Chapter Text
Alfred opened his eyes in the morning to see Charlotte sitting beside his bed. He looked to his right hand, which was being held between hers. A smile quirked on his lips as he looked into her green eyes. “Finally decided to come and see me, Charlie?” he teased. “I was wondering if you would ever show your face around me again.”
Tears dripped from her eyes as she cast him a pleading look. “Don’t talk like that, Alfie Jones.” Her voice shook with each word, dangerously on the edge of crumbling. “Of course I was going to come and see you! How could I not?!” A sob cut from her throat as she squeezed his hand tightly between hers. “You know I’ll love you forever from the bottom of my heart!”
He blinked back tears as he reached for his glasses to see her better. “How could I not have done it, Charlie?” Alfred slipped his glasses on, but almost regretted it once he saw her tears. His free hand instantly dove into her light curls. “Please don’t cry. If there was a chance to go back in time to when it happened, I would’ve still done it. If I had lost you, Charlie…” His voice faded out, his mind refusing to think of the alternative. “This was how it needed to happen.”
“But look at you!” Charlotte gestured to the bed he was lying in. “This isn’t my Alfie Jones! My Alfie Jones would pick me up and spin me around upon greeting! This Alfie Jones will never walk again, and it’s all my fault! I’ll never forgive myself!” She practically threw herself on top of him as she embraced her best friend. “You’re in this condition because of me, Alfie Jones!”
“See?!” Toris demanded, storming into the room. “This is why I didn’t want you to come see him! All you’re going to do is upset him, Charlie! Can’t you see that he doesn’t want to talk about it?! You’re so insensitive!”
She sobbed even harder, clinging to Alfred with a strength the blond didn’t know she possessed. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it that way! I didn’t want to upset you, Alfie Jones! Please forgive me!”
Alfred’s blue eyes narrowed at Toris. “Who the hell do you think you are?” he growled at him. “Do you really think you can control who visits me and who doesn’t? Is this why no one has come to see me?! Are you keeping people from seeing me?!” He grew more and more angry with each passing second. “Get the fuck out, Toris! Go home! I don’t want to see you at all today!”
Toris felt his stomach launch up into his throat. Sharp stabs of betrayal hit his psyche like knives. He couldn’t fathom the fact that Alfred would side with someone like Charlotte, the reason he’s in the condition he’s in. Adrenaline shot him out the door and as far away from them as he could get, but he would never forget that feeling.
.
Arthur hadn’t realized that he had fallen asleep on the phone with Gilbert until he blinked awake and heard the other man snoring on the speaker. A shy, embarrassed blush dusted his cheeks as he smiled to himself. Though he considered falling asleep on the phone with someone a silly thing that only lovebirds did, he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that he fell asleep on the phone with someone who genuinely wanted to talk to him. He had never done such a thing with Elizaveta before. Was it because they lived in the same town and saw each other every day?
He slowly sat up and began to softly speak into the phone. “Gil? Gil, are you there?”
The snoring stopped, Gilbert coughing for a moment. “Arthur?” he asked, confused. “When did I answer the phone?”
“It appears we fell asleep mid-conversation last night,” Arthur laughed to him. “I just woke up and could hear you snoring. For a moment, I was worried you had joined me in my hotel bed.”
“Worried or hopeful?”
The blond’s throat went dry for a moment as he pondered how to reply to such a flirtatious question. Elizaveta would kill him if he flirted back, but she also wasn’t there. His heart pounded in his chest from the open flirtation. “What if it was a mixture of both?”
“Hopeful that I was beside you but worried that your girlfriend would find out?”
Arthur’s face burned at the implication. There was so much wrong with such a conversation, but he was becoming too excited to resist. If only he could live in this moment and never have to think of talking to Elizaveta again. But he couldn’t do such a thing to her, not while they were together.
“If she were to find out, we would be dead where we stand,” the blond laughed. “I don’t know if it would be worth such a death for a few moments of flirtation.”
Gilbert’s laugh was like music to his ears. “Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead then! Though I believe it would be worth it to see you blush over me.”
“Stop it,” Arthur laughed. “Don’t make me hope for something I can’t have.” He didn’t realize the words had left his mouth until after he said them. His face burned with a mixture of feelings. Though he was shocked that he said such a thing, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed but also ashamed.
The rest of the conversation was on a different topic, but Arthur couldn’t help but wonder why he would say such a thing.
.
Arthur arrived at Kiku’s just before noon, anticipation nearly eating him alive. Something inside of him wanted to know what could have hurt Alfred so badly that he would do something like this to the person he considered his best friend. How badly did Alfred hurt to create a plan such as this? There were some things that just didn’t add up. Nothing he had heard so far made sense as to why he would act in such a manner.
“Konnichiwa, Arthur,” Kiku greeted, letting him inside. “Heracles is just finishing up our lunch. Please make yourself comfortable.” He sat on a couch and gestured for Arthur to sit as well. “I want to speak with you before I tell you the rest. I am no longer the man I was back when I was with Alfred. I did some shameful and illegal things while I was with him, and my regret over them was what caused me to break up with him. He said that he understood and he kept my secret, but it’s still eating me alive.”
“Did you and Alfred…do things?”
He nodded. “We did…” Kiku shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “If I could take it back, I would. He was so young, and I made some dumb choices. Arthur, now that I’m a bit older, I am ashamed. I should have never done that. It was illegal and immoral, and I’m having trouble forgiving myself. But I suppose I should finish the story.”