The second day that Arthur came over to study, everything seemed much more relaxed. There wasn't the tense air of before, in which both of them had tried very hard to pretend that the reason they were studying together at all was because Alfred had caught Arthur sobbing. Instead, it felt to Alfred just like two friends hanging out, like any other friends would do (he could only hope that Arthur felt the same).

Arthur walked himself in the door this time, grateful to be lacking Alfred's harsh grip on his arm. Alfred followed not far behind, a wide smile on his face. He had been a little worried that the irritable teen wouldn't have wanted to come back, but he himself had asked to return. He wasn't really sure why that fact seemed to leave a funny feeling in his stomach, but he didn't dwell on it too long.

"So, you want anything?" Alfred asked, dropping his bookbag onto the couch, where they would presumably be studying.

Arthur looked at him for a moment in silence before replying, "Actually, do you have any tea?"

Alfred blinked, staring at Arthur's face in vague realization. "I can't believe I didn't think about that. I'll make sure to buy some for next time."

Arthur laughed, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Alfred, you don't have to buy tea just for me. Water is fine."

A small blush filled up the apples of his cheeks as he headed to the kitchen. "Yeah, I mean, I knew that. I was just – yeah."

The knowing smile refused to leave Arthur's face as they walked through the kitchen door, but Alfred was unable to think of anything that might explain why he had said that. He silently filled up as glass as Arthur watched before handing it to him and grabbing a glass for himself. It was one thing to admit that he liked him, but it was another entirely to actually show it.

"So, uh," He prefaced, trying to break the silence, "Do you wanna see my room?"

Arthur stared at him, looking almost taken aback. "I suppose so. I might as well, it isn't as if I have anything better to do at the moment."

Alfred grinned, making his way down the hallway and glancing behind him to make sure Arthur was following. "Cool. You're gonna love it, my room is super awesome. I can't believe I didn't show you when you were here Friday."

Though the idea had originally been something random to fill the quiet, but now that he had begun thinking about it, he decided he was actually excited for Arthur to see it, though he couldn't really figure out why. He pulled Arthur into his room, flicking the switch and allowing light to flood it. As he looked around, Alfred stared at him with a nervous smile on his face.

"So, what do you think?" He asked, gesturing around him.

Arthur let his eyes sweep around the room, a critical expression on his face. "It looks like a five year old lives here."

Alfred's room was, by itself, relatively simple. The walls were painted sky blue, the carpet was a soft white, and the only real furnishings were a dresser, a bookshelf, and a bed, tucked away in the corner of the room. The decorations, however, were what added a personal touch that made the room uniquely Alfred. Various posters of movies and superheroes littered the walls, childhood memorabilia and action figures were clustered upon shelves, and a large Captain America pillow took up most of the space on his bed. Aside from a pile of dirty clothes that Alfred swiftly kicked into his closet upon entering, it really was a child's dream.

"Aw, come on dude!" Alfred pouted, "This place is awesome! I decorated it myself."

Arthur eyed him almost suspiciously. "I didn't know you liked this sort of thing."

"What?" Alfred asked before he seemed to realize something, "Oh yeah, I guess we don't really talk about anything except chemistry, huh?"

"Not really, no." Arthur replied.

"Well here's your first lesson in Alfred F. Jones!" He said with a grin, "I really, really, really like superheroes."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, I can tell. Anyway, we ought to get on with our studies."

As Arthur tried to leave the room, Alfred blocked his path with one arm. Wait, Artie!" He said with a sense of urgency, "We've gotta make this, like, a thing now. I tell you one thing about me, and then you tell me something about you!"

He looked up at him apprehensively before stating, "Why should I?"

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Because we're friends, stupid!" He exclaimed, ignoring the way Arthur almost seemed to flinch as he said it, "I'd like to know more about you than just how you feel about ions!"

Arthur hesitated a moment before asking, "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Pinky promise." He responded, his right pinky held in the air.

Arthur took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself before replying, "I like…to sew."

A few seconds of silence passed between them before Alfred asked, "Isn't that kind of girly?"

A large smack sounded throughout the room as Alfred was, once again, slapped across the face. In his surprise, he pulled his arm back away from Arthur, who then proceeded to storm out of the room, shouting behind him, "Fuck you, Alfred!"

Alfred scrambled after him, half-laughing as Arthur started shoving his things into his bookbag. "Dude, where are you going?" He asked, trying to keep a smile off of his face.

"Home." Arthur stated, fury in his tone as he slung the bag over his shoulders.

"Don't you live pretty far from here?" He questioned, "Do you even know how to get there?"

"I'll figure it out." He hissed, trying to shove the door open before Alfred stepped in front of him, "Get out of the way."

"No." Alfred stated with a little shrug of his shoulders.

Arthur looked at him in defiance. "Excuse me?"

"I wasn't making fun of you, Artie, I swear!" Alfred explained hurriedly, "It's not like I'm gonna stop liking you just because you sew or something, alright? So just stay here and study with me."

