Arthur awoke the next morning to the sound of his blaring alarm clock. He groaned and slammed his hand down on the snooze button. Arthur laid in bed for only a few moments before he forced himself up and out. He grabbed the empty tea cup next to the bed and traveled to the kitchen, washing the cup and placing it back in the cupboard. Arthur ran a hand through his hair as he walked back to his room and quickly got dressed. He glanced at his watch. 6:47 AM. Only a half hour until his next shift. That Francis was going to drive his wacko with all this work. But, Arthur didn't complain. It was more money for him and Peter both. Speaking of Peter.
Arthur traveled over to the boy's room and opened the door. He glanced in and saw that Peter was still in bed, fast asleep. Arthur sighed and decided to let him miss today's school day as well. Education may be important but health was much more important than that. Arthur walked over to the side of the bed and placed a kiss on Peter's forehead before turning to leave.
"I'm glad I'm keeping him home today. His skin feels really clammy. Maybe I should call a doctor," Arthur said to himself, not really believing it since he knew there was no way he could afford a doctor visit.
Arthur sighed and grabbed his bike lock key.
"See you later, Peter!" Arthur shouted as he walked out the door.
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"You look tired," Eduard commented as Arthur approached the store.
"I am. But, I'll get through the day," Arthur said.
"Can you get through another double shift?" Eduard asked, holding up the revised schedule.
"What?" Arthur exclaimed.
He snatched the schedule from Eduard's hand and looked it over. For the next five days it was nothing but double shift for both him and Eduard.
"What happened to Matthew?" Arthur asked.
"He quit. He said the boss was sexually harassing him," Eduard replied.
Arthur sighed. He hoped to god that Francis didn't have any thoughts about him. He'd have to quit and find another job. That wouldn't be good at this moment. Arthur closed his eyes in frustration and clenched his fist. A now familiar smell entered his nose. Arthur opened his eyes again and saw a lit cigarette in front of his face. Silently, Arthur took it. There was no point in fighting it back now. Arthur took a small drag and coughed, not as badly as before. Eduard handed a whole pack to Arthur, who took it without complaint.
"Finally warming up?" Eduard asked.
"I didn't know you wanted to be warmed up too," Arthur replied, voice a little raspy.
Eduard just smiled. Arthur turned away form him and continued to practice smoking without burning his lungs to a crisp. After a few moments, Arthur and Eduard went into the store together, getting ready to face another new day of stressful double shifts.
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Arthur sighed and yawned, stretching out to the fullest extent. Eduard slid off his work coat and threw it on the back of his bike. He took out his pack of cigarettes and lit one up, basking in the smoke that was killing his lungs from the inside out. He glanced over at Arthur. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning. Eduard got onto his bike and started it up.
"Want a ride home?" He shouted out over his engine.
"What about my bike?" Arthur shouted back.
Without warning, Eduard grabbed Arthur and threw him onto the bike, hopping on and driving out at nearly top speed. He laughed out loud when Arthur shrieked and quickly wrapped his arms around Eduard's middle so he wouldn't fall off. After a little while of speeding through cars and laughing, Eduard glanced back for a second to check if Arthur was okay. Arthur had his face buried in Eduard's back, refusing to look up.
"Arthur! Look!" Eduard shouted.
After a few seconds, Arthur brought his face up and peeked over Eduard's shoulder. He was quite shocked at the speed of the lights and other cars passing by as Eduard zipped around them with practiced ease. It was scary but amazing at the same time. Arthur couldn't help but stare. His grip was still secured tightly around Eduard's middle however.
"Having fun?" Eduard shouted back to him.
Arthur kept silent and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then they shot open again.
"This isn't the way to my house!" He shouted.
He caught Eduard's small smirk.
"I know!" He shouted.
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"So, you kidnapped me to take me to a diner?" Arthur asked.
"Yup," Eduard relied, leading Arthur to a corner booth in the diner that he had stopped at.
Arthur sighed and slipped in. A nice looking waiter came up to the two. He was fairly tall with short blond hair, blue eyes, glasses, and a menacing stare.
"Hey, Berwald," Eduard said.
"Hm," Berwald answered.
He looked at Arthur. Arthur shrank back a bit from the much taller and stronger looking man's stare. He felt extremely uncomfortable about the man.
"Th' us'al?" Berwald asked, turning his gaze back to Eduard.
He nodded and held up two fingers, signaling he wanted one for Arthur as well. Berwald wrote down something in his little booklet and went to the kitchen to get whatever the usual was. Eduard turned to Arthur with a smile on his usually emotionless face.
"What did you think about my bike?" He asked.
"It wasn't bad, I guess," Arthur replied.
"I can give you a ride to work from now on if you want," Eduard said.
Arthur shook his head.
"You don't have to," he said.
