Arthur could feel himself shaking as he stared at the airplane outside the giant airport window.

He's coming home today, He thought to himself excitedly. Alfie's coming home today!

Alfred F. Jones (the man he was waiting for) had gone off to help in the war effort four months ago. Arthur had had many friends before (and still had them mind you!) but Alfred was the one person that truly understood him.

Arthur could never understand how Alfred was able to tell when his smile was genuine or fake but it was one of the reasons why Arthur had grown so close to him.

The truth was that Arthur wanted to be closer. In the time that they had known each other, Arthur had grown to love him. A lot. So much so that even Alfred's presence brightened up his day. As if he was surrounded by darkness and Alfred had come in and flicked the light on.

Arthur quickly looked down at his hands after he realized that he was blushing. He wanted him. He wanted him so bad that it hurt. Arthur began to fidget with his hands as he remembered how they had spent their last night together as friends.

It had been a cold night. Arthur had walked into his room with a hot chocolate in hand, ready to go to bed, when he was surprised to find Alfred sitting on his bed, smiling at him.

"What the bloody hell are you doing in my bed you git?" Arthur had asked. Alfred simply patted the space beside him. Arthur walked over and sat down. Alfred reached over and put the blanket on him. Arthur looked over at him and sighed.

"You git, you'll freeze if you don't cover yourself properly," Arthur stated as he put the blanket around Alfred instead. "Do you WANT to die?"

Alfred grinned. "Just thought it would be better to cover you up instead of me," he said smugly as he grabbed Arthur's waist and pulled. Arthur found himself being pressed against Alfred's chest. He could feel him wrapping the blanket around them both. "You know, 'cause you aren't as built as me." He winked.

Arthur began to blush at the sudden contact. He had wanted to stay there for as long as he could, but he knew that his "normal" reaction would be to push him off. The problem was he didn't think that he'd be able too.

Alfred began to chuckle at Arthur's reaction. "That's a new one." He'd said. Arthur's blush deepened.

"Shut the hell up you twit." He muttered. Alfred smiled. He noticed that Arthur was still holding his mug of hot chocolate. He took the mug and began to sip it. Arthur only watched in silent lust as he drank it. He could see some of the sweet beverage begin to dribble out of the corner of his mouth.

It was all he could do to keep himself from reaching up and licking it off. Alfred quickly finished off the hot chocolate. He laid the cup down on the nearest table and licked his lips. Arthur found himself sighing in disappointment as Alfred licked away the chocolate. Alfred gave Arthur an amused expression.

"Oh, my bad dude. Did you want to finish that?" he asked innocently. Arthur shook his head.

"It's alright. What's done is done." He said. He could feel himself beginning to get very sleepy. His eyes began to close. He tried to keep them open but the fact that he was surrounded by warmth was working against him.

Alfred noticed this and wrapped his arms around him. Arthur's face turned many different shades of red.

"A-Alfred?" he tried to ask. Alfred tightened his grip. Arthur could tell something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

Alfred nuzzled his face into Arthur's chest (an action that Arthur enjoyed very much). "I-I'm being drafted into the war."

Arthur's eyes widened. "W-what?" he stuttered. Alfred pulled his head back so that he could look him in eyes.

"I'm being drafted in the war," he repeated. He smiled at him sadly. "I'm sorry for not telling you."

Arthur bit the inside of his lip to keep from crying. "D-does anyone else know?" Alfred chuckled sadly.

"No. Actually I was kind of hoping that you'd tell them where I was if they asked." Arthur's eyes widened. He smacked him. "Ow." Alfred recoiled. Arthur glared at him angrily.

"And you think they'd accept that!" he yelled. He could feel the tears he'd been trying to hold back stinging his eyes. He closed them shut to keep them from spilling out. "You're supposed to tell your friends everything. You can't expect someone else to do it for you, you twit! You bloody twit! You just… just sod off! Don't come near me again! You're a liar! A bloody liar!"

