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Description
Before you read this fanfiction, I just want to clarify something. Just so you know, Alfred is two years older than you (in here at least, to go along with the storyline), and to avoid complications with the plot, you are 20 in this. So that means—Yup! Alfred’s 22! Wow, you’re quite the mathematician huh? Well yeah, that is all! Anyways, I hope you enjoy! And have an amazing Christmas, a Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!!!!

Alfred laughed at your exhausted figure as you slouched on the couch. “D’aaaw c’mon _______! We still gotta hang more lights and then there’s the Christmas tree and—“You interrupted him in the middle of his lecture to playfully throw him the middle finger.

“Good luck with that.” You said yawning and beginning to lie down. You closed your eyes gently and began to cradle yourself, cuddling with a pillow from the ever so comfortable couch you were laying on.

Oh yes, it was that time of the year again. Christmas! When the Americans party, the Finnish fly, and the Russians stay home because they were the only ones not invited to that party! You were being forced (more or less~) to help your best friend, which was Alfred or ‘America’ as some called him, decorate his house for his annual kickass Christmas party! That same party which you were currently helping him prepare for, just so happened to be on that same night, in 3 hours. Alfred always liked to throw parties on Christmas Eve as opposed to on the day of Christmas itself, as he considered Christmas to be more of a family day, which is surprising for someone of his persona, right?

Alfred smiled and hopped off the stool he was using. He snuck up on you quietly, before beginning to tickle you. “C’mon _______! Stop being such a fat ass and help me!” he giggled with you, not ceasing to remove his fingers from your victimized stomach. Your laughter was quite contagious.

In the midst of your laughing, you still managed to let out— “Y-YOU’RE O-ONE T-TO T-TALK!!!” as you continued to be violated by your friend. Surprising how even when you were being tortured by your bestie, you still managed to let out a fat joke. Priceless.

He was used to your comments on his weight, and honestly, they didn’t really bother him. He knew you weren’t for real with them. You hadn’t a problem with his weight, but it was still fun to tease.

“What was that? Are you gonna help me??” He asked only tickling you even more. He hurled himself over his couch and on top of you to tickle you at an even better angle at before. You swore you were going to die from lack of air. “Y-YES!!!! F-FOR T-THE LOVE OF G-G-G-GOD Y-YES!!!!” you screamed in between laughs, your face red from deprivation of oxygen.

He finally ceased the tickling, as you ceased you laughing. He was giggling on top of you, as you noted he was growing rather heavy. Your red face began to quickly return to its natural colour, faint tints of pink still sticking to your cheeks. You tilted your head, curious as to why he was still laughing.

“Dude. That is so what she said.”

Punch to the shoulder.

“Just get off me, you big kid.” You said, laughing with him at his own ignorance. Obliging your request, he stood up, holding out his hand to you, which you contentedly accepted, as you stood up off the couch. “C’mon dude. We totally gotta finish decorating. Party’s ‘n three hours yo! “He stated, climbing back onto his stool to proceed fixing the lights. “Aye sir~” you replied, smiling gleefully. He smiled back just as gladly, his cheeks rosier than usual.

*** 4 Hours Later ***

The party was in full swing. You and Alfred had managed to work wonders with his house in the remaining period of time y’all had to decorate, and by then, everyone had arrived. You both were quite proud, so to say the least.

You were standing by the punch bowl, basking in the aurora of party. (A/N: There’s always gotta be a punch bowl yo.) You looked up after hearing my voice do its daily reader-tan troll. “Huh?” you called out, thinking you heard an unfamiliar voice, before you shrugged it off and just concluded that you were in fact, mother fuckin’ tired. You never did get to take that self proclaimed nap that you needed, so you supposed that now would be as good as time as ever, considering you had nothing better to do, and it’s never a good idea to socialize when you’re lethargic.

