OK to explain what in god's name happened and how i disappeared for two weeks, 'twas on easter break. unfortunately, the wifi i was on did not let me access FFN, and so i was left to weep (and then catch up when i flew home saturday, but thing is i came back on the dead of night yesterday at two.

so i apologise greatly for the lateness of this chapter!

okok let's just get on with it. lmao

as always, i do not own the selection nor hetalia. these belong to kiera cass and himaruya hidekaz respectively.

Spades.

Inside a castle besieged by pouring rain, moments after.

"Are you okay?" Alfred asked, brushing his sopping wet hair off his forehead. "I'm sorry that I didn't get to hear you before, do you want to say it now?"

Arthur bit his lip and shook his head, holding tight onto Alfred's arm as they walked down the hallway.

Drat, and it was only a moment before I was going to tell you, Arthur cursed himself, looking away.

Alfred's eyes faltered, and he tried his best to observe Arthur's expression. He could have sworn Arthur was trying to confess…

But maybe that was a good thing. If, at least, Arthur couldn't see his expression, then he wouldn't know how tempted he was too. He swallowed once again, his heart hammering in his chest as they walked further to his bedroom.

"I'm sorry," he said plaintively. "I was gonna…I was gonna let you, back there. Finish your sentence first, I meant. I'm guessing you were gonna say something big - and I should have done that as well."

"How did you-" Arthur blurted, but Alfred pressed on. He could practically hear the blood thrumming in his ears, his face flushed completely red.

"This…this is how the Deciding process works," he said quietly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "When – um, w-when the prince or princess feels that the time is right, they'll popose…uh, propose. And I thought I…"

"Alfred – wait," he said, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "Alfred - is that from-"

"Arthur." he whispered, "I can't. You know I c-can't keep on forcing you to take these few s-steps, instead of me d-doing more than m…my duty."

Arthur let out one baited breath, his heart thumping. Was he…?

Oh, wait. Wasn't that-

Fates, that was. Had he really?

"I can't say this in a way that can really express how I feel," Alfred continued, "But I know you doubted me. If I…I were you, I would have doubted myself as well. And I know it's been no more than two days since the Trials, but that doesn't matter to me any more. Putting this in my words, I…"

He was interrupted by a bout of (barely suppressed) laughing.

"You did not," Arthur snorted, his head leaning into the crook of his elbow. "You're not telling me you have a copy of the Wyvern Chronicles. Not in this palace, oh Fates…"

"Wa-what? How did you know?" Alfred gaped, turning even redder than he had. "Did you-"

"But there isn't a copy here, right?" Arthur said, getting up from his doubled over stance. "Please, don't tell me."

"It was…it was Feliciano..." Alfred blushed, looking away. "I was asking Ludwig for advice on how to – uh, express my feelings – and then he popped in and started talking about some books?"

"Alfred – poppet, you do realize that the book series is meant for teenage girls aged thirteen to fourteen?" Arthur laughed, wiping faint tears from his face. "Oh, dear."

"No, I didn't!" Alfred said, absolutely mortified. "I thought Feliciano…"

"Alfred!" Arthur said, cupping his face in his hands. "You don't have to spout cheesy lines from cheesy, horribly written books just to impress me. And you know that."

"I, uh…" he said, rubbing the back of his neck in bashfulness. "No, I didn't."

"Well, I'm telling you now. And please remember that I fell for the real Alfred, one who doesn't maintain all social appearance and is the smoothest – pfft – the smoothest person I know, but who's funny and dorky and all around loveable."

"You promised me that there wouldn't be anything between us," Arthur said tenderly, taking a daring step forward. "I don't want there to be a mask between us, on either of us. I thought…I thought sharing myself, my true self, with you would spell doom for our relationship, but if you've stuck with me so long, I could possibly even have a chance in this whole proc – mmph!"

He was effectively silenced by the familiar pressure of Alfred's mouth on his, his hands curled against his broad chest as the other boy pressed him tightly against the wall, eyes firmly shut. He broke away with a pant, pursuing his lips with his fingers as he faced Arthur again.

"You're not allowed to say that," he murmured. "Not gonna let you – you know what? Every time you try to dumb yourself down, I'm gonna do that."

"But it's true!" Arthur protested, cheeks flushed. "You know you could be simply settling down for me when - !"

Alfred simply leaned down and meshed their lips together again, Arthur exhaling in surprise as he dipped his arms around his waist, lifting him up above his head as they parted before pulling him in close, so tantalizingly close that Arthur could even see the faintest of freckles scouring his cheeks.

