Alfred was walking from football practice at his middle school while listening to his iPod. He wasn't paying attention when he suddenly ran into someone.
"Ouch! Wanker, watch where you're going!"
Alfred stood up and saw a boy his age on the ground. He reached his hand out to help him.
"Sorry about tha- did you call me a winker?"
"No a 'wanker'. It's a British term… stupid Americans."
When they both finally stood up the looked at each other and the Brit blushed.
"W-why are you looking at me that way?"
"O-oh just your eyebrows are really big." The American said as a matter of fact though he really thought that this boy's eyes were really pretty.
The Brits blush subsided immediately. "My eyebrows are normal! Yours are just…smaller."
"Well, duh!"
"A-anyways I need to go study." The British boy said and walked off.
"Hmm… I wonder who he was."
FAST FORWARD 1 YEAR…
"Welcome all new students to our high school." The Chinese high-school student said but Alfred wasn't paying attention. He was scoping out everyone at the school. There were a couple of cute girls but a lot of guys. Perfect.
In case you're too dense to understand what that meant… he's gay. But he hasn't told anyone yet. He doesn't remember when he realized it but he just is.
His eye caught a guy wearing a perfect uniform and huge-ass eyebrows!
'How do those stay on his head? They look kinda familiar though…' But Alfred being Alfred, he left it alone.
Arthur Kirkland scoped out the competition. There were a few people that looked like would be quite smart but the rest were stupid gits. They had no idea how hard it was going to be. His eyes caught a tall guy wearing glasses and a screwed up uniform.
'It's the first day of school and that guy is already wearing his uniform wrong?' Arthur said with a chuckle. He remembered his face from somewhere though, he just couldn't put his finger on it. It was going to bother him. 'He is quite cute, though. Not that I would ever try going out with a guy like HIM.'
Arthur was gay. However, unlike Alfred, everyone who knew him, knew it. Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio bullied him about him until he nearly died from annoyance.
He shook off that memory and then tried to pay attention to what the current student body president was saying.
Little did either of them know the impact this year would have on them.
As Arthur was walking to his first class he was shoved into a locker.
'Already?' He thought. 'I wasn't expecting the bullying to start THIS early in the year.' He shrinked as the man looked down on him with disgust in his eyes. This had caused his self esteem go beyond down before and he was afraid of that depression.
"Bonjour, faggot."
"Hello, frog." England said as he stared down his French bully. "Been long since you've last pushed me into a locker or punched me in the face."
"Indeed. And it would be a shame to try and not fix your face and especially those eyebrows of yours again."
"Why you-"
"Hey! What are you doing?" Alfred said walking towards the two fighting.
"Go away. This is none of your business." Arthur said harshly and glaring at him.
Alfred just stared incredulously at Francis.
"Are you trying to best him up? On the first day? Dude… not cool."
"This has been going on for a while so it's not like I just picked him out of a crowd to pick on him. He's a fag, I mean… come on!" Francis said. Alfred's eye twitched. He hated the word fag. It's the reason he didn't want to leave his safe closet; no one could hurt him while he was in there.
"It's not cool." He repeated.
"Are you on his team?" Francis countered.
"Nah. But it's a hero's job to help others no matter what."
"Oh no, a guy with a hero-complex." Francis said sarcastically. "This is going to be fun."
"Bring it on. But don't hurt this guy again, capish?"
"Fine… vous regretterez ceci" he said and walked off.
"Idiot! I could have handled that myself! Now you've got a bully on your back too!" Arthur said glaring at this kid. "And he's going to beat me up even more!"
"Wow… shouldn't you be thanking me? I just saved your butt, dude!"
"Fine. Thank you for saving me. I assume you are going to ask to be my friend and I will politely decline."
"Aw man! Why not? And how did you know? Can you read minds?"
"You are just really predictable. And I will not be your friend because, as you can see, we are extremely different and I would not to be able to handle someone with your brain capacity."
"Why, cuz I'm so smart?"
"No, quite the opposite, really. You seem quite stupid to me."
"Aw… thanks! The name's Alfred, by the way. Alfred F. Jones."
"Arthur Kirkland, nice to meet you, Alfred. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to be getting to my class."
"Ooh! Which class do you have?"
"English. Based on the curriculum it's going to be quite boring. I've already read all the books on the list."
"Really! Then you can help me! I suck at English."
'Great, I already have a tutoring session planned.' Arthur thought sarcastically.
"Well, what class do you have next?"
"I have English too, dude!"
'Great' he face-palmed.
Over the next weeks, they both were hanging out together a lot. Alfred still hadn't told Arthur that he was also gay. He was a little scared after what Francis did and still does to both of them. Plus, he would have to confess at the same time. Oh, yeah, he's developed a slight… okay MAJOR crush on his best friend.
Football tryouts were that day and he would be able to bring up his reputation. Arthur tried out for student council president and the results would be out that day. Alfred knew he would get the position.
"You're so smart! Everyone would pick you!"
"Do you think they are going to pick a GAY student council president?"