You began seeking Alfred, to tell him you would be slumbering in his room for about an hour. You caught sight of Arthur, who somehow managed to get drunk within only an hour of partying, and Francis, who seemed like he was going to be taking advantage of that. You felt like you should pull them away from each other, but you decided to let Francis have his fun. It WAS 9:00 in the night of course. And after all, depending on the time of day the French go either way (A/N: I had to I’m sorry).

Hearing my voice for the second time tonight, you concluded that you absolutely must go to sleep soon or you would go schizophrenic. You hastily travelled through the horde of men, looking for your one and only ‘homie till the end’. Being greeted by a variety of your friends, finally, Kiku had been the one that knew where Alfred was.

“The balcony? You sure?” you asked sceptically. It didn’t seem like Alfred at all to even USE that part of his house. Like seriously, what?

“I’m pretty positive _______-san.” Kiku said, confident. “I find it unrikery that he wourd be there too, but that is certainly where he went. I stirr do not know why.” Kiku said, rubbing his temples in thought.

You nodded. “I agree. Well, thank-you anyways Kiku-kun! I hope you’re enjoying the party so far. I know Alfred probably forced you to come.” You said sympathetically. The short Japanese man sweat dropped. “Werr, at reast he did not try to make me pay for everything this time. And I do rike to have fun.” Kiku replied, with a small smile. You smiled back optimistically. “Well I hope all goes well then! Happy Holidays!” you responded before waving farewell and leaving to the balcony.

Reaching your destination, there he was, just like Kiku had said. Why he was out there was beyond you, but he seemed so peaceful. For once.

“Alfred?” you whispered out, walking up behind him and lightly tapping him on the shoulder. “Hn?” you heard him mumble lightly as he turned to you. His blue eyes were sparkling like diamonds in the dim light of the moon. You felt a blush practically leap onto your unsuspecting face.

It was in that moment, which you realized maybe; just maybe, you felt a wee bit more about him than you thought.

The way the moonlight was hitting his beautifully pale skin; the way the starlight was making his eyes look like emeralds; the way his dirty blonde hair shone brightly—the way he made you feel. It was all…

Magickal.

He smiled at you, and you had finally figured out why he looked so sombre.

He had been crying.

Tears were tracked across his glistening rosy cheeks; his eyes were fighting back the water that was threatening to overflow his eye sockets. “_-______, I—“

You interrupted his explanation to wrap your arms firmly around his neck. “Alfred…. You should’ve said something…. What’s wrong....? Alfred I--.... Tell me what’s wrong...” you said hugging your best friend tightly. He wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you even tighter in his strong arms.

“The years almost over....” he said quietly, and you could only imagine the solemn smile he had planted on his face. You smiled imperceptibly, and although you knew he couldn’t see it, he could feel your warm lips form it on his chest. “Yeah... Time flies you know? It seems like just yesterday, we were kids.” You said gazing up into his blue eyes comfortingly. “I’m happy that we’ve been able to be by each other’s side for so long.” You whispered, smiling.

He looked down into your eyes solemnly. “That’s just the point, _______.” He whispered back, nuzzling your neck. “We aren’t kids anymore. I realize that now. I’ve been trying to hold on to my childhood, because I can’t bear to see it go... But I’ve come to the realization, that we’re adults now. We will only ever get older and older. There’s never any going back. And it will be that way, until we die _______. Of course, I’m scared of death. I’m scared of getting older. I’m scared of losing my childhood; my memories... I’m scared of losing you, _______.” He said, holding you tighter. “This... What we have...” he began to hug you tighter than before, almost crushing you. “I don’t want to lose it. I want to stay like this forever. But there is no forever, is there? Remember when we were kids? We made a pact. We said, we’d always be together, no matter what. And look at us now. We still are!” he laughed quietly, smiling. You could feel his lips curl up on your neck.

“But I’m worried. With the New Year, comes a new age. And we will only get older. Farther away from what we used to be. And it’s going to be like that. No matter how many parties I throw annually, or how many new super heroes come out. We’re going to get older. And then that made me realize. One day, there’ll be a Christmas party where Iggy doesn’t show up.......... Because he’ll have outlived himself by then.... And the same goes for Francis and Matthew and—I... I can’t bear to think the same will happen to you... To us...”

