[Fanfic] What Your Eyes Can't See (Chapt. 2)
Title: What Your Eyes Can't See (Chapter 2) (Previous Chapters)
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Characters/Pairing(s): America, England, Canada (among others) (USUK)
Rating/Warnings: T
Summary: Alfred F. Jones lives an ordinary life with his twin, looking for work while looking after the house for their parents. But all that gets chucked out the window when he has to go and be all heroic and rescue the guy who passed out in the rain.
Wordcount: 5603
Chapter Summary: He opened his eyes again, just in time to watch the flower unfurl itself, its steam straightening out once more and changing back to a brilliant green while its petals filled with colour, practically radiating its warm yellow hue.
[A/N: Hi everyone! Long time no update!
Still, I'm back with chapter 2 and I'm already writing chapter 3 (because I don't wanna get lost in the fray again lol).
If you're wondering why I disappeared for so long, it was because I've been busy settling in at University. For those of you who don't know, I'm an art student, and that most certainly does not mean that I just go out and get drunk every weekend lol.
The workload's a lot bigger than what I'm used to, so I've been concentrating on that and some of my other projects more than I have been here.
I'm sorry! Fate's so cruel to me!]
Alfred had already lost count of the number of times he had now spotted the sandy blonde mop of hair sprawled in the middle of the grass in the back yard. Arthur really did seem to truly love the little green space they had. He spent more time out there than he did inside, and he seemed to be getting better for it.
There were a few times when the taller teen had found Arthur asleep out there and had (heroically) carried him back inside the house, but this was an occurrence that was happening less and less as the colour started returning to his milky skin.
Arthur had felt it too. He was getting stronger again, feeling more like his normal self as the days passed. It was almost as if he could feel his magic passing through his fingertips again.
But there was one thing that hadn't changed despite all this.
His voice still hadn't returned.
And he hated the fact that this stopped him from being able to have any decent conversations. Alfred tended to blabber on for ages on end, leaving Arthur to try to hurry and scribble down his responses before the other boy got bored, which, unfortunately, he often did.
It wasn't that he was uncaring. He just had an unbelievably short attention span. It was something that Arthur had discovered even before he had started recovering. But that didn't stop him from enjoying Alfred's company.
Matthew did drop by from time to time when he was bedridden, but he just didn't seem to have the same spark as his twin. He was also exceedingly hard to read compared to Alfred. He closed himself away from Arthur, only too suspicious of the stranger in their house. The only time he let his guard down was when Gilbert was with him.
He sighed, lying down in front of one particular flowerbed where the bloom had since finished for that year. It was a shame, the flowers had been beautiful, varying in shades and colours before they eventually had withered and dried up.
He picked one of the decaying steams, twiddling it between his fingers before rolling onto his back and holding it up in front of him.
Closing his eyes, Arthur let out a long breath, concentrating on what were once the flower's colourful petals. And he felt it. That small spark that meant everything to him and then the flow of his power running down his fingers and into the flower.
He opened his eyes again, just in time to watch the flower unfurl itself, its steam straightening out once more and changing back to a brilliant green while its petals filled with colour, practically radiating its warm yellow hue.
The teen smiled, letting out a soft laugh as he breathed in the bloom's scent.
Yes, his strength truly had returned.
"What the hell was that?"
Arthur started, clutching the newly living flower to his chest and sitting up so that his eyes rested on the source of the voice.
Alfred was standing at the door into the house, his eyes fixated on the teen half-lying on the grass in front of him. They kept darting between Arthur's face and the flower in his hand, not sure of where they should land.
Arthur opened and closed his mouth, hating that he couldn't form the words to explain himself. Fucking, unreliable magic!
"Tsk." Alfred rolled his eyes, crossing the small expanse of grass and pulling the smaller blonde to his feet. "C'mon."
He allowed himself to be practically frog-marched back into the house behind Alfred, though he never raised his eyes from the ground.
Why had he been so stupid? Of course magic didn't exist in this world. Why had he thought any different? If it had existed then they would've known how to heal him straight away. He just had to let his guard slip for a second. After all this time he should have known to be more careful!
Alfred pushed him down onto the sofa, grateful for once that Matt was out with Gilbert at that moment in time. Arthur was still pointedly holding onto the flower that he had unwittingly seen being revived in front of his very eyes.
He pulled out the notebook, which he had been bringing down to the other boy after finding it abandoned in the bedroom ("And they say my head's in the clouds…").
"How did you do that?" He pointed at the plant as Arthur took the book and pen from him, his brows furrowing uncertainly.
"Sorry."
"What aren't you telling us?" He had to keep a calm head, but knew that this, being him, would be practically impossible.
"I'm sorry. I just-"
"Don't avoid the question!" Stay calm… Stay calm…
"I'm not from around here."
"You've said that before. Arthur, come on! I'm not stupid!" Alfred huffed, trying his very hardest not to start shouting at the mute boy. But it was just so exasperating! "That flower was dead! I saw it!"
"I don't know how to explain it." Arthur frowned down at the page, willing for the words to come to life and produce the exact explanation Alfred needed. Why did magic have to be so bloody complicated? "It's always been something normal for me."
"What has?"
"Magic."
Alfred gaped at him. He had not just written that. That! What did he take him for?
But then, was their really any other explanation for a frikken flower to come back to life in front of his eyes.
Argh! This was making his head hurt.
"Don't be stupid." He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Magic doesn't exist. It's all fairy stories."
"Maybe it is here, but not in my homeland." Arthur scowled. God this kid was dense.
"And where is your homeland?" Alfred quirked an eyebrow, knowing only too well how much the subject of where Arthur was from had been avoided over the last few days.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. Besides, I hardly think it is any of your business."
"None of my business?" Now he really was glad that Matt wasn't in. "You've been freeloading here for the last, what? Week? And you still think it's none of my business who you actually are? Newsflash man! You're fucking crazy! You don't think I'll believe you? Well fucking try me!"
Arthur could only stare at him. He hadn't expected Alfred to react like that. The teen was usually so laid back, now here he was fuming his head off. And knowing how stubborn he was, it would be impossible to try and escape from the mess he had gotten himself into.
"Come on then!"
He sighed. No getting out of this now…
"It's hard to explain."
"Well you can try, can't you?"
Holding it off was only going to make Alfred worse, that much was obvious, but that didn't stop Arthur from being apprehensive.
How on earth did one just announce that they were from an entirely different world? It wasn't a simple case of coming out with, "yeah, I'm from a different dimension where mystical beings and sorcery actually exist, hope that's okay." No, this was going to be much more complicated. The fact that it was hard to get anything through to Alfred made things ten times harder as well.