"Why should that matter? You're smart and organized! You should be fine!" Arthur smiled a little. Alfred always had the confidence that he never would have. As they parted their separate ways to go to their separate after school activities, Arthur was pushed against the wall by the three he dreaded to see the most.
"Hola, faggot." The Spanish man said. "Congratulations on getting the job."
"Wha-?" Arthur started but was interrupted.
"We have a proposition for you." Francis continued.
"That is, if you don't want to be bullied anymore."
Arthur stopped and his eyes widened. There is a way to get out of this?
"What is it?"
"You have to embarrass you little friend Alfred in front of the entire school and show something he would NEVER want anyone to know." Gilbert said, his red eyes gleaming in a way that made the English man shudder.
"No way" Arthur said at first.
"You don't really have that many options. Well, you could be bullied by us more if you wanted to but…" he stopped as he started to twist Arthur's arm to the point where it almost broke before he shouted,
"NO! STOP! ... I-I'll do it just… no more. Please." While Arthur enjoyed Alfred's company, he was going to leave him. Everyone did. Especially since he was going to make the football team this afternoon. This was the one chance to get them both out of this torture.
"Good. You have one month to complete this task or else we'll continue to bother you, understood?"
"Y-yes." Arthur said with utter defeat in his eyes. As soon as they left, his legs gave out on him and he fell to the floor and cried. He would always remember this day as being the worst day of his life; it was the beginning of a much bigger fall.
The next day, Alfred came to school with an extra skip in his step. He had made the football team. This was the extra confidence boost he needed. He could finally tell Arthur how he felt.
Meanwhile, Arthur was contemplating the different ways he could embarrass Alfred. There was nothing he could think of. 'Somehow I'll have to get closer to him.' He sighed.
Then he saw Alfred practically jumping with happiness towards him and he felt his heart skip a beat before feeling it break a little more. He was going to have to break that smile and it will never be fixed again.
"Hey, Arthur! Guess what?"
"What is it, Alfred?"
"I MADE THE TEAM!" Alfred said with almost too much excitement.
"Congratulations! Perhaps we need a celebration? I was made class president." Arthur said.
"SERIOUSLY? AWESOME! Hey! Why don't you come to my house after school? We can party there!"
"That sounds nice." Arthur said with minimal enthusiasm.
After school, they made their way towards Alfred's house, which wasn't far away. As soon as they were inside, Arthur met Alfred's parents who greeted him with nice smiles. Alfred showed him into his bedroom and told him to sit down while he got the food and drinks. This gave Arthur plenty of time to look around and plan his operation.
He looked around but there were no secrets and nothing surprised him and certainly wouldn't surprise anyone else. He took at peak in the computer and saw something very amusing. 'So he plays RobotUnicorn?' That's something. He heard Alfred coming up the stairs and quickly shut the computer and sat where Alfred had left him. He brought the chips and drinks and they both sat in front of the t.v.
"I thought maybe we could play video games or something."
"That sounds like fun."
"But, I think I need to tell you something first."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I haven't been completely honest with you."
"What?" Bingo. He clicked the record button on his phone as he heard Alfred begin speaking.
"Remember on the first day of school where I said I didn't play for your team? Well,… I actually have since last year. This is the first I've ever told someone about it, though. And also," Alfred took a big breath before continuing, "I don't know if you feel the same way as me but, I like you, Arthur. Do you maybe want to go out with me?"
Arthur's heart officially broke in two. Alfred trusted him enough to tell him this kind of secret? This was the only thing worth embarrassing him for but it would ruin both of them. Alfred would be labeled and he would be heart-broken. But, he couldn't handle being teased anymore especially since what his father had recently been doing to him.
"I-I'm so sorry, Alfred. I like you a lot." 'More than you know' "But, I can't go out with you yet." Alfred looked a little sad but smiled.
"Okay, I understand. But tell me if you change your mind." Arthur's mind was screaming at him to change his mind now before it was too late but his body responded first.
"Will do." They played video games in silence before the sun started to set and Arthur needed to get home before his father got mad or drunk or both.
"Looks like it'll rain tomorrow so bring your umbrella!" Alfred said cheerfully as Arthur walked off.
"Okay!" Arthur said back. 'It's already raining.'
The next day it was indeed raining and time couldn't have moved quicker for Arthur. His plan was set. All he had to do was not chicken out… right. Finally, lunch came. Alfred was talking to Arthur as if he hadn't told a big secret to him and as if he hadn't confessed.
'How noble. But if he's the enemy set before me, then he must be destroyed.' After lunch, everyone went to their lockers. Arthur stood in front of everyone and cleared his throat.
"Hey look! The faggot wants to speak!"
"I'm not the only 'faggot' at this school. There is another."
Everyone was whispering. Alfred stood, paling fast. "Yes. Another." Arthur continued despite seeing Alfred's frightened face.
"Honhon, mon ami, tell us who this is!" Francis said with a smile on his face.
"Alfred F. Jones."
"I deny that." Alfred said immediately.
"But why should you?" Arthur said. 'I'm so sorry, Alfred. Don't forgive me.' "I have the recording of your confession to me. As if I would ever date an imbecile like you."
He took out the recording and pressed play without looking at Alfred's face. He would back out if he saw it.
