Arthur ferociously pulled the curtains closed. He had hoped today would be different, but he was wrong. He ruffled his hair, pouting while standing in front of the closed window, listening to the rain pelting on the glass.

Arthur gave a loud sigh, walking to the kitchen almost dragging his feet. He filled the kettle with water from the tap and plugged it in. Stood there he leaned on the counter conscious of all the sounds around him. The gentle bubbling of the water, the second hand on the clock, the sound of the rain….the rain….

The tone is the same as…

Shaking his head violently he moved his focus to the sound of the boiling water till the steam began to make the sweet whistle to tell it was ready. Taking a hold of the handle, gently tipping it so water came from the spout and into the cup where an Earl Gray tea bag lay. He stirred the water hearing the cling of the spoon hitting the cup.

"Maybe…" Arthur mumbled to himself, "something sweet…."

The cup, now with two teaspoons of sugar balanced on a saucer as Arthur walked to his favourite chair in the living room. Almost as the instant he sat down, Arthur knew that his plans weren't making much progress in helping his mood. One wall of the living room was manly a large window, looking out onto the green fields. Often on sunnier days Arthur had sat there with a similar cup of tea enjoying the view of the gentle rolling landscape. But today nothing was seen since he had the curtains draped over trying to hide the dreadful rain.

He sat in the dark not bothering to turn the lights on. Sitting there, warm cup in his hands, and the steam rising into his face, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. Thoughts of the past came rushing back and with it memories of Alfred.

He felt the warmth in his arms like the many times he held Alfred, cuddling him, holding him close. It was almost like a burning happiness, the most he had ever felt before. Just less than that was the time when he had given those toy soldiers as a gift. The warm smile Alfred had on his face made Arthur bubble inside just seeing it. Those warm summer days that they spent together, a picnic in the garden, a walk in the park, staying up late telling him ghost stories, the affectionate hands that had grabbed him pleading him not to leave, all those were warm in his mind.

Upon his return, Arthur realised that Alfred had quickly grown up. The close affection they had shown each other had slowly decreased, very gradually it slowly faded. They even began to fight, and in a great act of defiance Alfred threw crates and crates of tea into the ocean. Though that event had raised the tension between the two of them there was still a glimmer of hope.

Whatever hope Arthur thought there was, had been covered by clouds that had then poured the bitter rain on them. He felt cold, the rain was freezing, almost paralyzing as Arthur couldn't move. He was pinned, unwilling or unable to stand, to lift his gaze off the ground to meet with the uncaring eyes of the person he loved.

Blinking out the tears Arthur had came out of his deep thoughts. There was the sound of something dripping but he was oblivious to that, and even to the fact that it was his own tears dripping into the tea. Arthur was still numb; he couldn't feel that the tea that was once so warm was now ice cold.

After expressionlessly wiping the tears off his eyes and cheek Arthur lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip. He grunted almost spitting it out, holding it away not wanting to touch it again.

The memories and the tea, everything is all…, "bitter sweet."

Hey there,... this is GirlyAnimegal. This is my very first fafic i wrote that i posted on dA now here on fanfic ^^ I hoped you enjoyed it