in the kiss. Arthur then slipped his tongue inside Alfred's mouth and soon the two of them were fighting to dominate the kiss.
Arthur felt Alfred slip a hand under his shirt, which distracted him, long enough for the younger nation to push Arthur against the opposite wall and started to kiss his neck. Arthur cursed himself for moaning, his neck was very sensitive and Alfred was just too good with his mouth…
He found himself entangling his fingers in Alfred's golden hair and leaning his head back to give him more access to his neck, he then felt the kisses trail upwards until they were face to face. He was now staring into the stunningly blue eyes of the man in front of him; he began to feel weak at the knees. They didn't say a word, and then all of a sudden Alfred began to giggle.
"What is so funny?" Arthur snapped. Alfred leaned against the wall.
"I just remembered that you never gave me an answer…so how do you feel about me?"
Arthur swallowed nervously, "even though I was drunk, I still meant what I said…"
Alfred's eyebrows rose "that you want to tear my clothes off with your teeth?" he asked confused.
Arthur face palmed, "I meant that I love you". Neither of them spoke and the awkward silence set in. Alfred opened his mouth but whatever he was about to say was cut off by a loud tap on the door, which snapped them back to their senses.
"Times up boys, you've had your fun" said the voice of the air hostess from the other side of the door.
They quickly shuffled their way out of the door and made their way back to their seats.
Once they were seated again Arthur quickly glanced over at Alfred, who was now busy asking another passenger if the refreshment cart had already been past. He felt confused, had Alfred been about to reciprocate his feelings? Or was he about to reject him? He thought about the heated kiss they had shared and felt a little warmer, there was no way that Alfred would kiss him without a reason…would he? He massaged his temples gently; this was going to be a long trip…
Matthew was drumming his fingers on the arm of his seat, for the first few hours of the flight he had been content with reading his book but now he was listening to his ipod. He stole another glance back towards where his brother was sitting, Alfred looked confused.
Matthew slunk back down in his seat; he was so used to being ignored that he had become quite an observant person. He had seen all the drama that had taken place before hand, excluding when Alfred and Arthur had gone into the toilet. But Matthew could speculate what had happened…the hickey on Arthur's neck was a bit of an indicator.
He started to play with a loose thread on his hoodie, those two were quite silly really…they liked each other it was obvious, but something was stopping them from being together. Was it their pride? The pain they had caused each other over the years? Or where they just scared?
Matthew couldn't figure it out, so he started to observe the people around the cabin again…He had never good people skills in the first place, due to his shyness, so how on earth could he help his brother, if only he knew someone who was an expert with relationships…oh my! Matthew clicked, he did know someone! He had to remember to contact Francis as soon as they stopped over in London…
It had been six hours and Arthur and Alfred had still not spoken to each other, for Arthur it was a battle of will and he refused to speak. He had bared his soul to Alfred, confessed his feelings, made out with the guy and Alfred had done nothing since then! He was messing with him! He couldn't even be merciful enough to at least tell him he didn't feel the same way. Meanwhile, Alfred was having his own inner, angst battle.
Stupid Arthur…he was so stubborn, for some reason he was pissed off again, he wanted to tell Arthur that he felt the same way but…he couldn't…he just couldn't get the words out. He shoveled another piece of food in his mouth. Comfort eating some might call it; at least food would never confuse him like this…
Arthur was trying to block out the noise of Alfred eating next to him, where were his ear plugs? God that man had no manners! He was just shoveling the food down like an animal, surly he had raised him better. Then Arthur thought about it… "Surly he had raised him better" oh…shit. Now that he thought about it, it made him sound like a pedo! A sad, old creep that's what he was. Going after the man he had partially raised! He was just like Antonio! Maybe that was why Alfred probably didn't feel the same way, he still saw Arthur as his "brother" he would never consider him as a lover… oh god he felt old…
Alfred had finally finished with his food and was now amusing himself by humming his national anthem over and over again, he knew it annoyed Arthur. He hoped it would annoy the man enough so that he would snap and tell him to stop, then they could finally talk.
