"I'm not getting in that thing."

"Come on, just get in! We've been arguing for about an hour now!"

"And yet you still don't understand that I'm not gonna do it!"

"My God, it's just a bloody wheelchair!"

Alfred crossed his arms and glared at the object in question. He was perfectly fine and didn't need that wheeled contraption! The last thing he wanted to do was look weak and get pushed around by this damn Alpha. "I'm fine. I can walk on my own."

Arthur let out an irritated groan. "No, you can't! You have a twisted ankle and almost puked when you tried to stand!"

"I'm sorry I didn't. You would look nice with vomit all over you."

"Fucking hell…" Arthur muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Aw, do you have a headache, old man?" Alfred sneered, smirking now.

"I'm not an old man! Just get in the bloody wheelchair, dammit!" Arthur snapped. Alfred could almost see a vein on his head throbbing, and it made a swell of satisfaction go throughout him. Plan Irritate The Living Hell Out Of Arthur has been completed!

"All right. I'll get in, old man," Alfred relented, though he still sported a wide smirk, "but I'm gonna wheel myself around. I don't want you pushing me."

Arthur muttered something that sounded like 'fucking Christ' when Alfred sat himself comfortably in the wheelchair. If he was going to be staying with this stubborn Alpha, Alfred was going to make sure that Arthur knew he wasn't going to be pushed around. Plus, Arthur was fun to irritate.

But that smirk fell off his face when they finally got to the car.

"You have a fucking limo?!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes, but I told Mum not to bring it. She always insists on it."

"Just who the hell is your mom?!" Alfred exclaimed incredulously, gaping.

"Arthur, just what the hell took you so long?" a white-haired man — wasn't he the other man that had helped him? — beside the limo asked with irritation. "I was about to go up there to check if you were all right!"

"I'm sorry, Gilbert. It was because somebody" — Arthur glared at Alfred here — "refused to get in a wheelchair."

Alfred smiled cheekily, and Gilbert let out a loud sigh. "Whatever. The awesome me is tired of waiting, so let's go."

After the Omega had gotten himself into the limo (which had taken much longer than needed because he refused help from both Arthur and Gilbert), he was left to stare in wonder. It had been years since he had been in a car, let alone a limo.

"I'm Gilbert, by the way!" the albino introduced himself with a smirk. "The one and only awesome guard of this guy over here!"

Alfred raised an eyebrow at the introduction. "I'm Alfred," the Omega said simply. He couldn't help but inwardly frown, though, and the male glanced at Arthur. This Alpha needed a guard?

Alfred finally voiced his thoughts. "Why do you need a guard? Did you piss off the mafia or something?"

"You didn't tell him?" Gilbert said incredulously, frowning.

Arthur sighed. "I didn't feel the need to."

"Dude, when he sees your house, he's gonna figure it out."

Alfred was so unbelievably confused. The guy had a limo, had a guard, and had some kind of unique house. Who the hell had he decided to stay with?

Gilbert decided to answer for Arthur and grinned at Alfred. "Arthur here is the prince of Melendia!"

The Omega choked on air for a moment.

"Y-You're the what of Melendia?"

Arthur sighed and shook his head. "I'm the prince," he said, almost sounding as if he was exasperated upon the information being revealed. When the Alpha saw the other male with his lips slightly parted in shock, he threw an annoyed glance towards him. "Oh, do shut your mouth. I'm just the prince — not the bloody ruler of the universe."

"'Just the prince,'" the Omega repeated incredulously. Now he knew why Arthur's name seemed familiar. God, why hadn't he thought of that before? Even the Alpha's gigantic eyebrows should have given it away; the eyebrows were common in the Kirkland line!

Alfred finally snapped out of his shock then snorted and leaned back into the car seat. "Whatever. I'm just surprised that you're not just an old man; you're a royal old man."

"I'm not a bloody old man!"

Alfred smirked, and Gilbert laughed.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The minute Alfred looked upon the enormous castle with awe, he was suddenly pushed into it before he could even breathe. Arthur and Gilbert had gone somewhere else and left him with overly chatty maids that pushed his wheelchair through twisting hallways. God, even being with Arthur seemed better than this.

