This is a week late cause somebody decided to work herself into hospital and then not have a laptop for an entire week...

Also, I'm taking ideas on where Arthur and Alfred should go for a first date. It will happen, just not yet. Any idea is welcome and the more random and stupid, the better. But don't go too stupid now, can't have them running off to the moon in search of aliens only to get lost in a crater or find a Stargate... can't have Arthur killing Alfred. If it gets too stupid, Arthur would lash out and I need to stop typing now...
Ok enough from me and enjoy!


Arthur was exhausted. They had only just finished their starter and he already wanted to curl up in his bed with a book and his cat. The entire night thus far had been nothing but a constant barrage of questions and stories from Alfred, whilst Francis and Matthew happily ignored them and talked among themselves. Arthur had to resist the need to throw up whenever he overheard any of Francis's cheesy declarations of adoration for Matthew.

Alfred on the other hand had no problem ignoring them as he was more interested in finding out every last detail about Arthur. He wasn't even put off by the fact that he was only receiving nods and the odd "mmm" as responses.

Eventually Arthur grew tired of the torrent of questions and need for information he wasn't willing to surrender. Reaching into his pockets, he rummaged around until he found his lighter and pack of cigarettes.

"Excuse me for a moment, need a fag," he said quickly and left before the American could protest.

Alfred only sat watching him before mumbling an ok. Confusion written over his face.

"Where is Arthur going?" Matthew suddenly piped up quietly from beside Alfred.

"I dunno, well he said he was going out for a fag but I don't think I heard right..." Alfred explained confusedly and continued to stare after the Brit. "Should I go after him?"

"Ah, oui I forget sometimes that British slang isn't so common here," Francis started with a kind smile. "He just went out for a smoke. So how are things going?"

"Wait, he smokes?" Alfred all but shrieked. "I just asked him if he smoked and he said no." His eyes were wide in shock as the information sank in.

"Oui, he's practically a train," Francis answered then turned his attention towards the door, his brows furrowing slightly. "Alfred, mon ami, if you don't mind me asking. How was he when you were talking?"

"He was uh... no he was ok, I think. I mean he wasn't ignoring me and seemed kinda interested." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Al," Matthew groaned lowly, "you were talking his ear off and didn't let him say anything."

"Was I?" Alfred asked disheartened ever so slightly. "I mean he didn't tell me to stop talking and I guess I was talking for pretty much the entire time and I..." He paused in his sudden downward spiral of despair. "He doesn't like me, does he?" Tears were now starting to form in his eyes and he stared down at his lap. "Why doesn't he like me?"

Matthew and Francis shared a worried look that was cut short by Alfred's next worried words.

"He's not back yet, Mattie he's not back," he yelped and clutched at his hair. "Mattie, I made him run away again." Tears were now starting to furiously spill from his eyes as he broke down.

"No, Al look," Matthew stated calmly, but was ignored until he yanked on Alfred's arm to bring his brother back to reality. Then pointed at the seat Arthur had just left. "He left his jacket, so he has to come back. How about I go out and talk to him while Francis takes you to the bathroom and gets you cleaned up?" He offered kindly and to his eternal relief Alfred agreed.

"Yea, yea dude you're right," Alfred laughed slightly, trying not to let his tattered nerves get to him anymore. "But I'm gonna be the one to talk to him, I'm the hero after all."

Matthew and Francis could only watch in amusement at how his normal, happy demeanour returned and he headed out the door with a vengeance.

"J'ai désole, Matthieu," Francis said hurriedly. "This is all my fault, if I didn't bring Arthur then..."

"Then Alfred would have just spent the rest of the week crying and then stalking the guy," Matthew sighed in French. Easily slipping into the language now they were alone. "Francis, you might have just helped Alfred get over him sooner instead of being let down even worse later on."

Arthur leaned against the wall. He really wished he took his jacket and slipped out instead of leaving it on the seat like a bloody idiot. He had considered leaving it though, but chances were that Francis would have used that as an excuse to send Alfred to his flat with it. That was the last thing he needed. That and there was that lovely warning the damned frog had given him.

"Yo, Artie," came a jarring voice from the direction of the restaurant door and Arthur spun to glare at the American who now stood grinning at him like an idiot. "Just came out to check on you and to... uh you ok dude?"

Arthur had dropped the cigarette and it had hit his hand in the fall. He was trying to ignore the sting of the burn, but the way his face twisted in pain made it hard to conceal his pain.

"Yes I'm bloody fine prat and it's Arthur you git!" Arthur snapped back at him and shook his hand to relieve the pain. Holding it in the light, he finally took the time to examine the area. To his relief, there wasn't an open wound.

