On Better Terms

Chapter 8


Commentary from the Hetalia Gallery

Feliciano: Nihon, Nihon. Why are you half naked with your hair all messy?

Kiku: Apparently French people don't understand that "I'll consider it" means no...

Francis: Oh Kiku-kun!

Kiku: Mataku... *runs off, sword at the ready*

Arthur: *glaring at Galythia* Why does it seem like I'm in love with that git?!

Galythia: Hehe... That's what this fic is about, honey. Though you aren't quite in love... yet... :P

Arthur: And I'll never be! He's too much of an idiot! And he does stupid things...!

Matthew: *walking in, holding Kumajirou*

Arthur: *grabs Matthew to make his point* See?! He's now carrying around some animal. It's just not humane... *shiver*


Arthur was at a loss as to how he should dress. He checked his watch. It was six in the morning. He had a little time to spare, but he wasn't sure if that was enough to find a suitable outfit.

Didn't chauffeurs wear black and white outfits? Arthur had nothing formal of the sort, and he was quite sure that he never owned any such clothing in his whole life.

"Uh… Arthur…?"

Arthur turned around. Peter had just woken up and was lying around on the couch. Arthur smiled.

"Good morning."

Peter brightened up upon hearing his brother's voice. "Arthur! It really is you… But why are you home?"

Arthur finished buttoning up his white shirt as he walked over to the crimson colored couch. "I got a new job yesterday." He smiled as he sat down next to his younger brother's feet.

Peter looked confused for only a moment before it dawned on him. "Does it have to do with that handsome lawyer?"

Arthur blushed a little. Handsome? Well, I guess…

Peter asked again when his older brother didn't answer.

"Oh! Ah, yes. He offered me a much better paying job as a chauffeur. That means that I'll have more time to hang around with you!" He ruffled his younger brother's hair playfully.

Peter swatted the hand away, but he was smiling himself.

"Heh. Maybe you can finally get some practice cooking then," Peter commented only half jokingly.

Arthur, playfully annoyed, stood up and huffed. "If you don't like my cooking so much, then maybe you should grow up and learn how to cook yourself." He crossed his arms, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Peter laughed excitedly. "Does that mean we get a better house?"

Arthur couldn't deny him anything. "Yeah. I'll get us a better house. Just wait a little, 'kay?"

Peter nodded, smiling like a child in a candy store.

Arthur went off to finish his preparations. He ended up wearing a white button up shirt and jeans. That was as formal as his outfits ever got. He didn't even have a tie to his name, and his white shirt was from his bartending outfit. He would have worn the pants too, but he figured that it would have looked a little out of place for a bartender to be driving someone around.

It was six thirty when he finished. Arthur even had time to drive his little brother to school, even though Peter would arrive quite early. Both Arthur and Peter were liking this new arrangement more and more.

As Arthur pulled away from Peter's school, he thought about the luck he had. Throughout his life, he had always felt like he had the best luck, but now maybe fate took pity on him. Perhaps fate wasn't so bad a person after all.

Arthur also had kept a couple of his old jobs, just to earn some extra cash. Even though $7,000 a month was plenty in his eyes, it was still lower than the average yearly income of a middle class person. He would need some more money if he ever expected to change things by much.

Arthur pulled up to the house that he knew was Alfred's. He recognized it from his taxi drive—the taxi drive that started this whole deal.

Arthur wasn't sure if he was just supposed to sit in the driveway and wait, or if he was supposed to go and knock to signify that was there. In the end, he found himself walking up the winding garden path to the door. The flowers that lined the path were all in full bloom, even though it was the fall. They probably were very particular flowers, and Arthur had never seen any of them before in his life.

He rang the bell on the door and waited, not sure if he had done the right thing. He was about to turn and walk back to the car when Alfred opened the door. He had on as bright a smile as ever, and his face was flushed and he was breathing hard.

"Sorry! I had stayed up to do some work last night, and I forgot to set my alarm. So…" he blushed a little. "I woke up late."

Arthur didn't really know what to reply. What was a person supposed to say to his employer when his employer was like that?

Alfred picked up the conversation without dropping a stitch. "Come on in! You're early."

Arthur was surprised at being invited in. He was already in awe about the outside of the house. He was left to wonder just what possibilities of grandeur the inside of the house held. And now he got the chance to find out.

He really wanted to accept, but he didn't want to seem overly eager, for that would be unmannerly. "Ah. Sure." He walked in and closed the door behind him.

He took off his shoes before anything else and put them on the shoe rack.

