"Morning, Artie!" Ally exclaimed, running up and swinging her arms around Arthur's neck. His muscles stiffened; he pushed her off of him after a moment of hesitation, as usual.
"Good morning to you too, Ally," he nodded, a slight smile playing across his lips. He brushed his perfectly-neat clothing as if something had happened to them that could have possibly messed them up.
"Oh, come on, old man," Ally rolled her eyes, talking his hand. "Nothing could happen to your clothes even if you waltzed through one of those wind tunnels that you see at the mall. Remember when we tried that? I thought it was super fun!"
"I know you did, Al," Arthur replied. He wouldn't bother reminding her that being just a year and three months, consequently being one grade level ahead of her, didn't make him an old man, because if he did it would just be lost on her, as usual.
The two met up with their rag-tag group of friends inside the crowded hallway. They mingled, chatting and giggling (albeit awkwardly in Ludwig's case) before the bell rang and they had to head off their separate directions to homeroom.
Ally glanced in either direction before planting a quick kiss against Arthur's lips. He reciprocated it gladly, fireworks pounding against the inside of his head and craving more time (though outwardly, of course, he'd never admit it). She gave him a coy smile and then walked away, leaving him to try to scrub the blush off his face with his palm. Everything was playing out as usual, so far.
Lunch time couldn't seem to roll around fast enough for Ally. Most of her morning classes were boring- trigonometry (triangles and ratios, whee), English (grammar, blech, who used that anymore anyway?)- except for her AP US History, but even that was painful today. There was no reason, as far as she could tell, besides the subject matter- no, wait, it was because she kept squirming impatiently and waiting for a time when she could see Arthur.
She'd seen him go into the office on one of her many "bathroom" breaks. She was a good student, yes, but she had the attention span of a two-year-old.
Why'd Artie have to go in there? She wondered as she began doodling on the top of her notes. He's a good kid now. He hasn't gotten in trouble in a long time. He must've just been having problems again- why couldn't he just come talk to her, like he normally did? Oh well. If he wanted to be the damsel-in-distress, then he could, by all means. She liked being the hero. Heroine. Whatever.
After way too freaking long, the teacher released the class and Ally was the first one out the door. She grabbed her Captain America lunch box ("It's vintage, and who doesn't love him?" she had cooed, before promptly whacking Francis over the head with it when he tried to grope her, proving its usefulness) and began looking for Arthur.
"Hi there," she smiled at him, leaning against one side of his locker. He jumped a little, and she laughed.
"I was expecting that bloody frog, not you," he defended. "Before you can embarrass either one of us any further, let's go." Ally began to head toward the lunch room, but Arthur stopped her. "I was thinking somewhere a little more ...private today, if you don't mind."
"Of course not," Ally replied because, hey, if it was more private there'd be a drastically higher chance of him actually doing something. Like a kiss. That'd be nice, she always liked kisses from him.
He lead them to a secluded bench in the back garden. "You remember this place?" he asked, and Ally nodded. This was the spot where she had told him, for the eighth time, that she wanted to be more than just friends, and he'd finally gotten over himself and said 'yes' to her date offer.
Small sprigs of lavender sat around the bench, and a strand of ivy curled delicately around the back. Ally jumped across the stone pathway, sitting down and motioning for him to join her. He sat down gingerly, as if he was trying not to disturb the bubble of romantic ambiance that surrounded them.
"It's so beautiful out today," Ally mentioned, the cool breeze running through her hair.
"Yes, it is," Arthur nodded in return. He had to bite his tongue to keep from adding 'but not half as beautiful as you'.
"Hey, Artie," Ally said suddenly after a few seconds of comfortable silence, swallowing the last bite of her inhaled sandwich. "What's bugging you today?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Arthur responded. There was no turning back now, and he hoped that he bloody well wasn't going to make too big of a fool out of himself.
"Alright, I'm all ears," Ally informed him, cupping her hands behind her yellow star barrettes with a cheeky grin.
"Listen, Al...I just...listen," he sighed, not being able to look into her blue eyes for fear of giving up. "Listen, I just need to talk to you about something...it's important."
Ally nodded again. "I'm still listening, Artie. You can tell me anything, remember?" She couldn't help but wonder what was tripping her boyfriend up so badly today. It was out of character for him, and it was starting to seriously freak her out. Was he going back to drinking and cigarettes, like he'd been hooked on completely when she first met him at the age of fifteen?
