Chapter One

The bright glare of the harsh sun filtered in through the gap of the curtains as Arthur Kirkland slept. His arm was draped over the side of his double bed and A Tale of Two Cities, the book that he had stayed up late reading was flopped open on the floor. Arthur's chest rose and fell as he slept; his messy blonde locks shimmered slightly in the beam of sunlight. His desk was still cluttered from his late-night studying that he had abandoned in favour of starting his book.

He was awoken from his slumber by the shrill blare of his alarm on his phone, alerting him that it was Monday and that he needed to get up for school. His eyes opened mechanically, and his eyes glared at his phone as he shut it off. He sat up, yawned and ruffled his sleep-affected locks. He showered, picked an outfit and dressed.

When he had finished getting dressed he gathered up his things and left his bedroom. His knuckles rapped on the door next to his; the room of Peter Kirkland, Arthur's little brother. He sighed to himself, Peter was fifteen and yet he still had to be woken up by his seventeen-year-old brother.

"Peter, get up! It's Monday! You have school!"

A groan was heard from the other side of the wooden barrier and Arthur chuckled to himself before heading downstairs.

Their living room was immaculate as usual. Their mother liked to keep things neat and clean, though Arthur thought it was too clean. He liked a room to have a "lived-in" atmosphere which was why his room was typically cluttered with books and papers. He dumped his school bag on the sofa and made himself a cup of tea, another morning ritual. His mother would already be at work, she was a College professor but she liked to get to work early to prepare for her classes. Arthur was incredibly close to his mother and was immensely proud of her. She was a single mother who had managed to bring up two boys very well. Arthur and Peter both had good childhoods and they had all of the materials they needed. Sure, they weren't rich but they weren't struggling. They had made the move to America from England a few years ago, and they were doing fairly well. They lived in a nice suburban neighbourhood and both Arthur and Peter went to a multinational school for gifted students. Though, with some students it was difficult to see how they were gifted. He suspected that their parents offered the school lots of money for their child to be accepted. He knew that was a fairly common occurrence for schools like his.

Arthur had finished his tea as he heard Peter thudding down the stairs. He checked his watch, if they left now they would get to school exactly on time which was an unusual thing for the Kirkland brothers as they were usually late.

"Ready, Peter?" Arthur asked, cocking a thick eyebrow at Peter's outfit. The younger Kirkland was going through a punk/Goth phase and was dressed entirely in black. When asked about his recent outfit choices, Peter had argued that Arthur had dressed like that before and it had made him "wicked-popular." What Peter didn't know was that Arthur cringed whenever he thought of his punk phase, what had he been thinking?

"Ready," Peter replied sleepily, his rucksack already slung over his shoulders.

Arthur grabbed his house keys, placed his own rucksack on his shoulders and exited the house. He locked the front door and the two brothers began the walk to school.

Arthur was relieved to see that they had indeed arrived at school on time. His relief quickly subsided when he saw a particular Frenchman waiting for him at the school entrance. Francis had gleaming ocean blue eyes, shoulder-length hair, a slight stubble, was dressed in his typical flamboyant attire and was a complete pain in the arse. Francis was flanked by his two friends, Gilbert, the albino German and Antonio, the brunette, tanned Spaniard. The trio were the kind of students that made Arthur wonder about the schools "gifted" status.

Peter rushed off, having spotted his friends and Arthur was left alone with the trio.

"Ah, morning Arthur!" The Frenchman waved. "Have you heard the news?" Francis asked, obviously wanting to share some gossip with the Brit.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "How could I have heard the news? I've only just got here."

Francis continued, undeterred; "Ah yes, of course! Well, we've heard rumours that we're going to be getting some new students!" Francis practically squealed, excited. New students were a rarity at their school, and two at the same time, well that was even more unusual.

Arthur shrugged, disinterest lacing his words. "Right. And how do you know this?" Arthur asked, not really bothered but Francis wouldn't move until he'd finished and he was blocking the entrance.

"Toni's mother is on the government board," Francis explained. Antonio nodded to confirm this.

"Ah, of course. " Arthur rolled his eyes. How could he possibly forget that? "Well, is that all you wanted to tell me?" Arthur asked; keen to actually get inside the school. The sun was blaring down on him, making his blonde hair stick to his forehead; it was too hot to be standing around talking.

