[Fanfic] True Love's Kiss (USUK, Summer Camp 2012)
TITLE: True Love's Kiss
ARTIST/AUTHOR: bukku_oosa
GENRE: Romance, Fluff
RATING: T
WARNINGS: Underage drinking, a bit of swearing, devilish!Matthew!, music porn
PAIRING/S: USUK, Alfred/Arthur(America/England)
SUMMARY: Alfred and Arthur are musical prodigies that fall in love after stealing each other’s first kisses. FF.net Link
The Die Welt Academy for Gifted Musicians was a prestigious school home to the world’s most talented young musicians, each one of them geniuses in their own instrument of choice. It is located in the beautiful mountains in Austria, high up in the mountains, where the view was absolutely spectacular: luscious rolling green hills way down below with softly swaying wildflowers, and above them, the pristine white snow that covered the tips of the mountains with a glimmering silver sheen. The air up there was cool, gentle and clean, perfect for carrying the beautiful sounds of music reverberating from open stained-glass windows of the academy.
One student sat all by himself at the empty courtyard-it was a weekend, almost everyone was down at the city, leaving the beautiful school almost empty, save for a few students and staff left behind-holding his violin and bow delicately in his hands as he peered out at the mountains with wistful summer-sky blue eyes. A sigh escaped his lips as he ran his hand down his face, before putting his glasses on with one hand.
“Come on,” he muttered to himself, standing up from his slouched position, before putting the violin in position on his shoulder. “One more time.”
I’ve been dreaming of a true love’s kiss,
The lyrics of the song flowed into his mind as his bow drew over the strings, each note ringing out clear as a bell chime through the crisp, cool air, as his eyes slipped closed, phantom musical notes flowing behind his eyelids as he played the song plaguing his mind.
And a love I’m hoping comes with this
He nodded to himself, yes, yes, that’s how the song went, as he kept playing, turning slowly to breathe in the cool mountain air.
That's what brings everaftering so happy
Suddenly his hand came to a stop, his violin making an ear-splitting screech as his song came to an abrupt end. He frowned, opening his eyes, looking down at his violin.
“That was where the song stopped today.” He muttered, lowering his violin to scribble at the sheet music paper he had with him, resting innocuously on top of his violin case. Quickly, he wrote down the three new notes he remembered (bitterly cursing at how terrible his memory was) before folding the paper in half and tucking it into the small pocket on the case.
After packing up his things, he turned on his heel and returned to the school, heading straight to the practice rooms for his daily practice routine.
---
Such was the life of Alfred Fitzgerald Jones, one of the violinists studying in Die Welt Academy. Every night, he would have the same dream-he kept hearing the same song over and over again, the lyrics stark clear in his mind like they had been burned there, as the melody played in his mind, the smooth yet sharp sound of his violin clean and crisp as the air around him.
But his dreams never lasted long. Before the song could even reach halfway, Alfred would wake up.
A blend of hurt pride, curiosity and frustration drove him to try and remember-to try and complete the piece, but as the days dragged on, Alfred could never ever get past halfway through the song.
“Alfred-san, that is a beautiful song, but perhaps you are pushing yourself a little too much?” his friend Kiku told him one day, plucking at his koto, not looking up as he played what he could remember of what Alfred was playing. “You should rest. Let the song come to you when it wants to.”
“I’ve been doing that for the past month, Kiku, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to make it come to me or I’ll split a vein trying to figure it out.”
“Calm,” Kiku chuckled, before playing a traditional tune, the notes light and airy, giving Alfred the image of swaying bamboos in the wind of imminent rain. “Calm. Like the falling rain.”
“Not unless it’s a storm,” Alfred said, but he sat down, setting his violin gently down in its case. “God, I’m so frustrated. It’s been in my head for weeks.”
“So I have noticed.” Kiku chuckled, “If you’d like you may come join me. I have to be in town later tonight, you may relax there.”
“You’re going to a party?” Alfred blinked, and Kiku chuckled behind his hand.
“Of some sorts. It is my cousin’s birthday, after all.” He said, and Alfred nodded slowly.
“… ‘Kay. Sure. I’ll come with.” Alfred nodded, before packing up his violin. “What time do we meet up?”
“5 PM will do,” Kiku nodded, “I shall see you later, Alfred-san.”
“You got it.” The blonde winked at the black-haired teen, before making his way out of the practice room.
