7:15 AM sharp on a Monday morning. It's the start of a whole new year at Caprees High School and already things seemed to be picking up right away. Kids were already fitting into their specific groups and this year was going to be no different from any other. The only things that were different was that everyone's a year older, some maybe 2-3 inches taller, some may be thinner of fatter than last we saw them and of course someone either broke up before the school year started or everyone is talking about the hot new hook-ups.

Bah! Who cares, people and their ridiculous relationships, who needs them!

Arthur Kirkland was entering this year as a senior, he was your pretty average guy, with certain above average qualities, like his eyebrows, and above else a short fuse. Some would say he had anger issues, and there was always someone out there ready to start a fight with poor Arthur. He on the other hand just wanted to be left alone.

That wasn't to say though there weren't some people he liked hanging out with, he wasn't alien to the term 'friend'; he had friends. In fact, after school today he was hanging out with one.

He was meeting him on the track field at exactly 4:00 after school, give or take a few minutes knowing that guy and his scatter brain would forget around midday only to remember at 4:01 and come running from somewhere going

"Oh my god! Man I'm so sorry I totally forgot we were meeting at 4, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"

Yeah, that's very much the scene. What's even sadder is that it'll play out EXACTLY like that and I won't even get to be like "see I was right"

OOO

"Is my life that predictable? Gee that's actually kind of depressing" Arthur mumbled

"What's depressing?" asked someone who was sitting behind Arthur

Eh! Shit I didn't think anyone else would sit in here during break.

As Arthur turned around his fear of who might have heard him eased when he saw a violet eyed, concerned look from the pretty much nicest guy at their school.

"Oh Matthew it's just you, you worried me a bit, I thought you might've been someone I'm trying to avoid" followed by a relieved sigh

"Oh, and who might that be? Ah…sorry, you don't have to tell me"

The greatest quality about Matthew Jones was that not only was he quiet but he also really cared about everyone's problems. This was good for those who constantly needed to have someone to talk to, but also a bad thing for Matthew, because no one ever really bothered to ask about him in return.

Not even his own brother cared enough to ask him what's up once in a while. But his likability guaranteed him a 'get out of bullying free card' because there wasn't a single person at this school who thought picking on him was cool or fun.

In fact, he was so nice that if someone caught you picking on him, Matthew's collected fan girls would key your car, slash your tires and steal you license plate (as a souvenir of your defeat) as just a warning, just imagine if you hurt him! It was a scary thought.

"No, no, it's ok you can ask, uh, but sorry I can't really say it" Arthur was having a tough time looking Matthew in the eyes; they were too honest and kind. He felt he might let it all slip out if he even mentioned one tiny detail; it would be like a dam breaking.

"Oh, I see. Well I hope everything works out with this person, so you don't have to hide in here all by yourself anymore" Matthew gave a soft smile that nearly broke Arthur's heart, and said goodbye. Outside the door it appeared that someone was waiting for him, that explained why Matthew didn't press for any more information, but god was he kind! To make his other friend wait just to ask HIM what was wrong! Arthur almost wanted to cry.

What a kid!

"Hey, Matthew…thanks" Arthur called out before Matthew could leave the classroom, the junior turned around just long enough to give another kind smile and a slight wave before grabbing his friend by the arm and leaving Arthur's sight by turning down the opposite hall.

OOO

High school is so typical it almost hurts. The day starts at 7:15 AM sharp with an obnoxious ring, classes are barely an hour-long, with a 45 minute lunch, depending on whether you were a senior you maybe had 5 classes. Otherwise the max you could take were 7, that is unless you were an overachiever and took "special classes" that started ungodly early in the morning, in which case a student can take 8. Though seniors were the only ones with the option to do the special classes, most students, like Arthur, didn't care to suck up and do something like waste his time that instead could be used for sleeping, on learning more worthless crap he would never use again in his life.

So with that schedule everyone got out around 3:00 PM which left after school activities open. Sports and art clubs started and everyone in one of those groups on a good day would probably get home around 5 or just before 6 PM, just in time for dinner.

Arthur was also in an after school sport club, the amazing game of football.

The after school routine was typical too, bell rings to release students, you walk down to the gym, open your locker, change into your uniform

Ugly thing, wish we'd get new ones

Walk on to the field, everyone goes through warm ups, basics, then a break. Run some drills, do more warm ups, group talk on anything coming up, meet ends, you go back into the locker room, shower, and finally go home.

Although it was typical it was not as horrible as the school routine. You joined a club to do something you liked, so the end of the day wasn't met with joy of TV or the dread of homework upon going right home. A large portion of students went home after school, but for those who were dedicated to something, like a team or a group, you felt like a part of something, you belonged there, it was an amazing feeling. For Arthur, running home was out of the question when it came to his teammates and his coach.

