Part IV: Friends in High Places
Alfred stared at the long dark hallway and took a deep breath. He reminded himself that heroes weren't supposed to be scared of ghosts. He hummed the Ghostbusters theme song for a few bars and began walking forward. He wasn't afraid of no ghosts! Then he heard it. The low moaning noise from the locker next to his. Alfred ran back to the end of the hallway and huddled in the lighted area. Stupid school for trying to save money by turning off lights after-hours.
Who you gonna call?, he thought to himself as he pulled out his cellphone and quickly punched a number on speed dial.
He could hear a sigh on the other end of the line. "You want me to come help you get your bookbag, don't you?" Arthur asked.
"Hey practice is over and I was just thinking that I should walk you home because it's so late at night and do you want to meet me at my locker?" Alfred asked in a rush.
"Alfred, I've told you a million times. I made up the story about the girl dying in the locker next to yours." He could sense Arthur rolling his eyes.
"But I can hear her! She's like Moaning Myrtle," Alfred protested.
"Yes, she is like Moaning Myrtle, in that she's fictional."
"Wait, are you saying magic isn't real?" Alfred asked, a sly grin spreading across his face. Arthur had once made the mistake of complaining about how Harry Potter got magic all wrong and now Alfred couldn't stop teasing Arthur for believing in magic. Alfred grinned to himself, knowing that he'd found the perfect counter-argument. Score one for logic!
Arthur huffed. "I'll see you in a minute," he replied.
By happy coincidence, the school scheduled both student council meetings and basketball practice for Monday evenings. A few weeks ago, Alfred didn't know or care about the student council meetings. A few weeks ago, he hadn't been dating student council president Arthur Kirkland. Turns out, a lot could change in a few weeks.
Alfred grinned in relief when he saw Arthur approaching from the other side of the hallway. He hurried over to his locker, pretending that he had not been standing at the end of the hallway waiting for Arthur to banish the dead girl's moans. He packed away his science books in seconds, shouldered his bag, and reached out to grab Arthur's hand. Mondays should have been the worst day of the week, but Alfred had come to love Mondays over the past month because he could hold Arthur's hand in the deserted hallways and no one would be the wiser. They weren't exactly hiding their relationship, but not many people knew since Arthur insisted on strictly following the "no PDA" rules during school hours.
Thank god for Mondays.
As they walked over to Arthur's home, Alfred listened to his boyfriend discuss the latest student council business. The prom committee still hadn't chosen a theme. Apparently the school administrators had not been pleased with their suggestion for 'Your Love is My Drug.'
Alfred chuckled. He normally didn't care much about prom planning, but Arthur had a way to make all of his stories witty. Or maybe things just sounded better in an English accent. Alfred was very glad that Arthur's dad had decided to bring his son along when he came to work at his company's American satellite office.
Eventually, the topic drifted to basketball. "Man, I'm really looking forward to Friday's game," Alfred said eagerly.
"Planning to win the state championship?" Arthur asked fondly. He still maintained that soccer was the only sport for him, but he had started attending the school's basketball games.
Alfred grinned. "Yeah, that too. But mostly, I'm looking forward to the end of the game. The coach always invites us out to dinner after the last game of the season. But this year, I'm going to tell him I can't make it 'cause I got a date with my boyfriend."
Arthur's eyes widened. "Do you think that's a good idea?"
"Senior year. Last game. Not much he can do to me now!" Alfred cheerfully replied. He suddenly backpedaled, realizing that Arthur might be worried. "I mean, if that's okay with you. I wasn't going to tell him your name, but I understand if you don't want it leaking out. If were up to me, I'd shout it out to the whole school, but I know you're more of a play-it-quiet guy."
Arthur squeezed the taller boy's hand reassuringly. "No it's fine. My parents don't care. When I told my step-mum that I was gay, she smiled happily and said that at least she'd only have to worry about one of her sons getting a girl pregnant."
