So obviously this didn't make it for NaNoWriMo. But I still am going to finish this! I had some issues around when I originally started this and now that I'm on break things have calmed down enough that I can start writing again. Anyway, sorry it's been so long! Please read and review!
Alfred had spent almost the whole day with Arthur and it was only as the sun was setting did the American finally leave. Not that Arthur minded. He could honestly say that he enjoyed being with Alfred. The feeling of positive energy was a pleasant experience to Arthur. It brought life into his very dark and upsetting world. Speaking of upsetting, Arthur was still worried about Gilbert. He had texted Antonio earlier when Alfred was still around and though he said that Gilbert was beat up pretty badly, he was all right. Still after Alfred left, Arthur almost immediately got a text from Francis. He said, I noticed ton Amérique has left. I'm waiting outside. We need to talk. Arthur had immediately grabbed his bag and saw that Francis was parked right across the street. Arthur immediately got in and Francis drove away. The two of them sat in silence as the drove to an unknown location. They finally arrived at Gilbert's house and Arthur sighed. He knew that Antonio hadn't been fully honest. As they got out of the car, Ludwig came out and ran to them.
"You two must know what happened to Bruder! Neither him or Antonio will tell me! B-But he's so hurt! What happened?" Ludwig asked. Both Arthur and Francis paled as they ran inside. Ludwig raced ahead of them and led them up to where they knew Gilbert's room was. When they got in there, Gilbert was lying on the bed and Antonio was hovering over him. Gilbert's face was swollen badly. He had a back eye and there was still some dried blood on his face and in his hair. Arthur didn't need to see to also know that there were bruises and cuts all over his body as well
"Bruder! Tell me what happened! Please Bruder!" Ludwig begged as he got up on the bed and gently hugged Gilbert. As usual, Gilbert just smiled and hugged his brother back.
"Don't worry Ludi. I'm fine all right? Listen; go over to Feli's house ok? You need to stay over there again tonight. Tell his grandpa I owe him but I really think it's best you don't stay alone. Ok?" Gilbert told his brother as he ruffled his hair. Ludwig nodded and left the room to grab his things and go to his friend's house. Once they all heard the front door slam shut they immediately turned back to Gilbert.
"Mon Dieu what did he do to you?" Francis asked as he knelt beside his friend.
"I think I look worse than I feel. I'm tough you know. This is nothing compared to the days when I was in the ring. Hell, the awesome me can take much more than this!" Gilbert said as he tried to sit up a bit more. He immediately flinched in pain and lay back down.
"This was all just because of you not giving him more money?" Arthur asked as he gently took a washcloth from a bowl filled with water that either Antonio or Ludwig must have brought in and tried to gently wipe away the remaining blood. Gilbert finally sighed and shook his head.
"No. It wasn't just this. He's finally suspicious of all of us now. He knows about us keeping our money. He wants it. All of it. I'm not sure how much longer hiding the money in our houses is going to work. And Arthur's the only one with a bank account that we know people aren't fully watching. But if we dump all the money there then it'll no doubt attract some attention. We need to do something. We can't keep hiding all of this. Also, I'm worried about Ludwig. Ivan knows about him. I want to keep him safe but if Ivan wants to, I know he'll find some way to separate me from Ludwig. What are we going to do?" Gilbert asked the others.
"We need to move the money. That's the first step. Holding all the money we have will not work much longer. Ivan obviously didn't just do this for just Gilbert to get the message; he did this so we'd all know what would happen. He wanted Gilbert to tell us. So, we need to first get all of us out of immediate danger and hide it." Arthur said.
"And also mon ami, we need to get you out of this life. Being in this business is what is really keeping you and your little brother in danger. As long as you work, someone will be hunting you down. Restarting is your best bet on finding at least a temporary solution." Francis said.
"Like hell I'm dropping out of this life! Do you know how much I have saved up? I just have finally reached enough that I some day we can leave England, go back to Germany, and I can get Ludi a house and pay to get him through high school! I was going to surprise him soon and tell him he could start school! Sure, he'll be behind but the kid is smart! How can I tell him that his big brother worked as ass off for years and is still too poor to send him off to college? Two more years max and we'll be set! Even then I'm going to stop doing this kind of work I'll get a crappy job so I can keep supporting him! I can't back out now when I'm so close!" Gilbert said
"And how much will it mean to Ludwig if you do all this work and you're then thrown in jail? Or worse, dead?" Antonio yelled and Gilbert immediately shut up. The room filled with silence for a few minutes before Gilbert spoke again.
"Why? Why the fuck is this all so unfair? I was close. I was so close to being able to take care of Ludwig. I just wanted him to have a chance to actually make something of his life. Why can't I be a good brother to him?" Gilbert asked quietly.
"Your brother looks up to you and adores you. I can see that he cares about you more than anything else in this world. You're all he has. Just being here to care for him. Being alive to always talk to him and make sure he's ok is enough. So, will you do this for him?" Arthur asked. Gilbert glared at him for poking at his weak point but sighed.
