England X Dead! Reader - Resurrection

3. Photograph

Arthur needed something important. Something that held emotion, something that (F/N) treasured. He knew exactly what to get, the only problem was that it was in (F/N)'s house. The problem wasn't getting into her house, he could do that easily enough; the problem was getting out of his own house.

Alfred had come over to Arthur's house for a week or two to keep Arthur company after the funeral. He thought that it would keep Arthur from doing anything stupid, or stop him from being too depressed since he knew how close he and (F/N) were. But Arthur didn't need him there, he was perfectly stable.

He made his way to the door as quietly as he could and donned his green jacket, turning the key in the door and escaping quietly. He closed it gently, and then walked off down the street through the hazy rain. It was the light kind of rain that soaked everything quickly, including Arthur. His jacket protected his body, but he didn't bother to cover his head with a hood or umbrella, and numbly let it fall down onto him, making his blonde hair damp and flat.

He arrived at (F/N)'s house, kneeling down in front of one of the plant pots and digging into the soil slightly before unearthing a key. Unlike most who hid their keys under the mat, or under the plant pot, (F/N) had hid hers inside the soil. Arthur remembered her smiling face when she told him the secret, trusting him to enter her house if he needed to. This was one of those times.

He opened her front door, wiping his shoes on the welcome mat, as a gentleman should, and closing the door behind him. The house was too empty, and he didn't like it. It was almost eerie how empty it felt. No one greeted him as he'd usually be greeted, the familiar scent of (F/N) lingered no more and was replaced by the scent of the damp rain. The house was dark, and no lights were on to give it the homely feel. It was nothing like (F/N)'s house use to be at all.

Ignoring it as best he could, Arthur briskly made his way up the stairs and down the hallway until he entered (F/N)'s room. It was the same as always, but alike the state of the rest of the house, it was quite, dull and sad. The thing he needed was in here, and he quickly located it on (F/N)'s bedside table, next to her lamp. It had gotten a bit dusty, and it was years old, but it would do the job right.

A photograph of (F/N) and Arthur as little kids.

Arthur felt nostalgic as he looked at it, remembering how it was took and when it took exactly. They were only small, and it had been about a year after meeting each other that the picture was taken. They'd become better friends since the day they met, and (F/N) had invited Arthur to many new places, taking pictures such as this one along the way. It just so happened this was the one that was framed. Arthur had one too, but he felt this one would contain more of an essence of (F/N) than his own would. He tightly fit it in his jacket pocket, taking one last look at the dull room before making his way downstairs. He left the house.

As he exited the house and placed the key back into the soil, he felt a buzz in his pocket coming from his phone. He stood outside the house in the rain, looking over the text briefly before carrying on his way home. It was a text from Alfred wondering where he had gone. Arthur thought maybe he could get this done without detection, but Alfred unfortunately noticed, and with that came questions. Arthur would have to lie.

When he got home, soaked to the bone and with a hollow look in his eyes—as it had been for the past few weeks—Alfred was waiting at the door.

"W-What the hell dude! Where have you been!?" He asked hurriedly, looking over the soaked Brit before hurriedly helping him take his coat off.

"Nowhere important." Arthur replied uninterestedly, but Alfred had none of it.

"You're soaked dude, and you're telling me you just went out for something unimportant!" He asked angrily, yet his voice was laced with concern. Arthur shrugged off his coat and Alfred quickly took it off him to hang on the coat rack. "Wait.. What's this?" Arthur's heart jumped as he saw Alfred curiously unzipping the pockets of Arthur's jacket and pulling out the photo he'd managed to take. He quickly nabbed it of him, hugging it closely to him defensively and glaring at Alfred.

"Nothing." He snapped, but he could see that Alfred had already figured out what it was. He frowned at him angrily.

"You went to (F/N)'s house didn't you!?" He questions, walking up closer to Arthur. Arthur backed away, clutching at the photo in his hands.

"So what if I did!? What does it bloody matter to you!?" He questioned back, glaring back at Alfred with equal ferocity. So much for lying. 

"Look, you need to stop this!" Alfred's voice died down in anger and instead turned to sympathetic pleading. "I know you miss her, dude, but—" his voice rose up in volume as he desperately tried to get his point across, "—she's dead okay!"

Arthur's eyes widened and he froze, before he grimaced and his eyes thinned in anger and disgust. How dare he say that...

"She is not dead!!" He roared, his voice so loud it rendered Alfred shocked and made him stumble backwards a little.

"W-Wha—"

"She's not dead, Alfred!" Arthur shouted once again, his voice a little lower in volume but still holding the same amount of conviction as before. His voice thinned out to a bitter whisper. "Because I'm bringing her back." Before Alfred could question Arthur's sanity, Arthur ran up the creaky stairs, slamming his bedroom door and locking it. He placed the photo gently on his desk, alongside the spell book and the (H/C) hair. He put his hands to his head; it was like he was loosing his mind. Who knows, maybe he was? He gazed at the picture of (F/N) and himself.

"I'm going to bring you back.." He muttered. "No matter what..."

---

Ooh, tension. But anyway, you've probably noticed a change in covers, which is thanks to wildlytae , so thank you very much! There are probably quite a few errors in this part, because I haven't read over it, but I hope you all enjoyed anyway! Arthur's only going to get more messed up in the head, and so far I've got two endings planned out, and I'm not sure which to pick, so we'll see.

Do you guys want it to end badly for Arthur, or still kind of bad, but better than the other ending? Either way, it's not going to be very happy for him ;;