American Beauty, American Psycho

American Beauty

Alfred had been avoiding Allen for days, ever since the incident at his White House. He'd been hoping that the gifts he left Allen were enough to make him come around, at least to talk, so Alfred could explain himself. But...nothing. Allen hadn't shown up anywhere or given Alfred any signs, and Alfred was too afraid to confront him in case he got mugged by Allen's gang again. He sighed and pushed his cereal away, and the set of guards he was having breakfast with looked at him quizzically. "I'm not hungry." Alfred stood and pushed his chair in.
"Sir...are you ill?" One asked.
"I'm not hungry!" Alfred snapped at him, then left the room. He went to his bedroom and flopped facedown on his bed, then groaned into his pillow. He missed those red eyes, filled with rage and contemplation and a hint of something Alfred saw in himself every time he looked in the mirror. He missed those muscles, large and tanned from working out in the sun. He missed those rough, calloused hands, scarred from fighting and gym work and God knows what else. Most of all, Alfred missed that smile, with a tooth missing that he'd punched out that one time; he knew that smug smile Allen always had was hiding a gentle, loving personality, and Alfred felt defeated in being unable to bring it out. Maybe he just doesn't have a soft side. Maybe I made it up to try and justify any feelings that I had for him, Alfred thought, even though his thoughts made him angry. It's best to just forget about him.
As he lay in his bed, a guard knocked on his door and pushed it open. "Mail, sir." He dropped a parcel and some envelopes in the doorway, then walked away. Alfred sighed heavily and got up, shuffling over to it as if he was melting while he went. He slumped down on the floor to skim through everything. But one envelope caught his eye. It was dirty and ripped, and had "Rich Blondie" scribbled on the front. Alfred frowned. Yet another death threat, probably. He'd gotten enough of those to know what they looked like in the mail, and what the people who sent them were like. He pulled the letter out of the envelope and opened it. It simply said, 'Come to the docks at midnight. Bring no one.'
Alfred grunted. He was hopeful that it might be from Allen, but at the same time, progress with Allen seemed hopeless. He sat down at his beanbag couch and started gaming.
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"Whoa whoa, when did it get to be 11 at night?!" Alfred said to himself, sitting up quickly and pushing the pizza box off himself. He remembered having pizza for lunch, but it seemed like that was only about an hour ago. He bit his lip, contemplating whether or not to respond to his mystery letter. What if it was from Allen? What if it wasn't? Alfred frowned at himself. "I don't want to take that risk, just in case it really is him." He said out loud to his empty room, then went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and fix himself up. When he got out, he carefully tucked a small handgun into the inside pocket of his jacket just in case.
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Allen combed his hair in his broken bathroom mirror. Matt was going to be home in the morning. This better f*ckin work. Allen thought. If it doesn't, it's over. I'm moving right the f*ck on. It's what I do, right? It's what I'm good at. It's what I've always done. He smoothed his hair down then fixed his jacket collar. Running a hand over his white shirt to make sure it wasn't stained, he slid his new iPhone into his pocket, grabbed the little cup of ramen noodles he'd made, and left his apartment. As he approached the dock, he could see a figure standing at the end of it, looking down into the water. He bit his lip, actually nervous about whether or not it was Alfred. What the hell is this jackass doing to me?! Allen grunted and shook the thoughts off, then started quietly making his way to the end of the dock.
Alfred sighed. He'd been waiting for a while, but nobody had showed. Maybe he had pinned the whole incident on that one rom-com he'd watched once by accident instead of an action movie. He was focusing too much on his life being like a rom-com. He just needed to go home, sleep in, and focus on evicting this redheaded douchebag out of his head. "YOU DOUCHEBAG!" Alfred yelled, kicking the railing. He turned to leave, but smashed into someone's chest. Gasping, he whipped out his gun and aimed at the person in front of him.
