Arthur was lost.
Arthur thought he would probably lose his friends because they thought he was some crazy weirdo.
Most of all, he was confused about Alfred.
After sobbing quietly for a while, Arthur calmed himself down enough to actually continue reading a 'Warriors' book that Delilah had lent him. It was one called 'Fire and Ice', the second one in the series. After reading the first, he'd gotten attached to Firepaw's journey.
The door creaked, and Arthur didn't even look up - he was too busy, and too scared and nervous, to want to know who it was. Turns out, it was Kiku, and he sat beside him. Arthur looked him right in the eye, and soon began crying, this time on Kiku's shoulder. Someone must have entered, because another voice was heard in the room. And then another. Alfred and Delilah, they were, and there were more people outside, he could tell because he kept hearing 'Ve~' and 'Potato bastard' and 'My beautiful face!', etc.
Arthur woke up later, having fallen asleep crying on Kiku, with his face plastered to his pillow. Probably - no, most likely, no, most definitely - from tears. The past few days had been fine. But now, Arthur felt alone again, and far away from everyone else. As he tried to move, he stopped, realizing someone was twiddling with his hair, making him warm up inside. He saw the figure of Alfred when he opened his eyes a little - the American was smiling sympathetically down at him. He, too, had definitely been crying.
"Why were you cr-" Arthur began to ask, but Alfred signalled him to stop, and handed him a glass of water. He sat up as he drank it, keeping an eye on Alfred, who was giving him a curious look.
"Francis is upset. The others are telling me to get you out of the group because apparently you're insane." he explained, looking down. Arthur's heart clenched - Alfred had told him that these guys had been his friends for years, and now he was having to choose?
"I'm used to being alone… Go ahead and choose them. I'd rather you have lots of friends than one stupid emotional one." Arthur encouraged him, but Alfred looked on the verge of crying. Without realizing until the action was done, he had Alfred in his arms, who now was sobbing, and he was playing with the stronger boy's hair.
Alfred looked up at him. "No, Arthur. I don't want to leave you. I can't, because you're such a good friend to me… And…" his voice croaked as he talked, and Arthur waited for him to continue.
"And what…?" he prompted. If he'd have been told this answer was coming, he wouldn't have believed it. Now, however…
"And I think I've fallen in love with you, Arthur."
A/N : Ooooooohhh. Man, I do love cliff-hangers, no? 3Poor Artie. And Al. YAY FOR YAOI AND USUK AND SUCH! 3 3 3 :D
F you. I love this pair. 3
Chapter 5.
After that (Arthur was speechless), they decided to go to bed. Only, that would've worked out if Arthur had been able to sleep. The words had circled in his mind, and he couldn't forget the look in his eyes when he had told him.
Jesus, he'd got himself into a mess. At least he now knew why Alfred had come out to him. Now he knew that it was all a developing love for the older, slimmer, more timid boy. Yeah, he could be an annoying git, but Arthur knew he had feelings too. Just, now he knew what those feelings were - love. And he enjoyed it.
He was still a part of the group, but they weren't as interested in him as they were before. Only person noticing him now was Alfred. Oh, and sometimes Feliciano gave him a hug after not seeing him for a while, which Ludwig and Lovino frowned upon, but nothing more. Now it was pretty much only him, Alfred, Delilah and Kiku. The survivors of the broken friendship.
XoXoXoXo
6 weeks had gone by, now, and he was getting used to everything. It was now half-term, and Arthur was glad he didn't have to face any more Geography for quite a while!
One night in particular, after reading a part of a 'Warriors' book that made him (apparently) very, VERY scared, Alfred asked Arthur if he could sleep in his bed.
"Wh-… Sure… Why, did the story scare you? It's not like Tigerstar can come here and kill you!" Arthur said, looking deep into the other kid's eyes.
"Yes he can! He came into that cat's dreams, right? He could kill us!" Alfred exclaimed, and Kiku just listened in from the other side of the room. Rolling his eyes, Arthur lifted up his covers and instructed Alfred of what he could and couldn't do in his bed.