---
And what a party it was. Someone had managed to sneak in alcoholic beverages (Alfred had a sinking feeling it was Gilbert, their orchestra’s flutist) and soon, the polite just-eating-and-talking party turned rather loud and full of activity, and Alfred found himself relaxing, just like Kiku had said. He was grinning brightly as he was handed his (third? Fourth? He didn’t really know how many) drink again, before he downed it quickly, earning him bright laughter and cheers from the gaggle of students there with him. He was laughing brightly, having a lot of fun, when suddenly someone was shoved onto his lap.
His alcohol-fazed brain barely registered the person’s face, but he did know that he was being straddled in his seat. He knew what he was supposed to do-push them off, for the love of God-but his dazed mind had known better and instead his hands came to a rest on the person’s waist, encouraging them to make a move.
All of a sudden, his glasses were removed and he felt soft, warm lips on his as he looked into a pair of beautiful green eyes.
That was all he remembered, and then he blacked out.
---
He woke up the next day with a migraine and someone knocking on the door of his bedroom (how on Earth did he get back in the dormitory?) like they were intending to break it in if he didn’t answer it.
Grumbling, he held his head in an attempt to stop the world from tilting precariously (although, that was just him, nothing was wrong with the world at all,) as he got up and answered the door.
“What?” he groaned, squinting to see that it was his cousin Matthew at the door. “Do you really have to bother me? My head feels like it’s being cleaved into two.”
“I come bearing aspirin,” Matthew said simply, grinning, like as if he knew something Alfred didn’t, but right now, he couldn’t care less. He needed that aspirin.
Alfred lunged for the paper bag Matthew was carrying and opened it to find a bottle of water and some aspirin. Letting out a loud sigh of relief, Alfred grabbed one, popped it into his mouth, before downing almost half of the water in the bottle.
Matthew was chuckling behind him. “Hey, at least you’re not throwing up.”
“… Now that you mention it,” Alfred held up a finger, before running into his in-room bathroom to toss the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl.
Matthew was then at his side, rubbing his back until he was done. Still grinning that patronising grin that annoyed Alfred’s fuzzy mind, he handed the blonde the water bottle and letting him drink.
“So.” He said, as the two of them settle down next to each other on Alfred’s bed. “What a party you went to last night.”
“Who told you about that?”
“Gilbert did. He told me he brought in some booze, too.”
Knew that bastard did it, Alfred muttered under his breath, but Matthew heard him and laughed.
“He said you were an absolute riot.” Matthew laughed. “I can’t find that hard to imagine.”
“Shut it,” Alfred groaned, before burying his face into his pillow. “I’m not ever drinking again.”
“That’s what they all say.” Matthew chuckled. “So, anything interesting happen last night?”
Alfred blinked at him for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts on what had happened the night before: there was drinking, yes, lots of food, Kiku was there, but he wasn’t drinking, the cheating bastard, and…
A bright red blush crossed his face, and a positively wicked grin spread across Matthew’s face.
“Oh, oh, you did something naughty, didn’t you?”
“D-did not!” Alfred croaked, the memory of the warm kiss flooding his mind like water escaping a dam. “M-Mattie! Shut up!”
“Oh my God, your face is bright red!” the blonde teen guffawed, his face turning red in exertion as he laughed, bending over and grasping his stomach. “It says it all, Alfred!”
“Get out of here before I go shove your water drums up your ass, Mattie!” Alfred spluttered, chasing his cousin out the door. Matthew only laughed at him as he allowed himself to be shepherded out the door. “I mean it!”
“I’ll find out about this, Al!” Matthew chuckled just before he closed the door. “This is too hilarious to pass by!”
“Screw you!” Alfred yelled, slamming the door closed after him.
---
Alfred went back to sleep-it was a Sunday, he belatedly found out, the blonde teen collapsing into his bed with a grateful sigh. He was out before his head hit the pillow.
His dream was different now, more… complete.
The song had played fully now, but Alfred heard something else aside from his violin playing, and another voice singing along to the song, aside from his own singing it.
There was a piano playing in the background, and he was looking at the most startling shade of green as the song ended.
And then, at that moment, he felt the sensation of lips on his own-identical to the kiss he had at the pub in town the night before.
He sat up, alarmed, his eyes flying open, to find, naturally, no one in his room. Panting, Alfred looked down at his hands, twitchy and itching to get a hold onto his violin.
He raced out of bed, spotting the time glaring from his bedside table digital clock-it was 10 in the evening. He had slept the whole day, but he didn’t care as he pushed aside his night curtains. Throwing the windows open, making the transparent day curtains flutter as he did so, letting the cold air in, he shivered, but he felt thousands of times better now, and the memory of the song in his dreams still bright and clear as he grabbed his violin case and pulled his violin and bow out. He hastily straightened the bow’s horsehair strings and grasped it tightly between his fingers as he pulled his violin onto his shoulder, before letting the tune flow from the strings as vividly as his dream did.
