Ring…Ring…Ring. Click. Hello, you've reached Arthur Kirkland. I can't get to the phone right now. Please leave a message after the beep. Beep.

He sighed, staring out the window at the night sky. "Arthur, it's me. I'm sorry, all right? Please, just pick up the phone." Another sigh, "Call me back, ok?"

Alfred hung up the phone and tossed it aside. That was the third time he'd called today. And about the thousandth since he had "screwed up" last week.

"C'mon man! I didn't even screw up that bad!" He groaned, falling limply onto his couch, face burying into a pillow. All he had done was buy a girl a drink last weekend. That's it! She was broke and he was trying to be nice! But of course, a drunk Arthur had to blow it completely out of proportion. What had started out as a small spat had turned into a full blown argument, and now Arthur wouldn't even talk to him. He rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "Now what do I do?"

After a minute, a thought occurred to the distraught American. "I'll just go visit him! If he won't talk over the phone, he'll have to talk to me in person!"

He jumped off the couch and hurried into his room, shoving clothes into a small suitcase he had retrieved from the closet. Once he was finished, he zipped up his luggage, shrugged on an old bomber jacket, and raced out the door into the winter snow.

He stared absently out the window of the plane, thinking back to the night at the bar, the night before Arthur had just up and left.

Arthur had come to the States to spend Christmas with Al, and Al was planning to spend New Year's in England. They were both out of school at the moment and both had called in for time off from work. And everything seemed to be going fine. It's funny how things can turn around so fast. One minute, it's all laughs and the next his boyfriend is cursing and about ready to kill the American. All he had done was buy a girl a drink. She was alone, distraught, cold, and broke.

…Wait, that's kind of how he was now…

He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. It was all a misunderstanding on Arthur's part. He hadn't been hitting on her. He was just trying to be nice to someone who was obviously down on her luck. She had looked like she needed just one person to say "Hey, it'll be all right." This was the only time he was going to curse his hero complex.

He shoved the thought from his mind. There had to be some way to fix this. He'd figure something out on the way there. It's not exactly like it's a short flight from New York to London, so he had plenty of time to think.

Unfortunately, he started to drift off after 45 minutes and was completely asleep before they'd been in the air an hour.

He awoke about an hour before the plane was scheduled to land, tears stinging at the corners of his eyes. He had had a nightmare centering around Arthur abandoning him for someone else. The very thought scared the American to no end. He wiped at his eyes and looked out the window.

There's no way he'd do that…right?

Alfred wasn't nervous until the plane was getting ready to land. He really hadn't thought this through. Taking a steadying breath as the plane touched down on the runway, Al steeled himself for what was going to come. He had called Arthur before he boarded the plane and told him that he was coming, but his gut told him that he was going to be on his own until he tracked down his M.I.A. boyfriend. After a bit of a fiasco with customs, Alfred was on his way. He flagged down a cab and gave the driver the address, settling down in the back seat for the long drive.

He found himself thinking again as he watched the scenery pass. He couldn't understand why Arthur lived out in the country. It didn't seem to be very convenient when his college was nearly an hour's drive away. But it was definitely a relaxing atmosphere. At least it was normally.

Alfred had hoped that the drive would help to relax him, or at least calm his nerves a bit. Instead it had the exact opposite effect. The higher the meter in the cab ticked, the more nervous he got. Before they had been on the road 15 minutes, Al's stomach had worked itself into tight knots. By 25 minutes, he felt like he was going to be sick. The 35 minute mark found him laying in the back seat of the car, wishing the drive would just hurry up and be over.

When the cab finally pulled to a stop, Al climbed out quickly, dragging his suitcase with him. He paid the driver and thanked him, backing away as the cab drove off. Spinning around, the American smiled nervously at the small country house. He shook his head, walking with determination up the front walk, the stairs, and knocked on the door.

Silence.

He knocked again, harder this time.

Still no answer.

Sighing, he sat down on the front steps to wait. As the winter wind picked up around him, he started to reminisce.

A/N: Hey everyone! So, this is the first fanfic I've ever let anyone other than my close friends read. I'd really like some feedback! And I know I'm not a great writer, so don't be afraid to really let me have it! I'm sure I can take it. And the feedback will help me when I'm working on chapter 2!

Until then...

Later y'all!