"Remember on the first day of school where I said I didn't play for your team? Well,… I actually have since last year. This is the first I've ever told someone about it, though. And also,… I don't know if you feel the same way as me but, I like you, Arthur. Do you maybe want to go out with me?"
He pressed the stop button. Everyone looked at Alfred including Arthur when he saw the tears being created in his eyes. He regretted what he had done. Alfred ran off probably to the bathroom or an abandoned classroom. Arthur didn't follow. Their friendship was officially over and they both knew it.
Everyone began whispering again and the Bad Touch Trio came up to Arthur and patted him on the back.
"Good job, Arthur. You really did embarrass him! And you gave us something to bully him abo-"
"You will not touch him or you will answer to me, do you understand?" Arthur said, furious at these three. How dare they congratulate him for what he had done?
"Fine. You did more than you had to so we'll give you that request." Then they walked off.
'I'm so stupid. Why did I do that? I already broke his heart and mine and now they are both completely obliterated.' He cried on his way to his next English class. He knew Alfred wouldn't be there. He couldn't speak to him if he could.
As expected, Alfred didn't show up.
Two weeks later, he found out Alfred had been kicked off the football team and his grades had dropped drastically. Teachers came up to him to beg him to help him. He always replied the same way:
"I cannot help him. He wouldn't listen to me if I did."
True to their word, the Bad Touch Trio did not harm him but Alfred was bullied by everyone else.
Just before winter finals, he saw Alfred again face to face.
'Since when had he gotten so pale and thin?'
"Why?" Alfred croaked.
"Why, what?" Arthur replied, mouth dry.
"Why did you betray me, you son-of-a-bitch!" Alfred growled and shoved him into a wall.
"I shouldn't have." Arthur said.
"THEN WHY DID YOU? YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE WHY DID YOU-"
"BECAUSE THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY THAN YOU KNOW!" Arthur roared at Alfred who was stunned into silence.
"I-if anything I owe you an explanation…" Arthur said slowly grabbing Alfred's hand and leading him towards the nearest empty classroom. As soon as they were inside, Arthur shut the door and made sure it was locked. He didn't want anyone else to see this.
Alfred became a little afraid.
"Arthur what are you-"
"Three years ago" Arthur started. "My mother left me with my father. To this day I do not know why but I have my suspicions that it was because of his abusive nature."
"Abusive-"
"Hush. Let me finish my story and then you may speak, okay? I don't want to back out now that I've started." Arthur said smiling apologetically at Alfred.
"The reason my father was with my mother was because they got married out of high school and barely knew each other. After a few years, I was born. Then, my mother realized his… predicament. He drank a lot. When he got too drunk, which was often since he couldn't hold his liquor very well, he would hit my mother. I was there crying. He would then hit me. My mother got sick of this and just left us. I don't know where she went but I'm sure she's okay. I, however, was stuck with that monster." Arthur shuddered.
"After my mum left, he started to drink more and hit more. Recently, he learned how to use other forms of abuse…" Arthur trailed off.
"Then, in 7th grade, I realized that I was gay and was open about it. Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio picked up on this and started their bullying. It started out verbal but last year became violent. In retaliation, I became the best student determined not to let any of this get me down. It didn't work. I was diagnosed with a severe case of depression. I never tried anything but I stopped resisting other people from hitting me. Then, last year, I met a boy who accidentally bumped into me. He seemed to actually care for me."
'Wait.' Alfred thought. 'That happened to me last year too. It couldn't be…'
"He was quite stupid. I called him a wanker but he thought I called him a 'winker' I think he said." Arthur said smiling.
"That was me." Alfred said. Arthur looked up surprised.
"I was walking home from football practice when I bumped into you. I remember I said something about your eyebrows but I was thinking about your eyes and how pretty they were."
There was a short silence before Arthur hugged Alfred. "Thank you." He whispered before continuing.
"You were the one who made me come out of my 'trance'. I realized that someone might actually care for me and started to fight back. My father has been getting worse as of late… and the bullying hadn't stopped. I hid everything from everyone but now… I'm ready to show someone and you are the only person who I will show it to because I'm so sorry."
"You don't-"
"I do, Alfred. I need this, too."
Arthur took off his sweater vest and started unbuttoning his shirt. As it fell, he heard Alfred gasp but he wasn't done. He undid his pants leaving everything else on.
Bruises covered his chest and arms. Some still healing some barely there. Most looked recent though. There were cut marks and bandages on his stomach and legs, which looked so thin like the rest of his body. His body was thinner than Alfred had thought even through the clothes.
Arthur saw Alfred's look of pity and stopped it immediately.
"Don't you dare pity me. After what I did to you, I deserve this treatment but you have the right to know my history and predicament. To answer your question, I had about enough. I wanted you as a friend more than anything. You were my first friend. But, you knew how bad the bullying was getting and they gave me and you a chance out of it."
"What?"
"They said if I embarrassed you in front of the school with a secret of yours then they would let me off the hook. I made them promise to stay away from you so you wouldn't get physically abused. I was weak. I-I'm so sorry, Alfred." Arthur said before kneeling on the cold floor and crying. It was not the first time he had cried but it was the first time out of relief.
