Hello! I had two ideas and decided to combine them. Those of you who read my other stories, I know, I know, I other stories that need to be updated, but I needed to type these ideas to see how they would turn out! Tell me what you think, okay?

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

(P.S. I've never been to Louisiana, so bear with me!)

Prologue: Counting Stars

It was a cool, calm night on the outskirts of Louisiana. The moon was a waxing crescent and the sky was filled with millions of stars. At this point, the nocturnal creatures were running about while the others took their rest.

A boy no older than nineteen years old was laying in the grass of a small farm with his eyes closed, yet he was not asleep. He had dirty blonde hair with a tuft of hair that seemed to take pleasure in defying gravity. He was wearing a brown bomber jacket over a plain white t-shirt and he had blue jeans on, yet he was not wearing any shoes. His face was childish, but mature at the same time with his well defined jaw and other manly attributes, giving him and attractive boyish look which would've looked more childish, had he not been wearing glasses. He opened his eyes and stared up at the stars, basking in their glow and the serenity that they brought him while his blue eyes twinkled in the low light and he smiled slightly.

'I'm so glad that I don't have to listen to all of those people on the weekends. I'd probably go insane.', he inwardly chuckled at his own statement, knowing that this wasn't a typical woe despite the fact that it sounded like one. Alfred was not antisocial by far, yet he did get annoyed when the thoughts of others plague his mind due to his inability to control his telepathy that no one knew about besides a select few trusted people. How he managed to keep it secret with his big mouth is beyond even himself.

He shifted his focus away from his thoughts and up to the sky and began counting the infinite amount of stars in the sky, '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12...'

"Alfred, where are you!?"

'Where is that boy?', Alfred heard the voice and thoughts of his old grandfather that owned the ranch that he was currently residing in.

"I'm over here, grandpa!", Alfred replied. Alfred listened as his grandfather's footsteps made his way over to him.

"What are you doing?", Alfred's grandfather asked, 'Counting stars again?'

Alfred smiled fondly at the fact that his grandfather that asked what he was doing despite the fact that he already knew, "You already know, grandpa."

His grandfather chuckled at sat down next to him a bit slowly due to his aging bones, "You've gotta stop reading my mind, boy." Alfred simply smiled at the man. Alfred's grandfather was an old man that had white hair, yet he had aged well. He looked like a forty-year-old Alfred, to be honest, and he was sixty-two. He glanced at his grandson, "You're right, though, so answer this question, Why are you counting stars?"

Alfred hesitated for a moment, not really knowing what to say, "I... I, uh, I've been losing sleep and have been coming here to look at the stars every time I stay at your house."

His grandfather rose an eyebrow, "Why?" 'Is he okay? He's not pushing himself too hard, is he?'

Alfred felt his heart warm a bit at his grandfather's concern, "Well, I've been dreaming about the things that I could be, what I could do, I don't want to count dollars anymore...", Alfred sighed and his grandfather hummed, "What do you mean by that last statement?" There was a short pause before Alfred spoke again, "I don't want to worry about paper and metal. ...Hey, pop, what did you want to be when you were my age?"

His grandfather smiled a bit, "Me? Well, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted money, unlike you, which is really strange because you want everything else." Alfred rolled his eyes and read his thoughts, finding that his grandfather was being truthful. "Let me tell you, though. I was not cut out for being a doctor. Just the sight of blood had me running for the hills!" A short laugh was shared between the two, "I was better cut out for field work, which is why I took up what used to be the family business and then I met your grandmother at the market... She was buying vegetables and I was selling. It was love at first sight. I sold her some cabbage and I gave her a bell pepper for free before saying, 'Hi! I'm David! What's yer name?', to which she replied with a smile and a blush, 'I'm Allison.' We began seeing each other more and more and we knew we were going to get married."

Alfred sighed a bit, "Grandpa, I already know this story." David let out a bark of laughter, "Doesn't hurt to be reminded, does it?" Alfred replied to this with a breathy chuckle.

"David? Alfred? Come inside! Dinner's ready!", Alfred's grandmother, Allison, yelled from the house.