"Settling down? Sorry, princess, that's not in my vocabulary," he said, his gaze tinting with a hint of seriousness. "I know you're perfect in my eyes. And whatever stuff you say – that's millions of times better than mine, mind you - won't make me change that. Yeah?"

"One cannot help being born in eloquence," Arthur whispered teasingly, brushing their noses together. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as he remembered how fervently he had responded on their first night on the balcony, how dizzy he had been.

How so many things had changed, now that he simply couldn't deny how much love he held for Alfred in his heart, among other things.

"You remember that," he said softly, his hands cupping Arthur's elbows in a way that made his skin feel like it heated up instantaneously, thrumming underneath the surface of his jacket. "The party, right? Hey, to be fair, I kinda thought you were pissed at me then."

"I was – and that hasn't changed much, but everything else has, anyway." he looked away, closing his eyes.

"Hey, it's rude to look away. So, don't," Alfred whispered, cupping his chin with his thumb and index finger. "Do you still remember that?"

"You could never make me forget," Arthur grinned. "See, I told you that you could say your own lines. Now, you're making me go soft!"

Alfred nodded sagely, letting his fingers linger on the other's chin for another moment before continuing to lead him down the hallway.

"Arthur…do you want this to end?" he said quietly, after a moment.

"…pardon?"

"I know it's my decision," he said, his tone rueful. "But, I'm sorry. I haven't really taken any steps to finishing this as much as I should have. Letting it drag on for so long looks bad on my part. As a prince, I should have done more."

"I thought we were past that," Arthur said, folding his arms and turning to face him again. "You tell me not to be so hard on myself, and then you turn around and do the same. Even with all these things attached, it's still your life."

His eyes softened, and he leaned forward, pinching Alfred's nose in a playful action. "Alfred, dearest, you must promise us to end this when you feel like it's the right time. Not before, and on your own terms. Understand me?"

"Yeah. I guess."

Arthur paused, tilting his head lower before entwining his fingers with Alfred's. He bit his lip, fighting back the urge to kiss him again.

"…goodnight, Alfred," he said hesitantly.

"Goodnight, Arthur," Alfred said in return, tilting up his glasses before pulling him close with a hug, something that he managed to do better than words.

He could only hope that he couldn't feel the thumping of his heart as he walked away, longing to feel Arthur's hand against his own.

Blast the Fates, how did he manage to mess up so badly? He'd have to have a gentle word with Feli later…

The next morning, Arthur's slightly bad mood was lightened a little as soon as Emma walked into the room, wearing a deep red dress that seemed more orientated for a day as an Elite than anything.

"You're all right!" Alfonso smiled, waving to her as she appeared for breakfast the next morning.

"Sorry about disappearing yesterday," Emma said in return, edging into the seat next to him. "I'll make it up to you with that theatre screening tonight – if Prince Alfred doesn't have a date with you or something."

"I mean, I don't know," he replied, nudging her shoulder. "He hasn't told me yet – oh, hey Arthur!"

Arthur, his hair as dishevelled as ever, slid into the chair next to Emma, making her the middle one in between the two boys. "Good morning, Alfonso. I'm relieved to see you're back, Emma!"

"Still as formal as usual," she sang, but it seemed a little subdued from her usual flair.

She shot a glance to where the three royals would be sat, but it seemed unusually empty. Naturally, Arthur would expect Alfred to be a bit tardy, but Yao and Matthew definitely did not find it in them to be late – at least, certainly not the Jack. Matthew as an Ace did not necessarily need to be as polished as he did, but Arthur did trust the other boy.

"Em…" Alfonso said quietly, turning back to her. "Are you sure that you'll be all right? With your…well, brother and everything, are you gonna be staying here?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," she said, her voice going a little limp. "It's not like I've forgotten about Louis. Or what happened to him. But I need to be here."

"You're sure about this, Emma?" Arthur asked, his tone slightly concerned. He didn't want to come off as rude or patronizing, but he was worried for her health. If anything had happened to Dylan, he wasn't sure that he'd be as lively as Emma was now. Of course, that wouldn't mean him leaving the competition – and Alfred, by extension – so quickly, but it would definitely give him some sleepless nights and at least multiple visits.