"I don't know the right way to say this, Ally," he said quietly, emerald green eyes looking down at his scuffed shoes. "But...maybe we should take a little break. See other people, experience the world..."
"Are you...you're-" Ally started, her voice breaking just slightly on the last word. She hoped he didn't notice, but at the same time she hoped he sort of did, just so that he could understand what the hell he was doing.
Arthur nodded, finally looking up and meeting her baby blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Al..."
That very moment was when Ally felt her carefully-constructed house-of-cards life crash down around her.
"It's okay," she muttered feebly. It was her turn to look away now.
"Thank you for understanding...I just need a little time, that's all. To sort things through and grow some more," he stood up. What on earth was he talking about? She didn't understand, not one bit. Things were going fine this morning! Maybe there was another girl- maybe he was secretly gay- maybe he never loved her in the first place and only put up with her for a year because of their history. Some gentleman he was.
"Do you still want to be friends?" he asked, timidly holding out a hand.
"No," she replied bluntly, biting her bottom lip. "Getting dumped and then staying friends is like having your dog die and then keeping it."
Arthur nodded after a second of thought. "Goodbye, Al," he gave a small wave, and then started walking away.
"You can't call me that any more," she whispered, but he was too far away to hear. She peered into her lunchbox, and then closed it with a look of utter disgust. With her stomach hovering down around her ankles, nothing seemed too appetizing anymore.
As he walked away, Arthur couldn't help but wonder what the bloody hell he'd managed to do. He still loved her, yes, but he just...couldn't keep doing what they were. He would rather have her know it in person than have her learn through a friend. It broke his heart, though, to see her with tears on the brink of her eyes, obviously crushed. In that way, he'd rather not know.
Arthur now considered himself the biggest royal git in the world.
Ally Jones was never one to skip class. For most girls, after getting dumped like that (no, she was the hero, and heroes didn't get dumped) would cause them to just leave for the rest of the day to go and cry and sulk. Ally, however, was different- she knew she had to push through, so after lunch she went to her science class.
She sunk quietly into her desk, and a melancholy air seemed to fill the room. Science was one of Arthur's favorite subjects, and although Ally didn't mind it, she was terrible in it, so she frequently got him to tutor her.
Arthur Kirkland...his name used to send her mind into a frenzy, heart pounding and a giddy smile on her face. Now all it did was make her want to cry, and then curl up in a ball and never see the daylight again. Heroes didn't cry or mope or be depressed, though, so she wouldn't.
When the teacher walked into the room, though, she couldn't help but turn from her chair and run to the bathroom. If heroes cried, no one ever saw them.
She was curled up in a ball in the corner of the girl's bathroom, almost underneath the sink, when she heard the door open. She tried to immediately hush her wails, hugging her knees tight up against her mouth and closing her eyes. That didn't work terribly well, though, because whenever she closed her eyes she saw him.
"Ally?" a familiar voice, no more than a whisper, called out. "Is that you?"
Ally cracked her eyes open. "Mattie?" Yep, it was Mattie, her softspoken twin sister. Her violet eyes, hidden underneath glasses, were shining in a combination of concern and plain-out fear. This was the best person that Ally could have by her side at the moment, she decided, grabbing her shoulders and hugging her as tight as she could, crying into her shoulder.
"What happened?" Mattie asked, rubbing her back in circles like their mother had done so many times for herself.
"Arthur," she choked out. Mattie froze for a second, not expecting the words that would come next. "He broke up with me, Mattie! Heroes don't get dumped!"
"He-" Mattie paused. What in the name...? She had no clue what to do, so she just sat there with Ally, rubbing her back and comforting her to the best of her ability. "You want to go home, Al?"
Ally looked up at her, eyes blurry and makeup smeared all over her face and Mattie's shoulder. "No...not really. And...and please don't call me Al right now."
Mattie nodded, respecting her sister's decision. "You know what, Ally?"
"What's that, Mattie?" Ally sniffed.
"If he was dumb enough to break up with you over something that he won't even tell you the reason for, then don't you think you deserve someone better, eh?"
"No...he just needed 'time to think'..."
