Kiss and Make Up
Title: Kiss and Make Up
Genre: Romance/Drama
Pairing(s): USUK
Word Count: 2,032
Rating/Warnings: 12, non-character death mentioned
Summary: The last thing he needed after his day at work, was his boyfriend's brother comments about how he wasn't good enough. Done for the ' I 2 I (Eye to Eye)' prompt.
It had all degenerated rather quickly. There had been a discussion, then an argument and then it turned into a fight. This fight quickly devolved down into a fight, where horrible things were said and past wrongs that had been forgiven were brought up and waved in front of the other's face as if they had always been at the back of the mind. It was absolutely ghastly and that was the only reason Arthur was sitting in the flat, crying. It had nothing to do with the fact that Alfred had left, gone to stay with Matthew, the cause of the fight in the first place, ready to hear some more lies about Arthur.
How could Alfred believe Matthew over Arthur? Matthew was his brother, but if Arthur's experience was anything to go by, the title didn't mean 'automatic trust'. And he hadn't believed Arthur when he said that Matthew didn't like him, so he had gone there and probably never come back because his head would be so full of lies.
Arthur wiped his face roughly with his sleeve. It was disgraceful manners but there was no one here to see him. Not anymore. At this thought, he pulled his arm away from his face and searched around for a tissue. Manners were rules and Arthur desperately needed something to focus on.
He blew his nose before throwing the tissue away. He started straightening up the flat but left Alfred's things exactly where they were. Touching them would make him think about how Alfred was probably letting out all his resentment at a sympathetic Matthew, who would nod along, before suggesting a handsome, single friend that could maybe understand.
No more thinking about it. The flat was tidy now but Arthur decided to empty the cupboards and give them a bit of a sort out. A nice focus where he didn't have to think about how he managed to fail at his relationship. When he went home next time, his brothers would take the piss so much. They would point out how Alfred was the only thing worthy about Arthur and he still managed to drive him off.
Why did he have to tell Alfred what Matthew said anyway? He could have stayed quiet about it, just like all the other times, but Matthew's remark on top of one of the worst days in a while had just made him start shouting. That had been rude though and he regretted doing it now. Why didn't he just tell Matthew that he didn't care for his remark and go and squeeze the life out of Alfred? That would have made him feel so much better.
Hindsight was twenty twenty though, and it was a bit late for regrets. Maybe Arthur could ring Alfred later and apologise for shouting (he didn't think he could manage to say it to Matthew) and make it not completely uncomfortable when Alfred came to collect his stuff. The experience would still be horrendous but Arthur might be able to shuffle through it.
And that poor little girl....
For a moment, Arthur stopped cleaning and bent his head over his knees. He had forgotten about Mimi in his anger and blame and it just made him feel almost ill with guilt. She died today and he was caring about the fact that he had done something horrendously stupid and lost his boyfriend.
Arthur set to cleaning, almost frenzied as he scrubbed at every stubborn piece of dirt that he could. His mind stopped thinking about Alfred and Mimi and instead started to focus on how pained his knees were after kneeling for so long. Arthur thought about it but continued to clean under the kitchen was spotless. His muscles ached and his eyelids felt very heavy all of a sudden. Maybe he could lie down for a little bit and clean the bathroom afterwards. The sofa looked invited and he collapsed onto it.
His world was shaking and there was a voice calling his name. Arthur cranked open his eyes before shutting them tightly again. It was much too bright for him to do that.
"Arthur," someone was calling to him. "Arthur, wake up." It took a while for Arthur to place the voice but when he did, his eyes shot open and he sat up abruptly, ignoring the ache in his muscles or the way his eyes wanted to shut again against the bright sunlight.
"Alfred?" He asked. He didn't know what to think about why Alfred was there. Had he come to collect his things? There were a tight feeling in his chest as he thought this and Arthur prayed that was not the reason. Surely Alfred wouldn't be that quick to move out, he would at least leave Arthur a little time to collect himself. At least, that was what Arthur hoped.
