Chapter 8
Alexis P.O.V.
"No one has ever yelled at me like that before, Alex!" I sob into my sister's chest, clutching at her shirt tightly. Currently situated in my room, we returned from the bar moments ago with Alex holding me close, stroking my hair back. "I mean, Dad and Mom did it maybe once or twice but not anything like that!"
"Shh, it's all right. Why don't you take a drink of water," she hands me a glass full of water that had been resting on the bedside table, "and then go change into your pajamas, so you can get some sleep." I nod, pulling away from Alex's embrace to take the glass from her hands and drink a couple of small, careful sips from it.
"Thanks," I gasp out weakly, wiping stray tears from my eyes. "I think I'm okay now," my voice comes out unconvincingly, so I try and smile at her only for it to take on a watery tone. Alex nods halfheartedly before slowly making her a way out of my room.
At the door, she stops and turns back around to face me. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asks anxiously.
"Yeah I'll be fine," I reassure her, making an effort to make my smile more strongly. She looks at me suspiciously for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh and I pipe out a, "Good night, Alex."
"Night Alexis . . ." she replies, casting one more concerned look towards me before walking out the door and closing it behind her softly.
When I hear her footsteps fade away into silence, I set the water down onto the bedside table. Shuffling over to my dresser, I rifle through it until I locate my favorite sweatpants and sweatshirt. With little trouble I pull them on, smiling fondly at the warm feeling they give me. Once both clothing articles are on, I head over to my bedside table where, inside the first drawer, my glorious chocolate stash is located. Grabbing a single chocolate bar, I climb into bed and burrow under the covers. Before getting too comfortable I reach towards the small lamp on the table and turn it off, allowing my eyes to drift shut as I begin to nibble on the chocolatey goodness.
Knock Knock Knock.
My eyes pop open as I hear a noise that sounds much like glass being tapped by something hard. But, after thinking a little, I decide to ignore it. It's most likely Alex doing something weird downstairs. With that knowlegde, I relax once again and continue to indulge in the chocolate.
Knock Knock Knock
There it is again. Athough, now that I think about it, it sounds too close to be coming from downstairs. I sigh, setting my unfinished chocolate down and getting up out of bed, turning on the light in the process. Sluggishly, I walk over to my windows to look outside. I roll the shades up and nearly shriek at what I uncover. "Gah!" I yelp as the sight of Alfred hanging from my window sill is reveled. He waves at me, a bright smile plastered on his face despite his current predicament. My body's frozen in utter shock at the fact that he's here; right outside my window. Which, in other words, means he's two stories up in the air. I regain some sense to open the window wide enough so he can slip through.
"Hey Alexis!" he shouts, his voice being louder than I'd like.
"Shhh! Do you want my sister to know you're here?" I hiss, glaring at him. "What are you even doing here?"
"Oh yeah, I got you these," he says distractedly, reaching behind over his shoulder into a backpack I just realize he has and pulls out some droopy looking yellow tulips along with a box of chocolates. Cautiously taking them, I immediately turn around and walk back to my bed, sittting on the soft blankets. "And I wanted to say I'm sorry for being such a jerk earlier."
I glance up to see his big blue eyes gazing down at me. My heart begins to pick up speed and I take a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm myself. Steadying my hands, I gently open the box of chocolates and find one of them missing.
"Of course you already ate some," I chuckle, looking back up at him. Setting the flowers and chocolates aside, I get up off my bed. With languid steps, I walk closer to Alfred and hug him, making him jump in surprise. "You're forgiven." He regains his composure from the shock and wraps his arms around me, nuzzling his nose in my hair. "But I'm telling you this now, if you ever do something like that I again I'm going to smack you multiple times with a spoon."
"W-what? A spoon?" Alfred stutters, a bit taken aback by my choice of weapon.
"Mmhm, a spoon," I answer surely. With everything well again I rest my head against the American's chest, listening to the beating of his heart. Hearing the rhythmic sound relaxes my entire body, effectively calming me. Suddenly I remember he had been hanging outside of my window moments ago. I tilt my head back to look at him. "How did you even reach my window? You're not trying to be like that creepy stalker, Edward, from twilight?" I ask him warily.
Alfred laughs, thankfully not loud enough for it to be heard outside my room. "Nah, I saw the new Spiderman movie and thought it'd be an awesome heroic thing to try out!" He states happily with a goofballish kind of grin and I can't help giggling. "Oh, and if you're wondering how I got up here, I just climbed up the pipe next to your window." Satisfied with his answer, I return to laying my head on his chest.
