"A date?" Alfred asked as he wedged his phone between his ear and his shoulder.
"Yeah, you know, it's when two people who like each other go out and have fun." Arthur's voice crackled through the speakers.
"Ha ha. I know what a date is, I just don't know why you're suggesting one now." he replied as he began unpacking another box that had been hauled up to his room earlier that day.
"Well, you've been gone for a month and now you're back and everything's settled down... I just wanted to spend some time together. No good?"
Alfred grinned as he switched ears.
"No, it's fine. How about later this evening, or do you have the late shift?"
"No that's fine."
"Cool. I'll come meet you at reception then, when do you get off?"
"Five, but give me a few minutes to get my stuff together okay?"
"Sure." Alfred stood back up after finishing with the box. That was officially the last one for his room, now all he had to do was help his grandmother unload her stuff and the other odds and ends they had shipped over.
In the end she had agreed to the need of moving their stuff over here which Alfred was thankful for. He hadn't really wanted to stay back in England and leave her on her own back in the states, even if she didn't always show it his grandmother wasn't young anymore and Alfred didn't like the thought of her struggling on her own in that large house in the middle of no-where. He did feel a little guilty about uprooting her though, that house had been in their family for a long time and while Alfred hadn't put it up for sale he had gone back there to clear almost all their stuff away and then rented it out to a family, removing all trace of their ownership as if they had never lived there.
As he headed back down the stairs he chatted mindlessly with Arthur over the phone. Every night Alfred had been gone they had managed to catch each other for at least ten minutes of free time to talk about their days and keep each other up to speed but a month was a long time to go without seeing someone you cared about that strongly. Alfred found it as hard as he had when he first moved to America and often found himself moping around the house only to be cheered up when he got that call from Arthur. Now they could chat for a longer time without worrying too much about keeping the other awake but Alfred was conscious of the time Arthur would have to hang up to get to work.
"Al?" a voice called from down the corridor.
"Hang on Artie. Yeah?" he called back whilst covering the mouth piece.
His grandmother appeared at the doorway of the back room. She smiled as she saw him and beckoned him over.
"I need your help. Could you put this away up there for me?" she asked holding out a box and nodding to the top shelf of her cupboard.
Alfred nodded.
"Here, can you hold this for me?" he asked.
They traded the box of belongings for the phone still clasped in Alfred's hand.
"What's in here anyway?" he asked as he took the slightly heavy box from her.
"Books."
Alfred groaned. "You're almost as bad as Arthur," he muttered, "If they're just books, why not put them on the bloody bookshelf?" he asked louder so she could hear.
"I don't want them to get damaged, they're old photo books from when I was younger." she smiled slightly. "Is this Arthur?" she asked.
Alfred looked over his shoulder as he tried to balance the box on the shelf and ended up misjudging the distance and his own balance.
"Woah!" he cried out as he fell backwards, bringing up his hands to shield his face as the box began to fall towards him.
"Alfred! Are you okay?" he heard his grandmother fussing and barely caught Arthur's voice through the phone asking what was going on.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." he waved off her hands and sat upright in the middle of the mess he'd caused. "So much for keeping them safe. Sorry." he apologised.
"Accidents happen son, it's alright." she sighed sadly.
"I'll clean it up!" he promised.
"Damn right you will!" she scowled at him. He grinned sheepishly in response until the frown let up and she turned away before he saw her smile. "It's nothing to worry about dear, Alfred's just a clutz is all." she said down the phone to a panicky Arthur.
Alfred laughed as he began scooping up the photos that had fallen out of their respective books. As he did he looked over them.
They were old, quite a few were in black and white and almost all of them were of young children sat with two adults, grinning and waving at the camera as it took their picture.
"Who're these people?" he asked turning to his grandmother where she sat chatting with Arthur.
She paused in her conversation and looked over at the picture Alfred was talking about.
"That's me and my brother and sisters." she said pointing to a young man who looked a lot like Alfred's mother and three younger girls as they hugged each other outside the old family house in America.
"What is he wearing?" Alfred asked. He knew very little about his grandmother's brother, she hated to talk about him.
"His uniform. That was the day he left for the war." she said sadly.
"Which war?"
"The war. The great war, world war two as it's known now. He was a fighter pilot."
