SO sorry for the delay. College applications and finals take up so much time. But I digress, here is chapter five, the longest yet.

Axis Powers Hetalia (c) Hidekaz Himaruya

"Wh-What?"

"I'm pregnant, Alfred."

This wasn't happening. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it wasn't supposed to be like this at all. To lead to all this chaos. There were no feelings, no sentiment, no attachment. Alfred's blood turned to ice and cold, stiff fingers found their way into disheveled blonde hair. Cobalt eyes widened as he carefully lowered himself to sit on his bed, unsure if he could even hold himself up after hearing those words.

I'm pregnant.

"..."

"Alfred?"

His mind was a whirlwind of assumptions and conclusions. What was going to happen now? The American was still and sat silently with his eyes glued to the floor, a stony expression replacing the one of shock he wore just a few seconds ago. He gazed ahead unseeingly. This was a dream, wasn't it? It had to be. This couldn't happen to him. It always happened to someone else. Always.

"Hello?! Alfred, are you-"

"Why?!" Alfred interjected, cutting the other voice short. His expression changed once more, from stony to panicked, clutching at the phone. "I don't understand how this happened- we used-"

The female voice on the other end cut him off with more exclamations. Alfred could picture Alexa's horrified face and devastated eyes as she spoke, most likely clutching the phone to her ear as well on the other end. "... and my father, he's, well, I'm scared for you, even though I don't really know you, I-"

Alfred, already upset by the whole situation, growled and slammed his hand into the nearest bed post, rattling the frame. "Stop! Just stop. I don't care what your father does at the moment, I'm just still trying to understand how this fuckin' happened, it was impossible! You said you weren't in heat."

There was a long pause on the other end, a stomach wrenching silence than made the American doubt everything he'd ever said or done. After a few seconds of hearing only breathing, Alfred spoke. "Hello?"

"I-I... I think I was."

"ALFRED!"

Alfred was snapped out of whatever trance he'd been in at the sharp snapping of his name from the speaker of his cell phone. "A-Arthur?" It took a second, but the unique sound of Arthur's voice brought him back to reality and the present.

It was as if the words from his past had been cut out of time's fabric and thrown back at him. An intense feeling of morbid familiarity washed over Alfred in that moment as his eyes widened and stared at the opposite wall; the forming pit in his stomach was the most uncomfortable thing he'd ever felt in his life. There he sat in the same place on the edge of his bed; it was a few hours past noon and Alfred had been busy finding something productive to do before his night class began when his phone received the fateful call. It was the second round, and Alfred was 0 for 2, it seemed.

"Pregnant..." he repeated, testing the word on his tongue and ears as if completely foreign to him.

Arthur's dull demeanor was obvious even over the phone. When he spoke his voice was gray and defeated. "Yes, you imbecile, pregnant. Know what it means?"

Alfred sighed. If he was going to be going through this again, at least he could handle things a bit more rationally, though it was sort of sad to think of it that way. "Yeah, I know what it means..." Alfred let his gaze fall a bit lower. Where to go from here? "Well... who knows about this?"

There was a pause before Arthur spoke, as if the man hadn't thought about it. "Just the doctor, and... w-well, obviously me and you."

Another silence. Where could they start? There was so much to talk about yet so little to say. Alfred wanted to talk to the Briton face to face, but at the same time he didn't want to see him at all. The situation was a fragile one. He had to keep his own emotions in check and try not to panic, to keep a cool head and think about everything logically, no matter how hard and frustrating it would be. Alfred's fingers shook as he rubbed his neck nervously. His throat had run dry long ago and now he was running his tongue over his chapped lips, coughing on an attempt to speak. When he did his voice was hoarse.

"Arthur, I-"

Click.

Silence again. And that was it. Alfred was met with nothing as the phone call dropped. "Damn..." he murmured to himself as he let the cell phone slip out of his hand and onto the duvet next to him. Arthur had hung up without any warning or last words. Why? Alfred could think of many reasons why, actually. He was embarrassed, ashamed, defeated. Nervous about what the future held. What would happen to him? To them both? What was the next step? Or, better yet, what was the first step out of this mess?

What he hadn't done with Alexa was take it any further than this. Alexa was just another pretty Omega girl he'd met in his freshman year at university. There hadn't been any alcohol or anything involved that night, and Alfred had asked her more than once if she was in heat, to which she'd insisted that she was indeed not. So there was nothing wrong with going all the way for mere pleasure. Right?

