The Toy Solider

8. Angel With A Shotgun

"Angel With A Shotgun" - The Cab

~~~~~~

Arthur's hands shook and clenched the letter as he re-read it for the hundredth time that morning. He had woken up to an eerily quiet house and a hear wrenching letter from Alfred. The sheets sat crumpled around his waist and his body heaved violently as he sobbed and the realisation of his mistake dawned on him. He had hurt Alfred, and sabotaged any chance of them ever being together. Arthur buried his head in his hands. It was getting hard to breathe and his mind was a battle of thoughts. He had to fix this.

Throwing off the sheets and running out of his door, his feet padded heavily against the wooden floor.

"Alfred?" He called out, "Alfred, I'm sorry!"

"Arthur? What's going on?" Tino emerged from the kitchen, placing his hands on Arthur's shoulders to steady the desperate man.

"Alfred...I need to see him." Arthur demanded in between ragged breaths.

"Alfred's not here, Arthur."

"What?"

"I'm sure he's just gone for a walk, there's nothing to worry about."

"A walk where?" Arthur shook Tino, "Where did he go?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but you need to calm down Arthur. Alfred's fine."

Maybe Alfred was fine. Maybe Arthur was overreacting. Maybe Alfred had gone for a walk.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." Arthur muttered.

"Why do you need Alfred?" Tino's voice was gentle, much like how a mother would talk to her child.

"I made a mistake. A big mistake." Arthur sobbed.

"What happened?"

"I...I said no."

"No to what?"

"To happiness. To someone who finally accepted me and loved me for me. I said no to the future I've always wanted." Arthur's shoulders shook as he spoke, "I said no to Alfred, Tino. I've made the biggest mistake of my life."

Tino rubbed Arthur's shoulders comfortingly, not sure what words would possibly help the situation.

"I'm really sorry, Arthur. I honestly have no idea where Alfred is. Maybe you should go look for him."

Look where though? Alfred could be anywhere. He could be in a different city for all Arthur knew. But he couldn't give up. He couldn't leave it like this. Arthur had to fix this.

*

The markets were in full swing and people pushed Arthur this way and that as he tried to squeeze through the mass of bodies. Angry customers badgered with store owners and beggars pleaded on their knees. Arthur ignored them all, determined to find Alfred and make ends meet. People cursed at him as he shoved them out of his way. Arthur's eyes darted frantically around the large market square, clinging on to any hope that Alfred was in the vicinity. But there was no way that Arthur could ever cover such ground by himself.

A familiar head bobbed above the rest. Berwald turned and marched towards Arthur.

"Tino told me about everything. We're here to help you, Arthur."

"Thank you, thank you so much."

With Tino and Berwald's help half of the market square was covered by lunch time. The trio sat at a local café trying to come up with a reasonable excuse for Alfred's disappearance.