He had expected Alfred to thank him for the explanation and walk out. What he didn't expect was for him to kneel down next to him and hug him.
"I had no idea, Arthur. I'm sorry."
"h-haha… for what? You did nothing. The blame is all mine."
"I couldn't be your hero. I couldn't stop this beforehand. Before the incident, I had the feeling to protect you from everything. And that was before I realized I was in love with you. I was scared that you would reject me and when you did it hurt but this… this is serious. You need to leave him, too. Your mom was right he's a weirdo."
"But I have nowhere to g-"
"You have me." Alfred said.
Arthur just cried into his best friend's shoulder.
"W-will you come with me to get my stuff?" Arthur asked.
"Of course! You want to go now?"
"NO… I mean, I just want you to make sure it's okay with your parents first. Plus, since tomorrow is Saturday, my father's going out to… well, let's just say he might not come back until late." Arthur said. "I can leave then. I haven't told him about you so he won't know. He doesn't call the police either."
"That's fine. Call me if anything happens." Alfred said as he gave him a scrawled out number.
"Oh and Alfred?" Arthur asked as he put his clothes back on.
"Yeah?"
"You will cheer up, right? I want you to do your best and be the best football star on the team next year, okay?" Arthur said.
"Already on it." Alfred said giving his brightest smile that almost lit up the room… literally.
That night, Arthur received his worst beating from his father. He hadn't figured anything out but Arthur was bleeding badly from 5 different wounds on his body. As soon as his father passed out he crawled towards the bathroom before he felt like passing out. He reached for his phone and called Alfred.
"Hello? Artie?"
"D-don't call me Artie." Arthur said weakly.
"What happened?" Alfred said seriously.
"H-help me. Pleas-" he said before passing out on the bathroom floor.
As soon as he heard Arthur stop speaking, he ran out of the house not caring if his parents heard him or not. He ran all the way to Arthur's house, which Arthur gave to him in case of an emergency like this. He opened the door but not hard enough to wake anyone. He creaked up the stairs and into Arthur's bedroom before seeing it empty. He went into the bathroom and at first didn't see anything but then looked down to see Arthur lying in the middle of a pool of blood. His own blood.
For a split-second Alfred was frozen but then he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Good thing he learned CPR and First Aid training for football in middle school.
He found gloves on the counter as well as a first aid kit. He first assessed that Arthur was unconscious and so assumed it was okay to help him. He grabbed a few sanitary towels and dressed the wounds properly. Then, he checked his breathing.
'Good. He's breathing.' Alfred sighed with relief. He whipped out his cell phone and called 911 and told them the emergency.
"Stay with me, Arthur. Don't you dare die." Alfred said waiting the excruciatingly long 10 minutes it took for EMS to arrive. They put him in the vehicle before asking Alfred to come along. He didn't hesitate to say yes. Once they got to the hospital, they asked that Alfred stay in the waiting room while they operated on him. While waiting, Alfred called his parents.
"Alfred F. Jones do you know-"
"Mom, calm down. My friend is in the hospital because his dad is abusive" Alfred said as quietly as possible. "You know, the one I told you about?"
"Oh my."
"I gave him first aid and the ambulance came but can he please stay with us? Just until he ca-"
"He can stay until you are both in college. He obviously needs a loving home. But Alfred, make sure you both come home safely okay? Don't stay there the whole time."
"Okay mom. Love you!"
"Love you too, honey."
And with that the deed was done. All there was left to do was wait.
After 3 or 4 hours, the doctor finally came out.
"He's going to be fine, son."
Alfred breathed a sigh of relief.
"It was a close call. If you hadn't called when you did he might have lost too much blood. How did he get cut?" The doctor continued.
Alfred froze. He didn't know what to say. "All I know is that he called me and told me he was at his house and he needed help. I didn't ask what happened."
"Well, anyways, you did good. He won't be awake for a while but you can go in and see him. Are his parents here?"
"Umm… no." Alfred said.
"Ah. This one has family problems?"
"Yes sir."
"I see. Well, take care of your friend. He'll need all the support he can get."
Alfred walked into the room the nurses had specified. When he walked in, he closed the door, thankful that no one shared the room with Arthur yet.
"Arthur. I'm so sorry. But, I know you wouldn't want me to apologize. I'm really worried about you. I'm gonna get you out of here."
"It's 'going to' you git." Arthur mumbled.
"Artie?"
"AND DON'T CALL ME ARTIE!"
"Nurse!" Alfred called out.
The nurse came in and attended to Arthur before leaving the two alone again.
"Arthur. I'm sorry any of this ever happened to you."
"You don't have anything to apologize for."
"I need to get you out of that house. My mom said you could stay with us until graduation if you needed to. They won't adopt you but they'll basically be your family. Tomorrow, I'll get your stuff out of your house, like you said and move you."
Arthur just stared at Alfred before whispering "Thank you, Alfred. This means the world to me."
Alfred smiled back at his friend before leaving and said. "Least I could do for my best friend."
