Summary: Alfred, a young law student from Los Angeles, and Arthur, an English intern architect, are in love. But when their families come together for the first time, they realize that they may not have as much in common as they originally thought. Throw in a peeved German, a worried Canadian and four brothers whose main mission in life is to ruin your happiness and things are bound to get chaotic. Will Alfred and Arthur's love prevail over their countless differences or will they just give up and call it quits?

Notes: Ian=Scotland; Dylan=Wales; Colin= Northern Ireland

Pairings: USUK; barely-even-there, one-sided FrUK; slight PruCan

Just Say Yes

"Oh, yer still alive. I was worried when ya didn't pick up right away."

"I wouldn't be answering the phone if I was dead you twit. Now what do you want?" Arthur was currently balanced on a high stool, phone nestled on one shoulder, and trying, with little success, to untangle the lights so he could loop them around the tree. Sensing that it could take a while, he leaped from the chair and reached for the tub of Bionic Snow instead, sprinkling fake snow randomly onto the branches.

"It's a wonder 'a that mouth of yours 'asn't gotten ya killed yet."

Arthur scowled. "Put a sock in it Colin! I'm busy right now."

"I just called 'cause your brother wouldn't stop pesterin' us about you—"

"Peter's your little brother too, you know," Arthur pointed out.

"Half," Colin said hastily. "And I told 'im your plans weren't any of 'is business anymore, but 'e kept yakkin' abaht the bloomin' loads of presents that ya were supposed ter brin' 'im apparently."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line in which Arthur mentally chortled. He had been the youngest before Peter was born. And although his full brother by birth, Peter annoyed him enough that he always used to joined forces with his older half-brothers in ganging up on him when they were younger. He didn't just do it because it boosted his ego immensely to be the one doing the tormenting for a change or because it felt nice to belong (finally) but because Peter had been a spoiled, rotten, insufferable brat who always got his way with everything. It drove all them absolutely nuts! But Arthur hasn't seen him for nearly two years now and he supposed he does kind of miss him.

"Tell him I bought him a Wii but that's it. And I've already mailed some cash over so if he wants something else you can just buy him something from the local stores and tell him they're from me. But…I'm not sure if I'll be coming home this year. I don't know." Arthur ran a hand through his messy hair. "It all depends on what Alfred's plans are.

"Ah. The yank."

Arthur didn't miss the careless disdain in his tone. His eye twitched in annoyance. His brothers may not have liked that he was going out with the "loud and clueless" American but they didn't have to be such bleeding arses about it all the damn time. He was about tell Colin off when the latter added, "He can come if he wants to."

"Er—No, I don't think so."

"Why not? I'm sure Ian and Dyl would love ter meet—"

"That's not it!" Arthur cut in. Just thinking about letting his rambunctious older brothers anywhere near Alfred nearly raised his blood pressure to unhealthy levels. Lord knows what they'd do to the poor guy. "I just—look—we haven't discussed what we'll be doing for Christmas yet, but he usually spends his with his brother."

"See, that's just brilliant ain't it? You're free er spend yours with us then. Your family's just as important after aw."

Arthur didn't want to ruin the relatively civil conversation they were having (an occurrence that was rarer than his family trying to keep in touch) by saying no, he'd rather not thank you. Somehow he had a feeling that his brothers just wanted him home so they could physically coerce him into buying the whole holiday experience for them again, just as they always did since he started earning substantially in the US.

"Maybe...I'll think about it," he said a moment's consideration. "Look Colin, I've got to go okay? It's our six-month anniversary and I still have a lot of decorating to get done."

"Fine but make sure ya think abaht it, alwigh'?"

It was more of a command than a request from a concerned relative, Arthur thought, but that was Colin for you. There was a click and then the line went dead.

Though the snow hasn't started falling yet, the air was sufficiently chilly that, at times, even the thick winter coat he wore couldn't keep him from shivering. But the cold doesn't bother Alfred too much. Not today. His racing heart was already doing very well in keeping his body well-insulated. He tightened his grip on the strap of his satchel and let his feet carry him to the one place in New York he really hoped hadn't closed yet. It didn't look like he had much luck there as when he turned the corner, he saw Mrs. Héderváry was already in the middle of locking up.

