Gilbert glanced down at his phone screen, seeing it illuminate as a text popped up. Sliding the notification to the right, his phone unlocked to reveal the whole text message.
[Alfred]
"Hey! You guys here yet? :D"
It was a whole year since the missing of their two friends: Romano and Antonio. The following dawn of their disappearance, Alfred called the police to file a missing person report. He was all for going out into the forest to find them, but Arthur held him back and saying it was too dangerous. So, the group stayed inside and decided to call the police. The police didn't come until the afternoon the next day.
Ever since then, they've been searching for Romano and Antonio. They searched intensely for two months after their disappearance. After two months, they began to lose hope in the whole investigation and decided to disband it. They concluded they were most likely dead or runaways. This obviously enraged the group of friends- especially Feliciano. The poor Italian was in utter distress for a majority of that year. He would often beg the police officers to continue the investigation seriously but they had already given up.
That's when Gilbert and him began to become closer. The 18 yr old albino would often come over to his house and simply talk to him and just give him some company to make sure he was okay. Feliciano slowly eased into it and soon began to feel better with the help of Gilbert. Of course, he still ached for his brother but now didn't have to deal with the grief alone.
Their relationship stitched into a very strong platonic one. Gilbert would hangout at Feliciano's house every day, or the Italian would hang out at his. They became the inseparable best friends.
"Who was that?" Feliciano questioned, looking over at Gilbert. They were on the bus to the foot of the mountain where they would take the sky tram up to the lodge.
The Prussian looked over. "It was Alfred. He asked if we were there yet."
Nodding, the Italian looked back at his own phone as he began to play the video Alfred sent to all of them, them as in the group:
"This thing on? Oh yeah it is!" Alfred was standing in the middle of his living room, rubbing his hands as he spoke. "Hey guys! Well, it's come to that time of the year. I know the last time we took a trip to the lodge it didn't turn out as we expected... The loss of Antonio and Romano was and is hard on all of us. But, that shouldn't conflict with our yearly tradition right? So! I'm trying to round up the ol' group so we can continue with our little tradition!"
He laughed for a few seconds before rubbing the back of his head.
"I know it'll be a bit awkward and off without Toni and Romano, but let's still try and have a good time. So come on. Let's go back for another night. Let's dedicate this hang out session to Romano and Antonio. Who's with me?"
Alfred smiled before slapping himself in the forehead.
"Psh! Right. I'm recording this. Ha! Well, after I send this and y'all watch it, message me back if you're in. Aight. Bye homies!"
End of video.
Feliciano closed his message app and locked his phone. It wasn't surprise that everyone agreed to come back. The Jones' yearly cabin trip was usually the highlight of their year. With the events that happened, it was obvious everyone needed a little cheering up.
"It's going to be odd going back." The Italian mumbled, looking outside the bus window.
Gilbert looked over at him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. It'll be alright."
A smile was exchanged before the two before they both looked outside for the rest of the bus ride.
...
"How much slower does this thing have to go? I feel like we've been on this for forever."
"Relax, Arthur, it's only been five minutes. Beside, it's slow for our safety."
"If it continues to take so bloody slow I won't need protection over my safety because I will already be dead from frost bite!"
Francis and Arthur sat bundled up in the tram cart as it slowly made its way up the mountain. The sun was just barely peaking over the mountain peaks as it melted into the snow below. The Brit shivered where he sat, casting a frown to the world below him. He hated the snow. Of course, he was used to it but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. Plus, coming back up to the mountain that their friends disappeared on just slightly made him uneasy.
"You're that cold, non?" Francis said with a tiny smirk. He scooted over closer to Arthur and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "I can keep you warm, mon amour. Your poor, unfeeling heart can't even take this cold."
Arthur gave a little scoff and averted his eyes from the blonde. "Yes. I am cold. You're just now realizing that? What do you think I was ranting about on our way up here?" Despite freezing to the bone, a warm blush spread across his pale cheeks as he secretly enjoyed the Frenchman's comforting embrace.
The two have been dating for the past five months. It took the group by surprised when they announced their relationship since everyone assumed they were more enemies than lovers. The only words ever to be exchanged by them were teases and insults. It was even a bit surprising to Arthur and Francis. However, deep down they knew they both cared for each other very deeply and underneath all that 'hate' and arguing was love.
Francis rested his head against Arthur's shoulder after a while, smiling contently. In his opinion, he was quite happy Alfred arranged for this meet up again. Even though the last trip up here was filled with distress and despair, he believed if they all came back again something nice would come out of it. Maybe it would reunite the friends again. Silly, extremely unlikely chance but hey, Francis was full of hope.
