This fanfiction is part of the Sing Together series. The Sing Together series is a group of USUK oneshots based loosely around a collection of songs by Train. It's about time I did something like this. The AU and settings will differ between oneshots, and they won't be connected in any way. As such, I will be posting them separately.
Track 4: Words.
this ones beginning is based on something that happened to me so it hits close to home :/
i didnt have my best friend cut off from me forever tho
only for a week (it felt like more)
alright story time
"For the last time, no! Alfred, for god's sake, you can't talk to him anymore!"
"Why?! I can't talk to my best friend, why?!"
"He's not good for you! All you do is complain about us, your family, and he just agrees with you! That and your goddamn 'fandom' discussions! How many times have you said to him how you want to fuck Dean Winchester? That's not healthy at all! Take interest in real people!"
Alfred fell silent. He wished he had the words to say 'no, he's my best friend and he's agreeing because you're all awful' but he didn't. He didn't have the nerve to say 'I only wanted to touch Dean's face, not anywhere else', either. His hands clenched into fists.
"It's not like that! Arthur agrees with me because he fucking hates you guys as much as I do!" He exclaimed. Wrong move.
"You're certainly not talking to him now."
"No, for fuck's sake! All you and Mom do is criticize me and tell me to be better than I am! Just 'cos I got good grades last year! Maybe if there wasn't so much pressure on me I would start trying again!"
"Well perhaps if you didn't waste all your time on Arthur, you would be studying."
"Oh, just FUCK OFF!" he howled, closing his eyes as he screamed his words. "He's my friend and I love him! Just let me talk to him!" He yelped, swinging a fist blindly at his father. It connected, and Alfred felt a whole new wave of fear course through him.
"Don't you dare strike me." His father uttered, voice trembling a little. Alfred slumped back against a bookshelf, and tried to stop the tears. "You're grounded until you stop being such a little child about this." Arthur went to a different school. His father just watched as he suffered through a panic attack.
He dug his fingers into his legs to try and give him some kind of distraction, some kind of pain, but it didn't slow his rushed breathing and heartbeat. He trembled where he sat, trying to get to his feet. Lip quivering and fear controlling him, he tried ambling away to his bedroom. He ignored whatever his father might've been saying at the time.
Mouth open as he panted and wheezed, Alfred moved into his room and locked the door behind him with a click. He didn't even make it to his bed before he kneeled down and wept.
"Alfred Foster Jones!" his father hollered, knocking heavily on the door. "Get out here, right now! I'm not done talking with you. And you know you're not allowed to lock this!"
"What's the point of having a fucking lock if I can't lock my door?" Alfred wailed, a heaving mess on the floor. "Go to hell!"
"Already there." his father grunted, and seemed to leave the door. Slowly, Alfred shuffled backward, and leant against the door so that it couldn't open. He just kept crying as his father threatened bans on everything and anything he loved unless he would open the door.
His father left after a while, and a new person came to the other side of the door.
"Alfie?.." It was his brother.
"Go away." Alfred sniffled, only just starting to calm down. "Go be the perfect son with the perfect grades and whatever else you're perfect at!"
"Alfie, you know that's not how it is.. Hey, I'm here for you-"
"I said, go AWAY!" Alfred spat, reaching back and slamming a fist against the door. "Just fuck off before I put a blemish on your flawless self!"
He stayed grounded for a long time. The rest of his school years, in fact. He refused to give up contact with Arthur, but with being grounded, he had done so against his will. He was just a month from being eighteen, and he was practically being forced out of the house. Moving out, huh. He had nowhere to go. His mother had given him some money, but he was afraid to use it.
Alfred took one last look to the house, before turning and leaving it forever. He had free roam of the world. He hadn't had that for a long time. This kind of freedom was odd, but he had missed it, and was glad to have it back. He had nowhere to go. One bag of clothes and whatever else he could fit rested on his back, but that was it. He didn't want to ever go back to that fucking house. Ever.
