Arthur hated Francis more than anything right now. He had come to him with compliments and praises saying that he would be the perfect person to take to this stupid masquerade ball some rich guy was hosting only to be ditched only five minutes into it.

Oh yes, Francis was going to pay dearly for this. So that's why now, instead of dancing with the many lovely guests here, and having fun like he was supposed to, he was sulking by the food table plotting ways to make the Frenchmen's life a living hell. Regrettably there was no alcohol so he was stuck with picking at the finger foods and small pastries for the next four hours until he was able to go home.

All I have to do is wait until eleven when Francis said he'd take me home, then I can make a nice cup of tea and complain to Peter about that damn frog, he told himself looking around the room at all the happy mask covered party goers.

The time passed by slowly for Arthur and when the clock struck ten, he was about ready to kill himself out of boredom. Sighing irritably, he looked around the room in hopes of seeing Francis, so he could get him to take him home early. As he scanned the crowd something caught his eye, or more specifically someone. His eyes caught the sight of sky blue eyes belonging to a tall, young-looking man.

He had golden blond hair, with a rebellious cowlick that stood up proudly. The man wore a fancy tuxedo and the coat tailed at the end upon his face was a black mask with sequence along the edges. They locked eyes for what seemed like forever, until Arthur broke it, looking away and blushing. While he was trying to calm down his racing heart he felt someone tap gently at his shoulder.

"Yes, what is it." He said, turning around. He stared a bit when he saw the mysterious man he had just been gazing at.

"Hello, I couldn't help notice you staring at me so I thought I'd come up to you, andsay hi!" He says with a cocky smirk and an American accent. This only made Arthur flush more but he ignored it and rolled his eyes.

"Like you were much better... If I would be so bold to imply you were staring too." He scoffs.

The man just laughs at this and moves to his side examining him. "You know you look more like a wicked magician than a regular partygoer, in that outfit."

Arthur couldn't help but smirk as he looked down at himself. He wore a black cloak on top of an equally dark suit. His mask resembled as black version of the Phantom of the Opera's famous mask.

"Oh, but compared to yours, you look like you came right out of an old black and white movie." He states matter-of-factly, smiling up at the man, who was laughing and smiling back down.

They just looked at each other before the mystery man began snickering.

"Oh, and what may I ask is so funny?" Arthur asks, with an amused raise of an eyebrow, which in turn made the blonde laugh harder.

"Dude! What died on your face!" He says between gasps of breath.

Arthur's face flushed scarlet, and he suddenly felt extremely self-conscious. He resisted the urge to bring his hand up to cover his forehead.

"T-t-there is nothing wrong with my eyebrows." He snaps looking away. The laughter dies down and when he turns back the other had a soft smile on his face.

"You're right… there nothing wrong with them," the man says.

Still smiling, the man gently brought a hand up to Arthur's eyebrows, stroking one with a finger. "They're really cute actually." The man bashfully glances away.

There was a somewhat comfortable silence after that. Arthur wasn't sure if he should break it or not, before he had his question answered for him.

"Would you like to dance?" The man asks, extending a blinks, then looks at his feet shyly.

"I'm not the best of dancers, you see…" he starts bashfully, just to be interrupted by kind laughter and a tugging at his arm.

"Well, if that's the case, I'll teach you m'kay?" he says ,dragging Arthur onto the dance floor.

"Okay, so put one arm on my shoulder like this,

He guides his arm to the correct place on his shoulder. "Then I put my arm like this,

He wraps one arm around his waist pulling him closer. "Then I take your hand like this,

He takes Arthur's hand in his own smiling triumphantly. "And then comes the dancing. I'll be leading okay, so all you have to do is follow me, and when I step forward you step back. Understand?" he explains, smiling expectantly at Arthur, who just smiles back shyly and nods, praying he doesn't screw up too badly.

Everything went smoothly for the first two minutes until- "Ow!"

"I'm sorry! Um, let me try again, okay… let's go a bit slower." They went for a good five minutes until again- "Ow!"

"Sorry! Damn it! See, I told you I couldn't dance…" He snaps, stepping away from the man to cross his arms and look at the floor.