Then he finally had a chance to look around, and what he saw was better than he could ever have imagined. For one, there was a chandelier in the middle of the hallway. There was light everywhere, and the walls were lined with art. Arthur approached a painting. Looks like a Degas… His eyes widened. It is a Degas! That only made him wonder what other treasures this house beheld. If there was a Degas in the hallway, what would be hanging around in the important rooms like the living room and such?

His feet felt cold as he scuffled along the polished hardwood floor. He resisted the urge to trail his hands along the off white walls in wonderment. This house was way to large for one person. Unless, of course, Alfred didn't live by himself.

Alfred led Arthur to the spacious living room and bid him to sit. Alfred said that he needed to get a couple last things together.

Arthur felt a little awkward just sitting in the middle of his employer's living room, so he occupied himself with observing the style of Alfred's house.

The first thing he noticed about the general décor was how grand it was. It was obvious that whoever lived in this house had a lot of money at their disposal. The kitchen had two ovens and two sinks, with a giant island in the middle. The living room had all the gaming platforms that Arthur had heard of, and some that he had never seen before in his life. There were hallways everywhere, leading off to unknown, but probably equally spacious areas of the house. And most of all, there was a grand winding staircase at the end of the main hallway.

Arthur had taken a quick glance up as he passed it, and he was sure that it was more than four floors.

Arthur shuddered. How someone could even have this much money was beyond him. And what a stroke of luck it was that he had found employment with this person. But part of it also annoyed him. This person had so much money, and they wasted it on decorations like a golden edging on the walls, rather than put it to better use, like providing food for the needy? It was a little nettlesome to think that Arthur wished for a little money just to have one floor of mediocre living space, while Alfred had at least four floors and all this room to his expense. He better be living with someone else… If Alfred lived in this place alone, Arthur would be quite agitated. All this money was put to waste.

But then again, living in such a big house like this on one's own must be so lonely. Arthur could recount multiple times when Peter and him just sat around in companionable silence, doing nothing by enjoying the other's company. Arthur knew that he wouldn't have been able to find so much resolve in his life if he had been completely alone. Peter had provided him with a purpose to go on.

With that thought, instead of being agitated about the possibility of Alfred living here alone, he was more pitying.

But the rest of his thoughts were interrupted when Alfred returned, pulling along a trolley of suits.

Arthur looked up, curious, and waited for Alfred to explain.

"Stand up!" Alfred smiled warmly and Arthur did as he was bid, a curious expression still written all over his face.

Alfred stepped aside to show the rack, smiling a little sheepishly. "I had forgotten to ask you before about your size, so I got all of these to prepare for today." His smile brightened a little. "You can't really wear that as a chauffeur," Alfred said, gesturing to Arthur's outfit.

Arthur raised his eyebrows, though he was getting less and less surprised at the extent of Alfred's wealth. He looked around. "Umm… Where's the changing room?" Surely this large house had something like a bathroom, or at least a walking closet where this rack came from.

Alfred motioned to a door on the side of the left hall and followed Arthur with the rack as he went.

Arthur opened the door, wondering just how many times he'd have to run in and out of that room to change suits and get another one. But his fears were void. The room was probably bigger than his current house was, and it was just a guest bathroom. It didn't even have a bathtub. And there was a T.V. in there too? Arthur rolled his eyes. He was getting more and more annoyed with the show of wealth. And it's wasted… He doesn't seem to live with anyone… What a sad existence.

After a couple of tries, Arthur walked out with a fitting suit. It felt lighter than he expected, and he knew for sure that he had never worn anything so expensive in his life.

As Arthur walked out, Alfred was stunned. The person before him was undeniably handsome. Very much so. Alfred was actually quite amazed when he remembered that this person was his driver. Who in the history of the world ever had such a model as a driver? It was unheard of.

"You… you look wonderful," Alfred commented.

Arthur wasn't sure what to reply. He thought that he looked quite good himself, though Alfred's comment sounded a little odd. Was it forced or something? Had he done something wrong in putting it on? Was there a missing piece?

Arthur looked expectantly at Alfred, though all Alfred did was smile even brighter than usual and exclaim, "All righty! Let's go!" Alfred had recovered quickly from his moment of amazed shock.


The day passed by quickly, and so did the next. A month passed, then another, and soon they settled into a routine. Arthur drove Alfred around almost constantly, since Alfred's work never seemed to remain in the office. Arthur had hoped that he could have used the time that Alfred was at work to do another job, but he simply didn't see that as possible.

