The Writer and The Café

Chapter Ten

Arthur had woken up at 5 am and he was feeling fantastic. He no longer felt sick other than his sore back, but that was mainly the couches fault. Getting up off of he couch, Arthur went to his bathroom and took a quick shower as well as brushed his teeth before he went back out to the kitchen. Both excitment and guilt filled his brain due to the thoughts that his neighbor Alfred had taken care of him. Remembering that Alfred was going to come over for breakfast he decided to whip up a small batch of scones for them to eat.

After about half a hour of finding, measuring, and mixing all of the ingredients Arthur was finally able to slip the baking sheet into the oven. Looking at the clock and seeing that it was only 5:20 he decided to go into the livingroom and watch the morning news broadcast.

It was about 40 minutes later when he could smell something burning. Arthur ran to the kitchen, the loud thuds from his feet easily heard, as he pulled out the tray out from the oven. He could easily see that they were black and burnt and that all of his efforts hand gone to waste.

Hearing the click of his front door opening he turned and found Alfred walking in with a worried look, almost seeming to be on edge.

"You okay Artie?"

"Of course I'm fine. And don't call me Artie," he said as he placed the tray on the top of the stove and taking the glove off of his hand, sighing in defeat.

Alfred walked over and chuckled seeing the burnt mess and now knew why he heard someone running frantically in the room. "Don't worry Arthur," he said putting emphasis on his name. "You'll get them right next time."

Arthur shook his head and dumped the scones into the trash can before placing the cooking sheet into the sink.

"Well don't worry too much. I have a light breakfast here for ya to eat before we head out to your café."

Arthur blinked in shock for a moment before facing Alfred and taking a good look at him. He was holding a plate with toast and an egg, as well as being dressed professionally, Arthur liked the look on him. The brit blushed and coughed awkwardly when he realized he was staring for far too long.

"Thank you for the food Alfred." Arthur took the plate and led Alfred to the stool placed at his bar as he stepped into the kitchen and leaned against the counter to eat. "You didn't have to. Can I get you anything while you wait for me?"

Alfred chuckled and nodded. "A glass of ice water would be nice. And I know I didn't have to but I did because I wanted to make sure you had something inside of ya before you went to work."

After taking a bite Arthur was glad he had the chance to turn around and calm his reddening face. He focused on slowing his breathing down and making Alfred's glass of water. "Why don't you drink anything other than water?"

Alfred shrugged his shoulders with a small smirk on his lips. "I do drink other things. Milk, beer, soda, but you and your café don't have them. Plus you make my favorite glass of ice water."

Arthur turned around sputtering in confusion. "Water is water. How can I make a special water?" He placed the glass in front of the American with shaky fingers.

As he smiled up at Arthur, Alfred placed a finger over his lips. "Its a secret."

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After that day Alfred would come to Arthur's café everyday. Sometimes he would help out behind the counter when he was needed or he would just sit at a table with his computer working on his book with Arthur's special glass of ice water. The days seemed to go by for Alfred, he had worked so hard to get along with Arthur and after three weeks they became best of friends, even if unknown to each other that they both wanted more than that.

A month later since meeting the American Arthur was sitting on his couch watching the television as Biscuit sat in his lap as he heard his door unlock. A smile spread across his lips as Alfred walked in with a bag of groceries for their Friday movie night.

"Have ya got the movie Artie?" He asked as he walked into the brits kitchen with the food from a shop.

"Yes I do. I chose the horror one you've been so excited about."

Arthur got up off of the couch and placed his cat onto the floor before she ran off to the balcony to go to Alfred's apartment. He walked into the kitchen and sat down at the bar to watch Alfred cook.

Said person turned around with a bright smile as he looked at Arthur. "Really dude? That's so awesome! I've been wanting to watch it so badly!"

Arthur couldn't help but laugh as he saw the puppy like expression and energy that emitted from Alfred. "I know. You have constantly told me, at least once a day."

Alfred became sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck with a smile. "Sorry about that." He turned around and went back to cleaning the vegetables for a Sheppard Pie he was making for the two of them.

"Don't worry about it love, it's nice to see you excited as you are." Arthur got up and went back to the living room to tend to the movie and pick up the space for them to be comfortable. In the kitchen Alfred's face was bright red when he heard Arthur call him 'love'. He wasn't used to the brit calling him that and he rarely used it. But it always sent his heart into a frenzy.

Over half a hour later later Alfred washed his hands as everything was cooking. He was thankful that he had prepared a lot of it that morning and all he had to do was cook the vegetables and throw the food together when they were done.

Taking the free moment he had Alfred walked into the living room and found Arthur sitting on the couch reading a book waiting for him and the food to finish.

"Sorry it's taking so long to cook." Alfred sat down on the couch and slipped his arm onto the back of it behind Arthur's shoulders.

Arthur shook his head and smiled as he closed his book and placed it onto the small table beside the couch. "I don't mind at all Alfred. I appreciate the home cooked meals you make for me."

Alfred couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face when he saw Arthurs. "That's good because I like cooking for you. But do you think you could do me a favor this weekend? Maybe tomorrow?"

"What do you need? I don't mind as long as it's within my abilities."

Biting his bottom lip Alfred tried to think of the best way to ask without making it seem too much like a date. "Well I haven't seen to much of England and was wondering if we could go out and have some fun? Maybe show me around to a few places you like?"

Arthur stared at Alfred for a long moment as his heart race with excitment. He opened his mouth to answer but no words came out. His head kept telling him it was just a friendly day out but his heart told him it was more. "L-Like, like a date?"

Alfred's eyes went wide before he turned his head away as his face turned bright red. "If you want it to be I don't mind," he mumbled before looking out of the corner of his eye to look at the brits reaction.

It took him a moment but Arthur smiled brightly and nodded with excitment and happiness in his eyes. "I would love that."

(Wrote this with no Internet access and not time to read it over. Sorry for any mistakes)