TITLE: Five Weeks aka How Long it Takes a Puppy to Change Everything
GENRE: Romance/angst, fluff
PAIRING(S): USUK, background barely there Prussia/Hungary
RATING: PG-16
WARNINGS: relationship drama/angst, language, some sexy times, present tense, human names
SUMMARY: Sometimes, love just isn't enough to fix what's gone wrong-luckily, that's what puppies are there for. A story of breaking apart, coming together, and puppy-rearing. Warning: socks may have been harmed in the making of this
PROMPT: Alfred and Arthur adopt a puppy together.
NOTES: Done for the Secret Santa exchange at the USUK comm on LJ. A thousand thanks to the wonderful, lovely EllaCRose who beta'ed this story for me and did it with love! I went to town with this and went outside my usual comfort zone, but I'm very happy with the results. This story is completed and will be updated twice a week. Hope you all enjoy, especially you greeko88!

NOTE 2: Well, we're at the end, lovelies! I want to thank the readers who've followed this and reviewed from the beginning, your words have truly meant so much to me! As this is the final chapter, I would love to know what you all thought of this story as a whole! Whether you reviewed every chapter, or lurked and liked from afar, I would love to hear what you thought! And, without further preamble, I bring to you the conclusion of our story!

Five Weeks

aka How Long it Takes for a Puppy to Change Everything

Week Five

Things are better between them, better than they've been in months, and even though Arthur knows they have a ways to go, he's also happier than he's been in months. He can see that Alfred is, too, if the whistling and random hug-attack tackles upon Arthur's person when he's trying to dress are any indication. Work is still as stressful as it's always been, they still struggle to find the right words with each other, and they can stand to talk a little more about 'the things' they need to, but all the eggshells they'd been walking and around before are gone. The constant fear and dread that Arthur had been holding in is out of him and breathing is easier without those weighing him down. It's easier knowing that, knowing that they can talk and work through their issues and still be together afterwards, knowing that Alfred will still want him despite the baggage and that Arthur will never stop wanting Alfred, despite his flaws.

It's a little funny. They've been together for three years, have had countless fights, but it's only now that they're learning how to really talk to one another. A fear of commitment, shared apartment, and puppy later, they're finally figuring it all out.

Arthur looks over at Alfred and smirks at his boyfriend as he attempts to keep a squirming Moonshine from yowling on his lap. Boyfriend seems too small a word to encompass all Alfred is to him, but he's not about to start using 'lover' or 'true love' in public. He can only imagine the teasing he will get if he does that, not just from Alfred and Elizaveta, either, because every person he knows will feel compelled to say something, he knows it. Moonshine squirms some more and his tail brushes against Arthur's arm before Alfred gets a good grip on him and settles him back down on his lap. He's cooing comfortingly to the puppy and ruffling at his drooped ears, trying to bolster his flagging spirits. Arthur can't blame Moonshine's attitude, though—he looks especially cute in his misery at being forced back to the veterinarian's office, all big eyes and mournful noises.

"Come on, Moony! It'll be over before you know it!" Alfred smiles bracingly at Moonshine again and is given a howl in response. The couple across from them with a spitting and growling cat in a carrier looks over at them in mutual exasperation and Arthur chuckles gently at the Alfred's frown. He reaches over and pats his knee gently.

"I don't think he's about to be appeased, love. Not when we've dragged him back to his least favorite place, especially after the Shampoo Incident."

"Yeah, I know, but I just want him to know that even though getting the second round of booster shots suck, he doesn't need to be scared, because we'll still be here and he won't even remember it after we get home and I give him all the treats he wants! You hear that, Moony? All the treats! Even those toothbrush ones we bought on the sly when your other dad wasn't looking!"

Arthur doesn't respond right away; he just stares and drinks Alfred in, reminds himself of all the reasons why he loves him, why he's happy and why his happiness is so inextricably tied up in Alfred. He lets himself remember that he doesn't need to imagine how he could ever possibly live without this gorgeous, caring, and wonderful man in his life, not anymore. Five weeks ago, he knows that's precisely where his mind would've gone to, but not anymore.

"I love you." Alfred looks up at him, slowly, and his smile is brilliant.

"I'd hope so." He settles his free hand over Arthur's and squeezes. "I love you too, you know. In case you were wondering."

Arthur returns the teasing grin. "I wasn't."

