It had been a month or so now since that scandalous interview, since the fighting all began, and since Françoise had been rightfully returned to him and safe in his home.

And while all the emotionalism from those traumatic events was starting to die down… Alfred still didn't feel fully pleased.

It was like… How was he suppose to phrase this… Hmm.. Well, every morning when he woke up, he felt like his heart didn't beat as fast as it use to. That there was this hollow sort of feeling in his chest… And he would rub his eyes, and stare up at the ceiling for a few minutes and just sigh, not thinking of anything in particular, and then go downstairs to prepare breakfast for his children before sending Armel of to school, and then taking Françoise to daycare.

So, like he said, he wasn't sure what this feeling was. Emptiness? Longing? He couldn't be sure. All that he knew right now was that they were out of groceries and he was going to go to the store and buy some more before going off into suburbs and doing some real-estate work.

Adjusting his glasses, Alfred breathed evenly as his eyes scanned down the aisles of the local supermarket. No, no no - that wasn't the aisle with the golden grahams… He needed to go down farther, didn't he -

Crrk!

Jumping a little, Alfred whipped his head over to stare right in front of himself and almost gasped in surprised when he realized that the grocery cart he had just connected with belonged to Arthur of all people! What rotten luck!

"Ah, terribly sorry," Arthur said, grasping at coupons that were fluttering in the air from the collision. "I should really look where I'm -" He stopped talking and let the paper fall to the floor as he looked at who he had run into exactly. "... Going…"

Alfred felt himself stare evenly right back at Arthur in return. No feelings of rage, betrayal, and anger were in his heart. All there was now was a sort of stunned feeling. Why did it have to be Arthur's cart he had run into? Why his?

Taking a deep breath, he bent down and started to pick up the scattered coupons for Arthur. "Didn't expect to see you here…" he commented lowly, closing his eyes for a moment as he felt his heart beat quicken. Though he couldn't be sure as to why.

"Ah!" Arthur seemed stunned as he also bent down and started picking his coupons up as well, almost in a panic. "You really don't have to do that - and, well, I have to feed myself -"

Alfred placed a hand over Arthur's, feeling the man jump beneath him while his own heartbeat quicken even more. Swallowing, he shakily pushed the hand aside and insisted, "I can get them just as easily as you can." He stood rim rod straight now and handed them over to Arthur with a neutral look. "So, here. Take them."

Arthur just stared at him for a second, his face portraying nothing but confusion. "... Thank you." He reached out and took them from him, careful not to touch Alfred's hand as he did so. "Um…" Arthur shoved the paper in his pocket before grabbing his cart, backing up from Alfred. "I'll just go now, then -"

"Wait," Alfred grabbed the end of his cart, feeling bamboozled now himself. W-why was he just grabbing this poor man's cart?! Hadn't he bothered him enough by ramming into him in the first place? "I need to say… Something."

Arthur stared up at him, blinking slowly, his mouth parted slightly in shock. "... What is it?"

Swallowing thickly, the next sentence practically cascaded out of his mouth as he asked, "Could we go out for coffee sometime?"

And then silence fell.

"... Are…" Arthur started, having to clear his throat before he asked, glancing away, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Not exactly," Alfred admitted with a slight sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "But it's worth a shot…"

"..." It took a while for Arthur to answer, his eyes zoning in and out flickering through the air as seconds ticked away. Then, he stilled, and turned to look at him, a small, renaissance smile on his face. "... I'd love to."

And that seemed to be good enough for both of them as Alfred's gaze softened, and a small smile threatened to inch onto his face.

"Good," he simply replied, starting to back away so he could go and shop some more before taking on the checkout lanes. "Call me when some coffee strikes your fancy then." And with that, he simply left, leaving some mixed feelings for not only himself, but Arthur as well.

AU, Annzy: I apologize for the short length of this chapter, guys! Life's been busy as per usual, especially since I'm a senior this year and college applications OTL

I promise the next chapter will be up sometime tomorrow to make up for this short one ^^ For now please leave a review telling us your thoughts of the story!