"Arthur, did you clean the kitchen?" Alfred looked surprised at this question as if it was not the one he wanted to ask and Arthur could not relax at all. He needed to know what was going on, he didn't do well with surprises.
"Yes, I did," he answered quickly, hoping there would no more questions about the kitchen of all things. "Why are you here, Alfred?" Alfred looked away and Arthur felt sick. He shifted slightly as Alfred moved from where he had been kneeling by the sofa, to sitting next to Arthur.
"I'm here because I wanted to come home and talk about this."
"What?!" Arthur was surprised, to say the least. "Aren't you here to collect your things?" Now it was Alfred's turn to stare at Arthur in complete shock. It seemed like he wasn't expecting that question.
"Are you insane? Why would I collect my things?" Arthur frowned, feeling anger starting to prick at the edges of his mind. He was not crazy and he resented being told he was. It was a perfectly rational explanation.
"Arthur, we had a fight. We're not breaking up because of it," Alfred explained slowly, as if talking to a particularly stubborn five-year-old who was arguing that the sky was purple. Arthur rolled his eyes. He was just thinking that he wasn't stupid and Alfred did not need to treat him like he was when the words actually hit him.
"We're not breaking up?"
Alfred shuffled uncomfortably. "Not unless you want to." Arthur shook his head, a little too vigorously but Alfred made no comment, he just gave Arthur a smile.
"Then, why are you here?" He felt like sinking into the sofa cushions and never coming out. They weren't breaking up (and Arthur could not verbalise what kind of a relief that was) and all Arthur's pessimistic predictions were wrong, but they still had to talk about that horrible fight.
"I talked to Matthew to find out what was going on." Of course Alfred would talk to Matthew first about the fight before even thinking about asking Arthur. He ignored the resentment to focus on what Alfred was saying. Unfortunately, Alfred could notice many things when he wanted to. "Hey, don't give me that look. I had to cool off so I went to Matt's and then I wanted to chat." Arthur nodded, not wanting to say anything that could be misinterpreted. Alfred gave him a suspicious look as if he knew what Arthur was thinking but continued anyway. "Matt admitted a few of the comments that he's made to you."
Now Arthur was surprised. He had not expecting Matthew to confess, he had thought for sure that he would rejoicing in destroying Alfred and Arthur's relationship and would delight in driving the wedge in deeper. Again, Alfred saw this and he looked annoyed.
"My brother is not a bad guy, he was just worried about me and took it out on you. He won't be making any of those comments any more."
"Thank goodness," Arthur said before he could stop himself. He tensed, expecting retribution but instead Alfred just smiled sadly and leaned onto the back of the sofa.
"Why didn't you tell me about Matt's comments? Why didn't you tell me they were making you so upset?" Alfred asked softly and Arthur bit his lip. He was a little bit irritated that Alfred was laying the blame on Arthur's shoulders. Last night was mostly his fault, but before that, he had done everything possible to make Matthew stop.
"I did tell you about the comments he made. And I did say they were making me upset. You laughed and said that Matt wouldn't say anything like that and if he would, he wouldn't mean it in a malicious way," Arthur pointed out, wanting Alfred to know that (and Arthur was just coming to realise this as well), it was partly Alfred's fault as well. It was good to get that out though. Normally, whenever they had a fight, Alfred would leave to go and visit Matthew, who would say that everything was Arthur's fault. It happened so much that Alfred, and Arthur, had started to believe it.
Alfred looked horrified though and Arthur felt his stomach knot. He had wanted Alfred to feel guilty, not horrified.
"I am so sorry, Arthur," Alfred said, pulling Arthur to him in a hug. Arthur sank into Alfred, unwilling to let him go again. "I promise I'll listen to you more."
"That's all I ask, Alfred." Arthur's voice was soft and his answer truthful. Matthew and him might never get along but with Alfred not automatically taking his brother's side in everything, it might be okay.
