Chapter Two: Of peach schnapps and acquired tastes
A.N. Well, hello again guys! This is the second chapter of my first fic posted on - Tea, Scones and Ice Cream Sundaes - which I shall now abbreviate to TSAICS for ease :D
I'm putting the author's notes at the beginning this time to thank all of you that have followed and favourited and posted reviews so far :) Thank you all so much! It means a lot to me~ *Hugs you all*
Sorry last chapter was so ridiculously long. This one is less so :)
Also, I'd like to tell you that this fanfic is part of a whole series of Hetalia stories I'm writing that intertwine together in the same universe- and as I have about ten of these going at the same time, I'm aiming to get the first chapter of each fic up and see which gets the biggest response so I can focus on it. This AU where all of the fics are centred is set around a real shopping centre in Milton Keynes in England called Centre MK, where I go regularly. The only shop involved in this AU that doesn't actually exist is, I'm afraid, the TeaFairy. But all the other fics are focused around real shops or cafés in Centre MK. The characters all have their own storylines, but weave in and out of the other fics as supporting characters. If anyone has read George Devalier's Hetalia fics, you'll understand what I mean with all the stories intertwining together. For the list of fanfics in this AU, check out my profile. It has a short summary of each fic, with the pairing it focuses on and its title. And every fic is tied to a song by English singer songwriter Gabrielle Aplin.
The song for TSAICS is 'Please Don't Say You Love Me." Check it out, it fits this story perfectly - especially with events in later chapters :)
If you're interested in some of the other characters in this fic and want to know their back stories, the other fics will be found outlined on my profile and I aim to get most of these uploaded soon. Feel free to message me and demand for me to update or post these fics if there's one or two you can't wait for.
Also, just to clear up any confusion, Michelle is the Seychelles, Vi is the British Virgin Islands, Flo is the Falkland islands, and Isla is the Isle of White. Peter is obviously Sealand :)
And concerning the green spider of last chapter, I actually found one yesterday, abseiling down the parasol of my outside table. I've posted a photo I took of it - so that's in my photos :3
Reviews always make me insanely happy :)
Right, I'll stop spamming you now and let you read :)
And hint hint, when I put the at the beginning of the chapter, it usually means the chapter will end on a cliffhanger :p
This fic is lighter than some of the others in this AU, but despite the fluff there is an edge of darkness. Sorry about that!
Enjoy~!
Arthur rubbed his forehead, wishing he was back in bed, and Alfred grinned sunnily at him. "I'm serious. How much milk and sugar do I need?" he asked.
Arthur forced a cough through the words building up at the back of his throat and put an elbow on the table.
Fine. If Alfred had invited him to sit with him, and Peter was going to cover Arthur's shift, and Vi was adamant he sit there, he was going to jolly well sit there.
Arthur had had about one hour of sleep the night before so he figured if he sat down for a minute with Alfred it might prevent him from falling asleep on the countertop like he had the week before, much to the amusement of his coworkers, Michelle in particular.
"Uh, depends. Do you...do you want it, uh, sweet?" Arthur asked, not quite meeting Alfred's eyes.
"Please!" the American said enthusiastically. He slid his tray towards Arthur slightly. "Do it for me?"
Arthur spluttered and went as if to make a disdainful retort; but was stopped in his tracks by Alfred leaning towards him and affixing him with such a kicked-puppy look that Arthur had to look away abruptly.
He huffed. "...Fine."
"Cheers, Artie!" Alfred said, snatching up the muffin from the tray and taking an overly large bite.
Arthur blinked at him.
"What did you just call me!?"
"Guy golled 'oo Arr-ee!" Alfred explained, mouth full of chocolate muffin. Arthur stared uncomprehendingly at him and Alfred swallowed noisily.
"I called you Artie," he amended. Arthur scowled at him.
"That's not my name!"
Alfred took another bite and fixed Arthur with a chocolatey grin.
"It can be my nickname for you! So I can call you that whenever I come back!" Alfred explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Arthur had a sudden urge to slam his own head down on the table and growl as his heart leapt annoyingly at Alfred's throwaway comment about seeing him again.