Then I get an idea.
"Hey, I've got some more chocolates in a drawer; do you want to share a couple of them with me?" A childish grin appears on the American's face. "Of course we can't eat all of it, we'd get sick if we did, but we can definitely eat some!" Alfred nods his head excitedly. I untangle myself from his embrace and walk back over to my bedside table.
For a second time that night, I open the top drawer and find my chocolate stash, grabbing a massive bag of mini Reese's peanut butter cups and M&Ms out from it. Settling down on my bed, I rest my back against the headboard. Upon returning my attention to Alfred, who's still standing by the window awkwardly, I roll my eyes and pat the open spot next to me. He smiles brightly and crawls onto the bed next to me. I hand him the bag of M&Ms and he rips them open as I tear open the peanut butter cups. We sit in silence for few minutes, content with munching on chocolates, until Alfred mumbles out a random question.
"Why exactly are you living with your sister here in London when you're originally from America," he questions me, his eyes wide and full of innocent curiosity.
"Hmm, well, I've been coming here to stay during the summer for a while and England actually has some pretty decent colleges. So I figured, why not," I explain, peering at him from the corner of my eyes and smiling fondly. "What about you? You're about as American as it gets; why are you here?"
Alfred grins happily. "It's mostly my job keeping me here. But when that's all done and over with I can return to my country if I want to, though I'm not too sure if I'm gonna go right away," he replies, shoving a handful of the small colorful candy in his mouth. His response answers some of my questions, but at the same time makes me more curious.
"Why?"
"Cause you're here," he says around a mouth full of M&Ms. I stare at him in surprise.
"You'd stay thousands of miles away from your home, your family and friends, just to be closer to me?"
He swallows the chocolates, his grin broadening. "Course I would! You're my precious girlfriend!" As he says that my heart swells up with happiness. Smiling, I lay my head on his shoulder while popping a chocolate in my mouth. Alfred sighs happily, clearly content with this position "Do you think Alex will ever forgive Arthur and me?"
I think about my answer for a second. "My sister really does like Arthur but, truthfully, I dunno. I hope so," I answer before asking him a question cautiously, "So . . . are you still mad that I hung out with Gilbert?"
Alfred shakes his head. "Nope, Alex was right, you're a human being and you have the freedom to choose who you want to spend your time with. I'm not thrilled it's Gilbert, but then again, it could have been someone worse," he muses, turning his head so he can look at me easily. His sky blue eyes lock onto mine and he smiles softly, a blush making its way on his face. "I'm really happy you chose to forgive me, I wouldn't have known what to do with myself if you hadn't."
"Well, I'm glad I did choose to forgive you. I think my summer would have been totally boring and depressing if I hadn't," I counter, snuggling a bit closer to the tall American. After a minute or two, Alfred allows his head to rest atop of mine.
All of a sudden he gasps and sits up straight. "Fuck, I almost forgot." Alfred exclaims, sliding away from me to scuttle to his backpack that's resting against the wall near the window. He digs through it until he locates what he's searching for, pulling out a medium sized black box. The American returns to the bed and scoots back next to me, except this time his entire body faces me. Holding the box out, Alfred opens it to reveal a small silver locket. I gasp and cover my mouth with both hands. "Do you like it?" he nervously asks.
I stare up at him, my face breaking out into a smile. "I love it," I breathe out. Alfred grins as he takes the jewelry out of its box. The locket's shaped like a heart and decorated with a single, well sized, pearl in the center of it. He hands it carefully over to me.
"Open it," he requests, being oddly docile. I do as he asks and open the locket. Inside, there's a picture of him and me, taken while we were still at the London Wonderground. A picture Alfred had taken with his phone right after our first kiss.
"Wow Alfred. This . . . is just amazing. Thank you so much!" I declare happily. Gazing up at him, I notice his face has gone red. With a warm smile I lean forward and kiss him, parting just moments after we touch. He looks at me in surprise, his face growing an even darker shade of red. "Really, thank you Alfred." The American's face quickly softens and he holds me close to him. A barely audible footsteps come from below my room and I quickly pull away from the hold. "You should probably get going. It's getting late and my sister might come in to check on me any minute."
Alfred nods as he sighs dejectedly, definitely not happy about having to leave. "You'll text me in the morning right? As soon as you wake up?" he presses, slowly getting up and heading towards the window.
"Of course! The second I open my eyes I'll grab my phone and contact you," I promise, placing the locket back in its box and setting it on the bedside table alongside my have eaten chocolate bar and the flowers and chocloate I recevied from Alfred. Snatching up the M&Ms, I hand them to him. "Take these, they're really addicting and I need to stop eating them," I chuckle, causing the American to smile.