Alfred burst into laughter and they walked up the path to Arthur's home still holding hands. He liked Madame Bonnefoy. She was refreshingly honest about sex and she baked delicious pastries. Plus, she and her husband often left the country for business trips, which gave him and Arthur lots of opportunities for uninterrupted make-out sessions.
"Would you like to come up for some studying?" Arthur asked as he unlocked the door.
"Do you mean studying or 'studying'?" Alfred waggled his eyebrows and used one hand to form quote marks in the air.
"Actual studying, you numpty." Arthur stuck out his tongue and mimed a blow at Alfred's shoulder. "I have a test tomorrow."
Alfred grinned and agreed. He had discovered that dating Arthur was doing wonders for his English grades. Apparently his teachers liked papers that didn't use chatspeak or emoticons. Who knew?
He sprawled out and spread his problem sets across Arthur's bedroom floor. Now and then he glanced up to see Arthur staring in concentration at his own homework. Alfred worked through his problems with a grin. If he got lucky and they both finished early, he could still get in a little more 'studying.' Each time he discovered something new, like the hint of tea in each kiss, the way Arthur's skillful fingers danced through his hair, or the sharp gasp Arthur made when Alfred left a hickey on his neck.
Math was okay and science was fun, but Arthur was his new favorite subject.
Part V: Hold Your Head High
Feliciana and Lovina had narrated most of the Eagles' basketball game (Feliciana complimenting the players on every good move while Lovina angrily took them to task for every mistake), so Alfred was surprised to hear a new voice through the loudspeaker at the end of their most recent time out.
"Hey dudes and dudettes. So Feli and Lovi both had to head home totally early to go to their grandma's birthday party. Apparently if you show up late for a mafia party then you're gonna totally end up late. Like, do you get it? Late."
The stadium erupted in silence.
"Okay whatevs. You guys have no sense of humor. Anyway, I'm Felix, and I'm gonna do the rest of the fashion commentary for this really unusual model show. Love the red and blue. Very patriotic. Haha, joke guys. I know this is, like, baseball."
Another voice murmured in the background.
"I mean basketball. Whatever. It's all balls."
Alfred laughed as he watched his coach turn an amazing shade of red. The coach grumbled about someone letting butt-munchers into the recording room and then ordered the team back onto the court. Alfred was so glad that in only a few more minutes he could say hello to the state championship and goodbye to his bigoted coach forever. He blocked out the distraction of Felix's running commentary about the tacky shorts and bad hairstyles. But he really hoped someone was recording Felix to upload to youtube later. The comments would be priceless.
The clock hit zero and the Eagle's victory was complete. Alfred whooped and high-fived his teammates as the stadium cheered wildly. Alfred flashed a blinding smile at his boyfriend only to discover that Arthur was no longer in his seat. Alfred started to frown even as the rest of his teammates continued to soak up the audience's cheers. He knew Arthur didn't really care about sports other than soccer, but it wasn't like him to ditch a game, especially such an important one for Alfred.
After the yelling died down, he could hear Felix once more over the speakers. "Oh hey, is it over? Awesome. So like, someone totally has a question for one of the players. I'm gonna, like, put on some music and let him do his own thing. Laters."
Alfred heard a surprised murmur from the audience. He could see them glancing up at the scoreboard. He turned and followed their gaze. "Alfred, will you go to prom with me?" the sign read in giant flashing letters. Alfred couldn't stop grinning as his teammates began to turn his way with looks of surprise and envy. They glanced over at the giggling group of cheerleaders, but Alfred, who knew exactly who was asking the question, looked higher up in the stands. He finally spotted the object of his affection at the very top of the bleachers.
Arthur began walking down the steps with a microphone in one hand and a single red rose in the other. He signaled to Felix in the sound booth and the opening sounds of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" filled the stadium. Now Alfred understood why Felix had taken over the sound booth. It was all part of Arthur's elaborate, awesome plan. Alfred decided he had the best boyfriend ever.