"Do you need a bandage for that?" Alfred asked hesitantly, trying to ignore the earlier insult. Arthur was just hurt, that was all, he didn't mean it, he thought to himself.

"No, it's fine. I was just shocked," Arthur answered tiredly and leaned back onto the wall again and stared up at the dark sky. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Alfred was giddy by now, he was talking to Arthur and Arthur was using actual words that weren't "no" or something similar. "I just wanted to check on you, you seemed off inside."

Arthur scoffed at Alfred's reasoning. Of course he was off. Not only was he first forced to be a third wheel to a date he never wanted to be a part of, but it had then turned into a double date with his self proclaimed "soul mate."

"Bloody smashing, Alfred dear," he replied sarcastically.

"Oh good!" Alfred chirped, a happy smile on his face. "For a second there I thought you didn't like me and came out here to get away." He chuckled absentmindedly to himself.

"You really don't get sarcasm do you?" Arthur enquired, an eyebrow raised in confusion and sheer disbelief. He was starting to doubt he had enough patience to even get through the rest of the dinner.

"Kinda, I mean I'm ok with it," Alfred answered quickly. Now he was starting to get nervous again. Yes, he was bad at reading the atmosphere, yes he was bad at reading between the lines and yes he wasn't good at sarcasm. But there was no way Arthur was going to be sarcastic to him now, right? They were finally talking and it was only a matter of time until they had their romance and everything fell into place. Right?

"Obviously," Arthur stated blankly, "right, I suppose we should head back in before Francis scares off your brother with his incessant talk about romance."

"Yea, good idea, but romance is amazing and why wouldn't you want to talk about it?" Alfred countered. He was met with a swift glare. Obviously Arthur was the type of Rational that barely even considered any of the things Idealists held important. Which only served to make Alfred's life so much more difficult.

"Lets save that talk for later, I'd much rather get our main course now," Arthur told him and swiftly led the way inside.

"Yes sir!" Alfred agreed cheerfully. He was far too happy to acknowledge Arthur's bad mood. The Englishman had just said they were going to talk later and that meant more chances for Alfred to sweep him off his feet! There was no way Alfred wouldn't be excited about that.

When they returned to their table Arthur froze at the scene in front of him. Francis was starting to lean over the table towards Matthew; his eyes glossed over in a look Arthur had seen directed at so many of the Frenchman's failed loves. Matthew on the other hand was reclined back into his chair, relaxed with a faint smile on his face. Apparently oblivious to the fact that Francis was falling for him harder and faster than Arthur had even thought possible from the man.

"Right lads, we're back and how about we see where our food is?" Arthur declared and took his seat again beside Francis.

Alfred retook his seat, a slight hop in his step and eyes glazed over as he watched Arthur call over a waitress for an update of their food.

"Al," Matthew broke him out of his daydream with a whisper. "So what happened out there?"

"He loves me Mattie and we're gonna talk later and he's gonna tell me and we're gonna get married and have..." Alfred whispered back enthusiastically, almost throwing his arms into the air as he did so. However Matthew caught his arms as he was about to get too excited and forced him to calm down.

"Don't get too excited Al," Matthew warned him with a smile.

"But it's gonna happen and you're gonna marry Francis cause he loves you," Alfred retorted with a pout. There was no way things could go badly from here on out.

"I... uh no we won't! I have other things to worry about instead of a relationship and I don't really need one, especially not a serious one with..." Matthew flustered and turned a scarlet shade of red.

"Then why did you come here?" Alfred's question had forced his brother into silence.

"Just, just shut up!" Matthew cried in protest and slapped his hand onto Alfred's mouth. "Don't say another word."

Alfred just licked his hand then grinned his mega-watt smile. "Sure thing bro!"

Matthew whipped his hand back in disgust and wiped it on his trousers. Turning back towards their dates, he froze when he realised they had been watching them closely. Francis with a smirk on his lips and Arthur trying not to look utterly appalled.

"How about we eat?" Francis suggested and it was only then the brothers realised that their food had arrived and the other two had in fact been waiting.

As if commanded by an angry relative, Matthew instantly obeyed and the group fell into silence. Cold, numbing and never ending silence that threatened to strangle Alfred with the amount of questions he still had. However he wasn't the one to break it.

"So," Arthur started and Alfred's head snapped up to meet his gaze, a hopeful smile playing on his lips. "I suppose I should at the very least pretend I'm enjoying myself," he continued, taking careful note of Alfred's oh so innocent face and sent a sideway glare at an even more innocent looking Francis. "How many years separate you two?"

