Christmas was over. The presents opened, the dinner enjoyed, the Christmas pudding set fire to and eaten, the fruit cake thrown away, the Christmas tree still standing in the living room and slowly dying, waiting for it's owners to come and vacuum up the pine needles and take it to the tip; everything cleaned and put away. And after Christmas, comes the Boxing Day sale.

Horror.

When people should be at home enjoying their day off and their family's company, they fought through the crowds to buy the remaining stock that the shops didn't sell. The customers were high strung and in a hurry and angry and whiny and wanting to get the most for their money and were extremely unpleasant… And Arthur had to deal with it.

The shop opened and 6am and closed at 8pm; all the staff possible were called in and made to serve the customers like clockwork. There was no room for dramatics and even less room for error, which meant that not only the customers were stressed but the employees were just as high strung and were also fearing the managers' wrath. Arthur made his way into the shop and took a deep calming breath as he took in the chaos that surrounded him; the queue was practically winding its way around the whole of the shop and there was so much noise that one could barely hear the speakers which were no longer playing Christmas music. As Arthur made his way back from the staff room after dropping off his stuff and getting ready for his shift, he bumped into a college who was signing themselves out.

"Hey Christine." Arthur greeted the middle-aged woman politely; she had been the one to show him the ropes when he first started working there, covering for him and supporting him whenever he had made a mistake, he had a soft spot for her.

"Hello Arthur," She said, sounding rather tired. "What shift you got?" She said in her slight 'Londoner accent'.

"One 'till five."

"Only a four hour shift? Lucky you!"

"At least you can go home now." Arthur smiled.

"True, but I've been here since 5 this morning love." She told him and Arthur's smile turned into a look of sympathy.

"Oh my. Well then in that case, relax and get plenty of rest when you get home." He told her worriedly and they said their goodbyes; Arthur thanked the angel that must have been looking after him, it was only by either divine intervention or pure unbelievable luck that Arthur was only put on a four hour shift. It would be over in no time, especially if Arthur was kept so busy; it was fantastic luck really, and Arthur had high hopes for the day. Of course, Arthur should have known better; he should have known that his luck was never good and that the angel that was looking out for him also liked to laugh in his face and drag him through hell by his hair. Backwards.

That day was probably one of the worst he had ever had to work.

Even though Arthur was thankful that he only had to work a four hour shift, the shop was so busy that every available staff member had been called in to work, meaning that every till was manned for maximum efficiency; this also meant that the staff had to perform like clockwork. It goes without saying that the shop floor looked rather daunting that day. It was the busiest boxing day they had ever seen and once again, Arthur was forced to wear a horrid sale t-shirt (God how he hated it). Arthur had his briefing, where Natalia told him and his co-workers that no matter what, everyone had to work to their full capacity and not cause a fuss; everything had to be done quickly and to the best of their ability – No pressure. He felt like he was performing in some sort of warped relay race; the employee on the till Arthur was going to be stationed on, finished her last transaction and logged off her till quickly as Arthur rushed to her side in order to take over and finally let the poor girl go home. Arthur tried to stay as calm as he could, preparing himself for the hell he was about to face; he instantly set about serving his customers as quickly and efficiently as he could.

And that is when everything just started going downhill. And Arthur's luck hit rock bottom.

The first misfortune occurred when someone went to toss a coat hanger in the cardboard box under their till and missed the damn thing completely, which left it sprawled on the floor and just waiting to cause trouble. Of course it would have to be Arthur who happened to step on it, breaking the plastic with a very loud snap. As he was instructed, Arthur stayed calm and assured Natalia that he would clear it after he had finished helping the customer he was serving; sadly it took longer than he expected and someone had already cleared it by the time he was done.