Alfred arrived at Arthur's house and carefully checked to make sure that the house was indeed empty. And it was. He creeped into Arthur's room with the boxes he brought from his house and packed everything he could. He then went into the bathroom to grab all of Arthur's belonging. Alfred was sad to find that he only used 2 boxes to fill all of Arthur's stuff. As he was leaving the room, his eye caught something he left behind: a stuffed bear that looked like it hadn't been looked at for a couple of months at least. Alfred grabbed that before quickly vacating the house.
He brought Arthur's stuff back to his house and placed the boxes in his room before grabbing the bear and going back to the hospital again. He walked in and saw that Arthur was sleeping. He softly closed the door and sat down next to Arthur. After a few minutes, he felt his eyes drooping.
'It wouldn't hurt to take a short nap…' Alfred thought as he put the bear next to Arthur and closed his eyes.
Alfred's mom went in to the hospital to make sure Alfred and his friend was okay. She walked in and saw her son sleeping in a chair next to a bed with the young boy she assumed was his friend. She decided not to wake them up, so she quietly closed the door and made her way back home.
A few hours later, Arthur woke up and saw Alfred sleeping next to him.
"You git." He said lovingly stroking Alfred's surprisingly soft hair. His heart skipped a beat as he was reminded of the feelings he had toward Alfred. 'He won't think of me as anything other than a friend after what I did.'
Alfred moved in his sleep before waking up. He felt someone patting his head so he started up and saw Arthur looking at him incredulously.
"Sorry if I woke you, Alfred. I only just woke up."
"Nah. I'm okay. So, I got your stuff and," Alfred said reaching for the bear next to him. "this."
Arthur saw his bear and smiled.
"Thank you, Alfred. My mum gave me this bear but my dad got mad when he saw it so I could never have it out in the open."
"You don't need to kept saying thank you, you know."
"Yes, I do." And they left it at that.
The doctor came in and said that while Arthur was not fully healed, as long as he didn't exert too much energy, and replaced the bandages everyday, he should heal within the next week.
"Yes!" Alfred was so happy for him. Arthur genuinely smiled for the first time in a long time. Alfred didn't miss this.
"You smiled."
"Wha-? Yes. I guess you just make me smile more than anyone else." They stared at each other before Alfred's phone rang.
"Alfred?"
"Yea, mom?"
"How's your friend?"
"He's being let out. He just needs to rest."
"Oh great! Why don't you two come over so he can get acquainted with the house!"
"Alright. See you in a bit."
Alfred hung up and Arthur questioned who it was.
"Oh, it was my mom. She just wanted to know what the situation was. So… let's get you outta here and we can go home, kay?"
"Alright and then we can work on your bloody English prob…lems…" Arthur stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Finals are this week."
"Yep."
"Neither of us have studied."
"Nope."
There was a silence before Arthur started to freak out. "WE HAVE FINALS AND I HAVEN'T STUDIED WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?"
"Dude, chill. You'll do fine. If anything you can use this as an excuse."
"I'M NOT GOING TO USE THIS AS AN EX-cu…se." Arthur said as he felt his side hurt.
"Arthur! You need to calm down. Come on, let's go home before we decide to do anything."
"F-fine."
They got home without any more injuries and as soon as they got inside, Alfred picked Arthur up… princess style.
"What, what, WHAT are you doing?"
"I'm taking you upstairs."
"Why are you carrying me?"
"This counts as exerting energy, right?"
"Yes but it won't kill me."
"We're already there so no need to argue!" Alfred said as he dropped him carefully on the bed.
"Umm… thanks."
"Again you don't need to keep thanking me. I'm doing this from friend to friend." Arthur winced as he heard Alfred say this but contained any other reactions. 'I wish we could be more.'
He heard Alfred start to unpack his things. "Where will I sleep? On the couch downstairs?" Arthur said as he began to stand up again.
"No! I would never let a guest sleep on the couch! You can sleep in my bed with me!"
"W-what?" Arthur said. "We're both gay! It's like a guy sleeping with a girl who are both straight! Bad stuff could happen!"
"I trust you, Arthur. Plus, my bed's really big. It could use someone to fill it. My parents have no problem with it."
"Do your parents know we're both gay?"
"Yeah. I told them and they said they trust us both." What Alfred didn't tell him, was that after he said that, his parents gave him "the talk" and made sure he got some condoms.
"Here, let me help." Arthur said grabbing some of his clothes and folding them perfectly. Alfred showed him the drawers where he could keep his stuff. Once they were done unpacking Arthur's stuff, Arthur grabbed his books and began studying for the finals that would begin the next day.
"Don't you think you should start studying too?"
"Why?"
"Because finals are tomorrow and I don't want you to fail."
"I'll do fine." Arthur stared at Alfred with skepticism.
"Sure. You've only been failing for the past few months."
"Okay so I haven't been doing so well but I'll be fi-"
"I'm going to help you study. Consider this another thank you."
"But-"
"I don't want to hear it. Let's hit the books."
They studied for the next couple hours until they were called down for lunch.
"Can we take a break?" Alfred whined with a sandwich in his mouth.
"Fine. Why don't we go outside since we've been sitting all day."
