One Step Closer
By Chiara Alice Vargas

A USUK fanfic; one-shot with epilogue
Rated T (just to be safe)
Warning: Nope, not a happy ending. AU.

Based on the song "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri

Epilogue

A year later, on an autumn, November afternoon.

A car pulled up on a cemetery. Neither the car nor the cemetery was very impressive. It wasn't like he could afford to buy something better than what he had, like a better car or a better spot in the cemetery for his fiancé. Well, he was practically his husband now. Sworn devotion, loyalty, fidelity and all. It's not like he'd want to love anyone else, anyway. Alfred was his one and only and nothing could change that. Not even death could break them apart.

Dressed in a large trench coat and black shoes, hands shoved into pockets, Arthur Kirkland was no stranger to the empty cemetery. The sound of his feet stepping on twigs and dried leaves filled the cemetery, the only sound to fill the deafening silence. The cemetery was unkempt, untidy and uncared for. No one really visited the dead here, with the exception of him. Sad thing was, even Alfred wasn't visited much. It was only him and Alfred's brother who bothered. Maybe his parents, once or twice, but it was not something that was so often done to become a routine for them. Shame he could not afford a luxurious burial place. All he could settle for was the public cemetery, the one with the tall, neglected grass and scattered leaves and twigs. But it was better than nothing, right?

He sighed, the overcast dark clouds mirroring his mood. He never was happy when he went here. Not even when something good has happened to him recently, or when it felt like a good day in general. Alfred's tombstone isn't really something that made his good mood stay, if he had one on that occasion.

Ever since Alfred had died last year, Arthur had made it a point to visit him every day, but when every day proved to be difficult for him due to his tight work schedule, he made the visits every other day. Gradually, it decreased to a week, then to every other week, until Arthur just settled for visiting him at least once a month. It never meant that he loved and cared about him less, because he was dead. Maybe he just didn't want to be reminded of the fact that his loved one really is dead. But it never meant he loved him less. If he could have lived in the cemetery, next to the American's grave, he would have. Alfred would have liked that. After all, Alfred was the clingy type.

Lost in his thoughts, he had walked himself on auto-pilot towards Alfred's tombstone. The path he had walked so many times in the past year.

Alfred Franklin Jones
Born July 4, 1993
Died November 6, 2012

No one really even bothered to put a message or anything, really, on the slab of rock. Arthur removed his coat, folding it neatly before sitting down so as to not dirty it. Faced with an all-too-familiar stone, he forced a smile. It came out sad, weak and unhappy. Why wouldn't he be? It was his lover's grave, after all. Piles of land, soil, dirt and whatever-there-was in the ground, on top of a casket, encasing his lover's body, trapping him in. He wished he could have him with him forever, skin and bones and all. Not rotting, not fading, not slowly forgotten by others. Just there. But then again, that was something highly absurd and disgusting.

"Alfred... It's nice to see you again." He spoke in a low whisper. He could talk as loudly as he wanted here, really. No one was near enough to hear. "I missed you."

"Do you know what date it is today? The sixth of November. Our anniversary. It's not really an anniversary when we never really did get to walk down the aisle or get married, but it is nice to think of it as such. Could you believe, it's been a year since then?"

He paused, bringing the engagement ring to his face. The simple silver band with two intertwined letter As on the front glistened in the right angle. He smiled — it was quite tacky and yet he liked it. It was simple. Alfred knew him well.

"I really miss you. I wish you could come back, but that's merely wishful thinking. Is there really a heaven, Alfred? I hope it's nice up there. Did it have burgers and video games and comic books like you thought heaven would be like? I hope you weren't disappointed." He chuckled dryly. It was once an inside joke.

"It's been a year since then. You really are an idiot, you know? If you weren't stupid enough, we could have been celebrating another year together instead of doing it this way." He scowled. He had no idea why he was scolding a grave. "I still think you're the most selfless, sweetest, most loving, caring idiot on this planet."

Tears started threatening to spill over Arthur's brilliantly green eyes. "I wish you were back here. Then we could live in the house together. Wasn't that the point of buying one? I might as well not have such a nice house if only I will be occupying it..."

His hand fondly touched the top, a sad, serene expression on his features. "A year already, Alfred. Your death hasn't changed anything for me or for us. It hasn't changed the way I love you so much, Alfred Franklin Jones."

And with that, he abruptly stood walked away with tears beading up on the corners of his eyes.

I have died every day waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more.

A/N: Thank God that emotional torture was done. How was it? Please do review and stuff. I'd love to hear your opinions and insights about this one. I had so much inspiration and feels going on while I wrote this. It was originally a CMV plan, but I asked my girlfriend (she's going to play as Alfred in said CMV) if I could make a fanfic based on her idea first and she said yes, also because we could use this as a base and a script or whatever.

I think I'm done internally crying now. Hope you guys liked it! It's one of my longer one-shots. And one of the angsty ones that involve character death. My first character death fic was Arthur dying, but he revived and I think I wrote this because I also wanted to make one of them die for good. Oh my, I am such a mean author. Why do I do this to my babies?

Anyway, that's all. Thanks for reading!