Chapter two – Double date, double disaster

After a week or two, everyone had fully settled down into their school routines. Students had aught up, teachers had explained the complicated classes they'd be studying over the year, changes to the ground had been explained, and everyone was back in their automatic, boring routines. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, school, homework, tiny bit of leisure, sleep – repeat. Though, the busy routine did make the boys very thankful for their heavenly weekends, which they now spent doing as much as they possibly could, rather than wasting them by playing video games or moping around all day, like most used to do.

That was the very reason Alfred and Arthur were sitting in the town's very newly opened Starbucks, wrapped up in scarves and hats (they were having a very cold, very windy spell of weather) opposite Owain and Francis, the pair who'd been guilty for dragging the American and the Brit into the coffee house.

"Oh God I love this place. I can't get enough of it…!" Owain muttered blissfully, taking a scarily large gulp from a huge mug of coffee he was holding. Francis watched the boy like a hawk, and whenever the mug was removed, Francis swooped down, still resembling a hawk, and stole a rather… well, French kiss.

When he'd released Owain, Francis smirked, "There was coffee on your upper lip, mon cher… Don't you just love me for licking it off for you?"

"I love you anyway, sweetie," Owain smiled up at the older boy, pecking his cheek.

Alfred and Arthur felt very close to throwing their drinks at the pair. It was nice to see such a healthy relationship between two people, but seeing Francis just pissed them off. And, although it was a hunch, Arthur was sure he saw Francis look over to him one or twice, as if to say, 'I have something you don't~' or something to that effect.

"I don't particularly like Starbucks…" Arthur muttered, snapping the lovey-dovey couple away from their embraces.

"WHAT!? Arthur! You're my brother – I trusted you! How could you betray me like this!?" Owain demanded, sounding a little too serious.

Arthur shrugged, "I don't mind the drinks and stuff…" he took a sip of whatever he'd ordered as if to prove it, "I just think too many people try to create a certain image out of themselves by coming here. It's no longer a coffee shop – it's a place where 'the cool unique/gay/out of the ordinary people come'." Arthur signalled to the people sitting on nearby tables. Sure enough, they were your typical scene-kid, artist-wanna-be, hopeful-young-writer, or the perfect example of Francis and Owain; the very, very camp gays.

"But what's wrong with that?" Francis pouted, obviously liking being one of the recognised regulars to the shop.

"Everything. If you want to show someone you're unique you should be able to do it without ordering a coffee." Arthur answered flatly. Owain looked about ready to faint, so Arthur changed the subject, "So why did you drag us here?"

Francis winked, "Alfred, I think this is your cue to continue."

"It's a double date!" Alfred grinned happily; speaking for the first time in a while (he'd been enjoying a cookie).

Arthur paused for a second, "Oh! Well, why did you wait until now to tell me that…?"

Everyone looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Arthur, there are four of us, and each pair is dating, so when we all come out together, I think that implies it's a double-date," Francis said slowly, watching Arthur like he was a little slow.

"Well…" Arthur sounded like he was about to argue, but then gave up, "Yeah you're right."

Alfred was starting to get a little worried, "Two minutes, you guys," he said to Francis and Owain, and tapped Arthur on the arm, signalling for the Briton to follow him outside. Once the door closed and the autumn wind was blowing harshly in their faces, Alfred asked lowly, "Is everything okay?"

"Of course – why do you ask?" Arthur muttered in reply.

"I don't know… you just seem… off. You're not acting like you. You're actually acting like when I first met you. You have been for a while; I just didn't want to say anything. Nothing's going on, is there? Daniel hasn't appeared out of nowhere and started threatening you, has he?"

Arthur smiled half-heartedly, "No, no, nothing like that. Don't worry so much – I'm fine."

"Nope! You've just proved it! You said you were fine! I get a reminder pretty much every day on my Facebook news feeds that if a girl – or in your case the more submissive in our relationship – says that they're fine, then all hell is about to break loose!" Alfred said, pleased with his conclusion.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, "I am not the 'girl' of our relationship! But really, I'm one hundred percent okay, okay? I have you here, so how could I possibly not be okay?"

"You so are the girl! You're the smaller one, the cuter one, and if we were to have sex," Alfred's voice dropped noticeably in volume, making Arthur grin, "Then I would totally top you." Alfred then returned to the main subject point, "Ah, but you say you're one hundred percent okay – okay isn't good. So why aren't you one hundred percent happy?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine, I'm the girl."

"See! You never usually give in like that! You did it to Francis a minute ago! What happened to my aggressive little Artie?" Alfred interrupted before Arthur had chance to reply to the second half of the conversation.

