Chapter 9
Alex's P.O.V.
After that night, when Arthur came over to apologize, a month passed by smoothly. It did take quite a lot of persuading on Alexis's part to get me to forgive Alfred, in the end I did. Luckily there weren't any more major arguments between the boys and Alexis and me. Though on some occasions we did have small spats, but those were puny compared to the one at the bar. And most of the time those fights were about unimportant details, so they were easily dealt with.
Progress with our relationship with Alfred and Arthur has actually gotten pretty far. Some nights, when we've gone on long dates and the weather looks pretty bad, the guys stay over for the night. Of course they sleep on the couch, and no funny business. We made it pretty clear to them that they aren't allowed in our rooms whenever they spend the night.
One Friday we come back from another long date with the boys, a really funny movie at some cinema Arthur had suggested we go to. As we get closer to our condo, the weather becomes progressively worse. Once we arrive at the front of our home, it's storming so badly I can barely see anything through the windshield. Though, the fact that it's the middle of the night is part of the reason. I turn towards Arthur as he parks his car in the street in front of the door.
"Maybe it'd be a good idea if you two stayed the night; I don't want you driving home in this type of weather." Alfred grins brightly at the prospect of being able to spend more time with Alexis while Arthur opens his mouth to oppose. Before he manages to say a word, I hold a finger up to his mouth. "No arguing with me, I'm not up for debate on this matter."
Reluctantly, the Englishman shuts his mouth. Behind me, I hear Alexis tapping her window. "How are we gonna get to the house without getting soaked in the process?" She questions, looking uncertainly at the raindrops on the window.
"Don't worry! The hero will make sure you get inside without getting a single drop of rain on you!" Alfred beams, wrapping his arms around my younger sister's torso in a fleeting embrace. "Just wait here a sec." He then proceeds to open his door and jump outside. Silence reigns inside the car as soon as the American closes the door. I glance sideways, noticing Arthur having a calculating expression.
I reach over to pat his arm, planning to ask him what he's thinking about. But, just as my fingers brush against the edge of his coat sleeve, the Englishman unlocks his door and starts opening it. Arthur spots me staring at him questioningly and smiles gently. "I'll be just a moment, love." And with that, he slips out of the car, leaving my sister and me alone.
"Well now . . . them leaving so fast makes you wonder what they're up to huh?" Alexis asks, chuckling to herself. I peek over my shoulder at her, rolling my eyes.
"They probably have some weird or crazy idea on how to get us inside." Seconds after I say that, Alexis's car door opens causing her to slide away from it quickly. Standing right in front of the opening, with his brown bomber jacket off and currently over his head shielding him from the rain, is Alfred.
He grins crookedly, flicking his chin slightly back in a way of telling Alexis to come under the jacket with him. Alexis looks at him in doubt. "This is your great idea for keeping me dry?" She asks him skeptically.
"Yup!" Alfred chirps brightly.
A short bit of time passes before Alexis shrugs, a big smile stretching her lips. "Okay, let's see if this plan of yours will work." She winks at Alfred, hopping out of the car and into the American's chest. "I'm going to have to get really close to you so I don't get rained on." Alfred blushes, opens his mouth to say something only to stutter out nonsense. At his obviously flustered appearance, my sister laughs. "Just kidding!" Alexis takes a small step back, still keeping herself fully under the jacket now there's merely some space between her and Alfred. "Come on, let's go."
She grasps his wrist and starts leading him towards the house, quickly disappearing into the dark. I spot Arthur scowling as he closes the car door the two had left open, after that he opens my own door. Above him I perceive the outline of an umbrella, keeping him nice and dry. "Here we are, poppet." He holds the umbrella closer to the car so that when I step out there aren't any stray droplets falling onto me.
I shake my head slowly at his offer. "You don't have to hold the umbrella out for me." At his quizzical look, I explain further. "I actually quite enjoy walking in the rain without an umbrella; you could say that it soothes my soul."
Arthur looks at me sternly. "I'm not letting you get out of this car unless you come under the umbrella with me. You'll catch a cold if you walk around in this weather, and that's the last thing I ever want to happen to you." Minutes pass with the two of us just staring at one another. From his stance I can tell he's not going to budge on his decision.