The two of them sat on the sofa for a while, just enjoying being there and not having to move for work. It was a comfortable feeling and Arthur could feel himself getting sleepy again. However just as he was drifting off, Alfred sat up and jolted him awake.
"Hey, Arthur, you seemed really stressed yesterday. Did anything happen at work?" Alfred's tone was cautious and Arthur felt tears start to fill his eyes and he blinked rapidly to keep from crying.
"Do you know the little girl I look after, the one who gave me the flowers and the picture?" Arthur was a part-time carer for children mostly and although he could not share details about the child or their medical conditions, he always tried to let Alfred know a little bit about what was going on.
"Yeah," Alfred asked, obviously unsure as to where this was going. "You go there for night shifts quite a lot."
"She died yesterday afternoon," Arthur said in a blank voice and Alfred went back to looking horrified. "I was with her and I had to call the family home to let them know what had happened. I knew that we had the dinner and there was nothing I could do after the doctor had come. I left them but I couldn't stop thinking about it on the way home. Then I came in and Matthew made a snide comment about how late I was... and I blew up. I shouldn't have shouted and I'm sorry." Arthur suddenly remembered what he wanted to tell Alfred but it seemed like the other man didn't particularly care at the moment.
"She died?" Alfred whispered and Arthur nodded. A tear escaped and he wiped it away, but as soon as he did so, Alfred pulled him into a tight hug. Arthur buried his face in Alfred's shoulder and let himself relax, dampening Alfred's shoulder with his tears.
"It's not fair," Arthur mumbled into Alfred's shoulder and Alfred nodded and started to rock Arthur slightly. Arthur held on tighter and made no objection to being treated like a baby. He needed something at the moment.
"No, it really isn't. I can see why you were stressed yesterday, it's okay." Alfred made some more nonsensical soothing noises and the two of them settled against the sofa. Arthur felt horrible that he was so happy when that little girl's parents were so upset, but he needed Alfred with him. Yesterday had been one of the worst days in a very long time but Alfred had just made today a little bit better.
At least they understood each other now.
Genre: Romance/Drama
Pairing(s): USUK
Word Count: 2,032
Rating/Warnings: 12, non-character death mentioned
Summary: The last thing he needed after his day at work, was his boyfriend's brother comments about how he wasn't good enough. Done for the ' I 2 I (Eye to Eye)' prompt.
It had all degenerated rather quickly. There had been a discussion, then an argument and then it turned into a fight. This fight quickly devolved down into a fight, where horrible things were said and past wrongs that had been forgiven were brought up and waved in front of the other's face as if they had always been at the back of the mind. It was absolutely ghastly and that was the only reason Arthur was sitting in the flat, crying. It had nothing to do with the fact that Alfred had left, gone to stay with Matthew, the cause of the fight in the first place, ready to hear some more lies about Arthur.
How could Alfred believe Matthew over Arthur? Matthew was his brother, but if Arthur's experience was anything to go by, the title didn't mean 'automatic trust'. And he hadn't believed Arthur when he said that Matthew didn't like him, so he had gone there and probably never come back because his head would be so full of lies.
Arthur wiped his face roughly with his sleeve. It was disgraceful manners but there was no one here to see him. Not anymore. At this thought, he pulled his arm away from his face and searched around for a tissue. Manners were rules and Arthur desperately needed something to focus on.
He blew his nose before throwing the tissue away. He started straightening up the flat but left Alfred's things exactly where they were. Touching them would make him think about how Alfred was probably letting out all his resentment at a sympathetic Matthew, who would nod along, before suggesting a handsome, single friend that could maybe understand.
No more thinking about it. The flat was tidy now but Arthur decided to empty the cupboards and give them a bit of a sort out. A nice focus where he didn't have to think about how he managed to fail at his relationship. When he went home next time, his brothers would take the piss so much. They would point out how Alfred was the only thing worthy about Arthur and he still managed to drive him off.
