"WHAT?!"
The three looked at him, the same shocked expression on their faces. The Turk's eyes were filled with confusion as he looked at them, for him, there was no reason to be shocked. He had no wife and had no biological children, living in a large house all by himself. The only ones who are living in his house are Heracles, Gupta, and Elizaveta: the children he adopted while he was working in the hospital. The two weren't shocked when he brought Gupta home and adopted him, but he doesn't understand why the two would be shocked that Arthur would be staying with them.
"Why? I think that Britboy is rich enough to even have his own house! Why do you have to let him stay here?!", the Greek man complained, as he glared at Arthur.
The Brit didn't want to argue with him. First, he thought that arguing with him would be pointless. Second, he was thankful enough that the Turk had let him stay in his house, and he didn't want to cause problems any further. And third..
If I tell them that the CEO had cut all my bank accounts and even closed down my condo, then, that would really be humiliating for me.
Instead the Brit glared back, two emerald eyes clashing. Sadiq sighed before he spoke, "Heracles. Didn't I tell you before that glaring at people are considered bad manners?"
Heracles snapped. "Why am I the only one being scolded? He's glaring at me too, can't you see that?"
The Turk was about to retort when Heracles suddenly grabbed Elizaveta by the wrist as he pulled her away. "I won't let that Britboy steal Elizaveta away from me. Never!"
Elizaveta had an apologetic smile as she let herself be pulled away by the Greek. Sadiq sighed again, as he remembers the last time Heracles acted like that. He turned to the Brit who had a confused expression on his face, and patted him on the head. "Sorry about that. Heracles has this kind of sister complex ever since he met Elizaveta. It's weird though that he feels threatened that you might steal her away from him, 'cause he never acted that way towards Mathias and Elizaveta's other friends.."
The Brit glanced up to Sadiq, his eyes still in a confused expression. "Is that so? I think he just simply hates me though.."
Sadiq smiled as the memories started to drown his thoughts. "The only one he had always fought with was only Roderich. They always fought over Elizaveta back then, even when they were in the hospital.", he chuckled. "Ah. If only I can go back to those days when our family was complete.."
The sad expression on the Turk's face quickly changed as he smiled at the Brit. "Anyway, you are now a part of the family, Arthur!", and he pulled him into a friendly hug.
Arthur felt a bit awkward hugging a person he didn't really know that much, but a feeling of warmth overwhelmed him. He doesn't remember the last time his parents had ever hugged him, and thinking about that made his eyes teary for a bit. The Turk patted Arthur's back as he spoke, "Welcome to the family, my son."
He didn't know why he hugged him back, but he still did, anyway.
"Abi."
Gupta stood at the doorway, looking at the Greek who was sitting in front of his computer. Hours have passed after the fight he had with his father and the Brit, but he still felt irritated knowing that Arthur would be staying in the same house as him. "What?", he asked, eyes still glued on the computer screen. The little kid approached him, and pulled on his sleeve as he spoke. "But, but.. You were supposed to accompany me to the park today, right? You said we're going to play outside today."
Heracles gave him a heavy sigh, but his eyes were still on the computer screen. "I'm busy today. Ask Eliza or Dad."
The little kid's brown eyes were almost teary as he spoke. "But, but.. Eliza has band practice, Dad went shopping.."
Heracles stayed silent as he continued to type on his computer. The little kid frowned as he slowly walked away from his room, trying to stop his tears from falling. He walked past the Brit, who then noticed the sad expression on his face and tried to call the kid's attention. "Hey.. Gupta, right?"
The kid turned to him, as he wore the same indifferent expression he had always used on the Brit. "What?"
"You look seemingly down today.."
"I don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Eyebrows."
The Brit cringed at the sudden new nickname. "Aha. Well, anyway..", he scratched the back of his neck. "I guess I have to go then."
He was about to turn around when the little kid suddenly called him. "Hey, Mr. Eyebrows."
Arthur raised an eyebrow as he looked back at the little kid. "Yes?"
The little kid looked away, seemingly embarrassed.
"Come with me, please?"
"So.. you are saying that the 'weird stalker guy' is now living with you in your house?"
Mathias took a sip from his orange soda while Elizaveta sighed. She didn't understand why her father would come up with that decision, or the way Heracles treated Arthur. The only person Heracles had ever been like that with was "that guy". Well, they mistakenly accused Arthur of being a pervert (or so it seems) but it doesn't justify the fact that Heracles was acting a bit different. He was always calm, even in those times he would harass her (not sexually). Feliciano would always hug her, Mathias would often put an arm around her shoulder, and there are times that the sweet Tino would give her a kiss on the cheek before she goes home, but his Greek brother doesn't seem to mind that at all. She wondered why would Heracles dislike Arthur, and why he acted that way. Is there something in Arthur that reminds Heracles of a certain someone? She doesn't really know.
