Nonbeta

My One and Only

Oneshot

By HamburgerWithTea

He knew he was being silly, hanging in the tree opposite to the house where Arthur lived. Spyglass around his neck and camera in hand and trying to keep his balance as he almost fell off.

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Another picture. This one had most likely worked out well, for his hand had been steady and Arthur had just turned his head his way. Was he about to open the window now? Te shadow behind the lace-curtain was walking closer to the window.

Alfred quickly crawled back between the leaves of the tree. "That was close!" He figured as Arthur indeed went to open the window. A small breeze moved his hair back and his big, yet beautiful eyebrows were visible. The green eyes narrowed a bit as the eyebrows formed a small frown on his face

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Pictures. Alfred loved pictures.

They could capture the moments perfectly. The moments that the human brain would normally forget about or just remember vague. Cameras had always been Alfred's favourite. It was even because of cameras that he'd met Arthur.

They'd both been interested in photography and met each other at the introduction of their new college. Well, Alfred had seen Arthur and despite not knowing how much he'd come to love that guy at that moment, he'd still found him enchanting to look at. His slender form and the passion he showed off, it fascinated Alfred.

They had never really spoken to each other; Alfred figured that would have most likely been because Arthur was the one to work hard rather than make friends.

Alfred had come to learn that Arthur was from the United Kingdom, England to be exact, and had moved for America for a few years to study in one of the best schools for his ambition. This was when friends came in handy; friends were useful for information. And for social contact, of course, but he figured he didn't need it as long as he had Arthur.

Despite that he seemed to be rather popular through all four years of college they'd had. For some reason people seemed to think he was the dorky yet awesome guy around the school, and Alfred worked hard to impress them so maybe Arthur would eventually see him too. See how good he was at everything.

He'd gotten good grades, improved his photography to almost top of the class and been good at sports too. He'd volunteered at several charities and he'd even made it into the international papers! A small article about him on one of the last pages, but still!

Despite that though, Arthur still seemed to ignore him. Or no, not ignoring, Arthur would never do that; he just focussed too much on his own work.

It'd been four years to pass, as mentioned, and they both had passed flawless. Alfred had been worried he'd lose Arthur now that they didn't get to see each other in class or at school anymore – especially he'd miss the breaks where he could just watch him sitting on his own peacefully- so he'd followed him to his home.

Silently of course, he wouldn't want to freak out the guy. He didn't even know why he was doing it or why he'd insisted on hiding from Arthur every time he looked around, but it just worked for Alfred.

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Alfred had been worried about the fact Arthur might move back to the UK once he had the chance –the Briton had always been mumbling about how much better England was according to him- but lucky for him Arthur didn't seem able to find a proper job there, while he did in America.

And so he'd been following Arthur around for three years now. Well, it wasn't something to worry about, it was just a silly hobby of his. He'd not harm him and not bother him, all he did was taking pictures, nothing wrong with that.

He knew most people would frown upon the idea of someone doing that, but they just didn't know what true love meant. Alfred just hoped that one day Arthur would notice him and tell him he liked the American back.

But for now that was just wishful thinking and daydreaming. Arthur had moved back from the window again and walked out of view. He was probably going to make himself some tea, Alfred figured.

By now he somewhat knew the weekly routine for the guy. It didn't differ much each week so it was easy to remember. On Monday to Thursday Arthur would work at his photography job for the daily paper, whilst on Friday he'd get a day off to work on his own portfolio.

Alfred knew Arthur's favourite places to take photos of. They were mostly the forest, it was almost as if Arthur could see stuff other people couldn't. he'd sometimes talk to himself while looking at a flower, sometimes make random pictures, it was wonderful.

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Arthur had always been the most attractive and enchanting as he was taking photos, he really had a passion for it. thought he'd only really show it when he was on his own.

Alfred knew Arthur was shy about his personality, he'd only show it to his very best friends –such as Francis, despite Arthur denying it to everyone- and Alfred envied their friendship. He wished he could be as good of a friend to Arthur, he would make sure to be tons better than that French bastard.

But for now he was still stuck in the tree, trying to catch a glimpse of the wonderful man living in the house opposite to the tree, hoping that maybe, one day, the other blond would catch a glimpse of him too and confront him. But for now Alfred would have to wait.

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It was wonderful to see how the sunlight caressed the pale man's face, and Alfred was proud that his photography gear was good enough to catch it in HD despite that he'd only taken his light camera with him (because tree climbing with a big camera is practically impossible, he'd figured, even for an athletic guy).