Then he was trying to collect a woman's postcode so he could get her store card number and, much to his embarrassment, he misheard what she said around 7 times. In his defence, the main reason for this was because the whole shop was in shambles and everyone was talking over each other, meaning that he could barely hear her to begin with. However, the fact that stood out most in the situation was that the woman had a rather strong accent; Arthur felt a little useless and guilty, thinking that the woman probably thought he was some closed minded arse that couldn't understand what she was saying through her native accent.

As he was scanning another customer's items, he tilted a four pack of ramekins to scan the bar code; he didn't know that the cardboard keeping the ceramic pots together, wasn't holding them in at the sides. As he tilted the case, a single ramekin slipped out; Arthur watched it fall in slow motion and smash onto the floor. Natalia was instantly at his side, telling another employee to grab a dustpan and brush to clear the broken shards; all of this happened as Arthur apologised over and over again to the woman. She assured Arthur that it was alright but it didn't make him feel any better; he carried on scanning the other items as Francis went to see if there were any other ramekins to make up for the broken one, continuing to apologise. It turned out that there were no more packets of ramekins (Which made Arthur feel even worse) and so they sold the remaining ones o her at a discount; and seeing as she had a lot of bags to carry, Arthur offered to take some of them to her car in an attempt to redeem himself. When he returned - Having apologised to the woman a few more times – he approached Natalia and Francis, offered to pay for what he had broken.

"I'm really sorry about that Natalia, it was completely my fault. If you want me to, I'll be more than happy to pay for it-"

"It's fine Arthur." Natalia waved him off. "Customers don't have to pay from breaking things, why should you? It's alright, just go back to work." She smiled ever so slightly but that didn't help Arthur to feel any better at all.

The final nail in the coffin – and this was already a coffin with far too many nails in all honesty. It was more nails that coffin in the end really – was smashed into Arthur's spirit when a customer came to his till with a basket of items and pulled out some sort of glass soap dispenser. The woman asked Arthur if the glass encasing the object was cracked or if it was just some rumpled clear tape or plastic; already feeling drained and out of sorts, Arthur checked by running his thumb over the mark. He hissed as he felt a small pain and moved his hand, seeing a small cut on his skin. He cursed himself in his mind as Francis came over to deal with the customer and sent Arthur away to get a plaster from Natalia.

That was the worst thing about this whole situation; not only was he the unluckiest man in the world that day, but his managers had bared witness to the whole ordeal, they had patrolled the tills to make sure that everything went smoothly and so they were close if anything went wrong. Not only did that make him feel even more pressured and nervous while working, but it also served to make him feel like a completely incompetent pillock. His managers were watching over every move that Arthur made, and although it seemed silly to believe that no one else in the whole shop was making any mistakes whatsoever in the chaos that surrounded them, Arthur still felt like the world was out to get him.

As if all this wasn't enough, something was constantly nagging at the back of his mind all day; a tiny, itching thought that he was waiting for something, that something wasn't right, that something was missing. Arthur had had the thought tugging at his conscious mind throughout and even above the chaos of the shop and Arthur could hardly stand it anymore. It was only when he was finally freed from his shift and was pulling on his coat in the staff room when the realisation suddenly struck him, and that simple thought surprised him more than he thought was possible. Wasn't this the day that Alfred usually came into the shop to bother him? This day of the week was when the American would always come to see him, he had come to expect it, every week, like clockwork.

Arthur shook his head slightly as he buttoned up his coat; what a ridiculous notion to come into his head. Alfred didn't come into the shop purely to see him, that was stupid, no person would go to that much trouble to see just some guy; even though Alfred seemed like the sort of person to do that, he acted so friendly with everyone, he probably just went into town on the same day every week and acted friendly with all the people who served him in shops. Everyone was that guy's friend it seemed. Arthur's brow furrowed as he felt a distinct stab in his chest as the thought passed through his mind. 'I must be more tired than I thought. I better get home quickly.' He thought to himself sourly, he had been overthinking things lately and the fact that he had been overthinking about Alfred just pissed him off all the more.

