Chapter 1

Snowflakes continued to fall thick and fast, as it had done all day. School had been let out early as a result, and Alfred and Ivan were looking forward to a free afternoon spent at Alfred's. The bubbly American had just bought a new video game he had been dying to try out, and it thankfully even had a co-op mode. He was unable to suppress a shiver as the cold bit at every inch of his exposed skin. Beside him, Ivan lope onward with an easy grace, completely unaffected.

"Put a coat on, man, I'm freezing just looking at you," Alfred said through chattering teeth.

Ivan cast him an amused sideways glance before dropping his gaze back down to the sidewalk; thin sheets of ice already coated the streets, and one misstep could mean a twisted ankle or worse.

"But Fedya, you are wearing mine," Ivan reminded him.

Alfred's frozen cheeks suddenly felt a little warm as he remembered Ivan taking pity on his poor temperature tolerance, draping his massive coat across his shoulders, and effectively granting him quite a bit of relief. "Yeah, well…" he trailed off weakly. "Your sacrifice is appreciated."

"I am glad."

"Hey, tonight's spaghetti night- wanna call your folks and see if you can stay for dinner?" Alfred suggested, brightening at the idea of more time with his friend…boyfriend.

Ivan hesitated. "If I would not be intruding…" Strangely, his own cheeks had developed some color of their own, completely unrelated to the biting wind.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure mom's waiting for you to move in. Wouldn't be surprised if she asked your parents and sis-"

It happened very fast.

A hair-raising sound of screeching tires pierced the wintry air. The two teens looked up, only for their vision to be obscured by metal as a car came swerving right for them. A hard shove sent Alfred sprawling to the side, crashing hard onto the icy pavement, his vision now nothing but white. Immediately after, there was a horrible fleshy thump, followed by a metallic clang as the car was forced to a hault.

Palms stinging from where he'd thrown them out to avoid slamming his face into the pavement, Alfred turned shakily to look at the wreckage and felt his stomach drop. Curled up just out from under the hood of the car lay Ivan, hands clamped over his torso and face twisted in pain as tremors racked through his entire body. And there was red. Already so much red, too much red, seeping between his fingers and onto the snow below.

"IVAN!" Alfred screamed as he threw himself over. A choked gasp of pain escaped Ivan's lips as he withdrew his bloodied hands. With more tenderness and care than Alfred knew he possessed, he snaked his arms under Ivan's shaking figure and cradled him close, wincing at the broken sob he tried so hard to hold in.

"Vanya- hey, Vanya, it's okay, it'll be alright. I know it hurts, I know, it'll be over soon, the pain will get better- help is coming!" Unwilling to relinquish his hold on his boyfriend, but knowing it needed to be done, he fumbled one-handed in his pocket for his phone. His fingers were shaking so badly it took three attempts before he was able to punch in the right number, by which time one of Ivan's hands was gripping his arm in a vice like grip.

"H-hello, please, help! My friend's been hit! He's bleeding! A car hit a patch of ice, he pushed me out of the way, please you have to hurry!" Tears ran down his face as he relayed their address. The responder assured him help would arrive soon, and asked if he wanted her to remain on the phone. He declined. He needed to focus on Ivan.

Tossing the phone unceremoniously aside, Alfred looked down and felt his entire being turn to ice. Ivan's face was now chalk white; the blood soaking through his clothes looked overbright amidst such a pale landscape of broken flesh and snow. Automatically, Alfred's hand came to rest at Ivan's cheek, thumb rubbing gentle circles just below a watery purple eye.

"Vanya- look at me, please. Okay? Just look at me. It's going to be okay. Just hold on a bit longer, that's all you have to do. Just a bit longer, then you can rest- everyone else will handle it, and you'll be okay. Got it? Come on, no, don't close your eyes- just keep looking at me!" He was babbling, mind working overtime yet not piecing anything together logically. All that mattered was Ivan staying awake, Ivan staying…here.

"Mmm…Fed…ya," Ivan murmured weakly, cringing as a spasm of pain shot through him. "Can I still stay for dinner?"

Alfred tried for a laugh, though it came out as a strangled sob. "Yeah, but only if you stay awake, otherwise you can feed yourself."

"Hah… rude host," Ivan muttered, barely over a whisper. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and he willed his body to hold on just a bit longer- one more second, another, just one more. He felt so cold…

"Vanya," Alfred whispered, their faces inches apart as he traced gentle paths against Ivan's scalp. His Vanya so loved when Alfred ran his fingers through his hair… "They're here, Vanya. They're here just for you. You'll be okay now…"

How quickly things could change…such pleasant days turn sour. Alfred felt the tears freeze on his face as he held his best friend bleeding out onto the snow…

END OF PART 1

Based on a tumblr prompt "it'll be okay, just look at me!" I plan on adding two more parts to this, so expect more!