"First off, we'll need to give you a bath!" a maid named Ann exclaimed happily as they entered a very large room. Alfred was lost for words as he looked around. There was a grand bed with a window nearby it. A mahogany bedside table nestled beside the bed, and a wooden desk laid nearby the window from where light spilled out. There were also two rooms connected to this one, and while he could guess one was a bathroom, he wasn't sure what the other one was for.

"This is where you'll be staying while you're here," another maid named Jill chirped. "The one to your left is the bathroom, and the other one to your right is where you'll stay should you ever go into Heat here."

Alfred paled at the very mention of him going into Heat, and he sunk a little further into the chair. However, the two maids didn't notice, and they wheeled him into the bathroom.

Ann stopped his wheelchair in front of the bath — dear God, was everything this big in the castle? — and smiled at Alfred. "We'll help you get out of your clothes and get into the bathtub. I know it'll be very difficult to do so on your own since you're injured."

Alfred shook his head immediately and blushed. "U-Uh, no thanks. I'd prefer to do it on my own…"

"But…" Jill looked worried and troubled. "At least let us help to get your bandages and shirt off. It'll be very hard for you otherwise."

Alfred frowned and looked down at his shirt. It was a tight blue v-neck that was ripped and dirt-covered. He didn't have anything else to wear, so he had to keep the one he had worn during his imprisonment. He hated it with all his being. Not only did he hate it for what it represented, but he also hated the reason he had been forced to wear it in the first place — to look more appealing for Alphas.

In any case, Alfred knew that, with his hurt shoulder, there was no way he was going to get the shirt off himself.

"Yeah…" he whispered. "I'll need help."

The maids nodded in approval, and Ann went to work with getting the other's shirt off. Jill went to the bath to let the water finally fall from its faucet, and Alfred watched as the water began to steadily rise in it.

After Ann had gotten his shirt off and taken the bandages off his head and shoulder, both maids smiled softly at him. "We'll get out of your way now," Jill said gently. "We'll go get some clothes for you and leave them outside on the bed for when you're done with your bath. When you're dressed, go down the hallway to your right then go into the third door to your left. We'll be in there and give you new bandages!"

"Right," Alfred murmured. "Thanks for the help."

Finally, the Omega was left alone. He awkwardly removed his pants and underwear, then settled into the bathtub with great difficulty. He let out a pleased sigh at the warmth that radiated from the water. It had been a long time since Alfred had had a warm bath.

Alfred set his glasses on the side of the bathtub. He used soaps to awkwardly clean himself, then merely sat in a relaxed position in the water. The Omega took this time to finally look at his wounds. His wrists still stung a bit, but the feeling was nothing new, as one would be able to tell from the scars already there. His shoulder wound made him scrunch his nose; it really did look awful. But then his eyes wandered to the scars that had closed from severe wounds not so long ago. On the upper parts of his legs, there were fierce scars that seemed to constrict them.

Alfred shook his head and closed his eyes. 'Don't think about it,' he told himself. 'It's okay now. You've escaped and never have to go back there.'

But the thoughts still plagued his mind.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Oh! You look wonderful!"

Alfred almost winced when Ann let out a joyous cheer. The clothes he had been given were simply a white button-up, a thin brown jacket, and jeans. Even if he thought it was amazing to have normal clothes again, it really wasn't anything special. "Uh, thank you?"

"Now with your hair and face clean, you're practically glowing!" Ann exclaimed with a grin.

Going towards Alfred and gently running her hands through his hair, Jill let out a squeal. "Wow! I've never seen hair so soft, and it's such a lovely shade of blond!" the maid exclaimed. Alfred blushed heavily at the touching and compliments. He felt himself blushing even more when Ann came closer as well.

"And your eyes are so blue! Just like the sky!"

"Ann, Jill, I think you're making our guest uncomfortable."

Three eyes snapped towards the doorway, and a pair of green eyes stared back. The maids stepped away and looked down guiltily.

"We're sorry, sir," Ann murmured.

"It's quite all right," Arthur said, looking at Alfred. The Omega wanted to shrink away under the Alpha's calculating gaze. "You do look better now that you've been cleaned up."

Glaring, Alfred looked away to hide his blush. "Whatever, old man."

Arthur let out a loud sigh, and the maids snickered slightly.

Arthur really was fun to irritate, Alfred decided.