By then, he was hugging you so tight, you could’ve fainted. He wasn’t holding back his tears anymore.

“Alfred. I’m scared too. I know how you’re feeling right now.... And honestly, there is nothing we can do about any of that... But there is one thing...” you pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. “We’ve been together for 17 years now, Alfred. I’m not going anywhere. And no matter what, we’ll always be together.” You said smiling, you held out your pinkie. He grinned, holding his out as well, as you two hooked them together firmly. “Promise.” You two said in unison before hugging each other once more.

I love you so much... _______.....

The Next Morning

You woke up yawning and stopping when you felt a warm figure next to you move. Naturally, it was Alfred. The concept of sleeping in the same bed as or next to him wasn’t new to you. No not at all. In fact, you two had made it a habit for whenever you spent the night at one another’s house and the idea had actually begun around when you were 5 and he was 7.

You remember it like yesterday, how your parents were out at the store and there was a wild thunderstorm going on. You had been sleeping, so they had gone out to get some milk from the store for breakfast the next day. Unfortunately, you had been woken up by a pang of thunder, and you weren’t able to fall back asleep until a child Alfred came from the apartment next door and lied in bed with you, wrapping his small arms around you, and managed to coax you back into your slumber.

“I was just being the hero!” is what you remember him saying when his mother scolded him. You remember a late teenage Arthur, laughing amusedly, as Alfred proceeded to get his ear pulled by his mother.

Ah.... Good times.

But, continuing.

You looked over at the clock and noticed it read 4:05 a.m. So it was the day huh? Christmas. It was what you waited all year for. That one magickal day.

... Man, Alfred was right. You guys really were growing up. You could still remember being a small child, you and him both going to each other’s apartment to play with each other’s gifts....

But... You weren’t 6 anymore.

You sighed, figuring you should probably head out for now. Alfred probably had a big family filled day ahead of him.

As for you... Your parents died in a shooting many years ago*. So you would be home by yourself you supposed. Or maybe you would go to their graves and place a card or so at them... You did miss them, but you understood Alfred’s desire to spend Christmas with his family.

At least he had family left, you know? Both of you guys’ parents had died somehow. Yours was in a shooting. Alfred’s mother died of sickness, and his father died in a car crash along with his stepmother (aka Francis and Matthew’s mother). You smiled down at Alfred’s sleeping figure. He was blessed to have his brothers and god-sister (Michelle*) with him. Michelle might not be around as often, due to her not living in the same city, but she made it an effort to always show on Christmas day to spend time with her brothers.

You looked down at your sleeping best friend, who was snoring obnoxiously as usual. You had grown quite used to it in the past 17 years. Kneeling down, you kissed his forehead. “Merry Christmas, hero.” You whispered quietly to the knocked out American before standing up, grabbing your winter coat and gloves, and beginning to head out.

You then looked out the window to notice that it was snowing.

Memories of you guys’ families playing in the snow before... the incidents* spread through your mind. You felt cold tears run down your face as a small smile plastered your face. You looked up at the sky as you exited the house and whispered,

“Merry Christmas.” To your parents, who you just knew were in a better place.

You began to venture home, when you felt a cold and shaking wrist grab your hand. You would’ve flipped your shit and kicked the person (who for some reason you thought was Francis) in the face if they hadn’t spoken first.

“W-Wait.... _-_______...” the person chattered. And you just knew in that moment that it was none other that your beloved best homie ever, Alfred F. Jones. You turned to him, only to realize that he was still in his Hamburger decorated night clothes, with that funny little hat on his head, that you never quite understood on how it managed to stay atop his head while he was asleep.

You shook out of your daze, when you realized he was practically blue with frostbite. “A-Alfred! W-What’s w-wrong??? W-Why a-are y-you o-out h-here w-without a-a j-jacket??? Y-You have to go back inside!” you demanded panicking; trying to help get him inside before he froze to death. But he gave you a determined answer.