"You sure about giving them to me?" With a quick nod, I try not to think of the delicious chocolates now leaving my ownership. Alfred grasps the candy, packing them into his backpack before shouldering the bag on. "I'll see you soon then?"
"Yep!" Content with my answer, he opens the window and begins making his way out. Just as he's almost fully out, I realize something I forgot to do. "Wait!" Alfred twists around and looks at me, now hanging from the window sill. Seizing him by the chin, I give the man another quick kiss, making it short and sweet. "See ya later, Mr. Jones." He grins blindingly, releasing his hold of the ledge and dropping down smoothly onto the ground. He lands securely on his feet, almost like a cat. The American wave's goodbye once more and then runs off into the night.
I rest my elbow on the window sill my boyfriend's hand were once holding onto, gazing off into the dark. I'm seriously one lucky duck.
Alex's P.O.V.
After having made sure that Alexis is all right, though I don't believe she completely is, I make my way downstairs. A majority of the lights have already been turned off, but some are left on so I'm not stumbling my way around. I silently stride into the kitchen, filling the old fashioned kettle up with water and placing it onto the stove. It's always been that before going to bed I'd have a cup of earl grey. It really helps in soothing my mind.
Exactly what I need at the moment.
"Really, why the hell do men always have to act so possessive? We aren't helpless animals nor do we not know how to fend for ourselves!" I grab a mug out of a cupboard roughly, along with the box of earl grey tea bags. Staring at the box, I can't help but slump my shoulders lifelessly. ". . . That's what we've been doing so far . . . fending for ourselves."
Knowing that the water will need a couple of minutes to fully heat up, I settle on checking all the locks on the windows. It's always better to be safe than sorry. Since I'm already in the room, I first check the kitchen windows, tugging at them to ensure maximum security. After a few tugs I deem them as secure as they can be. Next I head into the living room and check the windows there. As I do, I start mumbling to myself.
"Those two are complete idiots . . . I swear, I don't know what I'll do if I see them anytime soon." A growl escapes from my lips. "Especially Alfred." I glare at nothing in particular. "How dare he make my little sister cry like that!"
I yank at a window viciously, causing me to lose my grip and fall backwards. Landing right on my tail bone, I wince and grimace. This day really can't get any worse. All the hurt and frustration built up inside of me comes out in the form of hot tears trailing down my cheeks like rivers.
Touching the wetness, my mask of anger finally cracks and my sadness comes uncovered. I curl up, bringing my knees close in while wrapping my arms around them. Tears continue to cascade down, staining my pants with tear drops. "Stupid Arthur, this pain is entirely your fault . . ." Though deep down I know that isn't true.
A sharp whistling sounds interrupts my sulking, causing me to look up from behind my knees. For a second I can't figure out what's making that noise. Sadness fogs up my brain and makes it a little hard to think properly. Then it suddenly hits me.
"The hot water!" I shoot up, sad thoughts momentarily pushed to the back of my mind, and rub frantically at my eyes to wipe away all the tears. The shrieking of the kettle becomes higher pitched as I near the kitchen. Hurrying in, I quickly pull the kettle to side and turn the stove off. As soon as the kettle isn't being heated up anymore, the shrieking quiets down instantly. I slowly release the breath I didn't know I had been holding in, using the back of my hand to brush over my eyes once more.
With unsteady hands, I shakily pour the hot water into the mug I had previously retrieved, now with a tea bag in it. The steam rising from the steeping drink warms my chin for a split second before I take a step away. My gaze drifts to the now silent kettle, thoughts about how this fight would affect my relationship with Arthur crowd my mind. All of a sudden, the silence in the condo is broken by knocks coming from the front door.
"Who in their right mind would come knocking at such a late hour?" I glance in the direction of the front door, waiting for another round of knocks. It's late and I'm awfully tired, so there's a possibility I might have just imagined it all. However, a few seconds later and there it is again, a pattern of soft knocks, barely loud enough for me to hear from the kitchen. "Ugh I'm really not in the mood for this . . ."
I shuffle over to the door, resting my palms against the cool material of the door. Taking a second, I do a double check for any tear tracks or any evidence at all of me having cried. Finding it all clear, I breathe deep and turn the door handle, opening the door.
