Disclaimer: web comic, anime, merch etc. as well as the characters in this fic belong to Himaruya Hidekaz. The story as well as any OC's are my own.

I'm starting another story! Yay! :D So this is my second Hetalia fic, and the 1st one with an actual pairing...

Some things to know: —I'm trying out a new writing style. First person present tense, which will give it sort of a stream of consciousness kind of feel... Sort of. Kind of.

— Since I'm writing from Alfred's pov, it's not my usual writing style, aka I sound like Alfred. Get it?

— I'm working on 3 other fics at the moment... updates will be slow in coming, but they will always come. So don't you worry your pretty little head!

Overall warnings for this fic: This fic is rated M for smut, language, alcohol abuse and (minimal) noncon. Possibility of light BDSM is still being considered.

Warnings for this chapter: language

Enjoy~!

Zepphyra~

This situation… It's interesting.

"And that concludes the meeting today. You're all dismissed. Damn it, Gilbert!" Ludwig turns angrily to his brother, who is a few seats down the table.

He's sitting next to Arthur. And the anti-social bookworm is being hit on. Yes, he is being hit on, by Gilbert Beilschmidt.

It's a very interesting situation.

Of course, Arthur looks pissed. When does he not? But the thing that's getting me right now is that it's not the "get the fuck away" kind of pissed, it's the "stop that, this is embarrassing" pissed. The fact that he's putting up with this instead of punching Gilbert in the face, and is just docilely gathering his documents into his briefcase, is somewhat shocking to me.

"Hey," I say, coming up behind them. Arthur can take care of himself, and I trust him. But my hand still wanders to rest lightly on his lower back. Just because. "Ready to go?" This is… irritating, to say the least.

I always stay with Arthur when we have any meetings in England, unless of course I need to be back right away. So we're heading back to his home together.

Arthur sighs before he replies to me. "Yes… But I hope you don't mind going drinking tonight." He says it as though he's reluctant to do so.

I shrug rather apathetically. "I don't care. With who?"

"Me." Gilbert butts in with a mischievous grin plastered onto his face.

"Not only this bastard, but Carriedo and the frog as well." Arthur adds despairingly.

I understand exactly where he's coming from now. "Oh." I say, unsure of how else to reply.

"Yes… But," Arthur stops talking when the trio begins to leave. "Hold on, the three of you!" He shouts in his teacher voice. "I have to warn you about something. I was already planning on drinking with… one of my brothers tonight."

Francis raises an eyebrow. "Oui? Which one?"

Arthur rubs his forehead in weary annoyance. "That fucking skirt-wearing sheep shagger…"

"Oh! Scotty's coming?" Gilbert hums excitedly.

Francis nods in approval. "It'll be nice to see Allistor again…" I grimace slightly. His smile is way too lecherous.

Arthur rolls his eyes. "Whatever. We're going to the usual place, alright?"

At this, Arthur promptly drags me out of the room.

"This is a disaster." He was saying. "The last time that that damned frog had any long-term contacts with Allistor, the idiot tried to help him rebel against me! Me, who has ruled his lands for years upon years! But it serves that bloody cunt right for being such a sodding bastard to me when I was but a young little pagan nation. That damned—"

"Arthur." I interrupt him mid-rant, trying to ignore the fact that he just said the forbidden c word. "Shut up." I pull him over to me in a one-armed hug and kiss the top of his head. "Chill out. You need to un-bunch your knickers, and let loose a little. Everyone needs to do it sometime."

Arthur throws me an irritated sidelong glance. "I hardly believe that you know what you're talking about." He mutters.

"What do you mean? Of course I—"

"Just how much do you think that you know about me?" he snaps suddenly. "Maybe if you took the time to try to get to know me better, I wouldn't seem as one-dimensional as you apparently believe me to be."

Oh. So he's going down that road, is he?

"Well, maybe if we actually tried to spend more time with each other that might be possible for me." I reply moodily. "And I could be complaining about the same thing right now, but I'm not! Your ritzy fucking ass doesn't know me at all. Maybe at one point you used to, but not anymore." I know that this stings him. I can see it, plain as day on his face. But I don't care. His accusations are going to be met with my accusations, as they should be.

… But maybe some things should be left unsaid. Maybe this time I did go a bit too far. As he stomps off with his briefcase, I start to think. What if we did spend more time together? A weekend when neither of us are working, or a holiday that we share. We haven't done that since… well, since I was one of his colonies.

A sigh escapes me. Well, that's sort of what tonight is, I suppose. It's a Friday night. The start of a weekend. So… I guess the boss wouldn't begrudge me this weekend in England?

"What's wrong?" Someone asks quietly from behind me.

"Who the—Oh, it's you, Matt." I sigh again, and he raises an eyebrow.