So, since the cool wind coming into the car starts making me shiver, I relent. "Fine . . ." Letting out a defeated sigh, I slide over my seat and out the car. Arthur offers his hand to me, his once grim expression now a soft smile. I pout as I take his outstretched hand. "Next time I'm not going to back down so easily."
"Then I guess next time you'll just be trapped in the car for god knows how long." The Englishman smirks at me wickedly. As we walk to the house, I glare at him.
"You wouldn't dare."
He shrugs, still keeping that smirk on his face. "Who knows, maybe I will, or maybe I won't." I slap his shoulder playfully.
"I can't believe you, you're so mean." Arthur chuckles before leaning down to nuzzle his nose against my cheek lovingly.
"You know it's not like that, dearest." For a second I relish his touch. Warmth spreads from all the place's the Englishman touches. Once we reach the door, wide open from Alexis's and Alfred's entrance, I step from under the umbrella and into the house. While Arthur shakes out the umbrella by the doorway, I walk into the living room
Near the couch, Alexis helps Alfred with laying out blankets. My sister notices me standing close to the opposite couch and grins. "Finally decided to join us in the house, my dear sister?" Grabbing a different blanket, she tosses it over to me. "Since you're here now, why not get the other couch ready for your loving boyfriend."
I huff quietly, making my way around the couch to the front of it. "We weren't out there for that long, were we?" Alfred laughs as he grabs hold of Alexis's waist, pulling her down along with him as he sits on the couch.
"Dude, you were out there long enough for us to wonder what kind of shit you two were doing out there." Alexis, now in the American's lap, looks up at him pointedly.
"Watch it with the swearing."
He smiles sheepishly, rubbing both of her forearms relaxingly. "Sorry about that, babe." They snuggle closer together just as Arthur enters the room, a little damp but for the most part still dry.
Glancing at the cuddling duo, he shakes his head slightly before walking to my side. "Do you need any assistance here, love?" Remembering the Englishman's threat from earlier, I look away stubbornly.
"No, I'm good without your help." Arthur, having seen through my childish antics, chuckles softly at my denial.
He ruffles my hair fondly, despite my protests, and heads towards the kitchen. "All right, since you don't need me I'll make us some tea." Almost immediately I feel a pang of guilt for having disregarded him like that.
"Artie . . ." The Englishman turns towards me with a questioningly look. I shuffle my feet, shifting my eyes from the floor to him. "I'm sorry and . . . t-thank you." Arthur stares at me in surprise, and then strolls forward so he's right in front of me.
Cupping one side of my face, I go on my tiptoes so that he can easily brush our lips together. A faint blush creeps over my cheeks as we separate while Arthur gives me a half smile. "It's okay; I'll be back in a few minutes." He lets me go and walks into the kitchen.
When I turn back to the couch, already starting to unfold the blanket in my hands, I catch sight of Alexis giving me a look. "What?"
"Nothing," she looks at me understandingly, "nothing at all." Alfred stares at her in confusion too, equally clueless to what my sisters thinking.
I opt to ignore her and focus on getting the sheet on the couch, all wrinkles and folds out of it. After the entire blanket is out and straight, with pillows fluffed up, Arthur returns from the kitchen with two steaming mugs of tea. He hands me one, nodding my thanks I breathe in the heavenly aroma of Earl Grey. With just a single sip my tensed muscles relax and I feel exactly how tired my body really is.
Rubbing my eyes with the hand not holding the mug, I struggle to hold back a yawn. Arthur smiles and grazes his fingertips over cheeks, trailing down to my lips, stopping at the side of my neck. "Love, you're exhausted. Why don't you go and get some sleep."
"But . . ." The Englishman silences me with a finger from his free hand, tapping my lips twice. I understand that he's concerned about me so I decide not to argue with him. "All right, I'll go. But um . . ." A blush dusts my cheeks. ". . . May I have one more kiss before I go?" Arthur looks at me in surprise than chuckles, a smile making its way upon his face.
"Of course you may." He leans in and gives me a sweet yet quick peck on my lips. Though I wish the kiss had been longer, I'm satisfied enough to go upstairs without making a fuss.
But before making my way to the stairs I turn to Alexis, who's gotten off Alfred's lap and is now on her own feet. "Come on. If I'm going up you're coming with me." Alexis makes a whining noise in the back of her throat.