"But, I want to," Eduard said.
Arthur glanced at him. Eduard smiled sweetly and looked around the diner. He smiled as he saw Berwald trying his best to flirt with another usual customer, Tino. An idea struck him and he smirked. Eduard put his hands around his mouth to accumulate more sound.
"Stop flirting and kiss him!" He shouted.
Both Tino and Berwald turned to him in surprise. Tino's face lit up in a bright blush. Berwald's own face gained a little color as he turned away and quickly raced into the back to check on the food. Arthur sighed and tried to hide his face behind the menu as people turned to Eduard to stare. Eduard just smiled and turned his attention back to Arthur.
"So, Arthur, got a girlfriend?" He asked.
"No. I'm not into that," Arthur replied.
Eduard tilted his head to the side.
"Not into what?" He asked.
"N-nothing," Arthur replied.
Eduard smiled.
"I don't mind if you're gay. I mean, it would be like insulting myself," he said.
Arthur looked at him.
"You're gay?" He asked.
"Yup. Just got over boyfriend number six last week. Although, I guess it was good. He was a fat drunkard anyway. Stupid Russian bastard," Eduard muttered.
Arthur couldn't help but laugh a little bit. Eduard smiled as well.
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"So, you only live alone with your little brother?" Eduard asked.
Arthur nodded.
"Who do you live with?" He asked.
"I live alone. But, I used to live with my two little brothers. Raivis and Toris. Toris moved in with his boyfriend. Raivis was adopted by Berwald when I couldn't afford to support us when our parents died," Eduard replied.
"Sounds like me and Peter," Arthur muttered.
Eduard gave him a sympathetic smile. Arthur sighed and pushed his nearly empty plate away from him.
"I don't want to be rude or anything, but, I need to get home. Peter's sick," he said.
Eduard nodded. He got up, followed by Arthur and paid for the food. Berwald nodded goodbye to him as he walked by with a full tray of drinks. Tino kissed Eduard on the cheek and went back to work. Eduard led Arthur back to the bike and hopped on, patting the seat behind him. Arthur reluctantly hopped on and wrapped his arms around Eduard's middle. They sped off.
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"Peter! I'm home!" Arthur shouted.
No answer. Arthur assumed Peter was still sleeping. Eduard followed into the apartment after Arthur, insisting on meeting Peter. Arthur stepped to the side to allow him in. Eduard removed his coat and placed on a nearby couch. He looked around and couldn't help but feel bad. He spotted a few pictures on the table next to the couch. He looked at them.
"Who're these people?" He asked.
Arthur looked over. He walked over and sat on the couch. He pointed to the first one. It was a picture of two older people who were posing in front of Big Ben. The woman in the picture was pregnant.
"Those are my parents. This was when my mum was pregnant with me when we all used to live in London," Arthur explained.
He turned to the next one. This was a picture of himself when he was younger holding a small baby in his arms.
"This is me and Peter," he explained.
"Whose this?" Eduard asked, pointing to another picture.
Arthur looked at it. His smile faded. This picture was a of a young man with his arm slung around Arthur's shoulders. They were both teenagers in this picture. The young man wore glasses and had blond hair and blue eyes. His teeth were white and perfect as they flashed at the camera in a big goofy grin. In the picture Arthur looked shocked as he was pulled to the man by the arm around his shoulders. A blush was clear on his face. In the background was a wooded area with a sign that said 'Sunny Hills Summer Camp'.
"That's…Alfred," Arthur said, taking a large pause before saying his name.
Eduard looked up at him slightly confused. Arthur was silent for a little while.
"He was my best friend when we were younger. We went to that camp every year before my parents died. After that, I stopped going to see him because I was avoiding social services with Peter. When I finally did get the time to see him I found out from his parents that he had died. He caught an unknown illness and just…died," Arthur explained.
Eduard watched him silently. Arthur looked like he wanted to cry but he didn't. Instead he lifted himself from the couch and walked down the hall. Eduard followed after. They both stopped at the door of a room and Arthur opened it.
"Pe-" he stopped himself, nearly gagging on the sudden smell that invaded his nose.
Eduard quickly covered his nose as the smell hit his nose as well. He knew that smell. It was the smell of cold earth. The smell of rot. The smell of decay. The smell, of death. Arthur backed up from the room, covering his mouth so he wouldn't throw up. Eduard walked into the room and went over to the bed. Fly's flew away from the bed as he approached. He swatted them away and grabbed the blanket, pulling it back with one hand, so he could still cover his nose and see what lay underneath. His suspicions were confirmed. Peter was dead.
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OMG! I FEEL SO BAD FOR KILLING YOU PETER! *Sob*
I'm sorry to all Sealand fans but it needed to be done. This is an important point to the plot later. The next chapter will be coming soo so watch for it.
Signed,
KillerFever