Arthur loved being alone. Really.
He had gone to university all the way over in America just so he could be surrounded by unfamiliar things and people, so of course he meant it when he said that he was fine with solitude. His roommate hadn't said a word to him all day, he had sat by himself at lunch, and he didn't really have any friends to go hang out with, but that was all okay because he enjoyed being alone.
Even when it was his birthday.
Arthur stared diligently at his computer screen as his roommate laughed with his friend. It was dinnertime and Francis' obnoxious companion had barged into their room and they had begun to make very loud plans to go to the dining hall together. It didn't bother Arthur at all that neither of them had so much as looked at him. He had lots of homework to get done and he didn't even like the food at the dining hall, anyway.
"Are you guys going to dinner?" Arthur glanced up slightly to see Antonio, another of Francis' friends, poking his head through the door of the room.
"Yeah, Gilbert and I were just going," Francis replied. Arthur hid his cringe as Francis sprung off his bed and sauntered out of the room with Gilbert in tow. Whatever. He would have said no even if they had asked him if he was hungry. He had hung out with the trio of friends on numerous occasions, but he knew that Gilbert and Antonio only really spoke with him because his roommate was their best friend and Francis only tolerated them because he was his roommate.
Arthur sighed and gave up on pretending to do homework on his computer now that the others had left, instead twisting around on his bed to stare glumly out the window. He had received a call from his parents earlier that morning, but other than that he hadn't had a single birthday wish. Of course, he hadn't exactly told anyone about his birthday, but he had hinted strongly the week before that it was coming up and it wasn't as if anyone had ever asked. It was only his first year at this university and despite famous proclamations of "great American hospitality," he had yet to see any. If things kept up with the way they were going, he wasn't sure if he would want to stay another three years. Not that he knew things would be any better back in England.
Arthur let his gaze change focus from the group of students laughing together outside to his own reflection. God, did he look pathetic. He was moping and he knew it. He couldn't help it, though; he didn't really have any close friends in America and he was too proud to outright tell anyone that it was his birthday so that they could pretend to care and wish him to have a happy day.
Still, Arthur thought, eyeing his reflection. I should do something. He truly didn't want to go to the dining hall. The food was utter trash and that night's menu online had looked even worse than usual. Hmm…he didn't have a car (or a driver's license, for that matter), so he couldn't go anywhere off campus. He could watch Doctor Who and make some tea. He could go on a walk. There was a café a few buildings down that sold birthday cupcakes that even had a candle in them.
Actually, that sounded pretty good. He could sit and work on one of the stories he was writing while he ate it and he would have a lovely time. Nodding to himself, Arthur stood up and grabbed a notebook, his keys, and some cash before heading out the door. He didn't need anyone.
As Arthur sat down at an empty table in the café to wait for his cupcake, he told himself that he was very happy with the way the evening had turned out. His notebook was flipped open to a blank page, he had a great story idea in his head, and he loved cupcakes. Plus, the café was quiet and would provide a great working environment for him.
He had managed to jot down a couple of paragraphs before a small plate was plopped in front of him. On it sat a vanilla cupcake with blue icing and it had a single pastel candle stuck down into the middle. The server wordlessly pulled a lighter out of his pocket and held it over the candle until the wick had caught before turning and going back behind the counter to take the order of another customer.
Arthur stared at the cupcake as the small flame slowly travelled down the waxed string. Should he make a wish? He didn't know if the traditional birthday rule applied when nobody was singing him "Happy Birthday." As a drop of melted wax began to drip down the length of the candle, he again began to feel very pathetic and, as much as he hated to admit it, lonely. But really, he didn't mind. He considered himself fine company and there wasn't anyone he would want to spend his birthday with, so it didn't matter that he was sitting in a café by himself.
He leaned forward and blew out the candle. "Happy birthday," he whispered. He plucked the candle out of the cupcake and set it down on the plate. The cupcake looked a bit sad without it, but he picked it up and took a bite anyway. He immediately grimaced. It was far too sweet to really be enjoyable, but he had paid for it and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to finish it.
Just as he was about to take another sugary bite, he was startled by a person dropping into the seat on the other side of his little table. The cupcake slipped out of his hands and landed frosting-end down on the plate and he spent approximately three stunned seconds mourning its demise before glancing up to see who had barged in on his pity party.