"It's highly unusual for you to be down about something. Talk." He throws an arm over my shoulder as we walk to the exit.

Honestly, I'm a bit hesitant to tell him. He's my little brother, but that doesn't mean that he would understand.

"How well… do you know Arthur?" I ask tentatively.

"Huh?" The question had obviously caught him off guard. "Why?"

"Just… is there anything that you know that I don't know?"

Matthew sighs and rolls his eyes. "Alright. What did he say this time, eh? Did you two fight again?"

"No, well," I start to deny it, but… what was said, it's making me think. "I don't know if it was a fight or not. I feel like I said something bad to him… We feel like we don't know each other anymore, and I don't know what to do about that. I don't know what he wants." I shove my hands into my pockets and scowl. "If I'm perfectly honest, it does kind of hurt, him saying that I don't even know him. But well, all we've really been doing since the first Great War is having sex. We barely even have conversations, and when we do, we're usually fighting… and we're supposedly dating?"

"Well… Maybe Gilbert knows, eh." Matthew suggests.

"Probably." I scowl as we get into a taxi. "You really should watch him, ya know?"

"What do you mean?"

"He was hitting on Arthur."

This causes both of Matthew's thin, blonde eyebrows to arch suspiciously. "Well, that's irritating."

"Tell me about it."

"But," he says slowly, turning his head to look out the window. "I trust him. He was probably just playing around like usual. He does that—him, Antonio and Francis all do that."

I nod, but I nudge Matthew's mind back onto the real issue. "But listen, Arthur just sat there and took it, which is really weird for him, know what I mean? And why would Gilbert of all people do that in the first place, to Arthur of all people?"

"Huh. Good point. Well, maybe we can ask him later."

"You ask. He actually treats you as an equal." I grumble.

"Eh? What do you mean? Does he not respect you?"

"Nah…" I reply dejectedly. "He calls me 'scout' and treats me like a child. When he isn't treating me like a child, he treats me like a military subordinate. It kinda sucks."

Matthew's eyes become huge. "You let him order you around?" He asks slowly, clearly in shock.

"Well," I shrug, slightly embarrassed. "Not really… but yeah. I mean, he was the guy that trained me before I broke away from England, ya know? He's like… super strong and cool! Despite his massive personality flaws I really admire the guy…"

"Hmm… Ya know, I'm just going to ignore that comment on Gil's personality… But otherwise, should I be at all worried?" Matthew throws me a suspicious sidelong glance.

"What?! Eww! Nah, man, he's way too kinky for me! I mean I can do kinky but he's fuckin' hard core, like S&M and all that other strange shit, man! You can keep him, bro!"

Matthew laughs out loud as the taxi slows. "Well, this is me. I'll see you—"

"Hey!" I call, stopping both him and the taxi momentarily. "Come to the usual bar tonight, everyone's hanging out there!" I bid him farewell with a smile and a wave as he walks off into a lovely high rise hotel.

I didn't expect Arthur to already be at home when I arrived. Well, he did leave earlier than I. He was already rifling through his closet like a madman, trying to choose his clothing for tonight.

"We're going to fix this!" He says, with an excited gleam in his eye. "We're going to get to know each other better, starting tonight!"

I sigh, grabbing his arm and pulling his body into mine. He glances up at me in surprise, perhaps about to speak, before I place a soft kiss on his lips. I hug his body tightly to mine, and rest my head on his shoulder, turning my face into the soft skin of his neck.

"I'm sorry." I murmur, brushing my nose against the soft hair of his neck.

He's roughly shoving me off of him, sputtering nonsense mixed in with obscenities. I can't help but smile a bit.

He holds me at arm's length and stares at me for a moment. I'm not sure what he's thinking, but his lips curve up into a very dangerous, feral smirk that almost scares even someone like me. But then I dismiss this look as just being the lighting.

"You're going to find out some things about me tonight, Alfred." He murmurs.

Fuck. He's using his bedroom voice. Why is he using his bedroom voice? Why?

He swiftly grabs a bundle of clothing and some other things off of our bed and flies into the bathroom.

"Don't come in!" He calls out to me.

"What are you, a girl?!"

A small groan of frustration escapes my lips. Maybe that's what he meant when he was saying that we'd fix this… that I'd learn something new about him tonight.

In bed.

I don't even know.

I pull off my jacket and toss it on the floor, before tugging off my tie and loosening my shirt around the collar. Damn, I hate meetings. It means I have to dress up. I sit on the bed and unlace my dress shoes. These are really pretty comfortable though, and I like this brand.

Come to think of it, on a completely different train of thought, I've never hung out with Arthur after a meeting like this unless it's just around the house…

So something might be different, indeed.

As I look toward my suitcase, it hits me.

"Artie," I call sheepishly.

"What!" He grouses.

