A/N: This is just something random I've been doing recently. I always wanted to write a story about childhood friends, and who better than my OTP? Don't worry it's all purely innocent throughout their younger years.

This story, if completed, will have intense feels. Make no mistake, that's what I'm going for. I don't even know if I'll finish this, but if so, I'm warning you in advance. The story will be nice and fluffy for the most part but I do have a twist ending planned. Please don't let that deter you from reading this fic though! :)

I have a story completely thought out but idk when and if it will be updated, but, you know, I want some feedback. I'm also doing a version of this as a real book, so I really do want you guys to suggest things to me. I hope you enjoy this little random thing I wrote :D

He had been my neighbor for as long as I could remember. My mum told me that they had moved into the house by ours when I was 7. Since I couldn't remember anything before then, it was no wonder he had always been a part of it.

I was a quiet, antisocial, shy, little boy according to my parents. I rarely wanted to go outside and play and spent all my time reading picture books hunched in a corner of my was not the kind of behavior a 7-year-old should have have been doing. I preferred tea to milk, quiet to loud, books to tv. I would just sit quietly all day reading. It sounds pretty nice now, of course, but years ago, that was not the case. My mum said it was like she never gave birth to me. I never made a sound. I hadn't said a word at the age of 7 and my parents were considering consulting a doctor. Something had to be wrong with me. And then the Jones moved next door.

Alfred was everything I wasn't. he was loud, obnoxious, talkative, active, outgoing, really everything a healthy child should be. Sometimes when I would look out my bedroom window. I would see him tossing a football around with his dad or playing with dinosaurs and action figures in his room. With sound effects. More often than not, it would disrupt my focus and I'd have to move to the other side of the house. I wanted nothing to do with him. And so I did everything possible to avoid him. My rare excursions outside stopped, my blinds would always be closed tight, when my mum told me to go play with him, I figured out an excuse not to. And for 2 whole months, it worked. That is, it worked until my parents forced me to accompany them to a brunch with the Jones.

"It's a good chance for you to make a friend, Artie!" Mum had said, practically dragging me out the door.

"C'mon Arthur," my dad had agreed. "This'll be a good experience!"

Left with no choice, I had picked out my favorite book to read, a child's version of Grimm's fairy tales, and forced myself to leave the house and enter forbidden territory. As my mom knocked on the door, I remember feeling a sense of anticipation that I hadn't known before. I had thought to myself, what am I excited for? This isn't going to be fun at all.

"Ah, you're here!" Mrs. Jones had said upon opening the door. "Come in, come in! We're preparing the food now!" My parents shoved me through the door, smiles plastered onto their forces.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" My mum asked. "It's only fair, since you were kind enough to invite us."

"In that case, I'll take your offer! the kitchen is this way!" And the two women walked off like fast friends. My dad had been greeting Mr. Jones and now he came over to me, Mr. Jones following him.

"You must be Arthur." He said, smiling. "Your parents have told me a lot about you." I forced myself to smile slightly out of politeness. Straightening up, he turned to my father. "You weren't kidding when you said he doesn't talk."

"Haven't heard a word since he was born. Laurie assures me it's just a phase, but I'm not so sure. How accurate can those kid-raising books be, right?" The two chuckled.

"Alfred is in the backyard, Arthur. Why don't you go play with him?" I clearly had no choice in the matter, as my father picked me up, walked to the backdoor, put me down, and promptly shut it. Growling at this clear act of betrayal, I turned to find a little boy staring curiously at me. His light blond hair was dirty with mud and his clothes were covered in grass stains. His bright blue eyes lit up in recognition and a wide grin appeared on his face.

Bounding over to me, he said happily "I know you! You're Arthur!" I nodded silently in response. "Do you know me?" I nodded again. "You don't talk much." Stifling an eye roll, I nodded again before sitting down on the porch and opening my book. Curious, Alfred sat down next to me.

"What's that?" I raised the book, showing him the cover. "Fairy tales? Those are for girls! You should play football with me!" Frowning, I shook my head quickly. Out of all the sports in the world, I hated football the most. What was the point of running around to get a ball if you were just gonna get tackled and crushed and hurt? I didn't get it.

"Aw, c'mon!" Alfred said, grabbing my book, trying to pull it away. "Play with me!" Shaking my head, I glared at him, trying to yank it back from his grubby hands. But he was stronger than me and finally pulled it free. Laughing he raced off.

"If you want it back, you better catch me!" And he darted off into the forest. My eyes wide with distress, I stood and raced after him.

