Chapter 4

After lunch, remade by the Frenchman, the three men went to work again. Francis was finishing the last coat of paint when Arthur passed by the family room. He reached a creative block, so he took a turn around the house, watching the other two men focused on their work. Maybe one of them could give him an idea about a character in the plot of his next book.

The blond with wavy, shoulder length hair had paint splotches across his shirt, shorts, and face, but nothing on his hair. Arthur jotted a few notes down in his memo pad before turning away. It was only when he turned to leave, did Francis realize that he was there. Was he taking notes of moi? Hmm, he muzt love me after all! He began to whistle happily after the thought.

Next, he moved on towards the obnoxious American. Alfred was sawing away with his tongue sticking out a little from the corner of his mouth. Arthur silently chuckled as he scribbled the image before him down. Watching Alfred, reminded him of a little boy working hard his first project, although he seriously doubted it was his first. Childish, does describe him well. He's so young, he could still pass as a teenager and even a preteen if he wasn't so tall. Yet the dedication behind his glasses aged him, proving there was a serious side to him. Maybe there is a "heroic" side of him…

He continued to write furiously onto the paper, so many ideas flowing easily from his mind to the pencil. Many adjectives to describe him appeared: hardworking, honest, "heroic", determined, friendly, outgoing, brave, adventurous, open book, open minded, young, childish, inexperienced, naive…

As he looked up again to observe more, the young man removed his shirt, relieving a finely toned body.

Unconsciously, the word, sexy, appeared on the paper.

Once the shirt was removed, it was used as a mop to wipe away the blond's sweat. It slid from his face down towards his hard abdomen with Arthur's gaze following every curve and dip along the way.

"Hmph, former football player huh?" Arthur called out, causing Alfred to jump a foot in the air and drop the shirt. "Oh, sorry, lad. I didn't mean to frighten you."

He pouted, "That's not cool, Artie. You almost gave me a heart attack! It's beating like crazy, totally not hero like."

"I really am sor-Hey! It's Arthur!"

Alfred chuckled, "Consider it payback for scaring me. So what'cha doin'? Watching the awesome me strip?"

A blush spread across the smaller man as he sputtered. "You wish. I-I was actually wandering around the house for some random inspiration-"

"Then you saw my epic awesomeness and thought I was perfect inspiration huh?" Alfred leaned against the house to showoff his body and movie-star smile.

"Git," Arthur turned around before Alfred could see him smile and his blush strengthen. Unfortunately he was too slow; he saw the smirk and heard it in his voice.

"Get back to work."

"Yes sir!"

Even though his back was towards the younger man, he could imagine the salute Alfred gave him as well as a puppy tail wagging behind him. How the heck is he the boss? He doesn't seem mature enough, but I shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Many neighbors gave him high marks, might as well take their word for it.

Arthur remembered the look of approval from his other neighbor Elizaveta. "Oh? You hired Odd Job Jones? Yes, yes, a real good decision. Alfie's men know what they're doing, so your back porch is in good hands!" She nodded once again as she smiled fondly. "He does so much for the community, he's just about a saint in everyone's eyes. He volunteers, runs his own business, and gives everyone a shot, no matter how bad their reputation." Then a certain glint appeared in her eyes. "And so many nice looking men too! I often call for Heracles to fix my window, because a certain albino keeps irritating the heck out of me, but mostly because Heracles is really eye pleasing, if you get what I mean."

"Uh…" was Arthur's only response.

"Oh and I just love having Feliciano with me when I call over Ludwig to fix my car!" Elizaveta seemed to have gone into a world of her own for she was blissfully recalling memories. "Feli never had an interest in anything mechanical, but when Ludwig arrives, there's a sudden curiosity! They are so cute together! Oh dear, you don't mind that do you, Arthur?"

The attention suddenly being thrown back at him startled him. "No, not at all! My good friend Kiku is also into boy love."

"That's great!"

Arthur chuckled at the memory. I must remember to introduce the two when Kiku comes. I'm sure those two will become great friends. He went back into his office to chop away once again on his book.

It wasn't long after he sat down that a knock was heard. In the doorway appeared Francis, covered in splotches of paint. "Je suis fini. I muzt zaddly leave you for I muzt prepare for a date!"

"With a man?" Arthur's mind must have still been on Elizaveta, for he would have never asked for someone's personal matters.

Francis on the other hand was honored that the Englishman was interested in his love life and smirked. "Zometimes it iz, but not tonight. Au revoir, mon ami!" He picked up the supplies he had brought with him and went to relay the same message to Alfred.

"Who are you with now?" Alfred was curious. Out of all his employees, Francis was the most… active when it came to dating.

"Do not fret," he walked by his superior, "your older brother and the adorable host inside are safe... for now." He blew a kiss as he closed the gate behind him.

"FRANCIS!" Alfred didn't know it was that obvious. If Francis knew then did Arthur? That would be horrible! And Arthur didn't seem like the kind of man who would lead him on, he'd probably fire him or something. Heroes don't get fired! Heroes win the beautiful lady over, or in this case the cute, hot, and sexy Englishman!

"I-that-no!" Alfred sputtered. "That's not cool, man!"

Sighing, Arthur opened his window and asked, "What's not 'cool?'"

"Eep!" the young man yelped and turned around un-heroically. "Uh... just that... Francis was being Francis."

The author nodded, "Those Frenchmen are all the same bloody frogs." He looked around his back yard, wincing at the mess in it. "Say, do you need any help? It looks pretty hard working by yourself. Do you always do it this way?"

Alfred had to admit to himself that usually he'd be working with at least three other men, but he couldn't risk having competition for Arthur. Antonio and Matthew were working on a garden on the other side of town while Ludwig was working on restoring a classic 1964 Jaguar and he couldn't quite trust the others.

"Nah," he continued to work shirtless, flexing his muscles. "I usually do work with other, but they're all working on other jobs currently. Well, maybe Ludwig isn't as much, but he's not a carpenter. He's a-"

"Mechanic," Arthur finished for him, causing the American to stop. "Elizaveta," he answered his unspoken question followed by another. "Yes, you're easy to read."

Alfred whistled, impressed, flattered, and over joyed. "I didn't know you like me that much that you studied me."

The author blushed and stuttered. "Psh, keep dreaming Jones. It's part of my career to observe or how else would I have become an novelist? And for that, I retract my offer to help."

"Nooo, I could use some help!" The young man made such a pitiful face, that Arthur had not choice, but to sigh and readily agree. "Yay! Artie's getting down and dirty!" He exclaimed once the prim Englishman had gone outside with him.

"Git!" He lifted up a hammer as if to throw it at him. "Don't give me reason to use your tools against you!"

"Ahahahah! I'd like to see you try!" Alfred began to work as he stole a glance at his new partner, catching another smirk on the European's handsome face.

"Don't tempt me."

Sorry, I have excuses, but they're stupid and not worth it. I have decided that my chapters are going to be shorter, but a lot more frequent... hopefully. Oh and since I haven't done it yet, I should just say it now: I do not own Hetalia and never will because I am biased and would rename it to UsUk and focus on them obviously! Please leave a comment so I know how to work with this story! Thanks for reading!