"No, it's alright, see," he wiggles his foot. "No injuries! You're a wonderful dancer, just a bit rough around the edges, okay?" Arthur only glared at the handsome man before he sighed and nodded his head.

"I'm just going to keep stepping on your foot." He points out, still not making eye contact. The other seems to think about it for a while, then smiles.

"How 'bout we change our style then?" he says, wrapping both arms around his waist and pulling him flush against him. Arthur blushes, but reaches up andwraps his arms around the stranger's neck anyways.

"I like this better." He murmurs softly, after a while dancing with his chin resting on Arthur's head "It's so peaceful…"

"Yes, it is. But we stick out like a sore thumb, considering how everyone else is dancing." He lazily points out, nuzzling closer into his shoulder, humming softly.

"You know, I'd never thought I'd say this, but…" he pulls back and smiles down at him. "I could care less about what people think, or what they're doing. I'm just happy looking at you and holding you."

They both blush at the man's last statement, and stare into each other's eyes blissfully.

"You have the most beautiful eyes…" He murmurs, gazing into Arthur'seyes.

"You do too, Love." he says just as softly. Slowly they lean in till their faces are only inches apart. They hesitate looking into each other's eyes until the man closes the distance between them, both of their eyes slipping shut as they enjoyed the kiss. It was perfect until the nearby clock tower sounded out twelve loud gongs, signaling the arrival of midnight. Arthur felt an annoying tug at the back of his cloak and he turns around annoyed.

"Arthur, mon ami, we need to leave now!" says the Frenchman, horridly concealed panic in his voice as he dragged him away from the masked man.

"Let me go, you bloody frog!" he shrieks, trying to break free of Francis's death grip. Francis's car was a few feet away now, he needed to escape before that psychotic frog got him in the car.

"Damn it, I said let go idiot, or I'll-" before he could finish the threat, he was pushed into the car and the door was slammed closed. Glaring, Arthur quickly buckles his seatbelt and crosses his arms angrily as they sped off.

"I hate you." he growls, glaring out the window.

"I'm sorry Arthur, but I'm sure there will be other men!" he huffs, rolling his eyes as he watches the road. "I just had to get out of there fast."

"What the bloody hell did you do? Did you molest someone again?" he asked curious despite his anger.

"Oh, I was just spreading l'amour to all of the beautiful woman present today, but apparently they were not appreciative," he huffs dramatically. Arthur looks at him disparagingly, before he shakes his head and groans.

"God, you're such a bloody man-whore Francis! You just ruined the best time of my life, because youbloody well can't keep it in your pants!" he cries out, sinking further into the seat and burying his face in his hands.

Francis looks over sympathetically and offers a small smile.

"I'm sorry Arthur, but you also have to think about Peter. He's still waiting for you at home. Besides there will be other people, you are still young, non?" Arthur sighs and looks out the window with a resigned look.

"I suppose you're right frog… I don't need anyone right now; I have Peter to worry about."

It's not like I'll even see that man again… We never even told each other our names, so what would be the odds of us ever meeting again? He thought absentmindedly.

The man had run after them, in hopes of catching up with the mysterious bushy-browed man, to at least say goodbye or steal another kiss. The few hours he had spent with him were exhilarating. For somebody to spend timewith him because they truly enjoyed his company, and not to get close to his father… his money, was an unfamiliar feeling to him.

But this man didn't know who he was, he was seeing Alfred, not his power, and he had loved every second of it. When he ran out to the parking lot, it was too late. He had seen a mop of blonde hair and a glimpse of unruly eyebrows before the car sped away into the unknown darkness. Alfred cursed and kicked the dirt in his irritation, but when he did this he felt something flat and hard go flying from the force of his kick. Walking over to where the object had landed, he picked it up and examined it. Looking at it he sees it's a wallet, which must belong to his mystery man.

Maybe if I use what's in this wallet, I can see him again, he notes with a smile.

"Alfred?" says a soft feminine voice from the entrance of the mansion. Alfred quickly shoves the wallet in his pocket and turns around, flashing a sparkling smile.