OOO

As Arthur was walking out of the locker room on his way to the field a sudden crash startled him, hoping someone wasn't hurt he rushed over to see what had happened. When he turned the corner Arthur was surprised to see Lovino Vargas and Antonio Fernandez Carriedo.

Lovino looked extremely upset; it almost looked as though he was crying. Arthur quickly hid behind the corner of the building he had just turned from and decided to listen in on what they were talking about.

Impossible. THE Lovino Vargas, crying?

The guy was way too tough to show his tears in front of someone else, especially Antonio, practically everyone knew that when it came to these two, they were like salt and vinegar. The cutest name Lovino had for Antonio was 'jerk' or the even cuter 'bastard' it was clear that as far as their relationship went, Antonio was lucky Lovino didn't stab him and throw his body in a river somewhere. And yet…here Lovino was, tears in his eyes. Antonio however had the harshest expression of pain across his face; as if it was literally killing him to see Lovino cry. It was as though he would literally lie down and die right then and there just to make Lovino stop.

This realization made Arthur blush a little. What he was witnessing was not a fight between two people who hated each other, but rather it was a scene between two lovers.

"What the hell are you saying you bastard?! Do you realize what people will say if we do something like that?!"

Still crying Lovino slammed the trash can again (the noise Arthur had heard from before), his fierce gaze never once leaving Antonio.

"I am fully aware of what people will say, but I don't care Lovino! I love you! I truly deeply till death takes me away, want to love you for as long as I'm capable, with everything I have to offer you! Please, please, mi corazon, do not be ashamed of us! Do not fear what others think, I will protect you, from anything, from any words that come to your ears that could hurt your heart. Lovino!"

*Through his speech Antonio had moved himself in front of Lovino, wrapping his left arm around Lovino's waist, while his right hand was on his face, whipping away his tears*

"I shall be your shield, I shall be your blade, and all I ask Lovino is that you trust me".

Lovino's tears had begun to lessen at this point; his eyes were now filling with adoration for the man who he knew loved him more than anything, and would never let anything bad happen to him. Lovino completely let his guard down, he began to return Antonio's embrace and in a sensual, passionate motion kissed Antonio, who only tightened his hold on Lovino.

Arthur couldn't handle the scene. His face was so incredibly red he felt his head might explode.

What am I still doing here?! I feel like a pervert staying here and watching this!

As Arthur was about to stomp away he overheard the last thing Lovino said to Antonio.

"Fine. I guess I'm ok with it now. We'll tell my brother first though, and then we can start to tell others. Antonio, I'm ready to go public about us." And with that it was official; word would soon be out that Lovino Vargas and Antonio Fernandez Carriedo were dating.

OOO

"What the hell was all that about?" Arthur grumbled

As he walked on to the football field, no one was there yet. It was mostly because Arthur didn't have a final class of the day, so he got to kill time doing whatever he wanted. He also didn't have a first class, so he had a lot of time to kill every day.

If he had a car and drove himself he would sleep in and then go home early every day, but with no car he was either stuck carpooling or taking the bus. So every day he had about two hours to himself. It really sucked, especially when he did all his homework and had nothing more to do.

Today was no different, and seeing as it was the start of the year he was already prepared, while the incoming freshmen who joined the team would need to be run through all the beginners' procedures. Meaning Arthur had even more time to kill than usual.

I'm still a little stunned about all that, how can those two be ga-…what am I thinking? I make it seem like I don't accept gays! That's so not the truth, I…I have no room to talk here actually. . .

-Sigh-

"I'm glad" Arthur smiled to himself after a while

"I really am glad, good for them" Arthur now moved to the bleachers so he could sit and wait for everyone else to show up.

What a beautiful day. I needed this, after everything that happened over break, coming back to school was what I needed. Homework, friends, teachers, sports! I need them to take my mind off everything…off of that incident…off of HIM…

"HEY ARTHURRRRR, earth to Arthur! Helllloooooo"

Before he had even realized it, he had fallen asleep.

Damn

Standing over him was one of his fellow seniors Yao Wang who was looking rather irritated, more so than usual.

"What do you think you're doing, aru? Don't you even realize you're at school, and on the football field no less, it's so dangerous to just fall asleep out here in the open, what if someone came by and kidnapped you? Huh? Then what, Arthur are you even listening?!"

Unlike Matthew who was one to always listen; Yao was the kind who tended to worry a lot. The kind to stress over things until he went crazy, building and building until finally he snapped. Yao tended to worry about others far too much, more than they needed.

