Alfred sat on the front steps of Arthur's house as the winter wind whipped his hair around. He didn't even notice the cold. He was too far lost in his own thoughts.
It's funny how life changes, how a simple Tumblr follow can seem to alter an entire course of events.
3 years ago…
Alfred, in his sophomore year of high school, stared at the message that had been delivered to his email.
"'the-british-wizard started following you.'" He read aloud, staring at the screen a bit shocked. "No way!"
He jumped out of his chair, pacing around his bedroom. "Did he really follow me back? There's no way. Maybe it was a mistake?"
He shook his head and sat back down, pulling up a tab and opening Tumblr. Lo and behold, there was the notification, right on his dashboard, staring him in the face.
"Well, might as well thank him…" He pulled up the other's ask box.
Theherosblog: Thx 4 the follow back! 8D I luv ur blog, dood!
He sent it and sat back smiling. After a minute, his stomach growled and he stood back up from his desk, wandering out toward the kitchen. "Well, might as well get something to eat."
When he returned 10 minutes later with a bag of chips, there was a message waiting for him. He sat back down and opened it.
The-british-wizard: :/ You're welcome, and thank you. But I had really hoped that you used proper English when talking to people.
Al frowned, and typed back his response.
Theherosblog: Sorry? I don't normally unless I'm posting something.
the-british-wizard: Quite all right. Thank you for switching.
Theherosblog: No prob, dude!
The-british-wizard: Let me take a guess, you're American.
Theherosblog: Yeah. And I already know your from Britain.
The-british-wizard: Yes, I am. Is there a problem with that? And it's you're, not your.
Theherosblog: Huh? Oh, whoops. Guess I missed that. ^^; No, there's no problem! You're (Haha! Got it this time!) the first person I've talked to that isn't from America. Well, or Canada.
The-british-wizard: Am I really? Well, I guess I should be honored.
Theherosblog: *laughs* If you wanna be.
The-british-wizard: It's want to.
Theherosblog: …
The-british-wizard: What?
Theherosblog: Nothing.
The-british-wizard: All right. Well, I have an exam to study for. Good night.
Theherosblog: K. G'night! Oh! Can we keep talking tomorrow?
The-british-wizard: I suppose. If you want.
Theherosblog: Cool! Talk to you later, dude!
And that's how it all started. Very simple. Very innocent.
A few weeks later…
Alfred had gone to a party with a bunch of his high school friends. After a bored hour of videogames followed by countless horror movies, the boys had started a desperate game of Truth or Dare. Well, it was really just Dare. They were trying to out-do each other, the dares becoming more and more risky. Finally, it came Alfred's turn to be subjected to what was starting to come close to torture. The blond Canadian next to him, a boy named Matthew, seemed to take pity on the American.
"I dare you to prank call someone."
The other boys booed and jeered.
"That's no dare!"
"Come on, Matthew! You gave him an easy one!"
Al laughed. "A dare's a dare guys." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, but before he could dial a random number, Matthew snagged it out of his hand.
"I'll dial the number." He typed in a long series of numbers before hitting the call button and handing it back to Alfred.
He grinned, holding the phone up to his ear.
"Hullo?" A tired British voice answered.
"Uh…" Alfred froze.
There was a sigh. "If this was supposed to be a prank call, I dare say you aren't very good at this."
"Hey!"
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. Good bye." Click.
He pulled the phone away and stared at it.
"Nice job, Al."
"That was a fail."
"You didn't do it. You know what that means."
Alfred shrugged off the comments, and took his "punishment" for failing to complete the dare. The rest of the night, he tried to figure out why he hadn't been able to go through with the prank, but no matter how long he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out.
The next day, after he got home, he sat down and stared at his phone. He couldn't figure out why the call from the previous night was still bothering him. On a whim, he found the number and called the Briton back.
After a moment, the same voice picked up.
"Is this the same guy from yesterday?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"What do you want? Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"I called because I wanted to apologize."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. So…sorry. I called on a dare."
"Ah. No worries, then, I guess."
"Thanks."
"I guess I'll be going now."
"Wait!"
"…Yes?"
"…Um…do you think we could keep in contact?" Once he said that, he realized how creepy that sounded. "I'm not trying to be a creeper! I swear! It's just…I don't really have anyone to talk to and…"
There was a pause on the other side of the line, followed by a sigh. "Why would you want to talk to someone you don't even know?"
"I-I don't know…"
Another pause.
"Well, I guess no harm will come of it. But I would prefer to keep contact some other way."
"Would email work? Or I have a Tumblr."