"Do you even have a plan on how to drop out of this and start over? Ivan will find me if I just stop bringing him money. You seriously can't just be expecting me to stop all of this and not even have a bit of a plan." Gilbert said and the other three shifted uncomfortably. They really didn't have much of a plan. Their own plan to get themselves out involved paying Ivan the proper amount they needed to pay him and then running away as fast as they could. To ditch out early hadn't been in the plan at all.
"Wait, what about your little crush Angleterre? Ton Amérique? He's helping you get out of this, why not the rest of us?" Francis asked. Arthur immediately flushed at Francis calling Alfred his crush but luckily for him, neither Antonio nor Gilbert had heard or cared.
"Good point! What the hell makes you so special? We've been in this life longer than you have! Shouldn't we have gotten a break first?" Gilbert asked.
"I don't know about this. You haven't known him for very long have you Arthur? Is he someone we can definitely trust?" Antonio asked. Arthur wanted to immediately open his mouth and say yes. He wanted to tell his friends about how kind Alfred had been to him and how he was positive that Alfred would save them. Yet Antonio was right. He really hadn't known Alfred for too long. He was still trying his hardest to find whatever catch it was that Alfred was really looking for. He agreed that no one did anything for simple charity anymore. Alfred wanted something and Arthur was completely clueless onto what it might be. What if it wasn't safe? He wouldn't be risking just his own life, but the lives of Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio as well! Who was he to give up the little bit of safety they all had? Still, the beautiful image of those wonderful sky blue eyes and that smile that had never failed to warm his heart raced to the front of his mind.
"Yes. America is a trustworthy person. I'm sure of it. He's whom I've been meeting when I don't work. He's helping me. For the first time in years I think that there is a chance that I could get out of this life when I'm with him. I don't know exactly how he does it but I know he'll help us. Just let me introduce you to him. We'll start by getting Gilbert out of this life as fast as possible, and then the rest of us will follow after him. Think about it! Soon enough we'll be done with all of this! We'll go back to having simple, ordinary lives." Arthur told them. They all nodded in response.
"All right. I'll be better by tomorrow. I have a fight I need to be at the ring for anyway. Bring this, 'Amerika' to meet me and we'll start the ball rolling. Until then, we all just need to try and live our lives as normally as they ever are, everyone got it?" Gilbert said. They all murmured their responses and shook on it.
"He knows I work tonight but I'll call him after and tell him. We'll be sure to meet you there by midnight, all right Gilbert?" Arthur asked the wounded albino. He nodded and smirked.
"All right! Everyone except Brows get out! I want to talk a bit more about this plan with him. You all do your jobs tonight. I have no choice so I'll see you all later tonight. Ivan said if he found me skipping out on a single night from now on I'd be dead. So the other two of you get out and let me rest before I leave!" Gilbert ordered. Francis and Antonio left without another word and went back downstairs.
"Mein Gott! I thought they'd never leave!" Gilbert said with a laugh.
"Is there anything else you'll need Gilbert?" Arthur asked.
"Man Brows! If I knew you'd turn this soft on me I'd get myself injured all the time! I bet if I ask you to kiss my feet you'd do it!" Gilbert said with a laugh. Arthur frowned at him and waited for Gilbert to calm back down.
"All right sorry. I know I make you guy's worry too much. Anyway, yes. There is another favor I want to ask of you." Gilbert said. He suddenly switched into being funny and laughing to being very serious.
"Look let's face it. Doing this has some danger in it. Which is why I want you to make me a promise. If something goes bad and I either get arrested, injured, killed, anything happens to me, promise me you'll look after Ludwig." Gilbert said.
"W-What? Gilbert nothings going to ha-"
"Just promise me! You know I have issues with trusting people! I'm still scared about putting my trust into your new friend. But I'm going to ignore that and ask for this. I'm also asking this of you because if I can't be there to look after him, you're the one with the most stable job and the least likely to get taken away too by the cops. Take all the money I have if I'm gone. You know where I keep my share. And if you don't, Ludi does and he'll tell you. Take all of it and then please take care of him!" Gilbert begged. Arthur just stood in shock for another minute.
"Please promise me this Arthur. I want to always protect my little brother. Even if that means leaving him with you, someone I can trust to look after him. You're good with kids. I know you'd make sure he'd grow up fine." Gilbert said with a smile on his face.
"A-All right… I know nothing's going to happen. But if something does, I promise that I'll make sure nothing happens to Ludwig." Arthur said as he held out his hand. Gilbert firmly shook it and smiled.
"Thanks Brows. Now, get the hell out of my room. I want to take a nap before tonight. Tell the others they can either leave or help themselves to anything in the kitchen." Gilbert said as he rolled over and closed his eyes. Arthur watched him for another minute before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.