Why did he have to tell Alfred what Matthew said anyway? He could have stayed quiet about it, just like all the other times, but Matthew's remark on top of one of the worst days in a while had just made him start shouting. That had been rude though and he regretted doing it now. Why didn't he just tell Matthew that he didn't care for his remark and go and squeeze the life out of Alfred? That would have made him feel so much better.
Hindsight was twenty twenty though, and it was a bit late for regrets. Maybe Arthur could ring Alfred later and apologise for shouting (he didn't think he could manage to say it to Matthew) and make it not completely uncomfortable when Alfred came to collect his stuff. The experience would still be horrendous but Arthur might be able to shuffle through it.
And that poor little girl....
For a moment, Arthur stopped cleaning and bent his head over his knees. He had forgotten about Mimi in his anger and blame and it just made him feel almost ill with guilt. She died today and he was caring about the fact that he had done something horrendously stupid and lost his boyfriend.
Arthur set to cleaning, almost frenzied as he scrubbed at every stubborn piece of dirt that he could. His mind stopped thinking about Alfred and Mimi and instead started to focus on how pained his knees were after kneeling for so long. Arthur thought about it but continued to clean under the kitchen was spotless. His muscles ached and his eyelids felt very heavy all of a sudden. Maybe he could lie down for a little bit and clean the bathroom afterwards. The sofa looked invited and he collapsed onto it.
His world was shaking and there was a voice calling his name. Arthur cranked open his eyes before shutting them tightly again. It was much too bright for him to do that.
"Arthur," someone was calling to him. "Arthur, wake up." It took a while for Arthur to place the voice but when he did, his eyes shot open and he sat up abruptly, ignoring the ache in his muscles or the way his eyes wanted to shut again against the bright sunlight.
"Alfred?" He asked. He didn't know what to think about why Alfred was there. Had he come to collect his things? There were a tight feeling in his chest as he thought this and Arthur prayed that was not the reason. Surely Alfred wouldn't be that quick to move out, he would at least leave Arthur a little time to collect himself. At least, that was what Arthur hoped.
"Arthur, did you clean the kitchen?" Alfred looked surprised at this question as if it was not the one he wanted to ask and Arthur could not relax at all. He needed to know what was going on, he didn't do well with surprises.
"Yes, I did," he answered quickly, hoping there would no more questions about the kitchen of all things. "Why are you here, Alfred?" Alfred looked away and Arthur felt sick. He shifted slightly as Alfred moved from where he had been kneeling by the sofa, to sitting next to Arthur.
"I'm here because I wanted to come home and talk about this."
"What?!" Arthur was surprised, to say the least. "Aren't you here to collect your things?" Now it was Alfred's turn to stare at Arthur in complete shock. It seemed like he wasn't expecting that question.
"Are you insane? Why would I collect my things?" Arthur frowned, feeling anger starting to prick at the edges of his mind. He was not crazy and he resented being told he was. It was a perfectly rational explanation.
"Arthur, we had a fight. We're not breaking up because of it," Alfred explained slowly, as if talking to a particularly stubborn five-year-old who was arguing that the sky was purple. Arthur rolled his eyes. He was just thinking that he wasn't stupid and Alfred did not need to treat him like he was when the words actually hit him.
"We're not breaking up?"
Alfred shuffled uncomfortably. "Not unless you want to." Arthur shook his head, a little too vigorously but Alfred made no comment, he just gave Arthur a smile.
"Then, why are you here?" He felt like sinking into the sofa cushions and never coming out. They weren't breaking up (and Arthur could not verbalise what kind of a relief that was) and all Arthur's pessimistic predictions were wrong, but they still had to talk about that horrible fight.
"I talked to Matthew to find out what was going on." Of course Alfred would talk to Matthew first about the fight before even thinking about asking Arthur. He ignored the resentment to focus on what Alfred was saying. Unfortunately, Alfred could notice many things when he wanted to. "Hey, don't give me that look. I had to cool off so I went to Matt's and then I wanted to chat." Arthur nodded, not wanting to say anything that could be misinterpreted. Alfred gave him a suspicious look as if he knew what Arthur was thinking but continued anyway. "Matt admitted a few of the comments that he's made to you."
