The morning and early afternoon went well for everyone. Alfred had woken up early that day, and decided to take a shower before catching some more sleep. He sorely needed it, and cursed as his headache persisted mercilessly. What were you supposed to do for hangovers? Drink water? He sighed and gulped down two glasses of water before starting up the shower, hoping they would help at least a little.

Clumsily and slowly, he undressed and stepped into the shower.

Letting the hot water and soap run down his back, he realized he hardly remembered much else besides the blaring music and the walk home.

And the fact that he made out with Francis.

He paused and let that sink in.

Groaning, Alfred angrily took the wash rag and began to scrub himself down, going through his memories from the night before.

He had his first kiss, with Francis. While drunk. Well, he certainly hadn't planned his first kiss to be like that, but he couldn't undo it now.

Francis never specified whether or not it was kissing just for the hell of it, or kissing because he liked him…knowing Francis, it was the former. Alfred sighed and cracked his neck and back a bit, deciding not to confront Francis about it. There was no way he was seriously going to ask if a drunken kiss actually meant anything, and figured he'd have to wait until he could properly confess to Francis that he had a small crush on him.

Who knows, he thought, maybe I'm just mistaking admiration for love again. Like always.

Alfred pondered over this for a while before shivering a bit despite the hot water and steam. Why had be been so restless and uneasy last night? He remembered Francis wrapping his arm around him to help him home, and for some reason this filled Alfred with both fear and longing. Fear overtook his senses and he shrunk away from his hands, almost instinctively.

But why had he done that? Normally he was…well, normal around him. He was never frightened of him, and the very fact that he was scared—terrified even—of the man, made his stomach churn. The times that Alfred had looked up to Arthur's face, Arthur had looked like he'd rather be anywhere but with Francis.

He scowled and deemed these thoughts and feelings childish, blaming it all on his drunken state and Arthur's overt distaste of the Frenchman.

He finished showering soon after and dried off, throwing on some clean boxers and a t-shirt before curling up on the foot of the bed. Arthur was out like a light, and it occurred to Alfred that he probably pissed him off the night before. He made a mental note to apologize later, and dozed off again, trembling at the strange nightmares he had about bells and glass falling.


Alfred woke up in a cold sweat and panted lightly, burying his face into his hands. The sounds of bells and glass still lingered, and he quickly nudged Arthur awake. He didn't even know what the dream was about, but the sound was still playing in his ears.

Arthur was awake at the third or fourth nudge, and slowly opened his eyes. "What is it, Alfred?" He asked. Alfred opened his mouth, but was interrupted but Matthew and Francis throwing open the door.

"About time!" Francis exclaimed, crossing his arms. Arthur glared and Alfred gave a small smile. "You two 'ave been sleeping this whole time?" He said in exasperation, his English slipping up a bit in his anger. "This is where you 'ave been, huh? Up, up this instant! You are to work the stands today, the first show is in two hours!" Alfred glanced at the clock and cursed, springing up as Arthur did. It was around two and Alfred didn't even know where his uniform was in the disorganized room, and started to look around.

Matthew was about half-dressed in his performance outfit and opened his suit case, bringing the rest of it out. He smiled in amusement as Arthur found his uniform and jumped into the shower, not even bothering to close the door.

Francis sighed, not in his outfit yet. "Why did you two sleep so long? You know your job, however menial, comes first." Clearly agitated, he also started to look around for Alfred's rather plain uniform, finding a pair of pants within the first few seconds.

Alfred rolled his eyes and caught the pants as Francis threw them to him. "Oh, shush. Like you didn't sleep a little longer after we all came home late last night." He chuckled as Matthew and Francis looked to him confused.

"Al, since when is eleven considered late for you?" Matthew teased, slipping another garment of clothing on.

"Eleven? Me, Arthur, and Francis were out until like…one or two dude. You were the one who probably went to bed at eleven."

Matthew and Francis frowned. "Alfred, I didn't go anywhere last night past ten. I was with Ivan in between shows and then with Matthew afterwards. We went to bed around eleven." Francis explained. "In fact, I didn't see you at all past that little meeting we had at the café. Nor did Matthew. Neither of you would answer your phones this morning, and when we came up, no one answered the door. We had to get the receptionist to give us the key to your room." Matthew nodded and agreed to all this.

"Yeah, we only got two keys, remember? Mine got locked in here last night and you gave the other to Arthur."

"Um, no, that is not what went down!" Alfred insisted, standing up from his knees. By now Arthur was out of the shower again and dressing.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked curiously, walking into the room and he was pulling his shirt over his chest.

"Dude, they're totally saying that Francis wasn't with us last night! He totally was, you could smell the alcohol on his breath and everything! He even helped me home!" Matthew frowned at the mention of alcohol.