Alfred reached out and wrapped Arthur in a tight hug. He kissed the top of Arthur's forehead. "How am I a liar for not telling you about this?" he asked calmly.

Arthur looked up at him, the tears flowing. "You're a liar because you should of told me the instant you found out. By keeping it secret you lied to me!"

Alfred blinked at him. He began to laugh. "How the hell does that logic work?" he asked as he rubbed their noses together. Arthur blushed.

"D-don't question me!" he cried angrily. "Now you've made me pissed!" Alfred chuckled and rested his forehead on Arthur's.

"Well at least you're not crying anymore." He said cheerfully. Arthur gasped after realizing that he was right. Alfred began to caress his cheek. Arthur couldn't help but sigh. "Believe me; I'm sad that I have to leave. But if it means that I can save thousands of lives, I'd do anything."

Arthur gave him a small smile. "Yes I know. It's because you want to be a hero, correct?"

Alfred gave him pout. "No way! I already AM a hero! I just want to put my powers to good use."

Arthur smiled. This time it was his turn to hug him. He nuzzled his head into Alfred's chest and smiled against the skin. He grabbed the back of his shirt in order to close the gap between them. "I only hope that the people actually want a hero." He said brazenly.

Alfred laughed. "Of COURSE they would!" he stated confidently. "Who wouldn't want a hero? Everyone does!"

"Including me?" Arthur asked. Alfred tightened their hug once again.

"Including you." He said. Arthur smiled. He pulled away so that he could look at Alfred.

"Alfred, I'm tired," he said through half-lidded eyes. "I need to get some sleep." Alfred smiled and pushed Arthur back onto the mattress. Arthur found himself staring up at a bashful American.

"Sure, let's sleep!" he said as he flopped next to him. He wrapped the blanket around them. As he turned off the desk lamp the room was flooded with darkness. Shocked by the sudden dark, Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred's neck to make sure that he didn't "lose" him in the darkness. Alfred smiled and pulled Arthur closer to him. "Nighty-night Artie!"

"Goodnight Al," he responded. As he lay against the sleeping American, he began to think.

If Alfred was leaving for the war then he'd never be able to tell him how he really felt. Maybe Alfred would go and get blown to bits. Then he'd NEVER know how he'd really felt all these years.

Arthur began to panic. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He was very nervous. He wasn't sure how Alfred would react. He didn't want him to leave.

Arthur took a deep breath, and then began to speak. "A-Alfred?" he asked hesitantly. Alfred opened one eye.

"Mmm?" he mumbled.

"Um…" he tried.

Just say it! he thought. Ask him if he loves you! Say it!

"Um… when are you leaving?" he asked. He felt like he could've face-palmed himself.

Alfred shifted nervously. "Uh… tomorrow."

Arthur's eyes widened. So he'd been planning to spend the day with him, and then leave? He could feel himself begin to get angry, but he counted to ten in his head instead. After he had calmed down, he started to ask his next question.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Four months."

Arthur could feel the tears filling his eyes again. "A-and you'll be coming back right?"

Alfred gulped. "I-I don't know. T-that war is pretty bad. I mean, you've seen it on the news right?"

Arthur nodded. He felt like crying, but knew that that wasn't Alfred needed right now. He poked Alfred in the chest. "Not 'I don't know?'! The correct answer was yes, I WILL come back! Because I swear, if you don't come back to me… I-I'll kill you, bring you back from the grave, kill you again and then pee on your tombstone!"

Alfred laughed. "Sorry. Yes, I will come back."

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. "That's right." He smiled at him tiredly.

I love you. He thought before falling into a deep sleep.

The next morning he had awoken to find that Alfred was gone. He got up slowly, reluctant to get out of bed. He turned to turn on his desk lamp, only to find a breakfast sitting there instead of the lamp. As his eyes adjusted, he realized that the room was, in fact, already light.

He looked around for the explanation. His focused flew towards the ceiling, where his "broken" ceiling light was suddenly working, bigger and brighter than ever. He turned to look back at the breakfast and saw something white among the food. He picked it up and realized that it was a letter (one from Alfred). He immediately unfolded it and began to read it.