"When I say that I am not from around here, I may have been understating things." He settled on.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alfred was still looking irritated, getting bored of the other's poor attempts of an explanation.
"It's not so much that I'm not from around here, more that I'm from a different place entirely."
He huffed. "Still not making any sense."
"For goodness sake! Get the bloody message!" Oh brilliant, now he was losing his temper as well.
"What message? You're not telling me anything!"
"I'm not from this fucking world, you dolt!"
There. He'd said it. Admittedly this hadn't been how he'd wanted to tell Alfred, but he was just so infuriating at times. It was practically impossible for him not to lose his temper. Whatever the case, his little outburst had seemed to silence the other teen... for a few seconds at least.
Alfred let out a harsh laugh, almost like a bark. He looked away from Arthur, too dumbfounded to grace the other man with more of a reply after seeing that written on the page.
"You've got to be kidding me." He finally decided on. "That's the best you could come up with?" He laughed again, this time turning to face the smaller teen. "You must really think I'm an idiot. So what? You're an alien, or something? Great. So, what shit do you want me to swallow next?"
Arthur glared at him. Not the usual, exasperated frown that he gave when he was fed up with the other's poor attempts of making jokes. No, this look was so much darker than that. His hand moved quickly across the page before he stood up abruptly, hurling the small book at Alfred before running from the room.
He watched the smaller man hurtle out of the room before he looked at what was written on the page in front of him, slightly surprised by the scruffy lettering that had replaced the usual italic scrawl that Arthur wrote with. The words "Fuck you." written plainly on one line in the centre of the page.
Alfred pushed himself up, not really thinking about what he was doing as he followed after Arthur, only quickly glimpsing the sun coloured petals fall to the ground as the revived flower wilted and died once more.
---
Matthew walked through the front door only to be nearly barrelled over as the blur of a blonde head slammed past him and up the stairs, turning briefly to see what he had bumped into before continuing. "Wha-?" Was all he could manage to get out before yet another blonde figure skidded into him, this one much resembling his twin brother. "Al?" He groaned as a hand caught him from behind as Gilbert pushed him back up. "What's going on?"
"I'll tell you later!" Alfred called over his shoulder as he bounded up the stairs after Arthur, determined to catch him before he managed to barricade himself inside the bedroom.
He just managed to glimpse an arm disappear through the doorway as he rounded the top of the staircase, sprinting the last few paces to his bedroom door.
There was a noticeable thump as the door was attempted to be slammed shut, followed by Alfred's shout of alarm as he pushed his way into the room after Arthur, trying to resist the urge to hop on his uninjured foot so he could nurse the other which was now throbbing with pain.
Arthur quickly jerked away from the taller teen, partly because he was afraid of being knocked over as Alfred stumbled towards the bed, but mostly because he really did not want to see him at that moment. Heck! He'd be happy right then if he never had to see Alfred again after how he had just treated him!
It was at that moment that something hit the side of his head, bringing his attention back to the person who had now managed to collapse down onto the bed.
Alfred had thrown the notebook back at him, opening up their method of communication again, even though he knew only too well that Arthur was likely to refuse to write any kind of response to him.
"Prove it."
It could almost have been considered an order if Arthur hadn't gotten to know Alfred better by that point. The boy never ordered anyone to do anything. Yes, he made his demands, but they were usually childish and never taken seriously. This time though, Alfred's expression was very much straight, his brows furrowing slightly with his own concentration. It was surprising how mature he looked when he wasn't goofing off and trying to annoying anyone and everyone.
"Go on then! I know you're not the type to go around making stuff up, but there's no way I'm believing in actual magic unless you can prove it."
Arthur hesitated, glancing between Alfred and the door, knowing only too well that if he tried to make another break for it the other would catch him again within a matter of seconds. It wasn't like running away from his minders, after all.
He took a couple of steps closer to the teen sitting on the edge of the bed, causing him to shuffle back slightly away before Arthur could hold his hands up in his own defence and perched next to the Alfred.
"Wha- What're you gonna do?" Alfred surprised himself when he stammered slightly, not meeting Arthur's deep emerald gaze. He hadn't expected Arthur to relent so easily.
He was met with yet another scowl as the smaller man swatted his hand away from the foot he was still nursing before yanking away his shoe and sock to revel a slightly bruised looking bare foot.
"H-hey! Don't touch! It hurts!"
His complaints were lost as Arthur gave him one last frown before closing his eyes and letting his hand hover over the injured limb.
Any words that he would have said died on Alfred's lips as he watched Arthur. His concentration was incredible, that had to be said, even if he wasn't expecting anything to happen from it.
But then he saw it. That faint green glow that he swore he had seen when the flower had been revived. It encased Arthur's hand, clouding it over and swirling around it, glowing brighter as the time passed until Alfred could no longer look at it without squinting slightly.
His foot twitched as a sudden jolt passed through it, a small bolt of emerald passing from Arthur's hand to his foot until it felt like it was tingling all over, numbing it from the previous pain of having it shut in the door.
And then it was over just as quickly as it had started.
Arthur opened his eyes and the glow faded and with it, the pain in Alfred's foot.
"You-"
Arthur held up the notebook, cutting him off, but not meeting his gaze in the slightest.
"I healed it. Do you need any other proof?"
Indeed, the bruising had completely disappeared when the tingling had stopped. It was hard to argue against it. And it would've been impossible for Arthur to set up any cheap tricks like that with the little know-how he had with the technology Alfred had in his bedroom. Besides, he didn't own any light projecting equipment. He always borrowed it from one of Kiku's cousins if he needed it (because they were almost as cool as he was).
A soft thump brought his attention back to the blonde sitting next to him.
Arthur's eyes had drooped before he fell back, laying in a heap on the bed, his breaths coming out in short rasps.
"Arthur? Hey! What's wrong?" Alfred leant over him, the anger from earlier completely disappearing from his features.
He lazily grasped the pen, drawling onto the page of the notebook and smiling slightly at the face the other teen was pulling.
"Used up too much energy. Just need to rest a bit. I'll be fine."
Alfred let out a short laugh as Arthur's breathing turned into light snores, his brows naturally furrowing slightly in his sleep.
Yeah, that was all the proof he needed.
---
"No, idiot! It's like this!"
Arthur drew the circle in the earth again, the little intricate pattern in the centre glowing as he held his hand over it before a small green shoot emerged from the ground.
"I can't do it, Artie!" Alfred whined, pouting at the frown the other was giving him.
"You just don't pay attention to the finer detail of it." He huffed as he put the pen down, reclining back on the grass behind him.
He couldn't help but let out a small puff of laughter at the look of concentration on Alfred's face as he started copying the symbol again, his tongue poking slightly out of his pursed lips.