To nearly everyone else, Arthur looked the very image of a calm, cool, and collected Englishman as he purposefully descended the stairs. But Alfred could see how tightly Arthur gripped the mic and the pink tinge at the tips of Arthur's ears. He smiled up at his boyfriend, trying to wordlessly reassure him that no matter what anyone else thought, Alfred was thrilled that Arthur had planned such a public surprise.
Arthur smiled back slightly. He took a deep breath and began to sing, but he had decided to replace the typical baseball lyrics with his own rendition:
Can I take you out to the prom, babe?
Take you out in the crowd
Buy us some roses and snappy suits,
I don't care if they all call us fruits.
Yeah let's play, play, play for the same team
If you say no, it's a shame.
Cause I just, want, to take you out
As my own prom date.
At the final line, Arthur reached the end of the stairs. He offered the rose to Alfred, who accepted it with a grin. Parts of the stadium began to clap wildly. Alfred realized that he recognized a lot of GSA members in the audience and he wondered if Arthur had asked them to attend just to provide additional support. Some parents smiled fondly, while others watched with vague looks of disapproval or boredom. Alfred didn't care what any of them thought. He grabbed the microphone, tossed it to his teammate Jack, and claimed Arthur's hand in his own. Screw the rules on PDA, he was going to walk out of the stadium holding his boyfriend's hand.
"Jones! What the hell do you think you're doing?" his coach yelled at their backs. Alfred glanced around to find that his coach had turned an intriguing shade of red. Alfred didn't think it was humanly possible to look that much like an angry tomato. But apparently it was.
"Obviously, I'm going on a date with my boyfriend," Alfred cheerfully replied. He could see his teammates starting to hide smiles in the background. No one liked their crotchety old coach, so they would approve of anything that caused the veins to pop out in their coach's neck.
Still holding the rose, Alfred pushed open the door to the wonderfully cool air outside and ignored whatever angry words his coach was continuing to yell at them. He officially didn't care any more. He smiled happily as they stepped out into the crisp evening weather and then leaned forward to catch Arthur in a kiss.
"That was freaking fantastic." Alfred said after they finished.
Arthur smirked. "Yes, I know I'm a good kisser, but what did you think of the song?"
Alfred kissed him again, hoping that it would convey how much he loved the idea of Arthur publicly declaring his affection in front of a stadium filled with students and parents. Sometimes he wondered if Arthur was ashamed of him because he avoided public affection, but this display removed all doubt.
They climbed into Alfred's truck. Alfred revved up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. He was very glad his parents had decided to drive separately—they were almost disgusting fascinated with Arthur and they asked all sorts of boring parent questions about his interests and future plans. It was so embarrassing. He wanted Arthur all to himself.
Alfred parked in front of McD*nald's and hurried inside. After a long game, he was starving. He raced to the counter and ordered enough hamburgers to feed a small army, plus one more for Arthur. He smiled as Arthur rolled his eyes. Alfred reminded his boyfriend that he had promised Alfred his choice of restaurant to celebrate his basketball state championship.
"I know," Arthur muttered. "But I'm choosing our prom restaurant."
"Ooh, will it be Olive Garden? That place has class!"
Arthur refused to dignify that statement with a response.
Alfred carried his stack of hamburgers to their table and began to happily munch his way through the pile. Even though he talked while eating and had ordered way more burgers, Alfred still finished first. He credited his awesome eating skills, while Arthur said it was his lack of etiquette. They happily bickered back and forth as they finished every single fry. At some point, they arrived at the topic of their favorite television shows. Arthur insisted that Doctor Who was far and away the best sci-fi television series in existence, while Alfred argued fiercely in favor of Star Trek. They finally agreed that a weekend marathon of both shows would be the only way to decide the issue for good.
In the end they declared a draw, probably because they spent more time snogging on the couch than actually watching the shows.