It was getting dark and the light on both the street and inside Arthur's house were being turned on. Now all Alfred could see were shadows near the window, silhouettes. But Arthur's profile looked wonderful as a silhouette and Alfred took a few more pictures before he decided to go back to his house, about a fifteen minutes walk from Arthur's house.

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Just one last picture and he was off, sliding out of the tree with a quick movement that showed he'd been long used to it. Despite only being able to catch Arthur on Fridays and in the weekends, Alfred had practised it for three years after all.

Silly, he was indeed. Silly for thinking this way, he knew it. He knew people wouldn't understand and people would label this as something along the lines of "stalking", but for Alfred it was normal. It wasn't as if he was actually stalking the guy, just a few pictures wouldn't be a problem and it was all for the good sake of love.

Alfred just knew he wouldn't have to hide for much longer, after all he was pretty sure Arthur had paid more mind to him lately. For once, he started to look around more. He seemed to shy away a bit, was what Alfred figured; he'd not sit near his favourite window anymore and sometimes he'd look around him looking as if he was suspecting something evil or suspicious. Arthur had most definitely started to notice him and was just too shy to admit.

By now Alfred had reached his home and it didn't take long for him to find his house keys in the pocket of his worn jeans. They had rips in them from all the tree climbing, but Alfred could care less. With a quick movement he opened the door and closed it after him as soon as possible. He didn't like having others in his house, not even taking a glimpse.

As he'd closed the door a small cat, Scottish fold according to the pet store, cam walking toward shim from the living room. The cat, named after Arthur, was probably hungry, as he started meowing right away. Alfred had taken him in because he'd reminded him of the human Arthur; strong and cold on the outside, but as it grew closer to you it would show its soft features.

He'd come across the cat because of his volunteering in the animal rescue centre; the poor guy'd almost starved to dead on the streets as a small kitten.

"There there, buddy," Alfred said as he petted the cat's head, "I'll grab you some food right after I put my stuff down." And he walked towards the dinner table to put down his camera, spyglass and other stuff he'd taken with him. He looked up at the wall to see pictures of Arthur, lots and lots of pictures. All of them collected over the years.

He didn't remember when he'd started printing them and hanging them up on his wall, but he just did. Sometimes he'd print them twice or trice so he could hang them on different places in his house. His whole house was decorated in them. Lately he'd not find enough space on the wall anymore so he decided to put strings up on the ceiling to clip the pictures on to them. The cat Arthur seemed to like it, for he enjoyed taking them down and scratching them.

As food was poured in a bowl, Alfred thought about what he could do for the weekend. Today was a Friday and to be honest he'd like to sleep in tomorrow, and considering Arthur would probably go to the forest pretty early he wouldn't be able to catch up on him in time. He figured it'd be a better idea to develop out his newly taken pictures.

Alfred enjoyed developing photos like they used to be developed in dark room and all kinds of chemical baths. He'd learnt to do so at photography school and for some reason it showed off more emotion for him, because he'd really put effort into developing them to the very end.

And so he did, the next day. After a good nights sleep, filled with good memories of watching Arthur, he'd felt refreshed enough to put some effort in it all. By now the photos were starting to show, after several chemical baths, and soon he'd have to hang them up in order to dry. They would be done by tomorrow.

The pictures he'd taken had turned out wonderful as ever. Arthur's green eyes could even show their vibrant colour in the dark room. The colour of emerald, the colour of grass, the colour of poison. Arthur's eyes could be anything, yet nothing could compare to them.

Alfred wondered how long it'd take for Arthur to realise that Alfred liked him, how long Arthur would take to even realise he was there. Oh, how wonderful it would be to be able to kiss Arthur, touch his pale skin, caress his warm, soft hair.

Touch his lips carefully, making sure not to be to rough and keep the fragile part of Arthur intact. How it'd be to touch his bare torso, how it'd be to hug him, feel his body warmth all night, up to the very early morning.

How it'd be to share a bed, share a couch, share a house. It would all be so beautiful, life would be so perfect. But then again, for now, no one knew for sure. No one knew how long it'd take or if it'd ever happen, but Alfred was certain it'd turn out okay; after all Arthur was his one and only.

The rest of Saturday passed by Alfred playing games and planning out his Sunday. He knew Arthur would sleep in and would most likely go for a small stroll, stay inside for the rest of the day. Sundays were Alfred's least favourite day.

As Alfred got closer to Arthur's house he wanted to see him more and more. He could hardly wait to see him again.

Today he'd not sit in the tree, Alfred decided. It'd be a waste to only take pictures from that viewpoint. Then again, he couldn't exactly stand in front of the house all day, people would most definitely be suspicious. In the end he decided on going to the back of the house, knowing Arthur would probably sit in his garden with this sunny weather. And even if he didn't, the biggest window of the house was there any ways and it was very easy to look in the living room.