"Well, don't," he snapped. Alfred ignored his comment with another humongous bite of muffin and a bright grin.
Arthur shook his head and sighed. He picked up the teapot and expertly filled Alfred's cup, then poured a splash of milk in and took a packet of sugar from the centre of the table. He dumped the sugar in the tea and stirred it obstinately, determined not to meet Alfred's eyes.
Arthur pushed the cup towards him. "There."
Alfred beamed and set the half eaten muffin down on the tray. "Did you make these muffins?"
Arthur snorted. "My baking could make those frivolous little things taste like dirt."
"Wow, awesome! You must be amazing, cause these are really, really good. You'll have to cook for me at some point, Artie," Alfred said eagerly.
Arthur scoffed irritably and folded his arms. He didn't plan on seeing Alfred again, let alone...cooking for him.
Alfred smiled, ignoring Arthur's dismissive gesture, and slipped his hands around the hot cup. "Mmmm. Warm," he commented appreciatively, with a little smile that made Arthur's breath catch annoyingly.
"That's generally the idea," he said, turning away slightly to hide the faint blush creeping onto his cheeks.
Out of the corner of his eye Alfred took a sip of tea and after a brief pause, made a face.
"Uh. Um. Do you have any more sugar?" he asked sweetly. Arthur face pulled into a scowl and Alfred put on his best angelic smile. "Please?"
Without waiting for a reply (good, Arthur would be damned if he was going to give one anyway!) Alfred spotted the bowl on the middle of the table, pulled two more packets of sugar from it, ripped the tops off with his teeth, and poured them both into his cup.
He took another drink and Arthur nearly let his guard down and laughed as Alfred desperately tried to make an appreciative expression. It was obvious that he found it barely drinkable.
Arthur admired his bravery at taking another mouthful before setting the cup down and smiling at Arthur, something of the original sparkle gone from his eyes.
It didn't look right. Arthur felt he had to put it back.
"Er...it's something of an acquired taste," he said hesitantly.
Alfred beamed again and Arthur nearly sighed with relief, then wondered what the hell he was doing and told himself to snap out of it.
"I don't know what you mean! It's nice!" Alfred said, swinging Arthur's thoughts back around.
"Oh, ok," Arthur said, unsure what else he should have said.
Alfred pulled his muffin back towards him and took an excessively large bite out of it.
"Nom," he said simply, and Arthur narrowly avoided laughing again.
Alfred swallowed and leant forward with one elbow on the table. "So, Artie, the TeaFairy? Did you set this up, or is it a family business or something...?"
Arthur snorted. "Good heavens, no. I set it up a few years back with the help of a couple of...friends...of mine, and have run it ever since."
"Ooh, cool," Alfred said appreciatively. There was an awkward silence as he took another enormous bite of muffin and then paused. He looked a little guilty and broke off a piece of muffin to hold out to Arthur. "Uh, did you want a bit?"
Arthur scowled at him. "No, thank you."
"Ok," Alfred said, stuffing the piece of muffin in his already crammed mouth.
Arthur made a face. "Your table manners are appalling."
Alfred attempted an angelic grin through a mouthful of chocolate and frosting and only succeeded in prompting Arthur to roll his eyes in disparaging exasperation.
"So," Alfred, cocking his head as if waiting for Arthur to carry on a conversation.
Arthur stared at him, any words that he might have possibly been able to say drying up. "Uh."
"Have you lived in England your whole life?" Alfred asked. Arthur wetted his dry lips nervously and nodded.
"Uh, yeah. I grew up here in Milton Keynes, went to college here, and plan to stay here. I guess it might be nice to travel, but I like it here and I'm still in close contact with school friends I made when I was about seven, and none of us look like we're moving anywhere else in the near future," Arthur answered, thinking of Francis and the other assorted friends that came with him. "Uh, I take it you haven't lived here the same amount of time...?"
Alfred licked the empty muffin wrapper and smiled at him. "Nope. American, me. Nebraska, born and raised. I moved here, uh...maybe around three years ago. My accent doesn't show any signs of shifting though," he joked, and Arthur cracked a half smile before he caught it and stopped it just in time. Alfred carried on as if he hadn't noticed. "My half brother, Mattie, had moved about a year before and I decided to follow him."
