literature

Forever and Always [America x Reader One-Shot]

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You sat at the dining room table, staring at the flickering flame of the tall candle in front of you. You'd lit it nearly two hours ago, and half the candle had already melted away, but still he wasn't home. The pasta had gone cold, the wine was warm, and your phone hadn't buzzed once. You were sure he would have called if they were staying late, if anything had delayed him, it wasn't like him to just be late and not tell you. You glanced at the clock, and it read a quarter passed nine, which was hours passed when he should be home.

The slam of car door echoed them and you rose, walking to the window to look out, but it was the couple across the street. You watched them walk up their sidewalk, arm in arm, laughing at something. You bit your lip. Where was he? Was something wrong? Had something happened? You glanced at the picture of you two, placed right in the center of the mantel, before looking back out the window. Nothing but street lights and shadows.

You picked up your phone and dialed Matthew, tapping your foot as you waited for the Canadian to pick up. It felt like it took hours before you heard his quiet voice.

"No, _____, I haven't seen him since lunch. He was staying over with Arthur. Why, haven't you heard from him?" he answered, promising to call if he heard anything.

"No, bella, I haven't seen Alfred at all this week. Why? Is something wrong?" Lovino promised to call if he heard anything.

"Nien. When I left, he and the Brit were still working. Have you called the office?" Ludwig promised to call if he heard anything.

Panicked, you tried Arthur's phone, since the general consensus seemed to be that he was with Arthur, but the Brit didn't answer. You tried again, and again the automated voice instructed you to leave a message. You did, telling Arthur to call you as soon as he could.

You tried his phone, but the voice that answered wasn't his, so you left a message, begging him to call, and then hung up. You tossed the phone on the couch and went to the window, pulling back to the curtains to lay your forehead against the cool glass.

Suddenly, your phone rang, making you jump, and you nearly tripped over yourself to pick it up.

"Arthur, thank god! Where-" you breathed, relief flooding your veins, but the feeling lasted only a moment.

"____. You need to come to the hospital, St. Michaels, as soon as you can. There was an accident, I can't...just get here!" he hissed and the line went dead. Your hands trembled as you sank to the couch, your entire body cold, but you couldn't understand. Accident? Hospital?

Alfred!

You jumped from the couch, blew out the candle and grabbed your purse, running out the door without bothering with a coat. You nearly took out the mailbox in your haste to leave, but you didn't care, and you sped off toward the hospital, your mind racing. What had happened? How bad of an accident? Oh god, was Alfred okay? As you drove, you thought back to December, and how he'd looked when he'd asked you.

"Alfred, it's freezing!" you complained, following the blonde American man despite your protests. It was late evening, but the park was still full of people, all admiring the lights that were strung up for Christmas. Orchestra music played somewhere in the distance, and people were ice-skating on the pond, and you couldn't help but think that this was such a typical Christmas scene.

"It's not that bad!" Alfred laughed, leading you along the damp sidewalk toward the middle of the park. It had stormed the night before, heavily, and the white snow reflected the rainbow of lights, but Alfred had already commented on how that wasn't the prettiest thing he'd seen that night. It made you blush, when he said those things, but it came so naturally from him. So easily. "We just have to see one more thing, then we can go."

"You promise?" you asked, more than ready to be back home, snuggled up by the fire, watching a movie you'd seen a dozen times.

"Promise!" Alfred answered and turned his head to grin over his shoulder at you. You had to smile back. Finally, he stopped and you came up beside him, gasping at the site.

"Oh, Alfred," you whispered, gloved hands coming to cover your mouth. Alfred absolutely beamed as he smiled down at you, more taken by the rosiness of your cheeks than the brilliance of the grand, shining Christmas tree. "It's beautiful."

"The most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he murmured and you turned to look at him, blushing at how he stared so unabashedly at you. Without a care, you thought, to who might be watching or walking by. But that was Alfred, you thought. "_____?"

