Mom was always very protective with me. It was as if she had to live up to the expectations of today's parents, and she always took the tests in the mommy magazines to see if she was a good parent. I came to suffer under her worries as she always made up new rules that would better my behaviour. There were a tons of rules, and I never remembered half of them. (Luckily, though, neither did she).

One of mom's rules involved the movies I was allowed to watch. Even simple romantic story-lines worried her, because she didn't want to sexualise me. If we were watching television, and a couple showed signs of going for a kiss, she would go out of her way to distract me from watching the screen. Suddenly she would tickle me or offer me cookies or ask me to wash my hands. It was tiresome, for I never got to see what she wanted me to avoid.

Alfred, however, could watch anything he wanted, and often more than he would like to. At school he would sometimes complain about being tired because his mom kept him up the whole evening so that they could watch some love movie together. He could quote Casablanca, My Fair Lady and Roman Holiday as easily as he could quote Captain America. But what was even more interesting was that because of that, he had way more experience than me. When his parents left for shopping, he could just go and turn on the telly and watch all channels, and he did that often and learned. So when I demanded to grope him, his shock only lasted a few seconds, for soon he was on his knees, crawling across our card-game to get to me.

"I know how we shall do this. I saw it in an infomercial."

"You saw groping?" Alfred shook his head and sat down beside me. He wrinkled his brows to look very important and gave me that know-it-all-look of his.

"There was a lady in a long dress, telling about teens and sexuality." I gawked.

"Do they show that on telly?" I asked, stunned. I thought it was all cartoons, news and people kissing. Alfred looked pleased with my reaction, for now he had proved that he knew more than me, and therefore I had to listen to him. I was going to anyway, leaned in close to him so that he could lower his voice.

"Yeah, people can write questions, and she answers them together with a doctor. I've only seen it twice, but it's really cool."

"Is it like Tino's classes?" Tino was one of our teachers from school, and the only one we called by first name. He was a short, shy man who had been given the task of telling us about the birds and the bees. Apparently they had found that discussion appropriate after our visit to the girls' changing room. But he was very wary about it all, and he told us everything with as few details as possible. That girls once a month bleed and get angry because they can have children, and that boys should sleep with their hands above the duvet at night. Ivan had asked him about masturbation, because Gilbert always told us that it is a wonderful invention, but Tino had just blushed and told him that he wasn't sure what the word mean.

Alfred shook his head. "It's nothing like Tino's classes. This woman hides nothing, she answers all questions in details. And you know what she said in the last show?" I shook my head, for of course I didn't know. Alfred grabbed me around the cheeks and stared into my eyes. "She said that it's normal for boys to touch each other." I ripped my head away. My cheeks had reached the colour of beetroots.

"She didn't say that!"

"She did!"

"You're lying."

"Hey," Alfred crossed his arms, "is it you or me who has watched television?" He got me with that obvious question, and I looked down at my sneakers, too embarrassed to look at him.

"Then.. How do we do it?" I asked, and he seemed to give it a good thought.

"Maybe.. If we try sitting next to each other."

"Shoulder to shoulder?"

"Yeah." I collected Alfred's Superman-cards and pictures and put them in the corner to make room for us. Alfred was keeping an eye on me as if he feared I would run away. I quickly returned to sit next to him and bumped my shoulder up close to his to prove that I was going nowhere.

"Okay, then what?" I asked. My breath had gotten a bit unsteady, and when I closed my hands, my fingertips scraped across my sweaty palms. I wasn't sure why I was nervous. I had touched Alfred before. But maybe it was because we were alone. There was no one to laugh at us or scold us or tell us that what we did was wrong. We were alone with this experience.

"Then, uhm.. I guess we grope?" Alfred said, suddenly sounding unsure. We sat quietly for a few seconds, since none of us wanted to make the first move, but then suddenly Alfred slammed his hand in between my legs and cupped me firmly. I gasped and looked at him, more surprised than offended, but he wasn't looking at me. He was glaring the other way, and I could just see a line of red creeping across his cheeks as he moved his fingers around in my lap. As I still did nothing, he cleared his throat. "Aren't you going to touch me?" I blinked and straightened up while looking at my hands. I was the one who asked in the first place, so I couldn't really back down now. Instead I closed my eyes and fumbled my way across his thigh to his groin. Then I grabbed around it firmly and stiffened.

