Chapter Seven
Alfred worked with the radio on and listened to the owner of the vehicle. It was soothing to work with Arthur's voice, but occasional thoughts of self doubt slipped into his mind. What if I let Artie down? Maybe I should have called Ludwig. He is the mechanic where as I just know a little more than the basics. Oh no, he'll never trust me again! What kind of hero would I be without the people's trust? Without Arthur's trust?!
He kept working on on the car as the radio show continued and his eyes began to droop. It didn't help that Arthur's voice was so dreamy, almost inviting him to nap on the cold engine.
Finally, ten minutes before Arthur's shift was over, Alfred had managed to get it running. Of course he didn't have his usual confidence so he took it for a drive to picked up Arthur along the way.
"You're brilliant Alfred!" Arthur opened the door to the passenger's seat, boosting the young man's ego. "You really can do anything," he left the door open as he was reluctant to close it. Even though the lad was grinning at the compliment, the look in his eye gave him a reason to worry. "My dear boy, you must be exhausted! Go on, get out, let me drive. You work so hard and stay up so late. No, don't you argue with me."
Alfred closed his mouth, shutting the response that would have come out. If he wasn't so tired, he would have easily fought and won against the older man, but his motherly tone was very enticing, just like before. As he slowly made his way around the car, he admitted he wasn't exactly 100% confident the car was working properly. "You- you should probably let me drive you to the-the air port...," his head dropped as he fell asleep when Arthur began to drive.
The author chuckled as the male next to him began to mumble in his sleep. At first he tried to piece his words together, but after catching his name or a variation of his name and other random things bundled up or dragged out, he gave up. Arthur continued to listen to him as a few words would occasionally trigger an idea.
When he finally reached his home, Arthur attempted to wake Alfred up. After a few failed attempts, he contemplated over his choices. Well, if I knew where he lived I could have dropped him off at his home, but even if I did, then what about his own vehicle? Then there's that issue of the airport... Oh, what's the harm in letting him spend the night? He'll be back in a matter of hours.
With all the strength he had, the smaller man placed Alfred's arm around his shoulder, wrapped his arm around his hips because the waist offered no real support, and basically dragged the taller man into the house and room. He dropped Alfred onto his king sized bed, expecting the man to simply fall and continue to sleep. Although he did continue sleeping, the fall was more complex.
Arthur had carelessly let go of Alfred's hips, forgetting the arm wrapped around his shoulders. He too fell, but while Alfred had the soft, comfortable bed underneath him, Arthur had a muscular, yet oddly comfortable, Alfred to land on. As soon as his mind registered what had happened, he tried to lift himself off of him only to be pulled back by Alfred.
Wow, the bloody git, has a strong hold, he thought as he continued to struggle, only making the grip even stronger. The more he moved, the more he became entangled. Exhausted, he gave up as his head rested upon Alfred's chest, clearly hearing his strong, calm heart beat. The smooth rhythm lulled him to sleep as well, even if he still had on his nice, easily wrinkled clothes on.
It wasn't until about five in the morning that Arthur startled awake as he fell off the bed. When he peeked over the bed he found Alfred sprawled over it. He chuckled, knowing he should have been annoyed that he had been pushed off, but couldn't stay mad at such a cherubic face.
After a few seconds of admiring the man in his bed, he realized time was ticking and he needed to get to the airport. He rushed about, changing his clothes and attempting to tame his hair without worrying about making noise, hopping Alfred would wake up. When he didn't, Arthur attempted to wake up the American again, but only received incoherent mumbles.
"If you won't be able to wake up to give me a lift, then could I use your truck?" He gently shook the man.
"Ov cos, Artie," Alfred grinned with his eyes closed and mumbled. "But only if you... give... meh... uh... ki..."
Getting the answer he needed, Arthur continued to rush about, missing the last part of Alfred's request. "Alright, thank you, I'll be back before lunch time, but feel free to make yourself breakfast." The author wrote everything he said and left it on the night stand for Alfred to read when he awoke.
He was about to turn to leave when he noticed his glasses were still on him. Arthur gently removed them and set them by his note. Without realizing what he was doing, Arthur reached out and ran his hand through the other's golden hair. Pulling back suddenly, he convinced himself he was not fully awake or else he wouldn't had done that.
Three more hours later, the American was startled awake by a ring in his pocket. it wasn't until he heard his brother's voice that he noticed he wasn't in his room back home.
"Where are you Alfred?" Matthew's worry was clear through the phone. "Did you really get up so early to go to Mr. Kirkland's ho-"
"OHMIGOSH!" He yelled into the cellphone, causing his elder brother to flinch on the other side of the line. "I slept in his bed and I wasn't awake for this!"