"Yes.. And Heracles seem to be irked by his presence.", she answered, as she took a glass of iced tea from the tray the Italian was holding. "Ve~ It's been such a long time that Heracles had been like that..", Feliciano mused, as he sat on the chair beside the brunette's.
"Yeah, I know.. It surprised me too.", the Dane mumbled to himself. The three were lost in their thoughts when all of a sudden, they heard a familiar noise coming from the garage.
"I said it was supposed to be a G#, not an F!"
"What the?! F?! It doesn't even sound good with that note, change it!"
Ah. The usual verbal fights between the Norwegian and the Swiss.
Elizaveta sighed again. "Better start band practice before they get into another fist-fight, Mathias."
"What a peaceful day this is."
The Brit sat comfortably on a park bench as he watched the children playing in the public park. Gupta was smiling, laughing even, which surprised the Brit since he had never seen that little kid smile before. The sound of children's laughter, the soft gust of the wind, a clear, blue sky with little to no clouds.. It was all nice. He doesn't seem to remember the last time he relaxed like that, or even got to go out freely because of the fangirls (who, miraculously doesn't stalk him even now) but then, it all feels very nice. If living a normal life means having days like this, he thought, maybe he would rather prefer this kind of lifestyle than living a life of being an "idol".
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a cry from the playground.
"Heh.", a fat, (dare I say) ugly kid was trying to bully the other children who were playing on the playground. "Hey, doofus.", the bully snarled as he grabbed the collar of the poor little boy's shirt. Gupta saw this and tried to defend the little boy.
"Hey. Let go of him.", he tried to help, but then the bully looked at him with an irritated expression. "Don't tell me what to do, you piece of s***!"
The poor little boy was thrown like a rag on the ground, as the bully tried to hit Gupta on the face. Arthur was about to intervene, clearly, this little bully wasn't really taught any manners at all. But then, the way Gupta handled the fight, it was clear that he doesn't need any help from him. He was all on defense, and when the bully got tired of trying to hit his target, he stopped for a short breath of air. "You.."
Arthur grabbed the back of the bully's collar, and looked down on him with a cold and icy glare. "Well, hello there, Mr. Bully. I see you're fighting with my little brother today."
The bully looked at him with wide eyes, then glanced back at the little kid who was smirking at him. "Ah, n-no, mister. I really wasn't.."
The Brit let go of him as the bully ran away, terrified of the look Arthur just casted on him. "Well, then..", he turned to look at Gupta, who was extending a hand for the bullied boy. His eyes were suddenly filled with nostalgia as he looked at the two, it seems as if he was in this situation before. "Brother..", he muttered to himself, as he remembered the smile his older brother used to give him when he would protect Arthur from the terrible scolding he always got from his parents. His mouth turned into a bitter smile as he patted the head of the little Egyptian. "I'm proud of you, Gupta, being able to stand up to other people like that. You really handled the situation quite well."
Gupta gave him a quick glance, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I wasn't.. Well.. I wasn't really thinking of anything at that moment.. If I got hit or anything.. I am scared that Baba or abla would scold me or something.. But—"
He was interrupted when the Brit suddenly ruffled his brown hair as he smiled at him. "If ever you got hit, I would still be proud of you. People don't usually stand up for other people just like that, knowing that you were going to get hit at anytime.. It was still commendable."
Gupta tried to hide his tears again, he was obviously touched by the Brit's comment. "You.. If ever you wanted to marry my sister, I guess you'd do just fine.."
A blush suddenly crept on the Brit's cheeks as he heard him. "W-What are you saying? I'm not going to marry her, we're not even in a relationship—"
"—unfortunately.", Gupta smirked as the Brit's face turned into a deep shade of red. The little kid gave him a laugh for the very first time, as he turned around, and decided to go home since the sun was about to set. "Let's go home, Mr. Eyebrows.", and took his hand, pulling the Brit away from the playground, him running as Arthur tried to catch up with his pace. The Brit smiled at this, and Gupta too, before the little kid mumbled to himself,
"You are very different from him, and I guess abi Heracles failed to see that."
The two went home together, hand-in-hand, happy with the start of a new friendship.