"Wait, Al, you were—"

"I did no drinking last night!" Francis protested, cutting Matthew off. "I had a show to run; even Ivan knows not to drink before or during show hours!"

"Wait, what the hell are you all going on about?" Arthur asked, clearly confused. "Francis, you were definitely there! You got Alfred drunk and made out with him."

"Yeah! I—"

"Francis!" Matthew exclaimed. "How did you forget about me telling you to keep your hands off Alfred?" He said, angry now. "You ass, you left after I went to sleep, didn't you?"

"No! No, no, no, no, absolutely not! I went to sleep at eleven, woke up at seven, and now we're here! I did not make out or even touch Alfred past that greeting I gave him yesterday, I 'ave no clue what these two are rambling about."

"Um, we left at like nine, he couldn't have been with you past nine." Alfred said in response to Matthew's claim.

"Exactly. Both of us clearly remembered what happened, so you can't just pin this whole thing on an overactive imagination or something." All four stayed silent a minute or two, before Alfred brought out his phone and started to frantically flip through.

"I even have pictures, and the texts too," He said as he brought one picture up, dated at around ten. "See?" All three looked at the picture, before flipping through the others which were dated up until around one am.

Matthew frowned and looked at the pictures, before pulling out his own phone. "I have videos of him from yesterday afternoon until nine-thirty, performing."

"I didn't even have time to text anyone past our meeting." Francis said as he saw the texts. "These aren't even from my number, but it's listed under my name…are you sure you had the correct Francis?"

Alfred nodded. "I only know one Francis, and that's you! So either you and Matt forgot what happened, or you have like…a twin brother or clone or something." Arthur tensed up at these words, and unsubtly moved to loop his arm with Alfred's. Alfred looked a bit shocked but didn't remove his arm, choosing to focus on the matter at hand.

"Apparently, the Francis we were with last night was an imposter." Arthur concluded, clinging tightly to Alfred's arm. He'd have to ask Alfred later about the whole thing, but seeing how he acted as surprised and confused as everyone else, he probably didn't know much either.

Francis sighed and shook his head. "None of this makes any sense. According to your phones, I was at two different places at the same time, which we all know is impossible, so it has to be someone impersonating me." Matthew nodded and returned to putting his costume on.

"Ugh, ew! That means I made out with a total stranger, what if I have mono or something?" Alfred said in a panicked voice, before rambling on about it. "Dude, I have to go to the doctor's tonight, doesn't mono kill within twenty-four hours? Or what if I got, like, AIDS or something! Oh god, I'm gonna die, or if I don't die I'm never going to have sex because no one wants to have sex with a diseased filled—"

"Look, let's talk about this later. Obviously we need to clear some things up, but right now we have a show to run." Matthew stated calmly, knowing that something major was going on.

Alfred hesitated but nodded, momentarily forgetting about his perceived predicament. "Alright. We need to talk to Ivan too and ask if he's seen poser Francis, so let's met up with him after the last show."

They all nodded and gave noises of approval, before Matthew and Francis left the hotel room, leaving Alfred and Arthur to find the rest of Alfred's uniform.


Arthur groaned and practically fell to the ground covered in sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets.

According to Ivan, there had been a gas leak sometime during their shift, so Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur were forced to sleep in the tent again.

And after a long night of work, it was a nightmare getting it up.

Alfred fell beside him, as did Matthew. They only bothered to pitch the tent, put the air conditioner in, and threw some things to sleep on in.

And because of Alfred, Arthur now had a sleeping bag.

It was in the shape of the shark and meant to look like it was eating him when he was laying in it. At the end of their shift, Alfred proudly shoved the thing toward him, shouting "Happy Birthday, Art!" for all to hear. Of course, Arthur blushed furiously and tried to refuse it, making up excuses like "It's not my birthday!", or "I don't have a gift to give back!", but Alfred would have none of that and laughed it off. Arthur accepted it shyly, thinking he'd have to make up for it later and get him a gift in return.

So, there he was, looking rather ridiculous with just his head popping out of the shark's mouth. Luckily, all of their things were returned and Arthur was able to change into some pajamas, so at least he wasn't practically dying in the itchy and uncomfortable uniform.

The meeting with Ivan was brief and unhelpful. Ivan gave a "That's strange…" and then a "No, I haven't seen anyone like that." Everyone was too tired to press any further, and instead headed to their tents.

Arthur was just about to fall asleep, facing Matthew, who for once decided to stay in for the night. A sudden thought struck him. Alfred and Matthew both claimed to be twins.

If Alfred was the shape-shifter, then did that make Matthew one too?

Arthur suddenly realized there was so much he didn't know, and that thought made him curl up and feel oh-so alone again.


A/N: Finished this 20 min. before the deadline! I hope you enjoyed it, please review, alert, and favorite!