"Hey Artie, sorry I had to leave so early in the morning, but you know those generals and how they are!" the letter read. "Anyway, I just wanted to say that I am so glad that I met you. You may have hated my guts in the beginning, but you were the best friend a bro could have. I liked everything about you. Your hair, the way you dressed, your sexy accent and those eyebrows! Ha ha! Sorry bro, not making fun of you or anything." Arthur giggled at how stupid he could be. He continued reading. "Anyways, I may not come back (and you know that) so I just wanted to make sure that you know this. Um… k. here goes. … Damn! It's hard to say it in paper form too! Alright! A hero always tells the truth! Um… Arthur. I just wanted to say that I have always had feelings for you. And not platonic feelings (bet you're surprised I know that word!) but romantic feelings. I-I love you. More than you could know. I know I've always been like, 'No homo', but in this case, 'Yes homo.' Just wanted to say that. K. See you in four months (maybe)!

Sincerely, Alfred F. Jones.

P.S. I fixed your light for you."

The letter fell to the floor as Arthur covered his mouth with his hand in shock. Alfred loved him? Alfred loved him?! Since when? For how long? And why had he never noticed?!

Arthur could feel the tears begin to fill his eyes again, and this time, he did nothing to stop them. He sobbed, but not despair, but out of happiness.

He curled up into a ball on his bed and cried tears of joy. Alfred loved him! His prayers had been answered!

So what if he had to wait four months to see him again? It was worth it to know that Alfred loved him!

Arthur anxiously waited for the loading dock doors to open. He shook his head at how stupid he had been. There was no WAY that he had been able to keep calm for those four months, especially now. How the hell had he been able to hold out for so long?

He began to look around again, hoping to spot his future husband, when he noticed a woman staring at him. She looked to be of Mexican descent and she was gorgeous. Her black hair stopped just below her shoulders and her brown eyes glinted intently as they stared at him. She didn't even turn away when she realized that he had noticed her staring. She only continued.

What the hell? he thought to himself. What's wrong with her? Am I some type of artifact?

She began to walk towards him. A group of boys ran in front of her. She pushed them away forcefully then continued to walk towards him.

Arthur winced for the poor children. I hope she never has kids. He thought. She stood in front of him, hands on her hips. She smiled sweetly at him, but he knew that there was something else behind that smile. He didn't know what it was, but he felt like he shouldn't get too friendly with her.

"Hey! My name's Dorota which means God's gift. Kind of fitting don't you think? You can call me Dakota though. What's yours?" she said.

"Arthur Kirkland. I don't know what it means." He answered back. She sat down beside him and put her arm around his shoulders.

"Who're you waiting for?" she asked.

He turned to look at her. "A friend of mine." He answered back.

"What kind of friend?" she asked. "Just friends? Acquaintances? Looovers?" She grinned as she noticed him blushing at the last one. "So? Where's she coming from?" she continued.

He looked up at her. "War."

She blinked. "So she's in the military huh?" She smiled at him deviously. "Must've got yourself a looker!"

He looked at her questioningly. "Well he definitely is a 'looker' but I fail to see how that's any of your business."

She grinned at his rude remark. "Well it's my business because…" She tightened her grip on his shoulders and looked at him seductively. "I think you're pretty damn sexy and I wanted to know if you were taken."

He looked at her with a blank expression. She was… hitting on him? Was she serious? Like he'd go out with that trash!

She grinned at him. "You're thinking about it right?"

That is true. I AM thinking. He thought.

"You're worried that I'll reject you," she continued.

WRONG! WRONG! FLIPPING WRONG! he thought angrily. She leaned her chest against his chest and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"Don't worry," she cooed. "If I want, I'll let you date me. I know it's hard to date someone so cute, but I'll make it easy for you."

He gulped, hoping that Alfred didn't see what was happening. What she's doing is making her look very cute though, he thought. Maybe I'll use it on Alfred.