"Do I really have to? Can't I just stay down here for a little longer?" She looks at me with these huge puppy dog eyes, even going so far as to stick her bottom lip out and making it tremble.
I shake my head, the action causing my sister to deflate. "I'm sorry, it's not that I don't trust these two but I'm not about to leave you down here all on your own. Now get your butt upstairs."
Alexis crosses her arms in front of her, pouting. "Meanie . . ." she mumbles prior to kissing Alfred on both his cheeks. "Good night, Alfie."
"G'night, sweet pea. Sleep well." He grins at her and she returns that with a smile of her own. I watch them for a moment then give Arthur a small smile. The Englishman looks at me fondly, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. After he drops his hand, I slowly head to the stairs with my sister trailing reluctantly behind me.
With a last goodnight in the boy's direction, we make our way up the stairs. As soon as we reach the top of the stairs we part ways, Alexis to her room and I to my own. Of course we do call out goodnight to each other before closing our respective room doors. In my room, I head straight to my wardrobe and pull out a pair of black cotton shorts and a green tank top. I set the clothes down on the counter in the bathroom connected to the bedroom.
Before changing into my pajamas, I take a quick lukewarm shower. Once I'm all cleaned up, snug in my pj's, and teeth brushed, I walk out of the bathroom and into my room, crawling into bed. On any other day I'd read for an hour or two and then turn the light off to sleep. But tonight my entire body feels so drained that I skip the reading and just go straight to sleep. I swiftly switch the lamp on my nightstand off and nestle deeper into my pillows, releasing a long content sigh.
My eyes have only been shut for a few minutes when the peaceful silence is broken by a blood curdling scream. I shoot up in my bed, eyes wide in confusion and pure fear. "That sounds like Alexis!" Scrambling out of bed, I rush to my door. But just as my fingertips brush against the cool metal of the doorknob, a hand comes out of nowhere and grabs my hair, jerking me backwards. The pull causes me to start falling backwards, I open my mouth to scream as another hand quickly covers it up.
Panic builds up inside me at a fast rate, my voice shrieks out only to sound like soft gibberish because of the hand over my mouth. I attempt to get look at the person holding me, only to discover the room too dark to see a thing. Whoever's holding me back tightens their grip on my hair and starts to drag me away from the door. 'This doesn't look good' I think, panicking both in my mind and body.
I try to struggle by lashing out my arms in random directions. A grunt from behind me tells me that one of my arms must have hit their target. But my victory is short lived as the assailant hits the side of my head violently, causing me to become dazed. I would have fallen onto the ground if it hadn't been for the tight grip on my hair. Suddenly the hand over my mouth vanishes only to return seconds later, this time with a piece of cloth. Almost immediately I know the cloth has chloroform on it, learned that from all those crime solving TV shows I watch, so I try my hardest not to breathe it in.
Though, one can't hold their breath forever, unless they have the intention of suffocating themselves, which I don't. So after a few minutes of holding my breath, I'm forced to take in air, since my head starts feeling lightheaded, and end up breathing in the chloroform anyway. Just as my eyes flutter shut and my consciousness starts slipping away, I faintly hear a door slam open and a muffled voice that sounds vaguely like Arthur's voice. But darkness consumes me before I'm able to figure out if it really is him.
Alexis's P.O.V.
A gloved hand covers my mouth to stifle the blood curdling scream I just released. An unknown person's arm wraps around my torso so I'm unable to use my arms to fight back. I thrash my body around along with my still unbound legs to try and escape the masked being's hold, but that ultimately fails.
Moments ago I had been lying comfortably in my bed just after turning all the light off. Then things happened and now I'm currently being dragged closer and closer to my bedroom's only window. The exact second we make it to the wall the windows at my bedroom door bursts open. Light instantly streams in from the hallway, until two figures block it. In the doorway stands Alfred, cheeks slightly red from having rushed up all the stairs. Arthur stands behind him, sees the man keeping me captive, and makes a mad dash for my sister's room.
"Let her go, now," Alfred demands with a tone that promises pain if not listened to. His face darkens with all out fury and rage. The arm around me tightens even more as the kidnapper behind me freezes in unadulterated terror. I slowly stop fighting and begin to breathe heavily. "Didn't you hear me? I said let her fucking go," the pissed off American snarls out, slowly edging closer. Tears spring to my eyes and roll down my face from fright. I scream from underneath the hand still covering my mouth and try to reach out towards Alfred. The sight and sound of my anguish causes Alfred to snap.
