Not Beta'd.

Disclaimer and original Tumblr prompt in chapter 1.


"Do you have a car?"

"Ja. That's how I got here."

Gilbert was going back and forth, between dryer and laundry basket, stuffing clean clothes in, one bunch after another. He'd fold later. Right now, that was the last thing on his mind.

He'd learned quite a bit about Arthur over the past couple of hours. The man had moved from England to Pennsylvania because of his mate's job (He'd mentioned briefly that his wife was now his ex-wife, and also a, "bloody frog.") and they'd lived there for a while with their two sons, Alfred and Matthew. Arthur was a freelance songwriter, musician, and novelist. He had a very difficult time making a living now that he was divorced. His ex had custody of one of the children, the younger son, and Arthur was struggling to keep custody of Alfred. His ex was suing and it hadn't been going very well for him. The last social worker that came to visit hadn't seemed to like Arthur very much.

That was the short of it all, at least. The man was smart, but he was an artist and a nonconformist, that was for certain. Gilbert could relate. It was hard, but at least Gilbert had skills in things like math and science to fall back on.

The albino picked up the basket and called out to Ludwig, who obediently dropped everything to scurry to his big brother's side. Earlier, Gilbert had called up one of his best friends. He'd woken the man up but felt good that at least his mate had been able to sleep through the phone call. Being pregnant, Chiara needed all the sleep she could get. Antonio had assented to caring for the two children, if only because he'd be perhaps giving them a snack and then putting them down to bed. He knew Ludwig already as a well-behaved child, and when Gilbert had described the situation to him, he'd seemed hard-pressed to refuse. Chiara would be disgruntled when she awoke in the morning, Gilbert knew, but even that harsh woman had a soft spot for children.

"So I'll be driving us, right?" Gilbert asked, turning to Arthur for clarification.

"If you'd like." The way he said that made it seem like, rather than leaving it up to Gilbert, the Brit expected it.

Gilbert simply nodded, taking Ludwig's hand and heading to the door.

The ride in the car was quiet and a little bit awkward. The tension rose higher with each mile the car leapt and Gilbert couldn't take it any longer.

"So you can come in and talk to Antonio a bit if you want." The albino blurted into the silence. "I mean, you probably wanna meet the dude that's gonna be taking care of your kid… But if you can, keep your voice down. His mate is pregnant and trying to sleep."

That was also a word of warning to Arthur. A pregnant couple was often a hostile couple, and any strange movements or offensive scents let off by other Alphas was sure to set Antonio off into protection mode. It was, in other words, a warning to tread lightly as they entered Antonio's territory.

Finally, Gilbert pulled up to the side of the road where a line of roomy looking duplexes sat in a row.

"We're here."

"Hmm. That certainly didn't take long."

"Mhm. Thankfully, he lives pretty close to us."

Gilbert stepped out of the car and went to the back seat, opening the door and unstrapping Ludwig from his car seat. He pulled the now quite sleepy boy into his arms and slammed the door with a pop of his hip. Arthur and Alfred were waiting for them on the sidewalk. Gilbert noticed Alfred's eyes hovering nervously on Arthur. They briefly flashed up to the albino and he noticed those eyes were bright with tears.

He wanted to comfort Alfred somehow… but also did not feel it his place to be consoling a boy who yet thought him a stranger. What good were his words, anyhow, to a possibly scared child? He wanted to pry into that young mind, figure out what was wrong and get right to the root of the problem. But of course, that isn't what you did with children.

"Alright, Ludwig." He said, loud enough for Alfred to hear. "You're gonna be staying at Toni's tonight, okay? This time Alfred is going to stay the night with you. I promise we'll be back tomorrow, just like always." Ludwig simply nodded, rubbing a fist into one of his eyes. He seemed to have surrendered to his exhaustion, and could no longer hold his head up, instead burying it into Gilbert's neck.

Gilbert shifted Ludwig into one arm, texting Antonio that they'd arrived. It wasn't long when the door quietly opened and a tall, tanned man with shaggy brown hair and forest green eyes peeked outside. He motioned that they should come in, so Gilbert went first. Arthur followed more slowly, tugging an unwilling Alfred behind him. Gilbert motioned for Arthur to shut the door and Antonio leaned against the banister there, seeming like he just wanted to drop his head down and sleep. He was obviously blocking the entire upstairs area and therefore, his mate, by positioning himself in front of the stairs. Gilbert wasn't sure whether Antonio was aware he was doing this, though. Knowing him, probably not.

The Brit quietly introduced himself and Alfred. Antonio replied with a simple nod and smile, stating his name as well out of courtesy even though Arthur obviously knew it already. Gilbert then set Ludwig down and stepped forward, a small smile on his face.

"Dude. Check this out." He tugged up his shirt to show the mark that had appeared earlier.

Antonio's eyes widened then, as though he was just then fully awake. He hurried to embrace his friend.

"This is amazing!" He cheered as loudly as he dared.

Gilbert pushed him gently away. "Hey. I gotta go get to know him now though."

An eyebrow waggle. "You two are spending the night together, then?"

"What? No! I mean we've just met!"

Arthur was sputtering behind Gilbert, having heard. "That's absurd! We just want to talk!"

Antonio's eyes flickered back to Arthur for a moment. "But…" confusion filled his face and suddenly, Gilbert knew what he was about to say. "You're both Alphas… How will that work? You cannot dominate each other at the same time – how will you live in the same house? Two alphas in one house?" Clearly this was all a bit too much for Antonio to handle. The volume of his voice rose with each question, and he must not have realized his mate was awake because he jumped nearly ten feet when he heard her voice.