"Umm… I kinda need to go out to get another change of clothes,"

"What?!" he shrieks.

That wasn't a flinch, that was just a muscle spasm! I swear! "Uh—err…"

"Well, nothing for it, then." Arthur says in exasperation. "We'll go shopping when I'm finished readying myself."

I sigh, looking at myself in the mirror. Well, I look good enough to go out again. My shirt is still tucked in, and only a couple of the buttons at the top are unbuttoned. Arthur shouldn't scold me too much… After all, this is how he shows up to less formal conferences. The hypocrite.

"You're slow, old man." I mutter.

"I can hear you!"

I'm pacing now. When were we meeting again? I know we're not anywhere near being late yet, but it bothers me not being able to remember the time. Did I even get a time?

"Hey, Arthur, was there even a time set for tonight?" I feel a scolding coming on.

"No, you git! Did you hear me set a time?"

Woah. Sass, much? I roll my eyes and flop on the bed.

"Alright…"

The door to the bathroom is flung open wide with a bang, making me jump.

"Get your arse off of my bed!"

… Well, fuck me sideways with a shot gun.

I see something very hot in front of me. I do, I do. I mean, can those jeans get any tighter? How hard did he have to work to get them on? Is he wearing anything under them? Probably not…

Just… the way that those jeans accent the curves of his legs… and his ass… and that…

"Oi. Earth to Captain America." He snaps his fingers impatiently in front of my face. "You have plenty of time to ogle when you're walking. Now move."

My eyes slowly come back into focus on his face. Are those…

"You have piercings? The fuck is this shit?!" I'm pretty sure I'm beginning to get a sensory overload.

I see an industrial, a tragus, and three ear lobe piercings from the left, and 3 helixes and four ear lobe piercings on the right. Damn right I know my piercings! It's just not my thing, personally. Well, okay, I had one once. Once! As in it's gone now! But shit! He's even got a lip piercing (Thank God there's only one, I don't fucking know about kissing him with that thing…) and a fucking nose piercing! What the fucking hell!

Arthur merely rolls his eyes at my shock and awe. We're already downstairs. I didn't even notice. But he just looks… So him. I've never seen him so fully in his element before…

Unless of course, we're talking about back then.

"You—your hair." I manage to stutter only once. "It's green?"

"Rather, I rinsed it in the sink to reveal green streaking, yes."

… He's just so perfect. I try to get a look at what shoes he's wearing, but we're walking out the door now. As he locks it, I take the chance to look down. And he's wearing black and white high tops. Awesome.

"Woah. Dude, when did you get your lip pierced? How come I didn't ever notice this shit?!" I'm honestly confused.

"It's because I wear retainers where necessary. But since my lip is healed completely, and has been for years, I only wear a retainer to meetings. With you, I take it out… And you never see me in casual dress, other than pajamas. So… you simply never see this sort of thing... Actually, I may have sort of been going out of my way to hide this from you." He finishes quietly.

I love the way his studded and spiked leather jacket clings to his body. It really gives him an edgy look, without being too biker-ish.

… People are staring.

I don't think I realized until tonight just how… alluring and truly striking Arthur really is.

"Okay, here we are." I jolt slightly at the sound of Arthur's voice near my ear.

"Where?"

"This store is the one that I think you'll like best."

"Um, no way, bro." I shake my head. It's like, an English version of Pac Sun or some shit. I may be blonde and American but I'm not a hipster or a "surfer boy". I swear to all things American, if he tries to get me to Hollister… That's shit's way over-priced.

"Wait a sec," I stop him as we walk down the street. "What about this place? …Urban Outfitters? This looks good!" I head inside.

"Wait, Alfred, I'll have to help you with the sizing!"

As soon as I walked in, though, I found it. It's a white t-shirt, but there's blue in it, so Arthur won't bitch about it not matching my eyes. That's the first good point. The second good point is that it's Star Wars. There's Bobba Fett and Darth Vader, and honestly, it's really funny. The funniness is another good point. I show it to Arthur, who just rolls his eyes and picks out the correct size for me. This shit's still way over priced. But it's less… prep school than Hollister. Not that I'm totally hating on that store. But Pac Sun (which I just dissed) has better jeans. I shake my head, willing myself back onto the current situation. Woohoo! ADD!

"Let's go and get you some pants, then…"

A feeling of dread suddenly washes over me.

"Um, Artie?"

"Yes, love?"

"Why… are all of the jeans so tight-looking? I don't see any that I might be able to fit in…"

Arthur sighs. "Because that's just the type of store this is. But look, we don't have time to be going to a different store right now, time's getting on. Now pick some jeans."

Ugh. Pressure. But I don't really care which ones, so… "Okay, these." I say, pointing to a pair of rather tight fitting, grayish jeans.

