Loving the Hero

Chapter 3~ Home For Now

   "Whaddaya think?" Alfred asked, gesturing to his home. I was standing in the front door, looking at the epicness that was Alfred's house. Red, white, and blue were three common colors in the house, aside from light brown wood floors in some of the rooms that I could see.

  "And you live here alone?" I asked, looking at him. He smiled, flicking some of his blonde hair out of his face. "Not anymore!" Alfred replied. 

     Then he took my hand and dragged me upstairs, bringing me to a room about four times the size my boring old hospital room had been. A queen sized bed with an American flag blanket was in the middle of the room, while a white desk and dresser were on the right side, and a white bookshelf with Atlases and history books was on the left side. The walls were a light sky blue with white trim. Other than that, the room was empty.

  "Okay, this is your room, Allie. And the bathroom across the hall is yours too. Anyway, I think I'm going to make some hamburgers, so do you want one?" he explained, smiling when I nodded. But as he walked off, I wondered, what was I going to sleep in tonight? I mean, I wouldn't even be wearing what I was now if Alfred hadn't bought it for me, but I wish he'd have bought me some PJs while he was at it.

   "Hey, Alfred?" I called. He turned around. "Yeah, Allie?"

  "D-do you have anything I could wear to sleep in?" I asked. Alfred nodded. "Sure. Just go grab something out of my room. Its down the hall, third room on the left!" he replied, then he continued walking down the stairs.

   'Okay, that should help.' I thought as I stepped into his room. It was a right mess, clothes and McDonalds wrappers scattered over the ground, bed unmade, and the clock was wrong. Surprisingly, it seemed familiar. Luckily for me, I found the dresser, pulling out a pair of blue sweatpants and a white t-shirt. I smiled, then went back to my room, where I found a white box with a red ribbon tied around it sitting on my bed. A note was attached.

    'From Alfred. Happy New Years.' it said. I laughed as I remembered that it was in fact the first day of 2020. I opened up the box and gasped at its contents. A small gold locket laid in the box, '2020' engraved across the front. When I opened it up, there was a picture of Alfred and I that he'd taken the day that we, well, got to know each other. He'd taken it with his phone.

   'huh?' I thought when I noticed how similar we looked. We both had the same blonde hair, and the same cowlick on the top of our heads. My face was even kind of similar. But he had sky blue eyes, and I had bright scarlet eyes. Still, we looked very alike.

   I took the silky red ribbon off of the box, picking it up and putting it with the clothes I borrowed, and headed to my bathroom. The shower was practically calling my name.

  I turned on the shower, and after deciding that it was warm enough, I stepped in. As I stood under the steamy torrent of water, a song came to my mind. 

  "The train should leave at 9 but it is always a bit late

Almost every morning you must hurry from the station
If you take the tunnel it can save you a few steps
But then you must remember there's a red light at the crossing

At the office we all know november will be tough
One call out of four will have to give us a new order
Everyone seems happy and we have a nice new boss
He knows us all by name and says hello to us each morning but...

No one will miss you when you die
No one will think of you and cry
No one notices your brand new t-shirt
Although you've done all that you should
You've been polite and you've been good
And you worked hard to lose that stupid accent." I smiled, thankful for the fact that I remembered the song, though I didn't know where I remembered it from. I was also smiling because my singing was actually quite good. 

"Next sunday we will go and look at a new house
There are some nice ones that they're building near the station
If you can do some work yourself it wouldn't cost that much
And your man is handy and he has already built a loft bed

but...

No one will miss you when you die
No one will think of you and cry
No one notices your brand new t-shirt
Although you've done all that you should
You've been polite and you've been good
And you worked hard to lose that stupid accent.

No one will miss you when you die
No one will think of you and cry
No one notices your brand new t-shirt
Although you've done all that you should
You've been polite and you've been good
And you worked hard to lose that stupid accent.

I remember last year we spent summer by the sea
In a rented cottage that felt almost like our own
What we'll do this year we have not decided yet
But we worked hard so we might get a few days extra off

la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la

And though you have a brand new home
And you've invited everyone

No one can remember your address

And though you've practiced for so long and you know almost every song
No one dreams about you when they're sleeping

No one will miss you when you die
No one will think of you and cry
No one notices your brand new t-shirt

la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la." I sang. When I finished the song, I felt happier than before. 'Maybe I used to be a singer? Or maybe I just love music?' I guessed. With a sigh, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Using a hairbrush I found on the counter, I brushed my long blonde hair and braided it from the top of my neck down, then tied it together at the bottom with the red ribbon from the present. Finally, I put on my clothes, then looked at myself. Somehow, that silly cowlick had escaped from the rest of my hair, perfectly arcing over the top of my head. I realized that I matched the rest of the house, since I was in fact wearing red, white, and blue. At last, I picked up the gold locket and put it on.

   When I stepped out of the bathroom, I ran straight into Alfred. 

  "Oh, hey Allie! I was just going to tell you that the burgers are done, so... Yeah..." he trailed off, totally checking me out. His smile grew wider when he noticed that I was wearing the locket. "So do you like it? The locket, I mean." he asked, lightly blushing. I nodded, smiling at him. Then, without further ado, we both went downstairs. 

   **********

  Alfred's POV

  Allison seemed to be settling in nicely. Her wet blonde hair, strangely similar to mine, was pulled back into a braid, tied together by a red ribbon, probably the one on the box her locket was in. She even had a cowlick like mine, but her's must have just been a coincidence. It made me wonder why she looked so much like me, minus her pretty red eyes, which reminded me of Prussia's. Could she be an undiscovered country? No, no, no. No way. Now I'm just being crazy. 

   "So how is the burger?" I asked her. She smiled at me. "Absolutely terrific." Allison said. I nodded. "Good." 

  "So, Alfred, you never told me what you do as far as work..." she started. I sighed, trying to come up with a plausible lie. "I'm a sort of... Politician. I work with the President and congress. It's classified info, sorry." I replied. She seemed to believe it. Then she took her plate and got up, walking into the kitchen and putting it into the sink. As she walked back by, she stopped beside me and gave me a hug.

  "Thanks, Alfie, for everything." she whispered. As she let go, I grabbed her hand. "I'm the hero, babe, and that's just what heroes do. It was nothing." I told her. Allison rolled her eyes and shook her head, walking towards the stairs. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Alfred!" she called over her shoulder. 

  "Sweet Dreams, Allie!" I shouted. Then I sighed. 'Hate to see her go, love to watch her leave.' I thought to myself. I definitely had a thing for this chick.