It didn't take long to get there as the block of houses was relatively small. Several small bushes and trees made it possible to hide from Arthur's and his neighbours' views.

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There he was, eyes even more vibrant green in the sunlight, book on his lap and cup of tea next to him, just as Alfred had expected. The peaceful scenery made Arthur look even more beautiful. It was as if he was in the perfect environment now, doing everything he loved and being the happiest man n earth. Just as Alfred liked to see him the best.

Click, click.

Alfred couldn't help it, he just kept pressing the button of his camera, even as Arthur looked up at the sound of it. he'd hopefully just go back to reading if he didn't saw anybody, for Alfred made sure to hide.

He didn't know how long he'd sat there before Arthur decided to go back inside and for some reason he closed the windows despite it being daylight. Was it possible Arthur had seen him? No way, right? But if he had, then it could actually be great. Alfred just knew they were meant to be, and if Alfred knew it, Arthur would too.

After waiting for an hour the curtains still hadn't been put aside, and Alfred decided to give up for today. It was almost dinnertime by now anyways and his cat needed food too. He decided to go to the local McDonalds on his way back to get himself some nice, juicy hamburger as a small consolation for himself. After all he hadn't been able to take that much pictures of Arthur.

Arthur the cat seemed happy to se he was home, especially as food was poured in his bowl. Alfred decided to turn in early and sleep a bit more than usual, for he'd have to work again tomorrow. It'd be shitty to have a horrible sleep right at the start of the week.

With his camera on his bedside table, next to his glasses, he made himself comfortable and soon fell in a nice, deep sleep, not worrying about a thing. And he still didn't worry even as he made himself some nice toast the next morning.

A quick pet on top of the cat's head and he headed out the door, deciding to take a bit longer route to be able to pass Arthur's house quickly, but as he opened his door he was met with a surprise.

"Hello, officer!" Alfred greeted the policeman next to his door happily. He was a bit weary, after all it was weird for an officer to stand by your door first thing in the morning, but he figured he'd done no harm so no need to worry about, "What brings you here on this sunny monin'?" he asked.

But not late after he ended his question handcuffs were placed on his hands and as he was being dragged away another officer walked into his house.

"W-what are you doing? What's with the handcuffs?" He asked, struggling a bit with walking along, not sure what was happening.

"You're charged with stalking," the officer explained, "You're under arrest until more information is found. You have the right to be silent, all that you say can be hold against you." And with that he was being directed towards a police car with blinded windows in the back.

Stalking? But he hadn't been stalking, he's only been taking a few pictures of Arthur, nothing bad.

"Chief," the agent that'd went inside his house called out for the other, "His whole room is full of pictures of Mr. Kirkland. He's got a whole collection, it's like his whole house is dedicated to the man!" the chief just nodded and Alfred looked around before he would be put into the car.

A few metres away he could see green. The green that could only belong to one pair of eyes.

"Arthur!" Alfred yelled out to him, wanting to walk towards him but he was being hold strongly by the officer, "Dude, Arthur, what are they saying? I didn't do anything, dude I love you and I know you love me too. Youknow you love me too!" his voice started to sound more desperate as he started to get himself free, despite the strong hold. "Arthur, please, please tell me you love me, I just know you do, after all, you're the one and only! I know, I know-"

His voice was blocked from the outside world as he was put inside the car and the doors closed. It didn't take long for the car to move away and as Alfred turned around to look back at where Arthur was standing he could swear he was waving at him. Waving and mouth moving as if he were speaking.

Goodbye Alfred.

Alfred knew it was a mistake though, for yes, he was certain, the one and only was still him. Still Arthur. And with that thought in mind he was driven away in the car. Despite everything that followed, even after years, he'd still not forget about Arthur. He wouldn't ever. He promised himself that once he got free, he'd look him up, he knew Arthur loved him, he knew. After all, he'd waved at him.

/Author's Note/

No this does not mean I approve of people stalking xD I don't know what happened OK and I'm not sure if I like or dislike how it turned out, it is part of me being bored, inspired and lack of sleep, but this turned out to be the final result of ideas that kept coming up when listening to the song Lily (My One and Only) by the Smashing Pumpkins.

So yeah, there you go, weird bittersweet onesot with an ending which I'm not fully proud of?

Also, one of the officers too the cat with him to stay at their home :U for pets have to be taken care of carefully ok.

Well then, good night for me as I finished uploading this, and look forward to more.

Reviews are love, so please show me some (in the non-creepy way XD)

I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!

(07/21/11)