Arthur stared. A blond boy in a grey hoodie bearing the name of their university sat across from him and was grinning expectantly at him. Arthur felt a momentary stab of panic. Was he supposed to know this person? Oh god, what if it was one of his classmates or something that assumed Arthur would know him and now Arthur was going to look like a total jerk for not recognizing him? Luckily, the other boy cleared things up by breaking the silence.
"Hi, I'm Alfred!"
Arthur's ingrained manners kicked in and he abruptly sat up straighter and ceased to gape in confusion. "Erm, hello."
"Sorry for startling you," Alfred said, glancing apologetically at the sabotaged cupcake, "but you looked kinda lonely. It's your birthday, right? I saw you blow out the candle."
"Oh, yes," Arthur said. He was having trouble coping with the unexpected burst of socialization, as random people didn't usually come up to him and interrupt his alone time. This…Alfred…certainly must be either very outgoing or very rude to approach him like that. Maybe both.
"Well, happy birthday!" Alfred practically shouted, drawing the attention of some students at the surrounding tables. Arthur blushed at the sudden attention, but smiled slightly nonetheless.
"Thank you," he said with genuine warmth. It was about time, he thought. "You're actually the first person aside from my parents to tell me that today."
Alfred looked shocked. "But it's already six o'clock! How has nobody else wished you a happy birthday?"
"Well…" Arthur cringed. "Not many people know it's my birthday."
Alfred's look melted into one of sadness. "Then what are you planning on doing for the rest of the night?"
Arthur didn't see how that was anyone else's business, but answered honestly anyway. "I'm going to write for a bit and then go do some homework."
Alfred stared, making Arthur look away and squirm uncomfortably. What was this guy's problem? If Arthur wanted a quiet night by himself, then he should be allowed to have it without some complete stranger charging in and judging him for it. Suddenly, Arthur was startled by Alfred slapping his palm down on the table.
"Not anymore, you're not!"
"Um…what?" Arthur said intelligently. Alfred was beaming with a determined glint in his eye that was making Arthur nervous.
"I'm not letting anyone be alone with homework on their birthday! You're coming with me and we're going to do something fun!" Alfred stood abruptly and put his hands on his hips, apparently waiting for Arthur to get up and come with him.
"Wha-," Arthur spluttered. "Excuse me? I don't even know you!"
Alfred sobered and stuck out his hand. "Alfred F. Jones, freshman, physics major and chemistry minor hailing from Virginia. I'm pleased to meet you."
Arthur stared at the hand, completely dumbfounded. Then his eyes travelled up a well-muscled arm and over a broad shoulder, coming to settle on too-blue eyes that almost seemed to beg him to shake the hand. Huffing in irritation, Arthur grabbed the hand with his and, not at all taking note of how warm and firm it was, shook it.
"Arthur Kirkland, freshman, English major from England." He ignored the way Alfred snickered at that and stood up to deposit his plate with the unfortunately fated cupcake into the café's dish bin. When he turned around, Alfred was returning from a table a few feet away from his with a book bag slung over his shoulder.
"You can put your notebook in here if you want," Alfred offered, setting his book bag on Arthur's table and unzipping the top.
"Oh, thank you," Arthur said, picking his notebook up and slipping it in. Okay, so perhaps it was weird to suddenly be sharing a bag with someone he had just met, but the other student didn't seem like the bad sort. Arthur had heard of overly friendly people before and honestly, he wanted very much in that moment to feel something resembling friendship. Alfred rezipped the bag and slung it back over his shoulder. "So where are we going?" he asked as they made their way out of the café and into the warm, evening air.
"I dunno," Alfred replied. "It's your birthday! What do you want to do?"
"If I had something in mind that I wanted to do, I would have been doing it instead of sitting in a café by myself."
"Good point," Alfred said sheepishly. He hummed thoughtfully and looked around the street before picking a seemingly random direction and walking briskly down the road. Arthur trotted a bit to catch up, wondering how on Earth this American had to have been raised in order to behave like that. "Let's just walk around for a while! It might be a Thursday night, but I'm sure there's something going on somewhere on campus."
"Alright," Arthur conceded, not feeling like he had any other choice but to follow along. Plus, he admitted to himself, he really had nothing better to do, anyway. It was a rather pleasant night out, as well. Spring was in full swing and all of the trees and flowers were blooming around them. The evening air had brought out the activity of crickets and cicadas that chirped merrily from their hiding places in the foliage. Evening had always been Arthur's favourite time of day.