She crawled onto his lap and put her arms around his neck. I'll use this too. He thought. She chuckled.

"Let's make out," she stated bluntly. "Or maybe we could go into the bathroom. What do YOU want to do Arthur?"

Arthur was about to tell her to sod off when he was interrupted by haughty laughter. His heart skipped a bit as he recognized it immediately. Dakota looked at Arthur with wonder. Arthur slowly turned his head in the direction of the laugh. His eyes widened as he recognized the man's blonde hair, blue eyes and smile as Alfred's.

Alfred was there. He was standing right there. He wasn't DEAD! He was alive!

Arthur forcefully pushed Dakota off of him (yes forcefully. He didn't like her. She was a bit of a broad. U mad?), then began to run after Alfred. He maneuvered his way around all of the people, running straight for him.

He gasped when he saw his future lover standing there in military attire. He was wearing a backpack that looked very heavy and brown boots. He was talking to some fellow soldiers and was telling jokes. He looked happy.

Arthur took a deep breath, and then said the name he'd been wanting to say for a long time. "ALFRED!"

Alfred turned around in surprise. He only had two seconds to open his arms until Arthur barreled into him. Arthur wrapped his legs around Alfred's hips and nuzzled his face into his chest. Alfred instinctively wrapped one arm around the crying British man's body while the other reached back for support. One of the soldiers reached out and helped him stand up straight.

All of the people around them stared at the spectacle in front of them. Arthur didn't care. He was just happy that he was able to hug, smell (hopefully kiss), and touch his beloved again. He tightened his grip on Alfred's neck. Alfred blinked.

"A-Arthur?" he asked hesitantly. Arthur raised his head to look at him with tears in his eyes.

"Hello you twit." He smiled. Alfred's mouth slowly curled up into a wide smile. He tightened his grip on Arthur and nuzzled his head into Arthur's neck.

"ARTIE!" he cried happily. "How you doin' babe?"

Arthur reached out and cupped Alfred's cheeks with his hands. "Horrible without you." He said as he pulled him into a gentle kiss. Alfred's eyes widened in surprise, but soon he melted into the kiss. He slowly set Arthur onto the ground, still kissing him.

When they pulled away, they looked into each other's eyes. Arthur smiled at him sweetly.

"Welcome back, love." He said. Alfred's smile grew wider.

"Glad to be back baby!" he replied. He looked Arthur over. "I see you haven't changed a bit!"

Arthur smacked him on the arm. "Come off it you git!" he yelled. He looked Alfred over. Apart from a cut above his left eye, Alfred had no visible injuries. He narrowed his eyes at him.

"And I see that you haven't changed either. Except for that cut above your eye." Alfred touched the cut with his free hand.

"Oh this old thing?" he grinned. "That's my hero mark! Saved a little boy from getting shot and got that cut!"

Arthur cocked his head to the side. "Really? Wouldn't you be more banged up then?"

Alfred laughed. "Oh trust me, babe, I am! It's just underneath this military uniform!" He leaned in and brought his lips close to Arthur's ear. "But you'll find them soon enough."

Arthur smiled pervetedly. He was about to reply when they heard someone clear their throat. They turned around and noticed the other soldiers standing there. They stared at the couple in front of them uncomfortably, not sure how to react.

One of them began to speak. "Y-you're gay?" he asked hesitantly. Alfred tightened his grip on Arthur's waist, pulling him closer. He smirked at the soldier.

"Yup!" he answered. "Why? You got a problem with homos?" the soldier gulped and shook his head fiercely.

"T-that's not what I meant!" he stuttered. Another soldier stepped up to hold out his hand to Arthur. He looked to be of German descent and smiled at him with a smile that reached his blue eyes.

"Hi," he said with a German accent. "I'm Ludwig," he gestured behind him. "The guy that was just speaking is Dan, then its Heracles, Antonio and Ivan." All of the other soldiers waved. He looked back at the British man. "And I assume you're Arthur, ja?"

Arthur blinked as he took Ludwig's hand. "How do you know my name?" he asked. Ludwig laughed.

