Young!England x Young Reader
“Come on, Arthur!” You called up the stairs, one hand on the banister as you waited for your boyfriend to get ready. You knew it’d take long, Arthur was immaculate about his clothing, especially when said clothing was for a date with you; and you did love it. You loved how he’d dress up nicely specifically for you, you loved how he always smelled nicely too whenever you’d hug him, burying your face into the crook of his neck.
The only thing you didn’t like was the waiting. Of course you were used to it, having dated the English boy for two years now. You were used to him taking longer (that was partly the reason you had arrived two hours earlier than you were supposed to, the other reason so you’d have longer time with him, having being bored all day), but you just didn’t like it.
“Be patient!” He called back, frustration clear in his voice, and you made sure to huff as loudly as possible. You heard a huff match yours and smirked. Sitting on the bottom step, you bounced your leg as you waited, counting each muted tap your shoe made against the carpeted stairs. Seriously, this is what happens when you’re bored!
Suddenly, the sound of a door being shut could be heard before footsteps made their way over to the stairs, pausing for a moment. “Really, (Y/N)? You could’ve waited in the Living Room.” You shrugged and stood up, turning to face Arthur with a smile, which widened when you saw what he was wearing; a black leather jacket over a band t-shirt and ripped skinny jeans, finishing it off with a red bandanna around his neck and dark-brown biker boots. It was what he had been wearing before, when you arrived two hours ago.
Ah, so he couldn’t be bothered to get changed then, you thought, eyes doing another quick swept of your boyfriend, the blush that formed on Arthur’s face not going unnoticed. But then why was he taking so long? You couldn’t help but wonder, what was he doing up there? You opened your mouth to ask, "What was taking you so long?" The flush on his face brightened even more - if possible -, and Arthur mumbled something, to which you said you couldn't hear. "I couldn't decide on whether to wear the red bandanna or the blue one! There, happy?" He exclaimed, looking away with embarrassment, and you smirked. God, it was so easy to embarrass your boyfriend, though you loved that little blush.
Finally, he walked down the stairs completely and over to the door, grabbing his keys, wallet and phone before grabbing your hand.
You followed after him, pausing only to let him lock his front door, and then you walked alongside him. You casually spoke with each other, talking about nothing and anything, just enjoying each other’s time together. Occasionally he made a funny joke but most of the time, you’d end up laughing at his frustration and then kissing him as ‘permission for forgiveness’. He’d always give it to you. “Always.” He had said, and you blushed, looking away, which caused Arthur to chuckle and kiss you on your cheek.
Gently nudging him, you both carried on walking to the cafe you were going to have the date at, still talking about nothing at all; and then, suddenly, Arthur froze, causing you to freeze too. Looking up at him, your confusion turned quickly to worry as you noticed the absolute fear on his face. “Artie, what’s wrong?” You asked, placing a hand on his cheek to try and snap him out of his fearful frozen state. It worked, thankfully, but instead of looking at you, Arthur gently grabbed your arm, turned around and began walking off. “Um, Arthur, what are you-?” You began but before you could continue, he cut you off with “There was four of them, four of those Magpies.”
Wait, what? There were magpies? You looked over your shoulder, and as Arthur said, there stood four of those black-and-white birds, just doing bird things, nothing to cause fear. But wait? Wasn’t there that superstitious rhyme or something? You knew Arthur believed in any superstition, and often if it meant bad luck, he’d do everything to stop it. It was incredibly cute to see the otherwise-stoic young man do things to prevent bad luck, but there were times it confused you, like now. Why was he randomly pulling you away from a group of Magpies?
“‘One for sorrow, two for joy; three for a girl, four for a boy.’ There’s more to the rhyme but they’re not important. What is important is that there was four Magpies there, which means someone we know is going to have a baby boy or- you will have a baby boy.” He flushed a bright crimson then, and you would’ve too had you not then frozen, pausing in your walking, causing Arthur to jolt and stumble backwards a little.
“Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean I may have a baby boy? Obviously it’s got to be someone we know and not- not me! I mean- we- I’m- no!” You exclaimed, surprise quickly turning to panic, because, well, you had missed a while of your period, and you had been puking a lot in the mornings, and cravings for strange things started becoming a thing for you- but no! You weren’t pregnant, just caught a cold or something. No four birds will change your mind on that. They were, after all, just birds, nothing else. Just a superstition about birds, that’s all.
You made sure to tell Arthur this too, but when you looked over Arthur, he was nodding despite not looking entirely convinced. Suddenly, frustrated, you huffed, folded your arms over your chest, and said, “Just come on. I really need a cup of hot chocolate and a muffin.” Then, without waiting for him, you turned back and walked back towards the cafe, the birds having disappeared a while ago.
Arthur hurried to catch up with you. You both walked to the cafe in silence, but though it was still slightly awkward due to the bird-pregnancy-thing, you and Arthur went back to talking about nothing in particular, both of you soon laughing at silly things; and soon the whole incident before escaped your minds…
And then, not two months later, the ‘cold’ symptoms got so bad that Arthur took you straight to the doctors’, who announced that yes, you were in fact pregnant.
Huh, so maybe those Magpies were correct.