Wrong. He'd received a call with shocking news about a month later when Alexa must have began noticing that something wasn't quite right with her body.

The story ended there, as far as Alfred was concerned, but not without threats from the girl's Alpha father, disconcerting little letters sent in the mail promising his death or his pain. They stopped when Alexa's family moved away, most likely to get away from it all. Alfred hadn't seen or heard about them since he found out they were leaving for a city far away from New York, which he was definitely relieved and grateful for. The last thing he needed at the moment was a fight.

What he did need was to fix the present. Alfred felt utterly sick for the rest of the day, arguing with himself, struggling with the predicament. He felt an intense need to make everything better, a strong sense of obligation. He was going to support Arthur if it was the last thing he'd ever do.

Arthur had hung up that night out of immense uncertainty and fear. He had no idea what to say to the other, or what was the next appropriate step to take. All he wanted to do was hide in bed for the next couple of months. That would be the easy way out of everything.

But that obviously wasn't an option. He still had to work, even though he had a reason to stop attending classes. That was the depressing part of it; usually, an Omega wanted to leave school and could leave work once blessed with a child because they had a loving Alpha partner to support them. An Omega was happy to be pregnant and overjoyed to be starting a family. But Arthur was none of those things and had no loving partner to support him. His stomach squirmed when he thought about Alfred. He was unsure of how to feel about him or what to say to him, even how to act around him. It was hard to resent him for all of what happened, Arthur was having trouble bringing himself to be angry. All he could feel for certain was exhaustion from the stress of the pregnancy test and the taxing days of his heat that subsided only a day or two ago. Deep down he knew that he was just as much to blame for all of this that Alfred was, and that being the Omega partner didn't excuse him from anything. He could have said no, he could have insisted. He also should have been more in tune with his body. Arthur still couldn't believe that Alfred had picked up that he was starting his heat but he himself hadn't noticed a thing.

Arthur called the university and let them know of his situation so as to remove himself from the roster. He was done for a while, perhaps even forever. It was a devastating thought, but Arthur pushed it aside before the concept could sink in.

He spent the next few days lying around doing nothing productive, which, under normal circumstances, would have horrified the Briton to no end. Now Arthur told himself he needed time to let everything sink in and to sort everything out in his head. He found himself touching his mid-section at times, holding it, prodding it tenderly. It wasn't that he'd grown any larger than he normally was, because his appearance had remained unchanged so far- it was the mere idea of being pregnant, of having a child, that threw him for a loop.

One of his more composed days came and he finally checked his cell phone. Turned out his friends had called him the morning after his "disappearance" at the club. Arthur curled up in bed and listened to the voicemail he'd received over the past two or three days in which all he'd done was work and sleep. He let his tired eyes close as he listened to Felix's sincere voice hoping he got home safe and to call him back as soon as he got the message.

"I guess I should..." Arthur murmured to himself, pulling the phone away from his ear to squint at the illuminated screen, flipping through the device until he came across Felix's number.

"Arthur?!" An emotional voice sounded when the phone stopped ringing. "We were so worried about you! Thank god you finally called!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Hello, Felix. Is everyone okay? Tell them I'm alive and well, if you please."

"Of course I will! I'm just so happy you called. Seriously, Toris and I were thinking about reporting a missing person if you didn't call in the next day or so," Felix continued.

Really? It had been almost a week and they were only now thinking about filing a missing person report? Some friends. "Yeah, well... can I, er, tell you something?"

"Huh?" the Polish boy chirped, caught off guard by Arthur's serious tone. "Sure, Arthur, what's up?"

Arthur's throat closed. Someone had to know, he had to tell someone. He couldn't hide it forever anyhow, they would notice him absent from his classes and his lack of calls. He opened his mouth to speak but no sound was emitted; he tried desperately to form the right words but only short, stuttering sounds of the beginning a failed sentence escaped his lips. Arthur gave a shaky sigh.

It must have taken him a bit too long to answer, for Felix's voiced pierced the growing silence on the line, concerned. "Arthur? Are you-"

"I'm pregnant," the Briton cut in, blurting it out while he still felt the courage. He was starting to lose faith in his voice. Every time he pushed the words out they were slightly more believable, sinking deeper into his mind each time he heard them aloud. "I am... I'm pregnant..."