"Wait! STOP!" He yelled from the across the street.

"Huh? What—"

Alfred raced over to her quickly, ignoring the loud honking and angry cursing from the cabdrivers because he had crossed the street while the lights were still green.

"D-don't," he panted as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm so sorry! But the professor— he wouldn't let us off until the last minute and I still don't have—and I thought, how awesome would it be if I got him a watch or a new cufflink or something—"

"Hon, please! Slow down!"

Alfred looked down in surprise, not having realized that he had grabbed her by the shoulders. He must have been babbling quite frantically too since Mrs. Héderváry was now staring back at him in concern. He let go of her and gave her a sheepish grin.

"Sorry. I just—my boyfriend and I—it's our anniversary and I really need an awesome gift for him and this is his favorite jewelry store..."

He trailed off and Miss Héderváry smiled at him sadly, understanding.

"I'm sorry dear but my husband's already waiting—"

"Come on, please?" Alfred pleaded, cocking his head to one side and throwing her a goofy, toothy grin and just praying that he looked as hopeful and as sincere as he felt. Just enough to touch the woman's heart. "It would really mean a lot to us if you'd let me buy something for him here so please? It's the season of giving?"

Miss Héderváry giggled, her motherly affections set off by the young man's persistence.

"Oh alright," she said, taking out her keys. "But let's make it quick, shall we?"

"Do you have anything particular in mind?" She asked him once they got inside and Alfred had practically zoomed over to the vast selection of gold and diamond watches being displayed behind the glass cases. Alfred shook his head, feeling slightly put out because while he wanted to get Arthur something that was meaningful and conveyed all the emotions he's ever felt (still feels) for the Brit but can't really verbalize, he only realized now that there were just too many damn brands and designs to choose from that he couldn't possibly make a precise decision without compromising the whole point of the gift.

"Uh..."

"I could help you choose if you tell me how the two of you met?" She offered with a twinkle of something in her eye. Alfred wasn't sure what it was, but it was definitely there.

"Oh I guess so…We met about a year ago," he began. "I just moved from Los Angeles to begin my internship here but I was on a tight budget then. Luckily, a realtor friend tipped me off about an apartment that was renting considerably cheap. Way cheap."

Both men took hold of the door's handle at the same time. Alfred could swear he felt the static pass between them from when their fingers brushed together briefly.

"You-" they began together and stopped.

The stranger chuckled. "Hello rival," he said.

Alfred studied the slightly shorter man in front of him. He had sandy-blonde hair that was cut short and choppy, a slender frame and the greenest eyes he's ever seen. And also, a pair of the biggest and thickest eyebrows he's ever seen. With a warm grin, he slowly retracted his hand from the handle and stepped back. The other man regarded him with an amused expression but quickly entered without another word. Alfred followed and his mouth almost fell open. It was so spacious! Had he heard Yao right when the Chinese man told him that this was only renting for less than $3000?

"Wow..."

He peered at his rival and saw that the man was thinking just about the same as Alfred, though without the gaping.

"Well I'll be gobsmacked!" He had an unmistakable British accent that, to Alfred's ear, sounded rightfully snobby and yet, he found to be oddly cute. What came out of his mouth next though was the sound of shattering glass. "I guess I'm taking this then," he said, forest-green eyes busy scrutinizing the place.

"What?" Alfred cried in outraged disbelief. "But I got here first!"

The other man turned to look at him, one large brow arching up in question. "I think you're mistaken, lad. I believe I stepped in here first."

Alfred's mouth cured downwards into a frown. This was his reward for acting heroically moments ago? Geez, how unfair!

"Because I let you, remember?" he reminded.

The Brit rolled his eyes at him. "Come now, do you really need this amount of space?" His slim arms extended sideward to gesture to the whole expanse of the room.

No. He really didn't. But Alfred's pride wouldn't allow him to lose to what was a clearly a challenge in the man's voice. An idea popped up in his mind.

"Well, there are two bedrooms you know?" Alfred said suggestively.

He crossed the room and in a few strides, found himself standing in front of the Brit. He felt the other man tense for one second, then relax and square his shoulders. Spunky, Alfred thought appreciatively. This up close, he noticed that there was only but a small difference in their heights.

