"Artie!" Someone screamed down the hallways of the bustling high school, earning a few complaints from nearby teachers and students. A strong, almost heavy thud, of an arm wrapped itself around the smaller blonde known- only by the former- as Artie. "I've been tryin' to get a hold of you all day!"
"Good morning, Alfred. Please do call me Arthur; it is the name my mother gave me." Arthur let out a deep sigh, having given up the revival of his name ages ago.
"But Artie has such a nice ring to it! Plus nicknames are cool," Arthur looked up at Alfred, whom wore his winning smile as he finished up his statement. Arthur immediately blushed and looked away, suddenly realizing Alfred's arm around him. He quickly moved out from under him.
"I have to go; Don't be late to class! I won't wait for you to get out of detention for tutoring again." He began to nag.
"But Artiieeee" Alfred whined and pouted his lips at Arthur. "I need your help to pass! Coach is going to kick me off the team if my grades get any lower." Arthur turned away and rolled his eyes.
"Just get to class," he scoffed before trotting off, down an adjacent hall.
"Wait! meet me after school like usual!" Alfred yelled after the smaller boy.
"Like usual," Arthur mumbled to himself with a nod, hoping the other boy had gotten the message.
Alfred had been watching the clock all day. From the moment the class started to the moment it ended, he would watch the hands slide towards the next hour.
He was now in his last class, biology. Though it was one of the few classes he had taken a liking to he still found himself silently watching the clock. Impatiently examining each movement of the hands until the bell finally rang.
Brrriiiing!
All the students grabbed their belongings and ran out of the classroom before the teacher had a chance to scream tonight's homework assignment at them. Arthur places his notebook into his bag and walked out, being one of the last ones out of the class as usual. He walked across the hall towards the school's front exit, where he waited on a bench for his friend to arrive.
Not too long after Arthur had invested himself in his book Alfred appeared at the end of the hall, running awkwardly with his backpack on one shoulder.
"Sorry I took so long" he huffed between breathes, "Coach wanted to talk." He dropped his bag onto the tile, bending over to grab his knees and catch his breathe.
"It's alright." Arthur brushed it off. He usually waited longer and knew better by now to keep his books with him for entertainment. He gently placed it back in his bag, and they walked off of the school grounds together as Alfred began to ramble about his day. Arthur nagged at him every now and again, but he mostly just listened.
"Guess what? I have a surprise for you." Alfred abruptly began, giving no pause between his excited outburst to actually let Arthur 'guess what'. "But you can't have it until midnight, okay?" Alfred winked at him.
"Why midnight?" Arthur blushed lightly and rolled his eyes at his friend's never ending charismatic attitude.
"How do you always forget? Tomorrow's your birthday, Artie!" Alfred jumped around in front of Arthur, flailing dramatically. "Honestly, you need to take your mind out of your books and studies, and live a little more." Arthur hadn't given his birthday much thought since he was younger. With so many other siblings it was hard to feel like your birthday was anything more than just another day.
"It is, isn't it?" He began to recall his parents asking him what he wanted a few days ago, though they had been quickly distracted before he had responded.
"Well," they began to approach Arthur's house. " uh, here!" Alfred shoved a small folded note into Arthur's hands, slightly flustered, before running off. "I'll see you later!"
Arthur watched the boy dash off quickly down the street. He grumbled under his breathe while he opened the wrinkled paper.
'Meet me at the park at sunset.' It said with a crude drawing of a superhero which he believed to be Alfred, since it adorned the ever prominent cowlick that laid on the top of his head.
"What on earth is this boy thinking?" He whispered to himself. 'He could've just said it in person..' Arthur grew a little anxious over the bizarre behavior the other boy was beginning to portray. Feeling rather annoyed by the sudden anxiety placed upon him, he buried himself in his schoolwork to pass the time.
Despite his best efforts, Arthur still found himself worrying anxiously over the inevitable sunset meeting at the park. He had quickly written his literature essay, finished his AP history reading, and attempted his physics homework before deciding he wasn't going to finish it. The sun was beginning to fall; dusk would come in less than fifteen minutes, so Arthur decided to head out towards the park.
The walk was short and rather rushed. Arthur's stomach twisted and his breath quickened slightly, as his palms began to sweat. 'Its not like this is a date.' He laughed to himself. 'Like he would ever ask you on a date.' His anxiousness began to mix in a sort of sadness. When and how he had fallen so hard for the clumsy ignorant boy he wasn't quite sure of, but it was clear to him that the crush was there.
He walked into the park towards a small playground, where he found Alfred swaying slightly on the swing set. Arthur looked towards the sky to see if he had arrived late, but the still present sun surprised him. Alfred was never on time to anything that didn't have an all-you-can-eat buffet, let alone early.
"Hey." Arthur said rather awkwardly. He wasn't usually the one to initiate a conversation, so his stance was rather defensive and his steps were small and quiet. Alfred was wearing a large bomber jacket, which he almost always wore, and a cheap drawstring bag, an unusual addition to the usually lazy unprepared boy.
"Hey!" Alfred jumped to his feet, and in a fleeting moment had whisked his friend in the other direction practically dragging him away.