"We'll be right there, dear!", David turned back to Alfred, "Come on, let's go see what she's made to poison us this time."

Alfred stuck out his tongue, but got up nonetheless and helped his grandfather up, who cracked his back upon standing, "Ah, that felt good." Alfred snickered at this and, together, the two made their way inside.

\( -_-)/

Despite the fact that it was night and they were in a place such as Louisiana, the city was still bustling with people. The door of a small bookshop was being locked by a vertically challenged man(compared to other men) with unruly blond hair. He wore a green sweater vest over a white button up and khaki pants with loafers. To top it off was a black peacoat that accentuated his curves, making it easier to mistake him as a woman from behind. Upon turning around, he shoved the key to the shop in the pocket of his coat, revealing striking emerald green eyes and equally striking large eyebrows. His face was rounded and delicate, but was marred with a scowl as he began walking down the streets.

'I'm going to see her tonight!'

'I wonder if Thomas fed the dog...'

'Gonna eat all the ice cream when me and mommy get home!'

The man's scowl grew deeper as the thoughts of everyone around him flooded into his mind, not being able to block them out at this particular moment for he was tired and hadn't had any time that morning for his usual tea. he couldn't wait to get home so the voices of peoples' thoughts would be quieter and a bit muffled upon closing the door. The man sighed and looked up at the sky that was shrouded in light pollution, blocking most of the sky besides the brightest of stars and the moon, as he walked. He counted the stars that were currently visible to him, 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven... That's it?' Arthur sighed, wishing he could see the sky more clearly. He sighed once again and continued onto his apartment.

...

"Peter, I'm home!", the green-eyed man said as he entered the relatively medium sized living space. Getting no reply as he set down his bag that he'd been carrying and placing his keys on the table, he called out again, "Peter?"

Then, he heard a quiet, child-like thought, 'Haha, I'm gonna get him this time! Be prepared, jerkface!'

The blonde man currently known as 'jerkface' smirked, 'Oh, I'm prepared alright, thanks to you.' Having no worries of Peter not being there, he casually made his way deeper into the apartment when a little boy jumped out of a closet in front of him, wearing a monster mask. Arthur was not phased at all, "Hello, Peter."

"You weren't scared, Arthur?", Peter said, disappointed, as he took of the mask. 'Damnit! I'll get him next time for sure!'

Arthur glanced at Peter, who is his little brother. Peter is a twelve-year-old boy who is about three fifths of Arthur's height. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and basketball shorts that were too big on him and has blue eyes and blonde hair that is a bit darker and a bit neater than Arthur's. Arthur shook his head and continued walking, "Watch your thoughts, Peter."

Peter huffed indignantly, "You curse all the time, jerk. Besides, you should really stop reading my thoughts." 'This jerk needs to mind his own business.'

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Well, Peter, how else will I know when you're lying to me? Besides, I'm tired today and cannot bother with trying to block out thoughts."

"Whatever, jerk.", Peter said as he walked past Arthur and into the entertainment room, "Oh, and Francis stopped by. He dropped off something I didn't bother to remember the name of and some eclairs."

Arthur frowned a bit, "I told that frog I didn't need him to bring me food! I am perfectly capable of getting food myself!"

"That may be, but I'm pretty sure he can cook way better than you can.", Peter pointed out with a smirk.

Arthur walked into the entertainment room with an appalled expression, "You're siding with that git? You traitor!"

"I was never on your side in the first place."

"I can not believe you would do this to me! You're own brother!"

"Oh, shut up. You know you love me.", Peter said as he began channel surfing.

Arthur shook his head, "Turn off the tele. You have school tomorrow."

Peter groaned, "But I already have straight one hundred marks in all of my courses! Haven't I already proved to be a capable human being?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "You most certainly have not. You are still a child. Besides, I used to get all perfect scores in grade school, but look where it's gotten me. Nowhere. I have a master's in Literature, yet nothing to do with it."

Peter shrugged, "Write a book, or something. I'm sure they'd recognize you, then, old man." 'Maybe...', Peter left the 'maybe' unspoken.

Arthur rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen, "I'm old, but I'm not that old, Peter."

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Until next time~!