A/N: Hello everyone. This is "J" well as you know, I've been trying to work on another story, but sadly, as I realized later on in the progess...it's not that easy! "T" has been waiting very paitently, for which I am most grateful! But this was just a story that she wrote to me and it was so beutiful that I decided to post it. I hope you like it just as much as I did. Enjoy! ^^ oh, also, I do not own Hetalia or any of the charaters, this was just for fun.

A slap. A slap was all that it takes for Arthur to realize that he is wasting his time at a bar, hoping to get laid, that all of those girls he fooled around with in the past were nothing but a mere distraction to the disturbance nagging at his heart. Today, unfortunately, was a crappy day for Arthur because he managed to have the misfortune to encounter one of his eleven exes and gave her a snide remark, which is why the slap of his life occurred. The raging she-beast lowered her hand and looked stricken at her burning palm and the red mark she branded at Arthur's right cheek. To Arthur, this was a weekly routine; he'll insult an ex and he'll receive physical abuse to either his face or somewhere else that he does not want to mention at the moment. Arthur was no weakling-could have beaten her to a bloody pulp if he wanted-but the woman was not worth it. He stared back at his ex with soulless eyes, not flinching at the scorching flesh flaming on his right cheek.

"I HATE YOU!" The lady immediately ran out of the bar despite wearing four-inched high heels. Impressed and bemused at the same time, Arthur prayed and hoped that some unmistakable force would trip that witch.

Their spat caused quite a commotion in the bar. Looks of disapproval loomed over Arthur, but he shrugged off the animosity directed at him and left the bar in silence. Once again people judged Arthur without knowing his back-story, and he laughed bitterly at the narrow perception people were cursed to have. It sucks to be single again, he thought. The lone man went straight to the bus stop and claimed his seat at the bench even though he was aware that it had already passed the hours for the bus to arrive. Then a couple was passing by the lonely, reclusive man.

As if he was invisible to them, a brunette wearing a decorative flower accessory on her hair and a two-layered green dress exclaimed to her lover, "Darling! Isn't the snow just magnificent and beautiful?"

Her lover, a man with a mole near his lower lip and a strand of hair sticking out from the top of his head, replied, "Yes it is, Elizabeth." He coughed. "It's beautiful… just like you."

Oh God, just kill me now, Arthur groaned. He pleaded for this lovey-dovey couple to disappear or get a room somewhere because their intimacy is starting to give him diabetes. When the two intertwined their hands together, Arthur had the urge to gag somewhere nearby. Love wasn't exactly Arthur's forte, as you can see from that scenario back then, but like any human being, he yearned for a partner by his side, a permanent one that wouldn't cheat on him and get hitched with Francis or one that wouldn't dare to scar his beautifully crafted face like that termagant a minute ago. Staring uselessly at his naked hands, they reminded him of a romantic legend Kiku mentioned a long time ago.

"It's called the red string of fate, Arthur-san."

"The red string of fate?"

"Hai Arthur-san. It's a remarkable legend where a red string on your pinky connects you to your other half."

"Your other half?"

"It's what you Europeans call a soul mate."

The concept of the legend was fascinating to Arthur, mostly because the idea was awfully ridiculous and laughable. After all, what can a man like him hope to expect from love? Having eleven failed relationships, including men, made a hard blow on Arthur's shattered heart. If only he can see the string, Arthur though spitefully, then maybe Arthur wouldn't have to torture himself like this.

His concentration reversed back to the doting couple, and he was awed at the fact that they still haven't noticed him yet. It irked him that their relationship was all frills and rainbows. They were currently embracing one another; he wanted to puke at the sight.

Without a minute too soon, Arthur trudged across the snow surreptitiously, heading towards his abandoned apartment ten blocks away. He silently cursed at the frostbitten cold. Why he chose a state with a bipolar weather, he did not know. Every backbreaking step was infuriating to Arthur, but he will soon arrive to his destination. Luck did not favor the melancholic man for he was only a corner away from his home before he heard a female voice around that corner.

"I believe we should break up."

What's this, Arthur thought. In order to not get himself caught eavesdropping, he covered himself behind the white-washed wall next to him.

Someone else chuckled lightly, "Alright Amelia, if you want to do that, I won't stop you. I hope you'll end up being happy after this."