"So, Arthur from England," Alfred said after a minute of walking along. "What brings you to America?"
Arthur glanced out of the corner of his eye at the boy walking beside him. He had a soft smile gracing his features and he stared ahead at the road ahead of them, seemingly happy to be walking and talking with someone he had met only five minutes prior. Arthur didn't know what to make of it.
"I suppose I was looking for a change in scenery," Arthur said. "Plus, America has very reputable universities and I wanted to get the most out of my education."
"Huh. But wouldn't England be the better place to study English? I mean, not that America totally doesn't master the hell out of the language!" Alfred said quickly. Arthur snorted.
"Yes, if 'master' is the new way of saying 'butcher,'" Arthur said, ignoring the cry of protest from Alfred. He walked along another few paces considering his answer, wanting to give a truthful and proper one. He wasn't sure what it was about his new acquaintance that prompted his desire to be honest, but he wasn't going to question it too much. For now. "England is a great place to study English and literature, obviously, and England has produced some of the finest literature the world has ever known. But that's the bulk of what I've been taught my whole life and I can't deny that America has a unique and interesting brand of literature of its own. In coming here I was hoping to see a different perspective on things that I couldn't have gotten in England. I'll never be able to write lasting stories if I don't get a rounded view of the world."
Arthur flushed, realizing that he had begun to go off on a tangent. However, when he glanced at Alfred again, he found that the other only looked interested and thoughtful instead of bored.
"That's such an interesting way of putting it," Alfred commented. "See, I don't ever really think about that kind of thing. It's always 'Why do electrons behave differently during observation?' and 'Man, polarimetry really sucks' with me."
Arthur gave him a blank look. "I have no idea what that means." Alfred laughed warmly, bringing a smile to Arthur's own face.
"Consider yourself lucky. Let me tell you, I adore science, especially physics and chemistry, but sometimes I really hate it."
"I feel that exact way about writing," Arthur commented. He felt secretly pleased that they could agree on something despite studying such different things. "I've never had much of a knack for science, though."
Alfred grinned over at him. "That's okay! Not everyone can be scientists. Do you want to write, like, as a career?"
"I do," Arthur said shyly, expecting Alfred to make the usual comment about how most writers never made much of themselves and had to have other jobs just to support themselves.
"Well then there ya go!" Alfred exclaimed. "It's super important to have artists, too, to balance everything out."
"I—I suppose you're right. Yes," Arthur said. "Thank you."
Alfred looked at him in confusion. "Huh? You don't have anything to thank me for."
"Perhaps not," Arthur agreed, "but it's just not often that I don't get a negative reaction when I tell people that I want to be a writer."
"Aww, well that's silly!" Alfred declared. A grin that Arthur was starting to suspect was nearly permanent made its way back onto his face and he cheesily slapped his own knee midstep. Arthur couldn't help but laugh at the antic, surprised at how easy Alfred was to talk to.
Just then, a group of students ran past them, laughing and heading in the direction of the physical arts gym. Even from several yards away, they could see that all the lights were on inside and the sounds of country string music drifted towards them. Through the windows, the shapes of people dancing were visible and the entire building seemed to thrum with energy and excitement.
"I totally forgot!" Alfred said. "Thursday night is contra dancing!"
"What the bloody hell is contra dancing?" Arthur said, his face twisting in trepidation. As a general rule, he avoided all loud and boisterous gatherings and whatever was happening inside looked like the very epitome of that.
"Oh come on, they have to do this over in England!" Alfred's expression suggested that the very idea of someone not knowing about the event was absolute blasphemy.
Arthur shrugged. "Perhaps, but it's certainly not something I've ever done." He knew he was doomed as soon as his words caused a mischievous glint to appear in the other boy's eyes.
"Well then we're definitely going. Come on!" Before Arthur could protest, Alfred had grabbed his wrist and started to drag him towards the gym. By then, Arthur was far too distracted by the sudden contact to do more than be led towards the noise and activity. As they got closer, Arthur could see that some sort of line dance was going on inside and the large room was completely packed with bodies. He could recognize a few of them as fellow students, but it also seemed like quite a few people from town had come to dance.
"Isn't this awesome?" Alfred asked once they had entered the gym. Alfred had set his bag down and they stood off to the side from all of the action, observing and taking in the excitement. At least, Alfred was. Arthur, for his part, felt slightly nauseas and thought that "awesome" was certainly not a word he would apply to the present situation. "And it's free, too, so anyone can come and have a good time."