"Now shoes…"

"Shit! I need socks. Do I really have to buy socks, too?"

Arthur smirks. "I hardly find buying such a thing necessary. So I brought you some of mine. Now pick some shoes… But there's not much of a selection, unfortunately."

Hmm. What to pick… Oh.

"I like those."

"Oh, honestly! Can't you just get some other type?"

"No."

They remind me of my own boots back home. Only, these are suede, and… they're not boots. At all. But really! They look like them!

Arthur sighs. He is supremely annoyed.

"Argh. Fine. I'll get another pair of shoes…" But only because I don't need something so similar to what I have already.

So I pick some blue high-top Vans from the small bunch of shoes and turn to Arthur moodily.

"These good enough for you?"

He crosses his arms and leers at me. The ass. "I really want to see you in those jeans."

We check out, and leave the store, me being the only uneasy one out of the two of us. Arthur is gonna do something else tonight… Not just this whole, 'oh yeah, I'm actually a total punk' but also something else… He's being sly. He's not acting too much more different than usual though. It's me that's being overly suspicious… I should just shake all of this off.

"Hey, Artie!" I call. He's seriously getting ahead of me. Not good! "Where am I gonna change my clothes, huh?"

"Tube station toilet."

"Why can't we just walk to the pub?"

He gives me a look. "Because it's too far, you twit. You and I could walk it, but it'd take much too long."

Well, then.

People are still staring at Arthur as we go down the stairs into the subway station. So honestly, now I am feeling a bit possessive. It's been going on for a while, and there's only so much I can take. I slip my arm around his waist, hugging him a bit closer. I don't look at him, but I hear him make a small noise, probably of embarrassment. I try to use my peripheral vision to see if he's blushing… I think he might be.

"What the hell, Alfred?" He mumbles.

"You're really hot. You have a ton of sex appeal. I already knew that, but… Seeing it outside of the bedroom, and seeing others respond to that sex appeal is a little…"

Arthur huffed. I can't tell if he's annoyed or embarrassed.

"Alright." He stops the both of us. "Here, the men's toilets. Now get in there and change, I'll wait here."

"Hell no! You're coming with me."

"Wh—why?"

I lead a baffled Arthur into the bathroom with me.

"You can use the toilet yourself, I hope?" Arthur's brow raises a tick, and a smile plays at his features.

I scowl. "Of course I can. Geez! I'm just changing, anyway!" I just want him to be close, so that I know if anyone is making a move on him…

So I stuff all of my dress clothes into the shopping bad and throw the new clothes on. The t-shirt is really comfy. But the jeans… They're a bit… snug?

I feel slightly self conscious stepping out of the stall. The heat in my face grows as Arthur takes a once over.

"Hmm." He pulls me to that area by the door where there are sinks and stuff. "Look at yourself."

I don't really want to. But I do anyway.

Honestly though, I like what I see.

"Turn around, here." Arthur murmurs, adjusting my body a bit. "Just look at that ass."

Now I'm watching my face turn bright red incredibly fast. Wow, that's not a fun thing to do.

"Embarrassed?"

Where the fuck did this Arthur come from? Is he gonna rape me? Ha. I almost have to laugh at the thought of Arthur topping anyone.

"Come." He's saying, leading me out of the bathroom now. He gestures to the array of subway trains. "Ours will be arriving soon."

… I have to ask. I can't fucking take this any longer.

"What the fuck is going on?"

Arthur smiles innocently. "Nothing, dear. I'm out on the piss, as usual."

"…What?" I think I'm stunned.

"Ugh. You twit! I'm out to get plastered, sloshed, drunk as fucking get out!" He crosses his arms with a scowl.

I swear, this guy's facial expressions change every second. I love it.

"Oh!" He exclaims. "The tube is here."

As we step onto the train, I feel someone groping my ass.

"—The fuck?" I spin around, only to see Arthur with a mischievous grin on his face.

He's sure being a pervert, today. Is he usually like this? Thing is, I don't know what's usual and what's unusual for him at all. All I know is his break room snarkiness, his dinner time manners, his sex face, and then the morning after stuff. Which occasionally was a bit awkward.

I suddenly feel like I don't belong. Because maybe the distance is a bad thing. I'm strong, and I'm the dominant one here, this was just assumed. I don't know what I'd do if he actually tried to make a move on me… I mean, trying to push me down into submission or something. If I ever got a dick shoved up my ass, my pride wouldn't be able to take it.

But… maybe everyone else over there on mainland Europe knows way more about my Artie than I do. It kind of… makes me mad. I hug him, which startles him slightly.

"Honestly, what's with you, you big oaf?" He asks in mild irritation. But he doesn't push me away.

All I can really make myself answer with is, "I really don't know anything about you."

I posted the next chapter along with this one! Yay! Go read the next chapter :D