…I know… I'm bad at updating. I have exams in two days yet I found the time to haul out another story. xP I'm so bad. ;A;
I'm just experimenting on this one… not really sure if it'll be a multi-chapter fic.
Warnings: Out-of-Characterness, Alternate Universe story, no BL
Disclaimer: I own a dog but I don't own Hetalia!
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He pulled his knees close to his chest, sighed and looked up to the moonlit sky as he hummed a familiar tune to the smoke filled air. A bonfire glowed from below – he could make out a few faces from his view up in the balcony but he could not tell if he knew them personally or not. Most of the people down below were people he met once or twice and never had a conversation longer than twenty words.
Everyone was laughing down there; probably roasting marshmallows, singing songs or sharing ghost stories. He never knew why but he knows they are all happy; happy like bees dancing around their sweet, sweet honey.
Does this mean that I'm their honey? he thought bitterly, glaring at the taunting fire rising to quite an amazing height. To him, he was more like the oblivious bonfire. First, they gather around when he's at his brightest. The next, they will leave his behind as his blaze dies down. At times they would feed the fire more wood to keep it alive. But once they think they have given enough, or ran out of fuel, even felt too lazy to watch over it, they will leave it behind. Like an old toy that a child has grown out of or some random cliché from a television drama.
He is well aware that the bonfire is being held for him. But did they even care? Behind that kind, innocent façade were nasty bastards that only want to acquaint with him for fame. All one had to do was introduce oneself to him and they will be forever labeled as a close friend of Alfred F. Jones.
Alfred came from a wealthy, broken family. The masses knew them as celebrities despite their bitter background. His surname was not always Jones. He was once a Kirkland and back when he was, he was the happiest kid alive. He was not as rich back then either but he was fine with it. His mother was not so she divorced her loving husband and dragged Alfred away from his happiness.
He was only seven years old back then.
Although his mother became successful in establishing a name for her family on her own, Alfred was not pleased. His mother sent him to the most costly schools, gave him the finest material things, and even bought this mansion because Alfred thought it looked cool. He feigned satisfied grins every time but what he wanted was the opposite. He doesn't tell his mother though. Instead he pushed himself to be the best and be idolized by many just to show his mother that he's okay with it.
And it happened. He was now the most popular seventeen year old in the neighborhood and everyone wanted to be friends with him. Not because he's Alfred but because he is a Jones; A rich, smart, athletic and famous Jones. Alfred chuckled darkly.
The laughter from below grew louder now and he could faintly hear his mother calling for him to come and join them. He whimpers and clutches his knees closer. He'd rather sit here in the balcony and cry rather than fake a smile with those greedy bastards.
"Mr. Jones?"
Alfred snapped his head up and glared at the intruder. The intruder looked about his age and appeared innocent, he couldn't tell much though as the intruder was masked by the darkness of the indoors. That just made him more furious. He wasn't in the mood to make fake friendships tonight. He stood up and turned him back toward the intruder. He let his elbows rest on the concrete railing of the balcony and fixed his mad gaze on the bonfire.
"Do I know you?" Alfred gritted out, trying to sound kind.
"Ah! I'm so sorry, my name is Matthew Williams. Pleasure to meet you, sir!"
Sir? He thought as he laughed silently in disgust. Is this kid new to this shit or something? "Look, I know you only want to be friends with me because I am goddamn wealthy and famous. It's not a new thing. You've already introduced yourself. That settles it right? Now leave me. Please."
The intruder sighed and walked toward him. Alfred scowled and turned to face this 'Matthew Williams'. His eyes widened a fraction when all he saw was a smile on the intruder's features. Up close, this Matthew Williams' sincerity looked convincing but Alfred cannot fall for it so easily. He has tried to trust a few before but it yielded him nothing. Why should he believe this one now?
"I will call the guards and have you and your family sent out. Leave me. Now"
Matthew Williams laughed, "My family is not here with me. Though I think my masters would be angry if their name be tainted because of my actions."
Alfred scrunched his brows in confusion, "Pardon?"
"Let me rephrase my introduction, sir. My name is Matthew Williams. I am a butler of the Bonnefoy household."
"Butlers still exist?" Alfred blinked, his anger dying down slowly in amusement. "What are you doing up here then? Shouldn't you be with those pretentious bastards?"
"My master told me to go and have some fun. I'm not much of a people person so I decided to stay somewhere quiet… turns out you were here, Mr. Jones. Everyone has been looking for you. The bonfire is for you, after all."
Silence hung between them. Alfred averted his gazed back to the blazing fire. If you think about it, such a formal gathering should not be held with a bonfire. He knows how some would love to dress up in stunning, extravagant clothing just to impress and show social stature. It would not be a good evening if some old lady's dress caught on fire. Then there was a shrill shriek that made both Matthew Williams and Alfred F. Jones cringed.
They watched as a lady wearing a long, flowing gown ran about as the end of her skirt blazed. Matthew Williams laughed.
"The red accents the white pretty well, don't you think?" he added between snickers, "It suits her!"
"What the hell, man?" Alfred gaped at the butler. Weren't butlers supposed to be backing up their masters or any rich personality at that? Weren't butlers supposed to help these people?
"Oh come on. Even if I'm a butler, I'm still seventeen like you. You have to admit that that is funny as hell." And as if on cue, there was a sound of splashing liquid and another scream. This time Alfred joined the butler in laughter and watched as the drenched woman cursed at the person who splashed her to the netherworld.
Once their laughter died down to soft snickers, Alfred had a thought. He has not laughed like this in a while. Yes, he had laughed this loud with his so called 'friends' but it wasn't as real as this. It felt nice.
"Hard being a rich kid, eh?" the butler said to him with a smile. Alfred's eyes dilated once more and shook his head. The butler continued, "It'll get better, Mr. Jones. All these people will leave you alone one day when you finally found the way to get rid of them. I really shouldn't be saying these to you as a butler, you know?"
Alfred bit his lip and tried not to let tears burst out. It really is different when you hear your pains from someone else. It sounds comforting, in a way, as you feel that someone actually understands you. He closed his eyes and let his back slide down the concrete railing and fell back into the position he was in earlier. His breath hitched and he heard soft footsteps echo away from him.
"B-Butler!" Alfred cried out, for once feeling desperate for someone to talk to. "Please s-stay."
"You can call me Matthew." The butler smiled again and let it slip slightly, "I have to go though. My masters are probably dismayed by now, they'd want to leave." Something vibrated in his pocket and he pulled out is mobile phone. It was a message from his master. "Yep, they want to leave now. I'm so sorry, Mr. Jones."
Matthew made a move to leave and Alfred shouted again, "Alfred! Call me Alfred!" he said, pushing himself to a stand.
"All right then, Alfred." The butler repeated and the other felt a smile tug at his features. The butler left him there in the balcony in a hurry before he could reply. Alfred heaved out another sigh returned to his position again. This time, he let the tears fall out freely.
He wished he was young again.
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I don't know where this came from. All I know was that I was cleaning up some folders on my laptop and this document intrigued me. It was supposed to be a story for my friend… I guess I never gave it to her since it was just one paragraph long. xP And that it dated around two years ago. That was about the time I had this weird addiction to butlers. X_x I love butlers~ I continued it anyway~ ahhahaha/shot.
This wasn't even slash before because I remember two years ago, I didn't even like yaoi as much as I do now. Ha. I get affected so fast. xP
Tell me what you think and review!
A/N: I'm sorry, everyone. I don't think I'll be able to make this a multi-chapter story. For now, at least. Perhaps next time but I'm not so sure. Thank you for reading!