Finally an update. School is such a bother! Ah, this chapter does have some warnings in it. I wish it was longer, but next chapter will involve one of my favorite 2p's! [Not the one revealed in this, oh, and can you guess who the 2p at the end is?]

I actually have a question I'd appreciate people answering.

Although this story mostly revolves around 2p Alfred, I was wondering if people would like a short part of a chapter (occasionally, not always of course) to be about one of the other 2p's lives. Like Lovino, or Natalia. Like maybe in the beginning or ending of a chapter to get a taste of their lives too? I wouldn't mind at all!

Anyway... Enjoy!

Warnings: Hidden Context of Rape/Pedophilia (Towards the end).


The screams seemed to pierce through Lovino's eardrum because he jumped up, and back a good foot. He blinked a few times, watching Alfred tremble and yell. He sounded like he was facing a huge monster of some sort.

In a way, it was a monster. At least, to Alfred it was. He felt it crawling up it's back, it wasn't wriggling around or wasting time, it was moving fast. He clenched both his little fists as it made it's way up his spine.

He stopped screaming after what seemed like hours, only to drop onto his knees in front of the young blond.

"Get it out! Get it out!" he began to sob, tears quickly streaming down his cheeks. Lovino stared at him with wide eyes, truly incapable of seeing what was wrong with him. "It's on my back! It's going to eat me!" The older boy blinked a few times, trying to process what he was being told. At first he looked behind Alfred to see if some kind of small animal had bitten him, but nothing was there. "It's inside!"

Lovino quickly paced over behind the younger male, crouching down and finally realizing what was going on. He noticed a little bump that seemed to be moving from inside Alfred's shirt. He frowned and lifted the boy's shirt up, only to find a slightly bigger than average ant. He reached in and plucked the black critter with his fingers, his nails simply cost too much to waste on an insect! He put the ant on the ground before stepping on it, looking over at the other boy who was still shivering.

"It's gone!" He smiled, watching as Alfred seemed to calm down. It took a few moments until he was at his normal breathing and didn't look like he'd seen the most horrific thing in his life. "You're scared of insects?"

"N-No!" Alfred immediately snapped, standing up and facing the other. His eyes were red and puffy from all his crying. Okay, so maybe he was scared of them, but also not really. He tried to think over his words carefully before deciding he trusted Lovino enough to just tell him the truth. "I'm scared of spiders."

Lovino tried not to smile at that, but he couldn't help it. Alfred had puffed out his cheeks and he looked so cute! He covered his mouth with a clean hand and began to chuckle, closing his eyes a bit.

Was he laughing at him? Alfred stomped a foot on the ground, "It's not funny! They're really ugly and have too many legs!" He could feel as his eyes began to water again, he thought he could trust Lovino!

"Ah, no! Alfred it's not that! It's just, you look so cute right now!" The blond began full out laughing now, walking over to ruffle Alfred's red hair. He went to run his fingers through it, except his hand got stuck. It took him a moment before the tangled clump of hair released his hand. Alfred really seemed to need a haircut, did he even use shampoo?

He frowned a little at that, he could tell he was younger than him. His brother and him may look like they were very young, but they knew enough. "How old are you?" he paused a moment, "And I haven't gotten your name yet!"

Alfred lifted his arm to wipe away the forming tears, he guessed he must have looked like a baby. Well he wasn't a baby! He was a big boy! Just a few days ago he was stabbed and he took it like a man! Okay, well he cried a lot, but it hurt! He came back to reality when he heard the Italian boy's question.

"I'm Alfred, I'm," Alfred stuck out his hand, "five years old!" He noticed how Lovino seemed to tense in front of him, a look of pure horror overcoming him. Did he say something wrong? He felt a soft hand soothe his hair back, while glancing up at the blond's eyes, he wished he hadn't. Lovino's eyes were filled with what he could only describe as sadder than him when he got hit by mommy.

He noticed how the male closed his eyes and began grumbling. He couldn't understand the words, but they sounded angry and filled with pain. When he opened his eyes again, Alfred tilted his head to the side a bit.

"I'm eight, Feliciano is the same," he whispered, supposing he should give Alfred an answer in return. Alfred was so young, and he could tell the poor boy has already went through a life time of pain.

"I-I...Thank you for helping me before!" Alfred sputtered out, finally having the mind to say the second thing he'd wanted to tell Lovino. "Your scarf got really dirty though, and my mommy didn't like it, so she threw it out, I'm sorry!" Alfred really didn't want her to take the scarf away, it hurt him. He remembered how she tugged the scarf off him in one swift moment, and decided to get creative. He couldn't help but squirm at the memory of his mother pulling the scarf around his mouth and bringing the belt down. He had felt even more helpless than usual, screaming as his sounds were muffled.

"Oh that was nothing, Feliciano is always a stupid head! He's always walking off trying to nearly murder other kids! Only for money!" Lovino sighed, his brother really was troublesome. He couldn't imagine how he'd be when he got older. Lovino was gifted with patience, a kind heart, and great hair.

That's when another question sparked in Alfred's head, he hadn't noticed it until now. "Lovino, why do you look so nice?" He stared at the older boy as his cheeks quickly flushed pink, smiling a bit sheepishly.

"Nice? Do you mean my clothing? Well I come from a decently stable family."

"Why does Feli-" he had trouble saying the whole name, "need money then?"