And even though Arthur knew Yao had a point, he didn't exactly think anyone would come up and take a 17-year-old boy who had fallen asleep on some high school bleachers. Besides, it's not as if he planned to fall asleep here.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you, I'm sorry, it sort of just happened, it's been a long day" Arthur attempting and failing to make a case that would get Yao to ease off a little.

"A hard day? A hard day you say! You don't have extra classes, you don't have a first OR last period, you have less homework having only 5 classes and you say "it's been a long day"! HA! That's really funny Arthur; you're a real comedian you know, HA, really that was a good one, GET OUT ON THE FIELD NOW, ARU!"

Sheesh, what's his deal? Is he that stressed out already…maybe it has something to do with that new guy, Ivan Braginski? I heard rumors he was causing some problems since he moved here at the start of the summer, and already today there were stories of him bothering some of the upper classmen. I don't think Yao was one of them though, right? I better just stay on his good side this practice and then head home quickly.

OOO

Aside from the bumpy start before practice, everything went smoothly for the rest of the meet; all the beginners settled in and aside from the few stalls, warm-ups didn't leave everyone completely drained. All in all it was a great start to a great year for the football team.

Arthur was feeling especially proud seeing he was one of only five seniors on the team. Everyone else was a junior, a very few sophomores, and only a couple of freshmen, so he had a lot of authority placed on him by Yao, and Arthur loved the feeling of having power. He also felt good because the sport helped occupy his mind from his problems, he never once thought about HIM, and he was feeling free, for the first time in a while.

The feeling he hated most though was that, when practice was over, he went back to feeling stressed; he was starting to get very tired of that feeling.

But as he was showering, he felt a new ray of hope forming in his chest. At 4:00 sharp he would be on the track field waiting for his friend, they would grab their stuff and head home. Arthur would help him with his homework and then the two of them could either play video games or watch movies.

Though Arthur hoped it wouldn't be another horror film, sometimes it was nice to watch something that DIDN'T scare the hell out of that guy, but even if they did, Arthur just looked forward to preoccupying himself for a while.

Hopping out of the shower Arthur changed into his spare clothes, tossed his practice uniform back in his bag and headed for the door. He tossed a quick "see ya" wave at Yao, who was too deep in thought to notice and closed the door behind him. It was still an hour and a half away before the sun set, so the sky was still wonderfully clear and bright, and as Arthur was walking around the school toward the track field, he couldn't help but feel content.

Things felt ok. In fact they were so 'ok' Arthur started to whistle, something he hadn't done in a while, nothing special just something by The Beatles, and as he came up to the field he saw that someone was sitting on the bench to the right end.

No way! He's actually on time for once, damn and here I was so sure I would be right again, oh well, you win some you lose some. Hmph, though I would like to always be right when it comes to this guy.

"Geez for once you're on time, now it looks like I'm late" Arthur said jokingly.

"Ha ha, very funny, I tried really hard to get here early this time, I remember how annoyed you were last time I was late".

This guy, he's too much.

"So can we head home now or what" this time Arthur said it more mockingly, seeing as around this moment his friend will say something like

3, 2, 1 and

"Ah! Wait, dude I'm so sorry I totally forgot something in the science room!"

And just how did I know! See? I am always right about him, ha.

"Hey Arthur would you mind if I went and got it real quick?"

"Of course not, I'll come with you; if it won't take you too long we'll just go home afterwards. Alright?"

Heh, I'm such a good friend~

"Eh, really Arthur? Well if you don't mind, it'll really only take me a few seconds, but if you want, sure come on".

If Arthur didn't know this guy so well he would've been annoyed at how predictable he was, but after so long it became natural, as long as he was there it didn't really matter what they were doing. All he needed to do was forget about HIM and it was all ok, though he really wanted to get going, he lazily followed his friend back towards the school.

X

A/N:

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters that credit goes to Himaruya.

As a Hetalia fan fiction; I don't feel it was necessary to go too much into details on appearance, seeing as most of the characters are already known. The characters will be named as they're introduced:

Arthur Kirkland – England
Matthew Jones – Canada
Lovino Vargas - S. Italy
Antonio Fernandez Carriedo – Spain
Yao Wang – China
I van Braginski - Russia

Differentiation of speech, thought, flashback and action:
Speech is anything in "parentheses"
thought is in Italics (as of this chapter the only one thinking is Arthur)
Action will be put in *asterisks*
Flashback will be in bold

Should multiple characters be doing something different I shall give explanation. But, hopefully nothing will be too complicated.

Thanks for reading!