"Yeah?" you asked, tipping your head slightly at him. What he did next surprised you, and you almost stumbled back when he bent down on his knee and took a little, velvet box from his pocket. "Alfred...."

"_____," he said. "I want you forever, forever and always, _____. Through the good, the bad, and the ugly, and whatever else might come in between. I wanna see you in that white dress, and I want you to take my name, and always be mine. I wanna grow old together, _____, if you'll have me. Will you marry me?"

"Oh Alfie..." you breathed, tears clouding your eyes as you nodded. "Yes. Yes!" you answered, breaking into breathless laughter as Alfred slipped the ring onto your finger and brought you into his arms, kissing you with all the passion that one man could feel.


You parked the car and all but ran into the hospital, nearly colliding with a man before reaching the front desk. "Jones," you gasped desperately. "Alfred Jones. Where is he? Is he okay?"

"Relation?" the woman asked and you blinked at her, taken aback by her question. Why wasn't she just taking you to him? Why was she taking so long?!

"Girl-um, fiancé," you answered. "I'm his fiancé. Please, where is he?" you begged her and she finally looked up at you. You saw in her face, the moment you met her gaze, and her demeanor instantly changed. She came out from around the desk.

"This way, dear," she said, leading you down what felt like a million hallways, a maze that felt never ending. She was talking to you, telling you what happened, but you couldn't hear her. What was she saying? Was it about Alfred? All you focus on was the smell of this place. No, Alfred didn't belong here!

"_____!" the sound of your named snapped you from your thoughts and you looked up to see Arthur running toward you. You absently noticed you were in the emergency room. He immediately had you by the shoulders and all but yanked you into his arms. "_____, I'm so sorry. He dropped me off and everything was fine. He was going straight home and the next thing I know...." he rambled on, and you had never see the Brit so beside him, so ill composed, and that only made it worse. Arthur was always the picture of composure, never a hair out of place, and to see him like this...

"I want to see him," you said, pushing away from Arthur and looking back at the nurse. She nodded, and opened the door, stepping and motioning you inside. Arthur asked if you needed him, but you waved him off, asking the nurse to go as well. She said she'd be outside and you nodded, trying to hold yourself together as you walked to the beside. "Alfie..." you whispered, taking his hand and holding it tighter than you should have.

"_____," he murmured back, turning his head so he could look at you, though you could tell it caused him pain. "_____, you're here."

"Of course," you replied, smiling down at him and cursing yourself for the tears that gathered in your eyes. No, you wouldn't cry. You couldn't. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I didn't know if...they'd call..." Alfred continued, groaning in pain suddenly and squeezing his eyes shut. The machine at his other side beeped and instantly he relaxed. Pain medication, you thought. "I can't see you very well."

"Well, that's because you don't have your glasses on, silly," you answered, laughing to hide your sniffling. You reached into your purse and pulled out a glasses' case. "Here. I have your spares. There we go," you said, putting them on for him. "That's better."

"Much," he agreed. "How bad do I look?"

"Not so bad," you lied, holding his hand in both of yours. In truth, you were surprised he was still alive. The bandages, a few already stained with blood, were more visible than any skin. The bruising on the side of his face was dark and painful looking, but you bent to gently kiss it anyway. Alfred grimaced, but smiled at you. "I drove by our house today. The one on the hill?"

"It's still for sale?" Alfred asked and you nodded.

"Yep. It'll be ours soon, like we planned, remember?" you asked, wanting more than anything for him to keep talking. To keep him awake. You feared that, if he slept, he'd never wake back up. "Do you remember that house, Alfie?"

"Yeah," he answered, smiling again. "A fireplace in the living room and a big kitchen. The den that you liked and place for an office, so I can stay home," he paused, taking several long breaths before he continued. "It had the wraparound porch and the big backyard. Four bedrooms. One for us, two for the kids and one for Mattie when he comes to stay."