It was a weird feeling, but I was also somewhat proud. It might sound strange, but after all Alfred was the popular guy at school. I wasn't really anything, but still I was the one who was touching him where no one had touched him before. It made my heart beat faster in joy, and I suddenly couldn't hold back a grin that was spreading across my face. I was lucky that Alfred still wasn't looking at me, else he would surely had made fun of me.

I don't know how Alfred felt, but we sat like that for a few minutes. Neither of us said a word, we just let our fingers wander. And then, as if we had silently timed our movements, we let go of each other and both took in a deep breath. My face was burning, and so was Alfred's, but as he turned to face me, I could see how his eyes shined. I shyly moved to the corner and grabbed his card game.

"Want to play?" I asked, and he nodded, and we sat playing for the next hour, both grinning like fools and never looking each other in the eyes.

From that day on we were inseparable. We had sleepovers every weekend, swapped lunchboxes at school, and even Kiku gave up and left his seat so that we could sit together in class. I was kind of mean to him, for I was so dazzled by Alfred that I forgot all about our friendship. He started hanging out with Yao, and without me really noticing it, we just stopped being friends.

Alfred was clearly pleased with the new arrangement, he even seemed to gloat over the situation. When he had troubles with writing an essay in class, and I leaned in to help him, he would suddenly have his arm around my shoulders and his eyes searching for Kiku's face. He was really provoking, but I put up with it because he was my best friend.

However, the higher you climb, the harder you fall. After a month in ecstasy, Alfred suddenly stayed home from school one day. I was used to him coming late, especially when we had maths first time in the morning, but as he still hadn't showed up around noon, I started to get worried. And not only worried, I also felt betrayed. Why hadn't Alfred told me that he wasn't coming to school? He couldn't be ill, he had been running around playing basketball the day before.

It was a horrible day, because everyone kept asking me about Alfred, and I had to tell them that I didn't know anything. It made them look at me as if I had been abandoned, and I got a pain in my tummy. I had to leave in the middle of PE because I couldn't stand up straight. Instead I ran to the changing room and huddled up on a bench. I felt like sobbing, but poofters sob, so instead I just whined girly and pulled at my hair in anger.

I was confused. Had Alfred dumped me? I've seen popular boys dump their friends before, because they could get cooler mates. Or what if he had just gotten tired of me? I couldn't figure out which was the right answer to my questions, so I decided to pull myself together and just go ask him.

It was a long trip home. It felt lonely not having Alfred telling my jokes about girls or betting on how late he would be for school the next morning. It was kind of ironic, for we had been doing just that the day before, and I had said that there would probably come a day when he wouldn't show up at all.

"That's dumb," he'd answered and rolled his eyes, "dad would never allow me to stay home! Not even if I'd lost both of my legs."

"Never?" I'd asked, and he had given it a long thought.

"Maybe if something really dramatic happened. Like, if someone died." I wrinkled my brows and shuddered. I hoped no one had really passed away.

As I knocked on Alfred's door, his mom answered it. She looked at me with kind eyes as if she had expected me. "He's in his room," she said and stepped aside, and I thanked her and quickly got out of my shoes. I leapt up the stairs to Alfred's room, but stopped outside his door. It had a "Don't enter"-sign, a pretty abused one since his dad kept taking it down, and Alfred kept putting it up again. I could hear music from his room, and the fear suddenly returned to my stomach. If he was well enough to sit and listen to music, then why didn't he come to school? I had to take in a deep breath and collect all courage in me before I could knock on his door. The music was turned off.

"It's not all that loud!" Alfred yelled. I cleared my throat.

"Alfred?" He went silent. I could hear him crossing the room.

"Arthur, is that you?"

"Yeah, can I come in?"

"Just a sec.." I pressed my ear to the door. I could hear him mess around with something, then a drawer was closed. As the handle started moving, I quickly stepped back and stood nicely waiting for him to show himself. He opened the door and smiled at me. "Hey."

"Hey." I smiled back at him. He awkwardly stepped aside.

"Come on in, it's not like we're strangers." I got in and he closed the door behind me. I went over and sat on his bed, letting my school back fall to the floor.

"I have homework for you." He grimaced and shrugged it off. I wasn't going to force him to take it, so I just leaned back against a pillow and swung with my legs in the air. He sat down on the floor in front of me.

"How was school?"

"Uhm.. Okay?" He narrowed his eyes. He could see I was lying, and I looked away.

"Just okay?"

