-And I'll take you gladly, and I'll take you in again.-
She's a Lady; Forever the Sickest Kids
-Hetalia-
The shrill beep of the microwave sliced through the night air, and Alfred quickly opened the door before the machine could make anymore noise. He pulled out his piping hot bag of popcorn carefully and shut the microwave, the display reverting back to the time of night. It was a bit after two, apparently. Not that it really mattered to Alfred. This popcorn was going to be his lunch anyway, along with the coke he pulled out of the fridge. There were still a few old fashion glass bottles left, he noted with a grin before making his way back to his bedroom.
As he set the bottle down on his desk, the condensation already wetting his hand in the thick heat of the July night, he heard a soft knock just behind him. Alfred looked over his shoulder to see Matthew standing stiffly beside the half open door, hugging himself. As Alfred opened his mouth to ask Matthew what was up, his cell phone went off from its place on the bed.
Alfred stared at it in confusion for a long moment as the Doctor Who theme continued to play. Arthur had to have gone to bed by now; he was always complaining about Alfred waking him up, and he'd told Alfred today after their band practice not to call him in the middle of the night.
"Isn't that Arthur?" Matthew asked. Alfred nodded, moving to the bed to pick up the phone. "It's probably important."
Alfred answered the phone with a confused "Hello?"
"Hello, Alfred," Arthur's voice said. He sounded defeated.
"What's up, dude? It's like..." Alfred looked around his room for a clock.
"Two seventeen," Matthew told him. Alfred repeated the numbers to Arthur as he nodded his thanks to Matthew.
"I know," Arthur said. He sighed and began to say something, but stopped himself. Alfred frowned and glanced over at Matthew. There was an odd shadow on the other's bandaged chest. It was shaped kind of like Maine, except as a shadow. Alfred squinted, trying to look closer, before realizing the 'shadow' was dark red.
"Shit, Matt! Dude, what happened?" he asked, rushing over to his brother and forgetting about Arthur. He pushed aside Matthew's arms to get a better look
"What? What's going on, Alfred?" Arthur asked, his tone completely changed.
"I'm fine, I, I just tore it back open, I think," Matthew said, biting his lip.
"Alfred? What's going on?" Arthur pressed again.
"Matt's bleeding again. Hold on, I'll put you on speaker." Alfred quickly pressed a button and set the phone on the desk beside the bottle of soda before motioning for Matthew to come into the room. The Canadian carefully shut the door behind himself as he came in, his movements very stiff, as if every step hurt him.
"How bad is it?" Arthur asked.
"I can't really tell through the bandages," Alfred said, leaning down to inspect the blood stain.
"We should probably rewrap it," Matthew said, looking off to the side. Alfred moved to go grab the first aid kit again.
"Be back in a sec," he said before he left the room. He made a quiet dash for the bathroom, hoping his parents wouldn't wake up. Matthew had already asked him not to tell them, because if they knew then there would be no way in hell they'd let him keep volunteering at the shelter. Alfred found the first aid kit right where he'd left it, where he always left it, and hurried back to Matthew.
"...hurt then," Matthew was telling Arthur when Alfred came back in the room.
"Alright, I got the stuff," he announced, shutting his door once more. Matthew nodded, and turned so Alfred could reach the bandages better.
"Let me know how bad it is," Arthur said. Alfred nodded and knelt in front of Matthew, his face in front of the younger's stomach. Matthew hissed a bit as Alfred began peeling away the wrappings. Slowly the gashes from the retriever's teeth became visible, and Alfred winced at the sight. Matthew was gritting his teeth as the air hit his wounds.
"It looks worse than it did this morning, Matt," Alfred said slowly.
"How bad is it?" Arthur pressed.
"It looks like raw hamburger," Alfred said. "And it's all bruised now," he added as he pulled away the last of the soiled bandages. Matthew made a pained face, wincing a bit as he looked down at his bare torso.
"Is it worse than that time you rode your bike down the hill behind the school?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah. It looks pretty bad, dude. You might need to go to a doctor," Alfred said, meeting Matthew's eyes.
"I'll be okay," Matthew said through gritted teeth, gripping the edge of Alfred's desk tight enough to turn his knuckles white. "I've had worse from hockey accidents and things..." That was a lie.
"Well you had better wash the wound, at least," Arthur said.
Alfred nodded again and said, "Yeah, c'mon Mattie," picking up the first aid kit and the phone. "I'll help you."