"How lovely," Arthur said, wondering if it was too late to insist that he really should be working on homework instead of spending time with someone he didn't even know. The inside of the building was hot and even louder than he had anticipated and he imagined that he could already feel the questioning looks of the other students who were wondering what he was doing out of his room when he was normally such a bookworm.
Alfred leaned down a bit to speak into Arthur's ear since it was difficult to hear over the music. "I think the beginner's line is over there," Alfred said, pointing to the opposite side of the gym where it appeared as if sweaty old men were trying to teach young students the steps to the dance. Arthur swore that as he watched, he witnessed some definite groping from a geezer with a particularly unruly beard. He was pleased when Alfred responded to his "are you kidding me?" glare by sending him an apologetic look.
"Come on, it's a totally fun dance! You just have to avoid old beardy over there and it'll be fine!" Arthur continued to glare. "I'll tell ya what. I've done this before; let me teach you. I can be your dance partner and then you'll be safe from the creeps!"
"Alright, fine." Arthur sighed. He couldn't believe he had agreed to it, but he wanted to give Alfred a chance. Plus, almost everyone seemed to be genuinely having a good time and that had been the point of Arthur agreeing to spend his birthday evening with the enthusiastic science student in the first place. Still. He was absolutely sure that he was going to hate contra dancing.
Arthur absolutely loved contra dancing. It was wild and loud and free and forgiving and boisterous and everything that he was not and it was exactly what he needed to recover from a day spent in melancholy. Alfred, it turned out, was a rather excellent teacher and despite Arthur's initial reluctance, he had the both of them swinging around in time with the music after only a few quick demonstrations. It was amazing, really, how well Arthur fit into the flow of things once he let his stodgy exterior drop a bit. All the hurt of the past day flew off of him as he skipped around the person in line next to him and allowed Alfred to grab his hand and spin him in a small circle.
He also couldn't deny how nice it was to simply feel Alfred's hands on his back or his shoulder or his arm. Now that he thought about it, it had been a while since he had received physical contact of any sort. That line of thinking, however, only proved to be depressing and he was determined to continue to have a good time now that he had gotten started.
"See? Isn't this great?" Alfred asked him after yet another song had finished and the instrumentalists had taken a quick break to get water and chat amongst themselves.
"I suppose it's not as bad as I thought it would be." His chest felt light and airy when his response drew a hearty laugh from Alfred.
"I told you it's fun! A little exercise can do wonders for your mood," Alfred said.
"Are you suggesting that I normally sit on my arse all day?" Arthur surprised himself with the teasing lilt in his voice. He supposed spending nearly two hours (had that much time really passed so quickly?) of dancing energetically with someone could bring out more comfortable, playful interaction.
Alfred winked. "Hey, I might not know you very well, but even I can tell that your stick arms and pasty skin didn't come from running around outside."
"Oi!" Arthur shouted, but he was laughing. "For all you know, I could have a rare disease that causes me to look less threatening the more I work out. It would be like a defense mechanism where people underestimate me and so they don't see it coming when I display my power."
"Psh, that would be so lame," Alfred said. "Besides," he added thoughtfully, "I have a feeling your power lies in wit. You seem like the type of guy who could make old beardy over there cry just from spewing a few words." They both looked over at the creepy old man from earlier with the snarled beard and snickered. True to his word, Alfred had managed to protect Arthur from getting sweat on by the geezers, but some of the other beginners who had come by themselves weren't so lucky.
"I like to think you're right about that, at least. Words are power."
"You're such a writer!"
Arthur stuck his nose up in the air and preened. "Why, thank you, lowly scientist."
Unexpectedly, Alfred grabbed him around the middle and began to spin him around, causing Arthur to let out an embarrassing squeaking sound. "Your angular momentum is equal to your mass times the radius at which I'm spinning you times how fast I'm spinning you and in which direction!"
"Ah! No, Alfred, let me go!" Arthur yelled, fighting a smile with everything he had. The students and visitors from town that were standing nearby merely smiled at them like they were putting on an adorable display. Bastards.
"No way! Not unless you can tell me about the lactic acid buildup in your muscles from all the exercise in the last couple hours that your body isn't used to getting!"
Arthur didn't bother to mask his smile that time and aimed a punch in the general direction of Alfred's head. Alfred dodged and spun away, coming to a stop a few people down the line and sending Arthur a look that very plainly said, "I dare you to come and get me."