"Whaddya say?"

For a split second, the other man looked doubtful but then he smiled, warm and shy, and said, "I suppose...it could work. It should help a bit with the rent, eh?"

Alfred smiled fondly at the memory. It did end up working marvelously in the end.

"We became roommates after that. I didn't get along so well with him at first but ah, you could say that everything just sort of –"

A glint of something shiny caught the corner of his eye. He turned to look at it and then just like that, it hit him. Like a ton bricks.

"…fell into place."

He swallowed, edging himself towards another glass case nearby and staring at its contents in amazement, as if only realizing what he should've known all along. Why was he out here, buying a watch of all things when his destiny, his life, his whole future was already so clear to him?

Arthur lost count of the number of times he adjusted his necktie or straightened his suit vest or smoothed out his hair. He paced around nervously, back and forth, carefully realigning the silverware or scattering around a few more rose petals on the table. With Coldplay's 'Christmas Light' playing softly in the background, everything looked, felt and sounded perfect. Even the weather was being agreeable tonight; the bright and twinkling stars blending in splendidly with the Christmas lights decked out on the patio's covering, creating soft, glowing specks of reds, greens and golds. It took him all of yesterday afternoon and today to transform the boring and dull rooftop into a place that was worth sharing a romantic, candle-lit dinner with a lover, but he thought all the hard work was worth it. He just hoped Alfred would like it.

"Woah..."

Speak of the devil. He couldn't contain the swell of pride in his chest when he turned and saw how wonder-struck Alfred looked, his bluer than blue eyes wide open in amazement.

"Alright there, luv?"

"This-did you?-Wow Artie, this is amazing!"

"Thank you, darling. I try my best." His cheeks were warming up nicely now. Great. "S-so I ordered take away," he said, gesturing towards the boxes of food lined up neatly in one corner of the table. "Since everywhere else is probably full and this is a...a special occasion a-and I figured even though we'll be eating in we'd really be you know...eating out."

He nearly squawked when Alfred pulled him into a bone-crushing hug but relaxed as soon as he heard—felt—the deep rumble of Alfred's laughter. He grinned and pretty soon, his shoulders were shaking in open laughter as well. They stood holding each other like that for the longest time, just absorbing each others' body heat after a cold day of work and stress. He would liked to have been held longer but Alfred pulled away first, looking at him with an intensiveness that so rarely passed his youthful face.

"I love you."

Arthur gazed up at him, lifting his hands to gently cup the American's cheeks.

"I love you too Alfred."

Then Alfred did the unthinkable.

He got down on one knee and Arthur was quite certain that had he not had his mouth already open at that time, he would have choked on his own spit. Instead he settled for doing the less embarrassing. He froze on the spot, wide-eyed and gawking, inwardly spewing curses and trying very hard to convince himself that all this was not just some horrible, elaborate, wonderful dream his overly tired mind had conjured.

"Arthur," Alfred began. "I love you so much that sometimes I feel breathless just looking at you. You give me hope that dreams are not just fantasies because they can become real. Arthur, you were my dream. You are the sun, the moon, the stars and everything in between. You—you complete me. Make me feel alive. Free. Because of you, I feel that I am a better person." He paused, expression softening. "Arthur Kirkland, will you marry me?"

Arthur's breath caught. Alfred was never one for words but what he just said completely blew him away. Hard as he tried to blink them away, he felt the onslaught on tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He had not expected to be proposed to tonight. Or at all, to be perfectly honest. It was all too sudden! Too soon into their relationship. They were too new to this! And what if Alfred regretted this later on? What if he regretted this later on? What would happen to them? No, no. It wouldn't do. He couldn't possibly—couldn't think to—

And yet—and yet Alfred had asked with so much sincerity, so much love and adoration in his eyes that Arthur found it impossible to refuse him. No, it was not just that. He didn't really want to refuse this. Him. He wanted this.

It took him a while to regain his good senses and realize that Alfred had not moved from where he was still kneeling in front of Arthur. His shoulders had sagged but he looked at Arthur as if he was the answer to all his problems, as if Arthur—cynical, stuffy, boring Arthur—was all he'd ever hoped for and more.

"Yes." The words were out before he realized he had spoken them. "Yes you git! Silly, ridiculous man! Of course I would love to marry you!"