"No, there's more," Francis continued. "Apparently, they're in our year and they're twins!" he announced.

"Okay, that's great Francis." Arthur moved forwards, towards the door but Francis didn't move. "Now, I need to go into school. Some of us are actually here to study and excel," Arthur snapped at him, impatient and eager to start his lessons on time for once.

"We already do excel, that's why we're here," Francis retorted, smug.

Arthur turned and gave Francis a measured look. "Well, I think some of us could do with a little improvement."

This gained strong laughter from both Antonio and Gilbert whilst Arthur enjoyed the insulted expression on Francis' face. Stupid frog…He went inside and found his first class which was English. Arthur smiled; English was his favourite lesson and he had managed to annoy Francis, what a good start to the day.

About half an hour into the lesson, the classroom door flung open and Arthur paused writing his essay on To Kill a Mockingbird to look up and see what had caused the disturbance.

"I think this is the right room, Mattie!"

Arthur's eyes widened as the speaker brought the piece of paper he had been holding down from his face. The teenager, who Arthur assumed to be one of the new students, was stunningly good looking. He had sparkling deep blue eyes, a tanned face, and dirty blonde hair which featured a prominent cowlick that seemed to defy gravity. He had thin glasses that made his sapphire eyes even more noticeable. He was also extremely well built and he had donned a buttoned shirt that flaunted his body perfectly. His jeans were just crossing the border into tight. Arthur noticed that Francis' mouth was gaped open from the new student's entrance and chuckled.

The new student turned to the teacher. "Is this English?" he asked, a hopeful edge to his voice and Arthur guessed that the student had been trying to find the classroom for a while.

"Yes, it is." She smiled, and took his sheet of paper from his hands. "You must be one of the new students, right?"

"Yep, I'm Alfred F. Jones and this is my twin Matthew Williams," he replied, gesturing to someone behind him.

Arthur craned his neck to see the twin that Alfred had mentioned and sure enough, there he was, practically hiding behind his brother. Arthur could already tell who the social butterfly out of the two was. Matthew looked fairly similar to Alfred, only less striking and not as noticeable. He had deep blue eyes that neared violet and a little curl stuck out of his blonde hair. He also seemed to have a slight nervous disposition, judging by the way he was cowering behind Alfred.

"Alright, well it's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm your English teacher, obviously." She smiled, shaking the twins' hands. "Now, where to put you?" She scanned the room for vacant chairs for the two newcomers.

Arthur's heart sped up as he realised that there were only two available places in the classroom, one next to him and one next to Francis. Arthur sighed as he realised that the teacher had ordered Matthew to sit next to him and Alfred had to sit next to Francis. He leant back in his chair and smiled at the quieter twin as he took the seat next to Arthur.

"Hello," he greeted the shy teenager, "I'm Arthur Kirkland, student body president."

He always felt proud of himself when he used that title; it was like saying that he was extra gifted. He was also in charge of the newspaper club but he didn't want to brag.

Matthew smiled softly at him, whilst getting his equipment out of his bag. "I'm Matthew. Pleased to meet you." He spoke in a hushed whisper. Arthur could already see that the two twins were incredibly different.

"You too." Arthur smiled, trying to be as friendly as possible. Arthur watched in curiosity as Matthew was handed an English schoolbook and he wrote his name on the front.

"Williams?" he questioned, "isn't your twin's surname Jones?"

"Yes." Arthur was intrigued and obviously revealed this as Matthew went on to explain. "Well, it's complicated but my mum's maiden surname is Jones whilst dad's is Williams. So, both of our surnames were Williams at one point." Matthew paused, checking to see if Arthur was still listening. "But, dad left us a couple of years ago and Alfred," Matthew sighed. "Well, he's really close to mum and hates dad, so he changed his surname to Jones but I just couldn't bring myself to do it." He finished his sentence and Arthur couldn't help but notice the sad tone in his voice.

Arthur had nodded whilst he listened to Matthew's story. It made sense and Arthur could understand Alfred's decision. He, too, had changed his name to his mother's, so had Peter.

"Ah, that makes sense, I suppose. Sorry for asking I must seem rude," Arthur apologised.

Matthew smiled shakily. "No, it's fine. You weren't to know."