"I just… want a change in personality. I need to be a little nicer, I think," Arthur muttered the obvious excuse, "And I'm not one hundred percent happy because I had to sit in that damn coffee shop with those two idiots," he jerked his thumb to the window, and through it you could see Owain and Francis, coffee still in hands, kissing like there was no tomorrow.

Alfred narrowed his eyes, "No, no, there's something more. I'm stupid, so I don't know what it is yet, but I will figure it out! Just you wait! C'mon, I'm freezing, let's go back inside."

Arthur, who was a little irked at Alfred's ability to drop something so quickly, shook his head, "Do we have to go back in there? All they're going to do is rub it in our faces and kiss all day; there's no point in being with them. We may as well go and have some fun?"

"Sure!" Alfred agreed, though was a little confused at Arthur's choice of words – what did Francis and Owain have to 'rub in their faces' as Arthur had said…? "Where are we going?"

"I don't mind," Arthur smiled, "Surprise me!"

"Your wish is my command!" Alfred grinned, grabbing Arthur's hand, knowing just where to take the Brit to boost his happy percentage up to one hundred and ten.

"Mattie? Mattie, where'd you go? I'm back! Whaddya say about taking up Francis' offer and meeting him and the other's in Starbucks? Though that place is a little expensive…" Gilbert muttered thoughtfully to himself as he walked through his and Matthew's room (they'd requested a change in roommates) looking for the Canadian. Where the hell was he? Gilbert had been over to his brother's to talk about a math's paper they'd been assigned – it was a little embarrassing that Gilbert had to ask his younger brother for help – but he'd only been half an hour or so. Surely Matthew hadn't got bored and left without him?"

"Mattie?" Gilbert called again, even checking under the bed. Then the albino realised that there were to other rooms Matthew could be in. After checking the bathroom and deciding that unless Matthew could hide in drains, then the Canadian had to be in the kitchen, or he'd left.

Gilbert opened the kitchen door, and sure enough Matthew was sitting at the table, his headphones in – that must've been why he hadn't heard Gilbert's calls – completely oblivious to the fact that Gilbert was standing in the doorway. Smirking confidently, Gilbert decided that he'd try and get Matthew to scream again. He'd only managed to do it once; Matthew was really hard to scare! But that one time he'd done it, Matthew had screamed the most hilarious, cutest little scream. The German decided that he wouldn't mind hearing that scream again.

Creeping very, very quietly and sticking to the sides of the walls, the albino finally reached a safe spot behind Matthew – all that was left was to scare the Canadian! Gilbert suddenly realised it was weird how seriously he was taking this, but shook it off. He lifted his hands, ready to slam them down on Matthew's shoulders, three, two, one…

"RAWRRR~ I'M GOING TO EAT YOU!" Gilbert yelled at the top of his voice.

He definitely got the reaction he wanted! Matthew yelped girlishly with fear, jumping up from his seat, whimpering as he wheeled around to see Gilbert, and almost hit the albino.

"Gilbert! I told you not to do that!" Matthew shouted back at Gilbert, who was keeled over with laughter, "It's not funny!"

"But it is! It's so funny! You thought I was going to eat you!" Gilbert choked out between laughs, but then straightened up, "I might eat you anyway though – you do look delicious!"

Rolling his eyes, Matthew put one headphone back in, sitting down, "You're starting to sound like Francis…"

Gilbert frowned at that, so decided to change the subject, "What're you writing? Is it a love letter? For me? Oh you shouldn't have!" the Albino crooned, leaning over Matthew's shoulder to see what he'd been scratching onto the paper.

Almost immediately, Matthew stiffened, realising Gilbert was reading what he was writing, and slammed the notepad shut, and sat on it, "Nothing."

"Well it's obviously not nothing…" Gilbert grinned, a little confused, "C'mon! Let me see!"

"No." Matthew said flatly, "Don't worry. It's just… accounts."

"Accounts? Mattie, I know you're mature, but we both know you don't have accounts! You're fourteen for God's sake!" Gilbert said, still a little confused at what Matthew was hiding from him.

"Just… don't worry about it! It's really, really boring stuff!" Matthew insisted.

"Look, I won't read it if you don't want me to, I just want to know why I can't read it…" Gilbert backed off, raising his arms in surrender at Matthew's defensive tone, "You can tell me anything, you know. I'm not going to get pissed with you."

Matthew still shook his head, "No. It's private."

"But…" Gilbert started, and then decided that it was Matthew's privacy, "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. But Mattie?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me that if you're really troubled by something… you'll tell me, won't you?" Gilbert smiled almost bashfully.

"Of course I will," Matthew returned the smile, hating himself for the lie he just told, "Come one – didn't you want to meet Francis and the others in town?"