"Like this?" He questioned as Arthur sat up again to inspect his work.
"Looks better." The smaller blonde praised with a small smile to the other. "Let's see."
He held his palm over it, letting the energy flow down his arm and into the symbol. It fizzled into life, the light given to it flickering dimly before something green popped out of the ground, and promptly caught on fire before Arthur hurried to undo the magic.
"Nearly there." His expression was amused and Alfred guessed that if he could, Arthur would've been chuckling at him. "But not quite. I guess magic methods really are impossible for you."
"Hey!" He found himself pouting again (he needed to break that habit…). "I really tried to get it right!"
"I know." Arthur scribbled down. "And you were close. But magic isn't supposed to exist in this world, and my energy knows that. It's probably why it won't work properly when you're the one who draws the circle."
"It's got something against me."
Another mimed laugh. "Don't take it too personally."
"Right! I'm trying again!" Alfred pumped a fist into the air as he started to doodle again, making sure that every last detail was the exact match of Arthur's circle beside it.
Arthur's hand stretched over it again, watching the shape as it began to glow more steadily this time, and more brightly like his own. The shoot grew once more, poking out further from the soil, only this time it was only a few seconds before they were leaping backwards away from it as it groaned and exploded in their faces.
"Honestly, Alfred, I think that you should give up."
"Aww!" Alfred looked much like a child when he bashed his hands into the grass around him. "I thought I'd gotten it right that time!"
"So did I. Until it exploded." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. "What is it with you and loud noises?"
"I dunno." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly at the other man. "They just seem to happen around me."
"Or you're the one making them. Those games you play are horrendous!"
"They're awesome!" Alfred argued, "Just because you're all stuffy doesn't mean I have to be."
"I am not stuffy!" Arthur scowled, his brows almost looking as if they were going to knit themselves together.
"You are!" Alfred laughed, poking the space between the other's eyes, pushing his brows back up. "Come on! You're frowning even now!"
"Because a certain someone is being impossible." He crossed his arms, trying to hide the small smile that had formed on his lips.
"Man, loosen up!" The taller teen shoved the smaller a little too hard, sending him sprawling on the grass. "Oops… Sorry, Artie."
The next thing he knew he was being flung backwards by a blonde streak, which he effortlessly tossed to one side before the two of them were rolling around on the grass like a couple of children.
"What on earth are you two doing?" Matthew's voice called over from the door, catching both of them off guard.
"Oh!" Alfred laughed awkwardly at his twin, brushing some of the loose grass ends out of his hair. "Erm, nothing?"
"You're filthy, Al." His brother was not impressed, that much was obvious. "And so are you, Arthur."
The older teen pursed his lips, embarrassed that he had been caught acting in such a manner.
"Anyway," Matt sighed, deciding to overlook their childishness, "I'm just serving up dinner if you wanna eat."
"Great!" Alfred jumped up, batting the dirt off his clothes. "I'm starving!"
"Good." Matt smiled, turning back inside. "Oh, and Gilbert's here too."
"What? Wait, Matt!" He was ignored as the door shut behind the younger twin, who he knew only too well would be looking increasingly pleased with himself. "Jeez! That guy's had a bad impression on him." Alfred groaned, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of the older albino.
---
"Aah! That was exhausting!" Alfred slumped back on the bed next to where Arthur was sitting, quietly reading one of the books Matthew had lent him. "I can't believe how big-headed that guy is! 'The food is almost as awesome as I am.' What does Mattie see in him?"
"You're one to talk." Arthur didn't turn his head while he wrote, his concentration remaining on the page in front of him. "Although, I do see your point. He can be quite infuriating."
"You're not tired?" Alfred changed the subject, not wanting to carrying on talking about his brother's 'supremely awesome' friend.
"I'm fine." The sandy blonde finally turned to him, smiling slightly, his face glowing in the evening sunlight that was flooding through the window. He closed the book, placing it down next to him. "I should be able to go home soon if I can keep this up."
"Go home?" Alfred sat up abruptly, nearly sending Arthur toppling to the floor.
"Well, yes." Arthur wrote down, "My staying here for so long was not in my original plan. I believe that I have been imposing on you and your brother for long enough. Don't you think so?"
"You haven't been imposing!" Alfred shouted, surprising himself more than anything. "I mean…"
What did he mean?
Yeah, it was great having Arthur around. He was someone to talk to who wasn't his brother or Kiku. And he was completely different from anyone he had met before. Heck! The guy could use magic for pity's sake! He was from another world! That had to count for something.
It was also those little looks he gave him. The little quizzical smiles that he occasionally shot when he was interested in something or when he was outside. Those smiles were simply… well, they were amazing. They had sent shivers down Alfred's spine right from when Arthur had first shown him his magic. Even thinking about them was enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Maybe it was the magic playing its part, but it was those parts of Arthur that Alfred didn't want to lose quite so soon.
Something nudged him hard in the side, bringing his attention back to the subject of his thoughts.
"Pay attention, git."
"Ah, sorry." Alfred smiled, adjusting his glasses as he looked down to read what Arthur had scrawled onto the page while he had been spacing out.
"I can't stay here forever, Al. I've got a home of my own and there're probably people wondering what on earth has happened to me. They weren't exactly pleased with my disappearance as it is.
I would like to stay for longer, lord knows that. Not for you or anything, I'll have you know, but just because, well, I don't know. It's so different here. Everything is just so new to me and I want to know more about this world and you and everything. Just everything!
But I can't and I know that, and you know that. So there's no point in getting all upset over something that we can't change.
I can't carry on living here, Al. It's hard enough for me to talk to you like this. I'm still not used to it even though it's been weeks.
And I miss the forest back home and…"
It had left off there, leaving the sentence unfinished when Arthur had apparently realised that Alfred was in no way paying him any attention.
"You were ranting." Alfred smiling, pointing at the small writing.
"I was not. I was giving you perfectly valid reasons why I must leave."
"Looks to me like you were giving reasons why you should stay as well."
"Don't make this any more difficult, moron."
"Sorry." Alfred sighed, leaning back on his hands. "It's just gonna be weird without you here now."
Arthur tapped the paper with his pen, getting Alfred's attention again. "I'd stay if I could, you know."
He didn't remember doing it. All Alfred knew was that he had suddenly yanked Arthur backwards and pulled him into his arms, holding him as tight as he could.
He was warm, his smaller body fitting perfectly in his more tanned arms.
Alfred could see Arthur's expression, totally surprised, his eyes wide and his mouth open slightly. He couldn't complain out loud, which he guessed was a plus. But then, Arthur was showing no sign of any complaints. He was just totally still in his arms, not moving from the little cocoon they had become encased in.