“No.”

Wait, did he just say that? Did he really just say the word, ‘no’? Was he out his bloody mind?!

“Alfred I—“

“Where are you going...?” he asked, removing his hand from yours and beginning to button his shirt up more. His cheeks were redder than a rose.

You tilted your head. “Home, where else? You usually spend Christmas with your family, you know?” you said, smiling. Alfred looked down austerely.

“But.... You are my family... _______...” he whispered, completely forgetting that frostbite was developing. “And I am your home.”

The next thing he did, you will never forget.

He slowly began to crouch down, extending his left leg outwards, as his right leg bent down, as far as it could go. Tears threatened to leak from your eyes, as his left leg was now completely enveloped in snow, and his right hand was firmly grasping yours. He gazed into your eyes fervently, as he brought his left hand up, to cover yours, as he squeezed it.

“_______. You are my family. You are my home. You’re my sky; my ground; my world. You’re the reason I’m still living. You’re my reason for living. You keep me grounded. You give me a purpose. You give me a reason to smile. _______, you’re my best friend. And I am truly, madly, totally, and hopelessly in love with you.” He said, smiling all the while. By now, you had given up holding back, as tears were pouring from your eyes.

“I want nothing more to protect you, to love you, and to keep the promise I’ve made to you. Together forever. Every hero needs a sidekick you know.” He said, laughing lightly.

He reached into his pocket with his left hand at a snail's pace, and pulled out the most beautiful thing you’d ever laid eyes on. The black velvet box was so inviting, and the fabric glistened in contrast to the pure white and untouched morning snow.

Opening the box slowly, you realized then, that this was in fact the most beautiful thing you ever saw. Fuck the box.

“Merry Christmas. _______, will you marry me?”

It was in that instant, that you glomped him, you and him both forgetting completely about the snow. Sure, he got sick afterwards. But it was still, and always will be, the most magickal Christmas you ever had.

And the funny thing is, to this day, you still remember how warm he was.

~Fin~

Description
Before you read this fanfiction, I just want to clarify something. Just so you know, Alfred is two years older than you (in here at least, to go along with the storyline), and to avoid complications with the plot, you are 20 in this. So that means—Yup! Alfred’s 22! Wow, you’re quite the mathematician huh? Well yeah, that is all! Anyways, I hope you enjoy! And have an amazing Christmas, a Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!!!!

Alfred laughed at your exhausted figure as you slouched on the couch. “D’aaaw c’mon _______! We still gotta hang more lights and then there’s the Christmas tree and—“You interrupted him in the middle of his lecture to playfully throw him the middle finger.

“Good luck with that.” You said yawning and beginning to lie down. You closed your eyes gently and began to cradle yourself, cuddling with a pillow from the ever so comfortable couch you were laying on.

Oh yes, it was that time of the year again. Christmas! When the Americans party, the Finnish fly, and the Russians stay home because they were the only ones not invited to that party! You were being forced (more or less~) to help your best friend, which was Alfred or ‘America’ as some called him, decorate his house for his annual kickass Christmas party! That same party which you were currently helping him prepare for, just so happened to be on that same night, in 3 hours. Alfred always liked to throw parties on Christmas Eve as opposed to on the day of Christmas itself, as he considered Christmas to be more of a family day, which is surprising for someone of his persona, right?

Alfred smiled and hopped off the stool he was using. He snuck up on you quietly, before beginning to tickle you. “C’mon _______! Stop being such a fat ass and help me!” he giggled with you, not ceasing to remove his fingers from your victimized stomach. Your laughter was quite contagious.

In the midst of your laughing, you still managed to let out— “Y-YOU’RE O-ONE T-TO T-TALK!!!” as you continued to be violated by your friend. Surprising how even when you were being tortured by your bestie, you still managed to let out a fat joke. Priceless.

He was used to your comments on his weight, and honestly, they didn’t really bother him. He knew you weren’t for real with them. You hadn’t a problem with his weight, but it was still fun to tease.