Lovino nodded a few times, finally understanding what Alfred was getting at. It must have deeply confused the young boy, seeing him in his expensive clothing while his brother went off stabbing people. Seriously, his brother was such a bother! "Well Alfred, we may come from a rich family, but like everyone else here, it's not the nicest."

Alfred furrowed his brows, so was Lovino and his brother also beaten by their moms? At that he couldn't help but ask, "Do you have a daddy?" The blond nodded slowly, beginning to fumble with his sparkling scarf. "Is he nice?"

The American could see the Italian's expression change drastically, it was clear there was tension between the two. "Well, you see, he..." his voice trailed off, unable to complete his sentence. Alfred kept staring at him and waiting for an answer before it was obvious he wasn't going to get one. He wondered what his father did to them. How could anyone hurt Lovino? He looked so peppy and nice, how could anyone try and hurt his perfect skin?

At that thought he looked down at his own hands, noticing the bruises that aligned across his arms. He was pretty glad he had a nice tan color because if he was pale like Lovino the marks would be even more obvious. He glanced the other over, trying to spot some sort of blemish. He couldn't find any, only receiving a questioning look from him in return.

"Is everything alright, Alfred?" Lovino smiled meekly, the happy energy he held seemed to have been drained from his body. The younger boy looked up and nodded quickly. He didn't want to ask him about it, maybe his dad did other things he didn't like. He scrunched up his nose at the thought, his new friend was too kind to hit. He wished he could do something about it. "If you're sure, wow the sun sure is bright out!"

Alfred took a moment to process that before letting out a short gasp. How could he have forgotten what his actual reason for coming here was? Mommy was going to be so mad! He hoped she took mercy today. "I have to go," he whispered quietly, his eyes wide with panic.

"Oh, I'm sorry for keeping you here Alfred!" The blond replied with a sweet smile. Alfred nodded quickly before taking a step to leave, stopping in place soon after.

"Can I see you again?" He looked up at Lovino whose smile seemed to grow wider.

"Of course you can! We're friends now, right?"

"Friends..." Alfred let the word tingle his tongue, he never had a friend before! He was so excited, now all he wanted to do was stay here with him! He knew he couldn't though, not unless he really wanted mommy angry. They both gave a short wave before he was off running to the store, panting slightly in the process.

He quickly checked the note in his pocket for the items he needed and began to search the aisles. His mother sure had a heavy list today, or so he thought when he had to carry a gallon of milk and liter of soda in his arms. The cashier didn't seem to mind his age, looking apathetic. This probably wasn't anything new to her.

As he placed the items on the counter, he couldn't help but look over at a much taller man. Reason being the stare he was giving, it creeped Alfred out a bit. From the corner of his eye he noticed the man was wearing a plain white shirt, black leather pants, and wore his Auburn hair tied in a ponytail. Did he want something? He cleared his throat and returned to the cashier. She blew a small pink bubble from her gum before holding her hand out. Alfred quickly handed over the money, getting a sudden feeling of dread.

She leaned back and began punching in numbers, all too slowly it seemed, before handing over the change. "Have a nice day, blah, blah." Alfred smiled and nodded, going on his tip toes to grab the bags. As he began to leave he couldn't resist peeking behind him. Oh how he wished he hadn't. The man behind him didn't even seem to buy anything, quickly skipping past the counter, and walking right to him.

In a small shed of panic, he sped up and out of the market, gripping the bags painfully tight. His knuckles were white, and his arm still hurt from Feliciano stabbing him the previous week. He just had to get home and everything would be fine. His mommy would beat up anyone who would hurt him. Wait, so wouldn't she beat herself up? Oh no, did mommy lie again? Wait, stop getting off track!

He shook his head quickly, not daring to look back again. He began to pant softly, but kept his speed up, if anything he actually walked faster. At the back of his head he couldn't help but think to hear of a second pair of steps right behind him. He wanted to look back, but he knew he couldn't. If what was happening was really reality, he'd probably begin crying. However, if it wasn't, then he'd look like a complete fool being so scared for nothing. Either option didn't seem pleasant, which made him continue on ahead.

He glanced around quickly, not even realizing where he was going for a moment. He recognized the street immediately, only two blocks away from the house! He'd knock on the door, mommy would open, and she'd protect him! She always did. She was a hero.

Oh, but luck really had a grudge against him. He suddenly jumped as he felt a hand place on his shoulder, causing him to freeze on the spot. His body was already trembling before another hand snaked it's way across his waist, scooping him up. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to try and fight back, but he couldn't. He was so scared, what was going on? Who was picking him up? Was it the same man? Maybe it was mommy? He wasn't so sure though, things never really went the way he wanted them to.

He nearly forgot to breathe and had to force himself to inhale precious air. He looked around quickly, the figure holding held him over a shoulder. "You're so cute, amigo."

The voice caught him off guard, it sounded sweet, too sweet. Almost like poisonous candy. Finally Alfred began to squirm, making small noises of protest. He couldn't bring himself to be much louder.

"Sh, I'm going to make you feel really good," Alfred was lowered when they entered a dark alley. He looked around desperately for some sort of help, just one person to help him. He found no one. Not that anyone would have actually helped anyway. All for one, and that is that.

A finger tilted Alfred's chin up, forcing him to look into bright red eyes. The color was so terrifying that tears began to build up in his own eyes, teeth chattering slightly. What did this man want? What did he mean by he wants to make him feel good?

"I'm going to have a lot of fun with you."