It was several minutes before Arthur finally pushed away from him, his face completely flushed scarlet from ear-to-ear. Alfred knew he couldn't have looked much better, but kept a straight face as the two of them sat up, Arthur reaching back for the notebook.
"Actually," His writing was shaking with his hand, making his usually perfectly neat hand appear unnaturally messy. "I am feeling a little tired. I think some sleep would do me good."
"Ah." Alfred nodded, smiling uneasily. "Oh, okay. I'll let you get some rest then."
He stood, taking a step towards the door before something caught hold of his wrist, pulling him back a fraction.
Turning back around, Arthur was still holding tightly to his arm, his face looking almost desperate.
He held up the book, showing one word, still written messily, but more certain than his previous statement.
"Stay."
"Are- Are you sure?" Alfred tripped over his words, feeling his face heating back up again to match Arthur's, which was nodding at him slowly.
He took the step back to the bed, pulling Arthur into his arms once more as they lay there.
---
Alfred woke up the next morning, unused to the feel of his own bed after having slept on the sofa for the last few days.
There was, however, something very wrong with the situation he had woken to.
The bed was empty.
Arthur was gone. His shape was still left in the covers where they had slept next to each other, it was warm even. But he most definitely was not there.
It took a while for it to sink in before Alfred finally realised what had happened. What Arthur had said the previous night. Everything.
He threw back the covers, pulling his jeans on over his boxers and grabbing his shirt and glasses as he bounded down the stairs and past a bewildered looking Matthew, still dressed in his pyjamas and holding a mug of coffee.
"Al! Look out!" He clutched at the cup, but still slopping some of the hot contents over his hands.
"Sorry Mattie! In a hurry! Have you seen Arthur?" Alfred skidded to a halt at the corner to the living room, shoving his glasses up his nose.
"Why would I have seen him? He's staying in your room." The younger twin sighed, moving past his boisterous brother.
"Yeah, but he wasn't there when I woke up!"
"What?"
"He wasn't there when I-" He started repeating only to be cut off by Matt.
"Yes, I heard you. But what do you mean 'when you woke up'?"
"He wasn't in the bed!"
"And why were you in the bed?"
"Matt, I don't have time for this!"
"He's still practically a stranger, Al! What the hell are you doing?" His brother had gone mad, that had to be the only explanation. Why couldn't he fall for people he was introduced to by friends like normal people?
"It's my choice! He's different from everyone else!" Alfred glared at Matthew, feeling slightly like he was looking in the mirror.
"But we don't know anything about him!"
"Just because you don't doesn't mean it's the same for me." He was wasting time with this when he could've been looking for Arthur. What was wrong with Matt?
"Do you love him?"
The question came out of the blue, catching him completely off guard.
Did he love Arthur?
Was that why he was so desperate to find him?
It made no sense. Why did he want this freeloader to stay so badly? He'd never felt like this towards anyone before. It wasn't in his nature to get so attached to someone like this. He'd always hung around with a large group of the guys at school, and now here he was clinging to this one complete stranger with all he had.
"I don't know." Was all he could answer. "But I've got to find him."
He left Matthew standing there by himself in the hallway, still holding the dripping mug, looking utterly baffled at his older twin. "You're an idiot, Al."
Alfred was literally crashing through the house, taking no notice of the objects that went tumbling to the floor behind him. Well, if Matt wasn't going to help then he could go stuff himself.
Why did Arthur have to go and disappear anyway?
Bastard…
It was only when he tripped through the doorway into the kitchen that he realised his mistake.
So that was where he'd been all this time…
---
Arthur found himself standing out in the early morning light, his old cloak wrapped around his shoulders, stumped for what to do. He'd planned this out so many times in his head, but when it actually came to it, leaving was much harder than he had originally anticipated.
Everything was ready, right down to the circle he had formed in the grass in front of him. It was purely a matter of stepping into it and focusing his energy and then he'd be back in his own world just like that. His magic would be back at full power, he'd be able to speak again and everything would be back to normal.
But there would be a hole. A massive gaping hole that could only be filled by one person. And that person would be on the other side of the void, cut off from him for who knows how long. Fate was truly a cruel mistress.
I don't belong here…
The thought had run through his head too many times to count, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he would be leaving behind something far too important for him to lose. He would be leaving him behind.
It was buzzing around in his head. The image of Alfred sleeping next to him. The teen really was just like a child, sleeping so soundly like that. He was almost cute. Except it was Alfred, and he was too boisterous and annoying. But that didn't mean that the extra warmth of the body next to him as he had lain in bed awake had not been somewhat comforting, even if it made the thought of leaving it behind so much worse.
It was just so goddamn hard!
"You look upset."
He started at the voice, jerking around to face the source only to see the very root of his problems.
Alfred was standing at the edge of the patio, leaning over onto his knees to catch his breath back. There was something strange about him.
It had been a few days since he had seen it, that look on Alfred's face. The look of his brows pulled down into a frown like that. It didn't suit him, but somehow it fit the situation a little too well.
And he couldn't answer him.
"You thought you could just up and leave like that?" Alfred growled in a voice that didn't sound anything like his usual chirpy self. "I knew you were uptight Artie, but I didn't think you were heartless."
It felt like he had been slapped. Being accused so bluntly by him.
Alfred moved closer, not taking his eyes off of Arthur's form as he wrapped his arms around himself. "What were you thinking?" He tried to soften his voice a bit. He didn't want Arthur to run off again, not when he'd finally worked out where he had gone. And if he ran away, he would probably get lost, and things would just get even harder to solve. "I know you can't answer. But I just wanna understand what's going on in your head a bit. You never let me in so how can I understand?"
Arthur shook his head, his eyes wide as Alfred spoke.
He didn't want to hear it. It would just make things even more difficult for him. Why did he have to find him so quickly?
He looked up only to find Alfred even closer, his face barely a foot in front of his own.
"Why do you need to shut yourself away so much?"
Arthur leant away, terrified of him getting any closer.
He unconsciously took a step backwards away from the taller blonde, slipping on the damp grass so that he fell into the circle, his hand falling in its centre just as Alfred reached out to grab him.
Shit!
He felt the energy rush down his arm and into the ground as the first ray of sunlight hit the shape, his power flowing into it and lighting it like a beacon. It had worked, just as he thought it would and he could feel himself start to dematerialise from the world in front of his eyes.
There was one problem though.
The weight that was glued around his wrist that was most definitely not supposed to be there.
But it was too late, and the garden vanished from in front of his eyes.
[a/n: Hopefully I'll be back with another update soon!