Alfred and Matthew blinked as the question sank in before erupting into thunderous laughter. Matthew's laughter was much more subdued in comparison.

"Dude we're twins!" Alfred said between howls of laughter.

"But... didn't you mention you had different birthdays earlier?"

Alfred's eyebrow shot up as he realised that not only did he mention that he and Matthew were brothers, but it was only in passing. Meaning Arthur was paying attention to him!

"I was born five minutes to midnight on the third of July and Al was born a few minutes after on the fourth," Matthew supplied quietly. Any form of embarrassment from earlier had now vanished and was replaced by what Arthur assumed was his normal shyness.

"Yea, but here's the cool part," Alfred interjected excitedly. "We were born in different countries. I'm obviously American and Mattie is Canadian."

Arthur and Francis were both stunned. Twins with different birthdays was one thing, but twins with different birthdays and nationalities was another thing entirely.

"Yea, see here's the thing. Our mom was out on a family trip in Canada and we decided to say hi a month early. So when they were coming back to the good old U.S. of A, mom went into labour and Mattie was born in Canada while I was born in America. Apparently they were on a plane back and Mattie was born right before we crossed into America. So that's the story, pretty neat, huh?"

Both Arthur and Francis were staring at them in shock. That story wasn't possible, right. There was no way that would have allowed Matthew to be identified as Canadian. It was much too vague.

"But that's impossible, both your parents are American, right? And how in the bloody hell did your mother get on the plane if she was that heavily pregnant?" Arthur gasped, still unable to comprehend the story.

"Yea, well no actually our mom's Canadian and our dad's American. Oh and they were on a private jet too," Alfred explained, quickly moving on from the "private jet" part that made both the Europeans raise their brows in confusion. The smile on his face was growing ever larger along with the terrible feeling bubbling up in Arthur's guy on seeing it. "But yea, Canadia was awesome and then decided that Mattie could have dual nationality."

"Canadia isn't a country Al..." Matthew muttered beside him but was unheard as Alfred's attention seemed to have been swept up by Arthur. The young American unable to take his eyes away from the Englishman. The earlier remark about the private jet and the questions that obviously littered the Europeans' faces blissfully left ignored.

"So now that we're finally talking!" Alfred declared happily much to the annoyance of both Arthur and Matthew. Francis sent the quiet Canadian a comforting smile from across the table and reached out to grip his hands. Matthew wasn't too happy to feel his heart flutter then calm. "What do you do Artie? Aside being adorably British and grumpy, that is."

Arthur had to force himself not to get angry at the man or gag, he really did and through some sheer miracle he managed to withhold a scathing remark and just glared ever so slightly.

"I run a chain book store, it's not too big at the moment but we're looking to expand," he replied coolly and set his hands onto the table in front of him. Alfred had brought up his work, which meant he was all about business now. He could play nice when it was all about business, Francis's earlier threat still near the forefront of his mind. He only had to get through the significantly smaller portion of the evening now without killing the blond. He could do it. He hoped.

His hopes were instantly shattered faster than a glass hitting concrete.

"That's so cool, do you publish comics?" Alfred asked enthusiastically. "I don't read a lot but I love comics!"

Arthur wanted to slap him. He really, really wanted to slap him.

"No..." he started slowly, desperately trying to control his breathing. "Why in the heavens would we publish such literary trash? We don't even publish books! We sell them!"

"Blasphemy!" Alfred exclaimed in horror, his jaw hanging slack in shock. "Comics are amazing and they teach you about honour and friendship and power and courage and, and... loadsa stuff books don't teach you!"

Arthur stared at him in a mixture of pity and annoyance.

"And," Alfred continued, "they have pictures and books only have boring words!" He sat back and crossed his arms in triumph; almost certain he had won the "debate" as he now considered it.

"Yes because those boring words don't tell stories so vastly superior to comics," Arthur muttered in anger. He couldn't believe it. This pup, was insulting one of his greatest loves. How dare he do such a thing? "Actually if you're so certain comics are better than books prove it." A menacing glint suddenly lighting his eyes up as he uttered the challenge, there was no way Alfred could win this.

Alfred took a moment to consider, doubt flashed across his face for a mere second before a startling bright smile broke out across his face. "Deal! And I know just the comic to prove it."

Arthur copied Alfred's earlier motions and reclined back into his chair, raising his eyebrow at the younger man's acceptance.