"Exactly," you nodded. "Once we're moved in, we can paint their rooms, Alfie. Green for our little boy, and yellow for our girl. They'll be so beautiful, Alfie."

"Like you," he whispered and you laughed, nodding again, if only to knock the tears away. You could remember the day you two went to look at the house for the first time.

"Oh, Alfred, look at it!" you shouted, half running up the stone steps to the big house on the hillside. It was early spring, and the smell so blooming flowers was thick in the air. "It's so wonderful!"

"And the view!" Alfred said, running up behind you and scooping you up. He kissed your lips before putting you back on your feet. "The owners said they'd give us a good deal and, so long as they didn't have any more offers in the next month, we'd be in the bidding for it. We can get it just in our budget, _____, it'll be perfect."

"Mhmm!" you nodded, smiling up at him before circling around the house to look at the yard. "Alfred, it's huge! Plenty of room for a dog!"

"And the kids," Alfred reminded you, wrapping his arms around your middle and putting his chin on your head. You laughed.

"And the kids," you repeated, putting your hands over his. "Alfie?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you, ______."


"I have an idea," you said suddenly, standing and, after reassuring him you weren't leaving, opened the door to look outside. You whispered quickly to the nurse and she nodded, going to the desk to make the phone call. "Alfie?"

"Hmm?" he looked at you ,and you could see how tired he look, how it took all his effort to keep his eyes open.

"Alfie, will you marry me?" you asked him, coming back to sit by his side. "Right now, Alfie. Will you marry me?"

"No fair," he murmured. "I already asked you first," he teased and you laughed, taking his hand in yours and kissing his bruised fingers. The nurse was back a moment later, the chaplain right behind her. You were surprised to see Arthur, Mattie and a few more of yours friends. When had they arrived?

"Do we have rings?" the chaplain asked and you frowned, shaking your head. You started to explain, but a woman interrupted. You didn't know her, but you thought you'd seen her outside, when you had come in.

"They can borrow ours," she said, handing the chaplain two gold wedding bands. She and her husband lingered by the door, but you didn't care. He smiled at her and then handed the rings to the two of you. He started to recite verses, but all you could do was watch Alfred and listen to the beep of the bedside monitor.

The two of you talked, your friends sharing stories that made you laugh, and when the chaplain asked if you had any vows, you nodded. You slipped the ring on Alfred's finger and stared at his face, trying to memorize everything about it. The curve of his nose, the little dimple in his cheek when he smiled, and the blue of his eyes, it all seemed so familiar, but you couldn't fathom never seeing it again.

"I want you forever, forever and always," you said, reciting the words he'd spoke to you back in December. "Through the good, and the bad, and the ugly, and all those things in between. We'll grow old together, and always remember, whether happy, or sad, or whatever. We'll still love each other, forever and always," you cried, trying to keep smiling at him, but the beeping of the monitor was getting too slow. Alfred raised a trembling hand to slip the wedding band on your finger, next to the engagement ring you hadn't even worn for a year. "Alfie..." you whispered, begging him not to leave you. "Alfred, I love you."

"____, I love you forever, forever and always," he whispered, his voice too low. His words so slow.

"Alfie," you cried, holding his hand between your shaking ones. He smiled at you, but his hand was slipping from yours, and his breaths were getting fewer. His eyes closed, despite how you willed him to keep looking at you.

"Please just remember...even if I'm not there," he stopped, and for a moment, you thought he was gone, but then with his next breath, he spoke again, but only you could hear.

"I'll always.... love you....forever and always."
so, this is basically a song-fic, so listen to this while you read! essentially, what happened, was i heard this song and had to write about it. i didn't choose Alfred for any particular reason, only because i kept coming back to him when i was pondering this idea. i give proper and full credit to parachute for this song.
disclaimer: i don't own the preview image, the song, or most to the plotline (since it's based on the song) but i did write it!
© 2013 - 2024 ivyandtwine
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