Unlike his boyfriend, Arthur wasn't feeling too chipper on returning. Coming back to an isolated cabin lodge where their friends disappeared mysteriously and never found didn't give him the slightest bit of hope or good feeling. It gave him the sense that something bad was going to happen again and it wasn't going to be a good traditional trip once again. Then again, that could just be his pessimistic, negative view on things.
"Alfred better have a heater in the cabin." Arthur grumbled.
A light laugh escaped Francis as he looked over at the Brit. "I'm sure he'll have something for you." His lips curled into a sly smile as he leaned over a bit to ever so slightly touch his lips to Arthur's ear. "Don't worry, Arthur. If you're still cold, I'll make sure to warm us both up all night. Sounds fun, non?"
Arthur felt his face burn a bright red at that as he shakily let out a flustered scoff. "Q-Quit making me blush. I hate it when you do that."
Francis snickered, planting a kiss on the other's cheek.
"I know you secretly don't."
...
Alfred paced the parlor in thought as he waited for his friends to arrive. It was a couple minutes over 7 and their meet up time was 7:30. Of course, it did take some time to make it up the mountain. No one was present there besides the group of friends so every form of transportation would have to be done manually and/or by foot.
No one, including the friends, have been up on this mountain since their last trip. The only visitors that came were the few police officers who took hold of the investigation for Romano and Antonio. However, that ended months ago so it's been almost a year since anyone stepped foot on this mountain...
"Hey, Alfred? How come the lights are off?" Matthew halted Alfred's paced when he quietly entered the room. Violet hues stared innocently at his brother as his body ever so slightly trembled due to the cold.
Alfred shrugged, looking around. "I don't know. I think the generator's off or something. Dad always shuts it off when we aren't up here. He probably forgot to turn it on." He grinned over at Matthew, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't worry. I'll have someone come with me to turn it on. We just gotta wait for everyone else."
And the conversation stopped there.
Alfred had come up to the mountain with Kiku and Matthew. They came a bit early to open it up and clean up the dust that settled upon the furniture. Everything was left how it was. The burnt firewood was left uncleaned in the fireplace. The wine stained cup still sat alone on the kitchen counter from a year ago. It was as if they never left.
"Do you have any snacks here, Alfred?" Kiku questioned, coming through the door from the hallways. The American looked over and pointed over to the kitchen.
"Yeah, dude. I got some chips and soda. There's, like, other stuff in there if you want to check it out."
Matthew sat near the window, peering out at the swaying trees. Snow floated past as it sprinkled down from the sky above. It was a truly beautiful sight. The moon gave off an eerie feel to the shadows that engulfed the white coated pine trees. Outside held a thousand tales, each one of them aching to be told.
"Hello? Alfred? It's Gilbert and Feliciano!" A cheerful voice coated in a German accent was muffled behind the front door. Strong fists continuously knocked on the door until Alfred walked over and unlocked it.
Gilbert and Feliciano stood outside, snow piled up on their head and clothing. The albino flashed Alfred a bright smile and quickly shuffled in, the Italian following quickly behind.
"Welcome bros!" Alfred exclaimed, closing the door behind them. He laughed happily as the two arrivals sat down on the couch. "Y'all are the first to show up!"
"Really? I thought we'd be the last." Gilbert said, shaking the snow out of his hair. "Feli and I got side tracked with the little gun range by the sky tram." He chuckled, looking over at Feliciano.
Feliciano sat quietly, staring about the room with a heavy heart. It was uneasy for him to be back here. Knowing this was the last time he saw his brother. The last time he was here was when his brother went missing. Even though it's been a full year since the incident, Feliciano still felt as if it just happened yesterday.
Gilbert noticed his off demeanor and scooted closer to him. "Hey, it's okay. We're going to have fun here tonight, alright?" He smiled over at him, trying to cheer him up. "We're gonna be hanging out with everyone and just having a blast!"
When the invitation was first sent out, Feliciano had declined to go. It took a lot of convincing and comforting from the group to get him to, at least, think about it. Gilbert's visits and talks definitely was the stepping stone to actually get the other to agree to come. Nonetheless, he still was uneasy about being back up on that mountain.
"Alfred, open up! If you don't let us in this instant I will personally break this door down!" The angry voice of Arthur was harshly muffled behind the front door as his fists feverishly knocked on the wood.
Alfred went over and opened it up with a laugh. "Welcome yo-"
Arthur shoved his way inside, immediately diverging any introductions and greetings and directly sat down on the couch across from Feliciano and Gilbert. His normally pale complexion was even whiter underneath the little kisses the snow planted upon his body.