Now Arthur was surprised. He had not expecting Matthew to confess, he had thought for sure that he would rejoicing in destroying Alfred and Arthur's relationship and would delight in driving the wedge in deeper. Again, Alfred saw this and he looked annoyed.
"My brother is not a bad guy, he was just worried about me and took it out on you. He won't be making any of those comments any more."
"Thank goodness," Arthur said before he could stop himself. He tensed, expecting retribution but instead Alfred just smiled sadly and leaned onto the back of the sofa.
"Why didn't you tell me about Matt's comments? Why didn't you tell me they were making you so upset?" Alfred asked softly and Arthur bit his lip. He was a little bit irritated that Alfred was laying the blame on Arthur's shoulders. Last night was mostly his fault, but before that, he had done everything possible to make Matthew stop.
"I did tell you about the comments he made. And I did say they were making me upset. You laughed and said that Matt wouldn't say anything like that and if he would, he wouldn't mean it in a malicious way," Arthur pointed out, wanting Alfred to know that (and Arthur was just coming to realise this as well), it was partly Alfred's fault as well. It was good to get that out though. Normally, whenever they had a fight, Alfred would leave to go and visit Matthew, who would say that everything was Arthur's fault. It happened so much that Alfred, and Arthur, had started to believe it.
Alfred looked horrified though and Arthur felt his stomach knot. He had wanted Alfred to feel guilty, not horrified.
"I am so sorry, Arthur," Alfred said, pulling Arthur to him in a hug. Arthur sank into Alfred, unwilling to let him go again. "I promise I'll listen to you more."
"That's all I ask, Alfred." Arthur's voice was soft and his answer truthful. Matthew and him might never get along but with Alfred not automatically taking his brother's side in everything, it might be okay.
The two of them sat on the sofa for a while, just enjoying being there and not having to move for work. It was a comfortable feeling and Arthur could feel himself getting sleepy again. However just as he was drifting off, Alfred sat up and jolted him awake.
"Hey, Arthur, you seemed really stressed yesterday. Did anything happen at work?" Alfred's tone was cautious and Arthur felt tears start to fill his eyes and he blinked rapidly to keep from crying.
"Do you know the little girl I look after, the one who gave me the flowers and the picture?" Arthur was a part-time carer for children mostly and although he could not share details about the child or their medical conditions, he always tried to let Alfred know a little bit about what was going on.
"Yeah," Alfred asked, obviously unsure as to where this was going. "You go there for night shifts quite a lot."
"She died yesterday afternoon," Arthur said in a blank voice and Alfred went back to looking horrified. "I was with her and I had to call the family home to let them know what had happened. I knew that we had the dinner and there was nothing I could do after the doctor had come. I left them but I couldn't stop thinking about it on the way home. Then I came in and Matthew made a snide comment about how late I was... and I blew up. I shouldn't have shouted and I'm sorry." Arthur suddenly remembered what he wanted to tell Alfred but it seemed like the other man didn't particularly care at the moment.
"She died?" Alfred whispered and Arthur nodded. A tear escaped and he wiped it away, but as soon as he did so, Alfred pulled him into a tight hug. Arthur buried his face in Alfred's shoulder and let himself relax, dampening Alfred's shoulder with his tears.
"It's not fair," Arthur mumbled into Alfred's shoulder and Alfred nodded and started to rock Arthur slightly. Arthur held on tighter and made no objection to being treated like a baby. He needed something at the moment.
"No, it really isn't. I can see why you were stressed yesterday, it's okay." Alfred made some more nonsensical soothing noises and the two of them settled against the sofa. Arthur felt horrible that he was so happy when that little girl's parents were so upset, but he needed Alfred with him. Yesterday had been one of the worst days in a very long time but Alfred had just made today a little bit better.
At least they understood each other now.