"I'm fine," she said, brushing a curl drooping from her headband behind her ear. "But I do miss him very much, and you shouldn't doubt that. I do miss my brother, and my parents. But Alfred has grown to become a lot more important to me, after all. Just throwing him away like this means that the whole seven months of this Deciding hasn't meant anything to me."

"No, I understand," Arthur said quietly. "My little brother – Dylan – if anything happened to him, I would suddenly think more about my duty here, not just to Alfred, but as an Elite. He's taken a place in my life I can't simply forget."

"I don't have a sibling, just Antonio." Alfonso said, fidgeting in his seat. "I can't say that I know exactly how you feel, Ems, but if he ever got hurt in Hearts I would definitely be less concentrated on the whole Deciding thing and less on him. But the thing about Alfred, I…I really agree. He's just so-"

"Sorry we're late!" he was interrupted by Matthew blustering into the room, his waistcoat buttoned until the top one. Yao was as polished as ever, but curiously missing a book or a stash of papers, and Alfred had brushed his hair – what, Arthur thought internally. Why would he have the time to brush his hair when Matthew and Jack Yao didn't? He's not the most meticulous person I know, either…

"We've received some exciting news from Hearts this morning," Yao said, sitting into his chair as the two princes started to talk to the maids next to their seats. "Apparently the Hearts Kingdom is getting a new queen very, very quickly!"

Arthur's eyes widened – did he mean Kiku? Of course he did – he knew his friend was the most capable person he knew of being a queen, including himself, but so soon? Even before the year had ended?

"Are we invited?" Alfonso asked, his green eyes lighting with excitement.

"I'm seeing if we can take a small trip as a group," Matthew said with his quiet yet assertive fashion, lifting his glasses higher up his nose. "But since it's so close to the New Year and we expect the coronation to occur shortly before, there might not be enough space for all of us to fit in. It's expected to be a small affair. Apparently, they're not even planning on inviting other kingdoms formally, but instead of that they're considering a formal ceremony a little later in the year."

"Is that going to happen to us if there's a wedding around the New Year?" Emma said, placing down her fork almost in nervousness.

"It's up to Alfred," Matthew said, only to turn around and see his brother gulping down a glass of milk.

"Whaf?" he mumbled, and the three of them laughed, including the Jack who bit back a smile.

"As we were saying, we were discussing plans about visiting Hearts. Are you interested in joining the conversation? Lady Emma put up a good point concerning the end of the Deciding," Matthew said smoothly, not too ruffled by his brother's antics. Being stuck with Prince Alfred for nineteen years really did give you an edge mentally.

"Yeah, the end of the Deciding's something I wanna chat about if that's okay," Alfred said, directly catching Arthur's gaze for a moment, making him raise his thick eyebrows in surprise. Was this to do with the talk yesterday night?

"I don't want to drag this out any longer than necessary." he began, placing down his cup of milk and hurriedly wiping off the mini moustache that had formed (Arthur found that rather charming in his dorky fashion, but would never say it out loud – he was sure that his friends did as well). "However, I'm not willing to end this Deciding until I know both of us are ready to progress onto marriage. I know not everyone here might be willing to take such a large step, but please believe in me in that I and the rest of the Primary Suit will help your transition to Elite to queen as quickly as possible."

"After the Trials, we as a Primary Suit have seen no reason to make this longer than necessary," the Jack continued. "As you all may know, the Deciding has also long been seen as a form of entertainment for the public to really get in touch and feel connected to the royal family in a different way that cannot really be executed in the same manner as other countries. But I am acutely aware that these are your lives placed on show – however, if you are truly to win the Deciding, this will have to be part of your daily life."

After that ominous announcement, the three Elite – the whole table, in fact – continued to eat their breakfasts in silence. They only started to disband when Jack Yao's plates were being collected and the others saw fit to drift away from the table.

Only Matthew and Alfred remained at the table until they were all gone, nodding to the maids as they collected the plates but left a glass of milk for each of the brothers.

"Are you sure about this, Alfred?" Matthew asked, his tone tinged with concern. "Emma…I'm not sure that she'll be very sound."

"If she wants to stay, I don't want to force her out even though I can," Alfred said tersely. "But if things get too bad, I'll have a talk with her. Also – sorry about letting you and Yao sort out Hearts today – I've planned out a chat with Lud at eight tonight. I won't be in my study…"

"Are you saying," Matthew sputtered, his face lighting up in what seemed like flames, "That you let me and Yao get up incredibly early and endure Ace Lovino's shouting for nothing?!"