'Have I really been getting my hopes up? I know he and his family are in England for Christmas right? But of course he wouldn't be here, that's ridiculous. It's only Boxing Day; he doesn't strike me as the sort of person to give up seeing his family for a useless trip to the shops. Not to mention that they came all the way from America.' Arthur reasoned with his mind as he made his way down the stairs and onto the shop floor. Arthur would never admit it out loud – he had enough trouble admitting it in his mind – but in truth, he had actually… Missed Alfred. Something about the man's demeanour and presence had become a common occurrence and it was one that Arthur had become accustomed to and was even somewhat fond of; having it suddenly gone completely was something that he hadn't expected to dislike so much.

Arthur put his hands in his pockets as he stepped out into the cold darkness of December; the wind was biting that day and he had taken the bus into the town centre that day on a whim, what on Earth possessed him to make such a decision was beyond him but it was too late now. Arthur would have to walk to the bus stop and stand in the prickling cold. He turned and started heading to the side street that led to the main road and bus stop, looking at the ground as he walked, trying to huddle into his coat to stay warm. An all too familiar voice made him stop in his tracks.

"Arthur! Over here!" A loud and cheerful voice called. Arthur spun around on the spot to gape at the man with wide eyes, trying to decipher whether or not he had gone insane and was seeing things.

"Alfred!?" Arthur exclaimed in surprise and Alfred's grin just seemed to grow wider as he trotted over.

"You walked right past me dude! You didn't even see me, you were in your own little world!" He chuckled and Arthur sputtered slightly.

"Well I wasn't exactly looking for you was I?!" The Englishman shot back at him but Alfred just laughed, making Arthur duck his chin into his coat collar like a child; he huffed and carried on walking. It was only a second before he heard Alfred tottering after him; and a small smile tugged at Arthur's lips.

"Woah woah woah! Wait up a sec! I'm sorry! Man, I thought you might be happy to see me again!"

"Why would I? You've just spoiled my peace and quiet!" Arthur turned, grinning at him, as if teasing him; Alfred picked up on this and grinned even wider, coming over to Arthur's side.

"Aw, peace and quiet is boring and overrated and you know it!" He laughed happily, Arthur huffed but his grin only faded to a small smile, and it still spoke volumes about the man's mood. Alfred grinned happily as Arthur sighed and went to sit on the wall down the side street by the shop, bringing up a foot and making it seem like he was only sitting down to tie his shoelace.

"So I suppose you're going to tell me everything that happened during your wonderful American Holiday then are you?" He asked casually.

"You bet I am!" Alfred laughed as he sat down on the wall next to Arthur, taking the unspoken invitation without even thinking – The younger man didn't notice how Arthur's smile widened slightly. "Seeing as you don't celebrate the same awesome holidays I do, I have to fill you in on what you've missed!" He grinned but then his expression change to a soft smile. "But first, you know, you looked completely out of it when you came out of the store, you looked right through me."

"Oh. Well I'm sorry I- I didn't mean to." Arthur replied sheepishly.

"Naw it's fine, but seriously you looked super zombified!"

"Oh thanks!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Alfred chuckled sheepishly. "So work wasn't that kind to you then?" Alfred just smiled sympathetically as Arthur groaned and held his head in his hands. "You wanna vent about it?" He asked and chuckled when Arthur lifted his head and averted his eyes, the reserved Englishman looked rather cute when he was embarrassed; Alfred could tell that he really wanted to say something though. "I don't mind, really. What're friends for right?" He smiled happily and Arthur blushed slightly; it was silly to get all happy about such a simple phrase, Alfred was just the sort of person that would gladly sit in the cold and let his friends vent to him. Saying it to Arthur seemed like a bit much though; Arthur had never really acted very much like a friend to him, yet the American still treated him as such.

Friends with Alfred… The concept didn't seem so terrible, when Arthur thought of it now.