"Yea, you just need to read the Killing Joke or V for Vendetta... actually you're a Brit, read V for Vendetta. You'll love it." He fluttered his eyelashes innocently at the blond, hoping against hope that the apparently stodgy man hadn't seen the movie.

"Fine... but you have to read 1984 or The Call of the Wild. I'm being nice to you and letting you choose, can't have you stressing yourself out too much over some of the words." The last word fell off his tongue like venom, almost like he was daring it to hurt Alfred.

"Wait, isn't that the movie about the dog and wolves? Call of the Wild?"Alfred asked after they shook hands cementing their bet, a look of realisation suddenly dawning on his face.

"Yes but the book is much better," Arthur answered casually. Books were always better than their movie counterparts. This was a fact Arthur had seen proven true far too many times to even be bothered counting.

"If you say so!" Alfred chirped. "So, do we order desserts now?"

It was only then that Arthur realised that their plates had been cleared and a waitress stood patiently waiting for them to finish talking.

"Oh um, yes I suppose," he stammered, a red haze forming across his cheeks. He hadn't even realised they were talking for so long or eaten his meal. Worst of all, Francis was sending him a knowing look, one Arthur wished he could knock off the smug man's face. He quickly reached for the dessert menu and scanned through it, choosing out something almost immediately and hoping that no-one had noticed his embarrassment.

Alfred could barely take his eyes off Arthur. He had done it, he had actually gotten the stuffy Brit to talk! He could barely contain himself, but he had to. Rationals were strange jumpy creatures when it came to the important things so he had to take things slowly. Keep talking to him, be his friend, make him like him, then, then after all that hard work they could go on a date, laugh over silly things, hold hands and then finally... His face lit up a bright red. His mind was racing and now more than ever, his future with Arthur was already becoming visible. No longer would he be searching for his true love, no longer will he stare out into the rain in contemplation. No, from now on he didn't have to worry. His happy ever after was already unfolding in front of him, begging for him to take it.

"Al," Matthew's voice cut through his thoughts like a searing knife through ice. "Aren't you gonna get dessert?"

Shit, Alfred thought, he had zoned out and now he was sure Arthur knew he was thinking about them. But there was no way the Englishman could have read his mind, right? However the analytical stare Arthur was giving him told him otherwise.

"Yea, I'll get the..." he quickly scanned through the menu and gave his order then fixed his usual smile to his face.

"You ok?" Matthew asked, concern riddled on his face. He cast Arthur a wary look as the Europeans started up a conversation amongst themselves once again.

"Yea dude, better than ok," he replied cheerfully.

The rest of the meal passed quickly with a few small conversations filling the silence. Alfred noted sadly that Arthur was more interested in talking to Matthew for some of it, leaving him and Francis to stew in jealousy. He listened in a mixture of boredom, annoyance and enthrallment as Arthur spoke. Well, he was mostly annoyed that Arthur seemed fascinated at how his and Matthew's parents were a Rational/Idealist couple and how Matthew was raised among Idealists. Apparently Arthur found the idea enthralling and captivating and was completely surprised at how Matthew could "put up" with all the Idealist mentalities.

As they were walking down the footpath after leaving the restaurant, Francis pulling Matthew ahead (and away from Arthur), Alfred couldn't help but glance at the shorter man who remained a few steps ahead of him. He had to talk to Arthur again. He had to do something if he wanted the Brit to see him again... Suddenly his mind clicked into place. He had an idea and it was flawless. The comics they were talking about earlier.

"So Artie," Alfred drawled as casually as he could.

"It's Arthur," Arthur quickly reprimanded without even so much as a glance back.

"Oh, yea. Well I was thinking; I could lend you those comics if you want..."

This time Arthur stopped. Tilting his head back to fix the American with a look Alfred couldn't quite comprehend.

"And you promise they won't be a waste of time?"

"Dude, trust me on this, you'll love them!"

Arthur took a moment to consider his answer then nodded. "Fine, but if they're absolute shit you have to read two more books of my choice."

"Deal." Alfred stuck his hand out in front of him and grasped Arthur's in a firm shake. "We live not too far from here, so it should be too hard to drop in and get them."

"Well then lead on, I think Francis is trying to get a taxi as we speak, well that is in between trying to convince your brother to marry him." Arthur commented and turned his attention away from Alfred just in time to miss Alfred smile happily at the forming couple ahead of them.

True to Arthur's words, Francis had hailed a taxi within a minute and they were on their way to the twin's house. Unfortunately for Arthur however, he was crammed into the backseat beside Francis and Matthew.