I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss
“Yes, yes,” he muttered, playing through the notes he had been repeating for weeks on end. “Come on, come on…”
And a love I'm hoping comes with this
He turned around to look outside the window, where right above him he could see the full moon shining in the night sky, lighting clouds nearby it a gentle white hue.
That's what brings everaftering so happy
This was where he would normally stop, but his clear memory of the song allowed him to continue.
And that's the reason we need lips so much
He could feel his frustration bubble away as his fingers danced over the violin’s neck, playing out the root of his frustrations, unwinding his tightly-coiled sensation, allowing him to lessen the tension knotting up under his shoulder blades.
For lips are the only things that touch
His bow stuttered slightly over the strings when he relaxed, but he kept going, correcting his posture as he felt himself smiling, continuing strongly.
So to spend a life of endless bliss
The images from his dream came rushing back as he approached the final line of the song, and Alfred’s eyes widened as the memory of the kiss in the pub returned to him, hitting him full-force like a ton of bricks.
Just find who you love…
“… Through true love’s kiss.” Alfred didn’t finish the line, lowering his bow and violin to look up at the sky, his hand holding his bow coming up to brush against his lips. He stayed silent for a moment, staring at the moon, before shaking his head. “No. What am I thinking? It was just some drunken night.”
He tried in vain to convince himself what he was saying to himself, but something moving around in his chest seemed to tell him otherwise.
He shook his head and played the song again, again and again for the rest of the night.
---
“Well, looks like someone didn’t get any sleep last night,” Alfred’s orchestra’s conductor, Romulus, smirked as the blonde stumbled into the room the following day, eye bags under his eyes.
“’M fine.” Alfred mumbled, before plopping into his seat next to Toris, their kantele player. He offered Alfred a sheepish smile.
“Are you alright, Alfred?”
“I’m fine,” he smiled weakly at Toris. “What’s going on?”
“Well, for our next concert, we’re supposed to be performing in duets. The assignment’s been given out now, actually. You’d better go check on who you’re with. Toris pointed at a sheet of paper stuck to the wall nearby, and Alfred nodded his thanks, before going to inspect the paper.
Alfred Jones (violin) - Arthur Kirkland (piano)
“They’re pulling a classic violin-piano pair, are they?” Alfred mumbled, when he suddenly heard someone clearing their throat behind him.
“Well, if you’re done ogling that list, you git, I suggest you get moving to the grand piano so we can get started, don’t you think?” a posh-sounding British-accented voice snapped behind him. Alfred’s eyes widened and he turned around to see a blonde teen standing behind him, his arms crossed as one of his marvellously thick eyebrows were raised in annoyance. “Well? You’re Jones, am I correct?”
“Hey, listen, pal,” he snarled, “If you think you’re-” he fell silent upon seeing Arthur’s eyes. They were the same shade of green he was seeing in his dreams.
“Right, whatever.” Arthur scoffed. “Just… get moving. I don’t like being held up.” he turned around, like as if expecting Alfred to just follow him. The blue-eyed teen felt his blood boil as he held his ground.
Because if there’s anyone in their orchestra who should be giving orders, it’s him.
---
The following week had been an utter nightmare. Alfred and Arthur clashed so much, their egos full enough to fill a hot-air balloon each, that they could barely work with each other properly, let alone compose something together to perform in the imminent concert.
“Can’t you two just get along?!” Romulus yelled at the two of them, exasperated, having the last straw as he watched music sheets fly left and right. He had immediately stormed straight through to where the two teens were, bulldozing past pairs scrabbling to get out of the way. The two blondes merely looked away from each other, frowning at two opposite directions, refusing to give in. “Oh, for the love of God! If you two don’t pull it together, I’m going to pull your parts out from the concert!”
“What?!” Arthur gasped, as Alfred yelled, “No way!”
“Well then, get to it, or else you two Prima Donnas can sit on the sidelines this year.”
Alfred and Arthur shared a glance, and immediately looked away from each other, scowling.
“Your funeral.” Romulus frowned, before walking away.
---
Alone in their practice room, the two glared at each other.
“If you would just listen to what I tell you-”
“No, you listen!”
Arthur threw his hands up and slammed them down on the piano’s keys. “We’re never going to get into that concert if we keep doing this! Why are you so bloody stubborn?”
“Why are you so freaking bossy?” Alfred snapped back. “I want my freedom too!”
“Oh, for the love of-” Arthur threw his hands up in defeat, and turned to look at the piano, before playing a few notes on it, a deep frown on his face.