"Maybe.." he said to himself. Slowly, weakly, he made his way to Arthur's house. It was over on the other, the far side of town. His legs were tired by the time he arrived, but he was there. Not much had changed, but there were certainly more flowers in the front yard. Arthur did always have a green thumb. Oh, Arthur.. He missed Arthur. A lot.
Terrified, Alfred lifted a hand, and gently pressed the doorbell button. And waited. No-one came. He rang it again, worrying and fretting already. He heard footsteps this time, and the door opened. There he was.
"Alfred?!" Arthur exclaimed, almost jumping back in fright. Or perhaps it was embarrassment, as he was sopping wet and wearing only a towel. "Sweet Jesus, it's you!"
"Arthur," Alfred returned with a dopey smile. Closing his eyes so that he wouldn't cry, he stepped forward and embraced his best friend ever so tightly.
"I was in the shower-" Arthur mumbled, lamely patting Alfred's back with one hand – he was using the other to keep the towel on.
Alfred didn't even mind that his shirt absorbed some of the water from Arthur's skin, as he was smiling too much. "I have nowhere to go, so I came here." He said as some kind of explanation.
"Where've you been all these years? You just disappeared and I thought-.." Arthur trailed off as he saw a frown etching itself onto Alfred's face. "Er, I'll go and put some clothes on. Go in, sit on the couch." Alfred did just that.
A few minutes later, Arthur trundled downstairs again, wearing tight clothes and a puffy jacket. He sat down beside Alfred, and looked to him with concerned eyes.
"I thought you stopped talking to me because you got sick of me." Arthur mumbled, hands in front of him.
"No, no, that's not it.." Alfred mumbled quickly, shaking his head. "My parents decided you weren't good for me, so they-.. I-.." he laughed nervously, fiddling with his hands. "I wasn't allowed to talk to you anymore, I'm so sorry. I get it if you hate me now."
"Not at all, chap," Arthur sighed. "Are you alright now?.." He had reason to be concerned, as Alfred was once an incredibly cheery boy.
"Kinda." Alfred tilted his head, looking at the TV that wasn't even turned on. "It's been tough." He murmured. "I missed you so much, Arthur, I-" he stammered, threatening to cry.
"Shh, I'm here now." Arthur pouted, leaning over and giving his friend a gentle hug.
"I-.." Alfred mumbled, feeling the need to get the worst out of the way. "Uh, I-.." he mumbled, rolling up his hoodie sleeve to the elbow. It took Arthur a moment to see them. Pale and almost invisible marks sullied the underside of the boy's forearm. "I don't even-.. It's just-"
"Alfred." Arthur uttered quietly, throwing his arms around his companion and just holding him tightly.
"They never stopped judging me and being cruel," Alfred whimpered, leaning his head down and resting it against Arthur's shoulder. "It just worse and worse, and I-.." Arthur didn't reply, and just squeezed the American in his arms. Alfred began to cry.
"Now, now, come on," Arthur said quietly, voice shaky. If his friend cried, he would surely be following suit in a few moments. "You know what they said about you? That's all bullshit. You're brilliant, Alfred." He insisted, ruffling Alfred's hair to try and cheer him. "As P!nk would say, don't let the fuckers get you down."
"I love P!nk," Alfred whimpered, hiding his damp eyes against Arthur's jacket.
"You're still a rockstar." Arthur tried, closing his eyes.
"So what." Alfred cracked a little smile at their joke. He was smiling. It felt like it'd been so long since he'd worn a genuine smile. "Got my game on, got, paid," he sang quietly. Arthur let it go that he'd mixed up So What and All-Star. The two of them laughed, cried, sang in each other's arms.. Alfred was so fucking relieved that they were still friends after their separation.
"What they said to you, they were just words. Words can't see ho great you are, Alfred." Arthur said quietly, refusing to let go of his friend. Alfred didn't mind, as he refused to let go of Arthur. "If you need somewhere to stay, too, I'm right here."
"You're the best," Alfred sighed quietly as he smiled into Arthur's hair.
"No, you are." Arthur smiled right back. "Isn't that right, best friend?"
"Alright, I guess so, best friend."