But 15 minutes later, Arthur was still holding strong and Alfred was the one getting annoyed. Was it possible to get sick of your own national anthem? He casually leaned closer to Arthur so that the humming would be louder and then he saw it…ear plugs…that cheater!
This subtle battle went on for the rest of the flight; it was only when the plane touched down at Heathrow airport that either of them stopped messing around. It finally dawned on them that they were going their separate ways and they probably wouldn't see each other for a long time. People started to leave the plane but they stayed in their seats, only when it was the three of them left (Matthew waited for them) they decided to get moving. Once they were inside the airport Matthew excused himself and ran towards the pay phones.
This left Alfred and Arthur alone again; they stood there in an awkward silence, both refusing to be the first one to speak.
Then suddenly Arthur leaned forward and gently kissed Alfred on the cheek, "I thought I might as well…seeing as we won't get to see each other until the next word conference" Arthur had now started blushing "so…um…have a safe trip back" he said quickly then walked towards the luggage carousel.
Alfred watched Arthur leave; his hand touched the spot on his cheek that had been kissed…crap why couldn't he have said something!
Matthew was tapping his foot impatiently while he waited for Francis to pick up, he glanced around to make sure Alfred hadn't followed him; at last the phone was answered! "Bonjour" said the voice from the phone.
Matthew smiled "Francis? Hey it's Matthew…um can I ask a favor?" the line was silent
"Qui est ce?" (Who is this?) Francis asked teasingly
Matthew sighed; he had almost forgotten…Francis usually insisted that whenever they spoke over the phone Matthew would have to speak French.
C'est Matthew; j'ai besoin de votre aide (this is Matthew; I need your help)… he whispered, he heard Francis chuckle, "Aller sur le" (go on). Matthew took a deep breath, "Arthur et Alfred are être stupide, comment puis-je les aider entre eux?" (Arthur and Alfred are being stupid, how can I help them?) He waited for a reply.
"Hmmm…Je suis désolé, Je ne peux m'empêcher aujourd'hui, mais, S'il vous plaît appelez-moi dès que vous arrivez à la maison (…sorry, I can't help now, but, please call me as soon as you get home) Francis said apologetically.
Matthew's face fell "ok…au revoir" and he hung up the phone, he turned around and found himself face to face with his brother. "Gaah! Oh…h…hi Al! How long have you been standing there?"
Alfred frowned "long enough…"
Matthew started to sweat, "oh crap, crap, crap, I'm so dead" he thought to himself.
Alfred then punched him in the arm happily "why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend? I'm so happy for you bro!"
Matthew was confused "girlfriend?" he repeated
Alfred laughed "yeah, who else would you be speaking to in French? Isn't it supposed to be the language of love?"
Matthew gave a sigh of relief, that's right…Alfred couldn't speak French…thank God for Francis and his stupid requests!
Alfred gave him a high five "Little Mattie has a girlfriend" he teased "what's her name"
Matthew said the first name that came to his mind "Gilbert...a" he blurted out, Alfred raised an eyebrow "Gilberta? Umm…interesting name…"
Matthew smiled weakly "well I'm going to stretch my legs, want to come along?"
Alfred shrugged "why not, and while we're walking you can tell me more about this Girlfriend of yours" and they set off.
Arthur swung the front door shut behind him and sighed happily "home sweet home" he said as he dumped his suitcase next to the lounge and collapsed onto it; it was hard to believe that he had only been gone for five days. He rolled onto his stomach, what a mess he had gotten himself into… if had just left the bar when his instincts had told him to then he would never have made and idiot of himself!
He shook his head, he had to stop thinking about Alfred, and he needed to distract himself. He heard the clock chime, he should probably make some dinner.
He dragged himself into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and peered in, not much, so he shut the door, then he saw the fridge magnet Alfred had given him one day, sitting near the top corner. It was a hamburger with a smiley face.
"Damn it!" Arthur shouted as he kicked the fridge. He couldn't stop thinking about him! Everything reminded him of the stupid man! Feeling annoyed and tired Arthur grabbed his suitcase and trudged up stairs towards his bedroom… he was in need of a good long rest.