Arthur's eyebrows quirked. Half-brother. Hm. "What do you do for a living then?" he surprised himself by asking.
Alfred set the muffin wrapper down and shifted imperceptibly closer across the table. "Anything, really. I draw a lot, comics and stuff mainly, so I live in hope of someone noticing my stuff, but to actually earn money, I, uh, tend to work at Burger King. I-uh, it's not like I couldn't do anything else, I just figure it's a way of earning a little money, and it gives me time to draw and stuff... Yeah... Nothing as interesting as running a teashop," he explained, blushing as if he was a little embarrassed about working at Burger King. Arthur almost smiled but stopped himself.
"It's not that excitingly here, really. The highlight of my day is when Flo knocks over the tea urn or Francis drops in, hits on a customer, and gets slapped in the face. That's always fun," he said. Alfred laughed, and Arthur was surprised as he felt pleased he had made him happy.
"See, a lot more exciting. I just spend the time doodling on napkins between shifts and being friendly and cheerful to everyone," Alfred said.
"At least you'd be good at that. I find it hard to be courteous to people I've known for twenty odd years," Arthur said honestly. Alfred beamed.
"Yeah, but your friends are only true friends if they piss you off once in a while," Alfred pointed out.
Arthur shrugged. "I suppose, I mean-"
Without warning there was a loud crashing noise from the table next to them and a startled cry of "Whoah holy crabcakes!"
"Vi!" Arthur shouted angrily. He turned around in his seat to see the caramel haired teenager on the floor, one of the teashop's chairs lying across her as if she'd leant on it and fallen over.
She yanked her skirt down and groaned into the floor. The few people inside the TeaFairy, who by now were becoming rather used to the strange occurrences in the shop, gradually started to resume their conversations.
"Vi, what did you do?" Arthur asked, already on his feet with an exasperated sigh.
Vi's response was barely audible. "The chair had a hissy fit."
Arthur rolled his eyes and walked over towards her eyebrows raised in derision. Sighing, he held out a hand to help her to her feet, and she grabbed it and scrambled upright, brushing off her grey skirt and blouse as she did so.
"What happened?" Arthur asked resignedly.
"I put a hand on the chair and it collapsed on me," she said. She flicked a stray hair out of her face and Arthur closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I can't believe you. Usually Florence is the clumsy one," he sighed. Vi grinned lopsidedly at him.
"Someone has to step in when she's not here," she said. Arthur grinned.
"Why were you even over there?"
Vi answered without a trace of embarrassment or
guilt. "Eavesdropping."
Arthur's grin faded into a scowl. He hadn't even noticed she was standing so close to them, he had been so absorbed in the conversation. For some reason that annoyed him. He folded his arms and scowled again. "Go get back to work."
She poked her tongue out briefly before spinning on her heel and skipping over to the counter, where Peter grinned and mouthed an ironic 'well done' at her. Michelle tittered and glanced in Alfred's direction.
Arthur turned back around to see Alfred grinning at him. Annoyed, he sat back down opposite him and when Alfred kept on beaming at him, started picking at a thread in the tablecloth. "What?"
"You smiled at her. You have a nice smile," he said. Arthur felt himself go red.
"Shut up," he murmured, pulling insistently at the thread and ripping a hole in the fabric. He cursed himself internally.
"No, it's true. I want to see it again," Alfred insisted. Arthur stared at him for a moment and Alfred laughed. Face burning, Arthur looked away. His eyes flitted to the hole in tablecloth and he blushed guiltily.
"I think I should get back to work," he said.
"No you will not!" Michelle hissed at him from across the shop, brandishing an apron in the air as if threatening to throw it at him.
"Can I not have a conversation without every word being analysed and cross-examined by a horde of teenage girls?!" Arthur snapped at her. Michelle had the decency to look a little sheepish, while Vi and Peter collapsed into giggles behind her.
Scowling, Arthur picked the first apron up from where it had landed on the floor, and threw it back at her. She caught it with a grin and hung it back up on its proper place by the fridge.
