After spending the night helping Gilbert sober up in the park Arthur returned home in early hours of the morning.

The sun was just about to rise as he pushed open his bedroom window from the inside. He had one leg still outside when he heard the door to his room being gently pushed ajar.

To his many thanks he saw Alfred, the younger boy looked sleepily at him.

"You're not running away are you?" His orange Cheeto stained fingers gripped around the door.

"Nah, I'm actually just coming back mate." Arthur replied softly as he pulled his other denim clad leg through the window gently, avoiding making too much noise. "What did you want"

"Err, a errr, phone charger!" He proclaimed loudly, then stopped himself returning to a soft whisper.

Arthur placed the charger in Alfred's orange crusted hand. As the door was closing he whispered after him "Please, don't tell Steve, okay?"

"A hero never betrays their friends."

Arthur crashed out as soon as he hit the pillow on his bed.


Unsurprisingly, Gilbert hadn't been back at school the next morning.

"It's barely edible isn't it." He wasn't sure who has spoken to him at first.

Arthur pushed the food around on his plate. Fork scraping through mounds of mashed potatoes with what they called a beef stew. The surrounding sounds of the lunch hall dulled by his conflicted thoughts.

"Not even hungry really" he replied looking up to have his gaze met by a set of brown eyes. He hadn't even noticed the table had become occupied by others part from himself. Ludwig, Gilbert's younger brother was easily recognisable at the end of the table, sat with two brown haired boys, both very similar looking so he supposed brothers. The older looking of the two was the one he'd spoken too.

"Making new friends Lovi?" The younger of the pair energetically joined in, "You're Gilbert's friend right?"

"You could say that, I guess" Arthur was grumbling. How had he managed to not even notice he'd sat at such a crowded table. He glanced down the bench making surprising eye contact with a more reserved looking kid of about Alfred's age.

He felt the uncomfortable tickle in his nose too late and suddenly sneezed over his lunch.

"Disgusting!" The one called 'Lovi' announced. The small but sturdy teen tried to make a quick exit but in his revolt ended up crashing into Gilbert, spilling gravy and beef chunks over the floor. Leaving the mess there with he stormed off. Arthur chuckled, someone with a worse temper than himself.

"Hey Artie!" Gilbert immediately replacing the boys presence across from him at the table.

"You're looking a bit better," that was a lie, Gilbert looked awful. Arthur doubted he'd even washed since last night as he was clearly wearing the same clothes. He was also now sporting a large shiner over his right eye.

"Ja, I'm feeling awesome," The display just now had been enough to lift his mood. Looking across at Gilbert he couldn't help notice a small slug of gravy running through Gilbert's platinum hair. Without thinking he reached across and wiped it away with his thumb. A slight red flush ran across his pale cheeks. "So, what happened to Francis last night? He just up and disappeared?"

Arthur bit his lip, the sudden kiss came into his mind. What demon had possessed him to let that happen he wondered. Desperation? He hadn't realised it until now, but in that moment he completely lost himself to his loneliness.

Gilbert patted his head across the table, "Eyebrows, ist anybody home?"

"Stop calling me that or I'll blacken your other eye too," Arthur snapped at him, almost automatically hearing the hated nickname.

The remaining trio at the other end of the table all raised their heads to look at him. Gilbert was grinning hard, it looked unpleasant with his swollen eye. The reddish pupils gleamed as he spoke, "I'm not such an easy target sober."

"Whatever," Arthur dropped his fork onto the plate in defeat.


Technically, Alfred thought, he and Arthur were no more related genetically than him and his cousin Matthew. Their dad's were identical twins, so from his junior high level biology plus google he estimated they shared about the same quantity of DNA.

He watched his half-brother walking ahead of him, unsure now whether or not attempt catching up.

Alfred had avoided Arthur that morning. He couldn't get the image of Arthur climbing through the window out of his mind. Beside him his friends chatted waiting for their buses. One of the Italian twins, Lovino, was making some weird display out of tripping over Gilbert at lunch.

"Who the hell are ya staring at Al?" His friend Tony somehow managed to get the words out between wolfing down his lunch.

"Arthur." He'd noticed Gilbert's face was distorted with bruising, he hoped Arthur hadn't be with him last night.

"Who?" Alfred raised his eyebrow at Tony pointedly, "yeah, right. You're half-something-limey brother. Fuck that guy."

If only it was that easy, you can't exactly forget about someone you live with, he thought.

"I did not realise you were brothers," he was interrupted by Ludwig. He somehow hadn't noticed the looming German amongst the group. "I'm happy Bruder has a friend now."

He didn't mention the feeling wasn't mutual. After all he was fairly sure Gilbert's presence was what prevented Arthur from socialising further in the school. It had been hard not to notice the wide berth most students seemed to give him in the hallways.