Alfred was at his wits end, it was only a seven hour flight to New York but it was torture because every couple of seconds his brain would fill up with Arthur! He tried to distract himself with the movie that was playing but nothing was working, eventually he just slumped down in his seat and glared moodily at the seat in front of him.
"Excuse me sir" came a voice beside him, it was the air hostess he and Arthur had encountered near the toilets. She was leaning over him slightly "are you all right sir?"
Alfred sighed "I'm fine thank you…but…do you have something to eat?" he whispered slightly, she looked from side to side then sneakily drew a chocolate bar from her pocket and handed it to him.
Alfred's face broke into a huge grin, "ah miss you are the best!" he said happily as he undid the wrapper.
She shrugged "it's nothing, anyways you've looked really upset since your boyfriend departed at Heathrow so I just wanted to check up on you".
Alfred chocked a little on his chocolate bar "he…Arthur…he isn't my boyfriend" he coughed.
She patted him on the back "no need to be shy, no one is judging you" she checked her watch "well I have to get back, call me if you need anything" and she walked off.
Alfred watched her retreat. Jeez…why did everything have to remind him of Arthur!
Matthew sprinted through the crowd and John F Kennedy Airport to get to the pay phones, they had landed a little while ago and he had just enough time to bid his brother farewell, call Francis and jump on his flight to Vancouver. He quickly punched the numbers in and was relieved when the phone was answered almost immediately.
"Bonjour Matthew, ne vous inquiétez pas, J'ai un plan pour aider Arthur et Alfred" (do not worry, I have a plan to help Arthur and Alfred) he said confidently .
Matthew sighed in relief "puis-je aider?" (Can I help?) He heard a faint "honhonhonhon" from the French man.
"Don't worry, just leave it to big brother Francis, he knows what to do" and he hung up.
Matthew felt very happy but then slightly annoyed, so he wasn't allowed to speak in English but Francis could go back and forth however he pleased? He quickly made his way back to the terminal with a slight frown on his face...would everything turn out ok?
Alfred was home, he kicked open the door of his house, threw his suitcase across the room, slammed the door behind him and stormed into the kitchen. He was pissed off beyond belief, not only had he just endured a whole plane ride of "ArthurArthurArthurArthur" running through his mind, but his brother had stammered a half hearted farewell at the airport, the taxi driver wouldn't let him eat McDonalds in the car and to top it off the phone was ringing! He had just walked through the door, this had better be important! He almost ripped the phone off the wall when he answered it.
"What?" he shouted into the mouth piece.
"Well, well, well, someone is in a bad mood today" chuckled the voice of Ivan (Russia).
"Oh come on!" Alfred thought to himself "do I really have to deal with this creep now?" Alfred groaned loudly "Ivan, this is a bad time, I just got home and I'm really tired. Whatever you want to talk about, can't it wait until tomorrow?"
He heard a faint eerie noise come from the phone… "KOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOL" Ivan chanted continuously.
Alfred's hair stood on end "Uhh…um… You know what? It's always a good time to talk when it comes to you Ivan!" he said quickly. And the unnatural noise stopped.
"Oh good, I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience" Ivan replied sweetly, he cleared his throat "now Alfred, I have called because I have heard some interesting things from Francis and I wanted to…assist you da?"
Alfred agreed instantly "yeah! Sure buddy, I'm always happy for you to help me out".
There was a pause, "Alfred, you love Arthur correct?"
Alfred twitched, how the hell did these things get around? "…yeah" he answered tentatively.
"And he loves you?"
Alfred thought of the confession on the plane "…yes".
"Then go to London as soon as possible and tell him that you love him and you want to be together" Ivan said happily. Alfred started to protest but was silenced by a loud "сделать это!" (Do it!)
He quickly hung up the phone and looked around; he needed to get to the airport. He was gonna do it! YES! He was gonna tell Arthur how he felt and he had to do it as soon as possible!