Matthew rolled his eyes even though his brother couldn't see it. "Of course you weren't awake or else you wouldn't have slept in his... YOU'RE IN ARTHUR KIRKLAND'S BED? How in the maple did you end up in your crush's and my favorite author's bed?"
Thinking back to a few hours back, Alfred came to the conclusion that he had fallen asleep at the wheel. Again he began to panic at the thought of being such a horrible hero. His panic wasn't smothered until he found the note and read it. Feeling no hostility from the note that Arthur left, Alfred returned to his brother who he had forgotten about.
"Hey Mattie," Alfred tried to smooth the covers he had slept on down. "Would you mind doing two things for me? Can you bring me some new clothes and get Ludwig over here if he's free?"
~7~
Just as he put on a new pair of pants, the doorbell rang. "Could you get that Mattie?"
The other blond stopped pacing around the living room of his idol to open the door and let Ludwig in. "Ludwig! This Arthur Kirkland's home! And this is his lamp!" The usually quiet man grinned and squeaked due to his excitement while pointing to a simple lamp.
"Who?" Ludwig was taken back by Matthew's random excitement, reminding him of the similarities the two brothers occasionally shared. Yet, because of how small the man before him was, it reminded him of a certain Italian that was always at Elizaveta's place.
Matt dropped his jaw that Ludwig had no clue who Arthur was. He was used to people forgetting about him but when it came to the renowned author, Matthew made sure to set people straight. Just as he was about to explain, his brother walked out and greeted his employee.
"Well, I'm in the need of your assistance or at the very least confirmation that I didn't screw anything up," Alfred led the light blond haired man to Arthur's vehicle.
As Ludwig checked the car out, he began to ask his boss questions that did not pertain to mechanics. When he finally closed the hood of the car shut, he turned to Jones and asked, "Might you like Mr. Kirkland? It's none of my business, but..."
Alfred laughed before he could finish. "That obvious, huh? Why do you ask? Oh and how'd I do with the engine?"
Ludwig nodded as he wiped his hands from the oil. "You did everything perfectly, no need for anything else. I only ask because many of the costumers have wondered where you've been. Francis and mein bruder have said that you've been building a deck by yourself. That explains why you haven't helped with a few of the cars, and other jobs around. However as too why you were doing it alone..."
"Yeah," his boss scratched the back of his head, "I kinda have a soft spot for the Brit. I just can't leave him alone or let anyone else help. Just don't go tellin' the other's that... I don't want any-"
The main door to the house opened followed by a loud fanboy scream of, "You're Arthur Kirkland!"
Startled, Arthur stepped back, bumping into a small Asian man behind him who was only carrying one bag while Arthur had one on his shoulder and another in another hand. He let go of the doorknob and placed a hand over his erratic heart, willing it to stop. "Ah, you must be the other Jones."
"Williams, actually, but his brother nonetheless," Matthew rushed over to the two men. "Let me help you with that. Oh! You must be Kiku Honda, his editor he thanks so much in the acknowledgments!"
Alfred and Ludwig entered from the garage door and soon the introductions were through. Arthur, Ludwig, and Matthew settled into a nice conversation while Alfred bombarded Honda with questions about his native land and other trivial topics he could imagine.
It wasn't until Arthur invited Ludwig to lunch that Alfred turned back to the Englishman.
"Hahahaha, I'll help so you, Artie, so don't hurt yourself or explode the house!" Alfred laughed and slapped Ludwig's back when he noticed the expression in those worried, blue eyes. "Don't worry, Beilschmidt, his cooking really isn't as bad as Gilbert and Francis have claimed."
"You git! It's Arthur! And I think I'd prefer Matthew's help," Arthur smiled over at the other brother who lit up at the mention of his name.
"Me? Really? I'd love too!"
"What about me?" Alfred pouted at Arthur who lightly blushed when he stared into those bright eyes.
As the three began to move around the kitchen, Kiku and Ludwig watched the scene before them. They remained in comfortable silence until the smaller man looked up at the other. "I know we have just met, Beilschmidt-san, but does it seem Jones-san and Arthur-san are really close?"
"Yeah, he likes Arth-" his eyes dilated as he realized he had just broken his boss's promise. "Ah, I mean..."
Kiku's eyes disappeared behind a smile, "Ah, please don't feel guilty. It's alright, I won't say anything."
Bleh, crappy chapter, but I needed it as a possible temptation for some school work help. If any of my readers are teenagers or remember being an adolescent and from the UK, would you mind it if I interview you? It's for my English class, but I understand if you're worried about talking to a random university student. I'll give you my information first if you contact me through a PM so I don't seem so much like a creep... I'll only ask for your first name and questions about cliques in school :P
Other than that, yay! Kiku and Ludwig, are introduced! I'll probably rewrite this chapter to make it better once I catch up with my school work... Sorry they're a little OOC, but thanks so much for reading. If only there was a fanfiction class... XD