Arthur Kirkland never backed down from a challenge.
Ten minutes later, they were being escorted from the building from a very disgruntled member of the campus police. He didn't even bother lecturing the two of them for their horseplay in the middle of a community event, instead just making sure they left the building and then hopping into the van he had driven there from his office just to kick them out. Arthur thought the whole thing a bit unnecessary.
"Oh man, that was awesome!" Alfred proclaimed, leaning against a tree in front of the gym as he came down from his laughter and wiped tears from his eyes. "I can't believe they actually kicked us out!"
Arthur smiled. Despite how childish it had been, even he couldn't deny that it had been fun. "It really was quite absurd. It was a complete accident that those girls all fell over. If anything, it was their fault for not paying more attention to the idiot lying on the ground."
"Um, the idiot that was lying on the ground would like to make the claim that it was some British dude's fault. The reason he was lying on the ground was to hide from the angry Brit."
"Whatever." Arthur rolled his eyes, feeling comfortably warm with the way Alfred simply continued to grin at him. It was also entirely possible that the warmth came from spending two hours doing physical activity in a room full of sweaty people.
"Hey, I don't know about you, but I feel kinda gross now," Alfred said, gesturing to his damp hair and the sheen of moisture on his skin.
"I can't believe you did all of that dancing in a hoodie," Arthur said. Not that the sweater he was wearing was much better.
"Heh, yeah, but it's not like I was planning for it when I got dressed this morning." Arthur hummed in acknowledgement of the point. "Since we're both all sweaty now, what do you say we go take a dip in the river to cool off?"
"That sounds lovely," Arthur said. He was slightly surprised that Alfred wanted to do something else, as he had been expecting for them to part ways now that Alfred had accomplished his mission of getting Arthur out to have fun instead of doing homework on his birthday. He was glad, though, because if he was honest with himself, he didn't really want to leave Alfred's company quite yet.
The walk to the river was a fairly short one. It bordered their college and was just down the hill a ways and it even had a well-maintained trail that ran alongside it. Even though it had gotten dark while they were in the gym dancing, there was enough light from the moon to guide them. A few feet down the trail that ran parallel to the river was a rock outcrop that was accessible enough to climb on and flat enough to lay down some things. It was there that Arthur and Alfred stopped and removed their various articles of clothing until they were just in their boxers.
"You know, I totally left my book bag in the gym," Alfred said as he balanced one foot on the rock and carefully stuck the other one out to test the water. "The water's nice, by the way."
"I'm sure it'll turn up in the lost and found tomorrow. It better, at least," he said, remembering that his writing notebook was in Alfred's bag. He shivered slightly when a breeze blew past them and drew his arms around his torso. He felt a little uncomfortable at his lack of clothing, but he had felt so overheated from all of the activity that it was a relief to be in the cool air. Joining Alfred at the edge of the rock, he tested the water for himself.
"Do you keep your stories in the notebook you put in there?" Alfred asked.
"I do," Arthur said, feeling a bit shy at the mention of his work.
"I would love to read one sometime," Alfred said. Arthur's head whipped around to stare at him in surprise and then he felt his mouth break out into a tentative smile. Nobody had ever really showed any interest in reading his writing before. Not only that, but Alfred reading one of his stories would mean that there would definitely be a "next time" in their spending time together, which he could admit to himself that he very much so wanted.
"Okay," he said. "That can happen."
"Great!" Alfred exclaimed, seeming genuinely thrilled. Arthur smiled down at the rock they were standing on and shuffled his feet a bit, feeling a warmth blossom throughout his chest.
Suddenly, he felt a firm hand close around his bicep and he was being yanked into the water. He merely had time to draw in a breath and think "I'm going to kill him" before he was submerged in the pleasantly cool river. Arthur flailed his limbs around, hoping to get a good kick or punch in, but Alfred had already managed to swim a safe distance away and when Arthur naturally floated back up to the top and felt his head break the surface, he took a large gulp of air and glared heavily at where Alfred was standing in a more shallow region and laughing.
"Oi! What if I didn't know how to swim?" Arthur shouted, sputtering and wiping water out of his eyes.
"Then I would have rescued you, duh," Alfred said with a cheeky grin. Arthur rolled his eyes and huffed in irritation.
"Your parents did a terrible job of raising you if your lack of manners is anything to go by." Arthur instantly regretted the words when a flash of hurt broke through Alfred's expression. Oh great, he thought. He didn't actually know anything about Alfred's home situation and he had probably just crossed a line.