"Oi! Bastardo! What the shit is goin' on, huh?"

Both Antonio and Gilbert cringed, sharing a look of guilt mixed with something like fear.

Arthur didn't seem to get the idea. He looked upon Chiara with confusion.

"Gilbert, is that the one you said was a bitch?"

Alfred perked up. "Who's a bitch?"

One could almost hear Chiara growling. "You God damned Brit punk ass little shit! You come into my fucking house and insult me in my fucking living room – "

"Chiara, por favor…" Antonio stepped up to his mate, taking both of her hands. "I didn't mean to raise my voice, please go back to bed."

"You know what, no! No I won't! I deserve to know what the hell is going on in my own God damned house!"

"Chiara, please, there are children…"

Alfred finally burst into tears. "Daddy! I don't wanna stay here with the mean lady! Don't make me stay here! Please don't make me stay here! Take me home, Daddy, I wanna go home!"

Gilbert's attention was immediately directed to Alfred, so much so that he hardly noticed the rest of the home had gone silent. He could smell fear and distress coming off of Alfred in strong waves and wanted nothing more than to make the boy feel safe.

Apparently Chiara felt the same.

Before he realized, the Italian was past Gilbert and kneeling with some difficulty in front of a cringing Alfred. Her gaze was soft, apologetic even.

"I'm sorry I scared you." She said. She kept space between herself and the boy and did not reach for him. Gilbert knew that this was so Alfred wouldn't feel trapped. "Can you understand how I felt waking up to a bunch of people in my home, two of whom I don't even know?" She pressed a hand to her protruding belly, her eyes remaining locked with Alfred's. "I have something to protect, now."

Alfred looked with a curious gaze at the woman's tummy, then back up. He said nothing, but slowly nodded and looked back to Arthur.

"Will you really come back?" Gilbert could hear the concern in his voice and something in his chest twisted. "Mama and Mattie didn't…"

Arthur had been hovering over Alfred, not sure what Chiara was doing so close to his boy when she'd been so aggressive just moments before. But he visibly relaxed at this.

"I promise I will come back tomorrow."

"Chiara…"

The woman turned back to look at her mate, and pushed herself up off of the floor.

"I apologize. I will explain everything, alright? Please don't be angry with them."

Chiara simply stared at him for a moment before scooping Ludwig into her arms with a huff of exertion. "Come on, you brats. Let's go to the kitchen. You can have something to eat before you go to bed, okay? We have lots of nice things." She began walking off.

"Much better than whatever British or German food you've been eating…" Antonio sighed and shook his head. "I… I'm sorry about her – she just didn't expect this and –"

"It's fine, you don't have to explain." Gilbert assured his friend.

"Can I give you my number?" Arthur asked, stepping forward. "In case anything happens, or Alfred needs anything."

The Spaniard smiled tiredly and nodded. "I'll get a pen and paper."

As soon as he'd left, Arthur immediately turned to Gilbert. "I am so sorry about that… I just sometimes have a problem keeping my mouth shut!" He muttered. "Not usually! I never usually have a problem, I just –"

Gilbert waved him off. "Hey, listen. The best people are the ones that speak their mind. I want you to say what's on your mind, no filters. Okay?"

Arthur blinked as though surprised that someone would say this to him. "Okay."

Antonio returned with a pen and a piece of scrap paper, which was a little odd since usually people just entered each other into their contacts these days, but the Spaniard quickly explained that he was just too lazy to go back upstairs to get his mobile.

They waved goodbye then and left, stepping outside into the cool night air.

"So." Gilbert stated.

"So." Arthur turned to look at the albino.

"What now?"

Arthur shrugged. "You hungry?"

Gilbert nodded, "A bit. Wanna go to McDonald's?"

Arthur made a face. "That food is horrid."

"Yeah," Gilbert shrugged. "I know. But it's fast and cheap. And frankly I don't have money for anything not on the dollar menu."

"Mhmm." Arthur nodded. "Yes… neither do I."

"So… McDonald's?"

"If we must."

"We're dirt poor, dude."

Arthur just rolled his eyes and Gilbert couldn't help but laugh as he headed for the car once again.


Mieudiary: Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice, constructive review! That is done by so few people and it's often so disappointing to post something and get absolutely no feedback. Anyway though in regards to the beginning of the last chapter, the moment when Gilbert was on his laptop was actually sort of like a flashback - the chapter started out right in front of the laundromat, and then there's the flashback and it goes back to Gil at the laundromat. Hope that makes a little more sense now! Thank again for the review!

Iluna Sorgina Talis: This is one of my favorite ships, too. Like, first of all, Tuetonic x Templars? Second of all, punk pairing? Yes?

Spitfire K: Haha well, I tend to enjoy heavier descriptions and setting mood and things like that. I write in a flowery style, and this is just, not that? I just don't feel like this is as nice a fic - and by that I mean the writing - as compared to something else I've written, like Wishing I Could Freeze to Death. I feel like this doesn't communicate emotion as well and is rather plain. Anyway I'm really glad you think my characters are in character! I RP both of them and am sort of portraying them as how I RP them.

Fangs and Fire: I am definitely continuing with this! Glad you like and thanks so much for the review~!

Mimota Layon97: Ahh I didn't even think of that while writing this? But I love it omg! It struck me just how well they all fit together I honestly love this idea. Thank you for the review!


Please give me some feedback on this chapter! I am very tired posting this right now, it is about 3:30 in the morning so I may have missed some errors since I'm literally falling asleep at my laptop! Let me know if anything sounds funny!