"Wow!" Alfred's eyes sparkled as he looked through the other pictures. There were older ones with the siblings and their parents, who Alfred actually recognised, but he couldn't find any more recent ones with the young man in.
Before he could ask the photo's were taken out of his hands.
"That's enough Alfred. Why don't you go check up on your mother. I'll sort this out."
The dismissal wasn't harsh but there was a sadness Alfred caught in her voice that made him leave without questioning her. Instead he took the phone out of her hand and left quickly.
"Hey Arthur? I'll call you back okay? It's a bit busy here now."
"No, it's okay, I need to go anyway if I'm to make it in on time. I'll call you in my break if you want?" he offered.
"That'd be great thanks. Talk to you later then."
They bid each other goodbye and Alfred hung up. He tucked the phone into his pocket just as he reached the door to his mother's room upstairs.
"Mom?" he asked as he knocked on the door.
A soft answer from inside let him know she was awake again as he pushed the door open and flicked on the lights.
"Hey. How are ya feeling? Need me to get you anything?" he asked as he made his way over tot he head of her bed.
Every day now it was becoming more and more evident that she wouldn't last much longer. Before he had left for America she had still been in the hospital and hooked up to medication and now all that equipment had been moved here so she could live out the last of her life in comfort. While that had seemed to make a difference at first, she had been much happier back in her own home, now she was rarely conscious long enough to even take in her surroundings.
Alfred forced a smile onto his face as he took her hand. It was cold and clammy but he forced the image it invoked out of his mind. He could do this, he could be brave for her.
She made no response to his questions and just looked up at him. That was okay, Alfred was used to this too. He just had to fill up the silence like always.
"We've almost finished unpacking, Gran and I. Just a few more things to do then we'll be settled in, and I'm back in my old room so if you need anything you just gotta shout and I'll be here right away, okay?" he rubbed his thumb over her hand and felt her squeeze back gently. He spent the next half hour chatting mindlessly to her about anything and everything that popped into his head even after she had fallen back asleep. In the end it took his grandmother calling him from downstairs to make him leave her side but even then he stopped at the doorway and look back sadly.
"I'll come talk to you later mom." he promised before he shut the door quietly.
He raced back down the stairs and skidded to a halt just before he would have slammed into his grandmother who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
"Will you settle down?" she grumbled as Alfred grinned.
She was holding the box of photographs again and when she noticed Alfred staring she held it out to him.
"I thought you would like to have it since you seemed so interested earlier." she said as she offered the box to Alfred.
"Huh? Are you sure, don't you wanna keep them, I mean it's your family after all." he asked as he took the weight from her.
"It's your family too, there's more in there than just black and white photos y'know. I've got a whole stack of your mom's in there and quite a few of you as well. I thought you would like a keepsake of me for the future." she explained.
Alfred smiled as he looked in the box and noticed the very top one was indeed a photo of him as a young child, obviously visiting her for the holidays, covered in mud with a huge grin splitting his face. Then what she had said registered.
"For the future? What do you mean?" he asked with a confused frown.
"Oh come on Al. I won't be here forever and I thought it would be nice to give you something to remind you of me when I'm gone."
As she was talking she had begun heading back down the hall into the makeshift bedroom at the back of the house. She seemed completely unaffected by what she was saying which made the blunt statement even more incomprehensible to Alfred.
Sure she wasn't exactly young anymore, heck the evidence of her age was sat in his arms, but that didn't mean she should be thinking like that. Alfred couldn't accept it.
"You won't be going anywhere for a long time yet." he argued with a little pout as he started after her.
"Don't be getting all worked up now Alfred." she reprimanded as she turned about to face him. "It's a fact of life, we all have to grow up and die some day. Some of us sooner than others." she added quietly with a quick glance at the ceiling.
Alfred opened his mouth to argue but stopped when she held up a hand.
"Now I don't want to hear it. Have you finished unpacking?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"Then what's that box in you arms doing down here still?"
"If it's alright with you, I was wondering if you could tell me more about those people in the pictures?"
She nodded after a brief pause and sat on the bed, patting the space next to her as an invitation for Alfred to sit beside her. After he had joined her he put the box aside and pulled out the top book. After flipping it open and listening to all her stories of her family from long ago Alfred remembered what he had noticed earlier.
"Why does he stop appearing, your brother? After this picture," he pointed to the same one from before, now tucked back into place in the album, "he isn't in anymore."