I'm also going to be starting another, darker chapterfic soon as well, so look out for all that shizz too! =D]
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Characters/Pairing(s): America, England, Canada (among others) (USUK)
Rating/Warnings: T
Summary: Alfred F. Jones lives an ordinary life with his twin, looking for work while looking after the house for their parents. But all that gets chucked out the window when he has to go and be all heroic and rescue the guy who passed out in the rain.
Wordcount: 5603
Chapter Summary: He opened his eyes again, just in time to watch the flower unfurl itself, its steam straightening out once more and changing back to a brilliant green while its petals filled with colour, practically radiating its warm yellow hue.
[A/N: Hi everyone! Long time no update!
Still, I'm back with chapter 2 and I'm already writing chapter 3 (because I don't wanna get lost in the fray again lol).
If you're wondering why I disappeared for so long, it was because I've been busy settling in at University. For those of you who don't know, I'm an art student, and that most certainly does not mean that I just go out and get drunk every weekend lol.
The workload's a lot bigger than what I'm used to, so I've been concentrating on that and some of my other projects more than I have been here.
I'm sorry! Fate's so cruel to me!]
Alfred had already lost count of the number of times he had now spotted the sandy blonde mop of hair sprawled in the middle of the grass in the back yard. Arthur really did seem to truly love the little green space they had. He spent more time out there than he did inside, and he seemed to be getting better for it.
There were a few times when the taller teen had found Arthur asleep out there and had (heroically) carried him back inside the house, but this was an occurrence that was happening less and less as the colour started returning to his milky skin.
Arthur had felt it too. He was getting stronger again, feeling more like his normal self as the days passed. It was almost as if he could feel his magic passing through his fingertips again.
But there was one thing that hadn't changed despite all this.
His voice still hadn't returned.
And he hated the fact that this stopped him from being able to have any decent conversations. Alfred tended to blabber on for ages on end, leaving Arthur to try to hurry and scribble down his responses before the other boy got bored, which, unfortunately, he often did.
It wasn't that he was uncaring. He just had an unbelievably short attention span. It was something that Arthur had discovered even before he had started recovering. But that didn't stop him from enjoying Alfred's company.
Matthew did drop by from time to time when he was bedridden, but he just didn't seem to have the same spark as his twin. He was also exceedingly hard to read compared to Alfred. He closed himself away from Arthur, only too suspicious of the stranger in their house. The only time he let his guard down was when Gilbert was with him.
He sighed, lying down in front of one particular flowerbed where the bloom had since finished for that year. It was a shame, the flowers had been beautiful, varying in shades and colours before they eventually had withered and dried up.
He picked one of the decaying steams, twiddling it between his fingers before rolling onto his back and holding it up in front of him.
Closing his eyes, Arthur let out a long breath, concentrating on what were once the flower's colourful petals. And he felt it. That small spark that meant everything to him and then the flow of his power running down his fingers and into the flower.
He opened his eyes again, just in time to watch the flower unfurl itself, its steam straightening out once more and changing back to a brilliant green while its petals filled with colour, practically radiating its warm yellow hue.
The teen smiled, letting out a soft laugh as he breathed in the bloom's scent.
Yes, his strength truly had returned.
"What the hell was that?"
Arthur started, clutching the newly living flower to his chest and sitting up so that his eyes rested on the source of the voice.
Alfred was standing at the door into the house, his eyes fixated on the teen half-lying on the grass in front of him. They kept darting between Arthur's face and the flower in his hand, not sure of where they should land.
Arthur opened and closed his mouth, hating that he couldn't form the words to explain himself. Fucking, unreliable magic!
"Tsk." Alfred rolled his eyes, crossing the small expanse of grass and pulling the smaller blonde to his feet. "C'mon."
He allowed himself to be practically frog-marched back into the house behind Alfred, though he never raised his eyes from the ground.
Why had he been so stupid? Of course magic didn't exist in this world. Why had he thought any different? If it had existed then they would've known how to heal him straight away. He just had to let his guard slip for a second. After all this time he should have known to be more careful!
Alfred pushed him down onto the sofa, grateful for once that Matt was out with Gilbert at that moment in time. Arthur was still pointedly holding onto the flower that he had unwittingly seen being revived in front of his very eyes.
He pulled out the notebook, which he had been bringing down to the other boy after finding it abandoned in the bedroom ("And they say my head's in the clouds…").
"How did you do that?" He pointed at the plant as Arthur took the book and pen from him, his brows furrowing uncertainly.
"Sorry."
"What aren't you telling us?" He had to keep a calm head, but knew that this, being him, would be practically impossible.
"I'm sorry. I just-"
"Don't avoid the question!" Stay calm… Stay calm…
"I'm not from around here."
"You've said that before. Arthur, come on! I'm not stupid!" Alfred huffed, trying his very hardest not to start shouting at the mute boy. But it was just so exasperating! "That flower was dead! I saw it!"
"I don't know how to explain it." Arthur frowned down at the page, willing for the words to come to life and produce the exact explanation Alfred needed. Why did magic have to be so bloody complicated? "It's always been something normal for me."
"What has?"
"Magic."
Alfred gaped at him. He had not just written that. That! What did he take him for?
But then, was their really any other explanation for a frikken flower to come back to life in front of his eyes.
Argh! This was making his head hurt.
"Don't be stupid." He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Magic doesn't exist. It's all fairy stories."
"Maybe it is here, but not in my homeland." Arthur scowled. God this kid was dense.
"And where is your homeland?" Alfred quirked an eyebrow, knowing only too well how much the subject of where Arthur was from had been avoided over the last few days.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. Besides, I hardly think it is any of your business."
"None of my business?" Now he really was glad that Matt wasn't in. "You've been freeloading here for the last, what? Week? And you still think it's none of my business who you actually are? Newsflash man! You're fucking crazy! You don't think I'll believe you? Well fucking try me!"
Arthur could only stare at him. He hadn't expected Alfred to react like that. The teen was usually so laid back, now here he was fuming his head off. And knowing how stubborn he was, it would be impossible to try and escape from the mess he had gotten himself into.
"Come on then!"
He sighed. No getting out of this now…
"It's hard to explain."
"Well you can try, can't you?"
Holding it off was only going to make Alfred worse, that much was obvious, but that didn't stop Arthur from being apprehensive.
How on earth did one just announce that they were from an entirely different world? It wasn't a simple case of coming out with, "yeah, I'm from a different dimension where mystical beings and sorcery actually exist, hope that's okay." No, this was going to be much more complicated. The fact that it was hard to get anything through to Alfred made things ten times harder as well.
"When I say that I am not from around here, I may have been understating things." He settled on.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alfred was still looking irritated, getting bored of the other's poor attempts of an explanation.
