Alfred X Arthur
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Kindergarten Part 1
He is unhappy.
Extremely unhappy.
As unhappy as a five year old boy could be, that is.
He stood behind his mother's legs and watched as other children his own age ran amuck. They were talking to their friends, coloring on little pages the teacher had placed on each desk, rummaging through the playhouse that sits in the back of the room, and shooing off their parents without a moment's hesitation.
While all he could do is hold on tightly to his mother's leg and hope that she would think he's sick and allow him to go back home.
Though, he wouldn't exactly call that house he now lives in home.
His home lies just outside of London, a beautiful town with friends he's had for as long as he can remember, where his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all reside, a place where he wouldn't have to worry about being teased for the way he speaks, and the only place he's ever known as home.
That is, until his father got reassigned and his entire family was forced to move to America. So, his family came over and helped pack up all of their stuff and then they left within a month of the news that turned everything upside down.
The only bright side is that he no longer has to share a room with his abusive brothers. Their new house is big enough for everyone – even the baby growing in his mother's tummy – to have their own room.
He still isn't happy about moving here.
His mother looked down at him and smiled, her emerald green eyes matching his own and forcing him to smile back. "Arthur, sweetheart, why don't you let go of my leg and play with the other children so I can talk to your teacher?"
He shook his head but her smile did not falter. She bent down so that they were on the same level and simply said, "Arthur, go play with the other children. You need to make some new friends if you're going to like it here."
Still he shook his head but oh so reluctantly he released the hold he had on his mother's leg and her smile only grew. "I'm going to go talk to your new teacher, try and play alright?"
With that she walked off and he was left standing there, trying to figure out what to do in this room full of strangers.
So, he did all he knew how to do.
He watched the other children.
He saw the way the black haired boy played with his figurines – the ones that were always playing on the teli that didn't look like normal cartoons but always had heroines in short skirts and heroes yelling in dramatic ways – with such intent that it seemed no one could break him out of his spell. He saw the two brown haired twins coloring at their table – one in a dreamland and the other with ferocious draws of the line and a scowl on his face. He saw a boy with hair as long as any girls playing karate in the corner. He saw a girl that looked like a boy with light brown hair pulled into a ponytail hitting an older boy with white hair and red eyes with a stick while a brown haired boy with glasses and a mole sat idly by drawing strange symbols on a piece of paper. He saw the pale boy with hair all slicked back very carefully picking up the stuffed animals all the other children had left lying on the ground and then he saw a very rough looking boy with eyes as blue as the sky and dirty blonde hair falling out of a cowboy hat standing before him. "Hi, I'm Alfred F. Jones! The F stands for freedom! What's your name?"
He was about to answer but was interrupted by the voice of a woman yelling across the room, Alfred cringed the moment she spoke up, "The F does not stand for Freedom! Your middle name is Franklin, Alfred!"
Arthur simply stared at him, "My name is Arthur Kirkland. Why did you say that your middle name is Freedom? Are you an idiot?"
The boy simply laughed – ignoring the question – and grabbed Arthur's hand, "Come on Artie, I'm sitting over here!" dragging him off to a table in the corner where two empty desks sat beside a closed window. "It's Arthur not Artie!"
Alfred simply laughed and took his seat at the desk closest to the window; Arthur – despite objections – did the same with a quick look back to his mother. Arthur could see her smiling at him - that oh so motherly look gleaming in her eyes – and then she was gone and he was left alone with an overly excited cowboy.
Once the parents – and that one older kid with the red eyes – had finally left the teacher had everyone sit down in one of the desks so that she may introduce herself. However, very few of the children paid her any attention, most just kept scribbling away on the little pieces of paper that had been placed in front of them.
Arthur was no exception.
He very carefully drew the outline of a house, a yard, a tiny little gate, flowers, and even stepping stones. He drew his family – even his brothers – and very carefully colored in the lines and added details to the faces of his family. He colored the house, the yard, the fence, and even the gate, stepping stones, and flowers.
Once he was done, he glanced up at the teacher who seemed to be smiling at all the other students, looking at everyone's' drawings as if they were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She would ask someone a question and they would answer back with a great big grin on their face.
To Arthur, she seemed like a nice lady.
"Hey, Artie. Hey, Artie! Look! Look, Artie!" With a grumble Arthur turned his head, "I told you my name is Arthur not Artie!" Alfred simply grinned at him and held up his picture, "I drew this for you, Artie!"
And all Arthur could do is stare because the picture was of them, together, smiling, and holding hands. The Alfred in the picture kind of looked like Captain America – he even had the shield! – While Arthur simply looked like himself but nonetheless the picture made him smile. "Um, thanks, Alfred."
He took the picture from Alfred's hands and just stared at it, the grin on Alfred's face only grew as Arthur examined the picture even further. Then Arthur looked up at him and grinned, "So you're Captain America? Is that why you said your middle name is freedom?"
Alfred simply nodded that ever present grin only growing, "Yep! And we're going to be best friends, Artie, so you can be my sidekick!"
"Why should I be the sidekick?"
"Because I'm the hero and every hero needs a sidekick!" Arthur could only roll his eyes – a habit he picked up from his older brothers – and very carefully place the drawing in the little cuvee of his desk.
Then the teacher very calmly asked for everyone's attention and all conversations ceased; everyone behaves well on the first day.
When Arthur arrived back at his new house he immediately went to his room and – with his mother's help – tacked the drawing to a bulletin board that hangs on the wall in his room. His mother didn't ask about the drawing or the little boy who forced her son to sit by him she didn't even ask if Arthur made any friends besides the young boy who drew the picture. She merely asked Arthur if he would like to help her make supper – he did – knowing full well that he would tell her all about his day as she slaved over a hot stove and he handed her ingredients.
To be continued
A/N; Not going to lie, I was rather excited to put the 'to be continued' at the end XD Normally I write one shots so a chapter story like this is rather exciting. Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC I kept forgetting that Arthur was kind of a mean kid but I figured everyone is just a bit shy on their first day of kindergarten (except for Alfred).
Anyway, this story is basically about Alfred and Arthur throughout the years and though I originally intended for each chapter to be a year but there's a lot that happens throughout a year and I feel like those things should be included so my original plan won't seem to work. It's not going to be unbearably slow because I'm not patient enough for that but certain things need to be included – like meeting parents and first sleepovers and holidays – but if there is anything anyone wants included at any point in the story just message me and I'll do my best to add it in! Also, any knowledge on England's brothers is appreciated because I don't know much about them. Reviews are appreciated (no pressure and no flames).
I've read over this like a million times so hopefully nothing is redundant and everything flows well but if not just tell me and I'll fix it.
That is the longest author's note I've never done -_-
Thanks for reading!
-Laci