Gilbert suddenly really didn't feel like going, "Actually I just remembered that Ludwig and Kiku needed my help with something," it was true – Kiku and Ludwig had requested Gilbert's company, Gilbert had just told the pair that he had plans with Matthew, "But maybe we can go tomorrow?"

"Sure," Matthew nodded, "Bye then."

"Bye."

Both were left with the terrible feeling that they'd seriously fucked something up, they just weren't sure what, or how to fix it.

"Alfred, I'm seriously afraid I'm going to trip! Just let me see again, won't you?" Arthur growled. Alfred had covered the Brit's eyes with his hands, not letting his beloved see where Alfred was taking them.

"We're almost there! It's gunna be an awesome date, Artie!" Alfred promised happily.

"It better had be! I do not like walking around not being able to see!"

"Don't worry, I'm here to catch you if you fall~"

"Shut it."

"And we're here!"

Arthur was freed from Alfred's grasp and saw where they were.

They were on a boat…

In the middle of the ocean?

Oh thank God – Arthur wheeled around in panic and found Padstow docks just behind him. He knew Alfred was outgoing, but bloody hell, if he'd sailed them off, then Arthur would never forgive him. He'd always been afraid of being stranded at sea and being eaten by a shark.

"I had a word with the owner of this boat! He said we could use it for a bit~ and I've been taking lessons!" Alfred grinned, pleased with himself.

"You hired a boat?" Arthur mused, walking around the small rowing boat. It wasn't really a boat… or at least not a big, yacht boat, but it was a sweet idea. The wood looked dangerously old and close to rotting, though.

"You bet I did!" Alfred said triumphantly, "Wait, you do like it, don't you?"

Arthur smiled, "Of course I do! It's very… you. Completely obscure, a little bit dangerous, sweetly unique and bloody brilliant."

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Alfred beamed, walking behind Arthur and hugging him, "I thought it'd be a nice idea, y'know? And it'll get dark soon, and boats at night are romantic! Or that's what the internet told me, anyway…"

"They're very romantic, sweetie. You certainly cheered me up, you know." Arthur smiled, and he meant it this time, "So are we going to row or not?"

"Of course! Oh, by the way, the guy said it'd be a good idea to stick around the docks rather than go out to sea, in case we never return or something." Alfred stated the obvious, but Arthur didn't say anything sarcastic. Alfred had obviously put a lot of thought into this idea – he'd probably wanted a chance to show Arthur it all day. Although Arthur initial reaction had been oh my fucking God, I'm on a fucking boat, help me, after getting over the shock of it, he actually didn't mind the weird feeling of the water gently sloshing up against the sides of the boat.

Arthur reached down to pick up an ore, but Alfred gently prised it away from him, "No. No lady should row." The American pursed his lips.

"Oh shut it! I'm not a lady!" Arthur said, only half-serious, "But you are my knight in shining armour."

"Well then, that settles it – you have to be my damsel in distress! It's either a damsel or a lady; make your choice, Princess Arthuretta!" Alfred began rowing gently.

"Don't start that again!" Arthur warned with a grin, "But either way I'll get you, won't I?"

"Of course!"

"Well then I don't give a damn what I am. You could turn me into a caterpillar and I wouldn't care." Arthur muttered, now it was his turn to hug Alfred from behind.

The two sat in silence for a while with only the sound of the water around them and the few townspeople in the distance running around at the docks. Neither really minded; after all, it wasn't a particularly awkward silence. It was just a silence. Arthur was pleased for some time to think to himself.

He'd been worried for a while about his relationship with Alfred, and even though they constantly reminded one another that they loved each other, they very rarely had moments like this nowadays – just Alfred, Arthur and whatever setting they were in. Arthur treasured these moments, he really did. But it did make him wonder, how long would he be able to keep these dates going? He had a terrible feeling that soon, Alfred was going to get bored of him, and Arthur wasn't sure why. That's why he'd been in a pretty sour mood all day, and with Francis and Owain practically saying 'Hey! Look at us - our relationship isn't dying like yours!' with their displays of affection, which only made things worse. It really did piss Arthur off. But he knew he could only blame his annoyance on other people for so long, because deep down he was seriously pissed off with himself for letting Alfred slip through his grasp.

"Hey," Alfred whispered, just loud enough for Arthur to head, "Are your happiness levels up yet?"

"Nope, but my blissful levels are at two hundred percent." Arthur muttered back, "You?"

"Off the scale."

Arthur smiled, "We need to do this more often."

"We really do…"

The silence continued, until Alfred decided that they were in the centre of the huge dock, and that was far enough to row. The American grinned, pulling the oars inside the boat, and hugged Arthur, kissing him softly, "You know, it'd be even more romantic if it were night. I knew I should've waited a little longer… I was just so excited!"