And so, Arthur poured out his frustrated, sour little heart, telling Alfred all about the terrible luck he had and how everything had just gone wrong that day; Alfred listened, nodding along and allowing Arthur to just let out his frustrations.

"Man, sounds rough dude."

"I'll say. It's a little ironic that Boxing day was originally a day for charity, not clawing at the public's throat to get at things on sale." Arthur huffed quietly.

"Oh, is that what it's meant to be about?" Alfred asked. "We don't have 'Boxing Day' in America." He chuckled when he saw Arthur's surprised expression. "Man Arthur, 'Not everyone has to celebrate the same thing' right?" He laughed properly when Arthur prickled slightly at the use of his own quote. Arthur shoved him lightly.

"Sod off." He said but there was no bite to his words. Arthur then stood up and stretched slightly, stretching his arms in front of himself almost like a cat; he turned to Alfred with a small smile. "Right, I'm sorry to suddenly bolt off after ranting at you like that but I better get going or I'm going to miss my bus."

"You still don't have your car?" Alfred asked in surprise as he stood up as well; Arthur chuckled, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to warm them.

"Yes and no. It still acts up sometimes so I leave it every now and then; it's on its last legs for sure but the bus isn't that expensive so it'll have to do for now. Now I really have to go, the last bus is going to be going in about," He checked his watch. "Well… Now." Arthur said sheepishly and Alfred took a quick step forward.

"Nah man, I'll drive you!"

"Oh, um- A-are you sure?" Arthur stammered slightly, feeling an awkward sort of giddy which was a very unusual feeling that he had never really come across since he was a child. He gestured in the direction of the bus stop and stammered politely. "I'd hate to be a bother, you know, and- well it's very kind of you certainly a-and I appreciate it, but I can-"

"No way man, I don't want you to have to run for a bus when you can just get a ride from a friend right? It's not like I mind or anything, I'll help you out, c'mon." Alfred chuckled, taking a step back in the direction of his car. Arthur shifted from one foot to another and averted his eyes, rubbing his neck sheepishly; there was that word again. Alfred seemed intent on letting Arthur know that he saw him as an honest to goodness friend and not just an acquaintance who works in a shop he goes to.

"Are you sure? Are you completely sure that I wouldn't be bothering you at all?"

"Dude. I'm the one who offered. I'm sure." Alfred chuckled and smiled, taking another step away and Arthur followed him this time. "C'mon, I'll give you a ride." Alfred smiled and started walking back to the car park.

"Wait, didn't you want something from the shop? You can't have come all this way for nothing." Arthur piped up as they made their way back to Alfred's car.

"No thank you bub, I saw the line in there; I came in for something else and I'm just used to always parking here. It's a complete coincidence that I saw you! But hey, I'm glad I did; you really had to get all that off your chest!" Alfred smiled kindly and Arthur had to look away, waiting for the man to unlock his car; he couldn't shake the feeling that the American wasn't being entirely truthful. Maybe it was just Arthur's own vain wish, one that he didn't even know he had, that Alfred would go out of his way to see someone like him; it seemed like something Alfred would do. No, having someone like Alfred for a friend did seem bad at all; he was already in a better mood, even after the day he had just had. The thought made him smile slightly and that awkwardly giddy feeling came back; Arthur felt a little embarrassed with himself for being so childish.

Arthur sighed as he sat down in the front passenger seat of Alfred's fancy looking car and warmed his hands as the American started the car and turned on the heating. He smiled slightly as he rubbed his hands together, chuckling to himself.

"God, I need a drink. I'm going to need a large cup of tea when I get home. Though a good ol' pint wouldn't hurt either." He smiled mischievously and Alfred laughed; he left the car park and drove for a little while in silence.