But as soon as I lay my eyes on the person crazy enough to knock at my door this late at night, I hasten to slam the door shut. Just as the door is nearly all the way closed, the man hastily gets his foot right in between the door and doorframe. "Shit! Alex, wait!" Knowing that I wouldn't be able to close the door with his foot in the way, I glare at him as venomously as I can.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here, Arthur?" I spit out, though mindful of the volume of my voice. Don't want to wake Alexis if she's asleep. "If you've come here to talk then you can forget about it. I'm not listening to a single thing you have to say." Arthur looks at me in distress.
He tries to drive the door wider, only for me to put all my strength in keeping it as far closed as possible. "Alex, please! Give me a chance to explain myself!" The door creaks and groans as forces from both sides work against one another. "Please, listen to what I have to say, love . . ." I can tell he's putting more effort into getting the door open by the strain of his voice, and I also know that it's only a matter of time till he's successful. So, as a last act of stuborness, I spin around and release my grip on the door, storming back towards the kitchen.
"I won't listen to anything that comes out of your mouth." From behind me, I can hear Arthur curse as he stumbles forward, not having expected me to give up so suddenly. "Anyway, I thought you had said everything you wanted earlier at the bar." Upon marching into the kitchen, I make a beeline for my tea.
Taking an experimental sip, my face twists in displeasure at finding out its gotten cold. In my peripheral vision I watch Arthur walk awkwardly into the kitchen as well. "Dearest, you need to understand-"
"I think I understand plenty. You don't trust us, you don't trust me. You've made that loud and clear." I frown as I dump the now cold mug of tea in the sink. "Though it's not only that you can't trust me with any knowledge about your job, you won't even allow me to meet other people from your work."
Arthur paces over to me, holding his hands tentatively out in front of him. "That's not it-" he attempts to say, only for me to cut him off.
"Of course that's it!" I throw my arms in the air, releasing all my pent up frustration in the worst way, yelling. "Even so, I thought that maybe if I waited, been patient, then you might have told me something on your own . . ."
"Will you just listen-"
The tears I have been trying so hard to keep inside burst out and start streaming down my face. "I don't want to lis-" My next words are cut off as Arthur seizes my shoulders and smashes our lips together. For a second I can't respond, my entire body feels paralyzed. Then, as realization sets in, I start to struggle. Hitting my fists against his chest, I attempt to push the Englishman away from me.
But my efforts are in vain. Arthur holds me steadfast, cupping my cheek as he molds our lips jointly. As this continues on, my will to fight ebbs away and my eyes flutter shut despite my struggles. By the time he finally lets me go, I've practically become a pile of mush. My entire face feels ten times hotter than it should be and all my bones are like jelly. I'm forced to hold on to Arthur to keep myself from collapsing onto the ground.
"Will you listen to me now?" He asks me, his voice out of breathe and rough sounding. Still in a dazed like state, all I can do is nod weakly. "Splendid." Arthur then leads/drags me to the nearest chair and sits me down on it. With my hands grasped in his own, the Englishman stares directly into my eyes. "I do trust you Alex; believe me when I say that poppet."
"But-"
"No interruptions, I need you to hear everything I came to say, from beginning to end. All right?" The seriousness in his tone shocks me into silence. Arthur takes this chance to carry on. "I came to apologize; my behavior at the bar was unforgivable. It's just that . . . "It looks like he's struggling to find the correct choice of words as he glances all around the room before focusing back on me. "I guess . . . I was jealous and being over protective," he mumbles, looking down at the ground.
My eyes widen as he says that. Jealous? Arthur was jealous? A part of me wants to forgive him, right there and then. But another part just can't do that, at least not yet. "I-I want to forgive you, you know. But . . ." I don't know how to explain this feeling, my minds just becoming an even more jumbled mess right now.
A hand touches my cheek lightly, and I look into glimmering pools of emerald. "That wasn't the only reason why I've come here." He pulls his hand away from my face to instead hold it out in front of me. "Take my hand." I stare at his outstretched hand, debating with myself for a split second, before reaching out and grasping it.
"Okay." All he does is leads me into the living room, directing me to sit on one of the couches. "What exactly are you planning?" Arthur smiles at me, causing my heart to shiver delightfully at the sight of it.
"You'll see." That's all he says as he disappears out the front door, only to return seconds later with a large case with the union jack on it. I stare at the case then at Arthur. He doesn't say anything, his lips lift into a slight grin as he opens the case and takes out a guitar.
At first I really don't understand why he has a guitar. But when he settles down on the couch next to me, strumming a few chords, I catch on to his plans. "You play the guitar?" I look at him with wide eyes, not believing what's right in front of me.