"It's not so much that I'm not from around here, more that I'm from a different place entirely."
He huffed. "Still not making any sense."
"For goodness sake! Get the bloody message!" Oh brilliant, now he was losing his temper as well.
"What message? You're not telling me anything!"
"I'm not from this fucking world, you dolt!"
There. He'd said it. Admittedly this hadn't been how he'd wanted to tell Alfred, but he was just so infuriating at times. It was practically impossible for him not to lose his temper. Whatever the case, his little outburst had seemed to silence the other teen... for a few seconds at least.
Alfred let out a harsh laugh, almost like a bark. He looked away from Arthur, too dumbfounded to grace the other man with more of a reply after seeing that written on the page.
"You've got to be kidding me." He finally decided on. "That's the best you could come up with?" He laughed again, this time turning to face the smaller teen. "You must really think I'm an idiot. So what? You're an alien, or something? Great. So, what shit do you want me to swallow next?"
Arthur glared at him. Not the usual, exasperated frown that he gave when he was fed up with the other's poor attempts of making jokes. No, this look was so much darker than that. His hand moved quickly across the page before he stood up abruptly, hurling the small book at Alfred before running from the room.
He watched the smaller man hurtle out of the room before he looked at what was written on the page in front of him, slightly surprised by the scruffy lettering that had replaced the usual italic scrawl that Arthur wrote with. The words "Fuck you." written plainly on one line in the centre of the page.
Alfred pushed himself up, not really thinking about what he was doing as he followed after Arthur, only quickly glimpsing the sun coloured petals fall to the ground as the revived flower wilted and died once more.
---
Matthew walked through the front door only to be nearly barrelled over as the blur of a blonde head slammed past him and up the stairs, turning briefly to see what he had bumped into before continuing. "Wha-?" Was all he could manage to get out before yet another blonde figure skidded into him, this one much resembling his twin brother. "Al?" He groaned as a hand caught him from behind as Gilbert pushed him back up. "What's going on?"
"I'll tell you later!" Alfred called over his shoulder as he bounded up the stairs after Arthur, determined to catch him before he managed to barricade himself inside the bedroom.
He just managed to glimpse an arm disappear through the doorway as he rounded the top of the staircase, sprinting the last few paces to his bedroom door.
There was a noticeable thump as the door was attempted to be slammed shut, followed by Alfred's shout of alarm as he pushed his way into the room after Arthur, trying to resist the urge to hop on his uninjured foot so he could nurse the other which was now throbbing with pain.
Arthur quickly jerked away from the taller teen, partly because he was afraid of being knocked over as Alfred stumbled towards the bed, but mostly because he really did not want to see him at that moment. Heck! He'd be happy right then if he never had to see Alfred again after how he had just treated him!
It was at that moment that something hit the side of his head, bringing his attention back to the person who had now managed to collapse down onto the bed.
Alfred had thrown the notebook back at him, opening up their method of communication again, even though he knew only too well that Arthur was likely to refuse to write any kind of response to him.
"Prove it."
It could almost have been considered an order if Arthur hadn't gotten to know Alfred better by that point. The boy never ordered anyone to do anything. Yes, he made his demands, but they were usually childish and never taken seriously. This time though, Alfred's expression was very much straight, his brows furrowing slightly with his own concentration. It was surprising how mature he looked when he wasn't goofing off and trying to annoying anyone and everyone.
"Go on then! I know you're not the type to go around making stuff up, but there's no way I'm believing in actual magic unless you can prove it."
Arthur hesitated, glancing between Alfred and the door, knowing only too well that if he tried to make another break for it the other would catch him again within a matter of seconds. It wasn't like running away from his minders, after all.
He took a couple of steps closer to the teen sitting on the edge of the bed, causing him to shuffle back slightly away before Arthur could hold his hands up in his own defence and perched next to the Alfred.
"Wha- What're you gonna do?" Alfred surprised himself when he stammered slightly, not meeting Arthur's deep emerald gaze. He hadn't expected Arthur to relent so easily.
He was met with yet another scowl as the smaller man swatted his hand away from the foot he was still nursing before yanking away his shoe and sock to revel a slightly bruised looking bare foot.
"H-hey! Don't touch! It hurts!"
His complaints were lost as Arthur gave him one last frown before closing his eyes and letting his hand hover over the injured limb.
Any words that he would have said died on Alfred's lips as he watched Arthur. His concentration was incredible, that had to be said, even if he wasn't expecting anything to happen from it.
But then he saw it. That faint green glow that he swore he had seen when the flower had been revived. It encased Arthur's hand, clouding it over and swirling around it, glowing brighter as the time passed until Alfred could no longer look at it without squinting slightly.
His foot twitched as a sudden jolt passed through it, a small bolt of emerald passing from Arthur's hand to his foot until it felt like it was tingling all over, numbing it from the previous pain of having it shut in the door.
And then it was over just as quickly as it had started.
Arthur opened his eyes and the glow faded and with it, the pain in Alfred's foot.
"You-"
Arthur held up the notebook, cutting him off, but not meeting his gaze in the slightest.
"I healed it. Do you need any other proof?"
Indeed, the bruising had completely disappeared when the tingling had stopped. It was hard to argue against it. And it would've been impossible for Arthur to set up any cheap tricks like that with the little know-how he had with the technology Alfred had in his bedroom. Besides, he didn't own any light projecting equipment. He always borrowed it from one of Kiku's cousins if he needed it (because they were almost as cool as he was).
A soft thump brought his attention back to the blonde sitting next to him.
Arthur's eyes had drooped before he fell back, laying in a heap on the bed, his breaths coming out in short rasps.
"Arthur? Hey! What's wrong?" Alfred leant over him, the anger from earlier completely disappearing from his features.
He lazily grasped the pen, drawling onto the page of the notebook and smiling slightly at the face the other teen was pulling.
"Used up too much energy. Just need to rest a bit. I'll be fine."
Alfred let out a short laugh as Arthur's breathing turned into light snores, his brows naturally furrowing slightly in his sleep.
Yeah, that was all the proof he needed.
---
"No, idiot! It's like this!"
Arthur drew the circle in the earth again, the little intricate pattern in the centre glowing as he held his hand over it before a small green shoot emerged from the ground.
"I can't do it, Artie!" Alfred whined, pouting at the frown the other was giving him.
"You just don't pay attention to the finer detail of it." He huffed as he put the pen down, reclining back on the grass behind him.
He couldn't help but let out a small puff of laughter at the look of concentration on Alfred's face as he started copying the symbol again, his tongue poking slightly out of his pursed lips.
