Back again, dudes!

I know...I know...I'm terrible for killing of Alfred, and I feel horrible for it. But at least he's still alive in The Haunting!

And...for those of you who haven't read that one...I just ruined it for you...didn't I?

Oh well! There's a ton more in there to keep you guessing if you DO wanna check it out. XP

All right! Enough plugging my other stories on here!

ENJOY!

=P

...

A few weeks had passed without much excitement for Arthur as he slowly recovered from his extensive injuries.

He had finally been released from the hospital, the staff urging him to keep his activity at a minimum. Of course, this would not be a difficult task. The man hardly felt like moving at all. His thoughts were still on his deceased pal.

To make matters worse, he was unable to attend the funeral. It had been a couple of days after Francis, and Ludwig's initial visit, and Arthur was deemed too weak to be released. While he understood, it tore his very soul. The thought of not being able to give Alfred a proper goodbye killed him inside.

And now, here he sat in the back of Ludwig's vehicle. He and Francis had taken it upon themselves to become his caretakers of some sort. There was no doubt the blonde appreciated everything they were doing for him, but he greatly wished he could be left to his thoughts for once. Even in the hospital, they had come to visit every day until he was discharged. They had gone so far as to inisit on taking him home.

"Are you excited to be getting out of zere, Arzur?"

Arthur's green eyes came up to find Francis turned from his position in the passenger seat to face him. A gentle smile was spread across his lips, and the Englishman knew immediately this was an attempt to comfort him. Everyone knew he was still devastated.

"I guess..."

Even though his tone showed his disinterest in the topic of conversation, Francis did not seem to notice as he continued on.

"I bet so! It must have been so terrible to be cooped up in zat awful room! The only women you could look at were ze nurses. And most of them were way too old for my liking." Arthur watched on as the man's eyes seem to shimmer in some newfound excitement. "I just had an idea! Why don't we all go to ze bar tonight? I am sure we can find you a lovely lady friend zere."

"I'm quite all right. I don't think that would be-"

"No no! You have to go! Zis can be a celebration of you being released! I'll even pay for your drinks. Zen afterwards, maybe Ludwig and I can stay at your place, no? Keep you some company? Unless you do find someone to go home with. I always d-"

"Enough!"

Both Francis and Ludwig jumped, startled at Arthur's sudden outburst. Almost instantly, he regretted shouting at the Frenchman. He was only trying to help, and the hurt expression on his face certainly made Arthur feel even more guilty. But it seemed Francis still did not understand his pain.

"Arzur?" Now it was Ludwig who spoke, and though he was still facing forward, his fixed gaze set on the road before him, Arthur knew his expression showed the puzzlement he felt.

Arthur let out a sigh, his still tense body relaxing somewhat as he did so.

"I apologize." He paused, bringing a hand up to cup his temples, and somewhat shield his face. "I just think its too soon...I don't feel much up to going out right now."

He heard as Francis opened his mouth to dispute the man's logic, but was cut off by Ludwig.

"I understand. But, I do zink it vould be wise to stay ze night with you. If Tino is indeed after you, he vould have a perfect opportunity if you vere by yourself tonight." The German seemed to know just as Arthur opened his mouth to decline, for he added, "Zis is not somezing you can argue. Ve vill stay."

All right. Fair enough. At least they weren't expecting him to go out drinking. Especially since his doctor had forbade him from doing so until his chest healed the rest of the way. Something about the antibiotics he had been described would not mix well with alcohol. Whatever the case, he wasn't ready to fake having a good time.

Once they had pulled up to his large estate, Ludwig helped Arthur inside, while Francis followed close behind with his bags.

When they had set him up on the couch, Arthur began the task of unbuttoning his shirt, exposing his bandaged chest. It was amazing to think the wound lurking below had healed as much as it had. The blonde still had a difficult time performing even simple tasks, just for the fact Tino had punctured his brachio-cephalica, causing his healing time to be delayed quite a bit. However, Arthur was not complaining by any means. It was a miracle he had survived at all. Even the surgeon who had worked to repair the major vein had commented he was definitely lucky.

Heh. Lucky...Could he really be considered as such?

The rest of the evening seemed to drag by, Ludwig and Francis...especially Francis, making light-hearted conversation until finally, the two decided to retire for the night.

Arthur had offered his two guest bedrooms, insisting he would remain on his large sofa. There was no way he would be sleeping well tonight, and he needed to be able keep himself occupied with some mindless television.

Eventually, after flipping through channel after channel, his imminent exhaustion seemed to catch up with him. Unsurprisingly, during his stay at the hospital, he barely slept at all. The fear of seeing the crazed Finnish man popping up and finishing him off was motivation enough to stay awake.

But now, his body met with the soft, over cushiony couch seemed to win over his will to remain conscious, and his eyes slowly shut.

Sleep would not last long.

A loud shriek was what greeted him as his eyes snapped open. Then, a loud bang followed.

And that's when Arthur froze.

He was back...

...

Poor Arthur...He just gets back, and crap's going down again!

And who the heck is being attacked? Ludwig, or Francis? Will one of them die, too?

You'll just have to find out!

Please leave me your feedback, peeps! I love it!

=P