"Hey! Wait up!"

"Hmm?" the tall blond boy turned around half way to see his best friend who was also quite tall and blonde. As the boy came closer, Matthew started walking again.

"Hey Mattie! What do you say to hanging out this weekend?"

"Hmm…well, I've got a lot of work to do… but…"

"..But?" Alfred said with wider eyes than before.

"...I'll go. But I can't tomorrow, so...Sunday."

"Okay! Great!"

Alfred then glanced up to see his younger sister just ahead, reading her book, waiting on her brother. She was leaning against the wooden fence behind her, just around the corner from the paved road Al and Mattie were walking down. He fared his goodbyes to Mattie, and ran to catch up with his sister, since he knew she was not a very patient person.

The next morning, Matthew woke up, and started getting ready for the day. He put on his sweatpants and T-Shirt, and walked downstairs. He woke up early this morning, because he wanted to jog. He usually jogged in the mornings, especially if he wanted to think about things, and today, he had several things to think about.

About a mile later, Matthew realized it was Saturday. Only just over a day until I go hang out with Alfred. Alfred was a bit of a tricky subject for poor Matthew, because Matthew was just coming to terms with himself, and knew that Al would never, ever think of him as more than a buddy. Matthew goes over to Al's house most weekends, because they play plenty of video games together, and Alfred has basically dubbed him "gaming buddy".

Alfred's light brownie hair glistened in the morning sun light through the shades of his window blinds as he was lying in bed, snuggled underneath his blankets. He sat up against his pillow to a reclined slouch and put his glasses on. He thought to himself for a little bit.

Why would this time be different? Alfred knew all too well that Mattie, to him, was just a guy who he played many video games with. He also was almost certain that Mattie was straight, but too quiet to talk to any girls. So, Al had no reason to think that something would happen between him and Mattie this time...yet...he couldn't stop himself from thinking about his best friend in that way. He groaned inwardly; he was aware of what happened in unrequited love. And, he knew that if he kept feeling like this for the rest of the day, that his karma would get him.

He happened to see the calendar in his room, and just about jumped a foot in the air. Mattie was coming over tomorrow, Sunday. Sunday, July 1st. Mattie's birthday. I gotta get something for him or something tomorrow. And that's when he thought "Oh yeah, Niagara Falls! Mattie loves that place! ...And...it'd be a perfect place to tell him - No! I can't do that! What if he doesn't like me back? That'd be a terrible birthday!" The poor boy sighed in defeat - there just wasn't a way for everyone to win. It was Mattie's birthday though, so he was going to give him whatever would make him happy.

Alfred heard a knock on his door and raced with his sister to go answer it. His sister won. She opened the door to see who it was, and saw it was Mattie.

"Oh, hey Matt. What's up? Borrowing a game again?"

The boy looked down at her short, young stature. Then peered above her to see her brother just behind her.

"Oh, no, I'm going to hang out with Alfred today around town."

The little girl then had a smile on her face as she said "Sooo...like a date then?"

At impact of those few words, both boys grew stiffened and blushed a pretty pinkish red color across their cheeks.

"No! We're just hanging out! It's his birthday, so I thought we should do something, since his parents are never here."

"Hmm...Still sounds like a date to me."

"Okay, fine. It's a date. Now, excuse me, but I've got to go now sis, I'll see you later."

Alfred walked out the door, and grabbed his bike from the side of the house, and went off with Mattie down the road. They biked for awhile, and soon arrived at a Cafe in the town center.

They went inside and decided that for breakfast, they'd order some hotcakes with maple syrup and fruit. The two blonde boys finished up quickly and then went to go see The Campaign at the dollar movie theatre, since it was the last week showing.

"3:14 p.m." Wow. Time's flown a bit. "Hey, It's time we started biking up to Niagara Falls, it'll take like, two hours to get there. And I'd like to get there early on in the Lights Show." Alfred said positively. Both boys went to their bikes, and sat down, soon riding off down the road. The boys started talking about videogames and music as always during the first hour of their journey. Then, they quieted down as they grew a bit tired from biking. They arrived finally at "The Tower", just a few kilometers away from Niagara Falls itself. They laid down on the grass for a bit, tired from the long bike ride. After a little while, Mattie looked over at his watch. "5:36 p.m."

Mattie got back up, and and walked over to a vending machine and got them both waters. They both sat back, drinking their waters, just relaxing as they could feel strength coming back to them.