"Well, actually…" Alfred stared down at the water in discomfort. "My parents both died in a car crash when I was young. I was raised by my grandmother."
"Oh," Arthur said softly. "I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't realize."
Alfred looked up at him then and gave him a tight grin. "It's okay. Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about them and I've had such a long time to get used to it that I've kind of made my peace with it."
"Still…" Arthur murmured. He stopped simply treading water and swam a few strokes until he was in the shallow area with Alfred and could stand on the muddy, rocky bottom of the river. "I shouldn't have mentioned anything about it without knowing more about your situation."
"Arthur, really, it's okay," Alfred said. Then, he reached out his hand and placed it lightly on Arthur's bare shoulder as a form of reassurance and Arthur hoped desperately that his resulting shiver could be passed off as a reaction to the cool night breeze blowing on his wet skin. Alfred was looking at him in such a way that he was having a hard time looking back and he could feel a light blush rising to his cheeks, but luckily it was too dark out for Alfred to notice. He wasn't used to anyone regarding him with such a tender expression, let alone an extremely attractive male.
Wait, what?
"It's a bit chilly now," Arthur said randomly to diffuse whatever strange tension had just erupted between them.
"Yeah, I guess it is." Now Arthur must be imagining things, because he swore that Alfred almost sounded a bit sad about that.
"It's probably time to call it a night, then," Arthur said, not looking at Alfred. He sensed more than heard a resonating sigh come from the science student.
"Yeah, we could go back to our rooms and deem this an end to your birthday celebration and then go to sleep," Alfred said. Arthur felt his hopes deflate and he resigned himself to climbing out of the water and walking home. "Or," Alfred said as Arthur turned to get out. "You know…I could show you how I usually celebrate my birthday," Alfred said.
Arthur looked at him with renewed curiosity. "Oh? And how might that be?"
Alfred just grinned.
Arthur wasn't sure whether to face palm or allow himself to be filled with giddy excitement when Alfred showed him what he had in mind. Apparently out of all 365 days of the year, his new friend's birthday happened to fall on the Fourth of July, meaning that Alfred considered all festivities that ordinarily occurred on that day in America to be part of one big celebration that was meant for him. Arthur also wasn't entirely sure that they were allowed to have fireworks stored in their dorm room, but he certainly wasn't about to get Alfred in trouble for it.
After they had dried themselves off and gotten dressed, Alfred had led the way to his room (which turned out to only be two floors below Arthur's, how they had never managed to meet before this was a mystery) and pulled a bundle of bottle rockets and sparklers from under his bed. Arthur hadn't been at all surprised to find the room in a boyish state of disarray with various posters of superheroes, astronomy, and even a periodic table of the elements. Alfred had handed the fireworks to Arthur before disappearing under the bed again, this time returning with an unopened bottle of whiskey clutched in his hand.
Arthur decided that he had definitely made the right decision in going with Alfred for the night.
They ended up on the soccer field, since it was the largest open space on campus and Alfred was certain that there wouldn't be any other people around to scold them for using fireworks when they probably weren't allowed to. He also brought along a blanket so that they could lie on the grass and ward off the cold of the night if necessary.
"Prepare yourself, my dear Arthur, for some good American entertainment!" Alfred shouted into the emptiness of the field. He was crouched on the ground trying to balance a bottle he had brought with them that contained one of the rockets on the uneven grass.
"Fireworks were invented in China," Arthur commented wryly. He felt something inside of him take flight when his response elicited heartfelt laughter from the other boy.
"Maybe, but we Americans gave them real meaning!" Alfred insisted. Arthur didn't even bother to correct him, instead busying himself with spreading out the blanket on the grass and getting comfortable. "I still can't believe you've never done this before."
"My family is the quiet sort," Arthur said. "Fireworks were always a definite 'no'."
"Arthur, you haven't lived," Alfred said with a very serious look on his face.
"Oi! Just because I haven't done some of the things that you have doesn't mean I haven't done anything!"
"Yeah, but watch this," Alfred said cheekily. He withdrew a lighter from his pocket and flicked it, holding it up to the fuse of the bottle rocket. When it caught, he quickly withdrew to join Arthur at a safe distance away on the blanket. Arthur was a little surprised when he felt Alfred press close against him, but mentally wrote it off as something that had happened by mistake simply because Alfred was excited about the impending explosion.