"You were all Alfred talked about!" he exclaimed. "At first we thought that he was talking about a woman, but soon we realized that he was talking about a man. That still didn't stop us from teasing him when he got your letters."

"We made so much fun of him," Antonio spoke up. "But we were all just really happy for him." Heracles and Ivan nodded their heads.

Arthur blushed. He reached out to shake their hands as he processed what he'd just heard. Alfred had been talking about me non-stop? he thought happily. He really was telling the truth when he'd said he'd loved me! Arthur now had no doubts that they would be together for a long time.

He saw another soldier walk up to them. He was of Mexican descent and was carrying some McDonald's.

"You guys are asses!" he said with a Mexican accent. "After you gave your orders you left me to pay the bill. You're lucky I had enough to cover all of you!"

Alfred smirked. "Well that teaches you not to put shaving cream on my hand and tickle my nose with a feather. Now we're even." The other soldiers began to laugh, remembering the prank well. It was only until Alfred noticed Arthur's confused expression that he felt the need to introduce his friend.

"Artie, this is Manuel Sanchez, one of the best people I could've ever had on my team. Manuel, this is Arthur, my lover."

Arthur blushed at the word "lover" but shook Manuel's hand anyway. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said. Manuel smiled back at him.

"Yep!" he looked around. "Hey. You haven't happened to see my sister around here?"

Arthur blinked at him. He put a finger under his chin as he tried to remember. "I don't recall. What is her name?"

"Oh, well her birth name is Belinda, but she changed it to Dorota. Everyone calls her Dakota though. Have you seen her?"

Arthur stiffened, instantly recognizing the name. He turned around to search for her and was met with an angry looking pair of eyes. She stared at him as if she was burning holes into his body. She was obviously a woman that didn't get ditched.

If looks could kill. Arthur thought. He sighed and pointed at her. "Is that the girl you were talking about?" he asked. Manuel's eyes glinted with happiness.

"Yeah that's her!" he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted her name. She turned to look in the direction of the voice, then smiled and ran at him. They met with a hug that lasted about fifteen seconds. They began to talk in their native language, completely forgetting the people next to them. Arthur turned away, hoping that they would continue talking and forget about them.

Lady luck was not on his side.

Dakota turned to look at the two. She widened in surprise as she saw Alfred, then smiled at Arthur. "And who are you?" she asked Alfred. He gulped before replying.

"I'm Alfred F. Jones," he stated. He nodded his head at Arthur. "And this is my partner Arthur Kirkland."

She giggled a bit, which scared Arthur. "I know who he is," she said as she laughed arrogantly. She turned to look at Arthur. "So THIS is the military friend you were talking about! He's a looker all right!"

He nodded nervously in response, and then looked at his wrist (which had no watch on it). "Well would you look at the time! We really must be going. It was nice talking to you all." He began to pull Alfred away from them. Alfred looked over his shoulder at them.

"I've got your numbers right?" he asked them. They all gave him thumbs up. He grinned. "Cool! Then I'll call you later! We'll hang out at my place!"

Manuel smirked. "Then YOU have to buy all the food!" They all laughed.

After waving goodbyes at all of them, Alfred turned to look at Arthur, who was waiting patiently for him. Alfred tightened his grip on Arthur's hand.

"Where are you taking me babe?" he asked. Arthur smiled.

"Home. To our home."

Alfred grinned. "Does that mean that you'll let me hump your brains out once we get there?"

Arthur gaped at him, his face turning a deep shade of red. He smacked Alfred with his free hand. "No!" he cried, still shocked. Alfred's grin grew wider. He wrapped his arm around Arthur's waist and pulled him closer. He looked into Arthur's eyes like a puppy dog.

"Later then?" he asked, pouting. Arthur sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yes."

"Awesome!" Alfred pumped his fist into the air and Arthur rolled his eyes. Alfred leaned down to give Arthur a quick kiss before they headed home.

Operation "Take Artie's man-ginity" is under way. He thought to himself.