By the time Monday rolled around, Alfred fully expected that he and Arthur would be the main topic of conversation at school. He didn't expect that everyone would also be talking about Coach Akins' sudden suspension for yelling cusswords and derogatory terms for gays at Alfred when he left. His tirade had gotten thousands of views on youtube and people from all over the country had started calling the principal to urge her to fire the coach.
A local journalist even asked to interview Arthur and Alfred for a human interest story in the sports section. Alfred happily agreed. Arthur had to be convinced, but after Alfred's effusive praise for his public speaking skills, he finally gave in.
"You know, I rather hoped that my little performance on the basketball court would force your coach to say the wrong thing in public," Arthur admitted after the interview.
Alfred grinned. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
Arthur shot him a sly, playful, and oh-so-damn-sexy look. "Don't worry, I've found that some things are better than revenge." He paused for a moment and tilted his head to the side. "But revenge is rather nice too."
Part VI: High Jinks
On prom night, Alfred arrived at the school by himself.
Because Arthur's duties as student council president required last minute prom preparations, they had agreed to meet at the school and grab a late dinner afterwards. Alfred cheerfully agreed. He figured that if they stayed out late enough, their only option for dinner would be fast food. He really liked Arthur, but it was annoying to go to restaurants that insisted you keep your elbows off the table. His prom date had been a ball of stress the past week, racing around making final preparations, so Alfred really hoped that he'd have a chance to finally calm down and enjoy the night once the dancing started.
Alfred waited in the hallway as patiently as he could and maintained a careful distance from his locker. You never knew when ghosts would decide to exact their revenge. Maybe Myrtle was angry that no one had ever taken her to prom.
He perked up when he heard quick steps moving towards him. "Sure took you long enough," Alfred teased as he spotted Arthur walking down the hallway. Alfred almost never arrived before Arthur, so he liked to rub it in on those few occasions when he actually managed to arrive on time.
Arthur waved his hands dismissively and blamed a few last-minute orders of business. He pulled to a stop in front of Alfred and gave him a very appreciative look. "Your suit looks nice," he finally managed, a faint blush covering his face.
"Your blush looks nice," Alfred replied with a grin.
Just as Alfred expected, Arthur fiercely denied that he was blushing, his cheeks growing redder with each protest. By the time he finished complaining, Arthur was beet red. Alfred had discovered Arthur's tendency to blush in their second week of dating and he still couldn't resist an opportunity to prod Arthur until he turned adorably pink. He loved when Arthur looked mature and sexy, but sometimes he enjoyed seeing Arthur's cuter side. Each week he discovered a new facet to Arthur, and they were all amazing.
After Arthur's face cooled down, they entered the school gymnasium arm and arm. Alfred paused a moment to admire the decorations. In keeping with the "Flying High" prom theme, the committee had decorated the ceiling with blue and white streamers and dozens of multicolor kites hanging from the rafters. The streamers and kites fluttered in the breeze created by the open doors.
Alfred whistled in appreciation as he craned his neck to look around the room. "Damn. I still can't believe they let the prom committee get away with this." He nodded in approval at the decorations.
The student council president smiled and shrugged. He explained that the administrators had finally thrown in the towel and allowed the prom committee their choice of themes, even if it did have drug-related undertones. They decided that "Flying High" wasn't too obvious and it worked well with the school's Eagle mascot. He admitted that the visual pun on 'high as a kite' was actually rather clever.
Alfred and Arthur waved to Monique in the corner and watched as she crossed off something on her clipboard. A few people near Monique looked depressed when they saw Alfred and Arthur head over.
"Geez, what's wrong with them?" Alfred whispered. "I thought everyone would be cool with us, no one made a deal about it earlier."
Before Alfred could get angry, Arthur reassured him that it wasn't anything to do with them personally. Because she was placed in charge of ticketing, Monique had decided to start a betting pool on Elizabeta's date for the evening. The odds were evenly matched for Roderich and Gilbert, but some of the more daring students bet that Lizzie would go to the prom with Alfred and Arthur. Both of them. At the same time.