His grandmother grew quiet as she looked down at the pictures without really seeing them. After a pause she looked back up at Alfred.
"I told you he went off to war, yes?" Alfred nodded. "Well, what do people do in wars Alfred?" she asked softly.
"They fight." he answered immediately.
"Yes. But what else?"
Alfred thought for a moment. He looked down at the photos once more; the strong young man about to leave with his siblings clinging to him, the next one in the book was a photo of the whole family minus the son. They were all dressed in black and not a single one smiling.
"... They die." he said quietly as he realised what must have happened.
"You and Matthew are lucky you didn't grow up in a time like that." she said without acknowledging what Alfred had said. That alone seemed to confirm it.
Alfred nodded.
"I'm gonna miss him." he said sadly.
His grandmother rubbed his back comfortingly. "Cheer up. I know he's far away but I'm sure he can visit you or you can visit him. And technology's not what it used to be, you can always message him or call him."
"Yeah, but it's not quite the same as having him here. I liked spending time with him again."
Matthew had caught the same plane as Alfred when he headed back to the states but the last Alfred had seen of his brother was a glimpse of his back as he boarded the connecting flight to Canada. They had sent each other quick messages over the following month but none of them compared to the brief amount of time they had spent with each other and Alfred already found himself missing the quiet man.
The two had lapsed back into silence, both lost in their own thoughts and memories until a knock at the front door caught their attention.
"I'll get it," Alfred offered as he stood up and headed for the door with the box in hand.
"Hey!" Alfred waved as he saw Arthur leave the locker room. He grinned as Arthur self consciously tugged at the bottom of his shirt knowing he was trying to erase any evidence of wrinkles from it as if Alfred would refuse to be seen with him if he didn't look immaculate. Which he already did, Alfred thought as the man finally drew level.
Unable to wait for even another second more Alfred threw himself on the shorter man and pulled him close in a tight embrace.
"I missed you." he murmured.
"I missed you too you great oaf." Arthur replied as he staggered beneath Alfred's weight and attempted to raise his arms to return the hug. The best he could do was get them halfway up to pat his back.
"Ready to go?" Arthur asked when they pulled away.
"Yup. Where are we going?" he said as he took Arthur's hand. The Brit blushed as he always did when Alfred decided to show his affection in public.
"Well, I'm starving so food?" he offered with a hopeful tilt of his head.
Alfred laughed. He was never one to turn down the offer of food, and if Arthur was that desperate to be fed quickly perhaps he could even convince him to go to...
"Anywhere but McDonald's, Burger King or any other of the thousands of fast food chains you have dragged me to in the past."
... or not.
"Fine. Where do you wanna go?" he gave in and asked.
Before Arthur could answer an audible growl from his stomach cut him off and made him blush an even darker shade of red than usual.
"How about the closet available place then if you're that hungry?" Alfred laughed and began dragging Arthur towards the café just down the road that he had passed on the way to the hospital.
"Wai- Alfred! Hang on, not there!" Arthur tried to free his hand and drag Alfred away but his attempts were ignored until he just gave in with a dark scowl.
The door jingled as it opened, making a cheerful sound in the almost complete silence of the little café. As the two men entered Arthur braced himself for the worst.
"Good evening! Take a seat I'll be right with you." a cheerful and mercifully female voice called from behind the counter.
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Francis wasn't working today! He knew Alfred seemed to have an irrational jealousy towards his friendship with Francis and the two hadn't been formally introduced again, not that that would solve anything other than to hopefully prove to Alfred that Francis really was just an irritating friend despite what happened in their past. Either way he wasn't sure if today was the best day for that. It was their first time seeing each other since Alfred had returned from his trip to America and, call Arthur selfish, he wanted to spend the entire evening together and ignore everything else.
"C'mon Arthur." Alfred resumed his tugging on Arthur's arm to bring him out of his daydream and gently pulled him over to a free table.
"Alright, I'm coming! You don't have to drag me around all the time, Alfred."
Alfred just sent him his ever-present grin.
"What?" Arthur asked when he didn't look away or drop the smile.
"Nothin'. I'm just really glad to see you again."
Arthur smiled slightly back at him. "Yeah, me too."
As they started to chat about idle things, the waitress made her way towards them.
"Hey Arthur." she greeted. "What can I get you guys?"