He raced upstairs to the computer to book a flight, he was silently thankful for the push from Ivan, had it been anyone else he would have hung up immediately. 20 minutes later he ran outside, with just a small carry-on bag, he hastily locked the door and jumped into the taxi he had called. He was a ball of nervous energy; this was a split second decision…barely any thought had been put into it… But screw it! When had thinking ever helped him out in the past?
Arthur was sitting in his favorite chair by the fireplace and was sipping his cup of tea. It was good to be back…he hadn't had a proper cup of tea the entire time he had been away, so it was nice to return to some familiarity. He had returned home yesterday, and after a nice, long sleep he was back to feeling like himself again. He turned the page of his newspaper, he had wanted to go for a walk earlier that morning but once the rain started he decided to stay inside and relax. It was quite nice actually, the soft pitter patter of raindrops on the window, the crackling of the fire, the… hammering on his front door and someone shouting?
He stood up and quickly answered the door; there stood Alfred, dripping wet, glasses askew, a soggy bag in his hand and grinning like an idiot. Arthur was too surprised to speak.
"Hey Arthur, mind if I come in?" Alfred asked as he shivered.
Arthur immediately stood aside and let the soaked American inside. He didn't care that he was getting water all over the floor; he just wanted to ask one question
"Alfred…what the bloody hell are you doing here?"
Alfred laughed nervously and ran one hand through his wet, tangled hair. "Straight to the point huh? Aren't you happy to see me?"
Arthur nodded quickly "of course I'm happy to see you it's just this is so…unexpected"
Arthur's eyes surveyed Alfred's drenched form for a moment "let me get you a towel" he said and rushed off. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap" he chanted to himself silently as he grabbed a towel from the laundry, "why is he here? To rub salt in the wound? Gaah! Why couldn't he be left alone to wallow in his misery?" he came back quickly and threw the towel at Alfred, he didn't want to get too close…
Alfred started drying himself franticly and spoke while doing so. "Hey…um…Arthur, I actually have a reason for being here…and…it's kinda really important so don't kick me out until I finish telling you okay?" Arthur started listening more attentively.
Alfred then tried to get rid of the water droplets on his head by shaking it like a dog, spraying Arthur.
"Watch it you git!" Arthur shouted as he was showered with the little droplets.
Alfred quickly apologized and came closer, Arthur instinctively took a step back but once Alfred started drying him too he calmed down. It was strangely soothing to have Alfred touch him so gently, rubbing the towel in his hair and face. He was standing so close…Arthur could feel Alfred's breath on his face. His heart was hammering in his chest; he had to distract himself…
"So what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Arthur said softly.
Alfred lowered his head so that his mouth was right next to Arthur's ear "I wanted to tell you that… I love you".
Arthur froze, he swore he even stopped breathing; it was only when he felt a gentle kiss on his neck that he stated to move again. He jerked away from Alfred and looked him in the eyes, his face confused "do you mean it?" he asked shakily, he had meant for it to sound stronger but he was breathing so fast that he couldn't.
Alfred smiled, his blue eyes twinkling "yes, and I wish I had told you sooner".
Arthur stared into space for a moment…Alfred…loves me… he then threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around the American's neck and kissed him passionately.
Alfred wound his arms around Arthur's waist and pulled him closer, pressing their bodies together. Alfred gently bit down on Arthur's bottom lip causing him to gasp slightly and eased his tongue into his mouth.
While they kissed, Arthur had started trying to peel the wet clothes off Alfred, slowly fumbling with the buttons on his shirt, for some reason he was trembling. Alfred noticed his shaking and started to help him and he kissed Arthur gently on the forehead.
"If you're not ready…" he started but Arthur interrupted him
"Of course I'm ready…don't be ridiculous".
Once Alfred's shirt was gone they resumed kissing and Arthur began to run his hands over Alfred's toned chest, he felt Alfred's hands at the bottom of his shirt and he lifted his arms so it could be removed. He felt strangely exposed; he had been shirtless in front of people many times…but the hungry look in Alfred's eyes made him feel a little nervous.
Alfred moved forward to kiss again but Arthur held up a hand to stop him.