There was a long, surprised sort of silence that followed Arthur's confession. It was only when the Briton had begun to assume that Felix had dropped the phone in shock or something of the like that the accented voice on the other end yelled, "Toris! Arthur's pregnant!" His voice was gleeful, completely ignorant to the Briton's situation and the hellish feeling in his chest. Though, how could he know? "Oh, Arthur, that's fantastic! Tell me-"

"Felix!" Arthur barked, stopping the giddy Pole in his proverbial tracks. Sometimes Felix could be unhealthily unobservant and, in Arthur's opinion, way too upbeat and animated. "Sorry, it's just... it was an accident. Nothing to be happy about. I'm sorry."

There was a few second pause before a light gasp. "Oh... I-I'm sorry, I didn't... um..."

There was a shuffling noise in Arthur's ear and muffled words. A moment later a more composed voice began to speak. "Hey, Arthur's it's Toris. I'm so sorry about this... do you need to talk?

Arthur would have scoffed if that wasn't such a rude thing to do to a friend. Talk? That was the last thing he wanted to do. What was there to even discuss? He was careless and got knocked up. No matter how much he'd wanted it. Alfred was just so intriguing. He actually accepted Arthur for the screwed up Omega he was, for all the things he'd snapped. He supposed he didn't know the American all that well, and that Alfred certainly didn't know him, but he found that he'd enjoyed his company immensely, setting aside the sex, which he'd also enjoyed immensely. If only they'd been more cautious, they could have actually had something.

Could they still? Arthur's head throbbed when he thought about it for more than a minute or so.

"Arthur?" came Toris' voice, uncertain.

Lost in his thoughts, Arthur decided that now was a good time to end the conversation. "I'm here, Toris. Actually, I'm afraid I have to hang up, people to call and doctors to see. Thank you for the offer."

"A-Ah... no problem. Well, ehm, feel better?"

"Yeah, thanks." What else was he supposed to say? Arthur made up a quick lie to get off the phone so he could think in peace. He laid back on a graying pillow and let his eyes droop, allowing his mind to wander. It never strayed far from the current issue, unless you counted Alfred as far. Arthur had no idea what to think about him. Yes, he was the one who got him pregnant, but Arthur couldn't hate him for it or feel any resentment at all, as a matter of fact. Ironically, he found himself wanting the other with him.

What would become of that?

Before Arthur could stop himself his hand was reaching for the phone once more, dialing Alfred's number for a third time. "A-Alfred?" he managed when he heard the other's greeting, which surrounded somewhat labored and tired.

"H-Hey, Arthur!" he panted, though his tone was cheerful. "Is everything okay?"

No. Of course it wasn't. "Come to my apartment... would you?" he requested, somewhat demanded, as if they were life-long friends.

"Uh, sure. I'm at the gym up at school right now, so I'll be, like, twenty minutes. Cool?"

Arthur's eyes widened. He was working out. Images of the other in a sleeveless shirt and shorts raced to the front of his mind. Arms shining, chest bulging, hair damp and tousled going in every which direction. He imagined how the other might wipe his mouth on his forearm or towel off his sweaty brow with the rag he always brought. It would hang over a nearby bar as he lifted god knew how much weight or ran a few miles on a treadmill, waiting to be of use. His eyes closed of their own accord as he remembered the feel of Alfred's firm body against his and Arthur shuddered to himself.

Oh god, his mind had wandered way too far. Just the word gym had set his imagination wild and, for some reason, he couldn't get himself to feel too badly for it. He knew he had to stop this stupid lusting, it was a must. But it was difficult.

"Yeah, that's... that's fine," Arthur muttered in reply.

"Cool... ehm, are you sure everything's okay over there? You can tell me-"

"Yes, everything's fine," Arthur snapped, brows furrowing in frustration. He couldn't just stop talking a drive over already? Alfred's voice was full of concern and it was making him impatient.

"... well, good. Hang tight for a little, I'll be right over. I just gotta shower and change and-"

Oh please no. That would only take longer. "No, don't. Just come straight here." Arthur winced as his voice wavered. He hung up after hearing Alfred's wary response and let his phone fall wherever, groaning into the blankets around him. He had no idea why he even wanted the Alpha to be there. Did he? Arthur knew only that he craved him. As to what about him, however, he was clueless.

The next half hour was absolute torture, especially since Alfred had said he'd be there in twenty minutes. Arthur flitted between groaning angrily and crying in frustration. It was way too early for the pregnancy hormones to be taking effect, or so he thought. Maybe it was an emotion side effect.

Another few minutes passed before there came knock on his door. This time Arthur could actually get up and open it, and, remembering this, the Briton raced into the main room and flung open the door. Primal urges taking over, he pounced on the unsuspecting Alpha, grabbing the back of his neck and tugging his head down so their lips would meet quickly, pressing them together frantically. Just the body contact was enough to elicit a needy moan from the Briton as he pressed closer to the other.