He flushed, the tips of his ears turning bright red. "Don't call me Artie." He mumbled, crossing his arms as he looked away.

Alfred grinned, knowing that he had just won the argument, and pulled his bookbag out of his hands. As Arthur looked up at him, however, he suddenly became hyper-aware that he was trapped between him and the door, only about a foot of space separating the two. He was short of breath, his palms seeming to heat up as he stared down at the shorter boy.

The flush on Arthur's face left a rosy glow on his skin, his lips pursed up into a pout, features contorted into a scowl that wasn't all that unflattering. There was a few seconds of silence between the two as Alfred simply looked at him, completely speechless. It was almost as if he was in a trance, the only thing he could focus on being Arthur. And then his mouth opened, moving completely unbidden, wanting to whisper out the words 'you're cute when you're angry'.

A large bang was emitted from the kitchen, followed by copious amounts of swearing. Alfred was jolted out of his daze, a flush filling in his own cheeks as they both looked towards the cause of the commotion. Matthew stood there, half-frozen in front of a pile of pots and pans, before giving an awkward wave and turning to take care of his mess.

They both instinctively took a step away from each other, Alfred coughing and lifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck. "So, uh…" He stammered, trying to diffuse the uncomfortable air that had suddenly arisen, "Studying?"

Arthur nodded vigorously, taking the out as soon as it was given. "Yes, that sounds like a brilliant idea."

As they walked back into the living room, Alfred tried to block out the thought of what he had almost said.

Arthur eventually left around seven in the evening after several uneventful hours of more chemical equations. Alfred waved goodbye as he got into the car with his older brother, neglecting to give him a hug as he had a few days prior (more for his own sake than Arthur's). As he closed the door behind him he sighed, moving over to the kitchen counter where Matthew was doing the dishes and rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

Matthew glanced up at him for a moment before looking back down at the sink. "Sorry if I interrupted earlier." He apologized, "I opened the cabinet and everything just came flying out."

Alfred grimaced at the memory. "It's fine, dude." He assured, pulling the glasses off and wiping them on his pants, "Actually, it's probably good that you did."

Matthew sent him an awkward little smile, a comfortable silence enveloping the room with the exception of the clink of dishes. A moment later he looked over at him, staring in particular at the glasses that Alfred was now pushing back onto his face. "So you still wear those, huh?"

Alfred looked at him in confusion. "Matt, you live with me," He asked with a questioning tone, "You know that I still wear them."

"Yeah, but I don't know," Matthew exhaled in frustration, waving a dish around in the air, "I figured that you would have…given it up by now, or something."

Alfred's face seemed to harden as he stared across the kitchen counter. "I'm not gonna stop, Matt. We've been over this."

Matthew almost slammed the dish he had been cleaning back down into the sink. "Alfred, how old are you now? When you were a kid it was okay, but you're practically an adult now, you can't keep doing this."

"I can and will." Alfred stated, crossing his arms. Matthew ground his teeth before reaching over and pulling the glasses off of his face.

"Do you see these?" He asked, holding the glasses away from Alfred, "These are a crutch."

"Give them back, Matt!" He exclaimed, reaching for Matthew's hand.

"They're fake, Alfred." He snapped, gripping them harder in his hand, "They're just fake glasses. If I broke them right now, it wouldn't affect anything."

Alfred stilled. "You wouldn't." He breathed out, fear obvious in his eyes.

Matthew seemed to calm down, sending his brother a pleading look. "It made sense when you were a kid, Al," He practically whispered, "When you were eight and kids pushed you into lockers because they thought you were stupid, it was alright for you to wear fake glasses to feel smarter. But you're a junior in high school now, and it's become a crutch."

"They're just glasses," He responded, his tone gone almost dead, "Just let me wear the stupid glasses."

Matthew sighed and handed them back to him. "I know you're afraid that people wouldn't see you the same way, Al," He tried to reason, "But you're not stupid – hell, you're probably going to be valedictorian of our class! You don't need to rely on them."

"I just –" Alfred started and then stopped, playing with the glasses in his hands, "I just need them, Matt."

"I know, Al." Matthew patted him on the hand before moving out of the kitchen.

Alfred sighed, staring down at the black frames with the fake lenses inside. It had been a smart idea when he was a child, to give him a little pair of glasses to boost his confidence after the ordeal he had gone through when he was small. And it had worked – Alfred worked harder, tried more, and ended up at the very top of the class every year since. He knew, in theory, that they didn't do anything. The work had been all his, and would continue to be all his, even if he stopped wearing them. But at this point, he simply couldn't. They were his good luck charm.

He sighed and made his way to his bedroom, turning off the lights as he exited the kitchen.

Texas wouldn't be Texas if they weren't 100% fake. Unfortunately, that's got some bad connotations when you're not a personified country.

So chapter 10 is done, and with it this is officially the longest thing I've ever written! Also the quickest thing I've ever written, considering it's been less than a month since I've started this.

Thank all of you so much for the reviews/follows/favorites! You're all super amazing!

~Alix Marie