Hi. It's an AU- they're modern day people (so, completely unrelated to Crooked Teeth).

I wanted to try one of these '20 truths' things. Hope it came out okay. It's short, really fluffy and light- Alfred/Arthur. I'm considering trying it with another pair later. There's an occasional curse in there, for warnings.

Let me know what you think? All feedback is appreciated greatly. Oh, and Happy Valentines, guys.

Not What He Expected

1) They met by accident. Matthew might have got around to introducing them eventually, but their first meeting was on a dull, overcast day in England when Arthur stalked up to the oblivious American and slapped him upside the head.

He hadn't realised that it was the other blond, unseen until Alfred spun round with a furious 'What the hell?', who had actually given his phone number to Francis.

2) Matthew had taken so long to stop laughing that Arthur had sighed, put his left hand over his eyes in embarrassment and blindly held out his right to the stranger as he introduced himself.

Alfred hadn't noticed his brother laughing because until the violent newcomer had covered up his eyes, he hadn't realised he'd been lost in them.

3) Alfred weaselled Arthur's address out of his brother within a week of meeting the Englishman, and sent a letter the very next day.

Arthur had got Alfred's phone number three days before that, but took him a month to gather the courage to use it.

(On asking Matthew for it, he insists to this day it was to apologise, again, for his actions.)

4) Whenever Arthur receives a letter from Alfred, he sends the original back with his reply, filled with corrected spelling and grammar 'mistakes'.

When Alfred gets these letters back, he smiles, and makes a note of which 'mistakes' pissed the Englishman off the most so he can make sure to repeat them.

5) The first time Alfred called him Iggy, Arthur flushed in anger and dropped his teacup. Alfred thought his friend was blushing, and continued to think so, until Arthur corrected him by throwing his teaspoon at the American.

Arthur did blush the first time Alfred called him 'Artie', but refused to admit it, maintaining that he was simply, 'annoyed'.

6) It was just shy of a year since their meeting when Alfred heard Arthur swear for the first time. When he expressed surprise in front of Arthur's friends (who were by then almost his friends too), Matthew looked at him in confusion, Gilbert snorted and informed him the Englishman swore 'like a trooper', and Francis winked disconcertingly with a secretive smirk on his face.

When he confronted Arthur about it the next day, the Englishman chuckled and said, "I wondered how long you'd believe all lobsters are polite and upstanding gentlemen."

(Alfred had pointedly mentioned that since on the first time they'd met, Arthur had hit him, he'd never thought the Englishman polite or upstanding. Arthur had glared and stalked off in the other direction.)

7) Alfred had planned to get a scholarship to one of the big American colleges; his Texan parents were shocked when he announced that he wanted to go to university in England instead. Nonetheless, they said that if he could pay for his flights, they'd somehow sort out everything else.

They'd never seen Alfred look so happy, not even when they'd got him his first car.

8) 18 months after they'd met, Arthur finally took a chance and said "yes" when the American invited him back over to Texas. Alfred had grinned and then said, "But you'll have to wait 'til summer vacation, that still okay?"

It was only then he'd found out that Alfred was two years younger than him, and 'summer vacation' meant 'when school finally lets out'. He'd always figured it was a coincidence that the American visited him only during the holidays.

9) It wasn't until he'd brought this fact up with Matthew that he'd discovered the American and the Canadian weren't actually related.

(He'd immediately kicked himself because, they were from different countries, after all.)

Matthew had laughed and told him they were brothers in all but blood, and "hey, that's what counts, right?"

Arthur was immensely more apprehensive about going to America when he'd realised he'd be staying with Alfred on his own, but couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

10) Alfred found Arthur easily when picking him up at the airport. He was arguing with the server about the tea he'd tried to order ('What do you mean, you don't have any?'), and making some noise about it.

Alfred had never been more grateful for the box of Earl Grey he'd brought back with him, when he'd last crossed the pond and realised Arthur would be visiting.

11) Before leaving to pick Arthur up, he'd begged his parents not to mention the War of Independence for the entirety of the Brit's stay. When he'd turned around, his father had winked at his mother, and she'd mouthed, 'how cute', back at him.

