Chapter 10: Nightingale

"Can you be my nightingale? Sing to me, I know you're there. You could be, my sanity. Bring me peace, sing me to sleep. Say you'll be my nightingale."

-Nightingale, Demi Lovato

Christmas that afternoon at the Kirkland's was as rowdy as ever. Well, first, they're at their parents' house in Nebraska. Everyone was a bit tired from the flight so they decided to take a break for a few hours. Well, except for Connor and Allistor who had fun arguing about their earlier way of transportation.

"I told you we could have just driven here. We live in Florida for Pete's sake! It' would have just taken at least 10 hours," Connor pointed out.

"Yeah and I'll be the only one doing the driving," Allistor rolled his eyes.

"I told you Dylan and I can do some of the driving you know," Connor said.

"I never agreed to that~" Dylan said.

"Please, the plane only took around 2 hours. The faster, the better I might say,"

"Well I-"

"Boys, cut the arguments. What's important now is that you're here," Mrs. Kirkland intervened.

"Listen to your mother, boys," Mr. Kirkland sighed, "If you have energy to argue then better use it in helping your mother than spend the day taking a piss,"

Both boys sighed and went in the kitchen to help.

"Dylan darling, please take care of the pies for me. Allistor and Connor could bond as they set up the table," Mrs. Kirkland began saying instructions to her sons, "Arthur sweetie, please collect Peter from the Hughes and then help him prepare for tonight's dinner. You know how hard he is to handle,"

"Yes, mother," Arthur replied.

"And hon," Mrs. Kirkland glanced at her husband, "Please do call your parents over. Dinner start's at eight o'clock sharp,"

"Yes, honey," Mr. Kirkland stood up and went to the phone.

Arthur leisurely made his way to pick up Peter. It was just about two blocks away so Arthur didn't really mind. He loved his family really much but sometimes they could be too noisy for his taste.

As Arthur walked, his mind began to wonder on Alfred. He would ask himself tons of questions especially since yesterday night where he held hands with the boy. He found it weird at first like why would he do such thing? Friends do that? He highly doubts it. Nevertheless, it made Arthur's day.

He hasn't mention it to anyone but Dylan, that he fancies boys over girls on any day of the week. Dylan was kind and supportive for Arthur's sexuality and didn't dare to betray Arthur. He had given Arthur great advice and even promised that if the family would know, it would be because Arthur wasn't afraid of coming out.

How Dylan knew was out of Arthur's mind, his brother suddenly talked to him when he was 12. Dylan was surely straight but that doesn't stop him from making his brother be comfortable of his own sexual preferences.

"Love who you want," Dylan used to say,"Let no one stop you from being who you are,"

Well, he's planning to tell Dylan about the man who caught his eye when they get home but he thinks he doesn't need to. Dylan saw him blushing scarlet red last night.

After a few minutes, Arthur has arrived at the Hughes'. He gave the door two gentle knocks and waited for someone to answer. He heard the scrambling of feet and the sudden opening of the door.

"ARTIE~" Peter said excitedly.

"Oo ooh! Artie looks bigger!" Davie, who was Peter's friend, exclaimed.

"Well, nice to see you again, Davie," Arthur said as he patted Davie's head, "Where's your mum?"

"Wait right here," Davie said as he ran to call his mother.

"We need to go, Peter. Dinner starts in two hours and it'll take more than that to give you a proper bath," Arthur placed his hands on his hips as he sighed.

"Hey! I'm already 8 so I know how to take a bath and wear clothes!" Peter crossed his arms, "Only girls take more than ten minutes to get ready and I'm not a girl!"

"Yes, I see that very clearly but you always end up distracted and put on the wrong clothes," Arthur pointed out.

"Well-"

"Oh, Arthur darling, do you want to come in?" Mrs. Hughes said with a clingy Davie by her side.

"No need Mrs. Hughes. I'm just here to collect Peter and we'll be on our way," Arthur said, "Thanks for having him,"

"No worries. Be careful on your way home and Merry Christmas!" Mrs. Hughes said.

"Merry Christmas to you, too," Arthur said.

Arthur grabbed Peter's hand to make sure he wouldn't run away but to his dismay, Peter kept struggling.

"Let go of me, this is so disgusting!" Peter grumbled.

"Pish posh, all that complaining will do you no good," Arthur said.

"I really hate you!" Peter stuck out his tongue.

"I know," Arthur cooly said.

"You have thick eyebrows!"

"So do you,"

"You're ugly!"

"We're brothers so the line's the pretty same for you," Arthur snickered.

Peter stopped talking, he could never win against Arthur.

XxXx

As soon as they got home, Arthur did as he was told and helped Peter get ready which took an hour as Peter insisted on playing sea monster in the bath tub. It got Arthur soaked but told himself to dry off and take a bath after Peter's dressed.

After successfully doing his chores (It is a chore for Arthur, those kind of things) he went in the bathroom and took a bath. Then proceeded to wear the sweater his grandmother bought for him last Christmas with his slacks.

As soon as he was done, he rushed downstairs and found Peter sulking under a table.

"Peter, come out of there," Arthur demanded.

