"No no no," Alfred blurted as he stood up, surprising the Brit a little. He could see Arthur's grasp on the staple tighten again. Okay... On hindsight, he should have stayed with his butt on the chair.

"I mean...I think it's really nice of you. To…you know, help me." Alfred had to almost mince his words, afraid that a misuse of words would get the latter agitated.

Remembering that Arthur took a glance at the clock, Alfred did the same, and realized what time it was. Well shit. 6.12. He's pretty sure that the gates were locked, and those metal bars were definitely way too high to climb over.

How about that, he got locked in the school with a potential murderer... Who's apparently and hopefully going to be his dance teacher.

Great.

Arthur couldn't believe his luck. He was stuck with some fucking imbecile that didn't know how to shut his trap for the next...12 hours. Great job Kirkland. He let out a sigh and walked over to the shelf, taking out the emergency box. Arthur had spent many occasions locked in the school finishing paperwork, so he was definitely prepared for something like this.

He was just about to lift the lid of the emergency box, until a loud rumble interrupted him. He looked at Alfred, who looked like he was trying to hide his embarrassment.

"W-what?" Alfred stuttered, trying to act normal. "I'm hungry, okay?"

He had come to the conclusion that Arthur was probably very experienced when it came to being locked up in school... he was starting to wonder if the head of the school council actually enjoy torturing himself...

While he was still thinking about it, his stomach growled at the worst time possible, getting Arthur to look.

Alfred cursed himself in the head as he came up with a passable answer. But he can't help it, it was nearing dinner time, and he just ran rounds. He's got every right in the world to be hungry.

Seeing that Arthur probably won't share any of his food or whatever's in that emergency food, Alfred was already wondering about what he should do.

Arthur looked down at the biscuit tin and pulled the metal tin off. There were three biscuits left. It wasn't enough, but definitely enough to supply himself with food. However Alfred...he was definitely unprepared for this. Arthur's gaze darted from the tin to the American, who looked extremely troubled, and let out another sigh.

He picked up two of the crackers and left them in an outstretched hand, looking away from the American. His own cheeks were definitely not dusted pink. "I don't intend to be responsible for your death, so there. I-It's not like I actually care for your wellbeing...well I have a reputation to hold so..." God dammit Arthur, stop stuttering like a fool! It's just Jones...

Glancing between Arthur and the crackers he offered, Alfred was for a moment, not sure of what he was supposed to do.

Well for one, he couldn't believe that Arthur would offer him anything. He thought that the guy wanted to kill him, not give him crackers and care for his wellbeing...

Then there's the part where Arthur was actually stuttering. Stuttering and blushing... Was that even normal?!

"Pfft- Hahahahahaha"

Before Alfred could answer those questions in his brain, he had started laughing.

"Are you trying to seduce me this time?" He joked.

"Okay suit yourself. Just allow my goodwill to go to waste," Arthur commented as he mimicked the action of putting the cracker into his mouth at a painfully slow rate.

"Wha- no one said anything about not wanting it!" Alfred exclaimed as he sprang up and almost lunged for the cracker.

His footballer instinct came into play, and when he realized that he wasn't actually playing football, it was too late

He tackled into Arthur and as the two fell, realized how badly the consequence would be if Arthur were to suddenly fall back on the ground like that.

Being a footballer, he's pretty used to playing rough... But Arthur, well, Arthur might sprain his neck or something.

So he did what every hero would do. Changing his tackle to a hug as they fell, he spun Arthur around. The both of them ended up falling to the ground anyway, but Alfred served as a good cushion.

Alfred did what every hero would do, he had sacrificed himself.

While he was still replaying that heroic move he did in his mind and filled with accomplishment, his eyes landed on Arthur's face, and what an expression it was.

Arthur looked like he'd just seen someone died in front of him, his eyes wide open and stunned beyond words.

Oh shit. Alfred thought as his mind raced to come up with something to change the tense atmosphere a little.

It was then where he spotted the cracker in Arthur's hand. The latter was too stunned to eat it among all the action. Immediately, Alfred lifted his head off ground and bit into the crackers.

"One does not simply say no to crackers." he grinned as he finished up the whole cracker in two bites.

It all happened too fast. One second ago Arthur was just teasing Alfred into eating the cracker, and now, both of them were sprawled on the ground embracing each other. He felt his whole face light up.

He immediately rolled out of Alfred's arms, deftly picked up the stapler and straddled him, pointing the stapler at his face. The other cracker in his hand was left abandoned on the floor.

"What are you trying to pull here,Jones.?! Answer."

There was a yelp for the cracker.

"Dude! Not the cracker!" Alfred almost cried as the poor cracker landed on the ground.

Moment of silence for the dropped food.

At the cry, Arthur's blood began to boil. He pulled Alfred up by the collar to the point their noses were barely touching. He glared into Alfred's eyes, cold, murderous green against defenceless baby blue.

"Stop fucking with me, Jones. What. Do. You. Want," he seethed. If looks could kill, Jones would have died aeons ago. That was how powerful Arthur's glare was.

Okay... No one told him about Arthur being actually possibly murderous... Alfred gulped - this could end quite badly.

"Ahahaha... That was a little overboard, wasn't it?" He laughed awkwardly, looking away. Well, things have already gotten this bad, there's pretty much nothing else he could do but state his intention.

"I just want to be friends."

Arthur heard what he said and burst into laughter, dropping his stapler and rolling around on the floor in laughter. He didn't care if he was seen as some psychopath, it was just so hilarious. Like life itself.

Huh.

Life.

What a joke that thing was.

It's so funny living life.

How do you do that anyway?

"What are you trying to gain. Popularity? Laughs?" Arthur sobered down and snarled at him.

Alfred had to admit that for the whole of this night, he just kept getting surprised.

Meeting and getting to know about Arthur was one thing, but seeing Arthur change so vastly before him was another.

He watched, eyes wide open and mouth ajar as the person before him laughed, then interrogated him. It's almost as if... Arthur's broken.

"I.." He shouldn't lie about anything, even if lying would get him a better result than being honest. But he had the feeling that he shouldn't lie to Arthur.

If there's anything he's learnt from their near four hours of interaction, then it would be that he can't lie to him, not if he really wants to be his friend.

"My intention from the start is to be your friend." He said as he sat up right. If he was going to do things right, then he's going to need all the courage in him.

"But my motive behind it had changed. You were right, before that, i wanted to befriend you for the reputation."

Arthur just laid back on the cold hard ground. It felt so much warmer suddenly. Warmer than the sad reality anyway. He felt hot tears prick the back of his eyes but just stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Get out," he choked out.

"... You might not believe me now, but I'm telling the truth." Alfred took a deep breath.

"I'm sure you will agree that a lot has happened since we first talked. And my motive has changed." He said as he stood up. "Now there is no motive."

"I just really, really want to be your friend."

With that, he walked out of the room.

"BYE BYEEEEE~" Arthur giggled, a little bit creepily. He continued the laughter until he couldn't hear Alfred's footsteps anymore. It was then the laughing ceased and evolved into sobbing.

"Yer alone Arthur."

"Bloody Hell, shut up Scott."


A/N by Arthur's Mun: The plot thickens with Arthur on the brink of insanity!

...I do this to my characters too often. ._.

But anyway! Thanks so much for reading this chapter and both Al's Admin and I hope you've enjoyed it. :'D

Also, wow. Thank you guys soooooo much for favouriting, reviewing and following this story. It means a lot to us 3

See you guys next chapter!

UPDATE 080713 : Sorry guys, I added a few lines here because it made more sense this way. Thanks! ~Arthur's Mun