It didn't stop her yelling loudly, as the door opened, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" when her son and his friend returned.

12) Arthur liked rock music, Alfred discovered, when they sat around in his garden, just talking. He remembered being surprised at this, and Arthur laughing at the look on his face.

When he blurted out, "But how?" Arthur had raised an eyebrow and enquired exactly where he thought the genre came from. And as if that wasn't enough, he then sheepishly mentioned that ever since his dad had said he hated it, Arthur had begun to enjoy listening to it.

13) On returning to the UK, Arthur couldn't remember a holiday he'd enjoyed more. He was especially intrigued that, instead of a "talk to ya soon!", the American bid him goodbye with, "See ya in September!"

When he asked Matthew, the Canadian had no idea what his brother meant. And though Arthur spent an hour on the phone that night complaining, all the American would say was, "It's a surprise!", in an incredibly annoying voice.

And when Arthur finally hung up, two hours later and still none the wiser, he secretly admitted that Alfred was the only one he'd let get away with it.

14) Alfred turning up at his flat a week before university started went a long way to answering his questions. Alfred turning up at his flat a week before university started also created a whole lot more.

Alfred asking if he could bunk there until he found his own place for the three years, only had one possible answer.

(It started with "yes" and ended with "so long as you keep the coffee away from me".)

15) When his friends found out about the living arrangements, Gilbert asked why Arthur'd never let him sleep on the couch, Matthew wondered aloud why Alfred hadn't come to him instead, and Francis asked Arthur if he'd slept with the American yet. The group had been kicked out of the library when Arthur flew at the Frenchman with his fists.

When Francis and Matthew asked Alfred their questions the next day, he blushed and scratched nervously at the back of his head. He studiously ignored the smirking Frenchman and told Mattie, "I must've just, kinda, forgot about you?"

(When later, in privacy, Alfred asked himself the same question Francis had, he blushed again and added it to his mental 'To Do' list.)

16) Arthur had the shock of his life when on Halloween, Alfred came down the stairs dressed as what could only be described as a fighter pilot, bomber jacket and everything. The American had smiled and said, 'Don't worry, I got one for you too!' before hurrying to the door and letting in Gilbert, Francis and Matthew, all in similarly themed outfits.

Full of trepidation, Arthur had climbed the stairs to his bedroom to find an old army uniform laid out on his bed. He wondered, after trying it on, how Alfred had known exactly what size to get him.

17) Alfred hadn't meant to overhear the pivotal conversation. His lecture had got out early, and the living room window was open, and Arthur was shouting, so he told himself he could hardly help it. They were talking about him, anyway, so he was practically entitled to hear it.

He tripped on air when Arthur yelled, "But I don't even know if he wants me to kiss him, you bloody frog!"

He fell flat on his face when Francis yelled back, "Stubborn prat, you've got to be the only one who doesn't!"

18) He'd tried to act nonchalantly when walking in the door, but the arguing pair must have realised something was up; Francis excused himself with barely a word more, and Arthur had put a hand on his arm, wondering what was wrong.

Alfred had muttered some pitiful excuse before going upstairs, trying to ignore the concern he'd seen in the other's eyes.

19) Alfred didn't have a problem with being in love with the Englishman. It was even better, in theory, that the Englishman was in love with him in return. But when it came to doing something about it, Alfred found himself unusually scared.

In the end, Arthur had made the first move, dropping a peck of a kiss on the American's lips one morning as he went to make his morning tea. It had taken only seconds for Alfred's mind to catch up; he'd grabbed his Englishman and pulled him back to the table, ignoring Arthur's squawk of "watch the bloody teacup!" as he did so.

20) Arthur, when asked, would unexpectedly laugh and say he'd not change anything for what he had at that moment. It reassured his and Alfred's friends that the Englishman was serious about them.

It had caused momentary panic when Alfred had cheerfully countered with, "actually, yeah, I'd change one thing if I could." He'd taken in the wide, worried green eyes and delayed as long as possible before making his declaration.

Arthur hit him again when his explaination was, "I'd tell him that seeing how I love him, he doesn't have to slap me to get my attention."

-*-