Main Pairing: USUK

Rated M for later stuff. Cardverse and Omegaverse.

I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

Velonica999: thankssss I really wanted them to kiss but then I decided not to do it right then...

So I realized that somewhere along the line, during one of the chapters the pov got switched around - I can't go back and fix it or what I have now would be all messed up. I'm sorry! I hope you don't mind too much!

I'm sorry this took so long - I got stuck again, and then I got sick. I'm still kind of sick, but I'm better - thanks for waiting so patiently!

Alfred felt unbelievably stupid. Arthur had specifically mentioned, several times even, that he had no interest in a relationship like that. But of course Alfred had misread the moment and gotten carried away. Now things would be so incredibly awkward... Why did he have to do that?

He was on the highest balcony, where strong winds blew at him incessantly. He could see all around. Forest behind, the town ahead. He could even see the harbor from here.

He wasn't sure what to do. So he stood there, mulling over his mistakes, until the sun began to descend in the sky and the blue shifted to other colors. Then he went inside, welcomed by a flood of warmth. He didn't go back to his rooms that evening. He found a locked room, pulled out his master key, and entered. It was an empty, dusty library, but there was a couch, and that was where Alfred slept that night.

He ate breakfast with a terribly sore body. Really it was more of a lunch, Alfred had slept so late. Arthur was gone again.

He received a letter from Matthew, and another from Yao that he wasn't sure if he was supposed to open but Arthur wasn't there and so he just did. Yao was coming back from Clubs tomorrow. Ivan was doing well. So they were together. Still. Weird.

Matthew was asking how Arthur was. He was quickly recovering with Francis.

Alfred dropped the letters. He didn't want to think about his brother.

Of course Francis let Matthew kiss him. The two were practically joined at the hip, both literally and figuratively.

He was wandering around later that day, bored. He had determined that Arthur was actively avoiding him, and he didn't like it. There wasn't much for him to do. Back on Earth, there were sooo many forms of entertainment. He had no idea what people did for fun in Cards.

He decided to go down to the town. The market was busy as usual. Alfred didn't have any money (how was that possible, he was a King), but he still had plenty of charm. He found a couple of girls and flirted with them to pass the time. It wasn't as fun as usual, though. Alfred would much rather be flirting with Arthur.

Alfred spent most of the afternoon with Mei and Ty Lee. After a few hours of chatting and harmless flirting, Mei invited Alfred along with them for a drink. Curious to see what sorts of alcohol Cards had, Alfred agreed.

From behind, a hand came down on his shoulder and yanked him around sharply.

"You idiot! Where have you been?" Alfred found himself looking into the furious face of Arthur. He stumbled back into Mei, surprised. She stopped him from falling.

"Arthur, I -"

"You know the Queen?" Ty Lee asked eagerly.

Arthur looked at him disgustedly. "Did you even tell them who you were?"

Alfred didn't know how to respond. "I - um, I -"

"Of course not," he said. "Because that's completely fair to them."

"Arthur, please, calm down -"

"Calm down? I have been looking for you for four hours, not knowing if you were dead or if you had left -" Arthur choked, quieting. Suddenly, Alfred understood.

"Have I really been gone that long?"

"Haven't you been keeping track of time? I was going to have lunch with you but I couldn't find you. I figured I'd wait a couple of hours and see if you'd show up but you didn't and I couldn't find you! Do you know how big that castle is? It takes over an hour to get through the whole thing! And I went through it three times, trying to find you! You never leave the castle, thank the aces Li Xiao suggested that you might be down here." Arthur took a deep breath, looking prepared to rant for another hour at least, but then Alfred interrupted him.

"Arthur, honestly I'm really sorry -"

Arthur didn't let him speak. "Don't even say anything. Aces..."

Alfred remained quiet. He decided to wait until Arthur calmed down. But he couldn't resist saying one more thing. He managed to put up a teasing tone.

"At least I wasn't making out with anyone when you found me. I think Mei and I were pretty close to that point."

Arthur glared. "I hate you so much."

Then he took two rough steps forward and grabbed Alfred's shirt. Before Alfred could react, Arthur's lips were on his and his own hands were in Arthur's hair.

Just as suddenly, he was pulling away. "No one gets to kiss you but me. You hear?"

Dazed, Alfred nodded.

"Okay," Arthur said, face reddening slightly.

"Hey, Artie," Alfred said softly. "D'you think you could do that again?"

Arthur tried not to smile, but Alfred saw it. He stretched up on his tiptoes a bit and met Alfred's lips again, more gently this time. Alfred melted into it. He had to break away or risk losing control right there in front of everyone.

