It was war. A cheesy, romantic, lovey-dovey war. But, it was a war.

It was one thing after the other, each one greater than the next. One of them would give a box of chocolates; the other would give a huge teddy bear. One would offer to watch a romantic movie; the other would take them out for a romantic dinner. It had been going on for about three weeks now, and neither Alfred nor Matthew were willing to give up on the battle.

But now, it seemed like it was going to come to an end, and Alfred would be claimed the winner. Though he was sure he was going to win this battle, he felt terrible about it, not happy like he anticipated. There was no happiness out of his victory, just hurt feelings and broken hearts.

The American looked across the table, staring at the empty seat that was supposed to hold his boyfriend. He imagined he'd win this by outdoing the other, by making some grand romantic gesture that would bring this whole war thing to an end. He didn't think he'd win by being stood up.

"Are you sure you don't want to order yet, sir?" A young, feminine voice made him jump a bit in his seat. He looked up at her, smiling a bit and shaking his head.

"No, no, I'd rather wait just a bit more." The young woman nodded, then walked away.

He had been waiting alone for over forty-five minutes. He still had the smallest bit of hope that Matthew would show up, even if he was late or not. But, he knew that it wouldn't happen. Matthew had never even been late before.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out his small cellular phone. He began typing out a message to Matthew, asking where he was. He knew it was useless though. He had been sending texts all day long to the other, and he hadn't gotten a single response.

After a few minutes had passed, and he received no reply at all, he put his phone away with a sigh. It was no use staying here anymore.

Alfred stood up, informing his waitress that he was going to leave. He stayed near silent as he made his way back home, but he could feel a mix of emotions brewing. He was worried for Matthew, he wouldn't miss a date no matter what. And even if he had to, he would at least text. But, maybe Matthew was tired of him.

Once he was finally back to his house, he opened the door slowly, a small frown on his face. He was greeted with a familiar voice, though it seemed to be laced with anger.

"You're late," Matthew said to the other as he stepped towards Alfred, arms crossed over his chest. Behind him was their dinner table, which had two plates on it, each one adorned with steak, mashed potatoes, and peas.

"I'm late?" Alfred said, looking between Matthew and the table. This was more confusing than anything else. "I was waiting forever at the restaurant! You never showed up, and I looked like an idiot."

Matthew raised a brow, taking a step towards the other. "Restaurant? We had a date at home, what are you taking about?"

"We had a date that I put together! I text you a million times today…!"

"I didn't get a single text from you!"

Alfred let out a sigh, pulling out his phone and beginning to show the other all the sent texts. Matthew mimicked the other, pulling out his own phone. He stared at the screen for a few moments, before looking at Alfred again.

"It's dead, it must have been dead all day," he replied. "But that's no excuse for standing me up!"

"I did not stand you up!" The American yelled, putting his phone down. "We didn't have a date at home today!"

"I wrote it in your date book!"

"You know I don't read that!"

"That's not my fault!"

"Yes, it is!"

Silence.

Both of them, while filled with anger, didn't want to continue the fight. They had fought plenty in the past, and this actually seemed like a stupid thing to fight about.

Alfred let out a sigh, taking off his jacket and hanging it up. "This is stupid," he mumbled. "We both made dates, and we both stood each other up."

"Yeah," Matthew muttered in reply. "Well… This whole contest has been kind of stupid. It was nice at first, but now it's just become mean."

Alfred nodded. "Yeah, I think we should just kind of go back to being a somewhat normal couple. You know, making dates that aren't just out of spite."

"To be honest, most of the stuff I got you was just to make myself feel better," Matthew replied.

"Same here." The American let out a small sigh. "I mean, really, when was the last time we just did something romantic so we could make each other happy, not just compete? It's not like there was really a prize anyway."

Matthew stepped over to the other, leaning forward and landing a small peck on Alfred's cheek. "Sorry for all this shit."

"I'm sorry, too." A small smile appeared on Alfred's face at the kiss, and he could feel his cheeks heat up a bit as well. He glanced over at the television, before looking at Matthew once again. "Wanna watch movies and cuddle?"

"Great idea."

Alfred took Matthew's hand in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze before leading him over to the couch and gently sitting him down. He didn't release the hand as they sat together, sides pressed together.

"Mattie?"

"Yeah?"

"I, uh… I'm sorry I stood you up today, I really should have read my date book, like I'm supposed to." Alfred looked down at his lap, a small frown on his lips.

"Sorry I didn't charge my phone. I guess we both kind of skipped out on our responsibilities, huh?"

With a small nod, Alfred looked up and pressed their lips together for a quick kiss. "Oh, and one more thing."

"Yeah…?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, idiot."