AmericaxReader: Trickster

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"Will you marry me, (Name)?"

Alfred F. Jones kneeled in front of you, his glasses fogged up in anxiety, and you thought how lovely it would have been if you could accept it. If you could see him every morning, and never worry about having to be away. You never told Alfred. You only told Matthew, the poor brother with the inferiority complex and trauma which left him horribly shy. They had detected it too late, and while they told you to say your final goodbyes, you didn't want to, because you refused to believe that you would never see them again. It was with a week of sobbing on the couch, and a total of five hundred and thirty six calls and texts from Alfred, that you were finally able to get up again.

You wanted to accept, because you honestly, truly, loved him.

But putting on a smile, because god, you wanted your last impression on him to be a smiling one, not marred by any sadness or grief at all, so you could only do this much. Why couldn't you do more?

"...No."

And immediately, Alfred was standing up, tears starting to cloud his eyes, and you felt a pang of regret at rejecting him like this, but there was no other way.

"(Name)! Don't you love me!?" He shouted out in desperation, because, really, he did not expect you to reject him, and you loved him, and you were so happy together and everything-

You took a deep breath and continued to smile. You even tried to say the next few words in a jovial tone. God, how you hated this disease of yours-

"If you give me twenty-four hours alone, and if I respond, then I'll say "yes"."

Alfred almost looked offended at this, and you could see his face show signs of anger, disbelief, and relief, because he was assured that you'd say yes to him, just a day later. He felt just a tiny bit annoyed at having his proposal blown off, but he could wait. It was only a day, right?

Why you would need a day, Alfred didn't know.

Sometimes he hated the playful side of you. You would play tricks so many times that Alfred would want to hit you in frustration. After all, being tricked when asking a person out for a date wasn't exactly funny at all to him, but he would withstand it, just this one time. He hoped that you weren't playing a trick when you said that you'd say yes.

Turning away, and planting a kiss on his cheek, you tried not to start crying right then and there. Making sure your face couldn't be seen, you told him, with all of your heart, what your true thoughts were.

"I love you."

And then you walked away.

There was a reason why you asked for twenty-four hours.

You were going to be dead in fifteen. You headed for the hospital.

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"Al-Alfred!"

Alfred looked up to see Matthew, stammering and close to tears. It had been fifteen hours since you had rejected him, and he was counting down to the moment where he could ask you again.

Worried about his brother, Alfred immediately ran over to him and tried to comfort him.

Matthew looked up at Alfred before sobbing and clutching his head in his hands. Alfred looked at him worriedly.

"I-It's (Name)."

Alfred stiffened. What about her?

"S-she just died..."

And then Alfred was torn.

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When you were buried, Alfred and Matthew visited your grave.

Alfred plopped down and clutched the grass, while Matthew stood with tears streaming down his face.

Alfred stifled his tears as he threw flowers onto your grave.