"And in boy, that means 'I don't have a reason or I just don't want to tell you'," Mattie corrected. Though she hated Ally so upset, she knew of a certain boy who would be castrated in the near future. "You deserve much better than that ignorant Brit, and there is better out there. Trust me, Ally. It might not even be a guy- that's how it was in my case."
"But I'm not gay, Mattie! I don't care that you are, but all I want is him," Ally whimpered.
"Let's just go home," Mattie decided, standing up with Ally and walking out to the hall, Ally still clinging to the top of her school uniform.
"Would you care to explain to me what's going on that requires me to be out of class right now?" Ludwig asked, and Ally turned her head. Ludwig and Gillian were walking down the hall in the other direction, and Gillian spotted them at the same time.
"Oi, Birdie!" she smiled, coming over to give Mattie a hug (completely ignoring Ludwig), before noticing Ally. "What happened? Trip down the stairs or something?"
"Not now, Gil," Ally muttered, burying her face in Mattie's shoulder.
"Do you know what happened?" she asked Mattie, who sighed.
"Is it okay if I tell her, Ally?" Mattie asked her sister, and after giving no response she looked up at Gill. She couldn't exactly deny her girlfriend information...but she wasn't sure how Ally would feel about it. "Well, we're headed home because of it."
"Birdie, even if it's embarrassing to the n-th degree, I think you can tell me, because of the fact that I'm your girlfriend," and at the mention of the word 'girlfriend' Ally broke down in tears again. This just seriously wasn't her day, was it? "Arthur?"
"Heroes don't get broken up with," Ally protested softly. Silence rang through the hallway, Ludwig's jaw sufficiently dropped, before Gil stormed off.
"I'm going to go get Francis to give that dickface a piece of my mind," she exclaimed to herself. "What does he think he's doing? Last time I talked to him, which was, I don't know, this morning, he was fine with everything! ...Francis!"
Gil spied him through the classroom window, and after catching his eye contact, ducked so that no one else would see her. Not like they'd do anything, or even really care. It was just cool, it made her seem like a ninja or something.
"I need you to do something for me," she instructed as he closed the door. "Figure out what stick Eyebrows has up his ass today, and if you can, see if you can persuade him to get back together with Ally."
Francis paused, looking at her. "Mon cher broke up with her?" Gil nodded in reply, hearing Ally's sniffs and sobs echoing through the halls. They'd started to calm down, which was a good sign, but they were still there. Even though she wasn't all that fond of her, too much like herself to really get along with, no one deserved to get messed up if they didn't deserve it- and last time Gil checked, she didn't. "This isn't good, no..."
"No shit, Sherlock."
"I have to go find him and talk some sense into him..." Francis said, ignoring Gil's comment. He had a look of utter shock on his face.
"Okay, seriously? What did I just go ask you to do? You're as oblivious as Antonio today," Gil replied, arms above her head at that point, while Ludwig caught up to his sister.
"Something's seriously wrong with Arthur," Ludwig mentioned.
Gil turned and faced her brother, hands on her hips and looking up at him with a ferocious glare. "You think?"
"Do you have any idea what it might be?" Ludwig asked, running a hand through his gelled hair, which in Gil's opinion totally defeated the purpose.
"No...but I have a feeling Francis does."
"Let's hope that feeling is correct."
Francis searched the halls, making sure to avoid the windows to any major classrooms, and then he had sort of an 'eureka' moment. He snuck through a door and then up the flights of stairs, finally opening the last door and finding Arthur sitting on the roof. He quietly went and sat next to him.
"Arthur?" he asked, lightly putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. He swatted it away, moving his arm back to where it had been crossed on top of his knees.
"Go away, frog," he muttered.
"What is wrong, mon mignon?" Francis asked, moving his hand back to himself. He was flirtatious, sure, but he knew when to back off, and now was one of those moments. When he could hear the tears lining his friend's voice, that was when it was time to back off.
"I thought I told you to go the hell away, frog," Arthur demanded in a shaking voice. He turned his face to Francis, who wasn't exactly shocked to see the bloodshot eyes and tear streaks down his round cheeks.
"Why did you do it?" Francis asked him after a second of silence between them.
Arthur leaned his head down to his hands. "I didn't want to...I still love her. I'm the biggest bloody idiot in the entire bloody universe."
"Then, why, mon cher?" Francis questioned, blue eyes soft.
"I know for a fact that long-distance relationships don't work, and my flight to England leaves at four in the morning."