Chapter Nine

Arthur slid a hand through his hair, sighing. His green eyes traveled briefly to where Alfred lay on his couch with one arm slung over his face as he snored lightly. Originally, Alfred had stayed a bit longer to watch some TV before he promptly passed out on Arthur's couch. Arthur decided not to wake him, because there was really no reason to. But Arthur did need to go shopping, as he was running dangerously low on butter and bread, which meant no toast, which meant no breakfast.

Arthur quickly scribbled a note down onto a sticky note, sticking it to Alfred's head, who rolled to his side and mumbled something in his sleep. He grabbed his coat, slipping it on before quietly leaving the house.

The weather was a tad too 'cold' for Summer and the sky was an unpleasant gray, but it wasn't raining which was quite spectacular.

Arthur took the car, he wasn't taking chances of it not raining in London.

It was pleasantly quiet in the grocer, and Arthur had bought more then he should have. Bread, butter, beans, and eggs, which was enough for breakfast for a few weeks. He went through a few more aisles, not really wanting anything but still not ready to leave. Pretty soon he found himself in the alcohol aisle and he soon found himself staring down a bottle of wine. After a moment of thought, Arthur grabbed it.

"Arthur?"
Arthur jumped a bit, quickly shoving back the bottle of wine into the shelf before he whipped around with an awkward smile on his face. "Ah, yes, hel-" Arthur froze his grip tightening around his grocery basket as he felt his whole body tense up.
"Hi."

Ivan stood at the end of the aisle, a bag of bread tucked under his arm. His hair was slightly disheveled, covering most of his face except for that uptight frown that tugged at his lips. He was wearing dark jeans and a big coat, as always. He shuffled from foot to foot awkwardly as Arthur stood frozen and stared at him with wide eyes. "Hmm…" Arthur let out a choked sound, an awkwardly big smile still plastered to his face. "Hello. Er, um, what are you doing here? In London I mean? I mean, uh, it's not any of my business, just kind of curiou-" Arthur stopped his blabbering short, watching as Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "My flight back to Moscow was cancelled. I decided to stay for a little longer, a vacation." A small smile creeped across Ivan's face, but his eyes still showed caution. "I see, that's great. Um, are you enjoying your stay?" Arthur asked innocently. "Дa, I am. Listen, Arthur, do you want to go grab coffee, perhaps?" Ivan tilted his head, as he always seemed to do when he was questioning somebody. Arthur felt suddenly uncomfortable, but he knew he couldn't turn down Ivan's offer. "Yeah. Sure. I, uh, I gotta pay for this stuff first." Arthur mumbled. Ivan nodded his head, smiling a bit more clearly now. "Mhm. I gotta pay too. So, are you buying the wine, if not, then pass me a bottle."

Arthur stared down at his small cup of coffee, not very interested in drinking it. Ivan sipped his coffee from across the table, staying silent as he watched Arthur from the corner of his eye.

"So."

Arthur looked up from his cup, a worried frown tugging down his lips. "Mm?"

"I-Did you want to talk about what happened?"

"No. Not really."

Arthur clutched the handle of his cup, suddenly even less interested in the coffee in front of him. Ivan cleared his throat as he put down his coffee, forcing Arthur to look up. "I'm sorry." Ivan blurted. "No, no, I should be the one apologizing. I was drunk as hell, and, and it was a mistake." Arthur replied, his voice quiet.

"A mistake?"

Arthur couldn't tell if there was disappointment lingering in Ivan's tone, but he didn't want to know, because if there was, then it would only hurt him. "Yeah...But thanks, for telling Alfred off." Arthur added quickly. This time as he looked up, he actually focused on Ivan's face.

He had a lopsided smile on his face, and his violet eyes looked almost mournful. "You're welcome. You know, I have to get going. I want to see some of the landmarks here before I head home. I'll see you later Arthur, it was nice to see you again." Ivan stood up abruptly, brushing off his coat and nudging his half-filled coffee cup away. "Yes, it was good to see you. I'll see you soon then." Arthur forced a smile, but Ivan just gave a small wave of his hand as he quickly made his way towards the exit.

Arthur couldn't help but feel he had did something wrong, but he wasn't sure what.

A/N: Yep, another half-assed chapter. I apologize to whoever reads this, but I swear to god my whole family is visiting, which means tons and tons of cleaning or there's lots of complaining. Plus, I'm sick and my tía is coming to visit tomorrow. Yep, I have the best luck :) Have a nice day/night everybody!