"Do you have any regrets?"
"Only the fact that I broke a man's heart."
"Kind as always, never change in that sense, Al."
Alfred chuckled softly at the compliment.
"Do you think Arthur's the suicidal type? Or what happens if he tries to kill you now?" Matthew began to panic from his own pessimistic thoughts.
The older waved dismissively at his brother's worries. "Don't you be worrying about that, I made sure that I left him raging and cursing my name!" he gave the other a thumbs-up.
"What? But if he's not sulking, maybe he's plotting his revenge!" the younger squeaked.
"Hey, I'm still alive aren't I? Besides, once we leave this apartment, he'll never see us again. Then I'll go back to Massachusetts, and this will soon all be a funny memory," he tried to sound merry about the idea. Absentmindedly, he ran a finger across the healing scar beneath his eye.
Matthew looked at his brother pensively with amethyst eyes. "You purposefully made him hate you? That doesn't sound like the hero I know,"
Alfred's bright smile fell a little. "I just don't want Arthur to pity himself or anything like that. I want him to move on as quickly as possible. And real, true heroes are both loved and hated…you can't please everyone ya know? Or maybe I'm like an anti-hero!" he joked.
The photographer couldn't help but smile at his brother's optimistic attitude. His eyes then drifted to the living room table that still needed to be moved and caught sight of a box wrapped with a ribbon next to a withered rose. "You're keeping it?" he pointed at Alfred's gift.
The older took the box into his hand and lifted the top open to reveal the embroidery folded neatly inside. "Yeah, as a reminder of my sin…"
"Don't be so hard on yourself,"
"I know." Alfred said simply. "Anyways, I still have a week left before I have to go back, and I only have enough money for the both of us to stay at a hotel for about two nights. After that, you'll have to start paying…"
"Gee thanks," Matthew rolled his eyes, but was genuinely grateful for the financial aid. "So, what was the plan again?"
"Well, since we have to leave this place right now, while we're at the hotel I'll help you start looking at the apartments you marked in the catalog,"
"Sounds good, should I start calling for the moving truck to carry the furniture?" he motioned toward the old couch and packed boxes littering the living room floor.
"Yeah, it'll take them a while to get here so during that time you can help me check into a cheap hotel,"
"Okay."
Alfred turned to face his brother. "I promise you bro, once I graduate this summer, I'll find a job and make so much money that we can both own a house!"
Matthew smiled at his older sibling. "Speaking of jobs, I was able to find another one,"
"Really? That's great!" Alfred bear hugged the younger blond after hearing the good news. Such things were hard to come by these days.
"Y-Yeah, I got promoted to editor for the columns and get to keep my other job as a photographer in my company…although…I think I received it too late, seeing as though we're leaving this apartment either way,"
"Nah, it's never too late for something like that," Alfred released his brother from his death grip and swung his bomber jacket over his shoulder. "Now come on, we have a hotel to find!"
"Yes, sir!" Matthew saluted him but stiffened when an audible gasp escaped from the other near the front door. "M-Mr. Kirkland?"
"…"
Alfred was already backing away from the threshold. "Arthur…" he regarded the man standing at the entrance warily. The taller blond was specifically looking for any knives or guns the landlord may be hiding from him.
Damn it! Who'd knew he'd actually come back? I was hoping we could leave with ease…
"Don't worry sir, we were just leaving. As I've promised, I'll get out of your sight forever." He tried to read the landlord's intentions, but because his head was hung low, his face was hidden by his blond bangs hanging over emerald eyes.
Matthew silently observed the scene and was about to approach his brother when a small voice froze him in his place.
"I won't allow it…"
Sapphire eyes widened at what he thought he heard. "What-"
"I won't allow it!" Arthur said louder, lunging at the unsuspecting American.
"Alfred-!"
"Oof, it's okay Mattie, I'm fine," the older reassured him. "He's not armed," he moved to the side so that Matthew could see what has happened.