"If we are going to do this…then we are not going to do it on the bloody floor" he growled.
He grabbed Alfred's hand and began to lead him upstairs. When they reached the bedroom Alfred scooped Arthur into his arms and placed him on the bed.
Arthur was lying on his back looking up at Alfred who was now sitting on the edge of the bed.
He sat up and leaned against the head board "…well?"
Alfred laughed at his impatience and leaned in to claim his lips again; Arthur moved his hand up to the American's face, gently removed his glasses and placed them on his bedside table.
He then noticed that Alfred was unbuckling his belt, his breath hitched as he felt his pants pulled off roughly. Not wanting to be out done, he quickly moved his hands to Alfred's pants and succeeded in removing them, Arthur was now blushing heavily.
He tried to remove Alfred's boxers but his wrists were held tightly and pinned against his sides.
Alfred was smirking slightly, "you first" he said simply and slowly began to pull Arthur's boxers down over his legs.
He was suddenly very aware of how exposed his "vital regions" were.
Alfred chuckled "wow Iggy, you're bigger than I thought you would be".
Arthur pouted, he hated that nickname… He then he felt the American's hand close around his shaft and slowly began to pump it. He moaned, not bothering to hold it back, it felt too good. Alfred began to move his hand faster, all the while gently kissing Arthur's neck.
He found himself steadily becoming more submissive under Alfred's actions, he was caressing and kissing all the sensitive areas on his body and Arthur was beginning to melt. His hands were now tightly gripping the sheets and his hips were now rocking faster against Alfred's hand, his breathing was erratic and punctured with needy moans.
"A…Alfred, ah…please don't …ah, stop!" he gasped and he felt Alfred's pace quickened. Needless to say he came almost instantly. He fell back against the pillows, trying to catch his breath. Alfred leaned over him and gently brushed his lips across his own.
"Lube?" he mumbled against his lips
"Bathroom" Arthur panted
Alfred stood up and headed to the bathroom, while he waited for Alfred to come back, Arthur tried to compose himself.
"OKAY! This is actually going to happen! Really going to happen and it's happening right now!" he thought to himself, "just take a deep breath and calm the fuck down!"
He sat up a little when Alfred entered the room, he gave a small smile then Alfred pounced. He once again found himself trapped underneath the other man. They started kissing again, only this time more slowly and less lust driven…which was amazing because Arthur could feel Alfred's hard on against his leg….he must have had that for a while!
Then Alfred moved back and squirted a liberal amount of lube onto his fingers and moved his hand towards Arthur's entrance, Arthur squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away. Arthur tensed when the first finger entered him.
"Dude, don't tense up or it makes it more difficult" Alfred gently reminded him
Arthur tried to relax, but it's not that bloody easy when someone has their damn finger inside of you! He stopped tensing and Alfred added another finger and started scissoring, Arthur found himself clinging to Alfred's shoulders and wincing slightly, it wasn't as if it was Arthur's first time…but it had been a while. About two hundred years probably… give or take a few decades. He was snapped out of his little daydream when Alfred's fingers struck his prostate. He moaned loudly and his body arched off the bed.
Alfred took advantage of the moment and added a third finger, Arthur found himself unconsciously thrusting back onto the fingers to gain more pleasure. Then Alfred stopped, retracted his fingers and kissed Arthur on the forehead, "turn around" he mumbled softly against his skin. Arthur complied immediately and shifted so that he was on his hands and knees.
He felt Alfred kiss him on the back and a hand settle on his hip, "ready?" Alfred asked.
Arthur nodded and Alfred began to push in, "Shit!" Arthur hissed, "Why do you have to be so big?" he asked through gritted teeth.
He heard Alfred chuckle behind him, but he didn't stop moving. It was only when he was completely inside that he paused; Arthur suspected that it was so he could have a moment to adjust to the intrusion.
"It's okay…you can move now" Arthur said at last.
Immediately Alfred started thrusting…actually…thrusting was an understatement… what he started to do was more along the lines of pounding him into the mattress! Arthur cried out and started to claw into the sheets again.
