Taste of the Past.
Light movements of footsteps were nearly nonexistent in the late night storm that battered the outside of the house. A tall figure reached out a shaky hand to grip the doorknob when a flash of lightning caused him to go stiff. A loud bang of thunder forced a whimper from parted lips before the now reanimated hand jerked the door open in a one smooth swing, the other hand gripping shirt material tightly. Moving swiftly across the room to the large bed, the hands reached out far in front him again.
"Ar-Arthur?" The American's breath caught in his throat as another bright flash illuminated the room. "Arthur!" He shook the smaller man as an even louder clap of thunder woke him fully from his sleep.
"Alfred…? What the bleeding hell are you doing in my room at this hour?" The Englishman glared at the trembling bespectacled man and cocked an eyebrow. The taller man was biting his lower lip, a nervous habit he had developed in his childhood. "…This is exactly why I insisted you shouldn't watch that God awful horror film."
"I know. B-But-!" He pleaded and whimpered again as another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. As the rumble filled the air, the American fell to his knees with his face buried in the edge of the bed. "Th-the ghosts and it's raining and-"
"They aren't real, fool!" Arthur felt guilty when Alfred looked up with his cerulean eyes clouded with tears. Inhaling loudly and sighing for a long pause, he moved the covers, offering the bed without making any further eye contact. The taller blonde nearly dove in the bed, burying his face into the annoyed English nation beside him. "From now on, after conferences, if you insist on staying here: You are not to touch the television. And you are certainly forbidden from watching any horror film of any kind." Alfred merely nodded into Arthur's arm which he was currently clinging to with all of his might, looking like he did when he was a small child. Feeling that further scoldings were not necessary, the tired nation slid back against his pillows, pulling Alfred's glasses off quickly before setting them on the night stand. He turned back as a rather bright lightning strike nearly blinded him for a moment and Alfred tensed up against him as the thunder crashed, causing the house to shake violently and the taller of the two groan. Feeling the knot in his throat, the elder worked his slim fingers through the other's blonde hair in soothing motions, trying anything to get him to rest. "You haven't changed a bit since you were smaller."
"I-I'm sorry." He said quietly, muffled slightly. The other smiled a bit.
"Well, it's understandable. With the content in your movies, I don't know how the youth of your nation isn't up like this every night in their parents' bed, whining about some 'boogey man' or something preposterous of the sort." The blue-eyed man looked up.
"Y-yeah, but heroes shouldn't get scared." The vulnerability in his voice was something that Arthur was not accustomed to and it worried him. Deciding not to feed the negative conversation, the Englishman only continued to push his hand through Alfred's thick locks and looked away. Shifting slightly in the man's arm, the younger nation looked up with bright blue eyes that sparkled even in the dark when he gave a slight frown; Arthur had to blink a few times to assure himself that his colony actually had grown up. "I remember doing this a lot when I was little…" Alfred trailed off while pushing his head into the other's fingers.
"That's because Francis had the fantastic idea of terrorizing you to death with ghost stories in the evenings when he'd be over." Arthur scoffed a bit. "Then the frog would dart out the door and leave me to deal with you sobbing in the corner." The blue-eyed nation laughed lightly while facing the window, a flash illuminating the room once again. This time, he found it easier to put up with the light and noise now that he wasn't alone.
"I don't know how you managed to get me to sleep, though."
"Well, it was easy enough with the practice. I had it down to a routine after a while." He boasted while turning on his side and fitting himself to the body next to him. "First I would make sure that you were completely secure in my grip," He started to explain. Moving slightly to wrap an arm around his shoulders, which was a bit more difficult with Alfred's added height. "Then I'd keep playing with your hair like I am and then I'd," Arthur's breath caught. "…Tell you everything would be alright and kiss your forehead until you fell asleep." Arthur's cheeks were stained a bright red color that made him thankful for the darkness surrounding them.
"Well…?"
"Well, what?"
"I don't see you doing the last part." Alfred let his smile return in a sly manner and felt the English nation's breathing hitch.
"A-Alfred, you're grown up now. I don't think I have to do t-that anymore." Arthur stammered, dodging the bullet, but not nearly well enough.
"It's no big deal," The American pleaded. "And it'll help me get to sleep." Inhaling deeply and trying to ignore the blush that beat in his cheeks, Arthur leaned forward and gently brushed his lips over Alfred's forehead, trying to think nothing of it. Seeing that nothing too horrible came of it, he leaned in one more time to kiss his forehead only to catch Alfred's lips on his instead. Instantly realizing what was occurring, Arthur pushed himself away and flew to the other side of the bed, gripping the sheets around him as if he was completely naked. Smirking at the other, Alfred scooted his way over to him, enjoying the blush that refused to relent. Another flash and Arthur found a hand behind his head, making him incredibly uncomfortable as he squirmed a bit.
"Wait, let's discuss this. We'll go down stairs and I'll make some tea and-" Being cut off by contact of his lips to Alfred's once more caused him to quickly drop his arguments. A million things ran to his head; sure Alfred and he had kissed before, but not on a bed and not in the dark. The thought seemed to escape his mind as he wrapped his arms around Alfred's neck, pulling him closer to him as thunder roared in the background. Feeling Arthur give in, Alfred smiled into the kiss before moving his tongue forward and pushing it into Arthur's parted mouth, running his tongue over the other's in smooth motions. Arthur groaned a bit before pulling back, green eyes meeting blue before nervously looking away. The sound of the rain was quieted in the background and Alfred pulled Arthur to his chest before falling back on the bed with a light thud. Arthur looked up to the taller who's head was rested comfortably in his hair and pushed his voice out despite his embarrassment.
"That was much more than a kiss on the forehead."
"Like you said, I'm grown up now. Maybe what'll make me not as scared will be grown up too." Feeling a bit insecure in Alfred's words, Arthur pushed himself up to meet his eyes once more and his award winning smile that sent the smaller's stomach into a small flop. Finally able to take in enough breath to clear his throat, Arthur broke the silence and laid back down next to Alfred with his back turned to him.
"Y-Yes, well, as long as you're not scared anymore, go to sleep." He felt the weight next to him shift and move closer to him.
"I dunno Iggy… I might be scared all night." Alfred said normally as if he was just saying hello to someone he knew. "I'd better stay here." Flipping around, Arthur's face was mere centimeters from Alfred's with caused another stain to appear on his pale cheeks. He pouted as the American gave an airy chuckle on his behalf and sighed.
"Git," He breathed quietly while pushing up to place a light kiss on Alfred's chin. Fitting himself against the taller's chest, Arthur clamped his eyes shut feeling Alfred's arms encircling him and pushing him closer to him. Alfred's eyes soon followed suit as a thought popped into his head: if he was to do this more often, he would have to start producing more horror films the second he back home. Oh boy, did he have a lot of work ahead of him…
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Inspired by our first thunderstorm of the year. I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia.