Well there goes my intention to update every day ^^"
I didn't have any time during christmas, and after that I didn't feel well, and didn't have any inspiration to write,
But today I did! :D
So here's chapter three!
"So how have you guys known each other?"
Elizabeta asked with a interested smile, she had placed her legs on the sofa and rubbed her socked feet.
Even though her face was friendly, she had an hard time keeping it straight because of the pain in her ankle.
The men exchanged glances, they had never really thought about it, it was just natural.
Sometimes someone joined and sometimes somebody suddenly left. It was just like that.
But for a long time, the men had stayed together in their little group of six, and none of them seemed to have noticed it until now.
"Two years, max. That's me, Artie and Francis though. We met Feli en Kiku sometime later." Alfred explained.
He had convinced Matthew to come back inside, and his brother quietly rested against the Camper's plastic window.
"And Matthew and you are…" Gilbert asked, pointing between the two blonde boys.
Alfred nodded and gave a little smile. "Yeah we're bro's."
Matthew's face fell again, and he turned his gaze to the cars outside.
He had hoped the subject would be dropped, and even though they didn't get into it, it was still a sensitive topic for him at the moment.
"More coffee anyone?" Gilbert asked, pulling a new can of coffee from under the machine.
Feliciano was the first one to raise his cup back up.
"Si! Please sir!" he pleaded with a big smile.
Arthur shook his head, he hadn't even touched the liquid yet, and had just played with the cup a little to warm his hands.
Elizabeta tilted her head at him and gave a small chuckle. "Would you like something else Arthur?"
Arthur flushed and shook his head. "Oh- No no don't bother, I'm sorry. I did not mean to be rude."
He looked up as Alfred's mug got a refill, and stared down at his own. Elizabeta kept staring at him encouragingly, and Arthur almost felt oppressed.
He took the mug in both hands and swallowed a big gulp of the lukewarm fluid.
The blonde kept a straight face, and even tried to smile a little at Elizabeta, but she wasn't convinced.
When Gilbert walked back with the coffeepot, she poked him in the side.
Gilbert moved away. "What's up, Liz?" he asked surprised.
Elizabeta shrugged and gestured to Arthur. "Make some tea."
Gilbert chuckled and saluted at her, and Arthur adverted his eyes back to his mug again, embarrassed.
"You want me to take it, Artie?" Alfred asked, already taking the cup away from Arthur's eyeshot
Arthur shrugged, eyes still downcast, and then smiled a little. "If you aren't able to stop yourself.."
Alfred chuckled and patted his head. "No I'm not."
A few minutes later, Arthur had obtained his tea, and while the rest of them chattered away with Elizabeta, Francis had a private conversation with Gilbert in the kitchen.
"Where is it you are going, my friend?" Francis asked, genuinely interested.
Gilbert scratched his neck and gave a small sigh.
"We're not one hundred per cent sure, I guess we'll go back to my father and my little brother."
He sighed again, and glanced at the brunette girl. "We probably won't make it in time if Liz keeps us holding up like this."
Francis chuckled. "Well, It is not like you can blame her? A pregnancy is a pretty big thing."
Gilbert nodded, and sat himself down on the kitchen counter.
"How the hell do you guys hold up, though?" Gilbert asked, leaning his head against a cabinet.
Francis snorted. "Just barely. Winter is never a good time. We could use some more blankets, three isn't much for six persons. Food is not a huge problem, we can afford that. We sell, um."
Francis gave a low chuckle. "We sell recycled cigarettes."
Gilbert frowned and watched the French man curiously. "And people buy that?"
Francis shrugged. "Alfred and I usually sell them. You would be surprised. It's mostly other homeless, and poor people. It actually sells quite well."
Gilbert nodded impressed. "So, are all of you guys adults? The little one doesn't look like one.."
"Feliciano is not, he ran away from home. He was beaten." Francis muttered with a low voice and a shake of his head. "He is only sixteen years old."
Gilbert bit his lip and nodded. "My little brother's his age." He stated matter of factly.
The two stood in silence for a while, before Gilbert jumped up. "I'm pretty sure I got some blankets in here, wait a minute." He started to open a few cabinets, and walked to the back of the RV.
Francis watched the room from where he stood, and noticed some picture frames standing on the counter Gilbert had been sitting on. One of them was Gilbert together with a longhaired blonde, which Francis presumed was his father, and a younger boy, which looked exactly like the older man, without the long haircut. Gilbert was the only one standing out.
Gilbert came back, carrying two blankets in his arms, he saw Francis studying the pictures, and grinned widely.
"Yeah, that's them, don't they look awesome?"
He took the frame from the counter and stared at it with a warm smile.
"I can't wait to see them again."
He put the frame down and snickered. "Hey, wanna see where I saved Liz from?"
The albino reached out to grab for another frame, but stopped when Feliciano came running at them excitedly.
"Hey Mister Gilbert? Miss Eliza said you guys were going to Florida, is that true?"
Gilbert grinned at him and nodded. "Yeah, that's the plan. That's where my father lives."
Feliciano's excitement grew, and he smiled brightly. "That's where my brother lives! Elizabeta said I could come along! Oh Gilbert can I please?" The young boy pleaded.
Gilbert grinned with a shrug. "Well .. sure, I don't really mind. Maybe you can help Liz around a little when the baby arrives.."
Francis chuckled and faked a pout. "Are you just going to leave us like that, mon petit frère?"
Feliciano's face fell and he stared at Francis with big teary eyes, before shaking his head harshly.
"Oh I will miss you guys so much!"
He tackled Francis in a hug and continued to do so with everyone else in the room.
Gilbert chuckled and handed the blankets over to Francis.
"Well I guess this barely makes up for it, huh?" He joked.
Francis smiled, and stroked the fabric of the blankets.
"We'll miss him. Don't you two fight around too much. He is really bad at handling that."
Gilbert nodded and bit his lip. "I guess we'll try."
The group, reduced by one, watched how the Camper rode off, and saw Feliciano and Elizabeta waving cheerily from inside.
And they all hoped they would get at their destination before Christmas.
Francis hugged the blankets to his body, and smiled.
"They are good people."
Arthur simply nodded, and walked back down the hill.
"They were, and the tea was lovely, but we're off schedule"
Matthew gasped, and quickly turned to the British blond.
"I have to collect all the buds on my own now, eh?"
Alfred laughed and slapped Matthew's shoulder.
"Don't worry Mattie, I'll help you out." He said merrily.
Matthew hastily shook his head. He didn't want that.
"Um, no Al, It's okay. Feliciano wasn't that much of a hard worker anyway. I can handle it."
Arthur turned back around and coughed.
"There's Christmas sale today, which means lots of leftovers. I think we should all go, we could get ourselves a nice Christmas meal for tomorrow."
Alfred beamed and instantly agreed with an enthusiast nod.
Francis and Kiku seemed to be okay with it too. So who was Matthew to disagree?
"Matthew?" Arthur asked, curiously tilting his head. "Do you mind?"
Matthew forced himself to smile slightly and he shook his head. "Of course not."
"Then it's settled. Francis, be a dear and throw those covers over here?"
He stretched out his arms, and waited for the Frenchman, who threw the blankets down at the blond with a sigh.
"Do you think there'll be enough buds, Mattie?" It didn't rain last night, did it?" Alfred asked his brother, slightly worried.
Matthew shrugged, and gave his brother a reassuring smile.
"I don't think it did, I guess the odds are in our favour today."
Alfred grinned widely. "Yeah they are huh?"
The walk to the city wasn't a long one, usually it took about a ten minutes to cross the bridge, and ten more to reach the edge of the city.
After that they just had to pay attention.
Most cigarette buds weren't worth picking up, but usually the ones in front of shops and smoking prohibited cafeteria, and at parking places, were only just lighted and sometimes not even close to finished.
Of course they usually got disgusted and curious looks, but they all were way past the thing they called pride.
All except Arthur.
"Uhmm that one over there… that's a good one right..?"
Arthur hesitantly pointed to one of the cigarette ends lying on the asphalt.
He and Alfred went to look for cigarettes at the parking place while the rest went in to the city.
Arthur hadn't picked up even one, and it made Alfred want to tease him with it.
"Yeah dude, it certainly is. Let's give it a name."
He stood still next to Arthur and crossed his arms in front of him, staring down with a grin at the piece of cigarette filter.
Arthur flushed red and punched the American in the shoulder.
"Don't mock me Alfred."
Alfred shook his head with a loud chuckle, and bent down to pick it up.
"This really goes beyond your standards, doesn't it?"
He asked, putting the cigarette bud, in the plastic bag Arthur carried.
Arthur shrugged and scanned the ground around him to look for new victims.
"Maybe a little, but I'll get over it." He muttered embarrassed.
Alfred grinned and bent down again, and Arthur reached out with the bag.
"I think we're done here though. What's the loot?"
Arthur took a peek inside the bag and squinted his nose at the smell.
"Um, it's quite some, I'll say about forty?"
"Forty good ones?"
Arthur nodded "Yes, forty good ones, and then some."
"That's good, right?"
Arthur chuckled.
"It's good, but we're not done. We need to get to the other side of town for the other parking place."
Alfred groaned and ran a hair through his hair.
"You'll have to help picking them up now, I will need to use this back for a little longer. "
He rubbed it with the back of his hand. "It hurts."
Arthur snorted, and walked a little further. "That's because you don't bent down ergonomically."
Alfred stared at him surprised. "I don't bent what?"
Arthur frowned. "Ergonomically."
"Yeah, What's that?" Alfred asked, even more confused this time.
Arthur opened his mouth to explain, but then sighed.
"You'll get back problems if you keep bending it like that."
He turned back around, and stared at a cigarette bud that was lying a few inches away from his feet.
"Look at me, this is the ergonomical way."
He crouched down, and quickly picked up the bud, directly throwing it in the plastic bag.
When he stood up again he met the American's grinning face, who's owner started clapping slowly for him. He wiped away a fake tear and placed his hand on his heart.
"You did so well, I'm so proud of you."
Arthur flushed again and crossed his arms, turning back on track.
"I don't want to hear that from someone who can't even bend down properly."
He grunted a bit offended.
Alfred laughed, and swung his arm around the Briton.
"It's going to be an awesome Christmas this year, Artie. Just wait."
Arthur smirked and shrugged the arm off.
"Right, how far were you with building that mansion again?"
Done! Now I don't want to say nothing happened, Because Feliciano is off to a better place, and so are Gil and Liz.
But.. the plot doesn't thicken untill they actually have their Christmas XD
Oh and thank you guys so much for reviewing! I love them :D