"No! My pants are too itchy and I hate it," Peter pouted.

"You hate everything now come out of there at once," Arthur put on his big brother voice.

In the midst of everything, Allistor came by and saw what was happening.

"Peter, Grandpa and grandma are going to be here in a few minutes with presents," Allistor said with a big smile in his face as he was crouched down to Peter's eye level.

"As long as Arthur won't take them," Peter glanced menacingly at Arthur.

"I won't take them, I swear," Arthur made a cross on his chest using his index finger as he raised up his left hand.

"Okay then," Peter said and came out of the table but accidentally hitting the leg and knocked down a vase.

"PETER!" Arthur exclaimed as his reflexes took place and protected Peter.

"Arthur! Peter!" Allistor rushed to Arthur's side.

"What was that?!" Mrs. Kirkland came in the living room. Upon seeing the scene, she hurriedly aids Allistor.

"Bloody Hell! What happened here, boys?!" Mr. Kirkland asked.

"Arthur! Are you okay?" Mrs. Kirkland fretted.

"Yeah, mom," Arthur slowly straightened himself and sat down, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Peter shook his head and started to stand up.

"No, don't move! You might step on some shards," Arthur warned.

Peter said nothing and just nodded as Allistor placed his arms under his armpits and started carrying him to the couch.

"Arthur, what happened?!" Mr. Kirkland asked as his wife started cleaning up.

"Peter was sitting there when he accidentally hit the table's leg and caused the vase to topple over," Arthur said as he started cleaning himself up and standing up, "Don't worry, I'm not hurt,"

"Thank God you're alright," Mrs. Kirkland kissed his forehead after cleaning.

"Yeah. We better go, they might be here any second," Arthur said.

His parents nodded, though their eyes were still questioning his health.

"I'm really fine," Arthur assured.

"Well, if you say so," Mr. Kirkland shrugged his shoulders and went back to the kitchen with his wife.

He thought he is fine, he wasn't bleeding anywhere but he felt queasy. He started pacing back and forth. Something's wrong but he doesn't know why. He's anxious when there's no reason for it. He got tired of going bonkers over nothing so he sat beside Peter.

"You okay?" Arthur asked.

Peter nodded.

"Look after Peter. I need to go out and look out for Grandpa and Grandma. They might miss our house, again," Allistor sighed, "Now Peter, you'll behave okay?"

Peter nodded once more. Allistor walked away and when Arthur heard the door close, he looked at Peter.

"Are you really okay? Grandpa and Grandma might go out of their minds if you were hurt," Arthur said softly as he inspected Peter's arms when the other pulled away his hand.

"You're so stupid. I didn't ask you to save me," Peter grumbled as he started crying.

Arthur smiled. Well, this could be a start of a beautiful brotherhood! He's seen this in movies before.

"Well, that's what brothers are supposed to do. Big brothers exist to protect the little ones. So Allistor, Dylan, Connor and I would always protect you," Arthur patted his head.

Peter looked at him earnestly and started laughing.

"I hate you," Peter said, giving his brother a big hug.

"You're words and actions don't seem to be agreeing," Arthur pointed out.

Peter pulled away from the hug and stuck his tongue out.

"You're a big loser!"

Well, so much for beautiful brotherhood.

XxXx

After their three-day stay at their parents' house, they returned to their home. As soon as they got in their house, they placed their bags in one corner of the living room and all went to bed, seeing as they were tired from the trip. Arthur, in the other hand, brought his bag into his room but also placed it on top of his chair and went to bed. He reached over the table beside his bed where he had left his phone. He turned it on and saw that he had more than twenty text messages and eight missed calls. He checked his log and saw it all came from Matthew, the boy who gave him Alfred's number.

He arched a thick brow as he clicked a button to open one message.

Sender: Matthew W.J

Receiver: A. Kirkland

Umm.. Sorry to disturb you but can you go to the hospital? You know which one, I told you about it the last time. Please. We're in Room 407.

Arthur felt a sudden chill run all over his spine. The hospital? Why? Was someone hurt? Could it have been Alfred?! He quickly checked the details of the message and saw it was sent 3 days ago, the first day he was in Nebraska.

He quickly dialled Matthew's number and cursed in his head as he waited for Matthew to pick up.

"Hello?"

"MATTHEW! What happened?! What's in the hospital?! Who's hurt?!"

"A-ah. Kiku? Is that you? Wait, I need to get out of the room to have a better reception,"

Why did Matthew call him Kiku? He waited for Matthew to speak again as he calmed down his nerves. Nothing good will happen if you're panicking.

"Arthur! Why did you call me just now?! Alfred's been in here for almost three days already!" Matthew said.

"I was in Nebraska with my family! I forgot my phone here! Tell me everything now!" Arthur said.

"Well, Christmas night, we were about to go to Dad at the asylum but there was a drunk driver. Weird thing was, we were standing at the sidewalk, waiting for the lights to turn red when Alfred just..um.. Fell. He just fell," Matthew cleared his throat, "Then he was hit by the car and that caused the driver to stop and get away from the scene. It was unsightly thing really. I was scared as hell,"

Matthew's voice by this time was shaky. It must've been really hard on him.