He charges straight towards my captor, his expression angrier than ever before. The man holding me tosses me onto the bed and tries to escape out the window. Alfred snatches him by the hood of his jacket he's wearing and swings him backwards harshly onto the carpeted floor. Taking a closer look at him, I notice his entire attire is all black and he has a mask tied over his face.
The guy jumps onto his feet with practiced ease, throwing a fast punch in the American's direction. It's easily stopped by Alfred's hand blocking the hit and then grabbing onto the fist. He takes this chance to slam his foot into the masked man's ribs. The kick makes the man go sailing, crashing against the opposite wall of my room with a sickening thud from Alfred's inhumane strength. Without missing a beat, which is pretty impressive, the almost kidnapper rolls along the wall until he's next to the window and slyly slides out of it.
Alfred stands rigid, panting heavily, staring intently out the window the man had escaped from. I slowly slide off the bed and shuffle closer to him. He notices me and turns, winding his arms around me securely in a protective hug. The tears that had run down my cheeks moments ago start up again.
It only takes seconds for me to begin sobbing into Alfred's chest and he strokes my hair soothingly. "I promise you, something like this will never happen again as long as I'm here," he whispers so softly yet loud enough for me to hear. His grasp tightens to the point of it being painful before he pulls back. "Let's make sure Alex and Arthur are okay. It's possible that if they've tried to take you then they could've attempted to do the same to her." I look up, my eyes steadily widening, at Alfred.
The thought of my sister going through what I went through and being kidnapped nearly scares me to death. I nod my head hurriedly, releasing my death grip on the American, and heading to my sister's room with him. Upon arriving at the door, we discover it looking undisturbed. Glancing sideways at each other, we open the door cautiously only to find Arthur standing above an unconscious man. This man is also dressed in all black like the man who had been in my room. The Brit looks up at the two of us in surprise before sighing in relief.
I look around the room for my sister and find her out cold on her bed. Immediately I rush to her side while Alfred goes to Arthur. Crawling onto the bed as fast as possible, I move closer to Alex's unconscious form so I can check her pulse just to make sure she isn't dead. Placing my fingers right along her neck, I deem her still alive. They probably knocked her out with some sort of gas since there aren't any signs of violence other than a bruise forming from her jaw to her temple.
"Hey, Arthur, do you mind taking my sister downstairs and laying her on the couch? I'm sure neither of us wants to be alone tonight and I'd like to be able to make sure she wakes up all right," I explain, looking over at my sister's boyfriend.
"What about him?" Arthur questions, gesturing to the man that's sprawled by his feet.
With a quick glance to the man, I think for a second. "Hmm, Alfred and I will tie him up. There should be some rope in the garage," I reply, getting off of my sister's bed. Arthur marches over and picks Alex up as if she weighed close to nothing. "Alfie, would you watch the guy in black while I go fetch some rope?" He nods solemnly, staying where he's at as Arthur starts walking out of the room with Alex in snug his arms. I follow behind them walking down the stairs then, once at the bottom, veer off in a different direction towards the garage. In the garage I easily find the rope in a cupboard next to the door and quickly head back to Alex's room.
"I never figured you would keep rope in this house," Alfred states as I kneel next to the comatose criminal with rope in my hands.
"I'm not really sure why it's here either. Alex just always has some rope in the garage," I answer, chuckling as I hand the rope to Alfred. He kneels across from me on the other side of the almost kidnapper and begins to unravel some of the rope. The stranger is already laying face down so we start with his hands. With me lifting the hands up, Alfred ties them up tightly. "I hope whatever knocked Alex out doesn't keep her passed out for too long," I mumble worriedly.
The American glances up at me sympathetically for a second before focusing on tying. "It shouldn't. I don't think she breathed that much of it in from what Arthur told me," Alfred remarks absently, concentrating on the task in front of him. I nod slowly. When he's finally done we move on to his legs.
"Do you think I should get some duct tape?" I ask him, eyeing the man's masked face.
"Why?" He questions, looking up at me with a puzzled expression.