"Like this?" He questioned as Arthur sat up again to inspect his work.
"Looks better." The smaller blonde praised with a small smile to the other. "Let's see."
He held his palm over it, letting the energy flow down his arm and into the symbol. It fizzled into life, the light given to it flickering dimly before something green popped out of the ground, and promptly caught on fire before Arthur hurried to undo the magic.
"Nearly there." His expression was amused and Alfred guessed that if he could, Arthur would've been chuckling at him. "But not quite. I guess magic methods really are impossible for you."
"Hey!" He found himself pouting again (he needed to break that habit…). "I really tried to get it right!"
"I know." Arthur scribbled down. "And you were close. But magic isn't supposed to exist in this world, and my energy knows that. It's probably why it won't work properly when you're the one who draws the circle."
"It's got something against me."
Another mimed laugh. "Don't take it too personally."
"Right! I'm trying again!" Alfred pumped a fist into the air as he started to doodle again, making sure that every last detail was the exact match of Arthur's circle beside it.
Arthur's hand stretched over it again, watching the shape as it began to glow more steadily this time, and more brightly like his own. The shoot grew once more, poking out further from the soil, only this time it was only a few seconds before they were leaping backwards away from it as it groaned and exploded in their faces.
"Honestly, Alfred, I think that you should give up."
"Aww!" Alfred looked much like a child when he bashed his hands into the grass around him. "I thought I'd gotten it right that time!"
"So did I. Until it exploded." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. "What is it with you and loud noises?"
"I dunno." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly at the other man. "They just seem to happen around me."
"Or you're the one making them. Those games you play are horrendous!"
"They're awesome!" Alfred argued, "Just because you're all stuffy doesn't mean I have to be."
"I am not stuffy!" Arthur scowled, his brows almost looking as if they were going to knit themselves together.
"You are!" Alfred laughed, poking the space between the other's eyes, pushing his brows back up. "Come on! You're frowning even now!"
"Because a certain someone is being impossible." He crossed his arms, trying to hide the small smile that had formed on his lips.
"Man, loosen up!" The taller teen shoved the smaller a little too hard, sending him sprawling on the grass. "Oops… Sorry, Artie."
The next thing he knew he was being flung backwards by a blonde streak, which he effortlessly tossed to one side before the two of them were rolling around on the grass like a couple of children.
"What on earth are you two doing?" Matthew's voice called over from the door, catching both of them off guard.
"Oh!" Alfred laughed awkwardly at his twin, brushing some of the loose grass ends out of his hair. "Erm, nothing?"
"You're filthy, Al." His brother was not impressed, that much was obvious. "And so are you, Arthur."
The older teen pursed his lips, embarrassed that he had been caught acting in such a manner.
"Anyway," Matt sighed, deciding to overlook their childishness, "I'm just serving up dinner if you wanna eat."
"Great!" Alfred jumped up, batting the dirt off his clothes. "I'm starving!"
"Good." Matt smiled, turning back inside. "Oh, and Gilbert's here too."
"What? Wait, Matt!" He was ignored as the door shut behind the younger twin, who he knew only too well would be looking increasingly pleased with himself. "Jeez! That guy's had a bad impression on him." Alfred groaned, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of the older albino.
---
"Aah! That was exhausting!" Alfred slumped back on the bed next to where Arthur was sitting, quietly reading one of the books Matthew had lent him. "I can't believe how big-headed that guy is! 'The food is almost as awesome as I am.' What does Mattie see in him?"
"You're one to talk." Arthur didn't turn his head while he wrote, his concentration remaining on the page in front of him. "Although, I do see your point. He can be quite infuriating."
"You're not tired?" Alfred changed the subject, not wanting to carrying on talking about his brother's 'supremely awesome' friend.
"I'm fine." The sandy blonde finally turned to him, smiling slightly, his face glowing in the evening sunlight that was flooding through the window. He closed the book, placing it down next to him. "I should be able to go home soon if I can keep this up."
"Go home?" Alfred sat up abruptly, nearly sending Arthur toppling to the floor.
"Well, yes." Arthur wrote down, "My staying here for so long was not in my original plan. I believe that I have been imposing on you and your brother for long enough. Don't you think so?"
"You haven't been imposing!" Alfred shouted, surprising himself more than anything. "I mean…"
What did he mean?
Yeah, it was great having Arthur around. He was someone to talk to who wasn't his brother or Kiku. And he was completely different from anyone he had met before. Heck! The guy could use magic for pity's sake! He was from another world! That had to count for something.
It was also those little looks he gave him. The little quizzical smiles that he occasionally shot when he was interested in something or when he was outside. Those smiles were simply… well, they were amazing. They had sent shivers down Alfred's spine right from when Arthur had first shown him his magic. Even thinking about them was enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Maybe it was the magic playing its part, but it was those parts of Arthur that Alfred didn't want to lose quite so soon.
Something nudged him hard in the side, bringing his attention back to the subject of his thoughts.
"Pay attention, git."
"Ah, sorry." Alfred smiled, adjusting his glasses as he looked down to read what Arthur had scrawled onto the page while he had been spacing out.
"I can't stay here forever, Al. I've got a home of my own and there're probably people wondering what on earth has happened to me. They weren't exactly pleased with my disappearance as it is.
I would like to stay for longer, lord knows that. Not for you or anything, I'll have you know, but just because, well, I don't know. It's so different here. Everything is just so new to me and I want to know more about this world and you and everything. Just everything!
But I can't and I know that, and you know that. So there's no point in getting all upset over something that we can't change.
I can't carry on living here, Al. It's hard enough for me to talk to you like this. I'm still not used to it even though it's been weeks.
And I miss the forest back home and…"
It had left off there, leaving the sentence unfinished when Arthur had apparently realised that Alfred was in no way paying him any attention.
"You were ranting." Alfred smiling, pointing at the small writing.
"I was not. I was giving you perfectly valid reasons why I must leave."
"Looks to me like you were giving reasons why you should stay as well."
"Don't make this any more difficult, moron."
"Sorry." Alfred sighed, leaning back on his hands. "It's just gonna be weird without you here now."
Arthur tapped the paper with his pen, getting Alfred's attention again. "I'd stay if I could, you know."
He didn't remember doing it. All Alfred knew was that he had suddenly yanked Arthur backwards and pulled him into his arms, holding him as tight as he could.
He was warm, his smaller body fitting perfectly in his more tanned arms.
Alfred could see Arthur's expression, totally surprised, his eyes wide and his mouth open slightly. He couldn't complain out loud, which he guessed was a plus. But then, Arthur was showing no sign of any complaints. He was just totally still in his arms, not moving from the little cocoon they had become encased in.