Arthur's breath was a little shaky as he said, "Let's go back to the castle. Have you eaten dinner?"

Alfred shook his head.

"Great. I'll make us food."

Alfred paled considerably, filled with dread at the prospect. "Maybe we could do it together? Bonding time and all," he said, trying not to sound too worried.

Arthur waved him off. "You deserve a break."

"You've been looking for me for hours and I've been slacking around the past week. I'll cook for you." Alfred insisted.

Arthur shook his head. "Fine, I guess."

Alfred looked around. Mei and Ty Lee were gone, presumably to flirt with more interesting persons than himself. People were milling about as usual. Some were watching them, some pointedly looking away. Alfred smiled, trying to hide it.

"Let's go then," he said. He slipped his little finger into Arthur's and set off out of the market. For some reason, Arthur was holding back.

"Alfred?" Arthur asked. "The castle is that way."

Alfred turned and began tugging Arthur in the opposite direction.

Arthur sat on the counter as Alfred whisked around making food. He had yet to introduce pizza to the Cardians, but he planned to try soon.

Who cared that he'd never made a pizza from scratch before?

In the meantime, Alfred was attempting to recreate a number of potato-including dishes. Most of them weren't working.

"I'm sorry, Arthur," he said after a while, sighing in frustration. "I can cook things pretty well back on Earth but I don't know how to make them."

"That is alright. How long does it take for your servants to make them?"

Alfred stared at Arthur. "I don't have any servants."

Arthur looked shocked. "None? Did you let them all go? Or are they your parent's?"

Alfred shook his head, trying to erase the bitter look that crept onto his face. "I don't get along with my parents very well," he said. "But I've never had servants. No one does, not since the Civil War."

Arthur scooted closer, eyes shining in curiosity. "Tell me about your world. What is it like without servants?"

Alfred leaned his head back, allowing Arthur to play with his hair. Arthur was gentle, almost as if he didn't want Alfred to know what he was doing. Alfred smiled.

"People do everything for themselves, mostly," he said. "But there are these huge factories, for all sorts of things, where some things are produced by the thousands. They go out into stores... stores are kind of like markets, but not exactly the same. And you can buy stuff at the stores. They sell food there, and forms of entertainment, and all sorts of things."

"Wow," Arthur said. "That is hard to comprehend. Does your world have four countries as well?"

"No," Alfred said. "We have almost two hundred. Not counting the micronations."

Arthur's eyes widened. "Two hundred? Your world must be ginormagantuan!"

Alfred was taken aback by the word. "What?"

"Huge, monstrous, gigantic - big. No wonder you have created a way to fly. I still want that, by the way."

"Oh!" Alfred said. "I forgot about this until now, but I brought some things back from Earth. I'll show them to you later."

"Alright," Arthur said. "But still... two hundred countries... Can you name them all?"

Alfred laughed. "No way. But I know some of them."

"Where do you live?" Arthur asked.

"I live in the United States of America. Good old U.S.A.," Alfred said fondly.

"Is it near the sea?"

"I could try to draw you a map," Alfred offered. Arthur got him a pen and paper and Alfred sketched out a lame, lumpy approximation of his world. The world.

"It's not very good," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But right there, that's where I live. This is the U.S.A., and that's New York City."

Arthur examined the map as though it were a masterpiece by DaVinci. "It's so complicated," he said.

Alfred flushed. "It's pretty misshapen and stuff, but..."

Arthur looked up at him, flushing slightly. "I think it's amazing," he said, before giving Alfred a small kiss on the cheek.

When Yao returned and found Alfred back on the throne, he ranted on, red faced, for a good hour before finally calming down. Even then, he was grumpy and reclusive all day. Not that he was ever anything but grumpy and reclusive.

All Alfred could think to say to him was:

"So how's Ivan?"

Yao refused to talk about it.

Arthur explained things to him after. "Yao hasn't exactly forgiven Ivan for starting a war, even though he's secretly flattered. He goes to Clubs because he needs to, but those two are still struggling. And I think a part of his animosity towards you stems from that. You hurt me like Ivan hurt him and he doesn't think that I should have accepted you back as easily as I did."

Alfred winced at that. He didn't like being reminded of how he had hurt Arthur while he had been away, however unintentionally.

Things went mostly back to normal. Yao swooped around the place as he always did, Arthur guided Alfred on the path of becoming a King. On the nights when Alfred started missing home, Arthur would comfort him. Arthur's little garden flourished. The kingdom flourished. Alfred began training again. There were diplomatic meetings. It was stressful, but Alfred had never been happier.