The response of the other perked Arthur's curiosity, so he strained his neck a bit further to have a better look at the guy who was currently experiencing a break up. The man was a teenager, no less, but Arthur was feeling slightly jealous at him because unlike Arthur's failed relationships, the guy was having what you may call a healthy sort of break up.

Tears welled up on the corners of Amelia's eyes. She sighed, "Oh Alfred, why must you be so perfect?"

Giving the most radiant smile he could muster and adding a wink, he replied, "As we all know Amelia, I am a human being. If I was perfect, I would have been drop dead gorgeous."

The two people giggled at his silly response, but after they contained themselves, all was silent. Awkwardly, Amelia waved her hand to signal a goodbye, initializing the end of their talk; they could had given each other one final embrace before they moved on with their lives, but Arthur noted that that action would linger a bit too long than intended. Amelia's silhouette gradually disappeared as she became more and more distant.

"You can reveal yourself now."

Was this Alfred speaking with someone else?

"Yes, I mean you, behind the corner." Well, that answered Arthur's doubts.

He slid from his previous placement and stepped out into the open, exposing himself to the guy in front of him. The man across from him looked taller and sturdy, but whatever façade he displayed to the girl before, it deteriorated in a heartbeat. The grown man attacked Arthur with a bear hug and glued his head and covered it in Arthur's chest. Alfred was sobbing incoherent words, but one thing was absolutely clear to Arthur. Maybe it was because Arthur sympathized with the boy that he supported him up the stairs to his apartment room, or maybe it was the fact that Arthur's chest was stained with hot tears and he needed Alfred to be torn apart from his shirt pronto.

After they both got settled in Alfred's room, Arthur was in the middle of concocting some hot chocolate and tea for them. Alfred made a funny face when he looked at the muck that was supposedly hot chocolate. Peering at Arthur's tea, it looked completely normal, so he forced himself to take a sip. If making tea was as easy as making hot chocolate, there's no possible way for him to screw it, right? Unfortunately that theory doesn't apply to Arthur's revolting sense of cooking, which is exemplified by Alfred's reaction after swallowing one sip of "hot chocolate".

"What the heck did I just drink?" choked Alfred.

He could have ranted more but bit his tongue. How could he when this man, who he had just met, assisted him in his time of dire need?

Therefore, he took a 360 to his mood and brilliantly returned Arthur a good-natured smile and said, "Thanks dude, without you, I don't know how on earth I would be able to take this heartbreak. To be honest with you, this is my first break up."

His confession surprised Arthur because normally people don't confide in strangers about their love life.

"The pleasure is all mine. I just broke up with my girl, too, so we loners got to stick together, right?"

It wasn't exactly a blatant lie since he was snogging another girl in the bar until his villainous ex broke them up. Unexpectedly, Alfred rushed to Arthurs arms once again and gave him an innocent hug. He cuddled with the flustering Arthur, thanking him for actually listening to him.

Trying to shed himself from the physical contact, Arthur commented, "Though I must admit, that scene back there seems half-hearted."

Alfred did a dramatic gasp, clutching his heart as if Arthur's words stabbed him directly at the heart.

"Dude! It may not seem like it to you, but Amelia and I discussed about this for two weeks!"

Arthur retorted, "Alfred, my name isn't dude. It's Arthur."

"Yeah, yeah. Arthur. Alright. But! Don't go off telling people like that as if you know everything. It might push them away," Alfred whined.

As if Arthur hasn't pushed away enough people.

Even though he should stop interfering into someone else's life and dispose any possible mischief that Arthur can get involved into, he persisted on.

"Why? Why end that relationship? I may be wrong or insensitive, but I can see that both of you still have lingering feelings for each other."

"Even though that may be true, I'm waiting for someone."

"So… you are two-timing?"

"Arthur! That's mean of you to assume that!"

"Don't scream like that. I'm sorry if I misunderstood. You should elaborate more on what you mean by 'waiting for someone'."

"Well, it's embarrassing to tell it to a dude like you." Alfred's face flushed a bright pink at this awkward conversation. "But I wanted to be together with my one true love, someone who I am sure that I would marry. Amelia and I have been childhood friends, and like any cliché love story between childhood friends, we hit it off, but my instincts told me that we just don't click, so I wanted this because I rather look for that one single person than continue a baseless relationship that consists of kissing and sex."

