Alfred's eyes shot open the second the cry left my mouth. He sat up with a sleepy look in his eyes, sending me over with a thud into my blankets. I crawled away from him sputtering.
"W-w-w-what th-the bloody h-hell are you doing in my b-bed?" His brows crease together as he looked around.
"Huh? Oh yea! You had a nightmare." I frown.
"A...nightmare?" He nodded.
"Yea! Right after you fainted!" My head was spinning now. Nightmare? Fainting? "Right after you cut yer hand." Alfred said in a quieter tone. He picked up my hand into his and I noticed the bandages. "It was pretty deep, but you were unconscious, and I didn't know if it needed stitches so I bandaged it for you..." I sighed.
"Thank you Alfred. I'm sorry if I worried you." He pouted.
"Ya don't need to apologize Artie. It's okay if blood makes ya faint." I stood up, noting I was still in the clothes I was wearing yesterday... Excluding my shirt... I looked up at Alfred ad he blushed brightly. "You got blood on yer shirt..." I nodded and began to shuffle around my room, pulling out a clean shirt and pants. "Who's Peter?" My body froze though my mind didn't. 'Peter? I know that name from somewhere. I know a Peter don't I? Did I?' A hand touched my shoulder and I jumped, my eyes flipping towards Alfred. His eyes glistened with worry. "Artie are you okay? I'm sorry if I upset you... I was just curious..."
'/Peter.../' I nodded.
"I'm fine." I said, my throat closing up. "Just thirsty." He nodded and left the room. I rested my head on the wall and my heart hurt. 'Who is Peter?'
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I accepted Alfred's invitation to stay for Christmas, though I would have to sleep in his room because Matthew would be sharing with someone else. But I didn't care much. He said that he had a blow up mattress I could sleep on and considering how comfortable the blankets and pillows they had were, I could care less.
Alfred was ecstatic and after that he began taking up extra shifts at his job, leaving me to my own devices.
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I 'X'ed out another day on my calendar until Alfred and I headed back to his parents' home for Christmas. "Six days..." I muttered to myself as I lifted Pumpkin into my arms. He purred and rubbed his fluffy face against mine as I stared at the calendar in thought. I sighed and slouched over to the couch. "Pumpkin, what on earth do I get them?" I asked my cat aloud.
Pumpkin just meowed and nudged my hand onto his head, sitting up so it was resting above his ears. I chuckled and began rubbing his soft head. I hummed and began to smile. An idea or two popping into my head.
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Alfred came to get me on the twenty third of December; our plan was to stat at his parents' house for a little over a week. He looked at everything I had cradled in my arms, my cat carrier being the largest. "Can't leave the 'beast' behind now can ya?" He said chuckling. I blushed furiously.
"I couldn't get anyone to care for him..." He just laughed and took my things, placing them in his car carefully.
"Don't sweat it. My folks would love 'im." I smiled and settled into the car.
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Alison was waiting for us with open arms, her hugs just as awkward as when we first met but her smile much bigger. "Oh Arthur I'm so glad you could come." She said as she patted my cheek. I chuckled.
"I had no choice. Alfred would have dragged me here, yes or no." She laughed, the sound echoing through the property as she shooed us into the warm house with promises of warm food and drink.
I dragged my cat carrier up to the room Alfred and I were sharing and opened it up. A soft ball of orange and white fur flew out at me from the depths, hissing and spitting as Pumpkin pounced out after it. "Shhhh!" I hissed at the two of them, lifting the small Scottish fold into my arms. "You stay quiet, you hear me?" He blinked dully at me and placed his paw up against my face, extending his claws enough that I knew it was a threat. I scowled at the small cat and it crawled back into its cage, a dark look on its face as well as my own.
"Artie!" I heard Alfred call from the down the hall. I cursed under my breath and closed the cage, placing a blanket over it so Alfred couldn't see inside of it. I stood up, glancing around the room to make sure everything was placed perfectly to bring up no suspicions of gifts and with a satisfied nod I left.
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"Artie, Artie, Artie!" Alfred yelled as he bounced on my blow up bed, hitting my legs in the process. I groaned and flung my arm in the direction of his voice as he continued to jump on my bed. "Artie!" He whined. "Come on!" I sighed and rolled onto my back to come face to face, noses brushing, to Alfred. A stupid grin grew on his face. "It's time to wake up Artie." He then jumped off of me and rushed from the room, laughing as he ran through the hallways, leaving me with a growing blush.
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I could have been angry with the big, blonde oaf, but his cheerful look as I took my place at the table next to him was enough to sedate my irritation. He grinned and barked out a good morning to me before he jumped out of his seat, telling me to stay while he got us food. He ran out of the room as Matthew entered and shot a tired glare after his brother. He then glanced towards me, "He woke you up to?" I nodded and he patted me on the shoulder. "He's like a puppy," he said, "Never ending energy." I groaned.
"Don't I know it." I mumbled as Alfred stumbled back into the dining room, two plates in hand. He placed one in front of me, full of eggs, bacon and toast, but defiantly not as much a he had piled onto his plate. I frown in disgust as he began wolfing down his food, not even taking time to breath, just inhaling it all like he would air. He glanced up at me from his plate.
"Da fee if 'n da-" I held up my hand before he could finish and I took my napkin, wiping it across my face and then leaning over to wipe off his own.
"Honestly Alfred you're like a child," I scolded as he grinned dumbly and swallowed. "Chew your food and swallow before speaking." He giggled as I scowled and I pinched the bridge of his nose with my napkin still in hand. His face became bright red and as he opened his mouth to speak again a new voice popped in. A new, far more annoying voice.