Alfred laughed, relieved that the students were just annoyed about losing money. He was still adjusting to being out of the closet. It felt liberating most of the time, but now and then he wondered if people acted a certain way because he was bi. He grinned at Arthur. "Oh man, we could have bet money on that ourselves and then made it happen. We'd be rich!"
"I think you'll find that my choice offers the better pay-off," Arthur replied.
"Why? Who'd you bet on?"
"Felix."
Alfred chuckled, but soon stopped laughing when he saw that Arthur was being serious. He took a few minutes to process the thought of flamboyant Felix dating the hoydenish Elizabeta. Felix liked to wear dresses and Lizzie had apparently thought she was a boy until she started growing breasts, so maybe they had more in common then he thought. "But I thought Felix was… isn't he dating Toris?" he asked.
"You mean the quiet, brown-haired kid? The one over there with the crazy knife girl?"
Alfred glanced at the strange couple. Sure enough, Nataliya had one arm wrapped around Toris while the other held her signature knives. He wondered how she had managed to bring knives to prom, before realizing that none of the old security guards would have the guts to try to keep Nataliya away from her knives. She claimed that the knives were important family heirlooms and no one argued with her because she had a point. Two of them, in fact.
As the lights dimmed and the music began to play, Alfred pushed thoughts of Toris, Nataliya, or anyone else out of his head and pulled Arthur into the mass of dancing bodies. They danced like high school students everywhere—with jerky, awkward, haphazard movements, trying too hard to blend in and stand out at the same time. It was sweaty and hot and wonderful. Alfred didn't care if they looked ridiculous. He tossed his hands in the air and jumped to the beat, yelling out song lyrics even when he didn't know the words. Students bumped and grinded nearby, but the student council president didn't spare them a second glance. He had explained to Alfred before the dance that he had no intention of enforcing the "6 inches of space between bodies" rule or following it himself. He had nothing against the rule itself, but he refused to obey a rule unless it was in metric. Alfred just thought the metric line was an excuse, but didn't complain because he sure as hell didn't want to stay 15 cm away from Arthur the entire night.
When the fast beat of the current song segued into a slow song, they moved closer, adopted the faux ballroom pose beloved by sappy teenagers everywhere (pressed tightly together, hands drifting downward as the song progressed), and swayed in time to the music. Arthur pressed his head against Alfred's shoulder and bemoaned the fact that his prom date didn't know any ballroom dances. Then he smiled slyly and pointed towards the door.
Elizabeta had arrived with Felix. Just as Arthur predicted.
Alfred shook his head in disbelief and admitted that the two looked surprisingly good together. "But not quite as good as us," he added with a wink. He was positive they were the best-looking couple, especially since Arthur had picked out the well-fitted suits. The red roses in their lapels complemented Arthur's green eyes. Alfred still would have preferred jeans and sneakers, but even he could admit the black tie attire gave the place a classy atmosphere. For one night, he could manage to not complain.
Alfred and Arthur finished their slow dance, and then drifted over to say hello to the new arrivals. After complimenting Elizabeta on her beautiful dress—a traditional Hungarian dress borrowed from her grandmother, she explained—Arthur happily accepted his winnings from Monique.
Alfred whistled. "Just think of how many burgers you could buy with that much loot!" He licked his lips in anticipation of all the delicious munchies.
"I already know how many I'll buy with this."
"Really? How many?!" Alfred asked excitedly.
"None."
Alfred wanted to cry as he felt his hamburger dreams vanish into thin air. Those poor burgers! Arthur relented when he saw Alfred's pout and suggested that one visit would be okay.
"But only one!" he insisted.
Alfred grinned, knowing that he could easily turn one into two or three or five. Despite Arthur's grouchy exterior, he wasn't very good at saying no.