Arthur was only clutching onto the leather material of Alfred's jacket, hiding his face in his chest.
When he was sure it was safe to leave, the younger sibling made eye contact with his brother before quietly closing the door behind him.
Sorry Alfred, but I think I'll only get in the way if I stayed…
Great…what do I do now…?
"Arthur, get a hold of yourself," Alfred started, grabbing the man's shaking shoulders in order to push him away.
"I won't let you go!" The Englishman blurted out, and although only his forehead was pressed against him, Alfred could feel hot tears streaking down his white shirt.
The American was taken aback by the outburst. "B-But I thought you never wanted to see me again…Don't you despise me?"
"I do…but…" Arthur was shaking his head miserably.
"Then shouldn't you be hitting me or something?" Poor Alfred felt like he was living in a backwards country. He could really use a hamburger right now.
"What? No! I would never…" the landlord finally raised his head to look into bewildered and if not slightly irritated blue eyes. It was then that the wound near those clear orbs caught his attention. "Look at what you made me do!" He gingerly ran a thumb over the scar, which made Alfred wince uncomfortably, but he didn't pull away from the contact. "You made me hurt you…this is all your fault!"
Damn it! Why do my awesome plans always have to backfire one way or another? Maybe it's just 'cause of him…
"Yes, I know it is…and I'm sorry…" Alfred said awkwardly, trying to sit down on the couch while dragging a sobbing Englishman with him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave now," he was done making up polite excuses to leave the man. He just wanted out!
"No…stay with me…" Arthur continued to cling onto Alfred's arm desperately. "Please…don't go…"
"What's with you? Just a couple of days ago you hated my guts, and now you want me to stay?" The tone he accidentally let slip from his mouth must have been a bit too sharp, for the sandy blond noticeably flinched and retracted his hand. What confused the taller blond even further was the fact that he was blushing.
"I…" The next words snagged in his throat, and his tongue couldn't wrap themselves around them.
"Hmph." With one hand, Alfred grabbed and pinned both of Arthur's wrists above his head and to the sofa cushion. Once the shorter blond's back hit the couch as well he forced the other to look directly into icy blue eyes. "I already told you, dear Arthur, the jig is up. Or is it a good fuck you're looking for?" He said before attacking the Englishman's neck with his teeth and rolling his left nipple between his fingers through the fabric of his clothes.
When only gasps and moans met his ears, he went lower and pushed open the collar of Arthur's dress shirt to reveal the hickey still left from that night. He roughly licked the spot before biting down on it again, leaving a fresh red mark. After that was done, with a struggling Brit still beneath him, Alfred started licking up his throat, stopping to suck on the Adam's apple bobbing up and down according to the pitch of Arthur's mewling. A sadistic side of him wanted to bite that part as well, but he made sure to keep it in check and instead his mouth began wandering down to the collar bone.
"Ahn! Al…fred…st-stop…stop it!" Arthur finally found the strength to say the words and shake himself loose from the other's grip.
Alfred almost mechanically lifted himself up and smirked.
"H-How can you just go out and do that to someone?" he snapped between ragged breaths, face still flushed from the ministrations.
The American simply tilted his head to one side, genuinely confused by the question. "Wasn't that what you wanted?"
"It's not what I wanted,"
"…I see…" Dark sapphire eyes soon turned into bright bemused ones again as the blond tried to process the new information. "But I thought that…most guys only want casual sex…"
Emerald eyes widened as if offended. "I'm not like most of them!"
Alfred bit his bottom lip at what he had done. The true extent of the pain he had inflicted on the poor Englishman came crashing down on him. Sure he had known that the man was attached to him somehow…but he never would have guessed that it was anything beyond physical infatuation. That his "love" would quickly fade away after one night. Or at least, that was what he kept telling himself to lessen the guilt. But now, with a weeping landlord in front of him, it was painfully obvious what the man felt for him.