The English class seemed to fly by and soon the bell had gone and the class were packing up their things. As Arthur was packing the last of his things into his bag, he felt something, or someone, crash straight into him. Luckily, he kept his grip on the desk and didn't topple over but the impact still hurt. He turned to yell at the clumsy oaf who had crashed into him but found himself faced with the new student.

"Dude, sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. I'd come over to talk to you but I tripped up on the way over, haha!" Arthur noticed how close they were and blushed, stepping back a little.

"No, it's fine. I'm Arthur Kirkland. Student body president." He grimaced at his need to state his "importance." You just can't help it can you, show off? He stuck his hand out for Alfred to shake it but the American pulled him into a tight hug instead.

"Alfred F. Jones, part time student, full time hero!" he announced, laughing at his own title. "So… Student body president, huh? Pretty cool." A small tone of admiration laced the American's voice.

Arthur finished packing up his stuff and began to head out of the door, with Alfred tailing him. "It's not as flashy as it sounds. It's just a lot of boring hard work."

"Nah, I think that's pretty cool!" The American beamed and Arthur had to study him to see if he was being sarcastic. He decided he wasn't.

A few minutes of silence passed, then: "So Artie, do you wanna be friends?"

Arthur spluttered. "Artie?! What on Earth is that?"

Alfred pouted. "It's a nickname."

"It's bloody awful," Arthur argued.

"Well, learn to like it," the American retorted. Apparently, "Artie" was now staying.

"Fine," he huffed, rolling his eyes. "Yes, Alfred we can be friends."

"Awesome!" The American fist-pumped. "I'm gonna go tell Mattie that I've got a new friend already!" Alfred ran off, leaving a chuckling and slightly flustered Arthur alone in the corridor.

School passed by very quickly and it was soon time for the students to go home. Arthur was waiting at the school gates for Peter when the twins approached them. He tried to hold in a smile when he saw Alfred heading in his direction. Luckily for the Brit, it wasn't that much of a challenge as Matthew was with Francis and Gilbert and, to Arthur's dismay, they were also heading towards him.

"Ah, Arthur! I think these twins will make great students, non?" Francis asked with a wink.

Much to Arthur's utter distaste, both of the twins blushed.

"Oh, Matthew you're so adorable when you blush!" Francis cooed.

"He's right! Ain't you just the cutest thing?" Gilbert joined in, squeezing the younger twin's face.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Oh for God's sake," he chided, "grow up, you two!"

"Killjoy," Gilbert muttered, leading Matthew out of the gate with Francis in tow.

Arthur turned to Alfred who had been watching the scene with mild interest. "I weep for your poor brother."

"Why?" Alfred asked, his sapphire eyes looked puzzled.

"Francis Bonnefoy and Gilbert Beilschmidt," Arthur explained, "the "womanizers" if you will. They flirt with everyone, it seems like they've taken an interest in Matthew."

Alfred frowned but didn't comment and Arthur watched as he took his phone out of his pocket. "Can I have your number?"

Arthur shrugged, feigning calm. "I don't see the harm in it." Arthur got out his phone and the pair exchanged numbers.

Arthur spotted Peter coming out of the school gates and waved at him to alert him of his location. "Peter! Over here!"

"Peter?" Alfred squinted. "Is that your brother?" Alfred asked.

"Yes. He's going through a "phase" at the moment,"Arthur explained, referencing to his outfit and hair colour which was a dyed black. Alfred ahed in understanding.

"Are you ready to go Peter?" Arthur asked his brother who was now standing next to the pair.

"Yep, I'm all ready!" Peter beamed at the pair.

The two brothers bid farewell to Alfred and headed home.

"So…" Peter asked, "Who was that?"

"Just a friend, well I barely know him. New student."

At that moment Arthur's phone bleeped.

From: Alfred

Hey Artie! (You like that nickname secretly XD) Really glad I met you; it's nice to have a new friend! :)

Arthur smiled as he replied to Alfred and clicked his phone off. He had a feeling that school was going to be a lot better from now on.

A/N: Some of you may have noticed that I published this story before. Well, I decided to re-publish it as it needed some serious editing which required me to delete my old story and start a new one- at least this one isn't filled with terrible typos!

Hope you guys like it!

This is gonna be a story (not a one-shot) so there will be a plot, which will pretty much be the whole USUK/UKUS love story.

Oh, special thanks to Kiki Beilschmidt for the title name!

~BooksAreLikeChocolateButBetter.