Just as they prepared to return to the dance floor, an announcement over the loud speaker cut into the music, directing the owner of the Nissan Armada with license plate number 1588SP to turn off the car's headlights. Antonio looked up suddenly and left Lovina standing by her lonesome on the dance floor.
Arthur pulled his date towards the doors. "Come on, I want to see this."
"See what?" Alfred asked, bewildered.
They followed Antonio to the parking lot, watching from the doorway as the normally cheerful student hurried over to the SUV that still had its headlights on. They heard a sudden shriek as Antonio fell to his knees and cried, "No! Not mi Armada!"
Alfred saw an open gap where the passenger window should have been and broken glass on the ground. He turned to see Arthur attempting to hide a triumphant smirk.
"Did you break his car window?" Alfred asked with a frown. For the first time, he was seeing something in Arthur that he didn't like. Arthur asking him out to prom at the end of a crowded basketball game had been a pleasant surprise. Arthur pulling destructive pranks on other students was a nasty turn. "Not cool, man."
Arthur shook his head as he tugged his boyfriend back inside. "No, I didn't break his window. Antonio always leaves his keys in the car. I just rolled down the window, turned on the headlights, and spread a bit of broken glass nearby. I bet it'll take that clueless moron days to figure out that his window is fine."
Alfred breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to imagine Arthur's impressive planning abilities being used for evil. Knowing that there wasn't anything actually wrong with the car, he felt free to chuckle at the mental image of Antonio weeping over his Armada. It'd be even funnier when Lovina started chewing him out for ditching her on the dance floor.
As they passed by a corridor, they spotted Gilbert huddled alone at the end of the hallway. He had stolen a chick from the biology classroom and sat with it pressed against his face. "Du liebst mich, nicht wahr?" he asked softly.
Alfred was suddenly glad he didn't understand any German.
"You know, I had a prank ready for Gilbert involving laxatives in brownies, but he looks so pathetic sitting in that corner that I think I'll just skip it," Arthur said, his voice filled with pity for the lonely albino.
Alfred nodded in agreement. He was relieved when they made their way back to the dance floor, filled with happy gyrating students. Just walking past Gilbert was depressing. Alfred wanted to continue dancing, or at least continue the flailing he liked to call dancing, but Arthur made a beeline for the punch bowl. Alfred could immediately sense that letting Arthur drink from the punch bowl was a Bad Idea. He remembered that Arthur hadn't know about the existence of magical brownies and decided that his boyfriend was dangerously ignorant about certain aspects of American culture.
"Arthur, you know that's the punch bowl, right?"
"Yes, what's your point?" The shorter blond began filling his cup all the way to the brim.
"Punch bowl. Prom. There's like, a 120% chance that someone's spiked it."
Arthur took a careful sip and swirled the liquid around in his mouth. After a brief moment of contemplation, he replied, "At least three individuals by my guess. I taste absinthe, everclear, and… is that tequila?" He took another sip. "It's surprisingly good."
Arthur tipped back the whole cup.
Alfred watched, panicked that Arthur would decide to suddenly rip off his clothes and parade around the prom room in a bow-tie and a black apron. He didn't know why he would expect Arthur to do that, but the image just appeared in his head.
Instead, Arthur smiled and pulled his boyfriend back to the dance floor.
After a few songs, Alfred decided that he liked Arthur when he'd had a bit to drink. Arthur smiled a little wider, laughed a little louder, and danced a little faster. He sang along to the songs, especially the Lady Gaga ones. Alfred enjoyed himself as they danced close and partied the night away.
However, he did resolve to stop Arthur from drinking any more of the spiked punch when Arthur mentioned the green fairy he saw dancing around Alfred's head.
Alfred decided that was a sign it was time to quit for the night.