"I apologize for Arthur's rude behavior. It seems he managed to wedge a stick up his ass from one of the pine trees outside." Francis's figure came through the door, smiling over at Alfred. Alfred gave a little shrug, closing the door.
"Nah, it's alright. I expected a greeting like that from Arthur." The American snickered. He and Arthur had some history behind them, seeing as how they dated for a very short time before ending it. But that didn't conflict too much with their friendship.
Francis nodded, going over to sit beside his disgruntled boyfriend.
For a couple minutes, everyone stood or sat in an odd silence. There was a peculiar feel of waiting or someone else to come. However, everyone already arrived. This was everyone. Yet, 'everyone' didn't feel complete.
Last year, everyone arrived almost exactly in this order. Alfred waiting for them with Matthew and Kiku. Gilbert coming in first. Which was then followed by Arthur and Francis. Except, Romano, Feliciano, and Antonio would come together last. They would be laughing and joking as they walked in which always ended up with Romano getting annoyed over the littlest of things.
The Brit scoffed, breaking this silence. "Why is it cold in here? Do you not have a heater or fireplace that can warm it up? I'm not planning on freezing to death up here."
Alfred snapped his fingers, the reoccurring thought of the generator popping into his mind.
"Yes! I do have a heater, but the generator's turned off, I suppose." The American informed, all eyes turned to him. He looked over at Arthur. "Since you've so graciously reminded me of it, how about you go and turn it on?"
Arthur frowned over at the other. They always pushed at each other's buttons.
Francis sighed and smiled. "We'll go turn it on. Right, Arthur?" He took the Briton's hand in his, gradually pulling him off the couch and averting his glare from Alfred. With a huff, Arthur turned and went to the door.
"Fine. We'll go turn it on while you sit on your lazy ass up here."
Alfred's playful smile disappeared and a cold look crossed over his face. Before any further arguments could commence, the two men left the room to go to the generator.
Once again, a silence settled about the group of friends. It was a repetitive act to happen that Alfred was worried will continue. He invited everyone up here to move on and reconstruct the bond with them all.
Kiku rubbed the back of his neck, looking around awkwardly. "Um, I'm going to go get us some firewood from the basement. Just so we can warm up this place a bit more." Gilbert and Feliciano nodded to what was said, not saying a thing.
"I'll go with you." Alfred responded with a forced smile. "There might be some sweet ass games down there too we can play!"
With that, the two friends left side by side and down to the basement.
Which left the Canadian, German, and Italian.
"Hey, Gilbert?" Feliciano mumbled, not standing another silent moment. "I think I'm going to go take a nice bath. I feel the need to wash those pine needles and bird feathers off from the little gun range."
The albino nodded, smiling at the other. "Alright."
Feliciano smiled back then turned to leave the room. He trotted up the steps to where the large bathroom was to hop into the bathtub.
Now, only a Canadian and German were left. Gilbert sat back on the couch, looking at his fingers. Matthew bit his lip, shifting where he stood.
Everyone was so reserved and off about this whole trip. Partially, it was because a majority of them didn't feel right coming back to this lodge. Coming back to when they lost two friends. Coming back to the suspicious mountain that made two people just vanish out of thin air. However, all could agree they wanted to restore the uneasiness and grief that still lingered in their minds. All, even if they didn't want to agree, wish for everything to go back to how it was before.
"Mattie, you want to, I don't know, do something?" Gilbert said after a good five minutes of silence. "Everyone else seems to have left and done what they please. There must be something to mess around with here." He looked up, examining the old wooden surfaces of everything.
Matthew shrugged, looking around as well. "Al's dad has a mini library here... Maybe we can go check out the books they have?" He suggested, keeping his gaze from connecting with the other. Gilbert thought for a second before nodding.
"Okay, let's go." He stood up, Matthew following by his side. "Maybe, if we're lucky, we can find some naughty books. Knowing Alfred, he might some boobs and dicks to see."
Matthew felt his face redden at this, silently groaning. Gilbert and his brother were very similar, which made the blonde dread spending time with either of them. It was like having two irritating brothers around. But, everyone else had gone and Matthew didn't have the courage to decline.
"Okay... Whatever you say, Gil."
- - - - - - -
A/N:
Kind of a slow chapter, I know. This is a character development story. You'll get more in depth information in the upcoming chapters. Also, chaos will start to stir next chapter so :) yeah.
(forewarning: there will be one NSFW scene in one of the upcoming ones. I don't normally write those but this has to do with the story. just to give you guys a heads up.)