Arthur rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Not that great, but I wanted to play a little something for you. Hoping it might help persuade you to forgive me." My features soften, as he plucks a few strings to double check that the instrument is in tune before starting to play. Seconds into the music, Arthur opens his mouth and begins to sing.
And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know you that you feel me somehow
My eyes water for the third time in the entire night, as he plays a smile tugs at my lips. The song sounds so familiar, warming my heart to no end. I stop thinking about it all and just listen to Arthur singing, he's actually quite good.
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
The lyrics bring a blush to my cheeks. When he sings it like that it feels so much more . . . meaningful. All the words seem to touch the deepest depths of my heart.
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Arthur slowly opens his eyes, having closed them before starting to sing, and stares into my own. He smiles lovingly as he notices the small tears in the corner of my eyes. I wipe away the droplets of water with the back of my hand, returning his smile with an equally affectionate one.
Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
With that last line, he strums on his guitar a little longer and then finishes. Silence envelopes the room for a few seconds, filling the empty space with a sense of calm and content. I feel so many emotions wash over me, the most prominent one being love for the adorable Englishman in front of me. So I willingly allow this emotion to take control, prompting me to lunge forward towards the man. Being mindful of his guitar, I hug Arthur tightly.
"I'm sorry!" I cling on to him, vaguely aware of him putting the instrument down and wrapping his arms around me. "I'm sorry for yelling at you and not even making an effort to listen." Squeezing him, I nuzzle into the crook of his neck. "All I want is for you to trust me, with all sorts of things."
His hands start caressing my face, bringing it higher so we're now eye to eye. Both guilt and joy swim in his eyes, a strange combination. "Love, you don't have to apologize. You've done nothing wrong." He brushes a strand of my hair away, his touch lingering a bit longer. "Absolutely nothing. And one day, I'll tell you everything you deserve to know."
"Really?" I question him, my eyes widening before narrowing skeptically. "You mean that?"
Arthur nods, grazing his lips lightly over my eyelids. "I swear upon my life that you'll know someday, but sadly that day isn't today." He pulls away, his hands on either side of my face. "Will you wait for me?"
Some doubts remaining in my mind cause me to hesitant in giving him an answer. But when Arthur takes my hand and kisses each individual finger, looking at me with this love struck filled gaze, I find myself agreeing whole heartedly. "O-okay, I'll wait. But you better not keep me waiting for too long; something like this may happen again if you do." Arthur's face morphs into an expression of pure horror and I giggle, giving him a quick peck to calm him down.
As my lips begin to drift away from him, Arthur brings one hand to the back of my head and pushes me back into a kiss. This lasting longer than the peck I had given. Once we finally do break apart, we're both out of breath and smiling like crazy.
"You better go," I whisper to him, carding my fingers through his golden locks one final time before standing up. "You've really come at a ridiculous time." Arthur nods reluctantly before getting up off the couch and packing up his guitar. We walk to the front door, not saying a word but relishing in our last moments together right now. I hold the door open for him, faintly smiling as he steps past me. "When do you think we'll see each other again?"
Arthur shrugs. "I have not a clue, but I hope it'll be soon." The Englishman leans in for one final kiss, smiling into it. "I'll contact you as soon as possible."
I grin devilishly. "You better not dally too long, for you never know when I'll stop waiting." Arthur rolls his eyes, knowing I'm just joking with him. "Now go on, I need to be gettting to bed." He chuckles lightly.
"Then sleep well, my love, and pray we meet again soon." Arthur winks quickly before he's off. I linger by the doorway, hoping to see him one last time. Realizing I might look a little desperate that way, I quickly close the door and escape to my room, a grin plastered on my face the entire way there.
A/N: The next chapter is out woohoo! My goodness that took a while to edit -_- Anyway, thank you for the reviews I always enjoy reading them haha XD. So we don't know Hetalia or the song lyrics used in this weeks chapter. Since it's been a while since this chapter was written I actually forgot the name of the song, but I know that it's one that should be pretty well known.
All right, so I currently have one more chapter already written and only needs editing before posting, after that the Brony and I will have to return to writing the rest of that chapters. Sadly though there's something of an epidemic (not really, just there's been plenty of sicknesses going around) going in our school so the Brony has been getting sick a lot. We won't be able to write more until she feels well enough to. Back to the main point! Reviews are very much welcome and make me edit faster! Hmm reviews are like cheescake! . . . now im craving for some cheesecake *drools at the thought of the dessert* . . . oh well, see all you lovely readers next week! Bye bye and enjoy this wonderful chapter!
-The Hetalian