He pulled open the door. Matthew gnawed on his lip with every movement he made as they slowly made their way to the bathroom down the hall. Alfred opened the door and let Matthew go in ahead of him. Setting the kit and the phone on the sink counter, Alfred shut and locked the door behind them as Matthew made his way to stand beside the tub.
"I think you're gonna have to take off your pants, or they'll get soaked," Alfred said. He looked around for a washcloth.
"...I can't bend over enough," Matthew confessed. "It hurts too much when I do."
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Arthur asked from the sink as Alfred stepped forward to help his brother out of his pants. Even just stepping out of them made Matthew wince.
"I'm sure," he managed. Arthur sighed while Alfred helped Matthew over the edge of the tub.
"I'd expect a stubborn decision like that from Alfred, not you," Arthur scolded him. Alfred found a washcloth finally and wet it with a little warm water.
"Let's wash the dry blood and stuff away first," he said gently, stepping into the tub to stand as close to his brother as possible. Matthew braced his arms against the walls as he stood in the corner and prepared himself for the pain. He yelped when Alfred first touched the cloth to his skin.
"I'm sorry, Mattie," Alfred said. They spent several minutes like this, Matthew trying to hold back sounds of pain as Alfred cleaned the wound as best as he could, apologizing repeatedly. It seemed like everything he did caused his brother a lot of pain, and Alfred could almost feel it himself. When he'd finally washed away all that he could, Matthew let out a shaky sigh while Alfred stepped back out of the tub, turning to the kit.
"Is there a particular reason you refuse to get medical attention? I suppose we all know a fair bit about treating these things after all the fights we've been in, but still, we're hardly professionals."
"It's because of my mom," Matthew said in a strained voice. He had tears in the corners of his eyes and his breathing was uneven. Alfred found the Neosporin and re-read the label on the back even though he used it enough times to have it memorized.
"Your mum?" Arthur asked.
"She wouldn't let me go back if she knew," Matthew said. Alfred pulled the towel off of the rack and stepped back into the tub. He leaned down and carefully dabbed at the water left from the washcloth, biting his lip as Matthew hissed in pain.
"I'm sorry, Mattie," he repeated. Matthew just shook his head, a tear trailing down his cheek. Alfred pulled back and squeezed a bit of the ointment on his finger. "This'll sting for a sec but then it goes numb, 'kay?"
Matthew took a shuddering breath and held it, nodding for Alfred to go ahead. Alfred could hardly stand to hear Matthew's whimpers as he applied the Neosporin, but thankfully it was quick work. Soon Alfred was stepping out of the tub again to get the bandages and Matthew as leaning against the wall, trying to steady his breathing.
"Just how much blood have you lost?" Arthur asked. "You don't feel dizzy, do you Matthew?" Matthew only shook his head, so Alfred answered for him.
"No, it wasn't really all that much. It's mostly bruises I think."
He returned to his brother's side and began dressing the wound. Matthew's pained sounds were quieter now, and his breathing began to even out.
"There ya go, Mattie," Alfred said when he'd finished. "C'mon, let's get you back to your room."
He helped Matthew back out of the tub and into his pants. Matthew took a steadier breath and bit his lip as he looked up at Alfred for a moment.
"Do you...is it okay if we just go to yours?" he asked. He looked like a kicked puppy, and after all the pain he'd caused the poor boy, Alfred couldn't have said no if he wanted to. Plus, Alfred's room was closer, and Matthew probably needed to just lay down and sleep now and try to heal.
"Sure, whatever you want, Mattie." Alfred smiled, picking up his cell, unlocking the door, and pulling it open. Matthew slowly made his way out as Alfred put away the first aid kit and turned off the light. Using his phone to light the way, Alfred led Matthew back to the bedroom.
"Need help getting in bed?" he asked as he shut the door behind his brother.
"No, I can do that much."
Matthew gingerly set himself down on the bed and dragged himself over to the pillows before laying down. Alfred turned the lights off and shut his laptop, putting it in sleep mode, before getting on the bed beside Matthew and tucking the younger in. Matthew was already falling asleep when Alfred pulled his glasses off his face and set them on the nightstand.
After a while Alfred said "I think he's asleep," to Arthur, switching off the speaker on his phone.
"Will he really be okay?" Arthur asked. Alfred shrugged and leaned against the wall, running his hands gently through his brother's hair.
"I guess. I mean, he has had some pretty bad bruises from hockey fights before, but not this bad. He just needs to heal, I think." He could hear Arthur shifting over the line, and suddenly he remembered it was the middle of the night. "Hey, why'd you call anyway, Iggy?"