"Ah, mon ami! What are you doing here?" I spun around quickly and bellowed out a loud,
"Frog!" My nose wrinkled in distaste as I came face to face with one of my co-workers. Another author, one of smarmy and detailed love stories that desperate middle aged woman read to escape the realities of their dull life; much like Twilight is for delusional teenage girls. He grinned one of his large slimy grins as he tried to snake his arms around my waste.
"What a coincidence for us to meet here, non? I would say fate has brought us together once again~." I felt a blush spread across my face and my eyes grow wide as he puckered his lips in my direction. I let loose a cry of many undesirable words and aimed my knee at just the right angle and he went down. Tears prickled at the edges of his eyes as I grinned madly down at his prone figure.
"Haha! That is what you get for trying to molest me!" I leaned down and said just above a whisper, "And if you try again you can say goodbye to that precious organ of yours." He nodded fearfully, but I knew he would try again later. I stood up and dusted myself off, turning to Alfred, who sat with his mouth agape and blue eyes as large as his breakfast. "Where did you say the tea was?" He blinked and mumbled something about the kitchen. I nodded and gave a curt thank you and stepped over Francis and walked into the kitchen. This was going to be a very long week.
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It was cold. Scratch that, it was very cold. Having escaped the chaos of the house, I has snuck up onto the roof, don't ask me how, and it was very cold out. But of course it would be bloody cold out, it was snowing! I shivered as another flake landed on my nose, but this time it didn't melt like the others had. Another strong shiver wracked my body and I cursed silently. Stupid Alfred for being Francis's cousin. Stupid Francis for being a pervert. Stupid Francis for being stupid. I closed my eyes when I felt a warmth envelope me. "Stupid Arthur." I heard Alfred mumble. I would have opened my eyes, but I was too cold to move now. "Arthur." He whispered and this time my eyes did open, even though I was too cold, and I was too tired. "Arthur look at that sunset." My eyes drifted up to the sun and the breath got caught in my throat. It was beautiful. It was like a painting, so beautiful I couldn't even say it was something of nature. It was too beautiful.
"'lfr'd." I mumbled and his eyes moved from the sunset to my eyes. "M c'ld." He chuckled, a deep one from his stomach. I could feel it shake through me.
"Let's go inside." I nodded and didn't even care as he carefully moved me back into the house through a window.
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Later that evening, after another chaotic dinner and Alison cooing over me because I couldn't stop shivering, I laid in my blow up bed with several blankets piled up over my body. My teeth still chattered, but I was too tired to care. As my eyes were drifting shut, a soft whisper came from above me. "Hey Arthur?" I blinked lazily and turned my head ever so slightly to look into Alfred's big, blue concerned eyes. I made a soft humming sound in reply. "Why were you out in the roof today?" I blinked once more, actually looking at other, squinting a bit in the dark. His eyes were so large and child-like and his face, though it had lost most of its baby fat it still had a bit of chub in his cheeks.
"It was too loud." I whispered in return. He frowned and leaned closer, eyes egging me on to elaborate on my simple answer. "I…" My voice drifted off as my teeth chattered together once more. Alfred's brows scrunched together and he climbed out of his bed, lifting me up with an indignant squawk and laying me down in his own bed where he promptly wrapped his gangly arms around me. "The hell!" My voice rising as he slapped a hand down over my mouth.
"Shhhh." He hushed. "People are sleeping." I bit his finger and he released me, glaring at me from under his bangs. "That hurt…" He mumbled.
"Good." I hissed. He made a huffing sound and scooched closer to me, but not close enough that our shoulders touched.
"So… why were you on the roof?" He was a persistent bastard he was.
"I… don't work well with crowds." I mumbled quietly. I waited for him to speak but not sound came from him. "I know there weren't a lot of people at your house, but… there was to me. I felt like I was suffocating. Especially with Francis around." I practically spat my last sentence out. Alfred snorted.
"You would think after kicking a man in the balls three times would give him a hint." I scoffed.
"You would think that now wouldn't you." We both gave a forced laugh, silence falling once it had finished. Alfred squirmed a bit and settled.
"Arthur," he began, "If you get uncomfortable tomorrow, just tell me, okay?" I snorted.
"Yea, sure." He rolled over to face me, a serious glint in his eyes.
"I mean it Arthur. I don't want you to be uncomfortable here. You're like another brother to me." My eyes widened at that. Had we really become brothers in the short few months that we had known each other? That close? I felt something warm in my chest and I smiled. Damn this man and his family for taking me in. Alfred smiled too. I take back the damning of them; just damn Francis and his unwanted wandering hands. Maybe I should chop them off… Alfred yawned and stood up, moving down to the blow up mattress below me.
"Alfred?" He glanced up at me, a sleepy smile on his face.
"You take the bed tonight Artie." Pumpkin meowed from his crate as well as the unnamed kitten, luckily Alfred couldn't tell the difference. He laughed. "Night Pumpkin. Night Arthur." He laid down and drifted off to sleep quickly.
"Good night Alfred." I glanced at the clock just in time to see it reset for a new day. "And Happy Christmas."
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AN: And so we have reached the beginning of the end. After this chapter, there will only be 4 chapters left. I want to apologize with how long it's taken for me to get this chapter out, and for no actual Christmas day festivities in this chapter. Life has been pinned against me for this chapter and I know that fully well and unfortunately, since I suck at writing anything with France in it, we're skipping the actual Christmas day, but next chapter will have some vague descriptions of Christmas day and the shit that went down.
And yea, I do hate to kill everyone with that whole "brother" thing but dude! I support bromance! Because the bro comes before the romance.