“What was that? Are you gonna help me??” He asked only tickling you even more. He hurled himself over his couch and on top of you to tickle you at an even better angle at before. You swore you were going to die from lack of air. “Y-YES!!!! F-FOR T-THE LOVE OF G-G-G-GOD Y-YES!!!!” you screamed in between laughs, your face red from deprivation of oxygen.

He finally ceased the tickling, as you ceased you laughing. He was giggling on top of you, as you noted he was growing rather heavy. Your red face began to quickly return to its natural colour, faint tints of pink still sticking to your cheeks. You tilted your head, curious as to why he was still laughing.

“Dude. That is so what she said.”

Punch to the shoulder.

“Just get off me, you big kid.” You said, laughing with him at his own ignorance. Obliging your request, he stood up, holding out his hand to you, which you contentedly accepted, as you stood up off the couch. “C’mon dude. We totally gotta finish decorating. Party’s ‘n three hours yo! “He stated, climbing back onto his stool to proceed fixing the lights. “Aye sir~” you replied, smiling gleefully. He smiled back just as gladly, his cheeks rosier than usual.

*** 4 Hours Later ***

The party was in full swing. You and Alfred had managed to work wonders with his house in the remaining period of time y’all had to decorate, and by then, everyone had arrived. You both were quite proud, so to say the least.

You were standing by the punch bowl, basking in the aurora of party. (A/N: There’s always gotta be a punch bowl yo.) You looked up after hearing my voice do its daily reader-tan troll. “Huh?” you called out, thinking you heard an unfamiliar voice, before you shrugged it off and just concluded that you were in fact, mother fuckin’ tired. You never did get to take that self proclaimed nap that you needed, so you supposed that now would be as good as time as ever, considering you had nothing better to do, and it’s never a good idea to socialize when you’re lethargic.

You began seeking Alfred, to tell him you would be slumbering in his room for about an hour. You caught sight of Arthur, who somehow managed to get drunk within only an hour of partying, and Francis, who seemed like he was going to be taking advantage of that. You felt like you should pull them away from each other, but you decided to let Francis have his fun. It WAS 9:00 in the night of course. And after all, depending on the time of day the French go either way (A/N: I had to I’m sorry).

Hearing my voice for the second time tonight, you concluded that you absolutely must go to sleep soon or you would go schizophrenic. You hastily travelled through the horde of men, looking for your one and only ‘homie till the end’. Being greeted by a variety of your friends, finally, Kiku had been the one that knew where Alfred was.

“The balcony? You sure?” you asked sceptically. It didn’t seem like Alfred at all to even USE that part of his house. Like seriously, what?

“I’m pretty positive _______-san.” Kiku said, confident. “I find it unrikery that he wourd be there too, but that is certainly where he went. I stirr do not know why.” Kiku said, rubbing his temples in thought.

You nodded. “I agree. Well, thank-you anyways Kiku-kun! I hope you’re enjoying the party so far. I know Alfred probably forced you to come.” You said sympathetically. The short Japanese man sweat dropped. “Werr, at reast he did not try to make me pay for everything this time. And I do rike to have fun.” Kiku replied, with a small smile. You smiled back optimistically. “Well I hope all goes well then! Happy Holidays!” you responded before waving farewell and leaving to the balcony.

Reaching your destination, there he was, just like Kiku had said. Why he was out there was beyond you, but he seemed so peaceful. For once.

“Alfred?” you whispered out, walking up behind him and lightly tapping him on the shoulder. “Hn?” you heard him mumble lightly as he turned to you. His blue eyes were sparkling like diamonds in the dim light of the moon. You felt a blush practically leap onto your unsuspecting face.

It was in that moment, which you realized maybe; just maybe, you felt a wee bit more about him than you thought.

The way the moonlight was hitting his beautifully pale skin; the way the starlight was making his eyes look like emeralds; the way his dirty blonde hair shone brightly—the way he made you feel. It was all…

Magickal.

He smiled at you, and you had finally figured out why he looked so sombre.