"Why weren't you at school?" I returned the question and looked back at him. Now he was the one to try and avoid answering. He got back onto his feet and went over to his shelves to search for a comic. I wasn't going to let him escape, so I followed him. "Alfred, you're not ill. Then why?" He grabbed the latest issue of Superman and handed it to me.

"Want to read it?"

"Alfred!" Alfred shrunk. The way he avoided my question made me feel uneasy. I had to bite my lower lip to avoid whining.

"Does it matter?" he asked and stepped away from me as I reached out for him. That did it for me. I kicked his shinbone. Alfred cried out in surprise and stepped back further, now limping slightly. "What the hell?"

"Don't you want to be friends anymore, is that it?" I yelled. Alfred's eyes doubled in size. I took in a deep breath. "You could just have told me!"

"Why do you think that?" he asked, stunned. I wiped my nose off in my arm and marched over to get my bag. Alfred grabbed my arm and forced me to stay. His fingers bore into my meat, and it hurt. He was much stronger than me. I pulled to get free.

"It hurts! Let go!" I demanded, but he wouldn't, so I kicked him again. Alfred cried but kept holding me.

"Stop kicking me!"

"Why weren't you in school?"

"I don't want to tell!"

"So you hate me!"

"I don't hate you!"

"Yes you do!" He have my arm a harsh pull. It brought tears to my eyes, and I slammed my forehead against his shoulder and just got stuck like that. I had started sobbing, was now kicking his bare feet with mine, but not as forcefully as before. "It was so embarrassing, everyone kept asking where you were. I thought we were friends!" Alfred seemed not to know how to handle the situation. I just felt lost, especially standing like this, tearing up in front of him. It was official. I was a girl, a chick, a sorry excuse for a man. My dad would've said that to me, but Alfred just patted my back and sighed.

"I.. I am sorry, I should've told you. I.."

"Why?" I interrupted him, far too impatient, "why didn't you show up?" I looked up into his eyes. He opened his mouth, then whispered,

"I.. I've gotten glasses." I hesitated.

"..what?" Alfred's face went completely red, and he shoved me aside and opened a drawer. From it he withdrew a pair of glasses. I glared at them. "..is that all?" Alfred huffed and put them on, looking rather insulted.

"It means a great deal to me! I mean, I look completely different!" He turned around to look at his reflection in the window. He grimaced. "Everyone's going to bully me now. It was mom's idea, but dad supported her, because my sight has gotten worse. It's so mean! I just- ouch!" Alfred huddled together as I whipped his head with his newest issue of Superman. He looked at me with hurt eyes. "What?"

"What yourself!" I panted and straightened up, holding the magazine between my shaking fingers, "I thought there was something wrong! That you hated me or someone had died or you had died!" Alfred blinked and pursed his lips.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously!" I whipped him again. He started laughing, so I aimed for him harder. He grabbed my wrists.

"Watch out, it's a pretty cool comic."

"Sorry." I dropped it to his desk. Alfred was correcting his glasses, looking a bit awkward.

"..How do I look?" he suddenly asked. I crossed my arms and decided to play the role of the enemy.

"Like crap." He stuck out his tongue.

"No, honestly, Arthur. How do I look?" I uncrossed my arms and sloped my head to the side.

Alfred looked differently, no doubt. But instead of looking younger or more nerdy, he actually appeared older. As if he had gained a few inches and two years. I didn't want to tell him, though. He didn't need another ego-boost, so I shrugged.

"You look the same." He smiled as if I couldn't have given him a greater compliment. He went back to the window and nodded towards his reflection.

"Yeah.. Yeah, maybe I do."

"So.. That was really the only reason for you staying home from school?" He nodded. I sighed, making him chuckle. He went over and gave me a short hug.

"Sorry for making you worry."

"It's fine. I'm just glad you didn't.. dump me or something." He raised his brows and looked down at me. I stuttered, "I mean-"

"Arthur, I would never dumb you." The tone in his voice was so serious that I felt my heart skip a beat. I stared into his eyes and suddenly felt like the main character of one of mom's forbidden movies. As he leaned down, I had to free myself from his arms and grab the comic off of his desk.

"Can-uh.. Can we read this?" He nodded and hugged himself.

"Okay, cool. Go to the shack, I'll go get some cookies from mom." I went down the stairs, my heart throbbing like mad and my lungs missing air. What had almost happened? I couldn't think about it, because it made me feel dizzy, but in a good way. I wondered if Alfred's infomercial-lady knew about these feelings, but I couldn't really ask her. I wondered about who I then could ask, though no one was probably the answer.