"Have a tea break," she said, poking her tongue out.
He folded his arms. "But I don't-"
"Denied. Now if your butt leaves that seat again I will have to follow Gilbert's excellent example, and abduct your unicorn toy," she answered.
Arthur scowled forcefully at her. "I run this shop-!"
"And I know some really good hiding places," Michelle retorted.
Arthur blushed, groaned, and turned back to Alfred. "Ignore my coworkers."
"Actually this is kinda entertaining," Alfred said cheekily, sticking the spoon from his cup in his mouth and grinning simultaneously. "Is she your girlfriend?"
Arthur spluttered indignantly. "No! Of course not!"
"Oh okay," Alfred said. He grinned and twirled he spoon around in his fingers. "From your reaction, I'm guessing you're single then?"
Arthur scowled. "Well...yes..."
Alfred grinned. "Same."
"And your point is?!"
Alfred shrugged. "Thought you might want to know."
Arthur felt himself go red. "Well, frankly I don't!"
There was a pause while Alfred just looked in an amused way at him, and Arthur had to grab onto the table as he felt himself slipping into Alfred's enchanting blue gaze.
"So where were we?" Alfred asked, forcing Arthur to snap out of it.
"Uhm," was the only reply.
"Work, I think. Yeah. I've got another shift at Burger King in quarter of an hour. So that'll be fun," Alfred said, taking it on himself to carry on the conversation.
"Why do you work there if you don't enjoy it?" Arthur found himself asking before he could stop himself. He blushed. "Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No, it's fine, honest. I work there because...well, it's money. And the only thing I want to do is draw. And unfortunately that's not exactly a very reliable career choice," Alfred answered.
Arthur felt a grin building inside him and was powerless to stop it. "It's an ambition. I think my highest goal is to complete a week's work without any disasters happening."
Alfred laughed. "Disasters as in...?"
Arthur grinned. "Being locked in the storage room by one of my brothers as a practical joke. Getting our entire sugar supply stolen by this strange little Polish transvestite that drops in from time to time. Not to mention the tea urn being spiked by a certain German friend of mine."
Alfred's incredulous laugh made Arthur's heart skip annoyingly. "Spiked?"
"He poured a bottle of peach schnapps in there the other week. Don't ask about the results. We were all too pissed to remember."
Alfred laughed again. "He sounds like a joker."
Arthur leaned closer and grinned. "When he's not completely pissed off his head and hooking up with random strangers in a gay bar, maybe."
Alfred grinned and took a sip of tea. "Your life and friends sound so much more exciting than mine."
"Hey, there must be some interesting goings on in Burger King," Arthur said, grinning.
Alfred raised his eyebrows. "What, like the old lady on table seven losing her false teeth on a suspiciously thickly-coated chicken nugget?"
Arthur snorted and then started to laugh, and to his surprise, Alfred joined in too, and the two of them sat there, giggling to themselves, like two children. When the laughter faded, Arthur grinned across at him and their eyes met for an overly long time.
Alfred broke the gaze before Arthur was able to, and looked back down at his cup. With some effort, it appeared, he emptied it.
"Well, my shift is starting soon so, yeah, I should probably go now..." He stood up uncomfortably and Arthur smiled.
"Try not to get too carried away with the spectacularly exciting escapades at Burger King," he said. Alfred beamed at him.
"And you. Pour tea. Defend your tea urn."
Arthur laughed again, and felt a jolt in his chest as he realised this was a goodbye he didn't expect he would have to make.
Or be so sad about.
Alfred tipped an imaginary hat. "Seeya, Artie," and then he turned and walked out of the teashop.
Arthur watched him go with sad eyes. He honestly didn't expect Alfred to make the effort to see him again at all.
But he was surprised.
Alfred continued to drop in every day that week, always buying some sort of cake, and, credit given where due, persevering with various types of tea. Their conversations were fun and fast paced, and whenever they parted Arthur always felt an unpleasant and unwelcome jolt in his stomach. Day by day the silences where they would just shyly look at one another would lengthen, and the talk would become more personal, and the more they talked, the more Arthur felt like he knew a fun-loving, caring, kind-hearted American named Alfred F Jones, whose big dream was to publish a comic strip, and whose bright blue eyes were dangerously enchanting, and who loved it when Arthur laughed, and who would do anything to make him do so.