"It's okay, I'm coming over now," Arthur said and dropped the call.

He hurriedly put on his coat and ignore that fatigue that was slowly killing him.

"No, I have to get there," Arthur would tell himself as he enters the bus.

XxXx

"Matthew, how is he?!" Arthur asked as soon as he arrived in front of Alfred's room.

"He's fine for now. Not in any more danger. Good thing the driver picked up that Alfred fell and slowed down a bit so the impact wasn't that bad," Matthew sighed, "I just really hope he'll be okay. He woke up just a few minutes ago but fell asleep again,"

Arthur furrowed his brows with concern. Matthew was ghastly pale.

"Have you slept lately?" Arthur asked.

"Nope, I can't bring myself to sleep or even eat," Matthew shrugged.

Arthur shook his head, "Just because Alfred is in this state, doesn't mean you should torture yourself! This isn't your fault,"

Matthew had his head down as he hugged his body.

"It's getting a bit cold, I'll get us both something to drink," Matthew said as he left without another word to spare.

Arthur felt a weird air around Matthew. Why was he being like this? He shook the thoughts off and entered Alfred's room.

Alfred laid there, motionless. Well, he was breathing but other than that there was no movement at all. Arthur sat beside him and carefully held his hand, circling his thumb on it.

"Why does this keep happening?" Arthur asked himself.

A tear was about to fall when Alfred suddenly sat up and looked straight at him.

"GAAAAAAH!" Arthur screamed in surprise, "ALFRED! YOU SCARED ME, YOU TWAT!"

Nope, that wasn't actually that surprising as Arthur thought it would be. The next thing Alfred did couldn't be compared.

"Ummm. Alfred?" Arthur looked at the blond who was hugging him tightly by the minute.

"I...ca...n't...br...th," Arthur tried to say.

Arthur's eyes then scanned Alfred's hand where the needles are sticking out. With a rush of anxiety, he tried to tell Alfred to be careful or else they'll be pulled out by accident. Sadly, Alfred wouldn't budge.

"Just one more minute," Alfred mumbled.

Arthur was worried, oh not for Alfred's sake anymore but for his own. He might be hospitalized before the git's minute is over.

"Your...ne...ed..es.. Al..." Arthur once again tried to say.

Either Alfred heard what Arthur said as he pulled away or his minute was up. Arthur, although, was mad with any of those two choices.

"YOU BLOODY TWAT! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU AND YOU DECIDED TO GIVE ME A FRIGHT AND HUG ME TO DEATH!" Arthur intensely said. (Of course he controlled his voice, they were in a hospital.)

Alfred was speechless. Not only did Arthur got mad but he cursed! He had never expected Arthur to get mad... Or curse... Or be so British.

Seeing Alfred's reaction, Arthur gasped which was immediately followed with a pinch on the bridge of his nose.

"Forget everything I said, will you?" he requested.

Alfred's lips curled into a smirk.

"That was pretty cute so, no," Alfred said, "I never knew you can curse and in British, too!"

"Oh, shut it," Arthur angrily said.

Well, not that angrily. He couldn't stay mad with Alfred no matter how hard he tried. That blond's smile would just make him forget why he was mad in the first place and that is, to Arthur, really unfair.

There are things needed to be discussed. Arthur puts on a very serious face and asked Alfred.

"What happened, Alfred?"

Alfred's smirk faded into a frown.

"I don't really know

... I just fell. Like, one minute I was standing with Matthew just behind me when all of the sudden, I fell. There was a drunk driver on the loose so I tried to not step out to the street," Alfred's voice started to croak as he placed his hands on his face, "But I suddenly fell,"

Seeing Alfred's state made Arthur regret asking. He shouldn't have asked. Arthur grabbed Alfred's hand and surprisingly, he didn't resist. Alfred even gripped Arthur's hand.

"It's okay. It's all over," Arthur said but he knew his words are useless.

Alfred wiped his tears.

"You know what? I don't even believe in your curse anymore. That's why I don't blame you," Alfred said.

"Oh? Why the change of heart?" Arthur asked in rather playful tone, hoping to lift the tension off.

"It's because..."

"Because?" Arthur tilted his head.

He does want to know what made Alfred think of his curse in a different light. He was all gung-ho about it before, what made it change?

"Come on, tell me. I won't get mad," Arthur assured.

Alfred looked at Arthur with the eyes the Brit had learned to love.

"It's because I love you, Arthur,"

So I update earlier than usual (Hooray~). I hope this is satisfactory, I really didn't reread it as to how a lazy bum I am. I really like the son, I find it fitting in this chapter. Please do listen to it if you're interested ;)

And I promise to stop with the cliffhangers and save them for either the 14 or 15th chapter~ (If I live that long after this. *glomps*)

Thanks for supporting my story~ Your reviews just give me a reason to keep writing!

EDIT: OH MY GLOB. I POSTED THE WRONG CHAPTER MINUTES AGO. NO WONDER. OH GOD. SO SORRY. THANKS TO NECROBRITS, THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES, RADIANTWATERFALLS FOR POINTING IT OUT. I'M SO SORRY.

~Rin-chan