Arthur's story on the tuition hikes is everything he'd wanted it to be. His editor loves it, and it's far better than the swill Francis came up with about rambunctious socialites, which is what he'd worked on while making Arthur finish up a filler story of his, so he and Alfred are celebrating. They don't go out for a fancy dinner, though they'd thought about it for all over two seconds, but they do order in Indian food and spend a ridiculous amount of time feeding each other naan bread, masala chicken, and lamb. It's better because each of them can focus solely on the other, and if they'd gone out, they wouldn't have been able to start crawling all over each other in the middle of a restaurant. At least not without incurring some sort of serious consequences. This is intimate and familiar and they're playing a movie in the background that neither of them is really watching. He almost feels like he's three years younger and on his third date with Alfred again; it makes every touch, every smile, and every heated glance electric in the air between them. Arthur's nearly drunk off it, off of food, success, and Alfred.

"I'm so proud of you, sugar."

Alfred whispers the praise in between spicy kisses that taste like the potatoes he's eating and it's a little frightening how much the simple sentence affects him. He feels dizzy and his skin is flushed and he wants Alfred's lips on every inch of him they can reach, and even more on the inches they can't with their clothes on. He wants his lips on every inch of Alfred, too. He doesn't want to make a mess on the carpet with the food, though, so he pulls away and gives Alfred a smile that feels a little too wide on his face. Alfred grins back and nips his nose playfully before settling down onto his rump, digging into the lamb korma with gusto.

"Thank you… I'm rather proud of myself at the moment as well. At least I beat out that frog bastard."

"I don't know why you helped with his other story if you hate him so much."

Arthur pops a piece of naan in his mouth with relish. "Because it makes the victory sweeter when I crush the smug wanker even after 'assisting' a senior writer like him."

Alfred laughs; it's a rich, deep, and sounds like what Arthur imagines honey might sound like. Christ, they're going to need to clean up the food and move into the bedroom or else they're never going to get their security deposit back. "Well, I bet he's not gonna bug you about helping him for awhile."

"Small favors."

They meet each other's eyes and then they're picking up food hurriedly as Moonshine barrels into the living room, his obnoxiously large dragon in his teeth. They get most of it, but Moonshine still manages to knock over a bowl of curry sauce; he lets go of the toy to sniff at his carnage, but Arthur swoops down to grab him before he can get too interested. Alfred scrubs at the sauce with his slightly used napkin, because Alfred has never been one to clean up while he's eating, he always waits until he's done because he doesn't see the point otherwise, and tries to fix Moonshine with a stern look. He fails miserably.

"Well, to the table?"

"To the table. Bugger, I really wanted that security deposit back."

"I think we screwed ourselves out of that when we decided to have that marathon sex day when Gilbert called us boring. Still your fault, by the way." Arthur scowls without much ire and smacks Alfred's shoulder as they pick up the remains of their food.

"You can barely see those stains anymore!"

"Yeah, because you moved the couch back like five inches to cover them." He leans over and kisses Arthur's cheek noisily. "If it makes a difference, I think that the stains were totally worth the security deposit."

"Git." He says the insult like he's saying love and smiles as he presses a return kiss to Alfred's palm once they set down the food.

"I think getting Moonshine was a really good decision." Arthur is boneless, sated, and barely awake enough to hear Alfred. He's curled tight across Alfred and breathing in the heady scent of sweat, sex, and them swirling in the room like a fog, weighing heavily on his eyelids and spine. He wants to sleep, wants to drift away and dream of nothing but them, maybe with Moonshine and Oliver because they're both up on the bed again, now that Alfred and Arthur aren't otherwise engaged anymore. He feels Alfred ask him if he heard, though, so he mumbles sleepily and props his head up a little on Alfred's chest to meet bright blue eyes, their color still vivid and distinct even in the dark of their room.

"Hm?"

"Moony. Adopting him was a good thing, don't you think?"

"Mmhmm." It really has been a good decision, one of their better ones. Moonshine has changed their lives in so many ways and Arthur truly does believe that without him, he and Alfred would have continued ignoring everything until everything broke beyond fixing. He hadn't believed getting a puppy would help them before, but he knows different now. He's realized just how much of a difference one thing can make. Their 'thing' just happens to be a puppy who Arthur knows will never end up sleeping in any bed but their own, continue to destroy socks, and will eat things he shouldn't. A puppy who will grow into a beautiful dog who Arthur will love more than he'd ever imagined he would five weeks ago. If he hadn't already been so comfortable, he would have reached down to grab Moonshine from the foot of their bed just to hug him close and breath him in with everything else.

"I mean, he kind of got us to talk and stuff. We had to work together and that kind of got us back on the same page and everything, right?"

"Mmm…"

"…and you think I'll look really awesome walking around the campus in just my boxers, huh?"

"…whatev'r you want l've." Arthur feels Alfred's chest vibrate under his cheek and his laughter is one of the last things he hears as sleep drags him down fully.

"G'night, Artie. Love you."

And Arthur does - love Alfred, that is. Alfred, Moonshine, Oliver on most days, the family and life he's built for himself despite everything—so much.

He falls asleep happy and full of love.

Finis.

Reviews are love.