She took their order and scooted off back to the kitchen. When she was out of earshot Alfred raised his eyebrow at Arthur.
"So, do you come here often?" he asked jokingly.
"From time to time yes. It's close to the hospital and I know the owner." he admitted.
"So I see." he said with a quick glance and a smile to the brunette behind the counter. Arthur laughed.
"That's not the owner. That's Elizabeta. She works here occasionally when Feliciano can't."
"Feliciano?" Alfred looked up from where he had been doodling with his finger around Arthur's hands. That name... it wasn't exactly a common name so could it really be his friend from so long ago?
"Yeah, Feliciano Vargas? I think he used to go to your secondary school actually. Did you know him?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah, he was in my class, one of my best friends actually. How is he?" Alfred asked, caught by his own curiosity after his classmate.
"Good from what I see. He works here most days in the kitchen, I often see him in here laughing and clinging all over Ludwig. I don't suppose you know him as well? Apparently they've been friends since their early teens." Arthur remarked.
"Wow, those two are still friends? That's amazing!" Alfred laughed "Doesn't sound like Feli's changed much, he was always hanging on to Ludwig back then too."
They lapsed back into silence as Elizabeta approached them with their order.
"Can I get you boys anything else?" she offered and walked away when they said no.
"So, who does own this place then if not Elizabeta?" Alfred asked as he picked up his coffee and blew on it.
Arthur had ignored his tea for a moment in favour of the food that had been placed in front of him and Alfred was forced to wait for an answer as he swallowed and chased it down with a gulp of tea. But before the cup even touched his lips the back door leading into the kitchen swung open.
"Bonjour! Ah, I was wondering when you would show that mop of a head again Arthur. Ah and the gorgeous boy is back, hello mes amis." Francis called as he spotted the two men sat at the table. Behind him Elizabeta was giggling slightly.
"Sorry Arthur, he told me to tell him if you came by again. A girl's gotta eat you know." she said with her hands raised in surrender. Not that she looked even the slightest bit apologetic.
"Yes, yes, no one is blaming you, you have done you job now get back to the customers please, I wish to have a chat with Arthur and his friend. Thank you!" Francis trilled as he pulled another chair over and sat down with his elbows resting on their table to prop his head up with. "So...?"
"What do you want frog." Arthur growled.
"Ah, but you have always been like this have you not?" he rolled his eyes and looked over at Alfred, "But Alfred, you remember how he was as a teenager right? All he would do is push me away when his heart yearned to be closer. It is very tragic, you should work on being more honest." he said turning back to Arthur. "Ow!"
The whole table rattled as Arthur pulled his leg back to his own chair.
"I'm sorry, was that your leg? I thought it was the table."
"Your sarcasm is not lost on me English pig, but as such a kind person as I am, I will forgive it." Francis said with a toss of his head. "How rude of you Arthur, you still have yet to introduce me to your companion."
"What's the point? You know who I am, you said my name only a second ago." Alfred reminded him.
At that Francis gave Alfred a very tired look, the sort you would give a young child when they were being deliberately stupid.
"You are very astute, well done Alfred. What I meant to ask is, what are you to him now? Has he finally told you, or did you actually manage to get a word in edge wise and tell him your feelings yourself hmm?" his sarcasm however was lost on the American boy.
The table rattled again but this time Francis looked to Arthur with a superior smirk.
"Not this time my friend, I moved my leg in advance."
Arthur just continued to scowl at him.
"How did you know about that? Did you tell him Arthur?" Alfred looked so surprised and betrayed as he glanced between the two men that Francis laughed and Arthur had to look away with a cough.
"He did not need to. It was obvious to anyone with a brain what was going on. Honestly, I would have expected this kind of thick-headed obliviousness from Arthur but I had hoped for more from you. Although, I suppose that shows you two were made for each other, no?" Francis' laughter was cut short from a loud bang under the table.
"Really?" he demanded rounding on Arthur. "Are you such a child?"
"That wasn't me." Arthur said, his expression going from surprise to mirth in a second.
Francis turned to see Alfred laughing behind his hand.
"Well you deserved it!" he defended before Francis could object.
"It is like sitting with children." Francis complained, "When I said you two were made for each other I was not thinking in the sense that you were both mentally deficient. Idiots. Anyway you are avoiding the question. Who confessed? What happened? I want to know all the dirty details." he demanded with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.