"D'you wanna go somewhere?" Alfred asked; his voice was softer than usual, sounding almost hesitant as he raised the question, glancing at Arthur for a moment. Arthur was silent for a while, seriously considering the man's offer, which came as quite a surprise if he was honest; after all, usually he would decline the offer straight out, thinking it a waste of time and effort not to mention money. Come to think of it, Arthur was actually the one who brought up the idea, which he wouldn't have done usually as well; if somehow someone convinced him to let them take him home, he would stay silent the whole time, save for giving directions. He wouldn't have even accepted before, he wouldn't even have got to this point. So why was he thinking about it?

"Like where?" Arthur asked. Why hadn't he just said 'no' yet? What was stopping him?

"Anywhere you like; your pick. It sounds like you've had a really bad day, and… Y'know, why not? It's the end of the day, you can finally relax; you said yourself you need a drink. C'mon, I'm buyin'." Alfred said cheerily, glancing at Arthur sidelong with a soft, lopsided smile that was rather charming in the dim light of the passing streetlamps. Arthur paused; usually he'd decline the offer, a few months ago he certainly would have but it seemed that things were different now. Somehow, he had come to know this person and even considered him more than just an acquaintance; even through all his overthinking and doubting and fears, he just couldn't bring himself to say no.

"…Alright."

Arthur directed Alfred to one of his favourite pubs, they were both glad that the establishment was actually open, considering it was Boxing Day and most places like that shut rather early. Arthur, for some reason, thought about how if he had a longer shift, he probably wouldn't have seen Alfred and wouldn't be with him now; he was suddenly even more glad that he had a short shift that day. They went in and Alfred walked over to the bar to order a couple of drinks as Arthur went to sit down at a table against the far wall. After all, Alfred was paying, at least for the first round. Alfred smiled as he brought over the drinks, chuckling to himself as he saw the Englishman awkwardly try to amuse himself until Alfred returned; he placed the drinks on the table and smiled.

"We're sitting all the way over in the corner? You Brits really are anti-social!" He laughed and sat down as Arthur frowned at him, but Alfred could tell he wasn't angry.

"I don't want anyone to bother us." Arthur said simply, taking a sip of his drink; he glanced to Alfred and almost choked when he saw his expression. It was only then that he realised what he had said and Arthur frantically slammed down his glass and looked at Alfred in a flustered, desperate manner. "N-not like that! Why would you think it was something like that! I meant that it's always quiet on this side of the pub and seeing as it's Boxing Day people may come in and go a bit over board but if we're over here then they'll most likely leave us alone! Don't get the wrong idea or anything!" Arthur shrieked quickly, practically hissing under his breath so no one else could hear him; as soon as he finished speaking he quickly downed his drink and went to buy another. Alfred cleared his throat, blushing slightly; he would admit that Arthur's words had taken him completely by surprise, even if they hadn't had the meaning Alfred had secretly wanted, it was still strangely thrilling as he heard the words come out of the Englishman's mouth so easily. A man could dream after all.

When Arthur returned they ignored what had happened before and easily changed the subject; Alfred told Arthur all about what he had done during the holidays and stories from both his trip to America and what his family was like. Arthur was told how large Alfred's family really was and how each of them reacted to him 'coming home', how jam packed his parents' house was because they were hosting that year, and how both Thanksgiving and Christmas was full of life and utterly crazy with all the family around them. Arthur's holidays on the other hand, were much more toned down and he and his small, immediate family simply gathered at their parents' home and spent the day together, catching up with the things they had done over the year and had sat down to a nice meal; it seemed a lot less exciting in comparison to Alfred's family time, but it was still perfectly enjoyable.

As they both swapped stories from the festive season, Arthur started to lose track of how many drinks he was having; he was happy talking to Alfred of course, but for some reason he also felt a little nervous, and he felt more relaxed taking sips of his drink every couple of minutes, a little quicker than he should have been. Now, Arthur wasn't a lightweight in any sense of the word; in fact, he had been quite the alcoholic when he was young and therefore had quite a strong defence against the effects of alcohol. However at that point in time, his stomach had been practically empty, having not eaten much throughout the day, and although he wasn't losing control, he felt the heat in his cheeks and could tell that he seemed notably more giddy than usual. Not that he minded, Alfred seemed to be having a good time and that made Arthur feel much more at ease, even leading him to enjoy himself quite a bit as well; but between all the stories and laughter, he vaguely felt his composed self, begin to slip away.