"Oh, hey, Alice what are you doing out here?"

She shrugs and makes her way over to the American, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I saw you rush out in a panic, so I thought something was wrong," she simply replies, pulling him so their lips nearly touch. Alfred's smile softens as he pulls the small girl closer, his arms around her delicate waist.

"I'm sorry to worry you babe," he murmurs, while she just giggles.

"It's fine, as your future wife, it's only understandable I would be worried about you," she notes, gently kissing him. He shrugs and brings her left hand up to his lips, kissing her ring finger where a huge diamond ring lay.

"Of course dear, now let's go inside. It's cold out here." he said ushering her towards the house, while he was walking though, he stole one last glance in the direction the car had taken off and smiled.

He had his own Cinderella.

Arthur sighed, as he dug his house key out of his pocket. It was already past midnight, and no doubt his little brother had gone to bed. Arthur made his way into the apartment quietly and entered the living room.

"Arthur…" came a yawn from the couch. "What took you so long, jerk? You said you'd be home an hour ago!" His younger brother whined, slowly sitting up from where he had been lying down on the couch, Arthur just sighed and plopped down next to him.

"Shouldn't you be in bed Peter?" Arthur accused lightly. The younger just shrugs.

"I wanted to know about you and Francis's date." he said laughing, as his brother turns an angry shade of red and yells about how 'the frog was not my date! He even left me to flirt with all the women. If that man hadn't have come I would have died from boredom'

He paused after he had mentioned the man, that redness on his face darkening, turning into an embarrassed blush.

"Oh, so did grumpy old Arthur meet someone today?" Peter giggled at how the other turned more flustered by the minute.

"It was nothing I swear…we just danced for a few…hours" he said the last word softly, in hopes that Peter wouldn't hear it. Oh, but he did.

"It was nothing but you guys dancing for hours? Arthur, you can't even dance!" he exclaimed, laughing at Arthur's embarrassment.

"Think what you like, but yes, we did and I had a surprisingly lovely evening." He huffed, folding his arms across his chest and glaring. Peter's laughing quieted down and he smiled fondly at his older brother's expression.

"So what's his name?" there was a long silence and Arthur looked away from his gaze. "Arthur come on tell me his name" The blond asked, trying to get Arthur to look at him.

"Idontknowhisname…" Arthur mumbled, still not looking at him.

"God Arthur your acting like a child tell me his-"

"I don't know his bloody name!" Arthur snapped, glare darkening as he stared at the floor. Peter blinked. He blinked again, until the words finally sunk in, and he gave a funny look.

"You spent hours dancing and talking to him, yet the subject of your names never came up?" he questioned disbelievingly.

"Well, yes, when you put it like that it sounds absurd, but…" he paused wondering how to phrase it. "It's like from the moment we met, I had known him for years. The conversation just flowed so easily, I guess the subject never crossed our minds until it was too late."

"Well, what does he look like? We could always use that to find him, right?" The other scratched his head sheepishly.

"Well you see, it was a masquerade ball, so I don't know…" he trailed off lamely, avoiding his brother's glare.

"You're an idiot." was all he got in response and Arthur just sighed.

"Belt up, I am not! Besides, it's not like I'm planning on seeing him again."

"What, why? I thought you said you had fun with him?" his brother asked, tilting his head in confusion. Arthur just smiled.

"Well, yes, I did enjoy his company but I'm not looking for a relationship," he ruffled Peter's hair playfully. "I'm content with the way things are now."

"Yeah but Arthur-"

"That's enough for tonight Peter, it's late. Go to bed, alright?" He interrupted, getting up and heading towards the kitchen. "I'll be going to bed soon too but I just need a cup of tea first." He added, smiling over his shoulder at him.

"Fine, whatever you say. Good night Arthur." He said exasperatedly and headed to his room.

"'Night Peter" he called back then entered the kitchen.

"I am perfectly fine never seeing that man again…" He reassured himself out loud, as he put the kettle on the stove.

I don't need to see him again I'm perfectly content with how my life is now…right?

Even as he continuously reassured himself, there was still a sinking feeling in his stomach that he couldn't place or that he could make vanish.