"Whoa, whoa whoa. Easy, tiger." Allen set the cup of ramen noodles on the ground, then put his hands up. "It's just me. You know, the douchebag." Alfred looked away and put his gun back in his jacket.
"Why did you ask me to come here, after going quiet for like a week?"
"Why did your guards try to kill me?"
"Touché." Alfred kicked his feet sheepishly. "I didn't tell them to do that. You just...don't look like the kind of person who usually comes around my place."
"Fair enough, I gave them kind of a surprise." Allen chuckled. "I thought that you sicked 'em on me, cause you didn't want me around."
"No, of course not! I love you—...being around. I love having you around. When I look in your eyes, it's like something in me feels complete for the first time in my life." Alfred bit his lip, hoping he'd caught himself subtly enough.
"Aww, that's cute." Allen snickered. "Same, though."
"What shakespeare quote is that? 'Same though'. So romantic," Alfred chuckled a little. "You're a modern-day poet."
"Oh, I know." Allen chuckled. "So listen, I figured since you weren't around to share a romantic candlelit meal with me the first time around, we could try a moonlit one now."
"Really?" Alfred perked up.
"Unless you're gonna try and shoot me or punch me again, then yeah," Allen sat down and crossed his legs, then set the ramen noodle cup in front of him. Alfred sat down across from him.
"You hopeless romantic. This is straight out of fifty shades, isn't it?" Alfred said, smiling a little when Allen laughed at the comment.
"Thanks for not bringing any of your guards." Allen handed over a plastic fork.
"Yeah, they're kind of assholes sometimes." Alfred took a bite of the microwaved noodles. "Getting your money's worth out of that microwave oven, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm not even gonna ask how you knew that I needed that shit. I'm just gonna say thank you." Allen looked up at Alfred, the moonlight making his eyes shine in the dark. Alfred smiled.
"I'm not like some other people. I don't throw my money around carelessly. I give it to homeless people, charities...I help people with rage issues." He cocked an eyebrow at Allen.
This time it was Allen's turn to look away sheepishly. "Right. Well...thanks blondie." Alfred nodded and continued eating.
When they were done, Allen stood and helped pull Alfred up. "Well, this was a cute little date," Allen snickered. "Thanks again for meeting me here. I felt like I needed to make it up to you after you got me all that new stuff."
"Yeah, well I came cause I felt like I needed to make it up to you after my guards ruined your life a little." Alfred rubbed the back of his head. "Thank you." He looked into Allen's eyes, seeing that familiar glint once again. Oh no, it's happening again. My brain is starting to turn off, my body is taking over...am I gonna punch him again? I swear to god if I punch him again...he thought, feeling his inhibitions being lowered as his body took over what he was doing. Please tell me I'm not gonna take out another one of his teeth—he realized his actions late, as his lips were already pressed firmly against Allen's. What's he doing? Alfred's mind started going a mile a minute. Is he...kissing back? He's kissing back...holy shit, he's actually kissing me back.
Allen leaned into Alfred, wrapping his arms around the blond. He started to kiss him a little rougher, feeling adventurous; no one was around. Goddamn, he's actually staying in the kiss. Holy shit. This is really happening. Allen thought to himself, starting to get a little excited. He pulled away quickly when he felt Alfred struggle a bit.
"Sorry." Alfred panted softly. "I have to breathe, you know." Allen chuckled, watching Alfred pant.
"I should....I should get going anyway. My brother is coming home soon." Allen nodded. "Can I actually...see you again sometime?"
"Midnight tomorrow. Except, down by the beach, under the docks." Alfred nodded.
"Look at you, callin' the shots." Allen smirked. "I'll be here." He ran his fingers through Alfred's hair, smiling a little when he felt Alfred lean into his hand.
"One more question," Alfred said, more firmly. "Did you kiss me while I was in the hospital? Is that why you kissed me back tonight?"
Allen just pulled his hand away and shot him a quick grin, then walked off into the night.