The Canadian boys both got up and started up the stairs of The Tower, to go see the whole of the gigantic waterfall. It's so beautiful. No wonder why Mattie loves to come here. They looked out the large, thick windows, and saw the Falls up close. For Alfred, this was his first time, but for Mattie, it was his third. Al was born in the U.S., but moved up to Canada for his father's new job, which was why he hadn't seen this before. But for Matthew, he was a Canadian at the moment he was born. His parents were both natives, as were his grandparents.

"Hey Al, look over there." The Canadian pointed over to a few men in yellow vests and black pants, as they were starting to disperse around the Falls. Matt knew what this meant. He giggled softly, and remembered back to his first time there. He was with his mother and grandparents, 9 years ago. Remembering that made him feel so much older. He then stopped, and peeked a look over at his best friend. He got a good look at his face up close. It seemed that his skin was a bit soft, and his long face seemed to look good on him. His blonde hair was quite fluffy, and his light brown-green eyes sparkled with joy as he peered out the windows. His face was just so happy, looking at the natural wonder.

"...hey, isn't it spectacular?" He said this because Alfred seemed to be slightly shocked.

"Yeah, it is." His smile still hadn't faded. And neither had Matt's.

"Hey, what time is it Mattie?"

It now read "7:20 p.m." on Matthew's watch. "Oh, Al, we should start heading over to the other side now, I'd like to get a nice spot."

"Good idea."

The boys went back downstairs, and tailed it over to the other side on their bikes. By the time they got to the actual parking lot, a half hour had flown by. They decided to bike all the way through the long parking lot, and ride a bit down the hill through the trees, past the clearing. The two boys then hopped off their bikes, and ran the rest of the way to the shore. As they finally reached there, The Illumination of Niagara had begun. Beautiful, colorful lights had turned the white and blue water into a neon-colored haze of a loud, beautiful scenery. The best friends looked at it in awe. A close-up view of the colorful watery sky which lit up the dark sky so beautifully, as if an aurora had become something to be seen on the ground. Breathless, they just stood there, viewing the incredible sight. It felt like hours had flown by, even though it was probably about 20 or so minutes. Standing there, feeling like the world still hadn't shown it's true beauty to them. Finally, Matthew grabbed Alfred's hand and invited him to sit down with him. They continued to gaze. And then, as if Matthew had planned it, just as their bottoms sat down on the soft grass, the sky also began to light up. Fireworks.

"Woah, this is...so beautiful." They both continued to look up, but every other minute both boys would inch closer to each other, both oblivious that they were doing so. Both boys had a flourished face, and were a bit on edge. Matthew peeked over at his best friend, and then quickly looked at the stars. Then, he made a daring move. He intertwined his fingers in Al's quickly, and then made an effort to lay down with him, still looking at the stars. Both boys had completely red faces.

Alfred's mind was racing. Why did he do that? Am I imagining things? Does this mean he likes me? Or is this just because we're looking at fireworks? He glanced over at Mattie, and saw his face was tomato red. At least, I'm not the only awkward one. But...what if he's only doing this because he thinks I like him? Or worse, what if he didn't even mean to, and now he thinks he's being foolish? As if to confirm some thoughts in his head, the blonde looked over at the other, staring at him, with his face still completely red.

"Al. You...You're my best friend. You have always stood up for me and with me, you've always understood me best, and you're the greatest person to hang out with.

'Great. He...sorta likes me' thought Alfred.

"...but..."

... 'but'?

"I...lately have thought of you as more than just a best friend."

Matthew's face flourished even redder than it was before, and was glowing at this point. He leaned over closer to Alfred's face, inching ever closer. Their noses were touching, and Matthew closed the distance between their faces, and pecked Al's lips. But he felt he wanted more than that. He lightly licked his best friend's lips, asking for entrance. His tongue slipped into the other boy's mouth, and started to dance with the other tongue.

So he DOES like me in that way then - they both thought.

Matthew pulled Al's body ever closer to him, hugging him tightly, as Al hovered over Matthew, their chests slowly pressing against each other, with Alfred's right arm on the grass, sitting next to Mattie's head, and his left holding Mattie's head closer to him. The boys were competing vigorously over dominance in their heated embrace, under the illuminated sky of beautiful fire flowers.

A/N: This story has been re-uploaded due to improper rating (which is now proper) and will continue to upload once a day until January 7th 2014. Edits to the chapters may occur to reserve it's former story soon.

Note: Alfred's younger sister is Fem!America with a flatter chest.

Stay tuned~

~*Kisane-chan*~