He was striking his prostate dead on with every thrust and it felt fucking amazing! Arthur's hands clenched the sheets tightly, almost tearing them; he tried to muffle his cries by burying his face in a pillow. He felt Alfred's hand creep around his hips and started to stroke his "vital regions".
Arthur's pride flew out the window as he began to writhe and beg under Alfred. "Alfred…ahh, don't stop" he groaned into the fabric. He could hear Alfred panting and moaning just behind his ear, "aah… Arthur…haah, fuck you're tight…" suddenly Alfred's hand left his dick and moved higher until it was caressing Arthur's chest. "Arthur…take your face out of that pillow…I want to hear you".
Arthur found the strength to support himself on his hands again, and at that, Alfred gave an extra hard thrust. Earning a loud moan from Arthur, the American chuckled. "That's it…let it all out, I want everyone in the neighborhood to hear you". Alfred moved his hand back to Arthur's dick and started to pump faster than before. "Alfred! Aah…harder, please!" he gasped. And Alfred complied, giving it to him deeper than ever before.
He had never felt like this before, Alfred was setting his body on fire with pleasure with every movement, he was at his complete mercy…and it felt incredible. He could feel himself approaching his climax, "Alfred…" he moaned "I'm almost there…" he could feel Alfred's hot breath on his neck "m…me too…" and the pace of his thrusts sped up. It only took a couple more thrusts until Arthur came, "ALFRED!" he shouted and collapsed on the bed, at the same time, Alfred moaned Arthur's name loudly and came inside him.
He pulled out and rolled onto his back next to Arthur, they were both exhausted. Alfred turned his head to face Arthur and grinned tiredly, "we should have gotten together ages ago" he panted. Arthur smiled and shuffled closer to him, he felt Alfred's arms wrap around him. Alfred gently placed a kiss on the Brit's forehead and they soon dozed off. Completely content.
*three months later*
Arthur was doing a last minute check through his suitcase, making sure he didn't forget anything when he felt a pair of arms encircle his waist and embrace him tightly. Alfred nuzzled his face into Arthur's shoulder, "I'm going to miss you…" he mumbled into Arthur's shirt. "Promise me you will call every day?"
Arthur gave a frustrated sigh "I'm only going to be gone for a week! I'm sure you will survive"
Alfred let go and turned Arthur to face him and continued in a panicked voice , "But you will be in Australia! That's half way across the planet! And god knows what will happen to you; do you know how many snakes and spiders they have? What about all the sharks? And koalas! I know they look cute but have you seen their claws?"
Arthur silenced him with a chaste kiss on the cheek, "I will be fine, I promise" he said soothingly and resumed going through his bag.
Alfred pouted and flopped onto the bed, "At least go to the beach while you are there Iggy, have fun for me …seeing as I will be stuck here… house sitting for you."
Arthur zipped up his suitcase and placed it on the floor, "this trip is for political reasons Alfred, I won't have time to sight see…" his voice trailed off and he collapsed onto the bed next to Alfred and groaned in annoyance.
Alfred raised an eyebrow "what's wrong?"
Arthur rubbed his temples "I just remembered… Jack (Australia) always calls me "Dad"…God it makes me feel old…"
Alfred tried to stop himself from laughing, but couldn't help letting slip a giggle, much to Arthur's disapproval.
"It's not funny!" Arthur snapped as he got off the bed "just for that, I'm going to tell him that since we are together, he has to refer to you as "mother"…what are you going to do now?"
Alfred chuckled and pulled him back onto the bed and they wrestled playfully until Arthur noticed the time and reminded Alfred that he had a plane to catch. Later when Alfred waved him off as he boarded, Arthur Kirkland smiled to himself. He had always felt a little depressed when he traveled, because he knew that he would be coming back to an empty house. But now he actually had someone to come home to, someone that he loved more than anything in the world.
Perhaps the day when he decided to visit the bar was one of the best decisions he had ever made…
THE END
(Yay! Second story is done! I would like to thank Gem for editing this for me. Also if you could please leave a review that would be awesomesauce!)