I…I forgot how much of a hopeless romantic he is…oh Arthur, why can't you just be like the rest of them?
Alfred sighed deeply before gathering the other blond in his arms for an apologetic hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered softly. "You shouldn't bother with me, I'm sure there's someone else out there worthy of your affection and kindness."
"No there isn't,"
"Yes there is." Alfred shot back. "Arthur, I used, abused, and abandoned you! I broke your heart…how can you even bear to look at me? Much less want me by your side?"
The Englishman did nothing but shake his head mutely.
Man, he can be so cute at times!
Gently, Alfred lifted Arthur's chin so that green eyes met with blue ones once again. "Is this what love does to a person?"
With whatever dignity he had left, the sandy blond wiped away the last of his tears and meekly nodded.
Again, the American sighed exasperatingly. "The problem is…I have to leave, whether you want me to or not…"
"Is it because the rent is still too high?" he asked suddenly. "I…I can lower it again if you want…I'll even let you stay in your own apartment free of charge…"
Alfred lightly ruffled his hair before answering "The money and rent are not the problem, you see…I forgot to tell you that I lied about my occupation…I'm only a college student at Harvard…"
"But…"
"Now do you see? I have to go back…Our relationship was never meant to be…it was destined to fail,"
"But that means we had one right? Can't we fix it? I can change I swear! Just give me a second chance," Arthur implored.
"Wait, what?"
The guy twisted my words!
"We uh…"
Were never in a relationship to begin with…and aren't I supposed to be the one asking for a second chance?
"You're missing the point. I don't think a long distance relationship will work out…besides…why do you care so much for me? What about your previous lovers?" None of this was planned; the whole conversation was spiraling out of control. Alfred was running out of ideas.
Arthur grew quiet from the question. "What lovers?" he asked bitterly. "After one night, I don't even see them the morning after…" the Englishman then whipped his head up toward Alfred. "But you were different, you stayed with me…"
That's because I wasn't able to leave in time before you woke up…
"Surely that means something, doesn't it?"
"But you won't like the real me!" Alfred tried desperately, his mind scattered right about now. A guy can only take so much before he ran out of excuses.
"How would you know that?" Arthur challenged with hope in his voice.
Alfred was at wit's end. Still, the way the sandy blond's eyes twinkled with a mixture of anticipation and pleading made his lips twitch upward.
Maybe this is my chance to repent for what I did to him…
Pulling the other man onto his lap in an act of genuine affection, he looked Arthur in the eyes and said "Alright…I'll give it a shot. And I promise that this time I'll actually try – no more acting." The smile he received from the shorter blond was priceless, but before he started giving the landlord false hope he added "But I warn you, you'll want me outta your life after the first day,"
Arthur only smirked playfully at the remark. "Try me."
"Then I guess I'll reintroduce myself: I'm Alfred Jones, I actually don't have narcolepsy, I hate tea with a passion, love to eat burgers and play video games, and proud to be graduating from Harvard University!"
"I'm Arthur Kirkland, your brother's landlord. I enjoy cooking and embroidery as well as having a cup of tea every afternoon…and…I love you…" The last part was rushed before the Englishman ducked his head into the safety of Alfred's broad chest.
Pleasantly surprised, the American loosely hugged him while nuzzling into his sandy blond hair.
He may not exactly feel the same way toward Arthur now…and it was all just out of pity at the moment, but Alfred had a strong hunch that along the way it'll be something much more significant. Maybe, just maybe, he'll know what love truly is, and in turn return the other's feelings.
Huge-ass Endnotes: Omg what have I created? Blasphemy...that's what. Man, this was all ass-backwards wasn't it? Now I definitely know I should be thrown into the pit of Tartarus...OTL Oh, and please forgive me for this long endnote...