Alfred was halfway through a story of how he and his brother had almost thrown their turkey through the kitchen window, when two girls approached the table; Arthur had seen them before from across the room, they had been periodically glancing in their direction and Arthur had seen them whispering and giggling to themselves countless times. It seemed appropriate to notice - in Arthur's personal opinion - that these women were of a slightly younger age, possibly around eighteen or nineteen; scantily clad in skimpy dresses that weren't at all suitable for winter and high heels that they themselves could barely even walk in. The kind that usually paraded around the few clubs and bars they had in the city; the sort with bleached blonde hair and too much make up, that made their look border on that of 'women of the night'. They started blabbering to Alfred shamelessly, obviously fawning over the man for nothing more than his attractive features and American accent ('oh you're American? Blah blah blah'); and Alfred humoured them, politely answering their questions and saying certain words for their amusement. However, it got to the point where the girls took Alfred's arm and started dragging him over to the bar, begging him to come and talk to their other friends; he flashed Arthur an apologetic look and said he would be right back before agreeing to the girls' request, standing up and leaving Arthur alone in the corner.

Arthur watched Alfred willingly walk over to the group of young girls by the bar; as he saw Alfred happily talking with the screeching girls, he started to feel a little sick, and he noticed that it wasn't anything to do with the alcohol. He decided to just not look in their direction but he couldn't help it, he could hear the damn American's laughter from across the room and every time he glanced over and saw him talking happily with the women, he just felt worse; a strong pain piercing his chest every single time. It was a while before Alfred returned, though it felt like much longer to Arthur; the American came and stood by Arthur's chair, not sitting down and smiling at him happily.

"Sorry about that Arthur, they just wanted me to go and talk with them for a bit." He told him and smiled, putting his hands in his pockets as he blabbered on. "I bought them all a drink too, it seemed to be what they wanted, and hey: 'Tis the season." He chuckled

"Hm." Arthur hummed shortly, frowning and feeling sicker than before, that same pain stabbing his chest; maybe he really had drank too much.

"I never really get use to people freaking out about the fact that I'm American."

"Hm." Arthur didn't look up from his drink; still annoyed at Alfred for leaving him alone and also at himself for feeling that way. Alfred didn't really notice and kept talking happily, much to Arthur's annoyance.

"I guess British people are attracted to Americans the same way Americans are attracted to British people!"

"Hm." His brow furrowed a little more; feeling that sharp pain in his chest again. Why was Alfred so happy about being dragged away? The girls were pretty, Arthur supposed, but that didn't mean he had to go, he was meant to be having a drink with him! What really annoyed him was that Arthur didn't understand why he felt so jealous to begin with!

Was he really that jealous?

"So I couldn't really do much huh?" Alfred continued. "When they asked me to come over and talk to them I couldn't really say 'no'. They even asked if I would go out with them all some time to meet their other friends and I-"

"Don't." Arthur said firmly, cutting him off; he didn't look up at him, his expression almost one of confusion, staring into his drink with his eyebrows knotted together. Arthur's face was a little redder than before. "Don't talk to them… I… I-I don't like it." He mumbled and Alfred was stunned into silence. Arthur frowned deeply as he glared at his drink; he felt hot and bothered and he didn't know why his chest hurt and he didn't understand why the thought of Alfred talking and being so friendly and happy with others seems to upset him so much. "Don't talk to anyone else. I feel… weird, if you do…" He hunched over slightly, still refusing to look up from his drink. Alfred stared down at Arthur in surprise.