"Awesome. I need to practice football."
"American football?"
"Yeah, what other kinds are there?"
"Well, everyone else in the world calls it football but you Americans call it soccer."
"Ooh. Why do you call it football?"
"I don't know…" the Brit said very sarcastically, "maybe it's because we actually use our FEET?"
"Haha, you're funny Arthur. Come on! I'll practice my throws with you!"
"I can't, remember? I just got out of the hospital!"
"Oh, right. Well, you can watch then! I have something I can throw into!" Alfred said.
Arthur walked outside for the first time and was shocked to see how big Alfred's backyard was.
"Wow. This is… incredible!" Arthur said.
He found a chair and sat down feeling content to just watch Alfred throw the ball at the concrete wall before it bounced off and he ran to get it. Throwing it from where he got it. It hit him a couple of times but after 45 minutes of watching, Arthur called out to Alfred.
"Hey, maybe we should keep studying. We only have a few hours in the day."
Alfred, tired and sweaty, ran up to Arthur feeling really happy and relaxed. Working out always did that to him.
"Okay! Let's go inside."
As they got inside, they sat down in Alfred's… or now their room, Arthur noticed how dirty and sweaty he actually was.
"Um… okay so this is the Pythagorean Theorem that we learned early on in the year." Arthur started. As the tutoring session went on, Alfred scooted closer to Arthur and at some times, Arthur did the same thing. It got to the point where they were so close that they were knee-to-knee and shoulder-to-shoulder.
Finally, Arthur got through everything. At this point Alfred looked like passing out from being tired and his head was on Arthur's shoulder.
"Maybe you should take a shower and then we can eat dinner."
"No more studying?"
"We've gotten through all the material you need to know for tomorrow's tests. We'll study for the other ones tomorrow afternoon."
"Kay." Alfred said but didn't move.
"This requires you to move."
"Don't wanna."
"You don't want to. And you need to. You're filthy. After, we can play video games or something."
"Alright." Finally, Alfred moved and left Arthur feeling a little lighter.
'Was his head that heavy?'
Arthur stood up and made his way downstairs where he met Alfred's mother and father waiting for him.
"U-umm hello."
"No need to be shy, Arthur. We just wanted to talk to you before Alfred comes back." Alfred's father started.
"Oh, okay. What did you want to talk about?"
"We wondered about you. Your history and your history with Alfred especially." Alfred's mother said.
Arthur stared for a moment before starting his story. He went through his personal history and then through the ordeal with the Bad Touch Trio and revealing Alfred's secret. He went into how bad he felt and how he finally broke down and told Alfred everything. He told them about his father hurting him the worst two days ago and how Alfred saved him. He finished by saying that he was sorry for hurting Alfred. But he didn't mention how he still loved him.
At the end of his story, Arthur looked up and saw Alfred's mother in tears and Alfred's father's face was like stone, but he could tell he was mad at something.
"Arthur…" Arthur turned around and saw Alfred staring at him before Alfred's mother spoke.
"I-I'm so s-sorry for what happened. P-please stay with us for as long as you want. Even through graduation." And then she hugged him. Arthur noticed that Alfred's father hadn't spoken yet and this made him worry a little.
Alfred took his mother out of the room so they could both prepare dinner leaving Arthur with Alfred's father.
There was an awkward silence before Alfred's father broke it.
"So. You broke my son's heart and decide that you want to try and fix it?"
"Sir. I said I'm-"
"That's not an excuse!" He said standing up.
Arthur just stared up at him with defiant eyes determined to make sure there are no more misunderstandings.
"I do have something that will convince you that I won't hurt him but will not be an excuse for what I've done. In fact, this might convince you to kick me out if anything. I haven't told Alfred this."
"Well, what is it? Spit it out." He said glaring at Arthur.
"I love him." Alfred's father hesitated and stared at Arthur who stared back. After a few seconds, he took a step back and fell in his chair. He put his head in his hands and sighed.
"That complicates things."
"I know, sir. But please know that I would never do anything now to hurt him. Even if it means being tortured for the rest of my life by the bullies at the school and my father."
There was another silence. Then Alfred came in.
"Wow, talk about tension. You guys have some air to clear."
"There's nothing, Alfred it's all cleared. I trust you, Arthur."
"Thank you sir."
They walked into the dining room and had dinner with lively conversation.
'This is what having a real family must feel like.'
After their dinner, they sat in the living room talking until it was 10 and their parents bid them good night.
"I guess we should get some sleep, too." Alfred said as he stretched and walked upstairs. "We do have tests tomorrow."
They walked in the room and realized how awkward this is going to be.
They sat on the bed before Arthur said "Goodnight." And disappeared under the covers.
Alfred stared at the bundle under the covers before realizing that if he didn't break this tension, no one would.
"Hey Arthur?" Alfred said reaching for a pillow.
"What is it, Alfre-" Arthur said turning around before getting a face full of pillow.
Once he threw the pillow away, he asked Alfred "What the bloody hell was that?"
"Breaking the tension." Alfred said shrugging. Arthur realized what he was doing.
"Fine then. Prepare to be 'pillowged'" He said as he initiated the next fight.