True to his word, Alfred was down at the port room calling by eight, watching the little circles signifying his connection to Hearts as he sat on his chair.

He was happily spinning around in his swivel chair by the time Ludwig's top torso blipped onto the screen.

Ludwig was clearly situated in his study, and if his eyesight wasn't completely marred by his glasses he could catch a glimpse of Feliciano attempting to read a book in the background. He was finding it quite difficult - probably something to do with his huge bump.

Then he remembered something about the book Feli recommended him to read. Oh, Fates.

"Hey, Lud!" Alfred said cheerfully, waving boisterously at the camera. "Can ya see me?"

"Good evening, Al," came the calm reply. "I guess that you wanted to talk about your relationship again?"

"Don't need to sound so harsh, buddy," he said. "How's Gil – and hey, is that Feliciano in the background, if you don't mind?"

"Yes, and he's doing very well from what I've heard," Ludwig said, beckoning to his husband in the background, who waddled over to the screen, a little to Alfred's amusement.

"Feli…about that book you were talking about the other day-" he began, but much to the Jack's credit, he was bowled over by a series of energetic questions.

"Did you actually read it? Was he impressed? Did he like it? I hope he did, I heard the maids talking about and I thought it was a good read, so I went to the bookshop and the clerk almost looked like he had a heart attack but I didn't know how that happened, but anyways I was reading it and then Ludwig was talking about how you needed some advice with your loved one since you were asking him the other night about it and then I thought maybe I could help out because we both love reading books!" Feliciano nattered on enthusiastically, his curl bouncing as his voice flew higher and higher.

"Feli, liebling, you're going far too fast for anyone to understand," he said, with the most tenderness Alfred had heard he directed to anyone. "I doubt Al can pick up on any of that."

"Yeah, about that…" Alfred said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "He…Arthur reads. A lot, and apparently it's for teenage girls, at least that's what I was told."

"Oh…" Feliciano said, his expression going from lively to crestfallen. "So…so it didn't work?"

"I wouldn't say that." Alfred said. "But I guess you did help us to take a step forward."

"That's great!" Feliciano smiled, his hands now resting on his bump after he had been throwing them around all over the place – Alfred had heard that pregnancy was tiring. Feliciano was taking it very well, being so many months along.

"I suppose you want some advice now?" Ludwig said, subconsciously scooting a little closer to his husband. "I suppose, if you're considering proposal, it could be a good time."

"I dunno," Alfred said, facing the port screen with a renewed sense of purpose. "I want to make the relationship as comfortable for both sides…as much as I can."

"You do know who you're gong to propose to, right?" Feliciano inquired, his eyes owlish. "I hope you're in a better place than a few weeks ago."

"So do I, Feli," Alfred said, the corners of his lips turning up in a half smile. "I hope we'll have a wedding soon enough."

"Why don't you talk with the people around them?" Ludwig thought out loud. "Perhaps, if you do want to make them feel truly comfortable accepting the roles and the duties of being your partner, you could garner some information about that and such."

"Lovi got really pissed in the letters you sent him," Feliciano laughed, patting his husband's shoulder. "I hope Al doesn't get that same treatment."

Alfred's eyebrows furrowed in thought, before he leapt up to his feet and thrust one gloved finger into the air.

"Thank you for helping the hero!" he cheered, rummaging in the lower cupboards for some paper. "I have an idea!"

Feliciano cheered, looking overjoyed, while Ludwig simply sat back and grimaced/smiled (you couldn't really tell which).

What a wedding they would have in Spades indeed, when the time came.

shiny hunting while editing the chapter is such a bad idea lol

replies

vivadragnire - thank you! i hope you enjoy this one as well.

russia says hello - he returns in this chapter anyway! kiku needed his seven minutes of fame, i felt like.

- i was trying to find a way to get back there to keep their part of the plot going, haha. i hope the pillow didn't bruise you - and yes, i do think ludwig definitely gets bowled over by his husband in this way in this chapter. and yes of course, i might slap it on my computer for motivation (and it was super cliche, personally! i'm glad it worked for the most part though ;v;) emma comes back this time, though,

pastaaddict - that's actually a good point - i'll keep that in mind for next time i have a fangirl moment!

mi-chan - ah yes, but this is still technically the calm lol. soon enough ;)

hearthorse11 - i just called 911 (and your life is mighty interesting shh, i love to hear about it and what you think about the fic!)

reviews, favourites and follows are what will keep me writing, so please go ahead and leave them!