For those who read this from start to finish, I applaud and bow down to you for your patience and support. And thank you so much to those who alerted, faved, and reviewed! So much love goes out to those who reviewed every chapter or close to that (you know who you are)~ I AM NOT WORTHY! OTL
For the most part this fic is complete; but "where one story ends, another begins". What happens beyond this point between Alfred and Arthur is up to your imagination.
And let me just say that if I disappointed any of you in any way, please accept my apologies -bows-
I'm very, very sorry if the ending made no sense at all or was not to your satisfactory, but even at the end I just really couldn't have Alfred completely fall for Arthur just yet...I guess it's because to me it's more realistic to give it more time...-shot- (Yeah right, since when was this fic ever realistic?) Also, I personally didn't want this to end in tragedy; I don't think you fellow readers deserved that and especially Arthur. And since it initially started out as humorous, I wanted it to end in what can be called a humorous/kooky way. Ya know...to complete the cycle -shot- Now here's a question for all of you beloved readers: How would you have ended this story? I really want to know because my puny mind could only come up with this to save it from a bitter and sad ending. Once I think about it, this story could have been a lot darker...
Q and A
Alfred why you no love Arthur! -rage-
As mentioned above, Alfred just needs more time lol. The reason is because he's simply overwhelmed by Arthur (hell, he basically knows everything about him) and so it'll take a while for him to accept all his flaws as well as personality in addition to showing Arthur his true self and see how it plays out from there.
How Arthur can still love someone like Alfred after all he did to him is beyond me...
Same here...Maybe it's just because love conquers all~ -shot- Okay well, like I said before this was the only solution I could think of to give this story a "happy" ending. Alfred is rather heartless in this fic and so it's really only up to Arthur (lovestruck til the very end!) to try and save their "relationship", even if he's the one who got hurt (I probably lost points on the 'realism' scale for that, but who knows, maybe there are people like that out there). But I guess if you want a more in-depth explanation, here's one: In chapter 6 Arthur mentioned how all of his past relationships ended in the other dumping him without reason and was never seen again. Alfred was the only person who returned to apologize and even provided a reason as to why he did what he did (even though it was something Arthur didn't want to hear). Given those couple of days to think to himself, he figured that Alfred wasn't actually that cruel and was doing something selfless. There was also that tidbit in this last chapter about how Alfred stayed in bed with him. As for Alfred, he's never seen such persistence and logic in Arthur's action to come back to him. ^^'
What...that's it? This fic was too short!
I'm so terribly sorry, but I'm simply out of ideas...OTZ Plus, I'm thinking that watching Arthur get tricked for the longest time was either breaking your hearts or boring you so yeah...Authors who can go on and on with their stories are godly (unlike me) because seriously, that takes a lot of talent and creativity, something I lack. There was also the problem with time: Alfred was only on vacation, so it's a very small time frame to work with and resolve the issue; since once he leaves that apartment and flies back to Harvard, all hope would have been lost. Arthur had to work fast.
What was in Arthur's closet?
...Narnia...-slapped-
WTF I've been swindeled falsdkj Where's the romance in all this?
The author is very stupid and thought that one-sided love and fake flirting was considered "romance". I'm very sorry if I have mislead you, but there is so little I can do to make up for it:
1) I can apologize a thousand times over and beg for your forgiveness.
OR
2) I'll write a crappy but happy and sappy (rhyme c-c-combo!) epilogue in which they do end up together...somehow lol
The choice is yours. On another note, I read in a couple of reviews saying that they wanted to see Francis in the story somewhere. Because of the route the story accidently took on, I wasn't able to really find a spot for our beloved Frenchman anywhere, with him residing in France and all. But I really do want to incorporate him somehow and so I'll write an extra filler chapter in which he and other guests will make an appearance.
For those who aren't going to stick around I just want to thank you once again for spending your time reading this lame fic of mine. It means a lot to me. ^^
Any final burning questions you want to ask? Last comments you want to make? Please don't hesitate to drop a review and let me know~