In the next instant, Alfred was up and was kissing him fiercely. Arthur melted into his touch, returning the gesture just as fiercely and as passionately, opening his mouth to taste the man who had captured his heart, his life, his soul. Soul mates. He liked the sound of that. It made his stomach twist in a pleasant way and it felt as if his heart would rupture from happiness. They broke apart for air, laughed and kissed some more. Somewhere in the middle of all that, their ring tones flared.

"Mattie?"

"Colin?"

"You wouldn't believe what just happened!" They said at the same time as the other.

"I just proposed at Arthur! He said yes!"

"Colin, Alfred just proposed to me! What? Of course, I accepted!"

"Yes, I'm serious! Okay, gotta go. I'll tell you all about it later."

"Bugger, they really said that? Well tell 'em to belt up because they have no say in this! I'm getting married!"

They shut off their phones and looked at each other. Alfred's face broke into a wide, happy grin and it was only now that Arthur noticed that his eyes were shining and wet at the corners. He felt a rush of affection spread throughout his chest. He pulled Alfred down towards him and planted a soft kiss in the corner of his mouth. Dinner would have to wait.

Matthew put the receiver down with a quiet sigh. He and Alfred had just spoken and from what gathered from their conversation, his brother was dead set on marrying Arthur. If that was the case, he knew from experience that there was little he could do to talk him out of it, let alone stop him. As much as he liked Arthur (and he really did, even if the Brit tended to act just a little bit neurotic at times), he couldn't help but feel that maybe Al was rushing into this too early, too soon. That maybe, in the heat of the moment, he had bought the ring without really thinking about the kind of commitments and responsibilities that came with matrimony.

"So? What did he say?" Gilbert asked, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

"They're really doing it," he mumbled, more to himself than to Gilbert. "I don't understand it Gil, they've only been going out for six months."

But Gilbert had stopped listening to him and now looked at Matthew as if he had just delivered the best news he's heard in years. He guffawed loudly, laughing so hard that he had hold on to the back of the sofa to prevent himself from lurching forward and accidentally knocking his head with Matthew's or something.

"Pfft! He finally decides to settle down and he chooses stick-up-the-ass eyebrows of all people? God this is just golden!"

"Would you cut that out?" It was times like these that made Matthew wonder what had possessed him to marry someone as obtuse as Gil. Said albino didn't seem to care whether his brother-in-law was possibly making the biggest mistake of his life as long as he got a big laugh out of it. "This is serious Gil, they're too young! What if they aren't ready yet?"

Gilbert tutted in disapproval.

"Uh, Mattie? You're twins, which means technically you were younger than him when we got married. And Arthur's what—23? Practically an old man already! Sure acts like one sometimes."

"I was way more mature than he was and you know that!"

"You did have unfair leverage by having me as your fiancé yes," Gilbert agreed with a smug smile. "Aw, forget it Mattie! Al's a big boy; he knows what he's doing."

Matthew doubted it, but maybe Gil was right. Al was a bit child-like in his spontaneity and often let his emotions get in the way of his logic but he was no idiot. And he wasn't naive either. At least, he hoped not. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he proposed to Arthur. Honestly, he loved his brother and just wanted him to be happy.

"You're right. I just...I'm can't help but worry about them, y'know?"

"Hm." Gilbert hugged him from behind, gently rubbing circles to soothe his tense shoulders. Matthew relaxed under his touch, thinking that his German husband could be sweet when he wanted to be. A comfortable silence settled between them before the German jolted, suddenly remembering something.

"Did he mention anything about Aspen?" he asked.

What a way to kill the mood, Matthew thought.

"He, uh, said that he wasn't coming."

And there he goes. There was stunned silence for about one, two, three seconds before a shocked scream of "WHAT?" ripped through New York's wintery streets.

Meeting at the pub once a week to catch up was one of the brothers' unspoken but zealously followed family traditions, along with torturing their two youngest half-siblings. As usual, they met up eight o' clock sharp, ordered their grub and lager and began complaining to each other about everything they could think of: sports, politics, their jobs, their bosses, relationships, who they fancied and whose faces they wanted to punch in the next time they met. It was a quarter past eleven, when the effects of the alcohol finally started kicking in, that Ian, the eldest, decided that it was finally time to open up about one of their most favorite topics to discuss: Arthur's love life.