It was several minutes before Arthur finally pushed away from him, his face completely flushed scarlet from ear-to-ear. Alfred knew he couldn't have looked much better, but kept a straight face as the two of them sat up, Arthur reaching back for the notebook.
"Actually," His writing was shaking with his hand, making his usually perfectly neat hand appear unnaturally messy. "I am feeling a little tired. I think some sleep would do me good."
"Ah." Alfred nodded, smiling uneasily. "Oh, okay. I'll let you get some rest then."
He stood, taking a step towards the door before something caught hold of his wrist, pulling him back a fraction.
Turning back around, Arthur was still holding tightly to his arm, his face looking almost desperate.
He held up the book, showing one word, still written messily, but more certain than his previous statement.
"Stay."
"Are- Are you sure?" Alfred tripped over his words, feeling his face heating back up again to match Arthur's, which was nodding at him slowly.
He took the step back to the bed, pulling Arthur into his arms once more as they lay there.
---
Alfred woke up the next morning, unused to the feel of his own bed after having slept on the sofa for the last few days.
There was, however, something very wrong with the situation he had woken to.
The bed was empty.
Arthur was gone. His shape was still left in the covers where they had slept next to each other, it was warm even. But he most definitely was not there.
It took a while for it to sink in before Alfred finally realised what had happened. What Arthur had said the previous night. Everything.
He threw back the covers, pulling his jeans on over his boxers and grabbing his shirt and glasses as he bounded down the stairs and past a bewildered looking Matthew, still dressed in his pyjamas and holding a mug of coffee.
"Al! Look out!" He clutched at the cup, but still slopping some of the hot contents over his hands.
"Sorry Mattie! In a hurry! Have you seen Arthur?" Alfred skidded to a halt at the corner to the living room, shoving his glasses up his nose.
"Why would I have seen him? He's staying in your room." The younger twin sighed, moving past his boisterous brother.
"Yeah, but he wasn't there when I woke up!"
"What?"
"He wasn't there when I-" He started repeating only to be cut off by Matt.
"Yes, I heard you. But what do you mean 'when you woke up'?"
"He wasn't in the bed!"
"And why were you in the bed?"
"Matt, I don't have time for this!"
"He's still practically a stranger, Al! What the hell are you doing?" His brother had gone mad, that had to be the only explanation. Why couldn't he fall for people he was introduced to by friends like normal people?
"It's my choice! He's different from everyone else!" Alfred glared at Matthew, feeling slightly like he was looking in the mirror.
"But we don't know anything about him!"
"Just because you don't doesn't mean it's the same for me." He was wasting time with this when he could've been looking for Arthur. What was wrong with Matt?
"Do you love him?"
The question came out of the blue, catching him completely off guard.
Did he love Arthur?
Was that why he was so desperate to find him?
It made no sense. Why did he want this freeloader to stay so badly? He'd never felt like this towards anyone before. It wasn't in his nature to get so attached to someone like this. He'd always hung around with a large group of the guys at school, and now here he was clinging to this one complete stranger with all he had.
"I don't know." Was all he could answer. "But I've got to find him."
He left Matthew standing there by himself in the hallway, still holding the dripping mug, looking utterly baffled at his older twin. "You're an idiot, Al."
Alfred was literally crashing through the house, taking no notice of the objects that went tumbling to the floor behind him. Well, if Matt wasn't going to help then he could go stuff himself.
Why did Arthur have to go and disappear anyway?
Bastard…
It was only when he tripped through the doorway into the kitchen that he realised his mistake.
So that was where he'd been all this time…
---
Arthur found himself standing out in the early morning light, his old cloak wrapped around his shoulders, stumped for what to do. He'd planned this out so many times in his head, but when it actually came to it, leaving was much harder than he had originally anticipated.
Everything was ready, right down to the circle he had formed in the grass in front of him. It was purely a matter of stepping into it and focusing his energy and then he'd be back in his own world just like that. His magic would be back at full power, he'd be able to speak again and everything would be back to normal.
But there would be a hole. A massive gaping hole that could only be filled by one person. And that person would be on the other side of the void, cut off from him for who knows how long. Fate was truly a cruel mistress.
I don't belong here…
The thought had run through his head too many times to count, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he would be leaving behind something far too important for him to lose. He would be leaving him behind.
It was buzzing around in his head. The image of Alfred sleeping next to him. The teen really was just like a child, sleeping so soundly like that. He was almost cute. Except it was Alfred, and he was too boisterous and annoying. But that didn't mean that the extra warmth of the body next to him as he had lain in bed awake had not been somewhat comforting, even if it made the thought of leaving it behind so much worse.
It was just so goddamn hard!
"You look upset."
He started at the voice, jerking around to face the source only to see the very root of his problems.
Alfred was standing at the edge of the patio, leaning over onto his knees to catch his breath back. There was something strange about him.
It had been a few days since he had seen it, that look on Alfred's face. The look of his brows pulled down into a frown like that. It didn't suit him, but somehow it fit the situation a little too well.
And he couldn't answer him.
"You thought you could just up and leave like that?" Alfred growled in a voice that didn't sound anything like his usual chirpy self. "I knew you were uptight Artie, but I didn't think you were heartless."
It felt like he had been slapped. Being accused so bluntly by him.
Alfred moved closer, not taking his eyes off of Arthur's form as he wrapped his arms around himself. "What were you thinking?" He tried to soften his voice a bit. He didn't want Arthur to run off again, not when he'd finally worked out where he had gone. And if he ran away, he would probably get lost, and things would just get even harder to solve. "I know you can't answer. But I just wanna understand what's going on in your head a bit. You never let me in so how can I understand?"
Arthur shook his head, his eyes wide as Alfred spoke.
He didn't want to hear it. It would just make things even more difficult for him. Why did he have to find him so quickly?
He looked up only to find Alfred even closer, his face barely a foot in front of his own.
"Why do you need to shut yourself away so much?"
Arthur leant away, terrified of him getting any closer.
He unconsciously took a step backwards away from the taller blonde, slipping on the damp grass so that he fell into the circle, his hand falling in its centre just as Alfred reached out to grab him.
Shit!
He felt the energy rush down his arm and into the ground as the first ray of sunlight hit the shape, his power flowing into it and lighting it like a beacon. It had worked, just as he thought it would and he could feel himself start to dematerialise from the world in front of his eyes.
There was one problem though.
The weight that was glued around his wrist that was most definitely not supposed to be there.
But it was too late, and the garden vanished from in front of his eyes.
[a/n: Hopefully I'll be back with another update soon!
I'm also going to be starting another, darker chapterfic soon as well, so look out for all that shizz too! =D]