"Where are we going?" Arthur had nearly screamed, startled by the sudden movement. "I just got here. Why didn't you just ask me to meet you somewhere else if we were just going to leave?" He glared at Arthur, just to be broken down by the wide toothy grin. He couldn't help but to smile a little himself.
"Don't worry! It isn't too far, plus its connected to the park." Alfred continued to drag the smaller boy onward. "I didn't know if you remembered the place or not, so I decided this was easier." He let go of Arthur's shoulder and skipped ahead a little.
"Its just through here!" Alfred pointed down a dirt path that led through a small huddle of trees. With dusk now upon them the small forest appeared dark and dreary.
"Are you sure about this?" Arthur gave Alfred a doubtful look, knowing fully well how easily frightened he could be.
"Of course!" Alfred began to dig in through his drawstring bag and pulled out two small flashlights. He turned one on and handed the other to Arthur.
"Well, if you say s-" Arthur was cut short by a strong tug on his arm. Alfred eagerly continued dragging him on their way through the ever darkening forest.
The walk was taking them both longer than expected. Almost an hour had gone by without a word spoken between the two. There had been bickering and chatting at the first half of the walk, but the rest had gone by in silence. Arthur had been quietly staring down at their hands, intertwined together, causing him to turn beet red. Luckily the eerie night worked in his favor, successfully covering any color that had shown on his face. Soon enough there was a flicker of moonlight on the path leading them onto a grassy bay, resting on a dark calm lake. There were large houses on the other side, some still lit up from their hosts burning the midnight oil, but their side was clear and undisturbed, surrounded by nothing but the trees and wind. The lake perfectly reflected the full moon in all its glory, along with the brightest stars that dare show themselves in the suburban night.
Arthur was left in awe, as Alfred lightly took the flashlight from him and checked the time. 'Perfect.' He thought, as it neared midnight.
"For your first gift," He began boisterously, like a prince to his betrothed, "I present to you an old memory!" He bowed childishly and held above his head a small pink unicorn plush. Arthur's eyes grew wide as he picked it up. He recalled having one just like it when they had first moved, and he had first met Alfred. Memories of the area flooded back to him.
"I can't believe you got me this." He trailed off rather dazed.
"Oh my god, you don't like it." Alfred's heart shattered momentarily before Arthur had a chance to correct his misunderstanding.
"No, I love it!" He smiled softly, his cheeks flushed light pink. "It looks just like the one I used to have before that damned upperclassman threw it into that lake!" He mumbled bastard and other like curses under his breathe while finding his teeth.
"Uh, yeah." Alfred chuckled, "I remember I had just started the third grade when I saw you. The older boy was picking on you when he threw it into the lake, and I came to your rescue!" Alfred's smile faded slightly with another laugh, "though I was a little late."
"Typical Alfred." Arthur teased. Shaking his head with a small grin. Alfred pouted slightly before brushing it off.
"And now your next gift!" Alfred put on a song that began with a soft string opening and sped up into an exciting waltz. "I would like to treat you like one of the princess from your fairy tales!" Arthur gave the other boy a rather shocked, offended look. "Er- well I mean prince, but uh..the prince never saved another prince.. Or.." Alfred began to trail off contemplating on a soft whisper that Arthur couldn't quite hear. "Oh! Whatever, just dance with me!" Slightly flustered, Alfred took Arthur's hand and began to waltz almost clumsily, though he gave off the vague sense that he understood what he was supposed to be doing, and Arthur was left trying to play along.
Their stumbling carried on for about five minutes -which was a miracle in itself- before Alfred had tripped on Arthur, landing them both a soft spot in the grass.
They both sprawled out on the bay, trying to catch their breath between laughs before Alfred continued his charade.
"Alright, alright." Alfred tried to calm the both of them down, coolly self-noting that this last gift must go smoothly. "For your final gift, I want you to sit up."
"Huh?" Arthur interrupted, obviously confused.
"Well, I can't exactly give it to you while you're laying down!" Alfred whined slightly, trying to remain calm, though his dark cheeks destroyed his efforts. Arthur raised a brow questioningly before rising as previously request. "I need you to listen closely." Alfred began seriously, looking straight into Arthur's eyes. "I'm giving you something fragile, but large. Its very important to me and I need you to take care of it. If my gut is right I think you will."
"What is i-" that was the second time Arthur was interrupted that day, but this time begged for further discussion. Their lips had met and, even if it was only for a brief moment, it was still the best feeling either of them could imagine. Both of their faces were a dark crimson, causing them to feel a little light headed.
"It's my heart." Alfred had finally provided the answer to clarify what had just occurred, though Arthur was pretty sure he was dreaming, or perhaps even died. But sitting in the cool grass on a warm night with Alfred seemed to make so much sense to him. Arthur's eyes began to water. "Did- did I do something wrong?" Alfred cried out to the now crying boy.
"No. I'm just really relieved I suppose." Arthur began wiping his tears. "I've had the biggest crush on you for the longest time! I'm so happy, and I feel so ridiculous for crying." Arthur hugged Alfred tightly. "I'll always take care of your heart as long as you take care of mine."
"Of course." Alfred returned the gesture, rubbing the smaller one's back soothingly to silence the sobbing. "Happy birthday, Artie."
AN: I'm sorry this came so late! I kept scrapping it and restarting. I hope it meets all of your expectations!
R&R