How the Hippo Fell in Love with the Giraffe

A/N: I don't write fanfiction. I don't necessarily think I'm particularly skilled in writing. However, today is a special day, and I thought that I would try to write something for someone very special.

So, for VioletLolitaPop, I wrote this because the plot was brought to life during a conversation that will always be one of my treasured memories. Because you're smile was very beautiful when you talked about it, and I hope it happens again while you read this.

Content Warning: Bullying, Weight Issues, Image Issues

Alfred was always a chubby one, and unfortunately it was always something that would be the cause of him being made fun of. It wasn't that he wasn't an active child, he loved sport, he loved running around outside and playing games, it was just something that he always had been. He had no control over it, and no matter how many restrictions his mother would put on him when it came to food, or how many times the doctor would scold him for his weight being above that of the rest of the children his age, nothing would change that.

He had come to accept whatever insults the other children threw at him. There was nothing really else he could do.

"Fatty, fatty two-by-four! Hey, Alfred! Did they have to grease you up to get you out of the house!"

A boy named Gilbert, came running past him on the way to school one morning. He knocked the books out of Alfred's hands without even stopping.

"You're such a jerk, Gilbert!"

His twin brother, Matthew, yelled at the loud-mouthed boy as he kept running towards the school. Alfred really did appreciate the defense, but at the same time he knew that no matter how often someone would speak up for him (and that was if they even bothered) nothing would change.

"It's okay, Matthew, " he said. "I'm used to the way Gilbert is."

"But you shouldn't be used to it," said Matthew."

"But I am. It doesn't matter. He doesn't bother me."

Matthew looked as if he wanted to continue the conversation, but after Alfred stooped down to pick up the books that had fallen to the floor it just seemed as if there was no other way to continue. For reasons he wouldn't ever really understand, his brother was fine with letting the problem go.

Which is why he didn't pay much attention to the snickers and giggles of his classmates when he entered the classroom. They were either already plotting out today's schedule of harassment or talking about what they've done in the past. Though it turned out to be neither one of those. As Alfred walked towards his seat, his eyes caught the sight of the board up front and when he stopped the laughter only grew louder. In blue marker there was a drawing of a cartoon hippo, complete with the little untamed cowlick that Alfred sported day after day.

Alfred rolled his eyes at the drawing of a sketched out hippo on the whiteboard. If that was the best they could do, then they really have run out of ideas. He took his seat while Matthew took the time to erase the picture before their teacher walked in. Homeroom was always something boring. It wasn't anything more than some attendance and then silent reading for the next twenty minutes.

"Don't have to ask who did that," Alfred said loud enough for the three boys behind him to hear without having to turn around. "Very original, you know. A hippo. Haven't heard that one yet."

Gilbert, with his friends Francis and Antonio, have never made the teasing easier. In fact, most of it had always started because of them. With the three of them starting every fat joke and pulling stunts that had him not being picked for games even though he was nearly the best at all of them and tripped over during them when he was, it definitely made school life harder. Already Alfred figured that today would be no different.

However, today was different. When their teacher walked into the room that morning, with her was someone new. He was an obvious new kid, way too tall for his age and looked gangly and disproportionate. He slouched when he walked, like he wanted to make himself less tall and less noticeable. It did the opposite, and when he looked up the first thing to be noticed was his large nose that already looked a little too big for his face.

"First we get Alfred, now we have this kid," Alfred heard Gilbert tell his two friends behind him, "who looks like a giraffe. It's like we have a zoo in this school."

Both Francis and Antonio laughed at his observation behind their hands. He tried to ignore the three twelve-year olds and their small quips that they pass each other to hear what the teacher said.

"We have a new student. His name is Ivan, and his family just moved here from another city. Please, make him feel welcome and help fit in." She turned to the boy, and smiled at him. "Ivan, would you like to introduce yourself a little?"

Ivan shook his head and then tried to sink a little further into the scarf around his neck to hide. Everybody laughed except for Alfred.

"That's okay," said the teacher. "Why don't you go ahead and- Oh, go ahead and sit next to Alfred, there's an empty desk just right there."

Alfred watched as Ivan hurried to the empty seat next to him, and when he sat down Alfred meant to greet him with a little "Hi." and maybe an introduction. Except Gilbert beat him to it.

"So how did you get so freakishly tall?" he asked. "Is your family from the circus or something?"

Ivan didn't answer him. Instead he sunk a little further into his seat and made to ignore the question.

"That's rude, you know," said Francis. "When someone asks you a question, you should be polite and answer it."

"We only want to be friends is all," said Antonio.

"Why don't you guys just leave him alone?" Alfred asked them.

"Can it, fatty, you're old news," Gilbert said, and just like that the trio lost interest in him and gave it to Ivan.

From that moment on, Alfred was no longer the target. Instead of him, Ivan was the one who was being left out of things, being called names, signs on his back, and little pictures of a giraffe wearing a scarf were drawn on the white board in the morning. Just like one time Alfred's lunch had been stolen under the reasons of those around him only looking after his diet, Ivan's lunch had been replaced with nothing but twigs and leaves.

"Because you're a giraffe!" they would laugh. "You get it?" And then they would move to leave him sitting alone at the end of the table with nothing to eat.

For awhile Alfred was a little glad to not be the center of attention. But it didn't last long, because while he was used to the name calling and subtle insults around him, it never made it fine. And knowing that the thick skin he made himself grow was a second rate defense mechanism at best had him realize the kind of feelings Ivan must have been going through all alone in not only a new school, but a new town, with no one to share them with.

Alfred had Matthew, he realized. He always did. Ivan had no one and that, well that just wasn't right. He had to do something.