"So…the brat finally got engaged, 'uh?"

The others all grunted their agreements, murmuring different variations of "I never thought I'd see the day" or "Is 'e for real?"

Ian blew a puff of smoke from his cigar. He never thought he'd see the day either and who could blame him? Between Arthur's rigid personality and his awful habit of bad-mouthing his lovers, it was hard enough finding someone who had the goolies to put up with him for a fortnight, let alone spend the rest of their lives with him. Unless of course...

"'a long did ya say the bloke's been datin' 'im?"

"Six months," Colin answered shaking his head. "It's a bloody joke is wot it is."

"A bleedin' miracle more loike!" Dylan piped. "Blimey Cole, remember that Spanish fellow—Fernandez…Hernando...somethin'!—remember 'a 'e ran off with that Italian twin' abaht a week after 'rthur introduced 'im ter us? Got scared I imagine. Tsk, gutted the miserable sod."

"Can't blame 'im though. I mean, Art can be lil' off 'is trolley sometimes."

"Do ya reckon it's our fault 'e's loike that?" Colin wondered. "Wot if we beat 'im too 'ard?"

"Nah, don't think so. 'e owes us for makin' 'im a 'ard one. But daan't ya think it's a bit funny that Yank 'asn't bolted yet?"

"What do ya mean?" Dylan asked.

"I mean, this is 'rthur we're talkin' about—the bloke 'oo couldn't keep a single one of 'is relationships intact since gettin' out of 'igh school and na 'e's gettin' married after only six months of datin'? Wot a load of rubbish!"

That got the attention of his younger siblings. Their heads snapped up in attention, looking at him with confused faces.

"So wot you're sayin' is that it's a sham?" Colin asked.

Ian nodded, taking another long drag from his cigar. He didn't like how fast things were going between them. Call him old fashioned (and maybe he was, so what?) but he believed that there were certain, unbreakable rules to be followed when it came to maintaining long-lasting relationships. Like knowing all the important details about your significant other for one thing. Maybe that was the reason right there. Maybe this Jones fellow didn't know all there was to know about their little brother. Maybe all he saw was the outer shell of the person Arthur really was. As the patriarchal figure of their clan, of course, he was accountable for all of his brothers' doings (or misdoings). And whatever mess Arthur and his American fiancé ended up in the future because of their half-arsed attempt at marriage would affect him, surely. Just the mental image of Arthur dragging him to every pub in the country, bawling his eyes out was enough make him cringe.

"Exactly."

Dylan rubbed his chin for a moment, looking thoughtful. "What d'you suppose...if we get 'em ter come over and play for a bit, yeah? Get ter know our future brother-in-law and aw,"he said. Ian saw a mischievous glint in his eye and smirked.

"You know, mate, I think that's the finest thing you've said all night."

Okay, first of all. I know that 2011 is basically over and that everyone is probably already sick of the amount of Christmas cheer and holiday brouhaha that's been going on all season but people, if you could please, please spare room for just one more, I promise I'll try to make this as quick and as painless as possible. Like most of you, I've been incredibly busy these past few days with coordinating and attending all sorts of parties, gatherings and reunions (and recovering almost daily from hangovers) that I found myself burned out and unable to write satisfactorily. But don't worry, everything's over now and I plan to finish this fic no matter!

If you've watched the TV movie "Will You Merry Me?" you've probably noticed the bazillion similarities in the film and this fic's scenes and dialogues, most notably a certain line (that I've shamelessly ripped off) in the proposal scene. I assure you all that was intended although of course, the circumstances after this chapter will deviate greatly from that of the film for plot purposes.

This fic is a (unsolicited but I hope, appreciated) gift to edelweiss123 who at the moment, is co-authoring a fic with me (USUK, of course) which we will be posting once we get enough chapters done. Please watch out for it.

So this is it for now.

If you have any thoughts about the pacing, characterizations, grammar or the story itself or, if you're feeling generous and just want to share a helpful tip or a bit of constructive criticism, please, by all means REVIEW and tell me all about them. I hope you enjoyed! :D