"Did you really" smack "Use a" smack "pirate term" SMACK "for a pillow fight?"
"Yes." Smack "I did" SMACK.
This went on for about five minutes before they both got extremely tired and fell on to the bed.
" 'Night Artie."
"Goodnight, Alfred and thanks for being a great guy." Arthur said sleepily as they both fell asleep. Nevertheless, Alfred heard him.
The next morning, they both woke up early enough that they wouldn't get to school late. Arthur was still freaking out, though, since he was nervous that he didn't study enough. Adding all of the things that have happened recently, did not help his nerves. Alfred did, though.
"Dude! Take a chill pill! You're going to do fine! I know I will since you helped me study."
Arthur blushed and indeed, his nerves were calmed by that thought.
They arrived at school, and found their seats which, funnily enough, were close to each other since their last names started with J and K (AN: hahaha… JK… right under U and I on my keyboard!).
"Well, good luck, Alfred." Arthur said.
"Thanks! You too. Not that you need it." Alfred replied winking at him. Arthur blushed and turned away.
'With all of this flirting, I won't be able to concentrate.' Arthur said containing his blush just as the proctor walked in. He didn't see someone else nearby noticing the two's relationship and couldn't help but feel frustrated…
"Alright" the proctor said, clearly bored with the idea of having 2 hours of doing nothing but watching these brats… He passed out the tests faced down with the explicit instructions not to turn the test around. "No cheating blahblahblah You have two hours blahblahblah okay…BEGIN!"
Everyone flipped their tests over and began the test. Alfred and Arthur kept their eyes on their own papers but their minds seem to flit over the previous day. Since most of it was studying, they both were okay… especially with the Pythagorean Theorem…
Two hours later the proctor called time. Everyone turned in their papers and walked outside. Arthur waited outside for Alfred but Francis came out first smiling at him.
"Hey, Arthur, could I talk to you for a moment, sil vous plait?"
Arthur froze. What was he going to do to him? Was he going to break his promise? What if he tells him he's going to beat up Alfred? Oh no.
"Don't over think this. I want to help you."
"What could YOU possibly do to help ME?"
"You want Alfred, non?"
"I don't want your help."
"But don't deny that you like him."
"It's none of your business. Plus, I thought you were a homophobe!"
"Only ones that aren't in love. I cannot hate love. It is quite a paradox, non?"
"Fine, I like him. But, I don't want your help."
"Fine. Talk to me if you need it. You know where to find me."
Arthur relaxed once Francis left. But it was short-lived.
"Hey, Arthur! What did that bastard want?"
"Nothing."
"Did he break his promise?"
"No. He just wanted to know something about the test."
"Oh. That was surprising. He doesn't really talk to either of us anymore…"
"Yeah. So, let's go wait outside, shall we? We have half of an hour before we have to start our next test."
"Sure. Let's go!"
They went outside and just sat under a tree near the building where they were to be next.
"Hey look! It's the homos!"
Alfred stood up and stared at the people who were walking past them.
"What? Do you have nothing better to do? Why should you pick on us?"
"Why not? Oooh I get it. You're protecting your little boyfriend."
His friends laughed behind him as he said this.
"Shut up." Alfred said, his hands in fists, shaking.
"Alfred leave them. We don't need to be around losers like that." Arthur said joining his friend.
"Aww… look at this, boys! This is true love" the bully said sarcastically. "Go back where you came from, sissys."
This made Alfred snap and he punched the guy in the face.
"Alfred, no!" Arthur said holding Alfred back.
The guy stumbled back and said, "You're lucky I'm not reporting you! You'd be kicked out!" They guys all ran away and Alfred calmed down.
"You need to be careful when retaliating like that. We're lucky they didn't report us but, still…" Arthur said before hugging Alfred. "I'm so sorry. None of this would have happened if I hadn't… if I hadn't…"
"Don't you dare blame this on yourself, again. If you're really sorry then stop saying sorry for me, okay?" Alfred said hugging back.
"O-okay."
"We should go. It's been 20 minutes. Let's go take our last test of the day. So we can go home and study some more."
"Okay, but are you sure you're okay? If you're still mad before the test, you might not do as well." Arthur said, worriedly.
Alfred turned and smiled his biggest. "I'm fine. Thank you for worrying about me."
Arthur, in turn smiled softly at Alfred and they walked side by side into the next classroom.
Their next test came and went without any problems. Afterwards, they walked out and walked home without stopping. Once they got home, they both went up to their room and hit the books once again (but for the last time. Luckily, they only had 4 exams but some classes had projects and some required nothing at all.)
The next day there was science, which was Alfred's best class but was one of Arthur's least favorites so their roles were switched.
"Now I understand how frustrating it is to be tutored rather than tutor." Arthur said once their session was over before going downstairs for dinner.
"So how were the tests today?" Alfred's mom began.
"They were great! I felt like I did so well! It was probably because Arthur helped me so much yesterday!"
"And you Arthur?"
"They were fine. It felt like a normal test but twice as long."
"I see. Was there any… you know…" She asked.
"Bullying?" Arthur supplied. "Unfortunately, yes. But it's easier now that we are friends."