He had been crying.

Tears were tracked across his glistening rosy cheeks; his eyes were fighting back the water that was threatening to overflow his eye sockets. “_-______, I—“

You interrupted his explanation to wrap your arms firmly around his neck. “Alfred…. You should’ve said something…. What’s wrong....? Alfred I--.... Tell me what’s wrong...” you said hugging your best friend tightly. He wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you even tighter in his strong arms.

“The years almost over....” he said quietly, and you could only imagine the solemn smile he had planted on his face. You smiled imperceptibly, and although you knew he couldn’t see it, he could feel your warm lips form it on his chest. “Yeah... Time flies you know? It seems like just yesterday, we were kids.” You said gazing up into his blue eyes comfortingly. “I’m happy that we’ve been able to be by each other’s side for so long.” You whispered, smiling.

He looked down into your eyes solemnly. “That’s just the point, _______.” He whispered back, nuzzling your neck. “We aren’t kids anymore. I realize that now. I’ve been trying to hold on to my childhood, because I can’t bear to see it go... But I’ve come to the realization, that we’re adults now. We will only ever get older and older. There’s never any going back. And it will be that way, until we die _______. Of course, I’m scared of death. I’m scared of getting older. I’m scared of losing my childhood; my memories... I’m scared of losing you, _______.” He said, holding you tighter. “This... What we have...” he began to hug you tighter than before, almost crushing you. “I don’t want to lose it. I want to stay like this forever. But there is no forever, is there? Remember when we were kids? We made a pact. We said, we’d always be together, no matter what. And look at us now. We still are!” he laughed quietly, smiling. You could feel his lips curl up on your neck.

“But I’m worried. With the New Year, comes a new age. And we will only get older. Farther away from what we used to be. And it’s going to be like that. No matter how many parties I throw annually, or how many new super heroes come out. We’re going to get older. And then that made me realize. One day, there’ll be a Christmas party where Iggy doesn’t show up.......... Because he’ll have outlived himself by then.... And the same goes for Francis and Matthew and—I... I can’t bear to think the same will happen to you... To us...”

By then, he was hugging you so tight, you could’ve fainted. He wasn’t holding back his tears anymore.

“Alfred. I’m scared too. I know how you’re feeling right now.... And honestly, there is nothing we can do about any of that... But there is one thing...” you pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. “We’ve been together for 17 years now, Alfred. I’m not going anywhere. And no matter what, we’ll always be together.” You said smiling, you held out your pinkie. He grinned, holding his out as well, as you two hooked them together firmly. “Promise.” You two said in unison before hugging each other once more.

I love you so much... _______.....

The Next Morning

You woke up yawning and stopping when you felt a warm figure next to you move. Naturally, it was Alfred. The concept of sleeping in the same bed as or next to him wasn’t new to you. No not at all. In fact, you two had made it a habit for whenever you spent the night at one another’s house and the idea had actually begun around when you were 5 and he was 7.

You remember it like yesterday, how your parents were out at the store and there was a wild thunderstorm going on. You had been sleeping, so they had gone out to get some milk from the store for breakfast the next day. Unfortunately, you had been woken up by a pang of thunder, and you weren’t able to fall back asleep until a child Alfred came from the apartment next door and lied in bed with you, wrapping his small arms around you, and managed to coax you back into your slumber.

“I was just being the hero!” is what you remember him saying when his mother scolded him. You remember a late teenage Arthur, laughing amusedly, as Alfred proceeded to get his ear pulled by his mother.

Ah.... Good times.

But, continuing.

You looked over at the clock and noticed it read 4:05 a.m. So it was the day huh? Christmas. It was what you waited all year for. That one magickal day.

... Man, Alfred was right. You guys really were growing up. You could still remember being a small child, you and him both going to each other’s apartment to play with each other’s gifts....

But... You weren’t 6 anymore.

You sighed, figuring you should probably head out for now. Alfred probably had a big family filled day ahead of him.