Alfred's serious explanation had taken Arthur aback. In a way, Arthur felt inferior to the teenager because Alfred, nineteen years old and four years younger than him, was mature enough to comprehend the foundation of a long-lasting relationship, and yet, Arthur couldn't. The idea frustrated him. They continued on with their talking, looking for some common ground, but Arthur couldn't ignore the nagging inside his tumult mind.

"Life just hates me." Arthur reasoned.

"Eh? Why is that Artie?"

Ignoring his new nickname, he explained, "I've been through eleven relationships with men and women- yes Alfred, I'm bi so don't gape at me like that- but I'm always the one ended up the most damaged and hurt. I don't care anymore, though. Let life throw me any crap, and I won't give a shit."

He didn't want express his inner monsters, the inside voices taunting him every night. Does Alfred contain some kind of magical ability to make him speak? Not even priests can squeeze one confession from him, but this guy managed to extract one of his major issues. Also he had just confirmed to Alfred his sexual preference. Was he slowly becoming insane? Obviously, he is sober, or he wouldn't be so shell-shocked at what he professed.

Instead of seeing a disgusted face following Alfred's gaping mouth, he was hugged. Hugged. However, he was immediately released from that short embrace before Alfred stuttered, "I-I'm s-sorry."

Why is he apologizing?

Arthur did a snort at how seriously adorable Alfred is when he's flustered.

... Did he just call him adorable?

To cover up the tugging of his lips, he disguised it with a firm scowl.

"Arthur, even though you say that, somebody out there loves you. There is someone out there who truly and absolutely loves you."

"Pfft. Where did you get that cheesy line? Facebook?"

Alfred did another exasperated movement by Arthur's cold-hearted cynicism.

"NO! I g-got it from Chicken Soup…" His voice faltered at how ridiculous that sounded. However, his voice grew stronger as he grasped Arthur's shoulders and looked at Arthur straight in the eye. "Trust me Artie! At least one person in this world loves you with all their heart!"

"Who?"

"Your mom."

That killed the moment. Even though Alfred said that with sincerity, Arthur sneered.

"Hah! That's what you think. I am unloved and unwanted. Unlike you, my mother and father would force me to take care of all of my bastard brothers. Heh. Nor do I have any true friends to hang out with. I can commit suicide right now and not one person will mourn for me. Not even my own cat."

"Arthur…"

Arthur hated this world. He hated every microscopic entity suffocating him. Why can't he breathe? While he was trying to unravel this unfathomable mystery, a blast of hot air blew into his face, which led to him trying to shed his face with his hands.

"I would like to say 'cool it Artie', but that's not gonna do anything, right?"

At this point Arthur was flabbergasted as the heater was pumping up more hot air into the whole room.

"If you never started, then why not start now?"

"Start what?"

"To go into therapy and begin to realize how wonderful this shitty world actually is." Alfred gave another of his incandescent grins.

The joke didn't seem funny to Arthur at all. Then Alfred reverted back to his solemn expression.

"Arthur, if you don't mind, can I be your friend, then?"

Silence.

Arthur hadn't expected Alfred to ask if he could be his friend. This guy is full of surprises, he thought. He didn't say boy friend or some other suggestive phrase like "I love you- as a friend of course"; instead, he just said a simple statement that could carry many implications.

Can I be your friend?

His heart wasn't completely melted, but Alfred's carefree personality is infectious. With a goofy grin plastered on his porcelain face, Alfred wrapped his arms around Arthur in a brotherly way while Arthur enjoyed the nice sentiment of feeling warmth for the first time in ages.

Finally answering to the hanging question, "I am strict and I do have a tendency to criticize every aspect of your well being. Are you ready mentally?" Lifting one eye, he smirked at the horrified look on his newborn friend's face.

Gulping, he whispered meekly, "I-I think I can take it."

"Good. For you are going to taste test my cooking. Starting from day one."

Fumbling with excuses to avoid Arthur's cooking, it has been official that the two men are friends.

Love is delivered when one least expects it. Who knows if their encounter was a coincidence? Arthur still doesn't believe in true love, but somewhere in the depths of his heart, though it is faint, there was hope, hope that he will understand love someday. And Alfred can be the sunshine to enlighten him with that precious knowledge.