Alfred and Arthur were seated in a cafe that was stationed near the building Alfred worked in. They had gone to McDonalds and surely Alfred paid for everything, though Arthur didn't actually order anything. The Brit demanded they go to a proper restaurant for lunch, but Alfred complained that they didn't have enough time. So they settled for the nearest cafe. Arthur ordered some tea and snacks and Alfred paid for all that as well, since he promised that he would pay. (Though Arthur didn't actually have to order the most expensive snack on the menu...)
Arthur took a sip of his tea, taking a quick glance at Alfred. The boy was stuffing his mouth with a burger, staring right back at Arthur. He raised an eyebrow in question, and Alfred responded by smirking slightly as he pulled away from the burger, still staring at Arthur straight in the eye.
'What in the world are you doing?' Arthur thought as he stared back at Alfred, pulling away from his tea.
It was almost like they were having a staring contest. And neither of them were planning to lose.
Alfred brought the burger back to his lips, taking a small bite, his gaze never faltering.
Arthur took a long sip from his teacup, narrowing his eyes in concentration.
Well, this was random. They were having a pointless staring contest in the middle of a perfectly fine lunch hour. But for some reason, Arthur didn't want to lose this pointless battle. He would have just ignored the challenge if it was anyone else, but when it came to Alfred, he could not help but fight back a bit..
"You gonna blink?" Alfred chuckled.
"Nope. You, perhaps?"
Alfred shook his head.
"This can go on for as loong as you make it last, y'know?" he waggled his eyebrow suggestively.
"Indeed, I am very aware of that. So glad you're informed." Arthur scoffed.
"Matty, you can't leave! What about me?!" Alfred screamed as Matthew walked towards the door with his bags.
"Alfred... For the last time, I don't have a future here.. I'm going to Canada. Here," Matthew handed him a cheque.
"I'll just give you this as a head start, the rest, you have to make on your own. You decide what to do with it. It's now your only hope of survival, so spend it well.." and with that, Matthew walked out the door.
500,00 dollars. Matthew had given him 500K to live for the rest of his life. Alfred sighed.
Ever since their father died, everything's gone haywire.
Matthew decided to sell the house and fly to Canada, because he received a job offer there. He had more of a future there, he said.
Alfred felt like crying, but his feelings were past tears. No. He wouldn't cry. There was no time for tears. He ran to the bathroom and stared at the mirror.
Eyes that were as as blue as the sky, a small frown on his young face. He stared at his reflection, unblinking, unthinking, unwilling to lose.
'I won't lose to you. I am not you. I'm much stronger than you. I won't stand you. I won't keep you. Go away. Stay away. Hide forever, somewhere I won't see you ever again. Because I know that I am stronger than that. I won't, never will I ever, cry."
And with that, he smiled at the mirror and retreated to his room, packing his bags, getting ready to move to anywhere his heart desired.
"Alfred?! Blink, you bloke! You win already just- blink!" Arthur shook Alfred's shoulders, bringing him back from his thoughts.
Alfred blinked. Hard. So hard that tears began to spill from the corner of his eyes.
"Argh, damn it!" He rubbed his eyes, getting rid of the tears that had forced themselves out.
"Alfred..." Arthur's expression softened. "Are you alright? Does it sting?"
Alfred wiped the tears away and mustered the most realistic smile he could surface.
"Yeah, 'm okay! My eyes just went dry-"
"Alfred." Arthur stared at him, the expression on his face practically screamed 'Stop lying to me, git. Alfred chuckled and slung an arm around the Brit's neck.
"I'm okay, really-"
"No. You are going to ditch work today. I'm going to take you somewhere fun instead of go on with your life at such a boring pace.." Alfred blinked in surprise. He had never expected Arthur, of all people, to ask him to ditch work. Arthur gave Alfred no time to think, for he had already grabbed Alfred's hand and forced him up, dragging him away from the cafe.
Alfred sputtered and tried to keep up with Arthur, who was surprisingly strong for his height.
"Ffft- Slow down! Where are you taking me?!" Alfred whined.
"I don't bloody know! I just don't want you to stay cooped up in that boring world of yours!" Arthur snarled, causing Alfred to shut up immediately.
They arrived at a small park, not like Central Park or something, but a small park. The types that were almost always empty and too small to be significant.
'Perfect.' Arthur thought to himself and he dragged Alfred to a bench and sat down.
"Hmph... Well, we're here. Now what do you want to do?" Alfred pouted, but nonetheless, stayed.
"Hm... Well, er...." Arthur stammered. He didn't actually plan what they were going to do to pass the time.