"One, if I find you touching me in any way, I will kill you. Two, you can sleep and do nothing more. I mean, you can get out of the bed and stuff, but no touching me. Three, stay on your side, okay? I don't want to wake up being suffocated by you. Rodger?" he explained.
Alfred saluted and jumped in the bed before saying: "Rodger that, Cap'n!"
For some reason, Arthur believed that would be a long night.
…And it was.
As Arthur stirred, he slowly realized it was still very dark. And just who was huddling h-…
Of course. Alfred had broken rules 1, 2, and 3! All of them! Obnoxious git. How dare he. But, as seconds went by, he grew to like the position, lying in his arms, smiling. A strong hand began to fiddle with his blonde hair, and soon Arthur realized the boy was awake, and muttered a:
"Alfred, you broke the rules. Leave the bed and check the time for me before I kill you."
Then, a whole lot o' screaming was heard from in the corridor. Alfred jumped up yelling 'The Hero is needed! C'mon, Kiku, Arthur! You can be my back-up!', and Arthur lazily dragged himself out of bed as fast as humanly possible. The smell of something putrid reached his nose, and a very pissed Lovino, scared and sobbing Feliciano, protective Ludwig, awesome Gilbert, and two perverted idiots stumbled into the room.
Alfred stumbled back, then jumped down to see why Feliciano was crying. Arthur stared at the scene before his eyes, and saw Kiku just looking confused, half-dressed in his bed.
"What's wrong now, gits?" growled Arthur, suddenly in a foul mood. Francis looked scared, but even more so when a teacher was heard yelling.
"Hide us, guys!" cried Antonio, who now was huddling Lovino close - the little Italian was struggling, and only now did Arthur notice the stray strand of hair coming from the side of his head. All of the newcomers were shaking and looking around for somewhere to hide, and Feliciano dragged Ludwig under the covers of Arthur's bed.
Appalled, Arthur yelled a muffled 'HEY!' before Alfred dragged him under as well, jumping in after. Using the light of the thing he used to read in the dark, he saw Feliciano hugging Ludwig tight, and Alfred had a heavy arm over his back.
Shivering, Alfred whispered : "Is Elizabeta after you?"
"Yes… Along with Belarus. We told her Ivan was never going to like h-" Ludwig began in a low voice, to be interrupted by Alfred:
"You what? Idiots!"
"Who is Elizabeta and who is Belarus…?" asked Arthur, and three pairs of eyes looked his way, and he heard Alfred gulp.
"Scariest bitches you'll ever meet. Elizabeta loves 'yaoi', I don't know what that is, and she has a frying pan." explained Alfred, quaking with undeniable fear.
"Ja, and she hates my bruder. Belarus is… Ivan's sister. She wants to go out with him, and she has knives." finished Ludwig, pulling Feliciano closer, who happily squeezed him tight.
Two pairs of footsteps entered the room, and Arthur heard heavy breathing. Alfred now had leaned closer to him, and had his forehead on Arthur's neck - and Arthur found it strangely comforting.
"Oh, little Gilbert! Ludwig! My little Francis! Where are you?~" hissed an unfriendly, psychotic voice, and Alfred then stiffened, murmuring: "As if ghosts were enough…"
Someone was clearly being dragged out of their hiding place, because Arthur heard yelling and carpet scraping. He recognized Lovino's voice, and whispered to Alfred:
"You want to be a Hero, right? Why don't we go and save them?"
"Yes! You can be my back-up." he whispered back, and Arthur rolled his eyes. It was stuffy under the duvet, and Arthur wanted to try and show his old friends he could be of some use. Thinking this, he leapt up and out of the bed, ignoring Alfred's pleading eyes which were telling him 'You're going to die!', and lunged at Elizabeta, the girl with the frying pan.
An hour later. Alfred was dabbing Arthur's lip, which was bleeding now, filling his mouth with the scarlet liquid. It left an uncomfortable taste, but he was feeling better now that Alfred was treating it.
He could barely remember anything.
A/N : Bloody long chapter. YAY FOR THE ENTERANCE OF THE PSYCHO AND THE YAOI LOVER! 3 Lololololol. You'll soon find out what happened… When little Artie remembers… And then it'll go further with USUKness. Mm'kay? 3