Matthew and him hadn't seen each other since they'd returned. Alfred would never admit it, but he missed his little bro.

Of course, Li Xiao caught wind of this somehow, and when Li Xiao knew something, eventually everyone knew.

Arthur came to him waving a folded page in his face and after Alfred stepped back enough to read it, he saw:

Lovely to hear from you, Arthur

I suppose if he wishes to come over it is no problem with me. It may have to be quick however, as I am planning to host a private party soon and the two of you will, of course, not be invited.

Love, Francis

Oh, and please stop addressing me as "The frog." It doesn't boost my PR.

"Huh," Alfred said. "What's this about?"

"You wanted to see Matthew, right? Well, I got you an opening," Arthur said. "But the ship leaves in three hours so you'd better hurry."

Alfred grumbled. "Ships again. Maybe I will let you attempt to recreate an airplane."

He didn't mean it. He liked how Cards was different from Earth and he wanted it to stay that way.

Except for the food. Alfred would not be able to live without french fries.

He went to Diamonds alone.

It probably wasn't a good idea. There was no one to hold him back when he discovered the news.

He should have been expecting it, really, but he just kept pushing the possibility out of his brain. Until that day.

When he arrived in Diamonds, he was tired and sore from sitting on the wood all day - so you can hardly blame him for what happened.

When Matthew came out to greet him, he was wearing a soft smile on his face, but Alfred didn't look there. He focused on the scent that was filling his head. Matthew's scent was incredibly potent.

And it smelled faintly of roses.

"FRANCIS!" Alfred screamed. "I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR HEAD OFF OF YOUR MISERABLE, PERVISH BODY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Ignoring Matthew's frantic, pleading attempts to calm him down, Alfred stormed into the dining hall, where Francis himself was conversing with Lili.

"FRANCIS BONNEFOY GET YOUR STUPID SELF OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Vasch appeared from a corner where Alfred hadn't noticed him and stepped forward. "Alfred, if you continue to threaten my King I will have you thrown in a cell," he said darkly.

"HE POISONED MY BROTHER!"

"Alfred!" Matthew pleaded. Alfred ignored him. He was raging mad. How dare Francis touch his baby brother like that?

"That is it!" Vasch exclaimed. He stepped forward, as if to hit Alfred, but Lili called out on his behalf.

"Vasch, sit down. Alfred, if you cannot calm down you will have to leave here."

Alfred scowled, clenching his jaw. "I'll leave if you don't ever touch Mattie again."

"Alfred, it's not like he is some random rapist on the street," Matthew said soothingly. "I am okay with it."

Alfred looked at his brother. His face was red.

"You're okay with it?" he asked quietly. Alfred didn't know what else to say. He didn't want to lose his brother.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Matthew saw right through him.

"Hey, it's okay," he said. "Just because I am Francis's... Francis's mate, now, doesn't mean I cannot see you."

Alfred looked away, the embarrassment beginning to set in.

"I - I'll just be going," he mumbled, quickly fleeing the room. He had made a fool of himself, again.

But it wasn't completely his fault, right? It was Francis's fault for being so manipulative and stupid -

Alfred was starting to understand Arthur's view on the King of Diamonds.

But he was going to be there for another two days, so there wasn't any reason to waste time not seeing Matthew.

He spent as much time as possible with his brother. He seemed a bit more confident now, talked just a bit louder than before. He seemed happier. Alfred was both proud and sad about how his brother had developed.

He went back to Spades with a promise of another visit, soon.

Arthur was waiting for him, in his little garden. He was waiting with a floppy hat and a small smile.

Alfred had come to terms with living in Cards. Living with Arthur had more to offer than living on Earth, alone, tortured with memories, and without Matthew. But those two, the two that meant more to him than any others in Earth or in Cards, weren't even the whole reason for Alfred's move.

It was because for once, he felt like he belonged. He fit in on Cards like he never quite had on Earth. Being there felt good. It felt full and heartfelt and alive.

And as Alfred took Arthur in his arms, tipping back that cute brim of the sunhat?

He felt it.

He was home.

~THE END~

Another AN: Thanks so much to all of you for sticking with Paper Crowns, even if it's not perfect, even with all of the misspellings and typos and whatnot. I know that the writing is pretty shaky and the characters might be ooc. It's not perfect. But I'll probably look back at this one day and say "I gotta fix this." And then I will. And it'll be amazing.

Long closing is long. But seriously, thanks.

I'm sorry that it ended so suddenly - I had planned to do a bit more, but this seemed better than dragging it out.

Don't worry tho, I'm not done with this verse yet...