"You have a Tumblr?"
"Yeah. Theherosblog."
There was a surprised sputtering sound. "That's you?"
"Huh?"
"I'm the-british-wizard!"
Alfred's eyes grew wide. "Seriously?"
The Briton laughed on the other end of the line. "Such a strange coincidence."
"Yeah. My name's Alfred, by the way. Alfred Jones."
"Arthur Kirkland. I guess I should say it's a pleasure to meet you. Again."
The following weeks and months were a series of messages, texts, and calls. By the end of the six month mark, Alfred felt like he had known Arthur for years rather than just half a year. But he also found that their conversations kept moving toward actually, finally, getting to meet in real life.
"Alfred, you're still in high school. There's no way you can come all the way over here on your own."
He grumbled. "Come on! It's not like I'm a little kid!"
"I'm not arguing with you."
"Fine." He paused. "Hey Artie?"
"It's Arthur. But yes?"
"Do you have Skype? And a webcam?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Can you get on?"
"Of course. But Alfred…"
"I used the same email that I gave you to register. Add me!"
"You want to talk now?"
"Yeah! I'm already logged on."
"Of course you are. Hang on."
"Ok."
"All right. I found you. I'm hanging up now."
"Ok! Later Artie!"
Click.
Al waited a minute before Skype alerted him to a new message. Clicking on the tab, he smiled and accepted Arthur's contact request.
Alfred Jones: Hey Artie!
Arthur Kirkland: How many times do I have to tell you? It's Arthur.
Alfred Jones: Aw, c'mon! Don't be like that!
Arthur Kirkland: …I'm assuming that, since you asked if I had a webcam, you would like to video chat.
Alfred Jones: Yeah! Hang on. I'll set it up!
He clicked the icon and waited for Arthur to pick up.
"Hello Alfred." Arthur's voice played through his computer speakers, but the video didn't start.
"Dude, why no video?"
"I really don't feel it necessary."
"That's not fair! You can see me!"
The screen flickered before a picture of a blond male took its place. His hair was messy and his eyebrows were a bit on the large side, but what struck Alfred was Arthur's bright green eyes.
"Hello again Alfred."
He stared, rather dumbly, at the screen.
Arthur laughed. "Every time we have a first, you always seem to freeze up."
Al sputtered. "I do not."
"Yes, you do. I don't know about when I followed you on Tumblr. But the first time you called me, you froze. Our first video chat, you hesitate. Is there something you're not telling me?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing!"
"Oh?"
There was a knock on Alfred's bedroom door. His mother called through the barrier. "Alfred, can you come out here, please?"
"Hang on a sec, Arthur."
"All right. I'll be waiting when you get back."
Al nodded and muted his microphone, hurrying out of the room. "Yeah, mom?"
"Alfred, dear. Who are you talking to?" The blond woman leaned against the wall across from Alfred's bedroom door.
"My friend Arthur." Al's eyebrows drew together.
Her blue eyes looked troubled. "Your face is red. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." He looked away from her. He didn't know why, but he couldn't make himself look into her worried eyes any longer.
"If you say so." She sighed. "I just need to tell you something."
He glanced up slightly. "What?"
"Avoid a relationship until you're more mature. I know you have trouble picking up on what everyone else is feeling, so please, try to hold off."
Al finally raised his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, mom." He shrugged. "Can I go back to my conversation now?"
"Sure, honey." She walked over and gave him a hug. "I'm going to sleep. Good night."
He returned the hug. "Sleep well, mom."
Alfred watched as his mother walked away before returning to his conversation.
~Present day~
Fate really seemed to be against him today. The temperature was dropping, the gray winter sky was darkening, and he was cold, tired, and hungry. Checking his phone, Al found that he had been sitting there for over half an hour.
''Where is he?" He sighed, popping the collar of his bomber jacket up to cover his neck.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, feeling a small plastic square dig into his left hand. Unable to remember what he had left in his pocket, his fished it out. A small picture of himself smiled back at him.
His fake I.D.
It was the only reason he had even been at the bar that night.
Resisting the urge to chuck it across the lawn, he shoved it back in his pocket with a bit more force than necessary.
He leaned back against the door, resigned to sit there until Arthur got back.
A/N: Well, here's chapter 2. I'm not sure how I managed to get this out so quickly, other than the fact that I'm procrastinating on my law homework. *shrugs* Oh well. I'll get it done later.
And I have to thank my followers on Tumblr for essentially beta-ing the chapters before I post them! Everyone who gave me feedback, or even bothered to read these when I posted them, you guys are amazing! And you know who you are!
