Days like these were rare.

Alfred had a lot on his plate. Pursuing further education and doing odd jobs to keep them financially stable was only some of it. He was more mature than he let on and spent most of his time working or studying during the week.

They didn't have time to be together as a couple. When Arthur would wake up, his boyfriend would already be out the door. Maybe if he set an alarm, he'd have time for a quick peck on the lips or a rushed breakfast, but most of the time he'd have to settle for a phone call or a loving text.

When they'd first met, it was puppy love. The emerald-eyed realist didn't expect them to last long. It was like a starched fairy tale for dreamers with their head stuck in the clouds. Not for someone like him.

It has been a year now, and Arthur had a habit of priding himself for always being right, but this time it was something he was happy to be wrong about. The fact that he woke up to that same smiling face, that he slept in that same warm embrace…

Arthur came to love Sunday mornings. Ever since their relationship got too real, waking up to a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist was something he craved. Alfred's legs tangled with his, Alfred's nose, which was always cold for some strange reason, seeking warmth in the crook of his neck… They'd lay like that for some time. Or forever, in Arthur's mind. It was something he'd came to pine for at the end of each week.

Which is why his eyes cracked open so early that Sunday morning, hands ready to brush back his lover's soft blonde hair when he realized he was alone on the bed.

How peculiar.

With a yawn, Arthur rubbed at his eyes languidly, hands groping around for the touch of any fabric in reach. He was a stickler for clean rooms but these days, clothes being hastily thrown to the floor before a session of lovemaking was quite the norm. He was used to it by now.

There was a large rumpled shirt hanging on the bedpost. Arthur slipped it on, not caring that it didn't belong to him. He found that wearing his significantly larger boyfriend's shirt after going at it like bunnies went easy on his raw skin.

Speaking of bunnies, the git must've taken his slippers as well. Arthur was a man of rules and consistency so his feathers were easily ruffled when his bunny slippers went amiss. They weren't the most comfortable, but he liked to think Alfred thought he was cute when he wore them.

The Brit thanked the stars he'd donned a pair of pants before he'd fallen asleep last night because he was too lazy to do it now. Movements slurred by the lack of his now extremely tempting bed, Arthur shuffled out of the room, eyes squinting as rays of orange light filtered through the curtainless windows.

"Hey!" Alfred chirped as Arthur emerged into the living room. The younger man was always so energetic in the mornings. Judging by the smell in the air and the mess in the kitchen, he'd already made himself a cup of coffee.

"Why are you up so early?" Arthur groaned, sock-covered feet sliding against the wooden floor. He carded his hand through his wild hair, which had only been made worse after a night of sleep on his staticky pillows. "What happened to the curtains?"

"I thought it'd make the room fresher, yanno?" Alfred mumbled in response, fidgeting with his video-game console before pausing the game and beaming at Arthur with bright eyes, "The cats are outside too, they're playing on the lawn!"

Arthur rolled his eyes with a small smirk as he retreated to the bathroom, starting his routine of scraping his brush across his teeth, "Now I wonder… who mowed the lawn without being asked?"

"I dunno," His boyfriend replied, humor in his voice, "Must've been a super considerate, mega-hot manly-man."

Arthur rinsed his mouth, chuckling at his boyfriend's morning antics. Alfred was always in a better mood when he didn't have work to do. "I have no doubt he was mega-hot… maybe even a sexy, well-built hero, dare I say."

"Oh, really?" His lover's voice was closer now so Arthur had expected the arms that seemed to come out of nowhere to wrap themselves around his waist and heave him off his toes in a tight embrace. The smaller man found himself smiling as the lips on his neck mumbled a quiet, "Morning, babe."

Arthur turned his head to reward his lover with a quick peck of a minty-fresh kiss, "Good morning yourself, love."

He then crinkled his nose, "Your breath tastes like coffee."

Alfred grinned as his small boyfriend wiggled out of his grasp and made his way to their living room with another yawn. "Yeah? Is this the measly reward I get for pausing my video game to come greet you?"

"You're not getting anything more, lover-boy." Arthur taunted, sinking down on the couch with a sly smile. They'd bought the seat from a yard sale their old neighbor was hosting. Though the aesthetic wasn't Arthur's cup of tea, Alfred had adored the thing, naming it fondly, 'the grandma couch'.

"Well, we've got all this time to ourselves." Alfred replied cheekily, following behind Arthur like an affection-depraved puppy, "You have nothing else to do, after all, do you? I don't see why you can't indulge me a little."

Oh, he missed their little games. Arthur acted indifferent as he leafed through the book on the armrest, "I'm going to read the book I'd meant to finish last night before you pulled me into your beastly arms and whisked me away, that's what I'm going to do."

Alfred chuckled as he plopped down next to his boyfriend, arguably less gracefully than Arthur had, "That's only because you were being too damn gorgeous, I had no choice!"

With an embarrassing squeal on Arthur's part, the smaller man was tugged onto Alfred's lap, "Let me go, you barbarian!"

The larger man was grinning down at him, the color of his skin accentuated by the dawning sunlight. He always found himself wondering how he'd managed to rope in someone so perfect… His corny, cheesy, dorky lover who claimed to love video games more than he loved Arthur when everyone knew that was a lie.

"I'm not letting you go until you stop doing it."

Arthur raised an impressive brow, "Doing what?"

"Being so damn gorgeous." The American mused, "So basically, I'm never letting you go."

Arthur should've been used to the flattery by now. Alfred laid it on thick almost every day, so he didn't know why he was blushing this time. "Al-"

Arthur always prided himself for being eloquent but now he was officially at a loss for words. Not even a snarky remark made it past his lips. It wasn't always his lover would be this innocent-

"Shit!" Alfred shrieked, startling Arthur as the arms looped loosely around his waist snatched the console, rapidly pressing buttons that made no sense to the smaller man's eyes, "I was almost timed out of the game, dude!"

So now he was 'dude'.

Arthur huffed, "You ruined a perfectly good moment, you clod!"

Alfred wasn't paying attention now. Well, at least not fully. "I told ya, babe, I love you, but I love my progress in this game a bit more."

He punctuated that with a wicked grin, some furious button pressing and curses muttered under his breath.

Well then.

Arthur cracked open his book with a roll of his eyes, hand still carding through his lover's soft, wheat-colored hair. He couldn't well concentrate on the words printed on the pages with what Alfred had said, but one look at that annoyingly endearing face… brows furrowed in concentration and the tip of his pink tongue sticking out as he battled a dragon- Arthur didn't take the comment to mind.

So he continued reading the pages bathed in the orangey light, pressing an occasional kiss to Alfred's temple and a nuzzle against that warm, honeyed skin. Alfred returned his affections with a lingering kiss onto Arthur's barren shoulder, the skin there being exposed from the sleeve of the shirt slipping past it.

It was then, when he saw the carefree look in his boyfriend's beautiful blue eyes as he held him, did Arthur realize exactly why he craved Sunday mornings.

And oh God was it an understatement when he said he never wanted it to end.