And Arthur was starting to find himself looking forward to the moment each day when Alfred would bounce into the shop with his trademark grin in place.
He got teased about it, of course. Unfortunately, having employed four very giggly girls in their twenties and one sixteen year old boy with an insistent desire to impress those girls, it was extremely hard for Arthur to pass Alfred's frequent visits off as those between 'just friends'. Florence and Isla, the other two girls who worked there with Peter, Michelle and Vi, soon caught onto what was being suggested about Arthur and Alfred's relationship, and continued to make Arthur's life rather difficult by cornering him at various intervals and accosting him with questions about whether he had 'snogged' Alfred yet.
And Arthur's resulting blush and stammered protests that he was not gay on all these occasions only intensified the giggling.
The Friday after they'd first met, Alfred came bouncing into the teashop yet again with his trademark grin in place and of all things, a bright blue shirt sporting the superman logo on his chest. Arthur's heart made the annoying little leap he had come to expect and associate with Alfred's arrival each day, and he set the cloth he'd been wiping the counter with carefully down. He smiled tentatively at Alfred and pushed a strand of hair out of his face.
"Hey."
Alfred came over, leant over the counter towards Arthur, and stuck his face cheerfully in front of him. "Hi," he replied, an inane grin on his face. Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes, a faint smile pulling insistently at the corners of his lips.
"Good afternoon Alfred. Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked, giving in and smiling softly. Alfred grinned.
"Yeah, there is, actually," he said.
"Oh?" Arthur asked, raising his eyebrows, propping his elbow on the countertop and resting his chin on his hand.. "What might that be?"
Alfred grinned cheekily. "You, me. Dinner tonight. 6 o'clock at Pizza Express sound good for you?"
Arthur's elbow slipped off the counter.
"I-I'm sorry?"
"Oh, do you not like Pizza Express? That's ok - there's a good Tapas restaurant not far from here that we could go to if you wanted instead," Alfred said, smiling. Arthur fumbled for any words, any words at all.
"What...? Like a-"
"A date? Yeah, exactly. I'll meet you here at the end of your shift and we'll walk over together, yeah?" Alfred proposed with a smile.
"H-how do you know when my shift ends?" was all Arthur could stutter out.
"There's something to be said about being on good terms with your coworkers," Alfred grinned. Arthur could only stare at him, stunned. "Great, so no Pizza Express - La Tasca it is," Alfred said.
"N-no, Pizza Express is fine..." Arthur stuttered before he could stop himself. His eyes widened. "I mean-"
"Great! I'll see you here at six then!"Alfred enthused, before turning on his heel and walking out of the teashop.
Arthur gaped after him.
What?!
There was a squeal from behind him and Michelle, who had been hiding in the back room, watching intently, emerged.
"Oh my God he asked you out!" she cried excitedly. Arthur felt if his face went any redder he would burst into flame.
"No he didn't!"
"But he so did! You have a date Artie! Oh my God!" she sang, and before Arthur could protest, she had grabbed him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"Get off!" Arthur cried, but she held on.
"It's so romantic! Pizza express! I knew it Artie, I knew it! You are gonna fall in love and get married and have little adopted babies-"
And then something snapped inside Arthur. "I'm not gay!" He screamed, shoving her away as hard as he could. She staggered back, stunned.
There was a pause."But Arthur, what-"
"I'm not gay, I swear it!" he shouted back. There was another silence and the small number of customers in the shop looked away abruptly and awkwardly.
Arthur covered his mouth with a hand and ran, scared and confused, into the back room. He collapsed shakily against the wall, memories tugging at him. He grasped onto his apron, feeling like if he let go, he would be sucked into the whirlwind of memories forever.
Memories of hard, cold metal on his back, the rasp of fabric on leather. Belt buckles. White hot pain that never really went away.
Arthur pressed a trembling hand to his mouth.
"No!" he gasped. "Please!"