Chapter Two: Attempt One

A/N: Oh my god, I just realized what an awful first chapter that was. I had a limited amount of time to write that, so I was in a rush. I'm so sorry, I'll try a lot better.

It was after one of the torturous world meetings that I practically stalked Arthur out of the meeting room, feeling somewhat unconfident.

I turned and locked eyes with a familiar green-eyed Spaniard, encouraging and pleading with me through his eyes, all the while following his own Italian target.

Okay Al, calm down! You can do this! You're a smexy beast! Go get him! I screamed at myself mentally. With that, I quietly followed Arthur into a dark, secluded alley he walked into.

~.x.X.x.~

After making sure no one would see us, I matched Arthur's pace and easily caught him by the hand.

"What the-!" Before he could finish his scream, I clapped my hand over the Brit's mouth with a little more force than I intended, since I accidentally pushed him onto the wall, with me pinning him there with my body.

…Oops. But oh well.

"Shut up, it's just me, Artie!"

Saying that, I released Arthur's subtle lips from my hand, even though they were so soft and I honestly didn't want to. He glared at me, his thick eyebrows and mouth furrowing cutely into a glare.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing my arse! You're p-pinning me to a wall! Only..only rapists or really s-sadistic partners do that!"

"..Well, whatever. I wanted to tell you something, Arthur."

"Is it that desperate that you have to…keep me from running like this?" I watched as he struggled a bit under my body warmth.

"..Yeah."

It took me a while to realize it, but I finally saw the light blush dainting on his cheeks. Damn this dark alley.

"Arthur, I wanted to tell you that…" I watched in amusement as he eyed me patiently. "..That I care about you. A lot. And..And…I don't like hurting you, okay?" Was it me or were my cheeks heating up and my palms getting sweaty..?

"..Oh." There was a tone of...surprise in his voice. "Okay." He closed his eyes stubbornly. "I-is that all? Can you let go of me from this akward position?"

"Yes...actually, one more thing, Arthur." This was totally unplanned for, and I was probably gonna get my ass kicked, British style. "Why are you blushing a lot?"

With that, I watched Arthur's blush deepen into an apple-like color, and he began to struggle and wandering his eyes off. "Wh-Wh..Why..!"

Suddenly, Arthur pushed me away with a force I would easily have been able to keep him from exerting if I were concentrating on holding him down, but I was concentrated on something else at the moment, dammit! So, in my moment of pure confusion, he took the opportunity to dash down the alley and run off in some random direction.

…Hm. Antonio had actually been right. I smiled slyly, quickly widening into a grin as I walked off.

~x.X.x.~

"Alright, Alfred. Arthur is actually a really simple puzzle to put together." Antonio started explaining as if it was nothing.

There I sat across from the Spaniard, drinking my coffee in the McDonald's booth I shared with Antonio, staring at him as if he were insane. "He IS really hard to figure out, Antonio! You don't understand!"

"I've known him longer than you!" He said seriously. "Look, I know his weaknesses and strengths. It's how I figured out how to make peace with him even though we were slashing at each other with swords for the previous…what, four centuries?"

"Okay…Uhm...so what do I do, Antonio?"

"For a start...just let him know that you care for him. That you don't want to hurt him, and if you did, you didn't like it….You didn't like it, right?"

I slumped back in my seat. "Listen, I'm telling only you this cause it's important, kay? If anyone asks, I will deny it, and I know whose ass to hunt down." Antonio nodded in agreement. "Yes, I did hate fighting against Arthur. I practically broke his heart. But I needed my independence, and he wouldn't let me at all, and my government started rebelling a lot..! I had to…I felt awful, but he can never know that The Revolutionary War, The Boston Tea Party...all of it. All of it was painful for me to watch..or have to participate in. But if he knew that…" I shook my head, unable to finish the sentence, and feeling weak.

Antonio nodded in understanding. "I get it. I won't tell a soul, Alfred. "

"..Thank you. So to spare myself some pride, can I just say that I don't want to hurt him and I care for him?"

"Si! Well, that's the first step. If you actually do it, you have to tell me how it goes, yes? Then I can help you plot your next step."

"Alright, Antonio, deal! I have a plan for you and Romano, actually. Let's kick it into action the next meeting, okay?"

"Wh-what? That's in a week though! I'm not ready for that!"

"Holy shit, Antonio!" I was somewhat surprised to see Antonio get so nervous about Romano. Wow, this guy must've loved him a lot. "I'm not gonna make you propose to him or something! Relax!"

"Ah…Sorry."

"So, next week. We follow our targets and confront them with our plans. Then we meet here at this McDonald's to discuss what happened~"

"O-Okay…but what exactly am I going to do do, Alfred? You haven't told me anything yet…"

"Alright, Antonio, here's what you gotta do…"

~x.X.x.~

A/N: What'd you think? If you guys can guess, since Antonio is the older one, his advice is pretty wise….~ But Alfred's..erm. You'll see. eue No spoilers for yuuu. Sorry for the late update, there was no internet over the weekend. Next chapter takes place through Antonio's eyes. :3