"Butt out you nosey old-" Arthur started.
"Obviously it was me." Alfred interrupted.
Arthur stared at him whilst Francis rubbed his hands together in glee.
"Obviously, huh? So how did it happen? Tell me!"
Alfred shot a quick glance at Arthur and chose to ignore the pleading look in his direction to shut up.
"He was staying round mine and it was late so we were heading up to bed." he stopped for a second as Arthur hit the other man around the head.
"Just to sleep you pervert." Arthur scowled.
"Yeah, to sleep. And I ended up kissing him and telling him I loved him."
"That's it?" Francis asked, an incredulous look on his face. "You could have done it any number of fantastic ways and you just settle for a kiss and 'I love you'?"
"Well that wasn't quite it. Arthur was convinced he was dreaming so it took a lot to persuade him this was real. When I did he came out with this entire speech about how he had come to love me. It was adorable." Alfred grinned across at Arthur and took his hand where it was laying on the table.
"Yeah and that's right about when I died of embarrassment after I found out your family had been listening at the door the entire time." despite his somewhat harsh tone, Arthur was looking softly at Alfred.
Francis, feeling forgotten, cleared his throat.
"Well, I see you two love birds are still in the 'honeymoon' phase. Exactly how long ago was this? A week, two? A month?" he asked with a grin.
"Hmm? Oh about three months ago. Christmas day." Arthur said absent-mindedly as he gently pulled away from Alfred to address his friend.
"Three months! I cannot believe you. I sit around here for days on end thinking you are still mad at me for interrupting on Christmas Eve, believing you to be pining away for this young man," he jabbed his thumb in Alfred's direction, "and instead you have been neglecting to inform one of your oldest friends that you finally got up the nerve to tell him your bloody feelings! I am wounded."
"Oh shut up. Sorry if I had bigger things on my mind. Besides I was still angry at you." Arthur shrugged.
"Is this how it starts, Elizabeta?" Francis shouted looking over his shoulder at the girl, "When friends find 'true love' and decide to drop everything else in favour of them they just say 'oh I have better things to do Francis'?"
Elizabeta laughed, "No. That's just how people generally excuse their lack of interest in you personally."
Alfred snorted. Francis shot him a glare.
"It seems everyone is in the mood to hurt me today. You are lucky I am in desperate need of staff." He added to Elizabeta who just shrugged and continued with her work. "Well then, since my company is so obviously not wanted, I will leave you two men alone." he said sniffily as he stood up.
"Bye." Arthur and Alfred said cheerfully after a shared look.
Francis' scowl deepened before he laughed.
"You two. I am glad you got together. Please make sure he does not get too lonely, Alfred. He is the special brand of idiot that does not seem to realise he needs people to get by." Francis lay his hand on Alfred's shoulder as he said this and the serious look in his eye stopped Alfred from giving a sarcastic reply.
"I will. Thanks Francis."
As Alfred headed home after an amazing date, he suddenly got a sense of foreboding. It hit him right before he turned his car around the final bend to his house with the sense of panic building as he turned onto the dark road. Blue lights flashed about halfway down, a reflective van sat on a drive and as Alfred approached his headlights caused it it light up.
The word AMBULANCE glared at him from his driveway as he parked out front of his house out of the way of the vehicle.
"Alfred!" a voice called from the doorway.
Alfred ran up the drive to face his grandmother.
"I was about to call you." she said, tears falling down her face, "I went in to check on your mother. She wasn't breathing."
Alfred felt his heart stutter. He gently moved around her and headed for the stairs. Before he could reach them a man and a woman came into view steering a gurney and carrying it down the stairs. When the man passed him Alfred could see what lay on the contraption. There was no movement and a blanket was draped over the face.
"No." he whispered.
He felt his grandmother come up beside him and clasp his shoulder in support. The woman following the gurney looked up as she passed.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." she said quietly before following her companion out of the door.
Alfred as his grandmother watched as they loaded onto the ambulance and pulled away, lights flashing but with no sound.
New chapter, sorry it's late! So I just wanted to say, there will only be one more chapter and then an epilogue. It's almost over so thank you for reading and sticking with it or finding it later and bothering to read it at all :) I know it ended up being more about Alfred than a USUK romance so, sorry for that.