"Arthur?!" I heard my mom call after me. "Where are you going?!" But I didn't turn around and go back. That annoying brat hurt my pride and I'd be damned if I was going to let him get away with it!

"Calm down, Laurie. Al knows those woods like the back of his hand. They'll be fine." Mr. Jones' faint voice carried back to me. I felt a little better after hearing that. If he could recognize these woods, then surely I could too.

It was purely childish pride and anger that I chased Alfred that day. However, little did I know it was the start of a long friendship as well.

It wasn't long before I got tired of running. I was hopelessly out of shape since I never went outside, and it was no surprise that Alfred easily outran me. Leaning against one of the many trees in the forest, I panted to catch my breath and looked around. As far as I could see, there were trees, trees and more trees. Alfred was nowhere to be seen. As I looked back at the way I had come, with a sinking heart, I finally admitted to myself. I was lost. The woods were more confusing than I had thought and as much as I disliked him, I had to respect Alfred for knowing them. With nothing else to do but sit and wait for someone to find me, I plopped down beneath a shady oak tree and stared off into the woods, watching the wildlife frolic and play without a care. It was peaceful and I would've enjoyed if it hadn't been for the fact that I was lost and had no idea how to get home.

"You're giving up already?" A voice said above me, and I swear I jumped at least 10 feet in the air. I heard Alfred's annoying laugh above me and looked up to see him sitting in the very tree I chose to take a rest under. Just my luck. I glared furiously at him.

"Still won't say anything?" He said to me, jumping down and landing next to me. "That's pretty weird, y'know. You'll be made fun of." I rolled my eyes and stuck out my hand. He gave me a questioning look.

"What?" I pointed at the book he held behind his back. Noticing it was sticking out, he shifted so he was blocking my view of it.

"Sorry," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "I don't know what you're asking for. Guess you better just tell me." I wasn't about to give in and give him what he wanted, so instead I charged him. This caught Alfred offguard, and as he stumbled and fell to the ground, my book flew from his hands, landing on the ground and skidding away. Scrambling up before he could, I ran over to it, kneeling down to inspect it, when his loud yell shocked me so bad I dropped it.

"Get away from there, Arthur! There's a cliff!" I looked at him confused, before picking up the book and moving a few steps away from him. If he wasn't coming over here, then all the better. I saw that it was indeed a cliff, but it wasn't very big, and it seemed stable enough. It looked safe enough to me. Sitting down happily, I opened my book to inspect it, ignoring Alfred's cries. He must've had enough of me ignoring him, because the next thing I knew, he was beside me, pulling on my arm.

"Come on, dad said it's not safe. You can read somewhere else and I'll leave you alone. Okay? Just please, let's go." I looked at him for a long time, before sighing. Shutting my book, I started to get up. Alfred's face lit up when he saw me moving and he let go, retreating to a safe distance, waiting for me to follow. However, neither of us could have predicted what happened next. Although it was fine with just me, the combined weight of Alfred and I plus the strain I placed on the ground must have been too much for it because we both heard a cracking noise and the next thing I knew, I was falling.

I could hear Alfred screaming after me and as his face appeared over the side of the cliff, it quickly grew further and further away. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly as I hit something hard. Pain like I had never felt before in my life shot through my left arm and I blacked out.

…

The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was the bright fluorescent glow of the light on the ceiling. A medicinal smell hung in the air and I wrinkled my nose, sitting up. The next thing I noticed was the dull throbbing of my left arm, which was in a cast. Looking around, I saw I was in a strange room on a strange bed. I was wearing a medical gown and an IV was on my right arm. It didn't take long for me to realize I must be in the hospital. Thinking hard, I tried to remember what had happened after I ran into the woods. Slowly, I remembered what happened up until the point when I fell off the cliff but after that it was a blur of noise, color and darkness.

A creaking sound caught my attention and I shifted to see the door to my room pen. A strange man in a lab coat walked in, quickly followed by my parents. When my mum saw me, she stared for a minute before bursting into tears and throwing herself on me.

"Oh sweetie!" She cried. "I was so worried about you, honey! I'm so glad you finally woke up!" My father walked over and patted her back as she hugged me. I looked up at him, confused, and he smiled back at me, tousling my hair.

"Glad you're alright, kid." My mom released me, thankfully, since I was starting to get crushed, and the doctor walked over to me.

"How are you feeling, Arthur?" I looked at him and shrugged. I didn't feel bad I guess. But my arm hurt and I was kind of dizzy from how bright the lights were. Finally, I shook my hand side-to-side, in a so-so sort of gesture.