"Well it's getting close to sunset, so we could just… sit here for a while…" Arthur suggested as casually as he could. A grin spread across Alfred's face, "I'd like that."

So the two did indeed just sat, talking about things that came into their mind. They spoke about things that mattered, and things that didn't matter. About their childhood, their plans for the future and their feelings in the present. Alfred had always wondered how couples knew the most obscure things about each other, like 'she only likes red sweets', or 'he's collected cacti all his life because he wanted to be a cowboy when he was a kid' but now, Alfred knew how people came to learn random stuff like that about one another; because couples just do sit and talk like this, and they learn some amazing things that make you fall in love with them all over again.

"Hey Artie, look at this!" Alfred smiled, and picked something up, "It's like one of those note in the bottle things!" sure enough, Alfred was holding up an empty alcohol bottle, fastened with a cork. It really did look like a bottle with a missing note. Arthur suddenly felt like a pirate.

"I have an idea!" Arthur smiled, and reached into his pocket, drawing out a notebook and pen that he always kept with him for emergencies, and tore out two pieces of paper, handing one to Alfred, "What we do is we write down the exact feelings we have for each other right now, what we're feeling. But I'm not allowed to see yours, and vice versa. Then we can fold them up in here, and throw it out in the harbour, yeah? Apparently most of the junk tossed in here gets fished out, but if we ever feel… in doubt of our relationship, then we can come here and remember this day, yeah?"

Alfred was staring at Arthur, "That's fucking romantic."

"And you had to soil it with your language, didn't you?" Arthur chuckled, handing the pen to Alfred, "Come on, write it down!"

Alfred thought for a moment, and then after chewing on his lip, the American seemed to find the exact words he needed, and scribbled them on to the paper. Arthur resisted the urge to peek – the curiosity was killing him – and quickly folded it up, placing it inside the bottle.

"My turn…" Arthur muttered, taking the pen. He only just realised that his hands were sweating – was he really that nervous about writing this? When he'd told Alfred the plan, he had loads of ideas of what to write, but right now, just staring at the blank paper, all of those ideas had gone. So Arthur closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to notice what he was feeling, writing them all down. When he was done, he folded up the little sheet of paper, dropping it into the bottle next to Alfred's. He took the cork, pressing it into the lid so no water would get in.

"Do you want to throw it in?" Alfred offered, "It was your idea, after all."

Arthur smiled, "Thank you," he'd always loved the idea of doing a note-in-a-bottle thing, and throwing it in looked like the best part. Arthur lobbed the glass bottle as far as he could (which wasn't very far) and it landed with a little 'splash' in the water nearby, bobbing along. It wasn't long before both boys lost sight of the bottle entirely, wondering if they'd ever see it or the notes inside ever again.

"Thank you for doing that with me…" Arthur muttered quietly, grabbing Alfred's hand. The sun had set by now, and the very first stars were starting to come out, "But we'd better head back… Mr. Belischmidt will kill us if he sees us out here; I've heard he's starting to do patrols out around the town…"

"Jesus…" Alfred muttered, rolling his eyes, "Five more minutes?"

"Five more minutes," Arthur confirmed. Though it turned out their 'five minutes' was a very, very long five minutes. It was also one of the best five minutes of Arthur's life.

A/N

Woo~ short chapter X'D I was in Costa Coffee the other day, and the amount of wannabes in there was scary X'D then we passed a Starbucks, and there were even more. X'D btw, don't take offence to that if you sit in Starbucks X'D I'm simply criticising the people who think they're one of the awesome Starbucks people, and they don't even know the menus off by heart X'D and before we go any further – I am not a Starbucks geek X'D but my friends are X'D
Anyway X'D I'd better stop talking before I offend anyone X'D
Right. You remember that happy ending in the World Inside a Castle? Well, I've got my wrecking ball out – that's right, I have a wrecking ball – and that happy ending WAS A LIE. D: Yeah, I'm going to tear it apart and probably have fun in the process… So look forward to that! 8D I have a feeling you're going to hate me X'D
And Matthew, you're gunna get hit with the wrecking ball HARD. LOL. Not in a sexual way, sadly XD
Speaking of sexual, a few have been wondering whether this will be having lemons X'D the answer, sadly, is no X'D it'll have mentions of sex, but not descriptions X'D so Alfie and Artie will do it, but I'll leave that up to your imagination. The reason for this, is because I'm a fourteen year old virgin, and I have no idea what sex is like X'D so you'd probably be reading your stereotypically cliché shitty smut X'D and I don't want to ruin my reputation like that X'D
Long A/N is long X'D thank you for reviews! 8'D love you guys!
Byebye!