It was dark by the time was Arthur forced into consciousness by a sharp pain.

"Ah, fuck me!" Baby blue eyes hidden behind glasses glanced at him before refocusing on the road.

"Sorry, pothole." Arthur held his head where it had smashed against the window, taking a gander at the scenery passing them by while rubbing it.

"Where are we now?"

Alfred didn't tear his gaze away from the road to look at him. Odd.

"Just passed into Arkansas."

Arthur nodded. "Alright."

The drive was quiet for a while, Arthur leaned his head on window again after some hesitation, simply staring at the empty road and though he was well rested at this point, he almost fell asleep again like that, watching a world covered in shadow slip by.

"Why are you here?"

Arthur was once again forced back into awareness by something sudden, but this time it was his car mate asking a question Arthur frankly found rather strange and he took a glance at the clock. 3 am. He may have just woken up, but it was still far to early for inane, even if partially justified, questions.

"Why are you here?" The man beside him spluttered a bit, whipping his head around to look at Arthur before turning his attention back to the road.

"I don't- I asked you first!"

Arthur smirked, "Then don't ask foolish questions, I'm here because I want to be." He's here because he needs to do something, that something he doesn't particularly remember, because in part because the haze of sleep hasn't quite lift yet, and watching Alfred in silence is a bit awe inspiring. For someone Arthur can only remember being in some type of motion, whether taping his feet or waving his hands around to tell a story, watching him be as still as he can be driving a car, is a strange and wonderful thing for him to see.

Then Alfred scoffed. "You're here because you climbed into my truck at six in the morning."

Arthur rolled his eyes before he gave an exaggerated yawn, " And my only regret is leaving my phone in the dorm." He sat back feeling smug. Then he almost hits his head against the dashboard.

"Oh shit, can you pull over if you see a rest stop? I'll need a pay phone to call Francis so he knows I haven't been kidnapped, murdered, and thrown in a ditch somewhere in Massachusetts."

There was a short laugh, almost like a noise of surprise. "You say weird things sometimes, you know that right?"

Arthur, too focused and mentally exhausted to take any offense to basically being called weird, stared at the man beside him, who really looked more like a boy that held a story in his eyes, a story of someone nervous and conflicted, but about what he didn't know.

Those where the same eyes he could only see in the reflection from the windshield, because those eyes were looking at anything but Arthur, flitting around when they had been staring to hard at the road, flicking in between the dash board and then back up to the road, then up towards the roof. The order would alternate at times, but those eyes never once looked straight at him.

'Odd.'

"And you're acting strange. What's wrong?" That's what he had come here to do, find out what's been on his friend's mind for weeks now. It also occurred to him, no matter how plainly not fitting with the timing, just how much the word "friend" pained him.

Alfred sighed, a sound that was utterly wrong within itself, he should be laughing at some crummy joke Gilbert made not, letting that laugh light up his face so brightly Arthur felt like he had to look away if he had any intention of preserving his vision. Alfred should be happy, he deserves to be happy, Alfred deserves many things good, and he definitely shouldn't be sighing like the world was on his shoulders, forcing the air out of him, and it wasn't going to come off anytime soon.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Arthur wasn't really expecting the question, but answered with an, "Of course you can," that he really and truly meant. Alfred could probably be talking about some kind of new species scientists found at the bottom of the hell pit that is ocean that Arthur gave no fucks about and he would listen anyway.

"Do you think we'll ever get another chance?"

He turned back to find Alfred staring hard out the windshield, his knuckles turning white with how hard they wrapped around the steering wheel.

"What do you mean?"

Alfred sighed again, and this time it was beginning to sound defeated, which was a whole new layer of wrong to add to the steadily growing pile.

"Have you ever wanted to feel daring? To feel the air pull out of your lungs or feel the world so deeply its almost like you can feel the Earth's heartbeat?"

Alfred was a country boy. Born and raised on a farm, he had once said he had three parents growing up, his pops, his ma, and good ol' Mother Nature, who kicked his ass more than the other two combined. Arthur, on the other hand, and been raised in a relatively big city over in England, never leaving the house much, he couldn't get it. Understand the joy that comes with silently appreciating the world as time slips by.