"That's good" The old man said, his smile forming more wrinkles on his face. "I bet you're wondering how you got here." I nodded my head in response. He chuckled. "Well then, I'll let your parents tell you." Turning towards them, he said "Since he's awake, he can most likely be released in 2 more days. I'd like to monitor him for a little longer, to be sure he didn't hurt his head from that impact."

"Of course." Mum said. "Whatever you think is best. I'm just thankful he's alright." Nodding at him gratefully, the doctor waved in response before leaving the room. Turning to me and pulling up one of the blue padded chairs, my mum looked at me.

"Shall we tell you what happened, Artie?" I nodded again. "Alright. Maybe this will change your opinion of him." Him? Who's him?

"Alfred told us all about what happened." My dad said. "After you fell off the cliff, you landed in the lake below, luckily. If it was solid ground, you would've been a lot worse off. You could've even died."

"Dear!" My mum said, smacking him. "Don't tell him that! You'll scare him!"

"Sorry, sorry," my dad said, laughing. "Anyway, after you hit the water, and Alfred saw you weren't coming up, he jumped in after you. I don't know how that kid did it, but he somehow managed to fish you up, pull you out of the water and carry you halfway back to the house all on his own. Mike and I were looking for you two boys when we saw him, dripping wet and carrying you along on his back. We immediately picked you both up, hightailed it back to the house and rushed you to the hospital. It's been 2 days since then. Your mum was worried sick when you didn't wake up the first day. I told her you've always been a heavy sleeper, but she wouldn't buy it." He said, chuckling. My mum smiled at me softly.

"I know you didn't like him much, Artie. But he did save your life. Maybe you could try to be friends with him?"

Honestly, I didn't know what to make of any of this. Why, I wondered, would he put himself in danger for someone he just met who clearly dislikes him? It just didn't make any sense to me. I was grateful to him, but at the same time, it wouldn't have happened if he had just given me my book back. In a way, this was his fault. But he did help me. And it is unfair to give him all the blame. After all, if I had just asked for it back, he probably would have given it to me. I sat there thinking for I don't know how long. Finally I came to what I thought a logical conclusion. Raising my head, I looked at both my parents, who were talking quietly with each other. Clearing my throat, I prepared myself for the first words of my life.

"Alfred." I said softly. My parents both stopped talking at once and looked at me, shock plain on their faces. "Can I see Alfred?" I clarified for them. I watched as my mum burst into tears again and crushed me for the second time that day.

"Of course you can," she said. "Of course you can. We'll go get him right now." Walking to the door, she left, my father following behind her.

"I told you he'd speak when he was ready. He's a man of few words, like his old man."

"Oh please!" My mum laughed. "If there's anything you aren't, it's a man of few words!" Then the door shut and I was left in silence again. I was grateful for it because now I could prepare myself for seeing him. I was glad I finally said something, but annoyed it had to be his name.

Looking back, Alfred and I had many a laugh over my first words, mostly at my expense. It was yet another thing that we only shared because I fell off a cliff and broke my arm. Being clumsy can be useful sometimes, I guess.

I wasn't given a lot of time to think about what to say when I saw him, because not 5 minutes later, the door creaked open again and Alfred peeked into the room. He must have been sitting out in the waiting room, for him to come here this quick. Looking up at someone behind him, he asked quietly "Is it okay?"

I heard my mom's voice reply "He said himself he wanted to see you."

"Really?!" Alfred couldn't hide the shock in his voice and his face looked so funny that I had to laugh. His head immediately turned towards me and he smiled, walking over to the chair my mum pulled up and standing up on it. He surprised me though. He didn't say a word, just looked at me, his face a mask of relief, happiness and guilt. I stared back, not knowing what to do to alleviate the situation. Finally, Alfred was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry." He said. I must have looked confused because he continued "It's my fault. If I had just given you your book back, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. I'm sorry." He looked like he was about to cry, which also surprised me. I quickly shook my head.

"It's okay." I said quietly, still not used to my own voice. "I-I should have have asked for it back." Alfred stared at me as I spoke, as if he was watching some rare once-in-a-lifetime event.

"You really did say you wanted to see me."

"Didn't my mom tell you that already?"

"No I'm just surprised. You're talking. I've never heard you talk at all before now."

"No one has. I didn't see a need to say anything, so I didn't."

"But what about asking for things? Or talking to people? Or making friends? Or playing? Or laughing? You never did any of that?"

"No."