The five minute drive felt like hours as Francis whispered sweet nothings into Matthew's ear. The accompanying giggles and/or sighs told Arthur that Francis was both succeeding and failing spectacularly. When they finally pulled up outside a small apartment complex Alfred bolted from the car after leaving instructions to the driver to wait, Matthew following behind after a long delay.

"He seems very infatuated with you, mon ami," Francis said almost to the air.

Arthur didn't answer; there was nothing he could say.

"And you agreed to borrow his comics, very silly of you."

Still no answer.

"He is just using this to meet you again."

Arthur flinched at the statement. A part of his mind had warned him not to accept the American's offer, but he couldn't. He was given a challenge and he had to accept it and win. Suddenly Alfred appeared at the door and nearly wrenched it from its hinges.

"Sorry that took so long, I forgot where I left them," he gasped and shoved the two comics into Arthur's hand. "You'll love them and just drop them back when you can."

Arthur gaped in shock. One minute he was deep in contemplation, the next he was being bombarded with comics by the American who seemed to appear from mid air.

"But how will he get them back to you without your number?" Francis cut Arthur off as he was about to talk. The British man glared at him, his jaw slack and threatening him with death with his eyes.

"You're right! Here," Alfred pulled a piece of paper from his jeans pocket and scribbled on it with a pen he magically procured. "Now you can give me a call or text if you want to..." Arthur just turned his glare towards Alfred. "Right... then yea just let me know what you think."

"Very well," Arthur conceded, his voice measurably calm and distant. "These better be worth my time."

"Oh they will be, trust me," Alfred affirmed with a large grin before falling silent, as if waiting for Arthur to say something else.

Francis could only sit back and watch with the same amused grin he had worn for a majority of the night. He was going to have to step in again. Alfred was waiting for a sign, something to tell him Arthur was interested. Arthur on the other hand was only waiting for Alfred to close to door and leave. Neither were seemingly picking up on the other person's intention either which only made things so much worse.

"Alfred," Francis started with a sigh, "if you stop by this address," he leaned over Arthur to pass the American a business card, "then you can get the books off Arthur tomorrow."

"Dude that's awesome and thanks. Anyway gotta run now. Tonight was fun, lets do it again sometime Artie." With a wink and a wave he shut the door and ran off. His hopes higher than they had been since he first laid eyes on the aloof Brit.

"You gave him my business card?" Arthur demanded once the taxi had rejoined the traffic. "Why in the bloody hell do you even have that?"

Francis wasn't answering. There was nothing he could say to quench the raging Brit's anger. Instead he contented himself on knowing that maybe, just maybe he had brought the two together while also making his and Matthew's relationship that much stronger. Not bad results for a dinner he thought was going to be a disaster.

...

End of chapter


AN and background info ~skip if you want~

Ok so I promised that I would explain the reasons behind the ideas in this fic and the world. I am slightly obsessed with an area of psychology known as MBTI. It's a guide to how a person will react given 4 letters that identify their dominant traits. There are 16 types in total in this and they are separated into 4 categories known as Idealist, Guardian, Artisan and Rational. Each category's four types all act differently and think differently however they share common traits. So to bring it down to two categories was easy as I could just use Arthur and Alfred's types.

Arthur is typed as a Rational while Alfred is an Idealist. To keep it simple I combined some Guardian qualities with the Rational category and then combined any remaining traits not in the Rational category with the Idealist one. Leaving only two so things would be simple and easy to work with. What also made it easier is that Rationals are actually in the minority in relation to the other types.

That just left implementing the world and making it believable and ensuring that Arthur didn't just come off as an ass. That was the last thing I want to do considering that Rationals just aren't as taken by emotional displays, ideas etc as the other categories. Also I class as a Rational and it gets tiring hearing about how cold and harsh we are... so that's where the idea came from and some of the driving forces behind this fic! :D

If you're interested in looking up MBTI just do a google search. You'll find loads of info and after a quick test, your own type, don't bother paying for one. The free ones are pretty good and accurately got mines which was then confirmed by an actual psychologist. There are even pages dedicated to sorting out anime characters into their types which is cool. I'm a super curious ENTP who just happens to share a type with Iron Man, Deadpool and Captain Jack Sparrow who also needs to tell everyone awesome stuff (or at least stuff I find awesome) if anyone's wondering... probably not .

Now to answer reviews which is something I am gonna be doing from now on ^^
Aurorawolf668 and Anon: Thank you and hope you like this chapter and the rest are good too ^_^

saorikazawa: Thanks for the review and it's just a random idea I got after giving up on a very sappy romance fic. I was also reading psychology types and this kinda evolved in my brain from that... . Hope you like this chapter :D