I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss
Alfred paused, and did a double-take.
“… What did you just play?” he asked, making Arthur look at him.
“It’s an original composition, I’ll have you know.” He scoffed. “Of course, far superior than what you have most likely in mind-”
He fell silent when Alfred played the next line:
And a love I'm hoping comes with this
They stared at each other for a long time, before Alfred broke his gaze, blushing slightly. “Y-you see, I’ve been dreaming about this song for a really long time, about a month ago.”
“Me too.” Arthur replied after a moment. “Except, every time, the song would just stop halfway-”
“Exactly!” Alfred nodded, “But then recently… ah,” his blush intensified. “Well, uh, I sort of, dreamt the rest.”
It was Arthur’s turn to blush. “A-ah, yes. That’s the same for me.”
They looked at each other for a moment, and slowly, a smile crept onto their faces.
“On three?”
“One, two,” on the next beat, they started together, Alfred playing the melodic line and Arthur playing the accompaniment he had improvised in the month he had been dreaming of it.
I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss
And a love I'm hoping comes with this
That's what brings everaftering so happy
And that's the reason we need lips so much
For lips are the only things that touch
“So to spend a life of endless bliss…” Arthur sang softly to himself, but Alfred heard him, and smiling slightly, he sang along.
“Just find who you love…” they looked at each other, their eyes locking.
“…Through true love's kiss.”
They fell silent, Alfred lowering his violin and bow, Arthur taking his hands off the piano as they leant closer and closer to each other-
“I heard what you two were doing! Looks like the two of you could pull off this shit after all!” Gilbert’s loud voice boomed into the room as Alfred and Arthur pulled apart as fast as they could. “… Guys?” Gilbert blinked, seeing Alfred pressed tightly against the wall, as Arthur was clinging onto the piano like a lifeline. He raised an eyebrow, and moved to call Romulus to tell on Alfred and Arthur’s progress.
---
The next few days went by swimmingly, the both of them putting the song together seamlessly, running into no kinks along the way-but the both of them pointedly avoiding the topic of their near-kiss during their first day.
The day of the concert came too soon, and soon Alfred found himself standing on stage next to Arthur, who was sitting at a grand piano, looking at him expectantly.
“On one, two…” on the next beat, they started seamlessly, melody and accompaniment blending together in perfect harmony.
I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss
And a love I'm hoping comes with this
That's what brings everaftering so happy
And that's the reason we need lips so much
For lips are the only things that touch
So to spend a life of endless bliss
Just find who you love through true love's kiss
There was thunderous applause as their song came to an end, and flowers being thrown at them as he and Arthur stood up and took a bow.
---
Backstage, they were greeted by excited friends, and the flurry of activity was seemingly endless, but eventually things calmed down and Alfred an Arthur found themselves alone as another pair performed on the stage outside.
“… You did great.” Arthur mumbled, catching Alfred’s attention, and the blue-eyed teenager grinned brightly.
“You too.” He nodded, and the two of them fell silent, awkward, once again.
“… Hey.” Alfred began. “Remember that time back when we realised we’ve been having the same dream?”
Arthur looked up at him, a blush spreading across his face, painting his pale cheeks red.
“Yes?”
“Well, uh,” Alfred struggled to find the words, “There’s something else I should probably tell you. I, uh, to get the full song,” he blushed. “I… kissed someone on Hong’s birthday party.”
“… Me too.”
Alfred blinked.
“… Except I was rather drunk at the time, and all I could remember was their eye colour…” he looked up at Alfred, eyes shy. “… They were blue like the summer sky.”
“Me too.” Alfred took Arthur’s hands in his. “I remember the most beautiful green I had ever seen in my life.”
Arthur’s eyes widened and Alfred leant in for a kiss. Their lips touched, and their eyes slipped closed as Alfred pulled Arthur into his embrace.
They pulled apart slightly, and Alfred let out a breathless laugh.
“You're the greatest man I've ever met, you were made…” he sang softly.
“To finish your duet.” Arthur sang back, smiling up at him.
“And in years to come we'll reminisce,” they sang together.
“How we came to love,” Alfred caressed Arthur’s cheek.
“And grew and grew love,” Arthur leant into his touch.
“Since first we knew love through true love's kiss.”
AND I LEARNT HOW TO BE CHEESY. AAAAA I CAN'T
I can change the lyrics, right? Artistic license? 8D;;
Hey guys, I got a question. Is this double-spacing more easy to handle than the original spacing I do before? (so I know how much to format and stuff. Tell me what floats your boats, guys!)
Extra Notes: This is a water drum, this is a koto, and this is a kantele.