/ The last chapter. Enjoy. :) /

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Congratulations

"Alfred..." Arthur turned to look at the American. Alfred wore an unreadable expression on his face, making the Brit more nervous about his announcement than he already is.

"I... I'm sorry... Alfred..." he whispered.

Alfred gave him a sad smile. "I was kinda expecting it already, so don't apologize. Besides, I'm the one apologizing here." He chuckled quietly.

Ivan came to sit beside Arthur on the couch. Seeing Arthur's tense shoulders, he wrapped the smaller man in his arms. "It's okay, Arthur."

Alfred sighed and smiled at the sight. He couldn't give the warmth Ivan was giving the Brit for sure He had always been cold, even though he could feel how much Arthur had loved him.

"Yeah," he said. "It's okay."

"But... You..." Arthur muttered, peeking out of Ivan's embrace.

"Don't worry about me, please," Alfred said. "Besides, what's there to be sad about? You had to choose, and you did. Nothing wrong with that." He tried to keep his voice cheerful, but Arthur noticed that it was forced.

"Were you able to solve your problems?" Ivan asked the American.

"Yeah, dude. I apologized, Arthur forgave me, that's good enough for me," Alfred replied nonchalantly. Then his eyes widened suddenly and he turned to Arthur. "You do forgive me, right?"

Arthur gave him a small smile. "Yes. I forgive you, Alfred. Though I'm sorry that I don't..."

Alfred gave a laugh. "I told you to stop apologizing. It's natural. I hurt you, so you couldn't possibly love me anymore."

"That's not it!" Arthur suddenly stood up, surprising his two companions. "It's not because of that. I forgave you even before I loved Ivan, before I even got to Russia. It's just... What we had, the things we shared, they seem so far away now. I don't know if I'm still welcome to those experiences. But here... Moments with Ivan feels like they won't end. To me, our time ran out. To me, my time with Ivan is just starting." He slumped back down on the couch. "I want to make the best of it."

There was silence for a while, as if all three of them were trying to let the information sink in. Alfred understood perfectly, so he decided to not say anything more about it.

"The tea's getting cold, da?" Ivan remarked.

Arthur jumped up and reached for a mug. Alfred made a face, but reached for one as well.

"I still don't understand how you guys can stand tea," Alfred wondered aloud. "It tastes like boiled water to me."

Arthur scoffed. "Your tastebuds are poisoned by the huge amount of junk food you inhale every day, probably."

Alfred pretended to be hurt, which was easy considering the circumstances. But really, he was happy as long as Arthur was happy. "But they're hamburgers! Hamburgers are the best food in the world."

Ivan watched as the ex-lovers bantered, exchanged insults, sometimes even kicked each other. But he knew that it was lighthearted. He was glad to see that the American had taken the break-up in stride, and that Arthur was very energetic despite his nervous demeanor earlier. It was obvious that they both know that even though they're not lover anymore, they were still friends.

But Ivan had nothing to complain about, since Arthur chose him in the end.

~.;*;.~

The magic circle in the center of Lovino's living room glowed bright blue, catching the attention of the room's occupants. Lukas looked at his friend and smirked. "They're here."

Lovino let out a loud huff. "Finally."

When the light died down, three figures were standing in front of them.

"I'm back!" Alfred exclaimed.

"You shouldn't have come back, bastard," Lovino said.

Alfred pouted. "So mean."

Arthur, meanwhile, gave out a laugh. "You haven't changed, Lovino." He turned to his other friend. "Hello, Lukas."

"Who's your new boyfriend?" Lukas asked with a knowing smile.

Arthur's face flushed red. "How'd you know?"

"Magical link," Lukas said simply. "Now talk."

"I am Ivan Braginski. Nice to meet you," Ivan said from behind the Brit, smiling cheerfully. After exchanging courtesies, Ivan asked, "You are Arthur's friends, da?"

"That's right, bastard," Lovino said, putting his hands on his hips. "So if you hurt the tea bastard like the hamburger bastard did, you're gonna get it, si?"

Ivan's eyes widened and he hugged Arthur from behind, who let out a yelp. "I won't. Arthur is important to me, so I won't hurt him!" Ivan declared.

Lukas smiled. "Looks like you got yourself a decent one." Arthur's face got even redder.

"This calls for a celebration," Lovino announced. "I cooked some pasta." He then trudged off to the dining room with Alfred following close behind, excited at the prospect of food.

"You knew we were coming?" Arthur asked.

Lukas huffed. "We asked Alfred to bring you back. That's the reason why we helped him in the first place."

"But I-"

The Norwegian cut off his friend. "It doesn't matter whether you've found somebody else or not." He smirked. "We'll drag you back anyhow."

Arthur smiled. "Thanks."

Lukas shrugged. "What are friends for?"

Ivan laughed. "You have very nice friends, Arthur." Lukas smiled at him.

"Hurry up, bastards! The hamburger idiot's going to finish this off," Lovino called from the kitchen. When Arthur finally appeared though, he gave his friend a smirk. "So what happened during the two weeks you were gone, hmm?"

Ivan happily raised his hand. "Can I tell the story?"

Arthur laughed at his lover's childish behavior and nodded. "Sure thing, love."

And Ivan began to recount the previous two weeks, Arthur's friends listening close. Every now and then, Arthur would comment on something or splutter indignantly, denying what was said.

Lukas kept a stoic expression on but in his mind, he was smiling quite smugly. The Russian and the Brit looked happy together, so he was going to support them no matter what. He knew Lovino thought the same. But they will hold on to their promise. If Ivan somehow makes Arthur cry, he better be ready.

FIN

/**

* Aaaaaaaaand... Done.! :) Here is where my first chapter fanfic comes to an end.

* Thanks so much to those who reviewed, followed, favorited, or even just made it through here without doing any of the former. I couldn't have done it without you guys. You were my inspiration, the people that got me to finish this. So, really. Thanks.

* Till next time, loves.! :)

*/