He had a hard time convincing Arthur that the green fairy really wouldn't mind if they left ("But she's lonely because no one else can see her!" Arthur whispered plaintively), but a surprisingly easy time convincing him to go to McDonald's for dinner. Apparently tipsy Arthur liked greasy food. Alfred filed away this new knowledge under the category of Immensely Useful. Not that he was going to encourage his boyfriend to drink just so he could get his hamburger fix. But Arthur seemed to do enough drinking on his own that Alfred would be fine if he just took advantage of opportunities as they arose.
Alfred did his best thinking while he was eating hamburgers, and he was starting to come to a realization as he thought about Arthur's pranks. Arthur was getting back at the students who had threatened to blackmail him at the party. It seemed like a long time ago, but Arthur seemed the sort to think that revenge was a dish best served cold.
"So what did you have planned for Ned?" Alfred finally asked.
"Hmm?" Arthur glanced up as he devoured another french fry.
"Well, you got payback on Antonio with his car, and you planned laxatives for Gilbert, so I figure you gotta have something planned for Ned. I mean, he was the one who actually brought the brownies and offered you one."
"Oh yes. I sent him tulips."
"Tulips?" Alfred scrunched his eyebrows. He was having a hard time thinking of how you could pull a prank with tulips. "Did they have itching powder in them or something?"
"What? No. They were very nice tulips." Arthur calmly ate another fry. "You should worry less about Ned and start thinking about the surprise I have planned for you tonight."
"Is it fireworks? I love fireworks!" Alfred asked eagerly.
"If all goes well, you'll be seeing fireworks," Arthur assured him.
Alfred munched another burger and put two and two together. Arthur liked tradition. There were certain traditional after-prom activities. Alfred grinned happily to himself and made a mental note to send Ned more flowers.
Epilogue: High School Sweethearts
At the end of a summer filled with fond memories, eager touches, and the occasional spat, Arthur went to Harvard to study English and Alfred left for MIT to major in computer science. Fortunately for them, both schools were located in the same city. Despite difficult courses and loads of extracurriculars, they found plenty of time to hang out. Sophomore year, they moved in together. Senior year, Alfred proposed. And when people asked how they met, they shared a secret smile, and responded "High School."
Author's Notes
Hey guys, I thought this was going to be a one-shot, but then I developed some fun ideas for the second chapter. It turns out high school AU stories are quite enjoyable to write! Also, in case you're wondering, I did change the story name. I wanted something that worked better for the full story. Also, this whole story has been leading up to the line "high school." You're welcome!
I'm so happy that I fit a little Hungary/Poland shipping into this story. They just look so adorable together, how could I resist? :)
References
"Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!" is the theme song for Ghostbuters, an amusing 1980s film about dorks who catch ghosts. You can guess why Alfred loves it.
Yep, the Nissan Armada is a real car. And 1588 (the license plate) is a reference to the year the English sank the Spanish Armada. Poor Antonio!
Absinthe is commonly referred to in historical literature as "la fée verte" (the green fairy), both because of its color and for the urban legend that if you drink it, you will start to see green fairies. (Arthur sees fairies all the time, but he only admits it while drunk.)
Idiom Meanings
Friends in High Places = to know important people who can help you get what you want.
Hold Your Head High = to show that you are not ashamed
High Jinks = excited and silly behavior when people are enjoying themselves (often spelled as "hijinks")
Flying High = (1) to be very successful or (2) to be very excited or happy, often because of the effect of drugs
High School Sweethearts = a couple that has been dating since high school.
Thank you to Sophia Griffin, Sister of Gallifrey, Neko Romano14, Nightowl572, and alguien22792 for your reviews! Please accept free internet brownies as a sign of my gratitude. More internet brownies are available for anyone else who writes a review. Internet brownies come in your choice of magical and non-magical flavors! ;)
I might decide to continue their college adventures at some point, because I've always wanted to write Arthur as a Harvard student and Alfred as an MIT student. But if I do, I'll put it in a separate story and add an announcement here later.
And remember kids, just say yes to yaoi! :)