"To put it over his mouth so he won't scream for help or anything when he wakes up," I reply, wringing my hands together anxiously.
Alfred laughs tenderly, "Yeah sure, if you want to," he says, smiling. Seeing his smile, I'm quick to smile back.
"I actually have some in the bathroom from when I used it to fix a hairbrush a while back." Getting up, I race to my bathroom and grab the tape, running back. "Here it is!" I holler, handing it straight to Alfred. By then he's done with tying the legs up and is now next to the man's head. The American removes the man's mask and reveals him to be a middle aged man with black messy hair. I shiver a little.
"Don't worry babe, he can't hurt you," Alfred answers upon noticing my fear. I nod and he easily tears off a piece of duct tape, placing it over the stranger's mouth.
"W-what should we do with him?" I ask shakily.
The American grins wickedly. "Do you have a closet close by to stuff him in?" I stare at him with wide eyes. "I'm kidding! I'll just call some people to take him away and you and Alex will never have to worry about him again," he promises.
"Okay," I agree. "Can you take care of the rest here?" Alfred nods confidently.
"I'll be down in a bit. You go check on your sister," he says reassuringly. With a small smile, I stand up and walk to the door, quickly scaling down the stairs. I head into the living room to see Arthur drinking a cup of tea while sitting next to Alex.
With tentative steps, I approach him. "How's she doing?" I ask, plopping down on the free loveseat.
"The same, but she has been moving a bit more," Arthur responds, his brows knit together in worry. "Is Alfred finishing up with that problem upstairs?" I nod my head, keeping my eyes trained on my unconscious sister. She suddenly squirms in her sleep, rolling onto her side so that she's now facing us.
"Arthur . . . !" she groans and I can't help chuckling. Peeking over at Arthur, I watch him smile weakly.
He gets up off the chair he had been resting on and stoops down next to my sister's head, taking her hand and squeezing it slightly. "I'm here love," he whispers affectionately. Alex, seemingly having heard him, smiles in her slumber. I lean back into the loveseat, viewing probably the cutest couple in the world. Just then I hear footsteps make their way down the stairs and Alfred enters the living room. I look up at him and smile. He grins back and takes the seat next to me.
"Is everything taken care of?" I whisper once he's all situated. He nods once before wrapping his arm around me, keeping me close to him.
In a voice slightly louder than my own, "Ivan will be here within the hour," he responds grimly, though he's directing those words more to his brother than me. Arthur hums to show he heard the American.
"I don't feel safe with the two of you staying here anymore," Arthur grumbles, still looking at my sister's sleeping figure.
"Where else would we go? There's our dad's place but we can't exactly just randomly come out of nowhere and ask him if we could stay over," I tell him.
Arthur glances up towards me before focusing back on Alex. "You two could stay at my house. There are plenty of empty guest rooms. If you stay there it'd be easier to keep you and Alex safe," he mumbles, moving his thumb in soothing circles on the top of my sister's hand.
"That sounds like a good idea," I say while snuggling closer to Alfred. "And I'm pretty sure Alex wouldn't mind either. But I have one question; who exactly were those assholes?" I inquire, looking up at Alfred as he snorts.
"People plotting something, something bad," he replies, sighing tiredly. I want to ask more questions but keeping focusing on the conversation is starting to get a little difficult as my adrenaline wears off.
We sit in silence for a little while, no one making an attempt to start a conversation. When I'm on the borderline of falling sleep I hear a quiet, ". . . I love you Arthur . . ." With my last bit of strength I open my eyes slightly.
"I love you too, my precious flower," Arthur replies earnestly to my sleeping sister. I smile slightly before succumbing to the darkness we call slumber.
A/N: I'm sooo sorry this was so late! . I haven't had a lot of time to do much editing this week so I spent most of today hurrying to get everything done. So if there are stupid mistakes in spelling and grammer I apologize! We don't own Hetalia, no matter how hard I wish we did . . . Anyway just to remind everyone the next chapters have been planned out but not yet written and right now the Brony is in a writing slump. So if you could review and give her some encouragement or wish her luck or something like that I'm sure that would help wonders. Lastly, before I'm off for the night, idea's for who exactly the group the kidnappers belong to are welcome! Enjoy this chapter and see you all in the next one!
-The Hetalian