"Well?"
"D-Don't be such a wet blanket! Think of something you want to do, twat!" Arthur flushed.
Alfred chuckled and decided to look around. There wasn't much to do, really. There was a small pond at the corner and beside it, a tree. A cute, little fountain at the center. A playground-
"Hey, Arthur, let's go over there!" Alfred pointed to the swing set of the playground, making Arthur quirk a brow.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Why not?" he asked sheepishly. Alfred never actually played in playgrounds as a child, for he became a delinquent shortly after his mother died.
Arthur sighed. "Alright. I'll play along." 'Just... Be yourself, please?' he thought. It was hidden, and well hidden for that matter, that Alfred was just acting like everything was fine. For in fact, there was this certain thing that stirred inside the boy. Something that wanted to express deep emotions. But nobody would ever listen. Nobody.
Alfred grinned and stood up, taking the Brit's hand and dragging him to the small playground. He got on the swing and began to push himself back, only to swing forward again. Arthur rolled his eyes as he watched the full grown man play on the swing set. Alfred was fully enjoying himself, though, and that was what mattered- what matters, the most. Arthur felt a jolt. He looked around. The thing he was looking for. That something. It was close by! Arthur could feel it..
"Hey, Artie! Come swing with me will ya? It's no fun if your just gonna watch me!" Alfred smiled, skidding to a stop and patting the swing next to him. Arthur looked around for a moment. The presence of that something was still there.. He couldn't miss the chance of finding it! Not while he had a clue, a trace, that it even existed.
"Uhm.. I'm much too old for that, Alfred. I'll just watch." Arthur was backing away slowly, looking for the source of the feeling.
Alfred pouted childishly. "Why not? Nobody's here! You don't need to act all mature and stuff!"
Arthur felt the presence grow stronger. Now he had to go find it. It was so close!
"No thank you, Alfred." Arthur said sternly.
Alfred flushed and softly kicked at the ground, making him rock a bit, but not fully swing. His face reflected disappointment for a brief moment before he looked away from Arthur and turned around so he was facing the opposite direction.
At that precise moment, the feeling disappeared. The 'something' had disappeared, without a trace. Arthur sighed in defeat. Damn it, he had a trail and thanks to the twat, he lost it. He eyed Alfred for a while before letting out an annoyed huff. 'I guess i've nothing to lose. Now that i've lost the trail...' and he sat on the empty swing next to Alfred. He wordlessly kicked at the ground and began to swing, going higher and higher every kick. Alfred looked up and saw Arthur, amazed at how high the Brit was going. He smirked slightly and began to swing as well, silently asking the Brit for a challenge. Arthur snickered and tried his best to maintain the momentum, but Alfred was catching up fast. When they both reached the limit of the swings, Arthur decided to do something a bit outrageous. When he swung forward, he hopped of the seat and was launched forward, landing on his feet, but falling back onto his butt.
"Wow! Didn't think you'd have it in yah!" Alfred grinned. He then gave one more powerful swing before hopping off as well, landing not-so gracefully just a few feet from Arthur. Landing on his feet then falling onto his butt, before clumsily laying on the floor. He brought his hand up and gave a thumbs up. "I win!~" He sang playfully.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "How is falling in such a ridiculous way 'winning'?"
"Because I landed farther than you!"
"Pfft! Cheeky git!"
Alfred looked back and gave a wink.
Arthur chuckled. Alfred joined in. And they played in that small, nameless park until the sun was out of sight.
Alfred and Arthur went through that nightly routine. Get fixed up for bed, argue on who gets to sleep on the couch, Alfred taking the couch, Arthur sighing and crawling into bed.. The only difference was, Arthur had the urge to look at something inside the closet. He stood up from the bed and silently walked towards the direction of the closet. (It was relatively hard to find, since the room was nearly pitch black)
When Arthur found the handle of the closet door, he opened it carefully and looked around. 'Hmm, let's see... Clothes, hangars, shoes, a box-' he stopped there, for when he looked inside the box, something was different. The last time he put away that box, it was empty. The box labeled 'Memories'.
Curious, he peeked inside the box to get a better look as to what was inside. There was a broken compact mirror and n' old fountain pen. But that was about it. 'That's... Odd. But i'm sure Alfred just put those in here..' It was an unsure thought. A bit of a puzzle... Hm, no matter. It was still none of his business... At least, not yet.
A/N: HNNNG OMYGOODNESS IM SO SORRY!
It was because my laptop broke, so I had no time to work on the story! Thank you all for your support on this story. I am very glad. Please keep giving your reviews! The next chapter should be up sooner than this one...