"Arthur…?" He asked hesitantly; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. The American looked down at Arthur and tried to study his expression, but it was difficult with how he refused to look up; he didn't want to overthink things, but with Arthur looking and acting so dejected and worried and confused, how could he not think that something more was behind his expression? That something more was fuelling his actions? How can he not think that Arthur actually-

Alfred didn't have a chance to finish his thought, snapping out of his daze when he felt a hand tug on his sleeve; he looked and saw Arthur holding the piece of clothing tightly between his forefinger and thumb, still not looking up at him. His voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't want you to talk to anyone else… Stay with me." Arthur mumbled, and Alfred had never seen him look so vulnerable; he crouched down slightly and looked Arthur in the eye.

"I will." He said softly, causing Arthur to finally look up, staring at him in a mixture of confusion and surprise; his face bright red. Alfred stared at Arthur for a moment as he felt his chest tighten; he looked down and sighed. "Come on Arthur. I think it's about time we got you home; you've had a really long day."

Arthur followed Alfred out of the pub and stayed silent the whole journey back to his flat; he had the window open, letting the cold air wash over his face in an attempt to sober up a little more. Alfred didn't try to speak, glancing at Arthur every now and then and worrying about if he was really alright. As they pulled up beside Arthur's home, they sat in silence for a moment, neither of them knowing what they could say; they were both scared to break the silence but Arthur also couldn't bring himself to just leave. Alfred sat back in his chair with a sigh and turned to Arthur, speaking softly.

"Look, I'm sorry; that didn't really go according to plan. I thought it was a good idea but obviously I did something wrong along the way; so I really am sorry if I made your day worse, alright?" He said in a soft and serious tone; again, Arthur looked at him with that surprised and confused expression, but there was something else there that neither of them could put their finger on. Their eyes met and Alfred's heart skipped a beat when he noticed that Arthur's cheeks were redder than before and he was practically studying his face, looking over every inch of it like a work of art. He looked Alfred in the eye again and his expression softened.

"Alfred…" Arthur whispered in a voice so soft and even sad that it nearly broke Alfred's heart; they only looked at each other for a moment but Arthur broke contact first, looking away again to stare at his lap as he undid his seatbelt.

"No… I'm sorry. It was my fault. Thank you Alfred; for listening, for the drink, for taking me home. It was very kind of you, and it really did help." He said quietly. "I'm sorry that I went a bit overboard and ruined everything; I was a bit of a hassle wasn't I?" He nodded to himself and opened the door. "Thank you again Alfred. Bye." He said and then got out of the car, not looking back and leaving a speechless Alfred behind as he walked to his flat and went inside. He leant against the door of his flat as soon as he closed it and put a hand to his head, trying to stop the oncoming headache; he was overthinking things again. He slumped onto his sofa and clutched his head. Something was wrong with him. Very, very wrong.

Alfred stayed out by the man's flat until Arthur was out of sight; he didn't look at all wobbly on his feet so it seemed like he would be alright. However, Alfred couldn't get Arthur's expression out of his head; he spent the whole trip home with it in the back of his mind, trying to figure out what it meant, his mind and hopes were going a mile a minute. He tried to keep his musings to the very back of his thoughts; not trying to overthink anything, but he still couldn't erase how vulnerable Arthur had seemed from his memory. Alfred sighed heavily; something really was wrong with him.

My my, this chapter was longer than I expected... The paragraphs are longer too aren't they? owo' Haha anyway, it seems I'm ending these recent chapters rather sadly doesn't it? Don't worry, it will be happier again for a little while after this w besides, it seems Arthur has made a little realisation! Now the question is, will he acknowledge it? XD

This update took a little longer than I thought it would but Happy New year everyone; let's hope that this year I can write faster XDDD

Thank you all for you continued support and wonderful reviews! They really do mean the world to me and I'm so happy you're enjoying the story :3 I hope you enjoy later chapters just as much! Thank you all again, let's have a great new year!

-Lolo