Arthur flinched involuntarily when the rocket shot out of the bottle and into the night sky. As he raised his head to track its progress, he felt his breath catch in his throat. Even after living in a rural area of America for nearly a year, he still wasn't used to being able to look up and see so many stars. It was absolutely stunning and it was even more incredible when the firework went off and sent ruby sparks shooting out in all directions. Beside him, Alfred cheered happily and immediately stood to put another rocket in place.
"Are we going to have to track down where those land and pick them up?"
"Nah," Alfred answered with dismissive wave of his hand. "I'm sure someone'll find 'em."
Arthur snorted. "Lovely. Pollution."
And so it went. Alfred kept lighting rocket after rocket until all of them had been launched, running back to the blanket and pressing close to Arthur each time. After the bottle rockets had been launched, they broke out the sparklers and Arthur found that he liked those very much. They took turns drawing shapes in the air with them and writing each other's names or various things like "hello". At one point, Alfred instigated a type of fight where they used their sparklers as swords and hit them against the other's. That ended abruptly when Arthur accidentally touched the flaming end of his against Alfred's arm.
It was a huge disappointment when all of the fireworks had been used up. Arthur couldn't remember ever having that much fun before and after being chased nearly a full lap around the field by a crazed Alfred intent on revenge for burning his arm, Arthur collapsed onto his back on the blanket and breathed heavily as he stared up at the sky. He could hear some shuffling off to the side before Alfred lay down next to him. They were silent for a minute as they both caught their breath and in that time, Alfred opened the whiskey bottle and took a swig before passing it to Arthur, who sat up and accepted the bottle.
"Alfred," Arthur said once he had swallowed some of the liquid and wiped his mouth. "Why did you do all of this for me?"
Alfred looked surprised by the question. "I told you. I couldn't just let someone spend their birthday doing homework by themselves."
Arthur shook his head. "How can you be such a genuinely nice person?"
"I don't know," Alfred said. "It's just my nature, I guess."
"You amaze me," Arthur declared. He took another large sip of alcohol to prepare himself for what he was about to say. "Me, I'm afraid. Afraid that if I allow someone a single small kindness that they will demand a million. It's why I always push people away."
"You didn't push me away."
"I'm lonely." Arthur slowly turned his head so that he was facing Alfred and found the blue-eyed boy already looking back at him. "Too lonely. And you are so full of life and energy that when you approached me back in the café I felt a beam of hope and I couldn't resist it."
"Good," Alfred whispered. "Because I'm lonely, too."
Arthur felt his eyebrows raise. "You? You seem like the type to have more friends than time to spend with them."
"Well, that's not exactly the case." Alfred laughed bitterly and Arthur decided that he absolutely had to get Alfred to do his warm, genuine laugh again. "I guess most people find me kind of overbearing. I mean, I do have friends, but I don't really feel like I actually connect with any of them. You're the first person I've spent time with in a long while that I really feel connected to."
Arthur felt the corner of his lips turn up as they regarded each other for several long, meaningful moments. "Yes…I know what you mean," he said finally. "I think you're rather wonderful, to be honest."
"Pfft—that's such an interesting statement. On one hand, nobody but you would compliment someone like that, but on the other, I can't believe you actually just complimented me! What is the world coming to?" Alfred said after he recovered from snickering.
"Oh, stop that," grouched Arthur. "You've known me for a total of, what, four hours now?"
"I know! That's what's so crazy!" Alfred took a drink from the whiskey and then set it off to the side, laying back on the blanket. Arthur followed suit, allowing his head to tip towards Alfred so that he could continue watching his face as they talked. "You're right, I have only known you for a few hours, but it feels like it's been years!"
Arthur hummed in agreement. "Why is that, do you think?"
"I think we're soul mates," Alfred said, uncharacteristically quiet, and if he hadn't been wearing a serious expression, Arthur would have rolled his eyes and assumed Alfred to be joking. But Alfred looked so earnest, so hopeful, that Arthur could only gape. Mistaking Arthur's silence for disgust, Alfred jolted slightly in panic and immediately began backtracking. "No! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make this weird! Oh, god, I'm sorry, it's just that you're really amazing, but I don't even know if you're…" he trailed off, sitting up and putting his face in his hands.
Arthur couldn't help it, he began to chuckle. "Alfred," he said gently, sitting up as well and laying a hand softly on the other boy's shoulder. "I am. Gay, that is."
