So sorry it took a while ^^; Oh, and here's some virtual scones for all those who reviewed the prologue!


Alfred let his forehead rest against the window, relishing in the cool sensation of glass against his skin. Beyond the double glazed panes, the sky was it's usual autumn grey hue, the threat of rain darkening the clouds even further. From his lofty vantage point, he could see above the rooves of the surrounding buildings, his gaze catching on the odd sweet wrapper or discarded tennis ball; long forgotten trophies from years past. He sighed softly, his breath frosting the glass.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, am I boring you? Or is there something so truly rapturing out there that you simply couldn't tear your eyes from it?"

The sarcastic voice sliced through his wandering thoughts, and Alfred jolted back to reality. He met the gaze of his English teacher, a plump woman with tightly curled hair, whose generally placid expression was replaced with one of annoyance and mild amusement. The entire Sixth Form class was turned to look at him. Alfred felt his face flush.

"N-no, Miss, I was just...uh..." He failed to find an appropriate excuse. "Sorry," he gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously.

"Hm...well, next time, pay attention," the middle aged woman continued in an accent generally attributed to the richer areas of Greater London, affectionately named 'Queen's' or 'BBC' english, a collection of Victorian poetry clasped in her hand. "Now, the Bronte sisters. We'll do a little bit of group annotation first, then I'd like you to go through some of the highlighted texts yourselves..."

Difficult as it was, Alfred managed to remain focused for the rest of the lesson. He jotted notes down in his various exercise books and folders, as well as underlining and annotating in his own copy of poetry. Eventually, the bell for the end of the period rang. He scooped the papers and notebooks haphazardly into his bag, ignoring the teacher as she shouted something about how the lesson still wasn't finished, and made a dash for the door. The long corridor of the English block bustled with students of all ages as they made their way to the stairs. Though the Sixth Form itself only catered for those aged 16-18, it was part of a much larger secondary school, meaning pupils could be in anything from Year 7 to their final year of college.

Alfred had started the Sixth Form only a week previously, the beginning of the new school year, along with the other 16 and 17 year olds who'd applied for the college. However, unlike his fellow students, Alfred not only had to adapt to a new school, but also a new country. In many ways, England wasn't that different from America. The culture was roughly the same, and the language was identical if you ruled out accents and slang terms. However, he couldn't ignore the fact that this was nothing like home.

Swept up in his thoughts and the crowd of British children, it wasn't until a chill breeze caused him to shiver that Alfred realised he'd left the building and was already halfway across the school grounds. Blinking, he shook his head clear and adjusted his bag strap, then pushed through the throng towards the gates.

"Alfred? Alfred!" A voice called, almost lost amongst the eager chatter of the students. Alfred frowned and swiveled on his heel, his height enabling him to see easily over everyone's heads. A flash of blond hair swam into view, then a flustered face much like his own. Alfred grinned.

"Mattie! There you are!" A group of girls nearby giggled at his accent. Ignoring them, he grabbed his brother's arm and heaved him closer, provoking a yelp of surprise from the younger boy.

"H-how was your day...?" Matthew asked timidly, rubbing his arm. Alfred gave an obnoxious laugh.

"Ha, awesome, as always! It got a little boring towards the end, but I'm a Hero, so I got over it!" The younger of the two rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly nonetheless. Of course, Alfred didn't bother to ask him how his day had been, but having spent his entire life with his brother, this didn't come as a surprise. The brothers settled into step beside each other, and fell into a comfortable silence.

Alfred was studying a rare patch of blue in the otherwise dreary sky when something caught his attention. Walking alone, passing just outside of the heavy school gates and ahead of the crowd sauntering towards them, was a young man.

Alfred paused. There was something about the stranger that captured his concentration; perhaps the way he walked, tense and defensive, as if he was being hunted. Suddenly, inexplicably, the man turned and gazed right at him. Alfred caught a glimpse of heavy eyebrows pulled down into a scowl, a mouth set in a thin line and green eyes that widened slightly as they passed over him. The two stared at each other in silence. The American felt as if he was frozen in place, the world falling away behind him, and could find no reason for it. That scared him.

A frenzied tug at his sleeve broke Alfred from his petrification, and he stepped backwards, blinking rapidly. Matthew was staring at him with a concerned expression. "Alfred, are you ok...? You kinda zoned out for a minute there..."

"...huh?" Alfred replied unintelligently, still a little taken aback by the experience. "Oh, uh, yeah Mattie, I'm cool..." But he frowned regardless. Rubbing the base of his neck in confusion, he spared a glance back towards the gate. The young man had vanished without a trace.


A/N: Uh, I'm a little tired at the moment, so I can't seem to remember what I was going to write here.... If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask...I genuinely forgot to mention Matthew was appearing in this story xD The chapters for this story are going to be quite short, but there'll hopefully be a lot of them.

Also, slightly off-topic, but I'm thinking about maybe accepting fic requests...is anyone interested?

Once again, reviews = instant love ^^

~Chinquix