As for you... Your parents died in a shooting many years ago*. So you would be home by yourself you supposed. Or maybe you would go to their graves and place a card or so at them... You did miss them, but you understood Alfred’s desire to spend Christmas with his family.

At least he had family left, you know? Both of you guys’ parents had died somehow. Yours was in a shooting. Alfred’s mother died of sickness, and his father died in a car crash along with his stepmother (aka Francis and Matthew’s mother). You smiled down at Alfred’s sleeping figure. He was blessed to have his brothers and god-sister (Michelle*) with him. Michelle might not be around as often, due to her not living in the same city, but she made it an effort to always show on Christmas day to spend time with her brothers.

You looked down at your sleeping best friend, who was snoring obnoxiously as usual. You had grown quite used to it in the past 17 years. Kneeling down, you kissed his forehead. “Merry Christmas, hero.” You whispered quietly to the knocked out American before standing up, grabbing your winter coat and gloves, and beginning to head out.

You then looked out the window to notice that it was snowing.

Memories of you guys’ families playing in the snow before... the incidents* spread through your mind. You felt cold tears run down your face as a small smile plastered your face. You looked up at the sky as you exited the house and whispered,

“Merry Christmas.” To your parents, who you just knew were in a better place.

You began to venture home, when you felt a cold and shaking wrist grab your hand. You would’ve flipped your shit and kicked the person (who for some reason you thought was Francis) in the face if they hadn’t spoken first.

“W-Wait.... _-_______...” the person chattered. And you just knew in that moment that it was none other that your beloved best homie ever, Alfred F. Jones. You turned to him, only to realize that he was still in his Hamburger decorated night clothes, with that funny little hat on his head, that you never quite understood on how it managed to stay atop his head while he was asleep.

You shook out of your daze, when you realized he was practically blue with frostbite. “A-Alfred! W-What’s w-wrong??? W-Why a-are y-you o-out h-here w-without a-a j-jacket??? Y-You have to go back inside!” you demanded panicking; trying to help get him inside before he froze to death. But he gave you a determined answer.

“No.”

Wait, did he just say that? Did he really just say the word, ‘no’? Was he out his bloody mind?!

“Alfred I—“

“Where are you going...?” he asked, removing his hand from yours and beginning to button his shirt up more. His cheeks were redder than a rose.

You tilted your head. “Home, where else? You usually spend Christmas with your family, you know?” you said, smiling. Alfred looked down austerely.

“But.... You are my family... _______...” he whispered, completely forgetting that frostbite was developing. “And I am your home.”

The next thing he did, you will never forget.

He slowly began to crouch down, extending his left leg outwards, as his right leg bent down, as far as it could go. Tears threatened to leak from your eyes, as his left leg was now completely enveloped in snow, and his right hand was firmly grasping yours. He gazed into your eyes fervently, as he brought his left hand up, to cover yours, as he squeezed it.

“_______. You are my family. You are my home. You’re my sky; my ground; my world. You’re the reason I’m still living. You’re my reason for living. You keep me grounded. You give me a purpose. You give me a reason to smile. _______, you’re my best friend. And I am truly, madly, totally, and hopelessly in love with you.” He said, smiling all the while. By now, you had given up holding back, as tears were pouring from your eyes.

“I want nothing more to protect you, to love you, and to keep the promise I’ve made to you. Together forever. Every hero needs a sidekick you know.” He said, laughing lightly.

He reached into his pocket with his left hand at a snail's pace, and pulled out the most beautiful thing you’d ever laid eyes on. The black velvet box was so inviting, and the fabric glistened in contrast to the pure white and untouched morning snow.

Opening the box slowly, you realized then, that this was in fact the most beautiful thing you ever saw. Fuck the box.

“Merry Christmas. _______, will you marry me?”

It was in that instant, that you glomped him, you and him both forgetting completely about the snow. Sure, he got sick afterwards. But it was still, and always will be, the most magickal Christmas you ever had.

And the funny thing is, to this day, you still remember how warm he was.

~Fin~