"Yeah! We got each others' backs!" Alfred said excitedly. Arthu caught Alfred's father's eye and he blushed a little.
"Hey, Arthur? Are you okay? You look a little red."
"I'm fine." Arthur said.
"Do you think you're ready for tomorrow's tests?" Alfred's father said changing the subject.
"Yep! I got to help Arthur today since I'm better at science than he is!"
"Alfred!" Arthur said.
"Well… not by much." Alfred said smiling innocently.
After dinner was over, Alfred and Arthur made their way up to their bedroom where they immediately fell on the bed from exhaustion.
"Hey Artie?"
"Don't call me that." Arthur said in response.
"Fine. Hey, Arthur?"
"Yes, Alfred?"
"After thinking about our 'history' together I realized something."
"What did you realize?"
"You said that everything after we met but before the 'incident' was a lie, right?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Does that mean you were lying when you said you didn't like me in that way?"
Arthur thought about it before he replied.
"No. I believe my exact words were 'I'm so sorry, Alfred. I like you a lot. But, I can't go out with you yet.' So I never said I didn't like you."
"So…" Alfred said a little confused despite the fact that his heart was beating loudly.
"Oh for god's sakes!" Arthur said before turning towards Alfred and grabbing his face and kissing him.
It didn't take long for Alfred to register what was going on and he immediately kissed Arthur back. They stayed like that for a while before pulling away.
Alfred smiled before hugging his new boyfriend. "Finally." He whispered. Arthur couldn't agree more.
EPILOGUE 1:
The next day their finals went smoothly. Francis came up to Arthur again after the first final to ask how his 'effort' was going and he replied: "mission accomplished."
It turns out, Francis was bi himself… though he turned out to be a molester later and was sent to jail several times before settling down… by himself with 3 cats ("What… they get lonely!")
Antonio was gay and ended up marrying a cute Italian named Lovino or as Antonio called him: "Lovi~".
Gilbert was straight but finally stopped being a homophobe. He settled down with a cute Canadian named Maddie (AN: I decided to change 'Mattie' to 'Maddie' for this one because I felt this group needed to be diverse… sexually. So go PruCan!).
The other bullies came around and stopped bullying the homosexuals in the school (there ended up being a lot!)
Arthur's dad was sent to jail for child-abuse, prostitution, and drug-abuse as well as drug-dealing.
Alfred's parents stayed happily married for the rest of their lives.
Alfred became a scientist and a 'hero' helping to find alternatives to gas to stop global warming. He married Arthur who became a writer specifically targeting teens and depression and how to help them. They adopted 2 girls who were twins from an orphanage.
So, despite all their hardships, they lived happily ever after.
EPILOGUE 2:
The End.
Arthur finished writing his book just as his husband walked in.
"Hey, darling? What's cooking… and I hope not literally."
"Hey! My food's not that bad and I just finished my book!" Arthur said pretending to punch Alfred.
"Oh, what is this one about?"
"Us."
"What about us?"
"How we met and all of our hardships together."
"Seriously? I doubt anyone would want to read that."
"I think they would and so does my editor. It's written as a fictional book but at the end I put that this is a true story based on us."
"That's awesome! I would read it but I've heard the story so many times I could recite it from memory."
"But we don't really say our story that many times."
"Oh. I mean that I say it in my head to remind myself how I got my amazing husband."
Arthur blushed. Even though they've been married for 5 years and dated long before that (13 years!) Alfred still found ways to make Arthur blush.
"Well, thank you. I believe everyone else deserves to know the right of how you got me too."
"Hey!" Alfred said jokingly.
"I'm only joking. You know it's so others will know how I got YOU."
"aww… so how were the girls today?"
"They were fine. I played with them a little earlier but for the most part, they kept to themselves. They're taking a nap now. I'll wake them when it's dinner time."
"Mmh, okay. Maybe we should copy them."
"Work tired you out?"
"Yeah. They asked me to make a meeting for all the different schools to explain my theory and such."
"Oh, that would be tiring. Come on! Let's go up stairs, then."
"Kay…" Alfred mumbled before kissing his husband.
"What was that for?"
"Forgot to kiss you hello." Alfred said sleepily.
Arthur kissed him again. "That was because I forgot to kiss you back."
They got upstairs and Alfred immediately laid down before Arthur sneakily grabbed a pillow.
"Hey, Alfred?"
"Wha-" and was whacked in the face with a pillow.
"Hey!" Alfred said before grabbing a pillow and hitting him back. Despite the fact that they were both men, they could still be real children when they wanted to. They paused when they heard the kids laughing through the monitor.
They both stood up and walked in the kids room and watched one of the twins, Martha, laughing while the other one, Mary, holding her toes and trying to flip backwards.
Their parents laughed as they watched the two of them interact before joining in with the fun.
Alfred fell asleep with the kids who became exhausted after their fun and Arthur was dozing off before thinking. 'Thanks, Alfred, for giving me a REAL family that I can and will love and cherish forever.'
And it was a perfect picture. The parents, who were on either side of their babies, were all sleeping soundly without a care in the world.