"Wow. you're incredible."

"You're the incredible one. I never would have managed to get you out of the bottom of a lake, let alone carry you through the forest if you were the one who fell."

"Then we both better be glad it was you who fell!" Realizing what he said, he quickly tried to cover his mistake "N-Not that I'm saying it's good you fell or anything! I didn't mean it like that!" I laughed lightly at his frantic apologies.

"I know." I replied. "Um…" My voice trailed off as my face flushed red. "Th-thanks." I stammered. "For saving me." Alfred cocked his head and smiled.

"Well duh! We're friends aren't we?" I looked at his innocent grinning face and couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah. I think we are."

...

After I met Alfred and after I got released from the hospital, my life did a complete 180. Now that I was finally talking, I went outside more often, though I still preferred my books. I also grew close with Alfred. Since we were neighbors, we spent almost everyday playing together. It didn't matter what, tag, hide and seek, even football, although I refused to let him tackle me. My parents were happy that I was finally acting my age and Alfred couldn't have been happier to have a playmate. June quickly passed us by and all of a sudden it was July, which meant Alfred's birthday. He had been born on the 4th, and he was so proud of that fact.

"I have a birthright to live up to, y'know!" He'd say. "I gotta be an all-American hero!"

"Why?" I finally asked him. "It's just a day. That you happened to be born on. It doesn't give you any obligations."

"Obligations?"

"Um, like expectations." I clarified. I had an extremely large vocabulary for a 7-year-old since I read so much. Alfred's? Not so much. There were many time I had to teach him new words since he almost never recognized a word longer than 8 letters.

"Still!" He replied. "Anyway, it's tomorrow! Will you come over and celebrate with me? We're gonna have cake and presents and fireworks!"

"Aren't those illegal in Virginia?"

"Who cares! No one listens to that anyway! And they're just fountains and sparklers anyway! With one or two bottlerockets."

"...well okay. But if the police come, it's not my fault!"

"They won't come! Thank you Arthur! It'll be a lot of fun!"

The next day, I pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and headed down the stairs. "Mum, I'm going to Alfred's."

"Alright sweetie. Will you be back for lunch?" She asked. I walked into the kitchen and saw she was preparing sandwiches for later. She began to peel an apple as I replied.

"No, we're celebrating Al's birthday today." My mum nearly dropped the knife. Swivelling to look at me, she rushed over.

"It's his birthday?! Why didn't you tell me?! You can't go over there without a present!"

"My present is myself. I'm going to his party, isn't that enough?" She glared at me, clearly annoyed with my response.

"No, it's not enough." She replied, shoving the sandwiches in the fridge and replacing the apple in the fruit bowl. Untying her apron and pulling on her shoes, she grabbed my hand and her purse and rushed out the door. "We're going to buy him a gift! Come on!" Practically tossing me into the car, she slammed the door got into the driver's seat and we were off. Staring out the window, I saw Alfred walk out the front door. Our eyes met and he shot me a confused look before he grew out of my line of sight. I sighed, scratching my head. Clearly there was no point in discussing this with my mum. She had made up her mind. I stared out the window in silence as the car hurtled down the street.

Around 10 minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of Target. Taking me by the hand, she practically dragged me through the lot, into the store and to the toy aisles. "Pick something." I looked at her in surprise and she looked back. "You're his friend! You pick something he'll like!" I, just like any other kid, loved the toy aisles, so I was more than happy to run off. There were so many things I thought he'd like and even more I thought I'd like. Finally it came down to a brand new football or the newest Mario Kart game that had come out less than a week ago. I knew he'd like either one. Settling with the video game, I turned to go back to my mom when something caught my eye. The edge of a display was peeking out from the end of the aisle. Cautiously walking towards it, I turned the corner and there in front of me was the biggest water gun I'd ever seen.

"Wow…" I whispered. Reading the information, I saw it could hold up to 32 oz of water, had 6 different settings, a laser pointer for perfect aim and a scope to look through. It was perfect. And they had them on sale, 2 for the price of one. Even better. Ditching the Mario Kart game, I grabbed 2 of the packages and hurried back to my mom. "These, these!"

"Those?" She said, chuckling. "Arthur, you have two with you"

"They're on sale!"

"They look expensive…"

"Please mum! Alfred'll love it! And we can play together!"

"You mean you'll use this?"

"Yeah!"