A second or two went by before Alfred recovered and pushed the Briton inside so as to get out of the hallway. "Hey, Arthur, take it easy..." he muttered, fumbling blindly with the door behind him, trying to lock it without pushing Arthur away.

"N-No, kiss me..." Arthur demanded, though it came out as more of a whimper than anything. He stood on his toes to initiate another kiss, grasping the other's shirt with hellish need. Alfred's strong scent invaded his body with every inhale and he gasped it in, as if breathing for the first time in days. The image of the American at the gym floated back up to the front of his mind and Arthur pressed a hand to his chest. He could have shuddered imagining the power beneath the skin beneath his sweaty shirt. Perhaps it was just the hormones talking. He moaned when the other finally kissed him back, but only just, and Arthur let out a disappointed groan when the other pulled away.

"Stop, calm down," Alfred murmured. "Why did you want me here all of a sudden?" he asked curiously. He smiled a little. "Not that I mind, but..."

Arthur took a deep breath, trying to process Alfred's words. "Honestly, I..." he said heavily, hesitant. He just wanted the other's touch, the other's presence close to him, he found himself aching for it. Aching for the warmth of his larger body and the dominating scent he radiated, ached for it to bowl him over and render him a shell of desire. Why did he want him sweaty? Because it only amplified the power of the Alpha's scent, showering would just make it less potent.

Now how to tell him all that?

"I dunno, I..." Perhaps there was no politically correct or reserved way to convey his reasoning. Arthur looked away. "I want you..." Whoa, he had not meant for that to come out like that. "I-I mean, I wanted you to be here, uh, with-"

Arthur was cut off when hot lips met his again. One of the arms he'd been thinking about earlier wrapped around his waist and Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred's neck, leaning up to kiss back fervently. The Briton couldn't help his own intensity, for the other was addictive and intoxicating. There was no need for alcohol here, and Arthur considered giving it up for all the trouble it caused him- that is, if he could be with Alfred for the rest of his life.

These thoughts were very tentative, only musings, nothing that meant anything, Arthur told himself, pushing them aside and away to die, to never amount to anything more than thoughts. Just thoughts. But he could enjoy the Alpha while he was here in the present, couldn't he?

Alfred seemed to be having other ideas. Another few moments went by before he eased away from Arthur's lips. "We... we need to get a grip. Can we talk for a while, Artie?"

The Omega bristled. What the hell was with that random nickname? "Yes, fine. And it's Arthur, not Artie," Arthur argued, shuffling away with a flustered scowl. He lead Alfred to the small kitchen area in his apartment, immaculately tidy thanks to his Omega (and Arthur Kirkland-esque) tendencies.

"Nah, I like it, Artie," Alfred mused, his snickering self a total change from the serious, somber one from just a minute ago. He took a seat across from Arthur at the two-person table (he knew the other chair would come in handy!) and shot him a grin. How could he be so happy from just being able to talk about the situation? Arthur, forever the pessimist, would never understand.

"It's repulsive. Don't call me by it." Arthur sent the other a glare across the table, though it didn't hold too much scorn.

"Kay, Artie."

Arthur groaned at the other's insolence but didn't say any more, wanting to move on to whatever Alfred wanted to talk about. "Where do you want to start?"

Alfred gazed back at him, expression pensive. " I can't stop thinking about it." The American's shoulders sank. "It's killing me, actually."

Arthur felt a pang in his chest as he watched Alfred's chest deflate, reacting to what he'd just brought up in conversation. His words hit Arthur hard. He actually cared? Suddenly the Briton was painfully aware of the faint, but dark rings beneath Alfred's eyes, of the way he slouched and leaned back wearily against the rickety kitchen chair. The sinking of his shoulders just added to the effect. He didn't just care, the issue was eating him alive, the whole thing was driving him crazy with regret and... what else was there in his eyes? It was hard to decipher amidst their worn out depths.

Although touched by Alfred's display of concern, Arthur still couldn't let himself give in and drop his pride long enough to have a deep discussion about it. "I see. I have... er, thought about it too."

Alfred shot him a wary glance. "Yeah?"

Arthur stared back confusedly. "Yes..."

The one-word answer must have been satisfactory, for the American leaned his head on his right hand and sighed. "Well, tell me what you're thinkin'?"