"Remind me why you call me that?" Arthur sighed dodging the question. He sounded exhausted again.
"'Cause you're English, and Eng-gy sounds pretty weird." Arthur made a sound that might have been a chuckle or a sigh. "So really," Alfred pressed, "what's up?" This time he was sure Arthur sighed.
"Before I called you, I'd just hung up with Francis," Arthur said. Alfred's hand came to a stop on Matthew's head. He could tell this was going to be pretty serious.
"What happened?"
"We had another fight," Arthur said lightly. They had a weird relationship, from what Alfred had been told. If they weren't going at each other's throats they were just plain going at it, and Alfred was hard-pressed to keep track of whether they hated or loved each other on any particular day.
"What about?"
"It was something stupid," Arthur said, making the sound that was either a sigh or a chuckle again. "It's just..."
"Yeah?"
"I..I'm fairly sure this was the last time."
Alfred frowned. They fought all the time over stupid things. Why would this be any different?
"What do you mean?" He heard Arthur take in a slow breath, releasing it in a long sigh.
"You know that girl, Jeanne? She was in our year?"
Alfred nodded, remembering the previous senior. He'd only seen her and heard about her, of course, but he had a good idea of what she was like. He wasn't sure what Arthur was getting at, though.
"Yeah. What's she got to do with it?"
"...He seemed rather serious about her," Arthur said.
"Wait, what are you saying?"
Arthur sighed. "He's found someone else, Alfred. It's really over this time."
"Oh..."
"Yeah," Arthur said. Alfred couldn't think of much to say.
"I'm sorry, Artie."
"Yeah, so am I."
"Hey, don't let him get to you, okay? If he's moved on, then you can too, right?"
Arthur made the sound he made when he was smiling despite himself, and Alfred knew he was on the right track.
"I suppose. We were close, though, despite the fights." Alfred tried not to snort at that. "It's childish, but I feel as though I won't be able to find that kind of closeness with anyone else."
Alfred got the craziest idea.
"Hey, what do you want out of a relationship, Iggy?"
"Huh? ...Well, I suppose I expect companionship. I want to be in love with someone I can call my best friend. But, doesn't everybody?" he mused. Alfred nodded.
"Yeah, it's a pretty normal thing. We all want acceptance or something, right?"
"Yes. But if we all want that, why bother asking me?" Alfred grinned.
"Well, I have to go, I don't wanna keep talking to you and end up waking up Mattie. He's kind of a light sleeper. But I'll answer that before I go, if you want."
"Skip the games and just answer me, Alfred," Arthur said.
"All I'm saying is, if you wanna date your best friend, why don't you date your best friend?" A rush of excitement filled Alfred after he said it. Arthur was smart. He'd figure out what Alfred meant. Probably. Hopefully. Probably.
"...Are you...asking me out?" Arthur asked. Alfred's courage started to slip away at an alarming rate, the excitement shifting into nervousness.
"Eh...yeah, but you can get back to me on that," he said cheerfully. "I'm gonna go now. Night!" He hung up before he could give Arthur a chance to say anything else.
Alfred let out a breath, feeling his heart pounding. He set his phone down on the nightstand next to Matthew's glasses and took his own off as well before he slid down to lay next to his brother, despite the fact that it was only about three thirty in the morning. It was hard to believe he'd really just done that, and the more he thought about it, the more anxious he started to feel, so Alfred wrapped an arm around Matthew and forced himself to sleep.
A/N: Thank you so much! I've been getting a few reviews now and they make me very happy. I'm so glad to hear you guys like this story! I love it when I open my email and find several new followers and favorites. I'm glad I can make you guys happy with this messy little story. Well, it's not all that little, actually.
I had to choose between Doctor Who and Sherlock for Arthur's ringtone, but I decided that Doctor Who, being an older show, would be deeper embedded in the character of England, so natually his human self would be partial to Doctor Who.
For the purpose of this story, Jeanne d'Arc is the same age as England and France. I'm sure I don't have to point out how inaccurate that is, but she's a minor character anyway, so please excuse me for that. It is an AU, after all. And by the way, this split between Arthur and Francis is sort of an allegory for the Hundred Years' War.
Dogs can be very dangerous. I adore them, please understand that, but I've also received wounds from them. None as bad as Mattie's, but wounds all the same.
Translations for this chapter:
None!
Thanks goes to Hornet394 once again for betaing.
Thank you so much for reading.
~VV