It wasn't long before the entire accident incident settled down. It was odd for Alice when Laura and Elena stopped bothering her. Heck, they even apologized to her! And that shocked nearly the entire school.
Although the entire incident was over and all, one thing still bothered the British prefect - Alfred liked her. She definitely knew it. Though he did not manage to make a proper confession, it was damn obvious. Sadly, the failed confession embarrassed the American to the extent that he was no longer able to look at Alice straight in the eyes. He still hung out with her, but he wasn't exactly himself. Alfred didn't think it was so obvious, but it actually was! Even the oblivious Feliciano noticed!
Why was he so nervous though? Okay, so he was embarrassed. But why was he even embarrassed? Oh wait... Was it perhaps because he was afraid Alice might reject him? Said girl thought for a while and concluded that perhaps her theory was right.
But did he really have to be afraid? She wouldn't even reject hi-
...
Wait.
Huh?
"Oh my..." the prefect muttered softly to herself. Did she honestly... Was she really in love with that idiotic American? She tried to calm herself down and decided to try and confirm her feelings.
According to what she heard, when one was in love, there should be a fluffy feeling inside at the thought of their crush. Did she have that?
Alice took a moment to close her eyes and think of Alfred's smiling face.
...Yes. The feeling was present.
A few minutes of "testing" and stuff passed and all of it ended with a "yes". So indeed, she was in love...
"...Miss Kirkland, are you having a fever? Your face is red," the teacher's voice suddenly made it to her mind. Immediately, she shook her head hastily and denied it. The teacher shrugged and returned to teaching.
Alice never believed it when teen-aged girls rambled on about love and crap like that, but now that she was experiencing it, it felt so... Weird.
She didn't know when she made this decision, but she knew she would probably never be able to look at Alfred the same way again.
And that, after a few weeks, made the American confused.
Said teen was still embarrassed for the first few days and never noticed. But eventually, he got over it and began to notice something strange about Alice.
Sure, she hung out with him. She talked to him. She laughed with him. And she still let him come over to her house. So why...? Why wasn't she looking at his eyes when they talked?! In fact, she tried not to look at him when possible! She often kept her head down and all... As if she was trying to avoid him or something.
Was this revenge for not acting normal?! Or maybe it was because she knew of his feelings?
Before the boy knew it, he grew frantic and paranoid. He wanted to know what was going on. So he decided to question his friends.
"Ve~! Maybe she got a lover? Ne, ne! Alfred, you wanna get some pasta?" a certain Italian said.
"Maybe you made her angry," suggested a few people, including Ludwig, Gilbert and Matthew.
"Perhaps she did something naughty and can't look at you the same way, no?" a certain perverted French suggested, earning a punch.
A Chinese student had suggested something that was actually how Alice really felt, but unfortunately, he said it in Chinese by accident and Alfred left before he could say it in English.
"Perhaps she has secret plans and is unable to tell you, Alfred-san?" Kiku suggested, though he doubted it himself.
"Maybe she wants to become one with Mother Russia, da?" suggested Ivan, who happened to be eavesdropping. Alfred, who was creeped out, left.
The popular American was now in a major state of confusion. Which was true? Was it because she was mad? Did she have secret plans? What was she thinking?
Gathering enough courage, he decided to go and ask the Brit.
"Alice~!"
Ah, there was that odd behaviour again. Why wouldn't she just look at him?
"What is it, you bloody git?" her tone was normal, but...
"Well, it's just..." Alfred paused and switched to a serious, concerned tone, "I'm worried..."
This caused Alice to become confused as well, "Worried?"
"Why... Why aren't you looking at me?" The sudden outburst caused Alice to become shocked. Ooooh... That.
"It's... Nothing. Get your bloody eyes checked! I was always looking at you! You're probably hallucinating!" the emerald-eyed girl exclaimed, not really ready to tell him her feelings.
"I swear I'm not crazy or hallucinating! Alice, why-? Is this revenge for my awkwardness?"
"What blasphemy is that? That is utter rubbish, I assure you-"
"If that's rubbish, then why don't you just look at me! It's making me crazy! It's like you're avoiding me or something!"
"I can assure you it's not, Jones!"
"Then please! Can we just go back to being normal? I'm getting anxiety attacks from this! Are you sure you're not up to something? How can I be so sure that it's not something worrying? Alice, please tell me why you're acting differently!"
"IT'S BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU IDIOT!"
...
A long pause.
Slowly, a deep red blush started creeping up the prefect's face. She finally looked into his eyes when she exclaimed that and they both stared at each other, blushing.
"I..." the American broke the silence, "Alice... Why couldn't you just tell me that...?"
Said girl looked down at the floor, feeling a little guilty.
"You knew I liked you, so it's no big deal if you told me..."
At that statement, she snorted and started, "'No big deal'? Perhaps to you, I suppose. I have never experienced love to this extent before. I suppose I'm happy, but... It's also scary..."
Alfred was, once again, confused. Scary?
Next thing he knew, she began to break down in tears.
"I suppose I'm being dramatic but... The people I trusted and depended on betrayed me and used me. I never trusted anyone in my school life again. So I was worried that what if... What if you were the same!" It was the first time in life that Alice began to pour out her true feelings, "I know it's pathetic to suspect you but suddenly changing my mind isn't very easy! I've been hurt far too many times and even though it doesn't look like it to other people, it hurts a lot. It's like having your heart torn to smithereens and once those pieces are back together again, it gets torn apart once again by another person. It's like no one can ever be trusted! So I never believed in other people again and I'm afraid of believing in you! Hell, I don't even know what to do!"
Alice sniffled and smiled sadly, "Heh, look at me. I'm pathetically breaking down after throwing a dramatic life story at you. This is how pathetic the once proud Alice Kirkland has become, huh? Hell, even I don't get what I even said!"
The next thing she noticed, there were warm hands wiping her tears off. It shocked her greatly when the American then decided to embrace her.
"J-Jones-?"
"Shh..." a calm voice which belonged to Alfred soothed her, oddly enough. He continued, "Don't say anymore. I'm glad you decided to tell me everything and your worries. I promise you, I'll never hurt you like those traitors..."
Alfred made a space between the two as he continued, "After all, I'm your hero." And with that, his warm lips met her soft ones.
For once in her life, Alice felt safe...
A/N: I'm sorry about this chapter. Heck, I'm sorry for living. *attempts to jump off the building* Haha, just kidding. Okay, that was pathetic, really.
Anyway, I'm afraid I lost interest and was in a rush to finish this sooo... Yep.