Arthur scoffed before he could stop himself. It was as bewildering to himself as it probably was to Alfred, for he'd had no reason to have a reaction like that. Well, perhaps he did, but he still felt rotten for it.

Arthur took a second or two to steady himself before looking across the table at Alfred. "I'm thinking that we'll have to accept this sooner or later, so why not get it over with as soon as possible?" His eyes rested on the simple table top between them. Something occurred to him. "Perhaps that's why I called you... I want... I want to talk..."

Alfred seemed to absorb Arthur's words and smiled warmly. "I can definitely do that."

The Briton looked up at him warily. "Do what?"

"Talk. Or accept it. Whatever you need." Alfred's eyes passed over his face and watched him struggle with himself internally. The emotion swirling in them made Arthur shift in his seat and he held his stomach uncertainly, looking downcast at his legs. He breathed in slowly and sighed wearily, exhausted and so, so confused by the chaos of the past couple of days.

Without meeting the American's eyes he murmured, "Both would be nice..." He couldn't go another day at war with himself, it had already been almost a week since this all started and he was tearing himself apart.

"Hey." Arthur looked up at the sound of the other's voice to see him leaning forward a little. "It's gonna be okay, alright? You know that, right?"

Did he know that? He'd never really given it much thought, how this would all end, too busy worrying about the present to think on the future. Would everything be alright? Arthur shrugged his shoulders and rested his arms on the table. "Yeah... it will be..." The other's confidence was truly admirable, even in a situation like this. He was strong emotionally too, it seemed. How could anyone be perfect like that?

"Perfect...?" he muttered in disbelief, wondering why he'd just thought that about the other. Tea was perfect, books were perfect, his home back in England was perfect, but no, not people, people were not.

"Arthur...?"

Then again, maybe he wasn't perfect. Arthur was turning a blind eye to the fact that the Alpha had lured him into bed knowing he very well could be fertile. But damn it all to hell because Arthur had known just as well, and he hadn't stopped him. The thought made Arthur want to throw up.

Across the table, Alfred swallowed and cleared his throat, breaking the short period of silence that had settled between them. His voice was strong and almost imposing in the quiet apartment. "What's going to happen?"

A good question. Arthur gave a faint smile and took a deep breath. "What's going to happen is I'm going to have the baby. That's where I stand..." He looked at Alfred. "I want to know what your plan is..."

The quiet descended upon the two for another moment as the American took in the other's words. Arthur's stomach lurched as words Alfred might say popped into his head. There was rejection, lots of it. He imagined a scene in which the Alpha stood and stormed out, in which he yelled his objections to the whole debacle, in which he hated Arthur for coming along and throwing a wrench into his life. There were plenty of those situations. But there were some Arthur only dared imagine for a moment as to not get too attached, not to get too hopeful for an Alfred that understood and had the least bit of empathy. One that took his half of the responsibility on his shoulders and rose to the occasion.

He could dream.

"Alfred, are you going to say anything?" Arthur prodded, starting to feel his nerves. He stilled his hands by clasping his fingers together.

"Yeah, I am," he replied, but it was more like a declaration than a statement. Alfred's eyes were a fierce blue behind the rectangle frames perched crookedly on his nose. He righted them absently. "We're going to get through this- I said "we". You're not gonna be alone, Arthur, I can't let you do this alone." With a sober expression and a set jaw, Alfred reached across the table and laid a hand over Arthur's clasped ones. "If you'll accept my help, that is..." He smiled, but it disappeared as quickly as it came, replaced by a look of alarm. "Not that you need help or anything, cuz you seem like a pretty independent Omega, but I'm just-"

"Alfred?" Arthur cut in, cocking an impressive brow.

The Alpha grinned sheepishly. "Yeah...?"

"Stop talking." Arthur's lips turned up in a slight smile. "Of course I want your help and companionship, I..." he struggled, getting more worked up by the minute. "You don't have to walk on eggshells around me, and honestly I wouldn't mind having you around, and so-"

Suddenly, Arthur was silenced by the other's warm lips. Dark green eyes widened but closed a few moments later and Arthur found himself melting against the other's body as arms wrapped around him and he was pulled up to stand. His arms wound around the other's shoulders and Arthur let his body work on its own. "Mmnph..." He sighed against the other's chin and pressed against him as Alfred kissed a spot near his ear.

"Does this mean you forgive me?"

Oh hell yes it did. "Y-Yes, why else would I let you kiss me?" Now he just had to know if Alfred would forgive him. But Arthur didn't think he could handle discussing it at the moment, so there was always another day.