It could be because of the sale, or that she was in a good mood, or the prospect of me actually going outside to play and with a water gun no less. Either way, mum agreed to get both guns and even bought us a box of ice cream bars. 15 minutes later we were home. Grabbing the two guns, I raced over to his house, stumbling from the weight of the items. Putting them down, I banged on the door. Almost immediately Alfred opened the door and the look on his face was priceless.

"Whoa these are awesome!" he cried. "What're they for?"

"You!" I said happily. "And me! They were on sale! Happy birthday!"

"Wait, you mean you'll play with me with them?!"

"Yeah! They look amazing! I'll kick your butt easily, Al, be prepared!" His grin widened at my words and his face narrowed into a condescending smirk.

"You? Kick my butt? Mr. Stay-inside-all-day? Yeah right! In your dreams!"

"It's on!" I yelled. "Let's open these and see!" Racing each other into the house, his birthday completely forgotten, we were halfway through opening the packages when Alfred's father walked in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He said, pulling the scissors out of our hands. "Let's leave this to the adults, shall we?"

"Daaaaaad!" Alfred complained. "I'm already 7!"

"Oh my, you're so old!" his father laughed as he began to take over the unwrapping. "Shall I let you drive the car? Go to college? Get a job?"

"Okay maybe I'm not that old." Alfred muttered. "But I'm not that young either!"

"Trust me, kid. You're pretty young. Anyway, what're these? Who gave them to you?"

"I did!" I said happily. "They're my birthday present to Al!"

"Wow! Well aren't you lucky, Al? You have such a good friend!"

"Hurry up dad!" Alfred said, blushing. "We wanna play with them!"

"Yeah, yeah." His father chuckled as he finished pulling out the last one. "There you go! All done! Go fill 'em up and let 'er rip!"

"Roger that, captain!" Alfred said as he took off to the backyard where the hose was. Quickly thanking his father for letting me come over, I hurried after him. I had full confidence in my ability to think up a winning strategy for our water gun fight. It was no secret I was smarter than Alfred was, and we both knew it.

There turned out to be no winner. The next thing we knew, 2 hours had passed and we were both called to dry off so we could have cake and open presents. Within the first 5 minutes, the two of us had disregarded strategy and contests and were happily running around shooting at each other. We both wound up soaked all the way to our underwear and I had to go back to my house to change.

"Wait, Artie!" My mum called as I headed out the door. "Take these!" She handed me the box of ice cream bars. "A nice cool treat on a hot summer day!"

"Thanks mom!" I said happily and headed back to my friend's house.

The cake was delicious. Homemade by his mother, it was chocolate and painted with red, white and blue frosting forming fireworks, a flag and spelling out happy birthday. Alfred got a bunch of toys, new action figures, new video games, a new football, he even got a new bicycle, however, he swore that his favorite gift was the water gun I gave him.

After the presents were opened and the cake was eaten, it was time for fireworks. We chased each other with sparklers, set off fountains in the driveway and threw poppers at each other's feet. Our parents laughed at how silly we were being but we didn't care. We were having fun. Eventually, Mr. Jones went into his garage and brought out a set of bottlerockets.

"I drove over to Kentucky to buy these!" He said, clearly proud of his illegal actions. "Let's set 'em off with a bang!" Alfred and I were forced to sit on the porch at a safe distance by our mothers while my dad and Mr. Jones lit them off one by one. I stared in awe at the bright colors lighting up the dark sky, red and blue and green and gold. I heard Alfred snickering and I looked over at him.

"What?"

"You just look like you've never seen fireworks before."

"Shut up! I have! Just from my bedroom window, that's all." I replied indignantly, blushing at his all-too-true accusation.

"You really didn't do much, huh?"

"No! I didn't! So there!"

"Don't be so upset! I don't really care. Oh!" He said, hitting his palm with his fist. "I know! Wait here!" And he turned and ran back into the house. I looked after him, confused. A moment later, he returned, carrying something. "Here." he said, pushing it into my arms. Holding it up, I realized it was a book. Looking closer at it, I read the title aloud.

"Grimms Fairytales for Children." Looking up at Alfred in wonder, I said quietly "This is the book we fought over when we met." He nodded.

"I remember you said it was your favorite book. It took a long time to find one because they stopped printing it, but I did it! Well, my mom did it. Since yours is at the bottom of a lake and that was my fault… W-well, I got you a new one." He stammered, embarrassed. I was surprised at this act of kindness from him. I hadn't expected him to get me a new copy.

"Thank you Alfred." I said, smiling broadly at him.

"Y-yeah, no problem." He muttered as I turned to look back at the fireworks. If it had been daylight, I would have noticed how red he turned.