When Alfred got in the car to finally go home at six at night, on a Friday evening, he was ready with a proposition. "Hey, to celebrate, how about I treat you and Peter to some dinner?" Arthur was surprised, as he always was whenever Alfred opened his mouth, but thought about it. It would be good for Peter to finally taste something other than his brother's food. Arthur himself had to admit that his food wasn't the best, though he never would admit that it wasn't edible.

"If… If it's all right, then sure. I'm sure Peter would love it. So does that mean that I should drive home to pick Peter up?"

Alfred nodded.

As they drove, a thought reappeared in Arthur's mind. "Hey, Mr. Jones—"

"Call me Alfred. Please. I hate formalities." In truth, Alfred didn't dislike formalities. He actually was annoyed when people addressed him too familiarly, since then they would be trying currying some favor with him for some reason or other. But with Arthur, it was a different story. It sent shivers down his spine whenever he heard that beautiful voice say the abominable words: "Mr. Jones." He just couldn't take it for some reason unbeknownst to him. This was the first time that he had brought up the issue though, even if for a month he had been dealing with "Mr. Jones" constantly.

"All right…" Arthur wasn't used to being so informal with anyone but Peter, let alone his relatively new and vastly rich employer. It seemed out of place, but he had too much experience with work to disobey. "Al… A-Alfred," Arthur struggled, though he shouldn't have, since his question was so informal anyways, "Do you live alone in that grand house?" He blushed. "P-pardon for my informality."

Alfred chuckled, "It's all right. And yes, I do live alone." His eyes gleamed. "Any specific reason why you're asking?"

Arthur caught the gleam in his rearview mirror, but it disappeared so quickly that he wasn't sure if he had just imagined it. And anyways, why would he be looking so mischievous? Arthur dismissed the thought and replied, "I just figured that it was quite lonely to live in such an immense house on one's own." It had slipped out before he could stop it. He had never meant to reveal that thought. It was far too informal, even for their current relationship's standards. It was only two months into the employment anyways, and only two months and couple of days since they had met.

Alfred's eyes grew distant for just a fraction of a second. "It is quite lonely once in a while, but things have changed recently."

Arthur was surprised. "Oh?" he couldn't help replying. Finally found a girl? Something pulled at his heart, though he wasn't sure what. The thought just left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Alfred smiled, completely oblivious to how Arthur felt. "She's one hell of a woman, I must say. Her name's Yekaterina Braginskaya." Alfred's eyes twinkled fondly.

Arthur, on the other hand, almost stopped the car. He panicked for just a moment. How many women were there that were named Yekaterina, and with Braginskaya as a last name? Arthur only knew of one, and that person was the elder sister of one man he had a deep history with: Ivan Braginski.

Alfred noticed the change in expression on his driver's face and asked in concern, "Arthur? Are you all right?"

Arthur swallowed but nodded that he was okay. "Yeah. Don't worry. Some guy just cut me off. Glad that I drive well enough for you not to have noticed," he smiled slightly, giving off the proud aura that would accompany that statement had it been true.

But Arthur was feeling anything but pride at the moment. He was just at a loss. Who knew that the world was so small? His employer was now dating the elder sister of his ex-husband. How nice.

"Oh, and Alfred? Don't say anything about me to your woman! You know, they all go for the drivers in the end. If she found out…" he smirked. He knew that he had covered the real reason well.

Alfred laughed loudly and nodded, all in good fun.

Arthur wished so much that his words were true, that he really was ignorant about it all, that he didn't know Yekaterina. It brought back too many painful memories, just like the clear blue sky.


Author's Comments:

As promised, here is the latest chapter! I pushed off all my other work in my endeavor to get this out! I can't break my promises if I said that there was going to be at least another chapter up this weekend. Sorry that it's so late though.

For those of you who didn't figure it out already, Yekaterina Braginskaya is none other than Ukraine! That's right. Ukraine doesn't officially have a name by Hidekaz, but that name that I used is the common name that she seems to appear under for most fics. I think it's because Yektarerina means both "pure" and a form of rocket artillery. xD

And yes, I skipped two months. People take time to fall in love, and I wasn't going to keep updating their relationship day by day, otherwise, we'd be here for years! So I'll be doing time skips like that from time to time, and this is the first.

Hope you all have enjoyed this chapter! Things are about to get moving!

- Galythia

P.S. Thank you for all the reviews! Reading them makes me very happy, and they keep me going to write the next chapters in hopes that they're even better than before.