Alfred didn't get bullied in school. Of course Ivan had to comment on it and tell him that he was a nerd, but then Yao said the same, and suddenly Ivan didn't think it was all that funny.

"Only one can bully Alfred," he said enraged, "and that's me!" Then everyone stopped talking about Alfred's new look. Alfred himself noticed nothing, and as he even got a compliment from an older girl, the world was his to conquer.

Meanwhile I was bothered, for Christmas was coming up. I hadn't thought much of it, but Alfred had suddenly let me know that he had gotten me a present, and that left me with no other option than to get him one as well. But I wasn't very rich, and I knew he wanted expensive stuff, and I had no idea what would make him happy. I tried getting Alfred to tell me how expensive his gift to me was, but he wouldn't tell me anything. Instead I asked my mom for advise.

"Why don't you make him something yourself?" she'd asked. That was of course a rotten piece of advice. Even I wouldn't want something homemade from Alfred, and I went pretty easy on the whole present-rush. It was way to girly.

Luckily my dad agreed, and he drove me to town so we could look at shops. I went directly for the comic store, but inside it I didn't know what to go for. He had more than enough posters, and comics as well. While I was running around between the shelves, dad suddenly showed up next to me with a box.

"Look at this," he said, and I took the box out of his hands. It was a little figure of Captain America, and a really cool one. Alfred would love it, I just knew it! But then I looked at the price.

"Dad, I can't afford it," I said and looked up at him. He looked over his shoulder as if someone was following us, then handed me a bank note. I gawked. He winked at me.

"Don't worry, just go get it, okay?" I hugged him and leapt for the desk. Dad seldom showed his more humane sides, but when he did, he did it good. I bought the figure and felt like a hero, and he even helped me lie to mom when she asked us what it had cost. I spend the whole evening wondering about if I should wrap it up nicely with a ribbon, or if it would look too girly. In the end I just stuffed it into an old bag and hid it underneath my bed. I couldn't wait!

Christmas came slowly. Miss Madeleine gave each of us a bag of sweets when holidays kicked in, and Alfred and I shared ours on our way home. It had started to snow, and we were jogging through snowdrifts.

"How're you spending Christmas?" Alfred asked and stole one of my chocolates. I kicked my way across the street.

"I think mom's family comes to visit."

"What about your dad's?"

"They live too far away. What about you?" Alfred took another one of my chocolates and shrugged.

"I think we're leaving on the 24th to go and see some friends." I looked up at the clear sky.

"Oh, then I won't get to see you open my present."

"Hey, why don't we do it tonight?" Alfred suggested. I handed him all my chocolates and stopped.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's only the 22nd, but I really want to see you open your present." I smiled.

"Okay, in the shack?"

"In the shack."

We met up a few hours later as agreed upon. Alfred had also stuffed his present in to a bag, so I felt relieved as I handed him his. We sat face to face as we unwrapped our presents, he finished first (of course). His eyes lit up and he grinned, peeling the figure free from the plastic.

"Wow, that's so cool!" he said and turned it around in his hands. I stopped for a few seconds and looked over at him, a shy smile on my lips.

"You really like it?" He hushed at me and just waved as if he wanted me to continue with my present. He was busy inspecting Captain America's boots as I finally got through the bag. I blinked. "Alfred, you-.." I held the huge teacup between my hands. It had rainbow-coloured unicorns all over it, and stuffed into it was a unicorn-plush. I peeled it out from the cup and laughed. Alfred scratched the back of his neck.

"I hope it's an okay gift. Dad seemed worried."

"I love it!" I declared, and I meant it. It was always a hell of a struggle with my parents when I wanted them to go get me unicorn-stuff, so to have Alfred giving it to me without me asking that meant a lot to me. I out the stuff aside and leaned over and hugged him. Alfred laughed as well.

"Add it to your collection!"

"I will!" Something wet fell on my forehead. I looked up to see Alfred's lips move from my face and gawked. He grinned at me.

"Up for a snowball-fight?"

"Uerh.." He shoved me aside and leapt down the ladder, holding his figure in one hand.

"Captain America will beat your ass!" I wiped my forehead off in my shirt and shook my head.

"Not if I have a say in this!" I grabbed the plush and followed him.

It was a good Christmas.

Note: HOW ARE YOU? SORRY FOR THE WAIT. It's summer and I am happy and this chapter was a joy to write. And.. fluffy, right? xD Sorry if it was too sugary, I am building up the plot, I swear!