But he had to admit it sounded wonderful, to let time he never seemed to have enough of slip by while feeling so connected its not even like you're yourself anymore, you're you and a thousand other different things, you become the stars and the moon and the fireflies, all the weight and worry feels like it's been distributed throughout the thousand other things you suddenly are and the world feels lighter. At least that's how Alfred had described it. And Arthur wanted it.

With that in mind, he answers honestly.

s"That is maybe the most pretentious thing that will ever come out of your mouth," The boy next to him glares and scoffs before turning back to the road, back at the biggest and brightest expansion of stars Arthur'd ever seen. But that's exactly why Arthur said what he did. Alfred is a strong kid, he wouldn't let what anyone said stop him if it's something he felt he had to do. It was a quality most, Arthur included, admired about him. He also admired the deeper parts of him, the part he was seeing now. The thirst for life, for something bigger and more exciting than anything you'd ever known. He'd known Alfred long enough to know not many got to see that side of him, in that respect he was a surprisingly private person. It was probably the first thing he'd fallen in love with.

A few moments pass. Those moments feel like years.

"But yes, I do. I think it's something I've never felt before," He find Alfred's looking right at him, and smiles. "And I would like too, if you would care to show me."

"Arthur?"

"Yes?"

Next to Arthur was a man who really was just a boy, bathed in moonlight, who despite having a toothy grin taking over his face, looked ready to cry.

"Run away with me?"

His face, his words, those sad, sad eyes, now instead of the sky, Arthur could compare them to the sea right before the storm, brewing and dark and deep. And dangerous. It was really the eyes that did it too him, they struck Arthur where it hurts. Books, studying, expectations, family, obligations. It's all so safe, so bubbled in. When did university become "High School: the sequel! But this time the work is harder with 99.9% more crying!"

And Arthur starts to dwell on the usually ridiculous notion that Alfred could right. Not like his car mate was stupid by any means, no, in math the boy beside him puts him to shame. And that's just one thing he was better than him at, do not try to start a conversation about science with Arthur, he will just call over Alfred, place him in front of the person, and let them talk as he tries to slink away. Though, despite Alfred's academic prowess in every subject Arthur had none, Arthur never once thought he'd be sitting in a car with the boy who made his heart race, seventeen hours from his dorm, thinking that maybe he should throw all caution out the damn window and have an adventure to god knows where doing god knows what.

Which is, with his heart lodged in his throat and blood singing, exactly what he's going to do.

It was crazy, Arthur knows it's crazy. It's absolutely mad. They have college and class and finals and assignments, those are things they can't just abandon. They're important. But then again, Alfred's important to Arthur too, and he'd choose him over Chemistry any day of the week.

And maybe Alfred had rubbed off on him. Maybe the impulsiveness that drove countless of Alfred's decisions, including the one he made at six in the morning yesterday, the one that lead them here, maybe it was contagious. Maybe that's why he climbed into the truck in the first place, determined to seek answers.

And Arthur wasn't really sure why he was still debating this, possibly for argument's sake when Francis will blow up at him whenever Arthur gets the chance to call him. Too say he at least thought about it. Because Arthur already knew what he wanted, he wanted Alfred, which he had already known, and he wanted to be able to breathe, which he didn't know he couldn't. He was the toad in a boiling pot, he didn't know he was being suffocated until Alfred had ripped the hand off his neck.

One day they weren't going to be around anymore, and if these years when he was young and able passed leaving his older self nothing to remember them by, he knows he'll never forgive himself. Even if this will be one of the only things that lasts, it's comforting to think he'll have something to hold onto later. He might be starting to understand the passion Alfred feels for things like these. It's intoxicating. He hopes nights like these won't ever die. He isn't afraid to fight and keep them.

Arthur allows himself one more moment of hesitation before letting his mouth curve into a small smile and nods. Somehow, Alfred's smile gets even bigger, and more hesitant than Arthur had ever seen him, takes his hand.

University will be there when they get back.

"Okay."

I edited the shit out of this. And now... I miss it. I'm gonna finish my other chapter fics and by then I could have completely changed my mind about opening this up to other chapters but, I would love to continue this one day. Probably one of my favourite things I've ever written and I hope you like it.