Alfred removed his hands and peered over at Arthur. "You are?"
"Yes."
"Oh." When Alfred continued to look distressed, Arthur tugged gently on his arm until they were lying down once more on the blanket facing each other.
"Really, there's no need to look like that. And don't apologize, either. Say what you mean and mean what you say and if you meant what you just said, then I would really like to tell you that despite only knowing you for a short time, I quite fancy you," Arthur said.
His words brought a smile to Alfred's face. "They way you say things! You're such a writer," he teased.
"So you've said." Alfred didn't reply, instead he simply appeared to observe Arthur's face. A comfortable silence descended upon them as Arthur observed right back and it took him nearly two minutes before he realized that he was smiling unconsciously. From the twinkle in Alfred's eye, he could tell that the other had noticed it and was taking pride in it. Not wanting to allow Alfred's ego to inflate too much, Arthur turned his head to break the connection and gazed up at the stars.
"Tell me about the constellations, science boy."
The walk back to their dorm was very quiet and very peaceful. They had laid together on the blanket for nearly another hour just talking about everything and it was now almost midnight, which meant that Arthur's birthday was about to come to an end. Arthur had thought that he would feel sad upon saying goodbye to Alfred, but it was hard to feel anything but giddiness when he knew that Alfred's phone number was now stored away in his phone and he had the promise of many future meetings from Alfred's own mouth.
Alfred walked with him all the way up until they were just outside of Arthur's room. He could see that the light was on from the small crack under the door, so Francis must still be awake. Arthur turned and smiled at Alfred once they came to a stop, hoping that he could express his gratitude for everything that had transpired throughout the evening with just a look. He wasn't sure how much success he had, however, because when he caught sight of the tender smile on Alfred's face, he felt himself falter and blush deeply.
"I'm really glad that you came with me tonight," Alfred said.
"So am I," Arthur said, meaning it more profoundly than most things he had ever said in his life. Alfred shifted his weight on his feet a bit, almost appearing nervous about something.
"I'm going to see you tomorrow," Alfred said, as if he were trying to convince himself that it was okay to leave. Or maybe that was just Arthur's wishful thinking.
"You will," Arthur said, slightly amused. Then Alfred did something that sent his blush roaring back up and his heart through a series of fitful beats. Alfred leaned down into Arthur's bubble of personal space and raised a hand to brush lightly along his cheek.
"Happy birthday, Arthur," Alfred whispered. He closed the small gap between their lips and kissed him softly for a few beats of Arthur's erratic heart. When he straightened up, he gave Arthur a brilliantly happy smile. "Goodnight."
And just like that, Arthur Kirkland was no longer alone.
Arthur only had the mental presence to nod dazedly as Alfred walked back down the hallway, leaving him to stand like a fluttery teenage girl outside of his door. He was slightly ashamed to admit that it took him nearly a full minute to recover enough to turn around and let himself into his room.
"Arthur!"
Arthur looked up in surprise when his entrance caused a flurry of activity within. Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio were all crowded around Francis' desk and had been presumably looking at the laptop that Francis had open. On the screen was a list of the area's most popular bars.
"Where the hell have you been?" Francis shouted. Arthur raised his brow questioningly at the trio, wondering if he had walked in on them doing something they shouldn't have been doing.
"I was with…a friend. Why?"
"We were worried about you," Antonio piped in. Now Arthur was really suspicious.
"Uh huh," he said.
"No, Arthur, really," said Francis. "You've been gone for hours and we've been calling all of the local bars because we thought you might have gone off to get drunk with that fake ID of yours!"
"And we totally thought something awful had happened, which would really suck because we bought you all this fucking tea for your birthday!" Gilbert explained, gesturing at several tins that were sitting on Arthur's desk that had definitely not been there when he had left earlier in the evening.
"You…bought me something for my birthday?" Arthur said, staring incredulously.
"Of course we did!" Francis said as if he were an imbecile. "Mon dieu, why do you look so surprised? Now come on, now that you're finally here we can watch Monty Python like we had planned on doing with you hours ago."
And just like that, Arthur Kirkland realized that he had never been alone.
AN: I know this is a little rushed, but I really wanted to post it on England's birthday (Happy birthday, you gorgeous thing). I hope you guys enjoyed it! I have no free time and so I wrote this while I should have been sleeping... Feedback of all kinds is adored!
Dedicated to my own happy star, A.N. Clara.